I'd always found it hard, at this time of year, to remain present and concentrate on my studies. That hadn't changed between attending muggle primary school and Hogwarts, in fact, in many ways it had gotten much worse. While it may have only been mid November, I had spent the last few days giving an hour of my time to Hagrid and Professor Sprout, who were both throwing their efforts into the quick and prosperous growth of the pine trees that would be scattered throughout the school, decorated with candles and glittering ornaments. Initially, they had told me that I would be of no help to them, and I had easily believed that, being a first year student and all. Though eventually, after I had worn them down with my near constant nattering about how I would do any of the boring jobs they didn't want to do, they had given me strict instructions on what spell to cast on the fertiliser before scattering it in a figure of eight at the base of the trunk.

Amazingly, I'd actually managed to earn Slytherin house twenty points for my willingness to help and my ability to pick up a new spell so quickly. Nina, of course, scoffed at this and made a comment about me 'becoming even worse than Granger', who by this point, everyone had just become truly fed up with. Thankfully, she was off home for Christmas, along with the majority of students here, so Nina and I would be blessed with a peaceful holiday period.

I'd been a little put out when I'd received the letter from my mother, telling me that Bellamy and I would be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas this year, as they had decided at the last minute to take a trip. It was a bit rude if you asked me. First year away from home and I wouldn't even be able to visit for Christmas. At least they'd be sending my presents here for me.

The last few weeks of classes for the year were difficult, to say the least. While - most of - the Professors were relaxing slightly, taking the whole work aspect of classes easy, it didn't seem to help the buzz of energy that was shared amongst the students. Quills would tap aimlessly on desks, eager eyes locked on the snowflakes that fell outside the windows, quiet chatter amongst friends about how they would spend the holidays, and what presents they hoped to receive. It had been the same for Nina and I, who couldn't have cared less about whatever charm Professor Flitwick was explaining to us. That was until the snow from outside began to fall over our heads, leaving soft white flakes in our hair and lashes as the entire class looked to the ceiling in awe.

"Ah yes, now you're paying attention!" The Professor grinned at the class, a smooth silver trail leading from his wand to the ceiling that was now shielded from view by bright white clouds.

"Awesome…" I muttered to myself, smiling up at the clouds and allowing the snowflakes to settle on my cheeks.

"Awesome indeed, Miss Cavett."

Professor Snape hadn't been so lax in potions class, actually appearing to give us more work that usual. It would figure that he'd be a classic Grinch when it came to the holidays, a phrase which I'd had to explain to Nina after I'd muttered it when his back was turned. It didn't take long, however, until he was throwing his parchment onto the desk with an exhausted sigh and instructing us to get out before he deducted points from everyone - and I quote - "purely for being so irritatingly joyous".

Of course, we hadn't hesitated to scoop our books into our bags and hurry out of the classroom, discarding our school supplies as soon as our shoes crunched on the freshly fallen snow. I'd thrown my bag down in the corridor that surrounded the courtyard, leaving wide gaited footprints as I sprinted across the space and dove behind a fort that had been charmed up by Nina, which also housed Draco, Crabbe, Sally-Anne and Pansy. Chancing a peek over the top of the fort I noticed that there was an identical one opposite us, hints of blue and silver peeking out telling me that this was a Slytherin Vs Ravenclaw fight. I couldn't help the grin on my face as Nina dropped a perfectly shaped snowball into my hand, offering a quick wink before we launched the balls at our opponents.

It didn't take long to realise that Slytherin would be the victors here, the soggy robes and shivering bodies of the Ravenclaw team betraying their downfall. My eyes had grown wide when a well aimed snowball of mine came into direct contact with an unfortunate Ravenclaw's face, realising, once the snow had been hastily wiped away, that poor odd Zachary Leiring had been the recipient of my attack.

"Oops! Sorry Zach!" I called out over the fort with a giggle, "better luck next time aye?"

I charmed another round of snowballs at my feet, launching another in his direction and narrowly avoiding the one that he returned. I stumbled as Draco bumped into me, a snowball coming within an inch of his head but just missing him as he ducked.

"Rubbish aim guys." I called out to the Ravenclaws with a frown, merely seconds before a snowball hit me square in the side of my head, soaking my hair and dripping down into my robes. I squeaked, falling to the ground behind the fort with a wide grin. Spoke too soon.

The Christmas holidays approached very quickly after that, the weeks till Christmas Eve turning to days, and students beginning to filter out of the castle in dribs and drabs. It felt odd with the castle so empty, it was a bit too quiet and at first I'd found it a little unsettling. However, once I realised this meant I would get first pick of all food during meal times, and would have no problem claiming the sofa beside the fireplace in the common room, I'd grown to quite enjoy it.

I'd managed to hunt down the twins on Christmas Eve, giving them each a well thought out and well written Christmas card, each of which housed a little surprise for the both of them. They had managed to make me the victim one of their pranks shortly after Halloween, leaving me with a black eye that lingered for at least a week. Apparently they weren't worried about getting on my bad side, but they would realise their mistake the following morning once they opened their cards. The pigment powder I had created in a wonderfully dazzling orange shade, to match their hair, would normally last a day or two on skin, though I'd dropped in just a pinch of Granian hair to increase the potency, meaning it should last a few days extra. It was a shame that I wouldn't get to see the results of my efforts, sorely wishing I could witness the powder spring out of the cards and onto their stunned faces, though I'm sure I would get a glimpse of the aftermath at some point on Christmas day.

Nina and I had been surprised to find a card for each of us, pinned to the mantle when we came downstairs one morning, even more surprised when we opened it to find Professor S. and nothing else written in neat handwriting inside. It was an odd thing to receive from our usually stoney faced head of house, though we appreciated it nonetheless, and both had ended up displayed proudly alongside the others.

"Well… I'm off now." Nina and I glanced up from our respective books in unison, regarding the boy who stood before us wrapped in his scarf and clutching his trunk.

"See you in the new year," Nina smiled genuinely, offering the boy a brief wave.

"Yes, have a lovely Christmas, Draco." I replied, before holding up a finger for him to wait and digging around at my feet for the envelope that had slipped into the gap between the sofa cushions.

"Here," I smiled, holding the card out to him, which sported his name in Nina's neat, scrawling handwriting. "From Nina and I… Merry Christmas."

He took the card from me with a frown and slipped it into his bag before glancing between us.

"I didn't get either of you a card…" For once in his life, he seemed genuinely bothered by this fact, though Nina and I simply shook our heads.

"Don't worry, we weren't expecting one… you should get going, I'm sure your parents are excited to see you." His smile faltered, just for a millisecond, at her words, and he was quickly on his way, trunk dragging behind him and bumping out of the common room door with a thud.

It was quite peaceful really, once everyone was gone. Pansy, Sally-Anne and Cressida had all left a few days earlier, and Nina and I had thoroughly enjoyed the silence we now experienced in our dorm. The free beds in our room had been claimed very quickly by Orion and Hades, and I was certain that we were going to have to ensure those sheets were free of cat hair before the girls got back, lest we suffer their wrath.

We'd quickly relocated our big fur blankets to the common room, claiming the sofas as our own for the duration of the holiday. No one had minded, considering the fact that the only other people who had actually stuck around were panic stricken 7th years who were busy cramming for their NEWTS. And Bellamy, if course. They mostly spent their time in the library, or in their dorms, which gave us free rein of the common room to do as we pleased.

Of course this had led to me insisting upon a bit (a lot) of decoration. Nina had been understandably confused when I had stumbled back through the common room door one afternoon clutching arms full of sticks, leaves and berries, and had promptly ordered her up to our room to find some string, and to tell Bellamy to get down to the common room ASAP. Surprisingly, she did as I asked, retuning a few minutes later and launching a ball of twine at me, my brother following closely behind. She had her questions, all of which I ignored with a stern glare before calling Bell over and getting to work with a smile.

It had become a family tradition in our home to make Christmas wreaths, though normally this was done around a table with my mother and father. Unfortunately, this year we had to make do with the common room floor, which along with the blazing fire, the crackling record player and Nina's quiet humming, actually turned out to be wonderfully pleasant. At one point, Nina had insisted upon getting involved, until her wreath kept falling apart and she ended up sitting on a berry, at which point she returned to her chair and her book, content to let us get on with it.

The end result was beautiful, as usual, and even Nina had remarked on how pretty the wreaths looked as we hung one above the mantle, and one on the common room door.

"One last thing…" Bellamy directed his wand at the wreath above the fireplace, muttering a spell under his breath and watching on with a smile as a string of lights trailed from the tip of his wand, wrapping around the wreath and giving it a warm glow. I couldn't help but smile as he draped an arm over my shoulder, giving me a squeeze as we admired our creation.

"Merry Christmas, Ammy." I responded in like, squeezing his hand as he turned to Nina, placing a hand on her shoulder and repeating the statement.

We spent the rest of the afternoon lugging an unnecessarily huge pine from Hagrid's hut and into the common room, before insisting upon decorating it ourselves and working into the evening to ensure it looked perfect.

It felt odd, in a way, that we were saying these words from our school common room and not from our home. But, in another wonderful way, it cemented something between us. Because now this was home too.

"Do you suppose you'll get many gifts?" I glanced up from my book, my deep concentration on 'The Hobbit' breaking as I turned to my friend with a small shrug.

"Well, I have asked for some new sketching parchment and quills. Flourish and Blotts always do a huge Christmas sale so my parents normally get most of my stuff from there. What about you?" She mimicked my shrug, unfolding her legs from under her and stretching them out with a satisfied groan.

"I always expect at least one weird present from my grandparents, they always send me the strangest things that tend to come in surprisingly useful."

"Which grandparents?" I closed my book and sunk back into the cushions with a confused frown.

"What do you mean?"

"Is it your dad's parents, or your mums? We have different names for each. Dad's mum and dad are Nana and Pops, but mums are Granny and Grandpa. It saves a surprising amount of time when we're having one of our larger family dinners… not that Granny and Grandpa come round so much anymore…" I considered the family members with a disappointed frown. I honestly couldn't remember the last time I'd seen them. When we were little they'd been around a lot, but they'd never been keen on Papa, what with him being a muggle and all, and so they'd just sort of… slowly disappeared. Nana and Pops were always there though, and Great Granny Marceline often made an appearance, despite Granny and Grandad's disapproval. Great granny was too old to care about disapproval, she did what she wanted and damned the consequences. It was quite inspiring actually. She was my favourite.

"Oh. Mum's. My Grandfather on that side of the family died before I was born and my Grandmother doesn't speak to us."

"Why?" I questioned lightly, sensing that it was a sore subject, and getting the feeling that we wouldn't be discussing it tonight.

"It's a long story… for another time I think." She sighed, her gaze cast downward for a moment before she looked back up at me. "Do your grandparents know about your magic? Your muggle grandparents of course." Just the thought of this made me burst into a wide grin.

"Yeah, they didn't to begin with, but then when Bellamy was about to head off to Hogwarts, Mama and Papa decided they should probably explain where he was going. I remember watching their faces as Bellamy made an apple peel itself. Honestly, I think Nana was close to a heart attack… Pops thought it was brilliant, couldn't stop grinning."

"And they don't mind? They don't think it makes you different?" I frowned, noting the hesitance in her voice, as though she might have said something wrong.

"Well… of course they think it makes us different, but only in good ways. Nana tells me how she loves listening to the other ladies in her knitting group talk about how proud they are of their grandkids who go to University while she knows she has a wizard and witch for her grandkids. She turned up to the group once with a freshly knitted jumper, that Mama had made her with magic, claiming she had knitted the entire thing in one night! No one believed her, of course, but she had a laugh."

"That's adorable." Nina giggled with a smile.

The rest of Christmas Eve was spent in contented silence, bar the hour or so we spent in the Great Hall, oddly enough sitting with Harry and Ronald, who had explained how he and the twins had chosen to stay behind, rather than go to Romania with his parents to visit his brother. While he initially seemed a bit put out by Nina and I sitting with them, he settled into somewhat civil conversation eventually. It actually ended up being oddly pleasant.

The school ghosts floated around, a little less miserable looking than usual as they quietly recited Christmas carols, a few of which I couldn't resist joining in with on a few occasions. Even the teachers seemed a little merrier than usual, probably due to the daily headache of corralling hundreds of students being lifted. Of course, as was to be expected, Dumbledore was the jolliest of them all, strolling around the Great Hall wishing a very merry Christmas to each and every student, a goblet of wine in his hand that, with each emptying sip, refilled itself.

Nina, Ron, Harry and I had ended up in rather in-depth conversation about where the Professors went at Christmas. Nina insisted that they must go home, or go somewhere, however she was silenced when Harry pointed out that they do in fact live at the castle. We continued to pass ideas back and forth, with Professor Dumbledore overhearing and even throwing in a theory that they all retreated to their rooms to hibernate until the holiday was over. He had wandered off with a thoughtful expression after that, and it wasn't long until the four of us were clutching our stomachs, doubled over in laughter.

The Christmas Eve feast was as magnificent as you could imagine, and had us all waiting in anticipation for what we would get on Christmas day. Nina and I had ended up staying at the Gryffindor table to eat, which no-one seemed to mind, apart from Ronald who had grumbled about it for a minute or two before getting distracted by all the food.

Once I'd finished eating, my belly as full as it could be without me literally exploding, I fished around in my bag, pulling out three neatly addressed envelopes.

"Harry," I called to the boy across from me who glanced up from his plate with a slightly startled expression, "here you go, Merry Christmas."

The card was tentatively taken from my hand, a smile tugging at his lips as he accepted the unexpected item. I had manged to find Hermione before she left, and she had thanked me with a surprised grin.

"And Ron…" I anxiously held out the card to the boy beside me, ready for him to throw it back at me. I was pleasantly surprised when he offered a weak smile, taking the card and mumbling a thank you under his breath. "Merry Christmas Ronald."

"Merry Christmas Amelia."

"Wake up, Mia! It's Christmas!" I watched Nina cry as she whipped back the curtains around my bed, faltering slightly as she noted that it was empty, apart from a highly irked looking Orion.

"Come on Nina, you didn't really think I'd still be sleeping? It's 7:30am on Christmas day you mad woman. I've been awake since 6!" I clutched two mugs of steaming eggnog, holding one out for her with a grin.

"I had to be very sneaky, and very polite to a house elf to get these back here for us… you're welcome." I grinned as she took a sip, humming in appreciation and smiling back.

I'd never been one to sleep in on Christmas day, and over the years my waking hour had become progressively earlier. I'd opted this year to let Bellamy sleep in, instead venturing out of the common room in search of the portrait that would take me to the kitchens, a secret Fred and George had made me swear not to tell. I'd also managed to procure a mug for my brother, which was currently sitting outside his dorm room with a warming enchantment surrounding it, and a little 'Merry Christmas, Love Mia" note attached.

We ignored the stern glares of our respective cats as we hung festive collars around their necks, much to Hades' displeasure as he flung himself madly off the bed in an attempt to remove it. It wasn't long before we were finishing our drinks and barrelling down to the common room, cats in tow, still pyjama clad, and Nina tripping over her slippers on the way down the stairs in the excitement. Gifts littered the space beneath the tree, each parcel labelled with the name of the witch or wizard it was gifted to.

"Before we get to these, let's exchange our gifts to each other, yes?" I nodded excitedly at Nina's proposition, clambering over the sofa to reach the tree and pull out the gift I had picked especially for her.

I watched with bated breath as she unwrapped the present, dropping the ribbon to the floor in a heap and smiling down at the contents. She glanced up at me with a grin, moving to say thank you but pausing when I leapt into an explanation.

"You see, the quill won't write with any ink other than the gold in that pot." I gestured between the silver quill and the ink well, "and whatever you write will vanish into the parchment, only showing itself when you ask it to."

"How will it know that it's me?" She queried, opening the pot of ink and swirling it around before popping the lid back on. I considered the question for a moment, realising that I actually didn't have a clue…

"Magic..?" I offered with a shrug and she laughed in response.

"Thanks Mia, it's amazing." She pulled me into a quick hug before diving under the tree and uncovering the neatly wrapped gift that I assumed was for me.

It was thrust into my hands with an expectant look, and I was quick to remove the paper and discard it behind me. I turned the deep green leather notebook over in my hands, admiring the way slithers of silver embossed the front, creating the image of a serpent which wrapped around the back and sides, its head sitting in the centre of the cover. A tiny lock sat to the right of the snake's head, a silver metal clasp wrapping around the opening and securing the pages closed. I flipped the book over again with a frown before turning to my friend.

"It doesn't have a key?"

"Oh but it does. Here." She leaned forward, dropping a little black ring box into my hand and watching with excited eyes as I opened it. Inside was a tiny silver ring, just big enough to fit on my little finger, which was crafted into the shape of a very small snake.

"The ring is charmed, when you hold it near the padlock, the snake slides off your finger and unlocks it. No other key will fit the lock; it can't be charmed forced open. So you can write down all your evil plans and your hit lists and no one will ever be able to see it. You'll never be incriminated for what you write in that book. The pages are also regenerative, so you won't run out of space!"

"This is amazing… I can plan my world domination in peace." I responded with a contented sigh, slipping the ring onto my finger with a small smile.

"My thoughts exactly."

We quickly got to work opening the rest of our gifts, and I wasn't surprised to receive the new parchment and drawing quills from my mother and father, as well as a healthy supply of sweets that contained a note instructing me not to tell my mother that they had been included in the gifts. Nana and Pops send me a lovely silver and green hand knitted scarf, somehow in perfect Slytherin colours, which made me believe that Mama had been involved in that one. I was very surprised to find one unexpected gift, wrapped in deep green paper and silver ribbon, along with an envelope signed by Octavia and Balthazar Blishwick.

I hadn't received a Christmas gift from them in years, though I suppose it made sense in a way as Bellamy had also received a letter from them upon starting at Hogwarts two and a half years ago. I opened the letter attached before I unwrapped the gift, unfolding the paper and reading.

Dearest Amelia,

Your grandfather and I were extremely proud to hear that you were sorted into Slytherin, just like your brother. Perhaps there is hope for you yet.

I scoffed at the somewhat backhanded comment before continuing.

I trust that you will wear Slytherin's silver and green with pride and the knowledge that you are a strong young witch who we know will do great, great things. Your Great Grandmother has asked me to enclose a small gift, a family heirloom and something for you to treasure so that you might remember the proud and noble family you come from. She specified that I tell you it may even offer some clarity someday. Be strong, be ruthless, and most importantly, be clever.

Your proud grandparents,

Octavia and Balthazar

It was odd, to say the least, as I hadn't really heard anything from them for at least a few years. The letter wasn't exactly what I would call sentimental, or even loving, though of course they did appear to be proud of where I had been sorted. Great Granny Marceline's comment about the gift giving me clarity had been curious, and I quickly moved on to unwrap the present with eager fingers.

"What is it?" Nina peered over my shoulder as I opened the dark lacquered box, revealing a thin silver chain. From the chain hung a pendant, the likes of which I had never seen before. A silver snake, very similar to that which embossed the notebook Nina had given me, hung from the chain, its head hooking over as though it was hanging from its chin. The snake's body travelled down in a wave, two small green stones for eyes, that looked almost black until you held them to the light, where they glistened in the most magical way.

"It's beautiful." She gushed, brushing her finger gently over the snakes head, the both of us admiring it with intense scrutiny.

"Get the clasp for me, will you?" I unhooked the clasp, holding the snake under my chin and passing the chain into her hands behind me. It fell forward, settling in the centre of my chest as she finished clasping it and let it go. I twisted the pendant between my fingers with a quiet and curious hum before turning back to the mess we had made.

"We should probably tidy this up," I groaned, looking at the mess of papers surrounding us with despair. I scooped up an armful of paper, glancing around and shrugging before tossing it all onto the fire, watching it burn away with a crackle.

"Mia? You have another gift." I turned to Nina, who was turning over a little box in her hands with a curious look.

"What? I thought we agreed on just one each." I moved back over to where she stood, taking the box as she passed it to me, brow furrowed as I un-knotted the string and pulled off the paper.

"We did. It's not from me." She sunk into the armchair, tearing open a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans and popping a couple into her mouth. Her grimace told me that at least one of them hadn't been pleasant.

My lips parted in a quiet gasp as I pulled out the contents of the box, a smile playing at my lips as I admired the snow globe, which sat on a silver base displaying my name in metallic green lettering. Inside the globe were two small figures, neither distinguishable but both wearing black robes, who were engaged in a particularly hilarious snowball fight. I giggled as one figure was hit square in the face, turning the globe upside down with a gentle shake before righting it. A flurry of snowflakes, specks of blue and green glitter among them, swirled around the figures, who had ceased their fight in lieu of holding their arms out as if to catch the falling snow.

"That is one of the cutest things I have ever seen." Nina announced, shoving another jelly bean into her mouth with a smile.

"It's beautiful." My voice was barely more than a whisper as I placed the globe on the table, allowing the snow and glitter to settle, prompting the snowball fight to resume, quiet giggles actually audible from inside the glass.

"I love magic."