Three days after Quidditch tryouts found Cait in Professor Vulchanova's private sitting room at Durmstrang Institute. It was done up in a color scheme involving scarlet and crimson, with medieval yet comfortable furniture, all outlined in an attractive cherry wood, with expensive-looking Turkish rugs adorning the hardwood floors. There was something Cait knew to be called a Victrola in one corner, and she was surprised that a Muggle contraption such as that one could even work there; it currently featured some 1920's mournful jazz upon it, which had to be American, and Cait wondered if it was done for her own benefit, so as to ease her into some old music from her homeland. An old-fashioned-looking tea service seemed to suddenly appear upon the glass top table in front of the large chaise, in between that and the marble fireplace, and Cait considerately got to her feet, moving towards it to pour the tea for them both, all under Albena Vulchanova's watchful eye.

The Magical Theory professor, who had responded in kind to Vlad's letter the summer before, was touched that such a gifted and kind youngster such as Cait seemed to favor her so much, was delighted to take her on for private tutelage. They were to meet three times a week, on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings for the first term, and then see how Cait's progress was. She watched as Cait carefully set down the teapot, and made her way into the room; she had only gone into her inner rooms for a moment to take off her teaching robes, and sat on a chair next to the chaise, now wearing a long dark skirt and blouse, and summoned her tea to her.

"Why don't you tell me a bit about your extraordinary gift," Professor Vulchanova requested of Cait with a ready smile. "I must admit, I don't believe Durmstrang has never had any form of elemental within its walls before."

Cait raised her eyebrows at the word, before stirring milk and sugar into her own teacup, never taking her eyes off her professor. "Elemental, professor?" she asked.

The woman, who was in the process of taking a sip of her tea, hastily returned the cup to its saucer and cleared her throat. "An elemental, Cait, is someone who has the ability to perform elemental magic—in an essence, the elements of earth, wind, fire, and water. You, as it seems, are a partial elemental, due to the fact that you can manipulate water to your liking. Unless, of course, you can manipulate another element?" she queried.

Cait shook her head. "No. Not for lack of trying, I assure you, ma'am. All my foster families in the States... Well, suffice it to say, they were all what you call Muggles, and so me performing my accidental magic—which included my water powers in an effort to get their children to like me—never went over well..."

Professor Vulchanova nodded. "Yes, I am afraid that the Statute of Secrecy was invented for this very purpose—because Muggles, or your No-Maj's, simply could not understand the fantastic gifts that certain individuals were given. In fact, at several points in history, they made to eradicate magical beings altogether."

Cait paused, and moved to sit back down upon the chaise. "Everyone knows about the Salem Witch Trials, of course," she said softly, and her professor nodded. "But I'd no idea that there were more than that."

Professor Vulchanova sighed, giving a grave nod of her head. "Oh, yes. Another was during the reign of Bloody Mary, in England, in the late-1500s. She burned upwards of three hundred Protestants, including women and children, but, what many people did not know was, that Queen Mary the First was actually in league with several Muggle groups, and agreed, with the condition of superior members converting back to Catholicism, to dispose of many magical people, under the guise of them not being willing to return to the supposed 'true faith'..."

Cait let out a shudder, and used her wand to banish her tea cup back onto the table, suddenly no longer thirsty. "Surely, after those events, and the ones in Salem, it would all be over..."

"Alas, no, for the rule of three exists, even in the Wizarding World," Professor Vulchanova replied in a grave tone. "The third and last execution of witches and wizards took place during the Second World War. Adolf Hitler wanted to do away with Jewish individuals; at least, that was the story that the vast majority of Muggles were given. He too agreed to exterminate several prominent wizarding families throughout the war. I tell you, Cait, not all the poor souls who were gassed were Muggles..."

Cait squirmed uncomfortably in her chair, wondering how the discussion had gone from talking about her elemental abilities to the historical atrocities that overlapped between the Wizarding World and the Muggle one. She swallowed, her fingers knotting themselves together, unknowing what to say next. Would it be entirely possible for her not to lose house points, by simply requesting that they return to her reasoning behind her private tutelage?

"Well, now, enough morbidity for the evening, I think," came Professor Vulchanova's voice as she banished her tea cup back onto the table, and straightened up. Conjuring a glass of water, she held it out to Cait. "Would you mind demonstrating your abilities for me, Cait?"

Cait took ahold of the glass presented to her, unknowing just where to begin as she stared into the clear depths of the water. Finally, after swallowing the lump which had arisen in her throat, she stuck out her index finger, while all the while focusing upon the water, and moved that appendage up and down slowly. The water responded immediately, and seemed to flair up at once, charging upwards from the glass and hovering in mid-air, where Cait had initially indicated for it to go.

Albena Vulchanova sat there, transfixed as Cait proceeded to continue to demonstrate her abilities to her. She could clearly tell where Petar had been coming from, when he had warned Cait about practicing her elemental abilities around potentially power-hungry individuals. While Albena Vulchanova liked the research behind power, and studying it as best she could, she was not power-hungry, something that she did not share with the Dark Arts professor, as well as Durmstrang's headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, who seemed to almost feed from it, his dark eyes always looking for the next powerful witch or wizard to groom for what she was beginning to think were nefarious purposes.

Cait had, meanwhile, continued in the vein of swirling the water about above the glass, before putting the latter object aside. Quickly, she expanded the mere puddle of water before her and lengthened and shortened it, before getting to her feet and working it around the room in one constant wave. She could clearly feel the eyes of the Magical Theory professor upon her, but didn't dare break her concentration. She, too remembered the words of Professor Gushtanov, as well as the hungry-looking expression that Headmaster Karkaroff had given her when they had first made the others' acquaintance, and both things terrified her to no end.

"That's very good, Cait," Professor Vulchanova said, once Cait had vanished the water and moved to perch upon the couch once more. She noticed the apparent exhaustion from her and smiled indulgently, and wordlessly summoned a Zakharoza Bonbon Special Milk Chocolate Bar from her secret stash in a piece of furniture from across the room, handing it over to Cait without hesitation or prompting. Chocolate in the Wizarding World cured many ails, from a potential Dementor attack to spent magic, and Albena Vulchanova knew that Cait needed as much as the sweet treat as she could stand.

Cait chewed the chocolate methodically, the chocolate melting easily upon her tongue, its taste altogether pleasant. She enjoyed sweets in small doses, which made them all the more special to her. She believed it stemmed from her growing up for several years within the foster system, as the parents there didn't deem her "worthy" of having excess amounts of sugar, and any other "fun" food, for that matter. Pursing her lips after she had finished half the bar, she wrapped it up slightly and set it down beside her, before looking up at her favorite professor. "May I ask you a question, madam?" she asked.

Professor Vulchanova smiled readily at Cait. "Of course, Cait. However, as a professor, I reserve the right not to answer."

Cait nodded, knowing full well that there were things that should never be discussed between professor and student, due to the rules of propriety, which existed for a reason. "I understand," she informed the woman, with a small smile of her own. "I just wanted to know why you agreed to take me on like this, for the private lessons."

Professor Vulchanova nodded at Cait; she had expected a conversation like this at some point, and it was hardly surprising that Cait would want to know why. "Well, not only are you extremely gifted, Cait, but you must understand that very few witches and wizards would truly understand what you are going through."

Cait's fingers wrapped themselves around the finely-upholstered, scarlet couch cushion. "And are you one of those witches, ma'am?"

Cait smiled slowly. "I am."

Cait nipped at her bottom lip, unsure of how to go about her line of questioning. "Could you prove it to me?" she asked, hoping she was not out of line.

Professor Vulchanova's smile never wavered, and she suddenly lifted her hand up, flattening the appendage, and sticking her fingers out in all directions. Suddenly, beams of crackling light seemed to erupt from them, buzzing just beneath the surface for a moment, before she permitted them to come out, sparks shooting from them and inadvertently singeing the expensive carpet at their feet. Smiling at Cait's obviously-impressed expression, she called back her Electrokinesis and cleaned up the singe from the carpet.

"Lightening," Cait breathed, amazed.

"I said it had been a while since Durmstrang had had such a student," she said softly. "It's been a little over twenty years, I suppose."

Cait nodded, impressed. "Well, I suppose that we can work together properly, then."

Professor Vulchanova nodded back. "Yes, I suppose we can."

. . .

Cait trudged back to the dormitory of Doblest House after her second week of private lessons from Professor Vulchanova. Annie, Branimir, and Vasilisa were all clamoring to know, in their own unique ways, what their discussions and lessons entailed. Of course, Annie had seen firsthand what Cait was capable of—as had their second-year roommates—but Branimir and Vasilisa were going by description alone. Sure, Cait was proud of her abilities, and was amazed at the rigorous strengthening exercises that her Magical Theory professor put her through in order to preserve her energy, but found that she wasn't altogether sure about sharing all the nitty-gritty details with her foster sister and her cousins.

Upon entering the common room, she spotted Branimir and Annie sitting over by the fireplace, which had an impressive fire built within the hearth. Cait plopped down next to Annie upon the couch she was sitting at, bent over her copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Two. Her foster sister looked up at Cait and smiled, while Branimir greeted her affectionately. Cait took out her Magical Theory textbook, Magical Theory, Grade Two, and began leafing through the assigned chapter, which they were expected to have annotated notes, to be delivered promptly to Professor Vulchanova on Monday morning.

"Where's Vasilisa?" Cait asked absentmindedly, removing her parchment, full of notes already, from her bag, along with her ink and quill.

"Prefect duty again," Branimir put in, not looking up from his book, Dark Arts of an Intermediate Nature, by Alexei Cassowary.

Annie leaned back in her spot upon the couch, absentmindedly twiddling with the pages of her textbook. "Merlin, she's at it a lot..."

"Looks good if you're applying to a ministry position," Branimir explained patiently, still looking deep into the book, almost as if he wanted to discover its secrets.

"Do you think I'd make a good prefect?" Annie wanted to know, and Cait covered her mouth in an attempt not to laugh.

"If you keep track of your studies through to your fourth-year, you'll easily make the consideration rounds," Branimir told her.

Annie nodded at that, before turning to look back at Cait. "We hardly ever see Vasilisa anymore because of her prefect duties, and you're always studying, in your lessons with Vulchanova, or at Quidditch practice," she pouted.

Cait put her thumb into her book and turned to look at her best friend and foster sister. "You know as well as I do that you were quite put-out last year when I only made reserve Chaser," she explained diplomatically, putting her work aside as Venera made an appearance from the dorms upstairs, and climbed immediately into her mistress's lap. "You knew that the lessons with Professor Vulchanova would be a possibility since the summer, when Vlad sent the owl to the headmaster to speak to her about requesting them. And, as for my studying, I don't have a lot of free time anymore, Annie. Nikolina is very understanding about my lessons, and gives me a grace period—likely because she'd be booted from the Quidditch team by our Magical Theory professor for giving me a hard time."

"She said that?" Branimir asked, looking up at last.

Cait sighed, turning to look over at him. "No, but it's the consensus around the locker room before and after practice," she replied with a shrug. "More of rumor or speculation than straight fact at this point. Anyhow, nobody can be too careful anymore, it seems. One false move, and you're in hot water."

Annie shoved her book into her bag and put her hands behind her head. "I know you've got important obligations to your abilities and to the house team, Cait, and I'd never dispute you wanting to get good marks in class—Gushtanov could be even more of a nightmare than he already is if you didn't," she said softly. "It still doesn't make missing you any easier. I mean, Teodora and Tamara have each other, and Malvina and Veta have been best friends since we all met each other last year." She shrugged. "I guess what I'm saying here is, I'm getting lonely, because Branimir has his own set of friends at the end of things, and Vasilisa has her prefect duties and studying sessions with Branimir as they prepare for their GHOULs, due to happen at the end of second-term."

"Thanks for the reminder," Branimir put in, his voice bitter. Although he was an excellent student who favored History of Magic and Dark Arts, he was notoriously anxious when it came to examinations of any kind. This had been the cause of him not making prefect beside Vasilisa, whose studies came more naturally to her, much to her twin's annoyance.

"I'm sorry you've been feeling lonely," Cait put in softly.

Annie nodded. "Thank you."

"You know, Nikolina says that people are allowed to come and watch Quidditch practices, provided that they don't make a nuisance of themselves," she put in, squaring her shoulders. "I mean, I don't know, if you wanted to come once in a while, I don't think Nikolina would find your presence objectionable."

Annie swallowed. "I don't want to be a burden, Cait..."

"Either take what's on offer or just stop complaining," Branimir said, slamming his textbook shut and gathering his things. "I've got a study session in the library—Ancient Runes; Professor Falk is a nightmare, so try to avoid the class at all costs," he warned them, before he moved to slip out from the common room.

"You could never be a burden, Annie," Cait said, slightly perturbed that Branimir hadn't said goodbye to them, but nevertheless returned her full attention towards her foster sister and closest friend. "I'm giving to you what I can at the moment, and I apologize if it isn't enough for you, I really do. But we'll have plenty of time at Christmas—"

"That's over two months away and you know it!" Annie snapped, causing Venera to pick up her head and give Annie a glare for waking her up.

Cait gritted her teeth, wanting more than anything to keep her temper with Annie. Once false move, and the Krum family could oust her, no matter what had been said. "You're the one who told me to go out for Quidditch in the first place," she reminded her.

"Viktor's the real one with talent in that sport," Annie countered.

Cait's jaw dropped; of course, Viktor had been playing the sport for years, for he had known about his heritage much longer than Cait had. Nevertheless, Cait knew that she had to have had some talent, given that she had made the team in the first place. "Nikolina is no idiot when it comes to selection," she said carefully. "Therefore, she must've seen something in my try-out maneuvers and such to permit me a place upon the team."

"Viktor would've made the team on the first try," Annie said, crossing her arms.

"I didn't even try the first time around and you know it, as you were there," Cait shot back. "Sir Alder recommended me for the position, and Nikolina took him up on it, because their former Chaser, Tuncay Kaplan, was a seventh-year and was worrying about his DRAGONs. As it turned out, as I'm sure you also recall, I wasn't needed to even play at all, not that it bothered me in the slightest. And I'll point out, once again, that you kept complaining over Thanksgiving that I hadn't made the team, and Sir Alder had been wrong not to try harder for me to have a permanent team position."

Annie pouted, knowing she was clearly in the wrong, but wouldn't give up. "Be that as it may, I didn't know that this year would mean you avoiding me."

Cait threw up her hands, rousing Venera completely from her lap, causing the feline to become agitated and retreat upstairs to their dormitory. "There's no winning here with you or explaining it in a way for you to understand!" she cried out. "I've offered a solution to you, but you've literally thrown it back into my face. If you don't want to come to practices, then don't, but stop making it seem like I don't want to spend time with you!"

Annie's eyes filled with tears. "You're sure acting like it now!"

"Because it's true!" Cait yelled back.

Annie grabbed her bag then, shoving past Cait and running up the stairs, her sobs echoing in the corridor of the staircase.

Cait sighed, leaning back against the couch, and placed her head into her hands, massaging her temples as hard as she could. She officially didn't understand Annie at all; of course, she missed her right back, but she couldn't understand why her closest friend seemed to want to push her away all at the same time. Shaking her head, she looked back up again, relieved that their spat hadn't seemed to have overtly disturbed anyone else in the common room, and took out her homework and began looking it over again.

At ten o'clock, everyone had cleared out of the common room to head upstairs to their dormitories. Rules for curfew meant that you had to be in your common room by a certain point, but, on weekends, if you wanted to get some homework done, you were permitted to remain outside your dormitory until midnight. Satisfied with this rule, Cait had curled up on the couch with one of her textbooks, and was skimming the chapter needed to be read for the following week in Professor Hamilton's class, the charms professor.

The door to the common room came open shortly thereafter, and Cait looked up, surprised to see Vasilisa all but stumbling over the threshold, looking ill. Quickly, Cait put her textbook aside and darted to her feet, catching Vasilisa before she could keel over completely. "Merlin, are you okay?" she asked, looking up at her.

Vasilisa's eyes, which had previously been unfocussed, suddenly sharpened and looked down, spotting Cait, holding onto her. Vasilisa promptly tore herself away from her, and stumbled across the room, shaking her head. Hand trembling, she withdrew her wand from her robes, which appeared torn, and whispered, "Reparo," and the seams stitched themselves together in a manner which could be described as effortless.

"Have a cat fight?" Cait asked in a humorous voice, hoping to bring light to the situation, in an effort to get Vasilisa to open up.

"What do you know?" Vasilisa spat.

Cait reeled backwards at the acidity of the young woman's tone. "Nothing, of course," she informed her, her voice small.

"Keep it that way," Vasilisa said, and straightened her robes and bag.

Cait did her best to swallow the ever-growing lump within her throat. "You've been closing yourself off a lot lately, and keeping to yourself isn't something that Bran or Annie seem to be used to," she observed.

Vasilisa peered over her shoulder, her green eyes filling with fear. "You don't know a goddamn thing about this—any of it!"

"I don't!"

"No!" she cried out. "And nothing's going on! By Merlin, just..."

"Lisa?" Cait tried, tentatively stepping closer to her. "Please. I know there's something wrong here. Just... Just tell me."

Vasilisa tore her hand away, from where Cait had reached out to touch it. "Don't touch me!" she hissed, her tone scathing.

Cait threw her hands into the air. "No problem," she told her quickly, and took another step backwards for good measure. "But, for someone who claims there's nothing going on, you sure seem to want to protect something..." Something clicked in Cait's mind then, and she shook her head at the thought of it. "...or someone."

Vasilisa's eyes flashed with fear all over again. "You... You don't..." She whispered, her lower lip trembling with emotion.

Cait stepped closer, knowing to proceed with caution. "No, I don't," she told her, her tone gentle and compassionate. "But I want to help, all the same."

Vasilisa's expression turned almost murderous then, and she yanked herself even further away from Cait. "No one can help me because no one really knows me!" she shrieked, before she turned on her heel and went crashing up the stairs to the fifth-year girls' dorm.

Cait silently crossed the room towards her things, picking up her charms textbook, which had been tossed to the floor when she had gone to Vasilisa's rescue. "No one knows her because she won't permit herself to be known," Cait murmured to herself, and shook her head. "Perhaps she and I are more alike than I ever imagined..."

. . .

In the wake of avoiding the goblins at Durmstrang on Halloween—solo this year, as Annie had made it abundantly clear that she wasn't speaking to Cait—Cait did her best to keep her head down for the next month. Professor Gushtanov's obligatory statements towards her on a bi-weekly basis, informing her that no information had been forthcoming about her family background, were quickly growing tiresome. Then there were the stares that the headmaster was giving her at mealtimes, or on the rare occasion when he could be pulled away from meetings to watch Doblest House practicing for the first match of the season. Cait tried not to dwell too much upon it, and, on a rare Thursday when she had a meeting with Professor Vulchanova, she stumbled back into the common room for the night, only to be greeted by exalted shouts from each and every direction.

Cait let out a momentary shriek and immediately drew her wand, promptly lowering it when she saw Vlad, Lina, Viktor, Tessy, Malvina, Teodora, Tamara, Veta, Branimir, Vasilisa, Annie, Verena, and many other students who had made an impression upon her during her first two years of attending Durmstrang. Once her wand was lowered and returned to its holster, Lina sprang into action, coming forward with the elegance of a dancer, and threw her arms around Cait. Cait was then passed around to every guest, although the hug she received from Vasilisa was notably cold, she said and did nothing about it.

"Happy Birthday, darling," Lina said, squeezing her one last time.

She was then pulled into the center of the common room—which she noticed had been done up with pink silk ribbons as decorations—where, placed upon the coffee table, were all her favorites, which she guessed Tessy had made. After squeezing the house-elf's hand and thanking her, which directly caused Tessy to squeal with delight, Cait noticed a sizeable and colorful stack of gifts beside the table. Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it, she let out a small sigh and permitted Verena into her lap.

"Are you all right, perla?" Vlad asked, from where he stood, behind the couch.

Cait promptly turned and looked over her shoulder at him, gently stroking Verena in an effort to calm herself down. "Yes, of course," she said, forcing a smile onto her face. "Guess I'm just wondering when I'm going to wake up from this wonderful dream."

Cait made sure that everyone had enough to eat before tucking into the feast herself, and easily made small talk with everyone gathered there, although Vasilisa pointedly ignored her. Pushing the thoughts of worry from her mind, she ate her fill and, once the dinner had concluded itself, Vlad lit the pink candles upon the cake, all thirteen of them. Leaning forward, Cait shut her eyes and blew them all out, simply wishing for Doblest to be victorious upon their first Quidditch match against Pronitsatelen House, a little more than a week later. Lina spelled the cake to cut itself. Once again, Cait passed around slices to everyone, pleased that Lina and Tessy had remembered her favorite—white cake with white buttercream frosting, simple yet delicious in Cait's book. Once they'd finished, however, she was in for another surprise.

"Well now," Vlad said, passing a Butterbeer to everyone, save for Tessy and Viktor, who each had a glass of Gillywater, "I just want to say, Happy Birthday, Cait."

"We're so happy to have you in our family," Lina continued, leaning into Vlad's side, "for the day we brought you home is the day our family became whole."

"I know we don't always see eye-to-eye," Annie went on, obviously attempting to hold it all together, "but I'm glad to have you in my life."

"I was a little reluctant to accept another sister into the fold," Viktor continued, and everyone around them laughed, "but, we all made it work, because you're you, Cait. Happy Birthday, and thanks for being an amazing sister."

Cait blinked back tears in her eyes and raised her glass of Butterbeer along with everyone else, and drank it, finding that she liked it very much. It was then that Branimir managed to get some sort of stereo system working—how Cait didn't know—and a song that Cait and Annie had loved the summer before, Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears began pumping in its speakers. Vlad, chuckling, dimmed the lights slightly, while Lina put on some kind of disco lights, and everyone in the common room began pairing up.

Cait let out a squeak when she was pulled to her feet by Branimir and spun around the room, among the other couples. "You're bad," she said, and giggled.

"Nah, not really," Branimir replied with a laugh, looking down at Cait as he pulled her closer. "I sense that there's something you're not telling me."

Cait shook her head at him. "No secrets here. Honest."

"Uh-huh," Branimir said, not convinced at all. "Tell me, has Professor Gushtanov been bothering you again?"

Cait scoffed. "I can hardly call one in-depth conversation with the man—one which took place over a year ago now—constitutes 'bothering'," she replied. "And besides, it's not like I was forced to talk to him alone."

"No, you put yourself and Annie in vulnerable positions. Totally and completely justified on your part," Branimir replied.

Cait sighed, her arms slacking from where they hung around Branimir's neck. "So, that's it, then? You're going to hate me now, too?"

"'Too'?" Branimir asked, looking confused. "I don't understand... Nobody hates you, Cait. I, for one, could never hate you."

Cait laughed a little bitterly, spotting Vasilisa from over Branimir's shoulder, glaring daggers at her without remorse. "Your sister hates me..."

"Lisa?" Branimir turned around and stared at her, and scoffed. "She needs to get over it."

Cait swallowed and shook her head. "Get over what? She's had an attitude with me since term started, and I don't know why. When we said goodbye at the station at the end of term last summer, it was fine. Now, it's like I'm a bloody acromantula or something..."

Branimir tried to hold back his laughter, but it soon became apparent that he was unable to hold it back completely. "Sorry, you're right. The truth of the matter is, she's letting the stress of the GHOULs get to her. That, combined with all her new prefect duties... It's a lot for her to handle, and she's still finding her way. Not that she should be taking it out on you, Cait. I'll talk to her, see what I can do."

Cait sighed. "I'm just afraid poking at the situation will potentially make it worse..."

"We're twins, Cait," Branimir explained in a pragmatic manner. "Nothing we do is ordinary, and, sometimes, we have to take risks."

"Story of my life," Cait muttered, continuing to sway to the beat of the music.

"You haven't had a real easy time of it, have you?" Branimir asked.

Cait's eyes flickered upwards, locking onto Branimir as the song intensified around the two of them, as well as all the other couples around them. "Not before Vlad and Lina took me in, I didn't," she said softly.

"I'm glad they took you in."

Cait shook her head, biting down hard on her lower lip as the awkwardness crept up upon her, and hastily lowered her eyes. "Guess it's easy for me to believe that. Even though we're going through hell right now, Annie is my best friend. I know how close the two of you are, and so it makes sense that you'd be happy that your favorite cousin is happy..."

"Not just because of that."

Cait slowly looked up then, her brows furrowing. "Yeah? Why, then?"

Branimir looked unsure of himself for a moment, before he took a tentative step forward, and gently tilted Cait's chin upwards, and slowly lowered his head to kiss her softly on the lips. It was from the moment he pressed down slightly that Cait's heart began pounding in her ears, and, when Branimir broke away, she stared up at him, eyes wide. Then, Branimir leaned down a second time, kissing her again, slightly deeper than he had before, but always striving to keep the action a respectful one.

It was then that the interlude ended, and a smashing of glass caused the two to hastily break apart, just in time to see Vasilisa storming out of the common room. Wringing her hands on her school uniform, Cait felt a lump slowly developing in her throat. Her face was flushed, and she couldn't believe it had gone that far, no matter how much she'd enjoyed it...

"I'd... I'd better check on her," Branimir said softly.

Cait's eyes immediately flashed to his. "Yeah, of course," she said softly, wrapping her arms around herself as Branimir hastily made for the exit, leaving immediately thereafter. Cait turned and stared at Vlad and Lina, who looked slightly amused yet worried all at once, while Viktor looked uncomfortable, and Annie...

"Oh, Merlin," Annie said, and took off upstairs.

Cait massaged her temples again, wondering if she should take Professor Vulchanova's advice and take up meditation to keep her mind at ease. Stepping up towards the table, still laden with the food Tessy had made, Cait figured out which glass had been hers and lifted it up. Bringing it to her lips, she took a deep drink, shuddering at all the sensations of the slightly-alcoholic drink entering her system, causing all her veins to pulsate beneath her skin in a moment of sheer disaster, not unlike anything she hadn't experienced before. Looking up, Cait saw that, other than the music stopping, every one of her guests were staring at her, with worried being the most prominent emotion among their expressions, and it made Cait want to be sick.

"Happy Birthday to me," Cait uttered bitterly, wondering just where the complexities would end, and when the good times would, truly, begin.

. . .

Thanksgiving arrived a week after Cait's birthday, with the only event marring the otherwise happy day was the headmaster. As Cait and Annie found their assigned table, after having agreed to be on speaking terms again for the sake of family and the holiday, and the obligatory hugs were given, they sat in their seats and waited for the command for the food to appear to be formally given. As they waited, Cait looked around the lavishly decorated Stolovaya, and felt a pair of eyes upon her. When she turned, Headmaster Karkaroff was staring, unblinking, at her, and such a look filled her with trepidation.

After forcing herself to eat and putting it out of her mind, she vaguely listened to Vlad and Lina informing her and Annie that the three of them would be staying at The Twayblade Tavern, the lovely public house, located in the center of Durm Selo, because of the Quidditch match two days later. Cait had remembered Annie whispering to her about it, and recalled the heavily timbered and dark wood architecture, reminding her of buildings in Tudor England. The landlord and lady of the place, Desislav and Nadezhda Bakalov, were said to be an altogether pleasant couple, with three young children of their own—Radmila, Snežana, and Grigor.

Cait barely slept for the next two nights, and tried to force herself into believing that it was because she was nervous about the first Quidditch match. However, she knew all too well that she had just enough confidence in her flying abilities, as well as her quick reflexes to go after the Quaffle properly. No; the true reasoning behind her inability to sleep was a combination of two things—one, the dark gaze of Headmaster Karkaroff, and what exactly it could mean. And two, the fact that Vasilisa was now speaking to her even less since she and Branimir had kissed in the common room, and now seemed to be dating.

Cait managed to pull herself out of bed on the morning of the game, and was dead-tired, and yet was hoping beyond hope that she wouldn't let the team down. She rushed through a shower and, just as she was getting on her uniform, she was surprised when she saw Annie hesitating beside her four-poster bed. Malvina, Teodora, Tamara, and Veta had already gone down for breakfast, after wishing Cait a hasty and well-meaning "break a broomstick", and yet Cait found herself staring at her foster sister, surprised to see her there.

Annie sighed, quickly realizing she would have to be the one to break the ice, and cautiously stepped forward. "I was out of line."

Cait swallowed, but nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you were."

Annie smiled in a self-deprecating manner. "It won't happen again, I promise."

Cait nodded. "I know. Thank you."

Annie reached into her pocket and handed a potion vial over to Cait. "We brewed it yesterday for our review in Professor Massialot's class," she said with a smile, and Cait nodded, somehow remembering that that had happened. "Here. Wouldn't want to let the team down your first game, no matter how good you are, or how many people are cheering for you."

Cait nodded, taking the vial of Pepperup Potion, and downing it quickly, the customary steam promptly flowing out her ears. Suddenly, things didn't seem as bleak as they once had been, and she immediately moved to hug Annie. "Thank you," she whispered.

"No problem," she replied. "Just one thing."

Cait nodded a second time, pulling back. "Tell me."

"Maybe keep the snogging with Branimir to a minimum when you're around me," Annie replied with a giggle.

Cait flushed. "Y...yeah..."

Annie reached out and squeezed Cait's shoulder. "Lisa will come around eventually. I think it's her schedule that's getting to her, plus the fact that she's so protective of Bran."

Cait nodded, straightening her uniform as Annie took the now-empty potion vial and banished it somewhere else. "I hope to Merlin you're right."

"You like him, don't you?" Annie asked softly.

Cait smiled. "Yeah, I... I think I do."

"Then don't let anyone stop you two from being together, if it's what you want." Annie mulled over her thoughts for a moment. "He's asked you, right?"

Cait blinked. "Asked me?"

"To be his girlfriend," Annie said patiently.

Cait laughed. "Not in so many words... Just snogging here and there when we get the chance, but, thankfully, he's not pressing me to do anything more."

"Good," Annie replied, throwing her arm around Cait's shoulders as they headed out of the dormitory together. "We're much too young for that."

Cait and Annie walked down to breakfast, continuing to make small talk until they arrived in the bustling Stolovaya, which was the norm pre-Quidditch match. Slipping into the Doblest table, Cait flushed becomingly when Branimir excused himself from across the room, and promptly slid in beside her, kissing her temple. Cait distracted herself by putting eggs and sausages onto her plate, knowing that she would need her strength for the match that day.

"How are you feeling?" Branimir asked.

Cait sighed. "Nervous," she admitted.

Branimir pressed her hand from beneath the table. "I know you're going to be brilliant."

Cait looked up at him, her eyes glowing. "Do you really think so?"

Branimir quickly ducked his head and pressed a quick kiss onto Cait's lips. "I know so."

Cait felt a lot better with Branimir's support, and with a warm meal in her stomach. She said goodbye to him and to Annie before she headed out with the team to the pitch, where they all sat in the locker room beforehand and listened to a final pep talk from Nikolina. At the end of it, she encouraged them to play hard, and to do their best, but, most importantly, to have fun. Cait got onto the school-issued broomstick she'd been riding since the start of term, and made her way towards the door, which led onto the pitch, with the rest of the team.

The doors came open at the appointed time, and the entire Doblest team mounted their brooms and kicked off from the ground, hard. Once they were in the air, they faced the Pronitsatelen House Team, while Sir Alder lingered below, standing before the trunk which held the Quaffle, Bludger, and the golden Snitch. Waiting for the command, Sir Alder used Alohomora to get the trunk open, and used the Summoning Charm to release the Quaffle, which flew into the air. Cait, not thinking twice, tore after it, the other five Chasers following suit.

It was a hard game, and Cait was amazed at how well Pronitsatelen House was playing in the overcast day around them all. However, she wouldn't allow herself to appear or to be discouraged by their abilities, and permitted herself to have faith in her own. She soared through the air about mid-way through the game, catching at the Quaffle and grappling at it, as two of the opposing teams' Chasers were hot on her tail. Spurring forward, she hurtled the Quaffle towards the goal posts, and let out an excited shriek as it went through, earning the Doblest House Team ten points for her efforts.

Finally, after the Snitch was released, Cait watched as the two Seekers, one from Doblest and one from Pronitsatelen, darted after the golden sphere. Cait's heart was practically pounding in her ears at the sight, and she had to remember to keep ahold of her broom, so as not to go hurtling downwards and potentially hurt herself, or embarrass the team, her first game. Finally, their Seeker's hands closed around the golden ball, and there was absolute silence for half a moment, until the stands housing Doblest began jumping up and down and cheering. Cait flew to the ground with the rest of the team, shaking hands with the opposing side, before she helped in the effort of lifting the Seeker into the air, who, in turn, held up the Snitch.

Just as they did an about-face to go into the changing room to return brooms and head inside for their dorms to change their soggy clothes, Cait felt a zap of unfamiliar magic. Turning around ever so slightly, she looked up at the staff stands, and saw Vlad, Lina, and Viktor, who were all waving at her enthusiastically, in between clapping along with the crowd. However, Cait didn't recognize the magical pull from any of them and, slowly averting her eyes, saw the dark stare from the headmaster once more. Trepidation filled her then as she stumbled back around to head into the changing room, which is when she felt the almighty glare of Vasilisa permeating into her very soul.

. . .

The journey on the train back to Sofia was a bittersweet one, with Branimir and Cait talking a mile a minute, promising to use Branimir's owl, Neptune, to write to each other throughout the duration of the holidays. Vasilisa was on her best behavior, if one could call it that, and stared out the train window, or spoke in choppy sentences to Annie, the entire time. Annie, for her part, had Verena in her lap, and was speaking softly to the animal, who seemed altogether pleased with the situation.

Upon arrival at the station, Branimir clutched Cait to him and kissed her, asking her to be his girlfriend on an official basis, and Cait enthusiastically accepted, although she felt the penetrating stare of Vasilisa at her reply. Resolving to put it out of her mind, Cait and Annie followed them onto the platform, with Cait clutching at Verena's cage, which the cat would be subjected to until they arrived back home. Vlad and Lina were waiting for them, and Cait and Annie immediately ran forward and accepted their hugs, while Vlad signaled for the luggage handler which trunks belonged to who.

After a quick goodbye to everyone else, Vlad took Lina, Cait, Annie, and Verena to a safe location to Apparate, and the wizard, three witches, and familiar cracked away almost at once. It was an almost immediate journey, with them all landing in the living room, much to the delight of Viktor and Tessy. Tessy explained, as she had the year before, that all their favorite snacks were available in the kitchen, while she took ahold of their trunks and popped out of the room to put their clothes and such away. Cait let out Verena, who ran for the back door, to go for a hunt in the freshly-fallen snow.

Once the snacks were eaten, Cait was pleased when Verena returned to the house, and permitted Tessy to give her something to eat. The pair them went upstairs to the Krum's lavish and extensive library, which Cait had promised herself to visit as soon as she got back. The first book she pulled off the shelves was A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration by Emeric Switch, while the second was The Book of Charms and Spells by Samuel Journeaux. Both books were thick and old tomes, with yellowing pages within, and Cait brought them over to the impressive table that the library had on offer, and immediately thumbed through their respective indexes, until she found what she was looking for.

"What are you doing?"

Cait looked up, spotting Annie hovering in the doorway. "Magic," she admitted sheepishly, and Annie immediately moved into the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

"What kind of magic?" she wanted to know, stepping closer.

Cait worried her bottom lip; Annie had been wonderful the last several weeks, and she knew it would be a show of good faith to tell her what she was really up to. "How to cast a Patronus Charm, and how to become an Animagus," she finally admitted, hunching her shoulders. "Will the ministry find out if we use the spell?"

Annie shook her head. "No. We've special wards on the house, to trick up anyone listening in, so that they'll automatically think Tatko or Máyka are the ones casting them," she explained. She moved to stand close beside Cait, and peered into the books she'd laid out. "You've found them already," she breathed, her expressive eyes hungrily eying the pages.

Cait shrugged. "Yes, I suppose I have."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

Cait turned and regarded Annie with surprise. "'We?'"

"Well, of course we," Annie told her with a small giggle. "If you're doing this, so am I. I'm not one to be left out, you know that."

Cait nodded, knowing how true that statement was. "All right," she said, and both girls moved to take out their wands. "It says here we've got to think of a happy memory."

Annie nodded, holding her wand tentatively in her hands. "Who should go first?"

"Do you want to?"

"Sure." Annie squeezed her eyes shut in a moment of concentration, and slowly lifted her wand in the air. "All right. I've got one."

"The incantation is Expecto Patronum," Cait said in a whisper.

Annie's dark eyes snapped open then, and she held her wand aloft, and uttered, "Expecto Patronum!" in a loud, clear voice, with a gleaming silver light shooting from her wand. She watched, open-mouthed, as the light began to take the shape of a European Jackal, and let out a delighted laugh at it, for the creature darted about the room for several moments, before making its way through the pane of glass of the library's window.

"Wow," Cait breathed.

"Your turn," Annie said, returning her wand to its holder.

Cait swallowed, considered for a moment, and thought of Branimir, walking the hallways with her at Durmstrang, just talking, laughing, and being happy. Pleased with herself, she too held her wand aloft and uttered, "Expecto Patronum!" as Annie had done. No sooner had the words passed through her lips than a bolt of silvery light extracted itself from her wands' tip, taking shape of a great cat, which Cait knew to be called a cougar. "Oh, wow!" she cried out, as the cat strutted its stuff for a moment, before it, too disappeared out the window.

"Now for the Animagus Spell," Annie declared, and stuck out her tongue.

Cait doubled backwards, shocked at the sight of the Mandrake leaf in her mouth. "You, too?" she asked, and did the same, showing off her own.

Annie grinned. "You utilized the library's copy of the book for a fortnight back at school, and I was a bit curious," she informed Cait with a shrug. Reaching into her pocket, she drew out a potion vial, and whispered, "Finite," thus bringing it back to its true size. "I took the liberty of making the potion, and, if I'm correct, a lightning storm should be..."

There was a crash from outside the window then, and Annie and Cait suddenly charged forward, with Verena taking the opportunity to dart beneath a rather finely-upholstered sofa. Looking up at the overcast sky, they watched in amazement as it suddenly split open, and lightening proceeded to crack its surface. Cait and Annie turned to look at one another, almost as if they couldn't completely believe their luck.

"Are you a witch?" Cait whispered.

Annie giggled. "Last time I checked, yes."

Cait and Annie returned to the table, which still had the books spread out upon its surface. As they peered closer, Cait stared at the incantation, and knew that they had to do it right. "Are you ready?" she asked Annie.

Annie nodded. "When you are."

Cait watched as Annie produced two goblets from her robes and unshrunk them, and poured half the potion into each. Cait took the offered goblet and removed the leaf of the Mandrake from her mouth, watching as Annie did the same, and both girls added it to their respective potions. Cait held the potion to her lips, and whispered, "Amato Amino Animato Animagus," just as a particularly fierce bout of lightening passed over the house.

"Amato Amino Animato Animagus," Annie declared, holding tightly to her own goblet.

Both girls then threw their heads back, and drank deeply of the potion, shuddering slightly at its taste, and immediately gripped at the table before them as their respective knees threatened to buckle. Shaking it off and managing to straighten themselves up, lightening continued to crackle overhead and, as another violent blast passed over, both girls looked at one another, and shut their eyes in concentration. Cait felt the sensation of fur growing upon her body and, turning to Annie, she noticed that her ears had already changed, and were sticking up.

Falling to her knees, Cait transformed into a cougar, while Annie took the form of a European Jackal, just like their Patronus Charms. Cait let out an experimental roar, while Annie then proceeded to howl quite loudly. It was these noises that caused the door to come crashing open behind them, and Lina then drew back with a shriek, causing Vlad to charge up the stairs behind his wife, and took in the scene before him.

"Girls," Vlad said, shaking his head, deducing the situation quite quickly. "Ad hominem forma," he said impatiently, and both Cait and Annie were immediately standing before them. "You completed the spell?" he asked, as Lina summoned the book towards her, and raised her eyebrows at the advanced magic the girls had apparently done, all on their own.

"Yes," Cait replied. "But don't blame Annie. It was my idea..."

Annie scoffed. "We were in it together, Tatko," she replied, crossing her arms. "So, if you decide that punishment is in order, you've got to punish us both."

Vlad grinned at them both. "While I'm annoyed that the pair of you blatantly disregarded the rules against Underage Magic, I am quite proud that you managed to complete the spell. It is quite a useful skill to have, and not many magical beings have the patience to complete what they believe to be such an arduous ritual."

"What's this?" Lina asked, peering at the other book upon the table. "Vlad, it's the Patronus Charm!" she whispered in awe.

Vlad's eyes snapped back to the girls. "Have you completed this as well?"

Cait nodded. "Yes," she said softly.

"Are your forms the same as your Animagi?" Vlad wanted to know.

It was Annie who nodded this time. "Yes, Tatko."

"Very good," Vlad said, squeezing both their shoulders. "Well, I propose that it's high time we go and see what Tessy made for dinner, don't you?"

. . .

Cait awoke on Christmas morning with Verena curled up at the foot of her bed. Smiling indulgently, she remembered receiving her as her large gift the previous year, and could hardly believe how much time had passed since then, and all that had happened. Shaking her head and scooting her covers aside, she fetched her dressing gown and slippers before heading out of her bedroom and down the stairs, where she could smell Tessy's annual Christmas breakfast. She heard the collective shouts of Annie and Viktor in the living room, along with Lina's reasoning tone, and Vlad's indulgent replies, as she went down the corridor towards the room.

"Ah, good morning, perla," Vlad said, stepping forward and kissing her on the forehead, before he guided her all the way into the room. "Why don't you sit down with Annie and Viktor, and we'll see about some gifts, shall we?"

Cait smiled. "All right, then." Cait sat beside Annie, who hugged her, and waited for whatever was going to happen next to happen. As she sat there, she was amazed at the rather large present that Lina handed over to her, and gripped the shaft of the thing for a moment, before she looked up at both of her makeshift parents in confusion.

"We hope you like it, darling," Lina said, as Vlad put an arm around his wife.

Cait smiled. "I'm sure I will," she told them, and hastily unwrapped the package, which revealed a broomstick to her. "A Comet 260?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"Now that you're on the Doblest House Team, we thought it was high time you had a broom to call your own," Vlad explained. "Do you like it?"

"I love it!" Cait crowed, holding onto it as she got back to her feet, and hugged both Vlad and Lina in turn. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Cait stood back then, permitting Annie to open her large gift, which turned out to be a Little Owl for her own post whom she immediately called Alida. Viktor went next, and he got the latest Quidditch that all the bookshops from here to the States had to offer. There were more gifts exchanged, with Annie and Cait handing over the various parcels for Vlad, Lina, Viktor, and Tessy, who all proclaimed that they loved them. Cait received a special brand of cat nip for Verena, who almost seemed to sense it, for she came barreling out of Cait's bedroom in order to get at it. She and Alida greeted one another, and soon were communicating in a language that only familiars could.

Lina squeezed Vlad's hand as the last of the gifts beneath the tree had been unwrapped and sorted, before she turned and looked at the children. "Cait, we've discussed this at length with both Annie and Viktor, and they're in agreement."

Cait blinked, not fully comprehending what Lina was talking about. "I... I'm sorry," she said after a moment. "I don't understand."

"Lina and I have asked Annie and Viktor how they would feel about making your living arrangements more permanent," Vlad explained with a smile. "That means that it would be a more formal arrangement, and nobody could ever take you away from us."

"Someone wants to take me away from you?!" Cait cried out, her heart slamming repeatedly in her breast, remembering the looks that Headmaster Karkaroff had been giving her for the last several weeks.

"Oh, no, darling, of course not," Lina assured her, moving to stand beside her, crouched down, and squeezed her shoulder. "Nobody's taking you away, I swear it."

"Then... Then what...?" Cait asked, floundering now.

"We went to the ministry and petitioned them for parental rights for you, perla," Vlad explained in that patient manner of his. "As it seems that you've got no family on record—which is odd, due to Igor informing all of us of your Pureblood status."

"Purebloods take care of their own," Lina told Cait softly. "However, we cannot understand why no one has come forward to claim you."

"It is now too late for them to do so, however," Vlad said. "I mean, you've stated more than once your reluctance to leave, and we believed us all to be on the same page, in regards to family, and to your future."

Cait nodded. "Yes. You are my family. But what does that have to do with...?"

"We've adopted you, darling," Lina informed her, clutching at Cait's hand.

"We were legally responsible for you until you reached the age of seventeen, but that was hardly long enough for any of us," Vlad said softly. "We just knew in our hearts that you were our daughter and our child, as much as Annie and Viktor are. We wanted it to be a permanent arrangement, and we've been successful."

Cait blinked, her eyelashes growing heavy with unshed tears. "Does... Does this mean...?"

"You're a Krum now, Cait!" Annie shouted, hardly able to keep calm anymore.

"Which means I've really got two sisters now," Viktor joked.

"Guess this means Professor Gushtanov will have a free-for-all with his potential methods of torture when it comes to me," Cait joked.

"You just send him to me, your father, if he gets out of line," Vlad declared, his voice getting choked up, as he declared himself Cait's father, in so many words, for the first time.

"I will, Tatko," Cait said, struggling with a great many emotions as the name escaped her mouth for the first time. "Thank you, both of you... Máyka," she said, and turned to look at Lina, who smiled through her tears. "Vesela Koleda," she declared, and everyone around her cheered, and she was enveloped by a never ending series of hugs, this time from her official family.