Disclaimer 1: Draco, his parents and teachers all belong to JKR. (As if you didn't all know that.)

Disclaimer 2: Severus Snape owning a raven belongs to J.L. Matthews. (Go read her story everybody. It's great.)

Disclaimer 3: The gang name Sharks is borrowed from the musical West Side Story of course. I don't remember where I found the name Rakers, but I know I read it somewhere.

Disclaimer 4: The idea for Snape having a family comes from Al's fic Time of Trial.

Disclaimer 5: The Glizzard family and Gringolf Glizzard belong to my friend PegaPony and so do all of Gringolf's songs. Thanks for letting me borrow them!

Disclaimer 6: My friend Edmund owns himself and his horse Apollo.

Disclaimer 7: Old Joe and Tess' Joe belong to Zebee.

Disclaimer 8: The looks of the five Slytherin girls are taken mostly from a drawing by Iremione.

Disclaimer 9: I first encountered the Ravenslyth-terminology on the Slytherin Rising e-group. I don't remember who invented it, but it's not mine.

A/N: I think I need to clear something up. When I said we'd visit each of the kids during Christmas, I meant sometime during the holidays. I don't think I could pull off 10 Christmas celebrations one right after the other without becoming boring and repetitive. The original idea was to do the celebration itself with Colleen, but I've changed my mind a little and we'll most likely see another traditional Snape Christmas in the next chapter.

Chapter 19: Family Troubles

Aterus was watching a picture on the hunting habits of adders in his big snake book. It was quite fascinating and he thought he might take it to school with him to show Anny. Maybe it would even inspire Salazar to tell them more about Sassy.

The adder in the picture, a bigger, but less impressively coloured, species than Sassy, had just sighted a mouse and was getting ready to strike . . .

"Aterus-darling! Do you want some porridge?"

Aterus looked up at his mother just as the snake struck. "No thanks, Mum, I'm full."

Breakfast had been less than an hour ago.

"I see. Would you rather have corn flakes?"

"No thanks, Mum."

"How about some soup?"

"I'm full Mum, honest." The mouse's tail disappeared in the snake's mouth just as Aterus looked down at the picture again. He'd missed not only the kill, but also the eating.

"I've brought you an extra pair of socks, so you don't catch cold."

"Thank you, Mum." Actually Aterus was beginning to think that he was dressed a bit too well, if he wasn't planning to go outside today. "I'll put them on later."

"No, no, no. You'll forget and catch cold."

"I'm hot right now, Mum. I'm sitting right next to the fire." Aterus tried to explain.

"You're always making up excuses." his mother accused. "Just so you can play. And ignoring the advice and hard work of your poor old mother. Now you're even refusing me the one minute of your time it will take to put on your socks to keep you warm and healthy ..."

Aterus put on the socks hoping that she would leave him to finish reading in peace. She did, but by now the picture snake had rolled up to digest its mouse. It wasn't about to repeat the hunt anytime soon.

But then there were other interesting things in this book. Aterus had just found a picture of hatching baby snakes when the door opened again.

"Here's your porridge, Aterus."

"But Mum, I said I wasn't hungry."

"You don't like porridge anymore?" his mother looked so disappointed. "It was always your favourite breakfast."

"I love porridge. I'm just full. I've already had breakfast today."

"Well, I'll just leave it here standing next to you in case you get hungry."

Aterus suppressed a groan. Now he was going to have to eat the porridge or it was going to spoil and the house elves would have to throw it away.

Oh well, he was going to force it down right after the little snakes hatched and get it over with.

"You know, I've misplaced my glasses somewhere." his mother stated. "I've sent Toggy, Milly and Fibby to look for them, but they haven't brought them to me, yet. I'm beginning to worry about them. What if they don't find them?"

"When did you send them to look?" Aterus asked wondering whether it was even worth continuing to read at this rate.

"Just before I brought you the porridge. Why?"

"Don't you think that's a little short to get worried?" Aterus reasoned wondering why his mother expected him to care about her reading glasses' whereabouts. "They have to search the whole mansion for the glasses and then find you. Or did you tell them where you were going to be when they found them?"

"No but I still worry. Not really so much about the glasses, but that the washing gets done in time so you'll be able to wear your robes again tomorrow and I have to see that you and your father get fed. Oh I hate all this cooking and feeding business!"

Then stop doing so often! Aterus thought, but didn't dare say it. He already knew that didn't work. His mother was convinced that he'd starve and have no clothes to wear.

"Mum, I own at least ten different sets of robes." he told her instead. "It doesn't matter whether the one in the laundry gets washed today at all."

"But you might like to wear it."

"I'll wear whatever I find." Aterus assured her. "Don't worry about it."

At least she wasn't trying to get any of the clothes currently on his body for her laundry basket. Aterus did not feel like stripping just so his mother had more laundry to press on Toggy.

"Oh, but I do. It's my duty as a mother and wife. Oh, how I hate all those duties." she continued. "I met Mrs Huberta at the apothecary last week." She suddenly changed the topic, or maybe Mrs Huberta had said something about unpleasant duties that she wanted to tell Aterus, but then she got off track. "The poor witch had hurt her ankle, so I gave her the address of that healer who cured me when I broke my leg last year. He was so helpful. Not at all like the one I see for my eyes. I think I ought to visit him again, but I'm too afraid. What if there's something seriously wrong with my eye? I feel like I don't see as clearly with my right eye, lately."

"Then it's best, if you see the healer as soon as possible." Aterus advised. 'And leave me some time to breathe.' he added silently. "Why don't you go right away and get it over with. You'll feel much better once you know what's wrong. Maybe you just need your reading glasses adjusted."

"But then I'd have to leave you all alone and it's only three more hours until lunch time. I have to supervise the cooking."

"I'm sure Fibby is experienced enough to manage on her own." Aterus suggested. He wished his mother had some friends that would distract her from feeding her family from time to time. Or at least listen to her healer-tales instead of him!

Friends! Now there was an idea. Maybe he could escape this way.

"That reminds me!" he exclaimed. "Tolly wanted to show me something this morning. I bet she's already waiting. Sorry Mum, but I have to go. I just can't disappoint her."

He hadn't promised the house elf girl anything, but Tolly was as usual quite happy to see him.

"I is learned three new cleaning charms." she told him proudly. "I is shows Master Aterus?"

Aterus nodded eagerly. Anything to get away from his mother for a while. It had been wonderful to finally see her again, but after three days at home she was still clinging to him all day.

"Lets go up to the attic." he suggested. "There's always something dirty up there."

Tolly nodded eagerly. "House elves is not clean attic until spring. Attic all dusty."

"I learned some really nice charms as well." Aterus told her after she'd demonstrated all three charms repeatedly and explained when best to use them. "But I'm not allowed to do magic out of school, so I can't show you. I can only tell you about them."

"Ises there lots of house elves at Hogwarts?" Tolly asked instead. "Isses you makes many new friends Master Aterus?"

"Yes, to both, but I didn't meet many of the elves. Students aren't allowed into the kitchens."

"Better friends than Tolly?" The little elf's ears quivered.

"Different friends." Aterus tried to explain. "Friends who like to play other games."

"What other games?" Her ears rose a little telling Aterus that she was interested and just a little more hopeful.

"For example wand turning." he answered. "And Anny told us there's a similar Muggle game called spin the bottle."

"Cans Tolly play wand turning?" very hopeful now.

"I'm not sure." Aterus hesitated. "I don't think it qualifies as using magic, but you're not allowed to touch a wand. It's probably safer to try the Muggle version and I haven't done it before anyway."

It didn't really make much sense to spin a bottle to determine who'd answer a question when you only had two players, but Aterus and Tolly didn't mind. It was new and it was fun.

They'd barely gotten started when the trap door to the attic swung open, though.

"Oh there you are!" Aterus' mother beamed at them. "I've been looking all over for you. You shouldn't sit on the cold floor, you know. You'll get sick! Let me transfigure you some cushions. I've brought you some muffins and tea so you won't get hungry until lunch."

Aterus just barely managed to stop her from taking their bottle with them to dispose of when she finally left.

"Here Tolly," he said offering the plate to the house elf. "Have some muffins before Mum thinks I don't like them anymore."

Luckily Tolly had learned that accepting offered food from Aterus was a service to the boy a long time ago and she'd also come to accept that her mistress could only be kept happy by eating whatever she pressed on her as well. At least the Sorrel house elves were definitely not underfed, which was more than could be said of some of their less lucky cousins.

Sally Andersen was quite surprised when Anny Sharpe rang her doorbell.

"Anny? I thought you'd moved to Scotland?" She blushed apparently realising that her exclamation was rather rude.

Anny didn't take offence, though. After all Sally hadn't seen her in several months.

"Only during the school term." Anny explained. "I'm back for Christmas now and . . . well I need to buy some Christmas presents and thought maybe you'd like to come along. It's a lot more fun to shop with a friend."

Sally blushed. "You really mean that?"

"That I'd like you to go shopping with me? Of course." Anny nodded. "That's why I'm asking you."

"No, I mean, that I'm your friend." Sally beamed at her. "Nobody's ever called me that before."

"Why, of course you're my friend." Anny declared. "I guess not as close as when we went to school together everyday, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten you."

"Oh, okay. Let me just grab my coat and some money." Sally dashed back into the flat and returned in record time. "Ready!"

"Didn't you make a lot of really cool new friends at your posh school?" she asked a little later while they were waiting for the bus that would take them to the shopping center.

All Sally had been told about it was that Anny had gotten a scholarship to a school in Scotland through some distant relative. Sally probably assumed that it was some very rich, chilless, Scottish snob who'd decided to bestow a little favour on her poor cousins by paying for their daughter's education at an expensive elite school.

"Sure, but I also realised that I missed you." Anny told her. "One day we played a game and each of us had to say who our best friend at home was and I realised it was you."

"And you told them that?"

"Of course."

"Even about my odd eyes?"

"Yes, and how mean Mona always was about it." Anny smirked. "Billy said I should have beaten her up for you."

Sally laughed. "Seriously? He'd expect you to beat up big Mona?"

Anny nodded. "Well, he's never met her. Billy's the son of the P ... Chemistry teacher. He's really cool, but gets into a lot of fights, because the Gryffindors always tease him about being a teacher's child."

"Gryffindors?" Sally asked. "Who're they?"

"They're a house . . . Sort of a different dorm." How could she explain the houses? "There are four different parts of the school that have dorms and each has some students from every year. Billy and I are in Slytherin, for example."

"That dorm has both boys and girls?" Sally stared at her wide eyed and almost missed the arrival of the bus.

"No, there are seven boys' dorms and seven girls' dorms in each house. I'm in the first year girls' dorm in Slytherin house, and Billy is in the first year boys' dorm, but we use the same common room to study and play in." Anny climbed onto the bus and bought a ticket.

Sally had a ticket for the entire year because she took the bus to school.

"So how come you're so close with Billy?" she asked once they had settled down on one of the benches.

"I'm not particularly close with him." Anny corrected. "No closer than with the rest of the Slytherin first years. There are only ten of us, you know. We're both on the Soccer team, though."

"Really? You're on the school team? That's so exciting!" Sally exclaimed.

"Only the junior reserves." Anny amended. "Billy's on the junior main team, but the real stars are the senior team."

"That's still cool." Sally decided. "You're only a first year, after all. You'll make the main team someday."

Anny nodded. "I'm planning to, but it might take a few years. What about you, though? How's your new school."

"Okay, I guess." Sally shrugged. "I still have to deal with Mona, but Jenny went to boarding school as well. And I've got a new friend called Judy. She's a year older, had to repeat, because she missed too many classes last year, so Mona's a bit afraid of her."

"That's great." Anny smiled at her. "I wish I'd been able to scare away Mona."

"How could you have? You're not older than her."

"I bet Danny wouldn't have had a problem scaring her." Anny mused. "Danny's one of my dorm mates. A real tomboy."

Sally laughed. "I'd thought all of your classmates would be posh little princesses who wouldn't want to get their pretty dresses dirty."

"That's Colleen." Anny laughed too. "She really hates H ... Biology. We do some practical gardening there almost every lesson, you see."

"And you have to share your dorm with her? Poor girl!"

"No, Colleen's fine, really." Anny amended. "She can be a bit arrogant and fussy, but she's a lot of fun and a real genius in History. She's just not one for practical work."

"You actually like a spoiled little bitch?" Sally frowned at that.

"She doesn't have it all that easy, you know." Anny explained. "Her parents ignore her, her grandmother's very strict and her little brother is in the hospital after a heart attack. She hasn't even had a chance to see him, yet."

"A heart attack?" That got to Sally. "I thought only old people had heart attacks."

They had finally arrived at their stop and Anny waited with her answer until they'd gotten off and were walking towards the shopping center.

"Phellippe, that's the brother's name, was born with a weak heart, but they didn't know until he had the attack. He needs a . . . an operation, but is still too young for it. He probably won't even be allowed to go to school until after the operation."

"I never realised rich people can have such terrible problems, too."

Anny nodded. "Especially since the Nocturnes are w . . . really very, very rich. They've got a huge old manor house and everything, but I bet Colleen would give all that, if she'd get her brother cured in return. That's why I want to make her a special Christmas gift."

"But if they're so rich, she's probably got everything money can buy." Sally frowned. "What could we come up with that'd be special to her."

"It has to be something personal." Anny confirmed. "And I have a really good idea, too. Something I know she likes and that has a special meaning between us. And then I'll add some chocolate, because her grandmother won't let her have sweets very often. But I also need a present for Dinah. She's my very best friend and I just can't make Colleen such a special gift and not give anything to her."

"So you know what you want to give Colleen, but not Dinah?"

Anny nodded. "It has to be special, too."

Sally thought about that for a moment. "Well, what does she like? You have to tell me about her, if you want me to help."

"She . . . she's in the Gymnastics club, but just for fun. She's not all that serious about it, I think. She likes Ch . . . Chemistry, but not History or Biology. She says those are boring." Anny started. It was harder to describe Dinah than she'd expected. "She makes friends really easily and knows a lot of people. Even the grumpy old caretaker loves her and she's friends with at least half of Hufflepuff house. Most of them are friends of her family. A really large family. They keep even distant relatives close. Her father's a . . . a doctor and her Mum used to be a teacher, but is staying at home now."

"More rich people, then." Sally stated.

"Well, that's boarding school." Anny shrugged it off. She actually had no idea whether healers were as well paid as Muggle doctors. "They're not nearly as rich as Colleen's family." That much she was sure of.

"Well, she might like a pretty notebook." Sally decided. "She sounds like someone who'd write a lot of letters."

"Yes, she does." Anny exclaimed. "You're a genius, Sally! And she'd probably like a new pen as well. For Tullia, Danny and the boys sweets will do. I'll just have to try to remember which ones each of them likes."

"We could get them some of those decorative gift boxes." Sally suggested. "That's a little more personal than just any box of sweets and the small ones aren't that expensive."

"Perfect." agreed Anny happily.

Pank was bored. Not that it wasn't wonderful to see his family again, but there was only a certain amount of times that playing broom catch on toy brooms with two giggling little girls was bearable after over two months of Flying lessons on a real broom.

"Oh, come on Des." he pleaded with the older of his two sisters. "Can't we play something else now?"

"Like what?" nine year old Desdemona Anterhill demanded hovering just high enough that her toes didn't brush the snow.

At least they didn't brush it as long as Desdemona simply hovered or flew straight. In a curve her inner leg stretched a little lower and earlier in the day they'd had a lot of fun drawing lines and even actual pictures into the snow with their feet.

Pank's legs were already so long that they touched the ground unless he drew them up while flying a toy broom and Des only had to lean into a turn. The only problem with the game had been seven year old Priscilla Anterhill, who hadn't even managed to reach the snow with the longest stick she'd found.

Not that the stick had seemed too short to Pank. The problem was that Prissy had had to lean forward on her broom and steer with only one hand which proved to be well beyond her flying skills. After her third fall she'd refused to try again and burst into tears when her siblings wanted to continue the game without her.

Hence the drawing game was out of the question.

Which wasn't all that bad, since Pank's boots were still soaking wet anyway.

"Lets play Potions class again." Prissy suggested. "Brewing's fun."

Pank suppressed a sigh. Somehow throwing bits of parchment into a mug of water and stirring it with a teaspoon didn't seem nearly as appealing to him, but at least as Professor Snape he got to tell Prissy to shut up without getting scolded for it by his mother. After all he was only pretending to be a stern teacher.

"Okay, but we have to go inside for that." then he could take off his shoes and dry his feet by the fireplace while the girls 'brewed'.

"Great!" Prissy yelled and scrambled off her broom falling face first into the snow.

Since this time she'd meant to get off she didn't cry over her fall.

"You're supposed to land your broom first." Pank admonished her.

"And take it back to the shed." Des added seriously.

Prissy pouted, but plucked her broom from the air and dragged it behind her towards the shed. "But it's much faster to just jump off. I don't like landing."

"You have to learn, though." Des ordered.

"Why? If I can just jump off anytime I want to ..."

"You can't." Pank interrupted her. "You'll hurt yourself."

"Won't." Prissy declared. "I always jump off and I've never gotten hurt."

"Not true." sang Des, but Pank wasn't listening to her.

"You won't be able to jump off a real broom in mid-flight." he explained to Prissy. "It goes a lot higher and faster and the ground at Hogwarts isn't nearly as soft as the snow. If you don't know how to land your broom, you'll end up like Gangolf."

"Is true." Prissy snapped at Des. "What happened to Dandolf?"

"Oh, and what were you crying about earlier?" Des challenged.

"Gangolf." Pank corrected. "With G."

"That was when I fell. Not when I jumped." Prissy insisted, threw her broom into the shed and looked up at Pank expectantly. "So what about Gandolf?"

Pank handed his broom to Des who laid it neatly onto it's shelf next to her own. "Well, Gangolf couldn't land his broom. So in our first Flying lesson he ended up ramming the handle into the ground and fell face first onto the stone."

The girls looked suitably horrified, so Pank decided to continue his embellished story of Gangolf's suffering. "He bled so badly that a teacher had to carry him to the hospital wing."

"Carry?" Des asked slightly doubtful.

"Well, Gangolf was afraid of being levitated in that condition." Pank declared. "Thankfully the nurse, Madame Pomfrey, has a lot of experience treating flying accidents and managed to heal him in time for the next morning's classes. But that's not all, you know. In the next lesson Gangolf still didn't know how to land."

"Oh, what happened?" Prissy squealed eagerly.

"Well, he skimmed along at about the height toy brooms fly instead of landing and then he slammed right into Colleen and they both fell to the hard ground." Pank demonstrated with his hands. "You see, Colleen's a good flyer and knows how to land so she had landed right where she should, and Gangolf should have landed somewhere behind her. So when he shot on past his landing spot he just couldn't avoid her. Now, Colleen hurt her shoulder and got very angry and hexed him."

"That's mean." Prissy complained.

"Yeah, she shouldn't have done that." Des agreed.

"Well, maybe not, but Colleen's a very mean witch." Pank explained. "Her grandfather was a Death Eater and her parents have been teaching her curses and hexes since she could hold a wand. So when Colleen gets angry, she's really dangerous and Gangolf was lucky to get away with a bad hex instead of a dark curse."

They'd reached the house now and Pank began to pull off his boots.

"And then the next time Gangolf tried to land a broom, the broom turned over and threw him off."

"Pank!" Lady Anterhill glared at her son angrily. "Stop trying to scare the girls. Brooms do not turn upside down to throw off their riders. They're charmed against that."

"Well, not entirely upside down." Pank amended. "But it did turn far enough that Gangolf couldn't keep his balance and fell off. I swear it Mum. He had to go to the hospital wing. And I'm only telling Prissy, because she asked why it's so important to learn how to land her toy broom. After all we don't want anything like that to happen to her."

Lady Anterhill didn't look entirely convinced, but let it slide.

"Well, change into some dry clothes and then come into the saloon for tea. House elf! Tea and cake for the young master and misses! And be quick about it!"

"Yes Lady Anterhill, right away!" the young elf who'd been dusting the paintings in the entrance hall squeaked and popped away to the kitchen to inform the cook.

"You know, Mum, we should be a little nicer to the servants." Pank grinned impishly. "My friend Aterus' only playmate at home is a house elf."

"Go change Pank." his mother shooed him towards the stairs with a fond smile. "My little rebel."

"Here, Mum." Dinah handed her mother a neat stack of fresh bed sheets. "Do you want us to take the old ones down with us?"

"Oh, thank you, Sweety." Mrs Laxter smiled at her daughter despite her hectic schedule today. "Jamie already took the laundry, but if you could check whether the towels have already been exchanged ..."

"Sure, Mum, with pleasure." Dinah dove out of the second guest room past her cousin Jerry who was carrying a stack of fresh pillowcases and his sister Tita who'd been entrusted with the blankets for the guests.

As every year the Laxter family was gathering at their house to celebrate Christmas together and her mother was busy with last minute preparations. All the beds had to be changed as the family was leaving their rooms to the older guests who wouldn't be comfortable on a couch or in a sleeping bag. The younger adults would be sleeping on the couches and on camping beds downstairs while the children would spread blankets and sleeping bags in the basement.

That may sound uncomfortable, but it wasn't at all. In fact, they all loved it. The Laxters' basement was well lit and clean and even had a small fireplace and at night the children had it all to themselves to talk and play in. It was a lot like camping, Dinah thought, only indoors.

The upstairs bathroom was well equipped with fresh towels and sparkling clean so Dinah went down the stairs weaving in and out between the people going up carrying more blankets, pillows, a chair and suitcases.

Suitcases?

"Sam!" Dinah called out to her older cousin. "Who arrived?"

"Great uncle Monty." Sam panted under the weight of the heavy suitcase. "Along with Aunt Elly and Uncle Peter and the kids."

"Wonderful!" Dinah exclaimed and jumped off the last step.

Aunt Elly and Uncle Peter were the parents of Cousin Patricia and Cousin Alexandra who'd be starting Hogwarts next year. They'd probably be excited to hear all about the school.

The new arrivals were nowhere in sight, though, and Dinah went on to check the bathroom.

The towels had indeed been removed, but apparently whoever had done that had forgotten to lay out fresh ones. Well, no problem. Dinah pulled out the little stool that was hidden behind the bathtub. Standing on it she could reach the high cupboard that held the towels.

Maybe it had been Pat who'd taken the towels, she mused as she hung up the first batch. Her little brother was only five and wouldn't have been able to reach the fresh towels.

"Ah, little Dinah." Uncle Peter stood in the open bathroom door. "Come, let me hug you!"

"Hi Uncle Peter! So good to see you!" Dinah hugged him back, but somehow his greeting didn't seem quite as warm as she was used to.

And the rest of her relatives were no better. They all hugged her and smiled, told her how much she'd grown and some even asked how she liked Hogwarts, but it all seemed faked.

Once she even overheard Aunt Allissa whisper to great cousin Maura: "A Slytherin. In our family. I honestly wonder what's wrong with the child."

"Oh, just imagine how her poor parents must feel. And their first one to be sorted as well." Great cousin Maura whispered back. "They must be so worried for the other two."

"You don't think they'll turn out to be Slytherins, too?"

Dinah decided to slip down into the basement to look for the other children. There was a large curtain to separate the girls from the boys, but it was still pulled back and the entire room seemed to be covered in blankets and pillows. One single big nest.

"Hi Patricia, Alexandra!" she called out when she finally caught sight of the twins who were sitting on pillows in the middle of the girls' half with Cousin Mandy. "I completely missed you when you arrived."

The three girls stopped talking and stared at her.

"Hi Dinah." Mandy, a third year Hufflepuff, greeted her. "I was just telling the twins about the cool glass houses at Hogwarts."

Dinah suppressed a frown. She'd just welcomed Mandy half an hour ago, so why was she greeting her again? And why hadn't the twins returned her greeting?

"Oh yes, really fascinating those glass houses." Patricia nodded just a little too eagerly.

So Mandy had lied to her. They'd been discussing her.

"Well, go on then." Dinah managed to say sitting down on the next pillow. "Don't let me interrupt you. I've only been in one of them so far, myself. I'd love to hear about the rest."

Awkward silence.

"Oh, I just remembered." Alexandra gasped. "Patty, we were supposed to help Mum . . . unpack, remember?"

The twins jumped up and raced towards the stairs.

"Help her unpack?" Dinah repeated doubtfully.

Mandy shrugged at her. "Well, I guess I'd better go greet their parents. I'll see you later then."

"Sure Mandy." Dinah sat alone in the empty basement for several minutes before pulling herself together and going back upstairs. There were still more relatives to greet and maybe she could help set up for dinner.

Somehow she ended up sitting between her father and grandfather Albert, who was actually her father's grandfather, for the meal and then none of the eight other girls wanted to take the bed next to hers.

"I'm not sleeping next to a slimy snake!" little cousin Deborah protested so loudly that the boys pulled the curtain back to see what was going on.

"Deborah!" Cousin Sheila, who was already sixteen, admonished. "We don't say such things. It's rude. You hurt Dinah's feelings."

"With your attitude," Cousin Andy remarked with much greater effect. "You're likely to end up a thoughtless Gryffindor."

"Andy!" Sheila gasped exasperated.

"Oh, but it's true." Dinah said. "All the completely insensitive prejudiced self-righteous gits seem to be in Gryffindor. Hufflepuffs are polite and don't badmouth other houses."

Deborah looked sufficiently chastised and several of the older ones wouldn't meet Dinah's eyes after that. So she rolled over to face the wall pulling her blanket over her in the same movement and pretended to sleep.

The talking in the room picked up again after a few minutes, continued for what seemed like forever and then silenced as the other children, one by one, fell asleep. Once it seemed that there had been nothing but soft regular breathing for hours Dinah finally dared to roll over again.

Nobody stirred and she rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling. At least nobody could see the tears running down her cheeks and dripping into her ears and hair.

Rupert hummed softly to himself as he fixed another straw star to the Christmas tree. He loved straw ornaments much better than the gold and silver ones his mother sometimes produced with her wand.

Next was a straw angel with a painted smiling face, then another star.

Downstairs in the shop the bell chimed and he heard his mother rush out to greet the customer. Apparently it was another young witch in need of festive robes for some Christmas party. His Mum would most likely be busy for a while as that type of customer tended to be picky and have a hard time making up her mind.

It didn't matter, though. Decorating the tree would take a while as well and if he got really bored Rupert could always go downstairs and offer to help.

There still wasn't any sound from his father's bedroom, but then it was only half past nine. If there had been any noises from there it would probably have meant that his Dad was sick again. Not that Rupert cared whether he was.

No, he didn't. Definitely not. If his father had to get drunk in the evening, it was his own fault, that he was sick in the morning. There was no need to feel sorry for him. If he didn't want to be sick, he could stop drinking when he had enough.

Another chime of the bell.

"Rupert!" So much for finishing decorating the tree. "Could you come down and help me for a moment?"

"Coming." Rupert quickly brushed out his robes, then ran down the stairs.

"Good morning." he greeted the customers politely. "How can I help you, Mum?"

His mother was kneeling on the floor stitching up the hem of the young witch's robe.

"Oh, could you please tend to Mrs Riley? I just can't let go of this right now."

"Of course, Mum." Rupert had long ago learned not to show any dismay at whatever orders he got in front of customers. "What can I do for you, Mrs Riley?"

He hated this old witch. Well, actually he hated the name Riley. The old witch wasn't really to blame. The real culprit was her grandson Thomas Riley, who'd been the biggest bully in Rupert's primary school class. He just disliked the family by extension.

"Hello, Rupert." the old witch smiled at him kindly. She always tried to be friendly to him, though it often turned out more condescending than nice. "What a good boy you are helping your mother mind the shop."

"Oh I don't mind that at all." Rupert lied fluently. "I really enjoy the work and it's probably best that I learn as early as possible."

"So you intend to follow in your mother's footsteps?" Mrs Riley asked pointedly avoiding to mention his father. "Keep the shop going for another generation?"

"Well, I can't say for sure, yet, of course." another phrase he'd learned long ago. "After all I still have years to make up my mind, but if I were seventeen right now, yes, I'd probably decide to join in my parents' business."

"Of course." Mrs Riley nodded. "It is probably a very good idea. An established business with a good name and a lot of loyal customers of your mother will probably continue to come. You'll have a perfect teacher in your mother and time to grow into the business. A very sensible choice."

Rupert nodded. "Exactly. It would be a pity to let all of grandfather's hard work building up the shop go to waste." Time to get back to business. "So what are you looking for?"

"I picked out a gown last week, but it didn't quite fit perfectly." Mrs Riley explained. "Your mother promised to have it done by today."

"Ah, I see." Rupert nodded. "It must be in the back then. If you'll excuse me for a moment, I'll get it for you."

Indeed there was a package with Mrs. Riley's name on it in the back room.

Mrs. Riley tried on her new gown, then picked out a pair of gloves to go with it and they moved on to the counter where Rupert calculated the total price.

"It's been a while since I saw you." Mrs. Riley noted while he folded the gown for her and returned it into its bag. "You're the same age as our little Tommy, aren't you? He used to speak of you from time to time, but I don't remember him doing so lately. Are you in a different class?"

"A different school, actually." Rupert admitted. "I'm going to Hogwarts."

"That Scottish school?" Mrs. Riley sounded surprised. "Isn't that very expensive?"

"Not much more than our own school here, but it is an internationally acclaimed school." Rupert's mother interrupted. "So since Rupert has always had very good grades, we just thought we'd give it a try and apply to both places. And when both accepted him, well, a Hogwarts education certainly won't hurt."

"Ah, but the poor boy is still so young." Mrs. Riley looked impressed, though. "Doesn't it worry you that he's so far away?"

"Actually, we thought it might do him good to have to fend for himself and after all he isn't the only eleven year old there." Rupert's mother beamed at him proudly. "And we were right. He has become so much more outgoing and mature. Hogwarts really was the best choice for him."

"And you're sure you're managing?" Mrs. Riley asked suddenly. "Running the shop all on your own. I've never seen even an apprentice in here."

"Oh, but I do have my husband here with me normally. Two people are quite sufficient for a small shop like this most of the time."

"Do you?" Mrs. Riley sounded doubtful, but didn't give them any time to formulate a response. "But I do wish my son had thought of applying to Hogwarts for our little Tommy. We never even considered it might be possible."

"They keep a few spots reserved every year." Rupert's mother explained. "Some go to Muggle borns and we got one of the leftovers. I don't know how many of those they had, or how exactly they picked the students, though. Grades probably."

"Ah yes, and Tommy did slack off at the end of that last year a little. That would probably have cost him his chance anyway." Mrs. Riley decided. "So how many places are there anyway?"

Actually, 'Tommy' had almost failed Math in third year already, but it might not be the best idea to point that out to his grandmother.

"There are forty students in my year." Rupert reported. "Most of them are children of Hogwarts alumni, though. Their places are reserved at birth."

"And how many Muggle borns?" Mrs. Riley wanted to know.

Rupert shrugged. "Only one in my house, but they seem to be more frequent in other houses. There are a lot of students I just don't know that well."

"Well, you just tell us in case one of them leaves and maybe we can send Tommy after you to keep you company."

"That'd be wonderful, Mrs. Riley." Rupert managed to say with a straight face.

"I doubt it's very likely, though." Rupert's Mum added. "Who'd give up a spot at such an elite school like that?"

"Well, maybe we should write to the headmaster anyway. Poor Tommy has been having some trouble with his classmates, you know."

Rupert burst out laughing the moment they were alone again.

"What's so funny?" his Mother asked smiling.

"Tommy having trouble with his classmates." Rupert snickered. "I suppose that means they're not lining up for him to beat up anymore."

"Rupert!" his mother said sternly. "You shouldn't make fun of others like that. I'm sure Tommy doesn't deserve that. Stop fooling around and check whether your father wants breakfast."

Her playful swipe at his head took the bite out of the command, but it was still an unpleasant task. Hopefully his father was still asleep and not awake and suffering from a headache. Headaches always made him grumpy.

htbmny – Sorry, but HPHC is open ended on purpose. Trying to continue it in any way would ruin it, trust me.

Joou Himeko Dah – Thanks

ERMonkey, Burner of Cookies – I know, I know, this isn't exactly soon, but unfortunately that job of mine got in the way ... (Cross your fingers that they don't really decide to implement the 60 work hours week, because then all I'll be able to do anymore will be get up at 5:30, got to work, work, come home at 22:00 and fall into bed. How long can a person live like that anyway?)

schkuro – Billy's Christmas is supposed to be in the next chapter, but as mentioned at the beginning, I didn't mean to show the actual celebration for each of the children. I expect Draco and Cathy to show up, though.

Kyzara – Thanks.

Pam Briggs – Sorry, but I only meant I'll give a look at each of the children during the holidays and Tullia already got the ride home. Tullia's parents aren't trying to dictate her life, they're just worried over her taking a direction that's so strange to them. As adults they've had to realise that you rarely get your dream job and they don't want Tullia to end up unemployed. But as her father said, she can still become a translator for Mermish, if whatever path she decides to take fails.

Brink182 – Gasp: 182? Don't tell me gave you that number! There can't be that many people called Brink on the site, can there?

Colibi – Sorry, it's about the Christmas holidays, not Christmas itself. Billy will be in the next chapter, because I'm saving him for a Christmas itself scene. The ones in this chapter all happened before Christmas.

Desert Hacker – As you command. (But only because I was going to post today anyway.)

A/N: Will Aterus ever ger to read his snake book? How will her family's reaction affect Dinah? And will Tommy Riley come to Hogwarts?

In the next chapter: Billy celebrates Christmas, Colleen meets one of her brother's healers, but not under the kind of circumstances she imagined and Gangolf doesn't want the holidays to end.