A/N: This one's for Aiko! And because I love her Traditionalist-verse, some new flavour while hopefully not mangling anything she's planned for it.

The Presents Under the Tree! DFC 2017 Christmas Event! - for Aiko Isari
Becoming the Tamer King Challenge, Steamy Jungle Task
Diversity Writing Challenge, i17 - a side-story to somebody else's fic (part of Aiko's Traditionalist-verse)
The Mixing Bag of Challenge Prompts Bingo, #45 (Diversity, i17 for the Frontier/XW/Hunters list)

Shadows of Ghosts
1: salt in the wound

Their world had ghosts of all different kinds. The only ones Cho ever spoke of to him, though, were the ones at Hogwarts and even that was usually in passing.

They were fun tales, since the ghosts in Japan were typically far more sombre. Maybe it was a reflection of tradition, or taboo, but they typically only spoke to the dead through short spells of time and only family and close friends, at that. There was always the exception where someone would be visited by a stranger spirit, but ghosts roaming places for generations were the stories of the non-magical folk and the interpretation of old family magic seeping into the soil.

But not so, apparently, in Great Britain. Not so at Hogwarts.

She told of the Ravenclaw House's ghost: the Grey Lady. Of her lover, the Bloody Baron and spectre of Slytherin House. Of the Fat Frair of Hufflepuff, and Nearly Headless Nick of Gryffindor. Of Peeves who wasn't really a ghost but poltergeist and prankster and staunch Hogwarts defender. Of all the ghosts in Muggle London that neither of them care to remember now, because they're not living in Britain.

Hogwarts was an important time, though. Ryouma could understand his mother's reluctance to dismiss that, just like his time as a Hunter was, ultimately, more pain than gain.

She lost her youth, her innocence, and her first love to that place and that war. He might have kept his youth and scored his first love but he lost important things too: a treasured partner it turned out he'd never actually met, and all the progress he thought he'd made as the hero he'd never been.

At least he'd made lifelong friends out of the deal, and friends that didn't hold all that against him, at that. Not that they didn't have the right to, but forgiveness was about the only thing that could heal the wounds on a soul.

Sometimes, Cho wondered aloud if the Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron had ever made up and passed on. Ryouma wondered why she couldn't live more in the present. She'd barely noticed being swept away in Quartzmon's haze. She wasn't particularly concerned about all the school he'd missed while hunting digimon with Astamon, or when he'd fallen into a pocket space between dimensions and couldn't stop blabbing about the red hero he'd seen there.

Of course, that was before he knew much about magic or the digimon. Now he knew better about both, though he doubted he'd be inheriting anything fancy from the extended family. His father was a Muggle and history anyway, and he hadn't even met anyone from his mother's side of the family. Just a few friends, and considering they were acquainted with Taiki and Kiriha as well…

And then there were people like Ginny Potter who didn't really consider Cho Chang a friend (something about an old love rivalry? As if his mother was interested in anything now). Which was why it was a surprise to find her in their kitchen when he came home one day.

Well, she and her husband, but he was better acquainted with Taiki, so the point still stood. And Taiki was better with wild magic too. Or Nene. She had a knack with some of the particularly fiddly stuff. Ryouma's magic was more subtle. Kind of boring, Tagiru often complained. But at least he didn't blow his house sky high in his magical awakening, Yuu would tease back.

'…and they were having a date in the Astronomy Tower. It was so weird, two ghosts behaving like highschool kids…'

Ryouma looked properly at the couch. His mother had one of her oriental tea sets out – the magical set which danced quite nicely when coaxed – and was pouring cups for three children…

Oh, it was the entire Potter family, then. Go figure.

Ginny looked up at that moment and spotted him. 'Hello,' she said. 'This is the first time we've been to your house, isn't it?'

'We were talking about the Grey Lady and the Bloody Baron,' Cho added pleasantly. Well, at least she wasn't in tears on Harry's shoulder this time. That had happened once… or twice.

'Ah,' said Ryouma, because he didn't think they'd come all the way to Japan to talk about ghosts on a date, even if they were relics of one of the oldest western Wizarding schools in the world.

'Actually, we got a little off topic.' At least Harry sounded suitably sheepish. 'What we meant to say was we stumbled across a rather interesting ghost, and he was asking after you.'

'…oh.' Well, he certainly hadn't tried summoning anything of late, and nobody had died recently either… unless Taiki's grandfather finally bit the dust. But that still didn't explain why he was the one being asked after.

'Not hostile or anything,' Harry was quick to explain, 'and there were a few other matters to deal with – something about a Malfoy property? – and it was term break for the kids anyway and we thought it'd be a nice trip…'

'You're blabbing,' said Ginny, sounding affectionate. 'But it is a good opportunity. Usually we're the ones playing host instead.' And usually to Taiki and his mother, with Ryouma being the tagalong. Or the Malfoys to Kiriha with Nene and Yuu falling in behind. 'Anyways Cho, you should come visit too. The old crowd'll be at the game, and most of us haven't seen you in forever. Michael didn't even know you had a kid.'

…they'd come all the way to Japan just to invite them to London? Wouldn't a letter have done the job? Or a phone-call? Or a fire-call, since western wizards and electronics still struggled to get along.

…wait a sec.

Cho smiled and murmured something noncommittal and Ryouma winced at the tone. Ginny Potter winced as well. Harry looked oblivious… though Ryouma was pretty sure the Minister had said something about Harry and her husband sharing the same emotional range of a teaspoon.

Ryouma was sure he'd hear his mother crying again tonight. That was what happened when the past was dragged up. As for going to London… he very much doubted it and she had a ready-made excuse with her classes. They animated her, after all, and her students would need to be blind to not see how they fuelled her and saying they wouldn't easily let her go wasn't much of a stretch.

Except him because he was her son and he couldn't learn the entire world from her. Every chick had to leave the nest at some point… and so he got more of the ghosts she was wrapped in instead.

And on the topic of ghosts… 'What sort of odd ghost are we talking here?' Because a subject change wouldn't make things worse… right?