2021 A/N: A new chapter. This chapter includes the last of the information from the original incarnation of this story and it took me a while to change the Twin's scene enough that it fits with the new story and my current style of writing. I really wanted that scene to be incorporated because I needed more twins/Aileen in this story.

2021 A/N 2: There is a song in this chapter which is based on the song 'be my one' but I don't know the author, so if anyone else knows it please let me know either in a review or a PM. I've taken liberties with the wording of a few lines and added a line or two of my own, as well as removing many lines and the chorus, so it may not be recognisable.

2021 A/N 3: I hope that you're enjoying this story!

Chapter 52: Year Four: A Yule Truth

As December continued to go back, Aileen was relieved that the issues with the mer-people had been resolved since she could reduce her interaction with politics and the Wizagnmont to the peripherally. Trusting Sirius to handle everything and brief her each Sunday when they met up. Since the tension between the wizarding and the lake dwellers had dwindled, it also meant she didn't have to deal with Triton and Poseidon's over-protective threatening of war when she met one or the other for her sword and fighting training.

Quidditch training had started taking up more time as Angelina started pushing them. She wanted the opportunity to face off against Krum on the Durmstrang team, and the only chance she had to do that was if the Gryffindor team won. So, she was pushing them hard. They needed to beat Hufflepuff by 80points at least in order to win the cup. Unlike Oliver, she wasn't putting the stress of winning on Aileen, instead most of the stress was fulling on the chasers and their keeper, Ron. Although the catching of the snitch got them a lot of points, she wanted to show off the skills of the rest of the team – especially since there were international scouts coming to their final match and the interschool matches and Angelina wanted to prove that not only was she a good chaser, but she was also a good captain.

After every Quidditch practise, Aileen would spend time with the twins since the rest of her free time was being spent with Neville and Hermione and trying to repair her friendship with Ron. She had known that Ron was jealous of her, for the fame and the attention she received as well as the large family inheritance that she had to full back on. Ron didn't seem to understand how much pain she'd had to suffer through in her life, how much she wished that her parents had lived and that she had siblings to love as he did. He didn't understand that she didn't care for the money, the attention or the fame. She wanted to be normal, but that was something she was never going to be so she was instead going to do her best to be the best that she could be in everything she was.

Now that Ron was willingly speaking with her once more, and he had acknowledged that she had absolutely no desire to be part of the Tournament she, with the help of Hermione and Neville, where training to have open conversations with Ron and get his brain to engage before his jealousy and anger. Ginny was also trying to help with this endeavour, pointing out that just because their family was poor didn't mean they needed to remain such – using their older brothers as an example since they had all found something they wanted, worked hard for it and had gained respectfully paying jobs.

Finally, Sunday the 11th rolled round, and it was the final Quidditch match between the houses: Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff. Aileen knew that of the Hufflepuff team, only Cedric was a good enough player to make it onto the Hogwarts team for the inter-school game, and so the rest of the Hufflepuff team were determined to do their best in this game to show that they did have the skill and potential at the game. All but one of their beaters were in their sixth and seventh years and remained on the team because they were looking to have a future in Quidditch. Normally, quidditch players stepped down in their seventh year unless they were looking to be scouted since it was extremely difficult to balance grades and training.

"How you feeling?" Fred asked.

The three of them had headed to the changing rooms early and were now sat in the waiting rooms for the rest of the team to arrive. Aileen was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed and trying to get some rest. She'd not had a lot of time to rest or relax since Halloween and it was starting to take its toll. Her pale skin had taken on a slight grey scale to it, and her eyes had permanent bruises under them. At the minute it wasn't affecting her physical activities or her mental focus but, if she didn't stop soon, she was heading towards physical exhaustion and a mental break.

Fred and George had been the one to bring her physical decline to her attention and had decided to take control of her schedule at the start of the next week which was when lessons came to an end. They were determined that she wouldn't have anything to deal with for six hours every day, six hours that she could use to relax and laugh and destress. Those six hours didn't have to be spent with the twins, but they were determined she wouldn't be doing anything important.

"I'm okay." Aileen smiled gratefully at Fred, offering him a hand so she could pull him down for a kiss. She wasn't used to having someone care for her well-being, but the way that the twins looked out for her was heart-warming. They weren't always overt with their care, sometimes just doing little things, but either way she was more thankful for them then she could say.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" George took the seat on Aileen's other side while Fred settled on the floor, his head resting on Aileen's thigh.

"A couple of hours." Aileen admitted. "I don't think my body knows how to sleep more than three hours without being ill or injured."

"Well, we'll just have to teach it." Fred determined.

"If that means keeping you in bed for seven hours each night, then that's exactly what we'll do." George agreed, his eyes sparking with mischief that had Aileen laughing despite what he was implying. They hadn't gone beyond kissing and sleeping together while cuddled up on the same bed and fully clothed. The twins had both worked out the extent of the abuse she had suffered without her having to say anything, and so they were very careful to not push her limits. They danced around them, slowly getting her comfortable with the idea of physical intimacy and building her trust in them.

"You think our dormmates will notice if we move into those rooms you found?" Aileen questioned a light note off teasing in her tone; finally, able to truly respond to such comments without feeling sick or dirty.

"Lee would be more than happy to see us gone." Fred laughed.

"A whole dorm to himself; he'd be over the moon." George agreed.

"Most the girls in your dorm wouldn't notice you were gone," Fred continued thoughtfully.

"As long as you leave a copy of your trunk." George tagged on.

"You might have a problem with Hermione, though."

"She's a smart cookie." Fred concluded.

"How you feeling about the game?" Aileen changed the subject before the twins truly got it in their heads to move her into the rooms that they had found for the rest of their time together.

"Good, we've-" George started with a confident smile.

"-got the best team at Hogwarts."

"With Chaser who seemed to read each other's minds,"

"A keeper who's bloody good when he gets his head on straight,"

"He's a Weasley after all,"

"Then there's us,"

"Unbeatable beaters,"

"And you, the seeker,"

"Who never lost a game."

"Hufflepuff don't stand a chance." They finished together.

"Your confidence is just as unbeatable." Aileen laughed, kissing George's cheek and then the crown of Fred's head.

Their conversation ended here since Angelina, Katie and Alicia entered from the female changing rooms. They were fully dressed and ready to go, with their brooms resting on their shoulders.

"George, could you make sure that Ron is ready?" Angelina requested, pointing to the boy's changing rooms.

Instead of George getting up, Fred hopped up from the floor and went to make sure Ron was ready. They'd discovered during their first match that they couldn't let Ron's dwell on his nerves otherwise his ability would go to shit. They'd only managed to keep ahead of points as well as they did because of their chasers' ability to monopolise the quaffel, Aileen's ability to intercept and Fred and George's aim.

"Right," Angelina addressed the entire locker room once they'd all gathered. "This is the last official game of the seasons, and it's about more than just the cup. This time, we play for the right to trash the girls of Beauxbatons and boys of Durmstrang. We play for the right to prove that Gryffindor is the best team that Hogwarts has to offer. Once we win this, we will go on to win the inter-school competition. No one else has trained as hard as us, nor do they have as many veteran players as us. We won't be stopped."

The team cheered in response to Angelina's pre-match talk before they followed her out to the pitch.

They'd gotten lucky with the weather. The sky was quite clear with the occasional grey cloud drifting overhead. The bright winter sun was overhead so no one keeper was blinded by trying to save while facing it. It was cold, as it was still winter in Scotland, but they wouldn't be contending with mist, snow or ran which were all very common this time of year.

Once the greeting had taken place, Aileen took to the air and started searching for the snitch. Against Cedric she didn't have the luxury of playing fourth chaser or interfering seeker because Cedric was a bloody good seeker. He spent his time searching for the snitch independently instead of simple shadowing or interfering with the other seeker. Aileen took to flying high above the pitch, keeping an ear on the commentator, half an eye on Cedric and the rest of her attention searching for the snitch.

With the end of the game, Aileen and the twins were intercepted on the way to their common room celebration by Krum and Alexander.

"You played a good game." Alexander complimented.

"I look forward to matching our seeking skills." Krum agreed, just as complimentary. "And I'm sure, your twins will give our beaters a run for their money."

"They'll do more than that." Aileen smiled proudly at Fred and George. "They'll crush your beaters and bring a chaser or two down as well."

"You've got spunk." Alexander laughed.

"Now, I do believe we were arranging a charity function." George clapped his hands, an excited spark in his eyes.

"If you three," Aileen motion to her twins and Alexander, "work out the details, I'll clear it with the school heads, and then it's just a matter of getting a press release and selling tickets to anyone who isn't a student and wants to attend."

"I will simple attract the crowd." Krum said simple. He wasn't a big planner, which was the reason why he got on with Alexander so well.

"Of course, Aileen won't be doing much of the planning." Fred cut in here before Aileen could be lured into the conversation more than she already was.

"Yes, Christmas holidays are starting and you ain't doing nothing." George agreed.

Aileen just sighed fondly at the twins.

During the last lesson before Christmas break, Professor McGonagall made an announcement that had Aileen furiously marching up to the headmaster's office. She was fortunate that he was meeting with the other important members of the tournament at the time – Deputy Headmaster Alexander, Headmistress Maxime and Headmaster Dumbledore all in one office.

"Ah, Aileen, it seems we've made another logistical error that you're going to enlighten us to." Dumbledore greeted with a smile and twinkle in his eye. Since their meeting at the start of Aileen's third year, he had gotten used to seeing this stance and facial expression on Aileen. Although she seemed to be angrier about whatever had happened this time then the cancelling of the Quidditch tournament at the start of the year.

"Dumbledore, what is the meaning of this?" Madam Maxime demanded with a frown as Aileen simple nodded in greeting to the headmaster before taking a seat across from him.

"Aileen here is very insightful about how situations and decisions made by us adults impact the students. It was her insight that led to the Quidditch tournament between our schools." Dumbledore explained, tactfully not mentioning the change in Hogwarts bully and point policy, since these were his fellow headmasters and he didn't want to advertise that the current policies they had been praising the premise of was only a year old – and developed by the mind of a thirteen-year-old.

"So, the Yule Ball." Aileen got to the point. She was supposed to be meeting with Fred and George for dinner in an hour, but she wanted to duck into the library to grab a potions book first.

"Ah, yes, the announcement was made today, wasn't it?" Dumbledore nodded, pouring a cup of tea and handing it to Aileen who accepted it with a silent thank you; the other two heads turned down the offer.

"It was, and if you'd told me it was mandatory for me to attend when the Ball was first mentioned, I would have brought this to your attention before. As it was, I didn't know. But, making it mandatory for me, and then putting it on the twenty-fourth – Christmas Eve…. Do you honestly think I wouldn't have a problem with that?" Aileen questioned the headmaster with a raised eyebrow.

"You have issues with the day of the Ball?"

"Yes, you've called it the Yule Ball and then put it on Christmas Eve. This was the first Christmas I was going to spend with family, the first Christmas since my parents were murdered that I would be surrounded by love. And I know that there are others who aren't happy about the fact that they are being forced too choice between the social event of the season and going home to their families. And then, there are the families who hold Winter Balls who won't have their children with them because they chose to remain for the ball…" Aileen trailed off to allow the implications of that to settle in.

Many donations where made this time of year, and political alliances formed for up-coming bills, all of it arranged during polite talk at the Balls hosted by prominent families such as the Greengrass and Malfoys who both held Winter Balls – Christmas and New Years, respectively. Then there was the Ministry's Winter Gala, which happened the day after Christmas – it wouldn't be affected by the Yule Ball, but Aileen wouldn't be able to attend, nor would the Headmaster, and considering that there would be more foreign dignitary than ever before it would benefit both of them to be in attendance – especially since Aileen had finally moved into political circles and 'taken up' her seat.

"Well, most of the arrangements are in place. The student's all have dress robes since it was included in the equipment list this year…" Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully. "It would only take three hours to set up the decorations in the hall, and classes have now ended for the summer."

"So, move the Yule Ball, to Yule on the 21st, then have the train set to send students home on the 23rd. Our Christmas holidays would be cut short, but I doubt the students would complain. Also, open the ball up to the first through third years, since in this arrangement they'd be stuck at the school for it, but instigate a curfew that has the younger ones leaving the hall at around eight-thirty or nine, unless they are bringing an older date."

"This would work well, many of my students wish to go home for the holidays, but could not due to the ball." Headmaster Alexander hummed thoughtfully. "But, if the ball falls on an earlier date, then I can have portkeys arranged for them to come to return them to the school, where they can then make their way homes. And then get a return portkey before the school year starts."

"I can do the same for my own students." Madame Maxime agreed.

"Great, I'll leave you to formalize that arrangement and change in plans. I'm going to go and get a book from the library before dinner. As of midnight, I've been band from non-essential work, so… headmaster I hope not to return to your office until the New Year." Aileen offered a bow to her headmaster. "Good evening," Aileen said in parting to the other two heads of schools before escaping.

Aileen was sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, reading from her book. She'd claimed the seat at the end of the table, closest to the doors, and was presently not sat with her friends, who were slightly further down. They'd all been informed that the twins wanted to have dinner with her and the only reason they were eating in the Great Hall was because Dumbledore had an announcement – if he didn't have an announcement, they would have kidnapped Aileen at the door and taken her to dinner as they had been doing before. Twenty minutes after Aileen had left Dumbledore's office, he'd used the Hogwarts's announcement system to make sure everyone knew he had something important to tell everyone and so they were to gather in the Great Hall by seven.

At five minutes to seven music played through the hall, and from the ceiling rose petals started falling. The twins were stood in the doorway, they'd both dressed up – wearing suits with their hair carefully lifted to give volume and the red highlights standing out against their ginger. Both of them were holding a small box in their hands – a jewellery box.

"You see that girl" Fred pointed with the hand not holding the box, his voice singing along with the song.

"Yeah, she's my one." George agreed, a brilliant smile on his face as Aileen lowered her book and stared at the twins somewhere between amused and embarrassed.

"Anything she wants,"

"We gotta buy one." George twiddled a galleon between his fingers and flick it to Fred who winked and pocketed it.

"We just like chillin' on a night one,"

"We should have a couple of babies, they'll be bright ones," This line from George had Aileen blushing brilliantly. As much as she would love to have children in the future, she couldn't even be naked in the same room as the twins at the minute and she was far too young to be making such plans in anything but the abstract.

"We're just out 'ere tryna' be an icon" With this line from Fred, the falling petals formed the WWW sign over the tables.

"We're tryna' eat the cake with all the ice on," On each of the four tables, a large, four layered cake appeared with winter decorations across it. The cake was in the middle of each of the tables.

"Anywhere I go, I get it poppin' like whoa,"

"Happy I can find one."

The red petals exploded from the WWW symbol and swirled over the Gryffindor table, not taking a new form yet.

"Because that girl is my one," As Fred and George sung this line together, they took a step forward, their movement in complete synchronization with each other. The entire hall was staring transfixed at them, just as Aileen was. People only looked away to glance at the petals when their form changed, or to Aileen to see her reaction. Fred and George, in turn, seemed unaware of the attention from the rest of the school, focusing instead on Aileen.

"We're not looking for a sly one," the Rose petals turned green and took the form of a snake as George sung this line.

"Because that girl is my one," Fred and George repeated the line together, taking another step forward.

"Ain't lookin' for no shy one, no." Fred spoke the trait this time, which had the petals turning yellow a badger was seen, peaking out of the burrow – only the snout and eyes could be seen for a moment before it's whole head formed as though poking its head out of the burrow, then it disappeared again.

"Girl, you know, you're our one." They said it together with another step.

"Ain't looking for no smart one," George prompted the badger to turn blue and break into an eagle.

"You know you're our one." The twins were halfway to her spot at the end of the Gryffindor table.

"You got our body on your mind"

"and your mind on our bodies."

"Baby come, come…" Fred and George took another step closer and offered a hand each despite the distance. Aileen rolled her eyes with a smile and stood, recognising the pattern of their steps and the song.

"You got our body double time, when you hold up on us,"

"You know you're our one," This time Aileen took a step closer to the twins just as they took a step closer to her. "You're our one."

"We want to give you our love," Fred smiled gentle, instead of the sexy smirk he'd been giving her before.

"We want to give you our kisses and hugs," George offered a gentle smile. He knew that despite everything she had been through, Aileen craved positive physical contact and she was slowly coming to love their kisses – it was addicting. In more recent weeks she had taken to initiating some of their cuddle sessions, and even leaned in to kiss them on the lips instead of the forehead and cheeks as she had before when Fred and George were the ones who initiated such kisses.

"We wanna channel our love," The petals changed to show a pair of lions bowing before a lioness.

"Because that girl is our one," The three of them took a step closer together.

"If we were you, I wouldn't let us wait,"

"No delay, don't be late, you'll regret it tomorrow"

"This is hard to come by," Fred and George pointed to their opposite with this line and gave each other a wink.

"Don't be silly and let this slide"

"Baby, you gonna make us tongue-tied,"

"Because, you girl, are our only one," finally within touching distance, Fred and George slid down to one knee as the rose petals moved over their heads and exploded into the four house colours.

"Aileen, our beloved Raven," they spoke in stereo as the music ended.

"Would you do us the greatest honour of being our date to the Yule Ball," Fred questioned.

"And wearing our tokens of affection," George requested as they both opened the jewellery boxes to reveal what was concealed with them.

George was holding a bracelet, with a band that was approximately three inches wide and made from the scales of antipodean opaleye which gave the band a dark shinning silvery-purple quality to it. Embedded into the leather was three gemstones: a tsavorite garnet, a tanzanite and an amethyst. The small cut gemstones had been arranged to form a raven in light – despite the contrast between the three colours, the stones were cut so small that they blended together. Disguised as silver veins around the bracelet were runes which seemed to be for protection and safety but she would need to study them closer to get a better idea what it does.

Fred was holding a beautiful hairpiece which was a 'comb' with several delicate chains coming from it and finishing in clips. Across the spine of the comb and studded alternatively was the three gems that were on the bracelet, but the cut was slightly larger.

Both pieces were beautiful, and she could wear them without removing the neckless which her father had given her. They both knew that she could be parted from the sword neckless and the bow hairclip as long as she had her dagger and wand, but she wouldn't be parted from the neckless which had no practical purpose but was a symbol of her father's love for her. So, they had chosen two items for her to wear to the ball which would be possible without her wearing two necklaces. And, if she wasn't mistaken the ingenuity and hand of her boys, they'd actually made these pieces themselves.

Placing a hand on Fred and George's cheeks, Aileen guided them both to their feet with a gentle smile. "It would be my honour to go to the ball as your date and wear your tokens."

Aileen's response got a cheer from across the student body – the romantic at heart types being drawn in by the display. Of course, the display was about more than just asking Aileen to the ball. Turning it into a spectacle made it very clear to all the boys in the school that Aileen was taken so they wouldn't be coming up to her between classes and asking her to the Ball.

Making an instinctive decision, Aileen moved her hand to cup Fred around the back of the neck and pull him into a kiss, before doing the same to George. Normally, she wasn't one for public displays of affection, but they had already made her centre stage by openly declaring their intent as they had and she wanted to give them something in return.

In the four days between the end of lessons and the Yule Ball, there was panic across the students as they owl'd parents for accessories, alterations or completely new dresses; Hogsmeade was swamped by students that Saturday looking for something to wear; and then there was the panic to find a date. Aileen spent most of her time hidden from the student body with Fred and George, although she did put a few hours aside to spend with Hermione, Ron and Neville – typically in the library.

Despite Fred and George's mandate that she was not to be working, Aileen still trained every day, and she did her homework. But otherwise, anytime she picked up a book after that it was for luxury reading and not for work or study. She had no interaction with politics since the twins had threatened Sirius that he wasn't allowed to discuss such with her until the 1st, unless it was a genuine emergency. Of course, Aileen had been very amused when she talked with her godfather to explain the change in Christmas plans, only to discover that the twins had stolen her mirror in order to talk with him without her knowledge.

From that first night, this Christmas was turning out to be like none before it and Aileen was finding herself quite happy with the state of things.

Edited: 12/01/2024

2021 A/N: I've decided to end the chapter here. I won't be writing the rest of the Christmas holiday, but I might include a paragraph or two reflecting on it at the start of the next chapter which will include the second task and the start of the duelling/chess tournaments which I mentioned many chapters ago. I might return at some point in the future and add the rest of the Yule scene to this chapter, but I feel that it's not necessary to the continuation of the story but, if my readers want it, I may write it or if I find myself writing something in a future chapter and releasing I'm referring to something that was included in my notes but I didn't write in this chapter as I original planned.