Gosh, that's actually a tough one. I think I'd probably choose the Next Gen, though perhaps I'm a bit biased, wouldn't you say?

~~~~

The next morning, James had decided he would try and make himself sick on the day of the Yule Ball with something from Fred's Skiving Snackbox, and was in much better spirits during breakfast. Of course, I had a feeling Pouri wouldn't fall for the trick, but I didn't tell him that. No reason to ruin his good mood.

"Think I should try to convince her to get sick, too?" James asked. "Then he couldn't even pull the, 'You've got to go so you don't disappoint your partner' thing."

"She'd say no, even if it is a good idea," I said, rolling my eyes. "Ciara is stubborn the sake of being a prat, not for any real reason."

"Anyway, Pouri would be suspicious if you both got sick at the same time," Albus pointed out.

James sighed. "You're right. I guess I've just got to decide what kind of sick I want to be. I was thinking—"

James never got to finish. He was cut off by a collected gasp throughout the room. The mail had arrived, which was normally nothing out of the ordinary, but this morning, as I looked up, I saw a red envelope among the others.

"Someone's got a Howler..." Albus said, watching its progress through the hall.

The owl carrying it swooped towards the Gryffindor table, and James groaned. "No, Mum..."

The bird dropped the Howler neatly in James's lap. The Great Hall was silent, except for a scattered giggle or whisper. James stared at the letter with distaste. "Think I can just ignore it?" he asked, hopelessly picking it up.

"If you want it exploding in your face, sure."

The Howler started smoking, and James took a deep breath before ripping it open.

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!" boomed the Howler in his mum's voice, making the plates and cups on the table shake from the noise. I quickly covered my ears, though it didn't help much.

"—SHOULD'VE EXPELLED YOU, SO AND YOU SHOULD CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY, ONLY DETENTIONS AND TAKING THE MALFOY GIRL TO THE BALL—"

James was sinking lower in his chair as people around the hall strained to get a glimpse of him, but it really wasn't worth it to hide. Everyone knew he had it, because everyone knew what had happened yesterday.

"—EVEN YOUR FATHER NEVER DID ANYTHING LIKE THAT, YOU COULD'VE BEEN HURT, YOU COULD'VE HURT SOMEONE, AND I'M THOROUGHLY DISGUSTED—"

I glanced over to the Slytherin table, and saw Ciara glaring at James, as if it was his fault that he'd gotten a Howler about the two of them and not both of theirs for fighting.

"—IF I EVER HEAR YOU'VE DONE SOMETHING LIKE THIS AGAIN, YOU CAN EXPECT TO COME STRAIGHT HOME AND NEVER GO BACK TO HOGWARTS!"

The Great Hall seemed to be ringing in the silence that followed. The red envelope burst into flame, creating a small pile of ashes in front of James. Scattered laughter rang out, and gradually the talk returned to normal. James simply stared at that pile of ashes, his face flaming red.

The owls had paused in their delivery of the mail, because the sound waves vibrating through the room were probably enough to make them crash into walls, so that resumed as well.

"I don't think Mum was this angry when we stole the car second year," Albus said, raising an eyebrow.

"When you what?" Wren asked, turning to Albus with eyes wide.

Albus didn't get a chance to answer, because just then, there was another collected gasp that rippled through the Hall, and I looked up to see another bird flying in with another Howler.

This bird, luckily, passed over our table. It also passed the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables and settled down right in front of Ciara. My cousin stared at the red envelope until it started smoking in the bird's beak, then she took it and ripped it open.

"CIARA ASCELLA MALFOY!" boomed Mr. Malfoy's voice over the Great Hall. I hadn't ever heard him angry before, and now I was glad I hadn't. It was a little frightening.

"YOU SHOULD CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY PROFESSOR POURI WAS SL LENIENT, BECAUSE IF YOUR MOTHER AND I HAD BEEN THERE I CAN PROMISE YOU IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH WORSE—"

Ciara's face was red, and I almost felt sorry for her. However, she and James both deserved their respective Howlers, I had to admit.

"—THOUGHT WE RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THAT, USING THAT AWFUL, FILTHY WORD, HOW COULD YOU? WE ARE SO DISAPPOINTED—"

At those words, Ciara stiffened, and I saw Scorpius put his arm around her. Nico was laughing, as if this were all a joke, and I couldn't help wondering how stupid Ciara had to be to hang out with someone so heartless.

"—IF I EVER HEAR YOU SAY THAT, YOU CAN EXPECT SOMETHING MUCH WORSE THAN DETENTION AND A DATE WITH JAMES POTTER. YOU HAVE SHAMED US."

The last words echoed in the Hall as the Howler burnt itself. I wasn't sure if Ciara was going to cry, or yell at everyone to stop looking at her. After a second, she stood up jerkily and quickly made her way out of the Hall, followed by Scorpius and Adalyn. I turned back to my friends.

"Wow..." Albus said, eyes wide. "Mum didn't sound that mad."

"She wasn't," James said, glaring at the door. "Ciara's parents aren't just mad that she started a fight in the Great Hall. They're mad that she called Aunt Hermione a... A you-know-what."

I wanted to say that I thought his mum was mad that he called Ciara a Death Eater, but in all honesty, I was sure that she was. As Ciara had said: it was okay to judge people on their families if their families had been sided with Voldemort.

I sighed, deciding to try and voice my concern. "Do you think she's upset that... Well, that you called Ciara a Death Eater?"

"Probably not. It's true. She knows what that family was like," James said, not bothering to look at me.

I blinked. "That's my family, too, James..."

Everyone turned to look at me. James looked like a trapped animal. "Um... Well, it's different for you..."

"Why?"

"Cause you didn't grow up with Death Eaters, I guess," James said, shrugging and shifting uncomfortable on the bench. "Pretty easy."

"Neither did Ciara and Scorpius and Elcie. Their grandfather is in prison, and he was the only real Death Eater." I crossed my arms.

"Astra, calm down, you know I don't mean you when I say that to her."

"You don't even mean Scorpius and Elcie, do you? But they get lumped in with that. And so do I. And so does everyone else who can't help what their parents and grandparents did. You wouldn't know, but it does bother me when I hear that. Because someone could just as easily turn around and call me a Death Eater, and have even more basis for it than calling Ciara one. You know what, James? That's just as bad as purebloods calling someone a mudblood. Maybe even worse, because calling someone a Death Eater seems pretty acceptable and normal."

James glanced around at our friends for support, but none of them met his eye. Wren was staring at me, and gave me a small, quick smile when I met her eyes. Albus was stirring his cereal around without taking a bite, staring down at the table. And Colette simply looked amused, though that wasn't surprising.

"Astra, I..." He shook his head, apparently at a loss for words. "What am I supposed to say?"

"'Sorry' would be a nice start."

"Well, sorry, then," he said, looking down at the pile of ashes on his plate. "I just... I mean, she's such a prat... I couldn't..."

I narrowed my eyes. "James Sirius, look me in the eyes and say what you said to Ciara."

James looked me in the eyes, but he looked startled. "What? No!"

"If you can't say it to me, how could you say it to my cousin? I hate her too, but she's family. If she's a Death Eater, so am I. Say it."

James shook his head, helplessly. "I... I can't."

"Just pretend I'm Ciara, James," I said, frowning.

"I can't do it," he said again, shaking his head. "I won't."

"James Sirius Potter!"

"I can't! Stop it!" he yelled. For a moment, the people around us turned to stare, but they quickly went back to their breakfasts.

I smiled, finally satisfied. "Good. Don't ever let me hear you calling anyone else that, either."

"I won't..." James glanced around. Albus and Wren both seemed a little stunned, and Colette was obviously fighting the urge to laugh. A corner of James's mouth turned up in a smile. "You sounded like Mum."

"You, did, actually," Albus said, frowning. "That was... Wow..."

I smiled. I'd gotten my message through, at least to them. Obviously, I wouldn't be able to yell at everyone else in the school, but they were a start. A small one, but that's really all it takes.

~~~~

The next week dragged by. With no classes or schoolwork to occupy our time, we had nothing much to do except plan for the ball. Aunt Andromeda had sent me a beautiful pink dress that she said she'd made for Teddy's mum, but Teddy's mum had never been one to wear dresses and had only worn it the one time she was forced to. When I pulled it out in our dorm room, Lacy pronounced it stunning and pretended to faint.

Mrs. Potter had a nice, respectable set of dress robes for Albus, and a very pretty blue dress for Wren, and she actually came up to the school to give them to them. At first, I was a little surprised she'd bothered, and confused on why she'd specifically asked me to come up to Mr. Potter's office with them, until I saw what a horror she had for James.

"These were your Uncle Ron's," Mrs. Potter said, smiling as she lifted what looked like a nineteenth century women's dress from the box. James's eyes grew wide as he took in the lace cuffs and collar, and the absolutely horrid brown fabric that was actually pleated in the back.

"You're joking..." he said, shaking his head. "You've got to be joking..."

"'Fraid not," Mrs. Potter said, holding it out to him. "I thought it seemed fitting for the occasion."

Albus doubled over laughing, and had to sit down. I tried not to laugh, I swear, but I couldn't help imagining James waltzing around with Ciara wearing a dress frillier than hers. Only Wren managed to keep a straight face, and that seemed to be with much difficulty.

"Mum, I'm not wearing that," James said, shaking his head. "Absolutely no way."

"You will wear that," Mrs. Potter said, frowning, "Or you'll be grounded from your broom and your Cloak for the rest of the year. You can't show up in ordinary school robes."

"I've already got to go with Ciara Malfoy—"

"James Sirius Potter, don't even start complaining about that," Mrs. Potter said, crossing her arms. "You deserved that, and you deserve this."

"Dad..." James whined, turning to his father. "I don't actually have to wear that, do I?"

Mr. Potter quickly wiped the smile off his face, and tried for a serious tone. "Well, considering the circumstances, I think it's probably best."

James turned back to his mum, disbelief on his face. He glanced at his dad speechlessly, then at the robes, then at his mum again. "You... I mean, I can't... How could... Can't expect me to..." he spluttered, then threw his hands in the air. "This isn't fair!"

"You're right. I should've found an uglier one," Mrs. Potter said, her eyes narrowed. "You're lucky you're not expelled. Don't even start complaining about these robes when you embarrassed the entire school more than anything else has in the history of Hogwarts."

James glared at the robes, then at his mum, then stomped out the door. Mrs. Potter smirked, then folded the dress robes and put them back into the box. "You better get pictures, Harry."

"Trust me, I will," Mr. Potter said, smiling and shaking his head. "That was an amazing idea, Ginny."

Mrs. Potter smiled. "I know."

~~~~

On Christmas Eve, Wren and Albus still hadn't come forward with the fact that they liked each other, and I was beginning to doubt my earlier judgment. Maybe I was wrong, and Albus had told me the truth, that whoever it was already had another date. If that were the case, I had to wonder why he wouldn't tell me who. Maybe he didn't want people teasing him like they'd teased James about Mackenzie.

As it was, I decided to talk to Wren about it. After breakfast on Christmas Eve, I suggested the two of us go up to our dorm and practice doing our hair (something I never would've suggested if I could help it, but I couldn't think of another way to make sure Albus wasn't there). Colette opted for practicing her latest spell (one that automatically wrapped her Christmas presents to people), so Albus followed us up to the common room and sat down to watch Rose and Scorpius's game of chess as Wren and I mounted the stairs.

"I think we should just ask Lacy for help," Wren said, as I rifles through my trunk, looking for my brush. "She really wants to."

Lacy had offered to get everyone in our dorm ready for the ball, and I planned on accepting her offer, since I didn't know exactly how to get ready for a ball. Strangely enough, I found I actually cared how I looked now, and I wasn't sure why. I shrugged. "Maybe that's a good idea."

"So, can we go back downstairs?" Wren asked, shivering. "It's cold up here."

"In a minute. I wanted to ask you something..."

I stood up, gauging her reaction. Wren was frowning at me, almost warily. "Okay..."

"Albus asked you to the ball as friends, you said."

Wren nodded, looking confused, then her eyes grew wide as understand dawned on her. "I promise, it's really just as friends, Astra."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? He doesn't like you? I thought he did..."

"You thought he liked me?" Wren said, biting her lip as if she was fighting a laugh. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," I said, a little offended. It had seemed like a good guess as the time. She didn't need to laugh at it. "He said he liked someone, I thought it must have been you."

"You're... Wow, all right," said my friend, shaking her head. "Trust me, you're on the wrong track."

I frowned. If it wasn't Wren, who could it be? Colette, maybe... Though that didn't seem to fit very well. Suddenly, I realized something. Wren sounded almost as if she knew... "Did he tell you?"

"Well, I mean..." She faltered. "Yes. He did. But he made me swear not to tell, I'm sorry!"

"He told you and not me? Why?" I shook my head. "Not that he shouldn't have told you or anything, but why not me, as well?"

Wren shifted uncomfortably. "I think you'd be better asking Albus that..."

I nodded, though I knew I probably wouldn't ask. He'd tell me when he wanted to (hopefully soon). He'd probably only told Wren because she was less likely to let it slip to another friend, seeing as how she didn't have many others.

"Can we please go downstairs now?" Wren asked, rubbing her arm. "It's really cold."

"Yeah. Okay."

We walked downstairs, and nothing more was said about our conversation. Over the course of the afternoon, I pretty much forgot about it, actually, because Marcus joined us and we spent several hours playing Monopoly with River and Luke, who had finally completed all their preparations for sabotaging the music at the ball and were taking a well-deserved break.

As we were walking down to the Great Hall for dinner that night, one of the Beauxbatons boys ran up to Colette. Speaking in very rapid French, he said, "Je ne voudrais pas demandé à quelqu'un je ne connais pas, et toutes les filles que je connais, a demandé tout de suite, mais je connais toi, donc tu veux aller dans le bal avec moi?"

Wren and I exchanged a confused look. Colette only raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm flattered," she said sarcastically.

The boy frowned, a little disappointed. "It is non?"

"Well, I'm two years younger than you, Pierre. And I was planning on going alone. If I go at all."

"Oh..." I whispered. He'd asked her out. I had to admit I was a little surprised. He was a seventh year, and she was a fourth year, even if she was already fifteen, and she wasn't exactly the approachable type. Several boys had already tried to ask her out in vain.

"You are fifteen, not fourteen, non?" Pierre asked. "S'il vous plaît... Colette, I cannot not go by my own, Madame Máxime is saying zat we all must have ze date, and we all must go, and I cannot ask someone zat I do not know... Believe me, I have tried!"

Colette sighed. "Fine. Just so you won't get in trouble."

Pierre grinned. "Merci! Merci, Colette! I shall see you on tomorrow night!" And with that, he hurried off to join his snickering Beauxbatons friends.

Colette rolled her eyes. "Great."

"What did he say?" Wren asked.

"Pierre asked me to the ball. He said he was too scared to ask someone he didn't know, but all the girls from Beauxbatons were already going with someone else." Colette sighed. "How soon do think it would be appropriate to ditch him tomorrow?"

"You can't ditch your date!" Lacy exclaimed, coming up behind us. "Anyway, he is so cute. Why would you want to?"

"Because I don't care," Colette said flatly. "Why don't you hang out with him if he's 'so cute'?"

Lacy sighed. "I'm going with Henry... I wish one of those Beauxbatons boys had asked me, though. French boys are so cute."

Colette rolled her eyes and walked away, and Albus, Wren, and I quickly followed. As much as I liked Lacy, I did not want to get roped into a conversation about boys with her. Those were never short. If she started on the subject now, I wasn't sure she'd be done before the ball started in twenty-four hours.

~~~~

Question of the Day: If you could do anything in the wizarding world without having to worry about the consequences, what would you do? How about it real life?

Vote and comment! I'd planned on getting to the ball in this chapter, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the next. Sorry!

~Ellie