The weather had changed once again with the season and Hogwarts now had a fresh layer of snow covering its grounds. The Christmas holidays were upon them and students were wishing their friends who would be staying back at the school goodbye before they headed off to the train to take them home.

Hermione met up with Ron and Harry in the common room before she left reminding them to research Nicholas Flamel while she was away. They promised they would though Hermione had her doubts of how hard they would look but thought it best to keep these thoughts to herself. With a final goodbye to both boys Hermione left the common room and made her way down to the foyer where she met up with the Pack

Rather than staying at the school the pack would be spending their holidays back home in Forks. She took her time to say goodbye to and hug each of them ending with Seth. "Have fun Princess and try not to miss me too much." He told her as he knelt down and hugged her.

Hermione hugged him back as she replied. "I'll do my best, and you try not to go crazy without me around." She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"I'll do my best."

With last wishes of 'Happy Christmas' Hermione wandered off with the crowd of students headed to Hogsmeade station to board the train while the pack worked their way up to Dumbledore's office where they would be using the floo network to get back to the states.

They knocked on the door and upon being invited in entered the headmasters office where he then wished them a good trip and handed Sam the pot of Floo powder.

"The floo network will be open throughout the holidays so you can return whenever you are ready to do so." Dumbledore informed them.

"Thank you Albus." Sam thanked the old wizard as the others started going one by one through the fire place.

Emily went first followed shortly behind by Leah. Then Paul, Embry, Jake, and Seth while Sam stayed behind a few more minutes to talk to Dumbledore.

Seth was happy to be back but his joy was quickly put on the back burner when he came out of the fire place back on the res when it seemed that Embry had failed to move out of the way resulting in Jake knocking into him and the two falling down and that resulting in Seth not seeing them on the floor and tripping over them as he walked out.

Leah, Emily, and Paul simply shook their heads at the three while most of the remaining occupants of the room, consisting of the rest of the pack, their families, and the elders, still seemed to be a bit shocked that they came from the fore place even though they had been warned of this method of travel in advance. The only exception being Quil who had fallen on the floor himself laughing.

Embry quickly pushed Jake and Seth off of him only to tackle the still laughing Quil and the two then started an impromptu wrestling match on the floor. Seth stood up while Jake joined the two boys rolling around.

Seth went to say hello to his mother while Emily chastised the other three and told Embry and Jake to say hello. By the time Sam came through everyone had calmed down and greetings had been passed around.

Once everyone had finally settled and were seated in various places across the room the questions started. Everyone who had remained behind wanted to know all about this magical school.

"So did anything exciting happen?" Seth and Leah's mother questioned.

Embry and Jacob shared a look before smirking at Seth who groaned in response, knowing exactly what they were thinking and wishing they would let him tell everyone about his imprint himself but knowing it was a lost cause.

"Oh I'd say something pretty interesting happened." Jake said vaguely wiggling his eyebrows at Seth who blushed and looked to the floor. The rest of the Hogwarts pack chuckled and waited to see how this would play out.

"Very interesting. Wouldn't you say so Seth?" Embry nudged Seth in the rib as the younger boy gave a grunt.

"What happened?" Sue asked confused at her son's odd behavior.

"Let's just say Seth here is REALLY glad he went to Hogwarts."

Quil looked back and forth from the three boys to the others who were still chuckling and back once again to Seth before it clicked in his head and he started chuckling to himself too.

"Wait to Seth." He said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Brady asked just as confused as most of the people in the room.

Seth, Jake, and Embry all opened their mouths to reply but Quil beat them all to it. "Isn't it obvious? He imprinted."

"Is this true Seth?" Billy questioned. Seth nodded his head a small smile gracing his lips.

"Oh my baby imprinted! You're growing up so fast!" Sue cried as she launched herself at her youngest child and squeezed him tight.

"Relax mom, calm down." Seth said as she loosened her grip on him and he was able to breathe properly again.

"I want to hear all about her."

"Okay, okay mom give me a minute." Seth waited for his mother to sit down and the congratulations from the rest of the room to come to a stop before he spoke.

"Her name is Hermione Granger, she's twelve and she's a first year. She's my best friend. She's a muggle born so she didn't know about magic until she got her letter inviting her to Hogwarts and she says she didn't have any friends before she came to Hogwarts. We were her first friends at the school," Seth paused her and gestured to the others seated around him. "and for a while her only friends but she eventually became best friends with two other boys, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, but that's a story for another time. She's really smart, the smartest in her year actually and she's always in the library but we hang out all the time."

Leah added her own thoughts of the girl in question. "She's the sweetest girl I've ever met and we all adore her." This earned nods of agreement from the others as well.

"She sounds like a lovely girl and I just can't wait to meet her." Sue squealed.

At Seth's exasperated look Billy turned to Sue. "Take it easy there Sue. They only met a few months ago and I doubt she'll be coming here very soon, give it some time." Sue seemed a bit put out for a brief second but regained her composure quickly, realizing the truth to Billy's statement.

"Come on everyone, we can hear all about Hogwarts at the bonfire tonight so everyone go get ready." Old Man Quil ordered.

All those returning from the school went home to drop of their things and change while everyone else headed to the beach to set up. By the time the others got there everything was ready and they all sat around the large fire.

Billy started off by telling the traditional tribal stories before they got into the most anticipated part of the evening. Everyone wanted to know what it was like to be surrounded by magic. They all told different stories.

They started off with the sorting of the first years. They told them about the talking hat and it's song then went on to recall Dumbledore's few words before the feast appeared in front of them, and boy was it a feast! Then the school song and how everyone sang to a different tune, using the Weasley twins' as an example with their funeral ballad.

Then Paul started telling them about what had been dubbed as the 'broom incident' where an owl scared Hermione and she fell off her broom only for Seth to catch her just in time. You could see the concern on their faces as the others heard this story and the stiffening of those involved as they remembered the fear they held for the girl and their worry that she would impact with the ground.

Figuring they should explain what they mentioned about Harry and Ron earlier they told them what they knew of the troll next. How Ron had insulted Hermione causing her to run off to the bathroom where a troll that had somehow, though they still didn't understand just how it got loose, escaped into the dungeons. How Harry and Ron went looking for Hermione and saved her from the troll and Hermione lied to a professor, which they assured them was very out of character, to keep them out of trouble. Finishing up that tale with their concerns but Hermione's insistence that you can't fight a mountain troll together and not become friends. They did admit however that things seemed to be getting better for her socially.

Deciding to get onto happier topics Seth brought up how they found out her when her birthday was and threw her a party. Emily recalled how her eyes lit up and she had never seen her happier than in that moment.

The next story was from Jake. He recounted the time he, Seth, and Hermione pranked the others. While Sam and Emily were out on a walk and everyone else had patrol the three of them were hanging out in the pack's common room and got bored. Thus, the crazy idea that somehow worked was born. They had to work fast before anyone got back but they went to each person's room and Jake and Seth took different pieces of furniture like tables and chairs and held them against various parts of the wall and ceiling while Hermione used a temporary sticking charm to hold them there until she was ready to reverse it later on. They even managed to balance a table, chair, vase, and photo one on top of the other hanging down from the ceiling in Leah's room. When everyone finally returned they were less than amused but after Hermione fixed everything, and gave them an innocent stare, they were able to find the humor in it and laugh about it now.

The last story they told was how they started a tradition of having a monthly game night where they spent the night from straight after dinner to just before Hermione had to get back for curfew playing different games including but not limited to Monopoly, cards, Sorry, Scrabble, and Twister.

The fun went on long into the night before the first people started heading home. Eventually everyone made it back to their own house and their own bed. After all, the holiday was only just beginning.

Christmas Day

Seth woke up bright and early the morning of December 25th. He hopped out of bed and made his way down stairs to the living room where his mother and Leah were just walking out of the kitchen with steaming mugs in their hands.

As Seth met them at the doorway his sister handed him a mug of his own with hot chocolate and marshmallows and the family of three settled themselves around the tree in the middle of the room. Sue knelt in front of the tree and handed out the gifts. Seth and Leah were pleasantly surprised to find that they each had gifts from Hermione and hoped that she like what they had gotten her.

After the gifts were unwrapped and the recipients thanked the givers the three migrated into the kitchen where Sue started making Christmas pancakes and her children set the table. As Sue flipped the pancakes she looked over her shoulder to speak to her children. "So Billy and I were thinking that it would be nice if we all went to visit Charlie today before going over to Sam's house for dinner since he's going to be alone this year without Bella around. What do you say?"

Leah and Seth looked at each other then back at their mother and nodded their confirmation.

"Sounds great mom." Seth told her.

"Yeah that'll be nice." Leah told her mom with a small smile.

"Great Billy and Jake will be here around noon and we'll head over then." Sue smiled as she dished out the pancakes and sat down to eat.

Jake and Billy had arrived just after noon the group of five piled into Sue's van and drove into town.

As they neared the Swan residence Seth, Leah, and Jake all tensed at scrunched their noses in disgust. Sue looked at them through the rear-view mirror. "What wrong?"

"Leach" was Jake's one-word answer.

Everyone tensed up and the three wolves were about to jump out of the car and race off after the scent when Billy stopped them. "Stop!"

They looked at him in shock and confusion. Billy merely pointed to the vehicle parked in front of Charlie's house.

"Isn't that Edward's car?" Seth asked. Jacob confirmed this as Sue parked the car and the five of them got out. Jake helped Billy into his wheelchair and they all strolled up to the door cautiously.

Before they even had the chance to knock on the front door Alice Cullen was pulling it open.

"What are you doing here?" Seth asked bluntly but not unkindly.

Alice stayed silent in the second it took for Edward and Bella to appear behind her. "We came to see Charlie so he wouldn't be alone on Christmas and so he could spend time with Nessie."

"But the last time Charlie saw Renesmee she looked a lot younger than she did when you guys left let alone what she must look like now. How did you explain that?" Jacob asked.

"We told him the truth." Bella said and received wide eyed stares in return.

Edward out a calming hand up, having heard the outraged thoughts that they were not able to yet voice out loud. "Not everything. We told him what was necessary. He didn't want to know anything else."

Sue was the first one to regain her composure. What exactly is necessary?"

"That None of us will age," here Bella gestured to herself, Alice, and Edward "and that for now at least Renesmee will age a lot faster than a normal kid would."

Charlie chose that moment to step into the hall with Renesmee by his side and everyone turned to him as he spoke, all of them having been too focused on the conversation to notice him walking over before. "I know it's supernatural and honestly I really don't want to know anything else. I can see Bella and my granddaughter and that's all that matters." Charlie spoke up in his usual quiet, gruff tone.

Billy and Sue looked at each other and then back to Charlie after they finished their silent conversation. Billy kept his eyes on Charlie as he spoke. "Well then I guess there's something else you should know." Billy turned to Jake and nodded at him. Jake nodded in acknowledgement of what his father wanted him to do. Jake went to pull his shirt off and just got it over his head when Bella started shouting.

"Not here! Go in the woods." And she pointed toward the backyard as Edward covered Renesmee's eyes and Charlies went wide as saucers when he realized what Jacob was about to do. "Jacob what the hell-"

Jacob had already jogged off into the tree line while Billy and Sue calmed Charlie. Through this Leah rolled her eyes at the boy and Seth attempted to hide his laughter. Alice just shook her head in exasperation as she encouraged everyone to move into the backyard where the neighbors wouldn't see anything.

A minute passed after they all gathered at the edge of the tree line until a large russet colored wolf came galloping over to them. Charlie jumped when he saw the horse sized creature. He froze inn shock when the wolf stopped beside Billy's wheelchair and stood calmly by his side.

Nobody said anything, giving Charlie time for what he saw before him to sink in. "Jake?" he asked. The wolf let out a short bark before nodding its head and letting its tongue hang out of its mouth. When Charlie figured out it was him Jacob strolled back into the woods and when he emerged again he was back to normal with his clothes on.

"So you mean to tell me that all those wolf sightings were actually you?" Charlie asked.

"Well, me and the rest of the pack." Jacob answered him.

"Pack?"

Billy answered his old friend now. "Yes, the pack. Jacob, Seth, Leah, and several of the boys from the reservations are La Push's guardians. They protect the tribe." Billy purposely left out that they mainly protect them from vampires.

Carlie now turned to the two Clearwater kids. "You too?" they both nodded. He took a deep breath and looked around at everyone assembled. "And you all knew about all of this?" he asked referring to both the pack's secret and the Cullen's secret. They all nodded their heads.

"Okay. Well let's just keep this all on a need to know basis. But are there any other supernatural things I should be aware of. Alice, Bella, and Edward shook their heads in the negative but Seth put a hand up.

"Actually, there is. You know how some of us have been working at a boarding school?"

Charlie was cautious in his answer. "Yes"

"Well it's actually a magic school for witches and wizards. We're there as extra security staff."

At this point Charlie just nodded his head, considering he just saw his granddaughter who aged far faster than she should have and a boy he has known since he was born just transform into a wolf this was the most normal thing he had heard all day. At least there was no one casting spells in his yard this time.

"Well then," Alice's tinkling voice cut through the tension "why don't we all head back inside then." Charlie agreed and everyone headed inside the house.

When everyone was situated in the living room Billy spoke up once more about the previous topic. "So Charlie, now that you know that the wolves are actually the kids we'd appreciate it if you stopped with the hunting trips looking for them whenever something happens in the woods. It's not them causing any problems and it's a lot of work to cover up their tracks, I'm getting too old for it." Billy sent a raised eyebrow at the three wolves present.

"Uh, yeah Billy, sorry about that." Billy nodded and then they all moved on to happier things.

They handed out presents and opened those that belonged to them. Even Leah couldn't hold back a slight smile at Renesmee's excitement and Charlie was ecstatic.

When all the gifts were unwrapped and all the thanks were said Charlie started a fire and read a book to Renesmee as the others talked amongst themselves.

Seth lost focus on his conversation with Jacob and Edward as he looked over to Renesmee as Charlie read her one of the Christmas books that had been laying around. Seeing how absorbed the little human vampire hybrid was in the story Seth's thoughts drifted off to another little bookworm and a small smile tilted his lips upward.

Edward couldn't help but pick up on some stray thoughts and focused on them now out of curiosity, ignoring Jacob who, after looking between the two of them, realized what was going on and chuckled.

"Well congratulations Seth." Edward said quietly so only the wolves and vampires in the room could hear. Seth blushed a deep red and Jake guffawed at his younger friend's embarrassment catching the attention of everyone else in the room.

Based on Seth's blush Leah, Sue, and Billy assumed what they were talking about. Alice and Bella put the pieces together themselves too.

Bella went to hug Seth as she and Alice congratulated him as well. Throughout this Charlie sat with Renesmee still in his lap, their book forgotten as the two looked at everyone else curiously. "Uh what are you congratulating him for?"

"Seth imprinted." Jake answered him, not that this term made any sense to him.

"And what exactly does that mean?" Charlie asked.

Jake summed up an imprint similarly to how he described it to Bella. "It's something the pack does but it's really rare. You meet someone and it's like gravity moves suddenly. It's not the earth holding you here anymore, she does… You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a friend, or whatever. Seth imprinted on a first-year girl who goes to Hogwarts, Hermione Granger and they quickly became best friends." Jacob made a point to not say anything about any emotions more than friendship or protector. Not that there was anything wrong with it or that Hermione and Seth's relationship was anywhere near that point but it seemed like it may be a bit much for Charlie.

"It's like you have a connection with them. Hermione was having a really hard time when she first came to Hogwarts but Seth was her first friend and made her feel like she belonged. They're practically inseparable now." Leah added as Seth continued to blush.

Taking pity on her son Sue steered the conversation off of Seth and Hermione and the rest of the day went on without a hitch, even if there were a couple of disgusted faces made when a wolf or vampire got too much of a whiff of the other.

When the sun started to set the wolves and elders said their goodbyes and headed home to shower, and get the scent of vampire off of them, before heading over to Sam and Emily's house for dinner with the rest of the pack, elders, and their families.