As with everything else so far in seventh year, Christmas break manages to somehow be both different than Franziska is used to, but also exactly the same as every other break has been.

Everyone who usually goes home does - being of age means they can study for NEWTs just as well at home as they can at school - except for Evie who opts to stay over and attempt to integrate into Franziska and Fitzwilliam's group of Christmas friends. She of course does this with all the grace and elegance that Franziska has come to expect of her best friend.

On the first day of break, the group all sit at the Gryffindor table, as has become tradition at this point. Evie, however, is absolutely thrilled to be sitting somewhere other than Ravenclaw and makes a bit of a spectacle of herself when in her excitement her wand goes off and showers the entire table in red and gold sparks.

"She gets excited sometimes." Evie says, sounding apologetic but grinning unrepentantly as she slides her wand further up her sleeve in an attempt to secure it.

"Seems more like you get excited and she reacts." Brandon observes, scooting away from Evie. "Please don't set my food on fire."

Evie cheerfully sticks out her tongue. "I haven't done that in years, calm down Yank." She replies.

Nabila just eyes the newcomer cautiously, not revealing her opinion on the other girl, though her silence speaks volumes considering how much she'd previously opened up to the group.

"Evie has her random explosions under control." Franziska tells her friends uncertainly. She'd been excited when Evie had mentioned she was staying over break, and Fitzwilliam had seemed rather pleased as well, but now she's wondering if the other girl will be able to really fit with her break group.

Brandon eyes the few remaining sparks pointedly, but to Franziska surprise it's Fitz who comes to their friend's defense this time.

"They aren't dangerous at least. And she has an overactive wand - you can't blame her for that." He points out. "It would be like getting mad at you when your potions blow up."

"It is his fault when his potions blow up." Nabila states succinctly, then casually dodges the napkin Brandon throws at her.

Franziska can't help laughing, pleased to hear her friend engaging in her usual snark and glad that Fitzwilliam had been able to explain Evie in a way the other two would understand.

Still, it's only the first day, so there's plenty of time for Evie to cause more complication to the group dynamic.

The next day Franziska volunteers them to help Hagrid with Christmas decorations.

The groundskeeper seems thrilled to have the assistance.

"Real nice o' ya ta help out." He rumbles cheerily as the group walk into the Forbidden Forest to select a tree for the Great Hall.

Brandon is looking absolutely thrilled to be allowed into the woods while Fitzwilliam looks a bit nervous. Nabila seems neutral but Franziska knows her well enough to recognize that the other girl is eagerly looking around for rare species native to the area.

Evie is bouncing excitedly along next to Hagrid, while Franziska herself is lingering a bit back with his dog Fang. The mastiff is much larger than when Hagrid had first acquired him a few years prior and he lopes along sniffing at everything and bumping into Franziska's knees every few steps.

"So how dangerous is the forest really? Obviously very for first years and stuff but would it still be dangerous to a seventh year?" Evie asks curiously, leaning over to poke at a flower only for Hagrid to pull her away.

"Still plen'y dangerous for ya now." He warns gravely. "The Forest is home ta a lot o' magical folk runnin' from Muggle types spreadin' out - Dumbledore 'imself don't know everythin' tha's in here."

Nabila perks up curiously. "So the expanding suburbs and such are forcing magical creatures to escape here to avoid detection?" She asks curiously.

Hagid nods, pleased with the question. "Tha's righ'. Right tragedy, that." He sighs.

Nabila hums in agreement. "I hate to say it but it's rather like Muggles to not care about destroying natural habitats in pursuit of... well, whatever it is."

"Overpopulation." Franziska says. "Well, in pursuit of innovation, actually, but it's mostly caused by overpopulation. More people are surviving to adulthood, plus after the war just about everyone had a bunch of kids and now they don't know where to fit them all."

Nabila huffs. "Still." Is her only response.

Evie is quick to break the descending awkward silence with another question.

"So basically the forest is forbidden because we don't know what's out here? So it could just be a bunch of Kneazles and Crups and we're all scared of them for no reason?" She laughs.

Hagrid grins ruefully. "Well, not qui'e." He corrects her. "We know lot's'a dangerous things're out here, like centaurs an' Acromatulas." He coughs awkwardly. "But there migh' be more we don' know abou'."

"Ohhh. So no Crup hunting then? Because I really want one." Evie sounds dissapointed and Hagrid laughs.

"Ya can get a Crup a' the Menagerie." He points out, chest still rumbling with amusement.

"Yeah, it wouldn't be as cool a story though." Evie laments dramatically, but she's grinning.

"I used to have a pet Erumpent." Nabila says idly, immediately snagging Hagrid's interest.

Evie joins their conversation with gusto while Fitzwilliam and Brandon slow down slightly to join Franziska and Fang at the back of the pack.

"Your friend there is... something." Brandon observes, glancing at Evie mistrustfully.

Franziska frowns, but again Fitzwilliam speaks up in Evie's defense first. "So are you Brandon, but we keep you around."

Brandon blinks, and then laughs. "I have to say though, it's fun hearing Fitz being sassy. You like her?" He waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Fitzwilliam, blinks, processes the question, then turns fire hydrant red. "As a friend! Jeez Brandon, you're way too obsessed with other people's relationships." He grumbles, pulling up his scarf to hide his blazing face.

Franziska shoves Brandon's arm lightly. "Back off Brandon, we don't bother you about your love life."

"You crushed any chance I had at a love life two years ago." He declares dramatically, and Franziska immediately charms some snow off a low-hanging branch and with a flick of her wand sends it straight into Brandon's face.

The three in front of them turn at his spluttering and Fitzwilliam's laughter.

"E'reythin' alrigh'?" Hagrid asks worriedly, taking a step over and pating Brandon's back a few times as he continues to cough and try to wipe the snow off his face.

"He deserved it." Nabila supplies dryly. Franziska glances at the other girl.

"You don't even know why I did it." She points out curiously.

Nabila just smirks. "He always deserves it. But you also wouldn't have done that without good reason." She adds.

A moment later the smirk is wiped off her face when Brandon conjures a snowball and tosses it in her direction. She darts out of the way, whips out her wand, and reverses it's trajectory. It misses it's target and smacks into Hagrid's coat instead.

The groundskeeper rumbles out a laugh. "A'right, not here kids. Don' wanna attract the wrong kind o' attention now."

"You're going down later." Nabila warns Brandon, who looks quite pleased by the promise.

Franziska just knows this is going to end up with her getting sick again.

They do manage to find a tree, as well as a few plants that get both Brandon and Nabila excited, and get back out of the forest unscathed, if slightly damp and cold.

They warm up in the Gryffindor common room afterwards and Evie once again gets excited, though thankfully nothing explodes this time.

"Oh man I've never been in another common room before! Hey, we should go to the Ravenclaw Tower tomorrow!"

"No. Ravenclaws only." Fitzwilliam declares flatly. "We haven't had outsiders in the Tower for three generations of students, I'm not going to be the person blamed for breaking that."

Evie pouts. "Fine, point. What about Hufflepuff?"

Brandon grins. "Yeah Frannie, what about Hufflepuff? You guys are so welcoming-"

"And our common room has never been seen by outsiders." She cuts him off proudly. "Only badgers in the set, no exceptions."

"Wow, so much for hospitality." Evie teases. "Really though, no outsiders ever? How can you even know that?"

"Outsiders get doused in vinegar." She says cheerfully. "So trust me, we'd know."

It's a bit of a lie - only people who put in the passcode incorrectly are attacked by the security system, but she figures it will be a good deterrent. Evie and Brandon together seem like they might just be reckless enough to try breaking in.

Evie wrinkles her nose. "Jeez, so much for hospitality indeed. We at least let people in if they're smart enough to figure it out. That's just cruel."

"That's life. We protect our family."

"I wonder if Slytherin has anything like that?" Nabila muses. "Seems like the sort of House to have security measures in place."

Brandon scoffs. "Please, they're way too over confident, they think they're untouchable. They wouldn't have security."

"I think you're describing your own House." Fitzwilliam says quietly, but Evie catches it and bursts out laughing.

Brandon makes a wounded noise, leaving Nabila to defend their House.

"We're not over confident, we just invite the challenge. No need to keep people out - if they can keep up they can stay."

"So we're nicer than Hufflepuff! Ha!" Brandon recovers and adds his two cents, grinning victoriously.

"Or cockier. Your choice." Franziska fires back, and she once again is very glad she and Brandon are talking again.

The threatened snowball fight in the forest doesn't end up occurring that day - they instead remain inside where it's dry and warm, chatting and doing some minimal studying for their NEWTs. The next day, however, Brandon seems to remember his challenge.

"Nabila! I owe you a snowball!" He declares during breakfast, this time eaten at the Ravenclaw table and reluctantly joined by Finnigan Marley. He'd been sitting by himself when the group had arrived and Evie had dropped down right next to the lanky teen despite his clear look of annoyance.

"I'll also take compensation in the form of money if you don't have one on you." Nabila replies blandly, and Evie snorts.

Brandon brandishes his spoon rather dramatically, getting oatmeal all over the table as he does. "I, Brandon Young, hereby challenge you, Nabila I-Can't-Pronounce-Your-Last-Name, to a snowball fight in the courtyard after lunch."

Nabila rolls her eyes. "Shafiq. We've been in the same classes for seven years, you really ought to be able to pronounce that by now." She points out. "Oh, and I accept. Franziska, you and your eagle posse are on my team."

"Hey!" Brandon whines. "That's the whole group, no fair! I at least want Evie!"

"Nope, Eagle Squad is a unit, non-negotiable." Evie laughs, linking elbows with Fitzwilliam who's sat beside her. "I'd get started on recruiting Brandon!"

"Marley! You're on the Quidditch team, you've gotta back me up!" Brandon begs, half flinging himself across the table to grasp the other boy's hand, which Finnigan quickly yanks away.

"I don't-" He then pauses, grimaces, and sighs in rapid succession. "Fine."

Franziska is honestly shocked the other boy had agreed, and so quickly, but Brandon's crow of victory quickly pulls her back to the moment.

"Alright! Let's round up the fifth years, there are a ton of them! Onwards co-captain!"

Finnigan already looks like he's regretting his choice but he quietly follows Brandon out of the Great Hall.

Nabila sighs, smiling. "Well, I suppose we should start recruiting as well then."

Franziska tilts her head. "I actually might know some younger girls. Or, one younger girl who knows others. And she stayed over the break since her brother wanted to study."

"He's a fifth year then?" Fitzwilliam asks.

Franziska shakes her head. "Sixth. Adeline said he didn't like his OWL results and is determined to improve his NEWT scores, and her friends decided to stay over break so she stayed as well. I met her through Jemma's study group." She adds, realizing belated it might seem slightly strange she knows as much as she does about Adeline Lindberg. Though to be fair, the girl can talk up a storm - Franziska is almost positive that anyone who has stopped to chat with Adeline probably knows her entire life story.

Sure enough Adeline is happy to hop on board with their team, along with her two best friends Zoe and Cassie. They recruit a few other students so their team comes up to twelve members when lunch arrives.

Brandon swaggers over to the Hufflepuff table where they've decided to have lunch, trailed by a very tired-looking Finnigan. "We've got fourteen people. How about that?"

"Twelve. You have to give us one of yours." Nabila says pleasantly.

They dissolve into one of their non-arguments (Brandon is certainly fighting but Nabila remains calm and practical throughout) while the rest of them enjoy their lunch.

"You ever been in a snowball fight before Finnigan?" Franziska asks politely, unsure of how to actually talk to the Ravenclaw.

Finnigan shrugs awkwardly. "Depends on your definition I guess. But yeah, I know how they work."

"We had one two years ago when more of the Hufflepuffs stayed over break." Franziska keeps rambling. "I ended up getting the flu afterwards, but it was fun until then."

Fitzwilliam thankfully takes over for her, and he seems to know Finnigan much better, getting more complete answers from the other boy with his inquiries.

Franziska ends up chatting with Evie about Charms for the duration of the meal, but soon enough all the recruited underclassmen start clamoring around them, eager to go out and start the battle. Franziska completely understands - it's a far more appealing alternative to continuing to study for OWLs.

The war starts out quite organized, until one of Brandon's recruits starts screaming about going rogue and begins attacking his own team. Adeline's friend Zoe is the next to jump ship, nailing her friends with snowballs and then racing off with a cackle after snapping a photo of their faces. After that things dissolve into a free-for-all - alliances are made and broken, rivalries apart from Brandon's and Nabila's are formed, and it goes until the sun starts to set and Professor McGonagall yells at them all to get inside and change into dry clothes before they get sick.

"So who won?" Franziska asks later at dinner, when they've all changed (and she had showered to drive out the numbness that had been settling into her bones).

"I did." Both Nabila and Brandon state, and while Nabila just grins Brandon looks ready to start another war.

Ultimately Nabila concedes defeat to stop Brandon from attempting anything crazier than the snowball fight, and dinner passes uneventfully.

When Franziska wakes up the next morning she has a stuffy nose and a slight headache, but she thinks that it was worth it. It had been fun.

Christmas at school isn't terrible, but Myr misses his family rather intensely.

His mother had been entirely understanding of his decision and Cadi sent him a metric ton of sweets to "remind him of home" (he'd made sure to give Rhys' owl a long rest and lots of treats after she had made the delivery - it had been a very heavy box) but their support doesn't really take the edge off the sting when he opens his eyes the second Tuesday of break to realize that it's Christmas day and he's not going to be seeing his mother or sister.

Or Uncle Cyril, though Myr still feels weird about his uncle dating his mother. Even if Cyril and Myr's biological father weren't really related, just best friends, the relationship still feels wrong to Myr. Perhaps the one paper-thin silver lining is that he doesn't have to witness the growing attraction between Cyril and Aster over Christmas dinner.

Not many of his year mates have stayed over break - aside from himself the only other Gryffindors are Brandon and Nabila, and they've been spending all their time with friends from other Houses. And other than them, the only people Myr really knows who are still hanging around are Amanda and Melody. And Raj, though their interactions are, as usual, purely professional.

It's lonely, though at least he's keeping busy with Head Boy tasks and study dates with Amanda. He can't imagine how much worse it would be if he wasn't constantly being distracted by his own workload and actually had time to dwell on how much he misses the familiar traditions from home.

Unfortunately Raj had insisted they work ahead on the prefect patrol schedule for that week, instead of going day-by-day as they have been in order to make sure no one is being overtaxed. This particular insistence stemmed from her wanting Christmas off, which means Myr has zero distractions until his planned outing with Amanda set for after breakfast.

Which based on how dark it still is outside, won't be for a while.

He groans and rolls over, trying to get back to sleep and escape for a few more hours before having to face the world.

Unfortunately he somehow manages to wake up Brandon, who normally sleeps like the dead. The other boy shuffles around in his bed for a moment before sitting bolt upright, beaming excitedly.

"It's Christmas!" He whisper-shouts, and Myr thinks perhaps that answers the question of why he'd roused so easily. Subconscious excitement.

"You can talk normally, I'm up." Myr sighs, sitting up as well. "And yeah, it's Christmas."

Brandon bounces happily on his bed, the mattress squeaking in vague protest. "Oh man I can't wait to see what my mom sent! She always gets me the coolest potion ingredients!"

Myr shakes his head and leans back against his headboard. Brandon's words have sparked some excitement though - he's certain his family will have sent gifts as well, and while poor substitutes for their actual presence it's certainly better than nothing.

When he finally gets up and dressed he finds that most of the younger years are already up and about, eagerly tearing open wrapping paper and waving gifts around proudly - or on occasion hiding them in embarrassment.

"Heya HB." A familiar voice greets him cheerfully as he steps into the common room. "I think I spotted your present pile near the left window - Lee stop waving that around you're going to break it!" Adrian Clearwater, a sixth year and the only other Gryffindor prefect to stay over break, claps Myr briefly on the shoulder before hurrying over to a second year boy who's about to drop a rather heavy-looking glass chess set.

Myr chuckles and heads to the indicated pile once he's certain that Adrian has a handle on the situation. There are three presents lined up neatly under the window, and a large black cat is draped over top of them, purring and rubbing his face happily against the smallest of the boxes.

Myr can't help but laugh at his cat. "Good morning Owen. I'm guessing Cadi sent you a gift as well." Upon carefully extracting the boxes from Owen he finds that sure enough, the smallest is addressed to his cat.

Once Owen is off, chasing after the catnip-filled mouse toy he'd been given, Myr turns to his own presents. One is of course from his sister, and the other is signed by both his mother and Uncle Cyril.

He refuses to let it bother him. Christmas is meant to be a day of joy and he doesn't want to ruin his mood now, especially considering his date with Amanda later.

He starts with Cadi's present, which turns out to be two books that she says in her attached note were the most popular in the Muggle world that year. He eyes the two - Good Omens and Jurassic Park - suspiciously, but knows he'll end up reading them at some point, maybe during study breaks. Cadi wouldn't have sent them if she didn't think he'd be at least slightly interested in the material. And Good Omens does mention a witch right in the title - if nothing else it may be amusing to read a Muggle interpretation of magic now that he knows the realities of it.

He then turns to his mother and Uncle Cyril's gift and wrestles through the wrapping and the tape to get it open.

"Why didn't ya just spell it open?" A small voice pipes up curiously, and Myr nearly elbows the speaker in the face when he jerks back in surprise.

The second-year - Lee, he remembers Adrian calling him - is surprisingly unruffled by the near miss, and actually leans in closer. "You're a Muggleborn then? But you're old, you should know how to use magic by now." He tilts his head, all wide-eyed curiosity and childish bluntness.

"I usually do Christmas with my mum and sister, I guess I'm used to doing it the Muggle way. Sorry for almost hitting you." Myr explains awkwardly, and Lee nods in understanding.

"Okay, that makes sense. And it's fine, I room with Fred and George." He grins wickedly. "I can handle anything that's thrown at me."

Myr chuckles at that. "Fair enough. Lee, right?"

"Lee Jordan. I don't know you though, sorry. Adrian seems to, and he's a prefect, so I guess you're probably a prefect too." Lee introduces himself cheerfully.

Myr just sighs slightly. "Yeah, something like that."

Lee has already lost interest and is wandering off to bother some of the other students, so Myr turns back to his present. Between a bunch of his favorite snacks - Muggle candy is far better than the wizarding equivalents in his opinion - is a simple picture. It's moving, and yet he recognizes an eleven-year-old Cadi waving excitedly, seated on a much younger Aster's lap. Next to them is Myr, half-way through eight and doing his best to hold perfectly still for the camera despite an obviously itchy nose.

There's a fourth person in the photo as well, though Myr had tried blocking him from his memories. Aeron Cadwallader has Myr's flat hair and small nose, but he's got the glint of curiosity in dark brown eyes that reminds Myr instantly of his sister. He's laughing in the photo, his eyes lingering on each member of the family with an emotion that leaves Myr a bit breathless.

He turns the frame over, not wanting to look at his father any longer, and finds a note attached to the back.

Sorry for keeping this for so long. We knew our next assignment was going to be a rough one, and your father wanted to keep you close while we worked. I suppose I was selfish in wanting to keep him close afterwards.

Still, it's yours now. Your mother said you should have it. And you deserve to see how much he cared for all of you, right until the end.

Myr rereads the note a dozen times, his lips pressing into a thin line as he tries to work out what exactly his reaction is. Obviously this is meaningful to his uncle, and if his mother made the suggestion...

He turns the frame over again, looking at himself sitting on his father's lap. He remembers that day. It was the last time he'd ever see Aeron. His father had said he loved him before heading out with Uncle Cyril on a "business trip", only to never be heard from again.

Blown up by Deatheaters, Myr now knows, but back then he'd simply run off with another woman as far as they were told. There hadn't been a body, and with Cadi known to be a Squib and his own magic so weak at the time everyone assumed their family would never be brought into the Wizarding world. In the end it was decided that the Statute of Secrecy was more important than the truth.

And now? Now Myr looks at his father's smile and doesn't think he feels much of anything. He no longer hates his father, now that he knows the truth, but he can't bring himself to miss the man either. He's simply a figure that used to exist in Myr's life, and doesn't anymore. It's too tiring to consider him as anything else.

Myr tucks the photo back underneath the snacks, and piles his new books on top as well, before carrying the lot up to his dorm, narrowly avoiding tripping over Owen, who has managed to coax several of the other Gryffindors into tossing his new toy across the floor so he can chase it.

After depositing his gifts on top of his trunk he decides it's probably close enough to breakfast to head down to the Great Hall and wait for Amanda.

The Great Hall, he has to admit, looks amazing. The decorations had gone up properly the night before and the whole place is lit up and genuinely beautiful, like something out of a magazine.

There are already a few students milling around, admiring the tree or chatting with their friends at the tables. There isn't any food yet, but Myr still takes a seat. He taps idly at the wooden surface of the table, not expecting company for a while.

As such he's a bit startled when someone sits across from him and pokes his wrist firmly.

Melody sits across from him, her hands folded lightly on the table and watching him with an unnervingly blank expression.

Myr raises an eyebrow, knowing the look is probably just exhaustion - he's seen it a few times on patrol. Even with that knowledge though, he's still a bit put-off. "Good morning Melody. Sleep well?" He greets her uncertainly. "Where's Amanda?"

"Probably still asleep, she could sleep through the world ending." And Melody is smiling now, tired, and Myr feels something inside sag in relief. "I just wanted to talk to you about patrols today."

"There aren't any." Myr responds instantly. It's not the first time he's gotten the question, and he knows Raj has fielded it a few times as well. "Enjoy the holiday."

"Well, yeah, I know that, Raj told me so a couple days ago. I just thought you should know I overheard a couple of kids talking about sneaking out to the forest tonight on a dare. Maybe we should post a couple people to keep an eye out? Goodness knows I'm not doing anything."

Myr shakes his head. "I'll talk to Raj, we can-"

To his surprise Melody interrupts him. "No, you're going to go on your date with my sister. You two have been drifting and she's been whining at me about it since school started. I've got nowhere to be, I just wanted to tell you since you're Head Boy. I'll talk to Raj when she gets here and we'll work something out. I doubt Tyrone or Lionel are doing anything tonight, I can pair up with one of them. Or with Alana or Eugene if you want an older student on watch as well."

Her tone brokers no argument, and Myr takes the hint. "Fair enough. Thanks for telling me Melody."

"Don't thank me yet. Mandy isn't super happy with you and I can't blame her. You don't have to take as many patrols as you do, you know. And Jemma was managing the study sessions just fine prior to your coming around." Her words are accusatory in a way her expression isn't, and Myr doesn't quite know how to respond.

Melody ends up leaving before he has time to figure out what to say, and he's left to his thoughts for a good fifteen minutes as the rest of the school slowly trickles into the Great Hall for breakfast.

Amanda makes her presence known when she drapes herself over Myr's shoulders and kisses his cheek, earning a whoop from Brandon that gets cut off by Nabila shoving a pie into his mouth.

"Merry Christmas." The fifth year giggles as she takes the open spot next to Myr. "Oh, and um, hello." She adds with a slight blush to Brandon, Nabila, and their four other friends, none of whom Myr recognizes on sight other than Finnigan Marley and the girl he thinks Brandon used to date, though he can't recall her name.

Breakfast is thankfully quite light, and Amanda is smiling and laughing through all of it. Afterwards they bid the group farewell and head out into the light flurry that's started up outside.

Amanda links her arm through his and leans against him as much as possible without knocking them both off balance.

The walk to Hogsmeade is silent for the most part, but three quarters of the way there Myr decides he needs to address what Melody had said to him.

"Hey Amanda? Could we maybe talk for a minute?"

She grins up at him. "Considering everything is going to be closed I figured that would be most of what we're doing here." She points out teasingly, and Myr remembers why he fell for her in the first place.

"That is true. But I want to start with this." He stops and pulls away so he can face her properly. "I'm sorry. I've been putting this relationship at the bottom of my priorities list and that isn't fair. So I'm sorry."

Amanda blinks, and her smile sags slightly. "Well, you are in seventh year, and Head Boy. It's not surprising you're busy." She shifts slightly on her feet. "But... thanks. For saying that."

Myr shakes his head. "No, you don't need to say thank you. I'm going to do better from now on, I promise."

Amanda looks at him hesitantly, and then smiles. "That sounds good to me." She agrees, moving to lean against him again.

Myr slides an arm around her shoulders as they resume their walk. It's not a fix, but it's certainly a start.

He's going to do better.

Rajani has vaguely known the past two years how stressed out the Head Girl and Boy had gotten over winter break. Yet somehow the sheer amount of work and scheduling still manages to take her by surprise.

Myr at least had stayed over break - she honestly hadn't expected it considering he'd never stayed before and he mentions his family regularly during their one-on-one planning meetings. Unfortunately he's one of only nine prefects who have stayed over break, and while they've been able to cut a few patrol routes due to the weather making certain areas of the castle extremely unpleasant to hang around at night, they're still having to run everyone ragged.

She'd ended up giving everyone Christmas off in a fit of impatience and not wanting to deal with the inevitable complaining from whoever ended up with a holiday patrol. Terrence had told her about that once the year before and she'd decided to give the students one day to be stupid rather than inconvenience herself for the rest of the year.

Of course, that means the day after Christmas she and Myr once again have to meet to plan out patrol routes, and after the day off the task seems that much more daunting.

"Enjoy Christmas?" Myr greets her casually when she arrives at the Prefect's meeting room. He already has the schedules out and seems to have been waiting for a while, despite the fact Rajani actually arrived five minutes early.

"It was fine." She responds shortly. No need to share the details of Eugene having a major backwards slide at spending the holiday without Queenie and how she'd spent all day comforting him while trying not to snap at her best friend for still being such a wreck.

For her own part Queenie not being present hurt deeply, but it had been an echoing pang rather than the raw, gaping kind of agony that had been so common at the start of the year.

Eugene had accused her of moving on too quickly. She thinks he's too caught up in the past.

Regardless they've agreed to not mention the entire situation and carry on as if things are just the same, so Rajani sits next to Myr and changes the subject. "I can take a round tonight."

Myr hums. "I can't, but Melody said she's fine taking one every other night for the next week or so."

Rajani eyes him suspiciously. Obviously something had happened over Christmas for him - he'd always offered to take extra patrols to keep the weight off their mostly fifth year team. "I'll keep that in mind, but I'd still rather not overextend anyone. She can take the dungeon route tonight and Tyrone can cover the Great Hall."

"You'll take the Transfiguration route then?" Myr surmises, filling in the chart, and then pausing to frown. "Wait, Tyrone just took the dungeons two days ago, maybe Jessica should cover-"

"She had Transfiguration three days ago and she complains. I can give it to Adrian, he's always on point, but I wanted him to take the dungeon path tomorrow." Rajani interrupts him, even though he has a point. Since they cut the Astronomy route for the break the longest patrol is through the dungeons, so they try to make it so the Prefects have a break after taking that particular route. "Still... maybe Eugene? He hasn't taken that route in a while, though he did some back-to-back on the Great Hall over the weekend." She doesn't add that he's also not in a great place mentally after the breakdown the day before. It's not Myr's business as far as she's concerned.

Myr grimaces, clearly as unhappy as she is with their choices. "...Maybe I could-"

"Nope, you said you aren't free and considering your girlfriend's sister was mentioned in the same breath I'm betting it's a relationship thing." She grins at him wryly. "And trust me when I say I've seen relationships go sour - you clearly need to talk with your girlfriend."

Myr blinks, looking a bit surprised, and then nods reluctantly. "You're... well, we aren't going sour, but you're right in a way I guess."

"Eloquent. Put Tyrone down for tonight and we'll keep him off the roster until the weekend to make up for it. Jessica, Adrian, and Alana can patrol tomorrow." Rajani replies briskly.

"I'll take dungeon on Friday." Myr offers.

Rajani nods - girlfriend troubles or not he still has prefect duties. "Fine. We'll work out the rest then. For now just post this on the door and I'll make sure Tyrone and Melody go out tonight. And if you could tell Adrian to keep an eye out on Jessica and Alana tomorrow if you see him around your common room tonight."

Myr shrugs in agreement. "I'll stop by his room if I don't." He replies, and Rajani is content to leave it at that.

She leaves the room first, letting Myr post the patrols and lock up, and heads back to the dungeons. She technically has a study date with Nia and Elspeth, and though the girls had left an open invitation for Eugene to join them Rajani rather doubts he'll be appearing out of his room.

She's not as worried about it as she might have once been - Cadfael has stayed over break as well and he's been keeping an eye on Eugene as much as Rajani has. Plus, after the fight last night Rajani isn't completely sure she wants to see her best friend anyway.

Nia and Elspeth are already spread out, having claimed the best study corner away from the strung-out fifth years who are now attempting to organize their notes on the floor in front of the fireplace.

"Hey, how was prefect duty?" Nia greets easily as Rajani pulls up a chair.

She shrugs. "Decent enough. Myr didn't ask about the emergency post from last night which tells you how focused he was. I know Melody told him about it."

"How did that go by the way? Stop any sneaks?" Elspeth asks, her eyes glinting a bit hopefully.

When Melody Taylor had informed Rajani about the rumored dare the Head Girl had place Lionel and Alana on watch by the main entrance. As they hadn't reported anything to her since, despite her having spotted both of them at breakfast, she assumes the rumor was just that.

She says as much to Elspeth and Nia, the former of whom looks disappointed.

"Obviously they chickened. Or your guards weren't paying attention properly." She grumbles.

Rajani gives her a stern glance in warning. "Lionel and Alana are good prefects, and good Slytherins. If something had happened I have every confidence they would have put a stop to it and reported to me immediately." Honestly she'd only picked them because it would be easy for them to report to her in the common room, but she knows pulling out the Slytherin card will make Elspeth back off the matter.

Sure enough the dark haired girl mumbles something but drops the topic.

Nia glances at her friend before shrugging. "Well then, on to studying?" She suggests cheerfully.

It's a rather routine rest of the day for Rajani - she, Elspeth, and Nia are always the only Slytherins who stay over break and while they really had only had one winter together they'd found a comfortable rhythm that they fall into now with little difficulty. As they aren't all taking the same classes they mostly study on their own, with all of them occasionally swapping notes for Defense since they're all taking it and it's proving very difficult with their sub-par teacher for the year.

"Do you suppose we'll begin casting Patronuses once classes begin again?" Nia wonders aloud after a short debate about the emotional influence on Patronus charms. "I feel like we've covered a lot of material this year, but that's really the only spell we've discussed that seems like something we could actually perform ourselves."

"Probably. It's required for the NEWTs and I doubt anyone will be casting it right off." Rajani replies idly, already moving on to the next part of their assigned reading for the break. "It's well known that most people can't even produce an incorporeal Patronus nonetheless a fully fledged one."

"Your sister could though, if I remember correctly." Nia says with clear challenge. "A swan, right? From the wedding decorations."

Rajani allows herself to make a face in irritation. Sahana had produced a full Patronus during her seventh year studies, which means Rajani's parents fully expect her to be able to do the same. After months of studying the spell though, Rajani isn't sure she understands enough to be able to create more than a white wisp.

It's rather daunting to think about having to face her parents if she doesn't manage to live up to her sister (even if she's already surpassed Sahana by making Head Girl) so she pushes the thought aside and focuses more intently on her reading, hoping Nia will take the hint and move on.

She thankfully does, and Elspeth is never one to poke the open wounds of other Slytherins so she bites her tongue as well. They study mostly in silence for the rest of the afternoon.

After dinner, which she spent mostly talking with Cadfael, Rajani leaves her friends on the pretense of double checking that Tyrone and Melody are aware of their patrol duties.

It's not completely false pretenses - she does catch her prefects in the hallway and both confirm that they'll start the routes just after curfew - but it only takes about ten minutes to locate the both of them. After which she decides to go to the library until it's time for her own patrol to begin. She doesn't entirely feel like studying but she knows Cadfael is going to be dragging Eugene down to the common room for snacks and socializing since he'd skipped dinner, and she still doesn't really feel like dealing with him.

She spots Jessica sitting at one of the tables, passed out on top of a pile of textbooks. She hesitates for a moment - is it really her business? - before walking over to the fifth year. She's the Head Girl and Jessica is one of her prefects. Of course it's her business.

"Hey, Jess. I hear beds are all the rage these days, you should try them out." She says dryly once she's shaken the other girl awake. "I need you sharp for tomorrow's patrol."

Jessica blinks at her blearily, clearly still not awake, and Rajani wonders if she's been skimping on sleep all break. If that's the case, it certainly explains her irritability on patrol.

"'m up." The girl finally mumbles. "What'd I miss?"

Rajani frowns. "Alright, I'm going to walk you to your dorms. No negotiation on this, your prefect duties could be severly impacted by lack of sleep." She pauses, then adds, "Not to mention your grades."

Jessica stares at her for a long moment, taking a moment to process the sentence, before shaking her head sluggishly.

"I'm fine Ms. Misra." She says, finally awake enough to take up her usual put-upon tone that Rajani swears Josephine or Amelia must have taught her. That or it's a natural ability all Ravenclaw females have. "Thank you for the concern but-"

"But nothing, you're one of the only prefects still at the castle and I'm not having you fall asleep on patrol and getting yourself or someone else hurt. You're going to pack your bag and I'm taking you back to your dorm so you can sleep. You have the Transfiguration route tomorrow night and you better be sharp." Jessica looks ready to argue again so Rajani adds, "And I'll make sure Adrian tells me how alert you are so don't think you can just keep studying in your room."

Jessica mutters something about favoritism under her breath but she packs up her things and begrudgingly trails behind Rajani as they walk back towards the Ravenclaw Tower.

When they reach the bottom of the staircase Jessica suddenly darts in front of her. "I can take it from here." She says, eyeing Rajani suspiciously.

Rajani lets it go - she knows she'd be the same way if someone from another House followed her back to the Slytherin common room. Once she's certain Jessica isn't going to turn around and sneak back to the library she heads for her own common room, walking as slowly as possible.

In her meandering she ends up running into a couple taking an evening stroll inside the castle to avoid the biting chill outside. She's less surprised about that than the fact she actually knows one of them.

"Evening Myr." She greets after a moment's hesitation. It's obviously a date (and wow his girlfriend looks exactly like Melody, which is admittedly a little weird), but they've seen her as clearly as she's seen them so she decides that in this case interrupting is the less awkward of two less than ideal options.

Myr smiles at least, so it was probably the correct choice. "Evening Raj. Amanda, this is Rajani, she's Head GIrl. Raj, this is my girlfriend Amanda."

"So I've heard. Good to meet you in person." Rajani holds out her hand and Amanda shakes it firmly.

"Same here." The brunette responds.

"It's not curfew yet is it?" Myr checks, and Rajani shakes her head.

"I was dropping Jessica off at her common room so she can get proper sleep. You're good for another hour or so, don't worry." With a short wave and a shorter farewell she leaves them too it, moving a bit faster than she had been before.

She slows back down once they're out of sight and ponders on the short exchange. Amanda had said 'same here' - but in reference to what? Does Myr complain about her? Or is it a passing mention of a coworker, as he often is for her when talking about her duties with her friends.

And why, she adds to her own thoughts, does she seem to care what Myr's been telling his girlfriend about her, if he's been saying anything? Their personal lives are their own, and Rajani resolutely decides to stop thinking about it and go back to not thinking about her fight with Eugene. Which is past and doesn't matter anymore.

She sighs, realizing she's reached the common room during the mental debate with herself, and she gives the password flatly, walking into the tunnel and finding her friends seated in the usual corner.

Eugene at least looks like he's smiling, so Rajani pushes on a grin of her own as she walks over. And really, it's an hour talking with her friends - she'll find something to enjoy. She always does.

It's arguably the best Christmas Ana can remember. Certainly her best one since starting at Hogwarts.

She arrives home before Alec does - he only has so many vacation days and travel to Peru generally takes a full day which means he only has eight actual days at home. As such he arrives on the twenty fifth and has to leave on New Year's day, but Ana makes the most of the time.

The Vulchanovas arrive at the MacMillan estate a little after nine in the morning on Christmas day and Ana promptly excuses herself to find Alec after engaging in the standard polite greetings with the adults.

She ends up finding Alasdair first, clearly only just woken up and still bleary.

"Merry Christmas." She says. "Could you remind me where your brother's room is?" For all her visits to the mansion over the summer, she'd hadn't actually gone into her boyfriend's room.  It felt wrong to do so when he wasn't present, considering she'd never gone in before.

Alasdair grimaces and waves vaguely behind himself before heading for the front room. Ana frowns after him.

Very helpful, thank you. She thinks, but doesn't voice it. Pettiness is unbecoming.

She continues along the hall as confidently as she can manage while also checking every room to see if her boyfriend lives behind it.

In the end, he finds her first.

"Good morning. This is certainly an excellent start to the holiday." He gives her that stupid smile that clearly advertises how highly he thinks of himself. She absolutely loves it.

"Good morning." Ana replies with her own half-smile. "By the way, Peruvian Vipertooths are not native to your section of Peru, but Welsh Greenbacks were imported for breeding some decades ago." She adds, a continuation of a debate in their letters over a dragon Alec and his team has spotted gliding over their dig sight a while back. "So Bigsby is likely correct."

Alec laughs. "Well drat, that woman doesn't need a bigger ego." He comments, offering an arm to Ana to her back to the living room and the rest of their families.

Ana accepts the gesture and keeps pace with the man easily. "I could say the same for you." She points out lightly, and he laughs again.

They postpone opening gifts in favor of merely talking, and for once Ana finds herself rather enjoying the give and take. Alec wows them with stories from his work (Ana has heard them all so she often finds herself correcting him when he attempts to embellish) and Alasdair earns some praise from his parents when he reports on the Slytherin quidditch team's success so far.

For her part Ana shows off some of the spells she's learned that year - wordless of course, otherwise they wouldn't be all that impressive - and discusses the application she's already sent to Gringotts to apply as a Curse-Breaker.

"I'm quite excited for you to finally be licensed. Knowing I'll be getting a partner soon makes working with the team that much more boring." Alec comments, pulling Ana a bit closer to himself on the couch with the arm he has draped over her shoulders.

Ana shifts slightly so she's leaning against him more comfortably in the new position before replying. "It's still another year and a half at least you know, don't get too overeager or you might get one of your teammates hurt."

"That was once." Alec points out, but he's grinning even as their parents look slightly alarmed.

"So are we going to do gifts now?" Alasdair asks impatiently. He's been eyeing the pile the entire time, and frankly Ana is amazed he's waited this long to bring it up. They normally start with presents after all.

His mother smiles indulgently. "Of course dear."

Alasdair is up and grabbing a specific box from the pile in a heartbeat. Ana has a sneaking suspicion that Alasdair likely knows what it is and has been waiting to open it.

Sure enough he doesn't seem surprised in the least when a rather ancient looking football is pulled free of the wrapping.

"About time." Is his only comment, and Alec laughs.

"You earned it little bro, I heard about how you crushed Gryffindor even out in Peru. Even I have to acknowledged that."

"I've been a better Captain than you for years." Alasdair grumbles as he takes his seat again, the ball held in his lap oddly gently.

"I'll be wanting context for that later." Ana informs Alec quietly as Mareum Macmillan passes Ana's mother one of the packages eagerly.

He hums in acknowledgement and she settles back to watch their mothers fawning over the dresses they'd bought for each other.

"Ana, there's one for you as well!" Mareum says happily, pushing another present at Ana and forcing her out of her rather comfortable position.

From that point forward everything becomes a blur of presents, offering thanks for them, and then trying to balance them on her pile of gifts. The pile includes the present Jerome had sent her, as well as one from Eric and Laurel, and another from Hannah who she's reminded she hasn't seen in person in far too long, despite continued, if infrequent, letters.

Surprisingly she quite likes all her gifts, which mostly consist of dresses, astrological tools for class, and bronze hair ribbons from Alasdair which she's mostly neutral about though she knows her mother is going to make her wear them at the New Years party. She's just glad she has a nice blue dress to match them with.

Finally all the presents have been opened, and Alec volunteers to help Ana carry her things to his room, where she'll be staying for the rest of the break - as agreed upon by their parents of course.

"So I know we agreed not to get each other anything," Alec says once her gifts are piled at the end of the extra bed that's been transfigured for her, "But I do have something small."

Ana sighs. "Well I didn't get you anything." She responds. "And frankly I doubt anything could top your first gift." She adds, slightly teasing, tapping the silver pendant draped around her neck lightly. It's not a daily accessory the way that Eric's bracelet still is, but it's close.

Alec rummages around in one of his drawers, laughing at her comment. "Actually, you might be able to give me something-"

"That is base Macmillan." Ana interrupts, flushing slightly. "I'll put you on the couch if you can't behave."

He laughs out loud at that. "Dirty mind Ana, that's not what I meant." He finally finds what he was looking for and turns to face her, suddenly looking serious. "I know I don't need to tell you this, but I want to for my own peace of mind. If you don't want my gift I won't be upset, or offended, and I won't break up with you."

Ana eyes the box in his hand critically. She's rather certain from that little speech she knows exactly what's going to happen next, but she refuses to let herself get excited - if she's wrong it might just crush her.

But then Alec drops to one knee and all thoughts about ruined dreams fly out the window.

"Anastasiya Inga Vulchanova, would you do me the honor of agreeing to spend the rest of your life with me?"

Ana blinks rapidly - she is not crying, she's the logical one in this relationship - and clears .

"I'd say considering the age difference it will be the rest of your life rather than mine. Unless a curse gets me, I suppose." She smiles at him. "Which is, of course, to say that it was rather silly of you to think I wouldn't want to accept this."

And then he's kissing her, and she's kissing back, and the whole world fades away in a buzz of sheer happiness.

And then her eyes fly open and she eagerly pushes away from her now-fiancé.

"Ana?" He asks in confusion, only to find her scrambling for her wand. "Ana what-"

"Expecto Patronum!" She interrupts with a swish of her wand, channeling that white buzzing through her very being and out of her wand.

A gray wolf bursts forth, leaping from the tip of her wand and lapping the room a few times before returning to circle Ana and settle at her feet.

Alec gives a breathless laugh. "Well. I'll take that as a compliment then." He declares after a moment, before pulling out his own wand. Soon another wispy white wolf is chasing Ana's around the room as Alec kneels down once again to slide the ring onto Ana's finger.

"A snake symbol?" She asks somewhat teasingly as she admires her newest permanent accessory.

"They bring luck you know. The Mayans say so." Alec says, rising up and kissing her again.

She lets him for a moment before pulling away. "We really ought to tell our parents. Better for our mothers to duel over the rights to plan the wedding now rather than at the New Year's party."

"I didn't even consider that but you're quite right." He replies cheekily, sliding his hand into hers as they head back to the living room, their Patronuses quietly vanishing behind them.

"There you two are, you took your time." Winona greets them, and Ana smiles faintly at her mother.

"Apologies, Alec wanted to give me my present in private." She explains, pulling her hand away from her fiancé's to show her mother. "He wasn't sure I'd accept for some odd reason so he was embarrassed to do it in front of you all in case I said no."

Their mothers of course immediately jump up to start cooing over the ring, and Ana spots her father dragging Alec into the hallway, likely to threaten him with bodily harm if Ana was ever to get hurt. Alec's own father helps her escape their mothers and congratulates her warmly.

"I believe I already know what your wedding gift will be." He says, and Ana can't help smiling. She'd absolutely fallen in love with the Macmillan tarot deck over the summer and she's quite happy she'll be able to call it her own soon. "The question of course is when the date will be. Alec's schedule is tight and you'll have your certification training to complete once you graduate."

Ana frowns. She'd been picturing a wedding in June sometime, but Alistar makes a very good point. Alec will be working the entire time, and she'll have her own job as well.

"We may have to wait until nintey two." She realizes with a sigh. "When I've finished my certification and we've officially registered as partners."

It's a bit disappointing, but when Alec returns from his talk with her father, slightly paler than when he'd left, they agree the wedding will likely have to take place later rather than sooner.

"Still, we can enjoy the holiday." Alec observes that night, when everyone else has gone to sleep, and they're lying awake on their adjacent beds.

"And you have to meet Jerome. He's going to be part of the wedding party." Ana adds with a smile. "Honestly though I haven't the faintest idea who ought to be the maid of honor. Hannah is really my only good female friend but I'm not sure we're close enough to give her that sort of role."

"Well we have plenty of time to think about it. Perhaps you'll meet someone during training." Alec suggest, stifling a yawn as he does.

Ana hums. "True. Goodnight Alec."

"Goodnight love."

The two make the most of the next few days, spending every waking moment together and managing to completely avoid having to help set up for the New Year's Party, something Alasdair clearly begrudges them.

He's so far the only person who hasn't congratulated the pair on their engagement, and if anything seems rather irritable about the whole thing.

Ana opts to ignore him for the time being. Worst case she can try to talk to him at school, but she has more important ways to spend her time at the moment.

The day of the party Jerome arrives early, as he had the year before. He's wearing the new formal robes Ana had given him for Christmas and she in turn makes sure to thank him for the copy of Curses Throughout History that he'd given her - she's about halfway through and already knows the information will help her immensely in her certification programs.

"So you're Alec then?" Jerome holds out his hand with a lopsided grin after he and Ana have finished their greetings. "Good to finally meet you, I've heard mostly good things."

Alec shakes the proffered hand firmly. "Likewise, it's good to put a face with the name. So Ana are you going to tell him or should I?" He adds, and she waves him off.

Jerome looks between them suspiciously. "You better not be turning my best friend against me already, I've only had her a few years you know." He pouts lightly, and then goes wide-eyed when instead of answering Ana merely holds up her left hand.

He stares for a long moment before breaking into a grin. "You know Amelia's going to have a field day with that." He announces, and then pulls Ana into a quick hug. "I'm so happy for you guys! I'm invited, right? I better be invited I already know what speech I want to give."

"In that case you can be a VIP." Alec replies immediately, and Ana sighs as the two start eagerly discussing their favorite memories of her. The wedding is definitely going to be lively.

"So Jerome, is Terry coming today?" She asks when she can get a word in edgewise, and her best friend is all too eager to switch the conversation over to his little brother, who's apparently very excited to start at Hogwarts in the fall.

By the time the guests have arrived the three have made themselves comfortable in one of the quieter corners, and Ana is pleased that her fiancé and her best friend seem to be getting along quite well.

The Boots arrive sometime after the house has become busy, but before it's overwhelmingly stuffy, and Terry Boot wriggles through the crowd to come sit with them, eagerly showing them his new school robes that he'd decided to wear to the party and rambling on about which classes he was most excited for.

"You just try to help Ravenclaw get the House Cup away from Slytherin, they've been on a winning streak and we're all sick of it." Jerome tells his brother seriously, and Ana laughs lightly even as Alec makes a noise of offense.

"If Slytherin is winning then I dare say they've earned it. Best House in the school, I'd try to get into it if I were you." He tells Terry, who looks a little nervous but grins anyway.

When the countdown starts Ana shifts closer to Alec.

"This time last year I imagined starting the next New Year with you." She tells him quietly.

He grins down at her. "I did too."

And when the countdown ends and he pulls her into a kiss, she thinks it may well have been worth the wait.