Like Halloween, Flynn didn't really care much for the holidays, but when he realized that most of the student population would be leaving the castle, he started to feel the excitement that hung in the air around him start to infect him as well.

Lily wouldn't stop hounding him until Christmas came, constantly asking him whether he would be lonely over the break, and when she finally left with the other students, boarding the Hogwarts express to go back home, he let out a sigh of relief as a blanket of peace and quiet seemed to fall over the school.

After only one day of being alone, however, Flynn started to find himself being incredibly bored. He wasn't used to having so much free time, and quickly started to look for something to do.

Though he visited Hagrid to see if he had any tasks for him to do, Hagrid apparently had a break of his own and would be leaving Hogwarts to enjoy the holidays outside of it. After promising Flynn that he would ask him to help take the Christmas trees out of the Great Hall near the end of the break, Hagrid wished him a Merry Christmas before he continued packing his clothes, whistling an off-key rendition of what sounded vaguely like Jingle Bells.

Though Flynn already had an assigned set of spell drills from Flitwick, and he still had the books from Snape to read through, but after a certain time, the lack of variety started to get boring. Though he tried to stave off his boredom by asking McGonagall and Sprout for any extra tutoring, the two teachers seemed more surprised than anything by the request, and though they chided him gently for not taking the time to rest during the holidays, they seemed grateful for his eagerness to learn and both assigned him with some additional readings.

For the first time ever, Flynn used the Christmas break to use the common room to study and practise his spells in rather than an abandoned classroom, since he was the only Slytherin student to have stayed behind for Christmas, a fact that Draco taunted him with without realizing that Flynn didn't give half a shit about whatever fancy Christmas parties the "pureblooded society" got up to. From how Blaise was bitching about not wanting to go home, it didn't seem like Flynn was missing out on much anyways.

The common room was more luxurious than he was used to, and despite how soft the chairs were, he couldn't find it in himself to be too comfortable with it. It was too open, and simultaneously too crowded with tall privacy chairs that he couldn't see behind. Despite Flynn telling himself that he was the only one in the entire dormitory, he got annoyed by constantly having the feeling of wanting to watch his back, so he went back to the abandoned classrooms to study.

On the twenty-fifth of December, as Flynn went into the Great Hall to pick up his food for the day, he swore loudly when something hit the top of his head.

Pulling out his wand and glaring up at the only other person who was at the Great Hall this early, Snape raised a lazy eyebrow at him before drinking a sip of his tea and lifting his newspaper to pretend like he couldn't see Flynn.

Deciding that Snape hadn't been the one to throw something at his head, Flynn looked around the room before he noticed movement in the corner of his eye. Looking up, Flynn glared up at an owl that glanced down at him with an indignant expression before flying off, only to be replaced by another owl that was clutching a small brown package in its talons.

Being ready for it this time, Flynn was able to reach up and catch the package before it hit his head, frowning when he inspected it enough to see that it was addressed to him, along with the one that had already hit his head and nearly landed on a plate of eggs.

Before Flynn could think to inspect them further, he noticed more owls flying into the Great Hall, bombarding him with three more packages before they seemed to stop.

Keeping an eye on the window at the end of the Great Hall, he inspected the packages to confirm they were all addressed to him, sent by Liz, Lily, Hagrid, as well as Sally and Hermione of all people.

From Liz, he got a thick sweater and a pair of warm sweatpants, but any appreciation he might've felt for the gift was immediately squashed by the letter she sent along with it, nagging at him about how he never bothered to send her any letters, and complaining that Jones was being more grouchy than usual, and that Tom was lonely without his favourite little buddy. Though he doubted the old bastard gave half a shit about him, and Tom only wanted someone to beat up to feed his own ego, he grumbled to himself and made a mental note to write back to Liz, or she would only get more annoying.

From Lily, he got a letter that was long enough to rival Liz's, ranting about her family and how annoying her father was being. After promising to give him a nice hug to make up for making him lonely over the Christmas break, she wished him a Merry Christmas and asked him to enjoy her gift. Flynn glared at the chocolates enclosed in the package, and even though he hated the idea of eating the entire box of sweets, he wasn't one to waste food and he knew that Lily knew that. Vowing to get revenge on her, he took a tentative bite out of a small piece and was surprised to find that it wasn't sweet at all, but rather, had a deep bitter taste to it that was actually somewhat pleasant.

From Hagrid, he got a small bundle of crudely knitted wool that didn't really resemble much of anything, along with a store bought hat and a note that mentioned that he always dressed so lightly and that he should wear a hat at least, but also apologised for his poor first attempts at knitting and hoped that the store bought hat would be good enough for him.

From Sally, he got a small bag of pastries of something that looked like smaller versions of Hagrid's rock cakes, and a storebought stock greeting card that simply wished him a Merry Christmas.

From Hermione, he got two books, A Theory of Potions, and Curses and Countercurses, along with a note explaining that he shouldn't be borrowing them from the library so much, since other students might want to check them out, though she apologised for being unable to buy a copy of A Theoretical Guide to Crafting Spells and explained that most first years usually didn't have access to advanced texts like that, not that she was jealous or anything.

Flynn put away all of his gifts, frowning when he could barely fit them all into his pockets until he decided just to put on Liz's sweater and sweatpants, as well as both of Hagrid's hats. It was almost uncomfortably warm, but until he could drop them off in a secure place, it would have to do.

Flynn put away his new possessions soon after, frowning when he realised that for the first time in his life, he had enough personal possessions that he couldn't carry his entire life on his back.

He wasn't sure what to think of it, but he made sure to secure them in the furthest abandoned classroom that he knew of, hiding it in the deepest crevices of the room where nobody would think to look.

He ended up returning to that spot five more times that day, just to make sure all of his belongings were still there.

It was a few days after Christmas that Flynn was taking a break from studying, roaming the castle halls to give his mind a break, when a sudden tingle ran down his spine for no apparent reason.

Even though Flynn wasn't a believer of superstition, he didn't think that the "bad feelings" that he sometimes got would be classified as such. After a lifetime of having to deal with and avoid dangerous situations, he had come to learn to trust his gut whenever he felt like this, regardless of how little evidence there was to suggest that he was actually in danger.

Not seeing any reason to ignore the feeling now, he kept his eyes forward to not give any warning to anybody that might've been following him that he had any idea that he was in any sort of danger, and continued to walk forward, though he kept his senses sharpened for any signs of an incoming attack.

Nothing happened as he continued down the hall, but the feeling that he was being watched never went away.

He eventually made his way to a small bathroom, but walked inside without closing the door completely. He walked towards the sink, turned on the tap, and walked back to the door, hiding behind it and drawing his wand.

He waited there for what must have been fifteen minutes before he heard a set of barely audible footsteps approaching the door, so quiet that they were almost impossible to hear over the relatively quiet sound of the running tap.

The footsteps hesitated partway into the doorway, but continued not too long after.

Flynn tried not to be startled by the sight of the short wrinkly creature that walked inside as he stuck his wand into the back of its neck, making the creature let out a yelp of shock, flailing its arms around.

"Hey!" Flynn shouted, pushing his wand deeper into its neck. "Don't fucking move, or I'll blow your fucking head off!"

Immediately the creature stopped moving with its arms still raised in the air, as if it had been frozen mid-flail, though its bat-like ears continued to flop around after the sudden stop, as if they were made of rubber. Flynn tried not to be distracted by the sight, as he focused on circulating his magic within him, ready to release it at a moment's notice.

"Why were you following me?" he asked.

The creature didn't answer, still with its arms frozen in the air.

Flynn glared at it, and pushed his wand into the creature's neck.

"Are you fucking deaf?" Flynn asked. "Answer me!"

"Opie was just concerned, Master Hogwarts Student, sir!" the creature squeaked out immediately, though it kept its arms raised. "Opie saws Master Hogwarts Student going into the bathroom, but he didn't come out, sir! Opie thinks that Master Hogwarts Student might be taking a bath, but then Opie remembers that Master Hogwarts Student is too big to be taking a bath in a sink, like Opie. Opie is small," it added after a short pause, as if Flynn needed the explanation.

Flynn narrowed his eyes.

"You were following me before I came in here," Flynn said. "Why?"

"Opie?" the creature asked. "Oh yes, Opie follows Master Hogwarts Student."

"I'm fucking aware," Flynn growled. "Why?"

"Opie was curious about why Master Hogwarts Student doesn't let the house elves wash his clothes," the creature said. "But Opie thinks that Opie would be too shy to ask, so Opie does not know why Opie follows if Opie does not actually want to ask Master Hogwarts Student."

Flynn frowned as the sense of danger he felt quickly deflated, and though he didn't let his guard down, he started to feel a little embarrassed about how tense he had been, only to figure out that he was only being followed around by a sentient hand puppet.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Flynn asked.

"Opie does not know," Opie said. "Opie is sorry."

Flynn let out a huff of a sigh, and drew back his wand so it wasn't digging into Opie's skin, though he didn't lower it.

"Listen close, okay?" Flynn said. "I don't fucking appreciate people following me around like that. You're going to answer my questions, and if I'm not happy with what I hear, I'm going to hurt you."

"Okay," Opie said. "Opie will try Opie's best to make Master Hogwarts Student happy."

Flynn frowned, and though the creature seemed blissfully unaware of how it had failed its goals immediately, Flynn couldn't tell much of anything with how it was still frozen with its back turned towards him.

Slowly, with his wand still pointed directly at it, he moved around the creature until he was standing in front of it, with his wand pointed directly in between its eyes.

Strangely enough, the creature didn't react at all to the movement, with its wide eyes pointed forward as if it didn't notice Flynn moving at all.

"The fuck is wrong with you?" Flynn asked.

"Opie does not know what Master Hogwarts Student means, but many things can be wrong with Opie if Master Hogwarts Student wishes it."

Flynn frowned deeper when he saw that even though it was talking, its lips only moved slightly, like an amateur ventriloquist.

"Why the fuck aren't you moving your mouth properly?" Flynn asked.

"Master Hogwarts student says not to move, but Master Hogwarts Student also says to answer him," Opie responded. "Opie does not know how to do both, but Opie tries Opie's best."

Flynn scowled, feeling an annoyance-induced headache already starting to affect him.

"You can move your fucking mouth at least," Flynn said.

"Oh thanks you," Opie said, moving its mouth.

"You can move your eyes too. It's fucking creepy when you're staring blankly like that."

"Opie does not wish to be creepy."

"And put your fucking arms down. You look like a fucking spaz."

"That is very kind of you, Master Hogwarts Student. Opie's arms were getting tired."

Flynn didn't dare to sigh and risk taking his eyes off the weird creature, but he desperately wanted to, especially when he realised that he couldn't even remember what he was going to ask the creature.

"What was I asking you again?" Flynn asked, not bothering to try and threaten the creature anymore.

"Master Hogwarts Student was asking Opie many things," Opie said. "Master Hogwarts Student asked why Opie was following Master Hogwarts Student, but Opie could not answer because Master Hogwarts Student told Opie to not move, but then Master Hogwarts Student-"

"Shut up," Flynn said, raising his hand. "Nevermind. Forget I asked. Let me think for a second."

Opie nodded, but didn't say anything as Flynn frowned, still pointing his wand between Opie's eyes as he sifted through the recent conversation in his mind, trying to remember if Opie had said anything that was remotely relevant.

"What did you mean by house elves?" Flynn asked. "And why the hell would they wash my clothes?"

Opie stared up at him for a few seconds, seeming to be deep in thought before eventually waving his hands around, miming something incomprehensible with his fingers.

It took Flynn a few seconds to figure out what Opie was doing, and he let out a low groan of frustration.

"You can talk now," Flynn said. "Whenever I tell you to shut up, I don't mean you should shut up forever."

"Thank yous, Master Hogwarts Student," Opie responded.

"Don't call me that."

"Then what should Opie call Master, then?"

"Flynn."

"Then Opie shall call Master Flynn, Master Flynn."

"Just Flynn."

"The Opie shall call Master Just Flynn, Master Just Flynn."

Flynn groaned, but deciding that it was good enough, he didn't feel like it would be worth the headache to try and correct the creature.

"Fine," he said. "Whatever. Just answer my questions."

"Master Just Flynn asks Opie about what house elves is, and why house elves wash Master's clothes in hell?"

"Yeah, sure," Flynn said, not caring enough to deny the last bit.

"Well, house elves is Opie, and Opie's family," Opie said with a nod. "And house elves washes, and cleans, and cooks for all of Hogwarts, though Opie thinks Hogwarts is very nice, though Opie can think that Hogwarts is hell if Master Just Flynn wishes."

Despite how vague Opie's answer was, It wasn't difficult to interpret. Though Flynn had just assumed the castle cleaned itself through some sort of magic, and that the other students just had some sort of magical washing machine that they used instead of manually washing their clothes in the shower like Flynn did, it seemed that these creatures were something akin to a gremlin cleaning force.

Flynn frowned, not knowing exactly how he could even use this information before he realized that he had gotten somewhat lost in his own thoughts. Focusing on Opie again, he made sure to keep his wand pointed directly between its eyes.

Though Opie didn't even blink at the threat, its eyes seemed to dart nervously between Flynn's face and its own feet.

"Why are you acting like that?" Flynn asked.

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"Oh it is nothing, Master Just Flynn," Opie said. "Opie just is curious about why Master Just Flynn doesn't let the house elves wash his clothes, but Opie is also too shy to ask."

Flynn had no idea whether it was just asking him the question in a roundabout way, or if it genuinely thought that it didn't count unless it presented it in a question format.

"I wash my own clothes," Flynn said. "I don't need to explain shit."

"Okay," Opie replied with a nod.

Opie immediately stopped fidgeting in place, and simply looked up at Flynn, seemingly content with the answer to its question. Flynn glared down at it, wondering if its big eyes somehow couldn't see the wand pointed directly at its face, before a thought occurred to him.

"You make the food here?" Flynn asked.

"Opie does, yes," Opie said, with a nod. "But Opie likes making eggs the most, and Master Just Flynn doesn't take the eggs in his pockets. Itsy likes wrapping sandwiches and Itsy says that Master Just Flynn is Itsy's favourite Master Hogwarts Student."

Flynn frowned, not knowing what to think of the idea that these creatures had been responsible for feeding him for the past four months but any suspicion he might've felt was lessened by the fact that he wasn't dead yet. He had trusted the school enough to gorge on the food without suspecting that it would kill him, so what difference did it make to know that the school had a gang of small wrinkly creatures to make it? The only thing that the food had done wrong to him so far, was that it had made him fat.

Flynn kept his wand pointed at Opie's head, and Opie continued to stare up at him. They remained like that for almost a minute before Flynn realised that he had no reason to continue standing around like this.

"I'm leaving now," Flynn said, backing up to the bathroom door while keeping his wand still pointed at Opie's head.

"Okay, Master Just Flynn," Opie said.

"Don't follow me," Flynn said as he pulled the door open and stepped through the doorway.

"Opie shall not," Opie replied seriously.

Flynn paused in the doorway, wondering if there was anything to say, but eventually he just decided to let the silence rest, backing out of the bathroom as the door slowly closed on Opie, who remained unmoving.

After the door shut closed, Flynn stared at it for a few seconds, as if expecting something to happen, but when nothing did, he walked away, still trying to process what had just happened.

---

Overall, the rest of the Christmas break was long and boring, though he didn't mind the change in pace much. Aside from studying and practising his spells, Flynn didn't do much besides writing a letter back to Liz and helping Hagrid take the Christmas trees out of the Great Hall once the break came closer to an end, though he almost wanted to abandon him after Hagrid started to sniffle happily once he saw that Flynn was wearing the hat that he'd made for him.

The rest of the students came back to Hogwarts a few days before classes started up again, and with the sudden increase in activity around the castle, Flynn did his best to stay away from it all, but somehow still got caught by Lily at some point.

To his chagrin, she made good on her promise to give him a hug and wouldn't let go when he tried to shake her off. For a whole day, he was subjected to having to listen to her rambling about what she did at home with her family. She promised to spend the next Christmas at the castle with him, especially since Christmas at home was a lot more boring than she expected since her father kept trying to teach her a complex spell over the break, until her mother took pity on her and hid her father's wand away for the rest of the break, especially when she learned that the spell he was trying to teach her was a Love Potion Detection spell.

As an aside, Lily mentioned that her father was very interested in meeting Flynn, and that she thought they would get along.

Once night fell, and Flynn managed to slip away from Lily to head to sleep, he ran into Blaise right at the doors to the Slytherin dorms. After making sure that nobody was around to see, Blaise handed Flynn a new writing quill, telling him that he hated listening to the way that the subsidised Hogwarts quills sounded when they scratched against parchment, but making Flynn promise not to mention the gift to anyone else.

And soon after, Christmas was over.

---

After a short excursion into the Forbidden Forest, where Flynn helped Hagrid release a group of Kneazles back into the wild, after the Care of Magical Creatures Professor decided that it would be cruel to keep them in captivity for any longer than he had, Hagrid offered to let Flynn warm up at his hut before heading back inside and Flynn was eager to take the offer, with how much snow had gotten into his shoes.

As usual, Fang barked at them as soon as they opened the door to the hut, but didn't move from his spot under Sally's arm. Sally glanced up at them when they entered, raising her hand in half a shy wave, before returning her attention to the textbook she had propped up against Fang's back.

Lily stood up from her position in front of the fireplace and waved at them.

"How were the Kneazles?" she asked.

"Majestic creatures they are," Hagrid said. "It's a shame ye couldn't tag along te see them."

"It's okay. I don't think I would have been able to walk in all this snow. I'm not gigantic like you two," Lily said. "Besides, I'm more of a dog person."

Fang's ears perked up at the comment, and his mouth drooped in a dopey grin. Though Lily didn't move from her spot, Sally dutifully scratched the back of Fang's head in her stead.

"Sorry I had ye girls locked up in here while I was gone," Hagrid mumbled as he grabbed a tall coat rack and positioned it closer to the fire before taking off his coat and hanging it to dry. "Had to keep the fire going all day, and didn't want to risk the house burnin' down. Must've been boring."

"It's fine, Hagrid," Lily said. "Fang's always a great conversationalist, and the rock you have in the fire is pretty to look at. Why are you roasting a rock anyways?"

Hagrid chuckled and shook his head.

"Tha's no rock," he said, almost reverently. "It's a dragon egg. What I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback in the makin'. They're rare, them."

For the first time since he'd met her, Flynn raised an eyebrow when he noticed that Lily looked lost for words. With a stiff smile frozen on her face, she looked up at Hagrid with an expression that looked like she was struggling to understand what he had said.

As Flynn took off his coat and kicked off his shoes and socks, placing them by the fire to dry, he walked around Lily to squat in front of the fire, hoping that the heat of the fireplace would help dry out his pants quicker.

Hagrid didn't seem to notice the sudden change in Lily's demeanour, as he walked towards a small bookshelf at the other end of the room and rifled around a bit before pulling out a book titled, Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit. When he turned back, he seemed a little confused by how Lily was still frozen on the spot, but he carefully shuffled around her to squat down on the other side of the fire from Flynn and stoke the flames.

"Wow, that's really a dragon egg?" Sally asked, leaning forward curiously to get a closer look at it, though she sat pack down when Fang let out a low groan of protest.

"It is," Hagrid said, with a giddiness that didn't suit a man his size. "They're rare 'nuff that most wizards'll go their whole lives without seein' one. Always dreamed of having one since I was a wee lad, but I never thought it would actually happen."

Though the hut was filled with the sounds of Hagrid's happy humming, with Lily still frozen in place, there was a rare absence of idle chatter that stretched across the room like a void.

It took about three more minutes for Lily to break out of her frozen state, though when she turned to Hagrid, her smile was still stiff.

"Hagrid?" she asked, more timidly than Flynn had ever heard from her. "Where did you get that egg?"

"Won it," Hagrid said. "I was down in Hogsmeade a few nights ago and got into a game o' cards with a stranger. I don' win many card games if I'm bein honest, 'specially when I've been drinking. Mostly jus play for the fun of it, but I think he went easy on me. Almost like he wanted te get rid of it, te be honest."

Immediately, some tension bled out from Lily's body, her legs giving away slowly as she fell down beside Flynn and leaned against him. Flynn shot her an annoyed glance.

"The fuck is wrong with you?" he asked.

"N-nothing," Lily said. "Nothing's wrong."

It was the first time that Flynn had heard Lily stutter before, and the first time he'd heard her lie. He wasn't surprised by how terrible she was at it.

Whether he was too focused on his dragon egg, or if he was just too trusting to not pry any deeper into what Lily said, Hagrid continued to hum happily as he stoked the fires. Glancing back at Sally, it was obvious that she had noticed too, but though there she was wearing a concerned expression, she didn't seem like she was going to say anything.

Lily's silence hung heavy in the air of Hagrid's hut, and though Hagrid seemed to notice that something was wrong after a few minutes, he didn't seem to be able to pinpoint the exact cause of it. Though Lily had pasted herself onto his arm, she never seemed to notice when he glared down at her, seeming to be too focused on frowning to herself to pay him any mind.

Eventually, Flynn got annoyed enough by Lily's attitude that he stood up, despite his pants still not being fully dried.

"We're leaving," he said, standing up abruptly, making Lily yelp in surprise as she was dragged along with him. She almost stumbled backwards into the fire as she struggled to find her footing, but Flynn caught her by the arm and glared at her.

Lily gave him a sheepish look before turning away. For some reason that annoyed the hell out of him.

"We're leaving," he said again, pulling Lily along with him and pushing open Hagrid's door.

"Wait-" Hagrid said, before Flynn let the door shut behind him.

Flynn marched forwards, ignoring Lily's weak protests as he dragged her with him, until they got far enough from the hut that he was confident that Hagrid wouldn't be able to hear anything they said. Turning around, he glared down at her.

"Spit it out," he said.

Lily stared up at him silently, with an expression of confused shock on her face. It was better the anxiety that plagued her back in Hagrid's hut, but Flynn still wasn't happy with it.

"Spit. It. Out," he said, stressing each word with a harsh glare.

"What are you talking about, Flynn?" Lily asked.

"Don't start that shit with me, Lily," Flynn said. "You may act like a dumbass, but I know you've got at least some brains under that blonde mop you call hair."

"That's very rude, Flynn," Lily said. "But I still don't know what you're talking about."

"You're hiding something," Flynn said, not knowing what he was about to say before he said it. "What? You think I'm a fucking pussy, or something?"

Lily's eyebrows furrowed in even deeper confusion.

"You're not making any sense, Flynn," she said.

"Well, you're not making much sense either," Flynn argued back. "You're clearly scared of something, but you seem to think I'm not good enough to help you, which is frankly just insulting. I hate the idea that you think that I can't handle whatever it is that you're afraid of, so just spit it out."

Lily looked up at him, not speaking as the confusion on her face slowly transformed into a mixture of bemusement and bewilderment.

Flynn glared down at her until her lips cracked into a smile.

For some reason it didn't annoy him as much as it should.

Lily let out a heavy sigh and leaned forward, slamming her head into his stomach.

"You're suuuuch a big dummy, Flynn," she said, her voice and head shaking with laughter.

"What? You think you're funny?" Flynn asked, even though he somehow couldn't put much heat behind his words.

Lily cackled into his stomach for a few long seconds, before she raised her head, revealing the small tears of laughter starting to form at the corners of her eyes.

"My dad's an auror," she said. "Over the Christmas break, he kept talking about how he caught a group of dragon smugglers that snuck into a dragon sanctuary and stole a bunch of eggs, but couldn't track down one of them. I thought that maybe Hagrid was a bad guy, but now that I think about it, that was very silly of me, wasn't it. Like a sweetheart Hagrid could ever do anything bad."

Lily shook her head and laughed at the idea.

"I was glad when Hagrid said that he didn't actually steal the egg, but there's still the problem of what to do now. I'm sure that Hagrid's egg is the one that my dad's looking for, but Hagrid seemed so happy with his dragon that I wasn't sure what to do. I couldn't bear to break his heart."

"What do you think we should do, Flynn?" Lily asked, with a teasing grin and turned around to fall backwards against him. "Oh, I am so helpless and frail and need the help of a rough and tough boy to make my every decision for me. I can barely even walk for myself."

"Get off me," Flynn mumbled, looking to the side and refusing to meet Lily's gaze as she stared up and backwards at him.

"Nope," Lily said. "You offered to help. Besides, you did drag me out here without even letting me grab my coat or my shoes."

Flynn stared down instinctively, at the same time that he suddenly realised that his own feet were freezing, pressed bare against the snow.

When he felt Lily shivering against him, he grumbled to himself and leaned down to pick her up. She let herself fall naturally into his arms, and grinned up at him.

Flynn looked up to avoid her gaze, unable to meet it for some reason.

"Shut up," he said.

"I didn't even say anything yet," Lily said.

"Never speak to me again," he said.

"Oh I know you don't actually want that."

Flynn brought Lily back to the hut, placing her in front of the fire as Hagrid fussed over them, scolding the both of them for going barefoot in the snow. Lily hummed happily as Hagrid handed her a mug of warm tea and threw a thick blanket over her head, but she still shivered as she sat in front of the fire. When she beckoned Flynn to come closer and sit by her side, he didn't feel like he had the right to refuse, given how he was the one that had dragged her out into the snow in the first place.

Flynn didn't know if Lily really needed to keep leaning against him, long after their clothes and bodies had warmed back up, but he didn't mention anything, as time went by.

Sally excused herself to go back to the castle, since she needed to use the washroom and didn't want to go to Hagrid's outhouse, and Hagrid offered to go grab them some food from the Hogwarts kitchens, since they seemed too cold to move.

Busying himself by occasionally stoking the fire, Lily sat by his side in silence, though unlike the anxious silence from before, she seemed quite content.

"I don't think I'll tell my dad about the dragon egg," she said.

Flynn didn't say anything in response, but Lily continued anyway.

"I couldn't bear to see Hagrid being sad," Lily said. "And besides, my mom always said that little girls go through a rebellious phase against their dads, even though my dad keeps telling me that she's a liar. He was being super annoying over Christmas, so maybe I'll start early."

Flynn didn't say anything, but frowned at the smug grin that she was giving him.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing."

A few minutes later, Hagrid returned with as much food as he could carry, which ended up being way too much food for them, though Flynn used the opportunity to replenish his pockets with food, and fed whatever was leftover to Fang.

It had been a while since Flynn had eaten dinner with anyone else, and he was surprised to find that it was quite nice.