"Amelia whatever-your-middle-name-is Cavett." My gaze shot up from the book I had my nose buried in, my lips pulling between my teeth as I fought with all my might to contain the laughter that was fighting to escape me. Nina moved to open her mouth, no doubt to fill them in on whatever-my-middle-name-was, though my hands frantically swatting at her cancelled that plan. Pursing my lips, I plastered on my most innocent expression, batting my lashes for added effect as two, particularly bright, twins made their way across the courtyard to where Nina and I were sitting. As expected, Nina was far less subtle and barked out a loud laugh as soon as she caught sight of them.

"Hello Fred, George… Merry Christmas!" I greeted them cheerfully, a wide grin on my face as they narrowed their eyes back at me.

"Merry Christmas Ammy…" Fred responded as he dropped onto the bench beside me, shoving Nina out of the way in the process and draping an arm over my shoulder. Their skin was dyed a vibrant orange, nearly matching their hair perfectly, just as I'd planned. George quickly followed suit, dropping to sit on my other side and matching his brother's position.

"I've gotta say, this was a particularly good one… for you." I quirked a brow, turning my head slightly to meet his eye.

"What are you implying Fred? That I can't prank as well as you?" He shrugged as his brother laughed, plucking my book from my hands and folding it shut with a thud.

"Absolutely not little one, although… you chose a dangerous game to play." I sent each of the brothers a quick smile, shrugging confidently and patting George on the knee before slipping my hand into Fred's and purposefully removing it from my shoulder.

"I'm not frightened." They grinned in perfect synchronisation, hopping up from their seats but not before George patted me on the head.

"Good, that'll make this even more fun."

"See you around, Cavett." Their final sentence was spoken, once again, in perfect synchronisation and I couldn't help but find it mildly unsettling. I didn't reply, simply reclaiming my book from the bench beside me and flicking back through until I found my page. I could feel that Nina was watching me carefully, legs folded under her as she picked at a split end on her hair.

"You're not frightened?" She queried, a smirk on her lips as she kicked her legs out and tugged her socks up a little higher. I glanced up from my book, watching her through my lashes as the corners of my mouth twitched anxiously.

"I'm bloody terrified."

I entered the large room with tentative footsteps, hitching my bag higher on my shoulder as I regarded the space around me. A number of sheet music stands were lined up along the right hand wall, a few forgotten papers left to gather dust by careless students. Running my finger across the top of the stands, I made my way further into the room, enjoying the way the light was pouring in through a large window at the far end, creating sun streaks across the stone floors and illuminating the dust that danced in the air. I hadn't been in this room before, but now I was here I found myself wanting more than anything to spend a lot more time enjoying it.

"Miss Cavett?" I spun on my heel at the sound, shooting a smile at the professor who stood across the room by the office door.

"Hello Professor." My hands were clasped in front of me as I fidgeted awkwardly on my feet, eyes scanning the room instead of remaining on my present company. I suppose this was when I was supposed to explain what I was doing here, but in my nervousness, the words just wouldn't come.

"How can I help you Miss Cavett? Did you have a question about charms?" I shook my head, twisting my satchel strap between my fingers and swallowing thickly.

"No, Professor… I'm actually finding charms quite easy, I think it's my favourite subject so far." His face lit up at this revelation, a wide grin and a quiet chuckle on his lips.

"I'm very pleased to hear that, you have been picking things up very quickly." I muttered a quiet thanks with a smile and a nod of my head.

"So, what was it you wanted? Shouldn't you be enjoying boxing day with your friends?" I sucked in a deep breath, nodding enthusiastically before clearing my throat with a small cough.

"Yes, of course, I just wanted to speak to you about um… the choir? I know that first years aren't normally allowed to join and also it's half way through the year but I was too nervous to say anything earlier and after seeing them sing on halloween I just couldn't resist at least asking…" He nodded slowly, clasping his hands behind his back with a sigh.

"You are correct, first years are not normally permitted to join the choir…" I released a slightly dejected sigh, dropping my gaze with a solemn nod. I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting, I knew the rules. First years couldn't join the choir the same way they couldn't play quidditch.

"Though I suppose if one of the first year rules has already been flaunted by Mr Potter, I can't see the harm in giving you a shot." My eyes shot back up, dazzling with a renewed excitement that he matched upon seeing my reaction.

"Perhaps you could give me a little preview, sing a few lines so I can work out if you might be a good fit." My heart stopped. Admittedly, I hadn't thought about this part. I was quite content singing in front of people when I thought they weren't paying attention, but standing here, in front of someone who was actually asking me to sing was a whole other story. I don't really know what I'd been expecting, because of course I would have to do this, but it didn't make me any less nervous.

"Uh- okay… what should I sing?" He shrugged his shoulders, sending me a reassuring smile.

"Sing whatever you would like, Miss Cavett." I nodded, wracking my brain for a song, any song, which was difficult considering every song in the world had evaporated from my brain right at that moment. After a few seconds of consideration, I settled on a familiar song, one I had heard sung to me by papa on many an occasion growing up.

Closing my eyes, I squashed down my anxiety and puffed out a breath before beginning, reciting the first few lines of the classic Beatles song, Hey Jude. The words and melody came to me as easily as breathing, and as I allowed myself to relax, I sunk into the song in the same way I always did when papa and I sung it. I reached the end of the first verse and allowed the words to trail off, peeking out through my lashes to see that Professor Flitwick's lips were pulled into a wide smile. I swallowed, taking a deep breath before releasing it slowly, in the hopes it might calm my nerves.

"Choir practice is every Thursday evening, after dinner. I look forward to seeing you there."

I had been quietly surprised when I'd sat down to dinner later that night and Nina had handed me a small package, wrapped in shining silver paper and decorated with a perfectly tied bow. She'd simply shrugged and jabbed a thumb towards the Gryffindor table when I enquired about it, urging me to just get on and open the bloody thing. A tag hung from the ribbon, displaying my name in slightly messily scrawled handwriting, followed by the words 'no hard feelings'.

I glanced over my shoulder, narrowing my eyes at orange messes of hair that signified the twins, though neither of them looked my way. The ribbon was soon on the floor, along with the wrappings and the box, leaving me with a very pretty looking telescope. It was silver, embossed with a pattern of golden constellations. It was actually very beautiful. In my admiring, I'd almost missed the slip of paper that was now sticking out the edge of the box. I placed the telescope down, claiming the paper and holding it up between my fingers.

"Remembered that you have a weird obsession with the stars, just a little something we found lying around. Merry Christmas. From those Weasley twins."

I had to admit, I was somewhat in awe of the sincerity of the gift. So in awe, in fact, that I didn't even consider that there might be a sinister motive behind it, completely forgetting about how I was bound to receive payback for my little Christmas card dye powder trick. Completely disregarding all sense, I lifted the telescope up to my eye, eager to see what kind of telescopic power it had and instantly regretting this decision as a puff of darkness clouded the vision in my left eye.

I lowered the telescope, sighing dejectedly at how easily I had fallen for it. I spared Nina a despairing glance, though she didn't do more than look up from her food, breath a quiet laugh and continue eating. By this point, these kind of things weren't all that much of a surprise to us.

Despite the fact I now had a rather impressive black eye that would no doubt last probably up until the New Year, and a group of 7th year Slytherins were snickering at me from across the table, I couldn't find it in me to be annoyed.

I reclaimed the telescope, turning it over in my hands in admiration before hopping up from my seat. There was an unexpected spring in my step as I approached the Gryffindor table, noting the moderately terrified look in Ron and Harry's eyes as they regarded my spectacularly black eye. Hermione at least had the decency to look a little sympathetic. Though if they expected me to start shouting and screaming, they would be sorely disappointed.

I reached the table, approaching the twins from behind and flinging an arm around them both, my head resting on their shoulders in between their heads. They were startled, to say the least, probably not expecting to get quite this reaction out of me, but it was hard to be mad.

"Thank you," I mumbled into their necks as I squeezed them tighter. "This is the loveliest gift I've ever received."

"Uh… you have looked in a mirror… right?" I released them, taking a step back and allowing them to turn and fully regard my face. I cocked my head, resting a hand on my hip with a small smile and a shrug.

"I know exactly what my face looks like right now, but I'm choosing to pay attention to the fact that you went to the trouble to give me something so thoughtful, rather than the fact you charmed it to do this." I jabbed a finger towards my eye, and Fred released a burst of laughter, quickly silenced as George jabbed an elbow into his side.

"You're very welcome, Ammy." George responded sincerely.

"Yeah, Merry late Christmas little one" Fred chimed in with a wide smile.

I mirrored their smiles, admiring the telescope once more before pocketing it and taking a slow step forward and placing a hand of each of their shoulders. I batted my lashes, my smile hiding just a hint of menace that, from their expressions, they could easily sense.

"You should probably watch your backs though… you know, accidents happen." I locked each of their gazes with a wicked smirk before straightening and taking a step back.

"See you around guys!" I retreated with a grin, flipping my hair over my shoulder and returning to the Slytherin table, glancing back to see their eyes wide, and smiles on their lips.

With Christmas over we didn't really know what to do with ourselves. It was that limbo period between Christmas and New Year where time just feels… strange. A lot of us had almost gotten to the point where we were actually seeking out professors and asking if there was any work we could do to earn extra credit. Not Nina, of course. Nina was quite content to do as little work as humanly possible, and had actually managed to spend the vast majority of the holiday avoiding as many professors as she could.

I'd done much the same, bar helping professor sprout and Hagrid with a few more herbology things that Nina had turned her nose up at. Her loss, I'd even got to help Hagrid relocate a group of escaped pygmy puffs that had somehow managed to wander off and end up in a disused classroom where they had destroyed a number of books and made multiple nests on the bookshelves. It had been a nightmare to clean up, but Hagrid had promised I could keep one of the puffs as my own once they were old enough, so it wasn't a complete disaster.

Somehow, the twins and I had also managed to go the last few days without another incident, and my black eye was slowly starting to fade. The twins skin had returned to a normal hue by the end of boxing day, thanks to a lot of scrubbing and a tonic given to them by a despairing Madam Pomphrey.

The days felt like they were all merging into one in the lead up to New Year, where the professors had promised we could remain in the great hall until midnight, if we wished, and there would be a surprise for those who did. Of course, everyone planned to stay up, if for nothing else than the snacks we had also been promised.

Around 10pm, we were collected by our house prefects, in my case, my brother, and led down to the great hall. A few still wore their uniforms, or a more relaxed version of it, though the majority were pyjama clad as we followed Bellamy excitedly into the hall, slippers scuffing on the stone floors and dressing gowns tied tight to keep out the chill.

"Good evening everyone, I must say, you're all sporting some especially wonderful pyjamas tonight." I grinned at Bellamy as Dumbledore addressed the hall, batting my brother away as he poked at the little silver stars that covered my pyjamas, which consisted of deep blue trousers and a long sleeve button up top, with white fluffy slippers to match.

"Please, enjoy the treats and drinks there are to offer, and enjoy some quality time with your friends before midnight, when I suggest you all grab a hot drink before making your way out to the courtyard."

Looks of excited curiosity were exchanged before people began to retreat to their respective tables and friendship groups, making the most of the unusual turn the evening had taken.

"Mia, Nina, over here!" We were equally surprised to see Harry, standing beside his table waving us over. It really was an odd evening.

"I told you we shouldn't have spent Christmas eve with them… now they think we're friends." Nina muttered under her breath as we made our way towards them. I simply hushed her, telling her not to be so silly before dropping into the seat beside Hermione. Despite Nina's grievances, she easily fell into conversation with Ron and Harry, leaving Hermione and I to attempt some sort of interaction, which was never an easy feat when Granger was involved.

"Um… I like your pyjamas," I was surprised when she spoke first, offering a warm yet slightly awkward smile. I returned the gesture, pointing out how I liked the gold stitching against the burgundy on hers. Very Gryffindor.

Midnight came around quickly, and surprisingly we had fallen into comfortable and even enjoyable conversation with the Gryffindors, having a good laugh about how Filch had spent the evening scowling in the corner and mumbling about student curfews being in place for a reason.

As promised, the tables contained a plethora of delicious looking sweets and treats, as well as goblets of steaming hot chocolate or sweet hot milk. When Dumbledore announced that we should make our way to the courtyard, Nina made a beeline for the hot chocolate swiping a goblet before a slightly put out looking Gryffindor could even think about it. Shoving past them, she also claimed a hot milk for me, handing it over with a grin and linking my arm. We were led out of the hall and towards the courtyard by Bell, clutching our steaming drinks in our gloved hands as we shuffled out into the frozen midnight air.

I could tell my nose was pink already, stinging slightly as the frosty air hit my face. Despite the chilly night, spirits were high, and we were all waiting in excited anticipation to see what awaited us. Nina and I had claimed a spot right at the back of the courtyard, closest to the doors so we could be the first back into the warmth when this was over.

"Woah, look out tough guy. What have we told you about getting into fist fights?" I whipped my head around to see the twins, both grinning down at Nina and I, clad in normal clothing rather than pyjamas. I frowned at George's comment, jabbing him in the stomach to which he doubled over with a dramatic groan.

"Nice jammies Ammy," Fred plucked at the collar of my pyjama top, holding his hands up in surrender as I batted him away with a scowl. I forced back a smile as Nina grumbled about the fact these two always seemed to be lurking around a corner like a bad smell, and Fred merely thanked her for noticing.

"Why are you two out here already, and why are your shoes so muddy?" It wasn't a difficult observation, their shoes, along with their jeans, were practically caked in mud. "You know what we're out here for, don't you? Is it fireworks? I love fireworks."

I rambled out my guess excitedly, ignoring their amused expressions as they shrugged innocently, refusing to reveal anything.

"Well, if it is fireworks I hope I can see them. Everyone is so much taller than me I can barely see a thing." My complaints became muffled as I took a long sip of my drink, enjoying the way it trickled down my throat and warmed my insides.

"Perhaps you should use your telescope." George snickered, Fred following suit. I simply frowned, placing a hand on my hip and pursing my lips.

"It't not going to give me a black eye every time I use it, is it?" They shook their heads, and I was thankful that at least this gift wouldn't torture me forever.

"No, just that first time, we're not that horrible." I quirked a brow at Fred.

"Debatable… but good, I'm glad. It's far too lovely to never get used." I was silenced as hands came to rest on my shoulders.

"Stop your nattering Amelia, it's about to start." I swiped Fred's hands away, shooting him a glare over my shoulder.

"Fat lot of good my silence is if I can't see a bloody thing." He rolled his eyes at my sharp comment, swiping my goblet out of my hand despite my weak protests and nodding to his brother.

"Come on Ammy, stop your whining." I didn't have a chance to think about what was happening before George's hands found my waist, hoisting me up and depositing me, somewhat roughly, onto Fred's shoulders. It took me a moment, but once I'd overcome my panic about my sudden change of location, and height, I settled into the surprisingly comfortable position, my hands resting against Fred's bright hair and his hands gripping my ankles tightly.

I couldn't help but laugh at the interaction happening between George and Nina below me. Clearly he had offered her the same seat, to which she had threatened to amputate his hands should he even attempt to touch her.

In a matter of seconds, none of those grievances mattered, as the dark night sky was set ablaze with reds and golds, greens and silvers, yellows and blues and all other manner of exploding sparkling colours. Deep bangs and high pitched whizzes silenced all other noises around, bar the ooh's and ah's of the students below, all watching up with utter mesmerisation. I'd always loved fireworks, the way they filled the velvet sky, a blaze that lights up the night, and I found myself utterly entranced. So much so that it took Fred pinching my ankle for me to realise that he had been shouting Happy New Year at me. I returned the statement with a laugh, patting his head before turning back to the show.

In an odd way, as I looked up at the explosions in the sky, I couldn't help but think of the twins I had unexpectedly become such close friends with in such a short time. Just like the fireworks, they were chaos, unpredictable yet fascinating. They were vivid and exciting and bright yet no matter how I tried I would always be a spectator. No matter how anyone tried, they were a fire that blazed their own trail and everyone else could merely watch in awe.

I suppose that was what kept me coming back, despite the pranks and tricks, and the black eyes, I would keep coming back because they were an excitement I hadn't realised I needed. And Merlin knows I wasn't going to let that go.