Here We Go Again! SD and PK Take on Hogwarts

-SD27 and PK13

A/N: So yeah. It' s about… 2:00 AM Central Time here in PK and mine's corner of Indiana… and I'm starting to type up this chapter. Can we say sleep deprived? But yeah… go us. SD finally is getting to work. And this chapter makes me happy for several reasons. One) Christmas is finally here ((in the fic, duh)). Two) we're covering the expanse of about four chapters in here… that's about 100 pages or so. Three) I flipped through OotP a few minutes ago, and realized that there's only about three hundred or so more pages we have to go through. (Hallelujah chorus plays in background). Believe me, that's NOT a lot. Possibly six to seven chapters more and we are THROUGH. (mad fit of giggling)

Okay. Time to write before I fall asleep on my keyboard.

DISCLAIMER: We own nothing.


Chapter 14- It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Professor Snape was a bit perplexed when he entered the dungeon where his Fifth Year Gryffindor and Slytherin class was waiting, only to see that half his class was missing. Only one or two of his Snakes were present, and he noted with a bit of malicious glee that Potter and his friends were absent as well.

When the missing students barreled into the classroom about two minutes later, quite out of breath, the Potions Master wasted no time in docking points from each of the late Gryffindors and giving detentions to the rest.

"Five points apiece for your tardiness, Misters Potter and Weasley and Misses Granger and Dilefea. You will also be serving detentions with me as well."

Harry gaped, "But, Sir—"

However, he was ignored as Snape turned to Malfoy and the Slytherins, "All of you will be serving detentions with me. Preferably sometime most inconvenient. See me after class to schedule."

The green and silver clad students frowned, but didn't make a scene about it. They knew, what with having Snape as a Head of House and all, that arguing over it would only make the detentions double in size, time span, and possibly result in an even more unpleasant task.

"Take your seats so we may begin the lesson."


After a most interesting Potions class where Neville managed to turn a Healing Draught into an acid strong enough to melt a cauldron and burn the legs off of a few stools, the late group of students were told to see Snape after the mess had been cleaned up for their detentions. Draco, however, was asked to stay behind.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" he asked, following Snape into his office.

The dark-haired man sat down at his desk and motioned for Draco to sit down in the chair opposite him. After a minute or two of silence where Snape arranged a few parchments on his desk, he looked at Draco inquisitively.

"I would like to know the reason why you and the others were late this afternoon. The real reason, mind you. No glorifying of yourself or over-exaggeration of anything that Potter's group did."

Draco sighed, and shrugged. "Actually, SD and Dilefea got into a spat near the Great Hall. They were being quite vicious; something about SD being a Slytherin or going around with Pansy and the rest of us."

Snape looked up from a parchment, eyebrows raised. "Really now. That is most unusual, seeing as I swore those two were rather close. Then again, they didn't partner for today's practical lesson…"

Draco shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you, Sir, but I have been taking your advice to try and behave a bit more respectable. And Potter's group didn't start anything either this time."

"A first, I'm sure." Snape sighed and returned to his work, "You are dismissed."

"Yes, Professor."


December rolled around, and the Duo was still split. Though, what with the sudden influx of heavy homework as well as the heavy snow accompanying December's arrival, even if the two weren't feuding, they probably wouldn't be seeing much of each other.

There was one last trip to Hogsmeade during the first weekend, during which a good number of students began shopping for Christmas presents for their families and friends, as well as picking up catalogues and messing around with orders to get things out of the village. SD was amazed to see how frivolous some of her Housemates were in spending money for gifts, whereas she had to really think about what she would be purchasing.

And with the cold temperatures of December came the horrible side effect to having an underground common room.

"It's so damn cold in here!" SD muttered angrily, settling herself in front of the fireplace in her dorm- buried in two heavy blankets as well as her heaviest clothing.

The other Slytherin Fifth Year girls were grouped around Pansy's bed, looking through magazines and writing letters to their parents. All of them, excluding SD, were going home for the holidays, and were writing parents about arrangements and gifts and the like or otherwise wrapping presents.

"Awe, it ain't that bad, Red." Daphne shrugged, grinning as SD frowned at the nickname, "You just have to get used to it, that's all."

"Getting used to it… I'd have to be cold-blooded before that happens. Red… psh… coldddd," was the mumbled reply as the bundle of blankets known as SD flopped sideways on the floor and curled up for more warmth. There were a few chuckles at the sight.

"Hey SD… what are you doing for your holiday? Are you going to Floo home?" Blaise asked, turning dark, inquisitive eyes towards the slumped over girl on the ground.

SD abruptly shot up, slight panic beginning to set in. What was she going to say? Somehow, she didn't think "Well, seeing as my whole family lives in a parallel universe to this one, where you guys are all book characters whose fates are already pre-determined, therefore I can't go home until I figure out how," would go over well with them.

So she settled for the good old-fashioned believable white lie. "Umm, actually, my parents decided that this year they'd spend the holidays alone and are taking a trip to err… Hawaii! So I guess I'm staying here."

Blaise shrugged, "That's kinda neat. Too bad you don't get to back though… you'd think that after almost six months with their daughter being overseas that they'd at least be there for Christmas."

SD chuckled nervously, "Well… I've been keeping contact with them through owl post, so it's not that big of a deal, I guess."

Millicent frowned from her spot on her bed, peering over her book to look at SD, "I've never seen you mail a letter," she stated quietly.

Daphne looked at SD as well, "Come to think of it… I've barely ever seen you get anything from the owls in the mornings, either."

Pansy was oddly quiet through this, watching SD's reactions carefully. But the girl just shrugged, "Well, usually I write them when I have spare time in the library or something. And I usually head to the Owlery after dinner or before Arithmancy to do it. And I… used to share PK's raven for long-distance mailing like that, since it's overseas and all."

The girls seemed to buy it, and SD let out a silent breath of relief before picking herself off of the ground and shedding her blankets. She grabbed the uniform that was hung over her trunk, now charmed a brilliant acid green instead of red, declaring she was gonna go change and shower before dinner and not to wait for her if she was running late.

Pansy smiled at her as she departed, knowing that SD had been lying. 'Bravo, Zephyr… bravo indeed. Such a seamless little lie you've woven… I wonder which thread pulls it all apart?'


On the other side of the school, Harry and PK were holed up in Gryffindor Tower, each of them working on separate homework assignments Hermione had been after them to finish before the weekend. As for Hermione and Ron, the two were off doing prefect duties. The number of them had increased greatly as December wore on, the two doing everything from extra night patrols and watching over First and Second Years to supervising the decorating of the Great Hall, which was where the two were as of that moment.

The two were so busy, in fact, that Hermione had to give up her knitting hobby for the moment. When she discovered that she was down to only three slightly less knobbly than before hats, she moaned on how so many poor little elves would be stuck in the castle for Christmas because they hadn't been freed yet.

Harry and PK hadn't the heart to tell her that Dobby had been taking them all. Well, actually PK did… just so Hermione would shut up about the damn hats, but Harry gave her one of those looks that made her do otherwise. It reminded her a lot of the one she used to give SD, and Harry got beat over the head by PK for that, and he didn't know why.

"You're stealing my look. I could have you sued for that," she had said, claiming she had a patent it. Harry ignored her of course.

The common room door opened a few minutes later, and Hermione and Ron walked in, the former looking rather pleased and the other a bit disgruntled. "How'd it go?" Harry asked.

Hermione smiled, "It was quite fun, actually. You should see the Great Hall… it looks wonderful. Isn't that right, Ron?"

"Sure, sure. Whatever."

PK blinked, "What's wrong with him?"

The bushy-haired brunette sighed, "He had a little trouble with the décor…"

"Well, let's see you try to put up tinsel when Peeves has the other end and is trying to strangle you with it!" Ron growled, ears glowing a faint pink with embarrassment as PK began laughing at him and Harry started chuckling before returning to his History of Magic essay.

In any case, the Boy-Who-Lived wasn't really up to thinking about Christmas. For the first time during his time at the school, he found that he didn't want to spend the holidays at the castle. Well, between having Umbridge there as well as thinking about his Quiddich ban and whether or not Hagrid would be put on probation, it isn't that hard to see why he would be feeling as if the place wasn't exactly home lately.

The only things that gave him any sort of good feeling about the castle at the moment were the DA meetings. But those would have to stop for the holidays as almost everyone but a few people were heading home to spend time with their families. Hermione was going skiing with her parents, something that Ron found highly amusing as the idea of Muggles strapping stick of wood to their feet to go sliding down hills was a ridiculous idea to him. Ron was going to the Burrow this year, and PK…

"I'm staying here. Got a problem-o, Potter?"

…PK evidently was a bit touchy on the subject. Then again, the pink-streaked transfer student was still slightly fuming over the fight between SD and her.

"So when are you two leaving?" Harry asked, "The first day of break, or what?"

Hermione shook her head; "I'm leaving directly after classes end. I'm catching a late flight to France."

Ron blinked and looked at Harry confusedly. "Umm… what d'ya mean 'you two'? You're coming with me, y'know."

Harry almost drew a line of ink across his essay, "What? You never told me this?"

Ron smiled sheepishly, "I didn't? Blimey… I thought I did. Mum sent me a letter ages ago inviting you to come spend Christmas with us, Harry."

Harry's face lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree at the news that he would not be spending the holidays alone at the castle. Well… PK would have been there… but still. Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's forgetfulness, and PK was too caught up in her homework to care either way about what was going on around her.


After dinner and the last class of the day, Harry made his way down to the Room of Requirement early for that night's DA practice. And it was just as well that the green-eyed boy did, as the room was decorated with tons of Christmas décor. Now, this ordinarily wouldn't be bad at all…

Except a good number of the items were emblazoned with Harry's own face and the legend "Have a Very Harry Christmas." Harry himself could think of only one person… err… house-elf that would do such a thing. And so it was Dobby's name that he was grumbling under his breath as Harry took down all the offending decorations with his face on them.

Just as the last offending bauble was taken down, PK and Luna walked in through the door, talking to each other before they noticed the new additions to the room.

"These are quite nice, Harry… did you put them up yourself?" Luna asked, eyeing the rest of the things that the jet-haired boy decided to keep up.

Harry scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "Actually… that was Dobby the house-elf."

"Oh, how nice."

PK had plopped down on one of the cushions in the corner and picked up a textbook. Her eyes glimpsed something in the corner of the room however, and she smirked, "Hey Harry… I think you missed something. Look up."

Blinking in confusion, Harry, and Luna as well did. Right above Harry was a spring of mistletoe. Gulping, the boy hurried up his ladder to take it down, Luna remarking something about it being infested with Nargles as he did so. Neither of the room's two other occupants wanted to know what Nargles were… therefore they refrained from asking.

Soon after, Angelina Johnson arrived, declaring that she had found replacements for Fred, George, and Harry. Harry was surprised to hear that the youngest Weasley was to be Gryffindor's new Seeker, which spurred the Quiddich Captain to make a sour remark of "Since we can't have you…", making Harry feel a bit awkward.

More and more people soon filed in, and the last DA meeting before break began.


But of course, the DA seemed to be unofficially segregated so that not one Slytherin was within its ranks. Therefore, the house of Serpents had to find another way to pass their nights.

Silver-grey eyes flashed with anger as once again the object of attention was pulled from their owner's grasp. "Damn it, Zephyr! Give it back!"

Said girl's mouth twisted into a wry grin, "Last names again, Draco? Huh. Now I know you're mad with me."

"Does that mean you'll give me my letter back?"

SD thought for a moment, "Umm… nope! Now let's see what we have here…" SD started unfolding the letter and read through it aloud, ignoring the angry growls of a certain blonde as he tried to recover his letter and the chuckling or outright laughing of some of the other Slytherins in the common room at the moment. "'Dearest Mother and Father… Thank you for the recent care package you sent me… blah blah blah… stupid Potter… blah blah blah… Holiday… Love, Draco.'"

SD rolled her eyes and sighed, holding the letter out to him, "By Ra, you are so boring. Nothing remotely amusing in there."

Draco snatched back the letter from SD's grasp and whacked her over the head with the parchment, causing the girl to rub her head in anger, "Jerk."

"Hypocrite."

"What'd you call me?"

Blaise smirked, "He called you a hypocrite, SD."

"But whyyyy?"

Daphne sighed from in-between the pages of her Potions text, "You called him a jerk, when you in reality were the one who was being a jerk for taking his letter in the first place. All he did was give you what you deserved."

"Oh. …Still wasn't nice though."

More than one person rolled their eyes at this. The red-streaked girl yawned and curled up in what she had deemed 'SD's Chair' near the fireplace and pulled out a book she thought she never would have seen again.

It's amazing, the things you find when you clean out a trunk…

So, settling herself down with a volume of a certain yaoi manga, she didn't notice the odd looks the others were giving her. Though, whether it was because she was reading a comic book, backwards no less, or that the manga depicted two men on the cover holding each other in a rather suggestive position she couldn't tell.

"…What in Merlin's name are you reading?"

SD blinked and looked up to see Draco, giving her a look that could be called nothing short of "wtf?". "Oh… it's umm… a manga. Japanese comics."

"…It's backwards."

"It's made like that."

Bending down, the teen tilted the cover up so he could see it better, "…It's a Muggle comic book. And… umm… are those two…?"

SD chuckled, almost a slight cackle actually. "Is ickle Dracy-poo unnerved by slashy pairings? Geez… it ain't that graphic. Just some kissing, that's all."

Draco glared slightly at her, "I am not unnerved by… whatever a slashy pairing is. I just… never saw something like that book before."

An idea started to form in SD's head, and she fought to keep the shit-eating grin off her face that was starting to creep up. Shrugging, she ignored Draco's comment and returned to her book. The platinum-blonde boy blinked, before shrugging as well and returning to his seat, pulling out a textbook and a sheet of scrap parchment.

He didn't think he'd ever figure out SD's odd ways…


"You're getting really good," Harry said, calling a halt to the DA meeting at the end of the hour, "When we get back from the holidays we can start doing some of the big stuff— maybe even Patronuses."

With a murmur of excitement, the room began to clear as the group left in their usual two or threes, mostly everyone wishing Harry a Merry Christmas as they departed. Ron, Hermione, and PK stayed back as per usual to help tidy up the room. The three left before he did, though. For some reason, Harry felt like hanging behind a moment or two… though it probably had something to do with the fact that Cho Chang was still there with her friend Marietta Edgecombe.

"No, you go on." He heard her say to Marietta, and Harry's heart gave a little jolt that sent it into his throat. Pretending to straighten the cushion pile, he waited for Cho to speak first. He was rather surprised when a sniff met his ears.

'Is she…?'

He turned around and saw the pretty Asian girl standing in the middle of the room, trails of tears running down her face.

"Wha—?"

'What do I do?' he thought, never having experienced something like this before.

"What's up?" he said feebly, walking towards her slightly.

Cho shook her head and muttered something of an apology as well as a comment about Cedric. Harry's heart sank back from his throat and landed somewhere in his stomach at the mention of the deceased teen's name. He should have known…

He tried his best to comfort her, and it seemed to have worked. Her tears had stopped, and her sobs were lessening. They grew closer together, and Cho's vision gazed up briefly.

"Mistletoe." Cho said quietly, pointing above Harry's head.

"Yeah," he replied, "It's probably infested with nargles though."

"What are nargles?"

"No idea," Harry shrugged, "You'd have to ask Loony. Luna, I mean."

A funny noise between a sob and a laugh came out of Cho's throat. They were very close now. Harry could have counted each freckle on Cho's nose if he wanted to.

"I really like you, Harry."

She was much too close now; he could see every tear clinging to her eyelashes…


Half an hour later, Harry returned to the common room to find Ron and Hermione seated in two of the best seats near the fire; nearly everyone else had retired for the night. PK was seated off at one of the desks in the corner, fussing over something that looked like a half-wrapped Christmas present. The other female friend of Harry's was currently writing what looked like an extremely long letter from her seat near the fire. Ron was sprawled out on the hearthrug, attempting to finish his extra Transfiguration homework that McGonagall had assigned him.

"What kept you, mate?" the redhead asked when Harry flopped down in a nearby armchair.

Harry, for his part, didn't make any attempt to answer. He was in a daze of shock, half of him wanting to tell his friends what had just transpired while the other half protested and wanted him to take the secret with him to his grave.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked, giving him a worried look as she paused in her furious writing.

He gave her a shrug; truthfully he didn't know himself. Ron was getting a bit worried at that moment and had hoisted himself up on one elbow so he could see his friend better, "What's up? What happened?"

He once again, didn't answer. Hermione took matters out of his hands, "Is it Cho?" she asked in a rather businesslike way, "She corner you after the meeting?"

PK snorted from her corner of the room, now listening into the conversation. She put down her object of frustration and walked over to the Trio, resting an elbow on the back of Harry's chair and poking the emerald-eyed boy in the back of the head.

"Five Galleons says Mister Dazed-and-Confused here got kissed," she said, chuckling.

Ron sat up so fast that his inkbottle went flying all over the rug. Hermione wasn't nearly as shocked by the idea; she merely raised an eyebrow and gave a small frown.

"Well?" the redhead boy demanded.

Harry's gaze wandered from Ron's expression of mingled curiosity and hilarity to Hermione's frown before landing on PK's smirk. He nodded.

"HA!"

Ron's gesture with his fist and off-pitched laughter frightened a pair of Second years at the window and made PK jump. A grin appeared on Harry's face while Ron rolled around laughing on the hearthrug. Hermione looked disgusted at Ron's display and returned to her letter. PK chuckled and flopped down in a chair next to Harry's, forgetting about her present lying back on the desk for the moment.

"Well?" Ron asked finally, some semblance of sanity returning to him, "How was it?"

Harry paused for a moment.

"Wet," was his rather blunt and truthful answer.

PK erupted into a cackling fit while Ron made a noise somewhere between jubilation and disgust.

"That's gross, Harry." PK chuckled.

"Because she was crying," Harry sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Oh," Ron said, smile fading a bit while PK's chuckling stopped, "…Are you that bad of a kisser?"

Cue PK's mad laughing fit once more. Harry glared at the girl, who shrugged. She was easily amused, after all.

"Dunno… maybe I am."

Hermione finally added her two cents to the conversation, " Of course you're not," she said while still scribbling away at her letter, "Cho spends half her time crying these days. She does it at mealtimes, in the loos, all over the place."

"Diggory's death must have hit her hard then," PK muttered.

"You'd think a bit of kissing would cheer her up," Ron grinned, looking at Harry.

"Ron," Hermione said, "you are the most insensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to meet."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron huffed, glaring at the girl.

"Lamest terms? You suck and you're an idiot." PK supplied.

Ron ignored her, "Well, what kind of person cries while someone's kissing them?"

"Yeah," Harry voiced a bit desperately, "who does?"

"Cho Chang." PK muttered, staring into the fire.

"Don't you understand how Cho's feeling at the moment?" Hermione asked, a slight pitying tone in her voice.

"No." the three said in unison.

Hermione sighed and laid down her quill for the moment, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Well, obviously she's feeling very sad, because of Cedric's death. Then confused because she liked Cedric and now she's feeling things for Harry and can't decide whom she likes best. Guilty next, thinking it's dishonouring Cedric's memory by kissing Harry in the first place, and then wondering what everyone else would say if you two started going out, Harry. Oh, and she's worried about getting kicked off the Ravenclaw Quiddich team because she's been flying rather badly lately."

Slightly stunned silence met the end of Hermione's small speech. PK whistled lowly, "That really bites… I kinda feel bad for the poor girl."

"One person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode." Ron stated.

Hermione and PK glared at Ron, who in turn flinched slightly at the intensity of the combined looks, "Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon, Ronald, doesn't mean we all have." Hermione said nastily, while PK muttered "Baka…" underneath her breath.

Ron really had no comeback for that one.


About twenty minutes later, after another fight between Ron and Hermione over Hermione's continued correspondence with Viktor Krum-in which PK added her two cents in by saying "Ron's jealous of Krum!" a few dozen times- both Ron and Harry found themselves in the boys' dorm room getting ready for bed. Neville, Dean, and Seamus were already asleep; Harry put his glasses on his bedside table and got in, but didn't draw the hangings closed. He opted to stare out at the patch of starry sky seen through the small window above Neville's bedside table. If he had known, this time the night before, that he would have kissed Cho Chang by the end of the next night…

"Night," Ron yawned, climbing into his four-poster and drawing the curtains.

"Night," Harry replied, doing the same. He didn't fall asleep right away, as his redheaded friend had seemed to, but instead his restless mind wandered to Cho.

'They should teach us how girls' brains work…' he thought sleepily as his eyes began to feel dreadfully heavy, 'Be a lot more useful than Divination at any rate…'

he thought sleepily as his eyes began to feel dreadfully heavy, ''

Neville snuffled in his sleep; an owl hooted somewhere in the distance.

Harry dreamed he was in the Room of Requirement again. Cho was there, accusing Harry of luring her there under false pretenses. She said he promised her Chocolate Frog cards for showing up. He protested… Cho began to shout, "Cedric gave me loads of cards, look!" She pulled out fistfuls of them from her robe pockets and threw them into the air. Cho turned into Hermione, a disapproving look on her face, "You did promise her, Harry. I think you better give her something more valuable instead… How about your Firebolt? You won't be using it…" Harry protested against this, saying that Umbridge had his Firebolt, therefore he couldn't give it to Cho.

Hermione had then turned into PK, wand in hand. "Now where did that blasted toad go…?" she muttered to herself, looking at the cards on the floor, turning each one over until she found one with Umbridge's picture on it, though Harry was positive that there was no such card in existence. Blue eyes fixed Harry with a sly look, "I put her in there for you… so now I can finally get rid of her, and you can go get your Firebolt. You need to give it to Cho, after all… you did promise her something if she came."

Harry's protesting began anew, saying the whole affair was ridiculous as he had only come in there to put up some ornaments shaped like Dobby's head. PK used Incendio on Umbridge's card, and a squeaky, high pitched scream could be heard coming from the burning object…

The dream suddenly shifted then… shifted into something far more bizarre, something far more frightening.

And when Harry woke, screaming, ill, and feeling as if someone had stuck a white-hot poker into his forehead, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was real.

"Harry? HARRY!"

"Ron… your dad's… he's been attacked…"


"Where are those two?" Hermione muttered the next morning, pacing the common room, "They're late, but never this late. It's breakfast, after all."

PK lay on the couch, muttering about the brightness of the sun streaming in front the large window a few yards away. Professor McGonagall came out of her quarters and paused upon seeing the two girls. Both brunettes turned towards the woman.

"Well, this saves me a trip up to the dorms to collect both of you," she said, making the girls give her confused looks, "The Headmaster wishes to see both of you in his office immediately."

PK jumped up at this, automatically thinking she had done something wrong and was racking her brain trying to think about what she had done lately. Hermione raised her eyebrows and gestured to the boys' dormitories. "But, what about…"

"Don't worry about Mister Weasley and Mister Potter. They are the reason you two are being summoned. The Headmaster will explain further. Now come along."


PK had only been in the Headmaster's office thrice before: once, when arriving at Hogwarts, another to use the Floo with SD and Tonks, and the last had been right before the start of term, when Dumbledore went over their cover story with them. She had expected the circular room to change, even a little bit, but everything seemed the same since the last she had set foot in it.

Professor McGonagall had left the two, returning to her classroom. PK was automatically drawn to Fawkes as like before, while Hermione took a seat in one of the plush chairs seated in front of Dumbledore's desk, looking around the round room with interest. The Headmaster himself appeared from the balcony of the room shortly after, giving a small smile to Hermione. Said girl smiled back, and PK was oblivious to Dumbledore's presence as she was still cooing to Fawkes and commenting how pretty he was.

Dumbledore took his seat and attempted to get PK's attention. "Miss Dilefea?"

"Huwha…? Oh. Ehehe…" PK scurried to her seat and gave a sheepish grin to Dumbledore, who chuckled before his expression sobered into one of complete seriousness.

"You two may be wondering why Mister Potter and Mister Weasley haven't shown up for breakfast this morning, am I correct?"

Both of them nodded, and he went on, "Last night, Ron's father was… injured doing something off-hours at the Ministry." Dumbledore gave Hermione a slight look meaning something along the lines of 'I hope you realize it's more than that', which she did. "Mister Potter and Mister Weasley went to St. Mungo's along with the rest of the Weasley children early this morning to the Burrow."

PK nodded, as well as Hermione. "I would like… to go over as well, if that's all right, Sir." Hermione said.

Dumbledore smiled, "I had assumed you might have. You may leave as soon as you finish your last class, Miss Granger."

"Give Ron and his family my sympathies, will ya, Hermione? I don't think it'd be proper if I went over too… I've never met his parents before, after all." PK said, and the bushy-haired girl said she would.

Dumbledore was inwardly pleased at this turn of events; if PK had demanded to go along, he would have been forced to make something up that way the Order of the Phoenix's existence wouldn't be revealed to more people than necessary. Harry and Ron, after all, were going to stay at Grimmauld Place for the majority of the holiday now that this tragedy had occurred.

"Is… is that all, Sir?" Hermione asked, noting the time on the clock and realizing that classes would be starting soon.

"Yes, yes. You can use the Floo here, Miss Granger, this afternoon. I'll be expecting you." Dumbledore said, dismissing the two.

Both got up and made for the door, but PK was detained by Dumbledore's request that she hang back for a moment. Hermione gave the brunette an inquisitive look to which she earned a shrug and clueless look in return.

PK sat back down in her seat as Hermione's footsteps clattered down the stone staircase. "Umm…"

"I have heard amongst the faculty grapevine that you and Miss Zephyr have had a falling out."

A frown marred the girl's face at the mention of SD. "Yeah… some stupid little argument just got bigger and bigger until it burst into something huge. We're… still not talking to each other."

Dumbledore sighed a bit, frowning as he laced his fingers together, "I hope this doesn't have an adverse effect on your quest to find a way back to your own dimension, Miss Dilefea."

PK had the grace to look sheepish as she ducked her head, "Actually… last I checked, SD was the one with the notes and the book. I… er… haven't been exactly doing my fair share, I guess."

"I see."

"Well, SD's the one who actually likes this kind of stuff! She enjoys making things and plans up; I just enjoy putting them into motion and setting them up. She's the thinker, I'm the doer."

Dumbledore nodded, "Then it seems that you two need to set aside any grudges you hold for each other at the moment, or make an attempt to make up. While I assure you, you two are welcome to stay at Hogwarts, you do have families and friends back home who are probably quite worried about you."

"I know…" PK whispered, holding her head in her hands, "Believe me, I know…"

"And I am sorry to say that my inquires around in finding a solution to your problem are coming up dry."

"I found a book on Teleportation, and SD said she learned something about Runes that if used properly could work the same as Apparition. Would it be possible to combine the two ideas and form a solution?" PK asked.

Dumbledore thought about it for a moment, going over that possibility in his head, "It has promise, but there are many things that could go wrong with that. While I understand that the Teleportation would be used to cover the distance from this dimension to your own, and the Apparition would send you as well as Miss Zephyr through the path created by the Teleportation, it is risky as neither of you know how to Apparate or Teleport, nor are you of the legal age. Not to mention the Anti-Apparition barriers around the castle and its grounds."

"Damn…" PK muttered under her breath, "Looks like we're starting from scratch again."

Dumbledore smiled at the girl, "Don't give up, Miss Dilefea. You have a very determined spirit; it's the trait of a Gryffindor, after all. I'm sure you will be able to think of something."

PK beamed under the praise. Dumbledore's gaze flickered to a clock on his desktop, "And I'm afraid I've detained you for far too long… I believe your first class started about twenty minutes ago."


"Okay… before you go, I need you to take these with you." PK said, handing Hermione a huge sack that weighed a good amount. The girl was thrown slightly off balance with this new added weight along with her other luggage.

"PK! What's in here?" Hermione asked, regaining her balance.

"Christmas presents for you, Ron, Harry, and the Twins. Though the Twins' are more like prank-y gifts… but don't you dare tell them that!" PK replied, "And no peeking at yours either! You have to wait until Christmas like everyone else. So there."

Sticking her tongue out at Hermione as an added flourish to make her point, she got her desired result of a smile and a pair of eyes rolled exasperatedly in her direction. "Of course, PK. I promise you I won't peek until Christmas morning. Now, I've really got to go. Have a good holiday!"

The two girls walked over to the portrait hole, PK opening and closing the door after Hermione. Many other students were packing as well, but most of them weren't departing just yet. The Hogwarts Express would take them to King's Cross and they'd be picked up by anxious families and would spend a cheery two weeks with them.

'I wish I could do that… grr… not fair. I miss my family more than any of them probably do.' She thought bitterly, climbing the staircase leading to her dormitory. Flopping down on her bed, she watched boredly as Lavender finished throwing random items from her bureau into a trunk and Parvati tucked a few textbooks into a small bag.

"It's horrid that we've been assigned homework over break." Parvati grumbled, dark eyes narrowing in disgust as she threw her Herbology textbook into the bag, "I mean, it's Christmas! You think that they would lay off us a bit…"

"I agree with you wholeheartedly, Parvati," Lavender said, "But at least McGonagall didn't assign us anything for once."

"I rather enjoy Transfiguration, so it's not a big deal for me."

"And that's why I partner with you! Because I really don't know what I'm working with half the time."

As the two continued talking, PK's slight interest in their actions began to fade into nothing and she dozed off.


'It's… really quiet in here.' SD thought, looking around her empty dorm room, 'Really… really… quiet. I don't like it.'

There were a few other Slytherins left; possibly one or two more. A seventh year girl SD never spoke to, and a second year. Walking up the stairs leading to the common room, SD looked around to find that the room was empty except for a very familiar little kit taking a nap on one of the chairs. Not wanting to wake her little friend, SD sighed and decided that she'd finish up her Christmas gift-wrapping and send them up to the Owlery in the hour before dinner.

"Let's see… one for Pansy, one for Blaise. Daphne, Crabbe, Goyle… where'd I put Peroxide-head's?" SD muttered to herself, searching the pile of gifts in front of her, but to no avail. "Well damn. I guess I left it in my trunk."

The blonde got up from the desk in the corner of the common room and went back to her room, plopping herself in front of the trunk at the foot of her bed and opening up the thing.

"Books… parchment… candy… dungbombs… more books… hey, my old bookbag! Umm… Niiro-chan's chew toy? The hell'd that get in there?" SD mumbled to herself, emptying the contents of her trunk onto the floor around her, "I know it's in here… I just cleaned out this thing a month ago! Hey… what's that, I wonder…"

SD's trunk was composed of a few compartments that looked a lot smaller than they really were. She could probably fit her bookbag and a large textbook in the smallest one, which was about the size of a volume of manga. Though getting things in there was the tricky part, not getting them out. Beneath a small pile of used parchment containing notes for something or other, an object covered in something shiny and metallic peeked out from inside the compartment. Pulling it out, she frowned at the small, innocently wrapped gift in her hands. Wryly, SD mused that it was the best wrapping job she had ever done, which was saying something, as the grey-eyed girl couldn't wrap gifts for her life.

However, it wasn't the gift she was looking for. Rather, it was one she had totally forgotten about. SD chucked it across the room, knowing it wouldn't break as it hit Millicent's trunk a few feet away. "Damn it to hell…"

The clock chimed six, and the blonde trudged out of the room, good mood ruined as she headed to the Great Hall for dinner. The small gift, labeled "To PK-chan. From SD and Niiro-chan," was left forgotten behind her.


"…Is this seat taken?"

SD looked up to see PK standing next to her, blank faced and seemingly apathetic to the blonde, as per usual of late. Nodding slightly, SD gestured for the brunette to take a seat, though no other interactions were made between the two for a few moments. The Duo was civil towards each other, polite to a fault as if they were strangers rather than once-best friends.

SD's mind momentarily wandered to the gift lying back in her dorm room, and she wondered vaguely if she should give it to the girl sitting next to her.

'After all… as far I know, we're still fighting. But, she did take a step at being somewhat friendly…' SD thought, stabbing rather harshly at a piece of roast sitting on her plate.

The four tables had once again disappeared to only one. And while a good number of the few students sitting there looked nervous at the fact that they were eating with their teachers, neither SD nor PK thought much of it as they had had a similar eating arrangement for most of the summer. PK finished eating shortly, and nudged SD as nicely as she could with her elbow. SD glared slightly at her, "What was that for?"

"Meet me in the library in about half an hour. I need to talk to you. Bring the books as well." PK said calmly, making SD's slightly affronted attitude from earlier disappear.

"Fine."


Of all the places in the castle, both PK and SD agreed that their favorite place had to be the library. Both being avid readers and always in the process of learning seemingly random jack-of-all-trade-ish abilities, libraries had become havens for the two.

But nothing, SD mused as she wandered around the library looking for a familiar pink-streaked brunette, could top the Hogwarts library at night. Candlelight as well as lanterns on each table illuminated the rows of books. It gave the large chamber the feel as if you were in the Middle Ages or something. Not to mention that the great view of the grounds at night through the windows found scattered around the library was something to be seen.

It was at one of these windows that SD finally found the elusive brunette. "I thought you would be at our usual spot. Sorry for keeping you waiting a bit," PK turned away from the window and shrugged. SD gestured to the books in her bag, "I've brought the things. You said you needed to speak to me."

PK nodded, getting up from her window-seat and walking over to the table SD had dumped her bag on. "I spoke to Dumbledore today," she began, watching as SD quirked an eyebrow, showing interest, "He was worried that our falling out would cause problems in our working to find a way home."

SD snorted, "Really now. I've been doing fine working, actually. Draco and the oth—"

"You told them?" PK hissed angrily, "I can't believe you would—"

"I didn't tell them anything. As far as they know, I'm just working on becoming the Wizarding World's youngest Teleportation Master. I… knew you wouldn't appreciate me telling them the truth about us. About not really being transfers and all…"

"Oh."

There were a few moments worth of silence until PK broke it, "I posed that one idea with the Runes and Teleportation to the Headmaster, you know."

SD looked up from staring at the table, "Really? What'd he say?"

"That the idea had promise, but the Apparition and Dissaparition wards would cause a problem. Not to mention it's illegal for us to Apparate or Teleport on our own."

The blonde frowned, thinking this over, "What… if we could find a way to nullify the wards just for a moment to let us in? There has to be some way… I mean, maybe a combination of charm-work and Runes. Ones for transportation, movement, binding, and breaking, possibly even flight, as a long shot. Problem is… even if that proves to be a solid idea, what in the world would be the Runes and charms to use?"

PK smiled slightly as SD began furiously scribbling down ideas on a notebook that she pulled out of her bag. The blue-eyed girl recognized it as the one SD used back home to write down sudden prank inspirations and random ideas that formed in her head.

"You still have that…" she muttered, making SD look up from her writing, "I would have thought you'd filled it up by now."

"…You wouldn't believe how 'horrible' it is to have anything remotely Muggle in Slytherin. I've had to hide this notebook in the bottom of my trunk since September. And I found the volume of FAKE you got me last year…"

PK's eyes lit up, "No way! You have to let me read it; I've only got a copy of Juvenile Orion on me, and it's getting in pretty bad shape as of late."

SD gave her a hesitant look, and it hit PK then that the two were still, unofficially, fighting with one another. 'I totally forgot… for the first time in a month, it felt as if we were friends again. Maybe I should just apologize and get this over with, it's just awkward talking to her.' PK glanced over at SD, noticing that the blonde was looking through a text on transportation rituals and seeming to ignore PK's presence. 'But… we did say some really harsh things. And SD never was one to forgive and forget very easily. And she's just so damn stubborn. Maybe working on this stuff again, we can patch things up.'

"Earth to PK. Are you going to sit there and stare into space or are you going to help me sometime this decade?" SD said, but for once it wasn't laced with her normally teasing humor, but rather one that was flat and unemotional.

"Sorry." PK muttered, grabbing a book and paper in case she found something she could copy down, "So… what are you reading?"


Around the time that SD and PK were heading down to the Great Hall for dinner, the doorbell at 12 Grimmauld Place rung, signaling the arrival of Hermione to the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters. After hearing from Ron and Ginny that their father was doing fairly well at St. Mungo's and was expecting to make a full recovery, she inquired as to where Harry was.

Ron looked up from his chess set, "He's been up in the attic with Buckbeak ever since we got back from visiting Dad."

Hermione frowned, "Why?"

Ron shrugged, and Ginny did the same. Hermione huffed, before setting her things down in the corner of the room she shared with Ginny. "Well, I'm going to go bring him down."

Ron mentally wagered himself a galleon that Hermione wouldn't be able to do it, but sure enough, not even five minutes later Hermione came back, a sullen-looking Harry in tow. The girl sat down next to Ginny, while Harry stood there in the doorway. Ron looked up at Harry, chewing a bit of a sandwich that he had taken from a plate Mrs. Weasley had sent up earlier.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked.

"Fine," was the terse reply from Harry.

"Oh, don't lie. Ron and Ginny say you've been hiding from everyone all day."

"They do, do they?" Harry glared at the two red-haired teens. Ron looked down at his feet but Ginny met his gaze squarely.

"Well, you have! You haven't been looking at any of us either!" Ginny replied hotly.

"It's you lot who won't look at me!"

"Maybe you're looking at each other in turns and just missing the other." Hermione suggested dryly, the shadow of a smirk appearing on her face.

"Very funny."

"Oh, stop being so… how does PK put it… 'Emo', I believe. Look, the others have told me what you heard over the Extendable Ears… about Voldemort possibly possess—"

"So you lot have been talking about me behind my back?" Harry said sharply, "Well, I'm sure getting used to it…"

"We wanted to talk to you, mate," Ron sighed, "but as you've been hiding ever since we got back…"

"I didn't want anyone talking to me."

"Well, that was a bit stupid of you," Ginny said angrily, "seeing as you don't know anyone but me who's been possessed by You-Know-Who and can tell you how it feels."

Harry remained still as these words absorbed into his mind. When they hit home, he wheeled around.

"I… forgot."

"Lucky you," was the girl's cool reply.

Ginny then went on to ask Harry questions like if he had large gaps in memory as of late. His dreams were discussed, and Ron said that Harry was thrashing about in his bed moments before Ron had woken him up. There was no way that Harry could have been the snake that bit Mr. Weasley, no matter how real it seemed.

It was a comforting thought, 'I'm… I'm not the weapon after all…' Harry's heart swelled with relief, and he felt as if he wanted to do nothing more than to go downstairs and join Sirius in a round of "God Rest Ye, Merrye Hippogriffs" at the top of his lungs.


On Christmas Eve, SD found herself stumbling up the stairs to the Owlery to go mail off the presents for her little bunch of comrades. Never really having sent a letter before, she got lost on the way there and a nice portrait had guided her the right way.

She persuaded a few owls to come down, and tied a package to each bird's leg if it was small enough, or wrapped a string around it so the bird could carry it in its mouth.

"Okay… umm… take this one to Parkinson Manor, will you?" she told one owl, who promptly flew off in a rush of feathers, scaring SD half to death.

"…Err… Malfoy Manor," she told another.

"Greengrass Estate for you… and since it's smaller, could you take this one to Bulstrode Manor as well? Sorry…"

Blinking at the last two packages in her hand, SD realized that she had no idea where the hell Crabbe and Goyle lived. 'Well… damn it.' She thought, coaxing down a large barn owl from the upper rafters, "Could you take these to Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe? I… don't know exactly where the heck they live though, so…"

The bird however, seemed to know, and it took off with a hoot that sounded as if it was mocking SD's lack of information. The girl frowned at the owl as it took off, sticking her tongue out at it as she watched it fly out of sight.

"Stupid uppity bird…"

Fingering one last small gift in her hand, SD contemplated over it for a moment before sticking it in her pocket and leaving, intending to go down to the kitchens for a glass of cocoa.


Christmas morning came, and PK awoke to Rakir's rattling around in the cage near her bed. Seeing as PK was the only Fifth year girl left, she had coaxed the white raven down from the Owlery as a source of company. She never really did see her raven much anymore, actually.

"Nnn… keep it down, 'Kir… s'Christmas after all." PK moaned, rolling over and burying her head in her pillows before it hit her. It was Christmas. And of course, as all people know, with Christmas comes the wonderful thing known as…

"Yay! Presents!" PK chirped, looking all of a sudden awake as she dove into the small pile of gifts at the foot of her bed, resting on her trunk.

She tore into them with gusto, sticking a bow into her hair here and there as well as setting the prettiest of the wrappings aside for the moment.

There was a box of Chocolate Frogs from Ron and Ginny, a pretty set of hairclips from Parvati, a magenta-dyed quill and colored inks from Lavender (along with a note not to use them for classwork otherwise she'd get in trouble), and a homework planner from Hermione ("…If it didn't screech at me, I'd like it."). Harry had given the brunette a box of Zonko's pranking objects, which PK made note to fully go through later, as well. Lost in the piles of wrapping, PK almost missed one last gift, wrapped in shiny gold paper and tied with a silver bow. The scratchy, doctor-like handwriting could only have belonged to one person, and PK was genuinely surprised to be getting a gift from SD.

Opening it, PK found another ankh necklace; this one not made of black metal like the one she was wearing, but rather of a lightweight, golden-colored metal. It had a deep, decorative border engraved on one side, and it hung from a simple golden chain. A note came with it, and PK had trouble making out the writing, but was able to get through it.

PK, it read,

I wasn't really sure if we were giving presents to each other this year or not, but I decided to give this to you anyways. It was taking up room in my trunk, and yeah… I need all the space I can get. Ummm… that's it, I guess. Have a Merry Christmas or whatever.

-SD

The brunette chuckled to herself, knowing that in her own way, SD was trying to patch things up between them and show no hard feelings. Rakir's chirping from his cage caught PK's attention, and she smiled at her familiar.

"Don't think I didn't forget about you, boy. I got you something too!" the girl said, clasping her new necklace around her neck and hopping off her bed, heart feeling a bit lighter than the day before.

It was a good thing she had decided to send SD a present as well.


On the other hand, SD's awakening was a rather rude one brought on by a rather bored fox jumping on her mistress's stomach.

"M'innocent! I don't know how those crayons got into the blender, I swear!" SD mumbled, bolting up in bed at the sudden shock of something hitting her in the gut and waking her. She looked around and saw that she was just in bed, with a smug looking (if foxes could look smug, that is) Niiro-chan sitting on her lap. "You, you are an evil little creature." SD muttered, picking up Niiro and holding him to face level. Said fox licked SD's nose, making her smile and sigh, "And you're too cute to stay mad at. I think I've been a bad influence on you."

Stretching slightly, SD sighed and pulled open her drapes, stepping out into the dorm, and noticing a large parcel sitting on top of her trunk along with a smaller one. Confused for a moment, SD remembered it was Christmas and slapped her forehead, berating herself for forgetting.

Taking the smaller one in her hands first, she flipped it over, reading the messy handwriting belonging to PK. Surprised, SD tore into the paper, revealing a box that seemed to be glued shut.

"Either that, or someone figured a Sticking Charm would work better than tape or string…"

Grabbing her wand off of her nightstand, SD lazily cast a counter-charm and opened the now unstuck box. Smiling, the half-awake blonde pulled out a small duck plush and a silvery-grey t-shirt that said 'Sorry, I'm not good with empathy, can I offer you sarcasm instead?'.

SD laughed at the shirt and immediately decided that she had found a new favorite one. Setting the items aside and making a mental note to thank PK later, she took the larger, slightly heavy parcel in her hands, placing it on the bed and looking for a card or note or something.

She found one tucked into the strings tying the thing together, and ripping it open, she scanned it.

Merry Christmas, SD, it said,

We all pitched in for this one, seeing as none of our allowances would suffice for only one of us to get you this. And frankly, we're all a bit tired of hearing you complain to Draco about not letting you use his.

SD vaguely recognized the handwriting as Pansy's.

We hope you like it! And you have to let me borrow it at least once, okay? Please? Have a great holiday!

That was definitely Blaise's. SD had borrowed the girl's Arithmancy notes enough times to know.

See you when term starts up again. Take care of your gift.

That was Millicent's: short, simple, and to the point.

Now you can stop harassing me about mine, SD. Learn to use this well or otherwise Blaise gets seconds on it. Just thought you might like to know. Crabbe and Goyle aren't here as we're writing this, but they express their wishes that you enjoy your holiday as well.

Draco's. By now, SD had a good inkling of what the gift was and she eagerly began untying the strings holding the wrapping to the gift. Getting frustrated, she grabbed a pair of scissors out of her nightstand and snipped the strings before pulling back the silver and green wrappings.

Inside sat a brand-new Nimbus Two-Thousand, which SD's jawed-dropped at. Sure, it wasn't near as good as Draco's Two-Thousand and One, but it was a racing broom. Her racing broom. Ever since the flying lesson that went straight to hell coupled with Draco and even Crabbe and Goyle's proficiency at flying, SD had been wanting to take a second chance on a broom and get the hang of it.

But the three Quiddich playing boys were highly possessive of their brooms, and the practice ones owned by the school SD swore had it in for her. And of course, her having only a few Galleons to her name that had as of last week been drained to a total of three Sickles and two Knuts, she had no means of ever hoping to buy a broom for herself.

Squealing to herself, SD bounced up and down like a small child wold, clutching her broom tightly and smiling madly. Today felt like a good day. Setting her broom down, she picked up Niiro-chan and swung him around as well, laughing her head off.

"Hey… do you think PK might help me get the hang of flying?" she asked her little fox as her euphoria faded. "She's a lot better than I am at it, after all… and I could let her ride my broom too… maybe we could go back to being friends you know? We're still kinda odd around each other… I didn't know House rivalries could be so messy."

The russet-colored fox just sat on SD's stomach, playing with the small bell on his new silver collar that SD had gotten him as a present. Hey, even pets need a little love at Christmas, right? Rolling her eyes at the obvious lack of response, SD's gaze fell on a small picture frame sitting on her nightstand. It was the only really personal object she ever kept out. The smiling faces of her family peered out at her, and she wished not for the first time that it was a Wizarding photo, just so she could see her sister make a face at her again while she herself whacked her over the head. Her mom and dad would be in the background, rolling their eyes and sighing while trying to separate the two, chuckling.

'I wonder if PK misses her family just as much as I do. …I really screwed things up this time. But hopefully… hopefully we'll be back home soon.'

Throwing on a pair of baggy cargo jeans and her new t-shirt, SD grabbed a heavy outer robe to go over it and took her broom from her bed. She was fully intending to go find PK and spend the whole morning trying to convince the brunette to help her fly, if it took her that long.


With a cheery grin, PK came into the Great Hall, looking for some breakfast, even though she was more than a bit late. "Merry Christmas, everyone!" she said cheerily, getting a few smiles in return as well as 'Merry Christmas'-es from a few others.

She sat herself down at the empty seat across from SD, and noted with happiness that the blonde was wearing her new shirt. SD looked up at the girl's arrival and swallowed the mouthful of eggs she was eating at that moment. "Thanks for your gifts, PK. I really liked them," she said, smiling, "The shirt's totally awesome. Where'd you find it?"

PK grinned, "That's my secret, SD. Oh! Thanks a bunch for the necklace! It's really pretty."

Dumbledore watched this exchange from his place at the head of the table and smiled to himself, blue eyes twinkling slightly. 'Glad to know those two are working things out.'

McGonagall noticed the man's diverted attention and frowned slightly, "What is it, Albus?" she asked.

"Nothing, Minerva. It's just good to know that even House rivalries cannot break the strongest of friendships."

The Head of Gryffindor looked perplexed for a second, before looking down the table to see SD and PK chattering animatedly, laughing and smiling as if the two had never fought in the first place. She smiled to herself, agreeing mentally as she took another sip of tea.


"Wow… they really got this for you?" PK said, slightly awed as her and SD stood out on the grounds, PK holding SD's new broom in her hands, "This must have cost a good amount."

SD shrugged, "Well, seeing as the broom's been out for a few years, it's probably a lot cheaper than it used to be. You… you wouldn't mind helping me get the hang of it, would you?"

PK paused for a second, confused as to SD's request. Did she want her to show her how to fly it, or stand watch with some Buffering Charms if she fell off, or what? There was a slight pause as PK tried to think of a way to word what she was thinking, only being able to get out an "Umm…" which SD took the wrong way as it was coupled with a blank, slightly wary seeming look on PK's face.

The blonde shrugged nonchalantly, "It's cool, PK. You don't have to help if you don't want. I just thought that maybe we could spend some time out here instead of inside."

"SD—" PK began to say, knowing from experience that something was wrong with SD.

"It's really cold out here. I think I'm gonna go in and try this again another day, okay? Sorry for making you come out here and stuff. Meet you in the library at seven?"

"…Sure…"

As SD bounded away back into the castle, PK couldn't help but feel as if she had screwed up some way and didn't understand how.


Back at Grimmauld Place, Harry and Ron were digging into their gifts as well. Throwing aside the planners Hermione had sent them and throwing on the jumpers that Mrs. Weasley had knitted for the two, each came upon a present sent to them by PK.

"Huh. I wonder what she sent us." Ron said, tearing the wrapping on his gift open, before staring at it for a moment, slightly confused, "Ummm… Harry… why d'ya think PK sent me a doll that looks strangely like Malfoy and a box of pins?"

Setting aside a large box of assorted candies given to him by PK, Harry raised an eyebrow before looking at Ron's gift and bursting out into laughter. "What? What's so funny?" Ron asked, now even more confused than ever.

"It's called a voodoo doll, Ron. Supposedly, when you stick a pin in the body part of a doll crafted to look like a person, that person will feel pain in that same body part."

Ron grinned, "Wicked. D'ya think it really works?"

Hermione had made her way into Ron and Harry's room at that moment, hearing the tail end of the conversation, "Do you think what really works, Ron?" she asked.

"Malfoy voodee doll." Ron replied, taking a pin out of the box and stabbing it into the doll's eye.

Hermione frowned, before rolling her eyes, "I think you mean voodoo doll, Ron. And I highly doubt it. It's a highly mythical branch of African magic, and I doubt that it would work.. Besides, you need something belonging to that person for it to even work at all."

Harry held up the small blonde doll dressed in green and silver robes towards the girl at the foot of their beds, "I think the hair is Malfoy's, actually… but I don't even want to know how she got it."

Groaning, Hermione ignored Ron's chuckles as more pins were stuck into the poor unfortunate piece of fabric and stuffing, "Well… if anything, it's better than you two hexing the real Malfoy. I'm guessing PK sent you that?"

"Uh-huh… what'd you get, 'Mione?" Ron asked.

"A new quill holder and the newest edition of Hogwarts, A History. Very thoughtful of her, she saw me looking at those things in Hogsmeade. I'm surprised she remembered the exact ones," she replied, "Now come on, breakfast is waiting downstairs, and then we're going to go visit your father, Ron."


All too fast, it seemed, the two weeks of break were coming to an end, and the students at 12 Grimmauld Place found themselves on the Knight Bus along with Tonks and Lupin. While nonoe of the teens wanted to return to homework assignments, classwork, and getting up early all too much, Harry had another reason dampening his spirits as the bus jerked around, narrowly avoid other cars and turning tight corners.

Occulmency lessons. With Snape, of all people. Needless to say, Harry wasn't looking forward to them at all. Especially when they would be disguised as Remedial Potions lessons.

'It's Dumbledore's request though…' Harry thought gloomily as he clutched onto one of the seats as they skidded to a stop for one of the passengers, 'I just don't understand why he can't tech me instead of the greasy git!'

Harry thought gloomily as he clutched onto one of the seats as they skidded to a stop for one of the passengers,

"I've changed my mind," Ron groaned, picking himself up off of the ground for the sixth time, "I never want to ride on here again."

"Listen, it's 'Ogwarts stop next," Stan said brightly, "That bossy pink haired woman tha' got on wit you, she gave up a little tip to move you up the queue."

BANG.

They were rolling through a snowy Hogsmeade suddenly, and they passed through he small village, coming to a stop outside of the Hogwarts gates. Lupin and Tonks helped them off of the bus with their luggage and then got off as well to say goodbye to them.

"You'll be safe once you're in the grounds," Tonks told them, casting a suspicious eye around the deserted road, "Have a good term, okay?"

"Look after yourself," Lupin said, reaching Harry last as he bid goodbye to the large group of teens, "And listen, Harry… I know you don't like Snape, but he is a superb Occulmens and we all want you to learn to protect yourself. Work hard, all right?"

Harry nodded, looking up at the werewolf, "Yeah, all right. See you, then…"

The six teens made their way up the castle, dragging their trunks behind them. Hermione was talking about knitting a few more elf-hats while the Twins conversed together in muttered tones. Harry vaguely remembered them saying something about getting PK back for a rather cleverly disguised Christmas prank-gift. The girl had apparently kept the bag of Puking Pastilles that the Fred and George had given SD a few months before, and had taken apart the capsules, mixing them into a batch of chocolates and sent them to the boys.

Both redheads were outrages and more than a bit embarrassed to find that their own pranks had been used against them, and were once again vowing vengeance against the pink-streaked transfer student.

"Kyaa!"

Harry looked up at the sound of the shrill battle-seeming cry. He had maybe a two second warning as he and the rest of his group were pelted by a few snowballs.

"What the bloody hell was that!" Ron yelled, wiping snow off of his head.

Ginny pointed up at a figure circling over their heads on a broomstick, "Isn't that that Zephyr girl you guys were always complaining about?"

"I think it is…" Hermione muttered, wiping off her snow covered book that she had used a shield, "Though I wonder where she got a broom."

"I'd want to know where the hell she learned how to fly so well so quickly." George muttered. He and Fred had been able to dodge the onslaught of snowballs, so they weren't covered in snow like the Trio and Ginny were.

"Oi! Zephyr! What was that for?" Fred yelled up to the girl, who dove down slightly so she could hear the red-headed teen, "And where'd you get the broom?"

"Christmas present! And I felt like throwing some snow; testing my balance out!" was the yelled reply. But, it seemed that even with a week and a half's worth of practice and bruising, SD still hadn't mastered the art of balancing without hands, and when she cupped a pair of mitten-covered hands across her mouth to talk to Fred, she wasn't prepared nor ready for the snowball that was aimed towards her by George.

"Wah!" SD squawked, getting hit in the head with the offending cold object, arms flailing around as she tried to regain balance. She did after a moment, gripping the broom like it was her lifeline, "That was not funny! You guys suck."

SD zoomed off, diving down right above the Twins' heads and making them duck before she headed towards the castle.

"Well… that was different." Ginny said, shrugging.

The six of them continued their way up to the giant oak doors; Harry glanced back once they reached them, knowing that the Knight Bus was already gone but half-wished that he was still on board because of what he would be dealing with the following night.


A/N: Yeah, I decided to leave it off before the Occulmency scene. Hate me if you wish. LONGEST. CHAPTER. EVER. About 11,800 words. DDDD: (dies)

PK13: …Okay then. Please review, minna! We'd appreciate it much!

SD27: (out cold)

PK13: Oh dear… looks like it finally got to her. Huh.

Ja ne, minna-san!
PK13 and SD27