Hands fidgeted unsteadily, as Eris'  feet tapped vigorously at the ground underneath her, creamy white sandals becoming stained with flecks of grass and dirt, as Eris stopped tapping her foot and starting digging at the ground underneath her. Glaring daggers at the ground, her focus was on the ground below her, as if Mother Earth herself had wronged Eris, which would lead to a violent fight between a red head and the earth itself. The truth was that the ground was far easier to glare at than focusing on the entrance to the Fawley Manor, obscured by ferns and rose bushes that intertwined into a glorious maze of sights, sounds, and magic. Apparent everywhere was the magic, even by the entrance of the garden-like maze of hedgery that lead up to the imposing statue of rock and age, towering over the city of London, in parallel to the Queen’s own palace. The Fawley manor was watched over by numerous magical guardians, content to make sure that the house-elves and inhabitants of the glorious manor were not attacked by blood-traitors..or most importantly, Jane Rowle.

The security of the house had tightened in recent months to protect Luca and Eris from the woman responsible for both of their apparent instability. Gargoyles sat by the entrance of the home, gothic and sorrowful in appearance. They did not move from their stone slabs, but the faces and looks to the inhabitants house had been drilled into both of their minds, as had the procedures for dealing with any so-called intruders. The house was not the kind of place that a kid would want to play at, but Adam Harringtom had offered to go over to Eris Fawley’s house, which had lead to Eris’s frantic glowering at the ground and her frantic pacing around the courtyard.

The courtyard lead out to the circular driveway that no cars ever stayed in. Some of the wealthy, extremely old and batty, neighbors claimed that carriages that drove themselves or carriages that resembled the carts of old, reminding  the brain of old stories and tv shows from far away. The outside of the house, and the house itself didn’t matter to little Eris Fawley, who now sat pouting on the front step of the long stairway down to the circular driveway, braiding different strands of hair between her fingers, slowly and mercilessly. Each strand turned a different color under her fingers, until Eris’s head was a rainbow of color. She then undid the braids over and over again, changing the colors each time, before growing bored and letting her hair turn back to it’s palicid russet red. The change was less consuming. It was like peeling away a sheet of fabric, changing out of an illusionary facade.

Sighing, Eris kept her vigil on the steps of her house, leg tapping quickly against the stones. Ripe with nerves, Eris let out a groan, “Where are you Adam?” The two were to have a sleepover, and nothing made Eris more happy than the idea of having a night to herself with her best friend in the entire world. When all was said and done, Max and Dorothy were alright and all, but Adam was the best friend that Eris had always wanted, and they had fought for that friendship. The two had dealt with acid salamanders, Kaegen, prefect hood, and being in two different houses. There was nobody that Eris rather have over than Adam, and had spent the whole day cleaning and clearing her bedroom to make it look nice. Nym had offered, but Eris, wailing and pouting, had insisted that she didn’t want Adam to think that she was spoiled. The rest of the house was as clean and polished as usual, but Eris’s room was a whirlwind of clothing, the trunk for Hogwarts, books, and miniature dragons that sometimes (annoyingly) blew real fire onto Eris’s books. That was the supposed reason why so many water glasses were in Eris’s room, but really she was just too lazy to go down to the first floor in the middle of the night and didn’t want to bother Nym with something that trival, when the poor overworked elf deserved to sleep. Or really, Eris hadn’t found a way to wake Nym up and make her do it.

Groaning, she rolled over onto her side again. They should've already been talking and eating food, but Adam was late! Or on time. Eris had no idea, she had been waiting for hours. Any second now, at this point.

Apparition was a force like no other. Squeezed through space, warped out of existence only to be shoved back into it a split second later, it was the most magical form of magic that there was. Unlike any sensation in the world, it was so overwhelmingly everything that somehow it was nothing -- nothing but silence.

And yet, Adam could swear that you could still hear him screaming.

There was a possibility that he hadn't made any noise at all. He couldn't remember much of the actual Apparition other than the feeling it had stirred in his stomach, like being shoved into a space that was much too tight for him to fit in. As a passenger, it had been jarring; he couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be leading a Side-Along Apparition. When he had landed, the shouting had been reduced to merely a small yelp as his feet met solid ground. Adam barely got a chance to look around at his surroundings before the spinning in his head and stomach wreaked its revenge, rising up in his throat and spewing out into the grass by the curb. The boy stared down at the puddle of vomit below him with embarrassment, shuddering against the chills that raced over him from the evening breeze. Taking a small step back onto the sidewalk, Adam reached upwards to clean off his chin with his sleeve before being stopped quite abruptly.

"Hold it right there, buddy. Clothes are for wearing, not wiping." The friendly face of Bridgit Morrey stepped into view as she offered him a tissue and a sympathetic smile. "Don't feel bad. Happens to most people after their first Apparition. But kid, way to go! You survived! High five!" Unable to resist a laugh, Adam complied, though her words didn't do much to reassure him. He would have greatly preferred not to have his lunch so violently laid out before him, no matter how typical it was. Now, at least, the hard part was over. A short walk to the Fawley manor would prove to be nothing after a hyperspace jump without a spaceship.

It couldn't be possible for Eris to live here. Could it be? This place was a palace, probably the second fanciest building Adam had ever seen, topped only by Hogwarts. The stone walls had come straight from a medieval legend, as well as the angry gargoyles keeping watch over them. How could a house like this belong to anyone other than a celebrity?

Thinking about it, Luca Fawley probably was a celebrity in the elegant pureblood world that Adam had been left out of. A man with an estate this size needed power, and lots of it, just to run the building. Adam was terrified of the prospect of meeting the rest of Eris's family, although her letters had made them sound perfectly civil. He didn't know them, didn't know how he was supposed to act around them, and already he was staying overnight in their house. Turning to his escort, he started to ask if it was too late to go back, understanding now that this had been a bad idea from the start.

The sight of his best friend perched on the staircase erased all of the doubts from his mind. Adam had been so sure that his summer was over, ruined, and past the point of no return. Eris's invitation had been a miracle, a chance to escape from Nottingham and the new dynamic of his fatherless family, and consequently an opportunity that the women of the house had been smart enough not to ignore. This was a vacation from a vacation, desperately needed and graciously taken. And it was really, truly happening.

"You sure you're going to be okay, Adam?" Bridgit asked, letting concern tinge her voice as she handed over his overnight bag. "You know we're only a few seconds away if you need us. If you feel like you need to come home at all, you can." Adam nodded in agreement, having heard it all before. There was no way he was missing out on any part of his time with his best friend, especially not because he couldn't handle it. Adam could handle anything. Taking a step forward towards the edge of the circular driveway, already lost in the spirals of the Fawleys' entrance maze, he looked back at Bridgit to hear her goodbye and watched her walk off slowly. He was alone now, his disaster of a family left behind. It felt like a weight had been removed from his shoulders, and though he felt beyond awful for admitting it, he didn't really want to go back home. He didn't know home anymore.

In fact, he wouldn't know anything if he was killed by the guard gargoyles for getting too close to the mansion's protection system. Too nervous to risk going any further, Adam stood where he was and peered closely at the fuzzy form of Eris, puzzling over how he could get her attention from so far away. Waving his arms above his head, Adam felt his cheeks blush red again at the image of his supreme dorkiness.

He really hoped she noticed him soon.

She was impatient, still forcing her hair to change colors. The humidity of a hot summer day was like no other, and even in London, it was sweltering. Eris missed the cool breezes of the Scottish Castle, which really was more of a home than the gloomy London mansion that towered over Eris’s head, a foreboding sight for anyone. Especially for a child looking for their friend. Brushing hairs from her forehead, which was slick with sweat, Eris frowned at the sudden appearance of two ant like figures in the distance. For a moment she assumed that they were the strange neighbor and her even stranger granddaughter, who liked unicorns and rainbows a bit too much for the young, and evidently troubled, Fawley Heiress.

Naturally, the neighbors were muggles. It wasn’t like Eris was spending a lot of time with the strange girl, but sometime their paths crossed. Well, the only times their paths did cross were when the neighbors had the strange idea to go deliver food to the door of the manor. That had lead to a dangerous situation, in which Eris and her family had been forced to say that their house elves were particularly ugly little children who had a strange hobby of cleaning.

That was the first and hopefully the last time that Eris would ever have to talk to her rainbow unicorn obsessed muggle neighbor, but she had seen the girl walking her dog plenty of times from the window of her tower window. Her small figure was easily recognizable by the glittery outfits and rainbow pants, but these two figures had none of those things and if Eris squinted hard enough down at the two figures, she could see a trademark red hair shining up at her.

Bridget.

Bridget and Adam! Eris stopped changing the colors of her hair, leaping off the stairs and bursting down the stairs at a run. The stairs seemed to drag on forever, infinite steps leading down the way to her best friend and his babysitter. Eris kept attempting not to fall, legs nearly straining from the pace she was throwing herself forward at. Yet, nothing mattered but the two figures, who were getting less blurry and were clearly Adam and Bridget.

Adam was waving his arms and blushing, while Bridget looked the same as ever. Tall, regal, and like the mother that Eris had always wished she had instead of an evil mother, with an agenda. Running took long, considering all the stairs, so Eris watched Bridget go away, as she pounded down the stairs.

Once in the gravel driveway of her house, Eris’s sprint started up again, as she ran forward and slammed herself into Adam, wrapping her tiny arms around her best friend. The tiny girl was already much smaller than Adam, so her hands struggled to wrap themselves around his torso. For a moment, Eris stood like that, a small little girl with no struggles or problems. Her eyes nearly filled with tears, grateful for the presence of someone normal and safe, unlike everyone in the household that was feeling more and more like a jail cell and less like a home.

Eris’s sandals had been lost at some point during her mad dash down the steps, and her bare feet were already stiff with the grains of gravel that were stuck to them. She really didn’t care though. Nothing mattered but her best friend, finally in front of her, after a summer spent horribly scared and horribly formal.

Pulling herself away from Adam, Eris flashed him a smile large enough to make her face hurt and her teeth strain. “Oh my god, Adam! You’re taller already, bloody hell. You’re like Bigfoot at this point. It’s totally not fair, and I hate you for it.”

She pouted, starting to lead Adam up the stairs she had just flew down. Keeping up a steady stream of conversation the time, Eris escorted Adam through rows of stairs and neat garden plots, sparkling with the intrigue of strange plants and large opalescent animal eyes, watching from the hedges of shrubbery. If Eris noticed the animals, she said nothing, leading Adam up to to a wide door with two gargoyles next to it.

When the two creatures saw the girl, the doors swung open to the entrance hall of the manor. A clean linoleum floor stood below a sloped ceiling that seemed like a cathedral, adorned with a chandelier and green glass at the top of the curved celing. In the room stood a woman with brown hair and a face that looked prone to curve into a smile or a frown easily. The woman was none other than Demetra Fawley.

She nodded at Adam, while another figure with gray hair and a real frown took a place next to her. “Uh, these are my grandparents.” Eris stopped her chattering, taking a protective step in front of Adam.

“Grandmother, grandfather, this is the person I told you about! Adam. He’s my best friend.”

Her grandfather said nothing, looking away from Adam as if horrified, while Demetra smiled thinly.

“Pureblood, I assume. I haven’t heard much of the Harringtom family, but if you’d like to raise your status in the wizarding world boy, you are lucky to have found a friend in my granddaughter. Nevertheless, we’re not here to bother you.”


Neither grandparent said it was lovely to meet Adam, as the two walked away and left Eris and Adam in the main entrance hall, which was a clear sign they could do whatever they pleased. At least, in Eris’s eyes.

Thankfully, Adam was not alone for long. In an impressive show of near-superhuman speed, Eris was within shouting distance, sending bits of gravel flying across the driveway behind her. He'd always suspected that she would turn out to have some kind of superpower (besides being a witch, of course) and right now she looked like a character right from a comic book cover. Bare feet crashing down with every step, red hair flying out behind her, Eris was a force of friendly chaos. She just needed a name that fit. The Super-Friend. That shouldn't have even been considered, looking back on it, because it sounded like the cheesy deity of a kids' show. The Fantastic...Fawley. If she wanted to be a sideshow magician, maybe. The Crimson Dynamo. That was perfect. Taken already, he was pretty sure, but perfect nonetheless for his friend from the house of red and gold.

As she collided with him in a hug, Adam staggered backwards, just barely staying on his feet. He was relieved to see that Eris's excitement matched his, maybe overpowered it even. Scrambling for something to say to her -- nothing seemed good enough -- the boy hugged back and broke out into a grin. There was no one else quite like Eris Fawley.

A conversational storm directed by the Gryffindor kept him busy on the long walk across stairs and miniature gardens. It reminded him of something he'd find in a fairy tale, the mysterious plants and animals easily borrowed from the fantastical world of Alice in Wonderland. It astounded Adam that this was all normal to Eris, maybe even boring by now, a sample of her domestic routine. If he lived in a place like this, he might not ever leave it. What reason would he have to do so?

As if from Oz to Camelot, the bright gardens gave way to a huge front door, guarded by two gargoyles that were every bit as intimidating. Not to be delayed by their presence, Eris strode forward, not once breaking stride between the opening doors and into the house itself. In direct contrast, Adam came stumbling behind her, attempting to find a way to see everything at once. He could spend an hour in her front yard, another with the gargoyles behind the door, and an entire afternoon marveling at the room he'd just been brought into. A glistening chandelier descended from the emerald-glass heavens, casting light over the proud walls and the cold floor below. It took all of his willpower to tear his eyes from the architectural beauty and focus instead on the woman in front of him.

There was nothing significantly off-putting about either of Eris's relatives, nothing evil or snobby or pretentious, which was what Adam had believed all the old pureblood families were like. There was every chance that Mrs. Fawley and her husband were amazing people; if only they weren't so scary. Adam felt a chill run down his spine as he was introduced, wanting to shy away or at least ask Eris not to speak so highly of him. He was afraid to let either of her grandparents down, seconds after meeting them. It seemed that her grandfather was already disappointed, not even able to look at the boy for more than a moment. His wife was more tolerant, even though her words kept Adam on edge. He had forgotten just who he was dealing with.

In truth, Adam Harringtom had never cared much how he had come to be. He didn't know much of his family tree past three generations, and it had never occurred to him to do any research. As a result, he had no idea if he was pureblood, half-blood, or anything in between. The son of two wizards, his direct lineage was all that had ever served him until he had entered Hogwarts School. There, everyone was divided. It wasn't as bad as he had heard it once was, but purebloods and muggleborns still carried their stereotypes, and it was confusing not to know which side he belonged to. He wanted to reassure Eris's grandmother that he wasn't here just for status, that status hadn't crossed his mind once since meeting his friend, but she had left before he could get out a word. It was probably for the best. The Fawleys seemed to have a very specific set of criteria for their progeny's friends.

"Thank you..." he called half-heartedly, trailing off as he realized that it wouldn't matter. After the encounter, his excitement had been tempered with a dose of worry, but he wouldn't allow a fear of his own reputation to darken the light at the end of his summer. Smiling brightly, he turned to Eris, unsure of what plans she might have made. "So, what do you want to do first?"

She turned to him, frowning at her grandparents, before beaming again. What did she want to do first? Oh, there was so much to do! There were the brooms in the garden, the maze, and everything else that had enchanted Eris at first, before she had spent her days inside studying pureblood culture. Nym was nowhere to be found, and walking around seemed to be the best idea on hand at the moment, so the two could talk.

“We should go to my room, so you can drop your bags down and then we can do whatever!”

The main entrance hall fanned out into two sets of stairs, as Eris took Adam’s hand and tugged him towards the left set of stairs. Both stairs lead to a wide room, with adjoining hallways on either side. In the second living room on the second floor, that Eris and Adam currently stood in front of, two emerald green couches stood around a coffee table and a black chair. On the wall, there were pictures of the past Fawleys and their families, with their achievements and houses underneath their names.

Only two weren’t a sickly shade of green. One was the photo of a handsome red haired man, lips drawn back into a smirk, with an impish expression on his face that suggested some kind of wicked plan was already being conducted in his mind. Under the portrait, etched in perfect strokes of cursive, was a name drawn on in blue. “Adonis Fawley, Ravenclaw;..” Unlike the rest of the family portraits, there was no profession listed under his name. Rather, there was a black mass of, what seemed to be paint, where his accomplishments would have gone. The portrait of the man winked at the two children before vanishing away, most likely to visit a more interesting location.

The last and only other member of the family who wasn’t a Slytherin had a portrait near the bottom of the wall. Like the rest of the family, the girl in the picture had fiery red hair, capable of switching colour if she felt like it. Unlike the rest of the family, the picture was of an extremely small child, easily identified as Eris to the two children. Underneath her portrait was the same speech. “Eris Fawley; Gryffindor; Metamorphmagus.” The girl in the picture darted away upon seeing the real Eris coming, but Eris chose to ignore her picture, pointing at the living room.

“This is the first living room, or the parlor for guests. That’s the fancy word for living room! It’s where we have to go when other stuffy purebloods come over and my granddad wants to go sip tea with them and gossip. My room is a few floors up, so if you want to rest here, we can.” Regardless of whatever he said, Eris would wait for Adam to rest after the trip up the stairs for a few moments, before impatiently taking him by the arm again and plowing through the abyss of hallways.

Open doors showed glimpses into a large room full of books and comfortable chairs, a smaller living room that looked far more comfortable, and a large room full of tapestries and strange artefacts. This room was being swept by a wrinkled looking house elf, who grumbled as Eris ran past, shoving Adam up a flight of stairs.

The next floor was full of closed doors, but Eris lead Adam down it, and up another flight of spiraling stairs, before they were in her room. It was red. Unmistakably red, with a large red floral bed, an even larger dresser with red embellishments, a red bookshelf, and gold curtains. The dragons Adam had given Eris for her birthday floated around in the air, blowing jets of fire around in the air. The room had long since been charmed to prevent fire damage, after many close calls with burning books.

The small girl was hardly panting as she took a seat on the bed, which was large enough to hold Adam, Eris, and their whole friend group if they wanted. Beaming at him, Eris let out a laugh. “Normally Nym takes me up the stairs by apparation, but I don’t know where she is.”

Shoving hair out of her face and flopping down on the bed, Eris waved a hand towards the floor, gesturing that Adam could throw his stuff down anywhere. Overwhelmed with excitement to finally be around Adam, she flung herself back up on the bed and sat criss crossed, studying her best friend with a feverance. Oh, she had missed him so much and seeing another child, not covered in rich fabrics and the pretence of forced conversation made Eris more happy than she had been in months.

“There’s a lot to do around here, it’s like a castle. It’s a bit crazy and frightening really, but we can just stay in here if you want. We also have a movie projector, but we can’t let my granddad find out about it. He’ll get mad and take it away, but my gran and dad like to watch movies sometimes when my grandad is off on work trips. It’s all up to you, really!”

If the outside of the Fawley estate was a castle, then the inside was a museum. Evidence of the family's wealth, age, and influence decorated the second-floor sitting room in the form of enchanted portraits that looked down on the kids like they were delivering a criminal sentence. The stories of Eris's ancestors were summarized in small plaques below them, in script so formal that he struggled to read it. Surprisingly, most of the men and women on the wall had been Slytherins; actually, taking a second look, all of them were Slytherins. The only exceptions were Eris herself and a mischievous man from Adam's house. He didn't stick around for very long, leaving behind an empty frame, but the knowing look in his eyes unnerved the younger boy. Not for the first time, he asked himself how someone as nice as Eris could come from such a scary family. He would never tell his best friend this, of course, but he was starting to doubt his decision to spend the night. The Fawleys, both living and dead, were just too intimidating.

He didn't get much of a chance to worry over the impressions of her ancestors before he was being whisked away again, past door after door of fancy parlors, sitting rooms, and whatever else a proper manor was supposed to contain. Relics of all nature were on display in a decorated room that they rushed by, further crediting Adam's museum comparison. If they had time, he'd have to ask about the tapestries and artifacts inside. They seemed too old to be unimportant, and too unimportant to be ignored. He was surprised to catch a glimpse of a house elf before being pulled onto another staircase. It made sense that the Fawleys would have one, probably several, but Adam hadn't ever really considered that they were still actively used. It seemed like an old, outdated practice, like servantship or slavery. He supposed it was different, them not being human and all, but it was weird all the same. He'd try not to think about it too much. Eris's family was entitled to pretty much anything, judging from the size of the place.

Finally, traversing another long corridor of closed doors like something out of a cartoon, Adam was let into a room different than any other. It was deep red in every aspect, a bold statement against Eris's Slytherin family, although she may not have planned as it such. Stopping by the door to take in the new environment, Adam admired the sheer size of the room, almost twice that of his at home. Attention drawn to the toy dragons by the light of their fireballs, he gave them a small wave and carefully stepped around their flight range. Slinging his bag gratefully off of his shoulder, Adam rested it against the wall by the door, making sure it was safely out of the way. The last thing they needed was an injury over something as normal as misplaced luggage.

Taking a seat next to Eris on her bed, he gazed around at the parts of the room he couldn't see from the door and marveled at the difference of it all from the Harringtom's house. They barely had two floors, much less two living rooms, and Adam couldn't dream of having a room as big as this. It was hard to picture every room in this house even being stepped in, much less visited regularly. He didn't know what he'd do in a place like this. He and his brother could have an entire floor each to themselves, and his mom and dad could live in the same building without every having to see each other, probably. When it came down to it, even though the Fawley manor was more impressive by a mile, Adam was sure that he preferred his family home. The way it stayed warm through the winter was nice, and the view he had of the backyard was beautiful almost all year round, whether it was covered in snow or leaves or flowers. Suddenly aware of the fact that he'd been staring at the walls, Adam blushed and shook himself out of his contemplation. Now wasn't the time to go and start missing home. He was twelve, for god's sake -- too old for that now.

Grinning over at Eris, he listened to her talk about the house and its amenities for a minute before it was his turn to answer. "Gosh, I don't know! The movie sounds fun, but if we're being sneaky about it, we should wait until later in the night. Maybe your granddad will fall asleep and we can do a secret screening of something. That would be a cool story to tell." Smiling at the thought of it, a thought crossed his mind and he felt a bit of sadness come over him. "Guess you're not coming over for Christmas this year now that you've got this place, huh? I can't picture the size of the tree you could fit in either one of those living rooms." He would miss spending the week with her again, but last year Eris had had no family to go home to. She'd found them now, and that was better than anything else he could have wanted for her. "I'll make sure to tell you all about what happens at our house. That's not for a long time, though. Hey, do you have anything to eat? I think all the food in my stomach ended up on the sidewalk after we Apparated here." A meal was always a good place to get started, wasn't it? They'd be much better at making plans after they were full. After all, there was still plenty of time in front of them. Adam wasn't planning on wasting a second of it.

Eris was scared of fire, but the fire that jetted out of her small dragons didn’t bother her. Her irrational fear of fire was forgotten when reminded of her friends, especially Adam. Now that Adam was in her room, Eris couldn’t help but beam from ear to ear. Kicking a stray book under her bed, praying she would remember it later, Eris’s feet dangled over the side of her bed, kicking at the carpet. Her bed was low to the ground and wide enough that three people could comfortably lie in it, and low enough that even Eris could kick at the floor without immense trouble. Eris felt a pang of discomfort. Her room was so large and over the top, compared to the Gryffindor common room and Adam’s own home. Oh god, would he think her spoiled? She was still the same Eris, even with all the material possessions.

Pulling herself back up to make room for Adam, Eris tried to ignore the sinking sensation in her stomach at the awe on Adam’s face. She had felt the same awe when first looking up at the imposing castle-like home that she was to live in. Heck, she remembered the strangeness of being greeted by two foreign looking grownups when she got off the Hogwarts express. The moment that everything had really clicked together and the fearful stories of purebloods had registered with her head was when the two offered Eris handshakes before apparating off to a manse. The manor was large and freezing cold, looking as if it was something out of a child’s nightmare. She remembered the awe and fear at the way the house worked, and all the magic, but had never expected to see such awe on another person’s face.

Honestly, Eris had forgotten that living in such splendor wasn’t normal. It wasn’t that she disliked the large house or loved it, but it was what she was used to. All the people she had visited over the summer also resided in large manors, and the sight of her best friend, so ordinary and unchanged, made Eris feel slightly embarrassed by the sheer size and opulence of the family house. Even for a house so beautiful, the secrets and history felt mildly oppressive at moments, and at other times, the secrets of the Fawley manor felt crushing, and all the secrets seemed to culminate in the secretive moving paintings, with their silent frowns and predatorial winks.

Nodding her head at Adam’s words about the movie, Eris smiled again. It felt easier to smile when she was around Adam, and the shadows of the manor seemed to fade away. Everything seemed so much better when her best friend was around. She couldn’t believe they had ever fought, or even considered fighting. Eris was so lucky to have a best friend in her life, and she couldn’t imagine her life without Adam. Grinning easily, she nodded her head, and yawned.

“We could do a secret screening! Have you seen Infinity War, yet? I haven’t, and I haven’t heard anything about it. My grandparents have all these movies though, it’s called on demand. I don’t know if it’s magic or some actual muggle thing, but it’s super cool. My mum didn’t have it when I was a kid.”

She talked easily, acting as if she still wasn’t a kid. The casual mention of her mother was overlooked by Eris, even if an older and wiser child would have stopped to dwell upon the mention of a manic. Eris had lived too much of her life in uncertainty to really understand that it was impolite to talk about her mother after the heinous crimes against pureblood society she had committed in her reckless behavior and actions, and that it was frowned upon to mention someone as evil as Jane Rowle in casual conversation. Adam wasn’t the usual brood of stuck-up purebloods though, so there wasn’t much worry about him gasping and saying blood-traitor in a hushed whisper.

Her smile fell, as Adam mentioned Christmas. Rubbing her hands together and turning to face her best friend fully, Eris shook her head adamantly. In truth, she had imagined going to his house for Christmas again. She had thought it would become a tradition of sorts for her to go the Harringtom Household. Although her new family home was large and spacious, it didn’t feel like a family. It didn’t feel like the type of place one could celebrate Christmas at, and thus, Eris had already secretly hoped that the Harringtoms would take her in. There was a lot of time until Christmas though, wasn’t there?

Shaking her head again, Eris focused her eyes on Adam’s face, turning a shade of red. “I actually hoped I could spend the holidays with you guys again. I know I have a family here and everything, it’s just..” She sighed, hands folding neatly into her lap, as Eris looked down again. “It’s not the type of place I want to spend the holidays at, and I was kind of hoping it could be a tradition to spend the Holidays together?” She offered, strangely quiet and meek for Eris, resitting the urge to burrow into her covers. There were plenty of reasons she wanted to spend the holidays with Adam, and it wasn’t a lie to say that she wanted to spend them with him because of their closeness and the fun year last year. Expect, the main big reason was the school-girl crush that Eris was starting to develop for Adam’s older brother, Dean. Not that she would ever say that! Adam was her best friend, and he came first. Always.

“Food, right! Do you want to go back down to the dining room and eat there, or do you want to eat in here?” She asked, already apprehensive for the long trek down the stairs.

With the majesty of the bedroom adequately appreciated, it was easy to get back to normal conversation. Though he know it sounded super couch-potato of him to say so, Adam couldn't imagine life without movies. Though books were nice, sufficient enough to occupy the mind for an hour or two at a time, movies were so much more immersive. You could see, hear, and practically feel all the details of the production, from the biggest and most fiery explosions to a three-line conversation between two supporting characters. There was so much thought put into every part of nearly every film, and a level of precision that couldn't be conveyed just as well through books -- not in Adam's mind, at least. Even people that preferred to stay away from the silver screen couldn't argue that at the very least, movies gave everyone something easy to talk about.

"Infinity War...isn't that the big Avengers one? With everybody?" It was a hard name not to know, with all the talk of it since the movie's release; his brother had rambled on about it after he'd gone out to see it with a few friends in the spring, and yet the title was still the only thing Adam could tell about it for sure. If he was going to watch it with anyone, it should definitely be Eris, the most dedicated fan that he thought he might ever know. "We should totally watch that together. I want to see Captain America again -- he's the coolest." Eris's description of the on demand feature made him laugh. A concept so simple to the world of Muggles and assimilated wizards sounded all the more high-tech in the words of a pureblood.

A wave of relief washed over him as Eris shyly asked to come back to Nottingham. Adam had been too afraid of her answer to invite her back over himself, especially after seeing the luxury surrounding his best friend. The Gryffindor bravery that had determined her place in Hogwarts made her much more confident than Adam was, and now that she'd gotten the question out into the air, he could answer it happily. "Yes! Of course!" Grinning from ear to ear, Adam tried not to overwhelm her as he thought through every change she'd need to know. "We can do all the stuff we didn't get to do last year! I'm sure Mom would agree right away, she loved having you there last year. Bridgit too -- she's even more like my aunt now. I think she's sticking around for a while." With his father gone, Bridgit had stepped in to help his mother put herself back together, and keep Adam and Dean out of her hair for a while. She was the one that Adam was worried about for Christmas plans, even though she hadn't seemed to mind Eris's presence last year. "My dad's, uh....got plans, and we never really know what my brother's doing until it happens. Oh, I hope your grandparents let you come! Last year was the best year ever!"

Eris didn't seem to think much about the sudden change in topic to dinnertime, rolling with it smoothly and even giving him a choice in location. He had a feeling that the Fawleys' dining room was a true dining room, meant for state lunches, or grand dinner parties, or....or.....breakfast with the Queen. Back in Nottingham, they still had a dining room, of course, but it didn't really live up to its name. Its small table was most commonly used for chess games and puzzles, as meals didn't tend to leave the kitchen. Although the walk back downstairs was daunting, he was getting hungry, and it was better to know as much of the house as possible in case he ever got lost. "You wouldn't mind going back downstairs, would you? I don't want to get your room messy, if we spill anything. Do you think your grandparents would care if we ate in the dining room? It sounds so....fancy." It was good to see that though she had been put in an upscale life, Eris was still the same best friend that he'd met in Madame Malkin's.

Books obviously were something the young Fawley had a lot of. There were many in her bookshelf, most prominently the ones that seemed more obscure. Towers and towers of books about aurors, Harry Potter, and the two wizarding wars. Of course those were the things that interested Eris. She had always been interested in events that were larger than life, and had a penchant for spending her days imagining battles between good and evil. Of course, the disasters of the wizarding world, the events that should be remembered with sadness, were the events that interested her. The events that reminded her that her life was really like a comic book, and that things could be as linear as good and evil. Sometimes Eris found herself wondering if her family was really the evil, as purebloods always seemed to be so awful in the history books she fawned over like candy.

Of course, movies did have their appeal too. Eris hadn’t exactly kept up with marvel, or the other things she loved about the muggle world. Sure, she watched movies with her father and grandmother sometimes, but there wasn’t enough time to do much more. It wasn’t like her grandfather would take her to buy comic books or go see movies in the theaters. Those were pursuits too similar to ones that muggles had. There was no way the Fawley heiress would ever do anything that was similar to muggle interests. She was pure of blood, and was above that. Of course, Eris didn’t think such things. But, slowly the propaganda of her father would imprint on Eris, as it was all she had heard for a whole summer. Yet, the day was not today.

That simple fact was evidenced by the growing smile on Eris’ face, as she nodded. She hadn’t seen the trailers for Infinity War, and she still didn’t know what really happened in it. The only thing she did know was that all her favorites were in it, meaning that Captain America would most certainly make an appearance. Eris beamed when Adam mentioned Captain America, who was by far her favorite superhero of all time. He was so cool and so brave. She wanted to be just like him!

Eris nodded her head in agreement, “Right!? He really is. Do you remember when we watched Avengers and he stood up to that Loki dude? And it was all-” She jumped up and wildly made hand gestures, “Pew-Bang-Crash! And Loki was all shocked because he thought he would totally win! THAT WAS SO COOL!” She happily sat back down on the bed, thinking Adam was laughing out of some kind of inner joy at the idea of watching Infinity War. She didn’t know! Sometimes people laughed when they were happy. Who was Eris to judge her best friend?

She was overjoyed too, glad that Adam would be letting her come home with him. She had been afraid of staying in the gloomy manor over the Holidays, and had really just wanted to celebrate with someone who would make the Holidays feel familiar. It had been hard last year and the year before that. Losing all the traditions of youth and doing things differently had made Eris sad, but now she was hopeful to make traditions with Adam and his family. Spending the Holidays with the Harringtoms was something that made Eris giddy with excitement, as she imagined spending Christmas with the family that she cared so much about. Plus, Dean would be there and he was funny. And maybe Sydney would come! And Adam’s mom was amazing. So was Adam’s dad. Gosh, Eris felt like she was back in her old family home when she saw them together.

There was hope for a future and love whenever she saw the two happy parents together. Smile more muted and content, thinking about the Holidays that were so very far away, Eris suddenly stopped smiling. Raising an eyebrow, Eris ogled Adam. She wasn’t the smartest, but she was able to notice when something was wrong. Adam’s dad had plans, for a holiday that was months away. That seemed like a red flag, to the girl whose father had ran away in the midst of the holiday season. “Your dad’s got plans...for a holiday..that’s months away? Adam, is something wrong?” She questioned, sternly turning to stare at Adam with the air of one who was suspicious. Everything seemed to go wrong in Eris’ world, so it was natural she questioned the integrity of a family that seemed too good to be true.

Eris changed the subject and nodded her head, pushing herself off the bed again. “Of course. They’ll be fine with it. My grandparents are just a little strange when you first meet them, they’ll warm up to you!” She was dreading the trip downstairs, but silently lead Adam down to the guest dining room. It was, like the rest of the house, decorated in hues of green and black. Ominious, even with the fire roaring in the fireplace, there were platters upon platters of food on the table, and a small house-elf with a bow in her ears and glitter on her rags, stood, beaming.

“Nym has prepared food for Miss Eris and her friend. Nym knew Miss Eris would come downstairs to eat! Nym has all the Miss’s favorites.”

All the foods that Eris liked were on the table, including pudding, chicken, and various assortments of other dinner foods. It seemed like too much food to eat in one sitting, but the wrinkled house-elf assured both children that the food would be saved for other meals, and some would be offered to the other three residents of the home. Taking a seat at the wide table, Eris grinned at Adam.

“It’s like a Hogwarts feast, right? Just take whatever you want. I know it’s a bit crazy, but it’s cool isn’t it?” She was suddenly worried that her friend would think her spoiled.

Adam nodded along eagerly as the scene Eris was describing played back in his mind. He didn't remember all too much from the movie, with half a year's worth of new information crowding it out of his head, but as his friend reenacted it the details came quickly back to him. She was right, Loki had it pretty locked down in the moment -- he'd walked outside all confident with his wandless magic and shiny gazelle helmet, telling all of those people to kneel to him. Then Captain America had jumped in with his shield and saved the day. After seeing The Avengers, it made a lot more sense why he was one of Eris's favorites. He was strong, and brave, and just always made the right decisions. He always knew what to do, even when he was stuck seventy years in the future. Adam didn't know just yet what he was going to do with himself after graduation, but Cap was a pretty great role model. Adam even kind of looked like him, if you didn't count the uniform or all the superhero muscles or....okay, maybe they were just both blond. That didn't mean he couldn't get there. Note to self: watch as many Captain America movies as you can find.

Refocusing on Eris as they looked ahead to the holiday season, he felt himself tense up when Eris picked up on the (albeit very sloppy) excuse he'd made for his father. Adam didn't know exactly why it was so important for him to keep his parents' split-up a secret, but it felt like talking about it would be placing an unnecessary burden on his best friend. They'd been there for each other for a year now, ever since they met, and she'd stuck by him in his stupidest moments. She'd reassure him right away that it was no burden, probably yell at him for thinking so, actually, but the thought of it made him so incredibly guilty. He'd already seen what the discovery had done to his mother and his brother, and while the news wouldn't be as hard-hitting for Eris, he just got a bad feeling in his stomach when he considered talking about it. All he wanted was to keep everyone happy; spoiling the very start of their second year like that wouldn't work out for anyone. So when she asked if everything was alright, he tried his best to answer casually.

"Yeah, he's just got something business-related. My mom finally convinced him to leave the Muggle job he got and get back into wizard stuff, so he's gonna look around Diagon Alley for some openings. He said something about supply, demand, I don't know. I think he thinks they'll be desperate around the holidays. I'm glad he's doing it though -- it's weird watching him try to fit into the Muggle world, no matter how much we've started to come together." With a shrug, Adam smiled at her and climbed off of the bed after her. He laughed at her remark about her grandparents, following her out the door and descending down through the mini-palace once more.

They didn't talk much on the way down to the dining room. Adam didn't mind the quiet; he had been drawn in once again by the lavish decorations, impossibly fancy for something as simple as a hallway or a stairwell. The second trip across the house also allowed him time to register the colors proudly displayed across the walls. He hadn't realized that Eris came from such a long, loyal line of Slytherin graduates. It was kind of cool that she'd broken tradition, but he was guessing her family didn't see it the same way. It was a little silly to think that some families were that dedicated to their house heritage, as if the houses really lasted past Hogwarts anyways. Sure, there was house pride and everything -- Adam's dad loved having a son in Gryffindor, and always used to ask about the new professors or the house rankings and Quidditch scores -- but did they really warrant going past friendly competition? They were assigned by an old, dusty hat, after all. Shaking his head, Adam felt another wave of relief that he wasn't from a strict pureblood family. There was too much stuffy tradition in there.

Luckily, it didn't seem to affect Eris at all. Showing him to his seat in the dark dining room, lit by a cool-looking fireplace, it was hard to picture her as stuck-up or...what was the word? Elitist. She even apologized for the incredible expanse of food put out for them, a fact that made Adam laugh. No one ever needed to apologize for too much food, in his opinion. Following her instructions and helping himself to a few of the dinner courses, Adam eyed the desserts and filed away his options for later. He'd have to save room for some of those. It was hard to believe all of this had been prepared just for them, but he'd seen what a host of house elves could do for the entire population of the school, so it made sense that Eris's house-elf would have the same ability. As he brought his full plate over to him, he smiled at Nym and looked up to his friend.

"Are you kidding? This is great! It's just like the Great Hall, except we get to sit together this time. Did you already eat? I feel bad taking all of this stuff in front of you if you're not having anything." Starting in on his food, Adam tried to keep up the conversation between bites. "So, how do you feel about heading back to school? I'm really excited. We'll get to see Rosie again, and Phae and Reid and Max and all of our friends. And we'll get to see all of the new first years!" Adam was overjoyed to be moving up in the school hierarchy, though it would be weird not taking the boats across the lake on his first day back. He was a bit nervous that some of his friendships might have faded over the summer, but with any luck he could pick right back up where he left off. Besides, no matter what happened, he knew he could always count Eris -- and they had an entire night in front of them, never mind the future.