Like the new cover? ;)

There's going to be a bonus chapter for each year with either Xavier or Caro's perspective!

Spanish translations in the in-line comments!

✧・*ﾟ☆ﾟ*・✧

C A R O L I N A

( 2  years before )

"¡Caro, abre la puerta, porfa!"

"¡Vale!" I paused the television and walked out of the living room to answer the ringing doorbell.

Eagerly, I tapped the frosted glass window and it became transparent, revealing Olivia on the other side.

I dropped my hand, disappointed. I thought maybe Xavier had decided to stop trying to read textbooks and come over.

Olivia lived on the adjacent street, and her straight blonde hair fell crisply to her shoulders like the wind never touched her. She was the only witch my age in the neighbourhood and was holding something in her hands.

I changed the window back and unlocked the door, pulling it open. "Hello."

She smiled nervously, "Hi Caro."

As usual, she did not bother to pronounce my name correctly. I usually did not mind, but with her I did. "It's Cah-ro, not Care-oh, and yes?"

Olivia thrust an orange and gold-wrapped package at me. It was the size of a package of Bertie Botts, and was probably the same mix of horror and delight.

I didn't take it and microscopically leaned away. "What is it?"

"For Christmas," she said, then slowly drew the gift back to herself. "Look, my friends and I feel really guilty about how mean we were to you, okay? My parents got really mad at me for it. And since it's almost Christmas I just want to give you this to make up for it all. It's a Fabergé egg."

I had no idea what a Fabergé egg was, and my puzzlement must have showed, because she explained, "It's like a jewelled egg. It's not that special, just one my gran bought on a trip and gave me. It's only steel and crystal, and we have a lot, so she said it's okay if I give it to you."

Olivia then pulled open the ribbon and lifted the lid, showing me its contents. "See?"

It reminded me of the Golden Snitch. A gold-painted egg embedded with white crystals sat nestled between the black velvet.

My mind was at war. Christmas was my favourite holiday and I was in a fantastic mood, possibly leading me to be too lenient. Whatever my excuse was, I took the present. "Thank you, Olivia. It's nice of you to do this."

She smiled quickly, "Yeah, happy early Christmas!"

✧・*ﾟ☆ﾟ*・✧

It was the night of Christmas Eve, and I asked my parents not to use magic for a few minutes while I called Xavier on the landline. Yes, he was only three doors away, but he didn't like it when I showed up unannounced and inevitably ate all his food.

He answered on the second ring and said boredly, "Yes, I'm coming. Be patient for one more hour."

I'd begged him to come to my house just before Christmas so we could celebrate right at midnight. Because it was Xavier, he didn't see the point, but he promised to do so because he hated disappointing me.

"Okay," I said, tapping the phone with my nails until I realized he could probably hear it and was already annoyed. "I'm just checking."

The gift sat on my desk with the top off. I'd wanted to touch it these last few days but refrained out of sheer pride. I debated finally telling Xavier about it, or whether I should just forget it and tell Mum to Vanish it.

"Is there anything else?" Xavier asked suspiciously. "I don't think you'd call just to ask me if I was coming. You know I am."

I hesitated. "Two days ago, Olivia came over to apologize."

"Oh. That's unexpected. Did she mean it?"

"I think so. She brought a present, too."

"I say don't open it."

"But she sounded so sincere. And I already did. It's a Fabergé egg."

There was a silence, and I could picture the face he was making as he went, "What the heck is that?"

"A fancy egg-shaped thing. You know, like..." I hit my head and searched for the word, "an ornament. It has crystals and it's pretty."

"Okay, well, people can change. It's nice that she realized how terrible she was this early."

I nodded, "That's true. But do you think Olivia can change? She was pretty mean last week."

"I wasn't there, so I don't know. But of course it's possible. What exactly did she say?"

I recounted our conversation as best as I could.

"Sounds like she's telling the truth, honestly. Everything checks out."

I thought this over. I had a lot of faith in Xavier's opinions, and now I had all I needed to believe Olivia had transformed into a decent human being deserving of bestowing me with gifts. "Okay. See you in an hour."

✧・*ﾟ☆ﾟ*・✧

I was going to open the present, only I ended up delaying it more. Eventually, at eleven o'clock, I sat at my desk and took it out of the package.

"You happy, Olivia?" I muttered. "I accept your terrible gift."

I set it on the little gold-coloured stand it came with and examined it closely. Bright orange and gold designs wrapped around the sapphire blue egg in the shape of curling flames. The crystals sparkled like a sun-struck wave.

It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid eyes upon, and I swooned.

I quickly noticed a clasp at the front, so it must be able to open. It didn't take much to turn the catch, and the top half flipped upwards.

I screamed as a thin column of autumn-coloured flames burst from the opening. I rolled to the side, gasping in pain. My entire arm felt like a molten hot poker had been slammed against it.

As smoke filled the air and the fire roared, I dived towards the door. I got blocked by my fallen chair and collapsed behind it, my chest tight and my eyes burning. It hurt so much...

The door burst open and Mum started shrieking, "CAROLINA! ¿Dónde estás?"

There was a crack and Dad Apparated beside her. "¡Caro!"

"¡Aquí!" I yelled hoarsely. I was now crawling from the worst of the flames, with what felt like the entire world burning around me. I heard my desk crumble, and to my horror, a Barbie fell in front of me, her entire face melted.

"Aguamenti!" a torrent of water blasted the entire room, and the fire wasn't put out, only driven back briefly.

"It's Dark Magic!" Dad shouted, face illuminated by the orange light.

Mum scooped me up and carried me out of the room, hurrying me to the master bedroom as he yelled, "Ventus! Bonaguamenti!"

I heard the fire extinguish with a malevolent hiss.

 She set me on the bed and dried me off, asking me ¿qué pasó? with tears in her eyes.

"Caro?" came my little brother's voice from the door, sounding scared. I quickly hid my arm from view. "¿Qué pasa?"

Dad rushed to the door and pointed down the hall, "Vuelve a tu cuarto y quédate ahí. Tu hermana está bien."

"¿Estás loco? ¡Puedo ver su brazo! Y por qué su cuarto —"

Dad grasped Julio's shoulder and firmly led him away.

They heard a loud knocking on the front door, followed by an insistent ringing of the doorbell. Then it abruptly stopped and Xavier appeared from thin air, nearly stumbling into me.

I gasped, "Cómo — did you just Apparate?"

Not hearing my question, he stared at my arm in horror, "What happened?"

I winced, "Olivia's gift. You know, the fancy egg? Fire came out."

Dad had returned with my converses and a lot of bandages. "We need to wrap it up then take you to St. Mungo's right now."

"You take her," my mother murmured, stroking my hair. "I will deal with the gift then meet you there. Xavier, do you want to go with them?"

"Yes, of course."

She kissed my forehead and left the room, "Te amo."

While my father carefully wrapped loose bandages around my arm, I reached for Xavier and he instantly came forward, letting me hug him and cry into his shoulder.

✧・*ﾟ☆ﾟ*・✧

St. Mungo's was efficient, and soon I was in my own ward on the fourth floor. A potion had soothed the pain, but the healer couldn't do much for my arm. She'd gone off with Dad to talk to other healers and figure out what else they could try. I could tell he was starting to freak out when the wounds refused to fade.

As for me, I tried not to look at them.

Xavier briefly went back home with Mum, and five minutes later they Apparated back with a pile of presents.

Xavier pulled up a chair and ripped one open, pulling out a stuffed corgi. He set it on my lap. "That's my present. He says Merry Christmas."

I turned my head and saw that the large clock on the wall now said midnight. I stared at the dog's happy smile and tried not to cry. "Thanks, corgi."

My mother touched my partly seared off hair, whispering, "Lo siento mucho, Caro."

I brought my knees up and hugged the corgi with one arm, "It's not your fault. Or yours, Xavier."

Mum's face darkened, "I will have a long talk with Olivia Campbell and her parents."

"What's going to happen to my arm?"

Xavier looked at Mum, and she pursed her lips together, "They will heal it. You'll be fine, don't worry."

"Where's Julio?"

"I put him to sleep," she replied. "He'll come and visit tomorrow when you're all fixed up."

Instinctively I hugged the plush toy, but then I felt my rough and wrecked skin, coated in the jelly of the last potion the healers tried. My eyes filled with tears.

"Even if it's permanent," Xavier said, almost like he'd sensed my misery, "it looks pretty cool."

"Really?" I sniffed. Xavier had always been honest, but I doubted him now.

"Yeah," he said genuinely, "like you went to battle and survived. You could say that you fought in the Wizarding War as a little kid."

I smiled at that, then leaned back and settled into the pillows. "I'm kind of hungry."

Mum laughed and patted my hair, "I'll go find you some food."