The brisk winter air flew through the trees that surrounded a small cottage that sat just a few short hours from London. It was early December and Christmas was just around the corner. There was already a light coating of snow on the ground, turning the world into a bright white even during the night. The full moon shined down on the world, bathing the night in light. It was a perfect picture of the winter of 1979.

However, that's all it was. A pretty picture.

Inside the cottage, a baby's cries could be heard. A baby girl lay in her crib, her eyes filled with tears, tears that were beginning to stain her cheeks red. She was desperate for attention, even at that late hour. The girl wasn't even a year old, any parent would have to give their child plenty of attention no matter the time of day. But despite her cries, no parent came rushing in to her aid.

Just outside the baby's room, a woman stood at the door with her back pressed up against it. A slender piece of wood rested between her fingers as her brown eyes bared down the hall. She heard the cries from the child in the room behind her, but made no move to enter. It broke her heart to hear the cries of the child she called her own. However, the woman knew that on this night the only thing that would calm the cries is to leave the door closed.

Down the hall, a low growl could be heard. The woman tensed at the sound. She couldn't see where it was coming from and that was what worried her most. She didn't have to question how close it was for too long, the creature's eyes were just appearing in the darkness. The bright green eyes appeared just a few feet from the woman and before it could take another step forward, the woman spoke. "Remus.. Remus please. Fight it. Turn around and go.. P-Please." Tears began to peak out the corner of her eyes as she tightened the grip on her wand. "Remember you wanted to raise Penelope. You wanted to raise her with me by your side. If you keep this up one of us will die." The tears began to fall down her cheeks as she made one last plea. "Please.. If not for us, do it for her."

Her words began to fade away and for a moment, it seemed as if the creature in front of her had heard what she said. However, the moment didn't last long. The creature bared its teeth and let out another growl before lunging at the woman. Not a moment after, there was silence. All that could be heard were the cries of the baby girl within the next room.

A gasp escaped my lips and my eyes shot open. I took in a few shaky breaths as I sat up in bed, bringing a hand to my head. What was that? At this point, I couldn't remember half of what I had just seen, but the parts that I did remember were very clear.

I shifted my hands into my brown locks. Who was that woman? Was that.. My mother? I didn't get a look at her face, only hearing the sound of her voice. It was soft, almost melodic. Hearing it brought me both peace and fear all at the same time. What was the thing she was talking to? She had called it.. Remus. She talked about raising me so was that thing.. My father?

My heart skipped a beat at the thought. If those were my parents then what did that mean? What did any of that mean? I could barely remember the last part of the dream. I heard that thing growl then.. Nothing. I clenched my fists. I wanted to know more, to have the dream to come back to life if I would just fall back asleep. But at the same time, I knew there would be no more sleep for me tonight.

I glanced to the side to see Sophie roll over in her bed to face me. Thankfully her eyes stayed closed, I wasn't quite sure I could handle explaining why I was awake at this time of night. I heaved a sigh and tossed my blanket off before stepping out of bed. As quietly as I could, I made my way into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. Maybe a shower would clear my head.

"When you need me, you throw me away. But when you're done with me, you bring me back." The eagle that guarded the Ravenclaw common room questioned myself and Clara. We had just come back from the library, having taken our free afternoon to study for our upcoming Potions test. We had invited the others in our year to join, but the guys insisted they had better things to do than study, Sophie had wanted to practice Transfiguration and Mandy.. Well she still wasn't very fond of Clara so she was insistent that she stay as far away as possible.

I took a moment to think about the riddle before speaking up. "An anchor." The eagle nodded its head before the door opened for us. Clara and I walked through the doorway and entered the common room. November had just come upon us and the air outside was beginning to chill so when we saw the fireplace, the two of us shared a smile. A few other students were scattered around the common room, but we found a couple chairs open near the fire.

Clara set her bag down before plopping down in the seat. "I wish the boys would've come to study with us.. At least Finnley and Anthony. They are our partners after all."

Potions was set up in a way that each person had a set partner to work with throughout the term. Finnley was my own partner while Anthony was Clara's. Over the last few weeks, I had seen that Finnley really took time to study, however, when it came to our group work he still procrastinated. Even though it was inconvenient for another person. Anthony on the other hand wanted to get his work done, but kept being pulled away from it by Finnley and Michael. It was incredibly irritating.

"At this rate, we'll be telling them what we'll need to get done during the test the day of." I sighed, placing my hand to my cheek. "If only we had been one seat over.. Then you and I would've been partners." Our partners weren't by choice, but simply by where we were placed within the room. We certainly did have bad luck.

Clara went to open her mouth to respond, but cut herself off when she noticed a figure come down the stairs from the dorms. Mandy came to the bottom of the stairs, a book in hand. She glanced up and took a look around the room, her eyes landing on us in the end. With a scowl, she turned and marched out the door and out into the corridor without a word. I blinked, glancing towards Clara. "Didn't you two talk?"

"About that.." Clara muttered, running a hand through her dark hair. "I think the problem she has with me goes a bit farther than just disliking me." She placed her hands back on her lap, taking in a deep breath. I could tell that this issue was bothering her, it had been bothering her since day one. From what I had seen, Clara made multiple efforts to at least try and become friends with Mandy, but no matter what she did, Mandy didn't give in to her efforts.

I cocked my head to the side. "Is it your blood status?" I didn't think that was a good reason to dislike someone, but I certainly wanted to understand the situation. I couldn't comfort either of them if I didn't truly understand what was going on. It was unfortunate that Mandy wouldn't even tell Clara. Was a bit petty if you asked me.

"Maybe.. She does mention it every now and again." Clara frowned as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her wand. "If that's it.. I don't really get it. My family cares a lot about blood status too. Even made sure to tell me that I could only be around purebloods. I don't particularly care about that sort of thing, but.."

"But Mandy doesn't see that." I reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "She will. Even if it takes a while, she'll see that you're not the stereotypical pureblood." My lips curled upwards. "You're actually one of the nicest people I've ever met. Well.. After Sophie that is, but I don't think anyone can really beat her."

That got her to let out a chuckle. "You got that right.. I think for now I'll just get through our tests then work on fixing things with Mandy. We all need to do well on these tests before we do anything else." She glanced over to the clock on the wall. "Should we go get dinner? They'll probably still have food out for a bit longer."

I blinked, following her gaze to the clock seeing that it was already six. My eyes widened as I quickly got to my feet. "Damn! I was supposed to have dinner with Hayden tonight!" I started heading for the door, glancing back. "I'll meet you down there! God I'm so late-!" I burst out the common room door and headed down the spiral staircase. Hayden and I had discussed meeting at five for dinner, but I had been so distracted with studying for our tests, I had completely forgotten. All I could hope was that he was still there.

As my feet hit the bottom of the stairs, I bumped into a few sixth year Ravenclaws who were anything but pleased to see a little first year running around with little consideration for those around them. They sent glares in my direction, but I was too distracted to even take much notice. I really didn't want Hayden to be upset that I forgot about him. I'd rather upset a few upperclassmen than Hayden.

Multiple students were heading out of the Great Hall, certainly done with dinner at this point. Though, none of the people that I saw leaving was Hayden. Had he already left at this point?

Thankfully, my thoughts were proven wrong when I stepped into the Great Hall and saw Hayden sitting in the middle of the Gryffindor table, his nose in one of his textbooks. I let out a sigh of relief as I walked up to him. "Hey.." I muttered as I sat down beside him with a small smile. "I'm really sorry I'm late, I got caught up with studying. Potions has me a bit stressed, I suppose." I leaned my head down to try and get a better look at him since he hadn't looked up from his book yet.

It took him a moment, but after he finished his section, he marked where he was and closed his book. "Don't worry about it." He chuckled, looking over at me with his chin in the palm of his hand. "The first set of exams is always the worst. Can't say much better for Potions.. Sneaky Snape always likes to throw in some curveballs too." I was silent for a moment, my eyes widening. Seeing my clear shock, he gave his head a shake. "W-Wait, don't let that get you down! You're probably studying way harder than I ever did in my first year."

I let out a breath, running both my hands through my hair. "You're right." I brought my hands back down and looked over to see that he had already eaten. "I'm still sorry.. You don't have to stick around while I eat if you don't want to. I know you have your tests too.."

Hayden rolled his eyes, nudging my shoulder. "Stop it will you? I never get to see you lately, I'll take whatever time I can get." He gestured to the food that was in front of us. "Eat. I didn't see you here at lunch either."

After his words, I reached forward to grab a few pieces of broasted chicken and put it on my plate before going back for mashed potatoes. "It's been a bit of a long day, I suppose." Although I had been able to move my focus towards school work, my mind still wandered towards last night's dream. I wanted to know more, but I knew answers wouldn't come easy.

It was silent for a moment as Hayden watched me grab my food. He watched my movements carefully before looking back towards my face. "Did something happen?" The look on his face showed genuine concern. Made me feel silly for even thinking he would have been mad at me today over something so small. Over the last couple of years, he had never gotten upset with me in any way. Sure, there were times that we'd argue, but that was over simple things such as stolen snacks or who got to use the shower first. He truly was a great friend to me.

I moved my spoon around my mashed potatoes, unsure of how to word what I was thinking. "Well.." I took in a breath. "I had a dream last night and I think.. I think it was about my parents." Hayden's eyes widened and looked as if he wanted to say something, but held himself back to let me continue. "My father's name.. I think it's Remus." Part of me wanted to explain all that I remembered from the dream, but I couldn't quite understand it myself. For now, I just wanted to focus on the one detail that I understood.

"Remus.." Hayden repeated as if trying out the name for size. "Has a nice ring to it." I simply nodded in response, finally taking a bite of my food as he continued to speak. "How does it feel? Knowing his name."

How did it feel? It made me feel more anxious than before. "Overwhelming." I stated plainly, glancing over at him to meet his worried gaze. "I know I wanted to come to Hogwarts to learn more about him and my mother, but at the same time, I wish I could know everything all at once."

He nodded in understanding. "I get what you mean. There are a few things about my dad I remember, maybe more than a few, but my mum.." He trailed off to take a breath. "When I started first learning about her, it was pretty difficult. I asked more questions than I got answers for. I was pretty dreadful during that time." Reaching over, he poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice. "I still don't know all I wish I could, but I'll admit it has gotten easier."

"I just wish there was someone that could answer all my questions. I can't just spend every day clinging to a name that I'm not even sure is real." Closing my eyes, I brought my hand up to the crown of my nose to give it a pinch.

Hayden reached over and gave my shoulder a squeeze. "Hey come on now, don't get so down about it. You have plenty of time to learn all about them. Someone has those answers you're looking for and they'll be around when the time is right." Despite his words being full of support and comfort, a chuckle still managed to come out of my lips. His eyes widened. "What? What did I say?"

I lowered my hand from my nose to my mouth to try and stifle my laughter. "I-I'm sorry, those kinds of words just don't fit you at all." When I was able to calm my laughter, I continued. "You always opt to just joking around to make people feel better."

A faint smile crossed his lips. "You're not wrong, but.. For you? I think you deserve more than my little jokes. I care about you more than you may think."

My heart skipped a beat at his words, my eyes widening. "What-?" Before I could finish my sentence, a voice called out to Hayden and moved our attention towards the entrance to the Great Hall. The Weasley twins and Lee wandered in with boxes in hand.

"We got all the stuff you wanted." George spoke as the boys reached us.

"Just need a location now and we'll be all set." Fred added, shifting the box in his hands.

I raised an eyebrow, glancing around at the group of guys. "What are you going on about?" Over the past couple of months, I had seen the third year Gryffindor boys pull prank after prank. I had never been directly involved so I was able to enjoy a laugh or two at the pranks they had pulled.

Lee laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know. What fun would it be if we went babbling about our plans all the time?"

I pouted, but before I could retort to the comment, Hayden got to his feet and spoke first. "You'll get to see it soon, don't you worry one bit." He patted my head before taking one of the boxes away from Fred. "We got some stuff to get done, but you're done with your exams this week right?" When I nodded, he continued. "Cool! Then let's hang out on Saturday. I'll grab you after lunch." Before I could confirm or deny his invite, the boys were heading out of the Great Hall.

To say I was confused was an understatement. Then again, those boys always did what they wanted when it came to their secret plans. I wasn't exactly offended that they hadn't let me in on it. It would probably be more entertaining if I didn't know anyways.

As I turned back to my food, I thought back to the conversation I just had with Hayden. It was comforting to say the least. After moving so much as a kid, I was so thankful I had found Hayden. He really seemed to understand the overwhelming feelings that came with not knowing your biological family and he showed so much empathy towards me. For that, I could never thank him enough.

Saturday rolled around and I couldn't be more happy to be done with our tests. To celebrate, I had wanted to sleep in, even if it was only for a little bit. However, the dream was short lived when my shoulders were given a shake when the sun was only barely peeking through the curtains. When I reluctantly opened my eyes, I found my blonde hair roommate looking back at me with a large grin. "Wakey wakey!"

I attempted to roll over and pull my blanket over my head, but Sophie pulled my blanket away before I could. "Really?" I groaned, going to block my eyes with my pillow, only to have that taken away as well. "Oh come on!" Sitting up, I glared over at her. "We finally have a day to catch up on sleep and you wake me up at the crack of dawn."

She smiled innocently at me as the other two girls began to roll around in bed, seeming to have heard the commotion. "We have been working our butts off all week, I think we deserve to have a day of fun."

Sophie went into my closet and pulled out a blue sweater, tossing it at me. I caught it, narrowing my eyes at her. "We can have a day of fun after we sleep in. At least until eight."

A pair of jeans was thrown in my direction before more words were spoken. "I'll let you sleep in tomorrow now get up and get dressed!" She exclaimed, coming back over and pulling me out of bed and towards the bathroom to change. Before I could say a word, she shut the door behind me, leaving me in the bathroom to change.

I stared at the closed door, dumbfounded, but I didn't have enough energy to argue with her so I was stuck following her instructions. Reluctantly, I began to get dressed. As I did so, I heard muffled voices from back inside the room. It didn't take a genius to know that Sophie had woken the others up as well. I gave my head a shake, a light chuckle escaping my lips. That girl was hopeless.

Emerging out of the bathroom, I found Clara getting dressed. She seemed perfectly fine with getting up this early, but Mandy was a whole other story. The brunette was still in her bed, without a blanket or pillow for comfort. Sophie had finished getting dressed and when she saw me, she started to pull me towards the door. "Come, come! The boys should be waiting for us."

My eyes widened in shock and it seemed Clara shared my same feelings. "What?" She spoke, pulling her hair back. "How did you manage to get the guys up?"

Sophie held a finger to her lips. "A lady never tells."

"That's.. A little concerning." Mandy jumped in, finally joining us in being actively awake. She crawled out of bed and was heading over to the bathroom with her clothes. "I'm going to shower. I'll meet you at breakfast."

Sophie didn't even wait for the rest of us to respond, she was already grabbing Clara and I and pulling us out the door. "Alright!" She chimed as we ran down the hall and into the common room where the three first year boys were lying on the couches, looking ready to fall back asleep. "Come on, boys! We're going to breakfast!"

They each responded with a groan, but got up nonetheless. I looked over to Clara, raising a brow but she simply shrugged in response. How did Sophie manage to get not only us out of bed, but the guys too? This girl was insane.

We all made our way down the stairs, easily falling in step with each other. Each of us had made this walk each morning, it had gotten to the point that it was perfectly engraved into our brains. So when we came to the usual fork in the stairs, I went to go down the right staircase, but Sophie took my arm and we headed towards the left. "I want to take a different route today."

I furrowed my brow. "You are really off your rocker this morning, aren't you?" I stated as she properly linked her arm with my own.

Finnley came over and nudged my other arm. "Probably best to just go along with it. She was already begging us to get up early last night. Girl is determined."

"Last night already?" I questioned, cocking my head to the side. "What am I missing here?"

"Quite a lot, I'd say." He smirked before going back to talk to the boys. Why did it seem like he knew what was happening before me?

Our group walked out into the courtyard and that's when I really got confused. "Alright guys, am I really the only one questioning this? We're nowhere near the Great Hall."

"Don't ask me," Anthony spoke up, looking around. "I was told the food would be better out here." Michael nodded in agreement to his statement.

I frowned. "What does that even mean?" Now I was certain everyone else understood this, I was the only one left out of the loop. "Sophie, come on. What are we doing out here?" The blonde proceeded to ignore me, peeking around one of the pillars that surrounded the courtyard. "Sophie!" I snapped, finally grabbing her attention. "What's going on?"

"Well.. I was looking.. I was looking for my History of Magic textbook! Yeah! I thought I may have left it out here." She smiled innocently, rubbing the back of her neck. She glanced around again, confirming that she was in fact looking for something, but I highly doubted it was her book. "I just.. I just need.. I need someone to help me out here!" Her smile faltered for a moment when she shouted.

Not far away, I could hear something hit the ground before hearing someone let out a yelp. I didn't have enough time to question it because multiple fireworks shot out from behind the pillars, causing my heart to skip a beat. "What the hell?!" More fireworks shot out, varying in colors. I watched as they burst in the sky, mainly just random shapes. After a few moments, a final jet of fireworks shot out and rose into the sky, spelling out the words -

Happy Birthday Penny

I blinked. Birthday? My eyes widened. I had forgotten my birthday. In the heat of exams, I had completely forgotten that my twelfth birthday landed on the thirteenth of November. I glanced around at my friends. How had they known? I hadn't even remembered this year so I was certain I hadn't had the chance to tell any of them.

From behind, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my shoulders. "Happy birthday Penny!" When I glanced back, I saw Hayden smiling at me with a big grin. That was when it clicked.

"You set all of this up?" I asked only to see his smile grow. "I can't believe you remembered.."

"How could I ever forget." He chuckled, letting me go so he could properly face me. "It's the first birthday we actually get to be together for. I was gone for the first two."

That was right. When I moved in with Mariah, Hayden was shipped off to Hogwarts not long after. He had always sent me a birthday letter, but it certainly didn't compare to seeing him in person. It had never really bothered me, seeing as he and I were still trying to navigate our relationship. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind that he had thought about it before.

"Lousy git had us building fireworks for the last week." Another voice joined in and I looked over to see the other third year boys walking up.

Fred let out a large yawn as he spoke. "Had us get this set up for an early morning surprise because he was worried you'd remember what day it was before he could surprise you."

"Even had to have the kitchen make breakfast for us outside." Lee added, taking out his wand. He gave it a flick and a small table appeared with multiple breakfast foods scattered across it.

"Getting your friends to come was the easy part," George laughed, throwing an arm around Sophie's shoulders. "Passed that work off to the little one here."

My gaze found Sophie, her expression beaming. "Sorry if I was a bit annoying. There was no way I could get all of you out of bed by being nice." She glanced over at the boys. "They were the hard part. Had to jinx their pillows to wake them up."

Michael rolled his eyes. "Yeah.. You gotta fix them, don't forget that."

As they all spoke, I felt water welling up in my eyes. We had barely known each other for two months and they were already treating me so kindly, like a member of a big crazy family. The tears began to fall so I quickly reached up to wipe them away. "S-Sorry.. You guys are just so sweet. I don't think I could've asked for better friends."

They each looked at each other before walking over and wrapping their arms around me into a big group hug. These guys were honestly the best people I had ever met. Without a doubt, I was happy to have been given an opportunity to meet each and every one of them. I looked around at each of them individually and when I met each of their gazes, my tears continued to fall. Not in a million years would I have ever thought I would be here right now.

When my eyes landed on Hayden, I couldn't help but smile. The two of us were basically forced to live in the same house, we didn't have to like each other. But even when I was pushing him away, he pulled himself right back in. He wanted to be a part of my life whether I had wanted him to or not. He had worked his way into my life and that was something I would never be able to thank him enough for.

"So did anyone bake a cake too?" Anthony spoke up in the middle of our hug. "Seven in the morning or not, my sweet tooth is screaming for some birthday cake!"