Anyone In The World
Everyone was quite antsy for the holidays to begin. They just had one more class to get through, one that Warrington had again seated himself beside Minnie for. Minnie had begun to notice he smelled a bit like hazelnuts.
Brenna glared at them both from across the room. Minnie assumed that their breakup had to have been quite uncomfortable. Her teasing had increased, but now Warrington was occasionally included in her taunts.
"After the Holiday we will move onto the Second Wizarding War." Professor Binns said causing several in the class to look up.
Josie who had been fully asleep snapped her eyes open and sat up instantly.
Minnie's heart began beating aggressively out of her chest. She wasn't quite sure she was ready for this. It was a lot to face at once.
"This war was something a lot of living people, myself included, were in fact present for. Your parents, grandparents and other family may have tales from the war we will be discussing. However, I expect everyone to stick to fact and not rumors. Please remain true to the prescribed reading lists. Over the holiday, I expect a report on at least one of these titles."
Papers began flying around the room, distributing to everyone in the class.
Minnie looked at the paper that floated over to her. Her stomach went into knots as she recognized at least three books on the suggested reading list. There was a biography about her Godfather, a book about Potterwatch, and a book about Dumbledore's Army, all written by her mother.
The title that scared her the most sat at the very bottom:
Incendio
The Samantha Fyre Story
by Albert Blythe.
"I will also allow archived Gazette and Daily Prophet articles, please speak to Professor Fyre for access to the latter." Professor Binns said before Sarah Brenna's hand raised. "Yes Miss Brenna."
"The Dark Side of the Demob and Harry Potter: His True Story both are not listed as acceptable." Brenna said placing her hands atop each other.
"Anything written by the late Rita Skeeter can be considered gossip." Professor Binns answered sharply. "It will not be accepted."
The bell rang signaling the end of class, making the students shoot up from their seats. Minnie was horrified by the concept she'd be learning everything. She had enjoyed the ignorance.
"Hey, Minnie, are you leaving with your parents today?" Cas asked walking out with her. He stopped her near a stained glass window.
Minnie nodded. "Yeah."
Minnie's family always left school the moment their final classes were done on the day before Christmas Eve. They would all go down to their cottage where they would help their mother extravagantly decorate for Christmas.
Cas reached into his bag before pulling out a tiny little present wrapped in green paper. He handed it to her. "In that case, I'll give you your present now."
Minnie looked at it cautiously. "I didn't get you anything."
"That's alright." He smiled, "It's nothing, honestly."
Minnie opened it, it was a book.
Guilty Until Proven Innocent:The Most Important Wizenagamot Trials Of Our Modern Era
by Lark Crawford
"I borrowed it from the library a few years back when my dad was-" Cas stopped, but continued, "And it was well, when I got into his books. There's a whole chapter on the Malfoy trial and he even mentions your mum."
Minnie looked over the book. "Thanks Cas."
"Oh just look at that, Cas's got an appetite for Christmas Ham." Brenna exclaimed with a cackle as she walked by arm in arm with Orpington.
Minnie could feel her whole body shrink.
Orpington cackled along with her, throwing her chestnut hair over her shoulder, "Oink, Oink."
"Oh piss off!" Cas yelled after them.
"Oh you are only mad because it's true." Brenna continued her cackling, "Should I fetch you some mistletoe?"
"Piss off Sarah!" He looked back to Minnie frantically. "I'm so sorry."
"I'll see you after the Holiday Cas." Minnie said before shoving the book into her bag. Her throat was tightening, she felt so embarrassed.
"Minnie!" Cas called as she practically ran away. She was embarrassed enough. She composed herself as she packed and changed her clothing. She wouldn't have to worry about these things. She would have two full weeks of freedom from their torment.
After supper at the Three Broomsticks, Minnie felt a deep sense of relief as she walked into the family cottage on the outskirts of Hogsmead.
The family cottage in Hogsmead was a chaotic mixture of Minnie's family. It resembled a library more than a house with the first floor having mostly bookshelves. Every inch of the cottage was either covered in bookshelves or plants. Some of the bookshelves were even covered in plants.
Minnie and Alice had spent long hours in the labyrinth of books, finding warm windows with sunlight. When their eyes were too strained from reading they would lay in the window and watch the tiny dust particles dance like sparkles above them.
The only traditionally habitable part of the first floor was the kitchen. It was an emerald green shade with sunflowers painted up to the short ceiling. Aunt Luna and Minnie's Grandmother had painted them together for them as a gift.
The kitchen table was nothing to fawn over, but it held some of Minnie's favorite memories. Giggling over card games or blowing out birthday candles. At the back of the kitchen were the stairs to the second floor.
Immediately off of the stairs, the second floor housed the family bedrooms. Across a bridge connecting the upstairs room was a sitting room. The bridge itself was covered in portraits from Minnie and Alice's childhood. Baby pictures all the way to their current ages were displayed quite proudly.
A few family photos sat in the sitting room along with a few photos from their parent's wedding. Every year the Fyre family would take a new photo together and occasionally their Great Gran would take a picture with them.
The sitting room, like the rest of her home was covered in bookshelves, but they were particularly special. These bookshelves were covered in her parent's work. Three solitary books held her father's name, they were textbooks, but they were books all the same.
Between the books and folders sat a small scrapbook full of pictures and Hogwarts Gazette articles from their childhood. Beside the scrapbook, they had the group picture of the Gazette from her parent's sixth year surrounded by their friends from the Gazette.
Her parents displayed few pictures from their personal childhood, keeping the few they did either in their offices at Hogwarts or in their bedroom. This picture was special to them, supposedly it reminded her mother of what she liked to call, the last year of true childhood.
The one they displayed had her mother in the center of the front row. On one side, Minnie's Godmother Ginny had wrapped her arm around Samantha's shoulder and they were giggling. On her mother's other side was a boy her mother rarely spoke of, but Minnie had seen a lot. His portrait was on the Gazette wall beside her mother's, he was a wiry boy with a smile larger than his face.
Positioned near the back and behind Aunt Luna who was dottily staring away from the camera , Minnie's father was attempting to step out of the photo. Another boy was pulling her father back into view by the collar of his shirt.
All of her mother's books were displayed along with folders containing categorized Daily Prophet editions. Minnie's eyes scanned the books and the photo.
Minnie's eyes lingered upon a certain book she had quite vehemently decided she was going to read. It was one of two books displayed that weren't written by her mother. It was a book she was going to have to face head on. She'd said she would if they ever reached it in class, and she was expected to write a book report.
She grabbed the copy of Incendio before heading back across the bridge to her bedroom.
Minnie's room was a violet color she'd picked out when she was six, it was still her favorite. She had Spiritsprout posters and a big bookshelf with her favorite books on it.
She placed the book Cas had given her onto the shelf. On the top shelf was a little stuffed dragon named Lucky. She'd cuddled Lucky so hard his eyes were falling out.
She changed into her nightgown before situating herself to read and take notes. If she was going to read this, she was at least going to be comfortable.
The first part wasn't vehemently horrifying. Fourth year Samantha Fyre was rather different in comparison the woman who had raised Minnie. She was disheveled, focused primarily on writing and she was exceptionally oblivious.
Fourth Year Neville Longbottom was there, but hardly a main character in the scheme of things. It was quite hilarious to imagine him being a lumpy little boy. Minnie wondered if she maybe read other books if he'd be mentioned more, like the one about her Godfather.
Minnie was at least ten chapters into Incendio when her sister knocked on the door. Her eyes were beginning to feel strained.
"Minnie! Can I come in?" Alice called in.
"Of course Lissy!" Minnie said as Alice entered with Duke flying in behind her. Artie was perched on her shoulder and nudging her nose against her cheek.
"Can you believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve?" Alice asked before laying back onto Minnie's bed. "I can't wait for you to see what I got you."
"I can't wait for you to see what I got you!" Minnie wrinkled her nose before closing the book. "Doesn't quite feel like Christmas with all this homework."
"I bet it's like that just because of OWLs." Alice grimaced but watched Duke flying around on the ceiling. She turned her head to see the book in Minnie's hands, "Incendio? I thought you weren't going to read it until you came to it in History of Magic?"
"We came to it." Minnie answered before laying back. Artie rolled off of Alice's shoulders and curled up onto Minnie's lap.She closed her eyes and began to snore.
"Oh." Alice pinched her nose. "It is a little weird to read when you get to mum's very odd dating life. The rest of it's pretty interesting though."
"Yeah, I noticed mum's a bit oblivious." Minnie chuckled, "How did she not know that one French bloke was going to try and kiss her? Seemed a bit obvious to me."
"Honestly!" Alice giggled a little, "I mean he was French, isn't kissing in their DNA or something?
Minnie shrugged.
Alice continued expressively, "Trust me, her obliviousness get's painful after a while. Especially with her and dad, she-"
Minnie interrupted, "I just finished the end of her fourth year. Please, I'd like to read it all for myself."
"Gotcha, no spoilers. I promise!" Alice saluted.
Minnie giggled before putting her book and her notes onto her bedside table.
"Have you had your first kiss Minnie?" Alice asked sitting up.
Minnie shook her head wondering where that question had come from, "No."
"But you are fifteen." Alice raised an eyebrow.
"So?" Minnie asked sarcastically.
"So don't you think you are a little old not to have had your first kiss?"
"There isn't a set age Alice." Minnie insisted, "Have you had yours?"
Alice smirked a little crossing her legs, "No, not yet. But that's only because I was so hung up on Lorcan. "
"Not hung up anymore?" Minnie asked with a chuckle. It would be a relief for everyone.
"I can take a hint you know." Alice rolled her eyes. "Besides, I'm sure there are plenty of grindylows in the lake."
Minnie laughed, but her heart dropped. Poor Alice must have known Lorcan wasn't interested, but always held out a tiny bit of hope.
"Now that I am quite over him, I think I'm ready for a bit of snogging." Alice nodded her head with a snap.
"With who?"
Alice shrugged, her crystal eyes coquettishly shifting upward, "I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I'm more than determined that at least by next year I will have kissed someone."
"It's good to have goals I suppose." Minnie shrugged as Duke flew down and landed on Alice's shoulder.
"So why haven't you kissed anyone Min?" Alice asked into the silence.
"No one has ever asked." Minnie answered.
"Who would you snog?" Alice asked apparently not wanting to linger, "If you could snog anyone?"
"In the world or at school?" Minnie asked wanting clarification, one answer was easier than the other.
"Both."
"In the world," Minnie put her hand to her face, "Probably Alistair from SpiritSprout."
"I bet he is a good kisser. He does play harmonica after all." Alice snickered.
Minnie giggled along with her, "What about you?"
"Harold Wood, on Puddlemore United. He's dreamy." Alice whispered. "And at school, who would you snog?"
Minnie hesitated, knowing her sincerely honest answer would be Cas. Alice hated him.
A knock came at the door.
"You girls done giggling?" Their dad asked leaning his head inside. "It's really late, you don't have to go to sleep, but could you both maybe lower the volume? Your mum and I would like to get some sleep. Especially if we are decorating for Christmas tomorrow and finishing up shopping."
"Sorry dad." Alice apologized before throwing herself back in a fit of giggles.
Minnie was still giggling as she apologized, "Yeah, sorry dad."
"What could possibly be so funny?" He asked in a whisper coming into the room.
"Nothing." The two girls said simultaneously.
"Dad," Alice started.
"What?" He asked stopping his turn to the door.
"If you could snog anyone in the world who would it be?" Alice asked still giggling.
"Your mum." He answered without missing a beat.
"Seriously dad? You have to say that." Alice rolled her eyes. "I meant someone famous."
"Your mum is famous." His face shifted to slight disgust, "Is that what you two are giggling in here about? Snogging?"
Alice was giggling so much her cheeks were completely red.
"Honestly, I don't like imagining my girls are old enough for those sort of things." Her dad griped.
"Well, isn't it better we talk to each other, than peers who could easily influence us?" Minnie asked as she wrapped her arms around her pillow.
He shrugged, "I suppose. Just do it more quietly."
"Alright dad." Minnie whispered sarcastically.
"Dad," Alice whispered now too.
"Bloody hell Alice, what?" He asked raising his eyebrows and rubbing his neck.
"How old were you, when you had your first kiss?" Alice asked with a tilt of her head.
"Seventeen." He smiled a little.
"With who?"
"Your mum."
"Seriously?" Alice groaned.
"Yes, and all of your questions are keeping me from snogging her under the mistletoe right now." He laughed but put his hands on his waist.
"Ew dad." Alice exclaimed.
"Hey, you wanted to know about snogging." Their dad belly laughed. "Goodnight girls."
"Goodnight dad."