"Vera, are you okay?" Albus asked. I jumped guiltily at the sound of him setting down his cup.

"Huh? Oh…yeah. Fine." I muttered distractedly, my eyes staring around the hall at nothing in particular.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Are you alright?"

"Noth – I mean yeah I'm fine."

"If you're fine then why are you acting so shifty?"

"Oh look, the post owls are here." I said, disregarding his question. Ella fluttered down to me and held out her leg to which a scroll was tied. I pulled it off and handed her a piece of my bacon. I opened the letter and read,

Dearest Vera,

Your father and I are quite well. Thank you for inquiring.

The necklace is beautiful isn't it? I was admiring it while your father was talking to a store clerk and I knew it was fit to be worn by a Malfoy. It belonged to ancient Egyptian princess. And yes we are abroad. Your father and I had business to attend to here. Oh, and we won't be back for a while so you'll have to stay at school over Christmas.

Keep up your good grades. The Malfoys have a valuable reputation to uphold regarding academics, and we would like that to continue.

Be sure to secure your spot as head girl. I did, and I found the experience quite lovely. Plus you being Head Girl would give your father and me something to be proud of.

Your mother,

Mrs. Asteria Greengrass-Malfoy

I rolled up the letter. As usual, my mother had nothing interesting to say. I looked over at Al. He had received a much longer letter and was still reading it.

Dear Albus,

Glad to hear you are doing well. Your father and I always enjoyed our time at Hogwarts and we still treasure it. Tell your friend Vera congratulations for me. I really hope to meet her sometime soon. Let me know how your first match goes, will you?

Don't worry. I know first hand what it's like to have a pig-headed brother. If your brother is being a daft prick, keep telling him off. I know it'll penetrate his thick skull eventually. I was never a huge fan of the Malfoys personally, or any of those ancient pureblood families to be frank. But you're right, they haven't been involved in anything for a good twenty some years, and I'm willing to believe that they are trying to turn over a new leaf. Dumbledore, your namesake, always believed in looking for the best in people.

Congrats on your "E." You and your brother are already showing up your dad and me in marks. Make sure to thank Rose. Give her a chocolate frog or something. And don't tell your Uncle Ron she and Scorpion get along. I'll have to hear an hours rant about "fraternizing with the enemy." And that's nothing compared to what he'll do to Rose. Your uncle can also be a prick too if you ask me.

I'm glad your sister is living up to my reputation with the Bat-Bogey Hex. It's a proud day for mothers everywhere when their daughters can hex obnoxious gits into oblivion. Make sure you and James aren't too over-bearing. I also know personally how annoying that is.

Prefect duty sounds horrid. I'd much rather sleep than walk around being Percy. But don't tell him I said that. I do envy their bathrooms though.

Mum

Dear Al,

Hogwarts is always fun. Pass my congratulations on to your friend Vera, won't you? I'm so proud of you and James for being such key members of the team. Your mum and I were on it when we were at school. We had some great times.

Oh and don't call your brother names. He's just a little thick sometimes. And no, the Malfoys haven't been involved in anything recently. However there are other things brewing. Narcissa Malfoy saved my life that day I fought Lord Voldemort. I'll never forget that. And Draco was never evil, no matter how much he wishes he was.

I'm glad Rose found someone who makes her happy, but as your mother said, DON'T TELL RON. Congrats on your "E." That's about as good as I ever did in Charms. I think you and your brother and sister are already outsmarting your mum and me.

Make sure you keep looking out for Lily.

I once wanted to be prefect. It might've been fun but I'm glad to know I didn't miss anything. I did quite fancy the bathroom though.

Your dad,

Harry

P.S. Albus, ignore your father. If your brother is being a prick, commence with the name-calling. And don't smother your little sister.

P.S.S. Ginny, don't undermine me in front of the children. And DO keep a close eye on your sister.

P.S.S.S. You undermined me first Harry! There nothing wrong with throwing around a few choice words every once in a while. It's not healthy to keep things bottled up.

P.S.S.S.S I'm not telling him to keep things bottled up. You should express yourself. But it's possible to express yourself TOO much.

P.S.S.S.S.S Are you trying to say something, Harry?

P.S.S.S.S.S.S. No of course not. I love your temper. And I love you.

P.S.S.S.S.S.S.S. Aww, I love you too. Bye Al!

P.S.S.S.S.S.S.S.S. Bye son!

I chuckled as I reached the end of the letter,

"Those are quite the parents you have, Al." I said, forgetting my previous nervousness.

"Yeah…" Said Al, smiling down at the parchment. "But what did he mean by…"

"I don't know." I had been wondering the same thing. I stared at the sentence in the middle of the paragraph about my family that Mr. Potter had scratched out. 'However, there are other things brewing.' What other things was he talking about? Was something wrong?

Albus, seeming untroubled by the letter, folded it up and tucked it into his robes.

"What do you wanna do today?"

"I dunno. Homework?"

He sighed. "I s'pose that's best."

We got up and exited the Great Hall. I had one foot on the spiral staircase when someone behind me yelled,

"Hey! Vera! Wait up!" I froze at the sound of Donovan's voice. "Hey." He said again, grabbing my wrist and turning me to face him. He gave me a kiss that seemed to last forever, though it could only have been a few seconds. "Fancy a walk in the grounds?" He asked, pulling away.

"Er…I'd love to. But Al and I were just going down to visit Hagrid." I said on a whim, grabbing Albus' arm and preparing to pull him back around to face the doors.

"I see. Well I wouldn't want to intrude on that. Perhaps dinner this evening?"

"Uh, well we have a lot of homework tonight."

"Alright, Monday?"

"Prefect duty."

"Tuesday? Wednesday? Thursday? Friday?"

"Quidditch practice. Prefect duty. Quidditch practice. Prefect duty."

"Alright. Saturday?"

"I'm all yours."

He beamed at this, banishing the frustration that had been growing on his brow during our conversation.

"Until then." He kissed me again and then took off up the spiral staircase. I could feel the guilt creeping up my spine again and I watched him go.

"So it's something to do with Don? Your preoccupation." Albus interrupted.

"What? Huh? No. Of course not. We're fine."

"Then why are you making him work for a date?"

"I'm not. Now come on. We're going to Hagrid's."

"You meant that? I thought you were just trying to blow off Donovan."

"Drop it. Let's go." I began walking and had pushed through the double doors by the time Albus caught up with me.

"Vera. Something's bothering you. You know you can talk to me about it."

"I know. I just don't want to."

Albus looked extremely hurt at this but perked up almost immediately. "So you admit that something's wrong."

"No. I never said…damn you Potter and your word tricks."

He smiled gleefully. "Ha! So tell me."

"No."

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"TELL ME!"

"NO!"

"Fine." Said Albus, folding his arms. "I'll just have to guess then. Did he…give you a present on an ex-girlfriends birthday?"

"No."

"Did he kiss someone else?"

"No."

"Do you just not like him anymore?"

"No."

Albus drifted off into thought for several moments before returning with a gasp. "Did you two – "

"Ew, no." I said, reading his thoughts.

"Then what?"

"I told you: I don't want to talk about it." We were at Hagrid's door now. I reached up and knocked three times.

"Alright. But I'll get it out of you eventually."

November 1st saw the first real snowstorm of the year. Quidditch practice became a miserable affair as the harsh wind and sleet froze every member of the Gryffindor team to his or her broom. Teachers continued to pile on homework, seemingly under the impression that their students had nothing better to do than sit around twiddling their thumbs. With Quidditch practice, prefect duty, and homework I found I didn't get to bed until at least midnight every weekday. However the bright side of all this was that I wasn't expected to spend very much time in Donovan's presence. I hung out with him on the weekends, which did nothing to calm my confused and swirling thoughts about James Potter. Don seemed entirely oblivious to my lack of desire for him, but he was unique in that respect. Albus continued to badger me about throughout the month of November about my relationship with Donovan. Sometimes he would put the question to me at random times in the day, as if trying to surprise me into answering. No answer was forthcoming however as we moved into December.

I was sitting in the drafty library on one such occasion on December 5th, pouring over my copy of Advanced Potion Making and trying to comprehend the laws of ever-lasting elixirs for my exam the next day when Albus plopped down beside me.

"So what's up with you and Don?"

"Hello to you too, Albus."

"Oh come on." He whined irritably. "I tell you everything. Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do Al. It has nothing to do with me trusting you. It's just I don't want to talk about it." I explained for what felt like the hundredth time. Before Al could muster a response, Alex pulled up a seat next to him.

"Vera!" His eyes were panicked. "Do you understand this at all?" He was clutching his copy of Advanced Potion Making.

"Not really. Do you Al?"

"Nah. I had James explain it to me but it's still over my head."

"Where's James?" Alex demanded.

"In the common room with his next victim."

"I'm pretty sure her name is Katie." Alex said, affronted on Katie's behalf.

"Eh. They're usually gone so fast I don't really take time to learn their names. It's always something like Ashley or Brittany or Olivia anyways."

Alex rolled his eyes and walked away.

"It's something to do with James." Albus realized suddenly, turning back to look at my pink cheeks. "Did he do something to you? I'll kill him. I swear I will – "

"No it has nothing to do with James." I lied. It had everything to do with James. Albus had slipped back into thought, completely ignoring me.

"So it has to do with Don and it has something to do with James. Hmmm…"

I let him run with that thought and turned my attention back to my potions book. After about ten minutes of silence Albus said,

"So what is the big, happy Malfoy family doing this Christmas?"

"Nothing. Did I forget to tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"My parents are abroad until the New Year. I'm spending the break here."

"Abroad where?"

I opened my mouth to respond but stopped. My mother had mentioned that the gift she had given me was Egyptian, so I naturally assumed that was where my parents were. But now that I thought about it, I realized she had never specifically mentioned where they had "business" to attend to.

"I actually don't know." I replied to the waiting Albus.

"Shame. I was really looking forward to seeing the Malfoy Family Christmas card this year."

"I continue to deny the existence of any past, present, or future Malfoy Christmas cards." I lied again.

"I'll see it one day, mind you. You can't hide that kind of blackmail from me forever. Don't forget, I'm part Weasley."

"How could I forget? I get three Christmas cards from you lot every year. I have to set them up like a panorama to see the full picture."

"Hey! I'm proud to have twenty something cousins!"

"As well you should be, Potter."

We lapsed into silence again. I had given up on potions and moved on to the section I was supposed to read for Charms.

"I just had an idea!" Said Albus, perking up in the characteristic Albus Potter way.

"I'll write the Daily Prophet. It should be front page news."

He scowled at me and continued, "You should come spend Christmas at my house!"

To this I actually laughed. "Come off it Albus. Can you picture the look on your brother's face if I turned up for Christmas?"

"No, no, no that's the best part. You would both be there and if he said anything rude to you, mum would jinx his mouth shut." Albus seemed positively giddy about this concept. "I'm going to write home right now! Seeya Vera!"

"No Albus don't – " He had already raced out of the library gleefully. I shook my head, smiling in spite of myself, and returned to my book.

A week later, while I was sitting at the Gryffindor table during breakfast, nodding idly at a story Donovan was telling me and eating a piece of bacon, Albus' auburn owl, Ares fluttered down in front of me. He stuck his leg out at me insistently, offering me a tightly furled piece of parchment.

"Uh…Albus isn't here." I told him. He continued to hold his leg out. "Er, alright."

I untied the scroll and looked down at it. On the top were the words,

Vera Malfoy

Great Hall

Gryffindor Table

Hogwarts

Confused, I broke the seal and read the letter. It said,

Hello Vera,

No, Ares has not made a mistake. I am writing to you. In his most recent letter, Albus confided that you were planning on spending your Christmas holidays at Hogwarts. I agreed with him that this is unacceptable. So my husband and I would like to formally invite you to our home for the duration of the Christmas and New Year holidays. We understand you are a lovely girl, and would be honored if you graced us with your presence.

Sincerely,

Ginny Potter

P.S. Albus also mentioned that my eldest son, James, harbors something of a dislike for you. I would like to assure you however that if he behaves like an arsehole while you are here I will, at Albus' suggestion, jinx his mouth shut.

I felt tears of happiness brimming in my eyes as I reached the end of the letter. I was touched by Mr. and Mrs. Potter's overwhelming generosity, so much so that I knew I could not refuse the invitation. I borrowed a quill and parchment from Don and wrote,

Dear Mrs. Potter,

Thank you so much for your invitation. I would be honored to join you and your family for the Christmas holidays.

Thank you very much,

Vera Malfoy