Christmas came so fast, and without warning. Ravenclaw has been… good, to say the least. But I still dread having to go home and tell my parents. They've been sending me a few letters and none of them even asked which house I was in! I guess they just assumed it was Gryffindor. Sometimes I still catch myself glance over at their table and wonder what my life would've been like if I was over there.

Although I did get some great friends. Hannah, Georgia and I have been almost inseparable and we're all good friends with Tom and Will as well. Even Scorpious and I haven't had a row with each other in a while. I talk to Ella quite a bit too, but she has her own group of friends in second year. Oh and guess what! James has a girlfriend. Her name is Elizabeth Greyer who's also in Gryffindor. I always tease them about it whenever they're together, but they do look quite cute. Albus has his own group of friends which is great, but I never see him much anymore. But I am doing brilliantly in all of my classes and I'm sure my dad will be pleased that I'm beating Scorpious at everything…

We're leaving tonight on the train to go home for Christmas. How angry will dad be? I know mum won't care all too much… but it's a terrifying thought to tell dad.

Georgia, Tom and I packed and talked about what we hoped to get for Christmas and how excited we were to be seeing our parents. Hannah and Will both had to stay home for the holidays. Hannah's parents were traveling around Germany (by broomstick) and Will didn't tell us why he couldn't go home.

The day was over in a blink of an eye and I said goodbye to my friends and got in a compartment with James and Albus.

"So how're you and Lizze doing?" I asked James teasingly. His face flushed.

"Good." He said.

"Are you going to tell your mum and dad?" I asked.

"Of course not!" He said, his face getting even redder. "Do you know how embarrassing it would be to let them know I've got a girlfriend?"

"Well if you don't tell them I will." I taunted. His face was fuming and Albus was smiling and laughing beside me.

"So Rose, how's Ravenclaw?" Albus asked.

"Please don't bring that up!" I groaned. "I'm trying not to think about it."

"Deal with it Rose! That's the house you're meant to be in and I'm sure uncle Ron will understand."

"It's just not fair. How come you got sorted in Gryffindor and I didn't?" I said, not really expecting an answer.

"If you really want to know, I just asked the hat." Albus said. I stared at him in disbelief. "Dad said that he asked the hat to be in Gryffindor and that's where it put him."

"Albus!" I screamed, smacking his arm. "You told me to keep my mind blank, open and to not think anything. I could've been in Gryffindor." I crossed my arms and sat their grumpily.

"But I knew that's not what you needed. I could tell you only wanted Gryffindor because that's what your dad wanted for you. You belong in Ravenclaw. You're probably the smartest girl in our year and in Gryffindor you're ridiculed for that, instead of being praised like in Ravenclaw."

"My mum was the smartest girl in her year and in Gryffindor." I said.

"Rose!" James finally jumped into the conversation. "I can see what Albus is saying now. Stop trying to be like your parents. You're trying to live up to something your not. You are your nerdy, Ravenclaw self and you need to accept that. If you don't, your parents won't either."

I just sat their silently, trying to soak in what they were saying. Maybe they were right.

We all got off the train and the second I got onto the platform I could see my mum and dad standing there and smiling at me. No matter how nervous I was, I was still excited to see them.

"Mum! Dad!" I yelled and ran over to them and gave them a big hug.

"How've you been liking Hogwarts?" My mum asked me.

"It's brilliant! I've made some great friends too. I'll tell you all about them back at home."

"Have you beaten that Malfoy boy at everything? Are you going to win the house cup for Gryffindor?" My dad asked with a smile.

"Ron…" My mum warned.

"I'm just joking around." He said. But I could tell he wasn't joking.

We took some floo powder home. Our house was huge, magnificent and bright. It was quite close to the Potters house. We all walked into the foyer and dad took my trunk and other things upstairs.

"I know you're in Ravenclaw." My mum said quietly, so dad couldn't quite hear. I gasped.

"What!"

"I'm so proud of you Rose." She kneeled down to me and pulled me into a hug. I was taken by surprise, but it was the best thing anyone's ever said to me.

"Rose!" Hugo came running down the hall and gave me a hug as well.

"What's all this then?" Dad said as he was coming down the stairs and he saw everyone hugging me. Mum and I just smiled at each other.

We all went into the kitchen and Hugo started bombarding me with questions.

"What's it like? What spells have you learned? Do you like your schedule? Is your room nice? Are the people nice?" He said at a mile a minute.

"Slow down Hugo." Dad said. "One question at a time. So how's Gryffindor Rosie?"

Why did that have to be his first question? My palms were getting sweaty. I looked at my mom and she gave me a reassuring nod.

"Dad… I have to tell you something." I said. He stood there quietly. "I'm not in Gryffindor." I said too quietly to be heard.

"What was that? I can't hear you." He said leaning closer to me.

"I – I'm not in Gryffindor." My voice cracked at the end and I stared at my shoes. I couldn't even look at his face.

"You're what?" He said. I could tell he wanted to shout. "Hermione, I know I didn't hear Rosie right. What did she say?" My eyes were glued to my feet. I wanted to run but my legs refused to budge.

"She's in Ravenclaw" Mum said clearly, "And I'm extremely proud of her."

I wasn't looking at them but I could hear mum nudge dad and he choked out something.

"Oh, of course. Yes. Great house." Rubbish, all of it. I knew he was disappointed.

We discussed more about my time at Hogwarts and all of that. I told them about my friends, I told them that I was smarter than Scorpious and I even told them about James' girlfriend.