The quiet strains of a young voice humming floated through the air as brown knee-high boots crunched out a harmony in the snow. A light wind picked up and flicked the frozen water in a thousand directions, distracting the voice. A sweater tightened around the owner of the voice. The wind was biting and even though she had been raised in sub-zero temperatures, the past seven years had spoiled her. Every day, she thanked whatever higher spirit listening that she was out of the frozen wasteland that was her birthplace.

Demitria shivered and picked up her pace on the path to Hogsmeade. She was supposed to meet her cousin there. It had been quite a few years since she had seen the “wild one” of the family and truthfully, she was ecstatic. Vasily had been one of only two cousins she had and even then, she had to sneak away with her brothers to visit their Ukrainian relatives. Since Vasily and his sister weren’t purebloods, Taras had always disapproved of any relationship. Still, one had grown. Vasily was closer to Demitria than any of her brothers as he was closer to her age and she cherished that.

The Russian’s bright jade eyes fell upon the edges of the town and she sighed. She had a few gnawing nerves in her stomach, wondering how the years would’ve changed her favorite relative. Their patchy correspondence was nothing compared to seeing one another again. The most important factor, though, was that neither will children anymore. She chewed on her bottom lip. Would they even have anything in common? Would he still even care?

She rolled her eyes at the last one. Of course he cared. He cared enough to owl her, asking her to meet him in Hogsmeade on that lovely Sunday. She sighed again. Her brain needed to stop working overtime. It was thinking too much and living too little.   

"And how's my favourite cousin?"
Vasily beamed widely as he stood behind Demitria, immediately picking her up by the waist and swinging her round in a fleeting second of madness. Laughing, she was the closest relative he had in this lousy country, and he knew that soon enough, he'd be distracting her from Hogwarts. Demitria was like the little sister he never had; instead, Valentina was there, with her manipulative ways and high-pitched, nails-on-a-blackboard voice. Demitria was far better than that.

He'd clocked her a mile off, scraping through the snow quietly near the pub: it was exactly where they had arranged to meet. The Volkovs and the Strelnikov's weren't the closest of families, it had to be said. Vasily's father, Mikhail, had a problem with Taras, similar to most people on his side of the clan. As such, he ultimately lost touch with his sister, and it was rare when Vasily and Valentina got to see Demitria. Despite the parental differences, she'd always been welcome in the Volkov home, and Vasily had even told the gang to keep scarce whilst she was in Kiev. He was fiercely protective of Demitria, even from his own troops.

"How've you been, kid?" he asked, speaking fluent Russian. Despite being a common thug of a wizard, Vasily could speak more languages than most guys his age: English, Ukrainian, Russian, German and Polish. It was quite an achievement, but when trying to keep control of Kiev's underworld, it was good to be multilingual. "I'm sure you heard about my parents sending me over here, huh?" Vasily couldn't help but laugh at the situation: they still hadn't got in real contact with their only son.

He sure must've pissed them off.

A quick, and semi-quiet, yelp exited Demitria's mouth as a voice emerged from behind her. She was in the process of spinning around when a pair of strong hands picked up the pixie girl like a twig and twirled her in the air. She began laughing. All of her anxiety of the moments before had evaporated. Frankly, she barely even remembered what she had been worrying about. They were still simply Vasily and Strellie. They were the last uncomplicated thing in their lives. Nothing could change that.

The wind gusted again and Demitria's hair whipped in her face. She beamed at her cousin.
"I've been great. Well, as great as one can be these days. As for you... That's another story," She winked playfully. "I've heard some interesting information about you recently and none of it good. Oh dear. That is such a suprise." She rolled her eyes, but her smile remained.   

"Are you really that shocked? I'm stuck here till further notice - which could be forever. Mum and dad still aren't talking to me."
Vasily and Strellie began to walk side by side through the snow heading towards the Three Broomsticks where he could scam his younger cousin a free Butterbeer. Sure, she was his favourite cousin (if not relative), but there was no way he was providing Demitria with alcohol - the very substance that fuelled his own aggressive downfall. Strellie was too good to be getting involved in all that gang culture he had - and still missed, back in Kiev.

"You've been great?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "You mean to say you actually enjoy living in this hole?" Vasily laughed, giving Demitria a smile. He still hadn't warmed completely to Hogsmeade. Of course, he was getting used to it, but that didn't mean he appreciated the sleepy Scottish village. "It's nothing like the East here. I hate it."

Vasily sighed, kicking the snow a little. Despite looking more like Valentina, Strellie and Vasily were like two peas in a pod, and he'd been overjoyed when he found out that she was enrolled in Hogwarts. He didn't understand why she wasn't attending Durmstrang (someone had to keep the Volkov name going, right? Even if she was on the other side of the family) but anything was possible with Taras. A name Vasily immediately associated with anger.
"Enough about me though. How's Hogwarts? Made plenty of mates?"

Demitria barely resisted the urge to skip through the snow. She was so happy that she wished she could fly. But unfortunatley, she was earth-bound for the vast majority of her life. Being with Vasily was so much better than being with her brothers. With Jaska, Luca, and Maxim, all three were usually vying for her attention all at the same time or ignoring her all at the same time. Also, they were 5 and 6 years older than her while Vasily was only 3. One part of her also pointed out that she enjoyed feeling smart, which she couldn't do around Luca, who was a certified genious. Of course, that part was pushed down and she felt slightly guilty for thinking it.

"Hogwarts? Oh it's been fine. I like school and the people have been just fine, but of course, being cooped up with eachother practically year round, there is plenty of drama." She looked up at her taller cousin and saw a glint in his eye. He had gone to school with all three of her brothers (at some point), but she was stuck here, further away from Russia and Europe than anyone could ever imagine. It was only obvious that he was wondering why.

"I thought you would've know that Taras was arrested and thrown in Russia's Federal Prison years ago. Seven years ago actually. He was found leaking information to a Mongolian rebel group and we had all of our land stripped. Luckily, we could keep the vast majority of our fortune. My mother and I  have lived in a cottage in Wales ever since. So, I've been going to Hogwarts, not Durmstrang. As for liking it here? Ha. Hogsmeade is just temporary. I really love Wales though, you should go there sometime. The cliffs and forests remind me of the land around Arkhangel'sk. Only not frozen over eleven months of the year."