Millie had been enjoying her break from school. She had been working long hours in her mum's bakery when her mum suggested she contact Headmistress Persnickety about throwing a holiday party for her fellow students and professors at The Leaky Cauldron. She sent an owl to the Headmistress asking for permission and was overjoyed when she was given the blessing. She placed a reservation at The Leaky Cauldron for December 12th and quickly got to work sending out inventions with enough Floo Powder for them to take the Floo Network. In the invention, she added, "If you need access to a portkey, please contact me ASAP so I may get it to you."

Private Outfit Private Outfit When the day finally arrived, she got to The Leaky Cauldron early, with her boyfriend Emmett in tow, to help her set up. She placed a table full of British Christmas food - Yorkshire Puddings, Scottish Smoked Salmon, Hot Roast Beef with a side of mashed potatoes and brown sugar glazed carrots, Pigs in a Blanket, Beef Wellington, Mince Meat Pies, and much more.

For the Hanukkah table; Beef Brisket, Matzo Ball Soup, Challah Bread, Latkes, Donut Fries with a side of strawberry preserves and melted chocolate.

For Saint Lucia's Day; St. Lucia Sweet Bread, Swedish Ginger Cookies, Swedish Meatballs, Coffee cake.

On the last table, there was a large assortment of cookies, pies, cakes, and even magical goods. and much more with a sign that said, "Desserts provided by Sweet Treats by Britta" with several paper menus and business cards.

While she was setting out the food, Emmett was hanging the decorations and information on some holidays celebrated in December. He used magic to hang streamers, garland, and fairy lights. He hung fairy lights on a few small treats he brought.

Once the decorating was finished, they both took a step back and admired their handiwork and sipping some hot butterbeer.

((OOC - The party begins on December 12th. Any posts before should be arriving and entering The Leaky Cauldron.))

Zoe apperated into the Leaky Cauldron and dusted off the snow that covered her. She was wearing a festive outfit and a big smile. "Millie, how are ye?" she asked spotting the Hufflepuff teen.

Jona busted through the door, sprinkling snow in his midst as it fell from his clothes. "CHRISTMAAAAAAS!!!" He shouted as he threw his hands open and waved to everyone inside. Doing everything with an extra skip in his step, Jona grabbed a cookie from one of the tables, saying "Thank you!" to no one in particular, and ran to hug Millie and Zoe. He was amazed by Zoe's hair and told her so while trying to pet the antlers to figure out if they were real.

[edit] OOC: I just read your OCC on "arriving and entering" - does this mean we should not start interacting with each other until the 12th?

Zoe giggled at Jona's arrival and then he's petting her antlers. "That tickles," she said as she lowered herself so he could pet them better. "Transfiguration," she explained. "I love being able to do magic out of school." She beamed. "How are ye? Ready to spend some time with my family? Mum and Dad are dead chuffed to meet ye properly. Got the guest bedroom all ready for ye and we even put a Christmas tree in it to make it all holiday spirit and all. How ye doing? Ye look good."

"So cool," he whispered and pulled his hand from the transfigured horns. A giant grin spread across his face then as he said, "Yeah, I'm super psyched! I can't believe we've known each other this long and never been to each other's houses! Times are achangin'." He sneaked another cookie from the table and grinned sheepishly.

"THanks. I like yer tree. I'm excited too. Dad and Mum want to go ice skating with ye for one activity. I can't wait to show ye around. And ye can show me yer place when I take ye home." She saw him sneaking a biscuit but didn't say anything. Instead she started putting some food on her plate and grabbing a drink. "I love winter. Nothing like feeling the cold on yer cheeks and then going inside and warming up by the fireplace. Its so fun."

"Yes! Ice skating! I love ice skating. And I love WINTER. The season of hot chocolate and cookies and snowball fights. It's the best!" Jona pondered the options of what they could do upon his return home. He hadn't really done much thinking on it, but would make sure to ask his uncles for suggestions. "Er," he blushed and mumbled something to Zoe that wasn't quite audible.

"Excellent!" Zoe was pleased. "Oh yes, ye can bet we'll have snowball fights and hot chocolate. And I think Uncle wanted to take us to see a hockey game and Christmas orchestra. Plus we are all going on a horse drawn sleigh. It even has jingle bells too. Ye know they put the bells on since the horses make no sound on a sleigh and people had accidents running into each other at intersections." She smiled. At his mumbling she cocked her head. "Sorry, didn't hear that. Ye wanted some meatballs?"

(( - interacting it fine. I just didn’t want the party to start until people at a chance to arrive and get settled since they would all be traveling. Sorry for the confusion

I’ll be interacting with everyone after work and a possible nap))

Toru came in from back entrance of the Leakey Cauldron as they lived off of Diagon Alley. They moved to brush the snow off their small frame and smiled softly at the people who were already there. The younger Hufflepuff recognized almost everyone -- Millie, Zoe, and Jona were all easily recognizable and they waved to them shyly. However there was a boy that Toru was positive they hadn't seen before. They trotted over to the group slowly, a little shy about the strange boy, but giving Jona and Zoe a small hug. "H-How are y-you all?" They gave Millie a warm smile and held out a large bag of food. "T-Thank you s-so much for h-hosting this! M-Mum made h-hotpot for everyone."

"Hi Toru!" Zoe said brightly. "How are ye? Having a nice holiday?"

Private Outfit Private Outfit

Millie was so happy to see her friends start flooding into The Leaky Cauldron. "Hi Zoe () I'm wonderful! How are you? How's your break so far?"

She excitedly waved to Jona () "Hey Jona! How are the cookies? My mum's bakery donated them". She told him while hugging him.

"Hi Toru (). How lovely, thank you!" she said giving Toru a hug. "Oh, and have you and Jona met my boyfriend, Emmett? He's been recently released from Drumstrang for good and has been training to be a curse breaker at Gringott's."

Emmett had been shoving donut sticks with chocolate in his mouth when he heard his name and waved to the younger students Millie was talking to before returning to the donuts. "Don't mind him. He doesn't talk much when there are donuts around" she said with a laugh. She could feel Toru's uneasiness. "Don't worry. He's really nice. He's just happy not to have to spend another winter in Scandinavia."

Jona laughed awkwardly but mustered the courage to repeated his words: "There's, uh, someone I want you to meet. When we go back to my house." He blushed at the thought but chose not to elaborate, instead turning to Toru as they walked in. "TORU!" Jona grinned sheepishly with another cookie in hand when Millie caught him off-guard and asked how they were. "They're great!" He giggled and smashed the entire cookie into his mouth. Jona nodded as she introduced Emmett, someone Jona heard mention of on prior occasions. The younger boy felt immediately at ease and almost a sense of kinship sprouted as he walked over a grabbed a donut stick of his own. "Cheers!" He held up the donut to Emmett and nodded in gluttonous comradery.

Toru nodded a little when Millie introduced the boy. Though they were a little nervous at the mention of Durmstrang, if Millie said he was nice there was no reason to think he wasn't. They gave a small shy wave in Emmett's direction. Then they moved to set up the dish their mother had prepared. Manami had spelled the dish to remain hot even after it had been sitting out, so Toru was very careful in placing it out. Hotpot is a warm Japanese winter dish filled with meats and vegetables in a boiling broth, and it smelled amazing. They also put some fresh Yuzu oranges out on the table since they were normally harvested in Winter and his mom's family had several trees on property. But they looked surprised at the familiar treats. "Y-Your mom runs Sweet Treats?" The Mizushima's used the bakery often since Britta had their father's favorite sweets.

Toru then turned to Zoe. "M-My break has b-been well. We w-went to Japan to v-visit relatives!" They gave a bright smile since they enjoyed visiting their parent's homeland. Toru blinked a little and glanced between Zoe and Jona and was worried they had intruded on something. "H-How have you b-both been?"

“I’m doing well, thank ye. I had a modelling gig and that’ll help me buy gifts. Break’s been good. How about ye? Oh and I see Emmet’s here. He’s looking well.” Zoe sucked on a candy cane for a moment.

“Oh?” Zoe asked smiling, “a friend or possibly more? I’m looking forward to it, Jona.”

“OOH Japan,” the teen swooned. “How lovely. I’ve been well.”

Jona mumbled shyly again, something so out of character for him. The words were muffled but one cam through clear enough: "more". Then he swiveled back to Toru, purposely talking louder and more boisterous than ever before. "I'm SUPER GREAT!" Jona danced a little as he said this. "It's Christmas time! Hard not to be excited for Christmas!" He was obviously pushing the happiness a little too hard so he tried to calm it down just a bit. He had recently started becoming more aware of himself and how others might see him, which made him often think harder about his actions and words. "I really am glad we are doing this, though. It's nice to see everyone again."

Zoe squealed with delight, grabbed Jona and hugged him. Then kissed his cheek before letting the poor boy go. "OH I'm so happy for ye!" She hugged him again.

[img align=center]https://i.postimg.cc/Hx9QBh9t/Dirty-Fade.png[/img]There was a woosh of air and a flash of green light in the back of the Leaky Cauldron a moment before Fade materialized inside the charred hearth. Sputtering and spitting out ashes he stepped out into the room. It was easy for him to keep his mouth shut under any normal circumstance, but every time he used the Floo Network he always got ashes in his mouth. A moment later he was groaning in dismay when he realized how stupid it was to wear a white jacket and white shoes when using Floo Powder. “Ah jeez, I am an idiot aren’t I?” He chuckled to himself while attempting to pat some of the ash off his shirt and jeans, to no avail.

Giving up on getting rid of the dirt himself, Fade pushed some hair out of his face and looked around the room. There had to be a seventeen year old somewhere who would do him the favor of a Tergio or Scourgify spell. While he was incredibly tempted to use it himself, he didn’t want to risk the underage magic, off of school property, dumb whatever it was rule. Spotting a small gathering of familiar faces he made his way over, grinning like an idiot. “Er, hey guys.” He scratched the back of his head nervously. At least the ashes would help to hide how red his face probably was.

(some one plz help this poor boy XD)

"Hello Fade" Zoe said with a smirk, "Fireplace chic I see." She was uncharacteristically teasing him. "Would ye like me to oh...I do nee know clean ye up?"

Fade’s nervous grin expanded as Zoe () teased. “Something like that, yeah. Um. Yes, please.” He laughed and held his arms out, not because they needed to be but it just felt like it would help somehow.