Franziska had been, to her own shame, surprised to find that Evie is incredibly organized and efficient once she has a goal. And for the past week that goal has been to get the Hogsmeade Apparition study-trip green-lit and organized.

Though she's taken point both Franziska and Fitzwilliam have been helping quite a bit with whatever jobs Evie comes up with that she can't or won't do herself. Franziska still cant quite tell which it is, though she enjoys assisting regardless and wouldn't complain even if it turned out Evie could have done it all on her own.

She's mostly saddled with getting the word out - as Evie had put it "you're a badger, you could befriend a tree stump if you wanted to so you can definitely talk to everyone in our class no problem!" While Franziska somewhat disagrees - Cian is also a badger and certainly wouldn't be okay with this particular task - she generally enjoys talking to people so she's more than happy to take on the task.

The one major difficulty has been with the Slytherins. There aren't many in their class as far as she can recall but she has no idea which ones they are and how to even talk to them. She ends up just talking really loudly whenever she sees any sixth year snakes in the halls, making sure to mention that the entire class is welcome to come.

It seems to work as two of the three Slytherins sign the parchment for the trip that Evie excitedly brings to their final Apparition lesson. In total they get thirteen people signed up and the Defense professor Aureli Whinging volunteers to accompany them.

Franziska has not yet met the new professor so she's rather curious to learn about her. Whinging is middle-aged but appears older, listing on the heavy side of the weight spectrum, but that's really all Franziska knows, and that's only from seeing the woman in the dining hall. She isn't even certain as to whether the woman is any good as a professor or not - since she's not taking the class she hasn't really discussed it with any of her friends. 

She seems enthusiastic enough the morning of the trip though, despite the snow flurries decorating the grounds in frost and the freezing wind that even Franziska's warmest winter cloak can't quite keep at bay. Franziska decides tentatively that maybe she likes the new defense professor.

That opinion changes rather quickly as the woman continues to talk nonstop from the castle all the way to the village, discussing her own memories of her Apparition class and test which would have been perfectly fine if the stories weren't horridly boring.

"She's no better in class." Evie informs Franziska under her breath when the Hufflepuff drops to the back of the group to try in vain to escape yet another tale. "She's like Binns with s."

Franziska nearly chokes on her surprised laugh. "Evie! Language!" She chides, feeling her face flush from something other than the cold.

Evie laughs and bumps Franziska's shoulder with her own. "Jeez, it's just a word Frannie. You've got 'em too you know. I mean, you don't have as much as me but-"

Franziska pushes her into a snowbank, caught between laughing and blushing horribly. She's glad no one around them seems to have heard the remark - she's not sure she could handle comments like that from anyone other than Evie.

Fitzwilliam drops back to walk next to them shortly after, thankfully, so Evie starts behaving.

"More people came than I thought - I think only two people from class didn't sign up." He observes, sounding both surprised and nervous.

Evie beams happily. "You two did a great job getting the word out! I mean, two out of three Slytherins is frankly shocking, considering that they're off in their own elitist world over there." She adds, nodding to the two snakes who indeed are walking distinctly separate from the rest of the class, their heads bent together and ignoring the other students.

Fitzwilliam just hums awkwardly, not agreeing or disagreeing openly. For her part Franziska is leaning towards agreement - even over Christmas when barely any of them are still in the castle the snakes keep themselves aloof - but she maintains a neutral silence as well.

Evie is as usual unconcerned by the lacking response and plows on, chatting excitedly about her Christmas plans and how she's going to show her parents everything they've been learning in school now that she's old enough to do magic outside of Hogwarts' walls.

Franziska wonders if Fitzwilliam is feeling the same envy that she is, considering he never goes home over Christmas break either. She really wishes she could go home for the break as well and do magic with her parents - maybe her mother would even teach her some of  the housekeeping spells Franziska has seen her use that they haven't covered in school.

She's so caught up in her thoughts she nearly misses Fitzwilliam's response to Evie's inquiry about their Christmas plans.

"I always stay at school. So does Frannie - it's how we met."

Franziska grins, quickly refocusing on the conversation. "First year. It feels like forever ago, doesn't it? Sitting in the Gryffindor common room, watching Brandon and Nabila have pillow fights over - gosh, what were they even about?"

"Swearing. Odd now considering Nabila drops the occasional swear these days." Fitzwilliam supplies, a faint smile on his face.

Franziska grins as well, but then her smile falters slightly. "I guess I kind of screwed that up though, dumping Brandon like I did. We haven't even spoken since then." She admits, suddenly much less cheerful than she'd been moments before.

Fitzwilliam shifts awkwardly, clearly unsure of how to respond to that, but Evie punches her shoulder lightly, startling Franziska into looking at her friend.

"Well then talk to him! You're obviously ready to, see if he is. If not, well then you can say you tried, but what if he's feeling just the same as you? You've gotta try."

Franziska blinks, then nods uncertainly. "You... yeah. Yeah, you're probably right."

"Damn straight I'm right, I'm not in Ravenclaw for nothing. Now come on, we're almost there! Last one in the village has to buy everyone butterbeer!" With that Evie takes off, and though she feels a bit silly - they are seventeen after all, officially adults and technically above such things - Franziska runs after her after only a moment's hesitation.

She definitely feels embarrassed when they have to wait for the rest of the group to catch up, Fitzwilliam included. Definitely not one of her best moments.

"Alright everyone, I have your targets and the villagers have been so kind to clear out a large area we can use to practice!" Professor Whinging claps her hands happily and then slips her wand out of her sleeve and waves it in the air in the universal symbol for 'follow me.'

Most of the class complies, but Franziska notices one boy trying to sneak away towards Zonko's Joke Shop.

Unfortunately she recognizes him and knows he's not just going to the restroom - Tyler's cousin Remi has always been bad news, and though she hasn't seen him lately outside of class she's rather confident she ought to stop him before he causes any trouble.

"Remi, the clearing is this way." She reminds him, loud enough that nearly everyone else in the class turns to look at the brunet boy, who awkwardly turns around and waves.

"Um, yeah. I just need to go to the bathroom real quick." He explains, a smile plastered to his face.

Professor Whinging makes a small exclamatory sound. "Goodness me, that is important! Why don't we all go by the Three Broomsticks and take a quick rest stop! Excellent idea Mr. Longbottom!"

Remi keeps the smile up until the professor turns and starts redirecting the group to the Three Broomsticks. Once she's looked away he glares at Franziska.

"This isn't a shopping trip Remi, it's for school." Franziska points out flatly. "If you don't actually want to practice you can go back to the castle."

He continues glaring but she pointedly strides past him, ignoring the expression. How Tyler took so long to stop hanging out with his cousin she'll never know, but she gets now why he's seemed so much happier this year. Remi doesn't seem to be very nice.

She does end up using the restroom though, so the incident turns out to actually be useful.

Finally they get to the clearing and Professor Whinging pulls out a handful of shrunk targets which she enlarges and hands out cheerfully to all thirteen students.

"Alright then students, aim for your targets! And don't worry, the townspeople have erected an anti-apparition field in the immediate surrounding area so no one is going to end up in the ocean on accident!" She jokes cheerfully.

Franziska hadn't been worried about that possibility until it was brought up, but she's relieved someone had thought of it - she can definitely see someone zapping themselves somewhere they don't recognize and not be able to figure out how to get back.

Some people are less pleased with the preventative measures.

"How can we learn properly if we never actually take any risks?" Drake Jarvis complains loudly. Franziska didn't even realize he'd signed up for the trip - she had actually assumed he wouldn't considering neither Jemma nor their other friend are taking the class.

Conversely, thinking back on it, Jemma really hasn't been spending time with her Gryffindor friends. Franziska knows she'd broken up with Drake over the summer but apparently time hadn't yet healed that particular wound.

She admits to herself as she sets up her target that she'd been blaming Jemma's workload for why the three friends weren't hanging out as often, rather than admitting that a bad breakup could destroy such a strong friendship.

Something twists in her gut. Thinking about Drake and Jemma is making her think about Brandon - they hadn't been nearly as close before dating, so what hope does she really have of rekindling their old platonic relationship?

She sighs and shakes her head, forcing herself to stop fiddling with her target and take several steps back. A few more deep breaths later and she decides her mind is clear enough to make her first Apparition attempt.

She can already hear the others 'pop'ing around the clearing, and just as she flicks her wrist to join them she hears a strangled yelp. She starts to turn to see what's happened when the world suddenly inverts and she finds herself suddenly standing right next to Holly Kiddell, who's grimacing and cradling her left arm close to her body.

"Oh, hello Frannie." Holly attempts a grin, though it peters off rather quickly, "You're getting good at Apparating I see. I'm still having some trouble it turns out."

Franziska finally gets her bearings enough to process what exactly has happened. For one thing she'd not gotten anywhere close to her target, but had instead apparated next to Holly who had been the source of the strange sound. For another Holly's reason for making said noise is because she has splinched a decent chunk of flesh from the front of her arm and is looking decidedly sick.

Drake and Professor Whinging run over, the former looking incredibly guilty and the latter downright pale.

"Alright my dear let's see, let's see." The Professor instructs briskly.

They've gathered a crowd now, and Evie pushes her way to the front to stand next to Franziska, who has stepped back to put some space between herself and the blood. She does like Holly quite a bit - they'd been quite close back in first year when the Gryffindor had switched into their Flying class - but being close to that sort of injury holds no appeal to her, no matter how much she likes the person attached to it.

"What happened?" Evie asks curiously, sounding much less disturbed than Franziska thinks the situation warrants.

Drake coughs uncomfortably. "I dared her she couldn't apparate across the whole clearing and then distracted her when she did."

Evie hums. "Well, good thing I brought my Dittany with me in case of emergency!" She declares, pulling open the front of her robe and producing a small vial from one of it's inner pockets.

"Ugh cold." She mumbles as she quickly does her cloak back up before presenting the vial to Professor Whinging who is starting to look frantic. "Professor? A few drops of this will stabilize it until we can see Madame Pompfrey, right?"

That gets the Defense professor's attention. She stares at the vial a heartbeat longer than she should before nodding, her panic evaporating in an instant. "That is correct, excellent memory Ms...?"

It's an almost surreal moment of humor in an otherwise tense situation to realize that there's a professor who hasn't memorized Evie's last name, and it's a testament to how much more control the Ravenclaw has developed since first year. Franziska barely keeps down a snort, figuring it wouldn't really be appreciated.

"Jones, Evie Jones. I'm in your sixth year Defense class." Evie introduces herself with a grin as the vial is taken from her hands and Whinging deftly puts two drops onto Holly's arm.

"There you are dear, just take it easy for now, deep breaths, there you go."

Holly looks up from the ground, breathing as instructed, and scans around until she spots Drake still standing miserably next to Franziska.

"Hey, it's not your fault okay?" She tells him firmly. "I knew I couldn't go that far but I tried anyway." She then looks up at Evie. "And thanks Evie. Sorry I called you a fire demon behind your back once in first year."

Evie beams. "That's actually kind of cool! And hey, when you've got a wand like mine you need to come prepared." She adds with a laugh.

Franziska leaves them to chat and decides to take pity on Drake, dragging him over to where Fitzwilliam has started practicing again.

"Mind if we join you?" She asks, and Fitzwilliam nods.

"Go ahead. Say, did you know that Evie carried dittany with her?" He asks Franziska while Drake uncertainly takes the next turn with the target.

Franziska shakes her head. "No, but it's not that surprising. It sometimes feels like anything really can go wrong around her, so it makes sense to be prepared for as much as possible and dittany is a pretty easy thing to keep on hand."

Fitzwilliam hums in agreement, and they say nothing further on the incident for the rest of the trip, merely focusing on their apparating technique.

By the time they're packing up and heading back to the castle Franziska is almost feeling confident. She might just pass her Apparition test - if her luck holds out.

Rajani hadn't realized how quiet Hogwarts actually gets over the winter holidays. In her year only Nia and Elspeth are staying, and while Rajani likes them both quite well she very much feels like the third wheel when they hang out. Which they do daily - no one else Rajani knows has stayed over break.

She had thought the seventh years might stay to study for their NEWTs, but Trevor had reminded her that - like her - they're all of age and can practice magic at home just as well as at school.

Rajani kind of wishes more people didn't like their families.

One bonus of staying at school, though, is that she can keep practicing her Apparition with no difficulty. As long as she has a staff member present with her she can go out to Hogsmeade as much as she likes. The practice the week before, while dramatic, hadn't really been enough to make Rajani feel fully confident that she'll nail the exam so she'd sweet-talked Professor Whinging into being her personal chaperone to the village on their way back from the first trip.

"You just reacted so efficiently when Kiddell was splinched, I wouldn't trust the other professors as much." She'd said, blinking hopefully at the middle-aged woman.

The professor had actually blushed at the compliment. "Well, I suppose I could check with Headmaster Dumbledore to see if I could continue taking students out over the break. So many of the professors go home you know, but I wanted to be available to the students!"

"Oh, you're always so thoughtful that way." Rajani had really slathered it on, but she's all too familiar with people like Professor Whinging and she knew it would work.

And work it had. All she has to do now is stop by the Professor's office whenever she wants to go practice, adopt the most trusting puppy-dog eyes she has, and apologize profusely for interrupting Whinging's time, mixing in declarations of her kindness and how lucky the school and students are to have such a dedicated professor. Whinging buys it every time.

However, Rajani is getting decidedly bored. One can only go out to Hogsmeade so often considering the miserable weather, and spending time with Elspeth and Nia become grating after a certainly amount of time. She writes letters to Queenie, Eugene, and Trevor but it's not nearly the same as actually talking with any of them.

And that's how, on the first weekend of break, she finds herself sitting down in the library across from Aidan Ward.

She knows Ward mainly through their both being prefects, and as he's one of the less irritating people to patrol with she's hopeful that perhaps he'll be tolerable to chat with off duty as well. At least until she figures out a better fix - she certainly doesn't plan on reenacting the disaster that was Donaghan in third year. But at least if anyone sees them she can say she was discussing something related to their job.

He barely glances up from his book as she sits. She waits quietly for a few minutes before leaning down to check what he's studying. She frowns slightly when she sees an all-too-familiar textbook.

"Ancient Runes huh? How much harder has that gotten?"

Aidan finally looks at her properly, then glances around himself in confusion before replying. "Er, a lot harder, objectively speaking. Honestly unless your job requires it, which mine will, I wouldn't recommend it."

Rajani smirks at him. "You saying that to try and make me feel better for failing it?"

He shakes his head, frowning. "Not at all, trust me I know not to mess with you guys. It's just the truth - I'm probably going to have to drop a few classes next year, just focus on the ones I really need for work."

Rajani eyes him a moment longer before deciding he probably isn't making fun. "Fair enough. Which classes were you thinking of dropping?"

"Astronomy and Potions for sure, likely Care of Magical Creatures, and possibly History of Magic as well though I quite enjoy the material in the class so I'd be sad to miss the final year."

Rajani leans back in her chair. "I'll let you read my notes during patrols if you do end up dropping." She offers, only half mocking. It is a little ridiculous to want to take a class as dull as History for fun after all.

Aidan smiles faintly. "Well, thanks I guess. Did you want something by the way?" He adds, and Rajani sighs.

"Nope just bored. But if anyone asks this was strictly business."

Aidan smirks but wisely doesn't comment, instead switching the subject. "So how are solo patrols going for you this year? It seems like the pranks have dropped off but I admit I'm nervous about not having a partner with me in case of dungbombs."

Rajani huffs out a breath. "I'm fine with them, no prank has gotten the best of me yet. At this point I'm more worried about making a good impression on the staff. They choose the Head Girl, right?" She glares at Aidan. "And don't tell me that Jemma is going to get the role, I know. Doesn't mean I can't put up a good fight."

Aidan holds up his hands defensively. "Woah, I have no idea what you're talking about, Jemma's no better than the rest of you. And I have no idea how those roles are picked either, so I can't help you there."

Rajani huffs again. "Sorry, I get that from Queenie a lot. I guess you're immune to her goody-two-shoes nonsense since you're her Housemate."

Aidan shrugs. "Maybe, but I think maybe you're putting Jemma on a pedestal instead of actually getting to know her."

Rajani doesn't like the implication, but at least the whole conversation is a break from her grating usual routine. "And I think it's presumptuous to assume I'd do something like that - how well do you actually know me after all?"

"Not at all, you Slytherins keep to yourselves. And well, I'm a Muggleborn so I kind of assumed you hated me." Aidan replies bluntly, and if she wasn't getting ticked off Rajani might have been impressed.

"Oh, because all Slytherins are blood purists?" She shoots back, her voice rising slightly.

Aidan glances behind her. "Inside voice, Madame Pince will throw us out." He reminds her. "And at the very least you all are friends with them. That short-haired brunette you've been spending all break with called me a Mudblood a few times now. Have you ever called her out on that?"

Rajani genuinely hadn't known that Elspeth had done that, and she does kind of get now where Aidan is coming from. Still, she doesn't appreciate him making assumptions about her.

"It's a word, and Els is a to everyone. She's never said it around me anyway and I've never used it myself, my parents say it's poor form."

Aidan snorts. "Poor form, right. So you didn't know. Now you do. Are you going to do anything about it?"

Rajani hesitates. "If she does it in front of me sure." She finally responds. "Otherwise I don't see what I could do. We aren't that close - I like her and Nia well enough but Queenie and Eugene are my best friends."

Aidan shrugs. "Well, you do you I guess. When's your next patrol."

It is, Rajani reminds herself when she leaves the library an hour later, a definite shake up to her usual routine. That doesn't stop the whole incident from leaving a bad taste in .

It also unfortunately sours her time spent with Elspeth and Nia. She wonders if Nia knows about Elspeth's opinions, and if she does if she shares them or if she just isn't fighting with her friend. It is, after all, just a word, and it's common sense that Muggleborns aren't as magically powerful as purebloods.

'Really, it's no different than the term 'pureblood.' She thinks to herself at dinner that night. 'It's just inverted is all.'

She's not sure if she's convinced herself very well when she heads to bed that night. She tosses an turns for hours before she finally falls asleep, and even then she wakes up well before breakfast or the sun.

Sighing she gets up, knowing she won't be able to fall asleep again, and decides to ask the one person she's always trusted to not bull her on anything.

She grabs a quill and some parchment and heads into the common room, lighting a candle with her wand and settling next to the window. The Great Lake is dark beyond but there's still activity visible in the shadows. It makes the room seem less lonely.

She spreads out the parchment, dips her quill into an inkwell, and begins.

Dearest Ed,

It's been a while, how have you been? I admit, this communique is not entirely selfless - I have a very important dilemma and I'd hoped you would help me out with it.

In all it takes her two and a half hours to finish the letter, filling it to the brim with her reasoning and thought process as well as including the story of why she has the question at all (even though she figures that probably means Leona will find out about her willingly talking to another Hufflepuff). By the time she finishes the water is green outside the window and most of the remaining Slytherins are awake and lounging around waiting for breakfast to open.

Nia arrives before Elspeth and watches Rajani work on the last bit of her letter. "Is that for you parents?" She asks once Rajani has signed and begins blowing to dry the last few lines of ink.

She shakes her head. "Ed actually. I had a question for him - prefect stuff otherwise I would have asked you and Els. None of the other Slytherin prefects stayed over break and since, well, we dated I thought he might be open to taking some time to help me out."

Nia waggles her eyebrows knowingly. "Ah yes, the old beau. Does the new one know you still talk?" She teases.

Rajani rolls her eyes, smirking at her friend's antics. "You're worse than Clary sometimes, has anyone ever told you? But yes, Trevor knows that Ed and I are still friends and our breakup was amicable. He also knows that this is basically a for-fun rebound relationship for me. Any other questions?"

Nia shrugs. "Just how do you do it? Honestly relationships look so messy most of the time but you make it look so easy."

Rajani grins. "I'm just that good I suppose." She says airily.

Elspeth joins them a few minutes later, still half asleep, and collapses next to Nia with a cut-off groan.

Rajani immediately starts feeling awkward, double-checking that the letter is folded properly and standing.

"I should probably get this sent before breakfast - I presume a lot of people use the owlery to send presents and such around this time and I want to beat the rush."

Nia shrugs. "There really isn't one, but okay you do you. See you at breakfast Raj."

Rajani isn't sure if she imagines Elspeth's suspicious gaze following her all the way out of the common room, but imaginary or not it weighs heavily on her.

She feels a bit lighter once she enters the dungeon corridors but she's looking forward to mailing the letter and forgetting about the whole fiasco for a while. Perhaps she'll go out to Hogsmeade for a proper shopping trip today - she's pretty sure she can convince Professor Whinging to allow it - some sob story about getting presents for her friends without them seeing ought to do just fine.

She's surprised to find someone else in the owlery when she arrives, and she's more surprised to realize she knows him.

"Good morning Adrian." She says, pointedly louder than she probably needs to but it's worth it when the fifth year Gryffindor prefect yelps and nearly drops the package he's carrying.

He glares at her when he turns. "Not okay." He grumbles.

"Payback for the Quidditch match." She replies cheekily. "Christmas gift?" She guesses, gesturing to the package.

He nods awkwardly. "For my little sister Penny. She went home for Christmas but she was this close to skipping since I stayed to study. I thought I'd send her something a little early."

Rajani laughs and ruffes his hair as she makes her way over to Lakshmi's cage. "Look at you, such a thoughtful big brother. I wish Sahana had been so cognizant of my needs."

Adrian makes a face and fixes his hair. "If you were like this with her too I'm not surprised she wasn't."

Rajani hits him with a snowball.

Adrian is a weird case for her. He's a Gryffindor, yes, but since she met him as a prefect first she sees him mostly as a coworker. A cute, annoying, little brother of a coworker. As such she finds it oddly easier to talk to him than the Gryffindors in her own year (though of course they don't exactly make it easy to talk to them).

For his part Adrian had started out as wary of the Slytherins as they were of him, but he's gotten so comfortable that he apparently even said hello to Alana in their Transfiguration class a few weeks before. She hadn't exactly been happy with him but the rest of the Slytherin prefects had found the incident both hilarious and adorable.

She's pulled out of her reverie when a return snowball smacks her in the shoulder.

"Hey, I'm not even in my proper cloak you twit!" She shrieks, laughing despite herself. She quickly gives the letter to Lakshmi with instructions to take it to Ed before she turns back to the younger boy.

"You did start it." He says innocently, tying his own package to a hardy-looking snowy owl and setting him out into the crisp early morning air. "Really you guys started it with that Quidditch match. What was with Leacock flinging his bat like that?"

Rajani groans as they make their way back down the tower together. "Trust me he got reamed for that. It won't be happening again - and you losers will be put back in your place next year, just you wait and see. Alas has big plans for the team."

They split at the base of the owlery by unspoken agreement - neither really wants to be seen walking into the Great Hall together. For as fun as he is Adrian is still a lion. And if Rajani is embarrassed by the idea of being caught conversing casually with a Hufflepuff she'd be absolute mortified if she was caught with a Gryffindor.

Nice as Adrian is, he's not worth her reputation. Not by a long shot. So she heads to breakfast and sits with Nia and Elspeth and laughs with them over nothing much, all of her earlier concerns pushed away for the moment.

Ana is surprised when her father is the one who picks her up from the airport. Alexander Vulchanova is usually far too busy for such menial tasks, but Ana is pleased to see him nonetheless.

"Father." She greets him politely on the platform as he loads her trunk and Dracula's terrarium onto a cart with a flick of his wand.

He smiles at her slightly. "Ana, you've grown again."

She hadn't noticed if she's honest, but she wouldn't be surprised if it was true. She's gained several centimeters of height in the past few years and is easily the tallest in her friend group now, with only Shaun getting close.

Her father continues. "You're looking more and more like a young lady and less like my little girl." He glances at the cart. "I suppose you could have loaded these yourself."

Ana can sense that her father is about to go into one of his rare sentimental moments and she'd really rather he not so she quickly begins pushing the cart. "Indeed. In fact Alec has already been helping me acquire the required forms to apply for early admission into the Curse-Breaking apprenticeship next year. If I'm accepted I'll begin in the summer after graduation rather than in the fall so I'll complete it faster and be able to get into the field by the time I'm nineteen rather than twenty."

Her father has an odd look on his face. "You're quite close with Alec Macmillan these days." He observes.

Ana blinks. "I suppose so. He's quite a good source of information, and he's a friend of the family - it's all quite convenient."

Her father looks at her for a moment longer before he seems to make up his mind about something. "It's the oddest thing - we became friends with them because you were close with their younger son, and yet I hear far more about Alec than Alasdair these days."

Ana shrugs. "Alasdair is... we're still friends I suppose, of a sort. It's all rather complicated with school you see. The Slytherins all keep to themselves and the rest of us keep away. I don't understand it entirely myself but everyone seems rather content with the arrangement."

Alexander looks slightly confused but doesn't ask any further questions on the topic. "You're getting along well with your classmates then?"

Ana nods. "I actually was hoping to speak with you and mother on that topic. I'm aware the Boot family is no longer considered to be pureblooded but I was hoping we might extend them an invitation to our New Year's party this year. Their son Jerome is a very close confidant of mine, he was present as support for my first Animagus transformation."

Her father hums. "You will have to ask your mother, the party is her project more than mine, though I don't see why it would be a problem."

Ana doesn't mention that every other one of their friends are pureblooded and until meeting the other students she had been convinced that blood purity dictated at least fifty percent of a witch's worth. But she thinks it might be more prudent to keep that to herself.

"I will ask her when we arrive home then." She decides.

Her father clears his throat. "Actually your mother isn't home at the moment. She's over at the Macmillan's - Mareum apparently Floo-called earlier this afternoon absolutely distraught about something and your mother went right over. It's why I picked you up today."

Ana nods slowly. It's likely nothing - Mrs. Macmillan is well known to be overdramatic - but she does worry just slightly. She also wonders who had picked up Alasdair, and if it was Alec why he didn't come say hello.

"Well, I'll ask her when she arrives home then. Perhaps I could show you my Animagus form while we wait?" She suggests, and is quite pleased when her father beams.

"My little girl, an Animagus. I would love to see your form Ana, I'm just surprised you aren't tired of showing it."

Ana does smile slightly at that. "I was a cat more often than I was human for a few days after the initial change but once everyone had seen the form there wasn't much more to it. Besides I quite enjoy being a cat - it's an entirely unique perspective from ours, I can sense things I never could in this body."

"It must be quite something." Her father agrees. "I can't even begin to imagine."

They take the Knight bus home and Ana floats her trunks up to her room on her own, showing off a bit by casting the levitation spell wordlessly. Once she's unpacked - mostly using magic again, it really is wonderful no longer being under the Trace - and has cleaned Dracula's terrarium - which she actually does by hand as she's almost gotten to enjoy it after years of doing so - she finally heads downstairs to show her father the most impressive bit of magic she can do.

The transformation is completely seamless now, the agony she felt the first time nothing more than a half-forgotten memory after so many easy shifts.

She barely notices the awe on her father's face as she's once again surrounded by a million more stimuli than she can process as a human.

A few scents she can name - the lingering of her own human smell, a faint trace of Dracula - but more are entirely new. She pads around the living room, exploring curiously so she can put names to everything she's experiencing.

She's also seeing several colors mixed in where she'd never noticed them before - old stains on the wood floors, new shades of brown and red on the gold tassels of the drapes. She thinks her own house might actually be more interesting than even the Ravenclaw dorms which had proven to have even more stars on the ceiling that she'd thought.

She's then struck by the question if her own room's ceiling might have additional stars as well, and she bounds off towards the stairs.

Her father calls after her - and wow his voice sounds different when she's this size - but she only waves her tail in reply, intent on her mission.

The carpet is incredibly soft under her paws, and Ana spares a thought to be impressed by how clean it's actually kept. Even the Hogwarts carpets aren't as nice on her sensitive pads.

She can both hear and feel the vibrations of her father following her up the stairs, and when she thinks about it she's still slightly blown away by how much more she can sense in this form, despite how much smaller she is.

Unfortunately when she arrives at her room she finds the same nonsensical mess she always sees - she supposes as it was charmed by a human, rather than a massive magical entity like Hogwarts, it would only be attuned to the human eye. Still she decides to explore her room a bit more, and adds a mental note to start working on fixing the ceiling so it actually resembles the sky again. It may still look nice but as a NEWT Astronomy student the glaring inaccuracies can get quite irritating.

She noses around for a bit as her father catches up. She's not sure if he's really so out of shape or if she can just hear his heavy breathing a lot better than she normally would be able to. She doesn't really consider the question very much, instead exploring the incredibly familiar space with new eyes. After a few minutes she decides to morph back human, hopping onto her bed so that she won't be sprawled out on the floor.

"That was quite something." Her father sounds almost awed, and Ana smirks proudly.

"It certainly is." She agrees. "Mother does an excellent job cleaning the carpets by the way, I can see and smell a lot more as a cat and they still seemed spotless."

Her father smiles. "You'll have to tell her yourself. Hopefully she'll be home soon or you and I may be on our own for dinner."

Ana shrugs. "We should be alright, I can use magic now and I do recall some of what mother attempted to teach me when I was younger. I do wonder what Mrs. Macmillan was so worried about - if mother's been gone so long it may be something rather important."

Her father hums noncommittally. "It may already be sorted out and your mother is just visiting now. She and Mareum get on quite well you know, I'd even say they're best friends."

Ana taps her fingers down the banister in reply as the two of them make their way back to the living room. "Well even if mother does plan to return for dinner perhaps we can surprise her with it already being on the table."

Her father looks amused. "I do hope you mean you can surprise her, I have a few reports to finish and your mother has made very clear that I'm not allowed in her kitchen."

Ana shrugs and the two split in the hallway, her father to his study and Ana into her mother's beloved kitchen.

She knows where the cookbooks are kept, and she looks through them for something that appears relatively simple. For all her theoretical knowledge she's never actually cast any cooking spells and she knows theory only gets you so far.

She's about halfway through a spaghetti recipe when her mother finally returns, and she thinks she's doing alright. At least until Winona tuts lightly and joins her at the counter.

"Not bad, but let me show you a trick your grandmother taught me."

Ana wouldn't admit it, but it's actually surprisingly fun and relaxing to help her mother in the kitchen. She stands by her refusal to learn earlier but she can grudgingly appreciate now that it's not only a useful skill but quite a difficult one.

Winona calls Alexander to dinner while Ana sets the table and divides the meal into three equal servings. Once they've sat down Ana realizes that her mother looks exhausted. She'd been too focused in the kitchen to catch the signs, but now that she's paying attention Winona looks drained.

Alexander notices as well. "Everything alright with Mareum dear?" He prompts with clear concern.

Winona exhales. "Yes, everything is most likely fine. Ana dear, when was the last time you communicated with Alec?"

Ana blinks. The question feels distinctly like a non sequitur and she'd call her mother out on changing the topic if it wasn't for the answer. "Nearly three weeks actually. My last letter to him was returned undelivered - I had presumed there was bad weather and planned to try again tomorrow." She leans forward. "Is he alright? Did something happen?"

Winona gestures vaguely, somehow still prim even when rattled. "Most likely not. His entire camp and most of the surrounding area has been quarantined as a preventative measure - there's a dragon pox outbreak in the area." Her voice somehow remains light despite the fact the sentence had put a pit of dread in Ana's gut. "Mareum only learned about it today and she hasn't heard from Alec in two months so she was concerned. It's good you spoke to him more recently Ana, she'll be happy to hear that."

Ana nods quietly. Dragonpox. The term is used to terrify young children into doing their chores, and somehow it becomes so much worse when you grow up and realize that dragonpox really exists and there's no cure for it. It's an instant death sentence, and is highly contagious to boot.

"You said they got the quarantine up to prevent infection right? Not to contain it? So logically none of the Curse-Breakers in his camp are infected." She says, aware she's speaking a bit too fast but unable to slow down. Her left hand lifts to tap at the pendant around her neck, forever engraved onto her being through her Animagus form.

She's not quite sure what happens over the rest of dinner. What she does know is that she asks to be excused quite early on and retires to her room. Inside a silk-lined pocket she'd added to her trunk is the snake bracelet Alec had sent her for her birthday. She still usually wears the one Eric had gotten her, but now she swaps the two before lying down on her bed.

The small logical part of her brain that's still working notes that her entire reaction to the news is nearly as overblown as Mareum Macmillan's can get, but the larger part of her mind can't seem to shake the image of Alec the last time she'd seen him.

With a small shock she realizes that it's been nearly two years since the last time she'd seen him in person. She'd not come home the previous winter break so she had still been fifteen the last time he'd seen her, half-grown and gawky.

Oh, and she'd hated him. Or at least told herself so much.

She sighs and rolls onto her stomach to look at Dracula in his terrarium. For once he's actually looking back rather than sleeping, and she decides to take advantage.

"Cleary I'm being illogical." She tells the fire salamander. "What I need to do is determine why that is. How can I do that?"

Dracula, of course, does not answer, and she sighs again. Whoever said pets were good to talk to was utterly barmy. "You're no help. Let's see, perhaps we should start by listing what reactions are illogical. Isolate the problem." She nods, already feeling better now that she has a clear plan of action.

She rifles through her trunk as she starts reciting the questions she wants to consider. "Why did learning about the dragonpox outbreak in Peru make it feel like the floor fell out from under me? Why am I so concerned for Alec's safety when I know he's most likely perfectly alright? Why does the idea of never seeing him in person again make me feel sick?"

She pauses when she hears herself. "Not seeing him again scares me." She says, softly, testing the solution uncertainly to see how well it fits. Her stomach rolls and she sits back on her heels, the search for parchment forgotten.

"The idea of never seeing him again scares me." She repeats. "I want to see him again."

She doesn't know how long she sits on the floor silently, overwhelmed by the sudden awareness of feelings she hadn't realized she'd even had until now.

She'll need to add to her letter to Alec. And perhaps include a Christmas gift - no, definitely include a Christmas gift. But first she needs to write to Jerome.

He'd confessed his crush to her after all. Only fair she keep him appraised of hers.

Myr doesn't know how his sister does it.

She picks him up and King's Cross when he arrives home for break, informing him that she gets to "keep" him for a week for proper sibling bonding time, and within five minutes of being in the car she asks if his new crush is cute.

"How? How could you possibly know that I have a crush?" He demands, not bothering to deny it. Cadi has always been great at reading people, particularly her own family.

She laughs. "Honestly? You're the same age I was. Well, about anyway. Also I saw you watching that cute brunette while you were waiting for me."

Myr grumbles. He honestly has barely spoken to Amanda since the study incident over a month before but he's seeing her everywhere now - the library, the Great Hall, in the hallways. He's learned she's actually a Ravenclaw, not a Hufflepuff like he'd thought (She hadn't had her tie on during the study session and her familiarity with both Roderik and Jemma had led to assumptions on his part). Her twin sister Melody is in Hufflepuff though, and they like swapping robes to confuse the staff. Supposedly they're identical but Myr can always tell them apart, even when they're trying to trick people. She usually has her hair in a high ponytail while Melody always keeps hers down - it's how everyone else tells them apart.

Not that he's been stalking her. He's just happened to notice things is all.

"So? What's her name and how badly have you screwed up trying to talk to her?" Cadi prompts teasingly.

"I didn't! I... mostly just haven't talked to her. Her name is Amanda, and anyway she's two years younger than me - only fourteen. It's weird."

Cadi scoffs. "I dated an older man for a while, so that's a stupid reason not to pursue it. Which House is she? Not Slytherin obviously or that would have been reason number one."

Somehow by the time they're back at her flat Myr has told Cadi everything he knows about Amanda, even her cute smile.

"Well little brother, I deem you well and truly screwed. You really like this girl, nothing can be done. You'll have to ask her out." Cadi declares gravely as she helps him carry his trunk and Owen's carrier up the stairs of the building.

Owen chitters from his carrier, as if in agreement.

Myr huffs. "Hush you, don't encourage her. And no Cadi, I'm not going to ask her out, that would be weird. What would I even say?"

"Hey, I know it's been a while but you're super cute and I'd like to get to know you outside of a study group environment, would you be interested?" Cadi replies briskly as she unlocks her apartment.

Myr grimaces. "Wow, very romantic. Nothing says date me like clinical grammar."

Cadi laughs. "Oh whatever, you get the gist. And I have to point out that you're the one using phrases like 'clinical grammar'."

Myr lets Owen out of the carrier once the front door has been closed and drags his trunk over to the tiny study area that's been converted into a temporary guest room for him. "Enough about me, if you're so interested in romance how come you're not looking for any yourself?"

Cadi flashes him a Cheshire grin, leaning in the doorway of the room as he kneels to start unpacking. "Who says I'm not? You remember Wyniteg from a couple summers ago? We meet up sometimes for lunch and she's got a super hot older brother."

Myr chokes. "Okay, I regret asking, you win. Entirely new topic?"

Cadi laughs. "Oh fine, we'll table this. How's school going this year? I remember sixteen being a hellish age for both hormones and schoolwork."

Myr shrugs. "No exams but we're already having to prepare for NEWTS, and there have been a lot more assignments and essays to complete. I'm glad I'm only taking five courses for the next two years, any more and I would definitely be failing something."

Owen wanders between Cadi's legs and into the room them, nosing around curiously and ending up inside Myr's trunk, where he promptly decides to take a nap on top of the clothes Myr had been trying to unpack.

He laughs. "Alright I guess I'm done with this for now. How about you, how's work?"

Cadi makes a face. "Whoever said loving what you do means you'll never work a day in your life is a filthy liar. Overall it's pretty decent, I've met a couple people through Wyniteg so I'm definitely on the short list for dealing with the magical world but for now I'm stuck filing for boring old Muggles."

Myr smirks. "You're a boring old Muggle you know." He points out.

Cadi shakes her head proudly. "I'm a Squib, it's different. Wyniteg says there's an increased chance my kids will be magical even if I marry a Muggle."

Myr shrugs. "I mean your neices and or nephews will almost definitely be magical so there's that as well."

Cadi grins knowingly. "So there will be nieces and nephews? You know mum and I wondered for a while if you might not like girls, you know, romantically."

Myr makes a face. "Of course I do, who else would I like? And somehow we're back on this topic."

"You brought it up." Cadi points out with a grin. "But fine, moving on. Again. What do you feel like for dinner?"

They actually manage to keep off the topic of romance for a few hours after that as they cook dinner and chat about school and work and the magical world.

"You know, if you wanted to get a job in Diagon Alley or something I bet mum would't mind you staying with me over the summer." Cadi points out. "It would probably look better on your resume to have some magical job experience when you graduate in a couple years."

Myr makes a face. "I mean, yes but..." He hesitates. He hasn't actually told anyone his most recent ideas for his future, but he supposes he needs to start somewhere and his sister will likely be open-minded. "I'm thinking of applying to Muggle universities. I've been keeping up with school as much as possible over the summers, and I'm thinking that after graduation I might just dedicate a year to getting a high school diploma and taking a few SATs." He risks a glace at Cadi's face and she's frowning. His stomach twists. "You know, just thinking. Nothing is set in stone, I'm only sixteen like mum always says." He hurriedly adds.

His sister hums. "No it's a good idea, if it will make you happy. You definitely should tell mum, and maybe your professors? I'm not sure how that would work at Hogwarts but I don't see why they couldn't set something up for you."

Myr shrugs noncommittally. It really is a new idea he's been toying with - only in the past week has it solidified into a set concept - so he hasn't really thought too deeply about how to go about achieving it if he decides to go for it.

Cadi tuts. "Well, I'd make up your mind soon, you're halfway through your sixth year already." She tilts her head thoughtfully. "Although, Hogwarts does sort of end earlier than standard schooling - you could take a year off and still be young enough to convince people you're coming out of homeschooling. All things to think about I suppose."

Myr just shrugs again. "Don't mention it to mum for now, okay? I'll make up my mind by the end of the school year and tell her then, I don't want to stress her out or anything."

His sister snorts. "You can't stress her right now, trust me."

Myr raises an eyebrow, finally looked up at Cadi properly. "What do you mean? Something good happen?"

Cadi grins conspiratorially. "Depends on your definition of 'good'. Mum has a new boyfriend. I'm not supposed to say but honestly I don't know how they expected me to keep quiet for a whole week."

Myr blinks, his mind immediately forgetting the previous conversation to make way for the numb shock that settles through every crevasse of his brain. "...She what?"

His sister laughs. "You should see your face. It makes sense to me, but I guess you've been away so much you haven't really seen it coming have you?" She ruffles his hair sympathetically. "It's probably a good thing I told you then, rather than having it sprung on you next week."

Myr is still flailing for words, but he manages to process enough of Cadi's statement to formulate another question. "Saw it coming? You know the guy?"

His sister grins. "You do too Myr. I even mentioned it a few times in my letters - a while ago, yeah, but I still did."

Myr tries to remember what she's talking about - Cadi hasn't really sent him letters in a few years, not since she graduated and got a job - but he pulls up a blank.

Cadi laughs. "It's Uncle Cyril Myr. He and mum have gotten really close since you started at Hogwarts - I think losing that major secret about dad and wizards is what did it. They're going to tell you when you get home next week so act surprised, okay? I seriously wasn't supposed to mention anything."

Myr still feels weirdly numb. He manages to nod weakly before excusing himself for bed, mumbling some sort of excuse though he honestly couldn't say what it was.

He doesn't manage to fall asleep for quite some time, his brain desperately swirling as it tries to see the signs of the blooming romance between his mother and uncle that Cadi had claimed to be obvious. When he finally drifts into a restless sleep he still can't think of any.

The rest of the week his sister steers clear of the topic, which he's both thankful for but also a bit irritated by - it means he's not really able to fully come to terms with what the new relationship is going to mean for the family. As such he's still effectively blindsided when his Uncle picks him up and asks him quietly if he'd be okay with Cyril proposing to his mother just before they take the Floo back to the shop.

Myr just blinks owlishly at his uncle for a good minute while Cyril shifts uncertainly from foot to foot.

"That... seems kind of fast." Myr finally stammers out once he can find his voice again.

Uncle Cyril looks uncomfortable. "Well, yes, perhaps. We'd hoped Cadi would get you used to the idea." He replies.

The two stand in the fireplace awkwardly for another minute before Myr grabs a handful of Floo powder and tosses it in, enunciating his uncle's shop's name clearly but quietly before stepping through the green flames.

He knows it's not the response his uncle was hoping for, but honestly he's not sure he's okay with Uncle Cyril marrying his mother.

He really wishes Cadi had braced him better than she had.

His mother is in the shop when he steps out of the fireplace and she immediately puts down the inventory she'd been stocking to pull him into a hug.

"Myr! Have you gotten taller again?" She draws back to look him over with a critical eye. "We'll need to take your robes out again."

He shrugs away from her. "Mum we can't stand in front of the fireplace." He reminds her, stepping aside just in time for Uncle Cyril to come through. "I'm going to go drop off my trunk and let Owen out of his carrier. I'll be back." He quickly excuses himself and heads for home, dragging his trunk and his whining cat along with him.

He doesn't look back, not wanting to see the worry on his mother's and uncle's faces. He honestly can't deal with them right in that moment.

He gets home without any trouble and Owen is clearly thrilled to be back in the familiar house as he promptly starts rubbing over everything he can get his paws onto.

"Well I'm glad you're happy at least." Myr sighs as he collapses onto his bed, deciding to unpack later when his head will hopefully hurt less. "I just don't get it, this seems way too sudden to me." He announces, whether to Owen or the ceiling he isn't quite sure.

Regardless he's met with silence, not that he'd expected anything else. He sighs again and rolls onto his stomach, staring over the edge of his bed at his opened trunk. A pile of robes, textbooks, and parchment stares back at him, as does the elegant Larch wand Holly had sold him over two years ago now. He smiles faintly - despite have spent an even amount of time with both of his wands he can barely remember his first one anymore. Holly had certainly been right on that count.

His mind jumps from there to his recent contemplations on leaving the wizarding world entirely. If he were to attend a Muggle university he'd likely get a Muggle job. And if he did that he'd likely marry a Muggle as well, and the Statute of Secrecy would mean he'd never get to use magic again until their children possibly got their Hogwarts letters.

He drops his face onto his comforter, groaning softly, and then startling when he feels a whiskery nose push against his ear.

Owen startles as well, jumping back and staring at him wide-eyed and hurt.

Myr laughs breathlessly. "You scared me, sorry. Come on, c'm'ere." He reaches out for the black fur ball who hesitantly noses back over, sniffing Myr's offered hand a few times before deciding that pets are worth the risk and butting against Myr's palm with his head.

Petting Owen is surprisingly calming, and Myr feels the slight panic that had been building up just under his skin sliding away to the rhythm of Owen's purrs.

"Maybe I'm overthinking all of this. If mum is happy that's good, right? It's not my decision anyway and I can get used to it." That doesn't feel quite right but it makes him feel better so he decides to stick with it for the moment. "And maybe I should get a summer job in Diagon Alley. I bet Holly knows who's hiring. I can stay with Cadi this summer and see what working in the wizarding world would be like." He nods to himself, sitting up and earning a discontented mew from Owen, who headbutts his hand again in an attempt to get him to resume the petting.

Myr hums and gives in to his cat, leaning back against his headboard. It isn't a perfect plan, but he does feel a bit better about things. And he has plenty of time to properly think it over later - for now he just has to get through the New Year and he can go back to school where things are less stressful.