As promised, an earlier update!

Chapter 19

Monday, December 30th 2030

Most of the holidays had gone by quickly, and Mum and Dad told me that we were going over to the Ren's place for our traditional New Year's Eve celebrations. I still hadn't read my birth parents letter; I haven't even removed it from my pocket that I left it in.

When I woke up, I studied my reflection in the mirror for a bit. I had fallen back into my habit of not bothering what I looked like; my hair was currently yellow and was in a short bob against my neck. My two necklaces hung on my neck, my rings were on my fingers, and my wrists were adorned with bracelets. I also had a few sets of earrings in, and I decided to apply a bit of makeup.

As I exited my room, Wyrene gave me a once over.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing, you just look different."

"How?"

She shrugs.

"You just don't normally let your appearance do its own thing. Well, at school at least."

I pause, realising she's right. At school, I would usually just keep my hair red and wavy and change it back if I ever noticed it had changed, but I hadn't bothered during the holidays.

I shrug at Wyrene as we descend the stairs together. When we reach the kitchen, I notice everyone else is already downstairs. Mum smiles at us and orders us to help set the table for breakfast.

The seven of us sit at the table and enjoy our pancakes and bacon. Of course, we don't manage to get through it without a few squabbles, but what can you do?

We then spend a bit of time talking and catching up still before we're allowed to scatter off and do our own thing. I go up to my room and look around for a bit. I decide I should probably do the small amount of homework I had gotten, and so with a sigh, I sit down and pull out my textbook, parchment and ink and get started. I manage to get through it pretty quickly, surprisingly, so about an hour later, I drop my quill and roll my parchment up with a happy sigh. I then flop onto my bed and stare up at the ceiling. I frown when I feel something digging into my back. Reaching beneath my body, I pull something out. I realise it's the Transfiguration book I had gotten from Anica and Ciena's parents. I open it and read through the first few pages then decide it looks good enough, so I find myself getting into a comfortable position and starting to read the book.

When Bailey comes in a little later, he stops abruptly in my doorway, looking at me in shock.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

I look at him in confusion.

"Reading," I wave the book for emphasis.

"I got that, but why?"

"Because I can," I answer. "What's with the twenty questions?"

"You never read."

I suddenly latch onto his confusion.

"Oh, right, yeah. It's the book Ruth and Warren got me about Transfiguration. Something I'll actually enjoy."

"Did you just say you'll actually enjoy reading a textbook?" Wyrene suddenly asks, appearing next to Bailey.

"It's not a textbook!"

"Well, actually..." Bailey points at the book.

I have a look at the cover and notice that it is a third-grade textbook. Just then, racing footsteps inform me that the twins are now listening.

"Did we hear something about Gena enjoying reading?" Jamie asks.

"Yuck! No!" I exclaim, but it's too late.

Quinn races downstairs and starts yelling.

"Mum! Dad! Come help! Gena's reading!"

"QUINN YOU LITTLE GIT!" I yell.

"Hey, I'm Quinn!" Jamie says.

"No you're not, stop defending him," I snap, tossing the book away.

"Oh, is little nerdy Genie embarrassed at being caught?" Wyrene mocks.

I glare at her, and my hair turns red.

"Shove off," I say, getting up and punching her none too gently. "And don't call me that!"

"Sorry, Genie," she grins.

"Girls, cut it out," Dad's exasperated voice suddenly interrupts us.

He and Mum had been lead upstairs by Quinn. I glare at Wyrene then turn my gaze on Quinn.

"You're a git," I tell him.

He pokes his tongue at me, and Bailey hits him lightly over the head.

"Hey! You're supposed to be the nice one," Quinn complains.

"I guess not," Bailey laughs.

Mum rolls her eyes slightly, albeit with an amused smile.

"Genie, don't call your brother a git, Bails don't hit your brother and Quinny don't poke your tongue out at your sister."

We all frown at the nicknames. For some reason, our parents had deemed us all with nicknames we hated. And they often refused to call us anything else. It was annoying, but we couldn't do anything about it.

"So what are you reading Genie?" Dad asks, looking both curious and surprised.

I groan slightly.

"It's just the book Ruth and Warren got me for Christmas."

"Since when do you read textbooks?" Jamie asks.

"You guys are acting like I've never read a book before!" I whine.

They all give me pointed looks.

"I read!" I say indignantly.

Seeing their unbelieving gazes, I rectify my statement.

"Sometimes. Okay, I read sometimes. Plus, it's about Transfiguration, which actually interests me. You guys should be happy for me! I'm learning something!"

"Yeah, but why are you reading at third-year level?" Wyrene asks. "I haven't even covered that yet!"

I shrug, not bothering to mention I'm actually at the fourth-year level.

"Fine, we'll leave you alone," Jamie announces.

"But only if you stop teasing us for always reading," Quinn adds cheekily.

I glare at him before closing my door in their faces. I pick up the book I had tossed aside and give it a dark look for a moment. Then I mark where I was up to and put it in my trunk so I can either forget about it or read it later at Hogwarts.

Tuesday, December 31st, 2030 (New Year's Eve)

The next day goes by quickly until it's time to head to the Ren's. They live even more out of the way than we do, and because they're muggles they don't have an apparation point, so we decide to drive like normal. We arrive at a little past four in the afternoon, and Anna greets us before ushering us inside. I see Xinia and Xander on the couch playing some game with their thumbs. A thumb war, I think. Upon seeing us, Xander quickly beats Xinia before getting up to say hello. Xinia follows, frowning slightly at her brother.

"Nice hair," Xinia nods at my hair.

I grin.

"Thanks," I run a hand through my currently dark green locks.

Just then I hear another car driving into the family's driveway. A minute later, four people come through the door. The man has slightly greying hair and a broad smile, the woman has short dark hair and the two girls have similarly dark hair and smiles. Both of them are quite pretty.

I recognise them as Xinia's muggle friend Wendy and her family. I hadn't seen them in a while, so they looked a little different to the last time I saw them.

Wendy immediately races up to Xinia and hugs her while Yasmin and Frank - Wendy's parents - give Anna and Gary a warm greeting. Wendy's older sister Xyla smiles at everyone else.

I smile at Wendy.

"Wow, I haven't seen you in ages," Wendy grins. "You look really nice."

I notice her astonished look at my hair, but she quickly covers it. Although her and her family are muggles, they knew about magic and whatnot. Upon first meeting them, I had told them that I was a Metamorphmagus and what it meant. They had quickly gotten used to it, so I didn't comment on Wendy's look. She had probably just forgotten about it and was surprised when she remembered.

"Thanks, you too," I tell Wendy.

A couple of minutes later, Anica, Ciena, Finn, Ruth and Warren turn up. It's a little crowded with everyone in the same room, but luckily their house is quite big, so it's not a problem.

Despite that, we decide to move outside to talk and catch up with each other. As everyone socialises, I look around the yard and smile slightly. I loved coming to Xinia's house because she had so many animals and there was never a dull moment.

They had a shed next to the house that their car and other machines were stored in. A pathway from the patio leads to a stable, a chook pen and a pigpen, and behind all that were paddocks with sheep and cows and an area to ride the horses around in.

Xinia currently had one of her dogs - Zac - between her legs and she was playing with him while another - Harry - was running around everyone.

"Hey, Xinia!" Jamie and Quinn call.

"Yeah?"

"Can we go see your horses?"

"Of course, Stormy and Midnight would love to see you again."

We watch as the boys run down the path to the stables. Anna says something to Xinia about being safe before Xin gestures for us to follow the boys. Anica, Ciena, Wendy and I get up and join her.

"Hey, I don't want to spend too much time down there," Anica says.

"Same," Ciena agrees.

"Why?"

"We're allergic to horses and cows," Anica explains.

"You've been here before, though, haven't you?" I ask, stunned that I didn't know that.

"Only twice. Both were just quickly. She's always come to ours."

"Oh. I can tell the boys to stay away," I suggest.

"Just as long as they don't touch us until they've washed their hands we'll be fine," Ciena says.

"You sure?" Xinia asks.

They nod as we finally catch up with the twins.

"Boys, make sure you don't touch Anica or Ciena until you wash your hands," I tell them. "They're allergic to horses. And cows."

They nod, and I know they'll remember.

We spend a little time down with the animals before heading back up to the house. Us girls go to Xinia's bedroom which is upstairs along with Xander's. We talk for a while, telling Wendy all about Hogwarts and her telling us all about her muggle school.

"It's so weird that you guys don't have Houses," I tell her.

"Well we do, but they're sporting houses. We don't have anything like you guys."

"And you have classes with everyone? Not with the people in your house?" Anica asks.

"Yeah, it so we all like, work together. The whole school is a community, not just, like, the individual houses. Also, most of us don't stay there all the time. Almost all of us just go for the day, then come home again."

While Ciena and Anica had briefly gone to Muggle school when they were younger, it had been a long time, and Wendy's school was apparently different from what they had experienced.

"I wish we had that," I sigh. "The four of us are only in one class together. And it's Herbology!"

"Plants," Xinia says for Wendy's benefit.

"Plus a lot of our friends are in different Houses," Ciena pipes in. "We never get any classes where all of us are together because the most we get are two Houses together in a class."

"What are the names of your houses?" Wendy asks. "I know the colours are blue, green, yellow and red, but not much else."

"Well, blue is Ravenclaw, that's what Ciena and I are in," Xinia explains.

"It's the nerd house," Anica grins.

Wendy laughs a bit while the other two glare at Anica.

"Green is Slytherin, Anica and I are in that," I continue. "It's the coolest house."

"Meaning they're the bullies," Ciena huffs. "Yellow is Hufflepuff. They're kind and friendly."

"And red is Gryffindor," Anica ends. "The idiots."

"The cutest guys are in that house," Xinia tells Wendy. "Except for Xander and Xandler."

"Ah-ha!" I suddenly exclaim. "So he's in Gryffindor!" I point at Xinia.

"No!" Xinia says quickly.

"Who?" Ciena asks in confusion.

"Nothing," Xinia tries to change the topic. "How are Gracie and Daniella?" she asks Wendy.

"No, I want to hear about this," Wendy ignores her.

"She likes someone," Anica says excitedly. "But she won't tell us who."

"But now we know he's in Gryffindor, which narrows it down a lot," I add.

"I don't like him, and he's not in Gryffindor," Xinia says in annoyance.

"Well, he wouldn't be in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw because you're...you, so then he'd have to be Slytherin," I laugh. "The only guys who aren't dicks in Slytherin are Tim and Kyle."

"But you said he was cute, and no offence to them, they're not. You also said the cute guys are in Gryffindor," Anica concludes.

"I thought you guys were stupid," Xinia complains.

"They are, but they really want to know this so..." Ciena smiles a little, her interest obviously peaked.

"So who are the guys in Gryffindor?" Wendy asks.

"Um," Anica looks at me in Ciena.

"Well, there's Nick and Dylan and George. I remember Tim and Kyle mentioned some Gabriel one time, but as far as I know, you've never even spoken to him," I look at Xinia and then Ciena.

"That's all of them," Ciena tells me.

"Who's George?" Wendy asks. "I've met Nick and Dylan, but George is new."

"Who says he's even in our year?" Xinia tries to look nonchalant but fails.

"The fact you said that means he is," Ciena raises her eyebrows at Xinia.

"I'd bet on the fact that it's not the idiot's named Nick and Dylan," Anica laughs.

"Hm, Dylan's a possibility," I smirk.

Xinia makes a face like she's about to vomit.

"Okay, okay," I relent, holding my hands up in a placating gesture.

Then I grin.

"So that means it's George!"

"There's also Gabriel," Ciena points out.

"I think the fact she's a red as a tomato pretty much confirms it's George," Wendy bursts into laughter. "Tell me who he is!"

Xinia weakly protests that it's not him, but we wave her off.

"He's one of our new friends," Anica says. "He has a twin sister named Kimmy who is also our friend, sadly."

"Anica!" Ciena scolds her. "You haven't argued in ages. She's mine and Xinia's friend so don't be rude."

"Anyway," I interrupt. "He's really tall, and he's got messy brown hair, and I think brown eyes."

"Hazel," Xinia supplies.

We give her a knowing smirk.

"Only because Kimmy's are the same!" she defends.

"Uh-huh, sure," Anica grins.

Wendy, Ciena, Anica and I exchange a look before dissolving into laughter. Xinia groans as tears prick my eyes. I spot my hair turning yellow and don't bother changing it back.

"You guys suck," Xinia sulks, crossing her arms over her chest.

We continue probing her for more information and laughing and teasing her every chance we get until Anna comes up and tells us that dinner is ready.

We follow her downstairs and outside to where there is a large table set up next to a big fire which keeps us warm as it gets colder. Snow covers the ground, so Gary, Frank, Warren and Dad scooped it away to make room for us.

During dinner, Finn and Xyla talk to each other and Wyrene teases Xander and Bailey while the adults talk about...something. I don't bother listening as the rest of us talk loudly and laugh amongst ourselves.

We finish dinner quickly and continue talking until Xinia randomly stands up.

"I, Xinia Ren, would like to reinstate the annual boys versus girls snowball fight. Last year the winners were the girls, for the fourth time in a row. No surprises there," Xinia announces.

"I, Xander Ren, would like to announce that there will be five minutes of preparation time before the fight starts. It will end when Molly, Dixie and Pepper bark three times," Xander continues.

We all look around, eyeing each other off. I spot the three aforementioned dogs come up to us and sit obediently to watch the game.

The two genders split off and start to discuss the different tactics.

While Anna, Ruth, Yasmin and Mum discuss how to attack, Xinia, Anica, Ciena, Wendy, Wyrene, Xyla and I start creating snowballs and a snow wall to defend ourselves.

The boys seem to be doing the same thing, but slowly and not as effectively. I spot Dad grinning at Gary, and I narrow my eyes. For once, they seem to have a plan.

Once the five minutes are up, and everyone is ready, Pepper barks and the fight is on.

Some of us girls start throwing our snowballs while Ciena, Anna and Yasmin continue making them. Most are hitting the boys, and we are winning, but we soon come to a stop.

"Wait… Why aren't they throwing their snowballs?" Ciena queries.

"I don't know, but keep going!" I yell.

We continue to throw while the boys just stay still, not doing anything other than getting covered in snow.

Suddenly, Dixie barks, signalling that the game is almost over.

"Two more barks and we win again!" Xinia announces with glee.

With this, the boys stand. At first, I think they're going to surrender, but they don't say anything.

Pepper barks and we stop, knowing that the game is almost over and we've won.

Just then I hear muttering coming from somewhere that's not the boys or us. Then, a strangled cave-man like war-cry sounds and I shout.

"Take cover!" I yell at the girls.

Not even a second later snowballs rain down on us one after the other in an endless slaughter. We're forced to stay down as the snowballs seem to come from every direction.

"How the hell do they have so many snowballs?" Anica shouts.

"Did anyone think that stupid war-cry sounded familiar?" Wendy asks.

Just then, my eyes widen as I catch a bit of conversation from the boy's side.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up," Dad laughs.

"You guys were getting slaughtered without us," someone else comments.

I turn back to the girls, eyes wide. Xinia frowns, then I see recognition in her eyes.

"No way…" she mutters.

"Was that -?" Anica asks, seeming to catch on.

"When did they get here?" Ciena demands.

Just then a volley of snowballs land on our group, and we have to duck down. Every time we try to stand up to throw our own snowballs we're forced to take cover again.

"What are we going to do?" I hear Mum shout, her Gryffindor love for victory showing.

"Xinia, Ciena, think of something!" Ruth cries.

"Why us?" Xinia demands.

"Because you're the smart ones!" everyone yells.

"Hurry up. We only have one bark left!" I remind them.

I scoop up some more snow and try to throw it, but their attacks hit my arm, face and side. Before I duck down, I try to look at the other side. There seems to be more people than there was before. Just then I spot a mop of extremely familiar blonde hair, which confirms my suspicions.

I duck down once more before turning to the girls.

"It's Nick, Lincoln and Dylan and their Dad's," I tell them.

"James and Ryan as well?" Mum asks.

I nod. She mutters something unflattering underneath her breath before turning back to Xinia. It's only then that we notice she's no longer there. We look around and notice that Molly is missing from next to the other two dogs as well. Luckily, the boys haven't seemed to notice.

"Alright, whatever she's planning we need to stop the boys from noticing," I whisper to everyone. "Just make sure they keep throwing at us. If they stop, start throwing."

Everyone nods as we take cover once again. We manage to keep the boys distracted until Xinia eventually comes back. My mouth drops open when I spot what's in her hands.

"Brooms?" Anica whisper shouts.

Then Xinia grins and pulls out two bats. Anica and I share a look.

"Okay so this the plan. Gena, Anica and I will fly Xyla, Wendy and Ciena up onto the roof while the parents and Wyrene continue making snowballs and distracting the boys. We will come back and take up as many snowballs as we can to the girls so that they have some ammunition. Also, we are going to need some really big ones for Anica and Gena to hit with their bats."

"Sounds good," Anica nods.

"Wait, what'd you do with Molly?" Anna asks.

"It's fine, Mum, I just put her in the upstairs bathroom."

"How are you going to fly up without being noticed?" Yasmin asks.

Xinia glances at Anica and I.

"You guys are always reminding me that I'm a witch. Well, I didn't need to be reminded this time," she pulls out her wand and casts a spell on the brooms and then the six of us.

"Xinia! No magic!" Anna scolds her.

"It's fine. There are plenty of people who can do magic. They can't tell who did it. Plus Yasmin, Xyla and Wendy already know about magic," she defends.

Only then do I notice that I can no longer see Xinia or the others she cast the spell on. Ruth and Mum notice as well and look in surprise in the approximate direction of Xinia.

"How do you already know a Disillusionment Charm?" Wyrene asks, having noticed as well.

"I like to read, and most teachers allow me to go into the restricted section so..."

"Most?" Anna picks up on her words.

I get the feeling Xinia is waving her off.

"Doesn't matter, let's get on with the plan before the twins notice Molly's missing."

"We already know she's gone," Anica says in confusion.

I can hear Xinia rolling her eyes.

"Quinn and Jamie dummy," she says.

"Oh."

I feel Xinia thrust a broom and a bat into my hands and I find Ciena. Xinia takes Wendy, and Anica takes Xyla. I count down quietly then push off into the air. I hear Wendy and Xyla gasp beside us, and just hope no one else hears them.

I fly over to the spot Xinia had pointed out, and Ciena carefully climbs off. A small whisper from the other two tells us they're off as well. Anica, Xinia and I then fly back down to the girls and gather the snowballs Anna and Ruth had made while the others keep trying to throw theirs at the boys.

We manage to gather about thirty snowballs between us - how, I don't know - and bring them up to the girls. We tell them to wait for the signal before once again flying back down to the girls.

We help Wyrene with the giant snowballs, and Xinia says she'll use a spell to enlarge them in the air, and another one to make sure they don't break at the impact of our bats.

"Hey, where's Molly?" I hear Jamie ask.

I silently curse my likely Ravenclaw brother.

"Guys, they've noticed!" I hiss.

We rush to finish up our plan and get into our positions.

The boy's cease-fire, standing up to complain, but before they get a chance, Xinia enlarges a snowball and pegs it at Xander. He grunts as he stumbles from the impact.

"That's cheating Xinia!" he groans, although Xinia was still invisible.

"He automatically assumes it was me," I can hear the sarcastic hurt in her voice.

"Says you guys with reinforcements!" Mum shouts back.

I grin as her Gryffindor side shows more than ever.

"You guys are just jealous that we were smart enough to have a plan beforehand!" Dad shouts back.

"Cockiness was always your weakness Isaac, dear," Mum grins.

Then the snow-covered yard erupts in chaos.

Ciena, Wendy and Xyla start throwing their snowballs, and almost all of them hit one of the boys. Mum and Yasmin also start throwing from their positions as Anna and Ruth continue making more for them. Wyrene works on yet another massive snowball. Xinia flies back and forwards to continue taking snowballs to the girls on the roof.

The boys, in turn, start firing again, although they seem to have lost their number of snowballs as it's nowhere near as aggressive as before.

And the two of us in the air? We hit the snowballs as hard as we possibly can that Xinia throws.

Shouts and cries litter the air as they try to figure out where our snowballs come from, but we don't drop the charm, not wanting them to be able to target us.

We make sure to keep flying around so they can't pinpoint our location, and I can't help but laugh the whole time.

By the end of the fight, the girls have more than proved our victory. Every single one of us is dripping and shivering, but the boys are considerably more affected.

Everyone's hair had turned white, and our coats and jeans were covered with both melted and still white snow. Pale cheeks and noses were red, and everyone's breaths were visible in the cold air.

Despite the boy's loss, they were smiling and laughing, although noticeably annoyed that we had won. They complained that we had cheated, but Xinia pointed out there were technically no rules for us to have cheated.

We greet Nick and Dylan and James and Ryan before heading inside to get warm. We talk for a while before we go up to Xinia's room again, this time with Nick and Dylan.

"When was this planned?" I ask Dylan.

"When was what planned?" Dylan looks at Nick for an answer.

"You think he knows?" Anica laughs.

"Don't worry about it," I answer, laughing as well.

We talk for a while before I suddenly notice Dylan staring at Wendy.

"Hey, Wendy," Dylan says.

"Hey," she smiles a bit. "Nice to see you again."

Xinia hits him over the head.

"Stop that!"

"What did I do now?" he asks angrily.

"Stop flirting with Wendy!"

"I am NOT flirting with her!"

"Xinia, he's right, he's not flirting with her. He's failing miserably," Anica laughs.

I notice a light blush on Wendy's cheeks, and Xinia scrunches her nose.

"Ew, Wendy, don't you dare!" Ciena warns.

"It's love at first sight, don't interrupt!" Dylan beams at Wendy.

With that, we all fall into laughter, except Dylan, who stands up and puffs his chest out with a ridiculous smile.

"What's that supposed to be?" I grimace slightly.

"It's a power pose," he announces. "I managed to win her over," he declares.

Nick then stands up beside him and mimics him.

"Yeah, I feel very powerful."

We all continue to laugh before Anica stands up; mimicking the both of them.

"It's love at first sight, don't interrupt!" she mocks Dylan.

"Don't forget the stare!" I remind her, pretending to gaze at Wendy in adoration for a second.

She then dazedly looks at Wendy who looks back at her lovingly, blowing her a kiss.

"Hey! Where's my kiss?" Dylan pouts.

"Oh sorry, I ran out," Wendy laughs.

"Don't worry! I've got plenty," Nick grins at Dylan, winking flirtily at him.

Dylan holds a hand over his head for dramatic effect and pretends to faint into Nick's waiting arms. Nick leans over and pretends to kiss Dylan.

"I've got you, my love," he says softly.

By now everyone is doubled over with laughter and Nick can only last so long before dropping Dylan and collapsing into a fit of laughter as well. Dylan groans as he chuckles, having been dropped on his back.

"I just have to ask, are you guys gay or bi?" Wendy asks, a small smile visible.

They look at her in shock, then scoff.

"No! No, no. No…" Dylan says quickly.

"Quadruple no, that's a yes!" Xinia exclaims.

Nick scowls at her as we all laugh a little. Then I notice both of the boys' cheeks are slightly red. From anger or embarrassment, I don't know.

They can't be gay, I think. They would have said something.

Then I realise both of them look more annoyed than they should be, so I decided to step in.

"Okay, whether they're gay or not, it's not our concern," I try to say it jokingly but serious at the same time.

"Thank you, Gena, at least someone is considerate of our feelings," Dylan thanks me.

"For each other," I hear Anica whisper to Xinia.

Despite myself, I feel a small smile tugging at my lips. I push it down though, sending her an exasperated look.

"Oh, I'm not considerate of any feelings," I announce. "I'm just exceptionally kind."

Everyone snorts.

"That's likely," Xinia mutters sarcastically.

I roll my eyes, and I fight a smile before cracking up. Once again, the group dissolves into laughter. I feel tears roll down my face, and my stomach starts to hurt.

"They act the way Xinia wants to with -" Anica begins before Xinia covers her mouth with her hand.

"With who?" Nick asks.

"With no one," Xinia announces firmly as Anica begins to lick her hand in an attempt to escape.

Xinia grimaces but doesn't remove her hand, glaring at Anica before turning her gaze on the boys. Nick and Dylan look at her sceptically before shrugging.

"I'm going to listen to the smart one," Dylan declares.

Nick seems to give it a little more thought before agreeing with Dylan. Just then, I catch a glance of the clock on Xinia's bedside table and see that it's only nine-thirty.

"Ugh, we still have like three hours until midnight," I groan.

"Two and a half actually," Ciena corrects me.

"Whatever. What should we do to fill in the time?" Anica asks.

"I don't know," Xinia answers.

"What about spotlight?" Wendy suggests.

Almost everyone looks at her in confusion.

"It's a muggle game like hide and seek, but in the dark and you use a light to help you find them."

"That's a good idea!" Xinia announces, jumping up. "There's plenty of hiding spaces both in and outside, and Dad can get us a torch."

"What's a torch?" Dylan asks.

"It's this source of light that is controlled by, like, a metal cylinder," Wendy tries to explain.

He still looks confused.

"It's a muggle way of casting Lumos," Xinia sighs.

"Oh," Dylan says.

At the same time, Wendy asks what a Lumos is.

"Basically the same as a torch," I try to sum up to get it over with, even though I barely know what a torch is.

Wendy senses my slight annoyance and nods.

"So should we play spotlight?" she asks.

Everyone nods so we head outside, deciding to play it out there because it's darker.

"Should we play in teams or separate?" Xinia asks.

Anna overhears her from where she's sitting with the rest of the adults.

"If you're playing a game in the dark I want you to be in teams," she says.

Xinia pouts a little then nods. She then looks over the group before speaking.

"We're going to have to do two groups of two and a trio," she directs us.

Nick and Dylan immediately get together, and Ciena moves towards Wendy. Anica, Xinia and I are fine with that, and the groups are decided. Just before we scatter, however, Ruth suggests we invite the others to play.

Anica sighs a little but shrugs. We go round up Jamie, Quinn, Lincoln, Wyrene, Bailey, Xander, Finn and Xyla. Xinia recalculates and announces six groups of two and a trio.

We stay together as Xander and Bailey join up. Jamie and Quinn and Fin and Xyla get together as well. I glance at Wyrene and Lincoln and notice neither look particularly willing to go together. Luckily, Bailey notices as well and suggests that Wyrene join him and Xander and Lincoln either joins Jamie and Quinn or Nick and Dylan. He chooses Nick and Dylan, and then we're ready.

Xinia quickly explains the rules and Gary gives us a torch.

Wendy offers to be 'in' first, so all of us go find hiding places while her and Ciena stay on the patio with the torch and count with their eyes closed.

Xinia quickly leads Anica and me to a hiding spot. We let her lead us, considering she has more experience, and, well, it's her yard. Xinia forces me to be the most visible because,

"You can just morph your whole body black! Or even better, go camouflage!"

We end up coming second to Xander and Bailey in that round.

Eventually, we all have a go finding everyone, and we decide to call it a night after Nick accidentally falls in horse poo, and Dylan decides to sit on a bee's nest. Everyone laughs at their yells and cries of disgust.

By the time we've all settled down, it's eleven-thirty. We decide to sit with the adults for the next half an hour. It's oddly peaceful as we sit around the fire, little murmurs of chatter reaching my ears every so often and shivering in the breeze.

Finally, Gary announces that it's five to twelve. We cheer, and everyone stands up and crowds around the little clock set up off the patio.

I find myself standing next to Anica and Xinia, with Wendy and the boys on Anica's other side. At one minute to twelve, Dylan switches places with Nick so he's standing next to Wendy. We laugh at her miffed expression.

When Gary starts the countdown, we wrap our arms around each other and join in.

"Five," Xinia and I say.

"Four," Anica continues.

"Three," Wendy whispers.

"Two," the boy's cheer.

"One!" everyone shouts.

All the adults send colourful sparks from their wands that remind me of firecrackers. Everyone cheers and the couples kiss cheesily. Dylan manages to peck Wendy's cheek and grins like a maniac. We laugh, and Xinia pulls Anica and me into a hug.

"Happy New Year!" she grins.

"Happy New Year," we respond.

As we pull away, I ignore the small tug in my gut as I watch all the couples smiling and laughing.

Just then I hear Wyrene complaining about not being with Jason to which Dad responds with a glare. I grin as I make my way over to my family, everyone else doing the same.

"Happy New Year, you five," Mum smiles as we crowd around our parents.

"Happy New Year!" we chorus.

Dad holds his arms out, and Wyrene and I groan as we're pulled into a family hug.

Eventually, everyone gets around to everyone, wishing them Happy New Year and hugging them. We talk for a little before everyone decides to call it a night. Slowly, everyone bids goodnight and heads home. I give Xinia and Xander a quick hug before we leave as well.

I almost fall asleep in the car ride home, but manage to get myself up into my room and changed before promptly collapsing into bed.

As always, I hope you enjoyed this!