Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious or Harry Potter, the former belongs to Dan and Nickelodeon, the latter to J. K. Rowling. This is a collab done with BloodyJesus and the idea is actually his, we're just working together to make this the best story possible.

Chapter 19: Mirror, mirror near the board . . .

Mid-December was upon Hogwarts, with a blanket of snow as it was. The crew were with the Weasley twins, Robbie, Jordan and André and a hidden kitten, and the three musketeers of course. Due to a spoken idea from Jade, the twins bewitched several snowballs to get on Quirrell's turban case and hence, punished. They were outside for a reason: in California, there was no snow, and this being their first snowfall, they wanted snowball fights and other such things. They kept it up well after the two redheads got punished, and found a scaredy Cat watching them, hair fringed with cyan blue. They tried to get her to join and though she was happy with the snow, she couldn't handle the cold so refrained herself. There were plenty of tackling and pushing and soaking, and it was only when Tori felt just how cold Jade was that she called it all to a stop.

"I'm not cold!" The pale girl called, offended, but at the shake of the Latina's head, she simply snarled and marched off. "I'm not!"

"Yes you are!" Tori replied as she followed her friend, or enemy, in which ever mood said frenemy woke up in, "I'm taking you to hospital wing so Madam Pomfrey can give you some Peppermint Potion!"

"I can make one," those green-blue turned emerald-sapphire in less than a second, "in my sleep, Vega."

"We're still going," and so, she took the girl as she huffed and they went on their way.

"Who else is coming?" Cat asked, but she was stopped by her fellow Ravenclaw.

"Bad idea Lil' Red," he warned, then frowned at the eldest Vega and his best friend, "Trina, Beck, I mean it —"

"I'm not comfortable with them being alone," the boy replied with a frown, and at the other boys' look, he sighed and gave up. "Fine."

"I'm not leaving my sister alone with that psycho," Trina replied with a shrug.

"Your sister is willingly taking that psycho," the boy reasoned, and she stopped, biting her lower lip; they all looked at him, amazed. "I am a Ravenclaw!"

They said nothing, just looked after the pair who were becoming smaller as they moved on.

"I'm not an owl who needs Hagrid to be nursed back to health!" It was the pale girl's final protest; they saw Tori say something, and the girl seemed to relent.

Perhaps it had something to do with going home to their families, though by then everyone knew Jade was sneaking her little brother in somehow. She had been called by the Headmaster and her Head of House, with Snape present for some reason. The teachers had been aghast by the bold and evident threat, as she could easily sneak back to the castle (seeing as she could apparate in Hogsmeade with the boy) and were even more shocked by Dumbledore's laughter.

"So, what did he say?" Tori inquired as they moved on; they knew their friends would go back to their common rooms (or the Gryffindor's) and get warm there.

"He had already arranged for him to come on the train," she whispered back, fighting back a sneeze, "chiz — I'm cold . . ."

"Told you," but before she could frown at the girl, the worried look made her uncomfortable, even more when the tanned hands began taking her cloak off, "come, it's better and warmer if we share."

It was said with a blush, but the pale girl scoffed, still doing as told mainly because her fingers weren't working. Poppy, of course, made them stay in the wing and brew plenty of the potion and placed it besides them, in a forever-warm cauldron. Seeing as Tori was reluctant to part ways, she allowed them the grace of sleeping in the same bed

"But just, this once okay girls?" She said threateningly but the West heir scoffed at the words and snuggled into the warmth of her friend.

"I'm glad mom and dad aren't making us go back," Tori confessed, holding back a yawn.

"They haven't found a house yet," Jade reminded her.

"Still, Harry isn't comfortable with the idea of spending Christmas with us," the tanned girl confessed and the other laughed. "What?"

"You think your cousin cares about what my cousin has to say?" She began laughing again, louder this time. "Draco's a dork, he sadly doesn't know better and I know better than to try to teach him."

"Why?"

"Because . . ." She blushed a bit, and with a huff, decided to spill her guts; she knew this Vega sibling was trustworthy. "I want what you have with your cousin, just with mine."

"You care about him," the Latina realized and the bluntness of it made those pale cheeks turn crimson.

"Family Vega," she spat, angry now, and only the fearful arm that ended around her waist prevented her from going to another bed, "I care about family — and I don't have many, so I want to keep the one I do have."

"Oh . . ."

"Oh indeed," she scoffed again, then, with a growl, took the Latina in a tight hold, "I'm possessive — deal with it."

"I'm glad you stuck for Ron and Hagrid," Tori began, amused and at the memory, the pale girl had to laugh. "You did quite a number on your cousin."

"It was priceless when Snape came and found us," she continued, chuckling; she had beaten their Gryffindor redhead on getting to Malfoy, but the blond boy had been expecting this and had gotten Jade trapped between the wall and him, "Draco, what are you thinking? We're family and I'm sure that for all the pure-blood traditions, this would still be considered incest. Get off me now!"

"What are you —?" Tori began, doing the voice of the pale boy, and they laughed, "he looked like a ghost when he saw his Head of House."

They began laughing again. Snape had given his golden boy a warning and left, no one else daring to say anything or comment about it. They were looking forward to meeting the Slytherins again, though they only had one day left before the holidays and they had managed to convince the insufferable threesome to postpone the Flamel search in order to play in the snow.

"I'm still not sure why Harry doesn't want us to ask our Ravenclaw friends," Tori murmurred, yawning.

"Yeah," Jade's turn to yawn, "Gryffindor exclusive; I should have punched Ronald for that."

"Considering they don't trust the crew, seeing as Rex is part . . ." Something occurred to her. "Where is Rex spending the holidays?"

"Robbie is going to his grandma's," yawn, "seems like her place was waiting for them; I think Reggie is going to Draco's."

That said, they finally managed to go to sleep. All Tori did, and could do though, was smile and turn to the cool embrace. She had no idea why the black-loving girl was always either cool or cold to the touch, but when it wasn't burning cold it was a nice contrast to her warmth that seeped through her skin and made her bed unbearable at times.

Madam Pince was grateful to not have them all in her library as they spent the day in the Great Hall, enjoying the decorations. Once everyone had left for the holidays, they had the common room to themselves, where they made Jet feel welcome. The boy had brought his toy broom and between him and Harry, they zoomed around the place; Jade managed to get a Snitch and left them to play to their hearts content. Ron would sometimes join them in one of his brother's broom, looking around then feeling dejected at the fact that Beck wasn't there. Trina, Tori, and the pale girl roasted food around the fire, Jade feeding her little brother plenty of marshmallows and going as far as getting several house elves into helping and making them warm chocolate. Funny how she left then came back with them.

"Magic," she replied with a wink when they asked her, laughing.

"Let me go!" They heard someone demand from behind her, and found a very hazzled Cat near tears; some of her fellow Ravenclaws had taken to teasing her, but one look from Jade made them flee on the spot. "Jade . . ."

"I'm here kitty cat," the Ice Queen said, letting the ditzy redhead calm down on her shoulder and reassuring her; she gave the tray to the Latina who joined them, "giving you a hard time without André being here?"

"Yeah," the girl replied with a sniff; they heard some muttering at the end of the corridor and the redhead whimpered, "you might get in trouble for letting me stay . . ."

"They'll be the ones left in Hospital Wing if they keep this up," Tori muttered, and was rewarded with a smile from the pale girl; she blushed, "come on, inside, gotta get you warm; Jet already arrived, he was asking for you."

"And you can stay here," Jade nodded, "for the holidays."

"Yay!" They entered and as soon as the red velvet hair was seen by one little boy, the girl was tackled. "Ow Jet, careful."

"Cat!" He remarked with glee.

"Oi, Weasley!" Ron froze; he had been about to sit. "Watch where you plan to place that rump of yours!"

"Rump," both Cat and Jet mimicked, then broke into giggles.

"Oh," the redhead boy scowled when he noticed that his seat was currently occupied, "I'll just shoo him —"

"You'll do what to Midnight," the pale Gryffindor approached him and he swallowed, "Ronald?"

"Harry!" The boy fled. "Want me to teach you wizard chess?"

"But, Ron," his best friend whined, having plenty of fun with Jet in their brooms and one Snitch, "does it have to be now?"

"Can we play?" Cat asked cutely, twirling some of her hair.

"Sure!" He was oblivious to the notion. "Let's have a serious game then."

A game soon began, and it depicted what the main trouble was for most Muggle-borns. It was almost like commanding troopes, so the figures had to get used to their commander before actually obeying.

Christmas was spent in the common room, with everyone going to bed rather late. It wasn't even bed, as they had managed to make a makeshift tent; the elves though, were kind enough to help them spruce the place up a bit, and although getting beds down there would be too much of a hassle, they got plenty of mattresses together by the fire, using several sheets and hanging them from the roof, and Jet thought he was out camping, enjoying himself by cuddling into both, Tori and Jade. No one said anything, just laughed it off since the boy was soon asleep.

Alexander, who had spent most of the days outside, came in to find the surprising sight of a pillow fight, and the Weasley twins pulled him down to join them. He was too tired to fight it all. Besides, they all told him to join, and after a while, it felt it wouldn't be good for him to just decline the offer. With a smile, he sped to the room, changed into his pjs and joined them.

Harry was surprised to find a rather big pile of presents waiting for him. He was woken by Jet's overly excited shout of PRESENTS! quickly followed by Cat's one of joy. Everyone was busy trying to get their gifts (they had their own, small tree in the room) and it was only Alexander's directions which got them to passing gifts. Percy came down with a frown and a bathrobe, then noticed why he didn't have presents in his room. Making teams, they began passing presents and making sure to keep the piles; Trina passed Tori the presents they had gotten, while Jade and Cat (and Jet), Fred and George, Ron and Percy, Alex and Harry, stuck to doing the same.

"Weird!" Ron said, looking at the fifty-pence piece that Harry's Muggle family had sent him. "What a shape! This is money?"

Harry just laughed, giving it to him without qualms, then noticed a book that was wrapped and found a photo-album of his parents in Hogwarts, along with the Vega family. He showed them a flute that Hagrid had made, then marvelled at a batch of freshly baked cauldron cakes made by Lyra and a new set of wizard chess pieces. A large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione, and a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge from Mrs. Weasley. All in all, the best Christmas ever, along with a mysterious package he wasn't keen on opening just yet. Not when the biggest gift was about to be opened; although he did look with concern at the despairingly mismatch between the West's siblings gift pile. Apparently, Jade had received even less than him, which was a feat by itself while Jet had easily the biggest amount. He did go around sharing the candies he had though.

"Jade, look!" Cat had opened the biggest gift, "my brother modified it! He says it works!"

An espresso machine. Jade didn't waste any time preparing some coffee for everyone, making it extra sweet for Tori and chocolates for Cat and Jet.

"This tastes good!" Fred remarked, laughing, and soon everyone forgot their own presents, but made sure not to confuse or mix them. "Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?"

"Come on, get it on," George said, looking at how Jet, Jade, Tori and Trina were all gushing and sporting their very own Weasley's sweaters, "they're lovely and warm."

"I hate maroon," the redhead moaned halfheartedly as he pulled it over his head.

"You haven't got a letter on yours," Fred observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name."

"But we're not stupid —" George added, "— we know we're called Gred and Forge."

Jet and Cat looked at each other and began laughing hard at the twin's joke.

"Keep the noise down," they eldest Weasley reprimanded.

They caught Percy as he was about to return with his presents back to his room and so Fred seized the lumpy sweater as George did the same with their older brother.

"P for prefect!" Fred began.

"Perfect!" Jade added as an after thought and George began laughing at that.

"Get it on, Percy, come on," Fred continued, smiling widely and pointing at everyone in the room, "we're all wearing ours, even Harry —"

"And the West heirs of doom —" his twin added, having managed to control himself.

"— got one." The twin with the sweater ended, and everyone else began laughing.

"I — don't — want —" Percy couldn't finish as the twins forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew.

"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either," Jade chimed in as the twins frog-marched Percy down to breakfast.

"Christmas is a time for family!" Jet remarked happily, then pouted. "Then why isn't mom or dad here?"

Once only the crew and his best friend were there, did Harry opened the parcel. Alexander, who was coming down after leaving his presents on his trunk, was taken by Trina so the boy could explain what the cloak was. Sure, Ron knew, but it was Alex who said the most interesting fact of the day.

"This, isn't just a replica Harry," the boy said with a flash of his glasses, "I'm afraid I can't tell you more about it. But, do keep it close, most cloaks have to be changed every few years as the spells on them fade. You're lucky; this one won't fade."

"Not lose it, gottcha!" The hero nodded, looking intrigued at his gift. "Too bad we won't all be able to fit."

"Oh, I can ask Alex for help if we need another," Trina replied, giving them a wink and leaving with the boy for the Great Hall, "right?"

"Of course," he replied with a smile, his ears turning slightly pink.

"Del," Jade began, turning to her brother.

"Phoebe," the boy replied; everyone looked at the strange exchange without saying a word.

"The cloak is secret," she said calmly.

"What cloak?" The boy asked, puzzled, and she grinned.

"None."

Ron was the one who found the note as it fell from the wrappings, and passed it to Harry; he read it before skipping off to the room to get his presents to safety and the rest did the same. Then, they left, with Jet zooming away with his broom indoors. McGonagall caught him at it, but he disarmed her with a firm hug tackle, and she was unable to do anything but blush, pat him, clear her throat, and leave, wishing them a Merry Christmas.

Dinner was, indeed, a Merry affair. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas; silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce — and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. These fantastic party favors were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the crew were used to, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats inside. Tori pulled a wizard cracker with Trina as Harry did the same with Fred and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral's hat and several live, white mice. Midnight didn't lose time and enjoyed a Christmas hunt, and Jade helped Jet with a cracker; he got a pirate's hat. Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet (same that Tori had gotten, only hers had fruit in it and she was coaxing Jade into wearing it), and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.

Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver sickle embedded in his slice. Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more . . . something, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to everyone's amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided.

"Did you spike the drinks?" Trina asked the pale teen as she peered curiously at her goblet.

"Trina!"

"What? Knowing her, she could have," the eldest replied in nonchalance.

"No I didn't," Jade replied, staring hard at her cup, "Hagrid was, in fact, asking for wine. I, want wine."

"Aren't we too young to drink?" Ron asked as everyone stared, stunned when the girl drank and frowned. "Alcoholic drinks aren't that good."

"No Weasley, they are." She frowned. "I said wine not grape juice!"

Everyone laughed and only Tori prevented the pale girl from making a mess of the table. When they finally left it, they were laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, and Cat got her very own new wizard chess set. The white mice had disappeared and Jade was carrying a rather full, black cat up to their tower.

The next day, they decided to show Jet around, took him to the Quidditch stadium to show him what it looked like, and spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight on the grounds. Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room before Tori got on Jade's case, and Cat broke in her new chess set with an spectacular win against Ron. He couldn't believe it; in one turn the little redhead had turned the match around, made his checkmate a suicide and won with a move of her queen.

"Teddy would be proud," Jade remarked, and the ditz gleamed with pride.

After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor tower because they'd stolen his prefect badge. In the end, they decided to just sleep in the mattress in the common room, again. It wasn't like Percy could get in their case.

It had been Harry's best Christmas day ever, and the crew agreed without qualms to that. Jet and Cat did feel down at the lack of parents, but otherwise admitted to having the best surrogate family ever.

So it came as a surprise when Jet woke up (bathroom break) and asked Tori to take him, when they came back, he went to his sister and cuddled up, not taking noticed that the Latina was still up, and running a hand through her hair.

"Tori," Harry called, and she went to him, suddenly wide awake.

"Harry, what is it?" She asked, not precisely worried, more surprised by seeing him awake. He passed her a note and she was surprised to read it. "Use it well . . . You're thinking about going and using it, right?"

"It's been nagging at the back of my mind all day," he confessed, frowning, "once we all returned to sleep did I remember, though I quickly fell asleep too . . ."

"Jet woke you," she realized, "and the thought came again, and you decided to use it."

"Yes, and well, I wanted to use it alone —" she smiled but he didn't notice, "— then I remembered that your dad and mine were close, and —"

"Then let's go, cousin," she said with bright eyes.

They moved, climbed through the portrait and stopped.

"Who's there?"

They ignored the portrait's squawk, pondering about where to go and Harry led the way. Tori immediately caught on. In the direction of the library, now they could finally see what was in the restricted section of it and finally discover who Nicolas Flamel was. They placed the cloak tight around them, making sure to keep its rim out of their slippers' range.

The library was pitch-black and very eerie. They lit a lamp to see their way along the rows of books, Harry holding it. The lamp looked as if it was floating along in midair, and even though Harry could feel his arm supporting it, the sight gave him the creeps. Tori was worse off on that end of the deal.

The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. Stepping carefully over the rope that separated these books from the rest of the library, he held up the lamp to read the titles.

They didn't tell either of them much. Tori could, at least, tell him which ones weren't useful, but not much else, considering their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages either couldn't understand. Some had no title at all.

One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood. The hairs on the back of their neck prickled and Tori couldn't shake the fact that Jade would be drooling at the sight. After a while, they stopped and looked at each other, shook their heads and look at the other bewildered. Maybe they were imagining it, maybe not, but a faint whispering could be heard coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be.

They had to start somewhere. Setting the lamp down carefully on the floor, he looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting looking book. Tori followed his lead. A large black and silver volume caught their eye. He pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open.

A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence — the book was screaming! Harry snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, earsplitting note. He stumbled backward and knocked over the lamp, which went out at once. Panicking, he heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside — stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf, he picked Tori up (the scream had frozen her) and ran for it. They passed Filch in the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through them, and, first Harry then Tori, slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in their ears.

"Harry!" Tori said with some panic and his heart's speed raced; had they been seen? "Where are we?"

That's when the hero realized they had been so busy escaping, that neither knew where they were, or where they had been going to.

"It's too dark Tori," he whispered back; but he knew he was also to blame.

Looking about, he noticed they were in front of a tall suit of armor. There was a suit of armor near the kitchens, he knew, but they had to be five floors above there.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library — Restricted Section."

Tori saw the blood drain out of his face. For her part, she felt her hands grow numb. Wherever he was, Filch must know a shortcut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to their horror, it was Snape who replied, "The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."

She relaxed a bit knowing who the teacher was, then realized that Jade wasn't there to help them and grew nervous. Harry though, stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snape came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see them, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into them — the cloak granted invisibility, but it didn't stop the user from being solid.

Backing away as quietly as they could, the cousins aimed for the door that stood ajar to Harry's left. It was their only hope. Hold breath, squeeze, try hard not to move it, and to his relief he managed to get inside the room without their noticing anything. His cousin, being thin slim, didn't have much problem; and he thought he was skinny and likely starved . . . Snape and Filch walked straight past, and Harry leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. Tori just slumped against him and they could feel the others' erratic hearts. That had been close, very close. Several seconds later, they managed to calm their pumping muscles, having calmed their breaths, to look around and gather in their surroundings.