Year 4 Part 7

The rest of the week flew by as we took our final quizzes and were handed our work for break. Initially I didn't really want to go to Slughorn's party but Molly promised to go if I brought Keeli so we spent it all together, nibbling on the finger foods and gawking at the celebrities Professor Slughorn brought around to introduce. We stayed far too late and were all yawning the next morning as we packed for the train, Amber and Damian included since they'd gone together, which made the carriage ride to the train particularly quiet.

Once the sweet trolley came by and we all got our fill of chocolate things picked up a little, and we all took turns asking Keeli about her trip to the States. She was leaving the very next day for the British embassy in New York so we wouldn't get a chance to go to Diagon Alley together, but she promised to write me a lot and help me find the perfect gift for my brother which still eluded me. I made sure to hug her no less than ten times once we reached the platform.

Cad loaded my trunk on the same trolley as his, waving to the others as we parted ways off the train. It was only his Mum and sister at the station, his Dad still tending to the store, but the reunion was nonetheless energetic. Tempy talked a rapid fire about all her studies while her Mum tried to talk over her daughter to ask how the semester went. We all held hands as Mrs. Mervin Apparated to Diagon Alley, waving her wand to Levitate our trunks and owl cages so we didn't have to haul them along the street. Mr. Mervin's welcome was warm as we passed him to the back of the store and up the stairs. The sitting room had a wonderful sense of familiarity as Tempy helped me carry my trunk into her room. She'd even cleared a corner in her room for me, bouncing on her bed as I took off my travel cloak and set my bag on top of my trunk.

"And my roomate's name is Amanda and she's alright, although she doesn't like studying much. She usually just scrolls through on her phone or goes to the social circle every night."

"Well, we can't all be sorted into a house of brainiacs." I smiled, clamping my trunk closed and sitting next to her. "How are your studies?"

"They're great! I'm taking all the boring subjects like maths and literature, but I got to pick two electives and I chose Latin and a science class that's co-taught by the year thirteen girls. It's super fun and there's one girl, Esme, that wants to be a doctor too and she gave me a bunch of her old textbooks and things to look through."

"It's good you have someone to help you out then. Do they have classes in the later years that's geared towards Healing?"

"Yeah, they have a course for first aid and stuff. The nurse said sometimes they let the older girls trade in their free periods to be a teacher's assistant, and she said she takes on girls sometimes to learn about everything she does."

"Well, it seems this boarding school really does have everything. Are you liking spending time with girls your age? I know there aren't a lot of kids here."

"I don't know, we don't have a lot to talk about. We were raised so differently and I never know what they're talking about. Everyone is always on their cell phones or computers, and they listen to music all the time on radios or little speakers on wires so small you can put them in your ears."

"I can only imagine Cad would have them in every second of the day, the channel tuned in to Quidditch so he'd never miss a thing." we giggled together.

"Hey! Less chatting, more helping! If you want dinner to be edible you better come help!" Cad shouted down the hall.

"He's so dramatic." she rolled her eyes as we both got up.

Cad was setting a whole chicken in a pan, circling it with lemons and herbs to roast off, pointing with his elbow at a mountain of veg for us to take care of. I waved my wand and the potatoes started peeling themselves while we shelled the peas by hand, still talking about her subjects and mutually promising to give the other free reign over the others textbooks.

Their parents closed the shop a little early, just past four, so we had plenty of time to sit at the table and talk. Tempy had even demonstrated her boarding school's cooking classes by making a delicious lemon tart that we ate every crumb of. Mrs. Mervin insisted on doing the dishes so we all moved into the sitting room to read. I picked one of Tempy's science books while she picked my Transfiguration one, Cad nestling himself on the couch between us to listen to the radio and catch up on the Quidditch news he absolutely didn't miss since he was still studying Quidditch Weekly religiously every time it came in the morning post.

At eleven his parents said it was time for bed and I carefully bookmarked my place before setting it on the coffee table and changing into my pajamas. Tempy helped me make up a bed on the floor of her room, but we laid whispering for another hour before we finally nodded off. The next morning was Sunday so the shop was closed, and Mrs. Mervin made breakfast for us all. Cad asked us if we wanted to go for a walk after breakfast as it'd snowed overnight so we agreed, pulling on a few more layers before setting off around Diagon Alley. Most of the shops were also closed, but the bakery on the corner was open so we bought hot drinks and fresh biscuits to eat on our morning excursion.

When we got back to the house we all settled down in the sitting room again, Mr. Mervin joining us to read the paper while Mrs. Mervin hummed in the kitchen. His parents 'suggested' Cad go ahead and get a head start on his homework, so we moved to the dining room table where he swore under his breath at Ancient Runes for a few hours. I giggled every time and calmly guided him through the complicated Japanese translations. His Mum was in the middle of making the Sunday roast when a song came on the radio, someone in the living room turning it up. I was pretty sure I'd never heard it before, but Mr. Mervin came flying into the kitchen to take his wife's hand.

"Do you remember this song, darling?"

"I'm not sure, I can't place it. Something about it playing at a wedding, maybe?" she smiled, setting her spoon down as her husband whisked her away to dance in the middle of the kitchen.

They spun around the house like the most enamoured hurricane I'd ever seen, each of them laughing as they whirled around. Cad smiled as he took my hand, bodily dragging me out of my chair and twirling me around as well.

"Are you just trying to worm your way out of homework?" I asked with a wide smile.

"Good luck proving it!" he beamed, hooking his arm around my waist so we could spin around even faster.

When we passed Tempy on a chair in the living room Cad reached out and took her hand, dragging our duo to three for even more destructive power. Our two swirling storms of chaotically bad dancing tore through the house until the song was over, each of us collapsing on the sitting room carpet awash with laughter.

"Goodness, Charles, we haven't danced like that since...I don't know when." Mrs. Mervin fanned her red face.

"For good reason." he dramatically grimaced. "I think I threw out my back."

"See, I wasn't so wrong in calling you my old man." Cad teased, to which his Dad ruffled his hair.

"I'll remember that when you're wanting me to pitch the tent next trip."

"I mean you're a strapping man, barely out of the prime of his youth!" Cad tried to shove his Dad off of him.

"That's what I thought." he chuckled, finally letting his son go so he could sit more comfortably on the couch. Mrs. Mervin sat next to him and he threw his arm over her shoulders, kissing her temple. "I think I prefered the house kid-free, Kate."

"You big liar." she lightly slapped his chest. "You've missed them as much as I did."

"I don't know, this one is awful skinny." he grimaced as Tempy laid across both their legs.

"You didn't miss me, Dad?!"

"Woe has befallen this family it seems, dear sister." Cad solemnly bowed his head. "A moment of silence for our suffering."

"I'm surrounded by drama dragons." Mrs. Mervin tried to extract herself from her family.

"She's getting away. Get her!" Mr. Mervin called, Cad and Tempy leaping into action to block her path of escape so her husband could reach up and tickle her, making her collapse onto the couch again in laughter.

"Alright, I submit!" she finally called out.

"Victory!" her husband pumped his fist in the air and his kids cheered.

"The Mervin clan claims another one." I giggled as I shook my head.

Mr. Mervin picked Tempy up, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Kate, will that delicious roast you made keep until tomorrow?"

"I can put it in that roasting pot Amelia got us last Christmas. It'll keep until next week in that."

"Good. Why don't we all go out?"

"I'm first!" Cad flew into the hallway and I heard him take the stairs three at a time.

"Make sure you girls bundle up." Mrs. Mervin reminded us as we followed him.

We pulled on jumpers before layering on coats, wrapping scarves around our faces and I loaned her my spare set of dragon hide gloves so our fingers would stay warm. We all met in the cold shop, Mr. Mervin locking the door behind us before leading the way to the Leaky Cauldron. I thought that was the destination for the night but they just waved at Ms. Abbott as they passed through to the Muggle side. In comparison to the sleepy little wizard avenue, Muggle London was positively bursting. Mr. and Mrs. Mervin made us all hold hands while they led the way through the crowd, finally pushing their way into a sandwich shop.

Cad and I both ran right up to the counter, looking at the long line of meats and condiments they had available. It almost seemed like too many choices to possibly be able to decide, but luckily there were about eight other people in front of us to give us plenty of time to choose. Mrs. Mervin was very patient in explaining everything and by the time it was our turn Cad was ready to go first.

We sat down in the shoppe, passing our creations around so everyone got to taste them. Mr. Mervin's was by far the best in my opinion, slow roasted meatballs in marinara sauce, but everyone's was exciting to try. Once we were done we all bundled up again to walk around a little before returning to the shop to wind down for the night. Mr. and Mrs. Mervin went straight to bed but we stayed up, reading in the firelight while the cold wind raged outside, bringing more snow. I was deep in one of Tempy's history books, reading about the first Muggle world war when Cad got up to look out the window.

"Looks like it's about done for now."

"I'm sure they'll be more." I flipped a page. "Did you know the Muggles called the first world war the 'war to end all wars'?"

"Talk about a misnomer." he chuckled, walking over to scoop up Tempy to take her to bed.

I'd gone through another page before he came back, holding his hand out to me. "Can I go later? I'm almost done with this chapter."

"No, not to bed. You asked me where I went think when I was at home. Let me show you."

I slid my bookmark in and took his hand, grabbing the blanket off the couch at his instruction. He led me up the stairs to his room, pushing open his window and climbing out before offering his hand to me again.

"Why must all of your 'special places' involve heights?" I grumbled, taking a deep breath before taking it and stepping onto the windowsill.

Ollivander's was a shorter shop, the two buildings on it's sides reaching taller than it's roof, but Cad just led me over to a ladder slippery with frost that led even further upward. We walked slowly across the snowy roof as he led me even further upwards, sitting on the ledge of the brick building that overlooked the whole of Diagon Alley. I gulped as we sat on the edge, each wrapped in a blanket, when he threw the edge of his over my shoulders so he could wrap his arm around me.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall."

"That's one of the reasons I didn't want to tell you. You always coddle me now if I'm a gnome's height off the ground."

"I do think it's a little odd, you know. You're scared of heights, and yet your friends with the Tallest Tower guy." he chuckled.

"I'm nothing if not a mystery." I giggled, leaning on to him.

It really was beautiful, the streets of Diagon Alley blanketed in snow that hadn't been disturbed by hundreds of feet yet, the streetlights giving the whole thing a warm yellow glow. I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder, our breath freezing into frost clouds. The snow absorbed all the sounds nearby, and it seemed we were the only two people awake on the whole street.

"I'm kinda glad I didn't go home this year."

"Me too."

"Does that make me a bad daughter?"

"I don't think so. You still love your Mum. Just because you won't subject yourself to your brother's torments doesn't mean you love her any less."

"Does it mean she loves me less?" I barely dared to whisper the question.

"No, Aims, of course not." he wrapped his other arm around me to give me a proper hug. "She's just...trying to love all her kids, I'm sure."

"I'm hoping since none of us went home she learns that she's going to have to choose sides."

"I'm sorry things are so hard at home. I wish I could help."

"Your family opened their home to me, Cad, you're helping out immensely."

"Yeah my family, not me myself."

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."

"But I feel like I'm not-"

"Cad, please. I know you're a 'do-er' and you hate to sit idly by, but you're doing the best you can. It's not gonna help if I have to soothe your ego every ten seconds."

"Alright, alright, point taken."

We sat in silence for a while, listening to the lonely wind whistling across the snow below us.

"Thanks for bringing me up here."

"Next time I'll take you somewhere firmly on the ground."

I yawned as I nodded. "That would be preferable."

"Are you tired? We can go back inside."

"No, not yet. It's so nice…" I smiled, letting myself close my eyes for just a few seconds.

It started to snow again, not like a storm, but with thick flakes falling down heavily. I felt them fall against my cheeks and soak through the blanket around my shoulders. If Cad minded he didn't say anything, just kept his head on mine while his breath evened.

I dozed off a little, only waking up when Cad finally shook me awake to head inside. There was an inch of snow piled on my knees so I knew it'd been a while. I nodded and took his hand so we'd have a firmer grip on each other as we climbed over the slippery rooftops. I nodded my goodnight as we stepped back through his window, and he waved his wand to dry the blanket I was wrapped in before returning it.

Tempy was still asleep on her bed, and I found myself humming the song from the radio as I laid down on my own little pallet. The next morning was a little busier, as both his parents were down in the shop by seven, but Cad helped us make breakfast before likewise heading downstairs. Tempy and I took over the dining table to work on our homework a little, but honestly we spent more time asking the other about their work than actually doing our own. We wrapped up at lunch to eat the delicious roast we'd been smelling all day and Cad swapped places with his sister so we could work on our Ancient Runes more. With no more song and dance numbers to interrupt us we got almost a full page done before we had to make room to set the table for dinner.

We settled into a comfortable rhythm over the next few weeks, with the shop getting busier every day downstairs. It remained mostly peaceful upstairs however and no matter how much I insisted the Mervin parents refused to let me help in the shop, so instead I made sure both their children had a study partner whenever they needed it. A few times after dinner Cad took his sister and I around Diagon Alley to finish up our Christmas shopping. All the little stalls that set up around the holidays were simply packed with interesting things to look at, and it was hard to stop myself from buying all of them.

Two days before Christmas we all forwent homework and instead turned the living room into the most festive catastrophe I'd ever seen. Wrapping paper and ribbon seemed to be everywhere and no matter how many times we cleaned up there always seemed to be more hiding under the couch or behind the books on the bookcase. Cad had picked out this year's wrapping paper and he had spent a full five minutes selecting exactly what he wanted. There was a more muted brown color with glittering Snitches across it, a ruby red one with galloping Hippogriffs, and lastly a beautiful blue one that had constantly falling snow.

The radio for once wasn't tuned to sports so we could listen to Christmas music. Tempy was in a particularly happy mood and went around singing all manner of carols at all hours of the day. Some of the wand shop patrons probably thought the shelves were haunted by a particularly chipper ghost, as usually she was hidden between the shelves and invisible to those in the front of the shop. I sent my brother's Christmas gift, I'd finally settled on a care package of all his favorite English things since he wasn't coming home, spending twenty full Galleons at the post office to make sure it got to him on time.

And then we were all done. The stockings were hung, the presents were wrapped, and Mrs. Mervin had a beautiful goose basting for Christmas roast. The adults had gone to bed and Cad and I were sitting on the floor by the coffee table playing Keepers and Crypts.

"Full house." I smirked, laying down my hand for him to groan.

"Honestly, you have the best luck." he grumbled, waving his wand so his hand settled into the coffin while mine soared through the miniature Quidditch goal.

"Now you know why Damian refuses to play with me." I giggled, sweeping up my horde of chocolate candies I'd just won. "Best six out of ten?"

"Not if I want to have anything to snack on until Sugarplum's opens again." he grumbled as his severely dwindled stock of sweets. "Two whole weeks this had to last me."

"And I keep reminding you never to bet when you know you're going to lose."

"But it makes the times I win that much better. Who doesn't love an underdog?"

"The people with no Christmas sweets left." I giggled, popping one in my mouth to prove my point. "How about chess then?"

"The only people who can beat you are Louk and Damian."

"Amber could if only she didn't get so impatient."

The clock chimed midnight and we both looked up at it, smiling to each other.

"Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas." I nodded back, closing the box of sweets before standing up. "I should get to bed though, it's gonna be a long day tomorrow."

"Already anticipating what you got for Christmas?" he teased.

"No, I know what I got you for Christmas and trust me, it's gonna be a loooong day."

"Oh, and what might that be?"

"You'll have to wait and find out." I sang, brushing the tip of his nose with my finger. "Just know I am not responsible for any injuries you sustain."

"Now I want to know more!" he pouted, crossing his arms.

"Well go to sleep, and you'll be opening it in no time."

"Knocking me out would make the time go by even faster."

"Oh don't tempt me." I giggled. "Night, Cad."

"Night." he went about tidying up the sitting room.

I went to sleep pretty easily, but was abruptly woken up by Cad almost beating down the door to wake us up. Tempy groaned and threw her pillow at the door to shut him up.

"It's six in the morning!"

"You're awake enough to read, you're awake enough to open gifts! I made breakfast!" I heard him run down to the parent's room.

Everyone was in dressing robes except Cad who was fully dressed, and he already had a cup of tea ready for everyone. Mr. Mervin was falling asleep at the table but Mrs. Mervin gave her son a smile.

"Someone is an early bird this morning."

"Why would I not want to get up early and make my loving family breakfast, mother?" he slid a croissant onto her plate.

"You just want to open gifts." Tempy grumbled, sipping the tea she was holding with both hands.

"We should make him go last." I smirked.

"Hey! I made breakfast!"

"And woke me up before the sun on our day off." his sister glared.

"You know it's better to keep your body on a schedule!" he beamed. "Sleeping in today would have made it even harder to get up tomorrow."

"And I gladly would have suffered." I heard her mutter.

"Less talk, more bacon." his Dad interrupted, and Cad was quick to obey.

Once we got some tea in us the mood around the table brightened a little, but I could tell everyone was taking their time eating just to drive Cad up the wall. Breakfast was a good hour before we finally all stood up and moved into the living room. Cad tried to elect himself Christmas elf but Mr. Mervin said it was Tempy's turn so he was forced to sit next to me shaking his leg as she purposefully didn't pick out the big one with his name on it we all knew he was waiting for.

Tempy had gotten me a trilogy of Muggle fiction books that I couldn't wait to read, and their parents had gotten me a handsome little jewelry box that would come in handy for the large amount of jewelry I was now collecting. It was pretty small but the compartments all opened to reveal plenty of room. It was in a dark wood with silver trimming and I thanked them about a thousand times for it. After nearly twenty minutes of us all slowly opening our gifts like we were saving the paper Mrs. Mervin finally took pity on him and told Tempy to finally give it to him.

I had to move to the floor because the gift was so wide, but he had it torn open in less than a second. He was still smiling, but his face grew more confused as he looked at it. It was a length of wood, almost a meter long, in a light wood color with red details in the shape of a lion on the bottom. He absentmindedly spun one of the sets of wheels as he tried to figure out what it was.

"What is it?" he finally asked.

"It's a Muggle thing, a skateboard." Tempy smirked.

"Skateboards are...kind of sports equipment." I explained. "Come on, you can't use it in the house. I'll show you outside."

Probably because it looked like he'd break every bone in his body when he used it, he was dressed in ten seconds and pulling me out the shop before I'd even put my scarf on. Once outside he set the board on the ground and smiled as he saw everything coming together. I held his hand to steady him as he stepped on it, trying to gain his balance. He sped off down the street in two seconds flat, leaving a spray of snow in his wake.

"You knew you'd regret it." Tempy laughed as she shook the snow out of her hair.

Cad accustomed to it in record time. He spent more time falling off of it than riding it, but he always just hopped back up and tried again. He could move pretty quickly down the empty streets and even learned how to jump the gutter almost half the time without falling down. Finally he managed to circle back to me with a smile a mile wide.

"This. Is. Brilliant."

"Well I was going to tell you before you went speeding off that your Mum said we could go to one of the Muggle skate parks after lunch if you wanted."

"What's a skate park?"

I shrugged. "Tempy said it's a kind of park with ramps and things for people who want to skateboard. I'm not really sure but if there are other people there, maybe they can show you some tricks and things."

"Will you come with me?"

"I will come for company, but I am sitting and reading. You got me on a broom, don't think you're getting me on that death trap."

"Oh come on, how is this worse than a broom?"

"You're at least good at riding a broom." I giggled as I opened the shop door to return to the warmth.

I helped finish cleaning up the living room, and Tempy helped Cad search up videos on her phone while I read one of my new books. I had a whole stack of new ones and I was looking forward to finishing them before we went back to school.

We ate a light lunch early before wrapping up again, stashing our wands in my bag with about three books and heading out to Muggle London. Tempy's phone led the way to the closest skate park from the Leaky Cauldron, her in the lead and us following close by so we wouldn't get lost in the crowd. Diagon Alley was almost dead with everything closed, and while it was a little quieter than usual Muggle London was still far louder than anything ever should be. It wasn't too far a walk before we reached the massive expanse of concrete that seemed to twist and turn every few feet. Muggles were skateboarding around faster than I'd have thought possible up the ramps, or across rails and over curbs. I didn't know how they didn't run into each other as it was a flurry of activity. Cad seemed drawn to it like a moth to a flame, leaving us as soon as we got there and heading for a group of boys about his age.

Tempy and I just chuckled as we turned to find a place to sit and read. Little groups dotted the more out of the way areas but we finally found a place where we could sit down and be alone. I'd brought one of my Muggle fiction books and Tempy had done likewise, so we were safe to read in the open, but how I wished I could use magic to keep a little warmer instead of just having to readjust my scarf every ten seconds to keep off the wind.

I looked up every few minutes to see how Cad was getting on, and he was learning by leaps and bounds. A few of the guys were showing him how to ride down the ramps and one girl even showed him how to do some little jumps. He picked up on everything like a fish to water, and before long he was following them through the park trying to match their moves. He still fell down almost more than he stayed on but he seemed perfectly pleased with this, and to be fair I saw everyone else falling down a lot too. I supposed it was part of the experience, or maybe it was on purpose, but no one seemed to mind. They always just hopped up and tried again.

We were there until almost dark, and I couldn't feel a single one of my fingers and toes as Tempy went to flag Cad down. Lots of others were leaving too as it got darker, and we walked alongside Cad's new friends as we headed to the street. They were joking around like they'd be friends for forever and they offered to give us a ride home but of course we had to refuse. They made plans to meet up later in the week before we split ways, and Cad barely took a breath as he went over everything he'd learned. Tempy and I just exchanged smiles as she led the way back to the Leaky Cauldron.

He started anew once we made it back to the shop, telling his parents everything. I knew his Mum had been worried but once we came home with all his bones intact she seemed to relax a little and ask him a few questions. We settled down to Christmas roast and it was everything I wanted. The warmth flooded my frozen fingers and the delicious tastes were better than the finest dining. After pudding it was a relief just to unwind on the couch and read without having to shiver. The Muggle book Tempy had gotten me was about a heist and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Cad threw a wrapped sweet at my head, and I jerked up to scowl at him. "Hey."

"I called your name, but you didn't answer."

"I'm busy."

"You're reading."

"Do you need something?"

He jerked his head to Tempy who was passed out on the couch next to me. I looked up at the clock and saw it was well after midnight.

"Oh, I didn't realize."

"You want sister duty, or cleaning duty?"

"I'll clean, let me just finish this chapter."

"You just don't want to get up." he smirked as he stood to carry his sister to bed.

He took her seat when he came back, laying his legs over mine as he listened to the radio. I scowled at him but he just shot me a wide smile, so I rolled my eyes and turned back to my book. I put my bookmark in once I was done but Cad refused to move his legs off of me and I prodded him to move.

"I can't clean if I can't get up."

"The Grey's party is next week."

"I know."

"You still want to go?"

"It sounds...fine. I don't really know, but everyone seemed to have fun last year."

"Oh not as much as this year I bet." he chuckled, finally moving so I could pick up his mound of wrappers and go to bed.