The Happiest Holiday

Harry's Room, Durmstrang, Jan. 12th

With a final flick of his wand, Harry bit his lip and hoped that he'd done everything correctly. Casting a water repelling charm on his robes, he reached up and grasped an ornate handle and pulled to the left. There was a moment of silence before the nozzle at the top of the shower began to sputter and then spit out water. With a few turns of the handle, Harry was pleased to note that the temperature charms were functioning properly, and the water was vanishing down the drain.

Turning off the shower, Harry walked out of his bathroom, and hid the door behind a notice-me-not charm. As much as he hated sharing a bathroom with the other students at Durmstrang, he wasn't going to suddenly become Viktor and Calypso's personal maintenance wizard, and there was no way his friends wouldn't pester him into installing a bathroom into their rooms.

With the Notice-Me-Not charm in place, Harry walked over and opened his door.

Only to come face to face with a stressed out Viktor Krum, who was apparently a second away from knocking.

"Viktor," Harry said with a pleasant smile on his face. "I was about to come see-"

Taking a large step forward, Viktor dragged Harry back into the room, quickly closed the door, and cast a silencing charm. "Harry! What is going on? I leave you and Rosier alone for one hour before Christmas, and I come back after the holiday and hear a rumor that you're betrothed?"

Staring at his friend in complete disbelief, Harry could only open and close his mouth for several seconds. Eventually, he managed to get out a shocked, "What!"

Viktor seemed to take the shock and confusion on his friend's face as a positive sign, and he dropped into a chair looking relieved. "Good. I was hoping it was just a bunch of idiots talking."

"Who's talking?" Harry demanded.

"That fifth year Müller. Apparently, Professor Rosier turned down his family for a potential marriage contract. Müller has been pissed off since he got back to school a few days ago."

"I didn't even know Müller liked Calypso," Harry muttered, an angry expression crossing his face.

Viktor looked at his friend with some confusion. "Of course Müller doesn't like Calypso, Harry. He's not angry because he was turned down. He's angry that Professor Rosier just told his family no and basically told them they shouldn't have bothered inquiring. The Müllers are one of Germany's most prestigious and oldest families, and since he's gotten back Müller has been throwing out these ridiculous claims that Calypso had to be betrothed for his family to be turned down like that, and, well, you were the obvious choice. It's not like she's ever seen with anyone else."

"Calypso and I," Harry hesitated, "well, I guess we're dating."

Viktor could only stare at his friend in shock. "Please, please tell me you didn't agree to anything with Mr. Rosier."

"Don't worry, I didn't sign a marriage contract," Harry said uneasily, knowing that Calypso did ultimately want that.

Wanting to demand more information, but sensing that Harry was in no mood to discuss his burgeoning relationship with Calypso, Viktor let the situation drop for the moment. "So, how was your holiday?"

Harry noticeably relaxed at the change of subject. "My holiday was great," he said happily. "The best I've had since starting school."

"Really?" Viktor asked, pleasantly surprised. "Why?"

"Well for starters, Nathan apologized for not taking Peter seriously."

"That's good." Viktor nodded in satisfaction. "I believe I told you that you gave your brother too little credit, and that he would apologize."

"Yes, Viktor, you were right. Let's see, what else happened?" Harry asked himself. "Oh, I decided what I would be doing for my Transfiguration project."

Viktor looked confused. "I thought you were trying for the Animagus transformation?"

"I haven't even found my form yet, Viktor. I tried to subtly ask my uncle a few questions about the transformation over the break, but he wouldn't tell me much. What he did tell me though..." Harry looked uncomfortable. "I knew the transformation was dangerous, but Sirius told me about how some wizards that rushed the transformation damaged their magic or permanently disfigured themselves. I think he knew I was looking into trying it, and he wanted to put me off attempting it until I was older."

"So you're just going to stop trying?" Viktor asked incredulously. "That's very unlike you."

"I'm not going to stop, Viktor. I still want to become an Animagus, but I doubt I'll be able to finish it in time to use it as my project."

"Ah," said Viktor in understanding, "so you'll keep practicing, but you will be doing another final project for Rosemburg.

Harry nodded. "Pretty much."

"So what are you going to do for your final project then?"

"Conjuring," Harry replied. "I spent a while over the break trying to learn the Inanimatus Conjurus spell. If I can show enough proficiency with conjuring, I should easily be able to get the Master award again this year."

Viktor whistled in appreciation. "Have you had any success with conjuring?"

"No," Harry said bitterly, "but I've got until the end of the term."

"Well, I wish you luck. I'd offer to help, but I doubt I would have the first idea where to start," Viktor admitted. "I'm going to be doing some large scale inanimate to animate transfiguration. Turning a desk into a goat and that sort of thing. Hopefully it will be enough to pass me."

"It should be," Harry reassured his friend, "that's technically taught at the start of sixth year, so it should be advanced enough. How was your break though? Did you do anything exciting besides Quidditch? Oh, congratulations by the way, I read that you absolutely crushed Uganda to get to the round of 16. "

"I wouldn't say we crushed them," tempered Viktor. "They exposed a very large flaw in our squad. Had I not caught the Snitch as soon as I did, the match could have been much closer."

"But the Daily Prophet made it sound like you steamrolled past them without any difficulty."

"The Ugandan Chasers outclassed ours. They possessed the Quaffle for almost sixty-two percent of the match. Our Keeper played unbelievably though, and he bought me enough time to find and catch the Snitch."

"So your Chasers are the weak point on the team?" asked Harry. "That shouldn't be that much of a problem though, right? Who are you playing next?"

"The winner of the Spain/Peru match. Thankfully, both of those teams rely on their Seekers and beaters, so our Chasers should be able to hold their own against either of them. Oh, and I am sorry about England losing to the Czechs. I had wanted to play them in the quarterfinals."

"Yeah, Nathan and my dad were depressed for a week after we lost. I was upset that we didn't win, but I knew enough from listening to you that our team couldn't compete with the elites this year. The Aussies, the Swedes, the Irish, or your squad would have destroyed us. Better to go out in a close competitive game against the Czechs than to be embarrassed by a top tier squad in my opinion."

"How are you certain that Bulgaria would have embarrassed England?" asked Viktor curiously. "Quidditch can be very unorthodox at times."

Harry laughed. "Please Viktor, like you wouldn't play the best game of your life to hold it over my head that you crushed England."

"True," Viktor grinned as someone knocked at Harry's door.

Harry lazily waved his wand, unlocking and opening the door.

Calypso walked into the room, an annoyed expression on her face. "Krum," she said, not sounding pleased to see him.

"I believe that is my cue to leave." Viktor stood up. "I'll see you in class, Harry."

"Bye, Viktor."

Once Viktor had left, there was a prolonged silence between Harry and Calypso.

"So...," Harry said uncertainty, "how was your holiday?"

Calypso rolled her eyes as she sat down in an open chair. "This doesn't have to be awkward, Harry. We kissed, and now that shithead Müller is starting rumors. And my holiday was decent, but not spectacular. How was yours?"

Still somewhat uncomfortable, Harry said, "It was... pretty great actually."

"Did you do anything special?" Calypso asked curiously. "Practice any new magic?"

"Actually, I did," he said. "I started learning conjuration and my mother explained the charms that allow the Great Hall to show the sky outside. Oh, and I started practicing the Patronus Charm a lot."

Calypso appeared slightly disappointed. "You're still going to do the Patronus Charm for your Dark Arts final project? Didn't my father tell you that you wouldn't receive the top mark if you did that?"

"Well, yeah, but he also said that he would pass me." Harry shrugged unconcerned. "Regardless of whatever rumor is currently circulating, I'm not looking to become a Dark Lord."

Calypso frowned. "It's not about becoming a Dark Lord. It's about living up to your full potential. Why are you so hesitant to do that?"

"I'm not," Harry said defensively, "I just don't want to learn a lot of really dark magic."

"We've been over this a thousand times, Harry." Calypso sighed. "Why is it that every time you come back from England you develop a phobia for using the Dark Arts? Does your family make you drink befuddlement droughts until you agree that the dark arts are all for twisted sadists or something? You are good, no, great, at magic. You shouldn't feel handicapped to not study a branch of magic just because your family might disapprove a little."

"I really don't want to argue about this Calypso, can we just talk about something else?" Harry asked impatiently.

Calypso glared at him. "Fine, but just so you know, you're being very stupid... again. Now, what shape did your patronus take?"

Harry looked uncomfortable. "I haven't managed a corporeal patronus yet. Those are really difficult. All I've been able to generate is some mist. I'm even behind Nathan of all people."

Calypso grinned. "Jealousy is very unbecoming Harry."

Harry glared at Calypso before immediately clearing his mind of emotion.

"Besides," Calypso said, "your brother has been practicing the spell at Hogwarts for most of the year. It's only natural that he would be further ahead of you."

"He's only had a few private lessons with my uncle at Hogwarts. It's not like he even practices it every day like I did during the last week of the semester. We've probably put in the same amount of time into learning the spell, but Nathan's patronus is just better for some reason. And don't use Legilimency on me."

"You should be thanking me for catching you off guard. Do you think my father won't test your Occlumency?" Calypso asked, sounding completely unrepentant. "As far as your brother, I think it's stupid for you to be jealous. You're a far more accomplished wizard than he is right now, and it's not like either of you have mastered the spell yet. If you're upset that he seems to be doing better than you, work harder. Like I said Harry, jealousy doesn't suit you."

Harry did his best to ignore his anger and keep his mind clear. "Fine. Whatever."

"Don't pout Harry," Calypso teased, "it makes you look ridiculous."

"Speaking of ridiculous, what's the deal with all the rumors about us?"

"Müller," Calypso spat the boy's name, "will be learning very quickly to never start rumors about us. That is unless he wants to spend the rest of the term blind, deaf, and without a tongue."

"Why didn't your father just tell the Müller's–"

"What?" Calypso asked sarcastically. "Tell one of the most powerful families in Germany that he wasn't going to be using a marriage contract after he's been floating the idea to certain mutual friends for years. Maybe my father wants to see how we'll handle Müller's accusations about us. Maybe he wanted to put old man Müller in his place. Or maybe he wanted to use this in a ploy against some family he hates in Australia."

"So you've got no idea?" Harry asked, a feeling at the back of his mind telling him otherwise.

Calypso now looked slightly uncomfortable. "Well, I did mention to my father that you had begun courting me."

Feeling himself pale, Harry choked out, "What?"

"Well, it's not like he would accept me telling him that we snog, but that you currently have no desire to marry me." Calypso said angrily. "Father would have likely told me to stop whoring myself out to you before saying I need to find a different husband!"

Harry looked appalled. "But...that's not at all! You're not whoring yourself! We're just figuring out if we should... date."

"I know, Harry, but please just go with it for now. If my father asks... you're courting me."

Swallowing nervously, Harry asked, "And just what does that entail?"

"Well, a few centuries ago, you would be responsible for impressing me with magic, poetry, and music until I decided you were worthy enough, and I asked my father to present you with a marriage contract." Calypso laughed slightly at the thought of Harry playing a flute and trying to woo her. "Since my father already knows I want you to receive a contract, well, he probably assumes that we're basically dating, but calling it courting allows him to save face in case it gets back to our more traditional family friends."

Looking nervously at Calypso, Harry asked, "I don't have to worry about my family finding out about this rumor, right?"

"I doubt that our families travel in the same social circles." Calypso frowned slightly. "I can probably count the number of people in Western Europe that know my father is alive on one hand. Even my family's business partners in that part of the world think father is dead. They assume the Mr. Rosier that signs everything is some kind of Goblin based trustee until I become of age. So, no, you shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"Okay," Harry said awkwardly, "Um, well, I guess we should head downstairs. The feast is going to start soon."

"We'll go in a bit," Calypso said patiently, "there is something I want to do first."

"Oh? What?"

Taking two steps forward, Calypso quickly closed the gap between the two of them, stood up on her toes, and pushed her lips against Harry's.

While initially surprised, Harry quickly relaxed into the kiss. It was good to be back at Durmstrang.