AUTHOR NOTE: I understand that I have not been updating as much as I would, and others would like, but with the end of the school year coming up very quickly we are going hyper-speed on all sorts of things. We even have one real project on the go and I would really like to win the project. Here's hoping you all like the chapter.
Chapter 11
With October ending and Halloween going without much happening, November came and passed with even less time. As the Christmas Vacation started to approach, Rowena was quite exited. Sirius had told her and Athena that they would be coming to his place for Christmas and that they had been formally invited to attend the Zabini New Year's ball.
As Rowena was in the library looking over various Books to see which ones would be better to bring with her to study Lord Blackthorn appeared in his frame.
"Ah Rowena, you excited to be spending a Christmas with family?" He asked.
"Very excited I mean I've spent Christmas' with the Zabini's and it was amazing but to spend Christmas with Sirius and Athena will be one to remember, I can only imagine what we'll be doing." She answered before taking a series of books from the shelves.
"So Lord Blackthorn, where have you been, haven't seen much of you this year." She said while placing the books on a table and sitting down.
"I have been observing the students, trying to find the perfect time to reveal my house to this school." He answered causing Rowena's eyes to widen in shock.
"When that happens, does that mean that Ron, Hermione and I will be known as students of your house?" She asked.
"Yes you will be known as students of my house but after a story is told. It won't happen this year though." He stated causing her to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Do you think… do you think there are other students who belong to your house?" She asked.
"There might be, but I have no idea." He answered causing Rowena to frown. "Well you best get back to packing my dear, wouldn't want you to be stuck packing into the later hours of the night for tomorrow."
"Of course Lord Blackthorn." She agreed before taking the books and leaving the library.
Arriving at her trunk, she dumped the books into her trunk before going back to packing her things. It took her a good hour to pack what she would need and when she finished she slumped into the sofa of the living room and drew a sigh of relief.
"Merlin I hate packing." She sighed.
"You and me both." Hermione sighed as she joined her on the sofa. "Well at least it's done."
"Agreed." Rowena muttered.
…
"All students to the Hogwarts express! All students!" Called Professor McGonagall as the students returning home for the Holidays gathered on the platform. Rowena swiftly put her own trunk on the train and helped Athena put her own then Paddy's cage and Hedwigs cages. Turning to look up at the castle, she drew a deep breath before climbing on and helping Athena on after her.
Sitting down Rowena drew her cloak closer. It was rather cold outside; with the snow falling thickly, she was ever glad she had her favorite cloak wrapped around her. Looking to Athena, she saw her shivering form and beckoned her over before wrapping her with her cloak.
"It's so cold." Athena whispered.
"It is, but soon the heat in the train will settle in and we'll be better." She stated but just then the door to their compartment opened and Blaise, Daphne, Draco and Hermione joined them.
"Merlin today is cold!" Daphne exclaimed as she put her own trunk on the shelves and took her seat.
"Bloody train, if only it would get a move on, we could get some heat." Draco muttered while taking his own seat.
Just then, the final call was announced before the doors to the train slammed closed and with the sound of the horn, they were on their way.
Thankfully, it didn't take long for the warmth to arrive and within moments of leaving the group were warm and happily discussing their plans for Christmas Vacation. When they arrived at the platform, the group had played a series of exploding snap, several games of chest and had discussed numerous subjects.
"We've arrived; come on Athena I'll help get our trunks down, you can carry the cages." Rowena stated and swiftly started to get the trunks down.
Athena swiftly took Hedwigs cage and then Paddy's cage before looking at Rowena who was getting the last trunk down. With that, they got off the train. Waiting for the others, they decided to head towards the barrier as a group. Once everybody was off the train, they were on their way.
"Train hard there Potter!" Flint ordered as she passed him by. "Can't lose to Gryffindor!"
"Got it Flint!" She shouted back while shaking her head in exasperation.
Arriving at the barrier the group went through in sections with Athena and Rowena being last. Arriving on the other side they were swiftly welcomed by Sirius who pulled them into tight hugs.
"Merlin I missed the both of you." He grunted.
"Misted you to Daddy." Athena whispered while Rowena just kissed her godfather cheek.
"So are you both ready to go?" He asked while letting go and standing straighter.
"Not so soon Lord Black!" Came a female voice Rowena knew very well. Turning around she instantly saw Cassandra bustling over to her to give her a hug. "Oh hello Rowena dear."
"Hi Cassandra." Rowena greeted.
"We were sad when we learned you wouldn't be staying with us for the Christmas Vacation but we understand. We are happy that you will be able to make it for the new year's ball though, of course your guardian and his daughter are invited as well." She stated.
"Thank you Cassandra, for everything. I mean you guys did so much for me." She whispered before hugging the woman again.
"If you need anything darling, come to me okay, don't worry I will always be there for you." Cassandra whispered before pulling away and letting Narcissia hug her.
"You be nice, don't let Lord Black intimidate you too much." She whispered.
"Sirius won't Narcissia."
"Well if he ever does, just go to Cassandra and I will have a talk with him for you. No cousin of mine will be a brute." She remarked causing Rowena to blink, cousin. Sirius and Narcissia were cousins.
"Come on Rowena, we best go." Sirius announced while sending Narcissia and Cassandra blank looks that the woman glared at.
Leaving the train station both Rowena and Athena were rather excited. Every time they had asked Sirius about what they were doing for Christmas Holidays they were told that it would be a surprise. I hope that now they would be told.
"Sirius where are we going?" Rowena asked causing Sirius to smirk.
"Well the first part of the vacation we are going to be going out of the country. I think we all need a bit of sunshine and time away from England and the press. I had Gringotts draw us up some passports and I bought us some tickets." Sirius announced causing the girls to gasp. "Don't worry about clothes; we'll buy you guy's things when we get there. Now our flight leaves in an hour and I know you both will love where we are going. It's going to be filled with sun, beaches and water you can swim in all day and night!"
"Wow, I've never been out of the country before." Athena whispered eyes wide with amazement.
"I know, that why we're going, I don't think Rowena has been to the tropics either so why not do so as a family." Sirius stated before leading them into a dark alley and shrinking all their things. "We're going to have to app…"
"Don't even finish that sentence. I have seen Apparation and I will not do it." Rowena stated before summoning her staff. "Where do we need to go?"
"Airport." Sirius answered a bit confused but his confusion disappeared as they disappeared and reappeared at London's airport.
"Being a Guardian pays off." Rowena announced while vanishing her staff.
"Brilliant, you're going to have to tell me a bit more about your job there Row." Sirius teased causing Rowena to smile.
…
Rowena drew a sigh of relaxation as she traced the sand under her fingers. It was amazing how just one day on the beach could relax you so much. They had arrived at their destination the night before. Their flight had taken them to Fiji but from their they had to take a magical boat that would bring them to another island, this one was a purely magical island that not many people in Europe knew about, mostly because of the bazar that was on the island. The bazar was a large market place that sold many items, some of questionable background. Still it was a beautiful island, with sun kissed beaches perfectly blue sea and amazing wild life. Sirius had bought a property on the island before he had been sentenced to Azkaban.
"Rowena! Dad said that we need to go shopping!" Athena exclaimed as she ran over, wearing one of her old swimsuits she had bored the younger girl.
"Did he?" She whispered before sighing in sadness. "Alright, guess you can't keep wearing my shrunken stuff now can you." She teased before getting up and ruffling her dark red hair.
For their vacation on paradise, she had decided to go with her natural hair color, mostly because she missed it terribly and also because she felt more relaxed. Thankfully to go with her red hair she had a few articles of clothing such as the bikini she wore at the time, which was a sea foam green triangle bikini that had a ruffled bikini tip with golden starfishes. Grabbing her sarong she tied it in a not at the front before getting her flip-flops on. Gathering her towel she vanished it to the house before braiding her hair into a side braid.
"Alright let's go." She agreed while pulling her sunglasses down to shield her eyes.
"I can't wait, dad says there are so many cool things on the Bazar, I wonder if I can get anything." Athena babbled as they walked to meet Sirius who was waiting for them.
"I'm sure you'll be getting quite a few things today kiddo, the shopping trip is for you considering you don't have much clothing." Rowena remarked causing Athena to blush.
"I see you found our beach loving friend Athena!" Sirius exclaimed as he spotted them walking over.
"Yep, she was on the beach soaking up the sun but I got her to come." Athena exclaimed while running over to her father who smiled at her.
"Hey now, I came without too much convincing." She exclaimed causing the two Blacks to laugh.
"Come on girl's time for some shopping." Sirius announced before taking Athena's hand and wrapping an arm around his goddaughter's shoulders. "I can treat my two girls to whatever they want."
Arriving at the Bazar the trio started to look around, as they found stuff they like they were bought even with the constant exclamations that he didn't have to, Sirius didn't listen. It was funny to watch and as the spectators watched on most smiled or laughed.
Arriving at a jewelry stand, Rowena looked around for a bit until she spotted some bangles that caught her attention. Going over she gently picked them up.
"Ah the missy has an eye for the bangles I see." Came a soft voice that had her looking up to see an elderly woman standing there. "Those were made in India and were said to have belonged to a Guardian. Does the Missy know what a Guardian is? The Guardian of the Door of Death, Guardian of Dreams and the Guardian of Souls, all legends amongst the people of the world, said to be powerful magic folk chosen by a goddess to protect the world against evils. Of course there hasn't been a Guardian seen or heard about for many centuries."
"I would like to buy these." Rowena stated but just then, Sirius arrived at her side and spotted the bangles.
"How much for them?" He asked.
"Ten galleons." The woman answered and with a nod, Sirius handed them over.
Gently placing them on her wrist, Rowena looked them over before shaking her head. If they had belonged to a Guardian then she would have known still they were nice bangles and she didn't mind the extra wait on her wrist.
"Well with a lot of shopping done you girls want to get something to eat?" Sirius asked earning nods from the duo.
Looking around they found a restaurant and swiftly were seated. Like most restaurants on the island, the food consisted of seafood. Thankfully, none of them was allergic or hated the stuff. As they ordered their meals, they spoke to each other, Athena mainly babbling on about various things. Rowena found it amusing how just a few months ago the girl had been shy and quite but the moment she had a father in her life she became bubbly and talkative. It was cute.
"Alright here we go, for the good gentlemen here we have Lobster with alfredo, for the youngest miss we have shrimp alfredo and for the young lady we have the sea food platter." Their waitress announced before leaving.
"So Dad what happens after this?" Athena asked curiously.
"Well Christmas is nothing without the snow so we will be going to one my winter properties, there we'll celebrate Christmas and spend the rest of our time there with the exception of New Year's Eve where we have been kindly invited to attend the Zabini's New Year's Ball." Sirius answered causing Rowena to smile at the mention of her friend and the ball that she had started to look forward to every year.
"Wow a ball, really!" Athena exclaimed.
"Yep so you and Rowena will need to get beautiful dresses so that you're the diamonds of the ball." Sirius announced causing Athena's eyes to widen.
"It's a masked ball this year again." Rowena remarked causing Athena to look at her questioningly.
"Have you been to a ball already Rowena?" She asked.
"Yes, twice. I've been to the Zabini's since I entered the Wizarding world." She answered causing Sirius to blink. "Before your dad got guardianship over me the Zabini's had temporary guardianship."
"OH!" Athena exclaimed.
