Ariadne watched with curiosity at the way her dad, uncle and aunt interacted over whatever her dad had mixed. Because they were at her grandparent’s place, Ariadne knew she wouldn’t be allowed to be seen drinking even if her father was alright with it. This would be the last Christmas, and then she would be free to do as she wished.

“I didn’t ask - I…” Ariadne stopped protesting sulkily for the sake it was Christmas and it was never a good idea to argue with her grandfather. He would find a really awkward conversation topic and make her feel inferior and stupid. She rolled over and scooped up the parchment. “17 to me, aunt Andie and Gran and 15 to you, Dad and uncle Ceph.” She reached out and scooped up the empty glass from aunt Andromeda, sniffing at it curiously. “Smells like when you got-” She began, looking up and round to her father who pressed a finger to his lips.

"You are such a lightweight Ceph!”
“You try it then!” Cepheus retaliated, gesturing to the drink his sister had taken off him.
"Ew! Ri that tastes disgusting. Ceph wants to make it to the end of the afternoon. You are evil.” Her face let alone her words suggested it was vile. Cepheus looked back to his older brother and slyly raised his middle finger out of view of their parents like they did as kids and glanced back to Andromeda just as she explained her intentions.
"But I will be fantastic at charades now. Guaranteed.” Laughing, Cepheus reached over and ruffled his sister’s lime green hair before clapping her on the shoulder. Despite her suggestion she would be amazing, their father called a halt to the game, tiring of it, Cepheus presumed. The older they got, the more his father seemed to withdraw from frivolity of any sort.

“Well done ladies, you have it this year.” Cepheus congratulated, unfolding himself from the armchair. “I think I’m going to go and get some fresh air.” Back on his feet he reached a hand down to his sister and niece should they want to get up off the floor, a subtle indication that it might be time to go and seek some other fun in the cold of the back garden away from prying eyes of the older generation.
”I’ll pour you another,” Ri suggested from behind him with a smirk.

In the hallway, Cepheus slipped on his scarf and a thick coat, feeling the cold away from the fireplace. The winter had seen a bit of snow already and the back garden had piles of it still where it hadn’t properly melted. He found his cigarettes in his pocket and led the other two from the hallway, through the kitchen, swiping four clementines from the fruit bowl before they let themselves out. The house elf was nowhere to be seen, presumably preparing their beds or heeding commands from Mortimer or Lyra in the other room.

“Dinner, charades, dad’s cigar, what have we got left? Do you think I’ll have to play for carols?” Cepheus asked, slipping the clementines in pockets either side of his coat while he lit up and wandered the garden path that led away from the back of the house. He turned back, examining his sister and niece. “We’ve managed to avoid any serious arguments, nicely swerved just then Ari, though we’ve perhaps left one behind, what do you reckon Andie?”

"Ri can look after himself." Andromeda said. She used the kitchen windowsill to roll four. "If he does not come out in ten minutes we will drag him to the pub. And take Ariadne with us. Your mum might kill me later. But we can all sleep at your uncle Ceph's." Andromeda's hair was still bright green. She would leave it like that for now. No point using energy to change it until she needed to. She finished rolling and lit one with her wand. It was Christmas. They all needed a bit of chill. "Here." She offered it to Ariadne. "Merry Christmas. Just do not tell your mum and puke in a flower pot if you have to. You having one?" Andromeda asked Ceph. He was already smoking something.

“I think I’m going to go and get some fresh air.” Ariadne seized her uncle’s hand, pulling herself back onto her feet. She stooped to gather the list of annual scores and tucked it back inside the bag beside the fireplace and purposefully elbowed her father as he knocked back some more of his foul smelling drink. He did not make a move, so she shrugged and left him to her grandparents, instead following her aunt and uncle into the hallway. It was a perfect excuse to wear her new bright red coat of course, and she slipped on a navy blue wool hat, rearranging her long wavy hair as she went, last out of the back door.

“Dinner, charades, dad’s cigar, what have we got left? Do you think I’ll have to play for carols?” Her uncle asked, lighting his cigarette. Ariadne shoved her hands in her pockets and danced a little jig across the paving stones outside of the back door, where in summer dinner might be taken at the garden table if she were there to stay.
“I think we might escape the piano this year unless gran insists.” Ariadne grinned, skipping behind her uncle on the path and wrapping her arms around him in his duffle coat from behind to share his warmth.

“We’ve managed to avoid any serious arguments, nicely swerved just then Ari, though we’ve perhaps left one behind, what do you reckon Andie?”
"Ri can look after himself.” Her aunt was busy rolling cigarettes on the kitchen windowsill, a silhouette against the light from it. Ariadne contemplated the bright green hair. She wished she had inherited the metamorphmagus abilities, but sadly it seemed to have gone down from the grandmother to her aunt and not to her father. Still, she wasn’t overly displeased with the way she looked, and she could always use charms and potions.

"If he does not come out in ten minutes we will drag him to the pub. And take Ariadne with us. Your mum might kill me later. But we can all sleep at your uncle Ceph's.”
“What Mum doesn’t know can’t hurt her.” Ariadne declared, letting go of her uncle to approach her aunt instead. It was too cold to stay still. Having an auror for a mother meant Ariadne was very careful about what she said when she was around her. Aunt Andromeda was an auror too, but they had more of a joke when they were together.

”Here. Merry Christmas. Just do not tell your mum and puke in a flower pot if you have to.” Her aunt offered her a lit rolled up cigarette and Ariadne paused, surprised at this action. Years of being told by her father, her aunt and uncle that she was not to start, while they all indulged, along with her grandfather’s occasional cigars and here she was offered one. Cautiously, Ariadne reached out and pinched it between two fingers with trepidation. As she drew it closer she realised her aunt had not given her any cigarette. These smelled like the ones Nick Bevans smoked.

You having one?” Her aunt asked uncle Ceph. He paused a moment, and stubbed out the one he was smoking on the top of an ornamental stone statue of a house elf.
”I’ll share with Ari.”
“This is gillyweed, right?” Ariadne asked, cheeks blushing. She’d never felt comfortable asking her friends, despite her outgoing nature. Every time she thought about it, her conscience in the form of her mother had come down on her and she chickened out. “I just…?”

A moment later, she was heeding her aunt’s advice about the flowerpot, uncle Ceph rescuing it just in time so she could hold her wool hat in place as she hurled. How on earth did Nick smoke so much of that stuff?!
“I thought it was meant to be nice!” Ariadne protested, still bent over.

“This is gillyweed, right?” Ceph smiled to himself. With his two siblings, there had been many moments just like this, stealing out to the end of the garden to climb a tree and try not to fall out of it. The old house elf had always dobbed them in eventually. As their niece, Ariadne had seen much of the world with her father, Cepheus knew, but she had inherited the good sense of her mother. Ariadne didn’t fear asking him or Andromeda questions about life, like two mentors. Their age gap meant it was easier to relate, he figured, and they’d always been close. Ceph had learned how to change nappies and mind a baby because of Ariadne’s arrival.

“I just…?” He nodded, and watched Ariadne tentatively try, deep in concentration over it. It took a moment and then she bolted for the nearest flower pot, her arm thrust out away from herself. Cepheus chuckled in the dark and trotted forwards a few paces to relieve her of it.
“Never mind,” he told her gently, taking a draw before patting her bent back.
“I thought it was meant to be nice!” Ceph glanced over to his sister, amused.
“It can be. But it’s fine, you don’t need to like it.” He inhaled again and shrugged, frowning when he plucked it from his lips. “Gods, what did you buy?” He asked Andromeda, “It’s not exactly weak. Is this something you confiscated?!”

"Is it?" Andromeda asked. She shrugged her shoulders. "Good for you Ariadne. Better to not like it." Andromeda blew out smoke. "We will not tell your dad. He will only want some." Andromeda looked at her brother. "Nobody misses a pinch of gillyweed when you confiscate non-tradeable goods too." She winked at him. "It is Christmas. Come on. Do not tell me you would not do the same." Andromeda put her arm around Ariadne. "Have you had a good Christmas?"

Ariadne finished coughing and wiped her face, nodding at her uncle’s advice that she didn’t have to like it. She was sure he was just being nice. Everyone in her year at Hogwarts seemed to rave about smoking gillyweed and indulge in it, and she’d always been too cautious. It wasn’t a lack of adventure, more a caution and the notion that her mother would somehow find out. This year it was more obvious to her that she had to keep her head for the final term or so and pass with some decent NEWTs. Her mother had become pregnant with Ariadne a matter of months difference in age to what she was now. It had been preying on her thoughts.

Disconnected with the conversation of her aunt and uncle a moment, Ariadne snapped back to attention, eyes sweeping from her uncle with the gillyweed between his fingers, frowning to her aunt with lime green hair nonchalantly shrugging at the strength and where she’d obtained it from.
”We will not tell your Dad, he will only want some.” Her aunt suggested and put her arm around Ariadne, asking if she’d had a good Christmas.

“Same as ever, really,” Ariadne admitted, “I always enjoy Christmas with Dad and you guys. Even if I have to navigate conversation with Grandma and Gramps.” She wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes in the dark. “Go on, give us another go.” She reached for her aunt’s rolled cigarette, but handed it back a moment later coughing and shaking her head. “Eugh! No, ok, that’s not,” she thumped her chest, “not my thing. Thanks though. Don’t tell Dad, and especially not Mum.”

"Nobody misses a pinch of gillyweed when you confiscate non-tradeable goods too. It is Christmas. Come on. Do not tell me you would not do the same.”

“Hrm…” Ceph replied, unconvinced. There had been the odd night smoking it on the steps of his flat with his sister, commenting on the state of the London sky. “Not exactly the best- ahh.”

Cepheus shut up, realising Andromeda’s potential ploy, to put Ariadne off it. Their niece was well meaning and they were meant to be good role models to her. Here was his sister’s attempt to both allow Ariadne to try and be a responsible role model. Though, here they were both smoking it. It wasn’t actually the end of the world to smoke it, but if Nadine heard she’d find some reason to pry Ariadne away from the Gamp side of the family which she clung onto tightly. It was a blessing Ariadne was of age and was about to make her own life in the world, but also a rather scary notion. Cepheus had been at Hogwarts when Ariadne had been born and now she was about to leave it. He felt very old!

“Your secret’s safe.” Ceph assured his niece and pressed his lips together. His hands dug into his dufflecoat pockets and withdrew the four clementines, tossing them into the air before settling into juggling them. “Who knows what we’ll do next Christmas - you’ll all be grown up. I suppose we’ll all still be here, saying that. Only some time we’ll bring our partners.” He glanced to his sister, “Resolution for 2011?”

Andromeda was happy Ariadne had a good Christmas. Andromeda's parents were interested to know what Ariadne would do after her exams. Ariadne did not seem very sure. She let Ariadne try to smoke again but she did not like it. Cepheus juggled clementines. Andromeda watched him and smiled. He was good at juggling. He asked Andromeda if her new year resolution was to find a partner.
"Pff no." Andromeda said. She shook her head. Her hair was still green. "I am having fun without someone to tie me down." She smoked and thought about it. "I do not have time for someone right now. What about you? Find a man? Ari is there someone at school you like?"

"Ari is there someone at school you like?”
“No, nobody likes me like that.” Ariadne replied quickly. “Tie me down and all,” she continued, doing a vague impression of her aunt’s nonchalance a moment before. Despite it, there was a little slump to her shoulders and she looked up to watch her uncle juggle clementines in the dark lit by the kitchen window and the garden lamp. “I want to just survive my exams.” Ariadne protested and pulled at her navy blue woolly hat, dragging it down over her eyes with both hands. “Whyyyyyy am I not clever like you two!”

She plucked her hat clean off and jogged on the spot to keep warm. “Every subject is piling on the homework. I’ve got like seven essays to do over the Christmas holidays and three tests the first week I go back. My herbology project will be wilting by the time I get back. Perhaps I should run away before I do my exams and not bother. Might be easier!”

Cepheus caught the clementines one after the other and tossed one directly at Ariadne as she looked up again from her rant.
“And waste almost two years of work?” He retorted, “You’ll regret it, and your mum will never let you live it down. I can hear Nadine now, can’t you?” He asked Andromeda, “’I was pregnant with you and I still got my NEWTs, Ariadne!’ And she’ll blame your Dad.” He inhaled the gillyweed deeply with a sigh.

However much Ceph and Nadine got on, and however much Ceph had felt terrible for her that Orion had cheated on her which ended their marriage, she could wear down his patience when it came to squabbles over parenting. Cepheus loved Ariadne dearly and looked out for her without question for his brother. Ariadne was a wilder spirit like Orion and Nadine had always been controlling. It only reminded him of the battles between his father and Orion when they had been teenagers. A small part of him was rather glad Ariadne didn’t think anyone liked her ‘like that’ considering the age her parents had been when she was conceived.

“I know it’s boring and hard, but you really do have to knuckle down. A good set of NEWTs means you can pretty much do what you like. People will give you interviews for jobs based on seeing them. I know because I’ve shortlisted candidates on it myself.” He tore the skin off a clementine and swapped the roll-up for several sections of it, banishing the horrible taste of whatever Ri had mixed him at the end of the game.

“I think I’ve still got my NEWT notes upstairs you know.” His parents’ house elf had left a box of this things to go through in his old room. Ceph had found it on dropping off his bag there on arrival - he would be staying until Boxing Day morning at least. “Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy if they’re all there. Didn’t do Defence or Herbology, you’re on your own there unless Andie still has copies of hers.”

"You are clever." Andromeda said. "Different clever." Ariadne had her whole life ahead of her. She should do something different. Not the Ministry. Too many Gamps worked in the Ministry. "You will regret it." Andromeda agreed. She let Cepheus talk to Ariadne. He was more sensible. "Ew. That is a good impression. Cepheus is right. You should finish what you start." Andromeda exhaled smoke. It drifted up in a bird shape. "Only if Mum kept them." Andie shook her head. "I think I burned them in celebration of passing training." She shrugged her shoulders. "You will do better than you think. The Professors get you worried on purpose." Andromeda coughed. "Let us stop thinking about school and work. And about being single. It is Christmas Day." Andromeda lowered her voice. "Let us decide how best to escape our parents."