A/N: Hey, guys. No excuses for how long I've been gone. One of my New Year's resolutions is to be better about uploading. To make up for it a little, here's the longest chapter yet. Without further ado, here is Chapter 5. Glee does not belong to me, still.

Chapter Five

The students followed Dumbledore down to the Great Hall solemnly. They were all at sort of a loss of what to do, vulnerable in the wake of the attack on the thing that let them sleep safely at night.

The few students that were still lingering in the tower were among the last to get to the Great Hall- almost everyone else had been in the hallway or on the stairwell when the portrait was discovered to be slashed, and they were all stewarded simultaneously into one safe area.

Once they got there, the first familiar face they ran into was Artie. He was in a bit of a state of panic. It was much harder for him to get up and down stairwells because of his chair, so he felt a bit unsafe. He was trying to play it off, though, making casual jokes until Mercedes and Hadeel left to find the other Gryffindors. Santana was surveying with sweeping glances everyone in the Great Hall for that familiar pair of baby blues.

Her gaze stuttered to a halt when she tripped over them, standing next to Sam.

She let out a sigh of relief; even though she knew it was irrational, she had still been concerned over Brittany's welfare, and wouldn't be comforted until she was able to physically reassure herself that her best friend was fine.

Artie noticed that she was staring in the opposite direction of where he was, so he said "I'll be fine here, I've got Finn and Tina to keep me company. You're good, girl." Santana smiled warmly at her friend, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, squeezing as she walked past him.

She weaved in between the various Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws before she got to the group of her Glee club friends and some of her other House mates.

As soon as Brittany saw her, her eyes grew wide and she pushed off of Sam, pulling his arm from where it was draped over her shoulder and laying it against his side. She lightly pushed past Rachel and Quinn and twirled around a group of Ravenclaws and suddenly she was in Santana's arms.

Santana weaved fingers through her hair and buried her nose in the place where Brittany's jaw met her neck. She felt Brittany pull her even tighter to her as she buried her own face in Santana's hair.

"I- I have no idea why, but I thought you were hurt and I was freaking out…" Brittany said, frantically smoothing down the back of Santana's robes to comfort her.

"I know," Santana replied, "Ditto."

The girls stayed in each other's arms until someone obviously cleared their throat behind them.

Spinning, Santana came face to face with one of the people she hated most in the entire castle- Draco Malfoy.

Santana and Malfoy had met when Draco strolled into her potions class one day a couple of weeks ago. Snape had proceeded to continue for the rest of the class to use Malfoy as an example of 'what amazing things one could do if one applied themselves at Potions'. In all actuality, it was a lesson on the perks of being Teacher's Pet. Malfoy began brewing a potion at the front of the class, trying to prove that he was an expert by finishing first. He came close, and was beat by only one person; Santana.

After that class, Malfoy seemed to go out of his way to mess with Santana.

He and his goons Crabbe and Goyle seemed intent on making Santana's life a living hell. Just this past Tuesday, for instance; they lay in waiting, hunched in the shadows, and pushed her down a flight of stairs as she walked by. She had to stay overnight in the Hospital Wing.

She was less than enthused to see them now in such close proximity to Brittany.

Malfoy chuckled darkly. "Well hello, Lopez. Who's your friend?"

"She's none of your damn business." Santana snapped, stepping defensively in front of Brittany.

"San…" Brittany said, low and cautious.

"Oh, San, is it? I'm sorry I haven't been calling you by your proper name, San." He sneered. Crabbe and Goyle snickered behind him. Malfoy's eyes flickered next to her, as if he smelled danger. Sure enough, there was Professor Sprout, eying them suspiciously. Malfoy scowled at the thought of being unable to continue publicly humiliating her. He fluffed out his robes carefully and glared up at Santana.

"It's been a nice chat, Lopez. I'll be keeping my eye on you." Malfoy turned and sauntered away towards the Slytherin group, his henchmen lumbering behind.

"Who was that?" Brittany questioned, "I didn't like him at all."

"Draco Malfoy. He doesn't like me because I beat him in potions the other day."

Brittany smiled at this, saying "I always knew you were smart, Sanny."

Santana blushed and grinned, and consented to having Brittany shepherd her back to their group.

"Does anyone know what really happened?" Quinn asked in a conspiratorial voice.

"Well, uh- I heard it was Sirius Black." Blaine answered in an equally low voice.

"S- Sirius Black? Like the murderer guy from the creepy wanted posters?" Brittany shuddered.

"The very same." Sam nodded to his sister solemnly. "This is why we all have to stick together."

"Don't be naïve. If Sirius Black were really in this castle and wanted to kill people, we'd all already be dead." Quinn said matter-of-factly.

"Well, if it is Sirius Black, he's only after one thing." Rachel said, pausing for a dramatic effect.

"Harry Potter."

There were a few gasps, Mercedes said "WHAT?" rather loudly, and Sugar, who joined them only for Rachel's announcement, sniggered.

"Oh come off it," Puck interjected, walking up to the group. "You honestly think Potter is the reason a madman would come into a castle fully loaded with young children?"

Kurt sneered in disgust, but no one else seemed to catch on to what Puck was implying.

"Anyway, we know the real reason the castle is shut down." He looked around the group to check if he had everyone's attention, and then; "Trolls."

The entire group laughed at once. Puck seemed hurt, and defended himself. "No, seriously! That's what they're saying. It happened two years ago, on Halloween Night." His tone became angrier. "I have the best source for this, I'm not shitting you!"

Rachel covered her ears and gasped at the curse word, glaring at Puck with a fiery passion.

"Okay, oh- so wise Puck, then who is it? Who is your source?" Mercedes inquired.

"A man never reveals his secrets." Puck whispers, puffing his chest out. "A man knows how to keep his word." He glanced in the direction of Jacob Ben Israel, who was lingering nearby.

"A man is super dumb." Mike says, rolling his eyes. "You actually believe a word out of JBI's mouth?"

"Well it's much more realistic then your theory." Puck spat, still trying to salvage his pride.

"Puck's right." Santana states, earning her a few raised eyebrows and a grateful look from Puck. "Both of these ideas are kind of crazy."

"Maybe we should try to stick together until we figure out what's going on." Quinn suggested.

Sam rolled his eyes and muttered "I totally just said that." out of the corner of his mouth to Brittany, making her giggle.

The group generally mumbles their consent to Quinn. Brittany and Mike waved the Hufflepuffs over, and they all set up their puffy, purple sleeping bags next to each other.

Brittany immediately sets hers up next to Santana's, with Mike on her other side and Quinn on Santana's.

Professor McGonagall passed over them, vaguely eying Brittany and Santana's clasped hands, before turning her piercing gaze to the next group of students.

Sam, lying above Brittany, leaned down over her shoulder to whisper to the group. "You guys, if we weren't in danger… why are all the teachers and prefects doing patrols?"

Mike furrows his brow in thought. "Maybe they're just counting? Like, seeing who's missing?"

A voice calls from their left, booming "Lights out in two minutes!"

The group drew closer together, a few of the others edging closer as well.

"Well if it was a troll," Noah hypothesized, "They would all need to be here to protect us in case it came trampling through the castle."

"Don't be ridiculous." An older, blonde Ravenclaw called from a few sleeping bags over. She was lying all by herself.

"Trolls are notoriously gentle creatures. I highly doubt it was trolls. They would be much more likely to break in and leave gifts for us all than try to eat us."

Rachel not-so-subtly leaned over and hissed "Is she serious?"

The voice from earlier rang out again. "Lights out, Children!"

Everyone wiggled down into their sleeping bags.

Nearly an hour had passed, and Santana was still staring up at the ceiling of stars swirling above her, lost deeply in thought.

Why did so many people pick on her? It's not like she was mean to them, or anything. In the short period of time at the castle, she's somehow managed to get on the bad side of Snape, Malfoy, and Karofsky and Azimio. I mean, this was getting ridiculous! Well, at least it wasn't as bad as Kurt.

Karofsky and Azimio seemed to have it out for the poor guy. Almost every single evening, Kurt would come back to the Gryffindor Common Room with several more bruises than he had when he left that morning. Mike and Sam had tried to talk him into letting them walk with him to their classes, even Artie suggested he could roll next to him, but Kurt seemed to shrug off their suggestions. The only ones he seemed to open up to were a third year Gryffindor boy with a round face and, surprisingly, Mercedes.

Mercedes and Kurt had become best friends over the course of the first month at school. Santana had no idea when and where they had the time to bond, what with the ridiculous amounts of school work they were getting, Glee practice, and actually being able to sleep. But, their friendship worked in the weirdest way. They were certainly soul mates in diva-land, that was for sure.

Santana was interrupted from her musings when Brittany let out a gasp to her right- the kind Brittany only makes when something startles her so violently it throws her from the confines of slumber.

Santana immediately turned and met frantic blue eyes, still dull with confusion and the last dregs of sleep. Brittany seemed to remember where she was, slowly, and scooted over so that she lay under Santana's open arm.

A few moments passed. She let Brittany's heartbeat slow down, waiting for her breath to come out in longer, slower bursts before addressing her. "Wanna talk about it?"

Santana could physically feel Brittany swallow. She pulled her closer.

"It was Sirius Black." Brittany gave after a moment's pause. "I dreamt he was chasing me all through the streets of London. He was so scary, San. He wanted to eat me whole." Brittany frowned enormously up at her best friend.

"What can I do to make it go away?" Santana asked gently. Brittany smiled at the offer. Next to them, Quinn's breath was starting to change from languid and tempered to uneven, staccato breaths. She blearily opened her eyes.

"Can you tell me a story? You're so good at that, San." Brittany requested, nuzzling her nose into Santana's collarbone.

Quinn partially sat up, leaning on her elbows. "You're telling a story, San?" she whispered. "Can I listen?"

"Of course, Q." Santana smiled. Quinn shifted over and laid her head next to Santana's hip, turning into her warmth. Santana rolled her eyes at her best friends, and thought of ideas for the story. When she had a general plot, she closed her eyes and began, the story weaving its way behind her eyelids.

"Once upon a time, there was a Princess, Penelope. Penny had many things in life. Her parents were very rich, and so anything she wanted, even if it was just a little bit, she got. But even though she had everything money could buy, she was still really sad, because she didn't have any friends. Not a single one! Isn't that sad?

Anyway, so, because she was so sad, the King and Queen sent letters all over the country to get a wise man to come and cure their daughter. But, alas, no one could. One day, long, long after the King and Queen had given up any hope of ever seeing the Princess smile again, a young girl came to the castle and said she knew how to fix the Princess. The King and Queen weren't so sure, but they let her try anyway. They sat the Princess and the young girl, who were about the same age, across from each other at a small table. Without a word, the little girl began making tea for the Princess and herself. She told the Princess all about her life on the farm, about all her favorite animals, her fat pet cat and her horse. After talking for a little while, the little girl set down her teacup and turned to the Princess. Putting on a very funny voice, she asked the Princess "More tea, mi' lady?" The Princess thought it was the funniest thing ever, and after that, the Princess always laughed and smiled because she had what she always wanted; a friend."

"And they lived happily ever after." Brittany smiled once again into her collarbone. Quinn was already asleep again, having dozed off in the middle of the story.

"Yeah, Britt, they did." Santana chuckled.

"San?" Brittany whispered, slow with the sleep that she was desperately trying to fight away. "Did you make that whole thing up? Because it sounded almost like it was a true story."

"It was a true story, Britt." Santana said, burying her nose into her best friend's hair and pulling her even closer to her chest, squeezing in a hug. "It was true."

They exhaled together, and were quickly lulled into sleep by one another's heartbeats.

Santana woke up a few mornings later to find Brittany draped across her back. She could tell it was Brittany, because although she couldn't see her friend, she could smell her perfume. Besides, no one but Brittany would wear something that fluffy on their body.

So, Santana started wiggling back and forth in her bed to wake her friend up. She knew it worked when Brittany started giggling softly.

"Saaaaaaaan," she whined, "I don't wanna get up. It's so super cold and you're super warm."

Santana laughed quietly. "Britt, when did you even get here? How did you get in?"

"I have my ways of getting into places I'm not supposed to." Brittany says, smiling sneakily. "I came in last night at, like, eleven. I had a bad dream again…" she trails off, unsure. "I thought, maybe we could get ready for the game together?"

"Of course, Britt."

Today was the first Quidditch match. Well, technically it was the second; for the first one both Brittany and Santana had detentions for goofing off in class together. Because it was Professor Flitwick, he had decided to spare them an actual punishment like cleaning the bathrooms, and just forbade them from going to the first Quidditch game of the season.

Sam told them all the details- "You don't understand, Cho Chang dove- and I mean dove through the air to grab the snitch-" while Quinn was just happy to tell them that Ravenclaw had steamrolled Slytherin, and that she wished they had been there.

Today's match was Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, and both girls were going to be decked out in garnet and gold.

After taking a shower and getting fully dressed, Santana went back into the dorm to find Brittany dressed but fast asleep on her bed. Rolling her eyes with a smile, Santana nudged Brittany awake and linked arms with her, leading her sleepy friend to the Great Hall after draping a Gryffindor scarf around her neck.

People were painting each other's faces at the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables when the girls joined everyone at breakfast.

Santana sat down, pulling a bleary Brittany after her, and began searching for waffles. A boy with flaming red hair saw her plight and passed her the platter. She thanked him with a sleepy grin.

Everyone followed the team to the fields, meandering on the way there. Sam, for some reason, decided to paint his entire face with red and gold designs. Kurt wore a very stylish garnet and gold wrap, and walked arm in arm with a decked out Mercedes. Blaine walked next to them with a red and gold checkered hat. Even Quinn had a small lion stamped on her cheek and a tiny flag.

It was a blustery late October morning, cold and bitter wind chilling them to the core. They took to the stands and huddled close together.

And as soon as the teams were out, it started to pour.

"Aw, my face paint." Sam said forlornly.

"Are you KIDDING?" Lauren Zizes shouted from behind them. "I just GOT that umbrella!"

Santana glanced from her place under Sam's arm to see Lauren's umbrella floating up into the sky with a gust of wind.

"I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS TO BE OVER." Quinn shouted over the wind to them. She shifted closer to Mike for warmth and hid her face in his shoulder.

"HOW IS IT A TIME OUT ALREADY? WE JUST GOT ON THE FIELD." Mike shouted in turn, confused.

Santana peered out between Sam and Brittany's arms to see the players descending. "What are they doing?" she said loudly against a person's neck (who she assumed to be Brittany.)

"NO IDEA." Sam shouted back at her.

The teams rose from the ground once more, although it was now raining so heavily that all they could see were red and yellow blurs.

"I hope Artie's wheelchair won't malfunction!" Brittany said worriedly in Santana's ear. Santana barely paused to shoot her an adoring look when there were shouts all around them.

"WHERE IS HE GOING?" a voice yelled behind them.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS HE THINKING?" said the red haired boy from earlier.

Harry Potter was shooting up into the sky, according to the commentary. Everyone guessed that he was following the snitch.

"UGH, THANK GOD THE MATCH IS ALMOST OVER." Mercedes yelled next to them. And then-

"OH MY GOD!"

"WHAT IS HE DOING?"

"OH GOD- SOMEONE HELP HIM!"

A figure came from above, spiraling down from the heavens, splayed out like an eagle. There was only one person it could be- Potter, and he appeared to be committing some kind of kamikaze dive.

"HE- HE'S NOT MOVING!" Sam shouted, trying to wave the professors to act and do something about it. Miraculously, one of them seemed to hear him, and Headmaster Dumbledore stood at his full height and raised his hand, stopping Potter before he crashed into the soggy, frozen ground.

Everyone left the stands in confusion. The Gryffindors were slumping back, disheartened.

"I cannot believe that happened." Blaine said as they squished their way back to the castle.

"What are the odds, really?" Mike asked, shaking his head sadly at the loss of the game.

"It'll be alright, guys. It's just the first game." Brittany piped up, always cheerful.

"Ugh, yeah, just one game to you." Noah's sulking voice rang out from behind them. "This is going to totally kill my chances at winning fantasy Quidditch this semester."

Sam stopped right where he was, nearly causing a domino effect when both Santana and Kurt had to jump to the side of him. He turned to Noah and said "Honestly, dude? Just… no." And he turned and continued to trek through the muck.

"I thought it was a great idea." Noah muttered.

"I think it was." Rachel's voice whispered encouragingly.

"Oh my God, Rachel, stop sucking up." Quinn called out, making everyone chuckle.

Before anyone knew what hit them, it was Halloween. Santana had never really celebrated the holiday (her parents were very much against the thirty first- they considered it a pagan ritual celebration and refused to pass out candy.) To honor her upbringing, Santana chose to not take any candy at the feast on Halloween night. Brittany snuck some to her after the feast was over, anyway. She knew how much Santana liked chocolate. She also knew that, at least this year, Santana would make herself wait until midnight before eating anything sweet.

November seemed to not even occur. It seemed like one morning, Santana fell asleep, and it was November first, and the next moment she woke up, it was December fourteenth and she was about to take her exams.

"Seriously, I do not know where the entire month of November went…" she voiced to her dorm room one night. They were all awake, cramming for their Herbology exam in the morning.

"Oh, I totally agree." Hadeel exhaled from the bed next to her. "Like, one day, it was Halloween, and the next day, here we are; taking finals. Completely ridic."

"Oh my God, thank you." Mercedes groaned and stretched from the other side of Santana. "I was worried it was just me."

"No way, girl. I got chu." Hadeel thrust her chin our in a head nod, making the girls all giggle.

"Guys? What is the root of a potted blue salamater leaf called?" Lauren asked from the other side of the room.

Everyone groaned and went back to flipping through books and note cards.

Finally. It was finally time for Christmas break.

Santana elected to stay in the castle, because her family was already off visiting distant relatives for the holiday, and she didn't really have a way of getting there. And of course, whatever Santana did, Brittany did. Sam and Quinn wanted to stay with them, but they were both very homesick, so everyone convinced the two of them to go home. But not before swearing that they would all stay behind next year.

Miraculously, Santana had the entire dorm room to herself. It was amazing. She could walk around butt naked if she wanted, and no one would be the wiser. She didn't, of course; it was way too cold for anything less than three layers of clothing at all times.

Brittany stayed with her every night of the break. It was like a three week-long sleepover, with just the two of them, and it was so awesome. They had a pillow fight one night, made roasted marshmallows another, had a snowball fight versus Puck and Blaine (their only other friends to stay behind) and the previous night, Puck had given them their Hanukkah presents and they stayed up all night with their new coloring books. Tonight, they were building a giant blanket fort on one side of the room.

Tomorrow was Christmas, and so, while Santana was carefully arranging comforters so that their fort would not collapse on them, Brittany was hanging their stockings by the furnace in the center of their room.

"Britt, don't put them too close or they might burn!" Santana reminded from her side of the room.

"Got it!" Brittany answered needlessly.

Santana put the finishing touches on the fort by throwing all the pillows in the room, and the extras from the linen closet in the bathroom, on top of the comforters for extra fluff.

"Eeeeeeggcelent." Brittany said in an over- pronounced Russian accent. "Theese will be a wundervol evening!"

Santana fell on top of one of the stripped mattresses in laughter, Brittany joining her with a shit- eating grin and eyes that were crinkled around the edges.

"Follow me, Santana; there are mountains of food to eat our way through downstairs!" Brittany continued in the accent, dragging a Santana roaring in laughter behind her.

There was almost no one in the Great Hall, and the House tables were all combined to make one giant table, although the students that were sitting there barely filled two of them.

Santana and Brittany took their seats across from Puck and Blaine, just as they had every night before.

"I am glad to see some of us in a festive spirit!" Professor Dumbledore announced as he stood to begin his speech, gesturing grandly to the reindeer sweater and Christmas tree bowtie that Blaine was wearing.

"You know," he said, pausing thoughtfully. "This time of year so many people are concerned with what gifts they will be getting. Or if they got their friend a good present. Or, most commonly, what this year's dinner will consist of. I implore you all to remember what the holiday season is all about- yes, it is about relaxing before going back to school in the New Year. It is also, however, a time to spend with those that you love. It is a time for reflection." His eyes flickered to one spot in particular. In front of them, Harry Potter shifted in his seat. "And most importantly, it is a time for peace. It is for this reason that the House tables are combined. So that at least for tonight and tomorrow, the four houses can have relative peace with one another. And with that final sentiment; Bon Appetit!"

Platters of food appeared before them. There were green beans, and stuffed mushrooms, there was a squash and red pepper dish, salad, pasta, pork tenderloin, applesauce, three kinds of potatoes…

They all helped themselves to several servings each of everything, and after they were finished, they had several helpings of dessert. They had an hour of free time before they were required to be in their dormitories, so Brittany and Santana decided to brave the cold and take a quick walk around the lake. Neither Blaine nor Puck were game for going anywhere other than their own beds to sleep off their food comas, so off the girls went.

The girls slid past Peeves, the not-so-friendly castle pest that was making a ruckus near the main entrance, and left through the front door. As soon as they were out of the entryway and into the night Santana cursed loudly.

"HOW IS IT SO COLD." She said through chattering teeth.

"It's this crazy thing… not sure if you've heard of it before, it's called winter?" Brittany sassily replied.

"Oh is that right, Madame Genius?" Santana volleyed right back, making the tips of Brittany's ears turn pink.

"Oh, hush up." Brittany lightly pushed Santana on the shoulder. Santana just laughed.

"You think that was enough force to knock me over? Better start bulking up on protein, Pierce."

"Please, San, if you think I couldn't push you over if I wanted… what is that over there?"

Santana followed Brittany's pointed finger to find a secluded bench on the far side of the lake, where the edge of the lake practically kissed the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"I have no idea; I don't think I've ever seen that there before. We should definitely check it out, though."

The pair linked arms and edged around the curve of the lake, getting closer and closer to the mystery bench until they were standing right in front of it.

Santana tilted her head. "Hm." She thought. "I still don't see a point in randomly putting this here."

She glanced at Brittany, whose eyes were narrowed at the bench.

"See something, Britt?" she asked.

"Um… yeah, actually…" Brittany decided. She reached forward to brush some snow off the top of the bench seat. Underneath was a metal plaque that read "If you follow your heart, your wishes will come true."

"What on earth does that mean?" Santana joked. Brittany ignored her, however, searching for something in the surrounding trees that Santana obviously didn't see.

"Look!" she said, pointing to a tree a little ways in to the forest. It had a small heart etched onto it. "Can we follow the trail, San?"

Never being one to deny Brittany something, Santana firmly grasped her hand, which was the only sign Brittany needed to march full steam ahead into the Forbidden Forest.

They were only walking for four minutes when Brittany stopped.

"I think whatever we're supposed to find will be behind there." She gestured to the curtain of ivy in front of them. "The last heart was the biggest one yet, and I think that means we've reached the end of our trail."

"Whatever you think, Britt." Santana whispered hoarsely. She was a bit spooked from the forest noises, okay?

Brittany pushed past the ivy to find a row of trellises, covered in their own ivy, leading the way to a tinkling fountain.

"What on earth?" Santana inquired aloud to deaf ears as she was whisked toward the fountain. There was a small mahogany box on top of a white marble pedestal right next to the fountain. The box held smooth, round stones in it. The words "One per person" were etched into the side.

Brittany was quiet a minute, studying this.

"Santana," she finally said, "I think this is a wishing well."

Santana's eyebrows shot up. She, of course, knew all the stories about wishing wells from when she was very small- how they only appeared every few years in random places and how anything you wished in them would come true. She took the stone that Brittany held out for her with new awe. She stared into the black surface, trying to gleam out what wish she should want to come true. She quickly glanced at Brittany, wondering if she knew what to wish for. Brittany must have felt her gaze and glanced up and smiled beautifully (the one that always stopped Santana's heart) and crinkled her nose in glee. She clearly had a wish. And one glance at those blue eyes, shining with the reflection of a hundred stars, and Santana knew her wish, too.

"Ready?" Brittany asked. Santana had a feeling she already knew the answer.

"Always."

Both girls turned around, closed their eyes, and wished.

"Please please please. Let us be friends forever." Santana wished before throwing her stone. As soon as she released hers, she heard the soft plop! that was Brittany's stone hitting the water before hers.

Both girls sighed wistfully.

"Wish for something good?" Santana asked her friend, taking her hand as they turned to walk away.

"The best." Brittany replied coyly. Santana gave her a look.

"Santana." Brittany said seriously. "Everyone knows you can't tell someone your wish or it won't come true."

"Fine, will you tell me after it comes true, then?"

"Duh."

Santana shifted in her sleep. Her face was on something really squishy. It was very comfortable, but she couldn't, for the life of her, figure out what it was.

She blearily opened her eyes and came face- to- face- or, rather, mouth- to- breast- with Brittany's boob.

Santana reeled backwards and hastily rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

Brittany stretched out under her like a cat, arching her back into the air.

"Mmm. Merry Christmas to you, too."

Santana stared at Brittany in disbelief. Did that really just happen?

Santana was interrupted in her musings by a pillow hitting the side of her head.

"Stop thinking and come here so we can cuddleeeeee." Brittany whined from the bed. And when she made the face she was currently wearing, Santana couldn't refuse.

So with a great sigh and roll of her eyes, she crawled back into her bed and snuggled up under Brittany's arm.

They awoke a few hours after going back to bed. Stretching her sore limbs, Brittany cracked her back and opened her eyes. She started lightly nudging Santana awake. At the foot of their bed was a pile of wrapped presents, and Brittany could see the stockings by the furnace bursting with gifts.

"Santana Lopez!" Brittany said crossly.

Santana groaned.

Brittany sighed, and crawled right up to Santana's ear, whispering "Sanny, if you don't get up this minute, I'm going to open all your presents."

Santana sat upright in bed, hair completely all over her face. Brittany laughed and pushed her hair back on her head. She leaned over and gave Santana a smacking kiss on the cheek, and set into tearing open the nearest present. She didn't see Santana behind her; lifting her hand to her cheek and grinning widely.

Brittany was squealing at the book Mike got her (100 Ways to Attract Unicorns) when a sharp tap at the window caused both girls' heads to swivel.

Archimedes, Santana's owl, was visibly struggling, trying to juggle several letters and two small packages.

Santana bolted from the bed to let the poor creature in, immediately untying the string from his leg. He stayed right where he was for a moment, clearly too tired to fly over to his cage. Santana left the letters, scooped him up and gave his soft head a kiss before placing him gently in the cage. He nibbled her fingers a little in affection before she left.

Brittany had decided she and Santana should take turns opening presents, so she was calmly waiting on the bed for Santana to get back.

Santana walked over to the stack of letters and split them up. There was a letter for Brittany from her parents and sister, one from her roommate Nadia, and one from Mike. There were letters to Santana from her family, one from Artie, and one from Mercedes. There was one letter each from Sam, Quinn, and Rachel, which were addressed to both girls.

"Holy smokes, that's a lot of letters!" Brittany exclaimed in wonder.

"Poor baby." Santana cooed up at Archie. "You must have grown even stronger to carry so many letters!" Archie puffed out his chest slightly.

Brittany was reading the letter from Mike and giggling frequently, causing Santana to shift uncomfortably next to her. She gruffly tore open the envelope from Artie.

"Hey girl hey. I realize that your fine bottom must be bored to death without me, so I decided to take pity on you and write you for Christmas. Hope yours is going better than mine, anyway. My uncle got me a snowboard. See you soon. Yours, Artie Abrams"

Santana laughed loudly at his humor, before opening a similarly- worded letter from Mercedes. "Those two would be such good friends… I'll definitely try to set them up." She thought to herself.

She glanced at Brittany to see what she was doing and found her crying from laughter, with a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. She could see she was reading a full three pages of letter, and assumed she was reading Rachel's.

The theory proved to be correct when she leaned over Brittany's shoulder to read and caught phrases like "If I had been aware of this egregious oversight that is you two being by yourselves, with no other friend to spend time with during this Hanukah holiday season, I would have stayed behind…" and "As such, I would like to cordially invite you two to a slumber fie-es-ta, as your people call it, Santana, in my dorm after the New Year. Please bring your own pillows…"

"Is she kidding?" Santana asked in disbelief.

Brittany turned the letter over. "I think she's serious…" Brittany dragged the end of her sentence out in surprise.

"I hope she's not serious. Spending a whole night in Berry's dorm? Can you imagine the pink that must be thrown up all over her bed? I think I'm getting sick already."

"Now, Santana, be nice. I think it's sweet! She didn't have to invite us, but she took the time to anyway! I think it's great!"

Santana looked at Brittany's puppy dog pout and big, pleading eyes, her reluctance slowly fading away.

"Ugh, alright, fine. You win, okay?"

Brittany clapped her hands like a happy seal and threw them around Santana in thanks.

The girls eventually dragged themselves down all thirty flights of stairs to the Great Hall, just in time for mid-morning tea. The girls hugged Puck and Blaine and took their familiar seats with them. Puck 'didn't do' tea, but Blaine became quite the gossip while drinking the brew; so everyone had a good laugh.

After lunch, the group decided to watch a few muggle holiday movies. The school library kept some on file for the Muggle Studies classes, and Hogwarts had a small movie theatre dedicated to the class. Almost no one knew about it, but Quinn's brother Peter had told her just before everyone left for break. Quinn had told the four of them in secret and the four tweens were planning on taking full advantage of said secret.

After watching 'Christmas Carol' and 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' Santana and Puck decided to have a Snowman build-off, with Brittany and Blaine judging. Santana's snowman won first place by a landslide, causing Puck to sulk. Brittany decided throwing a snowball at the back of his head was an excellent way to cheer him up. This, of course, led to an all-out snowball fight, with Brittany, Blaine, and Santana all on one side vs. Puck. They eventually agreed to a draw, both parties needing to warm up a little and get dried off.

Later that night, Brittany and Santana were getting changed for the cocktail dinner party that would be held in the Great Hall. Santana had on a pretty red dress while Brittany was twirling her yellow dress around to see if it 'passed the danceable test.'

Santana was putting mascara on when Brittany finally waltzed in wearing a midnight blue gown that made her eyes sparkle even more than usual. Santana forgot what she was doing.

"Britt, you look… wow."

"You really think so?"

Santana took a deep breath, and turned to face her friend.

"You look beautiful, Brittany." Her eyes suddenly swept to the floor. "I'm sure any guy would love to dance with you."

"Yeah, they probably would." Brittany nodded her head, stroking her chin in agreement. "Too bad I'm going to dance with you."

Santana felt her breath catch in her chest.

"Britt…"

"I'll race you, San! Last one there's a rotten egg!"

Santana paused, watching her friend run out the door, slack-jawed, until Brittany's words registered. "Oh you did not just say I'm a rotten egg!" she shouted before barreling after Brittany, the girl giggling down the steps to below.

"Britt, this is so not what I was expecting…"

There were thirty or so people wandering aimlessly across the floor, which had been cleared of the house tables. A dance floor was set up in the center, but no one was dancing on it. Save for Hagrid, who was doing some disco moves by himself.

"Yeah, this party is pretty lame. Even in comparison to the one Rachel's gonna throw." Brittany giggled. Santana grinned at her before spotting the Mohawk weaving its way through a sea of people, alluding to the fact that, in actuality, Puck was a shark.

"Hey babes." He greeted the two of them. "Can the Puckstar take you two ladies out to the floor for a dance each?" Blaine walked over and joined in the conversation. "I'd be happy to dance with whoever Puck isn't dancing with." He stated, charming as ever. Brittany smiled and took Blaine's hand, leaving Santana with Puck.

"Soooo…" he started, walking towards Santana with a predatory glint in her eye.

"Um, absolutely not. Definitely, the answer is no."

"Oh come on, San. It's just one dance!" He pleaded, pouting drastically up at her.

"Ugh, fine. One dance, and that's it."

Puck fist bumped the air, making Santana regret she even spoke to him today.

He led her to the floor, and once he got the hang of things, he was not actually a half-bad dancing partner. He knew when and where to step, and the big one; which foot to do it with.

After resisting any more physical contact than necessary for most of the song, Santana finally gave in and leaned her head on Puck's shoulder. She could see Brittany and Blaine being freaking elegant ballerinas in the distance and it was frankly upsetting her. For his part, Puck just pulled her body in closer so that she wouldn't stretch her neck too far, and spun them in smaller circles.

"You're not actually that awful, Puckerman."

He laughed lightly. "That means a lot, coming from you." Puck weighed his next sentence before speaking it. "You know, I'm really not a bad guy."

"…What do you mean?"

"I know everyone always thinks I'm some big player who just tries to date as many girls as possible. It's not true. I think I'd be an awesome boyfriend. And, you know. You're a badass, I'm a badass… I think we'd be really good for each other. Whaddya say?"

"Noah…"

"THERE you are." Brittany announced, swinging into the conversation. "You promised me a dance, Santana Lopez!"

Puck looked up at Brittany wistfully, clearly unimpressed with her for stopping Santana's answer.

"Just… hit me up later, alright San?"

Santana gaped at his use of her nickname and watched him walk away. When she finally shot Brittany a glance, she saw that her friend was glaring daggers in Puck's general direction. If looks could kill, Puck would be on the floor right now.

"Brittany," she breathed to get her attention. Brittany's gaze shifted to hers and her eyes softened. "Are you… are you jealous of him?"

Brittany laughed obnoxiously. "ME? You think I'm jealous of HIM? Puh- lease." She tisked and rolled her eyes, still sputtering in offended, short bursts.

"Whatever, Britt. How was dancing with Blaine?" Santana spat.

"Um, it was awesome, like always? It was just like Glee rehearsal, but more fun. Why do you want to know?" Brittany shrugged.

"You are impossible." Santana threw up her hands in irritation and went to storm out of the Great Hall. Brittany managed to catch her arm in time.

"San what is the matter with you? I dance with Blaine and Mike and all the other Glee boys all the time! Are you jealous?"

Santana just looked at her, a mixture of sadness and fury. "No, Brittany, I'm not. I just- please leave me alone." Santana gathered her dress and successfully fled the room.

Santana paced the floor of her dormitory.

She wasn't sure what else she could do to get her mind off of her fight with Brittany. It wasn't even a fight, really, but she and Brittany had never had an argument that was that strong before.

Santana had already torn up all of the envelopes from their cards earlier. The pieces were strewn across the floor, giving off the appearance of snow. It only helped a little.

Santana flopped down on her bed. She wished she could make some tea. The tea she had earlier with Blaine, Brittany and Puck had calmed her down exponentially. The hot water really tricked her body into calming down.

Speaking of hot water…

"A shower." Santana thought, "That's exactly what I need."

So she gathered her towel and shampoo from her cubby in the bathroom, stepped out of her clothes and into a stall.

After washing her hair, she stood under the steady stream of water, thinking about her actions. She knew she was out of line. First accusing Brittany of being jealous, and then acting so spiteful herself because of her own jealousy of Mike and Blaine and every other boy that Brittany hung out with… needless to say, she totally owed Brittany an apology.

She reluctantly stepped out and away from the deliciously warm cascading water, wringed out her hair and toweled off. She had picked out her favorite pajamas to wear- ones that Brittany gave her last year for her birthday. Santana carefully opened the door connecting the bathroom and the dorm rooms.

And there she was, sitting on the edge of Santana's bed and wringing her hands anxiously.

"San," she started, jolting off of the bed and stepping towards Santana in the doorframe.

They stood still, both sizing the other up and anxiously looking around the room, anticipating a catapult into motion.

"I'm so sorry." Both girls said at the same time.

"What are you possibly sorry for? You didn't do anything wrong." Santana gulped, appalled.

"I totally did. I'm sorry for kind of ignoring you to dance with Blaine. That must have made you feel really bad, and I'm sorry." Brittany looked to the floor, disheartened.

"Britt," Santana breathed, "You don't have to apologize for that. I'm sorry that I got so jealous over you dancing with someone else that I blew up at you."

Brittany smiled at her, ever-so-softly. Santana smiled back, just as small.

"Does this mean we're done being mad at each other?" Brittany inquired with a pout.

Santana chuckled. "Yeah, Britt, we're good."

"Okay." Brittany smiled wider at her in response. Her expression turned curious, and she glanced around Santana's head, causing Santana to turn her own head and find what her friend was looking for.

"Um, I have a second question. When did you put that up?" Brittany pointed above Santana's head. Santana brought her head back and glanced up. On the doorframe in between the bathroom and bedroom, someone had stuck a leaf of mistletoe.

"Very funny, Britt, you must've put that there when I was taking my shower. It wasn't there when I went in."

"Well, it was there when I first came in. I pinky promise you. I didn't realize what it was until I came closer."

Santana looked at Brittany for a moment, and saw she was telling the truth. Her expression became rather confused.

"But… if you didn't put the mistletoe up there, and I didn't put it up there… who did?"

"It was probably Santa's elves." Brittany answered seriously. "The question is; do you want to use it?"

"…Come again?" Santana blinked.

"I guess… I'm asking… Can I kiss you, Santana?"

"I… I…" Santana choked.

"I've been thinking about it for a while now."

"Y- You have?" Santana asked, still having difficulty swallowing past the tightness in her chest.

"Well, yeah. You haven't had your first kiss yet, right?" Santana shook her head. "Well, neither have I. I think you're amazing, and you're my best friend, and I really want it to be with you. I really want to kiss you."

Santana was having problems breathing, Brittany was edging closer and closer.

"This is not about to happen." She heard floating around the back of her head.

Brittany's nose touched the tip of hers, and she stopped moving.

"Can I kiss you now?" she breathed into Santana's skin.

Santana frantically nodded.

Brittany edged her head forward just a hair.

Santana could hear her own ragged breath mixing with Brittany's uneven ones.

Brittany's breath suddenly hitched.

Santana blinked her eyes open to find Brittany clearly taking a moment to study everything about Santana's face in its state of delighted anticipation. Brittany's fingers reached and splayed across Santana's cheek, stroking a line into her cheek and down to her jaw, softly and ever so tenderly.

Sensing a kiss would take more than two seconds to happen; Santana brought her hands up and threaded her fingers through Brittany's thin golden hair. She guided her head forward until their lips were… just… there.

Santana pressed her lips against Brittany's, tasting her best friend's lip balm and something that she could only classify as happiness. Her mind was going haywire in an instant, and in the next, only one thing remaining there as it went completely blank.

Butterflies. Thousands and thousands of them.

A/N 2: So I really am sorry about it taking so long. I had a lot of personal issues to deal with last semester.

But, kisses, yes? Hooray!

Could you spot the three throwaway mentions of Harry Potter characters?

Like anything about the chapter?

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Thanks for reading!