The next morning came too quickly, I decided as I turned away from the strip of light coming from the space where the curtains around my bed weren't completely closed. Just as I was about to drift back off to sleep, the curtains I had turned to face were flung open. "Where on earth were you, miss?"

"It is entirely too early to be interrogated, Harper." I groaned, not even bothering to open my eyes.

"Um, no, it's nine o'clock, Ryker wasn't even able to wake you. He's pretty miffed." She yanked my blanket mostly off of me.

My eyes snapped open as I scrambled for the warmth of my blanket again. Harper had other ideas. She flung herself up and onto my body, knocking the wind out of both of us.

"Oh, Godric, I'm awake Harper! Bloody hell! Get your elbow out of my ribs." She rolled to the side and sat up beside me. "Honestly, was it that big of a deal that I wasn't in the Great Hall last night?"

She eyed me suspiciously for a bit. "Have you got a guy I haven't met?"

I laughed and shook my head. "Really, Harper, you think I have time for a boy with the O.W.L.s? My spare time is spent with you, Ginny, or studying." She still just stared at me, so I rolled my eyes. "I was exhausted last night. I was about to follow you in for dinner, but I decided I'd get some fresh air. I took a walk around the grounds, and lost track of time."

The way the twins had acted about the kitchens, I thought maybe I should keep that to myself. Luckily, after a bit more suspicious staring, Harper seemed to accept my explanation. We ate a quick breakfast, then decided to spend most of the day studying, since we did all the shopping we needed yesterday.

Dinner was all I looked forward to the entire day. I actually had trouble focusing long enough to get much studying done. Harper thought it was rather entertaining to taunt me throughout the day, which led to very little studying being done by her as well.

Closing the book that I had been hopelessly gazing at for at least an hour now if not longer, I finally gave up on studying. "Is it time to head to the Great Hall yet? I'm absolutely starving since you insisted that we skip lunch."

Harper grinned over at me, laying her quill down. "Oh, believe me, Delly, you'll be more than glad that we skipped lunch." Sliding back her chair, she stood, straightening out the blanket-like thing she was wearing. She called it a poncho, but it really just looked like a blanket with a hole for her head. "And yeah, it's about time to start down that way."

We quickly packed up our things, and as we were headed down the hall, Ginny met up with us.

"How has studying been for you two?" The red-head asked as we stepped onto a moving staircase, just as it started to shift. "Had to be riveting, since you missed lunch."

I rolled my eyes. "Miss Kompten here decided that we should skip, saving room for dinner. Also, trying to study while starving, and with Harper, is absolutely pointless."

"Studying is a rather boring waste of time anyway don't you think, Delly?" I laughed as Ginny groaned, then the three of us turned to see the twins making their way down another staircase.

"Well, hello there boys! Lovely to see your dashing faces again." Harper said with an utterly ridiculous, old British accent.

The two eyed each other, grinning at her antics. As both sets of stairs finally stopped moving, our trio was joined by the boys. Fred threw his arm over Harper's shoulders, as George did the same to me. "Well, darling Harper, if that wasn't the best welcome that we've received the whole year," Fred chuckled, "Might think she was trying to flatter us, wouldn't we, George?"

"I do believe she is, Fred," George replied, giving me a small nudge when I rolled my eyes. "I wonder what she wants us to set up this time."

I looked at him confused, then shifted my gaze to Harper, who was looking sheepish. "This time?"

Harper shoved Fred's arm off of her as she laughed lightly. "Well, Dels, I do have a few people I like to see get pranked every now an' then, but as we know, I'm a teensy bit clumsy. Can't be clumsy, and try to set up a prank. That's a good way to get yourself stuck in the trick."

I shook my head but was rather thankful that we had made it to the Great Hall, at long last. The twins joined us this time, saying they wanted to see my face when the feast appeared. I'm sure that they got a good show because I was mind blown. This feast was even larger than the welcoming feast. The amounts of dishes were ridiculous.

My eyes found Remus, quickly, and I could see him chuckle at my look of sheer excitement. I ate nearly as much as the twins, but definitely more desserts than they did. Harper kept cracking jokes about how they were shaming themselves, and Ginny hardly stopped herself from laughing long enough to eat her own food. Then the ghosts started an entertaining show of popping out of the walls and tables to do a bit of synchronized gliding. As everyone left the hall, a rather obnoxious blonde boy - Ginny told me his name was Malfoy - shouted something about the dementors through the crowd at Harry Potter.

The twins vanished without a word about halfway to the tower, and Harper and I just shrugged, chuckling a little bit. Soon, though, we reached a small crowd of our fellow Gryffindor students.

"I wonder what's going on?" I asked no one in particular.

Ginny looked worried. "I'm not sure. I'll see you two inside, alright." Turning around, she quickly made her way through the others that were piling up behind us.

"Let me through, please," Came Percy's slightly annoying voice as he tried to push through to the front of the students. "You can't all have forgotten the password. Excuse me, I'm Head Boy." Then, suddenly, it was silent, which was odd when Percy was on his high horse. "Someone get Professor Dumbledore. Quickly!"

The urgency in his voice immediately had me worried. I shared a look with Harper just as Neville joined us, his expression looking nervous. "Rather be with someone who knows how to defend us if something bad happens." He explained and I offered him a small smile.

Dumbledore arrived, sweeping toward the portrait. He took a quick look at the scene and turned, eyes somber, to see McGonagall, Remus, and Snape - for some reason - come rushing forward. "We need to find her. Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle."

"You won't be finding her easily." I looked up to see Peeves looking delightedly at the sight of the wrecked portrait, then his grin faded. "She's ashamed, Your Headship, sir. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir. Crying something dreadful." He tried not to sound too happy about it.

"Did she say who had done this?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

Peeves nodded importantly. "Oh yes, Professorhead. He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you know." He flipped over and grinned at us all from between his legs. "Nasty temper he has, that Sirius Black."

Dumbledore moved every house into the Great Hall that night so the teachers could do a thorough search of the castle and the grounds for Black. McGonagall explained that the prefects were to be guards for the doorways, and the Head Boy and Head Girl were the ones in charge. If any disturbance was to happen, they were to send a ghost to find a professor.

Each student had their own theory of how Black got into the school, but I honestly figured they were all wrong. For someone that managed to escape Azkaban, sneaking in anywhere else would have to seem like child's play.

I caught sight of Remus before he left with the other professors, and the grim look on his face did absolutely nothing to calm the anxiousness that had coiled around my stomach like a snake. He looked far worse than I ever remember seeing him. So much pain and yet so much anger filled his amber eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to go figure out what was troubling him.

As the night wore on, a different professor would come in every hour or so to check on things in the hall. Harper had been able to fall asleep almost instantly, legs sprawled as far as they could in the sleeping bag, arms tossed haphazardly around her head. I, on the other hand, couldn't sleep at all, I was so worried about the look on Remus's face. What on earth was going on here? At some point, early in the morning, I would assume, I noticed Dumbledore talking to Snape quietly, which added even more curiosity to my list of emotions for the night.

Thankfully, all was relatively calm after that night. The Fat Lady's replacement, Sir Cadogan, was absolutely out of his mind, though, and infuriating to me. Every single time I went to enter the common room, he insisted that "dangerous beasts" would not be allowed past him. Of course, that raised questions with my housemates, that I brushed off saying he was off his rocker, and nothing he said really made sense. Fred and George thought this issue was absolutely hilarious though, for some reason, and would make jokes about me actually being a dragon in disguise, which in turn earned themselves glares and being ignored for days on end.

Snape had tried to be his lovely, greasy self as he took over Defense Against the Dark Arts for Remus one day, trying, not so subtly, to reveal my dad's predicament. I got myself detention for the kind words I had for the git.

Of course, one can't forget Quidditch in this castle, and the first game was definitely one to remember. The weather was ridiculous, ice-cold rain, and wind that whipped around the stands stinging any skin that was left uncovered. Poor Harry had ended up falling from his broom when the dementors suddenly flooded the field, completely focused on him.

Remus and I visited Harry while he was in the Hospital Wing, but I mostly just stood off to the side keeping to myself. The twins were still on about me being a dangerous beast, this time I was apparently a chimera or a harpy for some bloody reason. It got to the point that I completely avoided them when I could, and cursed at Cadogan so thoroughly that he didn't even bother with trying to ask for the password from me anymore.

In all, the month of November passed rather dully. I didn't even bother attending the next Quidditch match but learned the next day that Ravenclaw had won. I was so excited when, two weeks before the end of term, the skies cleared of the gloom, and frost-covered most everything. The next thing would be snowfall! I adored the soft white fluff and was more than ready for it to blanket the grounds.

The day before Christmas break just happened to be a Hogsmeade weekend, and almost every student was taking advantage of it to buy gifts for friends and family. Harper and I had woken up a bit late, so we were trying to rush through getting dressed.

"Oh, thank goodness it's just about time to rest," I groaned as I pulled on my jeans. "I think I would pass out if I had any more to study over this break."

Harper huffed from the spot where she sat on my bed. "You crammed all the holiday work before we could even get to the holiday. I still have tons to do." Falling backward, she let her head hang upside down off the edge. "Will ya do it for me, Delly-cakes? I'll get the idiot twins off your case if ya do!"

I laughed at her, shaking my head. "Um, no thank you. I'm perfectly fine just pretending that they aren't even around." She pouted rather awkwardly, her boobs nearly falling out of her shirt as she crossed her arms over her chest, thus pushing her boobs up...down...whatever. "Oh, sit up, will you, I don't want to see your 'girls' thank you."

She grinned evilly, wiggling around a bit, then she sat up slowly so she wouldn't get dizzy. "Will ya at least help if I ask?"

"Of course, I will." I finished dressing, for the most part, grabbed my softest jacket, and looked at her expectantly. "Now, come on, I need to get Christmas gifts for everyone."

Harper hopped off the bed, dragging her poncho thing over her head. "Everyone? You have like four people to buy for. I don't even bother for most of my family anymore."

As we walked down the stairs to the common room, she explained why she stopped getting gifts for her dad's side of the family - something about her uncle and cousin insulting Ryker. We passed Harry on our way through the halls, wishing each other a "Happy Christmas". The resigned look on his face had me adding a fifth person to my gift list.

We dropped in Honeydukes first, then went through a few of the other shops, looking for small gifts suitable for each person. I decided on a chocolate assortment from around the world for Remus, had to sneak a new set of color-changing nail polish for Harper, an Herbology book for Neville that I hoped he didn't already have, for Harry and Ginny I decided on each of them getting a different Quidditch book.

I felt rather satisfied with my gift choices, and after we finished shopping, we popped in Three Broomsticks for a bite to eat. I have no idea how I was able to sneak Harper's gift, due to the fact that she was pretty much glued to my side the whole trip. This Sirius Black guy was really setting her on edge. As we ate, I noticed a pair of redheads over at the bar chatting with the barmaid. I chewed on my lip, wondering if I should get them a gift, too, despite how awful they had been the past month.

"Aye! Woman!" I jumped, looking back to Harper guiltily, knowing that she had been trying to talk to me as I zoned out. "Honestly, take a picture, it will last you so much longer," She laughed and I glared at her.

"I was just wondering if I should get them a gift, that's all. They were nice to be around for a bit there." I shrugged slightly. "Or maybe I'm just being too kind. I dunno."

"Pssh, I wouldn't buy them a single thing after all this mess." She took a large swig from her Butterbeer. "Or, maybe I would. I'd find a trick they don't know yet, some prank they haven't done, and pull it on them! See how they like it, the prats."

I sighed but decided I would find them something anyway, even if it was rather small. We split up after eating, promising to meet at the gates, and I made my way to a small second-hand store. I glanced through their items for a while, when suddenly something caught my eye. There on a shelf was a slightly dusty book about muggle magic tricks. Flipping through the pages, I chuckled quietly about their little tricks. 'I think the twins would enjoy this.' Smiling slightly, I paid for the book, stashing it among my other items in my pocket after shrinking it.

That night, dinner was an oddly quiet affair around the spot where I had been told to sit. Ginny had decided we should sit by Harry and his friends for a change, and they weren't saying much for some reason. After dinner, in typical Weasley twin fashion, the common room had been filled with the stink from a handful of dung-bombs they had set off to "celebrate" the Christmas break. I failed at hiding a small laugh at the rude comments Harper was sputtering as we walked through. Glancing around, I caught sight of the twins and rolled my eyes, still smiling slightly. They grinned back at me, both bending slightly in a small bow.

Harper left early the next morning with the rest of the students that were going home for the break. She said her parents and grandparents were in for the holiday, and she was just dying to visit them. Alicia and Angelina left as well, wishing me a "Happy Christmas" as they left. I felt rather lonely in the dorm, so I decided to at least sit by the fire in the common room. It was still pretty early in the day, and not many of the students that were still here were awake yet.

Plopping down in one of the armchairs by the fire, I noticed a large, ginger furball laying across the rug. "Didn't know anyone had a cat other than Harper," I mumbled to myself, stretching out my leg, just barely able to pet the cat a few times with my foot.

"Never seen someone pet a cat with their foot. Maybe kick it, but not pet it."

I turned my head to see George shuffling his way over to the couch, which he fell onto, letting his leg hang off the side. "Morning, sir."

He yawned and waved his hand at me lazily. "So...about the 'dangerous creature' bit..." He shifted up on the couch so that he was sitting more upright. "We really got out of hand with that didn't we?"

I rolled my eyes but still smiled at him. "Just a tad. Then again, I didn't really give you two a chance to apologize for it, either."

I heard someone say "Then we hope you'll consider this our apology," before a small sack was dropped in my lap from behind me. Looking up, I saw the tired grin of Fred Weasley, his hair all tousled about. Curiously opening the sack revealed a few small trinkets and a torn piece of parchment telling what each item did.

"Where are these from? I don't recognize them from the things you two showed me at Zonko's." I asked as Fred made his way around to the other armchair.

"Well, they're actually some of our first products," George answered first.

"Haven't been perfected exactly, but they do at least do what we listed there for you," Fred finished, finally deciding to fix his hair a bit.

I smiled at them. "Apologies accepted."

Fred suddenly jumped up from the slouched position he was in. "Oh! And they count as an early Christmas gift as well."

"Didn't really have money to spend on anyone anyways, so you got the first glance of our future products," George announced, rubbing his hand against the back of his head sheepishly.

Did they feel bad that they couldn't buy anything? I did feel better about actually getting their gift now, though. "Well, don't worry about it. I love this, thank you." Tucking away the sack, I added "But you're going to have to wait until Christmas to get your gift. It is only one thing, but I wasn't really sure what to get for the two of you individually, yet.

George chuckled. "Ah, don't worry, not many people do." Something about that statement really bothered me. How could their friends not know them individually? I decided at that point that I would make sure I could get them both a gift at some point that was specifically for each redhead.

Fred grinned. "We aren't that picky either, are we Georgie?"

His brother shook his head. "Sure aren't, Freddie."

"We ought to be off now. Got to...see to some things," Fred said as he stood up, George joining him shortly after.

"We're sure you understand, Delly," They chimed with their trademark mischievous grins flashing deviously.

I held my hands up in surrender. "I do, and I don't want to know," I said chuckling.

**Has been lightly edited**