Wow! Okay guys I must apologise for letting all of my fics stew this year. Anyways, I's been working on a re-write of this and have published the first chapter under 'Light of the Dark Book One - How to Raise Wolves. I've begun to split this fic into books, hoping to tackle it a year at a time, starting with the kids growing up. The next three chapters of this is all I have written for the original and will be all that will be posted. Once I have caught up with the new rewrites this will eventually get deleted. The plot is very similar with the exact same premise, but I've planned out loads of new sub-plots and added in loads more info in the hopes that the new stuff flows better than this has done. I know that many of you have enjoyed this fic and I hope you will stay with both it and me going forwards with the new books. I love you all and hope that 2020 is the year I finally get this fic cracked!
Kiad
Christmas morning dawned white over Caddington. The snows had moved in overnight and the grounds glistened in the way, only a fresh blanket of snow, under watery sunlight could. He'd woken earlier than usual, despite his late night visitor, and still he couldn't bring himself to move from the cocoon of warmth beneath his sheets. A smile came to his face and he snuggled closer to the small body, which had been pressed against his side for most of the night. Luna turned over onto her side wrapping her arms around him, and he stroked her long hair away from her face.
"Morning." She mumbled against his chest.
"Morning little dove. I trust you slept well?"
"Like a log." She replied, and he found himself chuckling at her choice of phrase. "What time is it?" He cast a quick tempus and raised his eyebrow at the time.
"Just past eight." He said softly, laughing again when she let out a groan and pulled the covers over her head, burying down into the warmth. They lay in peace for a few minutes, relishing in the silence of the manor before the blonde let out a huff and sat up, the blankets pooling around her hips, ridding him of their warmth in the process.
"I'm awake now." She grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest with a frown.
"Then maybe we should get up and talk one of the elves into making us a hot chocolate." He replied sitting up and swinging out of the large bed, hopping down onto the floor with a light thump. "It's Yule morning, which means we are allowed sugar."
"Yes!" She squealed, quickly jumping out of bed and running out of the room, grabbing her housecoat as she went. He laughed at her renewed exuberance and followed, hoping to limit the damage caused by his little sister. He grinned when Carina appeared at her door, wand in hand a raised eyebrow.
"Luna." He responded with a shrug and a smirk. A look of understanding dawned on her face and she smiled, throwing her wand onto her bed and pulling her robe on. "Merry Christmas." He said softly as she shut her door and joined him on the corridor.
"Merry Christmas."
"It snowed!" Luna exclaimed as they made their way to the ground floor of the manor. She was bouncing around the entrance hall in excitement and the older pair cast a look and sighed in defeat, knowing what was coming next. "Can we go outside? Can we, can we? Please…"
"Hold on little dove." Neville said, trying to rein in his sister's excitement. He cast a warming spell over her before digging her boots out of the basket by the door. "You need to take your housecoat off, else it'll get wet." Luna practically flung off her robe, leaving him to catch it in mid air and hang it up next to the kitchen door, as Carina had the job of opening the manor doors. The snow came up to knee height, however the little blonde was off like a shot, giggling as she skipped through the fresh powder; uncaring of her damp nightdress.
"Someone has a lot of energy this morning." Harry said from behind them, trudging downstairs in his sleep bottoms and house coat.
"Merry Christmas." Carina said softly, stepping forwards to hug him as he hit the bottom step.
"Merry Christmas Nightingale." He replied, wrapping his arms around his sister. Carina watched in amusement as Neville shook his brother's hand, wishing him holiday greetings before her attention was drawn back to Luna, who was still twirling in the snow outside. She felt a warming charm wash over her, grinning at Neville's sheepish look before ripping off her own housecoat and sticking her feet into a pair of boots, soon joining her sister out in the garden. She knew that she would have to give control over to Hermione for at least part of the day, so this was her time to enjoy being with her siblings whilst she could. As she ran through the snow, chasing Luna, and twirling through the white powder, all of the fears and the stress of the last four months washed away, leaving her light and happy.
O_o_O_o_O
The four siblings found themselves clutching mugs of hot chocolate, dried and warmed by the already crackling fire and basking in the quiet of the morning. Once Harry and Neville had managed to coax the girls back inside and the elves had fretted over the 'young misses' catching colds; they had moved to the family lounge, picking books off of the shelves and settling down to read in an attempt to keep their minds off of the large pile of presents under the tree.
"How long have you lot been up?" Draco asked, stumbling, bleary eyed into the room and accepting the elven offered hot chocolate.
"Long enough to have been out in the snow." Carina replied with a grin. He rolled his eyes and made his way over to Luna, who had merely glanced at him before going back to her book. He knew that he had upset her last night and he knew that she would have gone to one of the others after he had kicked her out of his bed. An apology had to be made before he could even think about starting the day properly. He sighed and placed his mug on the side table, next to the large armchair she was curled up in before climbing up into the side of her and wrapping his arm around her back.
"I'm sorry Little Dove." He whispered into her ear, fully aware that the rest of their siblings could hear every word. "I shouldn't have let my tiredness out on you last night. If you want to sleep in with me then you're more than welcome anytime." The blonde finally placed her book on her lap and rose an eyebrow at her brother, who wilted somewhat under her sharp gaze. Before long, a beautiful smile irrupted onto her face and she threw her arms around him, hugging him for all she was worth.
"It's okay Drake. I'm sorry I keep you awake with my light." She replied into his chest. He allowed himself a smile and hugged the tiny girl back, brushing her waist length hair away from her face.
"Blessed Yule Little Dove." He said softly.
"Blessed Yule to you too Drake." She replied. The rest of the group then offered greetings of their own, and the atmosphere switched back to a happy, relaxed calm. Harry knew Luna had gone wandering last night, and knowing his sister like he did he had checked Draco's room before any other. When he had found it empty he had gone looking for his little sister, only to hear Neville's soft exclamation when the boy had realised she was there. He had stood at the door and listened in annoyance as she had told of Draco kicking her out, and it was only because it was so late that he had not gone storming into the blond's bedroom to announce his displeasure at the treatment of their little sister.
"You look deep in thought." Carina whispered into his ear, from where she was curled into the side of him. He smiled at the perceptive girl at the side of him and leaned down to kiss her head. "Don't think you're getting out of it that easy." She replied and he laughed at her cheek. "You dear brother are woolgathering, on Yule morning no less."
"You're right, I'm sorry Nightingale." He replied with a sheepish look.
"So what is it?" She asked and he leaned close to her, whispering his thoughts on the previous night, softly into her ear. She smiled and pulled him close. "I'm glad you didn't either." She replied when he admitted to being glad for not storming into Draco's room.
"Are we missing something good?" Neville asked, raising an eyebrow at the pair.
"Nope." Carina replied. "When you are, we'll tell you." Neville sniggered at that and outright laughed when the dark haired girl threw a cushion at him.
O_o_O_o_O
The five were just starting to consider waking the adults when Lucius and Narcissa glided in an hour later. Carina almost raised an eyebrow at the Lady Malfoy's nightdress and perfect curls and her husband's sweatpants, T-shirt and messy hair, but managed to keep her mask in place as the pair wished them a blessed Yule and gifted a kiss on each of their heads. Considering that she had only known them a couple of months, Carina had already felt a connection to the Malfoys; particularly Narcissa, and had decided that it was the product of Andromeda's blood in her veins, tying her closely to the lady Malfoy.
"Good morning children." The lady in question greeted, perching delicately on the arm of Luna and Draco's chair, brushing her hand through the girl's hair, combing it with her fingers. They all replied with their own greetings before enquiring on the rest of the adults of the manor. Narcissa let out a laugh as Lucius huffed and crossed his arms, causing a few raised eyebrows among the group. "Sirius and Remus will be along shortly, as will Alice, Frank and the dowager." She replied.
"Why does father then look as if he wants to curse someone?" Draco asked, not bothering to look up from the book he had turned back to after greeting his parents.
"Because Severus has decided to ward his door so tightly, no one is going to be waking him up until he decides." Harry replied. When the group shot him incredulous looks he shrugged and admitted that he'd checked the potion master's door on the way down. "I wasn't about to let father wake him up with some ridiculous prank this morning." He replied. "The man would have been insufferable all day."
"That is what you call intelligence children." Said potion master said, sweeping into the room and taking a seat in an empty armchair, close to the fire, drawing a smirk in her husband's direction from Narcissa. If Carina had almost raised an eyebrow at Lucius and Narcissa's appearance, she practically gaped at Severus, without robes and dressed in a blue, turtle necked sweater and baggy, tartan sleep bottoms, complete with grey slippers. "Can I help you Miss Black?" He asked raising an eyebrow at the young girl who was still staring at him.
"Holy shit, you're human." She breathed, not even twitching. The rest of the siblings all fell about laughing at her shocked sentiments and soon she couldn't help but join them, cracking up even more when Narcissa attempted to berate her use of language, whilst failing to keep a smirk off of her lips.
"And you are an insolent brat." Severus replied sourly, though the group could quite clearly see the amusement glittering in his dark eyes. "You should learn to keep your forked tongue behind your teeth." Carina laughed all the harder as Narcissa now turned her ire onto the dark man for his treatment of her and it was this scene; with a now somewhat sheepish Severus, five laughing children, an angry Narcissa and a clearly amused Lucius, that Sirius and Remus walked into, the Grangers, Longbottoms, Xeno and Melania all in tow. The assembled group stopped in the door, staring at the carnage with wide eyes.
"What have we done?" Sirius breathed to Remus, who laughed at his mate's dramatics.
"Good morning everyone." He said loudly, bursting out into laughter at the shell shocked faces of the group. Clearly none of them had noticed their arrival and he couldn't decide whether the sight of Severus's mask falling away, or the fact that Lucius was evidently trying not to laugh brought him more amusement. The shock didn't last long and soon he and Sirius had five excitable children all wishing them a Blessed Yule before moving onto the rest of the adults. He watched carefully as Carina greeted the Grangers and was pleased at the fact that they had nothing but love and wonder in their eyes when they returned her wishes. He had been watching them over the past few days, every time they interacted with Carina and he had felt nothing but relief at their response to the dark haired girl. Sirius had approached them the evening before last with a vial and a request, one which they had easily accepted, and they planned on giving the young girl the best Christmas present they could.
"Just how much sugar have you had already?" Frank asked, raising an eyebrow at their brood.
"The elves made us cocoa!" Luna giggled, bouncing slightly on the spot, her blonde curls glowing as her emotions shone through.
"Only because you two thought it would be a good idea to spend almost half an hour out in the snow." Neville chuckled. "I thought the elves were going to have a breakdown; worrying over the pair of you."
"But it snowed." Luna wined. "Carina and I weren't about to let a good garden go to waste!"
"Its true Father." The girl in question responded, turning to Sirius, her huge purple eyes turning as innocent as she could make them. "The snow is up to our knees this morning, Neville cast warming charms on both of us though and we've changed into dry clothes since we have got back in. Can we open presents now?" Sirius had to laugh at her enthusiasm; her obvious joy spreading through the group infectiously.
"Why don't you let everyone sit down first Carina?" Narcissa said gently, getting up from where she was perched on the arm of Draco's chair. The young girl had the decency to blush and nod as her and her sister moved to let the rest of the family fill the empty seats around them. Draco moved onto the floor to allow Narcissa to take the chair and the other four followed his lead, sitting with their backs against the adults' legs. Within minutes the coffee table in the centre of the room was filled with platters of meats, cheeses and winter fruits, accompanied by hot, fresh pastries and racks of toast. Pots of tea and coffee appeared alongside fresh fruit juice and cocoa and the kids turned their eyes to the adults, almost begging to raid the mini feast that the elves had provided. A mere hint of a nod from Sirius and they were soon all holding plates filled with treats.
"What time are we opening presents father?" Carina asked, turning to Sirius, she knew that as soon as she had opened her gifts she would have to give control over to Hermione for the rest of the day.
"When everyone has finished breakfast Nightingale." Remus replied gently, for his mate who had a face full of food. "We have plenty of time today, there is no rush." A weight seemed to drop off of Carina as she understood that she would get as much time with her family as Hermione. Since completing her mindscape she felt a detachment to the other girl that lived inside her, something which she knew she had to remedy at some point. Between the pair of them they would become one of the most powerful and influential females in wizarding Britain, a future which would fail to be realised if they continued to practically ignore one another. She relaxed and let the house magic fill her up and her family's chatter wash over her. That future could wait. It was Midwinter's day.