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November and October have always been months of celebrations seeing as events such as Halloween and Bonfire Night took place, hence why the excited spirit that had been running through Hogwarts didn't disappear after the Halloween feast, as Euphemia had expected.

In fact, the fifth of November was quickly approaching and so everyone was just looking forward to Bonfire Night.

Which, to Mia's surprise, was not only a magical event but also apparently some sort of festival that had actually spread to the muggle world.

It had started off in the wizarding universe, as it was a celebration amongst pure bloods of the night on the 5th November when one of their kind, Guy Fawkes, nearly blew up the Houses of Parliament in London.

It had been a planned terrorist attack amongst the wizarding community for a while to get back at the muggles for burning all the witches in a most ferocious manner.

So that was why Euphemia knew of it, because her family celebrated it every year - poking fun at the 'stupidity' of the muggles.

Therefore, it had become an annual celebration that was also celebrated in the muggle world as they set huge bonfires and set off fireworks, often burning a straw model version of Guy Fawkes, honouring the day that the man died.

Complete polar opposites if you asked Euphemia, one community celebrated the downfall of a man who had nearly blown up a great landmark and the other community remembered when they triumphed over muggles.

Hogwarts was abuzz with excitement yet again as this celebration approached and the Slytherin house was especially thrilled to be enjoying the magical firework display that Hogwarts was rumoured to be putting on in honour of the attack.

However, because of Headmaster Armando Dippet being half blood, the fireworks were more to honour the event happening rather than celebrate the explosion that rocked Britain's history books for decades.

Euphemia couldn't help but look forward to it, after all it had been a tradition in the Black Family household for centuries and they had often held some sort of party or set off some fireworks in the garden of the Black Manor, with all the family invited over for a dance and a drink or two.

She had never really enjoyed the balls that they had thrown because they were so often plagued with dirty jokes about muggles and horrible, dark stories of what they would do to the muggle community.

Ever since she had come to her senses (after meeting Clover and Justin and a few occasions before that), Mia had normally sat on a window seat in her posh party dress, looking out at the city of which she had a great view, due to her house being on a hill that overlooked London perfectly.

She didn't really know that there was anything wrong with it when she was younger and she had enjoyed Bonfire Night ever since she was old enough to truly appreciate the art of the fireworks and the joy of the party.

Little Mia never understood why they were celebrating the day that they nearly blew up one of the greatest landmarks in Muggle history but, like anyone else, she had loved the party and enjoyed the whole process of dressing up in pretty dresses and waltzing around the ballroom with her various cousins, aunts and uncles. Until she grew older and started to realise the flaws in her family's beliefs, that is.

Of course, there were half bloods amongst the school who would've grown up with a completely different tradition on Bonfire Night, the night where they would set alight a fake Guy Fawkes or wander around asking 'Penny for the Guy' with a straw replica, as Minerva soon informed Mia when the two girls were talking about it on their way to Astronomy, one of the only other subjects that Gryffindors and Slytherins shared, along with Transfiguration and flying lessons.

Mia was intrigued by this and it really interested her to see the muggle aspect of it as she had always been curious about muggles and their traditions, celebrations and festivals.

Obviously, she had never been able to ask about it in the Black Family house for fear of getting punished but now she was free to ask her half blood friends, such as Minerva and Pomona.

The rest of the gang were in fact pure bloods, though were called blood traitors by the likes of Walburga and Druella as they didn't agree with the views that the Black family shared.

Nevertheless, the fifth of November was soon approaching and whether the students celebrated it because of the revenge that the wizarding world took on the muggles or whether they enjoyed it because they got to burn Guy Fawkes, everyone was excited.

The buzz that had been around Halloween had hardly disappeared as it was only roughly a week later and Bonfire Night was being anticipate now.

November the fifth dawned and Euphemia found herself sat in the Slytherin common room on the morning of the such day, finishing off her Charms homework that was in fact due first period.

The conversations taking place around her were all about Bonfire Night and people were discussing how the muggles deserved getting their Houses of Parliament burned down and how they should do it again to show them a thing or two.

Mia shook her head to herself, she still genuinely did not get why certain people in her house hated on muggles so deeply. It just didn't make any sense...

"Need any help?" Eileen appeared in front of Euphemia from where she was seated next to the fire in a green armchair, fussing over her essay.

Mia smiled up at her friend, "Yes! What was the motion for the levitating spell again?" she asked her desperately, seeing as she had no clue and could not remember it for the life of her.

Eileen simply chuckled and answered by simply throwing her own essay in front of Mia, who gratefully noted  down the answer and soon rounded off her essay successfully with a grin.

"Thank you so much!" Euphemia exclaimed and threw her arms around Eileen, who gladly hugged her back tightly.

Eileen couldn't help but smile on the rare occasions that Euphemia hugged her, as she very rarely did and every time she did so, it was proof of their friendship.

Which made Eileen very happy indeed because she sometimes felt that Mia was only using her as a cover or just putting up with her because she didn't want to hang out with Walburga and yeah.....she was looking way too deeply into a simple hug.

Way to go, Prince, Eileen thought bitterly to herself.

"Come on, losers," came a sneering voice from behind the two embracing girls and both of them turned to see Heather stood with a hand on her hip as she looked at them with an eyebrow raised, her long blonde hair teased into a bun, with a few tendrils hanging down that would've made Heather look pretty if it wasn't for the ugly look on her face that looked like she was sniffing dung.

It was probably because she was around Mia, which only made the girl in question laugh.

After she had concealed her snort of amusement at her own inner thoughts, Euphemia simply rolled her eyes at Heather's statement, especially when she saw that Walburga and Mary were coming down the stairs after the blonde and pulled away from Eileen to start heading to breakfast, stopping briefly to throw a slightly exasperated look at Heather, tossing her hair with a sassy look.

"Are you not excited for Bonfire Night then?" Eileen asked Mia as they started to head up the steps out of the dungeons, the former scurrying to keep up with the fast walking girl.

Euphemia made a non committal noise, neither agreeing nor disagreeing as she tweaked her robes a little as they had become slightly rumpled due to the hug she bestowed upon Eileen earlier.

"I am," Walburga said loudly from behind them and Mia's face immediately hardened at her cousin's voice, she hadn't been appreciating some of the things that Walburga had been saying about her friends recently. 

No one asked you Euphemia thought to herself as she shared in an eye roll with Eileen.

"Of course you are," Euphemia muttered underneath her breath and sighed in defeat when she felt Walburga's cold hand grasp her shoulder and spin her around so that she was facing her dreaded cousin and Mia had to sustain a groan of despair. Ew.

"And why are you not excited, dear cousin?" Walburga asked her sweetly with a smile to match that didn't actually reach her cold grey eyes.

"This night is where we get to celebrate when we finally got revenge on the muggles for burning all the witches," she said with a malicious glint in her eye that made Mia shiver.

"Oh yes, Walburga, I do enjoy burning down muggle landmarks. It's a favourite pastime of mine," she responded sarcastically which made Walburga scowl and narrow her eyes that sent yet another chill through Euphemia.

She could see the dangerous glint that flashed through her cousin's eyes now, immediately making the girl decide to just safely agree and go with it. For the sake of her survival, of course.

"I'm not saying that I don't agree with you, the muggles deserved it for what they did to our kind," she amended quickly, upon seeing the murderous look that had appeared on her cousin's face.

Walburga seemed to relax and even bared her teeth in what looked like....a smile? That's what Euphemia hoped it was anyway.

And so, she quickly hurried into the Great Hall, unaware that a certain Gryffindor boy had overheard her lying to Walburga and he was definitely not happy about it, if the dark look he was sending at her retreating back had anything to do with it.

~~~

The Gryffindor table was loud and chattering as it always was, full of chaos and laughter and living up to being the loudest table in the Great Hall every morning.

Minerva McGonnagal was helping herself to some porridge as she listened absentmindedly to Eugenia Jenkins wittering on in her ear about something that had happened with a boy that caused the blonde to squeal.

Alastor Moody was waiting impatiently for Charlus Potter to come to breakfast as the boy had slept in and was now taking an awful amount of time getting ready. Typical.

"Al, where's Charlus?" Eugenia asked him sweetly from one side and he turned to see her batting her eyelashes at him which only made him sigh internally.

Charlus liked that kind of stuff from girls, it boosted his already egoistical opinion of himself and enlarged his head even further (if that was possible) whereas Al wasn't quite into girls swooning over him just yet.

He appreciated it, sure, but it wasn't his style right now. "Slept in," he answered briefly, shrugging and biting into a crumpet to avoid answering more questions as something akin to disappointment flashed across Eugenia's pretty face.

"Told you," he heard Minnie's whisper, laced with laughter, from further down the table and Alastor glanced to see Eugenia whacking Minerva on the arm, bright red in the face.

Slightly amused, he turned back to his breakfast before he felt a hand tap his shoulder, leading him to spin around quickly, his reflexes fast as always.

Charlus was behind him, looking annoyed and frustrated about something as he looked over at Minnie with a look of what seemed like sympathy.

Alastor gave him a questioning look, still eating his crumpet and Charlus silently grabbed his arm, motioning for him to follow.

"But I'm still eating!" Al protested but Charlus was still dragging him out of the hall and he sighed, rolling his eyes and swallowing his crumpet.

Goddammit, bloody Charlus always interrupting his eating patterns.

"What is it?" Alastor asked, crossing his arms in a huff as the two boys reached the Entrance Hall, ducking through the crowds that swarmed there to get to a blank stretch of wall, where they both leaned, one disgruntled and curious and the other visibly annoyed and angry.

Charlus ran a hand through his hair before answering, "It's that Euphemia girl," he started and Alastor raised an eyebrow in curiosity, urging silently for Charlus to continue.

"I didn't trust her from the beginning and now I just overheard her saying something to that dratted cousin of her's - Walburga I think her name is - which pretty much confirmed my suspicions," he looked quite pleased with himself as well as being obviously annoyed at Mia.

Alastor looked at Charlus with an stone like expression on his face which practically screamed Are you kidding me right now?

He looked so done and was actually frustrated that Charlus had dragged him out of breakfast for this.

He wanted to believe his best friend, really he did, but he had also seen just how lovely Euphemia was and how caring and kind and so human she could be sometimes - she was feisty and sassy just like Minnie and he knew that the two were very close.

Alastor liked Euphemia, she obviously had some emotional baggage drama going on with her family but she was fun to be around and was a great addition to the group.

And now Charlus was insisting there was something up with her yet again.

From day one, as soon as he had found out that she was Black and was in Slytherin, Charlus had immediately hated her and Al knew it was because of how he had been brought up.

Charlus had been shunned from the other pure bloods because he was a 'blood traitor' and the Potters weren't exactly the most popular wizarding family over on the Dark Side.

Charlus' grandfather had been a rival to Grindelwald when he still ruled and so Grindelwald had quickly killed off Charlus' grandfather, Alastor knew this because it had been all over the Daily Prophet.

Therefore, he could see that Charlus had a reason to hate everyone and everything to do with the dark side because they ripped his grandad away from him.

And, as if to prove it, Al had been the witness to Charlus' unending grief during some late night talks in the common room when it was deserted.

Alastor could see why Charlus had such a vendetta against Euphemia Black but the group had soon learned in just their second day that Mia was nothing like her family and deep down, Al was sure that Charlus knew this - he was just unwilling to admit it.

And now, he was trying to find anything and everything that he could use against her, as evidence why they shouldn't trust her.

He just didn't want to admit to himself that he actually liked a Black's company. Because the Blacks had indirectly killed his beloved grandpa.

"Well?" Charlus prompted Alastor, looking rather hopeful that his friend's silence might be a wave of anger against Euphemia or a sense of betrayal and the boy wanted his best mate beside him when he confronted the girl.

However, Alastor ran a hand over his face, sighing which only sent Charlus into utter confusion. "What?"

"Euphemia is nothing like her family, Charlus. And the sooner you realise that, the better," Al finally said quietly, looking resigned and as though he was deep in thought.

Charlus was left stood in the Entrance Hall, stunned at what his best friend said as Alastor walked back into the Great Hall without a look back in his direction.

~~~

The Hogwarts fireworks display started with a quite literal boom as the magical fireworks took off from their starting place, a collective gasp rippling through the crowd that had packed together like penguins to avoid the cold November air.

The fireworks burst above of Euphemia and the rest of the school population, searing their brilliant light and vivacious colour onto the grounds of Hogwarts.

Each one drew a pattern into the sky, something unique and breathtaking, never to be repeated exactly no matter how many were ignited and sent to their sky-bound destiny, exploding in the air above the cloaked students of Hogwarts as open mouths of wonder and awe filled eyes covered the faces of each and every student.

Gasps of admiration and excitement escaped from everyone's mouths, no matter what shape, size, blood status or house they were - Slytherin & Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor - they were all united in their love for the exploding artwork in the sky.

Euphemia forgot absolutely everything else that had been going on, all her problems seemed to disappear as she looked up with wide eyes, her gloved hands clasped together tightly to avoid the bitter cold that had filled the early November air.

All she could see was the brilliant soaring vermillion, the golden and acid green flares for what they were, nothing else - all the double meanings she would usually see in them were gone, she just saw the magic of the fireworks as they dazzled her eyes.

And then they were now longer fireworks as they transformed in front of her very eyes, the igniting minerals crafting to resemble flowers bursting at high speed.

Now she could marvel at the skill of their makers and "ooh" and "ahhh" along with the crowd.

Mia enjoyed the thrill of shuddering at the sudden bangs that erupted from the dark stretch of sky and smiling at the startled gasps that emitted from the rest of the students.

Eileen was stood next to her and actually had her hands over her ears to block out the loud noises of the fireworks exploding above them but she was still grinning up at the illusions that were lighting up the skies with their bright, luminous colours and racing through the air with exhilarating speed, whistling and whizzing as they did so.

Euphemia could even see Walburga, Heather and Mary smiling softly up at the fireworks that were erupting into shapes and the smell of gunpowder soon began to fill the air.

A few of the student placed their scarves over their noses to block out the scent of gunpowder but Euphemia actually loved it, it awakened the adventurer inside of her and she sniffed the air eagerly, a grin spreading across her face.

Far upper right from where Mia and some of the other Slytherins were stood, were Euphemia's friends who were also enjoying the show immensely and she couldn't help but long to be stood with them so she could share in their infectious joy.

Eugenia had her arms wrapped around herself as she shivered uncontrollably in the biting cold air as Minnie jumped up and down excitedly next to her, clapping her gloved hands.

Pomona was also having fun and was talking avidly to Eugenia over the loud noise of the explosions.

Filius was up on Lyall's shoulders so he could see, pushing his rather large Ravenclaw woolly hat out of his eyes occasionally.

Florean, Alastor and Charlus were all mucking around, shoving each other playfully and mimicking rocket noises with their mouths, their hand movements demonstrating some sort of minute firework display.

Mia sighed a little, wanting to be with them but she instead focused her gaze on the upper sky as the fireworks exploded at an even faster speed now, whizzing through the air uncontrollably as more and more flares shot into the air.

Patterns were traced in vivid colours yet again as the Hogwarts logo was eventually painted out in a mixture of bright lights and flashing flames, the fireworks snaking around in the sky before it finished it's artwork.

The Hogwarts logo exploded into tiny little pieces that rained down from above, leaving some of the younger students to grab at them excitedly.

And then the grounds were plunged into darkness as all the light disappeared from the sky and there was a brief moment of silence before the Hogwarts population burst into applause, claps ringing through the cold air.

Once the cheering had subsided, the crowd began to move as teachers shouted directions over the chattering crowd.

Euphemia got tripped up more than once and lost Eileen in the surge of people all making their way towards the main entrance, which was pouring light onto the path.

Shoulders barged shoulders as everyone was fighting to get inside, people shoving past one another as they attempted to stay with friends, their shouts travelling in the breeze.

Euphemia was completely lost in the crowd, spinning around and around as she was shoved from one side to the other, getting completely and utterly disorientated as well as dizzy.

Mia easily fell into someone yet again, or so she thought, but actually a hand had grabbed her arm tightly, taking her over to one side of the path that was clear.

It was Charlus Potter and Euphemia inwardly groaned. What on earth could he want with her on this chilly November evening? She just wanted to get inside...

"Charlus, what is it?" she asked him unnervingly, having to shout to be heard over the ear deafening crowd to her right.

He frowned and let go of her arm, much to her relief as she rubbed it where he had squeezed it too tight.

"I need to talk to you about something," Charlus responded coldly and Mia gave him a pleading look, "Couldn't it wait until morning? I'm tired and cold," she told him with a scowl. What was this boy playing at?

"No. Stop making excuses," he replied harshly which only made Mia's heart sink. "I'm not," she answered calmly, though she would've punched him if she could actually see him - his face was covered in the darkness of the night which sucked.

He took a deep breath before starting, "Earlier today, I heard you saying some horrible things to your cousin about muggles and about how they deserved all the hate. And yet you hang out with us as if you agree with us? I clocked you from the beginning, Black, and I'm not letting your devious little ways harm any of my frie-"

Charlus was cut off as Euphemia's hand whacked him across his face, the slapping sound echoing in the now slowly quietening air as the crowd diminished.

His mouth fell open as her silhouette leaned towards him threateningly. "Don't talk about things that you don't understand," she hissed at him as upset filled her from head to toe, this was what she was afraid of - being judged incorrectly.

"You don't know me, you just assume you know me because you judge me immediately by my surname. I would've thought by now you might've come to your sense that I am nothing like my family but evidently you're still as close minded as you were on the train," she finished with a sense of defiance lighting up her body as she felt like she held the upper hand over him for a moment.

"I don't care what lies you're spewing now, Black. You're not going to fool me and I know your games, you're going to get close to me and myvfriends and then rip them away from me. Your family helped kill my grandfather!" Charlus yelled back at her, the grief taking hold as anger flooded through him from head to toe.

How dare she wade her way into his life, claiming to want to be friends when he knew she was just a fake!

Euphemia felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart at that last comment as she remembered the day her family had gloated about finally killing Charlus' grandfather and she had forgotten just how much that must've affected him and his life.

She had never wanted to be tarnished with the same brush as her family and this was exactly what was happening. What if she was actually the same as the rest of the Blacks and she was just lying to herself and pretending to be someone else for the sake of her own sanity?

"That's the thing, Charlus. You immediately assume that I'm the same as the rest of my family when I am not. You didn't take the time to get to know me, you jumped straight in with hating me. You didn't give me a chance! I am not my family, Charlus, and the sooner you realise that, the better," she said to him quietly, anger lacing her tone as well as hurt whilst tears prickled at her eyelids.

Charlus opened his mouth to argue back but she had already shoved past him and was hurrying back up into the castle, her hands wiping the tears that had flooded her face and he felt a pang of regret stab him in his stomach.

He hadn't meant to be that harsh but he knew he had upset her now....maybe she had a point....he had judged her straight away without giving her a chance.

Euphemia rushed into the Entrance Hall, the bright light stinging her watering eyes as she rubbed furiously at them to stop the water from flowing out of her eyes.

She glanced back briefly to see that he was still stood in the position that she had left him, no doubt dumbfounded at what she had said to him.

Either that or he's wallowing in his hate for me she thought bitterly as she headed down the steps into the dungeons.

"Well, I hate you too, Charlus Potter," Mia muttered underneath her breath in anger with sadness threaded into it, her heart aching.

There had been two types of explosions that night, it seemed.