A/N: hello everyone and happy new year (even though it's a bit late). Anyway, this chapter is the last of the fillers — yeah, I know, fillers are boring... but this one spans one whole month. I promise the next chapter will be really exciting!

Sorry about updating a bit late... the new year brings about a lot of work, and midterms are next week.

Roxanne hurried outside. The rain was pouring down, and every now and then the sky would light up, followed by a roar of thunder. She ran toward the changing rooms and closed the door behind her, shielding her from the rain.

"You're late," James said, turning to stare at Roxanne walking in through the door. He was addressing all the members of the team, who were already changed and gathering in a circle.

"Sorry," Roxanne said. "I had to ask Professor Anderson a question and then the rain delayed me getting out here. By the way, James, why are we playing in this weather again?"

"Yeah, I was wondering that," Fred said.

"Chances are that we'll have to play Slytherin in these conditions," James replied. "Our game is in two weeks" it was November 15th "and the weather isn't improving."

Roxanne just shook her head and walked toward the girls' locker rooms. She quickly changed into Quidditch robes, but by the time she was finished, all the players had already gone, except for James.

"What?" she asked when James stood up.

"Just don't be late again," he replied, and then walked out of the changing rooms into the pitch. Roxanne grabbed her broomstick and walked out too. Sometimes she wished James would go back to the way he was a few weeks ago, when he hadn't scheduled any Quidditch practices in three weeks. Now, he was scheduling them every night.

Ten minutes later, all of them were on the pitch. The sky was still pouring with rain, but James refused to let them stop practicing. He had let a Quaffle out and told all of them to stay in a circle and pass the Quaffle around. Unfortunately, probably because of weather-related causes, the ball never went from one person to another two times in a row before the Quaffle would fall down.

"This isn't working," Albus said when Scarlett Lestrade, the keeper, accidentally sent the Quaffle ten feet away from him. He dived to catch the Quaffle and threw it hard at James. "Can we just call it a day?"

"Ten more minutes," James said, not admitting defeat, and threw it back toward Albus who missed again.

The next ten minutes were not fun, and all of the players vented their anger by waywardly throwing the Quaffle at James. Finally, James let them go, and they all trooped back toward the changing rooms. Roxanne heard Andrew Stein (a chaser) and Peter Gladwell (a beater) mutter angrily about something. Scarlett walked beside Roxanne, but the two of them didn't talk; they just ran toward the locker rooms.

Once they got inside, Roxanne threw her broom against the wall and quickly grabbed her day robes. "I'm just going back to the castle to take a shower," she said. "I don't want to change when I'm all wet."

Scarlett nodded in agreement. "Good idea."

The two of them quickly walked back toward the castle, taking the shortest path, the one that led through the center of the grass. They were almost out of the grass when Roxanne stopped in her tracks, taking out her wand. "Lumos," she whispered, pointing it toward her left.

"What is it?" Scarlett asked, craning her neck toward where Roxanne was pointing.

"I thought I saw something," Roxanne said, but she whispered "Nox" and the light went out. "But there's nothing there. I must have been mistaken."

"Keep the light on, though," Scarlett said, taking out her own wand and whispering Lumos. They walked on towards the castle, which was only a few meters away. Roxanne could have sworn she had seen someone on her left staring at her, but there wasn't anything there. She shook her head, and walked into the castle. She must have been hallucinating.

Rose closed The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, yawning. It was 10 pm, and she had finished her homework a while ago, but she stayed in the common room reading one of her favorite Muggle books. In her opinion, Muggle writers were much better than wizard ones, especially when it came to mystery, which she loved. She hated those romance books where the witch and wizard happily ended together.

"Are you done yet?" she asked Albus, who was scribbling something on a piece of parchment. Albus had forced Rose to stay in the common room while he and Scorpius finished their homework.

"Almost," Albus replied. "I just need three more inches."

"That's good," Rose said, peering over Albus's shoulder to see what he was writing. "What about you, Scorpius?"

"I finished a while ago," Scorpius replied. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch that Rose and Albus were sitting on.

"So what are you doing now?"

"I'm writing a letter to my mum," Scorpius answered.

"Oh." Rose had never met Scorpius's mother before, but from what he said about her, she was much nicer than her father. "How do you take so long to do work?" she asked Albus. She, Albus, and Scorpius were probably the best students in their year, and Albus usually didn't leave his homework this late.

"James," Albus muttered angrily. "Continuous Quidditch practice. It takes away two hours of my day."

"Shut up about Quidditch," Rose said to Albus, looking in Scorpius's direction. He hadn't been too pleased when he didn't get onto the Quidditch team, and every time Albus mentioned that he had to go to Quidditch practice, Scorpius would make a face.

"It's fine," Scorpius said. "I don't care. Albus is a better seeker than me. Besides, I was thinking about trying out for Beater next year instead. Fred's leaving, so we'll need a new Beater. Besides, it doesn't seem that hard, and at least I'll have something to do related to Quidditch. I'll never be able to be Seeker, since Albus will always be here too."

"Yeah, he's fine with it," Albus said. "We talked about it after the tryouts. There aren't any harsh feelings."

"I only get annoyed since I wish I could be on a team and play with other people," Scorpius explained. "I'm not mad at Albus. Just at the whole team."

Rose nodded. "Well, Albus, if you don't finish soon, I'm going up first."

"I'm almost done!" Albus protested. "Wait five minutes!"

Rose drummed her fingers on the arm of the couch. "Alright." She looked around the common room, where other people were getting ready to go to bed. James, Fred, and Oliver were sitting in a corner, talking in low voices. "I wonder what they're talking about," Rose said in a low voice.

Scorpius looked up. "Speaking of James," he said. "What's up with him?"

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

He shrugged. "I dunno. I heard that he's acting all odd lately."

News spread quickly these days. "Nobody ever told me anything," Rose said. She looked back at James when, to her surprise, James stood up and walked over. "What?"

"Grandma Molly sent us a letter," James told Rose, holding a piece of parchment in his hand. "About Christmas break. She just wants to know if you're coming home or not."

"Like she would let us not come home," Albus said, reaching a hand for the letter James held. "Can I see that?"

James pulled his hand away. "No. Just tell me if you're bringing anyway home."

"I dunno," Albus said, looking over at Scorpius. "Are you going home?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Mum wants me home this Christmas. She said that Dad's having a big business party and he wants me to show up." He didn't sound too excited.

"Sounds fun," Albus said. "So I guess it's just me and Rose."

"D'you know who else is coming?" Rose asked. "Are you bringing anyone?"

James evaded her question and walked away.

Rose watched him walk back toward Oliver and Fred. "You know, Scorpius, you're right," she said. "James is acting odd."

"Do you think…" Scorpius began, lowering his voice. "It has anything to do with the Shrieking Shack?"

Rose shrugged. "Maybe. I just hope the teachers quickly find whoever hurt Lucy, so there can be Hogsmeade trips again. I miss them."

"Yeah, the first one was fun."

Albus folded up his parchment and put down his quill. "Done," he said.

"Finally," Rose said in relief, standing up and preparing to go to the dormitories. "If you take this long tomorrow, I'm not waiting for you again."

"Tomorrow James isn't planning any Quidditch practices," Albus replied. "So I'll be done earlier."

"See you tomorrow, then," Rose said, walking over to the staircase that led up toward the girls' dormitories. She walked past the first and second years' dormitories, accidentally bumping into a tired-looking Lily, and toward her own dormitory.

Rachel and Emma, Rose's fellow fourth-year Gryffindors, were both still awake, sitting in their beds reading books. "Hi Rose," Rachel said, looking up from her book as Rose entered.

"Hi," Rose said, walking toward her bed. "What are you reading?"

"Pride and Prejudice," Rachel responded, showing Rose the cover. "It's a Muggle book, so you probably haven't heard of it, but it's really good."

"Actually, I have heard of it," Rose said, grabbing her pajamas out from under her blankets. "It is really good. I didn't know you like reading Muggle books." Now that she thought about it, Rose barely knew anything about Rachel or Emma.

Rachel shrugged. Rose headed toward the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth and changed into her night clothes. By the time she came out, the dormitory was all dark. Rose smiled and settled into her bed and quickly fell asleep.

The Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match was short and sweet. After ten minutes of Gryffindor chasers letting in goal after goal, Albus Potter caught the Snitch from right under the Slytherin Seeker's nose, making the final score 220-30.

The Gryffindors stayed gleeful for a few days after the match, into the first few weeks of December. All the players who had been complaining about James's constant Quidditch practices had now stopped complaining, knowning that their training had been for a good purpose.

About a week after the match, midway through December, James headed down to breakfast. An owl clutching a big red envelope flew towards the Hufflepuff table. The owl landed in front of a sixth-year student named Evan Rosenberg, who clutched the Howler and ran out of the Great Hall. Nevertheless, everyone could still hear the shouts of his mother, screaming, "WHAT A DISGRACE YOU ARE TO THE FAMILY!"

"Poor kid," James said, nibbling a piece of bacon while listening to the screams fade. "I wonder what he did that deserves this much shouting."

"He probably just failed an assignment or something like that," Fred replied. "Some parents are crazy like that."

James laughed in agreement, but at the same time he felt a sense of dread in his stomach. What if his mother sent him a Howler when she found at that he planned to go to Norway during the winter holidays?

"She won't find out," Fred said, as if reading James's mind. "She'll just get mad at you over the break, when there's nobody around to be embarrassed with. Besides, Aunt Ginny's cool. She doesn't have a temper."

James shook his head. "Are you kidding? Have you ever seen one of her Bat-Bogey hexes? They made her famous when she was little."

"Who's good at casting Bat-Bogey hexes?" The question came from Oliver, who had just arrived at breakfast and sat down across from James and Fred.

"James's mum," Fred replied. "But why are you here? I thought you were with Maeve?"

Oliver shrugged. He and Maeve, both head students, had gotten together at the beginning of October and often spent their time together. "I dunno. But anyway, what where you talking about?"

Fred turned to look at James with an inquisitive expression on his face, almost as if to say, Did you tell him? James sighed, and turned to Oliver. "I didn't tell you about Norway, did I?"

"No…" said Oliver slowly. "What happened in Norway?" He turned to Fred. "Do you know about whatever this is?"

Fred nodded. "But I think James should tell you himself."

James sighed. He did not want his best friend to start getting annoyed with him, not on top of everything else he had to cope with—the whole Norway trip, his parents' responses, homework (there was a lot during NEWT year), the Shrieking Shack and the wand, etc. "OK, Oliver, you deserve the truth. How do I explain this? Er…" James dug into his bag and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper. It was one of his letters from Anton. "Read." He gave it to Oliver.

Oliver took the paper and started reading it, his expression difficult to read. When he finished, he put it down on the table and said simply, "You're going to Norway to help Karina."

James nodded. "Yep."

"Wow," Oliver said. "You're going there and you never told me? Did you tell anyone, even your parents?"

"I told Hagrid—don't get angry with me, Oliver," James quickly said. "You've been off with Maeve the whole time, so I didn't exactly have time."

"I'm not angry," Oliver insisted. "I'm just a little confused, that's all. I think I need a bit more than just a letter to exactly understand."

"I'm confused too," James said. "Ever since last year, my life has been completely confusing. I still don't know what happened to Guillory, whether Malfoy was lying, or who hurt Lucy. I'm hoping going to Norway this year will let me begin to find the answer to some of the questions I have."

"Or it might just bring up even more questions," Oliver said, taking an apple from the table and biting into it.

"No, I'm pretty sure everything's related," James replied. "Everything is connected. It's strange."

"Huh." Oliver put down his apple and took a piece of toast. He was a light breakfast eater. "Well, the only problem is how you're going to tell your parents about this. They won't let you go."

"Anton never told me exactly how long I should stay," James said. "I'll probably stay in Norway right after this term, and come home a few days before Christmas. That way I'll be with the family over Christmas."

Oliver took a bite of his piece of toast and shrugged. "That might work."

James stared at his friend in confusion about his lack of emotion. Fred broke the silence by asking, "So where are you going this Christmas?"

"Maeve invited me to her parents for a few days," Oliver replied. "Then I guess I'll go back home to my parents for Christmas, unless…" He shrugged.

"Unless we invite you over?" Fred completed Oliver's statement. "It's been sort of a tradition for us to have a big New Years' Party with all our friends, so you can come for that if you want."

"Thanks," Oliver said. "I'll see if my parents let me come."

The three of them quickly finished up their meal and headed toward first period, Charms. James thought about the two-week long holiday that was approaching, but couldn't help but smile. He looked forward to seeing Anton again and helping him find his little sister.

"Homework!" Professor Kolmer, the DADA professor announced, much to the dismay of all the students. "Write an essay on the differences between Hexes and Jinxes, and give two examples of each."

Most of the students groaned, but Lily eagerly jotted the assignment down in her assignment pad. "What?" she asked when Hugo looked at her questioningly. "It's just a short assignment. It shouldn't be that hard."

"You're probably the only student in the whole school that wants to do homework over the break," Hugo said. "Everyone else just wants to relax and have fun."

Lily shrugged. It was the last day before Christmas holidays, when most of the students would leave the school to go home with their parents. Lily didn't likedoing homework, but she was just glad that the assignment was short.

"Come on, Lily, let's go," Layla said, waiting by the door for her best friend. They had one more class, Potions, before they would pack and get ready to leave the school.

"I'm coming," Lily said, running over to the door. The two of them walked down the long hallways of the castle toward the dungeons. "I can't wait for this period to be over," Lily said as they walked down the stairs. "I get to see my parents and Teddy again. I haven't seen them in ages."

Teddy was like a brother to Lily, as he had always been around for dinner when Lily was growing up. "There's only an hour left," Layla replied.

"I wish you could come," Lily said to her friend. Layla was staying at Hogwarts over the break, as her father had to stay with the other children. A few of Lily's other friends were staying too, so Layla would have company, but she wished Layla could leave.

"Me too," Layla responded. "That's one of the times when I hate my father's job."

They arrived at the Potions room. Professor Collins and about half of the students were already there. The Gryffindors had Potions with the Slytherins, who had just had a free period, so they were already there.

Lily sat down at her usual seat, in the second row towards the front. She took out her cauldron and waited while the Gryffindors arrived.

Soon, all of them arrived and the lesson started. Since it was the last class before break, they didn't make any new potions today; they just reviewed old ones. Lily wasn't paying that much attention during class; she just wanted the class to end so she could go home.

After what seemed an eternity, the bell rang and the students were dismissed. "Let's go!" Lily said, dragging her friend toward the exit. The two of them headed to the Gryffindor common rooms, where Lily picked up her trunk from underneath her bed.

"Well, have fun," Lily said, as Layla would be staying in Hogwarts while she would go home. "See you next year."

Layla nodded. "You too."

Lily raced toward the room next door, where the fourth years slept. "Rose!" she shouted. "Are you ready?"

The door opened and Rose appeared, looking ready to go. "Yep," she replied, taking one last look around her dormitories. "There's no rush, though. It's not like the train's going to leave earlier."

Lily shrugged. "Well, let's go!"

The two of them headed down towards the common room where the rest of the Potter/Weasley family was waiting. Hugo was talking to his best friend, Connor, while some of Lily's older cousins were simply sitting there, waiting. "Hi Lily," Hugo said as Lily approached him. "Ready to go?"

"Definitely," she said. Christmas and New Year were coming. And the Holiday Season was always the best time of the year.

I know not that there isn't much exciting stuff in this chapter, but I promise the next one will have a lot of surprises! Please read and review? I'll try to get a new chapter up before the end of February!