The holiday break was rolling around, things at the shop becoming increasingly busy as people stopped by to purchase Christmas gifts.

Clara was happy that she could help so many parents pick gifts for their children. She would tell them stories about her brother and what kinds of things he wanted or what he thought was most useful and would receive many stories in return about pranks that had been pulled in the customers' own homes. It was a nice little snapshot into the lives of people she was enjoying the company of.

One day, Clara had requested that she have a break midday so that she could go and pick up Michael from King's Cross Station. Fred and George didn't hesitate in letting her go and even told her she could bring him back to the shop. She beamed at the thought .

As she walked down the platform, she spotted a familiar woman in the crowd.

"Mrs. Weasley!" she called out.

Molly turned around and gave Clara a large smile as well as a large hug.

"Hello, dear! Fred and George give you some time off to get your brother?" she asked, noting that Clara was still in her uniform.

She nodded. "Have they arrived yet?"

"Not quite. I believe the train should be pulling in soon."

As if right on cue, parents and families alike watched as the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station. The steam from the red engine clouded the platform and with a giant hiss, doors opened to let out students for the holiday.

In the distance, she could see Mrs. Weasley's other two children, Ron and Ginny, walking towards them with Harry Potter. George had mentioned to Clara that their house was going to be very full over the holiday break, Fred and George both glad that they had the loft above the shop to stay in.

"Clara!" she heard from a distance away. She squinted to see her brother starting to walk towards her, a bright smile on his face.

She waved at him as he got closer. Bringing him in for a hug, she noted that he wasn't trying to push her away. He hugged her much tighter than he usually did.

"Okay, okay I can't breathe," she joked.

He stepped back and Clara put her hands on his shoulders. "You look like you've aged at least three years. Are you sure you're still my little brother?"

He laughed. "Well you look like an old woman. And what's wrong with your hair?"

She whacked him lightly on the shoulder and ignored his question as they walked to grab his trunk, then out of the station.

"You mind coming with me somewhere before we head home?"

"Where's that?" Michael asked.

"You'll see."

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

Michael's eyes grew wide with excitement when he and his sister made it to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"I have to finish my shift, but Fred and George said you're more than welcome to hang out until we're finished."

Her brother couldn't have looked more excited. The two walked into the shop that was filled with even more adults, and students.

"Clara!" a voice called out.

Michael turned to see both of the twins walk to greet them.

"This must be Michael. Fred–"

"–and George Weasley at your service."

They both extended their hands out to the 14-year-old whose eyes were full of awe.

He shook each of their hands. "Thank you for letting me hang out here."

"Not a problem. We hear you're a loyal customer of ours," George said. "Want an official tour?"

Michael nodded vigorously, then looked back at Clara.

"Go on, I'll take care of your things," she said with a smile.

Michael and George soon disappeared in the crowd of people.

"Want to leave this in our loft?" Fred asked, grabbing one end of Michael's trunk.

Clara nodded as she grabbed the other end. Soon Michael's things were out of the way and the two of them continued their rounds around the shop.

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

It seemed that as the day came to an end, George had made a new best friend out of Michael. In the time that Michael had been in the shop, he had suggested new products and changes to old products to George that he really liked. George even said that when they made new things, Michael could be the first one to get them (and test them on his sister).

As they closed up shop, Clara waited for Michael to come out with Fred after they grabbed his trunk from the loft.

Michael walked over to Clara, his face plastered with a smile.

"I think one day he'll be able to take over for us," Fred said. "Thinks just like us, he does."

"Oh no, what am I going to do with three of you running around?" Clara teased.

"Dunno, but you're stuck with us!" Michael announced, a laugh coming from all three Weasley Wizard Wheezes workers.

"Thanks for showing me around today," Michael thanked.

"Oh, Clara!" Fred realized. "Forgot to tell you – Mum invited you both to dinner tomorrow night if you'd like to join us. Especially since it's Christmas Eve."

Michael's face immediately whipped around, his eyes begging his sister to say yes.

She laughed. "We'd love to. Roman might be back tomorrow, so is it okay if he comes too?"

"That'd be great," George added. "Bill and Fleur will be there so he'll have some 'adults' to talk to."

Clara nodded. "Great. We'll see you lot tomorrow!"

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

As they arrived back at the house, it was nearly nightfall. Clara had started a stew that morning since her days at the shop had been growing longer and longer. They dropped their things near the door and Michael immediately made for the couch in the parlor.

"Exhausted?" she asked. "You had quite the day."

"Tell me about it," he answered.

After a few moments, Michael sat up and looked around, noting how empty the house was. He walked into the kitchen to find Clara starting to spoon out bowls of stew for each of them, noting that there was only two bowls.

"Is she at St. Mungo's again?" he asked.

Clara paused, then slowly set down the ladle in her hand. Turning to her brother, she nodded, expecting to see his face much more sad.

In his eyes, though, she saw a shimmer of relief.

"And Roman is coming back tomorrow?"

"Yes, for your entire break. Can you take these to the table?"

"Really?" Michael asked excitedly, grabbing the bowls. "How'd he manage that?"

"He's put in a lot of overtime and actually made some real big advances with some of the new dragon species," Clara explained, grabbing some rolls and bringing them to the table along with a pitcher of water. "He was able to get a decent amount of time off."

Michael seemed to get lost in his own excited thoughts as he walked back to the kitchen to grab some glasses.

Clara was happy that her brother had so many wonderful things to focus on during this holiday. It dropped a great weight off of her shoulders knowing that things were starting to look up.

As they sat down to eat, Clara asked, "So how's school been so far?"

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

"Mikey! Can you come down and help me with these pies?"

Michael jogged downstairs to see his sister starting to lay out all of the ingredients for her apple pies.

"How many are you planning to make? 50?" he asked, inspecting the extra-large bag of flour that was sitting on the dining room chair.

"Just three, silly," she answered.

"Let's start, I guess."

"You can measuring the dry ingredients into these bowls and I'll start to get the wet ingredients together."

A few minutes went by and the siblings were doing their respective tasks.

As Michael poured another cup of flour into a bowl, he got an idea. He scooped up a small handful and walked quietly towards his sister whose back was to the kitchen entrance.

When he was behind her, he said, "Hey, Clara."

"Yes?" she answered, turning around. She was immediately greeted by a handful of flour to her face and a brother who had started to cackle like a hyena. She stood with eyes closed and mouth open for a few seconds, taking in what had happened.

"Oh, you wanna play that game, huh?" she asked. "Come here!"

With that Michael bolted out of the kitchen and they both were in the dining room, throwing flour at each other. Laughter echoed all the way through the house as the siblings' food fight continued. Without them even knowing, Roman was knocking on the door.

He could hear the squeals and laughter coming from the other side and wondered whether or not he should walk in and face whatever craziness was within. He waved his hand to open the door and walked in, immediately dropping his bag and coat by the entrance and making his way to the dining room. He saw dust flying everywhere and could see two figures that looked as white as ghosts cracking up on the floor.

"I leave for a few months and this is what happens?"

Clara and Michael stopped laughing, looked at Roman, looked back at each other, then continued to laugh even harder.

Roman shook his head as he used his wand to clean up the powdery mess that had enveloped the two people on the floor as well as the room. In an instant, things were spotless once more.

"Nice of you to join us," Clara greeted, hugging her brother.

Michael was next, giving Roman the same kind of tight hug that he had given his sister the day prior. This was the normal, though, since Roman was gone so often. Michael always looked up to him and wanted to be like him someday.

"You can relax or help us with these pies if you like. The Weasleys invited us to dinner this evening."

"Yeah, Fred invited us," Michael explained as he resumed measuring out dry ingredients for the pie crusts.

"Oh, he did?" Roman asked, shooting a look at Clara with one eyebrow raised. "How nice of him."

Clara took a handful of flour on the way back to the kitchen and patted it into Roman's hair, Roman immediately shaking it out as if he was a dog.

Roman laughed as he followed Clara into the kitchen . "Is there something going on that I should know about?" he teased his sister, helping get ice water in a bowl for her to use when she kneaded the dough.

"I'm…not sure," she answered.

Roman chuckled once more. "Do I need to be worried?"

Clara just smirked and shrugged her shoulders, walking back to the dining room table with the wet ingredients.

Each sibling then began to make the dough for the pies. It was a family recipe that had been handed down for ages. Roman and Clara had been helping make it since they were kids, and now Michael was in training.

After the pies had been made and put in the oven, Clara checked the time.

"We're going to be late!"