Christmastime was bursting with joyous glee, and Millie Potts right along with it. The whirlwind of the last few days of term felt like only a distant memory now, as if a whole week of leisure and greeting to each of her returning siblings could be an eternal moment for the young witch. She only wished it could allow her more stolen moments, ventures out to her favorite trees on days without much wind, or the chance to dive deeper into her current novel.

The holidays meant the bustle of celebrations and affairs, and most importantly to her mother, pageantry. The young witch already missed her boring Hogwarts robes, she could hardly spend half the morning in a simple dress before mother whisked her away with words like 'silhouette' and 'proper young lady'. Millie wondered if she had ever been young to begin with, or was simply born waiting to grow up.

Millie spent the carriage ride waiting for it to end. The whole affair seemed overdone to her, their cousins lived only a few blocks away, and she was used to walking farther than this for Herbology classes or to the Quidditch pitch. For her mother it was splendid, and for her father it was time to grill Edmund on why he still hadn't settled himself down with a wife. She had to admit that she enjoyed the ride, and it felt very to-do to arrive at her aunt's and uncle's house in a self-drawn carriage.

She navigated the narrow steps carefully in heeled shoes, taking the hand when it was offered to her. The young witch met Fletcher's eyes, bashfully mirroring the half-cocked grin on his face. When he feet touched the ground, she gave her brother a tiny curtsy in gratitude. Her attention was drawn away from his bow in return, a gloved hand on hers pulling it away from the necklace at her throat. "Hands below the heart, Mildred," her mother whispered guidance, lifting Millie's chin with her other hand. "And eyes to the world, please."

The young witch faced a smile, awaiting the moment when her mouth would mirror her mother's this time. With a nod of satisfaction, the matron Potts moving back to let her family step out of the snow-laid Hogsmeade and into the warm, gaily decorated house of another Potts family.

Suddenly the world seemed far brighter and more delightful to the young witch, she could wish for nothing more beyond the walls of this house right now. Millie expected greenery from her relatives, and still she found herself lost in the trails of garland and flowers tucked into ever crevice and cranny of the house. She nearly wandered away from introductions to look at it all, only spending as much time to make her parents happy before she could explore it all.

Smells beckoned to Millie just as the colors of the decorations, while her eyes followed the fruit-speckled holly intertwined with the arrangement. Her eyes wandered farther than her feet, and her body lurched forward, almost tripping before catching onto someone's elbow. They shook at her touch, causing the young witch to draw back, trying not to twist her ankles on the heeled shoes. "Pardon!" she started, before catching the voice of her cousin, Daffodil. Millie relaxed, she didn't think Daffy would scold her for the interruption, and stepped up next to her. "That's alright, I was lost too, looking all around. The place is beeaaauuuuuuuuuuutiful."

Millie nearly touched her necklace as she looked at her cousin's hair, adorned with small flower buds. Her own laid behind her shoulders, tied back with a green ribbon that matched the inner layer of her dress, peeking out from the checkered pattern of the lighter layer buttoned over it. It was her choice, though she envied the deeper green her cousin donned today. A lady's dress, the young witch reminded herself, one that she couldn't wait to wear herself. It echoed in breathless words from the younger Potts girl, "Everything here is."

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