Briar was curled up in a plushy chair in 12 Grimmauld Place's library. According to Sirius, the old off-putting Muggle lineage books had since been cleared away, and the crackling fire in the otherwise silent room felt like a good place for Briar to settle in for sleep that night. She had been offered a bed in the room with Hermione and Ginny, but she felt uncomfortable at the thought. In some ways, she felt like an intruder in this home, but she also felt oddly at ease within its walls.

She woke up early the next morning, long after the flames had died out in the fireplace, and she tugged another quilt over her shivering frame due to the slight chill that had settled into the room. After she had warmed up once more, she was unable to fall back asleep, so she reached down to her bag at her feet and retrieved her sketchpad.

Judging by the darkness still looming out the library's solitary window, Briar assumed it was still very early morning, and she planned to make good use of her time.

After her warm welcome from Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, and Professor Lupin last night, she wanted to do something nice. Or at least attempt to.

As the early hours wore on, Briar sketched out portraits of the three of them. The sun had risen at some point, but the house remained oddly calm and peaceful until she finished her last portrait, her pencil laying in the final touches to make Professor Lupin's hair look more realistic.

She had just tucked the portraits into the pocket of her sweater when the door slowly started to creak open. Two identical sets of eyes peered in, one head resting on top of the other.

Briar heard one of them sigh, "Oh thank God, she's awake."

They pushed the door open the remainder of the way, and Briar stared at them with a raised eyebrow. She cautiously trailed, "Can I help you?"

"Mum sent us to wake you-"

"-it's time for breakfast-"

"-and then we'll open presents."

Briar had opened her mouth to respond when a loud girlish scream interrupted her train of thought. The red-haired twins looked at one another with matching smirks before they sprinted off somewhere and left Briar's door wide open.

She pursed her lips in annoyance before carefully pushing it shut to change into something more appropriate for a meal. She tugged out a sophisticated burgundy dress and a pair of matching heels. She didn't wear such an outfit last night because all of them had just returned from school, but Briar assumed that a Christmas breakfast required some formality. Father would disapprove of what Briar wore to dinner last night, and she knew that this sense of embarrassment was permeating her mind as she carefully ran a brush through her raven-colored hair.

When she finally reached the kitchen where they ate their dinner the night before, she was shocked to see everyone just in their pajamas. A voice in the back of her mind reminded her that father would have a fit if she came to a meal with guests in her pajamas.

Everyone looked up when she lingered in the doorway, but no one said anything for a few beats as they took in her outfit with blinking eyes.

George joked with a wide grin, "Have you got yourself a fancy dinner date, Davies?"

"Yeah, what d'you think we're serving here? Shrimp cocktails?" Fred teased and winked at her.

Briar clenched her teeth and hissed, "I'm, uh, not hungry actually. Sorry." She turned around and darted from the doorway as she heard Mrs. Weasley hiss at her sons for their teasing.

Sirius caught up with her before she made it back to her room and panted, "Briar, wait. They're just joking. You look lovely, sweetheart. Look, I'll go change into a suit, so that we match, alright? You wait right here."

She shook her head and insisted, "No, no, I'll just probably rekindle the fire. I'm a bit chilly and tired. I'm fine."

"Nonsense. I'm making those two change into their dress clothes for their misbehavior," Mrs. Weasley grumbled as she entered the hallway. She tugged Briar back towards the kitchen as the sound of the twins treading up the stairs occupied the otherwise silent journey.

Briar sat between Hermione and Mrs. Weasley at the table. Once she was seated, Hermione complimented, "You look lovely, Briar. I wish I had a dress like that, but mum and dad could never afford it."

The raven-haired girl carefully smiled at her in thanks and murmured, "You can have it if you want. I have dozens more like it that father makes me wear for guests."

Hermione's eyebrows shot to her hairline as she failed to think of a response. Luckily, Sirius and the twins returned a moment later in their dress clothes, and Briar stared at her plate to avoid the twins' eyes. Despite her best efforts to avoid them, they both sauntered over to her and hovered behind her seat. George chirped, "We're sorry, Briar."

"Yeah, we didn't mean to upset you," Fred added with a broad smile and a playful musing of her hair.

"We just aren't used to girls looking so nice for us," George teased with a smirk, but both Mrs. Weasley and Ginny reached up their hands to smack the cheeky twins before Briar had time to even process what they had said.

Starting to find her fire again, Briar bit back, "You wish."

"Speak for yourself," George chuckled as he plopped into his seat.

Fred leaned back in his chair lazily as he retorted, "Yeah, we're as good as it gets, love. I mean, have you seen us?"

Briar piled a few biscuits on her plate as she quipped, "Unfortunately."

Hermione snorted at the jibe and gave Briar a smile with an amused twinkle in her eye. Ginny and Ron weren't even attempting to hide their laughter at Briar's blunt shutdown while Briar noticed Mrs. Weasley had slowly lifted her handkerchief to her mouth to cover up a surprised chuckle.

With a sly smile as if he had come up with something clever, George laughed, "Yeah, you're right. We're unfortunately as good as it gets." His eyebrows lowered as he realized what he said. He murmured, "Wait..."

Fred rolled his eyes and retorted, "It's fine, Georgie. The girl's just got bad taste. I mean, she fancies Longbottom."

Briar's fork clanked into the side of her plate with this comment. She gaped at them and demanded, "Excuse me?"

Fred and George both widened their eyes and stared at their plates, growing very still. Even they had heard about her reputation, and neither of them wanted to experience what happened to Marcus Flint two years ago.

A million responses were twirling around in Briar's mind to berate them for even jokingly mouthing off about Neville, but she didn't want to appear rude since she had invited herself to this home for Christmas. These thoughts reverberated around in her mind, and she realized that she had probably overstayed her welcome anyway.

She pushed back on her chair and ignored the pleas of some of the guests for her to stay. She calmly handed Mrs. Weasley the portraits she had drawn, and then she left the room without a word. She went back to the library and packed up all of her things, hanging the quilts off the back of the chairs as neatly as possible.

As she fled the home, hurrying past Mrs. Weasley and Sirius, her mind rotated around one thought: she missed her shy Gryffindor boy.

———