It was only the first of December and already the Great Hall was in the midst of being decorated for Christmas.

The hall was lit with thousands of candles floating midair, and above them, the ceiling's enchantment showed a dark red sunset as the night was setting in.

It was still a couple of hours until dinner, and Professor Flitwick and Mcgonagall were hurrying to decorate all twelve of the Christmas trees which lined the walls of the room.

"Can I have one of these?" Piper pointed to the small pile of chocolates frogs that had accumulated on the table they were sat at.

"Woah! If she gets one can I have one too?" Ignatius exclaimed sharply, already reaching across the table to take a packet.

Esme sighed, "Yeah, whatever."

"Why are you being all mopey?" Levi asked, from where he sat on top of the table with his feet resting on the bench Esme sat on.

"I'm not." She replied shortly.

"We pale in comparison to Reg's company." Piper mused with a giggle as she turned over the collectible card in her hand to read the back of it.

"Shush." Esme responded.

"So much for a happy birthday, huh?" Ignatius mumbled whilst his mouth was full of chocolate.

It was Esmerelda's birthday. Her seventeenth, to be exact.

She had never particularly been one for birthdays. To say she hated them would be a step too far - Esme just found them somewhat pointless.

Her parents had never placed great emphasis on large birthday celebrations and, despite the fact that she was very vocal and argumentative, Esme didn't like to be the centre of attention.

Regulus Black and Dirk Cresswell were returning from their time prefecting that afternoon when, unusually, a conversation struck up.

The two of them weren't exactly friends.

Dirk didn't like or trust the Slytherin boy, and Regulus knew that so he compensated by keeping his distance.

However, this was proving harder now they were essentially part of the same friendship group.

"Did you get Esme a birthday present?" Regulus asked, somewhat sheepishly and completely aware that he might be making a fool of himself.

They were walking down the empty corridor together and it felt as though Regulus' question had shattered the icy atmosphere.

Dirk looked down at the floor, "Yes. Why?"

Regulus hadn't quite planned on the conversation going so long.

"Right." He replied, "What did you get?"

"Some sugar quills. The girl is impossible to buy for." Dirk shook his head.

"Oh." Regulus hummed, digging his hands deep into his pockets.

Frowning, Dirk turned to the boy, "What?"

"Nothing."

"Something's wrong. What?"

"Nothing, really."

Finally, Dirk came to a standstill and this caused Regulus to stop walking and turn to face him.

"What is it?" Dirk asked.

Regulus pursed his lips, knowing full well this might only make Dirk dislike him more. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes." Dirk replied.

"Esme doesn't like sugar quills - too sweet."

Dirk groaned, holding his head in his hands, "Are you joking?"

"No."

"Merlin! She's impossible." He complained.

"I know." Regulus chuckled with a small smile.

Sometimes Dirk would get irritated by the fact that Regulus was just accepted with open arms wherever he went - nobody questioned where his loyalties lay.

Then, there was also a small part of him, buried deep, that was thankful for Regulus. The Slytherin boy had this calmness about him that allowed him to easily make people feel better. Dirk appreciated that Regulus made Piper laugh, and he always had Esme's back.

"Black... I've been meaning to mention this for a while..." Dirk began slowly, figuring it was perhaps time for him to come clean.

"Yes?" Regulus inquired as they resumed walking down the corridor.

He took a deep breath before stating, "Do you have something against muggle borns? Like me?"

"Oh." Regulus coughed, feeling very much out on the spot. He had not at all been expecting such a confrontation. "No. Not generally. I-er... I'm not a fan of You Know Who, if that's what you're getting at."

"Why not?"

Dirk knew it was a bit of an odd question, but he also knew that Regulus was friends with all of the pureblood fanatics in Slytherin, who made life at Hogwarts hell for its muggle born students.

"Um, well, because I don't agree with what he stands for. No matter how much you hate or fear someone, it never warrants causing actual harm or murder. Besides, muggle borns can exhibit magic just like purebloods- so they have just as much of a right to our world." Regulus shrugged, still a little uncomfortable with the conversation topic.

Dirk sighed, "Did you used to hate muggle borns?"

"Hate is a strong word. I definitely used to be apprehensive. There's always the possibility of another witch hunt if the wrong muggle finds out. That made me want to avoid muggles and muggle borns for a long time. There's always the possibility of transfiguring them into snails if they threaten our safety though, so I'm not too worried anymore."

There had been some small part of Dirk that wanted Regulus to crucify the inclusion of muggle borns, so at least there'd be a good reason to hate the boy.

But that hadn't happened.

"Glad to hear it." Dirk begrudgingly accepted as they finally rounded the corner to see the wide open doors into the Great Hall.

As they entered, a faint trace of a smile was playing across Regulus' lips at the prospect that Dirk Cresswell might like him a little more now. He was almost excited to tell Esme; it would be good news to her.

"Well look who it is!" Piper grinned broadly, standing up as the two boys neared the group.

"Welcome to the greatest party to ever take place." Esme grumbled, not looking up.

Piper wafted her hands to silence the other girl, "Ignore her - she's in a mood today."

"When isn't Avery in a mood?" Dirk chuckled lightly as he placed his present to her down on the table in front of Esme.

"Hilarious." Esme retorted.

"Does this mean we can have cake now?" Ignatius asked.

"Oh please! I love cake." Piper beamed.

"I like her." Ignatius nodded towards Piper.

Esme groaned, "You like any girl that doesn't scream when you come near."

"Yes, well, happy birthday." Regulus shook his head with a smile, sitting down beside Esme and momentarily placing a hand on her arm.

Piper's eyes widened dramatically as she watched this - although nobody else seemed to have noticed what she'd just observed.

To say she was a little over invested in Esme and Regulus' relationship would have been an understatement. And a couple weeks ago, Esme had let slip that they were finally on official relationship terms and labels. However, Piper had never witnessed any actually displays of affection between them.

At this point, just one of them tapping the other on the shoulder was enough to make the blonde girl swoon.

"How was patrolling the corridors being the most boring people ever?" Esme asked Regulus with a smirk, "Super fun?"

He laughed, "You know me - always living life on the edge."

"I only wish I could be as reckless and carefree as you, Black." Esme finally grinned. She looked up at him and, for a moment, nearly started to lean in before remembering where she was.

"Please!" Ignatius scoffed, "Black's idea of reckless is leaving the lid off a pot of ink."

"That's just blatantly stupid." Regulus pointed out, earning a burst of laughter from everyone around him.

Piper asked, "Have you ever skipped a detention? Or gone out after curfew?"

"I'm not a psycho. Who does that?" Regulus laughed, then, slowly stopped when he noticed everyone was staring at him with blank faces.

"You've never gone out at night?"

"What a wasted youth."

"You're worse the Professor Binns!"

"Glad to see I'm yet again the butt of the joke." Regulus sighed.

Levi interrupted the mockery, "Alright then, what did you get Avery?"

"Would you like to guess?"

Levi's eyes furrowed in concentration as he thought for a moment, "Well... You don't seem to have a wrapped present with you. Did you not get anything?"

Regulus scoffed, "Of course I got something. I'm not an idiot."

"Well what is it then?" Piper asked.

Ignatius rubbed his temples, "I can't be doing with your stupid riddles, Black."

"Alright." He held up his hands, "It is good." He looked at Esme.

She raised an eyebrow and replied, "Prove it."

Regulus leant in, to whisper in Esme's ear, "I've got Peeves the poltergeist to haunt Ignatius for the week."

"Oh you beautiful, evil genius." Esme grin grew, lighting up her eyes as she brimmed with excitement and elation.

"What is it?"

"What did he say?"

Esme could barely hold herself back to laughing or shrieking with joy, "I'll tell you next week!"

She looked around at her friends, as they sighed at not being privy to the secret. As they began talking and laughing amongst themselves, Esme thought perhaps their group was the most bizarre mixture of people.

It was proving to be a struggle to balance her real friends with the group of Slytherin boys she had to appease - but she knew who her real friends were.

Nevertheless, Esme's friends were all brilliant in their own way, no matter how unusual the mix.