True to his word Tony grounded his daughter for a week, he came to collect her from the tower, and she spent every night after classes in their room rather than the Gryffindor tower.

However, on November first Severus came to the room to check on the young girl and she noticed his damaged leg… Which had left the young witch greatly concerned. He explained how he got it, and gave a small lecture on how she must never attempt to get passed the three-headed dog that Hagrid had of course named Fluffy. She promised her godfather she would never go, and given him a big hug.

The Saturday that kicked off the Quidditch season was a very bright and very frigid morning. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of various foods and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match. Embracing the warm atmosphere Mim had decided to get some skin friendly paint and had begun to paint red and gold 'G's and lions on her own and Ron's cheek.

"Hey, that's really good, Mim." Seamus appeared beside Ron. "Do you think you can do it to me?"

"Sure, just let me do Hermione's first."

"Here I'll help you Mim," Dean said grabbing a paint brush. Other artists joined in, and soon they had queues. Some people rushing to find more paint as Mim's reds, yellows and golds were diminishing quickly.

"If any Slytherins want snakes, I can do that," she called over to the scowling table. A few students stood up smiling making their way over to the first-year celebrity. Giving her brush a clean, she dripped into the green and began to work. Once the first group began to move, some of the stern faced, arm crossed Slytherins melted in their demeanour, looking around and joining the queue as well. Within several minutes the atmosphere in the Great Hall had shifted into a merrier and more excited buzz. The knife from the long-standing rivalry dulled with food, laughter, and a little paint…

"That was nice of you to do the Slytherin's too." Tony smiled at his daughter as they made their way to the pitch together, alongside her friends.

"Quidditch at school is meant to be fun, not dividing. If they were Arizona Phoenix's we'd be having another story,"

"Too right," he said in a serious voice, she laughed.

"Which team should I support from America, Mim?" Neville asked her quietly.

"The Hollywood Harpies," she said immediately. "No question."
"I dunno," Seamus chimed in. "The Boston Banshees–"

She laughed once.

"That's like supporting the Chudney Cannons here," she scoffed.

"Oi!"

"Ooops. Sorry Ron." She smiled guiltily.

The match was a lot of fun. Very different to all the professional games that Mim had seen back home. Slytherin had to give a few penalties to Gryffindor, which end up resulting in a slight Gryffindor win as the snitch was caught with 10 points between them. The game had lasted around three hours, at which point Mim and her friends were ready to get out of the cold. They congratulated Ron's brothers and a good game, and enjoyed the festivities of a victory party in the common room.

As the weeks creeped closer and closer towards Christmas here. Mim found the decorations of the Great Hall were outstanding. Her father had always gone full out on the holidays, but this was something else. Perhaps a part of it was the snow outside. Malibu wasn't exactly known for snowy winters, so the family often travelled somewhere colder for the holiday season, Mim has spent several Christmas in England, one in New York, another in Norway, and another in France. Yet this… grandness and bustle of students made the season feel so much more festive. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again. No one could wait for the holidays to start.

Mim had learnt a warming charm which came in handy as the classrooms and hallways did not share the warm fires of the common rooms and Great Hall. She would cast it on her friends in the morning and taught them over a few days how to do it themselves. Much to their appreciation.

The weekend before the Christmas holidays began and the students would be returning home for the season, Hermione and Mim had stayed in Tony's chambers for a sleepover on the Friday night. The girls were practicing knitting together when they heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," Mim said as she watched Hermione's hands.

"Mim honey –"

"Hermione the other way." Mim used her hand to guide Hermione's through the motion. "Behind the needle not in front. Sorry Dad, what did you say?" she looked up and smiling at her father.

"Can I talk to you for a minute," Tony said, Mim got up off the bed.

"Just keep practicing remember behind, loop threw and off. Careful not to lose a stitch."

"Actually, Dad I wanted to talk to you about Christmas. Ron's Mum and Dad are going to Romania to see Charlie. They are all staying here. Can we stay so Ron's not just stuck with his siblings."

"I was just gunna say that we're staying Kiddo." He said kissing the top of her head. "I nearly got JARVIS working on Wednesday. Go on go back in with Hermione we'll go to the great hall on twenty minutes alright so out of Jammies and into clothes." He said picking her up.

"Dad! Get off! She laughed worming her way down and running into her room.

When she woke early on Christmas morning in her father's rooms. She swung her duvet away from herself and rushed into the sitting room, where her Dad, Severus and Uncle Remus were waiting smiling at her as she bounded through the door. She gave each man a big hug. Wishing them a Merry Christmas.

"I brought the presents from everyone back in Malibu with their love." Remus told her as they pulled away from each other.

Mim found herself opening her huge stack of presents, from wools, and yarns for crafting, to some of her favourite Muggle treats from around the world. Remus had even managed to get her the singing Onigiri from Japan, that sang a cute little tune as you unwrapped it. She then opened her fathers gifts of which she had gotten some new fiction books to read, and a textbook on Mermish, which she wanted to learn next with her wide range of languages, along side a new Hollywood Harpie shirt with this seasons design. Mim picked the gift wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Mim, from Hagrid. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Mim blew it — it sounded a bit like an owl. She was glad that she had decided to go have tea with the Half-Giant every other Friday after classes. She remembered all of the times when she would come to England and see him growing up.

This only left one parcel. Mim picked it up and felt it. It was very light. She unwrapped it.

Something fluid and silvery grey went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds.

Remus gasped.

"What is it?" Mim asked curiously.

"It's your Papa James's cloak." He said smiling. Mim picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material. Mim pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing she had never seen before were the following words:

Your Papa James left this in my possession before he died.

It is time it was returned to you.

Use it well.

A Very Happy Christmas to you.

"Dumbledore borrowed it before… he must have decided to return it to it's owner."

"But… I –" she looked at her father feeling guilty. He smiled and crouched.

"Munchkin, he was going to treat you like his own. He was going to take you in and take care of you with your Mom. I owe him a debt, he named you, his heir. I would never begrudge gifts from him. His name is always on your gifts that we get for your mother. You do not need to feel guilty about loving him. Do you understand?"

She nodded hugging her father tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered into his neck. He kissed the top of her head.

"You'll let me have a go, right?"

Mim laughed hugging her father tightly. She grabbed the edible presents (including the large box of Chocolate Frogs she had gotten from Hermione. She hoped her friend would enjoy the Magical American locations book she had gotten her.

"I have to go, I promised Ron I would give him my presents. She scooped the Weasley gifts under her arm kissing the three men on the cheek as she flew out of the chambers and towards the Gryffindor Tower.

She hopped through the entrance behind The Fat Lady and she saw the collection of redheaded brothers unwrapping their gifts together.

"Happy Christmas," said Ron as he saw her close the door behind her.

"You, too," said Mim. As she sat down and joined the Weasleys she noticed that there was some lumpy parcels with her name on.

"Oh no you got a jumper." Ron said, as Mim picked it up smiling.

. "Hey, look — Mim's got a Weasley jumper, too!" Fred said at the same time as his younger brother.

"Course she got a jumper." George said matter-of-factly.

"She's ickle Ronnie's best friend." Fred said. "That and she reckon you need a motherly figure."

Mim blushed.

"Every year she makes us a jumper," said Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine's always maroon."

"That's really nice of her," said Mim, trying the fudge, which was very tasty. She looked at the knitting pattern she loved this stitch.

Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G.

"Mim's is better than ours, though," said Fred, holding up Mim's sweater. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."

"I hate maroon," Ron moaned half-heartedly as he pulled it over his head.

"You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid — we know we're called Gred and Forge."

"What's all this noise?"

Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly gotten halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy jumper over his arm, which Fred seized.

"P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Mim got one."

"I — don't — want —" said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the jumper over his head, knocking his glasses askew.

"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."

They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his side by his jumper.

Christmas dinner at the castle was magical. Due to the smaller numbers teachers and students all sat at one table. The group was divided into teachers, the Weasley's, the Starks, two Ravenclaws who were in Foster homes in the Muggle world and a very shy Hufflepuff in their second year, (apparently her whole family had dragon pox so it was better for her to stay at school).

Mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce – and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. The group laughed and ate, enjoying the wizarding crackers which were causing puffs of multicoloured smoke to explode around the table. Mim and Fred's cracker as a deep ocean blue, while Ron and Tony's was a shocking electric pink. Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet, and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him. After dinner Percy fell victim to a time honoured tradition of the lucky silver coin in the pudding, before the group got up from the table.

Mim decided to join the Weasley's and the two Ravenclaws in a snowball fight on the grounds. Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room.

The rest of the day was full of laughter and fun before Mim headed back to her father's apartment within the castle, exhausted. Mim settled into bed thinking that this was one of the best Christmas' she had ever had…