Notes: I HAVE A SEMI-IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT (which is why I'm using caps, hopefully this got all of your attention). Next week I start classes again, and I'll also be a bit busy with several personal things. Crystal is in a similar situation, so we both agreed that it's high time we took a break. WE ARE NOT GOING ON HIATUS, just taking a week off to relax and regain our bearings.

Also, I'd like to give my fellow Chileans a late greeting since it was the 18th of September this past week, so felices fiestas and I hope everyone had a great time (I know I practically ate my own weight in empanadas).

As always, thanks to everyone that's been following this fic and sorry about late replies since I really do enjoy getting feedback from you guys.

Finally, I want to point out that here ends the Holiday arc. That is all.

…

Chapter 34: New Year's

.

The last day of their trip had finally arrived and the group of wizards, plus genome, found themselves saying goodbye to the Fleur family, before touching the Portkey that would take them back to Britain. Their considerably short stay had proven to be a real adventure, and it was high time they made their way back. Remus just didn't do very well on long term missions. Zidane in particular, looked like he wanted to put as many miles between himself and this place as soon as possible.

'Must be because of his brother.' Lupin thought, though he couldn't really blame the blonde. With a brother like that…well, who really needed enemies?

The day before, they were actually all dragged by the excited blonde over to this Muggle amusement park in the eastern suburbs of Paris. It was called by many 'one of the most magical places on earth', and Remus just couldn't help but laugh at the irony of that. Still, as wizards, they were all very curious at what this so called 'Disneyland Paris' could offer the Muggle population.

To be particularly honest, he wasn't all that convinced at first when they arrived and saw the cartoon mouse mascot in the entrance. It hit too close to home for his tastes, though the others assured him that there was still a very large difference between a mouse and a rat. The large fairy tale-like castle was a very nice touch though, it still had nothing on Hogwarts, but it really did set this magical feeling around the place.

The moment they went through the gates, it was like everyone's mental age seemed to automatically regress. Fleur accompanied them as well, though she mostly stuck to Bill, in what by most definitions would be called 'a date'. She had been reluctant at first, but followed for Bill's sake. To everyone's surprise, her reluctance then turned into curiosity. They didn't see much of the couple afterwards, which unfortunately left him alone to 'babysit'.

Zidane was all over the place, making Remus actually feel sorry for the man that had raised him as a child. In fact, after he started climbing many of the trees in 'Adventureland', the staff actually arrived and let them off with a warning. Zidane was rather put off afterwards, wondering out loud about the point of planting trees if they weren't allowed to climb them. Tonks seemed to follow enthusiastically as well, dragging Remus by the hand all over the place and into the rides. At least this made the small children around stop looking at him with a hint of fear. It wasn't all that common to see so many scars on a person.

They went inside several curious attractions. Since Zidane was the one leading them around, that unfortunately meant that most of them left him feeling rather faint or nauseous. The spinning teacups were one thing, but the huge roller coaster with the temple background was a completely different thing. Sure the Wizarding World had similar things. Heck, to access his vault in Gringotts he had to go through something similar, but in those cases he wasn't getting on it for fun, just necessity. He found it strange that Muggles would willingly subject themselves to such things.

Remus shook his head slightly. If Prongs were still around, he and Sirius would laugh and say he was getting old. And worst of all, they would be right. In fact, Sirius would probably laugh with that bark-like laughter of his when he saw the Muggle picture they took of him going down the slope inside a log.

"Man, this is so awesome! Wish we had something like this in Gaia." Zidane said as he snacked on some puffy pink cotton candy.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, but don't you guys have amusement parks in Gaia?" Tonk's asked.

"Not really. I mean, we do have carnivals and stuff. Festivals, plays, an occasional circus, but nothing like this." The blonde said.

"What kind of festivals? I mean, what's your favorite?" Tonks asked in curiosity.

"Hmmm, my favorite festival?" Zidane said thoughtfully. "Well there's a lot, though I would honestly have to say it's the Festival of the Hunt."

"Festival of the Hunt? What's that?" Tonks continued.

"Well it's a festival that takes place in Lindblum every 20th of January. Lots of hunters from all over gather and participate." The genome said.

"Oh, so are there contests?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah, that's why the hunters are there. That's actually the whole point of the festival. The streets are basically flooded with monsters, and the hunters have to go around taking them out." Zidane said.

"Wait, isn't that extremely dangerous? What about the townsfolk?" Lupin asked.

"Well there have been casualties, but it's much safer now. The streets are closed and everyone not participating is barricaded inside their homes or on the roofs. There are soldiers that make sure things don't get too rough. They also retrieve hunters that can't compete anymore." Zidane said.

"How do they announce the winner? Do they do it by the number of monsters taken out?" Tonks asked.

"It's a point system. The one that racks the most points by the end of twelve minutes wins. Of course, different monsters give you different amounts of points, and if you manage to take down the Zaghnol then you are pretty much guaranteed to win." Zidane said thoughtfully.

"What's a Zaghnol?" Lupin asked. He used to teach about dark creatures, so it only made sense that he was interested.

"Zaghnols are giant, elephant-sized boars with horns and tusks. They are pretty violent and easily angered. They pack quite a punch, and even without physical contact they can still electrocute you with their magic. Trust me, not fun." Zidane said. "Though I guess it was worth it. It actually won me some easy 5000 gil and a date, since winner gets to pick the prize. Actually, now that I think about it, I never really got that date with Dagger…"

"Wait, so you won?!" Tonks said in surprise.

"Yeah and it wasn't easy. They only let the Zaghnol out during the last minutes of the competition, so I only had like four minutes to take it down." Zidane said. "Why? What's with those faces?"

"It's…nothing. Don't worry about it." Remus said, shaking his head. As improbable as that sounded, he knew that Zidane was telling the truth. And for some reason, the truth just seemed more bizarre than fiction. Still, he was going to make a mental note of this.

"Oh hey, I heard there's this ride called 'Space Mountain' that opened just this year and is supposed to be awesome. Come on, let's go check it out!" Zidane said and Lupin mentally winced.

Still, he supposed it wasn't that bad. Holding Tonk's hand had admittedly helped. Unfortunately that meant Zidane wasn't going to let him live it down any time soon. After that, they settled down for tea and then meeting Bill and Fleur before going inside another attraction together. This one involved a boat ride and a very catchy song that tiny figures would sing to, all of them showing different countries of the world. Zidane couldn't stop complaining afterwards as they headed back about how the song was stuck in his head.

But now it was finally time to leave France behind. They would take the Portkey to Britain and then head back to Grimmauld place. There they would give an 'official' report to the rest of the Order about their mission. To be quite honest, he wasn't really sure if he should call it a success or a failure at this point. He supposed that stopping the Death Eaters was a success, and now they knew that Greyback and his pack were involved as well. What still worried him was that Zidane's brother was an enigma at this point, and a powerful one at that. The idea of him joining the dark side was still very worrying, not to mention that this outing had revealed several things about Zidane that were pretty concerning as well. The sooner they could clear that up and avoid any misunderstandings, the better.

…

Zidane decided not to stick around after they got back to Britain. He had a pretty good idea of what would be waiting for him back there, and he wasn't looking forward to it in the slightest. He never really took questioning sessions very well, and in his opinion none of what they wanted to know was relevant to their war, or even their world, therefore he had no real obligation to tell them. His exact history with Kuja, his own back-story as one of Garland's creations and his supposed 'Angel of Death', even the whole past war in Gaia and Terra, none of those were their business. If they didn't want to respect his privacy then that was their own problem, not his.

The Order would be pissed off. Moody would probably rant about how he was probably a Death Eater in disguise all along and how they never should have trusted him. Remus would probably have a panic induced fit since he basically escaped right from under his nose, even though he was nice enough to leave a note. In fact, the whole Order would probably be very suspicious, which was something he didn't really care about. He just needed a few days to get away, relax somewhere, and think.

Part of his mind had yet to come to terms with the fact that Kuja was still alive. Another part of his mind was just happy that he was a good 200 or more miles away from him. The remaining part was just surprised by the slight change of attitude that Kuja had shown since last time they met. He was still the egocentric prick he knew and fought, but he just wasn't as…well, evil anymore. It was hard putting it into words. Maybe he really had changed for the better after that talk they had inside the Iifa Tree. That is why, despite the myriad of things going through his head, he didn't feel like Kuja being alive was necessarily a bad thing. He should hate the older genome for everything he put him through, but strangely enough, he didn't. In fact, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief at the thought that he wasn't all that alone in this world anymore, though Kuja's careless blurts were an entirely different problem that seemed to come with the package.

'Well, he did agree to help. Maybe he can even answer a few of my questions about that book and the memories I've been getting. I mean, that last one was his memory anyways. And the guy does know a lot more about genomes than I do.' Zidane thought. 'Well, I'm not gonna get ahead of myself for now.'

Zidane exited the motel room he rented for the night and then walked down the street to get some food. If he was going to avoid the Order for now, it would be wise to stay away from Wizarding places, which meant also staying away from the Leaky Cauldron. Besides, if they really needed him because of some emergency (yeah right), he was sure that Dumbledore could easily track him down if he really wanted to go through all the trouble. Of course, that was very unlikely. Harry and the others were all at Grimmauld Place, and they wouldn't be leaving that old house any time soon for their own safety. He honestly couldn't understand how they could withstand being locked up in a house for so long. He would be running up the walls in a crazed frenzy after just one week.

'How does Sirius do it?' Zidane asked himself in wonder. He was just about to enter a diner when a couple of soft 'hoots' caught his attention. 'What the-'

Looking up, he saw a barn owl swoop down lazily with a few twirls, before landing on the parking meter next to him and extending it leg's towards him. Zidane just stared at the owl curiously, particularly noticing the rather dreamy far-off look on the bird's face. He didn't even know birds were capable of such expressions.

His gaze then travelled to the parchment tied to the leg it was holding out to him, and after debating his options, he took the parchment and opened it. Had they found him out so soon? It was weird that he didn't recognize the owl though. There was something strangely familiar about it too, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Even after he took the letter, the owl stayed. When he started to walk back, the owl just perched comfortably on his shoulder. He was pretty thankful that he had chosen a pretty uninhabited area of London.

"What are you waiting for?" Zidane asked, as if expecting the bird to answer him with something other than a 'hoot'. After the bird predictably hooted, giving the letter a look, Zidane just sighed and opened it.

Dear Zidane,

How has France been? I do hope you've been careful around Blibbering Humdingers, and specially Nargles. I'd wish people stopped hanging mistletoe so casually. Christmas can be very dangerous because of this.

I actually wanted to invite you and Neville over for New Years. I've never really had friends over, but I thought it would be nice. Papa said it would be okay. We usually release several Dirigible Plums into the air for good luck.

I sent Galileo with this letter and asked him to wait for a reply. There is also a map with directions included, though you can really just use the Floo to get here. You can confuse the Nargles that way too. You can also stay the night if you want to, though I'm afraid you will have to share a room with Neville. You don't mind right?

I hope this letter finds you since I didn't know what address to use, though if you are already reading this, then I guess it did work and I hope to see you soon.

Does 5 o'clock in the afternoon sound like a good time to meet?

-Luna

Zidane pocketed the letter and then looked at the owl with a chuckle. They did say that pets resemble their owners. Everything made sense now.

Taking out a piece of paper and a pen bearing the name of the motel he booked in (he was not about to pull out an ink pot and a feathered quill in the middle of the street), he wrote his reply and then tied it to the barn owl's leg. With a grin, he watched the bird fly off into the sky.

This would be a great distraction. In fact, this was exactly what he needed.

'Wait, how did that bird find me anyways?' Zidane thought, but then just passed it off as one of those 'wizard' things.

….

Neville nervously took some Floo powder while holding tightly onto a bag with his things, mainly just his bathroom supplies and a change of clothes, besides a few games and the late Christmas presents for his friends. In his mind he ticked off the items on the list of things he needed to do before leaving. It was a system he used to help his rather poor memory, especially since he lost the Remembrall his grandmother got him during his first year at Hogwarts.

He had watered all of his plants, including the seeds from Zidane that he planted in two separate pots on his night stand, he had already fed Trevor, and he already packed his things for Hogwarts early so he wouldn't forget anything afterwards. His room was mess-free, and he already told the House Elf that he would be at a friend's. He had also said goodbye to his grandmother, who was actually quite happy to see him off. Well, to anyone else she would look as stern as always, but after years of living with her, he could see that she was almost relieved at the fact that he was invited over to stay at a friend's. He honestly didn't know whether he should feel glad of getting the permission to go, or feel a tad bit insulted.

But at the moment he really didn't care. He wasn't really expecting her to allow him to go. Especially when he told her that it was Luna's house and that her father wrote and edited 'The Quibbler'. Yet to his surprise, she did a allow him to go. For a moment his mind really just couldn't wrap itself around that fact. He supposed it had something to do with her wanting to get together with 'the girls' and celebrate New Year's together, something his grandmother had been unable to do whenever he came over for the holidays. And once his mind actually came to terms with the idea, it entered a stage of absolute panic. This was, after all, a first in his fifteen-year-old lifetime.

And now, here he was, one sweaty hand clutching the strap of his back pack while the other had a handful of silvery Floo powder. With a gulp and a rush of bravery, Neville threw the powder down on the fireplace, and then stepped inside once the flames turned a brilliant emerald green.

" Lovegood family house!" Neville said as clearly as he could as to avoid ending up in the wrong chimney. He had heard of some very nasty incidents involving lit fireplaces before.

Neville kept his elbows close to his body as his grandmother had always told him, and saw the many other fireplaces as he zoomed by. Since the speed was making him quite dizzy, he shut his eyes tight and waited for the feeling to stop. Unfortunately, the feeling stopped sooner than he anticipated and the next thing he knew, he was flat on his stomach after stumbling out of the fireplace in a round room that he had never seen before. He just hoped he had gotten the right place.

"Hi Neville. I'm glad you could make it." Luna's voice called, and Neville jumped in surprise, looking up only to find his friend's dreamy far off silvery eyes looking intently at him, or maybe they weren't, it was hard to tell.

"H-Hello to you too, Luna. E-err, thanks for inviting me." Neville said, blushing slightly as he picked himself off from the ground and looked around. "Is Zidane here yet?"

"No, but he should be here any minute." Luna said, and as if on cue, the fireplace lit up with bright green flames. "Oh, there he is now."

Unlike him, Zidane managed to recover his balance after stumbling ungraceful out of the fireplace. He really couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at that. After only a few DA meetings, he had come to realize that the foreigner had a superb sense of balance.

"Geez the old man wasn't kidding about the elbow thing." The blonde glared at the flames while rubbing his elbow. Only when he looked up did he see the two other occupants of the room. "Oh, hey guys! How've you been?"

"Are you alright?" Neville asked in concern.

"Yeah, mostly. That was my first time using Floo." Zidane said sheepishly.

"So how was France? You look really tired." Luna said, giving Zidane a once over. The moment Luna said that,Zidane's expression turned sour.

"It was okay. Well, for the most part." Zidane said, scowling as he seemed to recall some memory. "There was a bit of an incident, but I would rather not talk about it."

Neville just nodded slightly, knowing that if Zidane didn't want to talk about something, then chances were he would continue to avoid the subject for as long as he could. He really wished Zidane would be more forward about the things that bothered him since they were friends, but he supposed that rushing the blonde to talk would only push him further away.

Now that he really looked at Zidane, he could see the slightly pale tinge to his skin, almost as if he had been overexerting himself lately. Perhaps it was just from travelling. He could have easily picked some bug in his stay, or have eaten something that didn't agree with him. At least his eye was back to that odd cyan color of his instead of bright pink.

Luna's father was busy putting together a New Year's edition of 'The Quibbler', which meant that he would not be present for the most time. Neville was somewhat glad since he didn't know how to deal with meeting Luna's eccentric father. He didn't want accidentally offend him in any way and thus ruin his newly made friendship with Luna.

They were given a tour of the place afterwards. He hadn't noticed it before, but it looked like Luna's house was built in the shape of a rook, which explained why all the rooms were circular in shape. The kitchen was in the first floor and it was painted in such a way that he could only imagine what his Gran's reaction would be is she saw it. Bright primary colors weren't meant to be displayed like this. The paintings of animals and flowers on the walls would be considered by many a bizarre and unorthodox addition, but Neville thought it was kind of charming in its own way. He wondered if Luna was the one that painted them.

When led outside to see the garden, their reactions were complete opposites of each other. Neville was instantly in love…with the garden of course, and the dozens of magical plants around, certainly not his friend. Not that she wasn't attractive or anything. The many species of plants was surprising. There were many he had never really seen in real life before, only read about them.

Zidane's reaction was the complete opposite. The moment he saw the floating Dirigible Plums, he backed away slowly until reaching what he deemed a 'safe' distance from the plant, though with his luck he didn't exactly blame him. He had seen plants do things to the blonde that he didn't even think was physically possible. Then there was the fact that the Snargaluff stump nearby had already whipped its bramble-like vines at him in a preemptive strike.

Though he wished they could have spent more time in the garden, they had a tour to continue, so Luna took them back inside and up the spiral staircase. The second floor, the one they first arrived in, was a living room/study combination filled with a magical printing machine for the Quibbler as well as a fireplace, and many strange objects around the room, like moving animal models that hung over their heads or a bust of Rowena Ravenclaw with a strange headdress.

The floor that followed contained both Luna's room, as well as the guest bedroom they would be staying in, and a bathroom. The room above was exclusively Mr. Lovegood's, so they didn't venture any further.

They left their things in the bedroom, Zidane instantly calling 'dibs' on the bed next to the window. It was then that Neville realized that the blonde wasn't really carrying anything except for that small pouch around his waist that he always seemed to have with him. When asked about it, the blonde just laughed.

"It has one of those extension charms cast on it so it's a lot bigger on the inside. I'm carrying just about everything I need in here. I just don't feel very secure by leaving my stuff in some room all day and this makes things so much easier since I travel a lot." The blonde supplied, and Neville supposed it made sense.

Still, the undetectable extension charm was a pretty advanced spell. He wondered just who had cast it since most people preferred to just shrink their trunks and carry those instead. But in that case, somebody else would be needed to un-shrink it and that would be a bit difficult since it would be considered under-aged magic by the Ministry. But Zidane was foreign right? Did that mean he did have the Trace on him? Sure other nations had their own way of tracing magic back to underage wizards and witches. If not, then the Ministry would have sorted things out when he first arrived. Surely they wouldn't let a foreign teen just waltz into the country without supervision.

"That reminds me… just who are you staying with outside of Hogwarts?" Neville asked. He always heard about volunteers that would house foreign exchange students and get them accustomed to their new surroundings. Yet so far, he hadn't heard Zidane mention anything. He didn't even seem to get letters, except some occasional ones, but he was sure those were delivered by Hogwarts's owls. It was all rather strange.

"Oh I rented this room in this inn, since the Leaky Cauldron had no vacancy." Zidane said, and after seeing the look he gave him, he quickly continued. "It's no big deal. I can perfectly take care of myself."

"I think it's good that you are independent." Luna said. Neville was still just surprised by the fact that Zidane was travelling to another foreign country, completely alone to go to another school, yet somehow managing to do just fine. Neville didn't think that was something he would ever be capable of doing. "Though doesn't it get lonely sometimes?"

Zidane seemed to think about for a moment before answering. "Well sometimes, when you are alone. But I usually travel with friends. Thinking about them also kind of helps. You go around and see something that catches your interest, because you know a certain friend of yours would love it. Oh, and that reminds me. I still owe Luna her Christmas present."

The trio headed to Luna's room, where they sat down to swap presents. The room itself was quite simple with a pale blue rug, a wardrobe, a nightstand with a picture on it (Luna explained that it was of her and her mother before she died in an accident), a bed, and a single window. What caught his and Zidane's attention the most were the pictures painted on the ceiling. There was a picture of him, as well as Zidane, Ginny, and the rest of the Golden Trio, a golden circle bound them all with the words 'friends'.

"Wow." Zidane said, cyan eyes wide as he looked at his own image, that despite not being able to move, still gave lifelike breaths. Neville agreed, the paintings were very well done, and the resemblance was uncanny.

"You're really an amazing artist." Neville complimented as Luna smiled.

"Alright, it's present time. Though, I already kind of gave you yours, Neville." Zidane said, before taking out a wrapped package from his pouch. "Luna, catch!"

Luna received a pair of earrings from Zidane with crescent moons on them, that he called 'fairy earrings' and said they were for good luck. Neville gave her a bracelet with moons on them that surprisingly matched Zidane's present very well. Besides the seeds Neville got from Zidane, Luna got him a small potted Dirigible Plum bush, which she assured were completely harmless. The cyan-eyed blonde received a copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages' from Neville now that he was on the team, and he got a good luck bangle from Luna that supposedly shrank to fit the person's wrist. He couldn't help but laugh as Zidane thanked her for the 'wristband', since he vehemently refused to call it a 'bangle' or as Neville suggested, a 'bracelet'.

After the exchange, the three decided to sit down and play a round of Exploding Snap while talking amiably. Neville was nervous at first, but once he sat down and truly let go of his fear by letting himself just 'follow the flow', he realized just how much of a good time he was having. The only break they had was for Luna to bring treats, and only after their fifth round did Neville realize that it was already starting to get late and that his eyebrows had receded just slightly. At least he had more luck than Zidane, whose ponytail actually caught on fire.

It was then that Luna's father, Xenophilius Lovegood, appeared in all his eccentric glory, bringing with him several bags of take-out food for them to eat. Neville thought it was perfectly understandable since they would have had to cook enough food for four people otherwise. And quite frankly, he didn't think he wanted to have another glass of Mr. Lovegood's Gurdyroot drink, not ever. Even so, Neville was happy to find out that Luna's father, though strange, was rather open minded and welcoming.

They spent the rest of the night out at the top of the rook-shaped house talking and laughing together while waiting for the seconds to tick down until the beginning of a new year. For Neville it would become one of the most cherished moments of his life.

…..

Harry sipped at his Butterbeer as everyone talked merrily around the table. The adults had made their own little circle and the teens had already excused themselves to speak privately away from the grownups.

Today they were not only gathered to say goodbye to the old year and greet the new one, but also to celebrate Mr. Weasley's complete recovery and discharge from St. Mungo's.

Apparently the healers were still baffled by his sudden recovery. They had even held him for a few more days to figure out what exactly had cancelled the effects of the strong poison that once flooded his veins. Their test results hadn't given any definite answers, and many were calling it a miracle. Harry was sure it was more than just that based on the small knowing looks that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shared occasionally when questioned.

But whatever it had been, the fact remained that everyone was very happy.

Well in the most part, since at this hour tomorrow they would all be sleeping in early to catch the train back to Hogwarts the next day. Harry still wasn't sure if he wanted to return at all. Not with all the countless challenges that would await him.

The adults were acting rather oddly too. It started shortly after Lupin returned with Tonks and Bill from a secret Order mission some days ago. It was by pure luck and a quick use of an Extendable Ear that they all discovered that Marcus had gone AWOL after their return. The reasons for such an action were still up to debate since the adults refused to talk about it. Moody was convinced that they should conduct a search and then a full interrogation to see if they had been betrayed, or if Marcus was under the Imperious Curse. Unfortunately the search, as far as they could tell, proved fruitless. It was Bill, Remus and Tonks, supported by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who suggested they wait, since Marcus had apparently left some kind of note behind.

"But do you reckon he is a Death Eater? Bloody scary if you ask me. Maybe the stuff he gave us was cursed too." Ron said in a near whisper.

"It does sound strange." Hermione admitted. "But there must be a reason why Lupin and the others trust him, don't you think?"

"Do you think they've seen what he really looks like?" Ginny wondered.

"Maybe he has fangs like a vampire, or the looks of a hag." George said, his voice taking on a scary tone as he leaned on Ron.

"Or maybe he has spiders for hair." Fred said, leaning on Ron's other shoulder while enjoying the scared look that passed through his brother's face.

"Cut it out you too, it's your fault Ron is afraid of spiders to begin with." Bill admonished the two as he walked by.

"Hey Bill, you went together with the guy on a mission-"

"Did you get to see under the hood?" The twins said.

"Yes, I did in fact." Bill said gathering everyone's attention. "He had a head with two ears, two eyes, a nose, and a mouth."

"Aww, come on!" Ron said. "Can't you just tell us what he looks like?"

"It's nothing you guys have never seen before in your life, trust me." Bill said. "He's no Death Eater either, I assure you. Dunno what the bloody hell he was thinking by just leaving, but he isn't joining You-Know-Who any time soon. And besides, you all shouldn't be worrying about this now, especially not on New Year's. You lot don't want to start up the new year with the wrong foot, right?"

"I guess you're right." Ginny said, even though Hermione looked like she wasn't done by a long shot, she ended up agreeing as well. "So do you all have your New Year's resolutions ready?"

"Well that's easy for us."

"Our goal this year it to finally open up 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes', obviously." The twins said.

"And how do you plan to do that? And what's with the name anyways?" Ron said with a scoff.

"Oh ye of little faith." George said dramatically.

"Come George, we can't expect others to understand our genius." Fred said, intertwining his arm with George's and then leaving in mock indignation. Harry just chuckled at their little act.

"Well, I guess my New Year's resolution is to pass my OWLs with flying colors." Hermione said.

"No surprise there." Ron said, and Hermione shot him a dirty glare.

"Well then Ronald, why don't you enlighten us by telling us what your resolution will be?" Hermione said rather sarcastically.

"Well I do want to win the Quidditch Cup." Ron said with a shrug. This time Hermione rolled her eyes.

"That would be pretty neat, but in my case, I just want to beat Ravenclaw so that I can win the bet." Ginny said with a smirk.

"What bet?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well you guys know Michael Corner from the DA" Giny said while ron turned red at the mention of the teen currently dating his sister. "We made a bet on who would win the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw match. He thinks that now that we lost the twins and Harry, Gryffindor doesn't stand a chance."

"What's your resolution Harry?" Hermione questioned.

Harry stared at the group before him with a blank look. He really had nothing special he wanted to accomplish this year. Just surviving it like every last one of the four previous years was enough for him. If he survived this year with Umbridge, he would be convinced that he could survive just about anything afterwards. That was what he did best anyways, wasn't it? He IS, after all, The-Boy-Who-Won't-Just-Bloody-Die.

'But then again, the war is approaching isn't it? Voldemort will eventually come for me. He might even possess me at this rate. That's why I'm taking the Occlumency lessons, isn't it?' Harry thought to himself. 'No, that's not it. The reason I'm doing this is for them. I don't want them to get hurt because of me. I need to protect them. I WILL protect them for as long as I can fight. They are my reason for fighting. They are all I've got.'

"Harry you alright, mate?" Ron asked. "You spaced out a little on us."

"Yeah, I'm fine, really." Harry said. 'That is it; my resolve this year. I will protect my friends in the upcoming war. That's what you meant, wasn't it Ramuh?'

The Black family grandfather clock rang. Twelve bells echoed through the old house, making everyone give cheers for the advent of a new exciting year.

…..

The three teens stood on the roof, Butterbeers in hand as they each greeted the New Year. Mr. Lovegood had already greeted them and left to let loose the strange floating plums into the air. This left the three of them alone to watch the magical fireworks that lit up the dark sky from the village of Ottery St. Catchpole. It was then that Luna asked the question.

"New Year's resolve?" Zidane asked.

"You know, something you will try to accomplish this year." Luna said. "In my case, I wish to find my very first Crumple-Horned Snorkack, and be the first to document it."

"Well, I guess I would be just happy enough to be able to pass my OWLs, especially in Potions." Neville said with a wince. "If I could master the spells from the DA, it would be more than enough. Gran wouldn't be so disappointed then."

"I'm sure you'll manage just fine. You've improved by leaps and bounds, actually. And besides, you shouldn't feel pressured to become what your grandmother wants. It isn't fair. All we can ever be is ourselves. We're the best at it too. Nobody should ever force you to become something you are not, trust me, I know." Zidane said, thinking about his own similar problem.

"He's right Neville. It wouldn't be the same being friends together if you were someone else. We like you just the way you are. Otherwise you wouldn't be Neville at all." Luna said, dreamy eyes looking beyond into the starry countryside sky.

"I-I guess it makes sense." Neville said. "Thanks guys."

"So what is you resolution, Zidane?" Luna asked.

Zidane just narrowed his eyes and thought about it, the reflected light from the fireworks casting an almost eerie glow in his cyan orbs that had gone completely unnoticed by the others.

'What I really wish is that I could just forget about the secrets, and the lies. I wish I could tell you guys everything. But I can't, at least not now. But once this is all over, I will. I promise I will come clean with the both of you.' Zidane thought and then closed his eyes. His mind made up.

"Zidane?" Neville asked.

"Oh yeah, my resolution." Zidane said, a grin stretching across his features, eyes opening to look at the brilliant fireworks above.

"It's a secret."

…

To be continued…

…..

A/N: Here ends the Holiday arc. Like I said before, Crystal and I are taking next week off to catch up on some things and also take a small break. We were planning to do it earlier, but it didn't feel right to pause mid-arc.

If you have any questions or comments, you're all welcome to review or PM me, either is fine.

See you all in two weeks!