First year continued with minimal hiccups. Neville's Potions marks improved a bit and Avalon was doing better (marginally) in in Herbology. On Halloween, someone had released a troll in the dungeons, and while the students sat in their common rooms (and the Slytherins huddled in the library with Madame Pince), Harry Potter and his sidekick Weasley had snuck down and defeated it, rescuing Hermione Granger from the creature. At first Avalon didn't believe the rumors, but even the teachers were talking about it and the boys had become friends with Granger as a result. The first years didn't sleep a wink that night, as Draco kept them up with his rant about Potter "thinking he's so special" and how Draco's "father would hear about this." With November came the first Quidditch match of the season and the discovery that Harry Potter had been chosen as the seeker for the Gryffindor House team, a fact that Draco constantly reminded the Slytherins of throughout the match.

"He broke the rules!" Draco ranted to the others from the stands as Lee Jordan called the names of the Slytherin and Gryffindor team members. He was livid. "Potter got on the broom and defied Madam Hooch and now he gets to be the only first year on a Quidditch team in a century?"

"You do realize you got on the broom first, right?" Daphne asked, not taking her eyes off the pitch.

Draco waved his arms above his head. "Exactly! And yet, here I am, not on the Slytherin Quidditch team. This is preferential treatment and I won't stand for it. My father will hear about this."

Avalon snorted. "I'm sure your father has stopped reading your letters by now. He must think you've got a little crush on Potter."

But as annoying as Draco's "I Hate Perfect Potter" parties were, the others finally had to agree with him.

"I'm tired of famous Harry Potter getting to do whatever he wants because he killed You-Know-Who. He was one! I'll bet he doesn't even remember it," Draco added about half an hour later, after a Slytherin goal.

"It doesn't matter to them, You-Know-Who is gone now and Potter's a savior," said Daphne.

Avalon felt Theo's elbow just above her ribcage. She gave a sharp intake of breath and glared in his direction. No one noticed when she moved away from him slightly on the bench.

"Did I tell you guys about the prank I played on Potter?"

"Probably," said Blaise, wiping at his eye, and accidentally smudging his silver and green face paint. "But a lot of the time you start talking about Potter, and we all zone out until you're done."

"Wait, did you say something?" Daphne turned to the others, rejoining the conversation.

Avalon laughed.

"I'm serious. Anyway, I challenged him and Weasley to a midnight duel in the trophy room a couple of weeks ago. Then, I tipped of Filch that there would be some kids running around the corridors later that night," Draco laughed. He squinted at the Quidditch Pitch and smiled a little bit as Marcus Flint, a Slytherin player, nearly knocked Potter off his broom.

"Wouldn't you have gotten in trouble too? For being out of bed?" Theodore asked.

Blaise rolled his eyes at his friend's obliviousness. "He probably wasn't there when it happened."

"I overheard them talking about it," continue Draco. "Apparently, Longbottom and that mudblood Granger were there as well. I'm surprised they didn't confront me about it. They probably didn't want me to know that my plan duped them."

"Neville got in trouble too?"

Draco sighed. "Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, a group of four first years was easily able to outrun the aging Filch, and they didn't get caught. Relax, Steele."

A gasp went up in the stands. The four of them turned to Daphne, who hadn't taken her eyes off the game since the beginning. "Daph, what's going on?"

"I'm not certain, but Potter seems to have lost control of his broom."

"Ha!" Draco called. "I bet they're regretting putting him on the Quidditch team now."

But as they watched, they realized it was more than Potter simply 'Neville-ing it up' on the pitch. His broom gave a jerk and suddenly he was thrown off and holding onto the broomstick with a single hand.

After a few moments, Potter could clamber back onto his broom. He shot off towards the ground and clamped his hand over his mouth.

"Potter's gonna be sick!"

But suddenly, the Gryffindors and Gryffindor supporters were cheering and whooping loudly. Potter hadn't been sick, but had caught the snitch in his mouth, earning his team 150 points and victory over Slytherin. By the time the Slytherins slumped dejectedly to the common room, Slytherin team captain Marcus Flint was still grumbling.

"He didn't catch the snitch," he was complaining to anyone who would listen. "He nearly swallowed it! How is that allowed?"

Instead of hanging in the common room with the others, Draco went up to his room to lie down, furious.

This left his cronies Crabbe and Goyle wandering the room in a daze, lost and confused on what to do. Crabbe constantly bumped into other Slytherins and also Goyle, and Goyle bumped into Crabbe when Crabbe wasn't bumping into him.

"I didn't think anyone could be that daft," Daphne said. She was sitting in a green leather armchair with Theo perched on the arm like a lanky bird.

"It almost makes you feel sorry for them," he added.

Daphne, Blaise, and Avalon all exchanged looks. "Almost," they said at once.

It was a couple of weeks before Christmas break when Avalon, Theo, and Draco could be found by the Black Lake, attempting to skip rocks on its frozen surface. Daphne was writing a letter to her family because they were to go skiing over the holidays, and Blaise was on the last chapter of the book he had been reading all term. Crabbe and Goyle snoozed under a tree, biscuit crumbs smeared across their Hogwarts robes.

"They're more like pets than friends," Theodore mused, watching as his stone barely touched the ice.

Avalon and Draco nodded their agreement.

They stood outside for a few minutes more, bundled up in Slytherin hats and scarves and winter cloaks. Suddenly, another person joined them by the Lake.

"Do you all mind if I talk to Avalon for a minute?"

"Sure, Lucy," Draco said. He nudged Theo. "Come on, maybe Blaise is finally done that book by now. We'll be in the Common Room, Avalon."

And they were gone. Lucy looked over at the snoozing Crabbe and Goyle, forgotten by the other boys. "Are they alive?"

"Some worry about them. Their internal clocks will wake them up exactly ten minutes before dinner. It's a rare but impressive talent."

"We need to talk," said Lucy, forgetting about Crabbe and Goyle for a moment. "I need you to promise you won't get mad at me."

Avalon squinted at her sister suspiciously. "I can't promise something like that until I hear what you have to say."

"I'm not spending the holiday at Hogwarts."

"Are we going home then? Are mum and dad taking us on a holiday?" Avalon asked

Lucy paused. She fiddled with the edge of her Gryffindor scarf, not able to meet her sister's eyes as she delivered the fatal blow. "No, Avalon. Well, Mum and Dad are going to America to visit a witch that Mum was friends with at Hogwarts. But Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are spending Christmas in Romania with Charlie and his sister Ginny, and they invited me along with them to visit him. It was a last-minute thing, and I know we were planning to spend Christmas together here at the castle together, but I figured you'd understand. I haven't seen Charlie in ages, and I—"

Avalon wasn't listening anymore. In an instant, she was a seven-year-old girl again, sitting at a table with desserts and watching as her sister was stolen away.

"I get it, you know. You've told me before," Avalon answered, her voice steely. "You 'really like' Charlie, or whatever sappy tripe you've told me in the past."

"Well, I… I love him."

"I'm happy for you, I am." Avalon lied through her teeth, nearly choking on the bitter words like bile. "I just hope you remember this moment the next time you choose him over me. And there will be a next time. Maybe it'll be my Hogwarts graduation, or my wedding, or even my funeral. Enjoy Romania. Have a happy, happy Christmas, Lucy. Lots of love." Her voice was dripping with malice and sarcasm as she turned and walked away from Lucy.

She began to run in the direction of the castle, her vision blurring. Lucy's calls faded into the background.

"Avalon! What's wrong? You weren't in the library for our study session so I thought that maybe—"

Neville's face fell as Avalon brushed past him in the corridor, her shoulder harshly bumping his as she went. Thankfully, he got the message and didn't follow her.

It wasn't until Avalon reached the Common Room that she began to let the tears fall. She was swiping at her eyes when her friends noticed her entrance. Theo opened his mouth to greet her, but Daphne put her hand on his shoulder to stop him from saying anything. She knew that when Avalon was upset it was best to leave her be until she cooled off. Even Draco refrained from voicing the snarky comment everyone was expecting from him. She didn't meet their eyes as she passed on her way to the dormitory. They knew she would come and talk to them when she was ready, and not a moment before.

The Christmas holidays came quickly after that.

Daphne was going skiing in Switzerland with her parents, and her younger sister Astoria, and Theo and Blaise were coming along as well. Avalon had been invited as well, but she had turned down the offer to spend the holiday with her sister at the castle and it was too late for the Greengrasses to make accommodations for her. It was funny how things worked out. Draco was also going home, and told Avalon that she could come with him if she wanted. But as lonely as Hogwarts would be without her friends, the idea of two weeks of hearing Draco rant about Harry Potter to a fresh audience didn't scream "Happy Christmas." Fortunately, Avalon's favorite people were also staying at school: Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode, Potter, and Weasley.

"Morning, Avalon," Pansy said as Avalon opened her eyes on Christmas morning. She was drying her hair with a towel while Millicent waited, already dressed and sitting patiently on her bed.

"Happy Christmas, Millicent. Pansy."

Maybe the Christmas spirit was possessing Pansy. Maybe overnight she had experienced some sort of miracle, and she was being kind as a result.

There were parcels and packages at the foot of her bed. The best part of Christmas.

The first was a pair of dragonhide leather boots, from Lucy (and Charlie). Avalon liked them, but swore her sister would never see her wearing them. Her forgiveness could not be bought with designer shoes, no matter how cute they might have been.

Also in the pile was a copy of the first book in the Enchanted Encounters series, the book that Blaise had been reading for half of the term. It was signed by the author, Fifi LaFolle, and Avalon laughed to herself. Hopefully it would take her less time to read it than it had taken Blaise.

Daphne had owled over a Puddlemere United Quidditch Player calendar, which Avalon appreciated as a dedicated Quidditch spectator.

From Neville, there was a small potted plant with a name that Avalon couldn't pronounce and she didn't remember learning about in Herbology or in their library sessions. She felt better knowing he wasn't upset over the way Avalon had plowed over him after her conversation with Lucy.

Theo's gift consisted of Fizzing Whizbees, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, peppermint toads, sugar quills, and a message that said: "I know how much you enjoy eating candy that was bought with someone else's money. Have a happy Christmas!"

Draco hadn't sent a gift, but Avalon found a Malfoy family portrait, the three of them in sparkling emerald dress robes and expressions so somber that she wondered if it was a holiday card or a funeral notice. "Happy Christmas, to whom it may concern, from Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco" was the inscription. She rolled her eyes at the sheer Draco-ness of the card and put it on the bedside table.

"Is that from Draco?" Pansy asked.

"Yes," Avalon answered. "It's a Christmas card. Did you get one?"

"Of course!" Pansy's voice made it clear that the opposite was true.

Avalon opened the gift her parents had sent, a box of her favorite chocolates, a gold-plated wizard's chess set, and a silver charm bracelet with the letter 'A' dangling from it. There was also a note, reminding her that they loved her (her mother) and to remember everything they'd taught her (father).

"I think there's one more," Pansy said, pointing to a lumpy parcel that had fallen onto the floor while Avalon was opening her other presents. She snapped in Millicent's direction and the girl sprang off the bed, following Pansy out the door.

As she peeled the paper back off the package, Avalon tried to figure out who had sent it, since there was no name or label.

It began to give off a horrible, rancid smell.

"What the—?"

Suddenly, about five or six dungbombs spilled out onto the dormitory floor, their stench filling up the room. Avalon looked down at her hands, which were now extremely dirty and glared in the direction that Pansy and Millicent had just exited. It was obvious why Pansy had been so keen for Avalon to open the "gift," and how the two girls knew exactly when to exit to avoid the smell.

She would definitely be late to breakfast, although it didn't matter.

All her friends were off spending time with their families or having fun in general.

It was definitely Avalon's worst Christmas, which was saying something after '87,

A/N: Thanks to everyone who's read the story so far! Also, as a disclaimer, I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, would I really be writing fanfiction about it? I didn't think so. Bye guys!