Christmas Day rolled around and Staros was awakened by Carcerous. Seeing Blaise still asleep, Staros took care of his morning rituals and then sat looking at his friend, still asleep. A sinister smile worked its way onto his face as an idea percolated in his brain. Calling on Carcerous for help, he had the elf get him a large pile of snow. While that was happening, with great care, he levitated Draco's sheet over Blaise and knotted the corners slightly to the bedposts. Tying some string to the knots, he had Carcerous put the snow in the sheet and spell it to remain weightless until the sheet fell. The other ends of the string he tied to Blaise's nightshirt. The whole thing took mere minutes. He then left for breakfast, leaving the room door open to the drafty halls.

Staros almost made it to the common room exit when a loud scream of horror and dismay resounded through the dorms. Stifling a laugh, he quickly darted out the exit and almost ran to the Great Hall while other students that were up looked around in confusion.

Staros sat eating breakfast and occasionally chuckling to himself, making a few nearby students who heard him worry a little bit, when after about twenty minutes or so, Blaise walked in and sat down, far away from Staros. He never even looked over. Staros chuckled again before getting up and moving towards Blaise. Blaise waited until Staros sat back down near him and then got up himself and moved as far as the table allowed. Staros followed. If his chuckling didn't make people wonder, this weird game of follow the leader that ensued sure did as students from every house watched in curiosity as Staros seemed to chase Blaise around the table.

About ten minutes of this and Blaise seemed to give up on moving, probably just so he could actually eat. Staros sat next to him and with a weird smile reached over and patted Blaise on the head like a dog. Blaise stared daggers at him in return.

"Sorry, man, just couldn't help it," said Staros apologetically.

"I hate you," replied Blaise.

"Ah, where's your Christmas spirit? Good will towards men and forgiveness and whatnot?"

"My spirit is as frozen as the snow that woke me this morning."

Staros chuckled a bit at that.

"Yeah, well, I know I'll get paid back at some point so eat up, then we'll disturb the Gryffs by showing up to open presents with them."

A flat stare was his answer, but Blaise did hurry through his breakfast with occasional sly looks towards Staros who pretended not to notice the wheels turning in the other boy's head.

A little while later, the two stood before the Gryffindor entry way wondering exactly how they would go about asking for permission to enter.

"It's not polite to stare, young sirs," said the portrait of a very large lady which caused the two to jump in surprise then look rather embarrassed since this was after all, the magical school with hundreds of talking portraits.

"We're sorry, ma'am," said Staros.

"Yes, please forgive us," Blaise said quite a bit more politely. "We were wondering how we could get a message to our acquaintances inside so that they could allow us entry."

"You are Slytherins are you not?"

"Yes, ma'am," Staros replied.

"And why should I let you into the Gryffindor common room? The houses have never gotten on very well so I can't see you having friends inside."

Blaise bowed to her slightly before saying, "In truth Madame, my associate here does indeed have a person who could be considered a friend in the House of the Brave. As loathe as I am to admit it, I too find the individual's company to be more relaxing than some of my fellow Slytherins."

"So formal for one so young," the lady said quietly. "Very well, remain here and I shall pass along your request."

The lady walked out of her frame and was gone for several minutes.

Inside the Gryffindor common room, Harry, Ron, and the twins were finishing opening their presents when Percy walked in.

"What's…" he began only to be interrupted by the Fat Lady walking into one of the portraits.

"Ah, a prefect, excellent. There are two young Slytherins just outside who wish to speak with one of your fellow Gryffindors. Shall I let them in?"

"Whowhat?" Percy said ever so eloquently.

With a sigh, the Fat Lady turned to the twins and asked them the same question. Ron heard and freaked out of course.

"We can't let Slytherins in here! Those slimy snakes are just trying to ruin our Christmas! Tell them to bugger off!"

Fred and George shared a look. In a manner and means known only to twins worldwide, that look asked questions, received answers, made plans, and agreed on a course of action in a split second.

"Never mind…"

"…we'll handle it…."

"…never you fear…"

"…the Weasley Twins…"

"…are here!" the last statement was said simultaneously by them both as they strode towards the entryway.

A few moments later, one of the twins poked his head out the doorway to see Staros and Blaise inspecting the scrollwork around the walls.

"Well, my dear brother mine, it seems we have guests…"

"Ah, yes, guests of a vile and villainous nature I am told…"

"Is anyone more villainous than us?"

"I should hope not, my dear fellow, else we would be out of a job…"

"Right-o. So what brings two snakes…"

"…to the lion's den?"

Blaise looked like he was about to have a seizure from the twins' method of speech when Staros suddenly laughed.

"It's part of our twisted plot to take over the world, one Christmas at a time! If you help, we shall name you Grand Jesters of Our Imperial Order."

Whichever twin it was, Staros suspected Fred, blinked and stared for a moment. Then an equally evil smirle slowly appeared before the door was fully opened and the two Slytherins were bowed in.

"Please, oh Great and Mighty One…"

"…name it, and we shall make it so!"

"Especially if it involves pranks!"

"Quite so, dear brother!"

"Thanks, guys. We came to see Harry, but we did bring presents for all!" Staros said as he stepped into the common room.

Staros and Blaise took a moment at the entrance to look around. The Gryffindor common room was absolutely horrid. Red and gold in garish, clashing patterns adorned virtually every surface. Even the desks were done over in red and gold tones. The lighting was much brighter than the Slytherin common room, almost harsh by comparison. Shaking their heads at the décor, the two marshaled their strength and waltzed in as only Slytherins could.

Seeing the Fat Lady, Staros stopped at the portrait she was currently in and spoke to her before she could depart.

"Thank you for your assistance, madam… I'm sorry, we don't know your name."

"She's the Fat Lady! How could you not know that?" exclaimed Ron. Staros frowned slightly.

"While that might be her moniker amongst Gryffindors, I am sure she has a far more flattering name than that."

"In truth, it has been a while since anyone asked," said the Fat Lady. "My name is Winifred. Thank you for asking." She then walked out of the portrait, most likely back to her own.

Ron at least had the decency to look a little ashamed to have been calling Winifred the 'fat lady' all this time and never thinking to ask if she had a real name. Harry looked a bit upset about the whole thing.

"I wouldn't worry much about it, Harry," said Staros. "Most of the portraits have been called by something other than their original names for so long, some have forgotten. I doubt anyone could recall the Bloody Baron's actual name without doing some serious research… well, maybe Hermione."

Harry, and even Ron, though looking almost offended, had a chuckle at that.

"So what are you snakes doing here anyway?" Ron asked, reverting back to his onerous self. "Can't we have a quiet Christmas without you lot spoiling it?"

"Blaise, it seems we're unwelcome. Shall we go?" Staros said, a slight twitchy smile trying to form while he fought it down.

Blaise nodded and turned while saying, "Too bad, and we had those presents too…"

Harry had been ready to make Ron settle down when he saw what the two were doing. He bit back his own laugh and hid his smile while Ron's face switched between glaring hatred of the Slytherins and the obvious greed of all children on Christmas morning. Greed won out.

"W..wa…wait…since it's Christmas and all…" Ron stammered.

Staros was turned away from Ron, but Harry could see his smirk when Ron's greed beat out his hate. Harry had a hard time holding back from laughing at his friends and was trying very hard to keep a serious look on his face. The twins had no such reason and were looking positively evil while Percy was still in a mild state of shock.

The two Slytherins sat in chairs opposite Harry while Ron retook his own seat. The twins had grabbed their prefect brother and hauled him away chanting about putting on his sweater to show his Weasley family devotion, which earned confused looks and a quirk of the eyebrow to the remaining Gryffindors. Harry and Ron gestured to their own sweaters and explained how Ron's mum made them every year, though Harry's was a first outside the family. Staros nodded, having similar things in his own family, while Blaise shrugged it off as a Weasley thing.

"So, presents then?" Staros asked to which Ron tried desperately to look uninterested and Harry only smiled.

"Carcerous!" Staros called, the elf appearing instantly next to him. "The gifts, if you would."

"Aye, young master," the elf said, popping away only to return a few moments later with Harry and Ron's gifts as well as both Blaise and Staros' piles from their rooms. The two Slytherins set to opening their gifts making the other two wait, not that Ron really minded as he was seeing that Slytherins got similar gifts and that Staros had already shown a dislike for many of wizarding Britain's various kinds of candy. Chocolate frogs creeped him out, but Ron loved them so Staros gave any he found to him.

After ripping through the vast majority of their presents, saving a couple from certain people to be opened privately, Staros picked up Ron, Harry and Blaise's gifts and passed them around, receiving one from Blaise in turn.

"Sorry I didn't get anyone anything," Harry began before Staros waved it off.

"Not to worry, Harry," Staros interrupted, "We're all aware of your situation, not knowing what to get, having no clue how to get it. We'll let it pass this year, you can make it up to us next year."

"W…wh…what?" Harry said.

"Gotcha! But, no seriously, don't worry about it, Harry."

Harry relaxed after he realized Staros was kidding him and Ron assured him that it was all ok.

Ron and Harry stared at the packages in front of them, not really sure how to proceed. Blaise helped them out by just slowly ripping a long piece of wrapping from his gift and giving them a smile. After that, the other two simply tore into their presents like any other kid. Blaise finished opening his present and was rather pleased with the clasp he had been given. It was all in silver with green painted highlights done over in the Slytherin house crest. Harry's was similar except it was Gryffindor done in red and gold. Ron seemed slightly disappointed in his own gift as it was a certificate and catalogue for Zonkos, the local joke shop.

"Wasn't sure what to get ya, Ron," said Staros, noticing the boy's odd look. "Figured with the twins as your brothers though, you might need some… ah, self-defense items as it were."

Ron perked up noticeably at that thought, then grinned as he realized he had a LOT of ideas running around in his head and the means to make some of them happen. Everyone else laughed when they saw the change in attitude.

Harry got Ron to show off their other presents. Ron tried to stop Harry from showing off the invisibility cloak, but after Staros swore on his magic never to tell anyone and got Blaise to so the same, he didn't have much reason to stop it. Staros looked over the cloak and commented on how very rare they were, even in America. It was put away just as Percy was stomping back down the stairs wearing, and looking none too happy about it, his Weasley jumper with a large letter 'P' on it. The twins followed him and when he tried to make the two Slytherins leave, they grabbed him and marched him out the common room door 'to breakfast' they said.

After they left, Ron hurried to put his gifts away and Harry went to stand by the window, looking pensive. Blaise decided he'd had enough of the glaring Gryffindor colors and excused himself, saying he would see everyone at dinner.

"Thinking about your parents, Harry?" asked Staros.

Harry jumped and looked at the Slytherin boy, "How?"

Staros quirked a half-smile at him.

"Really? From the little you've said, your aunt and uncle don't exactly shower you with graces, you're an orphan, and it's Christmas. Most of my siblings are much older than me and live in different parts of the world. I've spent more time with my tutors than much of my family. It's not hard to guess."

Harry smiled a bit at that realizing it was pretty obvious. Before he could say anything else, Ron had come back down and pulled Harry over to a game of chess. Staros watched them play for a while, occasionally giving Harry pointers but never enough to beat Ron. Harry switched out a couple times with Staros and Ron trounced him too. Staros shook his head at the last game, beaten in only eleven moves.

"OK, Ron's a chess-master. I'm barely considered average. Harry, you're just pathetic."

"Hey!"

"No denying the truth, Harry. Give Ron here a few more years playing against tougher opponents and he could have a real talent. I'll have to set up my laptop some time and put our moves into the computer to see if Ron can beat the best levels it has."

Ron was all for that, but for now, it was getting late and they all had to get ready for the Christmas dinner. Staros left and Harry was needling Ron about playing chess with a Slytherin, and winning. Ron looked horrified for a few moments before he remembered that no one else was here, no one saw, and yes, he did win. Grinning like an idiot, he ran to get ready for dinner.

The Great Hall was done up a little differently for Christmas. Gone were the house and teacher's tables. Instead, there was one large, narrow U-shaped table in the middle of the room. Dumbledore and the teachers were already seated at the top of the U, with enough of a gap between them and the students to prevent anyone from feeling nervous. The students all gathered and sat down, the older ones not even pausing in their quiet conversations since they had seen this before. The houses still tended to sit together, but with only about eighty-ish students in the castle, people were still mingling with different years and houses, regardless.