Christmas break arrived quickly and found the McGonagalls in Etretat, France. Minerva smiled at her children as she came back down the stairs in her two piece bikini. They had pleaded with her to go swimming once she revealed her private beach and a large portion of the Atlantic ocean nearby had been charmed permanently to be a perfect summer day.
Her children had whistled at her which caused her to roll her eyes. "You little heathens," she teased. "I want to show you something before we go outside."
Both children gave her their full attention. She smiled before whispering a spell in Gaelic. She heard them gasp in suprise as she lifted her glamour charms. "Màthair," Hermione said in absolute shock.
Minerva smiled at them. "This is my true appearance," she said, her Scottish brogue ever-present. "My mother found those glamours when she realized how strong I was magically. She cautioned me to hide my appearance when I got older to protect myself from those unsavory types that would just use me."
"Did she age like you," Robbie asked curiously.
"No," Minerva answered. "Her grandmother did and was used in rather horrifying ways. She wanted to protect me from that fate so she found these glamour charms. I have showed this form to Arwen. I have showed it to Poppy because medically she needs the information and the counter charm in an emergency situation. I showed Severus only because he realized I wore glamours and he asked. I feel I can trust him with the information."
"We trust Severus completely," Hermione offered. "Did you show your husband?"
"I did not," Minerva revealed. "That marriage was a farce. I was still emotionally unhinged from losing Arwen."
"We are glad you showed us," Robbie said with a grin. "Will Hermione age like you?"
"Most likely," Minerva revealed. "However I speculate she will age slower with her wandless abilities. I have the charms compiled in journals for you both. We shall start working on speaking Gaelic in the new year."
"We already know the Gaelic language," Hermione said in perfect Scottish Gaelic.
Minerva's mouth dropped open in absolute shock as she stared at Hermione.
"We read and speak French as well," Robbie said in flawless French.
Minerva switched her gaze to her son in suprise. "When did you learn two other languages," she asked.
"Gran hired us a language tutor when we were 5 years old," Hermione revealed. "She wanted us to know the languages important to our mothers. We also know how to read and speak latin."
"Amazing," Minerva finally managed. "I am really grateful you had such an amazing grandmother."
"We are too," Robbie said then reminded her. "That beach is still waiting on us." With that said, he and Hermione raced out of the villa towards the beach. Minerva's laughter following them as she followed them slowly.
Jean and Celeste arrived for dinner that night. They were delighted when Hermione and Robert hugged them tightly and called them Grand-père and Grand-mère. Celeste Bellamy teared up at realizing the children accepted her unconditionally. Minerva smiled, offered her a tissue and led the couple to the balcony overlooking the magnificent cliffs and ocean.
"What a gorgeous view," Celeste commented as she looked around.
"This balcony was Arwen's favorite place in the Villa," Minerva said wistfully. "She stayed out here so much I had to start serving meals out here just to make sure she ate."
Jean chuckled at that. "Celeste and Arwen always enjoyed a good balcony. When Arwen was growing up, we ate lunch on the balcony overlooking the gardens more frequently than the dining hall."
"We did," Celeste commented with a smile.
"Celeste look," Jean said as he pointed to a stone box on a small shelf.
"Arwen's special box," she said as she stood up from the table and gently picked up the small box. "It is the same one from her childhood. Here is the smudge of yellow paint she refused to allow me to remove from it."
"Arwen loved that box," Minerva added. "She always had it open and looking through it. I haven't been able to open it since she died."
"It's charmed to work for only Arwen and myself," Celeste revealed. "It was a special bonding box for us." Celeste gently opened the stone puzzle box and let out a gasp of suprise. "She left letters for us."
Celeste returned to the table with the stone box in her hands and gently placed it on the table. She reach inside and pulled out several letters that she passed out. One was addressed to Celeste, one to Jean and the thickest was addressed to Minerva. "Go ahead and read them," the twins urged as the adults seemed conflicted on starting dinner or reading the letters left by Arwen.
Silently letters were read by the three. Hermione and Robert watched as smiles, tears and gasps came from each of them. Jean finished his first, followed by a teary-eyed Celeste and then finally a shell-shocked Minerva. She turned to her children and tried to clear the lump from her throat. She held up a emerald encrusted brass skelton key. "You mother left you a vault although I have no idea where to go to gain access to it."
"May I see the key," Jean asked politely. Minerva handed the key to her father-in-law and watched as he looked it over. "That is to France Magical Bank in Place Cachée. I am puzzled how she managed to get an emerald vault. Those are reserved for the oldest, most connected families in France. The Bellamy Family is not one of those families and have never managed to obtain one of the emerald vaults."
Minerva raised her eyebrow in suprise and then accepted the key back. She eyed it curiously before she tucked it in her pocket. "I'm sure Arwen left some clues for us," she breathed in resignation. "Arwen is rather good at leaving clues behind."
"May we go tomorrow?" Hermione asked hopefully.
Minerva looked at her children who were giving her their best pleading puppy dog faces. She rolled her eyes and chuckled at their antics. "We are dependent are your grandparents knowledge of the area," she reminded them. "I only know Muggle France."
The twins turned their attention to the older couple and started pleading their case. Minerva smiled as she watched their interaction and how much joy the older couple received from it. Jean laughed happily before saying, "We shall go tomorrow morning. Maybe your Màthair will allow us to treat you to a shopping excursion while we are there. I would love to show you all of Arwen's favorite places."
All four of them turned to look at Minerva with pleading faces. She chuckled in mirth before agreeing to it immediately. She would try her best to include the older couple in the twins' life. She owed it to them and she owed it to her beloved Arwen!