An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Forty-Three

A/N: Sorry this is late y'all! I'm traveling rn so my schedule and internet access are a little sketchy, and Wattpad doesn't have a way to schedule chapter updates 😭

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Christmas Day itself was still fun and cozy, just on a slightly larger scale. Nat and Clint were still off on official SHIELD business, but otherwise, the whole extended Avengers family had come. We had a nice dinner together and opened presents (including a Weasley sweater for me, which I couldn't have been happier about) before relaxing by the fire again and playing games. I went to bed with a smile on my face, and although I knew the next semester would bring all kinds of new troubles, this break was doing everything possible to prepare me to face them.

With Christmas officially behind us, that left one big holiday left on the calendar before school began again: New Year's Eve.

The annual Stark New Year's Eve party had a big reputation to live up to, and we always managed it. This year would be no different, and my dad and I worked hard in the days leading up to the event to get everything ready. As I got older, I got more and more involved in traditions like these, and I loved it.

Even better, Nat and Clint were expected to be back for New Year's. I'd been seriously missing them, and I wanted to catch up with them and hear about what they might have been working on. There was only so much they could actually tell me without getting in trouble, but I'd take what I could get.

Besides, thinking about them and party preparations had been doing a fantastic job of distracting me from something infinitely more stressful: college decision letters.

In the middle of December, I'd started hearing back from schools I'd applied to. I'd gotten into CalTech, Stanford, ESU, and Purdue. But none of those were schools I actually wanted to go to.

The only school I actually cared about was MIT. Harley was there, my dad had gone there, Peter was planning to go there. It was really the only school I wanted to go to, too. And I hadn't heard back yet about whether or not I'd gotten in.

I'd had enough other things in the magical world to occupy me that I hadn't worried about it too much since I turned in the application in November. Now, however, with Peter, MJ, and Ned all having gotten acceptance letters a few days ago, I really couldn't think of anything else.

Still, I did my best as New Year's Eve approached. I'd talked to my dad about inviting Cedric this year, and he'd given me a quick yes. I think part of it was that he wanted to talk to Cedric more, despite my entire family grilling him last year before the Final Task. But I think the other part of it was that he actually liked Cedric, and didn't mind having him around.

Just under an hour before people were due to arrive for the party, I left the rest of my family to continue decorating and setting everything up as I moved to the side of the room and opened a sling portal. A second later, the smiling face of my boyfriend appeared, and my heart did a little backflip at the sight of him.

We'd both been so busy with such different things this year, it had been getting harder and harder to spend quality time together. Celebrating the New Year together tonight was the perfect way to start fixing that.

"Hello love," he said, giving me a bright smile as he stepped through the portal and into the Tower. He'd never been to New York before, and I couldn't wait to show him home. He wrapped an arm around me and gave me a soft peck on the cheek as I closed the portal behind him. "How are you?"

"I'm great," I said, grinning at him. "Stressed as hell about college decision letters, but happier than ever now that you're here."

He chuckled. "Well, I'm glad I can help get your mind off the college concerns for a bit."