Out of The Shadows (Golden Trio Era) {1}

The Foursome Splits

Christmas echoes through the walls of Hogwarts, everyone seems so joyful and the castle is starting to look the part. No one could wait for the holidays to start, the Weasley twins bewitched snowballs to follow Quirrell around. The only horrible thing that the foursome have to face is preventing frostbite in the dungeons during Potions. Malfoy and his little gang of friends have upped their torment since Slytherin lost to Gryffindor, calling Harry frog face but once he didn't get laughs for it, he's reverted back to family. "I do feel so sorry, for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home." His voice filled with mocked sorrow as he looks at Harry while he's speaking.

"Two peaceful weeks away from Malfoy. I could almost sing." Mikayla skips at the thought as they leave their last potions class before the break, "Please don't." Ron laughs, Mikayla slaps his arm in a playful way, "I'm an amazing singer I'll have you know." Mikayla tells Ron in a matter-of-fact tone as she walks backwards staring at him. She hits something hairy and solid, "Oh, I'm so sorry Hagrid. I didn't see you there." she apologizes immediately once she turned and saw who she bumped into. Hagrid was carrying the biggest tree Mikayla has ever seen. "Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asks as Hagrid seemed to be struggling quite a bit. Hagrid tells the four of them he doesn't need any help when a familiar unwanted voice emerges, "Would you mind moving out of the way? Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose- that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to." Mikayla turns around ready to defend her friends honor but Ron got to Malfoy before she could. He held onto Draco's robes, sear rage painted his face. Draco had a flint of fear in his eyes, Avery, Crabbe and Goyle were ready to pounce when a cool voice echoed through the corridor, "WEASLEY" Snape shouts at the sight of the scene that was about to unravel. Hagrid tried to reason with Snape but everyone knew it was hopeless. Avery, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle walked through the tree smugly scattering needles everywhere. "One of these days, I'll get him." Ron says through his gritted teeth, Harry agrees, saying he hates both Snape and Malfoy, trying to reduce the tension Hagrid invites the foursome to go see the Great Halls décor. Since they had no more classes that day, they agreed excitedly to be the first students to see the Hall.

When they entered the hall, Mikayla held her breath for a slight moment as the beauty of the decorations awed her. "I'm starting to wish that I was staying this Christmas." She groaned as she watched the professors decorate the hall. "We should go to the library because Mikayla and I will have to pack soon." Hermione reminds the foursome, they all agreed to go, "Library now, Christmas break has started." Hagrid argued, they gang were unsure whether or not they should tell Hagrid what they are up to. By a non-verbal agreement they didn't seem the harm in it. Harry told Hagrid they were trying to find out what they could on Nicolas Flamel, which is the truth. They all know the name somehow but can't remember why they know the name, and if they can find out what fluffy is guarding then they'll be able to figure out what Snape is after. Hagrid didn't take the truth too well but was soon defeated as he knew he couldn't stop them if he wanted to because then he'd have to explain how they found out about Nicolas which was just as bad for him as it was them.

Harry was shortly sent out of the library after he wandered over to the restricted section without a reason. The others joined him outside 5 minutes later, informing him they had found nothing, so they all decided to go get lunch.

After lunch, the girls left the boys in the Great Hall before going to their dormitories and packing, "It's going to be so weird being home." Mikayla states as she folds her cloaks, "I bet, especially for you since your sister decided her Slytherin friends are more important to her than you." Hermione says quickly before she could stop herself. "Yeah, but I can just stay in my room, I want to rewrite all my notes so I can truly understand them." Mikayla informs Hermione of her plan, "that sounds like a great idea." Hermione praises Mikayla's plan and considers doing it herself. They take a deep breath, look around the room and make their way down to the Entrance Hall.

The girls leave their trunks with the others in the Entrance Hall before returning to the Great Hall to say goodbye to the boys. "You'll keep looking while we're away, won't you?" Hermione asks, "And send us an owl if you find anything." Mikayla continues, the boys nod, "And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is, it'd be safe to ask them." Ron planned looking between the girls, "Very safe, as they're both dentists." Hermione states, "I'll make sure to play it off as a studious question." Mikayla tells them before looking over at her sister. Mikayla and Hermione hugged the boys goodbye. "We'll see you in January." Mikayla spoke as she hugged Ron, "And don't get in too much trouble without me." She said sternly trying to imitate a motherly figure, "You too missy, I don't want to hear about you kicking your sisters ass over the break." Hermione mocked Mikayla, the four of them laughed before waving goodbye. As Mikayla and Hermione reached the Entrance Hall they collided with the Weasley twins. "Off are we girls?" George asks her eyes flickering between the two girls, "Yep." Hermione spoke before walking away, Mikayla stayed where she was. "You two don't go throwing any parties without me." She spoke seriously, "How could we? It's not a party without you." Fred winked, Mikayla could feel her cheeks pinking at the comment, "Well don't go replacing me, I'll be back in January." Mikayla spoke smoothly trying to hide the fact she was blushing. "No chance." The twins spoke in-sync, Mikayla gave the twins a hug each before running to catch up with Hermione.

When Mikayla and Hermione were seated in their very own compartment, they talked about the events so far in the school year. "It's weird, I feel so much more at home at Hogwarts than I've ever felt at home." Mikayla states looking at the castle in the distance, "Well McGonagall did tell us that our house would be our family." Hermione suggests the reasoning, "And the Sorting Hat told me that my friends will become my family, while my family became old friends." This one sentence trigger a whole conversation about what the Sorting Hat told Mikayla. Mikayla even admitted to Hermione that she never really felt understood by her family, they just saw her as what Avery described her as a loner with a weird obsession with books and a disregard to social status. "Honestly Hermione, I've never admitted that to anyone, not even myself, until now." Hermione felt bad for Mikayla, but also felt a inner victory for being someone Mikayla could open up to. "Sorry, I know this is some heavy stuff. I'm very thankful that we became friends." Mikayla apologized for the subject, the girls shared a hug before switching the topic away from family.

They reached the station a little quicker than what Mikayla had hoped for. Avery walked into the compartment door, "We can at least pretend we like each other for Christmas." Hermione glanced at Mikayla who seemed unaffected by this statement, "Ok." Mikayla responded. The three of them got off of the train, through the wall and towards their parents together. Mikayla followed Hermione to her parents because Hermione wanted to introduce them. "Mum, Dad this is my friend Mikayla." "Nice to meet you, Mr. & Mrs. Granger." Mikayla held out her hand which Mrs. Granger accepted. "We've heard so much about you dear." She smiled, as Mr. Granger shook Mikayla's hand. Mikayla's family joined the group, "Hermione, Mr. & Mrs. Granger these are my parents and sister Avery." Mikayla introduced them, the parents exchanged handshakes and talked amongst themselves for a while. Hermione and Mikayla exchanged hugs goodbye before the two families departed.