First Year,
Sleep Deprivation

8 December 1972

With just a week until the Christmas break, Dahlia's excitement couldn't be more noticeable. She didn't have any plans in particular, but just being able to see her father for the holidays was good enough. She laid out over fifty Christmas cards, intending to give them to students and teachers throughout the school.

Except for the girls who shared her dorm, she had left the cards in the owlery. Defence Against the Dark Arts was her last class of the day; she rolled her eyes at Barty. He'd fallen asleep partially on Regulus' side of the desk.

"Mr Crouch," Regulus chuckled, nudging him awake, "am I disturbing you?"

"Yes," he yawned, stretching as his back ached from the uncomfortable sleeping position.

"What are we learning about Mr Crouch?"

"Smokescreen Spell, a defensive cloud of smoke great for duelling to hide the caster and prevent their opponent from aiming their spells." The Professor didn't speak, stunned that despite sleeping throughout the class, he still knew the topic of conversation.

"Try and stay awake," the Professor shook his head when Barty put his head back on the desk. "Can anyone else give another example of when this spell may be used?" A Hufflepuff boy raised his hand before her.

"Yes, Mr Fawley,"

"To make an escape unseen,"

"Excellent, 10 points to both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."

Once the class had come to an end, Barty didn't wake up. She slung her bag over her shoulder, chuckling with Regulus, she shook his shoulder. He woke up, happy for the class to be over, he tiredly packed away his books.

"Why are you so tired?" Regulus asked.

"Xeno was awake all night," she smiled, "I'm sure it's the same in your room,"

"No, the girls have an understanding, once someone settles for bed, it's quiet," he turned to Regulus.

"What about you?"

"I don't share my room."

"It's true," Dahlia added "Aimee said Slytherins get their own individual rooms."

"What I wouldn't give to have my own room, maybe Flitwick can arrange something,"

"I'm sure he can, especially if he knows you're falling asleep in your classes," Regulus suggested, knowing that Aimee's brothers had suggested moving to put Amycus' room further away from hers. "Come on, I have an idea,"

Barty and Dahlia followed Regulus through the halls, leading them to the dungeons. The Slytherin Dormitory was the hardest to find in the entire school, as they walked towards a wall, a large snake formed an arch, revealing the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

"What are we doing here?" Barty questioned.

"You'll see," Regulus leaned forward, whispering the password, he led them through the common room to his bedroom. "Welcome to my bedroom,"

"You can decorate as well?" Dahlia questioned.

"Yeah, it's my room for the next seven years, I'm allowed to make it my own,"

"This is great," Barty commented, "but again, what are we doing here?"

"You're sleep deprived, go to sleep for a bit."

"Are you sure?" 

"Yeah, sleep deprivation will take its toll if you don't get rest."

"What are you going to do while I'm sleeping?" Dahlia and Regulus shrugged their shoulders.

"We'll just hang out," Barty agreed, climbing into Regulus' bed, the moment his head hit the pillow and finally having the silence he had wanted. He finally slept soundly. Dahlia smiled at him.

"Thank you," She whispered, "if I wake refreshed and he's exhausted, I feel awful,"

"Everyone deserves a good rest." The snoring had confirmed he was well and truly asleep. They chuckled, "What do you want to do?"

"Why don't we go for a walk? We'll come back to wake him up," Regulus and Dahlia left quietly, closing the door behind them.

Fluffy white snow coated the school grounds, the lake had iced over. They made their way to the lake. Many students didn't want to be out in the cold, but Regulus and Dahlia welcomed it. She loved the cold season more than the summer.

"Could you conjure some skates on my shoes, please?" she asked, he did, watching her take off onto the ice with effortless grace. "You going to join me?"

"I can't skate, I wouldn't know where to start."

"Wearing skates would be a good idea," he conjured his own pair of skates. "Here, I'll help you." She reached for his hand, pulling him onto the ice. "Bend your knees, and whatever you do, don't lean back, it's the fastest way to fall on your behind."

"Okay, now what I'm just stationary, how do I move?"

"Push off one foot and glide with the other," he listened, looking down at his feet, "look at me, you're more likely to fall if you're looking at your feet,"

"This isn't so bad," she smiled, "how are you going backwards?"

"I've been skating since I was a toddler, just push and glide," he gained confidence enough to let go of one of her hands. "You want to try going faster?"

"If you think I can,"

"Yeah, push, push glide, push push glide," She had to guide them in making turns.

They skated until the wind got stronger, making it harder to skate safely. They reached the edge of the lake, tripping onto the snow, they laughed, shaking the snow from their hair. They had left Barty just over 3 hours when they returned, he was still sleeping.

"He can't stay here overnight," Regulus said, she sighed, kneeling beside his head, lightly waking him up.

"Hey, we should get back to our dorm," he stirred, stretching he stood up, bringing her and Regulus in for hug.

"Thanks, I needed this."

15 December 1972

The time to return home was here, Dahlia excitedly pulled her trunk through the halls. Lauren, Pandora and hurried to keep up with her. She arrived at the station quickly boarding the train Regulus found her she hugged him.

"Will you write to me over Christmas?" She asked

"Yeah, I would sit with you and Barty, but I promised Aimee I'd sit with her,"

"Alright, well hopefully I hear from you," he hugged her before she looked for a compartment for them to sit in.

Pandora and Lauren joined her, they were just as excited to go home as she was. Lauren was potentially going home to a niece or nephew, Pandora was going to spend Christmas with her grandparents. Dahlia couldn't wait to see her dad, unable to imagine how he coped being alone for the last three and a half months.

Barty, on the other wasn't as thrilled to go home; he only spoke of wanting to see his mother. He assumed his father would end up working like he usually did. The three girls tried to cheer him up, though it wasn't any use; he believed his Christmas was going to be a boring one.

When the train pulled into the station, she scanned the people for her father. She smiled seeing him waiting for her, she creased her brows at the elf standing beside him. They'd never had a house elf before, she saw her aunt and uncles waiting for her cousins.

"Hey," she turned to the door. Aimee smiled at her, "I'll be at my Grammy's on the 20th," she nodded.

"You'll all write to me, won't you?" Pandora asked.

"Yeah, definitely," Lauren said, "My family might be a bit busy, we tend a bit overboard for the holidays."

"You too, Barty," Pandora told him.

"I will most likely forget,"

"Well, even if you do, Merry Christmas in advance," Lauren told him.

The four Ravenclaws went their separate ways. Lauren and her brother were greeted by their parent. Pandora disappeared in the crowd. She saw no sign of Barty Sr. A short and frail witch greeted Barty, she hugged him tightly she smiled hurrying over to her father, squeezing him tightly.

"I missed you, sweetie," she smiled, her eyes glancing to the elf. "Oh, this is Tari, I won her."

"How do you win an elf?"

"My brother underestimates a lot of things, she's going to live with us," she smiled at the elf.

"Nice to meet Tari, I'm Dahlia," the elf didn't answer only nodded.

"We must return home, Tari, if you will."

The elf took her trunk apprarating presumably, back to their home. They arrived home to the elf waiting for them, the she never spoke a word. She had told him all about her friends and what Amycus had done to her art book.

"He truly is a vile boy, I'm sorry sweetie, I  know how much you loved that book."

"Aimee beat him up," his brows raised.

"I can't say I condone her actions, but right on,"

"Aimee invited me to her grandmother's in a few days, could I go?"

"Do you know her grandmother?"

"Not really, but Aimee will be there,"

"I'll talk to Thomas first, make sure it's alright with her,"

She rested on her bed, hearing the elf shuffling in the hall. She opened her door, watching as she cleaned the artwork. She couldn't imagine the life of this elf in her uncle's home, with Amycus and Alecto having to obey what they asked.

"Tari,"

"Yes, Mistress-

"Please don't call me that, Dahlia, will be just fine," she smiled at the elf "my dad and I aren't like you're previous family, you should rest, my dad wouldn't want you to be tired," she smiled as she turned back to her room, hearing a faint voice.

"Thank you, Miss Dahlia,"