A/N: Hello Lovelies. Sorry for the delay, but RL life hasn't been too kind to me lately. Being in Year 12 isn't as laid back as other years and it's hard to find time to sit down and write, let alone be in the mood for it.

As always, The HP clan belongs to a certain British Lady whom I know we all adore. I own nothing, nor make any profit from this venture- all I get are smiles, sweat and tears.

This is a long chappie to make up for the short chapter last time.

Chapter 13: The Mad Hatter's Tea Party

The first of February brought a perceptible thrill to everyone, but indeed so to the members of the overseas mission. Back at home, this month was always the most exciting; the new school year would start and one would be overcome in the madness which ensued. Classes changed, so did friendships and romances which had been left to ruminate over the summer holidays. It also brought with it, two birthdays which occurred amongst our group; Ivy's and mine.

But of course, all this was thrown to the wind now that we were in a new and completely different Domain. Instead of the searing heat which was embedded in the February's we knew, a fresh new blanket of snow fell on that first day of February covering everything in a chilly pure sheet of fluff. Hogwarts was turned into a winter wonderland, with icicles dangling from the overhangs and a brilliant frosty coating added to all the windows.

All of us piled on the layers, eager to do anything to escape the blasted winter chill. I had taken to wearing mittens to and from classes. My tutoring lessons with Snape had taken on a new edge after the whole Alfred incident, and he seemed determined to achieve something, but what that something was, was beyond my knowledge. He had begun to challenge me, making me learn a set amount of spells, then setting up a duel where he would cast a few at me, along with other previous spells learned and I was expected to defend myself, using others in the midst of defence.

He would never tell me when I had done well, only when I was doing too poorly for his standards which was a good 50% of the time. He also was trying to slowly wean me from the use of the bracelet, and instructed me that the only time I was allowed to abort the time limit he had set was when I felt like I was going to pass out. I had, by the time February rolled around, managed to make it halfway through the day before putting the bracelet back on again. For most of the time the bracelet was off, I only had a dull headache, but when it neared the time limit, the pain seemed to increase tenfold with a crippling intensity.

Snape was constantly pushing for more; demanding more and more and I had to physically restrain myself from snapping at him, chucking a hissy fit and storming to the train station and demanding out. He seemed to be constantly around too, hovering in my path between classes to make sure I wasn't about to wimp out and put on the bracelet. It was becoming increasingly annoying, not only to me but to others as well.

But there was an element to distract me, as Ivy's birthday was approaching so quickly. She would be turning 18, all of us had decided to throw her a party, and we were all panicking as to what we would give her. We had no real access to shops, and our only chance to find something was on the day before her birthday, as it was a Hogsmede day. But the tricky thing was, Ivy was coming with us, not because she knew our plan, but because she wanted to buy things for her little party.

Dumbledore was letting us borrow a beautiful old room in the east wing of the castle and one could tell by looking at it, it had been originally designed to host these sort of parties. It had been abandoned for a while though, and was insanely filled with Monet's of cobwebs and so laden with dust; it looked as if it had snowed in that room too. When we had agreed whole heartedly with it, Dumbledore had set the house elves to work cleaning it. They were funny little creatures and they were cute, in a way that a hobo was cute. But cute none the less.

It was a chilly morning, but we were all eager to get going, knowing we had to make the most of our time there at Hogsmede. We had developed a game plan and it was simple yet effective and relied solely on luck; We would tag off, with two or three people entertaining the birthday girl while the rest of us dashed off to purchase a present, then when the others returned, more excuses were to be made as the others disappeared. Simple and hopefully effective.

The letters from AV came every Friday and they had taken to providing little snippets and clues as to where they were and what relationship I had with them. What I knew for certain was they were defiantly a Varias and in some shape or form, we had a blood connection. How this was possible was still a mystery to me, as Dumbledore had given me the impression that all the Varias clan had been wiped out. Maybe my grandad had a brother he wasn't telling me about.

Wouldn't surprise me, the old man didn't say much, most of the talking was left up to my Bunica who happily filled the space with her constant chattering. Don't get me wrong, I love the woman, but it was plainly obvious to see where Roxie's obsessive monologues came from.

Half my mind was on this and the other half on the conversation which was currently flying around the group as we strode through the ankle deep snow on our way to Hogsmede. We were lagging behind the main group of students, preferring to stay in our little huddle of Australian foreign learning. The rest of the kids were happy to leave us be as they couldn't understand half our jokes and thought we were plain weird. Hell I didn't blame them, we were a bunch of nut jobs and this was probably the reason why we were all friends.

We reached Hogsmede finally, and I was beginning to feel the cold air seeping down into my bones. I shuddered, despising the feeling. It may come as a surprise, especially considering my heritage, but I hate the cold. I hated winter too. It was my least favourite season. I hated the sting and the bite on my cheeks which always seemed to be a constant pink during the colder months. I loved the hot, sticky summer months when it felt like you were going to melt like the Wicked Witch of the West. I adored it, but was the only one out of my company who did. I was an Aussie to the bones and I felt such a strong bout of homesickness that my legs almost buckled beneath me and threw me face first into the snow.

They didn't and I walked towards the Three Broomsticks with my friends all in tow. We seemed to have silently agreed that a bit of refreshment was in order. And I gave Will a significant look, hoping he would take up the hint. He did, his Slytherin cunningness kicking in. As we all filed through the door, tugging on scarves and gloves, he dithered back, gently taking a fistful of Colin's clothes and holding him slightly back. Colin caught on quickly and out of the corner of my eye I saw them both nod. I steered Ivy, Alice and Jen towards a table in the back of the pub and plonked myself down.

Alice waved her hand in the air for the waiter who spotted her quickly and rushed over swiftly. After placing our orders- One ice water and three butterbeers- the boys made their excuses, saying that they had heard that the broom shop down the road had just got in the newest range of flying robes and they wanted to take a look. If Ivy suspected foul play she didn't let on and waved them off before diving back into her conversation with Jen about watercolours in some drawing Jen was doing.

Alice winked at me and I gave her a toothy grin, taking the butterbeer as it was placed in front of me and taking a hearty gulp. She had ordered one too and we were both instantly taken by the sickly sweet drink. We dilly-dallied a bit at the Three Broomsticks but when the boys hadn't returned after an hour we decided to venture someone else as Ivy was starting to get suspicious.

Alice in a fit of sheer genius begged and pleaded with us to take her to Zonko's Joke shop and so we all obliged, more out of the fact that we knew she would keep nagging us until we took her. We all had fun though and the boys found us a few minutes after we had entered the shop. Jen made a point of claiming that if she did not get a chocolate soon she was going to combust of cramps and so Alice and I made like babies and took her out of the shop to "prevent her from causing a scene."

As soon as we were clear of the store's sight range, we ran flat chat down the street, barely looking at the shops we were passing. Mind you, we had no clue what we were actually going to buy her, but when I saw something in a shop's window and doubled back to have a look at it, Jen and Alice stopped and soon joined me. I pointed to the lovely little Tea Set which had pink roses on it which sat on top of a box in a window of what appeared to be a little café which mainly catered for loved up couples. It was advertised for sale, so we rushed in and quickly inquired about it.

A lovely plump and jolly lady who had perfectly maintained blonde curls introduced herself as Madam Puddifoot and was happy to sell us the tea set. We all went in on it as it was fairly expensive for a couple of poor Aussie high school drop outs. Alice had learnt in her sessions with Flitwick how to shrink objects, and so she shrunk the tea set and we all decided for safe keeping, it would take residence in the pocket of my jeans.

We met the rest of the group in Dervish and Banges, and looked over at the amusing little bits and pieces that Ivy had purchased. She was bouncing with excitement and it was all she could talk about. After loading up on all the lollies we could get for the 50 galleons we had left between us, we began trudging back to Hogwarts with arm loads full of things.

Alice was skipping through the snow, squealing with delight as it got caught on her boots. She went to face plant it numerous times which resulted in me throwing everything out of my arms to catch her only to get scolded off Ivy for making the lollies I held wet. I just rolled my eyes and asked her whether she wanted wet lollies or Alice in the Hospital wing. She gave me a snarky remark and we continued on our way.

The rest of the day passed by rather quickly, with Ivy spending most of it in the room of requirement, happily decorating it in a myriad of conjured fabrics and random objects which she had transfigured into streamers and other various things. We spent most of the night buzzing over what we were going to wear.

The girls had pooled all our wardrobes into one and we came up with two complete costumes; one for the birthday girl and one for Jen. Ivy, in a fit of psychic ability, had actually packed her Mad Hatter hat which she had used for her monologue performance in school drama the year before. When we asked her why she had actually packed it she smiled and shrugged, saying she had a feeling she would need it.

Before we really recognised it, it was dinner time and the sun had disappeared, taking its last rays of golden light from the sky and leaving the world devoid in a black cloak of loneliness. Dinner forced us all to part ways, as it usually did, and during a rather animated argument amongst Tom and Hamish, Dumbledore stood, trying to catch everyone's attention.

"Ladies and gents?" he said, his voice booming impressively around the great hall. All the student body dropped the remnants of their food and looked curiously at their beloved headmaster. "I have been asked by a few of the prefects to make an announcement tonight." He said, pausing to make sure we were all listening.

"As it may have come to your attention in January's Quidditch matches between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw and then Hufflepuff and Slytherin, there has been losses to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams. As a result, there will be tryouts for both teams on Next Saturday. Hufflepuff's will start at 9 in the morning and run until noon. Ravenclaw's will start at 1 in the afternoon and run until 5 in the afternoon. The Ravenclaw's will be searching for a beater and a keeper whereas the Hufflepuff's are searching for a seeker." He explained and a perceptible thrill ran through each member of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, everyone keen to get into the prestigious positions being offered.

Hamish leant over and whispered into my ear. "You trying out Steve?" he asked and I gave him an 'are-you-kidding-me' look. He laughed, "Ah come on lass, where's your sense of adventure?" he joked, clapping me over the back. "I'm a Hufflepuff Ham, not a bloody Gryffindor." I said, my tone slightly clipped. He laughed again. "Yes, but you are a hard worker, and I think you could do the job nicely."

Somehow Kevin had picked up on our topic of debate. "You're trying out for the team Anna?" he asked, mildly impressed. "No!" I yelled, my voice to loud and attracting attention from others sitting around us. I blushed furiously and lowered my voice considerably. "No I will do nothing of the sort." I spluttered, folding my arms across my chest, trying to indicate the conversation was over.

My wishes went ignored. "Don't be ridiculous. You should try out!" Kevin urged and I shot a filthy glare at him. "I thought you were supposed to be on my side during Hufflepuff disputes." I accused him, my bottom lip sticking out in a pout. "Bros before hoes." Tom said, giving a horribly bad gangsta pose. "Oh, so I'm a hoe now am I?" I asked, my green eyes hardening.

Hamish knew things were going bad. "No. I thought I told you to ignore what that idiot said. He doesn't know what he's talking about half the time." Hamish said, his tone contrite as he sent Tom a glare. "But I think we can all agree that you should try out." When he saw my look he quickly backed up, "just give it a try, you might actually get it! There's no harm in trying right?" he asked, his eyes beseeching.

I could feel my resolve breaking and the crease between my eyebrows deepened as they all gave me wide-eyed pleading looks. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "God I'm turning into such a softy. Next thing you know I will be baking cakes for the guards of Azkaban and knitting scarves for House elves." I muttered to myself, and somehow the boys heard me. I let out another breezy sigh. "Alright," I grumbled, "I'll try out for the damn team." The boys all cheered and gave each other high fives. "But don't blame me if we lose games." I warned, pointing at them with my finger.

"We won't lass, Kevin and Tom will just be happy you're on the team. And I'll have a practice buddy now." Hamish said brightly, slinging an arm around my shoulders. "You're on the team?" I asked, my mood perking up. He smiled, showing me a flash of straight and brilliant white teeth. "Yes, I'm a chaser lass. I give those Slytherin boys a run for their money I can assure you. Their trust funds can't touch my speed." He said, waggling his eyebrows at me.

I giggled. "Well, we'll have to see that now won't we?" I teased, tugging on his ear playfully.

When the sun rose on the Sunday of Ivy's Birthday, I woke up to find the Birthday girl herself levitating in the air, her hair brushing the beams of the ceiling. Alice must have been the one in the bathroom, as her bed was empty and strewn with clothes. Jen was a ball of black curls and was still slightly snoring.

When my bleary, sleep filled eyes fell on Ivy, I gave an almighty screech and in my surprise, toppled from the bed and landed in a pile of messed up sheets on the floor. Ivy laughed from her elevated position, throwing back her head and chortling loudly. The commotion woke Jen and she rose from her face down position like the Lochness monster.

"What?" she grumbled sleepily, yawning mightily. "Nothing night troll go back to bed," I muttered, standing up and rubbing my ass. Alice came out then, drying her hair with a towel. "So" she said, wearing a baggy pair of jeans and a grey sloppy joe. "When's this shin-dig on?" she asked ivy, who was slowly descending. When she had landed with a plonk, she brushed off her hippie pants and stood.

"Well, around 1 o'clock." She explained, straightening her ponytail. I stood up and cast a cleaning spell at my bed and watched as it made itself. Jen stretched back her arms and yawned. "Good. It gives me time to finish that potions essay." She grumbled. I gave her a smug smile. "I finished mine already," I explained and watched as her expression darkened.

I grabbed a pair of track pants and a shirt. "You may want to get started on it too; it took me three hours and I knew where to look for the info." I said casually as I walked through the bathroom door. I heard her swear, the rustle of clothes and the slam of a door and I could tell she had just bolted to the library. Tough luck for her; serves her right for leaving it until the last minute. I had been badgering her all yesterday and Friday night to start it and she had ignored me.

Anna was right again.

After we were all dressed, Colin, Will, Alice, Ivy and I made our way to the great hall to see if any food was left. We all sat at the Gryffindor table and chattered non-stop about anything and everything we could think of. Will, Alice and I all got owls as the three of us had written to our parents to ask if they could send to us some particular items for our respective costumes.

Alice's mum had sent her a blue dress and apron for her "Alice" outfit- Ironic huh? Will's dad had sent him a few decks of cards, a stack of red paper and a crown from the $2 shop and a white business shirt with a red tie. Mum had sent me a black dress vest, a white skirt, my pair of white boots and the pocket watch I kept on my nightstand. She had written me a note saying she couldn't find the bunny ears from Halloween and said that Bunica had suggested transfiguring my ears into bunny ears. Mind you, I had no idea how to do that, but the clever old bat had already thought of that and had included instructions on how to say the incantation and the appropriate wand movements.

Simple enough.

For anyone who was a master at transfiguration.

Oh I could turn an owl into an envelope, a whistle into a working pocket watch. But human transfiguration? You've got to be kidding me. That wasn't even in the NEWT syllabus! I was absurdly nervous to test the spell but decided I would try when the time came.

The next hours passed relatively quickly, with no real drama to speak of. We all just sort of sat around until it was time to get ready. We split off into girls and boys groups and went to piece together our costumes. I pulled on my white school shirt and rolled up the sleeves, to make it look a bit less gaudy. The vest trimmed the waist, hugging my curves. The skirt was a mini skirt, but it didn't really bother me. The white boots went to just below my knees and I used a pom-pom that had somehow managed to become a stowaway in my trunk as a tail. I put on a little bit of makeup and used some pink eye shadow to colour in the tip of my nose, making it look like a rabbit's. The pocket watch was pinned to one of the pockets on my vest and was currently dangling there, the ornate silver glinting in the light.

The only problem now was the ears.

I stood in front of the mirror which was attached to the back of the door and looked at the letter in my hands with a nervous intensity. Ivy, who was tying a brightly coloured polkadot scarf into a bow around her neck stopped and had a look at my wand and the paper. "What are you doing Anna?" she asked curiously, the crazy make up she had applied catching my eye. I sighed. "Trying to transfigure my ears into a rabbit's." I explained, tugging on my own human ears in exasperation.

Ivy perked up. "Ohh!" she said, suddenly excited as she bounded over to where I was standing. "I didn't know you were an animagus." She said, mildly hurt that I hadn't said anything on the matter. I looked at her with a frown. "I'm not. My Bunica just sent me a spell which is meant to change your ears into a rabbits." I explained and some of the wonder on her face disappeared, but then appeared again quickly. "Wow!" she said excited. "I have never heard of that spell before." She said, peering over my shoulder to read what was written.

"I hadn't either, until she sent it to me this morning. So if I screw this up, I will probably end up as a bunny for the rest of my life." I joked, and Ivy chuckled. "That wouldn't be so bad. I would look after you. I always wanted a bunny as a pet." She mused, her eyes glazing as she stared off into space, looking so much like the mad hatter it was ridiculous.

I chuckled too then concentrated on the spell again. Sucking in a huge breath I threw all caution to the wind and decided to give the spell a crack. "Ausculto Lepus" I muttered and slashed the wand in the movements Bunica had told me to. After I cast the spell, I felt an odd tingling begin in my ears, then the sensation of them being stretched. Looking in the mirror, I watched as my ears changed shape, growing in size and moving their positions from the sides of my head to the top of my head where they grew even greater and distorted as a white fluff began to cover them.

A few breaths later I had a full, functioning set of white bunny ears.

"Wow." Alice breathed, coming into the room dressed as Alice, her brown looks pulled back by a blue bow head band. Even though she spoke the word softly, my ears picked them up instantly. My hearing had dramatically improved, so much so that I could hear Will and Colin talking about some hot Slytherin Chick in 7th year. I could hear both of my companion's heart beats, and my own for that matter which was slightly accelerated with shock.

I giggled. "Wow, I can hear everything." I mused, and watched amazed as one of my ears turned, seeking out the noise of an owl outside somewhere. I shook my head in amazement, as Alice reached up and touched the fur on my new ears. She giggled. "Your ears are so soft." She chuckled as she stroked the fur and I rolled my eyes.

Jen burst through the door then, waving her paper over her head and declaring loudly she had finished. She stopped in shock as she saw the ears and grinned. "See!" she declared loudly, "I always knew one day you would sprout bunny ears!" I rolled my eyes. "Hurry up and get dressed Cheshire, you're late!" I accused, picking up my pocket watch and giving it a tap. It was her turn to roll her eyes now. I have to give her credit, she got dressed super-fast, and after we all met up in the little living room, we all gave a cheer and waltzed off to the room.

To anyone who came across the group, walking to our little venue, we would have looked like a bunch of lunatics whom had been dragged from Wonderland and placed into Wizarding England. Our allotted characters which had been bestowed upon us suited our personalities so well, we all embodied them to the T. There was the Cheshire Cat (Jen), The Mad Hatter (Ivy), Alice Kingsley herself (Alice), The 'King' of Hearts (Will), The Caterpillar (Colin) and of course, the White Rabbit (Anna/me).

As it was, as we reached the room, we ran into Dumbledore who looked us all over then chuckled. "My! It seems as if wonderland has released its citizens on poor England." We all came to a stop in front of him and smiled. Ivy stepped forward. "Thanks for lending us the room Professor. Would you like to join us?" she asked, her face full of excitement and I briefly wondered how anyone so jovial about tea and Alice in Wonderland could have been sorted into Slytherin.

Dumbledore gave us a knowing smile. "No thank you Miss Gethsemane, I am afraid I have pressing matters to attend to, but please celebrate enough to concede my presence." He said, and quickly left us with a cheery goodbye. After he had disappeared around the curve in the hall, we all piled into the room where we had a very amusing tea party.

There was tea and scones and lollies coming out of our ears and we ate so much it felt like we were all about to explode. Alfred made an appearance some time during the afternoon, running into the room with a large blue bow around his neck as he ran over to Ivy and rubbed his head on her leg, wishing her a happy birthday. He gave her a couple of amused grunts when she began talking to him like he was human and spent most of the evening with her, as if he instinctively knew she was the guest of honour.

He sat at the table on a chair next to mine and after we had sung a very sloppy rendition of 'A Very Merry Unbirthday', Alfred joined in the clapping by banging his hoof on the table in time to the beat. This amused most and Alice happily declared that my pig was probably the smartest pig in the world. I just gave a proud smile and scratched the oaf behind the ears.

After we couldn't swallow any more tea, we ventured out of the room into the little adjoining courtyard and had a snowball fight and all of us got freezing cold and wet, but it didn't bother any of us in the slightest. A bunch of magical towels appeared for us to dry ourselves off and after we had warmed up again, we all sat around and played a rather epic game of Wizard Chess, with Will coming out the victor. I played a game against Alfred, and I won, naturally. It was a close game though, that was until Alfred decided that one of the pawns looked like a nice little snack and tried to devour it. The game ended abruptly as we all wrestled the figure out of the pig's mouth, all of us piled on top of him like a bunch of rabid football players eager to get the ball.

Wizard chess was soon aborted and the party wound down as we all straggled back to the dorm, costumes slowly falling apart and drunk on enthusiasm and joy. We all decided to get changed into our Pj's and finish for the night with a game of Bullshit and this went on until about midnight when my ears finally decided to change back into their human forms.

Ivy was humming to herself as we all collapsed into bed and promised each other that this time next year we would have to have another costume party. I fell asleep that night with a smile on my face, all the worries and cares of being the last Varias not bothering me at all.

A/N: TADA! So, what do you think? Yeah, long right? Way above my normal level for a chapter which is usually 5-6 pages word document size 11, this one was 7 with adjusted margins to fit it in neatly.

Did anyone pick up my badger joke? 10 cyber hugs to those who did.

The next chapter is currently in the works and it the tone has slightly changed from previous ones; the action is starting to occur. The previous chapters have been 'laying the foundations' if you will for the heat of the action which has been hovering on the horizon taking tiny little steps close when you aren't looking. In two chapter's time, you may be shocked.

very shocked.

This chapter needs a shout out to our friend Ivy - or in real life - Liz/Nat. This is for you sweetie. Get better soon, we all miss you! I promised a rejig of your birthday and here it is! Sorry you had to wait a while.

Well, I'm going to shut up now and leave you alone to comment.

Hugs and Butterfly Kisses, your Draco... I mean... Dracula's Sidekick.