John:

Fall break ended, and I went back to school. I was so happy to see my dad, we made cake and watched bad movies. But the teachers hadn't had a break, and they were ready to get back into full swing of things. I was not. I fell behind a little bit, but Rose gave me some help. Even Jade was warming back up to me a little. It was Dave she hated.

I knew about Dave's little crush. It was hard to miss. He was such a dweeb about it, and I tried hard not to laugh at the cringe-worthy statements he made around her.

In other news, I made a new friend. A Slytherin named Vriska. She was pretty nice, but around other people she was weirdly territorial. I was okay with it, though. She was a cool person, though. I was glad to have her.

I struggled with History of Magic and Potions. I also had a hard time in Charms. Transfiguration was easily my favorite class, which confused Dave.

"Transfiguration is a lot of hoyty toyty bullshit. Just stereotypical Wizard stuff."

"Yeah, but its cool." I responded while practicing with my needle. I had to change it into a bit of straw. It changed into straw, but it was still silver. I had to practice. I tried again, but to no avail. It was still silver. I enjoyed the challenge, though.

"I'm going to go and get a book from the library." I said, standing up. "Would you like to come?"

"Nah." said Dave cooley. I shrugged and left the common room.

On my way to the library, I spotted Kanaya Maryam. Rose really liked her, so I decided to say something.

"Hi, Kanaya, right?" I asked awkwardly. She nodded.

"Yes, that would be me. You are?"

"John Egbert." I said. Her face fell.

"Oh." she said. I pretended not to notice the tone of her voice. I was about to say something else when I heard a voice.

"Heeeeeeeey, John! What are you doing here?" said Vriska. I whirled around.

"Oh, hey Vriska." I said, somewhat awkwardly.

"I see you've met my friend." she said, motioning to Kanaya."

"Yeah." I said. Kanaya looked at Vriska.

"Can we get back to studying now, or are we going to waste more time?"

"Yeah, fine." said Vriska. The two girls walked away, arguing. I shrugged and found the book I was looking for.

When I returned to Gryffindor Tower, I found Jade and Rose sitting with Dave. Jade looked less than pleased, but Dave and Rose talked animatedly.

"Hey, guys." I said, sitting down by the fire. Rose stood up.

"Sorry about his John, but I promised to meet Nepeta in Hufflepuff ten minutes ago."

"Alright, see ya." I said. She left, waving goodbye. I turned to Jade and Dave.

"You'll never believe what just happened." I said, and told them about the incident with Kanaya. "I wonder what her deal is."

"Well, isn't it obvious?" asked Jade. Dave and I looked at her.

"No." I said, feeling stupid. Jade stood and left in a huff.

"Stupid, brainless, can't see a thing..." she muttered. I looked at Dave. He was staring at the place she'd been sitting.

December proceeded as normal and I found myself dreading winter holiday. I didn't want to go home. Dave wasn't, and Rose refused to. I think Jade wanted to be at home, but a ton of our other friends were staying back as well, so I wrote my dad to let him know. I felt a little guilty, but he wrote back that he had found someone and to enjoy the break, so I put it aside.

Kanaya, Rose, Sollux, Tavros, Aradia, Dave, and I were all staying at school for Christmas and New Year's. The purebloods' parents had to host fancy ministry events and parties, so a lot of our friends left. Plus, Jade and Nepeta wanted to go home as well. Kanaya wanted to as well, but her mother had to work in Christmas, so she and her sister stayed for the winter holiday.

Before Jade left, she pulled me into a hug and hissed in my ear, "Keep Dave out of trouble, mister." I nodded. She pulled away and looked at me in the eyes. "Okay?" I nodded again. She kissed my forehead, gave Dave a look, and fet the common room, suitcase in hand.

Christmas morning, Dave and I opened our presents. Dave gave the exact bunny used in Con Air, and I gave him Ben Stiller's glasses from some shitty movie he liked ironically. We both were very happy with these gifts. I got some shit from Rose and Jade too, and Vriska gave me a cool new outfit. I donned it and continued opening things. My dad gave me a fedora with this note:

SON.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU HAVE INHERITED MY FEDORA. YOU HAVE TRULY BECOME AN ADULT MAN. WIELD IT WITH RESPONSIBILITY AND INTEGRITY.

I AM SO, SO PROUD OF YOU.

-DAD

I was overwhelmed with responsibility. Dave snickered, so I put away the stylish hat. We got dressed and all our friends met us in the common room. We greeted them and we discussed our presents, and passed some other ones out. I gave everyone some sort of candy, and Dave got everyone a set of plastic gobstones. Everyone enjoyed the merriment except Sollux's angry Slytherin friend, Karkat, who looked angry in general. I thought no one would have anything for him, but Kanaya gave him a little set of Wizard's Chess, which he was very good at, as he beat Sollux at least seven times. Then we decided to go out and have a snowball fight. We were all soaking wet when we returned to the common room, so before the feast, we went our separate ways to shower and change into clean clothes.

The feast was wonderful. Christmas Goose and cranberry sauce and fruit cake. Tiny little presents lined the table, and Dave and I had fun with a shoddy exploding snap set. Finally, we returned to the common room and went to bed, the day's festivities behind us, and a new year rocketing at us like a freight train.

On New Year's, Dave and I stayed up til midnight with everyone in the common room and then we all drank butterbeer we nicked from the kitchen. Dave set off fireworks, and everyone oohed and ahhed. On the 2nd of the year we lolled around lazily and tried to sleep, but failed, so we went down to the prefect's bathroom and went swimming. School was due to start in just three days, and everyone was coming back in two. Dave and I spent our last two days setting up little rigs and traps. I remembered Jade's promise only after the math, and then it was too late to take it back.

Everyone arrived back at school, and I avoided Jade. But one day, I could not avoid her, and I watched her sit down on a dungbomb. She screamed.

"STRIDER!" She glared at me. "I told you to keep him out of trouble, Egbert!"

"I know, I-"

"Save your breath. Or, on second thought, hold it until I forgive you." she snapped, and stalked off. Well, shit.

Aradia:

Upon my return from Hogwarts for Fall Break, I found my parents fussing over me. They have always worried about me, and it only became worse after the coma. I did not have the heart to tell them to stop. I also made sure not to inform them that Vriska Serket was attending Hogwarts, because I did not wish to be pulled out.

I suffered through their worry silently, and returned to school. If I had the energy to care, I was sure I would be pleased with my situation. I have made several friends-Kanaya, Rose, Sollux, and Jade-and I have spent some time around Terezi comfortably.

December began at Hogwarts much as usual. Jade and I enjoyed ourselves in History of Magic, and I learned more things every day. I kept in mind every curse I ever heard used, because if there was one thing I was still sure of, it was that I hated Vriska Serket. Some day, she was going to really pay.

For the time being, I stayed quiet. "Hey, Aradia," I heard behind me one quiet December Saturday. I turned around to see Feferi. The girl was nice enough, and I knew Jade and Sollux really liked her, but she was too bubbly for me. I allowed a smile.

"Hello, Feferi," I said. She fell into pace with me as I walked towards the Gryffindor common room.

"So, I was wondering if you understood the question about the Goblin Wars in 436. I was under the impression they didn't start until later-"

"Why are you coming to me about this?" I asked, brow furrowed. "Why not ask Jade, or Sollux?"

"Cause I haven't had time to talk to you recently, seal-ly," she laughed. I didn't understand this girl, who was such a high pureblood, yet still so nice to everyone.

"The question wanted to know about what signs in 436 led to the eventual wars, not what was going on in the war at the time." I told her.

"Thanks!" Feferi said, but still didn't leave. She chattered non-stop about all manner of strange things until we reached the Gryffindor dormitories. "It was great talking to you, Aradia," she chirped, and then skipped off. I didn't enter the common room for another minute, wondering over what had just happened.

December proceeded much as normal, but it remained awkward around Terezi. The situation finally hit its breaking point right before Christmas break. The usual crowd was all studying in the library, silent except for a couple whispered questions about problems. Sollux had some sort of muggle device hidden under the table, and was using it to do research. I was working through my Herbology questions with Jade when both Terezi and I reached for the same book.

Our fingers touched, and she flinched, jumping backwards. "Sorry," she muttered, and suddenly I actually felt something-anger. Full blown, white-hot rage. I stood up, my chair scraping backwards. I was dimly aware of everyone staring at me. "What," I said slowly. "Is your problem?" My eyes were focused on Terezi, and she looked astonished, and maybe a little afraid.

"Sorry?" she asked.

"What is your problem?" I asked again this time louder. There was a shuffling behind us, and Professor Hussie appeared, angry.

"No noise in my library," he hissed, voice not really that intimidating in a whisper. "Out, the both of you!" Hussie gestured at Terezi and I. She glared at me, then picked up her stuff and stalked out. I followed, and our friends, exchanging weird looks, followed too. Out in the hallway, I faced the girl again.

"What did I ever do to you?" I demanded of her, continuing our argument right where it had left off. "We used to be friends, and now you can't even be near me without flinching! You never came to see me after-"

"I thought you were dead!" Terezi finally shouted, and I could hear the gasps of our friends. "I thought you were dead, and when you showed up alive, I didn't know what to think."

That gave me pause. "I wasn't dead," I said slowly.

"Yeah, thanks. I got that."

"I wasn't dead," I repeated. "I was in a coma for over year, and you never came to visit me." Terezi looked annoyed, and maybe a little guilty.

"How was I supposed to visit you if I thought you were dead? We all thought you were dead! You could've told us otherwise when you woke up," she defended herself. Terezi was really good at this sort of thing.

"As far as I knew, you had abandoned me," I insisted.

"That isn't my fault. It was Vriska who told us you were dead," she said, and neither of us were shouting anymore. Finally, Sollux cut into the conversation, his lisp apparent with his confusion.

"Can I just ask what the hell is going on?" We both turned to face him.

"It's nothing," I said a little quickly. Then, I turned and practically ran down the corridor, leaving Terezi to answer their questions. I knew she'd manage. She'd always been good at anything to do with arguments.

I avoided Terezi for the next few days, but thankfully, she was going home over Christmas break. So was Jade though, and Quarters, which left me alone in our dorm room. However, Rose, Kanaya, and Sollux stayed behind, and I spent time with them. Kanaya looked like she was having some kind of inner struggle for most of it.

Finally, the day before christmas, she blurted out, "What did Vriska do?" Shocked, I looked at the normally austere girl.

"...It's all in the past," I assured her. Despite my hatred for Vriska, I liked Kanaya too much to spoil her friendship with the girl.

Christmas morning brought presents. I'd gotten one for Jade, Sollux, Rose, Kanaya, and Feferi, who I'd formed a tentative friendship with recently. At the last minute, I sent something to Terezi. To my surprise, I had presents from all of them in return. My absolute favorite gift was from Jade. She got me three archaeology books about wizarding sites, one of the few passions I still have. We had a snowball fight in the afternoon, andd then Hogwarts made a flawless feast, and I had so much fun with my friends. All in all, it was the best Christmas I've had in a long time.

Sollux began hanging out with a really angry kid from Slytherin. His name was Karkat, and it appeared to me like he couldn't last five minutes with Sollux before they declared they despised each other and got into an argument, yet they both insisted they were friends. It seemed strange to me. Perhaps it had something to do with Sollux's irrational hatred of himself-he could be using Karkat to fuel it. I didn't know.

The boy also was pretty friendly with Kanaya, and they had hung out even before the break. I didn't particularly like him, but I could stand him for Sollux' sake. And Kanaya's.

There was a huge party on New Year's down in the Gryffindor common room, for everyone who had stayed, but I didn't go. I went up the Astronomy tower and sat on the balcony, watching the moon rise, and then the fireworks that Dave set off at midnight. The colors were bright against the darkness, but the explosions jarred my bones and reminded me of things I would rather forget.

Three days later, everyone came back. Terezi looked haunted, and her face was paler than I remembered. I guess her mom was still away, because I knew the girl didn't have a good relationship with her father. I didn't approach her though, and instead, continued to do what I did best-observe from far away.

I didn't mention to anyone the weird daydream I'd had the day before, and I barely dared to think about it. There had been blood on the field, and I could hear someone screaming. Even as I watched, one of Hogwart's pillars began to crumble and fall. There was a monstrous figure, missing a leg, and he was laughing as he watched the destruction.

I'd convinced myself it was just a daydream, and moved on.

It was easy enough to get back into the swing of school again. Sollux became even closer friends with Karkat, and started spending more time with him and Gamzee. It made me feel kind of weird and unpleasant, and kind of angry at Karkat.

Jade really disliked Karkat at first, and made no secret of her dislike of him. They had many loud, ear-splitting arguments way too close to where I was trying to study. Then, one day, they came into the common room together, talking and laughing. I stared at them, but didn't comment. I wasn't a very talkative person.

"What alternate universe have I been transported to?" Sollux commented irritably. Terezi gave a little laugh, and Kanaya looked amused. I smiled, but Jade didn't really comprehend.

"A what?" she asked, and Sollux sighed.

"Please tell me what happened to cause me to end up in a world where you and KK are friends," he said.

"Umm," Jade said, glancing at Karkat. "I figured out that he's not so bad. He apologized!" Sollux had been taking a sip of water while she spoke, and at the last two words, he choked, trying not to spew the water everywhere.

"Sorry, what? Now I know I'm not in my universe."

"Don't be such an asshole, Sollux," Karkat snapped, and he and Jade took their seats among us. School continued on.