Finally, the winter break arrived. All of the students were eager to go home to their families after several long months away at Hogwarts, and Yelena was as excited as anyone else for the holidays.
It was Christmas Eve, the morning after the Christmas Ball, and Yelena and Wanda were in their dormitory packing their trunks.
Yelena sighed despondently, looking at the trunk that lay open on her bed. Clothes, books, and various knick-knacks spilled out onto the bed in a messy heap. With a groan, she threw a few books aside and shoved the rest into her trunk.
She wiped away the beads of sweat on her forehead and glared at her trunk. How in Merlin's name had she managed to accumulate so much stuff over the past few months?
Yelena leaned on her trunk and tried to force it shut, but it wouldn't close. Groaning, she turned to Wanda, who sat on her own bed reading The Daily Prophet. Her neatly packed trunk sat on the ground next to her, ready to be taken to the train.
"Can you help me? My trunk won't close." Yelena said, flopping onto her bed with a sigh.
Wanda put aside The Daily Prophet and rolled her eyes. "That's because you're bringing half of Hogwarts with you. We're only going for two weeks, you know."
Yelena rolled onto her side and brushed her hair out of her face.
"Come on, пожалуйста?"
Wanda sighed and walked over to Yelena's bed and dumped the contents of her trunk onto the bed. Waving her wand, she reorganized and neatly repacked all of Yelena's belongings with a simple spell. She closed the trunk and set it on the floor next to Yelena's bed.
"Спасибо!" Yelena exclaimed, sliding off the bed. "See, that's why I need you around, Wanda. You're the best at spells."
Wanda blushed and shrugged. "It was easy."
Yelena opened her mouth to answer, but she was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. The door swung open and Nebula entered the dorm, her own trunk in hand.
"Are you guys ready to go? Your sister says we have to be downstairs in five minutes."
Yelena and Wanda both picked up their trunks and followed Nebula downstairs to the common room, where the other Slytherins waited with their belongings. The three of them joined Loki in the middle of the crowded room.
"Finally. You took forever." Loki drawled.
Wanda shrugged. "Lena is not very skilled at packing."
Yelena gasped in mock offense. "Betrayal!"
Wanda stuck out her tongue playfully. "What? Это правда."
"Why do I even hang out with you weirdos?" Nebula sighed, rolling her eyes skyward.
"I resent that." Yelena retorted. "I'm very normal, thank you very much."
Nebula scoffed. "Sure you are."
"I am!"
"Excuse me, everyone, can I have your attention please?" Natasha called loudly from her place at the front of the room, giving Yelena an irritated look.
"Such a poser." Yelena muttered loudly.
Natasha ignored her and turned to the rest of the Slytherins. "Okay, we're going to go down to the carriages now. Grab your trunks and follow me, please."
Natasha picked up her own trunk and opened the common room door, leading the rest of the Slytherins down to the front of the castle where the horseless carriages waited.
The other Houses were already waiting by the carriages, shivering in the wind. Thick snowflakes fell rapidly from the sky, covering the carriages and the grounds.
Yelena, Wanda, Loki, and Nebula found Pietro and Vision standing by one of the carriages.
"Finally! What took you so long?" Pietro asked indignantly, scowling at them as he rubbed his gloved hands together.
"It wasn't that long." Yelena retorted, opening the carriage door and hoisting herself up by the handle on the roof. She settled on one of the benches and set her trunk down by her feet.
"I can't feel my feet, we've been standing here so long." Pietro griped, shifting from one foot to the other as he waited for the others to get in the carriage.
Yelena shook her head. "Ты такой идиот. Why didn't you wear boots?"
"Sue me for thinking winter in Scotland would be a bit warmer than in Sokovia and Russia."
Wanda tsked and punched her twin lightly on the arm. "Я сказала тебе, что будет холодная погода!"
He responded in indignant Sokovian, making Wanda roll her eyes. "Well, that was not smart thinking."
"What do you expect? He's a boy." Nebula smirked.
"Hey!" Pietro, Loki, and Vision cried in unison.
"Pietro wouldn't survive a day without me." Wanda agreed, grinning.
"Rude!" Pietro sulked, hoisting himself up in the carriage, Wanda close behind him.
Wanda and Nebula sat down on Yelena's other side, and the boys settled on the other bench across from them. After everyone got in the carriages, they set off for the Hogsmeade train station.
They sat for a few moments in silence, enjoying the warmth of the carriage as it rattled along towards the village.
Pietro cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, anyone have plans?"
Loki shrugged. "My parents will likely have a large party on Christmas with many people. It's very boring, but at least there's good food, and Thor and I can usually escape and play Quidditch outside."
"My father does the same." Nebula said, staring out the window. "He invites his business associates and the house elves serve a five-course meal."
Pietro shivered. "Sounds depressing. Christmas is supposed to be for family, not dinner parties!"
"Tell that to Thanos." Nebula sneered.
"You guys should come over to our house tomorrow for Christmas!" Pietro declared, looking to Wanda for support.
She nodded and smiled in agreement. "Yes!"
Vision shrugged. "Sounds fun. My aunt and uncle are Jewish, so we don't celebrate Christmas."
Yelena nodded. "Russians celebrate Новый Год instead of Western Christmas. Orthodox Christmas is in January, but we're not really that religious so we don't do much to celebrate it."
"Great!" Pietro grinned. "Ask if you can come and send us an owl."
"Won't your guardian mind?" Loki asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
Wanda shook her head. "Nick always invites friends who don't have anywhere to go for Christmas. He won't mind."
The carriage came to a sudden stop right in front of the train station.
"I guess we're here." Yelena said, peering out of the window.
Pietro jumped up from his spot and opened the door. Yelena shivered as a gust of cold wind blew inside the carriage.
One by one they got out of the carriage, squinting to see through the thick snowfall. Weighed down by their heavy trunks, they shuffled towards the train. Pietro found an empty compartment towards the front of the train and led the way, the rest of them following as they dragged their trunks along.
By the time they had put away their trunks and settled in the compartment, the train was leaving the station with a final whistle.
Yelena pressed her face close to the window, watching the view of the village grow smaller and smaller as the train picked up speed.
Loki reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards.
"Anyone interested in a game of Exploding Snap?"
There was a chorus of agreement, and Loki began dealing the cards among the group.
The rest of the train ride passed quickly, with Exploding Snap and chocolate frogs from the trolley and competitions to see who could eat the most Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. By the time they arrived at Platform 9 ¾, their compartment was a mess of candy wrappers and singed playing cards.
They quickly tidied the compartment as the train pulled to a stop, stuffing candy wrappers in their coat pockets and brushing crumbs off the seats. They grabbed their trunks and headed towards the doors, waiting impatiently behind a couple of fifth years as the train doors opened with a hiss.
Yelena pushed past the fifth years and stepped off the train, looking around at the crowd of students and families. Behind her, the others looked just as overwhelmed, their heads swiveling around in confusion as they looked for their parents.
"Lenochka!"
Yelena turned at the sound of her father's voice and saw him jogging towards her, her mother following at a more sedate pace with a trolley.
Alexei smiled broadly and wrapped her in a tight bear hug, lifting her off the ground in his enthusiasm.
"Ah, we have missed you, малышка!"
"I've missed you too, Papa." Yelena said, her voice muffled by his coat.
He squeezed her tightly and then released her, ruffling her hair playfully.
"So, these must be your friends, да?"
Yelena nodded and gestured to the group.
"This is Pietro, Wanda, Loki, Vision, and Nebula."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Shostakov." Wanda said shyly.
"Ach, call me Alexei." He said, waving a hand dismissively.
"And this is my wife, Melina." He added as Melina took Yelena's trunk from her and secured it on the trolley.
"Привет, Mama." Yelena said, smiling. Melina pulled her into a brief hug and kissed the top of her head lovingly before releasing her.
She turned to Yelena's friends, looking them up and down for a long moment before smiling approvingly.
"It is a pleasure to meet friends Lenochka writes of so often."
Wanda blushed as Pietro and Vision smiled bashfully. Loki and Nebula just looked mildly smug.
"Where is Natka?" Alexi mused, looking out at the crowd of students.
"Ah, there she is. NATKA!" He bellowed loudly, making Yelena wince beside him.
"Papa, пожалуйста!"
Natasha made her way over to them, rolling her eyes fondly. "Hello to you too. I'll be as deaf as Clint at this rate, you know."
"Speak for yourself." Yelena muttered, rubbing her ears.
Natasha snorted and handed her trunk to Melina, giving Yelena's friends a smile.
"Hey guys."
"My girls, back together again!" Alexei said, sniffling loudly as he wrapped Natasha in a tight hug.
Yelena rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed, as she turned back to her friends.
"I guess I'll see you guys later."
"See you later."
"Bye guys!"
"Don't forget to ask about tomorrow!" Pietro called as they dispersed to find their own families.
Yelena flashed him a thumbs up before rejoining her family.
"Where is Clinton?" Melina asked, looking around the platform. "Once he is here we can go."
"He's coming, he just wants to say goodbye to Laura." Natasha rolled her eyes fondly.
"Laura, who is Laura?" Yelena asked.
"His new girlfriend." Natasha said, smirking. "They just got together and they're basically attached at the hip."
"Ah, that's my boy!" Alexei declared proudly. "Good for him!"
"Disgusting." Yelena gagged.
Natasha rolled her eyes again. "You're such a drama queen, Lena."
"No I'm not."
"Are too."
"Am not!"
"All right, enough." Melina interjected, giving them both a stern look.
Yelena opened her mouth to protest but was interrupted by Alexei's shout of glee upon seeing Clint.
"Clinton! My boy!"
"Hey Mr. Shostakov." Clint called, grinning ear to ear as he jogged up to them.
Alexei immediately lifted him off the ground in an enthusiastic bear hug, patting him roughly on the back before letting go.
Melina smiled and hugged Clint gently as Alexei blew his nose loudly.
"My children! So grown up, all of you."
"Can we go now?" Yelena asked, her nose wrinkled with disgust.
"Yes, yes, let's go." Melina took Clint's trunk and led the way out of the train station.
Alexei headed to the parking meter while the rest of them wrestled the trunks into the back of the Lada. Melina secured the trunks in place with several ropes and a sticking charm, looking around quickly to make sure there were no Muggles nearby.
Yelena scooped up her cat and Natasha picked up the owl cage, and they joined Clint in the cramped backseat. Beaming happily, Alexei took his place behind the wheel, Melina in the front seat next to him.
He turned the key and the Lada started with a shudder, the engine making a deafeningly loud whirring sound.
"Is it supposed to make that noise?" Yelena shouted.
"What?" Alexei asked loudly, adjusting the rear view mirror.
"I said, is it supposed to make that noise!"
"What?"
"That noise!"
"I cannot hear you, Lenockha, you'll have to speak up!" He shouted as he reversed out of the parking spot.
Natasha groaned from her spot in the middle seat. "Kill me now."
"Is Katya okay?" Clint yelled, leaning forward between the front seats in an attempt to make himself heard over the racket.
"Ah, Katya!" Alexei patted the steering wheel fondly as he pulled to a stop at the intersection. "Some engine problems lately, but nothing that could not be fixed."
"Are we sure it's fixed?" Natasha shouted, one eyebrow raised skeptically.
"Of course she is fixed! A little engine trouble won't stop this beauty!"
"Боже мой." Yelena rubbed her forehead, trying to stave off her splitting headache.
"At least it's only a half hour." Natasha said, sighing.
The sisters shared a resigned, commiserating look as Alexei started to retell the story of how he had found the Lada in a Russian junkyard.
"Do you know, Clinton, that she was abandoned there? Most beautiful car I have ever seen, and some Muggle threw her away like trash!"
Clint nodded, a polite smile on his face. "That's crazy, Mr. Shostakov."
"Yes! So you see, Clinton, I told junkyard owner I would buy her, and he gave her for free! Such a beautiful car, free!"
Yelena sighed and leaned against the car window, closing her eyes and trying to tune out the noise.
"Here we go again."
…
Yelena woke up on Christmas morning to Natasha's elbow in her stomach and Clint's foot in her back. They lay in a tangled pile on the couch where they had fallen asleep the night before while listening to the Wizarding radio.
Opening one eye, she spotted Alexei moving around in the kitchen, humming along to the music as he stirred a pot on the stovetop.
"Ughhhhh." Yelena groaned, sitting up and shoving Natasha's elbow aside. She stood up from the couch and rubbed her eyes wearily.
Clint stirred from his position on the couch, blinking blearily.
"Wha's goin' on?" He mumbled.
"Breakfast!" Alexei said enthusiastically, appearing in the living room with a grin. "Kasha is almost ready, come eat!"
Clint rubbed his eyes and squinted at Alexei in an attempt to read his lips. "What?"
Natasha sat up and yawned, tapping Clint on the shoulder to get his attention before signing something to him.
"Oh, breakfast." Clint nodded and gave Alexei a thumbs up.
"You come in five minutes, yes?" Alexei said, ruffling Yelena's hair affectionately before disappearing back into the kitchen.
Clint got up from the couch and started searching the living room for his hearing aid. Natasha rolled her eyes and picked it up from the floor next to her, waving it in Clint's direction. He turned around and grinned sheepishly, taking the hearing aid and putting it back in.
"Thanks."
"What would you do without me?" Natasha smirked.
"A question I ask myself every day." He teased, sticking his tongue out.
"Weirdos." Yelena muttered, heading towards the kitchen.
She took a seat at the table and watched as Alexei ladled the kasha into bowls. The back door opened and Melina entered the house, knocking the snow off her boots on the doormat. She took off her thick coat and hat and hung them up on the peg by the door.
"Pigs good this morning?" Alexei asked, setting a bowl of kasha in front of Yelena.
"Hm, yes." Melina kissed him gently and moved to the counter to grab her own bowl. "Piglets are growing very fast. May need to buy more feed soon."
"Will get tomorrow in town." Alexei promised, putting the other bowls on the table.
"Natka, Clinton!" He called, taking a seat next to Melina.
Natasha and Clint appeared in the kitchen a moment later, grinning and shoving each other playfully. Clint sprinted to the table and sat down next to Yelena, panting rapidly.
"I win!"
"You got lucky, Barton." Natasha retorted, sitting down on his other side.
"Admit it, I'm faster than you." Clint grinned mischievously.
"As if." Natasha scoffed.
"Some call me Hawkeye, 'cause I got the abilities of a hawk. Speed and sight."
"Are those people you?"
"I have never heard anyone call you that." Yelena agreed, taking a bite of kasha. Wrinkling her nose, she reached for the sugar and added a few heaping spoonfuls to her bowl.
"They do, okay?" Clint protested. "Lots of people call me that."
"In your dreams, birdboy." Natasha laughed, reaching for the honey and mixing it in with her kasha.
"Girls, girls. Do not bully Clinton." Melina admonished, taking Clint's bowl and adding some fruit to his kasha.
"Thanks, Ms. Vostokova." Clint smiled, taking the bowl back and digging in eagerly.
She tsked exasperatedly and ruffled his hair. "Oh, Clinton. How many times have I asked you to call me Melina?"
Yelena scoffed. "Favoritism. Blatant favoritism."
"Do not play favorites!" Alexei protested, offended. "Would never play favorites!"
Melina nodded, smiling fondly. "Love all equally."
Alexei puffed out his chest and beamed at the four of them. "I am happiest man. I have beautiful wife, wonderful son -"
"Not actually your son." Yelena interrupted, rolling her eyes.
"Loving daughters! I am truly luckiest man." Alexei finished, his eyes welling up with emotion. "Could not be prouder father, happier husband."
There was a moment of awkward silence as Alexei blew his nose noisily. Natasha and Yelena looked down at their bowls, embarrassed, as Clint blinked back a few tears of his own. Melina just smiled and continued eating, unaffected by her husband's emotional speech.
Clint cleared his throat and smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Shostakov. You guys have always been really good to me."
"You are family." Melina replied as Alexei blew his nose again, too overcome with emotion to speak. "No more of this Mr. and Mrs. nonsense, yes?"
Clint gave a watery smile. "Yeah."
"Can't get rid of us now, dumbass." Natasha said, shoving him playfully.
Yelena just sighed. "Anyway, can I go to Pietro and Wanda's today?" She asked, her mouth full of kasha.
"Lena, manners." Melina reproached.
"Please? They invited all of us over today to celebrate Christmas with them."
"If it's all right with your mother, it's all right with me." Alexei said, shrugging and wiping his face.
"Please, Mama?" Yelena begged.
Melina sighed. "I suppose. But do not stay too late. Take Floo back at eleven."
"I will." Yelena promised, grinning happily.
"Steve also invited us over this afternoon. Can Clint and I go?" Natasha asked.
"I don't see why not." Melina said as Alexei nodded in agreement. "But remember, tomorrow we go to town for Новый Год shopping."
"We won't forget." Natasha promised.
"Tomorrow there are also barn chores." Alexei said, reaching for the fruit. "Clinton, maybe you help me, we can try to fix snowblower?"
"No more using spells to fix Muggle equipment." Melina said, shaking her head.
"Melichka!" Alexei pouted.
"No, Alyosha. Always explosions, always something on fire. Muggle neighbors have too many questions already."
"Would be careful! Have learned new spell from the radio, could be -"
"NO!" His family cried in unison.
…
"You came!" Wanda said brightly, hugging Yelena as she stepped out of the fireplace.
Yelena smiled back, coughing and brushing some of the ash off her shirt.
"Are the others here yet?"
Wanda shook her head. "It's just me and Pietro. Vision said he would be here in half an hour, but I haven't heard back from Loki and Nebula yet."
Yelena followed Wanda to the kitchen, where Pietro and a tall man with an eyepatch were kneading some kind of dough on the countertop.
Pietro looked up as they entered the kitchen and grinned happily. "Lena! Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas." Yelena replied, looking curiously at the dough.
"We're making kolaches." Wanda explained, gesturing to the mess in the kitchen. "We used to make them on Christmas in Sokovia. They're Pietro's favorite food."
"It smells good." Yelena agreed.
"Anyway, introductions!" Pietro clapped his hands together. "Yelena, this is Nick Fury, our guardian. Nick, this is our friend Yelena Belova."
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Fury." Yelena said politely.
He laughed and winked at her conspiratorially. "Please, call me Nick. Wanda and Pietro will tell you that we don't really do formalities around here. I've heard a lot about you, Yelena."
Yelena opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by a sudden crash in the living room, followed by loud cursing.
"That would be Loki." Wanda smirked.
Yelena followed the others to the living room, where they saw Loki on the ground, covered in soot and surrounded by pieces of a broken vase.
"Are you all right, son?" Nick asked, offering him a hand. Loki begrudgingly took it and stood up, brushing some of the soot off his sleeves.
"I used too much Floo powder. I'm sorry about your vase, I'll replace it."
"Ah, don't worry about that." Nick waved his wand and repaired the vase with a simple spell. "Accidents happen. If I had a Galleon for every time Pietro broke something in this house, I'd be a millionaire."
"Hey!" Pietro clutched his chest in mock offense. "I'm not that bad."
Nick ruffled his hair playfully. "You're a disaster, kiddo."
There was a sudden whoosh and Nebula appeared in the fireplace. She stepped out onto the living room rug with a smirk, eyeing Loki's bedraggled appearance.
"Floo trouble?"
"Oh, do shut up." Loki retorted, glaring in her direction.
Nick chuckled. "You must be Nebula."
"The one and only." She responded, grinning. "Nice to meet you, sir."
"Call me Nick." He replied, waving a hand dismissively.
The fireplace lit up again and someone came crashing facedown onto the carpet.
"Boys." Yelena said, rolling her eyes as Nebula nodded in agreement.
"Hi, Vision." Wanda said, offering him a hand up.
"Sorry about the mess." Vision said apologetically, standing up and brushing the ash off his sweater.
Nick laughed and cleaned it up with a wave of his wand. "Don't worry about it. What do you say we finish those kolaches, huh?"
"Yeah!" Pietro said enthusiastically, leading the way back to the kitchen. "We're almost done kneading the dough, and then we can add the jam and bake it."
Nick relegated tasks to everyone, and within half an hour the kolaches were in the oven baking.
"Let's go build a snow fort!" Pietro suggested, looking outside at the snowy landscape with glee.
"A snow fort?" Loki asked skeptically.
"Yeah! When it's done we can use it as a base for a snowball fight."
Yelena shrugged. "I'm in."
"Me too." Nebula added as Vision nodded.
Loki sighed. "Fine. But if we're having a snowball fight, I want to be captain."
"Deal." Pietro looked at the others. "Should we do boys against girls? Who's your captain?"
"Me." Yelena said, looking to Nebula and Wanda for approval, who nodded.
Nick smiled and ruffled Wanda's hair. "Looks like you guys have a plan. I'll keep an eye on the kolaches, they'll be ready soon so just come on in when you're ready for a snack."
Pietro grinned. "Cool! Let's go!"
They all rushed to put on their winter boots and coats before running out of the house. Yelena, Wanda, and Nebula started on one snow fort and the boys started building another snow fort on the other side of the backyard. Each team built a small wall to hide behind and made a supply of snowballs before they started the fight.
The teams were fairly evenly matched in strength and skill. Pietro and Yelena both tended to throw themselves into the fray with abandon, chucking snowballs wildly in every direction before sprinting back to safety. Wanda and Vision were a little more hesitant, choosing to stay behind in the fort and throwing snowballs from farther away. They had the disadvantage of being farther away from their opponents, but they were also more accurate, since Pietro and Yelena didn't aim much at all. Nebula and Loki were more cunning players, choosing to sneak towards the other fort and hide until they saw an opportune moment to strike.
Finally, after several hours the two teams decided to call a truce and headed into the house. Yelena's fingers were freezing and her clothes were drenched, so she was only too happy to go back into the warm house.
Nick dried their clothes with a warming spell and they all settled in the living room, eating kolaches and listening to Christmas music on the radio. They played game after game of Exploding Snap and Wizard's chess, and Nick made turkey and mashed potatoes for dinner, with gingerbread cookies for dessert.
After dinner they slowly started to disperse. Nebula and Loki had to go home at nine, and Vision left a little over an hour later. At eleven, Yelena reluctantly got up from the couch and yawned.
"I guess I should go home. I promised my mom I'd go back at eleven."
"Okay." Pietro yawned, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
Wanda hugged Yelena goodbye, smiling. "Bye, Lena."
"Bye guys. Thanks for inviting me."
Nick offered Yelena the box of Floo powder, and she took a handful before stepping into the fireplace.
"I'll see you later!"
"Bye!" Wanda and Pietro waved tiredly.
"Shostakov cabin!" Yelena shouted, throwing the Floo powder into the flames. The fireplace spun around her rapidly before spitting her out onto the floor of her parents' kitchen.
Melina smiled from her place at the kitchen table. "Hello, малышка. Did you have fun?"
Yelena got up from the ground and brushed the soot off her jeans.
"Yeah. This was the best day ever."
