Disclaimer: I have officially run out of witty disclaimers. Just know JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and that's all there is to it.

Jagged Epiphany – You found out my secret! George is falling in love with Lee…not! I think Lee might actually run a mile if he ever found out George was in love with him. In an attempt to help jab you along I'll join in your chant however. Update Old Faces! Update Old Faces! Update Old Faces! I want to read what comes next! Lol

Chapter Eight – With the New Term Comes Quidditch

The door flew open and banged particularly loudly as it hit the wall. Angelina and Katie were jolted awake, the sudden noise startling them out of their slumbers.

"Wassat?" mumbled Katie.

Angelina reached her hands up and rubbed her eyes, doing her best to clear them.

"Wakey, wakey!" called a voice from the door.

The girls groaned sleepily.

"Fred, get out. We're trying to sleep." Moaned Angelina.

She opened her eyes and blinked, the sudden light startling her for a moment. By the time she had finally gotten the room into focus all three of the boys were inside. George was squatting on Alicia's empty bed whilst Fred was stood at the base of hers, leaning over towards her.

"But its Christmas Day!" exclaimed Fred cheerfully.

"Christmas…" Angelina said, puzzled.

Her brain was still half asleep; she hadn't a clue what he was talking about. But she shifted her gaze away from George towards the bottom of her bed, where Fred was stood, and it was as though someone had applied a jolt to jumpstart her mind.

"Oooo, presents!" she exclaimed happily.

"Hey Katie!"

Katie grunted incoherently in response. She had rolled over onto her stomach and had her head buried in her pillows. Angelina reached behind her and grabbed hold of her own pillow, tossing it at Katie.

"Oy! You've got presents."

Katie pulled herself up into a sitting position, her hands seeking out her eyes much like Angelina's had done moments before. She was grumbling quietly to herself about how the presents would still be there in half an hour's time and she didn't see why they had to be up so early.

"If we're going to have you waking us up this early every Christmas…" she mumbled to Fred as she lowered her hands.

"…Then next year I'm going home for Christmas."

"Alicia!" a woman's voice called faintly up the stairs.

"Alicia! Time to get up!"

Alicia grunted lowly and turned over. She made no other indication that she had heard the voice.

"Alicia!" it called again more insistently.

Alicia continued to ignore it, hoping it would go away. However a resounding clumping of feet climbing up the stairs told her it wasn't likely to. Regardless she remained still, her head buried in her soft pillows as her bedroom door creaked open.

She heard her mother's footsteps as they crossed the room towards her, felt her hand as it descended upon her shoulder, and shook as her mother attempted to lightly shake her awake.

"Alicia, it's ten thirty on Christmas day!" her mother told her.

"You can't stay in bed all day love. Come on, get up and let's go down to open your presents."

Alicia sighed. Why was it that just because it was Christmas Day she had to get up early? It was the holidays! She wanted a lie in, but she had learnt from experience that her mother didn't take no for an answer to these things.

Slowly she pushed herself into a sitting position, blinking to both clear up her eyes and get them used to the light in the room.

"Coming." She sighed.

"Good." Said her mother.

"I'll go down now. Your dad's waiting downstairs for you, hurry up won't you?"

Alicia nodded in response, dragging herself out of her warm, comfortable bed as her mother closed her bedroom door once more as she left. She picked up her slippers from the floor and pulled them onto her feet before standing. Unfortunately blinking hadn't done quite as good a job at clearing her eyes as she had hoped, and thus had to resort to raising her hands and rubbing at her eyes. That was better.

She moved over to the door, opened it, and stepped out, leaving it open behind her. She walked slowly down the stairs to where her mum and dad were waiting in the living room with the presents. Her mind drifted back to her warm bed once more as she began to appreciate how cold the hall was. She moved through it as quickly as possible and into the warm living room. She put on the best early morning smile she could for her parents and said:

"Happy Christmas mum, dad."

"Hey Lee, LEE! Santa's been!"

Lee shot upright as his little brother's voice awoke him from his slumbers.

"Coming!" he yelled back.

Ah, Christmas, his favourite time of the year, aside from Easter of course. Lee ripped his bedcovers off him and grabbed hold of his pyjama top, using it to rub hastily at his eyes to clear them. That done, he scrambled to the edge of the bed and climbed out of it, running to the door of his room and yanking it open. His little brother was stood outside, almost hopping with excitement.

"Lee!" he exclaimed the moment Lee opened his bedroom door.

"Santa's been, and he left this huge pile of presents! I think there's some for you there, but I couldn't see. Mum and dad won't let me get to them until you come down!"

Lee chuckled slightly.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming." He told Jake, grinning at the hyper active youngster.

"Race you downstairs?"

Jake didn't answer, he simply giggled, turned and ran. Lee yanked his bedroom door shut and tore after him.

"Cheat!" he called after Jake, hearing only louder giggles in return.

Lee bounded down the stairs, hot in pursuit of Jake, and jumped down the last few steps to ground level. He turned and ran into the room to the left, the Jordan's large sitting room, which was decked with magical decorations of all shapes and sizes.

Lee came to a halt in the middle of the room, grabbing hold of the sofa to the left of him to steady himself. He breathed heavily as he spoke.

"Merry…merry Christmas."

"That's one's mine!" Fred told Angelina as she reached out and grabbed the present closest to her from the bottom of her bed.

She narrowed her eyes at Fred as her hands began to slowly remove the wrapping paper.

"I swear Fred if this is a bag of dungbombs or something just as stupid you'll be getting a punch in the arm and no birthday present."

He didn't answer, just grinned. Angelina directed her narrowed eyes back down to the present as she tore off the last piece of wrapping paper to find…

"The new Montrose Magpies cap! Oh I've been wanting one of these for weeks but they've been sold out!" she cried.

She leapt up off the bed and hugged Fred.

"Thanks Fred. It must have been really difficult to get this!"

Fred was blushing profusely as Angelina pulled away from him.

"Was nothing…" he mumbled as she jammed the hat on her head and jumped back onto her bed, smiling broadly.

Meanwhile Katie had been looking through her pile of presents carefully, egged on by George.

"Open mine." He told her.

"As long as you stop whining I will." She snapped, still quite irritable at being made to get up so early.

She grabbed a present from beneath two others and pulled it out.

"Is it…?" began George.

"YES! It's yours!" she answered.

Willing George's whining to stop she tore at the wrapping paper, trying to get at the gift underneath. Finally she freed it from the tangle of wrapping paper and looked at it. It was a book, 'An Advanced Study of Charms'

She looked at it for a moment in silence; it was the book she had wanted. It looked deeper into the history and usage of each charm they would learn in class than The Standard Book of Spells did. George's hopeful voice interrupted the silence.

"Do you like it?"

Realising she hadn't uttered a sound Katie tore her eyes away from the book's front cover and looked at George, a smile creeping onto her face.

"It's just what I wanted." She told him.

"Thanks."

"Don't I get a hug then?" he asked hopefully.

Katie grinned.

"Don't push your luck Weasley."

Alicia smiled as she sat on the floor in front of her small pile of presents. Several presents lay on the floor around her, already opened, and wrapping paper was strewn everywhere from where Alicia had torn it off.

She wondered why she was so reluctant to get up half an hour ago. Christmas presents were worth getting up early for. She reached over and grabbed the next present, the label telling her it was from Katie.

"Who's that one from?" her mother asked her.

"Katie, my friend from Hogwarts. Remember? I told you about her." She replied.

Her father smiled at her.

"We remember, it was certainly nice of her to send your present all this way." He said.

Alicia nodded, smiling back, before turning her attention to removing the wrapping paper from the rather large present. As she tore off the last layer of paper she saw that it was a rather large box with the Honeydukes logo stamped across the side.

She removed the lid quickly and beamed when she saw the contents. The box was full to the brim with wizarding sweets of all kinds, Pepper Imps, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, you name it, and it was there.

"How nice of her." Commented her mother in a voice that Alicia was sure covered the 'your teeth will rot if you eat all those' tone she usually used when Alicia ate sweets.

She put the box to one side, grabbing a Chocolate Frog to eat as she did so, and made to reach for the next present, biting into the Frog as she did so. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her dad reach into the box and grab an Every Flavour Bean. She almost choked as she spun around, trying to swallow the chocolate as quickly as possible.

"Don't eat it!" she managed to splutter.

But it was too late, her father had popped the grey sweet into his mouth and bit into it, a moment later it had been spat out onto the floor.

"A pepper flavoured sweet? What are you kids eating at that school?" he yelled as Alicia hastily put the lid back on the box.

"It's a joke." She explained.

"Every Flavour Beans come in every single flavour, that's half the fun."

Her father was narrowing his eyes at the box dangerously as if he was considering throwing them out. It seemed he didn't approve of the possibility of Alicia eating every flavour sweets. Quickly she turned her attention back to the present, tearing off the wrapping paper quickly and hoping it would distract her father before he got any ideas.

"This one's from Aunt Josephine." She announced.

"I'm first!" Jake cried, diving onto the floor beside his small pile of presents.

Lee squatted down next to his own pile, not bothering to argue. It was a Jordan family traditions that they each take it in turns to open one present each, and for the last four years his younger brother had always gone first despite hearty objections from Lee. By now he had grown used to the idea that 'the youngest goes first' and simply accepted it. Besides, he thought, why waste time arguing over who goes first when it could be your turn by then anyway?

He watched as Jake literally tore the wrapping paper from his present as quickly as possible. He hadn't even bothered to check who it was from. Lee picked up a piece of discarded paper and examined the label on it. His mother and father had bought it for Jake. He lifted his head from the label as Jake tore the last bits of paper from the present and gave a yell of delight.

"A hover broom! Excellent!"

Lee looked at the box he held in his hands. It was one of those new kid's brooms, the kind that only hover three or four feet off the ground. He smiled to himself, Jake would love that. At least he wouldn't be pestered anymore to take him for a short fly on his broomstick anyway, and that was always a plus point.

"Your turn Lee." Said his mother, turning her gaze to him.

Lee nodded and turned to his pile of presents, picking up the top one. He checked the label first, seeing that the present was from Angelina. He frowned as he read her comment, 'Don't tell the twins.' What could that mean? She'd sent him something they wanted? Mentally he shrugged; he'd find out soon enough what she was talking about. He began to tear at the wrapping paper with the same eagerness that Jake had possessed, stopping only when he had stripped off the last layer of paper.

A medium sized black bag fell into his lap. He picked it up and turned it over to be met with a logo he knew too well.

"A bag of dungbombs." He whispered.

"Now I understand what she meant."

Lee knew as well as any of the others that Angelina had been scolding Fred and George at every opportunity over the last few months when she had seen any hint of a dungbomb. He grinned; he'd have to thank her for this when he got back to Hogwarts.

"Your turn Jake." He announced.

Mud splattered across the bottom of Lee's robes as he leapt down from the carriage he and Alicia were riding in, the ground was knee deep in mud, it having rained throughout the day. He looked upwards at the great castle before him, realising for the first time just how much he had missed it over the holidays. He turned at the sound of a dull thud at the side of him as something hit the mud; Alicia had climbed out of the carriage into the masses of thick mud.

"Ugh…" she grumbled.

"Now I'm going to have to wash my robes tonight. Why did it have to pick today to rain?"

"Oh come on, a little mud never hurt anyone." Lee told her, grinning at her.

"Apart from those who have to clean it off clothes." Alicia finished.

"Lets go in before it seeps into my shoes too."

Together they trooped out of the mass of mud and up the filthy stone steps of the castle. They had left their trunks in the carriage; they were to be taken back up to the dormitories later. With a bit of luck they would avoid being covered in mud that way.

"Girls…" Lee said, more to himself than too Alicia, shaking his head as he did so.

"Always so obsessed with looks."

Alicia rolled her eyes as they trooped into the Entrance Hall and began to head for the doors to the Great Hall, not bothering to reply.

"I'm starving." She said.

"The food on the train was as good as it always is but its no substitute for a Hogwarts dinner."

Lee nodded.

"To be honest I don't think anything could match up to a Hogwarts dinner. They're delicious."

"Boys…" said Alicia, grinning as she did so.

"Always thinking of their stomachs."

As she finished speaking they turned through the large doors into the Great Hall and began to head for the Gryffindor table. It only took them a moment to spot their friends, sat in their usual seats and waving at them frantically, Fred and George so exuberantly that people from other tables were staring at them.

The two of them quickened their pace as they headed for their friends, incredibly happy to see them after the several weeks apart. When they reached the table Alicia was pulled into a fierce hug with Angelina and Katie whilst Lee simply nodded at Fred and George, beaming as he did so, and sat down next to them.

When Angelina and Katie finally released Alicia and the three of them had sat down once more at the great house table they began to talk whilst Alicia and Lee helped themselves to generous amounts of food.

"We missed you over the holidays!" Angelina told Alicia earnestly.

"Yeah." Katie agreed.

"It just wasn't the same without you around bugging us." She winked at Alicia.

Alicia just kept grinning at them.

"I missed you lot too." She told them.

"We missed you too Lee." George told him jokily.

"Yeah, we just couldn't go another day without the smell of your sweaty feet at night." Fred added.

As Lee punched them both on the arm the girls giggled with laughter.

"I missed this more than anything." Admitted Alicia.

"Just hanging around and laughing with my friends."

"We missed hanging around with you too Alicia." George said.

Fred snorted.

"Yeah, it just seemed so pointless without you with us." He smirked.

George frowned and turned to Fred.

"I was being serious. We HAVE missed hanging around with her. Or at least the rest of us have."

"Lighten up!" Fred told him.

"I was joking. Of course I've missed having her around."

"What about me?" Lee asked in mock outrage.

"Hasn't anyone missed having me around?"

A mischievous glint appeared in Fred and George's eyes as they turned to face Lee.

"Hmmm, let me think about that for a moment." Said Fred.

"I think the answer is no." said George.

"Awww." Said Katie from across the table, attempting to hold back her giggles.

"Poor Lee, the twins are being mean to him."

"They have a point though." Commented Angelina.

"Wow, thanks for your support guys. I really feel wanted now!" Lee grumbled, failing to keep the smile off his face.

"You do?" asked Fred.

"That wasn't our intention, it was completely the opposite actually." Finished George.

The whole group of them burst out laughing. It was good to be back together again. So what if lessons started again tomorrow? So what if they'd have more homework than before piled upon them, as they were getting closer to the exams? The important thing was they were together again, and as they sat there laughing they felt the happiest they had in weeks.

It was two weeks into the new term that the second Gryffindor Quidditch match of the year was scheduled. After the horrendous defeat they had suffered against Slytherin last term Gryffindor had to win this game in order to stand any chance of winning the Quidditch Cup. They were playing Hufflepuff, and the mood was tense, the large majority of the Gryffindor table was silent as they ate breakfast, counting down the time until they could head down to the pitch.

The six friends sat in their usual seats at the Gryffindor table; they were one of the few groups of people at the table who were not silent. They had, of course, never seen Gryffindor play in a Hogwarts Quidditch match before, having been on detention during their house's first game of the season. During the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw game Alicia had refused to go down to the pitch and watch, telling the others she wanted to watch her own house play in the first Quidditch match she ever saw, therefore this would be the first game she ever saw.

Fred, George and Lee were chatting amongst themselves, talking about Gryffindor's chances in the match.

"Our chasers could run rings around them from what I hear." Fred told the others.

"But their Seeker's defiantly got the upper hand. He's a lot lighter and got a much better broom than ours."

"Don't count Robinson out yet." Lee told then solemnly.

"He may not have the upper hand when it comes to speed but he's the better player. Thinks a lot more tactically than Summerby."

Across the table Angelina and Katie were once more taking Alicia through the rules of Quidditch. She had asked them to do this so that, hopefully, she wouldn't get too confused during the game.

"And the game only ends when one of the Seeker's catches the Snitch?" she asked carefully, trying to make sure she got all the terminology right.

Angelina nodded.

"That's right. Whoever catches it scores one hundred and fifty points for their team."

"Their teams usually end up winning." Katie added.

"I mean, its hard to keep one hundred and sixty points ahead all the time isn't it? That's what the opposition would have to do if they knew the other team's Seeker was going to get the Snitch."

Alicia nodded.

"I think I get it." She said.

"It'll all become clearer when you see the game. Don't worry." Angelina told her.

"Hey." George called from across the table.

The girls looked up at him and saw that the three boys were all stood up, and several students from other tables were starting to make their way towards the doors.

"You girls coming or are you going to sit there chatting for the day?" he asked, smirking.

The girls stood up and joined the boys on the other side of the table, and together they made their way out of the Great Hall and down the front steps of the castle.

They walked directly towards the Quidditch Pitch, the sun shining down on them.

"Good weather for Quidditch." Fred commented as he gazed up into the sky.

"Don't really think we could have asked for better weather. We'll be able to see everything really clearly."

They chatted about the weather as they strode down to the pitch, entered the great stadium, and picked their seats in the gigantic stands. People filed into the stands around them, and before long an eager student or teacher had taken every seat.

As the Gryffindor team emerged onto the pitch their stand erupted in cheers, the six of them joining in as the cheering nearly drowned out the commentary from the top box.

"And here comes the Gryffindor team! Wood, Maxwell, Smith, Jones, Boot, Thomas aaaaaand Robinson! They haven't had the best of luck this season having been flattened by Slytherin in the first match of the season, but can they pull it back today?"

"The commentator is leaving this year." Katie told them over the noise.

"I heard people talking in the common room last week. Apparently Percy's thinking of applying to replace him."

Fred and George snorted with laughter.

"Percy?" yelled Fred.

"With him commentating Quidditch would be as boring as History of Magic! Why not just hire Binns and be done with it?" added George.

A massive roar from the Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw fans drowned their laughter out as the Hufflepuff team emerged. The six of them joined in with the collective booing from the Gryffindor's as the commentator rattled off the players' names.

They watched as the Captains shook hands, and the players mounted their brooms.

"And THEY'RE OFF!" yelled the commentator as Madame Hooch gave a sharp blast on her whistle.

"Maxwell takes the Quaffle, passes to Jones. Jones rounds Johansson, streaking towards goal! Intercepted by a Bludger, nicely hit there by Everson! Heldern takes the Quaffle, Hufflepuff have possession…"

Alicia watched fascinated as the game unfolded in front of her. The girl's descriptions had been in no way sufficient to convey what an exciting game this was. You had to keep your eyes moving at all times or you'd miss something, the exhilaration that rushed through you as you watched your team's efforts to score.

"SHE SCORES! 10-0 to Gryffindor!"

Alicia joined in with the cheers as the Gryffindor fans leapt to their feet, cheering wildly. Once they had sat back down and continued to watch the game Angelina leant towards her, in front of George who protested loudly about not being able to see, and shouted to Alicia to make herself heard.

"What do you think?" she yelled.

"Brilliant!" Alicia replied, her eyes shining with excitement.

Angelina beamed at her and gave her the thumbs up before removing herself from George's vision and focusing back on the match, watching as events quickly unfolded.

"Expertly hit Bludger there by Boot! Gryffindor take possession. Jones passes to Smith who narrowly avoids Heldern as she goes for the tackle. Dodges a Bludger, passes to Maxwell who shoots and…SCORES! That's 40-0 to Gryffindor!"

"Hufflepuff quickly play the Quaffle, Gryffindor chasers move to intercept but to no avail. It's Johansson…still Johansson…where are the Gryffindor Beaters? Johansson has a clean run on the hoops! She shoots! Wood dives…AND HE SAVES! Stupendous save there from Wood! How he reached that one I'll never know!"

"He's good!" yelled Lee over the roaring Gryffindor supporters.

"Got great potential! Wouldn't be surprised if he got Captain next year!"

"He's only in fifth year!" Katie called back.

"Still better than the rest of the team though." Remarked Fred.

"Look at them, they could be one hundred up by now if they weren't making so many mistakes!"

"They just need…" Angelina began.

But she was cut off by a sudden gasp, echoing around the stadium. They turned back to the game quickly.

"And the Seekers dive! Have they seen the Snitch? They're neck and neck…Summerby starting to edge ahead…Summerby stretched out his arm…HE'S GOT THE SNITCH! ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POINTS TO HUFFLEPUFF! HUFFLEPUFF WIN!"

A massive roar erupted in three quarters of the stadium as people leapt to their feet, cheering wildly whilst the commentators voice continued to ring out.

"ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POINTS TO SIXTY! GRYFFINDOR ARE OUT OF THE RUNNING FOR THIS YEAR'S QUIDDITCH CUP!"

A loud groan echoed through the Gryffindor fans as their team slowly began to head down to the ground. They had lost, and for the older students it was yet another year where they saw little glory in the Inter House Quidditch league.

"Told you." Said Fred to George and Lee gloomily.

"Their Seeker's just too good compared to ours. If he doesn't at the very least get a better broom we'll never win next year either."

They continued to watch as their team left the field, but just as the hordes of Hufflepuff fans began to run onto the pitch to congratulate their victorious team Alicia spoke up.

"Lets go back to the castle. There's no reason to stay here anymore. I for one don't feel like watching the Hufflepuff's gloat."

The others agreed, stood up, and joined the queue of Gryffindor's waiting to get out of the stand. No one spoke as they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower; it was like someone had trodden on their good moods.

When they got back to the common room they found it just as subdued as it had been that afternoon several months ago when they returned from the detention, however this time they were just as depressed as the rest of the Gryffindors. That night everyone had an early night, it seemed the whole Tower wanted the day to end, and when they awoke the next morning it seemed they had all reached a silent agreement to not mention that day again, the day when Gryffindor's hopes of winning the Quidditch Cup were crushed.

The remainder of their first year passed relatively quickly and uneventfully, by now they had gotten used to the fact that term time seemed to pass by in a flash. The Marauder's Map was, of course, brought out and used several times by one person or the other (most often by Fred, George, and Lee), but the amount of times it was used dwindled as time passed, as the girls were pressuring the boys into spending more time revising for their upcoming exams.

As it turned out this was a good thing, whilst the twins had spent hours moaning and complaining about the amount of time being spent in the library they had passed every subject, but some only barely. None of them had actually failed anything, and amazingly Alicia had scraped a pass in Potions after weeks of worry over the exam.

So it was that as they stepped off the Hogwarts Express after their first year they were all in high spirits. They would each be returning to Hogwarts next year and would all be together again. Even though none of them had plans to see each other over the summer (except of course Fred and George) they had all agreed to keep in touch via Owl Post (they had agreed to instruct their owls to wait for a response before leaving Alicia's house when delivering a letter there).

So it was that even though they were to be split up for around a month and a half the group were relatively happy. As they walked across the platform towards the exit back to the muggle world one by one they went their separate ways. First Fred and George, then Angelina, then Katie, and finally Lee all said their goodbyes and left to join their families who were waiting for them on the platform.

As Alicia approached the barrier that led back to her family she glanced back at the train. Though her friends and their families were now out of sight she could still see the train itself. She would certainly miss it, and all that it represented. The school, her friends, magic, Filch; she would miss them all…except perhaps Filch, but then again, who WOULD miss Filch?

Finally, she turned her head back again and stepped around the corner and through the barrier, distinctly looking forwards to the time when she would see the train and all that it represented again. She would certainly be glad to see her family again, but they were one thing. Hogwarts was another thing entirely…

A/N – And it's done. First year is over. Tune in next time for the return to the great castle. Cue cheesy ending title music

Don't forget to read and review people. I appreciate it.