SPECIAL THANKS TO MY BFF STEPHANIE FOR HELPING ME WITH THIS CHAPTER! ALSO READ THE BOTTOM AUTHOR'S NOTE! \/\/\/

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The train stopped. The moment we we were all secretly wishing wouldn't come had finally arrived.

"I'm so going to miss you Vanice..." Lydia said, giving me a hug.

"I'll miss you too," I said, hugging her back. "But I'll write letters to you. And it's only Christmas break."

Then Lydia gasped and clapped her hands together, startling us.

"You can come visit too!"

Smiling at her, I nodded.

"Whenever you'd like."

I approached Draco with sudden awkwardness that wasn't there before.

"Um..."

"Uh...have a good break Vanice..."

Clearing my throat, I took a step closer.

"You'll visit, won't you?"

Draco crossed his arms and took a step back, as if what I might be implying was a foreign sensation to him.

"Sure."

Stepping back I turned to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Keep in touch Boys. Make sure you write."

"They can't even read." Draco snickered.

I rolled my eyes and smiled at the boys, who smiled back warmly. In the distance, I could make out Aletta's bouncing figure. Rolling my eyes and smiling, I made my way towards them. I could tell that the break was going to be lovely.

.

~•~•CHRISTMAS MORNING~•~•

.

I awoke groggily on Christmas morning to Skibby, nervously dancing.

"Master requests your presence downstairs."

Groaning and throwing on some loose robes, I trudged downstairs to hear the crinkle of wrapping paper.

Aletta's eyes lit up as the stack of toys and clothes grew taller and taller with each present. Sunlight shined in from the windows making everything glimmer, heightening the cheery atmosphere.

"Mother and Father put yours over there."

I glanced toward where her tiny hand pointed to, and found two fairly tall stacks of square boxes next to our carefully decorated tree. Instead of a traditional top piece to the tree the tip bore a large Slytherin cresent, crafted just to fit the top of the tree, the name Crypton glistening in black cursive at the bottom.

Unlike Aletta's unruly ripping, I took my time and slowly peeled off the wrapping paper layer by layer until my gift was revealed. Mostly I got books, like my own copy of Hogwarts; A History, but there were also some well chosen clothing articles such as a nice black jacket with the family cresent, and a few others.

But presents were not the real present I wished to receive this morning. What I really wanted was information. Information I knew my parents and the Malfoy family knew.

Taking a precarious and leisurely approach, I sat down at the table, pulling a stack of fluffy pancakes toward me.

Father sat before me, looking at the newspaper. He spoke without looking at me.

"So how has your term been? Lucius says Draco talks all about you and how talented you are."

Trying not to blush, I chose my words carefully. "It has gone very well. Father, I read something from a school library book about a rather curious magical artifact."

"Hm?" he raised an eyebrow as he said it, sipping his coffee.

"It said something of a Sorcerer's Stone. It produces the Elixir of Life. A few friends and I thought-"

Suddenly, Father cut me off, giving me a glare.

"You stop right there young lady. It is foolish of you to medle in such business, foolishness I did not believe you capable of. This is NOT a child's matter."

A flare of anger that started in my chest spread, burning in my throat, making me want to mouth off. However my reply was cut off as Aletta ran into the room

"Mummy, Daddy look what Santa brought last night!" she held up a small but definitely real Nimbus 2000.

"How nice!" exclaimed Mother. "Vanice why don't you teach her the basics this afternoon?"

Using all my self control to hold my tongue, I replied in an almost deadly calm voice.

"Yes mother." Losing my appetite I pushed my plate away and ran back upstairs.

However as I opened my room the memory of my recent conversation slipped away as I found several unopened parcels sitting on my desk.

Tawn sat in her open cage, some of her golden feathers shining in the sunlight that lit up the snow layered ground and chased away the bone chilling breeze. She stood by the parcels as if proud of her work.

I counted 5 in all, I had a hunch who four of them were from but I was curious as to the fifth.

I recognized Crabbe and Goyle's rather sloppy and slanted writing, and unwrapped boxes full of Sugar Quills, always useful for Professor Binns boring classes, Chocolate Frogs '

'Yum!' I thought.

I was starting to collect the cards, with a bit of Draco and Lydia's help.

Lastly, there was Every Flavor Beans, with a note saying to save some for the Slytherin common room.

Smiling to myself, I took two packs of the Every Flavor Beans and threw them into my trunk.

Opening and popping a Chocolate Frog into my mouth, (I got another Dumbledore card), I moved to the next rather small parcel.

I could tell this was from Lydia.

She talked about Christmas with Draco, which made me all the more anxious to go visit her, and in her own words, she told me how much "She like totally missed me and wanted me to visit."

Opening the small box, I found 3 small journal, all the same size. The first one had a black cover with a silver snake in the lower left corner. Flipping through the book, I found it empty. I could use this for quite a few things. The next one was another black cover but instead had the Hogwarts crest, the school saying spread below. The final one was a dark green, the bottom in silver cursive saying Slytherin, the back displaying the crest.

Stacking the journals and setting them on my night stand, I moved to the next medium sized parcel. There was a letter taped to it, a purple envelope with rather poor, or really fancy, cursive.

"Dear Vanice,

I've sent you some quills as I've noticed you were low In class. Severus and I have decided to take a vacation and its proved quite enjoyable. I hope you've remembered to keep our little secret safe, But I also write to you asking a favor. While your friends are trusted member of the Slytherin house, other unwelcomed Houses have begun meddling. Keep Potter out of our buisness. And enjoy your break"

-Archidia"

Opening the parcel I found a box of quills, all different colors. These would come in handy as, I had lost quite a few. Finally I opened my last and smallest parcel, this one also had a letter attached.

"Dear Vanice.

I thought you'd like this present though I did have help from Lydia in picking it out. It really is rather lonely without you but besides Lydia's constant chatter I've enjoyed my stay at home. Father says next year, he can get me into the Quidditch team. If you're interested I could have him get you in too. My parents refuse to say anything about the Sorcerer's Stone, it seems a rather touchy subject. But as Lydia said, it'd be nice if you could visit sometime soon.

-Draco"

I opened the small package, it seemed to be something of a jewelry box. I opened it and couldn't stifle a smile.

Inside was a shiny silver bracelet, with multiple charms upon it, but none more vivid nor better than the large silver pentagon with a large black V on it. The interior was a soft red velvet.

Lost in my own thoughts, I jumped as Skibby appeared in my room.

"Master says to ready yourself to visit the Malfoy family."

Jumping, I ran to the bathroom to tame my bed tangled hair. Staring into the mirror, I realized my robes were rumpled and crinkled. I ran downstairs, almost crashing into Aletta, and grabbed some of my new clothes. My parents waited impatiently by the fire-place, my Mother holding a large pot of Floo Powder. Completing my outfit with my new black jacket, I raced to the fireplace to meet my friends.

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Sorry for the late updates...I'm going to reread the first book so I can be inspired again(: THANKS AGAIN TO MY BFF

Also, the winner for the contest is: BallaSiebenaler

Her drawing was awesome...(:

-Q of the Chapter...

•Favorite Harry Potter Joke?

Also, has anyone seen Potter Puppet Pals on YouTube? Hilarious!

Well, see you guys next chapter and remember R&R, F&F, and... NEVER TICKLE A SLEEPING DRAGON!