A/N: I actually read through the Philosopher's Stone (again) to double-check myself, and I'm glad that I did. The movies, while they are lovely and will always hold a place in my heart, leave out or change a lot from the books. In the movie, with the scene of the Mirror of Erised, it only shows Harry's parents, and we're led to believe that his focus is solely on his dead parents. In the books, it stresses that Harry longed for a family, and he saw *all* of his family in mirror-aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents-along with his parents.
That was where the inspiration for most of this chapter came from.
Familial relationships- Hermione and Draco are in the same age group and they have been raised in close contact with one another. Technically, Hermione's actual cousin is Cygnus, and Draco would be her cousin twice-removed, but they don't really quibble about the technicalities. They consider one another family, and that's all that counts for them.
Yes, Harry is also a cousin of Draco's, but in the books Draco doesn't seem to care. [As I've been reading the Philosopher's Stone again, Draco taunts Harry about the fact that he doesn't have 'any family that wants him'... which would include Draco.] He never trades on their relationship, and he never attempts to bring it to Harry's attention. I will address this in a bit, but I'm working up to it. Throwing too much information at Harry at once will overwhelm him. Cassiopeia, and Hermione to a lesser extant, understand this, and are trying to ease him in slowly.
Blatant Beta Adoration: Auntie_L is amazing, and I am so grateful that I have her. :)
October 31, 1991
Hogwarts
Waking up on the morn of Samhain was almost surreal; this was the first time that Hermione had not spent Samhain with her mother. She woke up earlier than normal and dressed quickly. A feeling of homesickness and longing almost overwhelmed her, but she viciously tamped it down. She hurried out to the Common Room and then out of the dungeons all together. Just as she slipped out of the Slytherin dorms, she ran into someone and fell on her bum.
"Ow," she muttered.
"What are you doing out of bed so early, imp?" Adrian Pucey asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. He frowned at her and held out a hand. "You shouldn't leave the dorms by yourself. You may not have noticed yet, but we aren't the most popular House, and there is safety in numbers."
Hermione took his hand and allowed him to help her to her feet. She brushed at her skirt and murmured a soft 'thank you' for his assistance.
"It's Samhain," she explained with an anxious expression. "I need to get an offering from breakfast before it's all picked over."
"You follow the old traditions," Adrian said in surprise. Then he grimaced and rolled his eyes. "Of course you do. You're a Black. Come on, imp. I'll escort you to the kitchens. The house-elves have offering packets made up for the families that still honour the old ways."
Hermione followed Adrian to a hallway, where Adrian showed her how to get into the kitchens. A house-elf hurried forward to see what they needed, and minutes later, placed a small, neatly wrapped package in Hermione's hands.
"Thank you," she told the house-elf feelingly.
The house-elf nodded and smiled and shooed them out of the kitchen, then Adrian took her back to the dungeons. He led her into the Common Room and then turned to her.
"Just remember, don't leave the dorms by yourself. Do you have incense?" He asked.
Hermione shook her head. "No," she admitted.
"Hang on, I think I've got some in my trunk," he told her. "I'll be right back."
Once Hermione had her incense and her offering, she went back into her room and cleared off the top of her dresser. She set everything up carefully. All of the pictures were at home, but Hermione had inscribed a scroll with everyone's names and set that up next to the offering. Then, she stood in front of her dresser with her head bowed, and sent up a quick, silent prayer for her deceased family members. There would be no visiting Godric's Hollow today, but she would do her duty as a daughter of her House.
"What's that smell?" Tracey Davis asked sleepily as she got up for the day.
"Incense," Hermione replied quietly. She gestured at the small altar she'd made on her dresser.
"Oh," Tracey murmured softly. "It's… it's Halloween today, isn't it?"
"Samhain," Hermione corrected her absently. "Today is set aside to remember and to honour those who have died."
"My mother died when I was small," Tracey confessed. "And then Dad didn't want anything to do with her family."
"We should light some incense for your mother," Hermione decided.
Tracey looked at her hopefully. "Will you help me? I mean, make sure I do it properly?"
"Of course. Do you have a picture of your mother?" She asked quietly.
Tracey nodded, and pulled out a small, oval frame from under her pillow. Hermione helped her clear off the top of her dresser, and then helped her put up the picture of her mother. Tracey lit the incense carefully, and Hermione took a bit from her offering to set on Tracey's dresser.
"There," Hermione murmured.
"What do I do?" Tracey asked nervously.
Hermione shrugged. "It's different for each person. Mother has always said that it was up to you. If you want to talk to your mother, or say a prayer for her, or just think about her. Any of that is fine. At home, we always went to the family crypt and set out wreaths and bouquets for our family. This… this is the first year I won't be going with Mother to Godric's Hollow," she confessed.
"That sounds… nice," Tracey offered with an awkward smile. "I think I'll just talk to her."
"Do it silently," Pansy groaned. "Some of us are trying to sleep."
Hermione rolled her eyes at Tracey who covered her mouth with her hand to muffle a giggle. She jerked her head toward the Common Room and Tracey nodded with a shy smile.
Sitting in the Common Room and waiting for Tracey, Hermione was surprised when someone sat down next to her. She turned and came face to face with the grumpy countenance of her cousin Draco. Hermione fought the urge to roll her eyes again; ever since Draco's idiotic plan to get Harry in trouble by challenging him to a Midnight Duel, things had been strained between the two of them.
Being a pureblood child was mostly a solitary existence—the majority of them didn't have siblings. Cousins were as close as most pureblood children came to having a brother or sister. Still, Draco was taking it a bit too far.
"Are you still mad at me?" Hermione asked quietly.
A sulky grunt was her only answer.
"But you're still here to walk me to the Great Hall?" Hermione guessed.
Draco scowled.
"If you would rather not, I'll just go with Tracey Davis," Hermione sighed, tired of fighting.
"I'll take you," he muttered. "You're my cousin."
"You can escort Tracey, too," Hermione snapped. "Pucey says that we shouldn't leave the dorms by ourselves."
"Pucey? Pucey?" Draco's pale face grew pink. "What does he have to do with anything?"
"Oh for Merlin's sake, Draco!" Hermione stood up when she saw Tracey come out of the girl's dorm. She turned to glare at him. "Grow up!"
/\/\/\/\/\
Charms had started out beautifully, but quickly became an absolute nightmare. When Professor Flitwick had announced that they were ready to start making objects fly there was a murmur of excitement that rippled through the classroom. Hermione rather thought that the Professor was trying to make the day fun for students who might be homesick, and missing the family togetherness of Samhain. She filed that away for later, but if it proved true, it would raise the Professor in her estimations.
Professor Flitwick, not realizing that he was adding fuel to flame, paired Hermione and Draco together to practice. Hermione listened respectfully while the Professor gave them their instructions. Draco rolled his eyes and ignored the Professor.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" he reminded them, perched on a stack of books. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And proper enunciation is the key to a successful incantation. Let us not forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
Mother and her other tutors had drilled Hermione on proper pronunciation and proper wand movements over and over again. Hermione had already read this chapter over, and had practiced her swish and flick with the bed-hangings pulled closed so that the other girls wouldn't tease her for being an over-achiever.
Around her, the other Slytherins struggled to cast the Levitation Charm properly. Crabbe had managed to blow up his feather, and Blaise sat next to him with a disgruntled expression. Pansy and Daphne were whispering to one another rather than focussing on the task at hand, and Millicent was trying to correct Tracey's wand movements.
"Win-gar-dium Levi-o-sar," Draco muttered, and then he Flicked and swished.
Hermione glared at her cousin. "Maybe if you'd paid attention, you'd know how to do it properly," she snapped. "You're saying it all wrong, and your wand movements are sloppy and haphazard."
Draco glared back at her. "Fine. Why don't you show me how it's done, Miss Perfect?"
Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked and swished her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Their feather rose off the desk and hovered several feet above their heads. Draco's scowl grew worse, especially when Professor Flitwick noticed and praised her in front of the entire class.
"Well done, Miss Black," he cheered.
After class, Draco was so angry that he left without her. She grabbed up her book bag and hurried after him. Draco was walking with the other Slytherin boys, and she could hear him ranting angrily.
"I don't know why she has to show me up at every single opportunity," Draco raged. "And if that's not bad enough she's always running off to check on Crybaby Neville and that stupid scar-head Potter. It's like she hasn't got any House loyalty at all. She's in Slytherin, for Merlin's sake. She might as well not even be my cousin. Maybe I'd be better off if she wasn't."
Draco's words hit Hermione with the emotional impact of the Hogwarts Express. She stopped in the hall, frozen. He didn't want to be her cousin anymore? Family was the most important thing in Hermione's world. Her heart squeezed tightly in her chest and she could feel the tears clogging her throat. Emotional public displays were not the done thing. Hermione bit her lip to keep her sobs in check and ran, hoping to get away from everyone before she started crying. She knocked into Draco on her way by, but she kept running.
/\/\/\/\/\
"I think you made her cry," Theo Nott murmured quietly.
Draco turned pink and hunched his shoulders. "So what if I did?" He scoffed.
Inside, Draco felt a part of him shrivel up inside. He and Hermione fought like kneazles and crups, but he'd never, ever made her cry before. He'd meant what he'd said at his grandfather's funeral, Hermione was as close as he was ever going to get to having a sister. Maybe he was a little jealous of stupid Harry Potter and his stupid scar sweeping in and taking over his cousin.
When she didn't appear in their next class, Draco's guilt grew. His father and mother had tried to lecture him before school this year, and that conversation weighed on him heavily.
"Now, Draco, entrance into Hogwarts can be viewed as practice for your entrance into proper wizarding society. You will learn to make the right sorts of friends, and become acquainted with the right sorts of witches as you begin to plan for your future," Lucius had droned on.
"I know all that, father," Draco protested.
"The thing you must remember is that Hermione must do all of this as well," Narcissa reminded him. "Your father is speaking to you about this now because you have a tendency to treat Hermione as though she is a possession. She is not; she's your cousin. She has her own House responsibilities and duties, and that includes making friends and spending time with other people."
Draco scowled.
"Hermione is an obedient daughter to her House," Lucius praised his wife's cousin. "Do not make her job any harder than it is, Draco."
"I would never!"
Lucius and Narcissa exchanged a glance and then looked at their son.
"I will hope that this is so," Lucius murmured. He fixed Draco with a pointed look. "Do not disappoint me."
When Draco went in to dinner, and realized that Hermione wasn't there, his mood dipped even lower. He picked at his food listlessly until he heard Tracey Davis speaking to Daphne Greengrass.
"Hermione showed me how to make a shrine for my mother and everything," Tracey was saying quietly. "She even gave me incense to light for her."
"The Blacks are very traditional," Daphne murmured. She paused and nibbled on a slice of pumpkin bread. "Still, it was very thoughtful of her."
"She said that it was the first year she hadn't been able to go to Godric's Hollow with her mother," Tracey continued.
"Samhain is all about family," Daphne offered.
Draco's heart sank. It was Samhain. How could he have forgotten? Today was supposed to be all about family, and he'd basically told Hermione that he didn't want her to be part of his family anymore. His appetite deserted him completely at that point.
Professor Quirrell burst into the Great Hall, white as a sheet, and flung himself at Dumbledore. He appeared to be utterly terrified.
"There's a troll! In the Dungeons! Thought you should know," he managed to get out before he fainted dead away.
Complete pandemonium broke out until the Headmaster sent up firecrackers to silence the muttering students.
"Prefects will take their Houses back to their dormitories immediately!" He bellowed.
Draco frowned and turned to his fellow housemates. "Isn't our dorm in the dungeons?" He demanded.
"Not technically," a prefect named Selwyn explained. "We're actually under the dungeons. Anyway, we're going to use one of the secret tunnels to get to the dorms. There's no way a troll could fit in there."
"Is everyone here?" Another prefect asked.
Draco froze with fear. "No," he blurted out. "Hermione's not here."
The prefect frowned at him. "Well, where is she?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "She was upset."
"She's in the girl's bathroom," Millicent said quietly.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake," the prefect snapped. "I haven't got time to dig through every girl's bathroom. She'll just have to wait until we get you lot back to the dorms."
Draco followed along, but he tried to lag behind without doing it noticeably. Theo fell back with him, and so did Millicent.
"What are you up to, Draco?" Millicent whispered.
"Hermione, she doesn't even know there's a troll loose in the school," he muttered anxiously. "And… it's all my fault."
Theo snorted and muttered, "That's true enough."
"So, what, you're off to rescue her?" Millicent demanded with an incredulous expression. "You're going to get yourself killed!"
"She's my cousin," Draco retorted. "Go on back if you want to, I won't stop you."
"She's my cousin, too, you prat," Millicent hissed. "I'll come with you."
Theo sighed. "This is a stupid idea," he muttered, but he followed them down the hall.
Among the most terrifying moments of Draco's life, even as he grew older, was seeing his cousin pressed against the wall of the bathroom, her eyes wide with terror. Something broke inside Draco at the sight of Hermione, his family, in danger. Without any thought of self-preservation, he leapt forward and threw himself at the troll who was menacing his cousin. He clung to the back of the troll.
"Run," he bellowed at Hermione who appeared to be frozen with fear.
"Have you gone mad?" Theo demanded.
"Just get her out of here," Draco threw over his shoulder.
"Get away from him, Draco, I've got an idea," Millicent called.
Draco let himself drop, and rolled quickly away from the troll, trying to draw him away from Hermione. Millicent performed a quick Wingardium Leviosa and dropped the troll's club onto its head with a sickening crack. The troll fell over, unconscious, and they stared at it for a moment. Theo was closest to Hermione so he hurried over to check on her and make sure that she was alright.
With a broken sob, Hermione flung herself into Theo's arms and began to shake from delayed nerves.
"It's alright," Theo murmured softly and patted her back awkwardly. He sent a horrified look in Draco's direction.
Draco came over and gently took Hermione from Theo.
"I'm so sorry, Hermione," he muttered into her hair. "This was all my fault. I didn't mean it. I'm happy you're my cousin. Really I am."
"He's just a stupid, jealous git who isn't used to sharing anything with anyone," Millicent added with a glare for Draco.
Hermione tried to laugh and ended up hiccupping.
"It's true," Theo agreed, and Hermione ended up laughing hysterically and hiccupping at the same time.
"What is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall demanded furiously.
All four Slytherins turned to face her, and their Head of House, with pale faces.
"It's my fault," Hermione lied wildly, putting herself in front of her cousins and Theo. "I… I've read about trolls in the Black family library and I thought that I… that I could subdue one."
Snape watched her with narrowed eyes, but he didn't say anything while McGonagall ranted about the impropriety of First Years disobeying and haring off after dangerous beings. His eye twitched, but he didn't say a word when she docked points from Slytherin for Hermione's idiocy. He herded them toward the door, leaving her behind with Quirrell and the troll.
"Five points for each of you to Slytherin for House unity," he muttered at them. He eyed each one of them and scowled. "We'll be discussing this later, and I'll be writing to each of your parents."
The four of them hurried away after exchanging anxious glances.
"Thank you," Hermione muttered as their dorms came into view.
"Thanks," the others muttered back.
/\/\/\/\/\
Hermione was in an agony of indecision. She had been raised to value loyalty to one's family over all else, but at the same time she was now required to give her allegiance to Slytherin. It was the first Quidditch match of the season, the first match that Harry would be playing in, and it was against her House.
It didn't help that Draco was suffused with jealousy over Harry's position as Seeker for the Gryffindor team. He ranted and raved at any given opportunity about the unfairness of it all. Hermione was heartily sick of the whole thing, and if she never heard of Quidditch again it would be too soon.
Draco threw himself onto a couch next to Hermione and sighed heavily. "If you want to cheer him on, I won't say anything," he muttered darkly.
"What?" Hermione looked up from her book to frown at him.
"Harry is your cousin, too," Draco admitted with an expression that said it was killing him to have to say this. "If you want to support him, I understand."
Hermione blinked. "That's very mature of you, Draco," she said at last.
"You don't have to sound so surprised about it," he complained.
"I thought she didn't sound surprised enough," Theo observed from his chair.
Draco glared at Theo.
"What brought this on?" Hermione asked curiously.
Draco flushed. "I'm trying to be better."
"It is his very first game," Hermione said, and she cast a worried glance toward the Slytherin team who sitting over by the windows that looked out onto the lake.
Adrian Pucey turned at that moment, and caught Hermione watching them. He automatically winked at her, but when he realized that she was upset he cocked his head at her in silent enquiry. Embarrassed to be caught staring, Hermione shook her head and turned away.
Later, Hermione was sitting in the library frowning at her Charms essay. Someone sat down across from her, and Hermione looked up with a scowl ready to tell whoever-it-was to take a hike and let her work in peace. Blue eyes watched her curiously, and the words froze on Hermione's tongue.
"What had you so upset earlier, imp?" Adrian asked her quietly.
Hermione flushed. "Harry Potter is my cousin," she replied softly.
Understanding dawned on his face. "You're afraid that big, bad Slytherin will chew him up and spit him out?" He guessed, and he appeared to be vaguely offended.
"I know that my House will defend its title with honour," she retorted stiffly. Then she paused and bit her lip. "It's just… he's so small compared to everyone else."
"As a Seeker, that's actually an advantage," Adrian pointed out.
"I know," she admitted. "I just… he'd never flown before he came to Hogwarts. He doesn't really understand how brutal Quidditch can be, and I…"
"You're worried about him," sighed Adrian. He sat forward. "I can tell you that I, for one, won't try to do anything to hurt your cousin."
"Thank you," Hermione whispered.
Adrian stood and gave her a formal little bow before he turned and left.
/\/\/\/\/\
The first Quidditch game of the season and it was Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Draco loved Quidditch more than anything, and he was filled with excitement for the game. Privately, he hoped that Potter disgraced himself so badly that they kicked him off the team, but he wasn't so gormless as to say so in front of Hermione.
The game started out well, but it quickly degenerated from there. His arm had gone completely numb from Hermione gripping it so tightly, and his left ear had a ringing noise from her shrieks of fear. When Potter's broom had gone wonky, Hermione almost went mental. She was shaking him and whimpering to herself.
"Someone has got to be cursing his broom," Pansy muttered.
At that, Hermione snatched the binoculars out of Theo's hands and began to scan the stands. Her eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on Professor Snape. She knew that her Head of House didn't care for Harry, but this… this was beyond the pale. With a sick feeling in her stomach, she realized that his lips were moving and his eyes were fixed on Harry. She growled under her breath and handed the binoculars back to Theo.
"What are you doing?" Draco demanded.
"It's better if you don't know," Hermione snapped. "Just… stay here for a minute."
Quietly and stealthily, she made her way towards the Potions Master. The crowd was focused on Harry trying to stay on his suddenly bucking broom, and no one noticed one little First Year slipping among the bleachers. With precision, she set fire to Professor Snape's robes, distracting him. Then she scuttled back to Draco who was staring at her in shock.
"Remind me to never get on your bad side, cousin," he muttered at her.
Hermione smirked at him. "See that you don't, cousin."
/\/\/\/\/\
Christmas Holidays 1991
Platform 9 ¾
"Mother!"
Harry watched as Hermione ran to hug a stern-looking, older witch with thick black hair pulled back into a heavy chignon. She was speaking a mile a minute and waving her hands excitedly. She grabbed the older witch's hand and tugged her toward Harry.
"Mother, this is Cousin Harry," Hermione introduced him. Then she turned to Harry and gestured toward her mother with a proud smile. "Harry, this is my mother, Cassiopeia Black."
Cassiopeia's stern expression slid into a small smile, and she inclined her head politely. Harry bowed the way that Hermione had taught him in preparation for this moment.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Great-Aunt Cassiopeia," Harry recited carefully.
"The pleasure is all mine, Harry," Cassiopeia told him. She turned to Hermione. "We should go before everyone notices who our guest is, and mobs us."
"Yes, Mother," Hermione agreed and took her mother's hand.
Cassiopeia held out her other hand to Harry, who stared at it for a moment before taking it. The Dursleys had never touched him if they could avoid it. No one ever willingly touched him.
"Now hold on," Cassiopeia commanded. "We'll have to Apparate, and I'm going to Side-Along both of you with me to Blackwell Estate." She paused and looked down at Harry with a small frown. "I've been told that it can be slightly unsettling, but eventually you'll get used to it."
The Dursleys took Dudley to carnivals, and he had always taken great pleasure in describing them loudly, and in great detail, in Harry's hearing. The 'Side-Along' thing that Cassiopeia did reminded him a great deal of Dudley's stories. He felt as though he'd been picked up, shaken about, and then tossed to the ground again.
When they landed, he weaved slightly, and his stomach roiled unpleasantly. He looked to Hermione, and she appeared slightly green. She clapped her hand over her mouth and hurried to some near-by bushes where he could hear her retching.
"I'm sorry about that," Cassiopeia told him with a sigh. "It just seemed like the easiest, fastest way to get you both out of there. I've got some anti-nausea potion if you need it."
"Yes, please," Harry replied. Cassiopeia dug through her bag, and handed him a small vial. It tasted of peppermint, and he immediately felt much better. "Thank you."
"Of course," Cassiopeia murmured. She handed another vial to Hermione as soon as she staggered back to them.
"Thank you, Mother," Hermione whispered, and then she drank her vial.
Harry turned to face the house he would be staying in for the winter holidays. It was a huge building, but he couldn't see much of it as it was covered in snow. It looked like the cover of a Christmas card.
"Wow," Harry murmured.
"Welcome to Blackwell, Harry," Hermione said cheerfully. She tugged on his hand. "Come on, I'll show you to your rooms. Mother put you right next to me."
The inside reminded Harry of Hogwarts, and when Hermione pushed open the door to his room, that perception grew even stronger. His Great-Aunt had decorated the room in Gryffindor colors for him—warm crimson and gold curtains, bedding and carpet. His four-poster bed had little carved lion heads for finials.
"Wow," he whispered. "This is… this is too much, Hermione. I don't need all this."
Hermione frowned at him. "This is just a guest bedroom, Harry. Here, come see my room."
Next door was basically a copy of his room, but everything was done in dark green and cool silver, with snakes carved in spirals around Hermione's bed posts. He stared at her room in stunned disbelief.
"Harry… this really isn't anything special," Hermione said slowly with a worried frown. "And Mother decorated it with magic."
"It's just a huge change from a cupboard under the stairs," he muttered under his breath.
The brief flash of horror that crossed Hermione's face told him that perhaps he hadn't said that quietly enough, but she didn't bring it up. Instead, she led him back downstairs and to what she called 'the little parlour', which seemed to be a huge room to him. All over the walls were portraits of witches and wizards who were watching him curiously.
"Ah, Harry," Cassiopeia called to him. She was holding a large book in her hands. "Here, sit down."
Once he was sitting down, she placed the book in his lap.
"What's this?" He asked curiously.
"This is a photo album," Cassiopeia explained. "I don't have any portraits of your mother and father; the best that I can do for them are photos. I do, however, have a portrait of your grandfather and grandmother Potter."
"You do?" Harry looked up at her in surprise.
Cassiopeia pointed to a large portrait that hung on the wall opposite them. A man with Harry's wild, unkempt hair, and a woman who looked a bit like a younger Cassiopeia waved cheerfully at him and smiled. Harry's heart caught in his throat and he stared back at them hungrily.
"Now, this is Dorea, your grandmother, holding your father when he was a baby," Cassiopeia explained as she opened the front page of the album.
For the next few hours, Harry was entranced. There were so many pictures, and all of them were his family. All of them smiled up at him with his hair and his chin and his nose. His mother was beautiful. She had lovely red hair, and a bright smile. His dad was next to her and the mischievous grin on his face made Harry wonder what sort of man he was. He turned the page, and there was his dad standing with his arm slung over the shoulders of a handsome, laughing boy.
"Who is this?" Harry asked curiously.
"That's cousin Sirius," Hermione said in a quiet, solemn voice.
Harry had the feeling that something bad had happened to Sirius.
"I'm sorry," Harry murmured.
"It's alright, Harry," Cassiopeia reassured him. "We're hoping to get all of that cleared up."
"Did cousin Arcturus get Sirius cleared?" Hermione asked eagerly.
"He's working on it," Cassiopeia assured her. "He has reinstated Sirius, as you asked, and he's pushing forward with the Wizengamot."
"Oh, Mother!" Hermione jumped up and ran to hug her mother again. Then she turned and hugged Harry tightly. "This is going to be the best Christmas ever!"
Harry froze when Hermione's arms wrapped around him, hugging him tightly. Then she'd released him and he could breathe again. He swallowed hard, and blinked rapidly. This was what having a family was like.
The days passed in an almost fairy-tale manner. Hermione dragged him to the kitchen and introduced him to house-elves, where he helped them and Hermione decorate Christmas biscuits. Cassiopeia and Hermione took him to visit his parents' graves.
They also took him to Longbottom Manor to see Neville and meet his Gran. She was a stern, older witch who frowned at him and then turned to exchange a meaningful look with Cassiopeia.
Neville dragged them outside where they spent the afternoon having snowball fights and sledding. By the time they came in, red-cheeked and shivering, the Longbottom house-elves had set out hot chocolate and freshly baked loaves of cinnamon bread. Harry devoured three, thick slices that were so hot they singed his fingers and burned his tongue.
"Having fun?" Cassiopeia asked as she came into the kitchen.
"Loads," Harry said cheerfully. After almost a week with Cassiopeia and Hermione, he no longer tensed whenever she entered the room.
Cassiopeia smiled at him and patted Hermione on the shoulder. "We'll have to go home in a bit," she warned them.
"Yes, Mother," Hermione said with a small nod.
"Yes, Aunt Cassiopeia," Harry echoed her with a grin.
Cassiopeia gave them a nod and then swept out of the kitchen.
/\/\/\/\/\
"Wake up, Harry, it's Christmas," Hermione called excitedly.
Harry groaned and then sat up, blinking and rubbing at his eyes. "Wha-?" He asked blearily.
"Come along," Hermione told him and tugged at his hand.
Catching her excitement, he put on his glasses and stumbled down the stairs after her. She ran to a set of doors that had been closed all week. When he'd asked what it was, Hermione had said it was the Great Parlour, but didn't elaborate. Cassiopeia was already standing by the doors and she hugged each of them.
"Happy Christmas, Harry. Happy Christmas, Hermione," Cassiopeia greeted each of them. "Are you ready?"
"Yes," Hermione said firmly.
With a wave of Cassiopeia's wand, the doors opened. A huge Christmas tree was the centerpiece of the room and it glittered with a thousand little lights. Beneath the tree was a small mountain of presents. Hermione took Harry's hand and dragged him to the tree.
"Merlin," Harry breathed.
"You sit there, Harry," Hermione ordered, pointing toward a small couch.
Harry was so stunned he sat exactly where she had directed. Soon a pile of presents grew around him.
"What's all this?" He asked in surprise.
"Those are all your presents," Hermione explained.
He stared at the presents and then stared up at Cassiopeia. "All of these?"
Cassiopeia nodded solemnly. "Of course, Harry."
There were new sets of pyjamas in red and gold, with slippers and a thick robe to match. There were also some new wizarding robes because, as Cassiopeia had pointed out gently, all he owned were Muggle clothes. There were books, and wizarding puzzles, and a fine-looking engraved box.
"That's a wizard chess set," Cassiopeia explained. "It belonged to your grandfather Charlus Potter. He wanted you to have it."
Harry reverently stroked the box and lifted the lid to look inside. The pieces were beautiful, and he replaced the lid gently.
When Harry opened his 'present' from the Dursleys, Cassiopeia and Hermione exchanged a grim look, but neither of them remarked upon it. When he opened the mystery gift, which turned out to be an invisibility cloak, Cassiopeia gasped and she looked angry.
"That is a Potter family heirloom," she raged. "That should have been yours ages ago! Where has it been? Who kept it?"
"I don't know," Harry whispered.
Cassiopeia shook her head. "I'm not angry at you, Harry. I'm angry that your family treasures were kept from you."
"It was probably safer than with the Dursleys," he muttered to himself. He didn't notice the furious look that flashed in Cassiopeia's eyes.
"Harry," she murmured as gently as she could. "How would you like to stay with us this summer?"
Harry stared at her. "Could I?" He asked hopefully.
Cassiopeia looked at Hermione and then nodded. "I will make it happen."
/\/\/\/\/\
That evening Cassiopeia watched fondly as Hermione and Harry stuffed themselves on roast pheasant, roast potatoes and gravy, mushy peas, rolls, sprouts, cranberry sauce and fruit salad. Harry had worn a bright, happy smile all day, and Cassiopeia felt at peace for the first time in a week.
"Aunt Cassiopeia?" Harry looked up at her suddenly, as though something had just occurred to him.
"Yes, Harry?" She tilted her head and waited.
"Have you ever heard of Nicholas Flamel?" He asked.
"The alchemist?" Cassiopeia blinked.
"I guess so?" Harry appeared uncertain.
Cassiopeia frowned in concentration. "Let's see, he discovered the secret to the Philosopher's Stone, and he partnered with Dumbledore at one point. What did you want to know about him?"
"The Philosopher's Stone?" The honest confusion on Harry's face only served to drive home how little he knew about their world.
"It's said to grant the owner eternal life," Cassiopeia explained with a shrug.
"Eternal life?" Harry's eyes grew round.
Cassiopeia shook her head at him. "Those sorts of things are never what they promise to be. Eternal life can be the worst curse imaginable," Cassiopeia told him firmly.
Harry nodded solemnly and turned back to his turkey. Cassiopeia watched him fondly for a moment. Hermione caught her eye and smiled at her. Cassiopeia smiled back. She wasn't given to superlatives such as 'the best Christmas ever', but Cassiopeia was happy to have Dorea's grandson and her own daughter in the house. Their laughter and excitement had filled the house, and she found herself smiling and laughing with them.