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The Gryffindor common room was buzzing with excitement.

There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface. Lee Jordan had set off some Filibuster's fireworks, so the air was thick with stars and sparks. It was total chaos and Serena absolutely loved it. She sat with Angelina, Alicia, and Katie with the biggest smile on her face, simply excited to be there.

The moment Harry Potter entered through the portrait hole, the entire room exploded in a round of cheers and yells. Everyone gathered in a circle around him, clapping and shouting, even the paintings hung on the walls, as he was suddenly thrown up into the air by Fred and George.

"Yes, Harry!" Fred shouted. "Knew you wouldn't die!"

George laughed. "Lose a leg-"

"Or an arm-"

"Pack it in altogether?"

"Never!"

Lee picked up the golden egg Harry had left on the table. "Blimey, this is heavy," he said, weighing the egg in his hands. "Open it, Harry, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"

Lee threw it back to Harry, swiftly catching it in his gloved hand. He glanced down at the egg in his hands before looking around the crowd. "Who wants me to open it?" The crowd cheered in response. "Do you want me to open it?"

"Yes!" Serena shouted with the rest once more. Harry grinned, and dug his fingers into the grove that ran all around the egg, and pried it open.

The most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room. Serena immediately covered her ears, just as Fred and George dropped Harry to do the same. "Shut it!" Fred bellowed.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked, staring at the egg as Harry slammed it shut again.

Iyla rubbed her ears. "Sounded like a banshee."

Seamus Finnigan, a fourth year, looked excited."Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry!"

"It was someone being tortured!" Neville had gone very white, spilling sausage rolls all over the floor. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!"

Serena shook her head. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the Champions."

"Yeah, don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing... maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Harry." Serena snorted into her cup of butterbeer.

Fred then approached Hermione. "Want a jam tart?" She looked rather hesitant to take the plate he was offering. "It's all right," he said. "I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch-"

Neville, who had just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out. Fred laughed. "Just my little joke, Neville..."

Hermione took a jam tart. "Did you get all this from the kitchens, Fred?"

"Yep," said Fred with a grin. He put on a high-pitched squeak and imitated a house-elf. "'Anything we can get you, sir, anything at all!' They're dead helpful... get me a roast ox if I said I was peckish."

"How do you get in there?" Hermione said in an innocently casual sort of voice.

"Easy," said Fred, "concealed door behind a painting of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear, and it giggles and-" He stopped and looked suspiciously at her. "Why?"

"Nothing," said Hermione, a little too quickly. Serena rose an eyebrow, already knowing what she was getting at.

"Going to try and lead the house-elves out on strike now, are you?" George asked. "Going to give up all the leaflet stuff and try and stir them up into rebellion?"

Several people chortled. Hermione didn't answer. "Don't you go upsetting them and telling them they've got to take clothes and salaries!" Fred warned. "You'll put them off their cooking!"

Just then, Neville caused a slight diversion by turning into a large canary. "Oh- sorry, Neville!" Fred shouted over all the laughter. "I forgot- it was the custard creams we hexed-"

Within a minute, however, Neville had molted, and once his feathers had fallen off, he reappeared looking entirely normal, even joining in the laughter. "Canary Creams!" Fred shouted to the excitable crowd. "George and I invented them- seven Sickles each, a bargain!"

Serena chuckled, and was just about go back to where Angelina and the others were sitting when George approached her. "Hey, George- wait, what are you doing?"

George had grabbed her arm, and pulled her forward. "You, dear Serena, are going to talk to Fred because my two best friends obviously aren't going to do it without outside help."

"No, wait!" Serena tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but it was too late, as she was already pulled through the crowd around Fred to stand right in front of him.

George grinned at the two, who weren't even looking at each other. Noticing how the crowd, who still wanted to buy Canary Creams, were watching the pair in intent curiosity, George clapped his hands. "Alright, everyone! Go back to your knitting, this is going to be uncomfortable enough without all you nosy sods listening in!"

Suddenly, everyone dispersed, looking back at Serena and Fred as if they still wanted to know what was going on between the two. "Go on, then. You two aren't allowed to the dormitories until you're back to normal," said George, high-fiving Lee as they went off to sell a few Canary Creams.

Serena rocked back and forth on her heels, suddenly finding the colourful lace of her sneakers very interesting. It had been a silent two minutes late when she realised Fred wasn't going to say another, either. "I guess I'll have to be the man here and start the conversation," she said with a sigh.

And with all of the confidence she could muster, she looked up at him. "I'm sorry about what happened back at Hogsmeade. I... I don't know what got into me." Serena was honestly surprised at how she managed to say all of that and maintain eye contact, but the moment he opened his mouth to speak, she quickly looked away, her spontaneous boldness fizzling away instantly.

"I'm, er... sorry about that too," Fred rubbed the back of his neck, which had gone a bright red that matched the tips of his ears. "I've been thinking about it every day since then."

His eyes widened. "W-wait, no, that wasn't what I meant. I-I mean I've given it some thought, but not every day, and it probably hasn't bothered you at all and I was the one that made it awkward to begin with, and I'm making it even more awkward now, and-"

Fred was cut off by Serena's laughter. "Oh, Fred, you're hilarious!"

"I... I am?"

Serena felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She was immensely happy to hear she wasn't the only one who thought about what happened at the bookstore. Of course, she'd never admit that. "Yeah, but an embarrassing sort of hilarious," she said with a playful wink.

Fred rolled his eyes. "I'm still funnier than you."

"And George is still better looking than you."

He feigned an expression of hurt, hand clutching his heart. "Oh, how you hurt me, Mallard."

And just like that, Serena and Fred were back to joking around, comfortable in each other's presence once more. They spent the rest of the night playing Exploding Snap with the rest of the sixth years, simply having a good time.

As Serena quickly tapped her wand on a pair of cards before they exploded, she could not understand why Fred Weasley had such an affect on her emotions. Why she felt both extremely nervous, then randomly confident around him.

Either way, she was just happy to get her friend back.

~~~

The start of December brought winds and sleet to Hogwarts. Serena hated having to layer up to keep warm. She honestly preferred summer over any other season, especially winter.

The start of December also brought on slight panic for curly-haired Gryffindor. Not even the monstrous amount of work she had to complete before break had her that frantic.

It was Ramona. She hadn't yet finished her gift, and her birthday was the fifth. Magnolia claimed to have had her gift for months, and simply watched in amusement while Serena quickly scribbled a letter to her mother. "I know Mona loves painting, so I'll just ask Mum to get her some cool brushes. I'm paying with my own money, so it's fine if I ask her pick it up, right?"

Magnolia simply shrugged, leaning against the wall of the Owlery. "I don't see a problem."

"Oh, what if she says I haven't put much thought into it? You know I'm awful at gift giving and then you two get me such amazing presents." Serena mumbled. "I hope Mum can get it in two days. Shouldn't be too hard, right? Blimey, I'm a terrible friend."

Magnolia chuckled. "Calm down, Serena. Ramona's the last person to judge you based on a gift. It's been six years, she knows your no good with birthdays. Besides, she's too nice for that. And... you're a decent friend."

Serena narrows her eyes at the Ravenclaw. "Gee, thanks. By the way, I'm taking your owl."

"You see, this is why you should have gotten your own owl back in first year. But no, you decide to tire out my baby Grey."

Serena merely rolled her eyes at her friend's sarcastic tone. "If I'd gotten an owl, I'd forget to feed it. I can barely take care of myself, how'd you expect me to care for another living creature?"

"You've got issues, Serena." Magnolia said with a shake of her head.

"And you named your brown tawny owl Grey, and your grey elf owl Brownie. And I'm the one that's got issues?"

Magnolia shrugged. "Actually, the latter was the brilliant work of Azalea, since Brownie was hers before it became the family owl. I simply followed the tradition."

"Of course Azalea would do that," Serena laughed, tying her finished letter to Grey's outstretched talon. "Okay, take this to Maisie Mallard."

Grey hooted excitedly, nipping Serena's finger affectionately before taking off into the night sky. "You don't use her much, do you?"

"No," Magnolia said in a slight bitter tone. "Who would I send a letter to?"

"Your parents, perhaps?" Serena kindly suggested. "Your Mum sent you a bunch of letters this term, but you haven't responded to any. How come?"

Serena could see it in Magnolia's expression, the way she shut down when her parents were mentioned. Sure, the Ravenclaw always seemed emotionless from the outside, but Magnolia was simply calm, never letting things get to her. However, the mere thought of her parents practically shut off all feeling. The girl's response was calculated and quiet. "I'm not wasting my time responding to her."

That was the end of the conversation. The two left the Owlery, and it took a minute, but Magnolia went back to her normal, nonchalant self, walking beside the babbling Serena with her hands in her pockets and a soft smile.

~~~

It was finally Ramona's birthday.

And all the Hufflepuff wanted to do was work at the library.

"Wait, you're joking, right?" Serena stared at the auburn-haired girl.

"No, I'm not. I've been absolutely swamped with Divination charts, that Gouging Spell essay for Charms, and don't even get me started on the amount of revising my Golpalott's Third Law essay needs." The girl said, flipping through the many stacks of parchment on the library table. "Oh, Snape is going to fail me for sure."

"We're in N.E.W.T. Potions, he's going to fail us all," said Magnolia.

"But, Ramona!" Serena whined. "It's your birthday! And it's Saturday. Meaning you deserve a homework-free day."

The girl only chuckled. "I'm only seventeen. Not that big of a deal."

Serena looked at her friend incredulously. "Not that big of a- you're finally of age! That's the biggest deal!"

"You know what," Magnolia rolled her eyes, pushing all of Ramona's books until they nearly fell off the edge of the table. Slamming down a parcel in front of her, the Ravenclaw sat on the table, crossing her arms. "I've read over your Golpalott essay, it's perfect. Flitwick doesn't expect that Gouging Spell essay until Friday, and Divination... well who cares about that-"

Ramona pouted. "I care-"

"But Trelawney loves you, so she'll extend the deadline. Now open it." Magnolia's sharp blue eyes watched Ramona until the girl finally sighed.

"I don't see why you two got me presents, you didn't need to. A simple 'Happy Birthday' would have sufficed." Ramona said as she carefully unwrapped the package. The stood a globe of the Moon, gold encrusted with blue diamonds decorating the metal holder.

Serena looked down at it before glancing at Magnolia with slight confusion. Ramona hid her initial uncertainty with a smile, not wanting to hurt Magnolia's feelings. "It's beautiful! But... don't you use this for Astronomy? I don't have that class-"

"Hush now, darling," Magnolia excitedly said, pulling out her wand. "Because you don't like the idea of getting in trouble whenever Serena and I sneak out of the castle to go star gazing, I brought the star gazing to you!" The brunette pointed her wand at the globe before muttering, "Bring me the stars."

The moment Magnolia stopped speaking, the brass of the globe faded away, and the golden metal holding up the sphere disappeared, too. The globe was suddenly emitting a brilliant light, so bright Ramona had to shield her eyes. Peeking an eyes open, Ramona looked back at the globe before she gasped. "No way!"

It was as if the sun itself was enclosed in the confines of the globe, golden rays illuminating the space around them. Ramona and Serena inched closer to the globe, and watched as the sun shone in the corner of the prismatic sky, glowing a fiery orange and radiant yellow against a sparkling light blue.

Serena jumped off the chair she was sitting in, running over to the nearest window. Sure enough, the sunrise beyond the castle was an exact reflection of the globe. "Magnolia, this is... this is..."

"I believe the word you are looking for is brilliant," the girl said, flicking her brown hair off her shoulder. "It took months to perfect the spell that'll get the globe to mirror the actual sky, like the one in the Great Hall. This was the seventh globe I bought; exploded the first three, burnt two, and the last sort of just melted into a puddle."

Ramona gasped. "Seven?! They're like, thirteen Galleons each!"

Magnolia shrugged. "I guess you can't really star gaze until it's nighttime, but if you ever want to curl up with a good book indoors, you can still see the sky like yours outside. Just make sure you tap it with your wand and say 'Bring me the stars,' if you want it to work."

The Hufflepuff was utterly speechless, staring at the globe in wonder and amazement. "I... I can't accept this. Absolutely not."

"Oh sweetie, it isn't up for debate." Magnolia said. "If you don't accept it, all my hard work and destroyed globes would be for nothing."

Ramona looked awestruck as she jumped up to hug Magnolia. "Thank you so much! This was amazing!"

Magnolia, not being much of a hugger, patted the girl's shoulder, a happy smile on her face nonetheless. "It was nothing, really."

"You know what, I ban Magnolia from giving her gifts first. They're always better than what Ramona and I could give." Serena said, glaring at the girl as she placed her rather heavy bag on the table. "Prepare to be disappointed, Mona."

"Nonsense!" Ramona exclaimed, shaking her head at Serena. "You could have gotten me nothing and I'd still be alright." Ramona reaches her hand into the bag, pulling out a pack of paint brushes. "Oh! This is just what I needed! All of my other brushes got dried paint stuck on it."

Serena seemed to aim confidence from Ramona's grin. "I also bewitched them to that they'll stay clean!"

The Hufflepuff chuckled, reaching into the bag once more, picking up the heaviest items. "Ooh, books!" she squealed. "Predicting the Unpredictable: Insulate Yourself Against Shocks and Powers You Never Knew You Had and What To Do With Them Now You've Wised Up! I've been meaning to find a good book to read, and now I've got two!"

"Figured you could 'wise up' on your new power of future telling," Serena said as Ramona engulfed her in a hug.

"Aw, you're adorable Serena." Ramona was jumping up and down in elation at this point. "Thank you guys, so much!"

Just then, Madam Pince rushed over, pointed an irate finger at the trio. "Shush! This is the library, not some playground! Go on- out!" The thin, bad-tempered woman stalked off, muttering something that sounded a lot like 'kids these days' under her breath.

With a roll of their eyes, the three girls packed up their belongings, Serena and Magnolia helping Ramona carry her present down to the Hufflepuff common room. Before Ramona could tap on the barrels, Cedric Diggory suddenly exited out of the door, looking down at Ramona in surprise. "Oh, hi! I was just about to look for you, actually!"

Ramona's cheeks flushed. "Y-you were looking for me?"

"Yes," Cedric said nervously as thrust the small bag he was holding into Ramona's hands. "Happy birthday, Ramona!"

In her excitement, Ramona unconsciously plopped all of her books and parchments into Serena's hands, the Gryffindor nearly dropping everything as a result. "I'll just carry this for you, then," she grumbled as Magnolia snorted. 

"Oh, it's lovely!" Ramona said, putting on the yellow and black scarf Cedric had gotten her. "And it's got matching gloves, too!" 

Cedric's grey eyes lit up. "Yeah... I got that because I-I thought we could maybe walk around the grounds today? And it's rather chilly, and there's already snow on the ground. So, erm... do you want to come with me?" 

"Yes!" Ramona said a little too quickly. Er, I mean... yes, I'd love too." 

"Brilliant! But before you two go on your little date,"  Serena grinned, dumping the pile of books into Cedric's free hands," please take this up to Ramona's dormitory."

Magnolia handed Ramona her globe. "Have fun, Mona, Pretty Boy!"

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Author's Note:

Three thousand reads. My book has reached three THOUSAND reads and 200 votes. Holy heck I don't know what to do with this information.

Thank you all so much for reading! I'm so happy you all like this book, even with its faults and mistakes!!

Also, my absolute favourite portion of the entire book (the Yule Ball hehe) will be the next two/three chapters!! 

Thank you lovelies once again, and with lots of love,

~Lena