A/n: Hey guys! Here's a chapter that is long overdue. Last weekend my thoughts were far from this story and instead I spent my post-midterm de-stress movie session writing an entirely different story which has been posted here for your reading pleasure. But enough about that because we've got some Ida/Rose/Albus/Scorpius interaction coming up.

UPDATE - Thank you fitzsimmons-bbc-and-cats for catching that the first entry was marked Rose instead of Ida! I would have gone on blissfully unaware and misleading my readers for eternity.

Ida

'I wish you didn't have to leave so soon.' Rose sighs from her spot on our shared bed, leaning back and swinging her legs off the end. 'I may be on better terms with my cousin and Scorpius, but I need my friend to help me through the awkward pauses and lulls in conversation.'

Is that all I'm good for?' I joke, sitting back on my heels, crouched over the trunk I'm slowly repacking.

'Of course not–' Rose begins, mouth moving to remedy the situation before realising that I'm kidding her. 'I'm going to miss you.'

'I'm going home for the holidays, not moving to Bulgaria.' I laugh as she leans forwards and wraps her arms around my neck. 'You'll have a fine Christmas. Don't let the boys push your buttons and watch what Fred and the Scamanders are slipping in the drinks.'

I find my last jumper and throw it in with the rest. Rose purses her lips but I don't have the time to fold everything neatly the way she wants me to.

'What do you think of Coraline's relationship with them?' I ask, slamming the top down and clicking the locks shut. 'And that Jordan boy.'

'Marvel?' Rose looks confused. 'I think it's nice for her to be friends with people outside of our house. Although, I don't know if I can condone their pranking. She helped them trick Julien, a prefect, you know!'

I hum and haw, dissatisfied with her answer. I've heard whispers and rumours and, though many of them were started in Slytherin and can't possibly be true, I can only imagine that Coraline wouldn't like them to be spread. I don't say anything though.

Rose presses a wrapped present into my hands, smiling in that sad way she does now. 'Happy Christmas.'

'Thank you, Rose.' I say. It feels like a book. 'Yours is already under the tree. Will you help me with my trunk?'

I place my school bag and present on the top and give it a heave. I can't wait until I'm of age and I can use magic whenever I like.

'So,' Rose wheedles as we're descending the stairs. 'Has Damon given you a Christmas gift yet?'

'Yeah, the blessing of not spending any time with him or his friends over the break. I have to attend one quidditch game, but hopefully everyone will be too distracted by the match to watch us. Merlin, acting like a couple is so tiring.'

'Acting like a couple?' The middle Potter sticks his head out of the bathroom on the landing, startling the two of us and we nearly drop my trunk. He catches my present as it slips off the side. 'Trouble in paradise, Winters?'

'We aren't the most orthodox couple around, Potter.' I say, mind racing. I don't know what he'd do if he found us out. 'People always expect me to kiss Damon and fawn all over him, but sometimes I just like to eat my dinner or read my books in peace.'

'Are you leaving?' He asks, following us down the stairs.

'Yes, I have a family to get home to.'

'Are you sure you don't want me to come part of the way?' Rose smiles at me, sweetly concerned. We enter the living room where Malfoy is reading a book and she gives me a pointed look. 'You promise that the subways aren't dangerous?'

'You're taking the subway?' Potter interrupts, coming to stand beside Rose, handing me her present. 'I thought you were flooing.'

'I'm flooing to the ministry, then transferring to the muggle subway to get home.'

'Are your parents muggles?' Malfoy asks, looking up from his book. He doesn't mean it as an insult, he seems genuinely interested. 'Winters is a fairly old name in magical history.'

'It is.' I say awkwardly, shuffling my trunk towards the roaring fire. 'Muggle London is just where we chose to live.'

He goes back to his book.

'Here you are.' Rose says, fetching the floo powder. 'Don't forget to write.'

'It's not Bulgaria, Rose.' I smile, throwing my bag over one shoulder and giving her a quick hug before dusting the fire with floo powder. I step into the fireplace and turn to face the room one last time. 'Ministry of Magic.'

'Happy Christmas!' Rose calls as I'm whisked away.

The trip takes a few hours at least, but it's better than waiting for my Da to come the Burrow and fetch me. Ma won't touch the car, she's more hesitant when it comes to muggle contraptions, and Da is at work. It's not like public transit bothers me, though some of the looks I get for carting a trunk around with me are a bit odd. At least I don't have an owl.

Finally, I'm pulling my trunk up the drive to my home in north London. At the front window I see the curtains flutter and I know that my brother was waiting, watching with excitement. Neil comes bounding out of the house matching the stride of our Great Dane, Colt, both of them knocking me into Ma's frozen flowerbed.

'Ida!' Neil shouts, stepping back and helping me to my feet. He's taller than me now by at least a foot, all of our neighbours think he's the older sibling. 'I've been shitting myself waiting for you. I'm so excited you're home.'

'Aw,' I reach up to rustle his hair and let him take my trunk. I've carried it this far. 'I'm excited to be home. Let's get off the drive and I'll tell you all about school, alright?'

'Ma said you tried out for the quidditch team. God, I'd love to fly. Football is fine for me though.'

'Maybe Ma will let you have a go on my broom this year. Or, we can sneak down to the school grounds, but you'll have to be really careful.' I usher him through the door, clicking it closed behind him.

'You're always going on about how dangerous magic can be, but Ma uses it to do the washing up and Da uses it to clean his office. Won't you do some for me?'

'Fine.' I smile, withdrawing my wand from its hiding place. 'You know Ma doesn't like me using it much, but this once.' With a flick his hair goes from brown to a vibrant green and his legs twitch into a spasmic tap dance. He roars with laughter and taps over to the bathroom to get a look at himself.

'Oh, Ida, this is brilliant. I wish I wasn't a squib, you have all the fun.'

'Ida,' Ma is on the stairs and I quickly do the countercharms just in time. She comes over to kiss my cheeks. 'I thought I heard you come in. I've started dinner and Da will be home soon. Neil, why don't you help your sister with her trunk?'

He pouts, but I show him my wand as Ma turns away and the spark returns to his eye. I smile sadly at his enthusiasm. I'm glad I'm not the squib.

Coraline

'The house is completely empty.' I say, coming to sit near the small tree in the common room where we moved our presents this morning. 'I invited Christy from third year and some first year boy I don't know to join us, but they both scampered off.'

'That's fine,' Amelie says cheerily, reaching for the presents. 'I think that the three of us can manage. Here's one for Mariah – me – Mariah – ah, Coraline.'

She slides Rose's present across the floor and I grimace. 'Yes. This will be fun.'

Considering she's my quidditch captain, I don't speak to Amelie much, and I speak to Mariah even less. The awkwardness descended on us like ravenous kestrels the moment our friends left, the bonding abilities of Rose and Nell, their niceness, sucked out of the space around us leaving us grasping at straws for common ground.

The new school term couldn't come any faster.

I get from Rose a nice book about Defense Against the Dark Arts, a new jumper from Ida, new winter gloves and a broom repair kit from my parents, and a box of chocolate cauldrons laced with alcohol from my Auntie Ess. Good old Auntie Ess.

And a very large, threatening, misshapen box that Mariah pushes towards me with the tip of her wand. It's wrapped in paper decorated with tiny twinkling lights and so many layers of spell-o tape that it takes longer to unwrap then it probably did to wrap. It's addressed Your Gryffindor Boys Men. I'm nervous. I'm wonder if I should take it up to my room in case of explosives.

Mariah and Amelie both watch as I cut through the tape, scooting backwards on the carpet and taking their gifts with them.

'Come on, aren't we mates?' I say, flipping open the box and glaring at the teammates who have left me at the mercy of my present. I peer inside, delighted by what I find. 'They've made me a book!'

Pranking Tips from the Gryffindor Guys of the New Generation

I pull it out and flip through the patchy pages, each tip written in a different hand and intricate, overly-complicated diagrams accompany each one. Mariah peers over my shoulder, then laughs.

'That's so sweet!'

I put the book to the side, rifling through the trinkets, bobbles, pellets and capsules that layer the box. It's the perfect present. At the bottom there is a note.

For our new partner in crime, Coraline, an official member of the Gryffindor Guys – though she is neither a Gryffindor nor a guy, the two previous qualifiers of the coveted club. Look at us, breaking boundaries. Hopefully these tips and a selection of the Wheezes latest products will help you make the right choice to join our ranks as the pranking elite at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A blood vow of honour will be expected of you upon our return from the holiday break.

And, you know, Happy Christmas and all that jazz.

Your lovelies, Marvel, Fred, Lorcan, Lysander and Julien

I laugh, placing the note and book back in the box, piling my other gifts on top. I stop at the chocolate cauldrons, sharing a grin with Amelie, I withdraw one and pass her the treats, letting the sweet linger on my tongue and the alcohol slip down my throat.

I lean back against the leg of an armchair, soaking in the blazing fire, the falling snow, the Christmas cheer and the lazy day.

'Do you guys want to pull a prank on some friends of mine? As a sort of Christmas present.' I ask suddenly, biting my lip.

Good old Auntie Ess.

Nell

'How was your coffee date?'

I'm not two steps through the door of the McLaggen house and I'm bombarded by questions from the last person I want to see.

'Why do you want to know?' I sneer at my nemesis, hanging my jacket with a little more force than necessary.

'Have I struck a nerve?' He persists. 'Not well, then. Good.'

'Oh, yes, I knew you'd be delighted.' I press further into the house, following my mother who has all of the gifts. 'You can't stand that your best mate might be interested in me.'

'You've got me pinned. I wasn't exactly hiding it, was I? Now, tell me what happened.'

'Nothing happened!' I round on him in the tight hall, reaching out to the walls on either side of me to trap him there. It's Christmas. Already, I'm being forced to spend it with him, and he goes and makes it a million times worse by poking me with the stick that is my potential relationship with Arne. 'Alright? Nothing. That's why I'm peeved.'

'What, it was a perfectly okay time and you're taking it out on me?' He defends himself, appearing affronted.

'You're the one who asked in the first place!' I hiss, spinning on a heel and entering the living room where the McLaggen tree is decorated with ornaments and surrounded by gifts. I plop myself down on the sofa, accepting the pumpkin juice offered, and sit with him in brooding silence as the rest of our families bustle about with holiday merriment.

Nothing happened. Nothing. No hand holding, no footsie under the table, not even a peck on the cheek after it was all done. Arne left me high and dry and wondering what went wrong as I watched him retreat down Diagon Alley.

'Did Arne say anything?' I ask in a whisper, half hoping he doesn't hear.

He does. 'Arne and I don't talk about you. The subject of you and my best mate and what you do with your mouths is not something that I care to know about.'

'I was just wondering what happened. He was perfectly sweet when I first met him, but the sweetness hasn't turned into anything more. Perhaps we're meant to simply dissolve into nothingness.' I turn slightly towards McLaggen, finding him to be staring at me. 'Then you'd have me all to yourself.'

He wrinkles his nose, standing suddenly and strutting off to the tree. He roots around for a present, coming back with one that has been wrapped with the careful precision of Claire McLaggen. I raise a brow at him, suspicious.

Did he get her to wrap something seemingly harmless with a vicious prank planted at the heart of it?

'Do you remember that a few days ago, at Malkin's, when we had that spat? It was so that mum could buy you this.' He shrugs. He seems disinterested, but it may be a façade. He moves away under my gaze, back to the tree where my father is doling out gifts.

I suppose it won't hurt to trust him – just this once.

It is Christmas after all.

A/n: Keep checking in! You'll find out what Nell gets for Christmas, as well as Rose. Plus, what is Coraline about to do?