After the Ravenclaw House's grand Halloween prank, the prank war was officially, finally, called off as the teachers came down hard. And Franziska was glad for it, especially considering the very next day saw the start of the Quidditch season, with Gryffindor versus Slytherin.

She has agreed to watch the match with Brandon, whom she is starting to speak to again after he'd sent her multiple chocolates as apology for starting the prank war.

Of course her roommates about it as she gets ready the morning of.

"Ditching us for your boyfriend Frannie?" Leona giggles teasingly as she pulls on her own robes for the day. "I'm heartbroken."

Franziska rolls her eyes at her roommate. "Could you quit that? We've gone out once, we haven't labeled it anything yet."

Leona just giggles and Tonks and Kiera begin humming a wedding march. Franziska throws her pillows at them as she exits the dorms.

She spies Donaghan in the common room, but she decides to not bother him as she once would have. The blonde has been extremely quiet and generally mopey the past few days but he hasn't told anyone what the problem is. Franziska knows that both Cian and Henry know what happened to cause the shift in their friend's mood, but they aren't sharing either.

She quickly makes her exit from the Hufflepuff common room and out into the now safe corridors of the castle, though her guard is still a bit raised. She reckons it will be that way for a while yet - one doesn't just shake off the hyper-awareness you had to develop during the prank war after all.

She and Brandon had already arranged to meet in the Great Hall first to have some lunch before the match, then she was going to sit with the Gyrffindors in their section.

Admittedly she's a little worried about that, but she knows the Gryffindor captain's Ravenclaw boyfriend regularly sits with her House during Gryffindor matches so there aren't really any rules against it. It just feels weird to Franziska.

Brandon is standing just outside the Great Hall and he perks up when he sees her.

"Badger, hey!" He grins and hurries over. "I, um, I brought my scarf so you won't have to stand out so much with your Hufflepuff robes, if you wanted." He blushes and shifts on his feet awkwardly and Franziska feels her own cheeks warming as she accepts the offered article.

"Am I that obvious?" She asks with a small laugh as she secures the scarf around her neck before following Brandon to the Gryffindor table. She's thankful that they aren't sitting with their yearmates - that would probably have been an entirely new level of awkward if they had.

"So um, are you still mad at me? About the prank war?" Brandon asks uncertainly, poking at his food.

Franziska sighs. "I was never mad really, but I do think you need to apologize to Aidan properly. I mean, how would you feel if someone hurt Buddy?"

Buddy is Brandon's owl, who Franziska had gotten to meet earlier in the semester, and Franziska knows how much Brandon likes the young bird.

Brandon makes a face. "Okay, I guess I get that. Cerid is just a cat though." He grumbles under his breath.

Franziska lightly kicks him under the table. "If this is going to work out we'll need to work on your attitude towards fluffy balls of adorablness." She informs him with a small smile.

Brandon grins back. "Well, if it's for you I might be able to tolerate them."

Conversation is a bit easier this time than it had been during their Hogsmeade date, and Franziska is happy to find that her irritation with Brandon really is gone. She hadn't been entirely sure she could forgive him for being the instigator of the worst month of her Hogwarts career, but she enjoys talking to him too much to ever really stay mad.

Once breakfast is over they make their way to the Gryffindor stands. Brandon is happily rattling off statistics of the current teams, apparently garnered by sneakily watching their practices.

"I may not be flying for Gryffindor, but you can bet I'm still an invaluable member of the team." He says proudly, and Franziska laughs.

"I can see that. So what about Slytherin? You haven't said much about them yet." She prompts. "And they are Gryffindor's first opponent."

Brandon grimaces. "Okay, between us? I'm not so sure we'll be able to win. Between Evera and Jacob having no harmony and their new Seeker? Odds are not in our favor." He sighs. "I haven't told Charlie that."

Franziska pats his hand encouragingly, tugging his scarf higher around her neck as they enter the stands. "I hear Gryffindor does it's best when the odds are close." She encourages him. "I know it will be a great game."

They sit next to Holly, who Franziska is thrilled to talk to for a bit, having seen less of her friend since flying lessons ended after first year.

"Is your sister excited for her first game of her last year?" She asks curiously, and Holly shrugs.

"Mixed feelings I think. She says the team isn't as strong this year but it'll improve with the season, and with the years. I think she just doesn't want to lose to Mayra in their last year."

Franziska nods. "Makes sense. Why's the team weaker though? Did that many people graduate?"

Brandon pipes up then. "It's a combination. Bill Weasley and Archie Jamieson both dropped in favor of school and no offense to Charlie but the new Slytherin Seeker is supposedly a monster on the pitch. I haven't gotten to see him play myself, but he's in our year. Lenny or something?"

"Lenox McLeod, son of the manager for the Montrose Magpies. Laurel already saw him as a potential threat if he tried out to replace Blackthorn." Holly supplies. "I'm actually kind of excited to see him in action. Everyone says he's the only Seeker this year who might give Charlie a run for his money."

Brandon scoffs. "Yeah right, Charlie is the best Seeker Hogwarts has seen in years."

Franziska immediately feels defensive. "Hey, Lola managed to outdo him two years ago." She points out. "You Gryffindors need to stop thinking your the top of the world in sports."

Brandon backs down instantly, looks chastened. "Sorry Badger, Lola is definitely the second best. Just statistically Charlie overtook her last year is all."

Holly raises an eyebrow. "Wow you are whipped." She teases, and Brandon flicks the corner of her own scarf into her face, leaving her spluttering but still amused.

Franziska just laughs lightly as the players begin to enter the field, hoping her blush isn't too obvious. She waves to Charlie as he walks on and he winks at her cheerfully before mounting his broom.

Beside her, Holly sighs.

"Holly are you-" Franziska cuts herself off at the sappy smile on her friend's face. She glances over at Charlie again, and then grins. "Why Holly Kiddell, do you have a crush on Charlie?"

Holly giggles, her cheeks faintly pink as she sits straight again. "Is it that obvious? I'm gonna ask him to Hogsmeade on the next trip. You two had your first date there, right? What did you do? I want to make sure it's perfect."

"Maybe ask before you start ringing the wedding bells, he might say no." Brandon points out, scooting a bit closer to Franziska as he does. "Now  shush, the game is starting!"

On the pitch, the players have all taken to the air and are waiting for Coach Crowell to toss up the Quaffle. Franziska feels her stomach turn slightly, but she stubbornly pushes it down. No one has died during a school game in over a century and they aren't going to start now, regardless of what the little voice in the back of her head is shouting.

Then the Quaffle is up and the teams are off. Immediately Franziska understands her friends' concerns about their team's chance against Slytherin - the skill divide is evident from the first takeoff.

Evera rushes the Quaffle but Mayra Byrnes flicks it out of her reach with a quick spin and straight into the hands of one of the other Slytherin Chasers, who's off across the pitch in the next heartbeat.

Franziska doesn't realize she's holding her breath until Laurel Kiddell smashes a bludger into the pathway of the Chaser and one of the Gryffindors manages to snag the Quaffle away and heads back across the pitch.

"Go Laurel! Kick their !" Holly shrieks excitedly, and Franziska jumps in surprise.

Brandon looks over at his Housemate in annoyance. "Jeez Holly, what're you trying to do, make us go deaf?"

Holly sticks her tongue out at him. "I'm being a supportive sister, so bleh. Willow and Eric are even worse - you two are lucky they decided to sit in the Ravenclaw section today." She gestures to where an obnoxiously large Gryffindor banner is hanging over the Ravenclaw area of the stands. "Willow's logic is that Laurel will be bolstered if there's support from all angles." She grins at Brandon. "Maybe you two should have sat in the Hufflepuff section."

Brandon shakes his head. "Next time maybe."

Franziska nods idly, her eyes flitting back to the game. Now her stomach is battling both nervousness for the players and anticipation of the game. She remembers now why she loved it so much first year.

One of the Slytherin beaters flies dangerously close to the Gryffindor stands, and Franziska instinctively ducks to avoid being kicked.

"Hey watch it!" Brandon shakes a fist at the player, who glances back briefly but pays him no further mind.

Brandon snorts. "Rude. You okay Badger?"

Franziska smiles. "Oh I'm fine, all part of the game right?"

Brandon doesn't get to answer, as Evera takes that moment to make an attempt on the hoops, though the Slytherin Keeper is quick to snatch the ball out of the air and pass it off to Mayra, who'd been waiting patiently nearby. The Slytherin Captain immediately takes off, streaking across the field with both Beaters beside her, fending off any attacks Laurel or the other Beater Myr attempted to shoot their way.

"Come on Lions! You can do better than that!" Brandon shouts in frustration as one of the Beaters angles a bludger to get Kent away from the hoops and Mayra makes and easy score.

The male Gryffindor Chaser - Franziska thinks she remembers Brandon calling him Jacob? - snags the Quaffle as it falls behind the hoops and takes off across the field. He quickly passes off to the one Chaser who's name Franziska doesn't know, and she passes to Evera. The three play keep away from the Slytherin Chasers and this time successfully get the ball through the far right hoop.

She nudges Brandon playfully. "What did I tell you? Gryffindor does best under pressure."

The game remains incredibly close throughout, with each goal made quickly being matched so neither team remains in the lead for long. Above the chaos, Charlie and Lenox circle like birds of prey, both of them keeping their eyes sharp for any glint of gold.

However, it's neither of them that sees it first. In the Hufflepuff stands, Leona jumps up with a shriek. "Since when can the snitch enter the stands?"

At her exclamation both Seekers are off, shooting first towards the Hufflepuff stands, and then switching direction when they catch sight of the golden glint moving further down the pitch.

Franziska can barely see it herself, more relying on where the Seekers are to be able to notice the occasional glint of gold above the stands.

Charlie manages to swerve in, cutting Lenox off from the snitch, and the Gryffindor Seeker reaches out.

On the pitch, Mayra manages to dodge past a distracted Evera to make a shot on goal, though Kent manages to narrowly block the attempt. Another Slytherin Chaser nabs the falling Quaffle and scores neatly on the opposing hoop before Kent has a chance to even notice he's there.

The two Seekers meanwhile have continued their chase, with Charlie continuing to box Lenox away from the snitch. However, just as the red-headed Seeker reaches out to snag the snitch and the win, Lennox flies above Charlie and rolls over in mid air, so he's dangling upside down from his broom, his legs crossed over the top to stop gravity from dragging him several hundred feet to the ground below. WIth a deft move he grabs the snitch from right under Charlie's nose and then casually rights himself, grinning and waving the snitch towards the Slytherin reserves bench, where an Indian girl Franziska recognizes from her classes enthusiastically waves back.

Slytherin of course begins cheering loudly, while the rest of the students in attendance deflate. Franziska sees Laurel flying down to the pitch, closely followed by Mayra. The two Captains exchange a hand shake, but Franziska can tell even from the stands that it's a tense one.

Beside her, Holly stands up. "I should go make sure she's okay. And also make sure Eric doesn't smother her with attempted comfort, he's awful at it." She smiles faintly and then joins the crowd of departing fans.

Franziska and Brandon stay a little longer to let the crowd thin out before they get up. Franziska unconciously tugs at Brandon's scarf still wrapped around her neck to shield against the cold November air. "Well, hopefully Hufflepuff will win our game next time, so the end of the date won't be such a downer." She observes as they make their way back inside.

Brandon looks over at her with wide eyes. "You want to do this again?" He sounds almost pathetically hopeful and Franziska can't help but laugh and flick his own scarf at his face.

"I might be interested, yeah." She can feel herself blushing. "But first you have to make up with Aidan okay? And apologize to Cerid too, she's an absolute dear."

Brandon nods immediately. "Absolutely can do Badger. Sorry it upset you so much, I'll be sure to run pranks by you in the future."

Franziska allows herself a small smile as she takes off the scarf and offers it back, no longer needing it for camoflauge or warmth. "Expect me to shoot a lot of them down, you know I'm not a fan."

He grins and pushes the scarf back into her hands. "We'll work on that. And you keep this, it's only getting colder you know!" With that he runs off, and Franziska stares after him, confused.

"Where are you going?" She shouts, and he turns briefly to flash her that mischevieous grin.

"To apologize of course! My lady has demanded it after all!"

She laughs and watches him go, draping the scarf back over her shoulders. All in all, Brandon definitely isn't the worst person to spend a free day with.

Losing their first Quidditch match hadn't exactly been a confidence booster for the fledgling Gryffindor Team, and it shows in their subsequent practices.

Evera especially has been down about the situation, getting to practice early and staying late whenever she can. Kent usually stays with her but Myr is still concerned. Evera has always been rather carefree so seeing her so upset is disconcerting.

However, he has more pressing things to occupy his mind. Namely, the upcoming midterm exams. He's never been a particularly exceptional student, but this year has proven much harder to keep up with than previous ones thanks to the addition of Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies. Writing essays isn't hard, but it eats into the time he usually spends working on casting spells for the rest of his classes, and he's worried that he may actually fail the practical portions of his Charms and Transfiguration exams.

When he mentions this to Holly during a study session, she raises an eyebrow pointedly. "Well if you had a proper wand I'd be more worried. I'm serious Myr, come by our shop this summer and get a wand from us would you? It'll help, I swear it will help."

This isn't the first time Holly has pointed out that his using a wand purchased by someone else is probably affecting his ability to use magic effectively. And he believes her, he does - she's an expert on wands after all, even working at her uncle's wand shop over the summers and intending to take it over whenever he retires.

Myr sighs. "I'll talk to my mom about it, but you know wands are expensive Holly. And you've seen my house - we aren't exactly rolling in extra funds right now." He points out.

Holly pouts. "Tell you what, you come in between noon and one and I can give you a discount. That's when Uncle Rowan takes his lunch so I'm in charge of the shop for an hour."

Charlie, who's studying with them, glances up at the offer. "Any chance that would be available for other classmates? My little brother Percy is starting at Hogwarts this year." He asks hopefully.

Holly grins over at him. Despite Charlie having rejected her request for a Hogsmeade date, it's clear she still has a bit of a crush on the red head. "Of course! Between noon and one and I can set him up with a Kiddell original." She promises.

Charle flashes her a return smile. "Awesome! Thanks Holly."

Myr nods as well. "Thanks Holly. I'll talk to my mom about it, we might be able to swing something."

Holly just beams.

Myr considers the offer alone later on in the day, when he's unsuccessfully attempting to Transfigure a beetle he'd found wandering aimlessly around the corridors. It's one of the easiest spells they've learned this year, but he just can't seem to master it despite his best efforts.

He wonders if it's really his wand that causes him to have such trouble with casting magic. He's looked up Squibs in the library, has figured out that Cadi must be one, that his Uncle had thought he was one as well. Until that letter he hadn't shown any sign of having magic. He wonders if maybe even the best wand in the world won't make up for his own lack of talent.

He pushes the thoughts away and focuses on the beetle in front of him, something he's become accustomed to doing. But as ever, the worry lingers at the back of his skull, whispering that he'll never really be a good wizard, no matter what he tries.

Quidditch helps, and he's glad that Laurel is continuing practices despite their not having another match until February. Being in the air on his broom is the one place he honestly feels like he completely belongs at Hogwarts.

He's glad that he decided to try out as a Beater though - Evera is absolutely miserable as a Chaser due to Jacob's intense arrogance and Cassidy's tendency to not really think through what she's doing, making it nearly impossible for Evera to stay open for a pass. Myr isn't sure he'd enjoy Quidditch as much if they were his partners.

As it is, he knows he's losing Laurel as his pair, so he's enjoying the time he has with her for all it's worth. She's a great partner on the field, and he appreciates her less direct approach to beating.

"Myr, cover the crow wouldya?" Laureal shouts to him, shaking him out of his thoughts and in an instant he's diving, scanning for the bludger she'd directed him towards. The two of them have their own way of refering to actions in order to prevent opposing players to know what they're doing until it's too late.

Myr's eyes lock onto the bludger finally, and he redirects his dive so he can send it towards Laurel, who uses it to bat the Quaffle away from Cassidy, who rewards the excellent maneoveur with an extremely rude hand gesture.

Myr grins and arcs back up, keeping an eye on the errant bludger in case he needs to direct it away from one of his teammates. He ends up hovering near Kent, who's looking remarkably bored as the Chasers have been doing an excellent job keeping the Quaffle away from him.

Kent greets him with a nod and a light grin before turning back to the game, and Myr is content to float quietly for a few minutes before Laurel calls another manouveur and he takes back off across the field.

He wouldn't say Quidditch is mindless, but it certainly feels easy when it's compared to the strain of studying for the upcoming exams. Once the brooms have been put away Myr is back in the library, editing his final Muggle Studies paper and doing his best to only use knowledge he's learned from Hogwarts and not from actually living as a Muggle. For all Professor Quirrel's apparent good intentions he's not exactly a master of Muggle culture.

"Hey, is that the Muggle Studies essay on electricity?" Kent asks curiously. The other boy, along with most of the Quidditch team now that Myr is looking around, has also made his way to the library, and he's cradling an armful of books. "I remember that one. I only managed an 'A' myself, I was never much good at non-practical classes." He grins. "Mind if I study next to you? Evera summarily kicked me out when Drake and Jemma showed up."

Myr smiles briefly and nods, shifting his parchments so Kent will have somewhere to put his books.

"So how's school treating you so far? I remember third year was super intense what with the new electives and the spells getting harder." Kent continues chatting as he settles in, and Myr sighs but looks up from his essay, which really is fine but he wanted to make sure it was perfect. However, if his teammate wants to talk he can make some time.

"It's fine. I've always had trouble with practical spells so that's not very fun." He responds, putting down his quill. "But my electives are great, and Quidditch of course, so I can't really complain."

Kent nods thoughtfully. "I get that, there's a couple kids in my year who struggle with application as well. It comes with practice - I could try and help out, if you like. Take some time before or after practice - I'm going into NEWTs sooner than I care to think about so I could use some refreshing anyway." He grins over at Myr, who smiles hopefully.

"That actually sounds amazing." He admits. "It wouldn't be too much trouble?"

Kent laughs. "Not at all. Hey, why don't we go find one of the empty classrooms and start now? I can go through all this tonight in the dorms." He waves at the pile of books in front of him, and Myr, after a moment to glance at his essay, decides it's well worth it.

The two end up on the fourth floor, which seems to be composed entirely of unused classrooms as far as Myr can tell, and Kent helps him work on his wrist movement for his Charms exam.

"You're doing it perfectly, I'm not sure why the effect is still so weak." Kent frowns as Myr attempts a Lumos Duo that fizzles into a small stream of light instead of the beam it's supposed to be.

Myr sighs. "I'm just not great at magic. My uncle thought I was a squib until I got my letter." He admits quietly.

Kent shakes his head with a frown. "That shouldn't matter though. Wands choose the wizard - if you have weak magic your wand should be making up for it. At least, that's what I understand from when Laurel's gone on a tangent a few times." He laughs at Myr's incredulous look. "Just because Holly is the one inheriting the family business doesn't mean her sisters aren't equally nerdy about that stuff."

Myr glances at his wand. "This was actually from my uncle, I didn't get it myself. Do you really think it would help to get a new one?"

Kent nods immediately. "I'd think so. Though I know wands are pretty expensive." He adds with a frown. "Your uncle might not be thrilled he spent money on something that's going to be thrown away."

Myr shrugs. "I mean, if it's going to get me better grades I think my mom will deem it important enough to find the funds. And Holly offered me a discount so I guess I'll take her up on that."

Kent nods. "Well there you go! For now perfecting technique is the best you can do really, but teachers will take note of that so your grades shouldn't be too heavily affected by the wand thing."

The two continue practicing for nearly an hour before Kent calls it a day and heads out to find some of his friends, while Myr remains in the classroom but turns back to editing his essay. He really does want to do well on it.

With the prank war over and Quidditch relegated to only practices, Myr's life comes to revolve entirely around writing essays and attempting to perfect his wand technique and pronounciation in hopes his midterm grades will remain average despite the harder material.

The one bit of relief comes in the form of the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw match in the third week of November, just before exams begin. Myr attends with the rest of the Gryffindor team, with instructions from Laurel to watch the strategies of the other two teams. Myr is quietly glad that Brandon is on another date with his Hufflepuff friend since he'd have otherwise been sitting alone, being the one Gryffindor third year not on the team (Holly isn't either, but she's sitting with her sister).

Myr mostly just watches the game, though he takes note of a few interesting plays by the Ravenclaw beaters.

He recognizes one of the new Ravenclaw chasers as being from his class, but the boy isn't playing very well, rarely passing the Quaffle and thus rarely being given it in turn. When he does have it Myr sees why he's on the team though - he's really quite skilled on a broom.

He spots Laurel eyeing the new player as well, a thoughtful look on her face that tells Myr she's scheming.

Unsurprisingly Hufflepuff takes home the win. Between Lola looking to reclaim her title of 'best Seeker' and the lacking teamwork, Ravenclaw never really stood a chance.

It was still a fun distraction, if only an hour long, and Myr is sorry when he has to head back to the library to study up on Bowtruckles.

His first exam thankfully is for Muggle Studies, which is all written and also his best class so far. Professor Quirrell is always happy to derail the class to listen to Myr describing more accurate portryals of Muggle life. For his part Myr is almost impressed at how incredibly wrong wizards can get Muggle culture at times.

The essay is on Halloween, one of the many tangents they'd had during class time, and Myr decides to divide his essay between Wizarding beliefs and actual Muggle traditions. He's hoping Professor Quirrell doesn't expect exam answers to perfectly follow the textbooks, especially considering the readings are very rarely discussed in class.

The next exam is a lot more stressful unfortuantely. Myr walks into the Charms midterm feeling like there are doxies chewing through his stomach lining.

Holly is equally miserable, apparently going through another set of mood swings this week. She does invite him just before the exam to study for Herbology with her and her fourth year friend Emery Grant, but he declines politely, not really wanting to be around her when she's being unpredictable.

He instead retires to the empty sixth floor classroom he'd found with Kent earlier, which he's found to be a better, quieter study area than the library, and practices his Transfigurations for the exam at the end of the week. The rest of his exams don't require much in the way of practical magic, thankfully.

Professor Addington in Defense Against the Dark Arts has opted for a written test, with a series of questions on the locations and best defenses against the dark beasts they've been studying so far during the year. Myr knows the final exam will include properly banishing a boggart, but for the time being he's happy to just write about their weakness to laughter and what his ridikuloused boggart would look like (Owen, tripping over his own paws while trying to catch his tail - he thinks that could get even the most stone-hearted person to crack a smile).

Herbology is next, and he's quite happy to be paired up with Holly for the assignment - she's easily the Gryffindor in their year who's best at the subject which makes him optimistic about his grade, especially considering he probably didn't study as much as he should have.

Holly is only too willing to take charge of the situation, and Myr obediently follows her every instruction, resulting in their final product being near perfect, and also done before most of the other Gryffindors or Slytherins.

He spends the rest of the day going over his Care of Magical Creatures notes as well as his History as he has both exams the next day and while he's certain he remembers everything it would be rather embarrassing to not finish on time or miss an obvious date.

Both exams thankfully go well, as does Potions the next morning (he's certain he got an A, which is really all the Gryffindors can hope for in Snape's class).

Finally he enters the Transfiguration classroom for their final exam before winter break, and he can practically feel the butterflies in his stomach attempting to chew their way through his intestines.

He knows his technique is great, and his pronounciation has been praised by his Head of House more than once, but he also knows his actual spellwork is weak at best. At this point though, he just wants to get things over with so he can go home and forget about magic for a while.

It's always a bit of a transition for Ana to shift from school back into her home life during Christmas break.

Her mother always hovers and asks more questions than Ana particularly cares to answer, and the tea circle, as interesting as it can be, takes getting used to after months of minimal social interaction.

The worst part, though, is the fact that this year they're going to be having Christmas at the MacMillan manor. And that means spending all of December twenty fifth with Alasdair's obnoxious older brother Alec, who Ana can barely handle on an hourly basis, nonetheless for an entire day.

She does have about a week to prepare though, and she does so by immersing herself in her break homework and discussing Marcus Flint's scholastic progress with his mother whenever she's down for the tea circle. She's hoping she'll be able to develop a script about school that she can follow instead of having to actually expend energy thinking up reponses to Alec's likely inane attempts at conversation.

She's admittedly also a bit worried about talking with Alasdair. Though she still considers him her closest friend amongst her same aged peers, they don't really speak during school anymore. Alasdair has been spending more time with his blond roommate - the one with the unfortunate name that Ana can't quite ever remember - and Ana has her seventh year friends as well as her new aquaintanceship with Aidan to keep her plenty occupied as well.

But before they can have Christmas, Winona insists on taking her daughter shopping for presents. For her part Ana is not particularly happy with that state of affairs, but a look from her father has her acquiescing to her mother's request nonetheless.

Which is how she finds herself in Diagon Alley with a list of names and a pocket full of Galleons. Her mother had given some vague excuse as to why she absolutely had to go to the back alone so Ana could go shop for her friends for an hour. Ana of course knows that her mother is simply getting her a present but she doesn't fight about it.

At the top of the list is Eric, with Laurel's name in parentheses beside his. Ana isn't sure if she should get anything for the Gryffindor Quidditch captain as she doesn't really know her, but Laurel and Eric are practically a package deal these days - even during the prank war she couldn't go a single meal without hearing something about Eric's girlfriend.

Ultimately, after remembering that she still has the bracelet Eric had gotten her for her thirteenth birthday clasped around her wrist, she decides to get something for them both. She owes Eric - the bracelet really has helped with her Leglimency lessons. So she crosses out the parentheses around Laurel's name and sets about her gift hunting.

After an hour she's only about halfway down what she's come to realize is a much longer list than she'd expected to have. Sighing and deciding she'll just have to do the rest with her mother, she returns to their agreed on meeting place and waits.

Winona is a few minutes late, and laden down with shopping bags. "Did you find everything you need sweetie?" She asks with a smile.

Ana shakes her head. "I'm still looking for Aidan, Josie, and Horace, and I suppose I ought to get something for Alec since we are going to be seeing them in a few days. Perhaps something for Marcus as well, I hear he passed his midterm examinations and that ought to be rewarded."

Winona beams. "Oh it's so nice to hear you have so many friends! Come, I'll help out. Between the two of us we'll find the perfect gifts in no time!"

Ana wouldn't call an additional hour and a half 'no time', but her mother does help quite a bit with Alec and Marcus's presents. Ana would have had no idea what to get for them.

Finally they return home, and Ana heads up to her room with spellotape and a roll of wrapping paper to wrap her gifts. She knows her mother will take the opportunity to wrap Ana's gift, and Ana needs the privacy to wrap the small present she'd gotten for her parents as well. She has an income now so she figures it's time she start purchasing her parents gifts for Christmas.

It takes almost an hour to wrap everything, and she take the gifts that need to be mailed downstairs to her father.

"Could you get them to the owl post by this evening? I'd like for them to arrive by Christmas day." She requests once Alexander has a moment to talk with her.

Her father smiles. "Of course, just leave them by my bag so I remember to bring them. They're already addressed?"

Ana nods. "Of course, I wouldn't forget. Thank you father."

Alexander smiles distractedly at her and she excuses herself from the room, placing her presents next to his work bag as requested."

"Ana dear, help me with dinner?" Her mother requests hopefully, and Ana can't quite bring herself to turn her mother down.

"Alright. What are we making?"

Ana spends the next hour and a half fending off her mother's questions about her friends, particularly her male ones. She's rather certain now that her mother and Mareum Macmillan are already planning her and Alasdair's wedding, and really it's disturbing. She has no romantic inclinations towards her first friend, and based on his action in the past year she's rather confident he's of a similar mindset. If only her mother could recognize that as well.

But Ana doesn't say anything about it as her mother tries to coax information about what Alasdair has been doing during the school year, answering honestly that she's not sure as she's been busy with her own studies. And considering her new friend Aidan is second in their class, she's naturally been studying with him more than Alasdair (she hasn't been studying at all with Alasdair but she omits that particular tidbit).

Her mother accepts the excuse, though it's clear she's not particularly pleased by Ana's new friend being a Muggleborn, but she doesn't comment on it explicitly.

Thankfully Ana's father eventually comes back from his meetings and sits at the kitchen table, alternately speaking with his wife and daughter and working on something for work and successfully distracting his wife from trying to pry more into Ana's personal life.

Once dinner is finished, Ana heads up to her room to feed Dracula and finish the few pages of the assigned readings she hasn't completed yet. She's surprised to find a package sitting on her bed when she arrives.

Happy early Christmas! The note reads in perfect cursive. You don't have to get me anything, but I was thinking about our debate a couple weeks back and thought you'd enjoy this. - Aidan

Ana raises an eyebrow and decides to go ahead and open the gift despite it still being a day early. She's glad now that she had in fact gotten Aidan a book on the history of wizarding politics as for all the note's saying the gift doesn't need to be reciprocated, she wouldn't like feeling like she owed Aidan anything.

Inside is a thick book entitled The Brothers' Grimm Anthology.

Ana frowns and thumbs through a few pages, skimming the short stories inside. A book of fairy tales then. They had discussed some weeks ago the subtle magical influence on Muggle myths and legends, so it's a logical gift.

After a moment's contemplation Ana decides to read the first few stories before dinner. It would after all be rude to return to school and not have read at least some of it.

She ends up absolutely enraptured. The stories are dark in ways she didn't think Muggle fairy tales could be, and she sees several parallels to known historical figures in the magical world. She very nearly is late for dinner as she attempts to finish the tale of Iron Hans before heading downstairs.

"Studying going well dear?" Her father asks with a smile as she sits at the table a few minutes later.

Ana smiles politely. "It is. I'm going through some Muggle Studies material at the moment." It's not a lie, exactly, but she does have a brief moment of reflection on whether even this partial truth is a good idea. Her worries are settled when her father smiles and nods.

"They didn't even offer that class at Durmstrang you know. Hogwarts has always been rather forward thinking when it comes to social issues like Muggles."

Winona sniffs. "It's not a particularly useful class though, unless you choose to work with Muggles."

"Most people have to interact with Muggles at some point mother." Ana points out, cutting into her pork. "They do make up a majority of the world's population, and there are an increasing number of Muggleborn witches and wizards every year due to the larger global population."

Winona frowns faintly but concedes. "I suppose it's not all useless. Still, I'm glad you're taking classes on practical magic and simply reading the textbooks for the rest of the classes."

Ana doesn't bother with a response to that, chewing thoughtfully at her food as her mind travels back up the stairs to where the Grimm anthology is lying on her covers, kept company by Dracula who hadn't wanted to go back into his terrarium when Ana came down for dinner.

Alexander decides to change the subject. "So are you looking forward to seeing the Macmillans tomorrow? It will be interesting to celebrate with people outside the family."

Winona is only too happy to launch into a discussion about all that she and Mareum have prepared for the combined Christmas, and Ana offers her father a small, thankful smile that he returns.

The next day is Christmas Eve, and the Vulchanovas arrive at the Macmillan manor at exactly five in the afternoon. They're greeted by a cheery Mareum, who shows them the rooms they'll be staying in for the night.

Ana is just putting her change of clothes in the wardrobe when someone knocks at her door. Assuming it's Alasdair she waves them in, glancing towards her bed to make sure her Grimm anthology is still hidden under the pillow. She'd brought it along just in case she gets bored, but she's not sure how her family - or the Macmillans for that matter - will react to her reading a Muggle storybook.

When she turns around, content that her dress is safe from wrinkling, she's annoyed to find that her visitor is actually Alasdair's older brother.

Alec offers a -eating grin in response to her grimace. "Happy Christmas Anastasiya." He greets, rolling the second half of her name in a grating manner. "Good to see you too."

"What do you want Alec?" She sighs, reigning in her temper. Alec isn't worth losing her cool over.

"I can't just want to say hello to my future sister-in-law?" He asks, feigning hurt. "And here I thought we were friends."

"Perhaps in the deluded landscape of your mind we may qualify as friends, but I have higher standards." She replies primly. "And I am not your future sister-in-law." She adds, rather irritated by the thought.

Alec looks genuinely surprised at that. "Really? Well that's news to me. Mom goes on like it's a done deal, and it's not like it's unheard of for kids your age to get into arrangements like that. I never much liked that myself though. Guess mom will have to deal."

Ana is momentarily caught off guard by Alec's seemingly honest and non-obnoxious response. "Oh, well, yes. I agree. If I'm going to be married, which I'm not convinced I will, I'd rather it be with someone I've known longer than a few years, and have more in common with."

Alec shrugs. "Well, I'll leave telling our mothers that to you. I'm not dealing with that fallout."

And there he is. Ana rolls her eyes. "Lovely speaking with you as always Alec. You may leave my room."

He laughs but surprisingly complies, waving at her mockingly in the doorway before bounding off to find someone else to bother.

Ana sighs, closes her door, and grabs her Grimm anthology. She needs to unwind before facing the rest of the Macmillan clan.

An hour later she emerges from her room, wearing the black and red dress her mother had insisted she bring, and makes her way down to the foyer, where she can hear her father and Alec chatting.

Alasdair is sitting next to his brother, looking rather bored, and he glances up when Ana enters. She smiles at him in greeting and he returns the expression, though somewhat more subdued.

"Ana! There you are!" Her father greets with a bright grin. "Alec here was just telling me about Peru. He's being sent there for work next week, isn't that exciting?"

It actually is quite an intriguing topic, but Ana won't give Alec the satisfaction of seeing her interested. "I suppose. What is there in Peru that needs his expertise though?" It's not a subtle jab, but instead of looking annoyed Alec laughs.

"Well someone woke up grumpy. But I'm only going to be a junior member of a full team, so I imagine I'll be stuck doing the simplest tasks for most of this posting. I'm still looking forward to travelling. England can get rather dull."

Ana settles in a seat next to Alasdair and quietly listens as Alec explains about the Incan burial site they'll be working at. It's apparently a rather common first outing for rookie Curse-Breakers, as it contains quite a bit of old magic that very few people practice anymore and thus is both a continuously ongoing project and exposes new recruits to quite a variety of different curses.

At the very least it is interesting, so Ana remains in the room until dinner, at which point everyone moves collectively to the dining area.

Dinner is decidedly less interesting than ancient Incan curses, and Ana once again finds her mind wandering up the stairs to where the next Grimm tale - The Blue Light if she remembers correctly - is waiting for her. Eventually she and Alasdair are allowed to return to their rooms, and though she isn't against going with Alasdair to his room to talk he heads up without a word, so she goes to her own accomadations for the night.

As she settles in to read her new book - she'd been correct about the next title - she hopes dearly that this will be the last year then spend Christmas wit the Macmillans. Though she gets the feeling that she won't be so lucky.

Even with them now formally engaged, Queenie and Eugene are still incredibly fun to spend Christmas with.

The Misras arrive at the Shacklebolt home early on December twenty fifth, and Queenie immediately drags Rajani away from her parents and a still brooding Sahana and up to Queenie's room.

"Girl. What is going on with you and Ed? Were you planning on telling me about this?" Her friend demands excitedly as soon as the door closes.

Rajani blinks in confusion, both from the question and from the rapid change of scene she'd been subjected too.

"What are you talking about? Ed and I are friends, but you knew that?" She answers uncertainly once she's properly processed the inquiry.

Queenie raises an eyebrow. "Uh-huh, and that's why he sent you a Christmas gift?"

Rajani blinks. "He did what? I mean, yeah, that's what friends do, but he sent it here?"

Queenie pouts. "I guess he overheard us telling the others to send your and Eugene's gifts my way since we're spending the holiday together. So there's no flirting there or anything?" She sounds distinctly dissapointed, and Rajani grins.

"Sorry Queen, just friends. And anyway, he's fifteen, almost sixteen! That's too old for my tastes."

That gets Queenie to laugh. "You're fourteen you brat, two years is nothing. You should tell Lenox that though, he thinks you two are interested in each other."

It's Rajani's turn to frown. "Why would he think that? And why would it matter anyway? Lenox is my friend too."

Queenie sighs and shakes her head. "Raj, love, you may be able to twist adults around your little finger but you are absolutely hopeless with people your own age aren't you?"

"Hey!" Rajani's protest is a token effort though. She knows full well that Queenie really isn't too far off, and if she's completely honest with herself she's not sure she'd have any friends if it wasn't for how inclusive and familiar the whole of Slytherin house is. "I haven't really had friends my own age until now." She still finishes her defense, and Queenie pats her hand consolingly.

"I'm pretty sure I'd be similar if my brother wasn't the greatest." She admits with a grin. "He was the only kid I hung out with growing up - well, and the Malfoy brat but he's just awful. Did you ever meet him?"

Rajani spends the next hour happily listening to Queenie's stories about the fancy dinner parties she remembers from childhood, and the colorful characters as well.

"Oh, and Eugene's great-uncle! You should see how he gets when he's been drinking, it's really rather pathetic." Queenie giggles.

Rajani perks up at this tidbit. "Eugene's uncle? Did you two know each other before Hogwarts then?" She hadn't thought the two were previously aquainted, but considering how quickly they'd gotten engaged she wouldn't exactly be surprised if she was wrong.

Queenie makes a face. "I mean, kind of? Not really though, I didn't go to all that many dinners since I was rather loud as a child and that's simply not proper pureblood etiquette, and Eugene says he didn't go to many either. I do think our parents met a few times but his mom was generally more focused on raising him than attending society functions. Her uncle is the one who dragged her out on occasion." She shrugs. "I think we might have seen each other across the table once when we were seven or eight."

Rajani laughs and shakes her head. "Why my parents are so determined to get into that sort of lifestlye I'll never know. I think even Sahana is happy just having her few friends and leaving it at that."

Queenie looks over curiously. "Speaking of your shining light of a sister, how's she doing? Graduation is in a few months - does she have a game plan for after graduating?"

Rajani shrugs. "I think so. At the very least she has a place to stay - her and Mayra are getting an appartment in the city and splitting rent. Mayra I know got an offer from the Ballycastle Bats and the city is closer to their field than her parents' place. Sahana I'm not sure."

Queenie raises an eyebrow in amusement. "How is it you know more about Mayra's job than your own sister's?" She teases, and Rajani rolls her eyes.

"Mayra is my friend as well you know. Sahana and I talk about her since we have her in common, that's all. Plus the whole Quidditch Team knows about the Ballycastle offer."

Queenie concedes. "Fine, makes sense. Still, Sahana's going to be living with a woman? Can't imagine your parents are happy about that."

Rajani shrugs. "I mean, they've been good friends for years, and it makes sense to get a roommate right out of school. Not many entry-level jobs pay enough to afford city rent." Rajani herself is thinking about rooming with one of her own friends once they graduate, though it's a distant thought since they have quite a bit of schooling left to get through.

Queenie gives a small, knowing laugh. "Good friends, right." Before Rajani can question the statement, the doorbell rings, and Queenie's face lights up.

"Eugene is here! Come on Raj, you brought your broom right? Eugene wants to see if our basement is large enough to race in."

Rajani has little choice but to follow her excited friend down the stairs to greet the Slughorns. Eugene's mother is bustled off by the adults and Eugene joins the girls as they head down to the lowest level of the Shacklebolts' home.

"Merry Christmas." He greets Queenie with a quick kiss on the cheek, and then grins over at Rajani. "Did Queenie extend my race invitation."

Rajani grins back. "Received and accepted. You're going down."

Eugene doesn't go down quite as completely as Rajani had hoped. They race a total of five times, and while Rajani does win three out of the five Eugene manages to take two victories of his own, and all five races are quite close.

"Well, that was fun." Queenie says with mild amusement, her hair utterly windswept from sitting at the center of the chaos. "Maybe you won't be so cocky next time Raj." She teases as the three head back up to straighten up before they join the adults to open presents.

"I'll win next time." Rajani replies briskly, earning laughs from her friends. "Now then, presents?"

As they'd asked, all their friends had sent presents for the three of them to the Shacklebolt residence, so there's a substantial pile underneath the grand tree the Shacklebolts have put up. Rajani even spots a few with her sister's name on them, and figures Sahana had informed her friends as well of their location for the holiday.

Gift opening is less enthusiastic than it is when they do it in the Slytherin dorms, but Rajani is quite pleased with what her friends have sent, and she hugs both Queenie and Eugene in thanks when she opens their combined gift to find an assortment of Indian spices that remind her of her childhood home in Delhi. Her mother is also pleased with the gift, noting that they'll have to host a dinner so she can share some of her favorite Indian recipies.

The one part of the afternoon that stands out to Rajani as odd is the fact that Sahana doesn't receive a gift from Mayra. She doesn't comment, but she thinks her parents notice the discrepancy as well, as they both give their eldest daughter concerned looks.

When they return home that night, Rajani decides to ask about it. After all, if her sister and Mayra are fighting, that could affect Sahana's living plans after school, and Rajani knows a good sister would worry about something like that.

And she's a good sister.

"Sahana? Can I come in?"

Her sister looks surprised to see her, but she waves Rajani into her room. "Sure. What's going on?" She sounds rather like she doesn't want her little sister there, but Sahana is a good sister as well. "Everything alright?"

Rajani nods. "Oh I'm good. I was wondering why Mayra didn't give you a gift this year."

Sahana looks surprised, and then laughs, a real laugh that Rajani hasn't heard in some time. "That's sweet. Mayra and I have always exchanged gifts in person since we were eleven. We didn't see a reason to change that this year, especially since it's our last one. It's a tradition, you know? Plus, I don't think our parents would appreciate some of the stuff she gets me."

Rajani nods slowly, not totally sure why this situation is so funny to her sister, but glad that her interpretation was incorrect. "Well, that's good then. I'll leave you to rest then."

"Alright Raj. Goodnight." Sahana is still smiling, and it's honestly a little weird. So Rajani departs the room as quickly as she can without being obvious about it.

She spends the remainder of the winter break finishing the homework she'd failed to start before Christmas to the best of her abilities, though she's starting to admit that taking three electives may have been a bit too ambitious considering she's an average student at best. Ancient Runes in particular is proving rather overwhelming and she's sent more than one frantic owl to Queenie begging for help.

She almost wishes Sahana wasn't staying with Mayra for the end of break since she knows her sister did pretty well in Ancient Runes when she was taking it. She'd even gotten an A on her OWL but she'd decided to focus on Arithmancy for her NEWTS and dropped Ancient Runes after fifth year.

Rajani is starting to think she may be forced to drop it even before fifth year, though she knows her parents will be furious if that ends up being the case. Misras aren't supposed to fail classes, and they especially don't drop out.

She admits this in one of her owls to Queenie, and the response is exactly what she needs.

Sweetie, I totally get that. My parents would flip if Kingsley or I ever did poorly in school work. Tell you what, let's get to the train early and we'll work on the assignment together. Honestly I had to ask Kingsley for help on it, it's covering stuff we've only kind of touched on so far. Don't let this get you down, you've got all of Slytherin House behind you! And your sister is still here this year - she'll definitely help out for all you say you don't like each other. Just focus on the rest of your stuff and we'll work on this together, okay?

Love, Queenie

Rajani immediately writes back her heartfelt thanks, and once she's sent Lakshmi out the window she heads downstairs to ask her parents if they can go to Kings Cross early in January.

Her father frowns. "Why would you want that? Sitting in a train car for any longer than necessary?"

Rajani clears nervously. "Actually, it's for Queenie. She wants to go over our school work, and she mentioned something about Eugene?" Hopefully Queenie won't mind being used as her excuse.

Rajani's mother Vandana looks up from where she's cleaning dishes. "Samaan, I think she should go. Girls bond over discussing relationships, I think it will be good for Rajani."

Her father frowns, but ultimately nods. "Very well, I'll arrange transport. I assume your own school work is complete?"

Rajani nods immediately, the lie sour on the back of her tongue. "Of course father." She assures him, and he nods, already turning back to the paper he'd been reading.

She slinks back up to her room, feeling guilt clawing at the back of her head. She's lied to adults before of course - it's almost second nature really - but it's the first time she's dared to be anything less than completely honest with her own parents. She doubts Sahana has ever lied to them, and the thought makes her feel that much worse.

She doesn't get anything else accomplished in the way of school work that night, so she pulls out her long-neglected Hindi books and begins making her way slowly through one of them. Eventually it's dark enough outside that she feels that going to bed is a viable option.

The rest of break is spent with Rajani doing her best not to let her lie show on her face or in her posture. She swears her guilt is radiating off her in waves, but neither of her parents seem to notice anything different. Thankfully.

Finally it's time to return, and Rajani is extra glad that she's leaving the house earlier than she normally would. She is, as expected, one of the the first people there, and she grabs the largest compartment she can find, knowing most of her friend will want to ride with her and Queenie when they arrive.

Queenie comes shortly after, and the two hug quickly before Rajani pulls out her Ancient Runes homework.

"I lied to my parents." She blurts before they can start.

Queenie raises an eyebrow. "Wow." Rajani starts to flinch when her friend finishes her thought. "You only just lied to them now? After fourteen years? Girl you're a master of making adults trust you, why'd it take you this long?"

Rajani blinks, stunned. "I... I don't lie to my parents Queenie! They're... they're my parents!"

Queenie raises an eyebrow. "Alright, but you should know that everyone lies to their parents sometimes. It's totally normal, part of growing up. So Ancient Runes?"

Rajani still doesn't feel very good about the deception, but she agrees regardless and the two settle in to do the assignemnt.

Queenie does a good job explaining the new concepts, and slowly Rajani relaxes, some of the nervous tension she'd been building over the week dissapating.

Then Queeni glances up, and starts grinning. "Hey, I know what will make you feel better. Wait here a second." And without another word she's darted out of the compartment, leaving Rajani confused but mostly content to continue working on the problems in front of her.

Then Queenie returns with Sahana and Mayra in tow, and Rajani doesn't feel particularly good anymore.

"I hear you lied to mother and father." Sahana notes, and Rajani preemptively flinches away, before realizing her sister sounds more amused than accusatory.

ANd then Mayra bursts out laughing. "I think she's the same age you were when you lied to them. Yeah, fourteen, though I guess we were fourth years at that point." She grins, and Sahan swats her arm lightly.

Rajani stares at Mayra, and she thinks maybe is open but she can't actually care right at that moment.

"You've... lied to our parents?" She asks uncertainly. After a moment Sahana nods.

"About a lot more than school work little sister. Don't let it stress you out too much, okay? And don't you dare tell them I've lied to them."

Rajani nods mutely and her sister and Mayra leave for a different compartment.

Queenie grins. "There. Feeling better?"

Rajani nods, but that's a lie too. She just sort of feels hollow.

Hopefully it's a good thing.