For the first time in your years in Hogwarts, you decided to go back home to be with Vivian, while Megan chose to stay with Ginny along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione for the holidays. As soon as you stepped inside your room, you felt your heart drop in realization.

You finally came home for Christmas, but Edward was already gone.

You dropped your bags and collapsed on your well-made bed, stretching your arms out to grab Mr. Snuggles. Mr. Snuggles was the huge panda stuffed toy that Megan had given you during your first year in Hogwarts. Megan wanted to name it Mr. Tewks, but you went with Mr. Snuggles.

The stuffed toy has been through a lot. It was the thing you were cuddling while you were happy or sad. It has also been drenched from your endless tears whenever you remember your father or Cedric. Right now, you didn't know what to feel, but you still chose to hug the huge stuffed toy.

You lifted your head and found some pictures around your room. One of them was your father's, and the small crumpled picture was Cedric.

Sighing heavily, you dump your head back to Mr. Snuggles and groan. "Why do I always have to lose someone close to me?" You whispered.

"Hello, sweetie." You instantly sat up and saw your mother open your door and smile. "Bad day?"

"No, mum." You assured her. "Just thinking. Where's Cameron?"

"Sleeping. Bucky's with him in the room too, sleeping as well." Vivian lifted her hand, showing the letters that you had given her. "Don't be mad that I couldn't answer all of them. I was quite busy, and the Ministry was being strict for sending letters."

She sat down with you and looked at you. "Is it true what you did to Stacey Doom? About you attacking her?"

Your lips formed a thin line as you looked away and slowly nodded. "Well, I didn't hurt her. I just shoved her hard into the wall." You confessed.

Vivian stared at you for a while before smiling and patting your back. "That's good."

You quickly looked at her with your eyes wide open. "Did Dad just possess you or something? Why is that good?"

Vivian chuckled. "I know that sounds bad, but honestly, I never liked the Dooms." She admitted. "They're worse than Malfoys and Parkinsons, really."

She noticed your scarred hand and frowned. "Was that the punishment for pushing the young Doom?"

You glanced down and nodded. "Yeah. I got to detention twice for pushing her and oversleeping."

"Did Megan get detention too?"

"Oversleeping."

Vivian looked away, feeling bad for what happened to you and Megan. She shook her head and sighed heavily. "We should've stayed you and your sister away from Hogwarts. But your father and I adored the school and knew you two would have a great time."

"We did." You replied with a shrug. "Most of the time. It may not look like it, mum, but even with all the fighting and facing the dangers around, we still manage to have fun and learn."

Vivian softly smiled. "Well, I'm glad to hear that." She glanced down at your bracelet. "How are you and Draco, by the way?"

You shrugged. "Good, I guess? I don't know. It's... complicated." Silence filled the air until you remembered something. "Mum, did you know a Wanda Maximoff in our family?"

"You mean Wanda Stark?"

Your eyes blinked in confusion and shock. "Wait. She's a Stark?"

Vivian leaned back to look at you in surprise. "Yeah, how did you know about her?"

You glanced at your bag then to your desk, where Wanda's letters are hidden inside. "Letters. I just found some letters about her." You looked back at your mother. "I thought she's a Maximoff, and her brother married one Stark?"

Vivian gestured you to stand up and follow her. You obliged, and the two of you walked out of your room to enter the library. Vivian approached one of the shelves and pulled out a book that looked like a switch. Your eyes widened as the shelves opened like doors and you found some stairs leading to a basement.

"We have a basement?"

"We have a manor, darling. Of course, we have a basement." Vivian chuckled and pulled out her want. "Lumos."

The two of you headed downstairs with Vivian's wand and yours providing light. Once you reached the bottom of the stairs, you were greeted with more books around, all dusty and covered with cobwebs. You turned to your mother in awe. "And you kept this from me and MJ?"

Vivian shook her head and stifled a laugh. "I just found this recently, sweetie. And I doubt Edward knew about this too. After all, this manor is centuries old." She stopped by a shelf and pulled out a dusty book. She blew the dust out of it and cleaned off the cobwebs. Vivian opened the book and showed a specific page containing pictures.

You stepped closer and lowered your wand down on the page to see the pictures and words clearly. You found a ginger-haired woman smiling at a man who had white streaks in his hair. Vivian pointed the both of them. "The Maximoff Twins: Wanda and Pietro Maximoff."

Your eyes widened in surprise as you finally knew what Wanda looked like. You flipped a page and found a photo of Pietro Maximoff being married to a Stark who you found familiar after seeing your family pictures before. "Pietro died months after his wedding. Few months later, Wanda married one of us as well."

"That's why you know her as Wanda Stark." You deducted.

Vivian nodded. "But she wasn't popular as a Stark, you see." She flipped a page and pointed in some words. "She ran away after three months of her wedding and was announced dead when they find the piece of her last clothing ripped and bloody."

You looked closely at the picture and saw an unfamiliar place. "Where is that?"

"New Jersey. She was last spotted there before her disappearance."

You glanced at your mother. "What if she was alive and just hid from our world?"

Vivian shrugged. "No one knows." She patted your shoulder. "If you want to know more you can more about her by the first few pages. I don't understand why you were so interested to know her all of a sudden but if you need my help, just call me out."

You nodded and earned a kiss on the forehead from your mother. After she walked up and out of the basement, you looked at the first few pages of the book. You saw a young Wanda practicing her magic with her twin brother Pietro. "Born in the cold weather in January, two twins were brought into this world by Oleg and Iryna Maximoff. While the oldest twin was inevitably rose to fame at an early age, his younger twin sister stayed an outcast for most of her entire life."

You continued to read. "But as they grew older, the twins died, thus ending the Maximoff bloodline."

Your fingers slipped between the following two pages causing a folded paper to slide down. You glanced on the floor before picking it up and unfolding it, seeing an old letter from Wanda.

⠀⠀⠀I just found this book while I was wandering around the house. I didn't even know that the Starks have a hidden library down the basement. It seems like they don't that either. The secret library looked as if no one was around to take care of it, maybe because there are too many secrets they have as a family, and they decided to dump them all here, hidden away from the next generations of Starks.

⠀⠀⠀My brother married Crystalia Stark after the two fell in love for almost eight months. It sounds surprising and unbelievable, but I guess that's what love does: surprising you and making everything impossible and believable. They do love each other. But why does Crystalia have to be a Stark? And why does Vincent have to be a Malfoy?

⠀⠀⠀Why do Starks and Malfoys have this hatred of one another? Is there an unknown curse that we have to break? And if there is... how do we break it?

°•○●○•°

You were panicking, but you didn't let your friends see nor notice it. The news you just heard sent chills down your spine. Bellatrix Lestrange escaped along with the other Death Eaters from Azkaban. You fear her whenever you see her or hear her name. It doesn't help that she's Draco Malfoy's auntie.

'So fucking great.' You thought to yourself. You walked beside Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Great Hall. Hermione sighed. "Dumbledore warned Fudge this could happen. He's gonna get us all killed just because he can't face the truth."

You and your friends passed by Seamus, Dean, Parvati, Padma, and Neville. "Harry." Seamus softly called out as he stood up from his seat.

Harry and you along with Ron and Hermione stopped walking and turned to Seamus. Some students from the Ravenclaw table stopped reading and chatting including Luna, Megan, and Cho. "I, uh..." Seamus cleared his throat. "I wanted to apologize."

Draco looked away from Crabbe and Goyle to spot you and your friends facing Seamus. Seamus glanced away. "Now even me mum says the Prophet's version of things doesn't add up." He stared back at Harry. "So, what I'm really trying to say is that I believe you."

Hermione glanced at Harry while Ron breathed heavily. You cracked a smile at Seamus. "Took you a long time to realize but... at least you did." You replied.

Harry slightly nodded. "Thank you, Seamus."

After a few hours, you entered the Room of Requirement and saw Neville looking at a picture that was plastered in a mirror. Harry entered the room as well and walked beside you. "Neville?"

You stood beside Neville and placed a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at you. "Fourteen years ago, a Death Eater named Bellatrix Lestrange used a Cruciatus Curse on my parents." He stated. "She tortured them for information, but they never gave in. I'm quite proud to be their son. But I'm not sure I'm ready for everyone to know just yet."

Harry nodded and then looked at the picture too. "We're going to make them proud, Neville."

"That's a promise." You whispered as you stared at the photo. It was the Order of the Phoenix during the First Wizarding War. Neville's parents and Harry's parents were there, including Sirius, Remus, and Moody. You glared at Pettigrew, who was there too. 'What a traitor.'

Then your eyes landed on your parents, who were also in the picture. Your eyes grew wide in surprise. 'They were in the Order?'

As many of you and your friends know, Snape is in the Order, but it was a surprise when you find out Edward Stark had joined the Order of the Phoenix with your mother. He was smiling as he held Vivian's hand in the photo. You realized that maybe your father's alliance with the Order was also why the Death Eater killed him. He was against Voldemort, after all. It would be outrageous that Edward Stark was killed for no reason.

And now you know perhaps what the reason is.

A few minutes later, the D.A, also known as the Dumbledore's Army, members came inside, and Harry started teaching again. He taught you and the others the Patronus Charm: the spell he perfected during his third year.

It was pretty tricky for you and Megan. Although you both found happiness, it was still hard to make or find the happiest memory you both have. The memories you have been thinking weren't strong enough to produce the powerful charm.

"Make it a powerful memory, the happiest you can remember. Allow it to fill you up."

You closed your eyes and focused on the happiest memory you could think of. You were praying that maybe you could think about tons of memories instead of one. You felt a hand on your shoulder and knew it was Harry.

"You can do it (Y/n)," Harry told you.

You took a deep breath. "Expecto Patronum."

And out of the end of your wand, a spark suddenly appeared, meaning the memory or memories you have been thinking were happy but not too powerful to conjure the charm. You looked away and lowered your wand, sighing while Harry looked at you. "Are you okay? Do you need a break?"

You glanced up to see Megan gasping in joy as a spider came out from her wand, most presumably a black widow. You turned to Harry and glanced at your wand. "I've tried everything, Harry. Maybe I'm not strong enough to conjure my Patronus."

Harry shook his head and stood in front of you with his hands on your shoulders. "Althea, you're one of the strongest witches I have ever known. I'm sure you'll conjure yours one day. Maybe your happiest memory is just about to happen. Maybe not now, but someday."

You cracked a smile before pulling him to your arms, hugging him. "Thanks, James."

Harry patted your back before pulling away and excusing himself to teach more students. You watched as Ron's Patronus, a dog, came out from his wand and started to run around, knocking Neville off from the ground.

You even spotted Seamus practicing the charm. He was a newcomer and you welcomed him with open arms. You saw Luna's Patronus, which was a hare, hopping around and even passing by you. Luna gave you a smile which you returned. Then all of the mist-like animals faded away when everyone lost their focus because the room was shaking.

The lights flickered for a second as you and Megan glanced at each other and then looked at the enormous doors.

You noticed Harry and Nigel peeked into a small hole and heard indistinctive voices behind. "I'll make short work of this. Bombarda Maxima." Harry's eyes widened and pulled Nigel away from the door when the door was destroyed. You walked back and stood beside Ron and Hermione.

As the wall and doors collapsed, your eyes widened when you saw Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad. 'Oh, shit. If they're here, it means...'

You froze on your spot when I noticed Draco showing himself from the crowd with Stacey dragging Cho in front. Cho looked down, feeling guilty and embarrassed. Stacey was smirking while Draco's eyes widened when he locked eyes with you. "(Y/n)..." He whispered.

Cho looked at you and the members with pleading eyes, asking for forgiveness.

"Get them!" Umbridge exclaimed.