It was nearing time for Christmas and secretly it was one of Apollo's favourite holidays. Not because of the joy and endless pudding and those incredibly cheesy, red kisses cheeks, no, it was because Apollo was almost certain that there was no idiotic Greek God of Christmas. That didn't mean, however, that the Petrous did not do a celebration during the holidays as they in fact celebrated the birth of Dionysus (the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking and wine, of fertility, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre) all throughout December. That was the reason that Apollo dreaded returning home to the Petrou Manor for the holidays, yet his grandparents would have his head if he didn't therefore he was left to suffer in the manor that although was constantly bustling with people, always felt cold and empty.

"Oh, stop moping, Apollo," Daphne Greengrass berated as she stepped into Apollo's view, whom of which was stood at the platform in Hogsmeade, waiting to board the Hogwarts Express. His arms were crossed while he he glared at the red train, cursing it to the underworld and back for being the thing that would deliver him to his doom; the Petrou Family. "It's only a few weeks and then you'll be back at Hogwarts, torturing all around you."

Apollo grinned mockingly at the girl before giving her a quick hug as she would be staying at Hogwarts over the holidays. "Well, wish me luck that I won't break another ridiculous statue."

Daphne laughed as she shook her head, blonde curls bouncing around as she did so. "I'll have no doubt that you will. Enjoy your holidays, Apollo."

Apollo simply nodded his head in reply before stepping aboard on the train, searching through the compartments until he finally came across a vacant one. Once sat down in the comfort of the empty compartment, the Hufflepuff let out a deep breath of relief. Even just being in the public eye was stressful enough - let alone having to deal with people. He supposed that was the one good thing about being at the Petrou Manor, he didn't have to worry so much about his image.

The train ride to Kings Cross was a long and quiet one, however, Apollo didn't mind as he wasn't one to get bored easily. He occupied himself by completing the homework that had been assigned to the third years before the winter break, watching the passing scenery, and writing a response to his brother's letter.

Hogwarts Express let out a loud sound from the horn once the train rolled into Platform 9 ¾ and Apollo sighed before standing, stretching out his stiff back slightly as he did so. Picking up the satchel that he had brought with him which held his basic necessities, the Petrou boy headed off of the train, narrowly avoiding anyone that came too close to him - not that they would as they all smartly kept their distance.

Apollo stood on the platform, looking around as he didn't know whether his grandparents would be there to pick him up or if he would have to floo there on his own. Not catching sight of the weathered faces of Victoria or Bernard Petrou, Apollo came to the conclusion that he would have to figure out his own way home, and began making his way to the fireplaces.

The Hufflepuff took one step forward before someone was stepping into his way, Apollo quickly righting himself before running into the person, whom after looking up from his feet, Apollo saw to be Blaise Zabini. Apollo glared at the dark skinned male, the boy simply chuckling with a smirk in response.

"Oh hey there, Apollo," Blaise teased, eyes lighting up at the look of annoyance that made its way onto the Petrou's face. "My apologies, I didn't see you there."

Apollo scoffed in obvious disbelief before attempting to make his way around the Slytherin, except Blaise anticipated his movements and moved along with him so Apollo wouldn't be able to leave. "Move it, Zabini." Apollo snarled, teeth bared as his anger grew exponentially so. Something about Blaise Zabini always seemed to rile him up more than most things.

Blaise, obviously sensing that Apollo was growing increasingly frustrated, figured that moving out of his way may be the best option as he wasn't looking to being punched - or nearly punched - once again.

"Okay, okay," Blaise surrendered, throwing up his hands as he moved to the side, allowing Apollo to pass but not before he put an arm out to stop him while leaning down to whisper in his ear. "Have a good holiday, Apollo."

Apollo glared at Zabini's back as the boy walked away, not seeing the smirk Blaise sported. The Petrou boy huffed in anger before stomping his way towards the fireplaces and quickly flooing himself to Manor, wanting to get as far away from Blaise Zabini as possible.

Victoria Petrou was sat on the couch with her arms crossed as she stared at the fireplace expectantly, her husband was stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders, attempting to calm down his wife.

"Apollo," Victoria hissed as soon as her grandson stepped out of the fireplace, brushing off any ashes from his clothing. The boy stared at his grandparents blankly, having already known that there would be consequences for when he had broken the Apollo statue. "How dare you disrespect Apollo like that? That statue was one of the few originals recovered from Ancient Greece - do you know how valuable it was?"

Apollo shrugged in disinterest, hoping the conversation would be over soon enough and he could retire back to his room. "Well no matter how valuable it was, it was disgustingly ugly so I think I did us all a favor by getting rid of it."

Victoria screeched at her grandson's response, nearly getting off of the couch and hitting him - if it weren't for Bernard's hands pushing down on her shoulders forcing her to stay put.

"Apollo," Bernard spoke up, gravelly voice gaining the attention of the other two Petrous in the room. "You're not in any trouble. You simply must pay to replace the statue."

"Buy another one? That would defeat the purpose of destroying the old one!" Apollo shouted in outrage; he really didn't want another hideous Apollo statue staring at him, reminding him of how disappointing he was compared to the almighty God.

"Which you shouldn't have done in the first place." Victoria butted in bitterly. Apollo wasn't all too happy about the situation - yet he knew eventually he would simply destroy the new one too - therefore he reluctantly agreed. It would be coming from the Petrou family fortune anyway. "Also, your food will be restricted and you won't be allowed to leave the Manor besides for when we go to Greece for the Birth of Dionysus."

Apollo glared heatedly at his grandparents, never having hated them more in his life yet he was simply a boy and had no say so he nodded before stomping his way to his bedroom. He did make a brief pit stop, however, quickly dropping by to his mother's room, noting that she was in the same position she always was; her back turned away from the door, curled up in a foetel position with the covers pulled all the way to her chin.

"Hey mum," he spoke softly, not wanting to spook his skittish mother. "I'm back from school for the holidays." Apollo received no response yet he wasn't all that surprised as he didn't know when the last time Hera Petrou had spoken - or even acknowledged the existence of those around her. With an annoyed and tired sigh, Apollo slammed the door to his mother's bedroom shut before walking down the narrow hallway towards his room. He hadn't exactly missed it as it was a simple thing with grey walls and white accents, not many personal items around the room. However, it did offer him privacy - that wasn't given much at Hogwarts - therefore he embraced it welcomingly as he collapsed onto the bed. He had been home for not even an hour and Apollo already couldn't wait to leave.

"What on earth are we doing at a vineyard?" Apollo muttered in annoyance, a hat to shield him from the sun so low on his head that you could barely see his eyes. The Petrou family were currently in Greece - where they often went especially during December which is when the birth of Dionysus was celebrated.

"We're going to make pure wine just like Dionysus! Isn't that great?" Victoria Petrou cheered with a smile, her mood had shifted from annoyed to joyful ever since they arrived in the country, and Apollo wondered not for the first time why his family did not simply move to Greece since they loved it so much.

Apollo's lip curled in disgust at the idea of getting his feet dirty to stomp on fruit to make a disgusting drink. It seemed as though his grandparents did not know him at all if they thought he would enjoy this. The three Petrous and their tour guide of sorts, made their way to where the station for them to make the wine was set up - simply consisting of three large barrels which held the grapes that were ready to be crushed.

Apollo forcefully threw down his shoes when they were required to take them off, not sure why he was willingly going along with his grandparents plans. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he was already skating on thin ice after the incident with the Apollo statue or perhaps he thought he may actually enjoy it. Definitely the former.

Walking towards the barrels, Apollo noticed a pile of dung. He wasn't sure which animal it was from yet it didn't matter, it would be a way to anger his grandparents without completely disobeying them. Once he reached the dung, the boy stomped and jumped in it, making sure it covered every inch of his feet, scrunching his nose up in disgust at the smell.

"Apollo!" Victoria shouted in outrage once she caught sight of what her grandson was doing while Bernard simply shook his head in disappointment.

"What?" Apollo asked innocently, as if he didn't know what he had been doing. He rolled his eyes at the looks his grandparents were giving him, ignoring them as he stepped into the large barrel of grapes.

"Apollo, get out of there this instant!" Victoria screeched as she raced after Apollo, lifting up her dress to help her walk faster.

"Don't worry, grandmother dearest. This bottle will be for me." Apollo explained as he began to stomp, the dung mixing in with the juice the fruit let out as they were squished. He wiped his forehead, already sweating due to the heat and the exertion the activity exuded.

Victoria pursed her lips in annoyance yet she knew there was no taming her grandson and simply let him be. At least she would respect Dionysus and create pure wine.

It took many hours of stomping, waiting, spell casting and taste tasting (Apollo refusing to taste his), before the wines were exactly to the Petrou family's liking. Apollo had a special idea in mind for his bottle and grinned gleefully as he tied a note to the bottle which read: To Blaise, with love, Apollo xx

The boy cackled as he sent off the wine, hoping Blaise would drink it and taste all the dung Apollo made sure to include in it. He couldn't wait to see the boy's reaction.

Apollo was entirely thankful to be heading back to Hogwarts after the holidays, not even bothering to say goodbye to his family before rushing out of there. He let out a huge breath of relief once he arrived at Kings Cross and it didn't take long for anger to make itself known in Apollo's system. All throughout the break, he had made sure to control that emotion as he would've gotten in even more trouble if he lashed out and broke something (again) or hit someone (again).

Therefore, it was no surprise that Apollo was very riled up as he made his way to the train. He snarled at anyone who crossed his path and cursed anyone who dare try to talk to him. The boy huffed in annoyance as he sat down in his and Cassius' usual compartment - said boy already sat there with a book in his hands.

"What's wrong with you?" The Scottish boy asked, noticing that clearly something was wrong with his acquaintance as while he had always been testy, he had never been this easily angered.

"Nothing." Apollo snapped as he shut his eyes, attempting to block out the real world. "Now shut up, I can't deal with you whining today."

A look of hurt passed through Cassius' features before one of anger replaced it. "After everything I've done for you, Apollo." The boy's eyes went wide open as he never told Cassius of his name. "Yeah, that's right, I know that's your name. You and Daphne aren't as secretive as you'd like to think. Also, I'm smarter than people give me credit for. It's known that the Petrous have a thing for mythology and with a little research into your family tree, doesn't take a genius to figure out your real name. Now, it would do to offer me some respect." And with that, Cassius slammed his book shut before storming out of the compartment, leaving Apollo confused on what exactly just happened. He supposed he would have to apologize to Cass later on, he really had underestimated him. And it was true Cassius had always helped Apollo out - even though he had never asked for it.

The compartment hadn't been empty besides Apollo for long before someone was entering, the Hufflepuff prepared to curse them out before stopping as he realized the one who had entered was Blaise Zabini.

"Hey, Apollo." The Slytherin teased as he slid in the seat across from the boy.

"Not again," Apollo muttered as he rolled his eyes in annoyance. Was it so hard to get some alone time?

Blaise, having heard what Apollo said, chuckled as he looked down at his hands in disinterest, pointedly ignored the look of hatred the Hufflepuff was sending him.

"Why are you here, Zabini?" Apollo snapped, having had enough of the silence as he crossed his arms.

Blaise grinned at Apollo as he looked up from his nails. "I just wanted to thank you for that bottle of wine you sent me, the flavor sure was interesting." Apollo snickered at that, imagining the vain Blaise Zabini drinking dung. "You know, dung actually has some beneficial qualities to it and my skin has never looked better, don't you think?" Apollo's smile dropped at that. It seemed he hadn't been able to trick the Slytherin, however, he was still satisfied knowing that he had actually drank it.

"Okay, great, you thanked me. Now, can you leave?" Apollo deadpanned, having had enough of being bothered by people.

Blaise nodded in affirmation before standing up, yet he didn't actually exit the compartment, causing Apollo to send him a look of annoyance. "Also, my holidays were quite boring so I thought I would look more into Greek mythology. It sure is an intriguing thing. Anyway, I'll see you around, Dionysus." And with a wink, Blaise swiftly exited the compartment, leaving Apollo to glare at the spot the other boy had once been.

Apollo leaned back in his seat and sighed in annoyance. It seemed that not only would Blaise tease him with his own name, he was prepared to annoy Apollo with the names of other Greek gods. The Hufflepuff sighed in annoyance, knowing that the new year was about to be a long and annoying one with Zabini on a mission to bug him. Blasted Slytherins.

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And heres chapter 5! Thankfully, the amazing sectumsirius helped me plan put the next chapter so it should be updated next week or the one after if I'm too busy with the holidays. Comment down if you have any suggestions for what could happen in future chapters, or excerpts you'd like to see etc!

What do you guys think of this chapter? Of blaise and apollo's interactions? Of apollo's family and their love of mythology? Let me know your guys' thoughts!