The next real excitement took place when the winter holidays came around. The students were given the whole week to go home with their families, but were also allowed to remain at the school if they desired. Konata went home to her parents for 3 out of the 7 days off, while Shiro went to his home for 4. The 25th of December had been quite enjoyable for him.
"Oh, wow, you're kidding! Thanks, Pops!" Shiro heard as he walked sleepily into his living room on Christmas day. The fire was ablaze in the hearth, Mischief curled up on a rug in front of it. Satoko and Sakito had tied a big red bow with a bell on it around her neck. The Christmas tree stood tall in the far corner, covered in ornaments- many of them homemade- and towered above presents. It filled the room with a delicious pine smell.
"You're welcome, Sato. Just use them wisely, my young grasshopper," Shotaro Ueda was saying, ruffling his oldest son's hair. Shiro saw that Satoshi held a colorful box of wizard fireworks. Shiro shuddered at the thought of what he might do with them.
"Oh my goodness! Look, Daddy, she's beautiful!" squeaked 7 year old Sana Ueda. She had unwrapped her present to reveal a brown haired, green eyed doll. Mr. Ueda kneeled beside her, allowing her to hug him tight.
"Santa told me you might like her. Of course, I had to see her myself, and she reminded me of you."
Shiro smiled softly, sitting cross-legged on the floor beside Sakura, who was gently stroking a purring Mischief. "What'd you get?" he asked curiously. Sakura pointed to an unwrapped boxed set of books. "I wanted that series for so long, I'm glad Santa finally got me it." Shiro's smile darkened. Their parents had admitted to he and Satoshi that Santa isn't real when they were 10. That meant Sakura only had one year left to fully enjoy her Christmas... Poor girl.
"Are the twins still asleep?" Shiro asked his father. Mr. Ueda snorted.
"Those two? Asleep on Christmas? Honestly Shiro, do you know them at all? They're making cookies with your mum," he told him. Shiro nodded, standing and walking toward the delectable scent that drafted out of the kitchen. However, something caught his eye that made him stop dead in his tracks. Even when the twins ran out of the kitchen, covered in cookie dough, and hugged him tightly, his gaze didn't falter. After all, he was having a stare down with a majestic, orange-eyed Great Horned Owl. Shiro uttered a whistle.
"What a beauty… Whose owl is this?" he inquired quietly. Sandra Ueda left the kitchen, wiping her hands on an apron, and hugged him gently from behind.
"That would be yours, darling."
Shiro's jaw dropped. "Y-you mean…?" Mr. Ueda walked up and placed his hand on his son's shoulder.
"Merry Christmas, Shiro," his parents whispered. Shiro's face lit up.
"Thank you, thank you, THANK you! He's gorgeous… Oh, this is so great… A name! I need to give him a name!" Shiro thought tediously for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "I think he looks like a Jakkin."
"Looks like a bird, if you ask me," muttered Satoshi. Smirking, he retrieved a slingshot from the bookshelf and loaded it with a round ornament he'd snatched off the tree. With a glare, Satoko bolted over and knocked the slingshot out of his hands.
"No, Sato! That's Shiro's birdy. Be nice," she demanded. Her twin brother crossed his arms and nodded sharply.
Grinning, Mr. Ueda shook his finger at Satoshi. "Can't defy the wrath of 5 year old twins, buddy."
Shiro smiled at the memory. "I planned on staying the whole week, but my parents had to work, so they thought it'd waste my time to just sit alone at home when I could be here," Konata explained to Blaze, who had stayed at Hogwarts for the entire break.
"I also wanted to stay the whole week, but Satoshi thought it was too lame to hang out with his family so he came back early, yet he didn't want to return alone so I had to come along," Shiro told them at lunch. Since very few students remained, instead of 4 giant tables in the Great Hall, there was one medium sized one instead where both teachers and children sat.
"I can hear you, ya know," called Satoshi from the other end of the table, his arm around a black haired girl. Shiro ignored him, shoving aside his plate of chicken and replacing it with a quill and written on pieces of paper.
"What are those?" Konata asked, dabbing away a hot-chocolate mustache with her napkin.
"Letters to some of my relatives. They're related to me through my mum, and they're so stuck up, fancy, and disapproving of my dad that they refuse to see us. They didn't even attend my parents' wedding! They also flat out called Satoshi a disgusting, worthless child, the nerve of them! But, they seem to think I'll turn out like my mother and like to hear from me. I wrote these letters at home, but I have to sign all of them. They're so proper I have to sign my full name," he explained rather grouchily.
Blaze glanced down at what he was writing and widened her eyes a little. Written at the bottom of each letter was:
With love, Shiro Darrien Ueda
"Your middle name is Darrien?" Blaze asked quietly. Shiro nodded, folding up his letters and handing them to Jakkin. "Yes, why?"
Blaze stared down at the table, biting her lip. "It's just… My father's name was Darrien."
Shiro felt as if someone had slapped him across the face and shouted "ISN'T IT OBVIOUS?" Shiro snapped his head to his left to face Blaze. "I knew I'd heard the name Alexanders before! Blaze, our dads… They were best of friends!"
Blaze nodded grimly, her eyes drifting away from Shiro's. "Y-yeah… I knew since I first saw you on the train. I just didn't bring it up because I hate talking about my father…" she said slowly. Shiro's expression fell. He had nearly forgotten why his dad stopped hanging out with the man who used to be his other half: Darrien Alexanders one day snapped and murdered Blaze's mother, who he'd loved with all his heart since they were 11. "Didn't even use the Unforgivable Curse, since then the Ministry might've found out… Instead he took a butcher's knife a-and… God, I don't get it! He loved Lorraine so much… She was his world… And their poor little girl, what's gonna happen to her?" Shiro had once heard his father say this to his mother. The incident had caused his father so much pain that he chose to block all things relating to Darrien Alexanders from his mind and memory.
"Blaze, I… I'm so sorry, I had no idea…" he whispered. Blaze shook her head, her eyes watering behind her glasses.
"It's okay, Shiro. I… I guess I do need to talk about it. I've never had anyone who'd listen."
"I-I don't quite know what you're talking about, but you can come to me about absolutely anything," piped Konata.
Blaze gave a tiny nod. "Thanks. But, I suppose my dad was a ticking time bomb… Slytherins are so rarely as kind as our fathers are- well, were, in my case. It was to be expected that one day the blow of being a Slytherin took its effect… One of the reasons I didn't confront you about it was that I thought you'd be afraid your dad would go through the same thing…"
Shiro gently put his hand atop Blaze's. "I've always feared that, since your dad snapped… But, I feel like it won't. I mean, nobody would have thought it'd happen to your dad either, but, I just… It's hard to explain."
"No, I see what you mean. I don't think he'll go crazy either. Knock on wood…"
"Yeah. But, you know, if you ever want to get away, you're welcome at my home anytime," Shiro assured her. Blaze gave a small grin.
"Stay at a boy's house? Don't you think that's a little inappropriate? I'd much rather stay with Konata."
"Y'know, I could ask my parents if that's okay with them… If you seriously want to, I'm sure you could spend summers with me," Konata exclaimed.
"You mean it?" Blaze asked, a bit incredulous.
Konata nodded sharply, her emerald eyes sparkling. "Yes, of course!"
It was silent among the trio for a while, leaving them to their own rapid thoughts. It was Shiro that broke the quiet.
"During my visit, my mum gave me a photo album she'd kept for a while. I kept looking through it and just couldn't figure out who the blonde girl playing with Draco and I was. It's hard to believe it was you, Blaze…" Konata started to question why Shiro had pictures of him playing with MALFOY, but decided it better not to ask. She hadn't yet seen him with the obnoxious and spoiled blonde; perhaps the boys weren't still friends.
Shiro opened his bag and pulled out a black, neatly kept book. He flipped randomly to the third page, but immediately regretted it. Konata and Blaze's jaws dropped, then they burst into laughter. "Look at baby Shiro! He was such a cutie!" Konata shrieked. There were two pages filled with nothing but pictures- moving, of course- from Shiro's first year of life. Blushing furiously, Shiro skimmed farther a few pages. Konata and Blaze saw that all 6 Ueda gets had two pages designated to their baby pictures.
Shiro finally came across what he'd be looking for. Konata's hand flew to her mouth. There were pages worth of Shiro, about 3 to 4 years old, with a bright little blonde boy that was unmistakably Draco Malfoy, except in the pictures, he looked happy, sweet, and quite huggable. There were pictures of him and Shiro playing tag, swimming in a lake adjacent to Shiro's house, scrambling over a husky ("His name was Tommy, he was such a sweet dog"), playing with action figures, and just plain having a good time. But in some pictures, there was a third child laughing along with them: a girl with blonde hair that went nearly down to her waist. Shiro had been right about it being difficult to distinguish her as Blaze; the girl in the picture's cheerful demeanor and lack of glasses didn't look much like her at all.
"Wow, you three were so adorable!" squeaked Konata.
"Ah, weren't we just?" agreed Shiro with a grin. When he turned the page, though, that smile faded. There were more pictures of him and Draco, from when they were 5 to when they were 8, surrounding one larger picture in the middle. It was of three men: one had spiked black hair and squinted, piercing green eyes, and he held a very young Shiro; one had glasses, dark brown hair, blue eyes, and held little Blaze; one had shoulder length, pale blonde hair, a pointed nose, quite a grim expression, and held 3 year old Draco. "Friends forever" was printed above it.
"Those are your dads, huh?" Konata stated quietly. Shiro and Blaze nodded slowly. Abruptly, Shiro closed the book and stuffed it carefully into his bag.
"Well, the scenery outside is simply beautiful. How about we go for a walk?" he offered. Blaze and Konata exchanged glances, put on smiles, and nodded.
"Oh my God. Konata, WHAT are you wearing?" Blaze asked with a laugh once the trio met outside. Though her cheeks were already pink from the cold, Konata's entire face went red in embarrassment. Her mittened hands flew to cover her pink winter hat, complete with pom-poms on the strings to tie it and kitty ears on top. "M-my mum thought it was cute and bought it for me, I promised her I'd wear it- can't break a promise, you know- plus I don't have another hat! I-it's dumb, I know, b-but PLEASE don't make fun of it!" she cried.
Shiro, who had been stifling a laugh behind his gloves, walked to her side and flicked one of the pom-poms. "Oh, I won't make fun. I think it's adorable."
Konata sighed in exasperation. "Adorable isn't necessarily a good thing."
Blaze grinned. "Come on, you should like it. One, your mum went out and bought it all for you. Two, it fits your image, looking like a 7 year old and all." At this point, you could probably roast marshmallows on Konata's face. Blaze patted her shoulder. "Don't worry sweetheart, you'll grow. Just wait until you hit pu-"
"I DON'T LIKE WHERE THIS CONVERSATION IS GOING!" interrupted Konata. Shiro, who was now blushing himself, raised his hand a little. "I second that notion." The atmosphere seemed to lift as all three of them laughed in unison.
They walked around the perimeter of the grounds, either huddling close together to conserve heat or stooping over to throw snow at each other. Blaze had to keep taking her glasses on and off, since they fogged up whenever she exhaled.
"What's that expression for? You look all sympathetic," Konata remarked as they waited for Blaze to clear her glasses while they stood beside the castle's lake. A giant squid was half surfaced, its tentacles lazily making little currents in the close-to-frozen water.
"It's just, that poor squid… The cold must be unbearable for him. I mean, that must be like living in an ice cube! Literally! Oh, I wish I could do something to help… "
Blaze just smiled and rolled her eyes, while Konata stared at Shiro like he had three heads. "Shiro. He's a GIANT. SQUID. I don't think a meteor shower would do much do him."
"Well, it WOULD take a lot to hurt 'im, but it's theorized that a meteor shower wiped out DINOSAURS."
"Oh, you know what I mean."
Shiro smiled. "Yeah, I do. Perhaps we should go inside now, before we turn into human ice pops." The girls nodded in agreement. Konata in the middle, the trio headed back to the castle arm-in-arm.
"Shiro!" called Satoshi once they got inside, shivering but grinning from ear to ear. Shiro glanced up, not surprised to see his brother's cheeks, lips, and neck dotted with lipstick mark. He nodded at Blaze and Konata. "Okay, so tell me. Which one are you taking under the mistletoe?" Shiro blinked, a bit dumbstruck. He'd become so used to having the girls as best friends that he never considered any romantic thoughts about them. Besides: he felt Blaze might critically injure any boy who so much as thought about taking her under the mistletoe, while Konata would probably blush so badly she'd either cry, run off in embarrassment, explode, or all three.
"Nobody, Satoshi. Unlike YOU, I want my first kiss to be worthwhile. I want it to be with a girl I feel I love and want to be with for a while. I refuse to have it wasted on something stupid like mistletoe, and when I'm still young," he told his brother quite matter-of-factly.
"Come ON, I started kissing girls when I was your age! Younger, maybe! But, whatever, I won't force it upon you. Good night, baby brother."
Shiro wasn't aware at all that he had started blushing. "I'm not your baby brother, Sakito is."
Satoshi ruffled his hair and kissed him behind his ear. "He's manly though. You're like a little sister, but since you're a dude, that makes you my baby brother." With a wave and a wink at Konata and Blaze, he strutted off to the Gryffindor common room.
"Well, I guess we should be getting to our common rooms too," suggested Konata. The other two nodded, Shiro still in a daze.
"Keep your wand at ready when walking through your common room, Blaze," Shiro advised, finally getting around to unwinding his silver and blue scarf.
"Don't worry, I plan to. Good night Konata. Good night Shiro."
"Good night Blaze," they replied simultaneously. They exited the Great Hall together in silence, mixed emotions and tiredness from the day finally seeping in. They parted ways at the common room entrances, said a final "good night," then disappeared until the next day.