After Christmas Day the days seemed to pass at light speed. Between visiting and being visited by other members of the family and days out with her parents, Roro found herself exhausted on the 30th. She was laying on her bed, still wearing her pyjama and reading a book when someone knocked on her door.

"Come in." She said sitting up on the bed.

"I come with treats!" Her dad announced while he passed her a cup of tropical tea. It was her favorite. He sat on the edge of the bed almost where her knees were. Roro took a sip before speaking.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah everything is dope! Dope. Dopity. Dope. Doppy… do young people still say that?"

"Some do, no worries, you’re still a youngster at heart dad." She joked smiling.

"That’s a relief." He sighed dramatically making Roro giggle. She took another sip before looking at her dad.

"So now, really, what’s going on?"

"I just wanted to talk with you a bit, you know, spend time with my Pumpkin. Is school going well? Do you like your classes? Any thing or one I should worry about?" He winked at her at those last words. Roro choked on her tea at that.

"DAD!"

"What?!"

"We are NOT having this conversation" She huffed. "I heard and asked about enough with mum so don’t worry." She explained sipping her tea again so she could cover her blushing face.

"Okay, okay… I still hope not to be the last one to know when you find a boyfriend…" He sighed this time for real and Roro showed him a small smile.

"Well, IF it happens you would know so stop it." She whined. Her dad looked at her with tender eyes and caressed her face making Roro lean into the caress and close her eyes.

"I just can’t believe you are almost sixteen." He mumbled. Roro looked at him worried.

"Dad, are you sure everything's okay?"

Her dad let a deep sighed escape and took an envelope from the back pocket of his jeans. He looked at it with stern eyes and gave it to her. Roro took the envelope with curiosity eating her up. It was a cream colored envelope, regular size. There was no sender, just her name written on the front of the envelope with thick, black letters.

"What’s this? Some sort of “Dear teenage daughter” thingy?" She joked but her dad kept his serious face.

"I wish." He whispered and cleared his throat. "It’s from your mother." Roro looked at him with wide eyes and let it fall from her hands.

"I don’t want it." She mumbled with a small voice.

"I’m not going to take it back, if you don’t want to read it I get it. It’s your own right but maybe you should consider it…"

"Still. I don’t want it. I want nothing from that woman."

"Roro…"

"No! You said you get it!"

"Okay, okay!" Her dad put his hands in front of him in an attempt to calm her down. "Don’t read it, I will just leave it here." He put it on her nightstand.

"Thank you."

"I’ll leave you alone now." He sighed again and got up to kiss her forehead before leaving. "I love you Pumpkin." He said before quietly closing the door behind him.

"I love you too Dad." Roro whispered to the silence in her room.

Roro put her empty mug on the nightstand and looked at the offensive envelope. She couldn’t believe the nerve of that woman. She wasn’t even able to call her mother or mum. As far as she was concerned, Seohyun was her mum. It had took her almost a year to finally be brave enough to call her that and even more time to feel comfortable again with the word. She had earned it and Roro had the right to give it to whomever she decided.

Roro couldn’t put a face on her biological mother. At least nothing she remembered. She knew how she had looked because of a few pictures her dad had showed her but that was it. She had left them when Roro was a year and a half. She doesn’t remember anything from that time since she was just a baby. However, she has memories from later. She remembers feeling sad because her dad looked sad and how much he worked. Still, he spent every free hour with her, showing her magic and everything. She also remembers when her dad began to look at the mirror before leaving home or how he would smile reading some letters on his desk. Suddenly, she spent more evenings with Aunty Claire but she didn’t mind. Her aunt was funny and her dad looked happier. Some time later, maybe a year, her dad introduced her to Seohyun. They spent the afternoon walking around. Her dad asked her what she thought about her and Roro said she liked her. Because she did. Seohyun was pretty and played with her. She was also great at braiding hair but Roro didn’t tell her dad because he was very proud of the hairstyles he invented for her. She kind of became a constant in their lives and two months later, which seemed a lot longer for Roro, her dad told her that Seohyun had a son and Jongdae arrived to her life.

After that, they spent a lot of time together. She really liked Jongdae from the beginning though she was quite shy and didn’t want an older boy to think that she was annoying so she kept her distance. However, her brother had no problems including her in everything he did or any game he played. It was also nice to be able to speak about magic without having to think about exposing such a big secret. After many nights that Jongdae and her mum had to spent at Roro’s home because it was too late to leave, their parents decided to find a bigger house and move all together. It was nice, she had her own big room and she could be with Jongdae and Seohyun everyday. She liked it.

Roro also remember how a year and a half after they moved all together and two months before the wedding (she was going to be the flower girl and she was delighted) someone began hitting their front door. The noise and screams woke her up and minutes later Jongdae came running into her room, closed her door and climbed into bed with her. He was trembling and Roro didn’t understand what was happening. She was seven at that time. It was then when she found out Jongdae’s biological dad was a really mean person who hit Seohyun. She embraced her brother and after the noise disappeared their parents appeared. They told them everything was fine and that was the first time Roro thought they were a family. Even though, it took her many months to call Seohyun mum. She called her that on her mind all the time but when she opened , nothing came out. It happened on an ordinary day. Jongdae was being more annoying than usual because a boy at school decided that Roro was pretty. She was embarrassed and her brother loved to . It was when she had had enough of the teasing that it happened. Roro whined for the adults to shut her brother up with a “Muuuum! Jongdae is teasing meeeee!”. She didn’t even realize what she had said until she saw how Seohyun looked at her with a surprised face and teary eyes. However, no one did a big deal out of it. She reprimanded Jongdae and caressed Roro’s head telling her she was indeed pretty and she shouldn’t be embarrassed about it. Obviously, after that moment the word stuck and Roro really thought of Seohyun as her mother. She had been there for everything, from volleyball matches to teenager’s drama (she was still there).

That’s why the envelope remained unopened on the second drawer of her nightstand. Tomorrow her parents were leaving to celebrate New Year’s Eve with some friends at a cottage not so far from Bristol. Her friends were coming home to celebrate all together and she wasn’t going to let a ghost from the past ruin her present.

Sometimes, that's easier said than done.

"How I wish I could do magic!" Mina’s mum whined standing next to Seohyun in the kitchen while she charmed the pans and pots to get washed. "It would make my life much easier." She sighed.

"Well, when Mina becomes a legal adult in the wizarding world she would be able to go you a hand." Seohyun giggled.

"I can’t wait for that moment!"

"Two days ago you were complaining I was growing too fast and that leaving me with some friends was proof and now you want me to grow up. You make no sense mum." Mina from the sofa where Roro and her were watching T.V.

“You make no sense” Her mum snorted. "Your dad said the same thing and later asked to marry me…"

"It just took me a while to realize how amazing you are, darling." Mina’s dad joined the conversation. Dante and him had gone to load the bags on the car since they were leaving in a moment.

"That’s something you inherited from him too, sweet talking your way out of situations." She shook her head but had a small smile on her face.

"Well, as far as personality treats go, sweet talking is a pretty good one!"

"Yeah, yeah… weren’t you leaving?" Mina asked rolling her eyes at her parents antics.

"Aish this kid!"

Everyone laughed after that and their parents went to finish preparations before leaving. Mina and her family had arrived early that morning and stayed to have lunch. Everyone else was supposed to get to the house in a few minutes before they parents left. Jongdae had gone to the accorded place to gather everyone. Big brother obligations or something.

It had been ten minutes when the front door opened revealing a group of teenagers. Jongdae was at the front talking with Xiumin and Baekhyun who were carrying a small bag each. Behind them, Suho was showing Yu something on his phone and next to them Chanyeol, Yixing and Kyungsoo were having a heated conversation. All of them stopped and bowed to greet the elders of the room and then Yu walked hurriedly to her best friends. They hugged and began excitedly talking about what had been going on during the break.

"It’s been like a week and a half plus you sent owls to each other!" Jongdae teased them.

"Apparently you can’t express the same amount of emotion on a written paper than with squeals and hand movement." Yixing explained to his friend with a funny smile.

"You will never get that Wendy girl with that small comprehension of the female world, Dae." Roro snickered.

"Who is Wendy?" Seohyun’s voice was heard while she glanced at her son.

"No one!" Jongdae was quick to answer giving her sister a glare.

"Ouch Dae! She would feel really hurt to hear that" Chanyeol joined up. "She was pretty happy to see you after break, right Baek?"

"Yeah! Didn’t she promise to write you or something?" His other friend added more fuel to the fire.

"Oh so that was why you were grinning two days ago when mail got here!" Dante said joining the youngsters teasing.

"Did you know that Yixing is the Hogwarts designed champion for the Potion Championship?!"

"That’s great dear!" Seohyun said smiling at said boy while Jongdae let out a sigh of relief.

After that everyone began settling. The boys brought their bags to Jongdae’s room and came down to the living room, sitting around and talking about nonsense. Yu left her things in Roro’s room next to Mina’s bag and asked permission to take a shower.

While everyone was gathered at the living room Roro got up to and went to the kitchen to get some snacks and drinks. She was trying to catch the bag of Cheetos on the upper shelf when a hand came above her and got it for her. She turned around with a pout and a glare.

"I was perfectly capable of getting that." She complained while Chanyeol showed her a cheeky smile.

"I’m sure you were but I wanted to help."

"Well, thanks Yeol." She moved to retrieve some bowls. "How was Christmas?"

"It was nice, Yoora was still worried about me so I got pampered enough." He laughed. "Also, my brother-in-law got me a new acoustic guitar and we are asking permission from school to bring it with me." He explained excited.

"That’s great! You have to play something for me sometime." She smiled at him.

"Of course! Whenever you want!" He nodded. "What about you?"

"Well, it was great too. We visited some relatives and I got a new recipe book and some supplies for the kitchen. Dad also gave me two tickets to go see Les Miserables in London for the summer."

"Sounds like fun" Chanyeol smiled at her. "I didn’t know you were into musicals."

"Oh yes, I love them! I usually go with Seohyun because she’s the only one who at least enjoys it with me" She shrugged. "however she is too busy this summer so I’ll probably go with Dae which isn’t a bad thing but…"

"Maybe you should take me." Chanyeol joke.

"Maybe I should." Roro answered with flirty tone and looking directly to Chanyeol’s eyes.

The tall boy raised his right eyebrow in a challenging way. They stood there looking at each other with cheeky grins on their faces and a smooth and flirty mood around them. Neither of them moved until the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard.

"As nice as this seems and even if I’m not sure what’s going on here, I will let it slip since your mum and I would like to say goodbye to you too." Roro’s dad voice was full of amusement. Both teenagers looked startled and turned around to look at Dante at the door.

"Uh, sure Mr. Adler, I’ll just take this and go." Chanyeol said nervously picking the glasses and leaving the kitchen. Roro glared at her father.

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"I just got to the end of the conversation" He answered raising his hands in front of him in a defensive way. "and you know, the kitchen is a shared space." He .

"Dad!"

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry." He laughed. "Now come here and hug your old man goodbye!"

Roro hugged her dad while he kissed the top of her head and wished him to have a pleasant and safe trip. After they separated her dad looked at her with a serious face.

"I think you should take Chanyeol to that musical, he looks nice enough." Dante winked at her while Roro shouted a choked DAD! and shoved him away walking to the living room to say goodbye to Seohyun with a blushing face. Leaving a very amused Dante behind.

After everyone had said their goodbyes and Jongdae was reminded to be careful and responsible with the house and other reminders were done, the adults left. The group of teenagers got back into the house and looked at the living room, were several blankets and pillows were disposed on the floor creating a kind of chill out zone. It was Jongdae who voiced what was in everyone’s minds.

"LET’S GET THE PARTY STARTED!"

Party, party, party~

This is not proofread (I'm sorry!) but I've been super busy with work (>.<)

Thank you to the new subscribers (I can't believe I have 20 now <3) and to everyone who reads this thank you again! :)

I'm looking forward to your feedback :D
Love

Roro <3