Break

James Potter came home from Hogwarts for his first-year winter break with two primary goals. One, he would really like to play some football, or soccer if you were American and insisted. Hogwarts was flush with quidditch players and going through a period of 'no first-years.' James had a solution. He'd find the other footballers and they'd draw lots for teams and play round robin. He found the other footballers, including some very tough, sharp-elbowed witches, but the headmistress, a quidditch fanatic, put her foot down and decreed the muggle sport of football the seedbed of a civilization's ruin.

"Celtic and Rangers!" she snorted. "Need I say more? Celtic and Rangers!"

It was like a mantra. The headmistress considered her position unassailable and awarded herself a victory in the debate.

The second thing James wanted to do was speak to Iere Greengrass in person to deliver his condolences on the death of her mother.

The football wasn't a problem. James played in a summer league and many of those players were scattered between boarding school and some nearby secondaries. All were home for Christmas and needed to play. Someone's dad had a connection with a park that had artificial turf. A few phone calls were made and the result was an instant winter break pickup league.

James got his chance to speak to Iere on his third day back. The Potters were invited to Draco and Astoria Malfoy's home, Jasper Farm, for lunch. Astoria and Iere collaborated on the meals at Jasper Farm. Even if Iere couldn't do wand work she loved the kitchen. Magic was labor-saving. Iere acknowledged its utility, if one were short of time. If not, Iere thought a person was missing out on a lot of the fun of life.

Iere's empathic abilities showed themselves for the first time in the Owl Cottage kitchen. Daphne was beating eggs, standing back, pointing her wand at a whisk going around and around in a mixing bowl.

"Too hard," Iere said.

She was two, watching Daphne work from her perch on a kitchen chair.

"What, love?" asked Daphne.

"Too hard, Mum," said an obviously distressed Iere. "You hurt them."

"Okay, how's this?"

Daphne slowed down the whisk until its speed met Iere's approval. She thought the episode was Iere being too cute for words, until, bit by bit, the little empath demonstrated she really did have the ability to feel all kinds of emotions coming from the things around her, even eggs.

When the Potters got to Jasper Farm, everyone gravitated to the living room except James. James' hierarchy of needs descended from paying his respects to Iere. Telling Harry and Draco all about his first term at Hogwarts, a story he had already told at home, was down near the bottom, somewhere. Iere was helping Astoria in the kitchen, therefore James hung around the kitchen, trying to find a way to be useful.

The first thing he did was wash his hands. He knew if he were to be in the kitchen, he might have to touch something so he would need clean hands. Hands washed, James stood, back to some cupboards, trying to stay out of the way. He noticed a house elf he'd never seen before and wondered if she had joined the Malfoys. Iere noticed James noticing.

"James, this is Sue," said Iere. The elf glanced up from her work. She was pointing at a bowl that she had levitated over a bread pan. Gingerbread batter was going from the bowl into the pan in a very languid, ginger-scented stream.

"Master James," said Sue, nodding once while keeping an eye on the bowl.

"Pleased to meet you, Sue," he replied. James could see conversation with Sue would not be a good idea right then. James held his tongue and focused on enjoying the smells of fresh-baked dinner rolls, gingerbread and baked apples.

Iere could feel James getting ready to enjoy a holiday meal. She finished rinsing a bowl and picked up a towel.

"Well," said Astoria, putting her hands on her hips and looking around the kitchen. "Looks like all we have to do now is wait. Won't be long, James."

"It smells really good, Mrs. Malfoy," said James.

"Thank-you!" said Astoria. "Give me a sec…"

She winked at Iere as she left the kitchen, although from his angle, James didn't catch it.

"Iere," James said when it was down to himself, Iere and Sue.

"Yes, James?"

"I'm really sorry about your mum."

"Thank-you James. That was a very nice letter you wrote me. I could tell you really do care."

"Oh?"

"Uh-huh. I could feel it."

"I didn't know that was possible."

"It is, I suppose, if a person is writing what is in their heart."

"I was really sad. I still am! I didn't mean I'm not anymore."

"I know what you mean, James."

"Yeah. I guess you do. Sometimes I forget you can tell."

"Does it bother you? Not everyone likes people like me. They don't like us knowing their true, true feelings. Mum helped me with that. She didn't make it scary or anything. I understand it's like spying and some people can't accept it. It's kind of tiresome, thinking about keeping it to myself all the time."

"We'll figure out how to do it."

"Will we?"

Iere got a smile from James' assurance. James turned very rosy about the cheeks. He decided to move the conversation along.

"Is Sue a Malfoy elf?"

Sue snapped her head around to look at Iere.

"No, Sue helps me at Owl Cottage. She came with me today to help with dinner. Sue loves the kitchen and we don't give her a lot of practice all by ourselves, so today is a true holiday for Sue."

The elf nodded, a huge smile taking over her face.

"Did Sue come after your mum…I mean, I didn't see an elf at Owl Cottage before."

"Didn't Mr. Potter tell you? About after Mum died, the Notts and so on?"

"Not a lot. Just you were going to stay at Owl Cottage and Mrs. Malfoy would look after you. Do you need someone looking after you?"

Iere looked like a teenager to James, but a teenager capable of living on her own, the same as an adult.

"Of course! There are lots of things I don't know. I'm still studying, for one thing. Auntie has a list of all the books we still have to work through."

"I didn't know. So, how did you meet Sue?"

Iere laid her arm on Sue's shoulder. Sue stood on a kitchen chair next to the table, the way Iere had done when, as a toddler, she 'helped' Daphne put together a meal. Sue tilted her head to lean against Iere's middle.

Iere stopped to think about what she wanted to say and how she wanted to say it.

"My father's family, the Notts, had a manor called Nott Hall. There were indoor and outdoor elves who had joined them over the years. Did you hear their house burned nearly to the ground?"

James nodded. Yes.

"Afterwards the elves didn't have a family to take care of and the house was useless so Uncle Draco and I went over there to see what we could do to help them. Everyone was very upset and lonely with no family left. I couldn't do anything over there because there was no house. Uncle Draco worked and worked and found new families for most of the elves. The outdoor elves are working on some things at the Nott place and Sue bonded with me. We go back and forth. She's a big help."

Sue couldn't hold it in any longer and wrapped her near arm around Iere's waist.

"Okay, Sue, we'll find some more things for you to do so you can work off some of that. Want to scrub the floor?" Iere asked.

"I'm tired of talking about myself," declared Iere. "Tell me about Hogwarts."

James did not have a problem telling Iere about Hogwarts and his first semester at boarding school. He didn't really enjoy academics but most of the instruction was tolerable and he recognized the value. It was still a distraction from training, which is what he really wanted to spend his time on.

"Even so, you won't be a sportsman forever," noted Iere. "Mr. Potter has a business now."

James felt a momentary flash of discomfort, then checked himself because he knew he would transmit it to Iere. It wasn't actual discomfort, but frustration. Harry Potter was a quidditch legend, one of the Gryffindor greats. People had expectations, especially the Slytherin quidditch faction, and James was all but a captive, unable to make a contribution.

James helped with the cleanup from all the preparations, his help consisting of getting in Sue's way, in Sue's opinion, but it kept him near Iere. Once the perishable stock was put up the humans really did need to vacate the area so Sue could do her own magic. Iere looked at James, the door to the outside, and back to James.

"Feel like a walk?" James asked.

"I'd love a walk," said Iere. She didn't suggest taking anyone along, not even Lily.

The lanes around Jasper Farm incorporated a very convenient feature in that they connected in a way that made round trips easy. Walkers could take off toward the horizon and in a quarter mile or less loop back to the main buildings by an alternate route. A couple could stroll on and on, never getting far from the house, tailoring the walk to meet their needs of the day. It was a perfect arrangement for walking through the period between putting the gingerbread in the oven and sitting down with the family to eat.

"Mr. Potter was very helpful, right afterwards," Iere said. They had just put a bit of yardage between themselves and the house so both felt free to talk.

"Was he? I didn't know," James replied. "He didn't say anything in his letters. What did he do?"

"There were some business things," Iere said. "I wouldn't have known anything about it. What to do. Mum didn't even know. About the Notts."

"Oh, you didn't know them?"

James and the Potters had always known Harry's parents had been killed in the fighting and their mum's parents were the Weasleys, who occupied the child's paradise that was the Burrow.

"No, it's hard to talk about but I think you should know," said Iere. "My father and Mum were under a betrothal agreement. He had sex with her and she got pregnant with me and he deserted us. He was a Death Eater. After the Battle of Hogwarts my father went on the run. Recently, his mother invited Mum to tea, Mum accepted and took me to Nott Hall with her and that was the only time I ever saw my Nott grandparents. They weren't very nice and there was a big argument and my father was there…Anyway, Mum got us out. We almost got away. That's how she died. She died happy, James. We were going to apparate away and then she got hit. Anyway. Then Llewellyn Nott, my biological father, went back inside. It is thought he murdered his parents and committed suicide."

The two walked along, Iere taking a moment to let her still-raw emotions cool down, James working over all that terrible information.

"That's really bad," said James. He resented his mother for overturning what he thought had been a perfect home and family. Then he felt bad because what Ginny had put James and his siblings through was nothing compared to Iere's tragedies.

James semi-whistled at Iere's description of the calamity, forming an 'O' with his lips and forcing his breath out. They walked past a row of Russian olives that formed a windbreak, planted across the prevailing winds. Pairs of doves perched together on branches, commenting on the land animals walking the lane.

"Mr. Potter helped Auntie and me with Mum's estate. It turned out that, legally, I am considered the legitimate daughter of Llewellyn Nott. His parents are dead and so is he. I passed an inheritance test and it looks like I will inherit the Nott's place. That is how Sue came to me. She is bonded with the Notts. Auntie says the elf bond is a more accurate indicator than the inheritance test."

"Merlin, Iere! So you're like Lady…uh…"

"Yes," said Iere. "I'm Lady Nott. Even though I'm not a witch."

"Oh, what do I have to call you?" asked James.

Iere giggled. She wouldn't look right at James until it passed.

"You'll call me Iere, like always," she said. "Once I'm formally declared I'll have to use the title for some legal matters but I'm not a big one for titles."

"I never knew anyone like you before," said James.

"Oh? What about Mr. Potter?"

"The Order of Merlin?" asked James. "Something he did during the Wizarding War, I don't know a lot about it. You've seen the certificate on the wall at home. It doesn't say much."

"Ah," said Iere, nodding an acknowledgment.

Iere was puzzled. She knew Mr. Potter was Lord Harry, the head of four magical noble houses. She'd knelt before him and kissed His Lordship's ring. The mysterious fog confirmed their alliance and Auntie and Anvil attested to it, by Blood and Magic. Two of Lord Harry's Houses consisted of himself and the Potter children, but still. He had the titles and the votes in the Wizengamot. She didn't know the full extent but she had learned, in conversation with her aunt and uncle, that he had alliances all over the place.

Was it possible Harry had never talked to James about the Potters, about everything?

Iere understood, suddenly and with some shock, that James thought his father was a cab driver with a few Hogwarts quidditch records, a medal from his service days, a broken marriage and three kids at home. She didn't think it was her responsibility to explain to James that his father's status was pretty close to god-like, for a mortal. She thought her ally needed to do something about that, though, and soon, but she wasn't the one to break it to James.

"Well, then, unless you hear differently, my name is Iere Greengrass and I'm very pleased to be a friend of James Potter, the footballer," said Iere.

James started to laugh.

"That's a relief," he said.

They had made one complete circuit and wandered onto a different lane to do another one.

"I'm sorry I'm up there in Scotland," James declared. "I'd rather be close by."

"I know," said Iere. "It's not that bad, though, and you're learning things you're going to have to know to get on in life. You'll want to know how to do all that stuff they teach you."

"Yes, I suppose so," muttered James. He walked along, not saying anything.

Their feet crunched in the crushed stone on the lane, the rhythm becoming the percussion beneath their conversational duet. James found himself needing to get something off his chest.

"I miss you," he managed.

Iere took James' hand. Their four feet crunched, in and out of unison.

"I know," said Iere. "Do we need to talk?"

Both were silent.

"Everyone will think it's stupid," James said.

"Everyone doesn't need to know," said Iere. "Unless you tell them. I'm stuck out here or at Owl Cottage. If you keep your mouth shut, who would think it's stupid?"

James walked along, thinking. His mind caught up with the logic, and humor, of Iere's observation.

"That is true," he said. "I just won't tell them."

"And that is that," said Iere.

"Glad we took a walk," said James. "Ready to go back?"

"Unless you think we have more business to discuss," Iere said, a little snicker emerging from beneath the words.

"Oh, Merry Christmas," said James.

"Merry Christmas to you," said Iere.

"I just thought, that wasn't right, was it?" asked James.

"I know what you mean, though, James, don't I? I do think of her, and remember, how it felt when she was here."

"Thanks," said James.

When they got back to the house, Astoria and Sue had lunch spread out on the kitchen table. James noticed the kitchen was bigger than it had been when he left with Iere. The table was set for eight. It had been a little larger than a card table before, but not by much.

"Wow!" said James.

"That's beautiful, Auntie, and Sue," said Iere.

Lunch went well, with no spills and best manners on display. Albus and Scorpius raved about the salad and the squash, green beans and potatoes. James thought Iere must be exceptionally happy at Jasper Farm, judging by the series of pleasant sensations that drifted through his mind.

It was a Jasper Farm night for Iere and Astoria. The Potters left in mid-afternoon. Sue did the work but Astoria and Iere stayed around the kitchen, handing out tasks and compliments. Iere looked out the kitchen doors, didn't see Scorpius or Draco and sat back down across from Astoria.

"Auntie, I need to talk about something," Iere began.

"Something serious, is it?" asked Astoria.

"I don't know," Iere answered. "James and I went for a walk and I told him all about the Notts and how Mum died and how Mr. Potter and you helped me with Gringotts and how I ended up Lady Nott."

"Okay, he might have heard that anyway," said Astoria.

"I don't think so," said Iere, "It got around to what I inherited and how I have a title now and he said he had never met anyone like me. It was like he had no idea who Mr. Potter is, so he has no idea who HE is."

"Hmm…I see your point, but perhaps Mr. Potter wants it that way," said Astoria. "He didn't like being the center of attention, except for playing quidditch. Does it look to you like he arranged his life to keep a low profile for himself, and the children?"

"It does, I guess," Iere agreed. She propped her chin on her hand, thinking, staring at the wall behind Astoria.

"Is that what Mum did?"

"Not exactly," Astoria replied. "Daphne was kind of studious and private. Your grandfather is obtuse about those things and didn't try to find a good fit for her personality. He was just thinking about politics. Then we got you. Tracey and I ran interference for your mum while she was carrying you, spring term of her sixth year. She went home, you were born and she took a couple of weeks off, then got right back for seventh year. That was awful but you were safe. Then the battle. We all went home and Daphne became a full-time mother. Eventually you moved to Owl Cottage. Your gift started to emerge. She was terrified you would come to the attention of the wrong sort, people who wanted to exploit you for their own ends."

Iere went back to staring.

"I expect she was right," she said. They took a pause from conversation.

"Do you think about that?" Astoria asked.

Iere sighed.

"I do. I try not to worry," she said. "I wish I could live a normal life. I mean, it is so nice when I'm with you and you're making something for Uncle Draco and Scorpius and all of your love is coming out of your hands, right into the dough, and you're looking forward to giving them a cookie or whatever. It feels like it flows out of you, through the cookie and into them."

Astoria gasped.

"You can feel that?"

"It is hard to describe. That's the best I can do. I wouldn't want to give that up but sometimes it would be nice to be able to go into a shop and not worry about anyone discovering what I can do."

Astoria took over the staring, looking at her niece, wondering if she was still developing, if she would have to evolve more and better defenses to maintain her own sanity while obscuring her abilities from the public. Defenses—

"Do you think you might form a joint approach, with James and the Potters? Harry is coping with something like your issue," Astoria pointed out. "You're allied with the House of Potter, at least for a few months more. You might want to talk it over with him. I doubt if he would charge you anything."