I awoke early Christmas morning to an empty room - the others had already left for the holidays. I removed the Silencing Charm I had placed over my bed and got dressed. It was the first spell I had made sure to master; still plagued by violent nightmares of my parents' death, I couldn't risk my dorm-mates overhearing my talking in my sleep. The common room was deserted and quiet as a grave which I didn't mind in the slightest. I grabbed my bag and headed out to the headmaster's office.

"Happy Christmas, Unc… Professor Dumbledore" I corrected myself quickly before handing him a small square red package tied with a green and gold ribbon. I had made it a point to call Aunt Minerva and Uncle Albus by their title as Professors now that I was a student, although old habits were proving hard to break behind closed doors. He smiled gently at me in response before unwrapping it, lifting a pair of purple woollen socks with small golden moons on it.

"One can never have enough socks, right?" I teased lightly.

He chuckled and thanked me before handing me a square box.

I opened it to find a beautiful silver locket nestled within.

"It was your mother's" he said, his blue eyes twinkling kindly.

I gingerly lifted it up, running my fingers lovingly over the Montaine family crest etched onto its surface. I opened the locket to find a picture of my parents and my three year old self laughing and running in the snow. I was barely aware of the tear that escaped down my cheek.

"I don't deserve it" I whispered brokenly.

"Ahh, but you do" he insisted. "You have and always will be, first and foremost their daughter, no matter what or who tries to tell you otherwise. Your parents loved you very much"

I nodded dumbly, not trusting myself to speak.

"On another note, I understand that the dungeons can be a rather cold and depressing place during the winter. For that, you are more than welcome to return to your old residence adjoining Professor McGonagall's office or mine for the holidays, if you'd like"

As I had not been officially enrolled as a student in Hogwarts, I was not allowed to stay in the student dormitories before this. Instead, Aunt Minerva had fashioned my room from her own office with an Undetectable Extension Charm. Uncle Albus had made one for me, extending from his own after finding me asleep there countless times talking to Fawkes or pouring over the numerous interesting trinkets and books he kept in his office.

"Thank you, I'd like that very much"

…

Later that morning, I sat in the Great Hall alone, my breakfast untouched on the table before me as I stared at the happy trio moving in my locket. After leaving the headmaster's office I had gone to hand Aunt Minerva her present – a small vase of flowers for her desk, charmed to bloom all year round, receiving a foldaway telescope from her in return.

Ron and Harry entered a moment later with Fred, George and a reluctant Percy in tow, all wearing identical sweaters in different colours. After exchanging Christmas greetings, I handed each of them their presents – a large box of Chocolate Frogs each for Ron and Percy, Quidditch gloves for Harry and a 'Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts' book for Fred and George. I had already given Hermione hers before she'd gone home for the holidays – an enchanted self-inking quill.

To my surprise I had also gotten a Christmas gift from Mrs Weasley, apparently the twins had been telling her about me whenever they wrote home. It was likely that she had recognised my name, being in the Order she must've known about my parents too though I kept that bit to myself. My very own Weasley jumper as they called it, was a lovely grey with a golden A on it.

We spent the rest of the day together, having a snowball fight, playing Wizards Chess, eating and merrymaking. It was the best Christmas I had had in a long time.

…

It was after the holidays one evening that I was sneaking into the Gryffindor common room with Fred and George when I overheard a familiar voice whispering excitedly, "I never thought to look in here! I got this out of the library for a bit of light reading"

"That's light reading?" another recognisable voice asked.

I signalled for the twins to go on without me while I crept up behind the trio and peered over their heads as Hermione was hurriedly flipping the pages of an enormous book.

"What are you lot looking for anyways?" I said suddenly, causing all three to jump in their seats.

"Oh, it's just you, Ari"

"You scared us"

"And how did you get in here?"

"Fred and George" I answered simply before raising an eyebrow suspiciously at their edginess. "What funny business are you up to now?"

"Remember that trapdoor we told you about? The one guarded by the three-headed dog named Fluffy?"

"Well, we know that whatever that thing is guarding is somehow related to Nicolas Flamel, but we've been having some trouble finding more information"

"You mean the alchemist?" I enquired and the trio stared at me dumbfounded, even Hermione who had stopped flipping pages.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What do you know about Nicolas Flamel?"

"Not much really, just what I've read about before. He's the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, which he uses to make an elixir for immortality for himself and his wife"

"We could've just asked Ari in the first place" Ron moaned.

"You don't honestly think they'd keep something as valuable as the Philosopher's Stone in Hogwarts do you?" I enquired dubiously.

"Why not? It's the safest place there is with Dumbledore around"

"And we know Snape wants to get his hands on it"

"That's ridiculous, he's a Hogwarts teacher" I dissented.

"Who used to be in leagues with You-Know-Who"

"Well, Professor Dumbledore seems to trust him so that should be good enough for all of us" I insisted.

…

I looked up as Malfoy walked in with Crabbe and Goyle, all looking roughed up. I overheard enough of their waning conversation to deduce that they had gotten into a scuffle with Ron and Neville.

We hadn't exchanged a word with each other since Christmas. Ridiculous as it may seem, I felt a little guilty for ripping into him the way I did. Though his words had triggered bad memories, he didn't know what had really happened the night my parents were murdered. He wasn't to blame for it and he had probably been speaking out of spite and ignorance as usual. Malfoy was just being Malfoy after all and I should've known better than to let his words get to me so easily. Strangely enough he had been avoiding me like the plague since then. It was as if we had an unspoken pact of silence, not that I particularly cared either way but the black eye he was sporting was simply too tempting to pass up.

"Walked into a wall or something, Malfoy?" I goaded with a sickly-sweet smile.

He didn't answer, checking his reflection in the mirror and waved Crabbe and Goyle back to their dormitory.

"Shouldn't you get that looked at by Madam Pomfrey?" I tried again only to receive more silence. Curiosity got the better of me and I walked over. There was an unexpected twinge of pity when I saw the state he was in – a bruised eye and split lip, Ron must have dealt him a pretty good one.

I sighed. "Let's have a look" I moved closer but he swatted my hand away.

"Do you want me to make it better or not? Or would you rather pay Madam Pomfrey a visit and have her report you for brawling with another student?" I scolded.

He mumbled something inaudible under his breath but allowed me to prod gently at the darkened patch. He jerked away when I applied more pressure but I grabbed onto his chin, holding him firmly in place and shushing him. He fell unusually silent, staring at me as I continued my ministrations, examining for other injuries as well.

Strange, I thought as I met his gaze. I never noticed what lovely eyes he had. At first glance they are grey but during winter they look like frozen silver. And sometimes depending on the way the light hits them, they appear blue. And when he's really furious, they are almost the colour of graphite.

Liar, how would you know that if you haven't noticed before?

I mentally shook myself, mortified at the realisation that I had in fact taken such notice. I took a step back to put some distance between us and withdrew my wand. "Episkey" I chanted. He checked himself in the mirror after that, prodding tenderly at the places where his injuries had been.

I shifted nervously. "Listen, Malfoy, I just wanted to say…" Why am I apologizing to Malfoy anyway? I can't believe I'm doing this. "…I'm sorry about what happened before Christmas. You were inexcusably horrid but I shouldn't have snapped the way I did. My parents' death is still a sensitive thing for me so I sort of lost it"

He gawked at me, uncharacteristically at a loss for words giving me the impression that he had never received a sincere apology before. "I…" he started before clearing his throat. "Well, I accept your apology" he said loftily. "And your…" he paused as if trying to find the right words. "…services" he finally said, gesturing vaguely to the eye I had just healed. He shifted awkwardly for a moment like he had more to say on the matter before seeming to think otherwise and simply walked away without another word.

I suppose that means 'thank you' in Malfoy language, I smiled to myself.