The two youngest Weasley cousins sequestered themselves in the furthest corner of the East Wing, with the assistance of a couple of nifty spells and Lily's bedclothes. Winter's first icy blasts howled through the castle, and as such, most people took to their common rooms after class. Down in the Hufflepuffs' basement, people sat practically on top of each other. Lily and Hugo only had to exchange a look to make a plan. In a moment, they were headed for the Kitchens, and half an hour later, they had succeeded in transplanting themselves to the sixth floor.

Lily peeked around their makeshift curtain (the canary yellow sheet from her bed).

"Nope," she said. "Must've been a ghost."

"Lucky," said Hugo. Lily shut the curtain. Their makeshift fort centred around a cosy alcove with a window that looked out over the grounds, towards the Forbidden Forest. Not that there was much of a view – the sky was low the grounds were dark, growing blacker by the minute. That hardly phased them; they had their own source of light. Lily had asked the elves in the Kitchens for a lantern to borrow, and now it stood proudly on the bench, swathing their fort in a golden glow. A yellow duvet lifted them off the cold stone floor, and orange and brown pillows bordered the duvet, serving as a boundary line between them and the outside world. In the middle of their fort sat a basket stuffed with treats and sweets from the house-elves and from Lily's own stash from Hogsmeade. Hugo and Lily sat on either side of the basket, smiling widely.

"This was the best idea," Lily said. "Should we have a look at what we've got?" Hugo's eyes widened.

"Yes, please," he said, eyeing the basket hungrily. Lily flipped open the lid and began dumping their food on the duvet. Hugo sorted the things into piles; chocolates, sweets, biscuits, and pies.

"Ooh," said Lily, pulling two more items out of the basket. In each hand, she held a mug. Hugo looked at them curiously.

"Did we bring something to drink?" he asked. Lily shrugged, and handed one to him. He took it. Lily dove into the basket again, and came up with two vials. Her face lit up. "What is it?" Hugo asked excitedly.

"Our drinks," she said, holding up the vials. He leaned in closer, peering at them.

"Butterbeer?" he asked.

"No, too brown," Lily said. "Too thick." They examined the vials carefully. Lily gave one to Hugo for closer inspection.

"Should we pour it into the mugs?" Hugo suggested. "We can sniff it, then. See what it's like. The house-elves wouldn't've given us anything bad."

"No, but maybe it's something we won't like," Lily said. She uncapped the cork and poured the liquid into her mug. It filled three-quarters of the cup. Hugo did the same. They stared at their mugs, waiting for something to happen. Steam wafted from the drink, and as soon as Lily realised what it was, she felt stupid.

Hugo beat her to naming it. "Hot chocolate!" he cried. "I love house-elves. I mean, I think they should be freed, and paid proper wages, and join their local union, but I can't say they aren't nice."

"Aren't the house-elves at Hogwarts paid?" Lily asked.

"Most of them," Hugo said. "But it's bigger than that. Some of them refuse pay, and they don't have much to spend their money on, because they still aren't allowed to own property."

"Wouldn't they be a bit small for a normal house?"

"Well – there could be house-elf builders who could build house-elf houses," Hugo said.

"I s'pose."

A jar in the 'miscellaneous' pile caught Lily's attention. She reached over and grabbed it.

"They thought of everything," she said, eyes sparkling.

"This is why they deserve a fair wage," said Hugo, his mouth falling into an open smile.

Soft pink and white marshmallows filled the jar, pressing against the sides and the lid. Lily unlatched it and took two, before handing the jar to Hugo. He took three, and grinned mischievously. They dropped the marshmallows into their hot chocolates and watched the drink come to life. The marshmallows swirled around, creating a little whirlpool of deliciousness. The drink stirred itself to perfection. Finally, the marshmallows dove into the creamy chocolate sea, and melted just enough to thicken the liquid with marshmallow fluff. Lily and Hugo shared excited looks.

"I could drink it all in one gulp," Lily said. Hugo raised a finger.

"Don't. You'll be sad after it's gone and then you'll nag me for some of mine," he said.

"Of course I would!" Lily said. "You'd still have some."

He handed her a piece of shortbread. "We have to pace ourselves," he said seriously. Lily sighed.

"Really?"

"Really." He broke his shortbread in two, and dunked one half into his hot chocolate. He pulled it out just as it got soggy (but before it began to crumble), and shoved it in his mouth. "Tha's so goo'," he mumbled, with his mouth full. Lily gaped.

"Hugo! I thought you weren't going to waste your hot chocolate," she accused. She switched her biscuit into her left hand, and picked up her mug with the other. She drank deeply. "Heavenly," she said dreamily.

"Dunking doesn't waste as much," Hugo said. "I know what I'm doing." He finished off the shortbread biscuit.

"We'll see who has a better time," Lily said. She ate her shortbread and gulped more hot chocolate. Hugo selected another biscuit and broke it in half.

They sat in silence for a while, eating biscuits and slowly lessening the contents of their mugs. Lily broke into the sweets and started on the Bertie Bott's. She pulled a face, and spat the bean into her hand.

"Gross!" she cried. "Ugh, bogies."

"Yuck," Hugo agreed. He dipped another biscuit into his hot chocolate. "Oh, how did you find Charms?"

"Boring," Lily said. "I'm terrible at it. I don't know why. Charms are meant to be the fun ones."

"Well, you're good at Herbology," Hugo said. Lily shifted.

"Yeah, but that's not like, a wand-magic class, you know?" She grabbed another sweet. Hugo stirred his hot chocolate with a biscuit.

"It doesn't mean it's any less of an achievement," he said. Lily shrugged.

"It's not an achievement I want, though," she said. Hugo gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I'd say to drink up your hot chocolate, but your mug's nearly empty." Lily gasped and looked down. She shook the mug furiously.

"That's impossible!" she declared. "I've hardly had any! Hugo, give me some of yours."

"What did I say?" He scooted backwards, clasping his hot chocolate firmly. Lily set her cup down and crawled over the basket, onto his side.

"Come on," she urged. "You love me. I'm your favourite cousin. You can't deny that." Hugo opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it, stumped.

"Unfair," he said, instead. "You're not stealing any of mine. I made it clear. Have a biscuit."

"I'll take it by force," she threatened. "I've beat James before. And Al, but, obviously." Hugo got to his feet, and stood over Lily. He thrust his hot chocolate into the air.

"Never," he said. Lily scoffed and jumped to her feet.

"Give! Just a little bit, just pour a bit into my cup. Plee-aaase. I'll buy you something from Hogsmeade," she said. Hugo narrowed his eyes.

"You're my big cousin," he reminded her. "You're meant to be spoiling me rotten. Valiantly defending me from people who want my hot chocolate."

"Don't be a baby," Lily said. "It's not even a year's difference! That doesn't count!" Hugo stretched as high as he could. Lily scowled. "You're meant to be shorter than me! James didn't get tall until he hit fifth year!" There was only an inch or two between them, but it was enough that Lily couldn't grab the mug from his hand. She sighed and sat down heavily. She squished a chocolate frog in the process.

Hugo sat back down too. "This is why temperance is important," he said. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Blah blah blah," she said. "I'll use temperance when I buy your Christmas present, then."

They continued to demolish their supplies of treats, though Lily left her hot chocolate untouched for a time. They tore into the chocolate frogs, and carefully traded cards.

"I got Dad again," Hugo said, holding up his father's card. In the frame, Ron scratched his nose.

"At least he's more rare than my dad," Lily said. "People might actually trade for Uncle Ron. Everyone has one of Dad."

"Yeah, but everyone wants one of your dad. I tried to trade one of Dad, and someone asked who he was!" Hugo said. Lily giggled.

"Did you tell him that?"

"I couldn't," Hugo said. "Imagine how upset he'd be."

"Fair enough," Lily said, biting into an apple pie. A cool draught ruffled their yellow curtain. Lily hit it away from her face. The curtain hit back. Lily fixed it with an odd look. Hugo mirrored her befuddled expression.

"Strange," Lily said slowly. Hugo lifted his mug to his lips, and sipped it thoughtfully.

"Very," he agreed. They stared fiercely at the curtain, as if looking at it for long enough might provide some clue.

"Hello?" barked a familiar voice. Lily shrieked without meaning to. Hugo squeaked in alarm. Lily grabbed handfuls of sweets and stuffed them into the basket. Hugo wriggled back until he was half under the bench, his red hair dangerously close to the lantern.

Molly stuck her head around the edge of the curtain. Lily froze, dropping a handful of sweats. Hugo made a weak sound in the back of his throat. Molly's green 'Head Girl' badge shimmered in the light of the lantern. Her brown eyes slid from Lily to Hugo and back again.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Lily scrambled for her mug, and frantically held it up.

"Hot chocolate," she said, as the remainder of her drink sloshed onto her duvet. Her face fell. "No!" she cried. "My hot chocolate! No!" Molly flicked her wand and muttered a spell. The liquid vanished.

"Dinner's about to begin," Molly said. "There's no need for you to be up here plotting and stuffing yourself silly. Do your parents really let you eat sweets before dinner?"

"…Yes?" Hugo said. Molly locked her eyes on him. He squirmed. "Well, Dad does." Molly folded her arms across her chest.

"You aren't allowed to just set up a fort in the middle of the school," she said. "It's a public space. Everyone gets to use it." Lily bit her lip, trying to summon up her courage.

"We are part of everyone, though," Lily said. Molly pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You know what I meant," she snapped. "Get up. Do you know how embarrassing it would be for the Head Girl to have her cousins caught doing the wrong thing?"

"As if James and Fred aren't always in trouble," Lily retorted. Molly glared at her. Hugo crawled out from under the bench.

"Molly?" he asked. Lily frowned. Hugo put on his best 'I'm-the-baby-of-the-family' voice, and looked up at Molly with big eyes.

"Yes?" she asked impatiently. Hugo wrung his hands together. Molly turned her full attention to him, and Lily gaped at Hugo behind her back. Hugo met her eyes for a second, and she caught the twinkle of mischief within him.

"Would you like some of my hot chocolate?" he said innocently. "We're very sorry for upsetting you. You know we didn't mean it."

"I don't need hot chocolate," Molly said shortly. "We're about to have dinner." Hugo bent down and picked up his drink. It was half-full, and the tops of the fluffy white marshmallow clouds broke the surface, bobbing up and down.

"I know," said Hugo. "I just wanted to share it with you…You're right, I mean, I don't want a detention. I still can't believe your Head Girl. I hope when I'm older I can become a prefect…"

"Well," Molly said, "your parents were both prefects, it's not out of the question. If you can stop behaving so childishly…it's a real possibility." Hugo widened his eyes in a way Lily knew he hadn't since he was about five. Molly softened. "It is. How are your marks? Do your teachers like you?"

"I think so," he said, over-exaggerating a confused face. "But I'm not sure about Professor Binns…"

"Oh, it's hard to tell with him," Molly assured Hugo. "What is he like in class?"

As they spoke, Lily ducked down and piled the rest of the sweets into the basket. She tucked it into her robes, and while it bulged, Lily hoped Molly would assume it was her bookbag. Lily pulled the curtain down, rolled up her duvet, and prayed Molly hadn't realise they'd taken their bedding out of their dormitories. She rolled the sheet up as tight as she could and stuffed it into her pocket, before draping the duvet over her shoulders like a cloak.

Molly broke away from Hugo's conversation. "You cleaned it up," she said. "Good. You must be talented with Charms, Lily." The corners of Hugo's lips twitched.

"Oh, yes," Lily said. "Not to brag…but I got an 'O' on my last essay."

"That's excellent. Right where you need to be. Now, your parents weren't prefects, but that doesn't rule you out entirely…Come on, let's go to dinner. I'd hate for us to be late."

Hugo and Lily trotted down the stairs just behind their older cousin, who monologued about what made somebody 'prefect potential'.

"I can't believe you," whispered Lily. "You should've been in Slytherin!"

"But I only use my skills for good," Hugo said.

"Is it good to get us out of trouble? Like, if you're not us?" Lily asked.

"It's good for me to get you out of trouble," Hugo replied. "Besides, did you really get better at Charms that quickly?"

"Shush," Lily said. "I feel bad. What if she writes to my parents? She'd do that. And she was just trying to help."

"I guess," Hugo said. He looked down at the mug of hot chocolate, which he still carried. "Do you want the rest?" he asked. Lily brightened.

"Really?"

"It's cold," he warned. Lily poked her tongue out.

"I'm not that bad at Charms," she said. She grabbed her wand and pointed it at the mug. "Calidius." She concentrated for a long moment. The drink bubbled as it began to warm. Lily furrowed her brows. Hugo held the mug further away from his body.

"It looks warm," Hugo said, peering into the drink.

"I want it hot," Lily said, flicking her wand again. She scrunched her nose.

"I think it's hot," said Hugo.

"It's not steaming. Come on. Calidius!" It bubbled furiously. Steam began to rise.

"Stop," Hugo said.

SPLASH!

A wave of hot chocolate arced through the air and splashed over the stone floors. Hugo howled in pain, waving his hand furiously. The mug shattered on the ground.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Lily yelped. "What's the Cooling Charm? I can't remember!"

"What's going on?" Molly demanded, storming back up to their landing.

"It burns," Hugo said faintly.

"I'm sorry!" Lily said again. Molly reached them, her face red with fury.

"We're going to the Hospital Wing," she growled, grabbing Hugo's arm. He yelped again. Lily wanted to shrink to the size of a flobberworm. Molly wagged a finger in her face. "This is why we have don't have hot drinks in the corridors," she said. "There's rules for a reason.

Lily gulped. "I'm sorry I lied about being good at Charms."

"What?"

Hugo grimaced. Lily panicked.

"Um… Molly? Would you like some hot chocolate?"

It didn't work half as well the second time.