It's kind of funny how I'm just taking my precious time to get this story out just like how they're taking their precious time to finish year five. It just seems to be getting longer and longer, just like this story will. This chapter takes place during Christmas break, so there won't be any mischief at Hogwarts in here.

Christmas Holidays

Christmas at the Selwyn Manor was usually a quiet affair. Abby's father, Rogelius had never been that much of a fan of the holidays, which was why she and Jacob had been forbidden to leave the house at that time. Their mother, Constance, was usually a bit more cheerier around the holidays. She would at least make them hot chocolate and allowed them to get into the festive spirit. Those were the better times when their father was still in prison. Abby missed those times. She missed Jacob.

Sighing, Abby leaned back against the chair in her fathers study as she waited for him to arrive. Her house elf, Ziggy, had informed Abby upon her arrival that her father wanted to see her as soon as he got back from work. Abby knew that he most likely wanted to see her to lecture her about behaving at school, since she was well aware that her father had been informed of her misbehaviour.

So when her father arrived via Floo network and sent a piercing flare her way, Abby braced herself for the lecture that she was bound to receive. She just hoped that that was all she would get.

"You've only been at Hogwarts for four months and you've already gotten into trouble on several occasions, Abelia. You have shown a complete disregard for their rules and have shown yourself to be too much like your brother. I knew that letting you go to that school was a mistake, especially after the mess that your wretched brother got into," Rogelius snarled.

"I didn't ask to get in trouble, father. There's this girl – Merula Snyde – and I swear she's out to get me! She's the reason why I've gotten into so much trouble," Abby tried defending herself, but her father was having none of it.

"You are to address me as sir," Rogelius growled as he wacked Abby's chair with a cane, causing her to flinch at the very sight of it.

"I'm sorry, sir," Abby apologised uncomfortably, since referring to her father as sir just felt so strange. She was only allowed to refer to him as father when they were out in public. When they were at home alone, it was sir and nothing more or less was acceptable.

"Did it not occur to you to not allow that Snyde girl to wind you up? Did you not think to just keep your head down and do your school work? I've already had words with Professor Snape who's said that you're barely a competent student just like you are as useless as a daughter!" Rogelius ranted.

Of course her father would blame her for stuff that wasn't her fault. It wasn't Abby's fault that she had gotten into trouble. Merula was the one who was doing this to her, and Abby hated her even more for that. And Abby was trying in class, she really was. She just found it hard to get any work done with Merula constantly on her case. One time, Merula had spilt ink all over her Transfiguration essay on the day that it was due. With no time to whip up another one, Abby had been forced to hand in nothing which resulted in her receiving detention from Professor McGonagall.

"I thought I raised you better than to let people affect your behaviour, Abelia. You should not allow someone as pathetic as Snyde to do this to you. You should be better than this, yet you are not," Rogelius said.

"I'm trying my best, sir," Abby argued.

"Well, your best just isn't good enough like it never is! Why couldn't you have a bright future in the Ministry like Marcius or strived for greater things like Adelphus? Why couldn't you have turned out like your cousins instead of like your pathetic brother?" Rogelius seethed.

"I don't know," Abby murmured.

"Well, you should know that your cousins will be coming over for the holidays as well as your aunts and uncles. I expect you to be on your best behaviour, like the way that I had raised you to be. Now leave," Rogelius ordered.

Not wanting to infuriate her father more than she already had, Abby quickly got up and left her fathers study. Once she entered her room, Abby couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face as she remembered what her father had said. Her cousins were coming over, which meant that Abby would be able to see Octavia again. Of all her cousins, Octavia was her favourite one. She reminded her of Jacob in a way.

Maybe Christmas wouldn't be so bad this year.

~*•°•*~

Over the break, Abby kept in contact with Rowan who owled her almost every day which made it almost impossible for Abby to keep up to date. Since her father never liked her receiving letters, Abby had instructed her house elf, Ziggy, to intercept them and give them to her in private. To Abby's surprise, Rowan wasn't the only one who had written to her. Ben had written to her to say thanks again for standing up to Merula and Penny Haywood did the same as well. Even Merula had sent her a letter, except Merula's later was basically hate mail.

When December 24th arrived, Abby was the most excited that she'd been on Christmas Eve in years. Her relatives would be spending the night before spending Christmas with them on the following day. Usually her father would go off to spend the holidays with his family and leave Abby alone with the company of their butler and the house elves. For this Christmas, Abby would have the company of more than just that.

"There you are, little cous," Abby's cousin, Octavia, greeted her upon her arrival.

"Hey, Tavi," Abby smiled. It was rare of her to smile, but she always smiled when Octavia was around.

"It's been a while since I've been at your place. The last time would have to have been when I was thirteen," Octavia mused.

"It hasn't changed that much since then," Abby remarked.

"No, but you have certainly changed since the last time I saw you. You've grown!" Octavia exclaimed.

"The last time we saw each other was after your graduation, so it's only been a few months. I couldn't have grown that much," Abby said.

"No, you're definitely another inch taller," Octavia chuckled.

"Who even notices that?" Abby wondered.

"Me," Octavia shrugged. "Painters are supposed to pay attention to detail."

"But you're not a painter," Abby stated.

"Yeah…" Octavia trailed off.

It was then that Abby realised her mistake. She'd just basically thrown her cousin's pipe dream right back in her face. For as long as Abby could remember, Octavia had wanted to be a painter. She'd always been good at painting, and often showed Abby some of what she did. But Octavia couldn't be a painter, since she was expected to get a job in the ministry like her brother, Marcius.

"I'm sorry, Tavi," Abby apologised.

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean anything behind it," Octavia reassured her. "Now, what's this I hear about you following in your brothers footsteps at Hogwarts? I'd imagine that your father isn't exactly happy about that."

"You'd have that right," Abby muttered

"So, come on. Tell me everything," Octavia urged as they sat down on Abby's bed.

"It's this stupid girl, Merula Snyde. I swear, she's trying to ruin my life. Not that many people at Hogwarts like me anyways because they think that I'm mad like Jacob, but Merula Snyde is the worst out of all of them. Every time that I've gotten into trouble, it's been her fault," Abby ranted.

"Ah, I remember the letter that you sent me about her. And I was able to do some digging and find out about her family," Octavia said.

"Really? What'd you find out?" Abby asked.

"Her parents were imprisoned for crimes surrounding You-Know-Who. They even tortured a few people on information for the prophecy about Harry Potter. The Snydes weren't exactly in his inner circle, but they were devoted to the Dark Lord. They were imprisoned for life after a mass murder on muggles before the Dark Lord's attack on the Potters. As for their daughter, I'm fairly certain that she lives with her aunt now," Octavia explained.

"That almost makes me feel sorry for Merula, knowing that she's never going to be with her parents again," Abby mumbled.

"Either way, you should definitely be careful around her. If Snyde is anything like her parents, she'll be just as dangerous and ruthless as them which could prove to be problematic to you," Octavia said.

"It already is problematic for me," Abby muttered.

"Just don't let her get to you, Abby. As much as Merula Snyde might be a deranged girl fed by her parents lies, she could also be going through some stuff on her own. If there's one thing that I've learned as I've grown up, it's that not everything is as black and white as it seems," Octavia proclaimed.

"I wish Jacob was here to see me grow up," Abby whispered.

"I'm sure he's out there somewhere, Abby," Octavia squeezed her shoulder. "He probably thinks of you just as much as you think of him."

"What was Jacob like at school besides being obsessed with the Cursed Vaults? He never told me much about anything other than what trouble he got into and the excitement of Hogwarts," Abby wondered. Octavia had been at Hogwarts at the same time as Jacob, except she was a year older than her cousin.

"He was definitely a trouble maker. Snape started teaching in Jacob's fourth year and out of all the professors, Snape was the happiest to see Jacob go. I could count the amount of times that Jacob blew up the Potions Classroom on more than one finger. He of course had his partners in crime that were Olivia Green and Duncan Ashe. He even tried getting me involved on some of his schemes, but the most I ever did was be on the lookout and covered for him. Unlike Jacob, I actually cared about following the rules," Octavia recalled.

"He didn't really mention having any friends," Abby interjected, having never heard the names Olivia Green and Duncan Ashe before.

"Olivia Green was a Ravenclaw in Jacob's year. I'm not sure if she'd still be at Hogwarts for her final year, since there was talk about her being expelled as well since she was involved with the Cursed Vaults. She disappeared after Jacob did as well and I haven't heard anything about her since. As for Duncan Ashe, I'm pretty sure that he's still at Hogwarts except you'll probably never find him," Octavia supplied.

"Why?" Abby narrowed her eyes.

"Because he's a ghost," Octavia stated, causing Abby's eyes to widen. "Of course, he wasn't always a ghost in the time that he knew Jacob. They were best friends from his first day at Hogwarts to his last. He was one of the schools most notorious trouble makers in the joke department. Nobody knows how he really died, but some people speculate that your brother and Olivia were involved."

"No," Abby shook her head immediately. "There's no way that Jacob would ever kill someone, just like he'd never join Voldy's army. He especially wouldn't kill someone who was his friend."

"I'm not saying that Jacob killed him, that's just what people seem to think happened. The only people who know what happened to Duncan Ashe are Duncan Ashe, your brother and possibly Olivia Green," Octavia said before she chuckled. "And Voldy? Seriously?"

"It's what Jacob called him. I wish I knew more about what Jacob did other than the Cursed Vaults," Abby sighed.

"If it's any help, I know that he used to keep some secret notes in a book that he'd transfigure into anything in case he was caught," Octavia informed her.

"Jacob always did have fun with Transfiguration. There were plenty of times when he'd use it to change some of fathers objects to confuse him. As much as my fathers rage is scary, it was hilarious seeing him be so frazzled which is just so unlike him," Abby recalled.

"How angry is your father nowadays? Whenever I see him, he just has this wazzed off look on his face," Octavia said.

"He was very angry the first time I saw him, because of all the trouble that I've been getting into. As much as I try to justify my actions, he doesn't believe me just like he never does," Abby grumbled.

"Speaking of trouble, I thought you said that you didn't want to be like Jacob was as a student and that you weren't going to cause trouble, but that's exactly what you've done," Octavia stated.

"It wasn't my intention, honestly. I just wanted to go to Hogwarts to have a break from home and have a normal schooling experience without any bullies or Cursed Vaults. But I guess I was naïve to think that would be the case given who my family is," Abby answered.

"Well, you need to be careful, Abs. If you keep on getting into trouble, you'll end up just like Jacob did and I know that your father won't be happy with that," Octavia reasoned.

"But I need to know what happened to Jacob. If getting involved with the Cursed Vaults will help me find the answers about my brother, then that's what I'll do. And besides, Merula Snyde is also after the Cursed Vaults so if she's just like her parents, that can't be good," Abby said.

"Wait, Snyde is after the vaults as well?" Octavia narrowed her eyes.

Abby shrugged, "I don't know why, but it's ironic considering she calls Jacob mad for doing the same thing. Since she's been nothing but bad so far, her intentions have to be the same."

Octavia sighed, "If there's nothing that I can say to convince you otherwise, then I'll let you do what you need to do. Just don't get yourself involved into anything that you'll regret or that will put you and those you care about in danger."

"I won't," Abby promised.

That was one of those promises that Abby wasn't sure if she could keep, since if Abby was going to continue getting involved in the Cursed Vaults then the chances were that she would end up doing something that would put her in danger. But Abby certainly wouldn't let anyone else get caught in the crossfire, since she wasn't sure if she could live with herself if she did.

A bit of a short chapter, but I didn't really know what else to put in there apart form Abby's conversation with Octavia. In my original plan, I wanted the timeline to be that Jacob would've been at Hogwarts with Abby in her first year had he not been expelled, but I let the Olivia Green plothole slide past so I added it in that she also ran away. I'm not going to be adding Duncan Ashe into the story that early either, since he doesn't serve that much of a purpose right now. On another note, I started reading the Philosophers Stone and I'm up to Chapter 14. There is also yet another Harry Potter movie re-run on TV right now so I've definitely got enough Harry Potter in my life right now.