Christmas was approaching. Hermione's friend, Ron, had thought that Layla had had something to do with the fact that Harry's broom had wanted to throw him off. Hermione had told him that was ridiculous, since Layla was only a first year. Layla thought about staying for Christmas, and going home. She asked Hermione if she was staying, or going home. Hermione said that she was going home for Christmas. Layla thought about it, and decided to go home for the holidays. She did miss her parents and brothers, and as Hermione wasn't staying, there would be nothing to do.

During their last Potions class, Malfoy kept making sniding remarks about Harry not having any proper family. Layla decided to ignore him. She had hoped vainly that Professor Snape would ask Malfoy to shut up. She thought of saying that he disturbed her concentration, and she needed it to do her best on her final day.

The next day, she rode in the same compartment as Hermione on the Hogwarts Express.

"Well, at least it's comfortable, you know, I really don't like traveling much. I like going places, but not what you have to do to get there. Well, maybe Apparating, but you know I'm not old enough."

"I don't mind that much, then again, I've never traveled much."Hermione told her.

When the food cart came by, Layla bought almost all the Chocolate Frogs.

"It really isn't good to eat so many Chocolate Frogs, you know."

"Oh, I'm a chocoholic. It's something that drives my mother mad. She hates chocolate. I'll never understand why."

"You probably taught her to hate it. She had to spend so much money on it."

"Actually, you know, she's always hated it. What are you going to do over the holidays? Are you going anywhere?"

"No, I don't think so."

"I'm not, either. Last year, we went to Morelia, with my grandparents, and saw the Posadas. That was very nice. We even gave one, you know. We're not going this year. It's already kind of late, they start around the sixteenth of December. I love the champurrado and buñuelos."

"What's a Posada. I don't think I've ever heard of that."

"It's kind of like a party, I guess. A Christmas party. We hit a piñata, that is, the children do, and we get candy. It's kind of fun."

"I've read about those. I've never been able to hit one, though. They're not popular here in Britain."

"No, you have to go to Mexico to buy one. Here, they don't sell them."

"And what is that that you drink."

"It's, well, I'm not sure how to explain it. It's kind of like porridge, I guess in a way, only much, much better, and the buñuelos are so sweet."

"I'd like to try that sometime."

"Well, if sometime we can get out of school a little earlier, and we can go to Mexico, why not. If your parents give you permission."

Hermione told her if she knew anything about someone named Nicholas Flamel.

Layla said that she didn't, but she promised to ask her parents.

She introduced her Hermione to her parents and her parents. Hermione also introduced Layla to her parents. The holidays past with nothing in particular. Layla got a lot of jewelry for Christmas, which was what she mostly got, but was disappointed that none of the books she would have liked were among the gifts. She told her brothers about Hogwarts, and that she was looking forward to going back.

When she got back, and there was another Quidditch match, she was surprised when she found out that Professor Snape was refereeing.

"But isn't Madam Hooch supposed to do that?"she asked.

"Yes, but it turns out that Snape wants to favor Hufflepuff."Ron told her darkly.

"Why would Professor Snape want to favor Hufflepuff?"

"I don't think he favors Hufflepuff, I just think he doesn't favor Gryffindor, or Harry."

The match, however, ended in five minutes. A few days after that, Hermione told her that they had found out about Nicholas Flamel, and the Sorcerer's Stone.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't want to live forever."Layla said, after Hermione told her what it could do. "I'm already sick of my life and I'm only eleven, living to be six hundred! I wouldn't be able to do it."

As the Easter holidays approached, Layla started studying for her exams, and the rest of the term went by pretty quickly, but then, for her, time always went by quickly. As she spend most of her time in the library, she didn't have to endure Malfoy in the common room. Hermione gave her a study schedule, but Layla didn't use it. She never did things like studying on schedule. She usually just did it before bed.

"Well, it's almost the end of the first year here."she told her cats. "It's gone by quickly, hasn't it?"

However, the end of the term didn't go by without incidents. She heard that Hermione and her friends had gotten past the three headed dog, and saved the Stone. Harry Potter was unconscious in the hospital wing. She send him many Chocolate Frogs, as that would have been the gift she would have appreciated the most. Malfoy was delighted that Gryffindor lost at the end of the Quidditch season.

Layla said good-bye to Hermione, promised to write to her, and went to say hello to her brothers and her parents.