Alice settled into the small compartment on the Hogwarts Express homeward bound. It was four days till Christmas. Four days until fun and games, joy and happiness, food and drinks. And Alice couldn't wait. She was wearing her normal clothing already; a pair of jeans and her sweatshirt. And in her pocket jingled the few sickles her mother had mailed her for the trip home. For snacks along the way.

Alice pulled her feet up on the seat, and took out her notebook, getting ready to write something new. She had a story idea, but not the mood to write it. She had a drawing that she wanted to draw, but was a terrible artist. So, she settled for some long division. Alice turned her notebook sideways, creating the bracket, and placing a seven, the bracket, then a string of numbers ranging from 1 to 9. It was simple math for her, but it kept her mind going.

With her hair tied back and owl making a racket in it's cage, Lexi headed onto the Express, looking around for Alice and where she could possibly be. Jack had been looking for her earlier, but she had abandoned his search and gone on her own.
But where could Alice possibly be? She looked from car to car, finally finding the little brunette stretched out across the seat.

Lexi pulled open the car door, "What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" She asked, seriously questioning her cousin's sanity. "It that math?" She said, pulling the notebook out of Alice's hands before sitting down opposite her. "This makes no sense. Honestly, you do this kind of thing for fun?"

"Well, yeah, I do. It keeps my brain stimulated, and at the same time allows my thoughts to wander. It relaxes me." Alice explained. Ignatious hopped up on the seat next to Alice, nestling himself into the crook of her legs. She pet him, then looked at her cousin. "It's just long division. It's not like I'm finding the next numbers of pi or anything." She said, putting her pencil down. It was her last pencil from home. She brought five with her to hogwarts and this last shred was the last one. It still worked though.

"So. How are you." She asked with a smile. Alice folded her hands in front of her, and Ignatious stretched out, before closing his eyes slowly. The lazy kitten was finally falling asleep.

Alice still wasn't making any sense to Lexi, so she handed the journal back without any further questions. "I'm doing pretty good I guess. Still wrapped up from my collision with the bar things in my cage, did I tell you about that? Apparently I just kind of slammed into it. Who knows, I certainly don't remember." Lexi said nonchalantly, watching Jet cling upside down in his cage and swing back and forth.

"Oh, Jack was looking for you. Said he was going to hook you and Ted up if he could find both of you. Thought I'd give you a heads up," she explained, waiting for the denial or some sort of outrageous reaction from Alice.

Alice winced as Lexi described her event of hurting herself in her cell during one of her transformations. Alice refrained herself from thinking back and squeezed her eyes shut. No, Alice. Don't think to that. You're fine. You're safe and fine. She opened them, and blushed, about her having to do that every time she was reminded. It bothered her. Still to this day. She'd probably never be the same again.

"Oh, Jack was looking for you. Said he was going to hook you and Ted up if he could find both of you. Thought I'd give you a heads up,"

Alice blushed wildly, burying her face in her notebook. "I don't know what you're talking about." She denied awkwardly. It was only a crush. A deep, amazing crush. On the cutest guy ever.

"Of course you don't," Lexi said, noticing the crazy bright red blush and the way Alice completely just hid behind her notebook. "Alice, everyone knows. And I mean everyone." Including the guy in question, but Lexi didn't need Alice to go all out denial on her.

"Alice and Teddy sitting in a tree... K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" She teased, knowing exactly how to push her cousin's buttons. She made it so easy, she was too vulnerable, but still, Lexi teased her. It was in the cousin job description. That's how it worked.

Alice looked up at Lexi as she told her that everyone knew that she liked Teddy. "I ruined us ever being something though. Completely. It was transfiguration that ruined this. This being him and I." She wiggled her toes a little, which got her a swat from Ignatious.

"Alice and Teddy sitting in a tree... K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

Alice squealed, her face bright red, as she hid behind her notebook again. It was true. Lexi knew every button and how exactly to push it. With a sledge hammer. "Shhh!" She warned. "What if someone hears you?" She blushed.

Lexi laughed, delighted with Alice's total and outright freaking out. "Nobody's going to hear me, and if they do, they'll dismiss it as some stupid first-year problem. Trust me, your not-so-secret is totally safe."

"So, Mark's visiting for the holiday?" She asked excitedly, if he was, that would mean Julie would come too. And Julie was awesome. She just was.

Alices blush finally subdued, as Lexi asked about Mark. "Yeah, he came in last week. Supposedly, Julie's staying with us too." She smiled. "It'll be nice to have them home. Christmas isn't anything without them! And Jane's home. Her boyfriend dumped her." Alice explained.

"She's going to be living at home for the next few weeks. Until she finds somewhere else to live, I guess." She shrugged. Jack was mean anyway. " Alice tilted her head and looked at her cousin. "Getting excited for Christmas?" She asked lex.

"That's so exciting!" She said, "Well, poor Jane. But still, how many boyfriend's has she gone through so far? Really, it's been like a thousand, give or take a few hundred."

"And yes, I love Christmas!" She replied, smiling brightly. "It is literally the best part of the year; the snow, the presents, the family..." Her bright monologue crashed on her last word, her smile flinching. "Well, your family really. I don't know what to do with mine."

Alice smiled at Lexi's gross exaggeration of the number of boyfriends Jane had had. "She's had a few. I will admit." Alice smiled. "A few too many." She joked. Her face became really serious. "Don't- Don't tell her I said that. She'll kill me. Literally." She said.

"Well, your family really. I don't know what to do with mine."

"Aww, Lexi," Alice stood up, and walked over to her best friend, hugging her tightly. "You are family. We all are family, okay?" She rested her head on her cousin's shoulder. "You're always welcome. And you know that."

"Alice, it's just, I just..." Lexi was getting choked up and she felt like she was about to cry. Lexi never cried, except in cases of extreme pain, physical or mental. She ran her sleeve across her eyes, hoping she wouldn't burst into tears like she felt like she was going to.

"My mom hates me!" She cried, "I write her and she never writes back, she didn't even say goodbye to me that day we left for Hogwarts, she hasn't actually talked to me since the... you know..."

As she buried her head into Alice's shoulder, she felt weird. This situation was always the other way around, it was always Alice crying and Lexi being strong. "I don't want to go home, Alice." Lexi admitted, wrapping her arms around her cousin.

Alice felt herself start to tear up. "It's okay Lex, It's going to be okay. You can live with me, and, and well," Alice bursted into tears. "I cry when you cry! You know that!" She wrapped her arms around her cousin, and they both started to sob into each other's shoulder. "We should just get off now. Then we don't need to go home!"

Alice stopped crying, and looked at her friend. "We should go see Miss Yukawa. Together. She helps me out, and she might be able to help you too." Alice brought it up only because she loved the councilor. She was always so nice.

"I'm just going to go straight to your house when we get home," she said, "Your mom will be fine with that. And then when we come back, we can go to the counselor." Lexi said, sniffling and wiping her eyes every few words.

"I just, I don't know how to fix things with my mom, and she's my mom! I shouldn't have to fix it! She should be fixing it!" Lexi said angrily, not as loud as before, but still she was worked up. "Maybe your mom can fix it. She can yell at my mom. That's what sister's do, right?"

"Well, Jame and I yell. And we're sisters. So," Alice took a minute. "When worst comes to worst, Mom'll fix it. She always does. Like, when Colin breaks my stuff, she fixes it." She hugged Lexi again. "Everything is gong to be okay. Alright? Just like it always is. Harry Potter had family issues. But he dealt with them." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Lex, if it means anything to you, you're my Harry Potter. You stand up for me, and you're always nice, and you're awesome. So, yeah." She smiled. "We can do this together."