The final evening before Christmas break settled over Hogwarts in a haze of silver snowfall and warm golden light. Beyond the enchanted windows of the castle, snow drifted steadily across the grounds, blanketing the bridges, courtyards, and towers beneath layers of shimmering white. The Forbidden Forest looked softer somehow beneath winter’s touch, though its shadows still carried ancient secrets beneath the frost-covered branches. Inside the castle, however, life thrummed warmly through every corridor. Students hurried through the halls carrying trunks, cages, broomsticks, wrapped parcels, and armfuls of scarves. Laughter echoed from staircases while enchanted suits of armor complained loudly about students tracking melted snow onto the floors. Somewhere distant, Peeves was singing an intentionally off-key version of a Christmas carol while Filch shouted after him in fury. The atmosphere held a strange mixture of excitement and exhaustion that always came just before holiday departure. Even the castle itself seemed relieved after the chaos of the term.
Inside the Slytherin common room, the fire roared brightly against emerald-green stone walls while winter wind hissed softly outside the underwater windows. Shadows of passing squid drifted through the dark lake beyond the glass, distorted by rippling currents beneath the ice. Mira sat curled sideways in one of the larger armchairs near the fire, several enchanted blueprints floating lazily around her head. Tiny silver runes rotated slowly across the parchment diagrams of Tristan’s prosthetic arm while she occasionally adjusted notes with wandless magic. The faint glow from the rune schematics reflected against her pale face and silver jewelry, making her look almost ethereal beneath the warm firelight. Across from her, Draco lounged stiffly on the sofa with one leg crossed neatly over the other, though his eyes kept drifting toward Mira every few minutes in clear suspicion. Theo and Blaise occupied the nearby chess table, though neither appeared particularly invested in the actual game anymore. Daphne sat near the fire reading a book, though she too listened carefully to the ongoing conversation.
“So,” Theo said lazily while moving a chess piece without looking down, “Christmas plans.”
Blaise snorted softly. “You say that like it’s an interrogation.”
“It is an interrogation.”
Daphne sighed without glancing up from her book. “Theo wants gossip.”
“I want information,” Theo corrected.
“That’s just gossip wearing nicer robes,” Draco muttered.
Theo ignored him entirely and looked toward Mira instead. “What about you?”
Mira blinked once, distracted from her floating diagrams. “Hm?”
“Christmas plans,” Theo repeated patiently. “Try not to invent magical catastrophes for at least one week.”
A faint smile tugged at Mira’s mouth. “No promises.”
Draco immediately narrowed his eyes, “That answer concerns me.”
“It should,” Blaise said dryly.
Mira leaned back slightly in the chair, letting one of the glowing diagrams rotate slowly above her hand. “I’ll mostly be at the manor,” she admitted softly. “Tristan’s prosthetic still needs upgrades.” Her eyes shifted thoughtfully toward the blueprint floating nearest her. “The grip sensitivity is too reactive under adrenaline spikes, and the elbow rotation still has a slight delay during high-speed directional changes. The magical conduits also overheated after prolonged spellcasting during testing.”
Theo stared at her.
Then blinked slowly.
“You say things,” he said carefully, “that make my brain hurt.”
“That’s because your brain avoids exercise,” Daphne replied absently.
Theo looked scandalized.
Mira barely noticed the exchange. Her focus remained entirely fixed upon the floating runes. The prosthetic arm consumed her thoughts constantly now. Every flaw replayed itself in her mind over and over again like unfinished equations demanding resolution. She kept remembering the look on Tristan’s face when the wand first lit properly in his prosthetic hand. The disbelief. The hope. The fear underneath it all. Mira understood too well how fragile hope could be when attached to healing. If the arm malfunctioned later during active duty… if it failed him when he needed it most… The thought alone made something cold tighten in her chest.
“I can improve it,” she murmured quietly.
Draco’s expression sharpened instantly, “Mira.”
She looked up.
“You’re doing it again.”
A faint crease appeared between her brows. “Doing what?”
“That thing where you forget you’re human.”
Blaise snorted into his drink.
Theo outright laughed.
But Draco remained entirely serious.
“You barely slept while making the prosthetic,” he continued flatly. “You skipped meals. You ignored injuries. At one point you nearly passed out into a rune forge.”
“That happened once.”
“That should happen zero times.”
Mira opened her mouth.
Draco cut her off immediately, “And before you say you’re ‘fine,’ remember that you sliced your hand open because you were too exhausted to hold an engraving tool properly.”
Silence settled briefly.
Even Daphne lowered her book slightly now.
Mira looked faintly guilty.
Only faintly.
Draco noticed, “That expression tells me you learned absolutely nothing.”
“I learned several things,” Mira defended.
“Name one.”
“Don’t carve stabilization runes while dizzy.”
Theo covered his face with both hands, “Oh Merlin, we’re doomed.”
Draco stared at Mira for several long seconds with growing disbelief before leaning forward slightly, blue-gray eyes narrowing. “Listen carefully,” he said slowly. “If you spend the holiday overworking yourself again, I will personally Floo Professor Snape to the manor.”
The room fell silent.
Mira blinked, “You wouldn’t.”
“I absolutely would.”
Theo nearly choked laughing, “Oh, that’s evil.”
“Effective,” Daphne corrected calmly.
Blaise looked deeply entertained now. “I’d pay money to witness that conversation.”
Mira stared at Draco with visible horror now. “Draco.”
“He’ll lecture you for hours.”
“Exactly.”
“He’ll confiscate my workshop privileges.”
“Probably.”
“He’ll monitor my sleeping schedule.”
“I would assist him.”
Mira looked utterly betrayed.
Theo pointed dramatically toward Draco. “That right there is friendship through psychological warfare.”
Draco ignored him completely. “You need rest. Actual rest. Food. Sleep. Time outside your workshop. You already proved the prosthetic works. Tristan himself said he was happy helping with future tests. So stop acting like the entire burden rests only on you.”
His voice softened slightly near the end.
Only slightly.
But Mira noticed.
That made her finally fall quiet.
The fire crackled softly between them while snow drifted beyond the windows in pale spirals beneath the lake-dark water. Mira lowered her gaze slowly toward the glowing blueprints still floating around her. She knew Draco was right. She hated that he was right, but he was. The prosthetic arm had consumed her completely for weeks. Not because she regretted it. Never that. But because once she started trying to help someone, she forgot where her own limits ended. Somewhere deep inside herself lingered the terrified certainty that if she stopped trying hard enough… people would suffer for it.
It was an exhausting way to live.
Draco seemed to understand that without her saying it aloud.
His voice became quieter when he spoke again, “You don’t have to destroy yourself to help people.”
Mira looked up slowly.
The common room had grown unusually still now. Even Theo stopped joking. The firelight flickered softly across Draco’s pale features while shadows danced against the stone walls behind him. There was no mockery in his expression anymore. No sarcasm. Only concern hidden beneath his usual sharp edges.
Mira exhaled softly.
“I know,” she admitted quietly.
Draco raised one eyebrow, “Do you?”
A tiny smile finally appeared at the corner of Mira’s mouth, “…I’m learning.”
“That’s slightly better.”
“I’ll eat properly.”
“Good.”
“I’ll sleep.”
“Excellent.”
“And I’ll take breaks.”
Draco studied her suspiciously. “Real breaks?”
“Yes.”
“Not the kind where you stare at diagrams while drinking tea?”
Mira hesitated.
Draco pointed immediately. “That hesitation was criminal.”
Theo collapsed sideways against the sofa laughing.
Even Daphne smiled faintly behind her book.
Mira sighed dramatically. “Fine. Real breaks.”
Draco finally leaned back against the sofa again, looking mildly satisfied. “Good.”
Blaise smirked faintly into his drink. “You sound married.”
Draco threw a chess piece at him without warning.
The atmosphere lightened again almost instantly afterward. Theo resumed his exaggerated complaining about family gatherings while Daphne dryly informed him that no one forced him to attend parties voluntarily. Blaise discussed plans to spend part of the holiday in Italy with relatives while Draco reluctantly admitted his mother was already preparing enough formal dinners to qualify as political warfare. Mira listened quietly while the fire crackled warmly nearby. The soft noise of her friends talking wrapped around her like a blanket. Safe. Familiar. Real.
For the first time in weeks… she let herself simply sit there without reaching for another blueprint.
Outside, snow continued falling gently over Hogwarts as Christmas approached.
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and then Add to home screen.