With warm, paper cups of coffee snug in their clutches and Christmas music blasting through Sansa's busted speakers, the pair were off towards Sansa's childhood home.

"How long is the drive to Winterfell?" Alys asked, leaning her temple up against the icy pane of Sansa's car.

"It's a few hours," Sansa said, turning the wheel to veer the car off of the interstate. "You haven't been this far north before. Look at the scenery."

Alysanne sipped her coffee, which had turned lukewarm, as her eyes followed the greying grass of the moors and the snow capped ridges far off in the distance. "There's a lot of grey." Just field. Lots of wide, open fields.

"Oh, you southern girl," Sansa laughed. "You can take the girl outta the south, but you can't take the south outta the girl."

"I'm not saying it's bad!" Alys defended. "I wasn't expecting flowers and everything, but maybe just not so much grey and white." Alysanne shivered, even though the heat was blasting on her arms. "Is it always this cold?"

"Not always. But, it is winter in the North, so it's going to be a bit nippy," Sansa responded, drumming her fingers against the wheel as they cruised down a straight dirt road.

"Winter is coming, then," Alys sighed. She really wasn't made for the snow, or the cold.

"Winter has already arrived, if you can't see the snow on the ground," Sansa laughed.

Alysanne rolled her eyes at her friend. "How big is Winterfell?" she asked, sitting straight up in her chair and downing the rest of the cool coffee in her cup.

"It's pretty massive. Been in the Stark family for generations. Built by an ancestor gods know how long ago. There's even a family crypt deep below it," Sansa said, her eyes dancing. "The boys like to play down there, they say it's haunted. Robb and Jon liked to scare us when we were young, hiding in the tombs and jumping out at us."

"I'd lose my shit! Is it kinda like the people interred in the Sept of Baelor?" Alys asked, trying to compare it to something she knew well.

"Sort of," Sansa responded.

"You know, I'm growing pretty excited about this. Better than sitting in our dorm," Alysanne said.

"True. I bet you're excited to see my cousin. Jon is truly lovely, I swear you'll adore him. He'll certainly adore you too," Sansa said, smiling like a foolish girl.

"I guess we'll have to see," Alys responded. The prospect of meeting someone new, especially someone Sansa knew well and said was a truly good person, seemed a little more enticing to her. She needed to get out of the sullen mood she'd been in since Loras decided to dip.

"So you're willing to try and talk to him?" Sansa asked excitedly.

"I don't know. I've been sulking over Loras for far too long," Alys sighed.

"Finally you're realizing it! He left over the summer and you've been miserable ever since," Sansa said, looking at her friend from the side of her eye.

"Is he nice? Jon, I mean," Alys asked, looking the other way to avoid Sansa seeing the blush kissing the apples of her cheeks.

"Oh, yes. He's not very shy, but awkward when it comes to girls," Sansa said, rejoicing at playing matchmaker. She'd been trying to set Alys up with a number of guys. Edmure Tully was a senior at WHU, White Harbor University, when they were freshmen. Him being Sansa's uncle was a good thing, she could talk to him and try to set the two up.

He lingered in White Harbor after he graduated, working some odd jobs here and there. The two went on a date one night sometime in September, yet Alys came home and didn't have anything positive to say about it. Edmure said she was the most dull person he ever met. Sansa knew happy Alys was full of life and hilarious, but she couldn't seem to shake the funk she was in.

"It's not like he's had a lot of experience with them. Why would he even want to go to an all boys school anyways?" Alys asked, peeling the wrapping off a granola bar she had stuffed in her bag before they left.

"Our uncle Benjen is a teacher there. Jon and him were always close, really helped raise him," Sansa said, reaching her hand out to break a chunk off of the bar Alys was eating.

"What happened to Jon's mom?" Alysanne asked, hoping not to intrude too much.

"Died in childbirth, I wasn't born, but it was a devastating loss for the family," Sansa said sadly.

"Gods, that's tragic. What about his father?"

"Died in the Summer Plague. So did his father's wife, children, and father. I'm sure you read of that plague that decimated the country. You see, Jon's father, Rhaegar, and my aunt Lyanna, Jon's mom, ran off together to Dorne. Lyanna got pregnant and Rhaegar got the plague. To keep Lyanna safe, Rhaegar returned to Dragonstone with his wife and kids and family. The whole family got sick. The only people to survive was Rhaegar's younger sister and brother, who have since moved to Essos and want nothing to do with their nephew. My Aunt Lyanna returned to Winterfell, only to find her father and oldest brother died in the plague as well. My father ended up marrying his dead brother's fiance, my mom. Lyanna had her baby and didn't make it, so my father raised Jon. My Uncle Benjen went to get his degree at Castle Black University and ended up teaching there," Sansa said, taking a deep breath after.

Alys chewed the rest of her mouthful before she answered. "So, he's a Targaryen? That's absolutely horrible, though."

"No, my aunt and Rhaegar weren't married," Sansa sighed, turning down a forested road. The pines and spruces seemed to sweep the sky with how tall and strong they were standing.

"Poor Jon! At least he had his uncles," Alys said, ripping her eyes from the trees lining the gravel roads. Snow hung heavy on the branches, causing them to sway and droop low to the ground.

"Thankfully," Sansa agreed. "So, how mad was your mom that you weren't coming home for Christmas?"

"Not as mad, considering I had a decent enough excuse. She was furious with Myrcella, though. Had to silence my phone, she was sending so many texts. Wouldn't have been fun, anyways. Her and my father have been fighting over this and she would've been pissy over it," Alys answered, remembering how her mother had yelled at Myrcella. It was not a good day for the family group chat.

"Gods, your mom overreacts," Sansa said, shaking her head.

"She just has a short temper, but it's not that big of a deal. Sometimes I wish I just went to King's University. In my hometown, and I could avoid my mother's wrath," Alys admitted.

"You know King's University is a party college, where people like Theon Greyjoy go," Sansa responded.

"Hey! My father went there!" Alys laughed, swatting her friend on the shoulder.

"My point exactly," Sansa giggled. "Besides, White Harbor University is the second best in Westeros, only surpassed by Lannisport University. Your whole mom's side of the family went there, why didn't you? The bloody college has your mother's last name in it!"

"The reason exactly. My grandfather finances it, I would've been put on a pedestal, which sounds awful. Anyways, my brother is probably going there next year, I wouldn't be caught dead seeing him everyday. I honestly just wanted to get away," Alys replied.

"Felt," Sansa agreed. From the top of the trees, a small bit of grey peaked from behind the green, and before she knew it, the massive stone manse rose from behind the throng of evergreens.

"Wow..." Alys exhaled, taking in the sheer size of the house. It was beautiful in a different way, not the traditional description, no blooming flowers, or oaks with their branches shading the dwelling. But the details popped from the drab, grey stone. Carvings etched into the intricate archwork spoke to her in a way she didn't hear much elsewhere.

The blood red leaves of the weirwood,contrasted by stark white branches, a common staple for houses in the North, stretched out over the walls protecting it. Alys opened her car door and stepped out into the brisk air, snowflakes floating delicately down from the sky, like tiny feathers.

"Welcome to Winterfell," Sansa smiled, slamming her driver's side door.

1.4k words.

welcome to winterfell, lil homies

also updated and was quick w it, this is a new experience for me

-claire <3, mwah