"I believe that was the last sweater!" Mariana declared as she slammed her trunk shut and clamped down the clips to secure it.

Genevieve rolled her eyes at her sister. "Seriously, Mari, you don't have to pack your entire closet. It's just school."

Mariana eyed her sister curiously. "And what do you plan to wear all year?"

Genevieve gestured to her sweater as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Mariana smiled at her older sister's antics. "Right. I forgot how disgusting you were."

The Gryffindor girl grabbed a pillow and launched it at her sister's head. Mariana just stood there, letting it hit her. "Oh, please! You didn't even try to dodge that!"

Mariana cocked her head. "It's a throw pillow. It wasn't gonna hurt me. Why would I exert my energy trying to get away from something as harmless as that?"

Genevieve groaned in frustration. Mariana and her common sense was so irritating sometimes. "Merlin, I can never win with you."

Mariana chuckled lightly. She walked over to her vanity and searched through the drawers to make sure she had gotten everything. Opening the last one, her eyes landed on letters. Or, more specifically, Dean's letters. The ones she hid in fear of what her father would do if he found out she was talking to a muggle-born. Mariana shivered at the thought.

"Don't let him scare you, Mari. Hell, I'm the family disappointment and the worst he's ever done to me is pretend I'm not there." Genevieve said as she noticed her sisters intent gaze on the letters.

Mariana sighed. Genevieve made it sound so simple. But it wasn't. Not in the slightest. The Ravenclaw would lose everything, including her relationship with her father—one that she had worked restlessly to build. If her mother was dead, she was damn sure gonna try to at least get along with the one parental figure she had left. Even if he wasn't much of an example of a good person.

Mariana grabbed the letters and stuffed them into her trunk. She wasn't an idiot. Her father, if ever suspicious of her activities, wouldn't hesitate to search her room for evidence. Her vanity would be the most obvious place to look. Keeping them close to her was the only way to ensure complete secrecy.

Well, at least to her father. Mariana hoped Dean would officially ask her out soon so they could be dating. However, she was glad that he hadn't already popped the question. She would want something like that to be done in person, especially since he would be her first boyfriend. Mariana smiled giddily at the thought.

Genevieve groaned at the smile on her sisters face and the obvious blush. "It's so annoying how my fourteen-year-old sister has a more interesting love life than me."

Mariana raised a inquisitive brow. "What? Pansy hasn't made any moves?"

Pansy had been visiting their house, oddly, with Draco. She had never done that before. And, what was even more odd, was that she only hung out with Genevieve when she came. Blaise would occasionally tag along but of course, he truly had nothing to come for besides being alongside Draco.

Genevieve smirked. "I never said that. Me and Pansy mess around, but that's all it is. It isn't a real relationship."

"Do you want it to be a real relationship?"

Genevieve laughed loudly at her sister's question. "Oh, hell, no."

Mariana couldn't say she was surprised. Genevieve had never been the type to commit to one person. She was notorious for sleeping around with the students of Hogwarts, no matter their house nor their gender. And, apparently, it didn't matter if they were two years younger either.

"Hm, I guess that's fair," Mariana hummed before dragging her trunk off her bed and letting it hit the ground with a bang. "I'm ready when you are."

Technically, school wasn't back in session just yet. The two girls were going to the Quidditch World Cup with the Weasley's. Octavius knew where they were going, of course, but the only reason he had no issue with their attendance was because he was still under the heavy impression that Mariana was completely playing the Golden Trio. Boy, if only he knew the truth. Mariana shook her head at the fact that she couldn't even have best friends without problems. Truly, her father was beyond unfair.

"Please, I've been ready for two hours." Genevieve drawled as they walked to the fire place and prepared to floo. Mariana looked to her doorway, deciding if she should say farewells to her father or not. After all, she wouldn't be seeing him again until Winter Break.

"He won't even notice we're gone, Mari. Don't give him the time of day." Genevieve murmured, a sad look in her eyes. Behind all that fiery exterior, Genevieve truly was just a broken, hurt girl. For years, she had been neglected and rejected by her own family. She had also lost her mother. Genevieve was tough because she had to be to survive, not because she wanted to be.

Mariana nodded and stopped battling her emotions. She wouldn't say goodbye to him. It would be a pathetic waste of time.

So, without any further hesitation, the two sisters flooed to the Weasley's house.
-
Mariana's first thought when she stepped out of the fireplace and into the Weasley's house was that it smelt wonderful. And, her second, was that it was really small. Well, no, not small. Cozy, she supposed would be a more appropriate word to describe it.

For years, the only house the Ravenclaw had known was the cold, dark hallways of the manor but this, this was a home. The scent of apple pie wafted into her nose, her eyes were overwhelmed by the multitude of color surrounding her, and her ears were filled with the rambunctious laughter and whooping of a family filled with love.

Genevieve immediately walked towards the kitchen, Mariana trailing closely behind her. Molly Weasley was bent over a pie, inspecting it's every aspect.

"It looks absolutely delectable, Molly." At the sound of Genevieve's voice, Molly spun around in surprise.

"Genevieve! Oh, hi, dear!" The Weasley mother ran up to embrace the Gryffindor. Genevieve had visited the Weasley's many times since she was best friend's with Fred and George. Octavius didn't care, of course, he knew she was already a lost cause so it would just be a waste of his time to try to stop her.

When Molly noticed a younger, slightly shorter girl standing behind Genevieve, she beamed. "Oh, you must be Mariana! Ron wasn't lying when he told me you were a beauty!"

Mariana snorted. Ron had always told her that she was too pretty for her own good. The Ravenclaw would usually reply with a teasing tug on his orange hair.

Molly rushed up to Mariana and gave her a great, big hug. The brunette quickly returned the gesture. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Weasley."

Molly waved her hand in the air dismissively. "Oh, you can just call me Molly, dear!"

Mariana smiled, happy that she wasn't into the formalities. It was new to her. Most Pureblood's wanted their last name to be said in conversation, mainly to point out the fact that they were Pureblood.

Suddenly, Mariana felt her hair being pulled.Whipping around, she saw Fred and George standing behind her with mischievous grins on their faces. Mariana's lips turned up at her favorite set of twins.

"Hey, Mari!" They said simultaneously.

Mariana greeted the both of them independently, knowing how bad they hated being referred to together. They were both their own person and many people certainly needed to be reminded of that.

George told her that Ron and Harry were upstairs, doing Merlin knows what. Mariana thanked them and made her way up. And, when she got to the top, she groaned in annoyance.

Those dimwits didn't tell her which room they were in. However, when she heard a loud shout—coming from Ron—she knew exactly where they were. Mariana marched towards the door and knocked only because it would be quite embarrassing to catch them naked or something of the like.

"Come in!" Ron said. The Ravenclaw turned the knob and beamed when she saw their faces.

"Mari!" Ron jumped up and hugged before doing their signature handshake—one they had made last year in Divination. Harry watched the brunette interact with Ron, her her hair bouncing and eyes alight with joy. Merlin, he thought he'd be over her by now.

Finally, she turned to him and waved. Harry gulped nervously and forced out a, "Hey, Mariana."

Mariana shook off the thought of Harry liking her. Since she knew the truth, she hadn't been able to think of him in the same way. She hated it, she really did. He was one of her best friends. Why, why did he have to catch feelings?  Coming back to her senses, Mariana waved meekly and offered him a short smile. The air was definitely thick between them.

Ron, oblivious to it all, began a ramble of how annoyed he was with the twins for stealing his wizards chess set. Of course, they didn't steal it because they wanted to play. They just stole it for the simple fact that it would annoy Ron.

Mariana laughed at his story-telling which involved grand gestures with his hands and a rise in the pitch of his voice. Harry, finally adjusted to being in the same room as Mariana, joined in on the socializing.

The Potter Boy began telling a funny story about the Dursley's. Mariana threw her head back and cackled as he explained how he accidentally trapped Dudley in the snake exhibit.

A smile was plastered to his face as he continued to mock their reactions. Mariana just watched Harry and the excitement on his face. He almost looked...cute. No, he definitely looked cute. Adorable even.  Every time his story reached a particularly funny part, his eyes would light up and through it all, his cheeks were flushed a rosy pink. His glasses, as always, were shifted slightly to the side.

Mariana gulped. She couldn't. She couldn't allow herself to even ponder on the thought of Harry's attractiveness. It was dangerous, seeing as he already thought of her in a way that involved a little more than friendship. However, now that she knew about his feelings, why was she thinking about him in a different light?

Mariana shook her head and zoned back into the story. Ron was talking then, commenting on how many galleons he would pay to have the honor of watching the zoo scene play out. The Ravenclaw could admit that she would be delighted to see it too.

After hours of hanging out--laughing, talking, whispering--the three friends decided it was time for bed. Hermione's arrival was expected in the morning and Mariana could hardly contain her excitement for seeing her best friend. She had much to tell her, including filling her in on the romance between her and Dean.

With the promise of tomorrow's events, Mariana drifted to sleep.