The Great Hall was aglow with life, students chatting happily whilst the sun streaked in through the tall windows. Lessons had resumed a mere week ago, yet to Esmeralda it felt like she'd been back home for years - back where she felt comfortable.

She strode into the Great Hall, a small smile playing on her face as she sat down at the end of one of the tables. It was quite late in the morning but breakfast hadn't ended yet and the owls were still to arrive. Peering up the table, Esmeralda noticed Dirk sat not too far away, surrounded by a large group of friends all laughing wildly and leaning on each other for support.

That's when she made eye contact with a particular blonde-haired girl. Piper Horix was grinning broadly, demonstrating her dazzling teeth as she rose from her seat and neared Esmeralda.

"Esme! I haven't bumped into you in a while, it's good to see you." Piper sat down opposite the girl, still smiling.

"It's Esmeralda." She corrected as she started to pile pancakes onto her plate.

"And why is that?" Piper asks.

"Why is what?"

"Why go by your full name? Not only is Esme shorter, it's also really nice." Piper added.

Esmeralda pursed her lips, "Fine. Call me whatever you want."

Piper opened her mouth to reply but was abruptly cut off when several first years began shouting as the owls began to swoop into the hall. Esme noticed her family's grey owl swoop into the hall. Unexpectedly, it wasn't headed to her brother with any gifts of sorts. Instead, it fluttered over towards the Ravenclaws and dropped a small letter in Esme's lap.

"Well aren't you going to open it?" Piper leant forward, watching cautiously as Esme simply stared at the letter resting on her legs, not picking it up to open it at first.

"My parents never write to me." Esme mumbled under her breath, picking up the letter and turning it over in her hands.

"What?" Piper frowned.

"Nothing. Doesn't matter." She corrected herself.

Esme delicately pulled at the edges of the envelope, lifting the lid and plucking out the letter that had peaked her interest. Gently, the unfolded the parchment and her eyes fell upon what was written.

"...Well? What does it say?" Piper leant forward across the table, attempting to peer over the top of the parchment to read it upside down.

"Nothing." Esme replied shortly, pocketing the letter and rising from her seat.

Piper frowned and pulled away, "You haven't even eaten breakfast. Where are you going?"

Choosing not to reply, Esme strode with determination out of the Great Hall. She knew exactly where she was headed. The quidditch pitch.

It filled her with incredible anxiety, knowing what her parents had said in the letter. What was even worse was that Esme knew she couldn't change their minds.

She was to be sent to the Black household over the Christmas holidays. There wasn't a doubt in the girl's mind that Regulus knew about this and the pedestal his parents placed him on most likely meant he could persuade them to take back their invitation to Esme.

The more pressing question was why would Walburga Black invite the girl she loathed so much into her home? There must have been some desperately pressing reason for that.

The sun had barely risen and the dew was still deep set into the grass as Esme almost slid across the grounds on her walk down and away from the castle. Unsurprisingly, the quidditch pitch wasn't empty. There was one boy darting about in the sky that she wouldn't expect to be anywhere else at this time.

She held her hands up to shield her eyes and watched from the edge of the pitch as the broom and its rider zipped up and down at incredible speeds. After only a few moments, he appeared to notice Esme stood on the ground and came to a rather slow stop.

"Esme? Sorry, Esmeralda, what do you want?" Regulus asked, coming in to land and kicking at the ground to keep his eyes occupied.

"Read this." She held out the letter to him.

Regulus looked up, pushing his ever-lengthening black hair out of his eyes. His brow was coated in a thin glisten of sweat and he panted, holding one hand on his hip and tucking his broom under the other arm as he reached for the letter.

"What is it?" He asked, glancing up at her.

"From my parents. Did you know about this?" She asked shortly.

The boy sighed before finally unfolding the scrunched up letter and reading over its contents. Esme's parents, Antoinette and Lucas, were apparently travelling abroad on some business. This resulted in them leaving Esme and her brother Ignatius under the care and supervision of Walburga and Orion Black. Why the siblings couldn't stay with other actual relatives was a mystery. Yet the even more perplexing fact was that Walburga had willingly opened her home to them.

"So what? Your brother has stayed at my house before. So have you." Regulus handed back the letter. In truth, he knew exactly what Esme was getting at but simply didn't want to address the issue.

"I'm pretty sure your mother would rather see me six feet under than sat across from her during Christmas dinner." Esme countered, tucking the parchment back into her pocket.

Regulus chuckled lightly, "That may be true."

"Why has she invited me to Christmas at your house? Is there something going on that I don't know about?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

Regulus recognised this look all too well but took a deep breath before replying, "Sucks to be left out, doesn't it?"

Esme opened her mouth in shock at her own words being used against her, "Oh you're on." She scoffed before whipping around and leaving the stunned boy all alone in the middle of the quidditch pitch. Truth was, he wasn't entirely certain what was actually going on.

If Regulus wanted a petty competition, then a petty competition he was going to get. Esme wouldn't simply give in to doing whatever Regulus asked of her simply because he was spoilt and felt entitled. If anything, that simply made the girl more defiant.

Inevitably, this would lead to a very dramatic Christmas holiday and something that would shake the future of both Esme and Regulus for the rest of their lives. The events that were due to unfold would have drastic repercussions that could not yet be comprehended.

"That entitled git." Esme seethed, balling up her hand into a fist and scrunching the letter from her parents as she entered back into the castle.

"Talking about me by any chance?" Dirk popped his head out from around the corner, nearly giving the girl a heart attack.

"Dear god, I would have said no but after making me jump you just might be a git." Esme let out a long breath as she quickly stepped back.

Piper too appeared, standing a little too close for comfort beside Dirk. "So where did you go?" She questioned with a dazzling smile.

"Don't recall it being any of your business." Esme replied coldly.

Piper shrugged, "Keep your secrets then."

"My pleasure."

Dirk looked between the two in confusion as to what exactly their relationship was. They appeared to be forming some sort of unusual friendship or perhaps they were just simply tolerating each other for the sake of him.

"Who were you speaking to then?" Dirk questioned, "Just because Piper mentioned something about a letter."

"I think the same response applies here." Esme answered quickly.

"Guess we all better start heading to class then." Piper suggested, brushing off the topic with ease, "And what lesson do you two have? Important OWL studies?"

Dirk opened his mouth to reply but Esme shot him a dark look before answering herself, "Well what lesson do you have?"

Piper blinked hard and appeared to be processing something in her mind before replying, "I've got Transfiguration. Can't wait to see how much harder NEWT lessons are; I'll have to warn you guys."

"Oh, shame." Esme said, "Dirk and I have Astronomy which is in the other direction. I guess we'll see you later?"

Esme didn't wait for a response before dragging Dirk off in the opposite direction Piper was headed. The boy quietly followed, not entirely sure as to what to make of the situation.

"W-we don't have Astronomy. We don't even take Astronomy as a subject." Dirk pointed out as he continued to pursue Esme.

"Thanks for that, Dirk. For some reason I really did think that was the lesson we had." Esme rolled her eyes with heavy sarcasm before pulling Dirk around a corner and holding him against the wall with one hand whilst she watched for other people walking past.

"Okay, what in Merlin's name is going on?" Dirk asked in exasperation.

Esme finally turned to him, "I need your help. Big time. I need to come up with a plan and I need you."