Harry Potter and the Fifth House

Chapter 28: Grandparents Christmas and Mothers Olive Branch

Harry followed Charity up the stairs awkwardly, rubbing his hands along his forearms. "Are you sure they're going to like me? Charity I-"

He didn't have time to say anything else before Charity flung open the door to the upstairs, pulling Harry up the last one and shouting out, "Mama! We're here!"

"Charity, darling! Oh my god, that must be him right?!" Looking behind him, Harry caught a glimpse of an equally frightened Snape's face before he was swept into a hug. When the hug stopped, he was pushed an arm's length away and finally got a good look at the woman in front of him. She had the same kind smile and eyes as Charity but her hair was the colour of peppered snow. "You are so handsome! Welcome to the family, darling!"

"Uh um...thank you?" he stuttered out.

The women smiled, bringing a flour coated hand to her cheek, "Oh, darling, I must seem so strange to you! I'm just so excited to finally have a grand-baby to spoil, even if he didn't come from Charity's body. Your name is Harry, right?"

"Yes."

"Good, I didn't want to spell your name wrong on your presents so I left them blank but on your birthday I'll be sure to put your name on it." Something inside Harry seemed to bubble with joy at the mention of his birthday, a little reminder that Snape and Charity weren't just going to throw him back in with the Dursleys. "You can call me Grandma or Nana or even Hope if you don't feel comfortable with the other two. Now, would you like to meet Charity's papa?"

Harry bit his lip before nodding slowly, "I'd like that, Nana."

She paused for a second and Harry felt a rush of fear that perhaps he'd done something wrong before he was scooped into another hug. "You are just too precious!"

"Mama!" Charity's voice called down the stairs, as she peeked around the stairway, "where's the sugar? Severus takes his coffee with a cube."

Hope pulled away from Harry again, shouting up to Charity, "Just give me a moment, I'll be right up to fix it for him and your tea as well."

"I can make my own tea, mama!"

"Yes, but you'll complain all day if it's not made just right," she replied. She turned back, smiling at Harry, "Come on then."

Harry followed her up the stairs without a second thought.

(-)

"Mom?" Blaise called, rapping his knuckles against the bedroom door three times. There was a brief pause before the door swung open, revealing his mother dressed in light pink wizarding robes with a smile on her face. "Oh. Are you going somewhere?"

"No, darling. I just liked these ones." She did a half twirl, which Blaise clapped through with a smile on his face, before asking, "Why? Did you need something?"

He shook his head, "No I was just wondering if you would take me to Diagon Alley. We should get Robert a Christmas present, don't you think?"

"Agh! I was so busy shopping for you, I completely forgot about him," she exclaimed. She swatted at his shoulders, "Why don't you go put some robes on and we'll go right away?"

He nodded before walking away, "Which ones should I wear?"

"Any are fine," she declared, following him down the stairs. "I wonder what we should get him?"

"I don't know. I've never been shopping for a man before."

She made a non-committal hum before saying, "I know you get Draco something every year, would you like to pick that out? And something for your other friends as well! You can mail them from the post office and send Draco's using your own owl since he'll know whose it is."

Blaise stopped, glancing over at her, "Are you serious?"

"Mhm?" she didn't stop as she moved down the steps. "Of course I am. Do you not want to?"

"Of course I want to. Last year, you were against my being in a different house than Slytherin and now you want me to send my friends – one of which is a muggle – presents?"

"You're happy," she stated, turning around to look at him. Her robes flared out like rose petals and for the first time, it struck Blaise how much healthier she lookednowadays. She had always been beautiful, a woman didn't get that many ex-husbands by being ugly, but now it was a healthy beautiful with rosy, full cheeks. "That's all I've ever wanted, Blaise. For you to be happy and well taken care of."

(-)

Neville was sitting on the couch, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and his knees drawn up to his chest with a book in his hands, when Luna stepped through the door. Her blonde hair was whipped from the wind and her cheeks a cherry pink.

"Did you mail your letter to your father?" questioned Neville, glancing up at her.

She nodded, "Yes. I also sent one to Astoria, she's been feeling lonely sitting at home with just Daphne to keep her company."

Neville just smiled before turning his attention fully back to his book. Luna rocked on her heels for a minute, wondering what she should do, before discarding her coat and scarf on the chair Ron sat in when playing chess. She kicked off her boots as well before padding over to Neville. "What are you reading?"

"It's a book of Muggle fairytales I got from Hermione. These are what those movies we always watch are about," he answered, shifting so she could curl up in his chest. "We traded so she took my book of Wizarding tales."

Luna hummed, thinking about how much she had loved the Snow White movie they had seen, before lying her head on his chest and snuggling herself under the blanket, "Will you read me one?"

He smiled and pressed a kiss to her head, feeling a warm sense of family like he did around his parents, before marking his page and switching to another story. "Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in a house with her stepmothers and two beautiful step sisters..."

(-)

Snape took a drink of his soda, a muggle drink that Charity's father – a muggle – was fond of, as he watched Harry sitting on the living room floor. The boy was bent over the floor with Raymond, Charity's father, messing around with the set of enchanted snooker balls that had come in the set he'd gotten for Christmas. Harry would roll one with the intent of getting over to the older man, unable to put the table up until they got back to their own home, but they had a mind of their own and veered horribly off path every time.

The whole time he refused to take off the black seeker gloves, rimmed with orange instead of the Gryffindor red of the ones the school had given him, he'd unwrapped. The rest of his presents, several still wrapped video games to put under the tree at their house until he unwrapped the system and a set of beaters clubs, sat in a pile next to Charity as the woman examined the set of over seventy different tea flavors she'd gotten from her parents.

"He's a delightful child." Glancing up, Snape found Hope leaning over the kitchen island with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands.

Snape's lips twitched, "I'm realizing that."

She made a small noise before saying, "You know, as a mother I just want Charity to be happy and you can be a family without begin together, so I'm not going to complain with the arrangement you two seem to have made where you raise this boy together and you do things like come to meet her parents but if you love her as much as you seem to, she won't turn you down."

"Wha-?" he stopped as his throat clogged with soda. He spent several minutes coughing before it finally stopped.

As he went to speak again, Hope straightened up and walked around the counter towards the living room. As she moved, she said, "Well, like I said I don't care what the relationship is as long as she and Harry are happy. Just watch yourself, young man, because if you don't make a move you might lose her to someone who does."

Words failed him as he gaped at her back.

Next time: Harry's Christmas, Return of the Kids, and a diary where it shouldnt be.