Hello, my dear readers! I would like to thank everyone for alerting, favoriting and reviewing. It brightens my day when I get a little email that says someone else has reviewed or alerted. :) I hope you enjoy this chapter.

EDIT: 1/31/2012

Yeah, that's right. I got this one done today too. :D I should be uploading new chapters in no time.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter related except my OC's

Chapter Eight; Christmas Carols and Unexpected Fears

It was getting close to Christmas, and one morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow, and the Lake frozen solid.

The Weasley twins and Riley had been punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban and the few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms.

Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.

Riley had gotten into trouble multiple times for singing Christmas carols, loudly, during class. Some of the teachers, like Flitwick and Sprout enjoyed the carols and would often sing with her, but others, namely Snape would take points every time she started and then give her detention when she proceeded to sing "You're a mean one, Mister Grinch". And yet she still asked why Snape seemed to hate her so much…

"I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, one Potions class. "For all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." He was looking over at Harry as he spoke. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled.

Harry, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them. But Riley always having a short temper came to his defense.

"Hey Malfoy, don't most snakes hibernate in the winter? I thought they did. So maybe you should go slither on back into the hole you came from."

Malfoy sneered at her. Luckily for her, Snape didn't hear her so she didn't get points deducted.

Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. Then he'd realized that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.

But it seemed to Riley that Harry really couldn't care less. In fact, he seemed to be excited about staying. Ron was staying too, along with the rest of the Weasley brothers, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny (the youngest and only daughter) were going to Romania to visit the second oldest brother Charlie, who was working with dragons. Riley and Hermione were going home to celebrate.

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm all right. Thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way." came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts. I suppose – that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to." Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!" Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape." said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid." said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you." Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.

"What about Malfoy? He was insulting Ron's family. You can't just let him get away with that!" Riley glared at Snape ignoring the warning looks Hagrid and the others were sending her.

"Are you questioning my authority?" Snape asked in that same silky voice, that creeped her out. "Ten points from Gryffindor and a detention Miss. Langley." and with an evil smirk that could have any evil villain running for the hills, he walked away his cloak billowing behind him making him look more like a bat then Riley ever thought was possible.

"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back. "One of these days, I'll get him –"

"I hate them both," said Harry. "Malfoy and Snape."

Riley nodded in agreement.

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas." said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

So the four of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree – put it in the far corner, would you?" The hall looked spectacular. No less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles, and hanging around on the walls were festoons of holly and to Riley's horror, mistletoe. For a moment Riley just stared. Then she let out a terrible scream and ran from the room, leaving behind a very bewildered group.

"What was that about?" Harry asked no one in particular.

"Oh that?" asked George who seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

"She's horribly afraid of mistletoe." Fred said gravely shaking his head.

The trio looked at him incredulously.

George nodded, looking grim. "Yeah, we tried to help her through it… but she's deathly afraid of it."

Ron looked towards the door "She's mental that one."

Harry and Hermione nodded and walked over to help Hagrid.

~{}~

After Riley got out of the Great Hall, she walked around until she calmed down and decided to go to the library.

She had been helping the trio search for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because "How else are we going to find out what Snape is trying to steal?" as Harry had told her hundreds of times.

The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin. Not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time; he was missing, too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.

After awhile the trio joined Riley in her search. Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random like Riley.

Riley giggled as she watched Madam Pince brandish her feather duster at Harry and kick him out of the library, just because he got too close to the Restricted Section. Despite that, Riley, Ron and Hermione kept searching for a little while but left after getting frustrated at not finding anything.

When they met Harry outside the door, Riley looked seriously at him and asked.

"Are you hurt?"

When Harry looked confused she continued.

"Well, who knows how much damage Madam Pince's Feather Duster of Doom can do to someone?" Riley tried to keep a straight face but found it impossible and burst into giggles along with Ron and Harry while they went off to lunch.

"You will keep looking while me and Riley are away, won't you?" Hermione asked the boys. "And send us an owl if you find anything?"

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is." said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, as they're both dentists." said Hermione.

"What about you Riley? Reckon your aunt might know who he is?" Ron asked

"Maybe… I might ask my godfather, he's like an adult, male version of Hermione." Riley laughed, Hermione scowled. "What? Don't scowl. It's a complement. Well, for you it is…"

Seeing as she confused the group again she explained.

I seem to be confusing them a lot today. Riley thought absently, does that say something about me or them?

"My godfather was a prefect. He always had top grades and was a teacher's pet…" they nodded understanding now. "But don't let that fool you… he's as much a trouble maker as me, if not more so."

~{}~

When Riley got off the Hogwarts express two days later it was to find her favorite person in the world waiting for her.

It had only been a year since the ministry decided that it was up to her, whether she wanted to see him or not. They figured she was old enough now, to know not to be around a werewolf. And she took full advantage of their ignorance; she stayed with him almost every weekend and every weekend they did something new, crazy, and fun.

The last weekend that she stayed at his house, they went hiking and found a waterfall with a swimming hole. They spent hours there just goofing around.

Riley jumped out of the train and ran at her godfather, almost knocking him to the ground with her tackle hug.

"MOONY!" Riley yelled happily. "What are you doing here? I thought you had to work."

Remus smiled his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Well, my boss changed his mind. Seemed to think it was better to just close up for the holidays."

Riley looked at him shrewdly. "What did you do? Did you use the Marauder Charm?"

Remus just laughed and winked. "Can't tell you that now, can I?"

The Marauder Charm is what Riley named Remus' crazy skills at persuading people to do something or believe his innocence. It wasn't a real charm, just a skill he picked up after many attempts at getting out of detention. It also helped with getting jobs, since no one wanted to associate with a werewolf.

After they picked up Riley's trunk, they dodged and weaved through the crowded train station to get to the parking lot.

"Oh, did you barrow Uncle Ted's car?" Riley asked Remus as they walked down the long row of cars.

"Didn't I tell you?" Remus asked looking mildly surprised. "I got a car last month. It's a lot better than taking a bus and since I work at a muggle bookshop, it wouldn't be smart to appearate. The Magical Law Enforcement tends to look down on things like popping up out of nowhere on a busy muggle street."

Riley grinned as they stopped in front of an old beat up blue Cadillac. "It's awesome!"

~{}~

The drive to the cottage was a long one, but it wasn't boring. Riley told Remus about all her pranks and adventures (making sure to leave out anything that involved Fluffy or what it was guarding,) and how she was doing really well in Potions, because she knew it ticked Snape off. But mostly she talked about her friends.

Remus seemed oddly interested in Harry but she just shrugged it off and filed it in the back of her mind to ask him about later.

When they finally got to the cottage, Riley got out smiled; she was home.

It was a small and homey little cottage. It looked like one of those little houses you see in the Christmas specials that you go "oh, that place looks so cozy" with its red door and window panes and the smooth gray stones that made the walls.

The whole place seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. It was surrounded by snow covered woods with a little frozen creek that ran on the left side of the house at the edge of the trees.

"Home again, home again."

Riley sighed as she dragged her trunk into the living room. The fire place was roaring and the mantle was covered in garland. There was a nice sized pine tree sitting in the corner waiting to be decorated and there was the smell of cookies wafting in from the kitchen.

Riley dropped her trunk and rushed to the kitchen quickly hugging Andromeda and snatching a cookie from the counter.

"Well, hello to you too." Andromeda smiled, and then smacked Riley on the arm with a wooden spoon. "Those are for after dinner."

Riley just grinned cheekily at her, and stuck out her tongue which still had cookie on it. "Want it?"

She laughed as Andromeda grimaced and smacked her with the spoon again.

"I feel so loved." she cried dramatically. Andromeda just rolled her eyes and turned to Remus.

"It's your fault she's like this, you know."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "My fault?"

Andromeda just rolled her eyes again. "Yes, your fault. She was all sweet and innocent before she went to stay with you."

Remus and Riley laughed. "Oh, she was never innocent; I still remember when she used to con Mad-Eye out of a cookie."

Andromeda sighed. "Yes, with skills you taught her. I always told Isaac you were a bad influence on her."

"I'm wounded." Remus said grabbing at his heart. "I was a Prefect if you remember."

"And I still think Dumbledore was insane for making you one. I mean look at how you've corrupted Riley."

Riley smirked. "Aw, come on Andy. You know you miss having a trouble maker in the house."

"Not likely." Andy said dryly as she started to mix the mashed potatoes.

~{}~

The rest of the days leading up to Christmas went by with lots of laughter, mischief and driving Andromeda insane. Tonks came over every night and dragged Mad-Eye with her, and they all decorated the tree.

Well, everyone but Mad-Eye did because he was too busy giving them a lesson in CONSTANT VIGILANCE… Christmas style. Although, learning how to check your presents for something dangerous without opening them started a whole new guessing game.

Riley woke Christmas morning to the sound of Tonks singing Christmas carols loudly… and badly.

"Tonks! For the love of all that is right and holy in this world, please stop singing!" Riley yelled as she dragged herself out of her bed. She could hear Tonks and Ted laughing downstairs.

"Get down here Riley! You got presents!"

Riley quickly put on her Father Christmas hat and ran down the stairs. She smiled brightly at Tonks and her Uncle Ted and looked at the tree to see a huge pile of gifts lying innocently under the ornament covered branches.

They spent hours opening all there presents, mostly because of the game. Riley passed them out as she picked them up from under the tree. Remus and Mad-Eye showed up halfway into the present opening, and added theirs to the pile.

Four hours and an intense wrapping paper war later, found the small makeshift family eating Christmas dinner together.

And after long conversation, some prank ideas, a heated debate about which Christmas villain is the coolest and a cup of hot chocolate, Riley was off to bed. She climbed into bed and fell asleep to the odd feeling that this was going to be the last holiday like this for a very long time.

~{}~

A couple of days later, Riley packed up her stuff and headed out the door. She and Remus were going to the mountains for the rest of the holiday.

They drove for hours to get to a patch of woods in the middle of nowhere, and Riley couldn't wait to explore. The cabin was just big enough for the two of them with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small kitchenette connected to the living room.

After a day of playing games and hiking around with Remus, Riley got ready to go exploring on her own.

She grabbed her favorite, bright yellow hooded sweatshirt and put her coat on over that. Then she went into the living room and grabbed her backpack to check to make sure she had everything.

She had only packed a couple granola bars, a bottle of water, a flashlight, her wand (just in case), a pocket knife and a compass. She wasn't planning to be gone very long, but with her luck, you never knew what would happen. Slipping on her hiking boots she waved goodbye to Remus and headed out into the snowy forest.

She walked for what seemed like hours, she was probably around 7 miles from the cabin when she started to hear crashes, and a sort of grunting and gurgling. When she walked closer she heard the grunt/gurgle again, and another voice reply in the same grunt/gurgle. When she looked around the trees, there standing in the field were two giants.

~{}~