The Sunday after their Hogsmeade trip had flown by as children packed their things to return home for the holidays. Monday morning, everyone boarded the train, said their goodbye to their friends, and met with their families on the platform of 9 ¾. Unlike her previous years when her parents came to get her, her brother wasn't with them this time. Her heart dropped in her chest but she gave her parents a big smile.

"Hello!" Her mother embraced her in a hug and Jade hugged her back even though all that was currently on her mind was where her brother was. "How are you?"

"Good." Jade stretched her lips in a tight smile and her mother looked down at her for a second.

"Rodrick will be here tomorrow morning." She told her and Jade nodded.

"Where is he now?"

"He got the job at St. Mungo's!" Her father smiled proudly, "He moved out a little while after that."

"No, I mean right now, at this moment."

"Oh, probably working." Her mother answered and turned, signaling that it was time to leave. It was late afternoon by the time the train had come into the station and it was getting dark quickly.

"He works all day long?" Jade pushed.

"Sometimes. I know it gets to him, not being able to properly rest some days, but he loves it."

"Did you speak to him to see if one of those days was today?" Jade asked and her father gave her a look.

"No, I haven't."

"Have you, mother?"

"Yes! I told him you would be coming home today." Her mother continued at a brisk pace.

"And?"

"And he said he would see us tomorrow."

"Is something wrong, dear?" Her father placed a hand on her shoulder and Jade slowed down.

"I was there for all his arrivals and departures to Hogwarts, He can't be bothered to show up when it's my turn?"

"Jade, that's not the case at all. It's not like he's uninterested, he's hard at work."

"He was upset he'd miss you tonight so he's coming early tomorrow morning." Her mother chimed in and Jade relaxed slightly, no longer feeling completely abandoned by her brother. It was something small, just welcoming her home for the holidays, Jade couldn't ask her brother to be home whenever she was, especially now that he had a job and a place of his own. But she wanted to. This was one of the few moments where she was angry at her parents for having them differ so much in age. "Come on, I've got one of your favorites waiting for you at home." Amelia tried to cheer her daughter up. She knew Jade would be upset that her brother wasn't there so her mother tried to go over the top to make up for it.

"Which one?" Jade's interest peaked.

"It's a surprise."

"I hate surprises."

"You won't hate this one."

When Jade walked through the door to her house, a wave of serenity washed over her. It felt good to be home. She was trying not to focus on the fact that her brother wasn't there, she was still expecting him to come down the stairs or look up from his book as he lounged on the couch. But that wasn't the case. It was silent. Jade looked to the corner of the living room where Willie's stand sat alone and empty.

"Where's Willie?" She asked.

"Rodrick took him." Her mother called as she hurried into the kitchen.

"Should've guessed that," Jade mumbled to herself, she grabbed her bags of gifts from her father and took them upstairs to her room. As she set the bags down at the end of her bed she paused for a second. She left her room and went a bit further down the hall to stop at her brother's bedroom, his door was closed. Jade felt a tug in her chest, his door was never closed, it was always open. She remembered times when he was listening to music loudly or Willie was hooting obnoxiously and she yelled for him to close his door but he never did. Her fingers reached for the doorknob, the metal cool against the tip of her fingers.

"Jade!" Her mother called for her and her hand dropped.

"Coming!" She made her way down the hall and downstairs to find her mother in the kitchen with a bowl of pudding and a spoon waiting for her.

"There's more for tomorrow but I thought it would be okay if you had a little tonight."

"Thanks, but I'm not really hungry," Jade told her mother and her smile faltered.

"You always have room for pudding." She said, not as cheery as she had been previously.

"No, I can't wait to have some tomorrow!" Jade tried to please her mother. "I just ate already on the train."

"Oh okay."

"Thank you, though." Jade then turned around and made her way back up the stairs. She turned to go into her room but then went to her brother's room instead and pushed open his door. At least nothing in his room had changed. She stripped off her jacket and hat and crawled under her brother's blankets. Her brother would be here tomorrow so she just wanted to go to sleep to make the time go faster. Jade didn't know why it was bothering her so much. She just missed him.

She was woken up the next morning by something tickling her face. When she opened her eyes her vision was obscured by hair that had fallen into her face.

"You're a heavy sleeper." She heard a deep voice say and she quickly brushed the hair out of her face and sat up. She looked towards the door but someone caught her attention in the chair at her brother's desk.

"Rodrick!" She smiled and fumbled out of bed to jump on her brother. Rodrick caught her with a grunt.

"Have you been gaining weight?" He asked her and just like that Jade pushed Rodrick away and glared at him. "I'm kidding."

"I missed you." She told her brother.

"I missed you too."

"No, I no longer miss you. I'm just letting you know that I did." Rodrick laughed at this and Jade fought against a smile. Rodrick squinted at her. "What?"

"What's that thing around your neck?" Jade looked down and turned the jeweled snake around so it was facing the right way.

"A snake."

"Pretty." Jade went to the mirror above his dresser and tried to fix her hair.

"Thank you." She was still in her clothes from last night and knew she'd have to change into something more formal. Rodrick was already dressed in a nice button-down shirt and dress pants, ready for the annual Christmas photo.

"Where'd you get it?"

"It was a birthday present."

"Did you get my birthday present?" Rodrick asked and Jade nodded.

"Yes, thank you. I've been reading it whenever I'm having trouble falling asleep."

"Ouch." He grinned. Rodrick had gotten her a book on healing magic and how it was used in hospitals. Jade made her way to her bedroom and Rodrick followed closely behind. "Who was that from?" He asked.

"Draco." She told him as she made her way into her closet.

"Ah, I should've known." Jade paused and looked back at her brother sitting on the edge of her bag, sneakily trying to glance inside them. Jade walked over to him and moved the bags to the corner of the room.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jade asked as she skimmed through her dress options.

"Nothing. He just always gets you very… nice things." Jade rolled her eyes as she picked out a slimming black dress with a diamond neckline that stopped a few inches above her knees.

"We all get each other very nice things." She told him as she came out of her closet to look at herself in the mirror. "Speaking of I need to send them their gifts today."

"Don't wear that one." He grimaced at the dress in her hands.

"Why not?" She asked,

"It's too…. adult." Jade looked over the dress and completely disagreed.

"Are you joking?"

"Fine ask dad." She laughed.

"No, I'll ask mum." Her mother was the one who was picky about these things anyway.

"Ask me what?" Her mother backpedaled to in front of Jade's door and looked between the two of them.

"Rodrick doesn't like my dress." Her mother came in and took the dress in her hands.

"Oh no, I think it's lovely. But put your hair up, dear." Her mother was glammed out and ready for the family picture and she spotted the bags in the corner. "Do you want me to take those down for you?"

"Sure, thank you. No peeking!" She called after her mother.

"What'd you get your friends?" He asked as Jade went into her closet to change.

"Well, Draco secured a spot on the quidditch team for Blaise for next year so I both got them something quidditch related. Pansy's a bit materialistic so I got her some accessories and I got Theo a nice elegant cloak for winter. Gretta was easy, I just got her a shit ton of sweets since she couldn't go to Hogsmeade this year."
"Hey!" Her brother objected from the other side of the door and Jade opened it a few minutes later in her new outfit.

"What?"

"Watch the language."

"Watch the language." She mimicked her brother.

"Seriously, don't let father hear you talking like that."

"Will do. Are you ready?" Jade made her way out of her room and started down the stairs.

"Yeah, Jade, hang on a second." Her brother called after her but Jade had stopped at the bottom of the steps to find a young woman with blonde hair smiling down at her.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" The question fell out of Jade's mouth and immediately her mother corrected her.

"Jade!" Her mother hissed. Her brother came down by her side and placed a hand gently on her lower back.

"Jade, this is Maeve."

"Who?" Jade asked again.

"My girlfriend." Jade glared up at the girl.

"What is she doing here?" She asked.

"Well, she wanted to meet everyone."

"Pleasure meeting you, Maeve. But we're about to begin a family Christmas." Jade smiled sweetly, the girl, Maeve, looked taken aback for a second but then readjusted her posture.

"Jade Isabella!" Her father's voice was strong and clipped, another warning, but Jade could feel a strong heat rising from her stomach into her throat.

"Hey, look, I know it's always just been us but I wanted her to meet you." Her brother told her quietly and Jade's burning eyes turned on him.

"Yeah, no, I heard you the first time, I met her, and now if you would excuse me." Jade turned around and went right back up to her room where the presents for her friends sat in her closet where she had kept them separately so she didn't get them mixed up. She had left Ezekiel at Hogwarts for Hagrid to take care of during the break so she didn't know how she would get her presents to her friends. Pansy didn't live too far away. It would be a walk, a long walk, but it was doable. Carrying her bags would slow her down and then Jade stopped to think for a moment. She didn't want to just barge in and interrupt her friend's Christmas with her family. Pansy might be grateful for it, Jade had never met Pansy's parents before.

"Jade!" Her brother called for her and she popped her head out to find him waiting at her bedroom doorway. She left her closet with her friends' gifts in her hands. "What are you doing?"

"I have to get these to my friends." She spoke after a few seconds debating if she should speak to him at all.

"Right now?"

"Yes." She snapped back.

"And how will you do that?" Jade remembered her mother usually sent off the larger presents through their floo and the smaller ones through Ezekiel.

"Floo."

"Okay, we can wait until you're done and then start opening gifts." He told her and Jade shook her head.

"No, I'm going to Pansy's. I'll use her floo. She's been wanting me to meet her parents." Jade told him and tried to get past him but he blocked her way.

"Parkinson's? No, why would you need to go there? We're about to start Christmas."

"Well, you don't give a shit about our traditions so why should I?" She narrowed her eyes at her brother and he clenched his jaw as he looked down at the floor.

"I know you're angry-"
"I'm not, honestly, I don't care." She tried to walk past him again but he caught her wrist in the hallway.

"Jade, stop, please." She dropped her gifts with a loud thud and turned on her brother.

"You're the one with the bright idea of bringing your girlfriend to Christmas. Sod off. You probably have spent more time with her while I've been away at school than you have with me in years!"

"That's not my fault." He told her.

"No, it's not. But I should at least be able to spend the holidays with you. You're my brother! You have no idea how much I miss you. How much I can't wait to come home and spend the little time I can with you." Jade wasn't one to really talk about how she was feeling but the heat that had risen into her throat tightened and was pulsing to break out.

"Jade, I promise-"

"Would you two cut it out?" Her mother came behind her and hissed quietly at them. "Jade, Maeve is our guest and she's important to Rodrick so you will behave and welcome her into our home."

"Come on, you-"

"It was not a choice!" Her mother's voice rose quickly to a high pitch and Jade stopped in her tracks. The thing her mother and father hated the most was embarrassment, and Jade was embarrassing them right now. Jade took a deep breath and pushed down the urge to completely let go and go off on the small woman downstairs and leave her family to go to Pansy's. Finally, she nodded and her mother let out a sigh. "What are these?" Her mother looked down at the bags at Jade's feet.

"Gifts. For my friends." At that moment, Jade was regretting coming home for the holiday. She could bet that she would have had a better time at Hogwarts, she would spend her time with Ron, Hermione, and Harry. As the day went on, the thought became truer and truer with each passing hour. Her mother sent off her gifts to the appropriate people and then they all took turns opening their own. Her family was happy with what she'd gotten them and she thanked everyone who got her something. Even Maeve, who had gotten her a maroon scarf that she said she handmade herself.

"Were you in Gryffindor?" Jade asked.

"No, Ravenclaw." Maeve smiled.

"Did you think I was in Gryffindor?"

"No, Rodrick told me you were in-"

"Slytherin." Jade finished and Maeve nodded. Her father was shooting her a look. "Thank you, it's very soft."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it." Maeve relaxed. I didn't say I liked it. Jade felt the quick reply on her tongue but she thought better and kept her mouth shut. They took their family picture and her mother had asked Maeve to take it this year, they had to do it a few times because Jade looked angry in most of them but finally her mother settled on one. When it came time for dinner, Jade sat alone on one side of the table while her mother and father were at the heads and her brother and Maeve were on the other side.

"How are your friends?" Jade's mother asked like she always did. Jade nodded as she poked her fork into a pile of mashed-up yams.

"They're good."

"How's Blaise?" Her mother asked for more detail. Her mother really liked Blaise and his mother, they'd gotten together a few times over the summer.

"He's good. He'll be playing quidditch with Draco next year." Jade looked up from her plate to see her mother's gentle smile.

"I didn't think Blaise liked quidditch."

"He enjoys watching it. I feel like if he didn't have any interest in playing he would've said something to Draco."

"Draco?" Maeve's sweet voice sounded. "Lucius Malfoy's son?"

"Yes?" Jade looked at Maeve, fighting the desire to glare at her.

"That's the boyfriend, right?" She asked her brother quietly and Jade let a nasty look slip through.

"No. He's my friend. Just my friend." She had started speaking at Maeve but ended it staring at Rodrick.

"See the necklace he got her?" Rodrick smirked and pointed with his knife. Rodrick was attempting to lighten the mood but Jade had heard enough about the boyfriend joke from her family.

"It was a birthday gift. A much better one than yours." Jade spit at him and her father cleared his throat loudly. "You know, because he actually cares about what I like and what I might be interested in instead of trying to push what he thinks is better onto me."

"Who else did you get gifts from, Jade?" Her mother asked, trying to turn the conversation, she was good at it. Jade was more than happy to share about her friends. She tried to lay it out for them, about how her friends knew her better than they did, about how they genuinely enjoyed having her as a friend. A choice they made and not a bond that was forced on them through blood.

"Gretta Montgomery, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Draco Malfoy." She went on. "Fred and George Weasley, they're twins, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter-"

"The Harry Potter?" Maeve asked.

"Yes."

"What's he like?"

"He's great. Funny, determined, a good friend. He actually got hurt during the last quidditch game and still came to see me for my birthday even when Madam Pomfrey told him he had to stay in the hospital."

"He was in the Hospital? What happened?" Her mother asked,

"The weather during the match was absolutely dreadful, you could barely see anything. But what got him was the dementors."
"Dementors?" Her father asked.

"Yeah, they're at the school in case Sirius Black comes around, and he did!" Jade went on.

"What do you mean?" Her mother asked, her posture changed, she went a bit stiff as she tried to lean in casually.

"One night we all had to sleep in the Great Hall because Sirius Black had broken into the Gryffindor Common Room looking for Harry."

"What happened next?" Her brother asked,

"Dumbledore, along with the staff and Prefects, did rounds around the castle but they didn't find anything. I told you about it, mother." Jade gestured towards her mum and her father looked at her.

"I heard nothing about this." Jade paused, why wouldn't her mother have told her father?

"Oh." Jade could feel the awkward dinner take another shift and now it was no longer targeted at her. She didn't mean to, it was unintentional but her mother leaned back in her chair and ignored her father's eyes as dinner went on. The day felt very long and when it came time to go to bed she was glad her brother was wishing Maeve a good night and that he would be staying with them for the remainder of her break. Jade left her parents and brother to return to her room where she found a dark large owl scratching at her large french windows.

"Hunter?" She questioned. She had only seen Draco's owl a few times but she found a letter tied around Hunter's leg with the Malfoy crest stamped into the wax keeping it closed. "May I?" She asked the bird and he stood very still as she gently untied the letter. Hunter then flew up to sit on Jade's desk. "What?" She asked him before sitting down at the desk and reading the letter. Draco had thanked her for his gift, he said it was just what he wanted. He hoped she was having a good beginning to her break and he went on about how his mother would like to meet her and her parents like his father had last year before ending the letter with his warmest regards. Now she knew why Hunter was still here, he was waiting for the reply. Jade told him about Maeve and how today was the worst Christmas she had had yet. She told him it would be fun to meet his mom and that they would have to set something up for the summer. She sent Hunter off with her letter and peeled the dress off of her before changing into pajamas and falling onto her bed.