Disclaimer: I do not own Harry or anything that belongs in his world.
Norbert and the Unicorn
Both kids came running back into the kitchen as quickly as they could and found their seats at the table. Hermione finished brining the food to the table as Ron came in all cleaned up. He sat down and started to fill up his plate.
"So who is Norbert?" Rose asked, unable to wait any longer.
"Norbert was Hagrid's baby dragon." Hermione chuckled at the look on her children's face. They both had heard stories from their Uncle Charlie about dragons. "Hagrid had won the dragon's egg playing cards with a stranger. Hagrid had always wanted a dragon, so this was a dream come true for him. He kept it warm in the fireplace in his hut until it hatched. The three of us where there when Norbert hatched actually. We also helped him take care of the Norbert."
"Oh yeah, that was a wonderful experience. It looked like a crumpled up umbrella with teeth. And it's teeth were sharp and poisonous. If you talked to Hagrid about it he would say that Norwegian Ridgeback was as cuddly as a fluffy bunny." Ron put in between bites.
"Yes, you are right, it was not the most pleasant experience, but it was a great educational opportunity." Hermione put in.
"Educational opportunity?! You were not the one that got bit by it. My hand swelled up and turned green."
"Yes well, that was one of the reasons we told Hagrid he needed to get rid of the dragon." Hermione pointed out. "That and Draco had found out about the dragon, and we knew it would only be a matter of time before he told someone about it."
"Whose Draco?" Rose asked.
"He is an evil Slytherin that constantly made our lives miserable" Ron put in.
"Now stop that. Yes we were not friendly with him, but he is not evil. He has changed a lot since our school days," Hermione said. "But he did make our lives miserable during our school years," She added when she saw Ron's glare.
"So did Hagrid get rid of the dragon?" Hugo asked with his mouth full of food.
"Hugo, don't talk with your mouth full. Yes he did, with our help. Your father contacted your uncle Charlie and we arranged for him to come pick Norbert up from one of the towers. Unfortunately your father was in the hospital wing because of the bite Norbert gave him. So it was up to me and Uncle Harry to smuggle the dragon up to the tower in the middle of the night."
"Yes, thankfully I did not partake in that adventure because I was in excruciating pain in the hospital wing." Ron put in sarcastically.
"Uncle Harry and I did manage to get the dragon up the tower, and safely into Uncle Charlie's possession," Hermione continues ignoring her husband's remarks. "We thought we were in the clear, but unfortunately we were caught heading back to the Gryffindor tower. Uncle Harry, Neville, Draco and I all got caught that night and were assigned detention."
"Why did Neville and Draco get in trouble? You said it was just you and Uncle Harry. " Rose asked completely forgetting about the food on her plate.
"You see, Draco had figured out our plan and so went to tell on us. Since he was out past curfew as well he got in trouble. Neville overhead Draco and was going to warn us, but got caught too. So the four of us served detention together in the Forbidden Forest."
"The Forbidden Forest? You actually went into the forest. I thought it was off limits. James says that no one is allowed in the forest, and there are lots of creatures in it." Hugo said, also neglecting his dinner.
"The forest is off limits, but we went in with Hagrid. Our task was to look for an injured unicorn." Hermione started to clean up realizing her children were not going to eat anymore.
"There are unicorns in the forest?" both kids said.
"Yes there are. There was an injured one that we needed to find to either tend to or put out of its misery."
"What do we have for desert?" Ron asked. Hermione rolled her eyes. Leave it to her husband to inquire about desert. She also knew that the only reason Hugo was not asking as well was because he was very focused on the story.
"I have a pudding." She responded. Going to grab it and brining it to the table.
"Did you guys find the unicorn?" Rose asked.
"Yes, Uncle Harry found it. Unfortunately it was already dead. Someone was feeding off of it. We came to late so save it."
"Someone was feeding off of it? Why?" Inquired Rose, not sure she had heard correctly.
"Unicorn blood has many great properties, however it comes at a great price to get it." Hermione paused a bit, unsure of what to tell the kids. Ron noticed this hesitation and jumped in.
"We have told you two about Uncle Harry defeating Voldemort."
"At the battle of Hogwarts." Hugo put in. He had always liked the fact that his parents and Uncle were heroes.
"The battle of Hogwarts was the final time that Uncle Harry defeated Voldemort. When Uncle Harry was a baby, Voldemort had tried to kill him. But it did not work. That's how Uncle Harry got his scar." The kids listened intently to their father. Although their parents had told them about Voldemort, they did not talk about it much. "Voldemort had lost his body but he was not dead."
"Like a ghost?" Rose asked
"Not exactly. A ghost is an imprint of the person's soul. Voldemort did some dark magic that allowed him to still be alive, even if he did not have a physical body." Hermione carefully told her children. She could tell that Hugo had no idea what she was talking about, but Rose seemed to understand a least a little bit.
"So what does this have to do with the unicorn?" Rose asked.
"Well Voldemort was trying to get a physical body again. He wanted the Sorcerer's Stone, but until he could get it, he was drinking unicorn blood, which will keep someone alive even if you are on the verge of death. But that comes as a cost as I said before. Unicorns are so pure, that killing one will leave you with a cursed life."
"So Voldemort was trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone." Rose asked trying to put all the pieced together.
"Yes, and we thought that Professor Snape was trying to steal it for him." Ron put in "We thought it must be safe with Fluffy guarding it. Then we found out that Hagrid had told the person who gave him the dragon egg about Fluffy. We went to tell Professor Dumbledore that the Sorcerer's Stone was not safe, and we found out that he was called away."
"Did Voldemort get the Sorcerer's Stone?" Hugo questioned.
"No he did not." Hermione answered. "We foolishly thought that we needed to go and protect the stone ourselves. Let's save that story for another time. Why don't you two go into the other room with your father while I clean up."
"Dad, can we play some chess?" Hugo asked enthusiastically.
"Sure, go get it set up." The two children scampered into the living room. Ron went over to his wife and put his arms around her. "Are you alright."
"Yes, It's just telling them about Voldemort is hard. We have already told them about the Battle of Hogwarts, but now they will know even more about the evil we faced. Not to mention we have to relive it again."
"You know they would find out some of these things eventually." She nodded. He continued, "You have always felt that we should not water things down for the kids. I mean you were the one that talked to our three year old Rosie about house elf rights as if she knew what you were talking about." They smiled at each other.
"I know. They should know these things. They should know our history."
Ron gave his wife a kiss and went into the other room to play some chess with his son. She smiled, watching him leave the room. All the things they had gone through had formed them into the people they were today. Their children should know that.
