Christmas was coming and with it most of the school would be going home for the holidays leaving Mal and her friends with free reign over the campus, something Mal couldn't be happier about. A few weeks with no other students to worry about, sounded like heaven to her. Ben however was not so pleased by the idea. He seemed troubled that Mal and her friends would feel isolated. There was no way they could go back to Azkaban and be with their families but to be without any family influence made him sad for them. At least there was one last thing to look forward to before the term ended.

A few weekends of the year students were allowed to visit Hogsmeade, it was also a final shopping trip for most people to buy Christmas gifts before going home. Mal and her friends were allowed to visit so long as they stayed with their tutors so the eight of them decided to make the trip together. Mal and Ben were the last to join the group, the latter having trouble rousing the faerie.

Snow crunched underfoot as the group made their way to the village before Mal and Lonnie exchanged devious looks. "Girls' trip!" They called out, grabbing Evie and Jane's hands before disappearing into the town. Shrugging the boys decided to make their own way around the village, perhaps doing a little shopping of their own.

Mal and Jay had been picking pockets all term. Whenever someone spoke ill of one of them, their pockets were suddenly substantially lighter. The end result was all four villains had a sizable pouch of coins to spend. Searching the stores they collected trinkets and baubles they thought the others might like but somehow Mal just couldn't seem to find the perfect present for Ben. Maybe she could sneak back down another day and find something for him. Sighing she purchased some art supplies and let the girls drag her away to another store.

The girls finally met up with the boys at the Three Broomsticks, sitting down to warm up by the fire with a round or two of butter beers. The day was ending and with it their freedom. Stepping back out into the cold Mal shivered, the wind had picked up and it had begun to snow. Without even thinking Ben shoved his beanie onto her head before unbuttoning his coat and tugging her backwards into his chest. Closing the jacket back up he changed his pace to meet hers, arms wrapped tightly around her to keep her warm. None of the villains seemed to have been given warm clothing, or at least not enough to stave off the chill that overtook Hogwarts each winter. The pair looked ridiculous walking along together, Mal's face was barely high enough to see over the top of his jacket, but neither cared. Mal was warm and that was all that mattered to Ben.

Ben bid his farewells to the group before finally joining the trail of students exiting the school. With Lonnie and Doug gone as well the rest of the group didn't really see the point in staying in their houses. Instead Mal's room suddenly had two more mattresses tossed on the ground in the main area while Evie joined Mal in her bed to keep warm, Prince William doing his best to keep their feet warm.

It felt so strange not to have Ben there, since the moment they'd arrived he'd been a whirlwind of action and it left the place strangely quiet, despite Jay and Carlos' racket with their mock-fighting. Setting up her new art supplies Mal began to paint, it was something calming that took all of her focus and stopped her thinking about how empty the place felt without the usual hustle and bustle. Evie even dug up some spells to bring the subject of her paintings to life and soon a purple dragon was enjoying being able to flutter around in the canvas, preening and unfurling its wings for whoever passed in the hope of being admired.

Christmas Day arrived, none of the villains expecting much, only to find a small pile at the end of their beds. Grabbing their presents the girls made their way out to the living area to join the boys and open them all together. They decided to exchange their own presents first. Evie's gift was new clothing for them all, Mal practically giggled when she saw the purple leather jacket Evie had made her. Carlos gave them all photographs he'd asked Ben to take of the whole group, using a special solution to make them move. Mal stared at the four friends in the photo, all laughing and playing with each other, their family. Jay gave the girls jewellery and Carlos a leather cuff, Mal instantly getting him to help her put the dragon necklace on. Mal's gifts to them were slightly different, for Carlos it was a book on how to modify electronics to work with magic, Jay received an enchanted set of lockpicks to pick locks as well as magic, for Evie it was Mal's own solution to make hair extra shiny and silky, a potion she'd been working on for a while for the girl.

Their own presents out of the way they turned to the pile of other gifts. It seemed their tutors had all purchased little trinkets for them. Jane gave them all woolen gloves, Lonnie's present were ceramic waving cats, each one painted a different colour with a note saying they were to bring luck, while Doug had given each a book he thought they'd like. Ben seemed to have taken their lack of warm clothes to heart, giving each of them a thick, warm jacket in their own signature colours. Grinning Mal quickly wrapped hers around her, pulling the hood down over her hair only to have something else fall out of it. A solid gold bracelet that looked like three dragon's talons wrapping around her wrist.

Wearing their new jackets the group decided to head down to the great hall for lunch. It was a smaller affair so instead of having four large tables they had one smaller table. Jane waved, noting the gloves in their pockets, before taking a seat beside Carlos. The five of them took their time eating what the wanted, they didn't even mind when Fairy Godmother came to pull Christmas Crackers with them all, before finally making their way back up to Mal's room and curling up for the night.

May your thoughts and creativity flow

_Lady Ami DragonHeart