Stepping off of the elegant passenger car of the Hogwarts Express, Adam turned to make sure that Eris was still following him and set down his bag, excited to be returning home again for winter break. He loved the castle, and he couldn't wait to get back to the new friends he had made, but there was nothing in the world like seeing your family again after a long absence. Besides, he had been able to bring Eris along after all -- he was so glad she had said yes. Nobody should have to spend their holidays with people they didn't like, much less alone. Watching her dismount the train behind him, he smiled and reflected on the day they had met. They'd been through a lot together: buying school robes, stealing some broomsticks, reconnecting with Kaegen and Vortigern, and taking a hectic ride on this very train in Compartment #7. He had learned so much about her; now, she'd be able to learn a little about him, too.

"We should be able to get going as soon as Dean shows up," he called to her. "I hope you don't mind long rides. It's about two hours from King's Cross to Nottingham Station. We'll just be taking a Muggle train. Is that okay?" He was nervous about the first impression he was making, and he hoped that he didn't seem too over-eager. He was sure that Eris would be fine with it, though. She seemed pretty forgiving.

Adam spotted his brother coming from the other end of the train. It was times like these when the Harringtom family's exceptional height came in handy, and as Dean approached, he rolled his eyes and braced himself. Oh boy, here we go.

Dean Harringtom was tall, as Adam had already mentioned -- Adam only came up to about Dean's shoulder -- with sandy brown hair and green eyes. He was a sixth-year at Hogwarts, though he had just turned seventeen, and a proud Gryffindor as well as a dueling enthusiast. Dean seemed friendly and charming on the outside, but Adam could assure you that once you got to know him, he could be arrogant and overwhelmingly competitive. To sum it all up, Dean came across as a perfect person -- a fact that had bothered Adam for years.

One bag slung over his shoulder, joking around and bidding his friends goodbye, Dean caught sight of Adam and made a beeline for where he stood at the edge of the platform. Ruffling Adam's hair (much to his exasperation), Dean laughed and greeted him with a "What's up, man?" Shrugging away from his brother's hold and glaring at him, Adam turned to introduce him to Eris. Unfortunately, Dean noticed her first.

"Who's the girl, Adam?" he asked, amused, looking Eris up and down. Smiling, he stuck out his hand and warmly said, "Hi, I'm Dean."

Adam groaned inwardly. This was going to be a long trip.

Eris skipped along beside Adam, smiling faintly as she remembered their first ride on the Hogwarts Express. That had been a disaster, but a funny one. Vortigen had been a handful on the ride, although Eris had forgiven the salamander after a lot of consideration. It wasn't fun having your robes burned off.
Eris was overjoyed to be spending the Holidays with Adam and his family. She had been dreading the thought of the holidays, not sure if she was going to stay at the castle or go home to a family that hated her, and an absent sister.

Eris couldn't wait to get going, as Adam explained they would need to wait for his brother. Even if Eris knew what he looked like, she wouldn't be able to find him. She was far too short to see anything, but most people's shoulders in the throng and the mist from the train.

When the older Harringtom walked up, and ruffled Adam's hair, Eris had to frown and peer up to see his face. He looked like Adam, but older and more confident. She reeked of confidence, and perhaps even arrogance. It was impossible to tell, as Eris hadn't hear the older boy speak yet. She frowned at the expression on Adam's face, as Dean asked who she was.

Before Adam could explain who Eris was, she butted in, face turning a vibrant shade of red. "The girl can say who she is herself." Eris said, in a cool, calmer voice than she felt. "My name's Eris." She said, studying the older Haringtom than turning to Adam. Did she say something wrong?

Adam discreetly flashed Eris a thumbs-up after her perfect reply to Dean. He had definitely made the right choice in friends. He noticed that she looked nervous, maybe even a bit embarrassed, but hoped his signal had been enough to reassure her that she wasn't doing anything wrong. From next to the two of them, Dean laughed good-naturedly. "I can see the Hat definitely made the right choice," Adam's brother remarked, and Adam realized that Dean had probably already seen Eris before. After all, they were in the same House. "Good to have you here, Eris. You guys ready to go?"

Adam nodded, ready to get out of the cold and back to the Harringtom household in Nottingham. The boys led Eris back to the gateway between Platform 93/4 and the rest of King's Cross, and together the three passed through effortlessly. On the other side, people milled by, unloading luggage, checking tickets, and rushing to board their trains. It was the holiday season, and everyone had somewhere to be. Adam was about to ask Dean exactly where they were going, and maybe give some more background information about his family to Eris, when suddenly a red-haired woman in Muggle clothing approached them. Adam panicked for a moment; had she seen them pass through the barrier? Did she know that they weren't who they appeared to be? He saw his brother's hand tighten on the wand stuffed in his jacket pocket, and hoped it didn't escalate to the point of a memory-wipe. Adam would really hate to have to explain that to his parents -- or to Eris.

Fortunately, the confusion cleared right before the woman reached them. Adam recognized her friendly face, and when she got close enough to ask, "Where on Earth have you two been?" he smiled and replied, "Hi, Bridgit." The woman hugged Adam and Dean in turn, and then turned to face Eris. Bridgit Morrey was of average height, a bit shorter than Adam himself. She spoke with a light Scottish accent and had long, frizzy red hair that she wore down behind her back.

"Morning, dear! You must be the Eris that Adam's told us about. Let's get all of you onto a train, shall we? Your mum will kill you if you're late."

Eris was a bit confused by Dean's reaction to what she had said. She hadn't expected him to be fine with her being snarky to him. Eris's own sister would of yelled at her. Shrugging slightly, blush rapidly fading, Eris followed the two boys through the brick wall. It was just as scary as the first time she had ran her cart through the wall, only this time Eris was holding a much lighter trunk in her hands, as she had only packed her few pairs of muggle clothing. The trunk may of been lighter, but Eris could swear she felt something moving around inside of it. Dismissing it as just her imagination, Eris pushed through the barrier and stood blinking in muggle London.

It hadn't changed since the last time she had seen it. Muggles still ran to and throe, though another red-head was approaching the three of them fast. Did she see them pass through or something? That would not be pleasant to explain they had came out of nowhere. Eris almost reached for her wand, concealed in her pocket, but thought better of it as the woman finally reached them and enveloped the two brothers in hugs. Eris looked on, confusing showing on her face. Was she their mother? she didn't look anything like the two boys, so Eris decided that she must be a nanny of some sort. The woman turned towards Eris and spoke about how Adam had told his family about her. Eris was in still in shock, wondering what Adam had told his family about her. She hoped not anything too impressive. "Hello!" Eris replied brightly, offering the woman a smile of her own. If she had hugged Adam, who Eris trusted implicitly, she couldn't be so bad. Eris didn't waste time worrying about what the woman thought about her. There was something too likable about the red-headed woman to worry.

Adam watched as Bridgit fell back a step to let Eris catch up. He felt a pang of guilt as he realized that he and his brother had forgotten to account for the height difference on the way to the Nottingham train, and as a result Eris must have been struggling to keep up with the boys. Leave it to Bridgit to always be watching, always be observing.

Bridgit Morrey had been his mother's best friends since their first year at Hogwarts, and she remained one of the Harringtom family's closest allies. A bold, commanding presence paired with a fierce sense of both loyalty and humor made her an important person to have around, and the boys had come to see her as an aunt. Now, Adam listened in as she greeted Eris again and began to explain.

"Sorry for the rush, dear, but the train schedule around this time of year is real hit-or-miss. Last year, I heard the boys nearly spent their Christmas at the station. I promise everything'll calm down when we reach Nottingham. But for now, what do you think of the boys? We were surprised to learn we'd be having another guest for the holidays this year. Glad they didn't drive you away on the train."

From his place at the front of their mini-parade, Dean called, "You know, Bridgit, just because you're slow doesn't mean we're deaf!"

Bridgit laughed. "More walkin', less talkin', boy!" Smiling, Adam felt a little embarrassed for himself and for Eris. He hoped she wasn't reconsidering her decision.

Eris smiled gratefully as the older woman stopped to walk in pace with her. She was panting, in her attempts to run after the much taller boys as they hurried through the crowds to get to the Nottingham train. She quietly listened to Bridget talking, a little shocked about the way she talked about the two boys. The mix of affection and teasing in her voice was so new to Eris, that when Bridget asked what Eris thought about the two boys, she was so taken aback, that before she could speak her mind, the older boy--what was his name? Dean?-- had already struck up a conversation with the older red-head.

When they were finished chatting, Eris quietly said, "I spent last Christmas on the streets." She said it thoughtfully, as if it wasn't weird that an eleven year old girl had spent the holidays on the streets. "It was very cold." Eris said, as if an afterthought. The only reason she had said that is because she had said something about the boys almost spent Christmas at the station. She had also spent Christmas in a pretty bad situation, so without thinking Eris had blurted out where she had spent Christmas. She looked at Bridget, wondering if she had said too much, as they kept walking. Eris shrugged, still trying to keep up with the boys, and Bridget. She was still too short though, and her paces weren't nearly as long as any of the others.

Adam sighed as he sank into his seat on the Nottingham-bound train. They had just barely made it to the proper track on time, and the boys had had to convince the operators to wait for Eris and Bridgit to catch up. But here they all were now, safe and sound and on their way to the Harringtom household.

He was happy that Eris and his aunt had been able to talk on the way to the train. He sincerely didn't want her only view of his family to be his brother, but now that Eris had spoken with Bridgit, he was much more at ease. Adam leaned forward on his seat and grinned at Eris, asking, "So, we made it, huh? I promise my parents aren't as all-over-the-place as the three of us. You just happened to get stuck with the three worst members of the Harringtom family. Right, guys?"

Bridgit laughed from her seat and agreed, and Dean shook his head before pulling his wand out of a duffel bag. Dean's wand was made for dueling; it was sturdy, easy to maneuver, and worked fairly quickly. Adam was surprised to see him holding it on the train, but realized that it made sense. After all, Dean had just turned seventeen; Adam wouldn't blame him for wanting to exercise his new power for a bit. Dean whispered a few syllables under his breath and the tip began to glow before Bridgit shot him a warning glance. Annoyed, Dean pocketed the wand again and Adam returned his attention to his guest.

"So, Eris, what do you want to do over break?"

Eris giggled, perched on a seat near the window. They had barely made it to the train in time, and Adam and Dean had to keep the conductor from taking off without the two red-heads that were walking just a bit slower than the extremely tall Haringtoms. Eris had enjoyed talking to Bridget on the run over to the Nottingham train. The older woman seemed extremely nice already, and Eris just liked the way she talked. There was an air of calm around the lady, that helped calm down Eris in the busy station. When the pair had finally joined the two boys in the train.

Sitting down, Eris wordlessly smiled at the three others. "You guys don't seem so bad." If they were the worse of the Haringtom family, Eris was going to really like the rest of the family. Adam was already such an amazing friend. Eris couldn't believe she was on a train, going home with a new magical friend. It seemed like a dream come true, so when Dean pulled out his wand, Eris studied with an extremely interested expression, not really caring that it was against the laws. She was really doing this. In the course of a couple of months Eris had made a magical friend, and was now going to his house.

When Adam asked what they were going to do, Eris's lips pulled back into a grin. "Well, we have a lot of options, don't we?"

Adam felt himself growing excited all over again. He had figured out by now that when he was with his friends, he tended to ramble on. He hoped Eris was used to it, because she was right: they had a lot of options. His house was sure to be bustling with activity over the course of the break. They had Christmas coming up, of course -- oh no, he should probably find out if Eris celebrated Christmas before they got caught up in that situation -- but before that there was plenty to do. His family would be celebrating Dean's seventeenth birthday in a few days, and then there would be all the last minute preparations and gift-buying. Poor Eris; she didn't know what she had gotten herself into with the Harringtom family. At least she had Bridgit to guide her through the craziness. And he was sure that she'd get the hang of it by the third day.

"Heck yeah we do," he responded eagerly. "We can go sledding, maybe have a snowball fight, hang out outside in the snow, play some wizard games -- ooh, I can't wait for you to play games with us! It's so much fun, Eris. We can--"

"You can shut the hell up before I come over there and kill you, huh?" Dean interjected from his seat. Adam trailed off abruptly and glared at his brother, and Bridgit swatted him with a copy of a Muggle newspaper she was reading. He looked at her in surprise, and Adam laughed. Only Dean could make himself the victim here. Returning to whatever he was doing, Dean seemed content with the disruption that he had caused in their conversation, and Adam returned his attention to his guest.

"Sorry about that," he apologized. "Want to go for a walk? We can talk a little more in peace." With these last words, he cast another glare at Dean, but his brother didn't bother looking up -- his only acknowledgement of Adam's retort was a raised middle finger in their direction. Bridgit gasped.

"Dean David Harringtom!" she scolded, continuing to berate him and bringing a slight smile to Adam's face. He winked at Eris and asked, "That walk sounds pretty good now, huh?"

Eris grinned in anticipation, imagining how fun it would be to have snowball fights with her new friends or to play wizarding games. She had heard of wizarding chess, and how the chess pieces moved. Eris had never liked chess before, but maybe, just maybe she would be good at it. Another wizarding game that Eris had heard was fun was gobstones. There was a gobstones club at school although Eris didn't even know if anybody was in the club. She hadn't really wanted to sit with a bunch of kids and play marbles, when there were far more interesting things to do at school, such as flying a broomstick. Maybe Adam had brooms they could fly at his house. That would be extremely entertaining.

Eris raised an eyebrow, staring at Dean. "If you kill Adam, you're cleaning up his body." She said, with an air of indifference, as she studied the older boy. Her look of indifference faded, as she grinned at Adam than at Bridget, who had just hit Dean with a muggle book of some sort. Eris muffled a giggle, before turning back to Adam.

"I guess going for a walk couldn't hurt." Eris said, making a face at Adam's older brother for the fun of it. Something about the whole situation was making Eris feel inclined to come out of her shell. In fact, she was enjoying herself. The whole family seemed so at ease with eachother, and that put Eris at ease as well.