Before you knew it, it was time for Christmas break. The Potters, Weasleys, and Hermione all piled onto the train together, and you all split off into separate compartments after agreeing on a place to meet up with each other after.

Ron had started to say something to you, but before the words even left his mouth, Fred and George had wrapped their hands around your upper arms and dragged you away from the others. You shot them all apologetic glances as the tall twins whisked you away with them to find a different compartment.

You just chuckled, "Boys, Ron was trying to say something!"

"We know," They said together with wide grins.

Sighing, you added, "What if it was something important?" You crossed your arms and looked at them with wide eyes as they stopped in front of an empty compartment.

Wrapping his hands around your wrists and walking into the compartment backwards, George pointed out, "It was probably just to ask you for money for sweets."

"Or worse yet, he might have been asking you to join them in their compartment," Fred laughed as he slid the door shut behind him.

George gave you a sly grin and teased, "We were saving you, love."

Fred propped his legs up on the bench beside him and threw his hands behind his head. George sat down on the other bench and pulled you down into the spot beside him. You gave an exasperated sigh at the twins but couldn't keep the smile off your face.

You leaned into George with your back against his chest while he draped an arm over your waist. He began to play with your hair and murmured, "Fred, you hid our candy, right?"

"Trust me, Georgie, when I tell you that no one is going to find our candy." Fred winked at George, but you immediately widened your eyes, now thinking of some poor first years finding their stash and spending their break puking or changing to odd colors. Fred watched these thoughts pass over your face, and he taunted, "Y/N, stop doubting me so much."

You rolled your eyes and laughed, settling in against George as he began to rub circles into your hand. While the twins were discussing how their latest candies were working on the fellow students, you drifted off to sleep, feeling safe wrapped up in George's arms with your hand in his.

-

"Y/N, love. Wake up. We're at the station," George's gentle voice drew you from your sleep. You slowly stirred in his arms before you carefully blinked up at him. You were still a little groggy from just waking up, so George helped you to your feet and wrapped an arm around your waist to help support your sleepy frame.

You stepped off the train, and you immediately marveled at the white that coated the earth. It was bright, catching every last drop of light and casting it back towards the people. Holiday decorations and Christmas lights covered every inch of the town once they left the station. You shivered slightly at the bitter wind that cut through the air. You wrapped George's scarf tighter around your neck as he tucked you into his side further to shield you from the wind.

The three of you quickly found the others with Molly and Arthur. Molly rushed forward and yanked all three of you into a hug. You weren't sure how Molly managed to pull it off, but you were determined to learn. Molly's hugs were legendary. They felt like throwing a blanket over your shoulders that was fresh from the dryer, and yet, the blanket always smelled of fresh cookies. You clung onto Molly a little after the boys pulled back, not wanting to lose that warm embrace so soon.

You and Molly eventually pulled apart, and Molly gave you a wide grin, declaring, "The others are waiting. Let's go, shall we?"

You grinned at Harry when you caught his eye. He gave you the start of a smile that just barely crinkled his eyes. Harry broke their eye contact to whisper something to Ron not long after.

The group of you arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place not long after, and your and George's hands only separated when you saw Sirius and Thelma's dark hair in the dining room down the corridor. You had released your hold on his hand and sprinted down the hall to greet them both with bone-crushing hugs, dragging them both into your embrace. Both of them froze for a moment before they each wrapped a gentle arm around you. You cheered, "Merry Christmas Eve!"

Lupin leaned against the frame of the door, and you noticed, immediately taking the taller man into a tight hug. He chuckled, "You give quite the hug, Y/N."

George and Fred stepped up to the room with grins. Fred agreed, "Doesn't it feel like a grown man is crushing you?"

You smacked Fred's arm before you snuggled into George's side. George quipped, "Well, I personally love her hugs."

"Of course you do, lover boy," Fred sang teasingly. When George narrowed his eyes at his twin, Fred bolted for the stairs. George darted after him, and their matching laughter rang out through the house.

You looked back towards the adults in the room as Harry joined them. There was a silence in the room as Thelma looked at the place where the twins just were before she whispered to Sirius, "How do you ever tell those two apart?"

Her whispers were not missed by you. You excitedly chirped, "Oh! It's not hard, really! Fred has a rounder face shape while George's is a bit longer. Fred also has a scar in his left eyebrow while George does not. George also has a collection of moles on his neck and his ear that Fred does not have. Does that help?"

Thelma narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side as she murmured, "I'll have to try that at dinner..."

Harry groaned, "It's easy when she's around. Just see who's staring at her like a puppy, and boom, there's George."

Sirius patted him on the shoulder and laughed, "You'll get yourself a girlfriend soon enough, and then you'll understand."

You winked at Sirius in thanks before you waved to the group and bolted for the stairs too. Hearing Hermione and Ginny scream in their bedroom made you giggle and hurry towards their room faster.

Hermione and Ginny were both standing on your bed while they squealed. Your eyes shifted to the ground where they were looking with horror as a large snake was slithering on the ground there. You sucked in a breath at the sight. You had been expecting the twins to be performing some harmless prank, and you now wished your assumptions had been correct.

As the snake began to slither up the bedpost making the girls scream, you made direct eye contact, willing it to stop. The snake turned quickly to look at you before sliding down the bedpost and away from the girls. This allowed Hermione enough time to dive onto her own bed and grab her wand, confidently announcing, "Evanesco."

You took a deep breath when the snake disappeared. You looked up to find Ginny and Hermione staring at you.

"Blimey," You heard someone say behind you.

You turned around to find Ron standing behind you, staring at you with an open mouth and eyebrows in his hairline. You wondered, "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

Hermione raised her chin and sighed, "It looks like being a parselmouth runs in the family."

Fred and George popped up behind Ron at that point. Fred chuckled, "You can talk to snakes? Wicked."

"But I didn't- I didn't even speak. I just stared at it," You looked at the spot where the snake just was with wide eyes as you slowly wrapped your arms around yourself.

Hermione and Ginny made eye contact before Ginny decided, "I'll go get Harry."

You didn't move as you stood there, trying to process this. How could you have spoken without being aware of it? Could you really be a parselmouth too?

George came over to you and rubbed his hands up and down your arms. You were in shock and kept blinking. Did this mean that you and Harry descended from Salazar Slytherin? It couldn't be.

Harry came in a moment later to find the room deathly quiet as they all watched you come to terms with this. Harry trailed, "What's going on? Why do you all look so...uncomfortable?"

You blinked and murmured, "We need to talk, Harry."

The others slowly filed out of the room and pulled the door shut behind them. You sat down on your bed and stared at her brother. You confessed, "I guess I'm a parselmouth too."

"What do you mean?"

You blew air through your lips before you explained everything that had just happened. You finally wondered, "Do you think people will think this means that we are descendants of Salazar Slytherin? Do you think they will believe we're awful because of that?"

Harry tugged you into a hug and sighed, "Hey, I won't let anyone judge you for this, okay? I don't care what anyone else thinks of me, but there's no way anyone can believe that you have a cruel bone in your body. You're a Hufflepuff for Merlin's sake, Y/N! Everyone knows you're good."

You nodded carefully before grumbling, "I wish people would just stop judging us at all. They don't understand."

The door cracked open then, and Sirius and Thelma stumbled into the room, spying the dark-haired twins sitting sullenly. Sirius lowered himself onto the bed across from you and patted the spot beside him to motion for Thelma to take a seat. He gave the two of you a sad smile before he announced, "I reckon now is a good time for a family meeting."

You slowly smiled at that and breathed, "Family?" Tears began to collect in your eyes as you grinned at Thelma and Sirius' gentle smiles. They both nodded at you, which made a couple of the tears trail down your cheeks. You wiped them away and shakily exhaled, "Thank you."

You caught Harry quickly brushing at his eyes too before the four of you held your first family meeting to discuss what had happened.