𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲

twelve.

12. I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
...UNFORTUNATELY

SNOW COVERED THE grounds at Hogwarts and it distracted the students from the cold air of December. Those going home for the holidays left this Friday, the 22nd and would return Monday, January 8th. The de Oros were among those students, and Thea was absolutely dreading it. She was excited to see her father, just not about having to face Teo. She didn't know if she and Tommy could keep hot-headed Tobi calm for the entire break. Things were bound to get chaotic in the de Oro-Barreno household.

Thea let out a quiet sigh at the thought of having to keep her brothers from killing each other over the holidays, some break it was going to be. Her train of thought disappeared when Fred and George walked up from behind her, each linking arms with her on either side.

"Afternoon, Sunshine." George greeted and Thea smiled at both of them. She had become very fond of the twins during these first few months at Hogwarts. They had several classes together and were always trying to make her laugh. They had a certain connection, she would call them brothers if she didn't already have three of them.

They were her brothers. Fred and George cared for her massively and weren't afraid to show it either. Whenever Teo even attempted to look Thea's way, the twins were there to send the Slytherin a death glare and push Thea behind them in protection. She appreciated it, but they didn't need to protect her from her brother.

"Good afternoon, boys," Thea smiled back, noticing the smirks on their faces. "What are you two up to? A bunch of us were planning on heading out to the courtyard before dinner to mess around in the snow again."

"We will be there," Fred promised. "But now, do you wanna to know something a little more interesting?"

Thea gave him a look, and Fred smiled, "We have a prank planned."

"Of course." Thea sighed, but couldn't help the smile rising up to her face. That was another thing the twins absolutely excelled at: Pranks, and they were always dragging Thea into them whenever they could. Lee often joined them as well. "So, what's the plan?"

"I'm so glad you asked, Sunny," George smirked. "This is something we will have to do after hours, but we're going to need to be particularly sneaky for this one. We have to know where all the professors are at all times."

"And how on Earth do you plan to do that?"  Thea questioned.

"No, no, how we plan to do that." Fred corrected. "And it's rather simple. We were talking to some sixth years, and there's rumor in Gryffindor house that some graduates like 100 years ago enchanted a map that tell you the location of everyone and everything."

"Really?" Thea looked at the twins. "And how do you know these sixth years didn't just make this up to mess with two gullible first years?"

Fred and George rolled their eyes and George replied, "Because we asked Percy and he said that it was just a fairytale."