Here's the next one!

Chapter 18

The next day Xinia amuses everyone by acting like a cowgirl, several detentions are complete, and then the week speeds by into December. By now the temperature is noticeably colder, something Xinia appreciated greatly. Everyone covers up in jumpers, beanies, gloves and scarves, and snowball fights between friend groups, houses and year levels are quite common. At one point, we even manage to convince the Staff to participate against a few of the students.

A notice comes up in the Community Hall saying names will be taken down for who will be staying at the castle. The same night, I get a letter from my parents.

Dear Genie,

We know things are still strained between us, but we were hoping you and the girls would come home for Christmas. James and Ryan also want their boys home so we can all have a Christmas celebration at Ruth and Warren's place in the city.

Any of your other friends are also invited, as are Wyrene and Bailey's. Xinia and Xander are, of course, welcome; we've already asked their parents to come.

You don't have to, but we would love to see you again and try to fix our problems.

Love,

Mum and Dad

I talk to the group, and they seem happy to come, so I send my parents a short letter back saying we'll be there. I tell them Kimmy and George's Mum's details so they can come, then it's just a matter of waiting for the holiday to come.

Sunday, December 22

Before we know it, it's the day the Hogwarts Express comes to take us home.

The train leaves at eleven, so Anica wakes me up at eight, so I'll be ready in time. I scramble around my bed to find everything I had spread out that I need to take home. Once I finish in the bathroom, I pack all that stuff up and then I'm ready to go. We were told that our stuff would be taken down to the station, so I leave everything I'm taking on my bed before joining Anica and walking down to the Great Hall together.

We have about an hour before we have to leave, so our group decides to just stay in the Great Hall. All ten of us are going home, although Owen and Hailey won't be joining us for Christmas.

All too soon, it's time to leave. Owen and Hailey separate from us when we reach the train, so the eight of us crowd into one of the larger compartments.

It ends up being George, Nick and Dylan, Kimmy and Ciena and Xinia, Anica and I on the three cushions that face inwards. We settle in and then the trains off.

"So what's your place like?" Kimmy asks Ciena and Anica.

"We live in pretty much the centre of London," Ciena answers. "Our house is in a muggle apartment building. It's small from the outside, but inside it's magically expanded."

"That's her nice way of saying it's like a bloody mansion inside," Xinia says. "First time I visited I almost fainted, considering I wasn't used to magic yet."

Everyone laughs.

"Yeah, Finn, our older brother, Ciena and my bedrooms are on the second floor, and Mum and Dad's is on the third. The first floor is kitchen, dining room and lounge room," Anica continues. "It's pretty big, I guess."

"For muggle standards, yeah," I chime in. "But for wizards, especially well-off purebloods, it's pretty normal."

I think about my house. It's also three floors, and it's a little bit bigger because of the extra inhabitants, but otherwise, it's pretty similar in size to the twins'.

"How many people are going to be there?" George asks.

"Fair few," Anica answers. "You guys, Xander, Xandler and his family, so seven more there, a couple of Finn's friends and I think Wyrene's bringing some of her close friends that our family knows. So…" she trails off as she tries to figure out how much that is.

Ciena rolls her eyes.

"About thirty, maybe more, people," she sums up.

"That's quite a lot," George looks uncertain. "Is there going to be enough room and everything?"

"Oh yeah, they'll fit," Anica waves him off. "If need be Mum and Dad can just make the place bigger, but it shouldn't be necessary."

"Yeah, they'll fit," I say. "Just wait, you'll see how big their place is."

George nods faintly, still not looking convinced.

"We should do Secret Santa," Xinia breaks the quiet.

Everyone looks at her in confusion. She sighs.

"It is exhausting being the only Muggleborn," she mumbles. "Santa's like a fictional children's icon. He supposedly delivers presents to them every Christmas. Anyway, Secret Santa is where you buy a gift for someone, but you keep it anonymous. You put their name on the present and let them open it. I don't know why people do it, but it's a muggle tradition. We should do it as a group."

Everyone looks around, shrugging like 'why not?' Xinia grins.

"Okay, this is how it's going to work. All of our names are going to be put in…" she looks around for a moment before grabbing George's cap. "This. I'll shake them up and everything, then you have to draw one name. Whoever's name you get is who you have to buy a present for. Everyone follow?"

I nod along with the others. Xinia looks at us for a moment.

"I realise now this is going to be a bit hard because obviously Anica and Ciena and George and Kimmy can't get each other, and also short notice, but I think we'll manage."

"That's fine," Kimmy says. "I'm sure we'll manage," everyone nods. "How do you put the names in?"

Xinia rummages through her bag for a minute before pulling out a muggle notebook and pen. She flips it open to almost the end of the book and clicks her pen then starts writing. As she does, she explains what she's doing.

"I'm writing each of our names, and then I'll rip them off and put them in the hat."

She quickly finishes, folding the last name up then putting it in the cap. She then shakes the hat for a little bit before holding it out.

"Everyone take a name. One," she glares at the boys. "If it's yourself, put it back and redraw. Twins, if you get your sibling, redraw. I'm going to have to see the name when you put it back to make sure you're not cheating as well," she continues to glare at the boys. "Keep the name to yourself; don't tell anyone," she adds.

They roll their eyes before each reaching into the hat. They draw out a name and smile a bit when they see the name. Xinia and I reach in next and draw a name. I pull it out and unfold it, making sure no one is looking and read it.

George.

Not too bad, I can do that. I smile and tuck the paper away. Anica had to redraw, then Kimmy did, but eventually, it's sorted.

"Everyone happy?" Xinia asks as she puts her notebook away.

We all nod.

"Good, cause we're not redrawing."

I grin as she throws the cap back to George.

"Now, we'll open the presents sometime on Christmas, after all the celebrations and everything. Do not forget to bring a present."

The conversation moves on, and eventually, we end up talking in our small groups. The train ride seems to carry on forever, but finally, we draw closer and closer.

As the train pulls up at Platform 9 ¾, we stand up and gather our belongings. When we're allowed off, we have to squish together to get off, but eventually, we stand on the platform.

I instantly see my parents and Jamie and Quinn waving at us. Xinia's parents, the twin's and the boy's parents and Nick's younger brother Lincoln stand next to them.

We all rush up to them, George and Kimmy going in a different direction to meet up with their parents. I walk a little slower, still tense about seeing my parents.

"Hello Genie, we've missed you," my mum greets me.

There's hesitation as they lean in for a hug, but I accept, and they pull me into a tight embrace. I wrap my arms around them and can't help the sense of home I feel.

When I pull back, a small smile rests on my face. I ruffle the twin's hair, and they complain like always. I grin as they give me one-armed hugs.

The older crew find their way over to us, and Wyrene and Bailey hug our parents and Quinn and Jamie while Xander hugs Anna and Gary who look a little overwhelmed as always.

"Hey, would you guys like to come over for dinner and have a nice family meet up?" Julie, Nick's mum, asks.

"We'd love too," Mum smiles at her. "How about we go home and drop the kid's things off first?"

"Sounds good," Anna, Xinia's mum, agrees. "I'm afraid we'll be a little late, living out in the country and not having...magical ways of travelling, but we'll be there."

"That's alright," Julie smiles, being a muggle as well. "How about we say an hour? That way we can all...catch up beforehand," she glances at me as she speaks.

I tense a little, but otherwise, ignore it. Everyone agrees, so we all go our separate ways to get home. Instead of apparating, Dad leads us to a muggle car that had been expanded and fixed up with magic.

It only takes us a few minutes to get home, and I quickly rush in, putting all my stuff back into my room.

"Genie can you come downstairs please, we all need to talk," Dad calls.

I sigh, knowing I can't avoid the conversation. I put the last of my things away before slowly trudging downstairs. I walk into the living room where everyone is gathered; even the twins.

My parents gesture for me to sit down on the single armchair. The twins sit on one of the two-person sofas next to me, Bailey and Wyrene occupy the other one, and my parents sit on the long couch that faces the armchair. Everyone looks tense, and none of my siblings looks at me as I face our parents.

No one talks for a moment. Sensing that I'm not going to say anything, Mum sighs.

"First things first, I guess. How did you find out?" she asks softly.

I try not to scoff, knowing she's just curious.

"Doesn't matter how I found out," I answer. "It matters that I did."

I keep my gaze on my parents, determined not to show my feelings.

"We have a letter from your birth parents, if you want to read it," Dad offers.

I blink, not expecting that. A letter? From my birth parents? I don't know how to feel about that.

"Have you read it?" I ask instead.

Mum shakes her head.

"No. We wouldn't invade your privacy like that."

I sigh, grateful they hadn't. I still don't know what to think, but I know I wouldn't want them to have read it.

"Who knows who they are?" I ask, avoiding the offer for now.

"Only we do, and your birth mother's family," Dad answers. "We were in the same year as some of their family, at Hogwarts. We know them through mutual connections. They told us that your mother was pregnant, but wasn't ready for a child. Her family knows that you were given to us, but they were put under the same charm; they couldn't speak about it unless you knew. We couldn't refuse, we loved you as soon as we saw you."

I try to blink the tears away. My parents gave me up because they weren't ready for a child. I don't know whether to be mad that they were that selfish or happy that it wasn't because they didn't want me.

"Where's the letter?" I decide I need to have it.

Mum pulls something out of her pocket and hands it to me. I take it from her and see that's it's folded in half. On one side in familiar handwriting, something's written.

To our daughter

I run my hands over the writing, noting that's it familiar because it's similar to my own. My fingers itch to unfold it and read it, but something holds me back. I decide to tuck it away in my pocket so I can read it in my own time.

"How about you all go get changed and get ready to go to Julie and Ryan's place?"

We all nod and walk off to our own bedrooms. Before I reach mine, the twins call out to me. I turn around.

"Are you mad at Mum and Dad?" Quinn asks.

I shrug.

"I'm angry and upset, but not necessarily at them," I answer. "This is just a lot to process."

"But you're still our sister, right?" Jamie asks.

I smile, my heart melting at their hopeful faces.

"Of course I am. Come here," I pull them both into a hug.

Although they're only one year younger than me and ridiculously smart for their age, I can't help but feel like they're still little kids I need to be the big sister for.

When they pull away, they're smiling. I grin as they walk into their bedrooms. I walk into mine and sort everything out and get ready to leave. I can mostly just morph everything, so I'm ready before the others.

I wander downstairs and sit on a couch; waiting for everyone else to get ready. A couple of minutes later, my parents enter the room. They look around to make sure it's just me before sitting down either side of me.

"I know this is a lot to take in," Mum starts. "But you know that we love you, so, so much. We've never loved you any less because you're not biologically ours, or you're different, or anything else. You've always been our daughter, and you always will be."

I nod, smiling a little.

"I know," I say. "And I love you too. But you're right. It is a lot to process. I don't know what to do. Do I want to know who they are? Do I want to meet them potentially? Or do I just want nothing to do with them?"

"Whatever you decide, and I know you will at some point," Dad says. "We're here for you, and we will respect your decision. Okay?"

I nod before pulling them both into a hug. When I pull away, I suddenly remember something.

"Oh," I exclaim. "At some point before Christmas, I need to get a present for George."

Mum looks at me in confusion. She knew about George and Kimmy, but I guess that didn't explain it.

"We're doing a muggle thing," I clarify. "Xinia told us about it. Everyone in the group is buying a present for someone else, but no one knows who we're buying for because it's a secret. Xinia called it Secret Santa."

"And you're buying something for George?" Dad asks.

I nod.

"Okay, well, we'll go into the city tomorrow," Mum decides. "We need to do a little bit of last-minute shopping anyway, so you can come along."

I smile, feeling considerably better than before. At that moment, Bailey comes down the stairs. He joins us on the couch, eyeing us. I give a small nod, and he smiles a little.

"So how have you two been?" he asks our parents.

Before long, the other three are ready to leave, so we head out the door and make our way to the car. Nick's family live about ten minutes away from us, so there's no point in apparating.

Most magical families live on the outskirts of London or other big cities so that we aren't part of the muggle world. Some families, however, like Anica and Ciena's, choose to live in the city, hidden from the muggles.

As Dad and Ryan are good friends and we often go over to their place, our parents decided it would be easier to live close to each other.

Before long we're pulling up at their driveway. I spot another car out the front, but I don't see them often enough to know if it's Dylan's or the twins'.

We walk up to the door and knock. A couple of seconds later, the door opens, and Julie invites us in. I see Dylan and his family already inside and gather it was their car as no one else is here.

Unfortunately, Dylan's family means Kylie. As soon as she sees me, her expression darkens, and she leaves the room. Dylan looks at me apologetically while my parents look at me in confusion.

I bite my lip; a little embarrassed.

"We don't along very well," I mutter in explanation.

Dylan and Nick snort quietly, and I bite my lip again to stop a smile.

"I thought the two of you could at least stand each other," Wyrene says.

Mum and Dad shoot her a look, and Wyrene apologises quickly to James and Hannah.

"Did something happen between the two of you?" Hannah, Dylan and Kylie's mum, asks.

I shrug, not wanting to be impolite.

"Her group of friends don't really, uh, like, our group. Particularly Xinia. There were a few...arguments. I'm sorry," I give James and Hannah an apologetic look.

Hannah nods understandingly, and James sighs.

"It's alright, kiddo. We'll have a chat with her later."

The mood is a little darker than before, but the arrival of the twins and Ruth and Warren lightens it.

Before long Xinia, Xander, Anna and Gary turn up, and the gathering is in full swing. Everyone sits around a huge table and chat about what they've been up to. We tell the adults about classes and friends and Quidditch, and they ask us a few questions until it moves into adult talk.

We head to Nick's room, the older three going elsewhere, and talk for a bit.

Before I know it, dinner is over, and we are leaving. I wave goodbye to everyone before my parents push me into the car. Once we're home, everyone goes straight to bed. It had been a long day, and we were all happy just to go to sleep.

The next morning I wake to someone pounding on my door.

"Gena! What did you do with my stuff?!" Wyrene yells from outside my room.

"What makes you think I did anything?" I shout back angrily, still half asleep.

"You're suggesting that either our Hufflepuff brother or ten-year-old brothers who are terrified of me did it?"

I groan, rolling over and pressing my pillow over my head.

"Yes, I'm saying that!" my voice is slightly muffled.

"You want this?" I hear Jamie and Quinn mock slightly farther away.

"You little rat!"

"Told you it wasn't me," I yell.

I hear Wyrene's footsteps leave my door and I sigh, rolling over in bed. Oh, how I had not missed sleeping in the same house as my siblings. Although I love them, I could do without the daily arguments and annoyances that come with living together.

"Genie, if you want to come into the city you better hurry up and get ready," Mum's voice comes from downstairs. "We're leaving in five minutes."

I also missed the weekend sleep-ins.

I quickly morph into a simple outfit and rush downstairs for breakfast. Dad lays a plate of toast on the kitchen counter which I take with a muttered 'thanks.'

"What are you going in for?" Bailey asks as I take a bite.

"Present for George," I say through my food.

"Genie," Dad scolds me.

"Sorry," I grin as I swallow my bite and take another.

"What about your other friends?"

I don't answer, pointedly looking at Mum and gesturing at my mouth full of food. She rolls her eyes.

"They're doing a muggle thing. She's only buying a present for one person, as is everyone else."

"Oh," Bailey nods.

I scoff down the rest of my food and apparate with my parents a few minutes later. We quickly look around before coming out of the deserted alleyway and crossing the street to get into the shops.

As always, the place is crowded with muggles, especially as it's a few days before Christmas. Mum goes off to get what she needs, and I drag Dad around to look for something to buy.

"Just get him a pair of socks," Dad suggests.

I roll my eyes.

"Actually I'm going just to buy a notebook and some pens for Xinia, then we're going to Diagon Alley," I tell him. "I'll get something small for Anica and something Quidditch related for George. We don't have to, but Xinia was complaining about it before."

Dad raises his eyebrow at me.

"Does your mother know we're going to Diagon Alley?"

I shrug.

"No, but that doesn't matter," I say as I pick the cheapest notebook and a few pens.

I lead Dad to the counter to pay. He struggles a little with the currency but finally manages. Dad shakes his head in amusement as we find a secluded spot to apparate.

"Why do I do everything you ask?" he mutters to himself.

"Because I've got you wrapped around my finger," I grin as I find my way to a Quidditch store.

I find a broom care kit for George and get a pack of cards with the Holyhead Harpies team on them that costs ten Knuts for Anica. Once I've finished, Dad takes my arm and apparates back into the muggle shop where Mum is.

I had gotten the presents wrapped when I bought them, so luckily no one questions what I'm holding.

"You two finished?" Mum asks when we find her.

"Yes, but we had to go to Diagon Alley to get it," Dad complains.

Mum raises her eyebrow at me, and I give an innocent shrug, smirking slightly.

Mum pays for what she brought, and we go back home.

When I walk inside, I see that our Christmas tree has been put up and that a few presents are lying underneath it. I place the presents I brought under it as well, and I spend the rest of my day in my room.

The next few days go past, and suddenly it's Christmas morning.

I run out of my room and down the stairs to see Bailey, the twins and Mum and Dad sitting on the couch, waiting for Wyrene and me.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Mum greets me.

They wish me Merry Christmas, and a few minutes later Wyrene walks down the stairs.

"Morning," I say.

"You're cheerful," Wyrene jokes.

I smile before turning to my parents.

"Can we open our presents?" Jamie and Quinn ask.

"Of course, are they supposed to just sit there all day?"

We all rush over to the tree and grab the presents with our name on them. With my gifts in my arms, I go and take a seat on the couch to open them. I rip the wrapping open on the first one to reveal a broom service kit similar to the one I brought for George, except with a few extra supplies. I grin, thanking my parents.

About half an hour and quite a few presents later, we head back up to our rooms to get ready for the day.

Once I'm dressed and have got the presents, I head back down. Mum slid a small plate of bacon and some scrambled eggs over to me.

"We're going to be having heaps of food today; you don't need a whole feast for breakfast," Mum says.

I nod.

"You like the jewellery?" Dad asks, nodding at my bracelet and necklace.

I smile.

"Yeah, it's beautiful. Thank you."

They had gotten me some matching jewellery which I had decided to wear. It was silver and studded with crystals. I was also wearing the heart necklace I had gotten for Anica and Xinia on their birthday and a few rings.

Bailey, then Jamie, Quinn and Wyrene soon come downstairs and eat their breakfast before we're ready to leave.

"I think we'll just apparate right into their apparation point?" Mum asks Dad.

He nods and holds his arm out for the twins and me. He turns, and then we're in the Wore family apartment.

Their apparation point is a small room inside their house. Mum opens the door, and we walk out next to the front door.

"We're here!" Mum calls out.

A couple of seconds later, Ruth finds us and beckons us in.

"Merry Christmas!" she greets, hugging all of us.

We chorus 'Merry Christmas' back and greet Warren.

"Anica and Ciena are still in their rooms," Ruth tells me. "You guys are the first here."

I smile and head up to the second floor. I first pop into Ciena's room.

"Merry Christmas!" I smile.

"Merry Christmas!"

"You look nice," I tell her.

Her short hair was out, and she wore a nice red sweater and a pair of jeans. She had a little bit of jewellery and make-up on as well.

"Thanks, so do you."

I smile.

"I'm going to go find Anica. I'll see you later."

She smiles as I walk out and across the hall to Anica's room. I knock twice and without waiting for an answer, open the door. I find her sitting on her bed with wrapping paper and her wand.

"Hey," she greets when she sees me. "Merry Christmas!"

"You too. What are you doing?"

"Wrapping my Secret Santa gift," she answers.

I nod before dropping my presents down on her bedside table. I wait for her to finish before giving her the Holyhead Harpie cards.

"I was in the shop and saw them," I explain. "They cost basically nothing."

"Thanks, Gena," she smiles. "Sorry, I didn't get you anything."

"That's fine," I wave her off. "I wasn't going to even get you anything until I saw it."

Just then, Xinia walks into the room.

"Merry Christmas!" she says when she sees us.

"Merry Christmas," we chorus.

I hand her my present and wave her off when she protests. She thanks me then says she's going to go talk to Ciena.

Anica and I talk for a bit before Xinia comes knocking on the door again.

"Come downstairs, everyone's here," she tells us.

I hop up and follow her out. Ciena had already gone down and apparently, the others only just arrived. The three of us walk downstairs and emerge into the living room, where a whole bunch of people are gathered.

"Ah, here they are," Ruth says. "Sit down; it's present time."

We find an unoccupied place to sit and wait as everyone hands around gifts.

I get a book from Ruth and Warren about Transfiguration, some sweets from Julie and Ryan and a Weasley's Wizards Wheezes product from Hannah and James. The Ren family picked me out some muggle food I liked, and I immediately started snacking.

Finally, everyone was done, and we were allowed to go and do our own thing.

Most of the adults stayed in the room and kept talking, but all the kids decided to leave. Somehow we all ended up in the drawing-room. It was large and spacious, and extra couches and seats had been added to accommodate everyone.

I made my way over to the group, greeting Nick and Dylan and Kimmy and George. We decided to do the presents later when it was just the eight of us.

Looking around, I recognise most people in the room, although some of Xandler's family are unfamiliar. Just as I think that I spot him coming over.

"Hey guys, this is Fred, he's in your grade, mind if he hangs with you?" Xandler asks us.

"Sure," I answer.

Fred walks out from behind Xandler. He's around average height and has messy blonde hair hanging over his eyes.

"Hey," Fred murmurs.

"Hey, I'm George, this is Dylan and Nick, Ciena and Kimmy, Anica, Gena and Xinia."

"Nice to meet you," Dylan and Nick chime.

We sit and talk for a while before Ruth comes in and tells us lunch is ready.

As we walk into the dining room, I see Xinia's jaw drop.

"What?" I ask.

"How the hell did they get that table in here? It's huge!"

I turn to see a five-metre table sitting in the middle of the room.

"Magic, remember?" I laugh.

"Right, I'm a witch, I keep forgetting."

Everyone takes a seat around the table and eats. The room instantly becomes deafening from the number of different conversations.

After lunch, everyone disperses in different directions with the instruction to be back in the room by three o'clock. That gives us about two hours to do what we want.

"Guys, let's go do the Secret Santa thing," I suggest.

"Where?" Xinia asks.

"We can go upstairs, into one of the studies," Anica offers.

"How many rooms does this place have?" George questions.

"A few," Ciena shrugs.

We walk upstairs and pass the girls rooms and go into one of the studies. As we go to sit down, I realise Anica and I don't have our presents. Ciena and Xinia did, of course, but we had forgotten.

"I'll go and get them," I tell Anica, who had just realised as well.

She smiles gratefully. I exit the study and walk back down the hall to Anica's room. I grab the presents and make my way back to the room. Before I reach it, though, I notice one of the doors to a different study slightly ajar.

I glance back to where the group is and hear laughter coming through. Deciding to snoop a little, I push the door open and slip inside. I'm surprised to see Xandler's brother sitting on one of the chairs and reading a book.

He looks up at me in surprise, and I make a startled sound.

"Sorry, I didn't realise you were in here," I apologise. "I just saw the door open and…" I trail off, feeling a little awkward.

"It's fine," Fred chuckles.

His eyes move to the presents in my hand, and his eyebrows scrunch in confusion.

"Oh, our group are doing a muggle thing, you give presents to someone and... yeah," I explain.

"Like Secret Santa?"

I stare at him in confusion before remembering.

"Oh, right, you're a half-blood. Yeah, Secret Santa. Xinia introduced us to it. She's muggleborn."

"Right," Fred smiles a little.

I stand there for a bit before remembering the group.

"I should, uh, probably get back," I say, turning around.

Before I reach the door though I turn to face him.

"What are you doing in here?" I ask. "I mean, why are you here?"

He shrugs.

"You guys are the only people my age here, besides Kylie, and I'm not really friends with you, so...Besides, I like to read."

I nod.

"Okay, well, I'll leave you to it."

I walk down the hall and quickly rush into the room.

"Finally, hurry up!" Nick complains.

I walk around so that I'm sitting next to Anica and Xinia.

"Ok, everyone close your eyes and put your presents in the middle," Xinia starts. "I'll mix them around then we can find our gifts and open them."

We follow her instructions and place our presents in the middle of our circle. I close my eyes, not wanting to know who got me yet.

"Boys! No looking!" Xinia yells.

I hear them groan before Xinia tells us we can open our eyes.

"Ok, find yours, and then we'll open them one by one," Xinia says.

We all rush to find ours, and I notice mine is wrapped in green paper with black hearts all over it. I grab it and sit back down in my spot, noticing that everyone has grabbed their present as well.

"Who wants to open theirs first?" Kimmy asks.

"I will!" Dylan yells excitedly.

He rips through the red paper, throwing it everywhere.

"Calm down," I roll my eyes.

"Never!" Dylan grins.

He continues and finally gets to his present. It's a muggle radio.

"I love it!" Dylan smiles.

"Now guess who got it for you," Xinia says.

"Nick?" Dylan queries.

"Yup!" Nick smiles.

Nick then opens his present, the exact same way Dylan did. Everyone rolls their eyes at his antics as Nick reveals a t-shirt. He holds it up to read the words on it, then bursts out laughing.

"That's got to be Anica," he gasps through his laughter.

Anica bursts out laughing then and nods.

"What does it say?" Dylan demands.

Nick shows him, and Dylan cracks up. Then he shows the rest of us, and we all go down in laughter.

It was a black shirt with 'All the Single Ladies' written on it in pink sparkly letters.

We continue going in a circle, so George opens my present next. He's a little neater with the unwrapping but still manages to get it on the other side of the room.

"What is it?" Kimmy asks.

"It's a broom care kit, I've needed one for ages!" George smiles. "Who got it?" he asks curiously.

"Me," I say.

"Thanks, Gena," he grins.

"Oh, me next," Anica eagerly opens her present.

It's smaller than everyone else's, and when she sees what she is, she just glares at Dylan.

"You call this a present?" Anica exclaims.

"How do you know it was me?" Dylan laughs.

"Cause no one else would spell idiot wrong,"

"Oh crap, did I?" he snatches the piece of paper off her. "No, I didn't, it's spelt E-D-I-O-T."

Kimmy pats him on the shoulder.

"It's ok, you'll get better at spelling," she tries to support him.

"I'll get you back for this," Anica says, although she doesn't look particularly mad.

I glance at her present and see that that's it. It's just a piece of paper with the word Ediot on it.

Everyone laughs, then Xinia tells me to open mine. I do, pulling the green paper away and placing it next to me. I pull out a white box and inspect it. I can tell straight away it's a muggle device, and it looks like a pair of earmuffs, but they're made out of plastic.

"Uh, you're going to have to tell me what these are," I laugh.

"They're headphones," Xinia explains. "You can use them to listen to music or block out noise."

"Cool. Guessing you got them for me?"

"Yes! I thought you could use them to block out Anica's random facts and stories," she laughs.

"Hey!" Anica complains.

Xinia smirks as I thank her with a smile.

"My turn."

She slowly unwraps the present, not ripping it. Her gift was quite large, and we soon learned why. At first, all I saw was a cage the size of a cauldron. Then Xinia squealed loudly and held it up to get a closer look. I leaned and looked over her shoulder to see a pink ball of fluff. I narrowed my eyes in confusion before realising what it was.

"Aw, it's so cute," I say.

It was a baby Pygmy Puff. It was rolling around but then stopped to look at Xinia curiously with its small black eyes.

"Who got this?" Xinia asks.

"I did," George says.

She leaps up and tackles him with a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she squeals.

He laughs at her reaction.

"So I'm guessing you like it?"

"Like it? I love it! Thank you so much, George," she pulls away from him to look at the Pygmy Puff again.

He shrugs.

"Kimmy helped me pick her," he says.

"It's a girl?" Xinia asks.

George nods.

"What are you going to name it?" Anica asks, coming to look at the creature as well.

"Hmm, Blossom," Xinia smiles.

It squeaks at her, and Xinia coos.

"You like that?"

She squeaks again, and Xinia grins.

"Oh God, what have you done George?" I groan. "Watch, that thing will replace us all, and she'll never socialise again."

Everyone laughs and Xinia glares at me. Then Ciena opens her present.

"Unless you brought your own, I think I can guess who got that for you," Anica laughs.

Kimmy smiles a little, shrugging. Ciena pulls the rest of the wrapping away then laughs loudly. Kimmy looks at her in confusion.

"Open your gift," Ciena says.

Kimmy scrunches her eyebrows but does. She holds her present up and shows their gifts to us. They're the same; a spellbook.

"Wow," Dylan chuckles.

"Two great minds think alike," Ciena smiles.

"Or two stupid minds," Anica mutters.

I smirk.

Now that everyone's opened their presents, Xinia flicks her wand, and the wrapping paper disappears.

"You know we're not allowed to do magic outside of school, right?" I raise my eyebrows at her.

She shrugs.

"We're in a house with like fifteen adults. Plus, it's Christmas, no one is going to notice."

She's not wrong. The Ministry can only detect where the magic is coming from, not who. I shrug, not wanting to admit she's right.

We decide to head downstairs and see what everyone else is doing. When we pass the room Fred was in, I see the door is wide open. He must have moved somewhere else. I felt a little bad for making him move, but I shrug it off.

When we get downstairs no one else is in the hallway, so we go to the drawing-room where we find most of the kids.

Bailey, Xander and Xandler are talking on one of the couches and Jamie and Quinn are playing with Xandler's three youngest brothers and Lincoln; Nick's younger brother. Wyrene and Jason are sitting close to each other on a loveseat, and I roll my eyes at them. Fred, Kylie, Finn and his friends are nowhere to be seen.

"Look, a pygmy puff!" Xandler's youngest brother squeals.

He runs up to Xinia who now has Blossom on her shoulder.

"Can I hold her?" he asks.

"Of course Ian," Xinia smiles, passing him her pygmy puff.

"What's her name?" Aiden, the second youngest Muply, asks, coming up beside his brother.

Lincoln runs up as well to get a look at the little creature.

"Blossom," Xinia answers, smiling as she watches the boys play with her.

The older boys come up to us, getting a look at Blossom.

"Where'd you get her?" Xander asks.

"She's my Christmas gift from George," Xinia answers.

"Mum and Dad are going to freak," Xander comments.

"She's harmless," Xinia protests. "I don't care what they think. Blossom is mine now."

Xander smiles, rolling his eyes a little.

"Ian, be careful," Xandler scolds his little brother.

He quickly scoops Blossom up and passes her back to Xinia before they can accidentally hurt her.

"Hey, I was being careful!" Ian whines.

"I'm sure you were, go back and play with your toys," Xandler insists.

Ian and his brothers and Lincoln run back to where they were and start to play again.

I look at my watch and see that we have a little bit more than an hour left.

"I'm gonna ask mum if she can expand the top floor so we can fly our brooms," Anica says. "We have ones that you guys can borrow."

Anica walks off, and Ciena's face drops in disgust.

"Great now I get to sit and watch you guys have fun with your game that you love so dearly," she rolls her eyes.

I tense, knowing where this is headed.

"It's ok, Ciena. I'll sit with you," Kimmy says, trying to diffuse the situation.

"At least friendship is more important to you then Quidditch, unlike some people," Ciena stares at Xinia.

Xinia rolls her eyes, clearly not in the mood.

Kimmy and Ciena walk away just as Anica comes back.

"Where are they going?" she asks.

"Ciena didn't want to sit and watch us have fun with our game that we love so dearly," Dylan laughs.

"Of course," Anica smiles. "Come on, let's go play."

We walk back up the stairs, to see the room is about triple it's normal height and half the size of a typical Quidditch pitch with scoring hoops.

"What are we gonna do for teams?" Xinia asks.

"We only have six people, it's gonna be a boring game," George points out.

"Why don't we ask some of the others?" Anica suggests.

"Who?" I ask.

"Well, the three boys will be willing, most likely," Xinia says. "What about Fred?"

"Who?" Anica asks.

"Why are you such an airhead?" I laugh. "Yeah, that's a good idea, Xinia. Wyrene could play as well."

We head downstairs and rope everyone in. It takes a bit of convincing for Wyrene because she doesn't want to leave Jason, but I point out that he can watch.

"You guys realise this is only eleven people, right?" Xander notices.

"Oi Harry, want to play Quidditch?" Xandler yells across the room.

Harry looks over and takes everyone in.

"Sure," he shrugs.

We have twelve people so the teams will have six people instead of seven, so I'm assuming that will just have two chasers rather than three.

"Ok, what are the teams?" Wyrene asks.

"Let's do a Seeker, two Chasers, two Beaters and a Keeper on each team," I suggest, looking around at everyone and noting their normal positions.

"Only thing is we don't have enough Chasers, and we have three Keepers," Harry says.

"It's fine, I'll play Chaser," George offers.

The groups end up being Fred as Seeker, George and Xinia as Chasers, Wryene as Keeper and Anica and I as Beaters versus Bailey as Seeker, Xander and Xandler as Chasers, Harry as Keeper and Nick and Dylan as Beaters.

We start the game.

At first, we just take it easy, not really trying to win the game, until I look at my watch and see that we only have about ten minutes left.

"Oi, it's two-fifty, hurry up and find the Snitch," I yell at Fred.

As I yell this, everyone seems to focus one hundred percent on the game, determined to win. George and Xinia immediately start trying to get the Quaffle off Xander and Xandler, who try to get a goal past Wyrene.

On the ground, Jason calls out encouragement to Wyrene, and I notice Oliver, Aiden and Ian - the youngest three Muply's - watching the game as well as Lincoln. Oliver and Ian are cheering for Fred, and the rest of our team and Aiden and Lincoln are going for the other team. I grin as Ian cheers at the Bludger I hit at Xandler.

"Traitor," Xandler yells down to him.

The Quaffle Xandler was holding is snatched away by Xinia who races past Xander, scoring another goal for us.

I look around for a Bludger when I see Fred speed off after the Snitch. Bailey soon notices and follows him.

Everyone stops and starts to cheer for their player of choice.

Anica calls me to help her line up our double Bludger shot. I rush over to her, and we take our time, making sure we are aimed straight for Bailey. We hit the Bludgers, and they ricochet off each other and head towards Bailey. He expects it but is unable to get out of the way in time. He manages to dodge the first, but the second hits the back of his broom hard enough to tip him out of the way.

This just gives Fred even more of a lead, and he easily pulls ahead and snatches the Snitch out of the air. Our team and all our supporters whoops and cheer just as Ruth comes into the room and tells us to join the adults.

We reluctantly land on the ground, still cheering Fred as we leave the room. As we meet back up with the rest of the guests, we discover that its social time. As one, me, Anica, Wyrene and Jason groan. Everyone else just rolls their eyes in amusement.

We end up playing a few games, some kids against adults, some Houses against Houses, boys versus girls and so on, and everyone gets to know everyone, and we all end up having a pretty good time.

After a fantastic dinner, we're allowed to go off for a bit where all the kids talk about the previous Quidditch game and other light topics. Then we have a delicious dessert and all too soon the night comes to an end.

Everyone leaves in stages until it's just our family remaining because Mum and Ruth won't stop talking. Dad rolls his eyes before subtly saying goodbye and pulling Mum out the door. I wave goodbye to the twins with a grin, and then we head home.

Too exhausted to do much else, I put the headphones Xinia's got me away and quickly get ready for bed. I bid my parent's goodnight then get comfy under my covers. Before long, I drift off to sleep, dreaming about presents and Quidditch.

Woah, that was a long one. I just want you to know after this I'm going to start wrapping the year up. There's going to be about three or four more chapters, and then first-year will end. I will be writing second-year, but I might wait for a little before updating. I haven't decided yet, though. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the story, don't forget to leave reviews, and check out my Instagram:)