A/N - Hello and here's the long promised year three. I still have a couple of chapters to finish, but I should have those done well before we near the end. Once I've finished I'll let you know how many chapters, at least fourteen.
Anyway, as I said with the first two stories in this series, this is WAY AU, like don't expect many things to match what you've read. If you've not read the first two years I highly recommend you do so. You'll have time to read them both before I finish publishing this one.
As with other stories, I will post once a week, on the weekend (typically Saturday). I might, maybe, increase to twice a week once I'm done writing. That's enough babbling on my part ...
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
Hermione Granger's second full summer knowing she was a witch started off with a surprise, not only did she discover her parents planned a vacation, but everyone in Malfoy Manor would be included. The last vacation the Granger family took was the summer before Hermione started Hogwarts. The vacations of her childhood varied in location, but typically were somewhere warm and relaxing. They never lasted more than a week, except for the trip to Australia. That was two weeks, just because of the time difference. This summer it would be for over a month.
Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, with their son Draco, would be going along with their wards, Harry Potter and Blaise Zabini. Lucius mentioned others would arrive for part of the vacation. Regulus Black and Severus Snape would spent fair bit of the vacation with the family, but had a few things to do before they would meet up. Regulus was Narcissa's cousin and head of the Black family, while Severus was Draco's godfather along with being the children's potion professor at Hogwarts.
Professor McGonagall, the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts and long term transfiguration professor, would be present on and off during the holiday as she had other responsibilities and plans already in place. Her addition to the summer crew made Hermione smile. She figured the presence of the professor confirmed the continuation of the extra work in Transfiguration that started the summer before.
After Lucius finished talking about the additional visitors, he smirked to his wife and changed the topic. Hermione, who recognized the expression as Draco wore it quite frequently, suspected another visitor would might be Aurora Messerly, as she and Severus were a couple. Aurora joined the Hogwarts staff the year before as the second transfiguration professor.
Her relationship with Severus was a bit of a mystery. They couple were quite circumspect with their relationship, but after Aurora woke from being petrified, Severus watched the witch with an intensity rarely seen outside of the potion's lab. Hermione chuckled at the memory of what she heard her Mum and Narcissa said about Aurora's time at the Manor.
The younger witch found herself more than happy to share her vacation with her magical friends. The Malfoy family, with properties all over the world, planned for the vacation to include visits to a number of them. Hermione, given the responsibility to select the locations, fingered the list of properties. Lucius handed Hermione the list and asked her to select the three she would most like to see. It was a difficult decision for the thirteen year old.
"I've decided Mum." Hermione handed the piece of parchment to her mum, who smiled at her daughter's choices. With a nod, Jean Granger handed the parchment to Aster, Narcissa's personal elf, who'd appeared at Hermione's statement, "Good morning Aster, please let Cissy know if she wanted to go somewhere else, I'm ok with that too. Those were just the three that really interested me." Hermione gave a nervous shrug as the little elf smiled at the young witch before returning to Malfoy Manor.
After Aster's departure, Hermione sat at her place and began to serve herself breakfast. "Love, it's fine, Narcissa will be happy visiting any of the homes. And remember she can go whenever, I think she really wants you to have a good time. It's our first vacation as one big family." In the last two years the magical world increased the Granger family's circle. Hermione reveled in having so many people around her.
What her mum said did bring the girl up short though, she hadn't really thought about them as family. She only ever placed her mum and dad in that category. Both were only children whose parents all passed before Hermione's birth. With so many more people in her life and as Hermione thought more on it, she realized she loved them all like family.
"Mum, when breakfast is over, would you be ok if I went over to the Manor? I know we normally go, but you hadn't said anything." Hermione stopped talking and looked at her mother. Jean merely watched her daughter, silently urging her to continue. In nothing more than a whisper Hermione's thoughts continued untempered. "I hadn't thought about us all being one family. I wanted to thank Cissy and Lucius for inviting us. It means an awful lot to me."
It was nothing for Jean to agree and the Granger women to finish their breakfasts and got ready for their day.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
At Malfoy Manor, Narcissa happily reviewed a piece of parchment, "She seemed sure until Jean handed you this?" Aster nodded, "I'll talk to her, these are some of my most favorite properties and I think everyone else will find ways to entertain themselves. Please let elves know to prepare the homes for us. Have them also prepare three extra rooms, in addition to ones needed for the eight of us. There will be a few others who are there for all or part of the trip." Aster left the beautiful lady of the manor to instruct the elves at the foreign locations. "Oh Hermione, haven't you figured it out yet?" Narcissa sighed as she looked at the list once more before setting it to the side.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
While his wife thought about Hermione, the Head of the Ancient and Nobel House of Malfoy stood in the office of MG Industries with his two partners. The trio planned to review their sales figures but were caught up in a discussion in how to better market their products.
"Word of mouth is the way Rich. Look at our sales, more than anything we expected and we had to hire double our original estimate. There is a strong chance we will need to expand the building to provide extra room before the end of the year. I've been thinking we should build a warehouse too, might be easier to sort what's ready and what isn't." Lucius Malfoy looked at his muggle partner slightly put out and not understanding why they needed to do something different.
"I realize that Lucius. I was just thinking about all the ways muggles market their products and services. They have ads on the radio, television and papers. We could do that, but the tv ads would just for people who already know about us. We have a few ads playing on the wireless, but nothing with any target demographics in mind. The same with the papers, but in the muggle world, —" Rich Granger, muggle partner and father of Hermione, paused trying to figure out the best way to explain his thoughts, "— our post is delivered by people daily, except Sundays, and includes more than just letters sent specifically to us."
Rich looked to the third member of the team and saw him nod in agreement so far. With that confirmation Rich continued his thought, "There are also companies who sole purpose is to create marketing campaigns focusing on specific groups. I've not seen anything like that in the magical world yet." Rich thought about putting together a small catalog and sending it to every witch or wizard in the country and do a mail order type service. "I just don't see how we can do that. It's not like the wizarding post visits every house, every day. It was just a thought."
Lucius contemplated the idea and knew he didn't have an answer at the moment. "Your idea has merit Rich, let's go with the television ads right now. We've already decided to allow people to pay to air their ads, why shouldn't we take advantage of it as well. Catalog owl orders do happen, but people request the catalogs to be sent to them. If we target the ads, like you suggest, maybe it will increase the requests for catalogues. Although I think we need to update what we have, larger pictures and better descriptions at least. And maybe, we could create catalogs targeted so we can track who is requesting what. What are your thoughts Matt?"
The third and newest partner, Matt Dempskey, cocked his head. "Maybe, I was visiting some muggle friends the other day and they mentioned the start of the local farmer's market." At Lucius's confused expression Matt started again, "Farmer's markets are a way for individuals to sell their goods. They are quite common in the summer and fall when farmer's sell their harvests. There are also flea markets or as my mom called them, open air markets. She didn't like the term flea market, regardless, it's place where muggles can sell their wares. They are typically temporary, but in the right climate, they could be open year round."
Matt paused and leaned back, thinking about the markets near his childhood home. "The people selling items might have a stall or just shelves to showcase their merchandise. People walk around and buy what intrigues them. I've seen people walk out of those places with loads of stuff. And recently I started to notice small companies using the markets to increase their sales."
Rich nodded and thought about the market near their old home. "I always came away from those with much more than I needed. I think it would be a great idea, but do wizards have open markets like this?" Both of the wizards shook their heads. "Does the magical world require government approval to sell things on a street corner?"
It was Lucius who jumped on the idea first. "No, they don't. If we did a little advertising we might be able to get more traction on sales. Hogsmeade is a bit slow during the summer and the local shops have been talking about how to get more visitors. This idea might be right up their alley." Once the plans were in place, Lucius agreed to contact the business owners group and get them on board.
As Lucius jotted down a few notes, Matt cleared his throat. "I also wanted to say, now that we've opened up the televisions to different sizes, the orders have increased tenfold. That lower price point was the trick I think. The smaller household devices also seem to be doing well. I hadn't expected the power tools to take off so quickly, but I guess men are the same everywhere." Rich chuckled at Matt's joke while it only confused Lucius.
"Sorry Lucius, that was a muggle joke. In the muggle world, men are fascinated with power tools. It's a gender stereotype and I shouldn't really laugh. What Matt was saying, in not so many words, was how wizards and muggles aren't that different." With an understanding look Lucius nodded his head and Rich turned back to Matt.
"I think we are good with the plans for the summer. Once my daughter figures out where she wants to go, we'll get you the timing. But Matt, I've been thinking and realized you haven't had a vacation since you started working with us either. So the only thing I want to know by the end of the summer is when you want to take your vacation. At least two weeks Matt, I'm serious. You need a break as much as any of us."
With a sheepish nod, Matt agreed to think about it and let his partners know.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
When Jean and Hermione arrived at Malfoy Manor, it was still quite early in the morning, but Hermione looked around half expecting the boys to greet her. It was a silly thought really, no one knew exactly if or when the Granger women would arrive. Jean saw the look in her daughter's eye and smiled internally. "I'm sure Harry and Blaise are still sleeping. But, there is a decent chance Draco is with Narcissa eating breakfast. Let's go check." The pair left the receiving room and made their way through the large home.
In the small dining room used for breakfast, the Malfoy heir indeed sat with his mother. Surprising Narcissa when he appeared, Draco entered the room dressed and ready for the day. "It's the first day of summer, I expected you to sleep in a bit." Draco shrugged before glancing and noticing the table was only set for his mum.
"I woke up and decided to get the day started. What can I say? I wanted to spend extra time with you Mum." A second place setting appeared at Draco's place and the young wizard sat in his designated chair. Narcissa accepted his comment while not totally believing him.
"I think Jean and Hermione may come over soon. Aster delivered Hermione's selection and with that Jean and I can start to figure out itineraries." Draco, placing the napkin on his lap, didn't think he reacted when his mother mentioned Hermione, but Narcissa did see the little smile flicker across his changing features.
"Great, she seemed pretty overwhelmed after dinner." The Grangers returned to their home after the Hogwarts Express arrived at Kings Cross, but the entire group came back together for dinner the previous evening. During the meal and after informing the four children of the summer vacation, Lucius provided Hermione a list of Malfoy properties. When Narcissa told Hermione to pick the places she wanted to visit, the request more than surprised the young witch. She looked at the list with quite a bit of trepidation. It took Draco telling her he'd show her each of the properties eventually, but this would be fun to see her top three places. It was enough for her to agree.
As Draco began to plate his breakfast, after ensuring his mother already ate, he heard the distinctive sound of Hermione Granger laughing. Without thinking much about it, Draco set the serving piece down and stood before walking toward the door. As he arrived so did Hermione and Jean. "Good morning and welcome. If I had known I would have met you at the floo." Draco slipped Hermione's hand into the crook of his arm and led her to the seat next to his. Jean chuckled and made her way to Narcissa.
As the mother's quietly discussed their upcoming vacation, the children slipped into their own conversation.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
Neville Longbottom gently brushed his fingers over the stack of old journals his mother placed before him. The family finished breakfast and Neville prepared to leave the table when his mother called his name. The young wizard waited to see what she needed.
"Love, your father and I pulled these from the vault, —" Alice set a stack of at least a dozen journals on the table, "— and I thought you'd like to look through them and pick a couple to bring along before we leave tomorrow. These are your grandfather's, my father's, journals. He was an amateur herbologist who loved his plants and to travel. He had journals specific for each region and I think these top few are the ones from his visits to the west country, but look at them all."
Alice Longbottom smiled as her son plucked the top journal and began to read. Neville wasn't much into books as a boy and she knew his texts for herbology were the only ones he'd crack open before the school year started. The quick page flips of the journal told Alice she'd been right in pulling the entire collection.
Neville spent the rest of the morning looking over the journals and all the interesting things his grandfather noted. Neville mentioned, in a hopeful voice, the family could retrace some of his grandfather's trips to see how the area or plants changed during the intervening years. Alice agreed since she and Frank hoped for this to be Neville's response.
Neville found four of the journals described the plants, environment and topography of the west country rather early in his review. The four journals along with quills and ink were packed into Neville's carrier bag. He didn't want to be without them in case he needed to add something. Alice packed a few blank journals for Neville, it would be good for him to have a space of his own for such things.
While Neville enjoyed his surprise gift, Frank stood in the hall of ancestors having a slightly animated discussion with a rather put out portrait. "I understand, but according to all the sources I could find including those held in the Department of Mysteries, the location of the ancestral lands are unknown. They were lost long before the Ministry or its predecessor existed." The painting huffed in agitation and looked over his shoulder.
"Grandson, since the founding of the Longbottom family, each generation has seen our ancestral land. I may not have been able to live on my birthright as a mortal, but I've spent my eternity here." With a vague wave of his hand toward the landscape, Frank's eyes widened.
"The home does exist, regardless of what those in your 'Department of Mysteries' may believe. Father laid many enchantments in addition to other protections over the property. His last act was to ensure the land would remain blood bound to us." With a solemn nod to his distant grandson, the first Longbottom turned and looked to his never-to-be-had inheritance. "At a point, and you will known when, I expect to see the verdant greens with mine own eyes."
Frank looked to the painting and knew this vacation would change more than just the history of the Longbottom family. After acknowledging the rest of his family, the current head left the gallery and went to review the maps he'd been given. Maybe he could find something that resembled the painting and give him a more focused area to explore. It wasn't as if the west country was small. With a weary sigh, he continued to review every bit of the maps.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
A week after returning home from Hogwarts and a few days into their extended holiday abroad, Hermione sat on a porch swing with a purring Crookshanks in her lap watching the sun set over the horizon. The home in the Pyrenees was the everything and nothing Hermione imagined. It was more like a large chalet than a manor. But at the same time, the sheer size of the building made chalet seem an insufficient description.
The cool breeze coming from the snow caps made her shiver for only a moment before she felt a blanket placed over her shoulders. "I forget how beautiful it is up here. I always get wrapped up being outside, I never stop to look." Hermione looked to her companion and smiled.
"I'm sure Cissy makes sure you appreciate your surroundings Draco. This is just so much more than I thought it would be." Draco nodded and pulled the girl a bit closer to him while giving the kneazle in her lap a rub. "Tomorrow maybe we can go out and explore a bit. I haven't skied in a few years and I'd like to try and remember how." The young wizard agreed without hesitation, he enjoyed skiing as well.
Early the following morning, the four children and two fathers stood at the top of the beginner slope and looked over the small hill and the continuation into the cross country trail. "Hermione, Rich was telling me it's been a few years since any of you have skied. I thought we'd start here and do the trail first to get your legs under you. Then we can move to the other slopes. I'm not sure the boys really like the cross country aspect. We have the other skis set up in the racks for when we switch." Lucius smirked toward his son, who only responded with an unamused shake of his head.
"Of course Lucius that sounds lovely. Draco and I were talking last night about how beautiful it is and how he forgets until he is here. Maybe this will give him some memories." Hermione bumped her shoulder into Draco's before giving him a wink. "Come on let's start." Hermione quickly dropped onto the slope and squealed with excitement as she sped down it. Draco, not wanting to let her get too far ahead was the second one to start and was quickly followed by the pair's friends. The fathers stood for a few moment longer before they too started down the slope.
The group easily made it to the trail and began the five kilometer loop that would bring them back to the chalet and access to the steeper slopes. Hermione, not knowing the course, allowed Draco to catch and easily pass her. "Let's do this side by side, we can talk and I can point out some of the prettier views." Hermione smiled and fell into the same pace.
Harry and Blaise worked on their form, the boys discovered they both prefer downhill skiing over cross country. However, neither boy wanted to look foolish to either of the Grangers since both seemed to be experts. "Hermione said it's been years since she skied, but if that's the case then she is a natural. She and Draco look like they've always done this together." Harry, continually surprised at how Hermione seemed to know something about everything, shook his head. Blaise, on the other hand, was getting bored.
"Yeah, she is pretty impressive, it's no wonder Draco is attracted to her. She is the only girl at school who makes him work." The couple in question, now farther ahead, disappeared around the bend before Harry responded.
"They just seem to click from the first moment. I can't explain it. Not really, he was just drawn to her. I mean we both were, but he, I don't know. They are going to be unstoppable." As the two young wizards came around the bend they found their friends stopped and wrapped around each other. "Oi, your dads aren't too far behind, you may want to not be sucking each other's face." Both of the boys laughed at how quickly Hermione tried to pull away. Harry looked to Hermione's flushed face and wondered how much of her red cheeks were due to them getting caught.
Draco gave his friends a dark glare as the pair neared the couple. Draco held Hermione firm in his arms. It wasn't like they were snogging. Draco gave her a quick kiss, but they were really just standing in each other's arms. Hermione snuggled herself firmly against his chest until Harry made his presence known.
Harry and Blaise stopped next to their friends and looked through the break in the trees. "Isn't it beautiful? Draco said once summer really warms up, the lake is wonderful for swimming. But even though we aren't swimming, isn't this an excellent view?" In her embarrassment Hermione tried to distract her friends, but if their snickers told her anything her distraction failed to accomplish its purpose.
It was to this scene Lucius and Rich slid to a halt. "Cissy loves this spot, she says it is one of her favorite from any of the homes." Lucius gazed over the pass and found he missed Cissy more than he thought. Normally the three Malfoys would do this together, today Cissy and Jean opted to stay in and wait for some of the others to arrive.
"It's quite lovely, I have my camera so let me get a picture of the kids." Rich pulled the camera from his fanny pack and got the four youngsters to turn toward him. Smiling to himself, Rich clicked a number of pictures. Each showed Hermione's happiness.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
While the rest of the family enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells of the property, Cissy and Jean settled in the large receiving room to wait for the arrival of Regulus. He'd not been able to leave with everyone for a reason he'd not clearly explained. The lack of explanation led the two woman to strategically seat themselves.
"He is up to something Jean. I don't know what, but something." Cissy said the same thing for days and Jean didn't disagree, at least not in theory.
"You know my thoughts. I think it's a witch and he's not sure how to bring her into the fold. He was merciless to poor Severus and if I've learned anything about Slytherins, it's that no good deed goes unpunished." Narcissa lightly chuckled before agreeing.
"Yes, if there is a witch then poor Regulus is in for quite a ribbing. But I don't think it's that. He's dated before, in fact he was engaged about 10 years ago, so I've seen him with women. This is different." Narcissa sighed knowing the question would annoy her until she figured out what her dear cousin was up to.
It wasn't much after the conversation ended that Regulus stepped through the floo. Because of the room's configuration, the newly arrived wizard didn't see Narcissa or Jean immediately. In fact, the wizard released a sigh when he thought he was alone. "Hopefully Cissy isn't too suspicious." His mumbles were cut off when he heard tinkling laughter and his eyes shut. "Bugger."
"So if I was suspicious Cousin, what would you have told me?" Regulus turned to see both women sitting on either side of the lone exit. Narcissa motioned to the open seat and Regulus sat in annoyance.
"There were just a few things I needed to do. Loose ends and what not that needed tying. You'll be glad to know I'm working to make sure all knots are tight, like Grandmother's knitting." Regulus made to stand but neither woman allowed it.
It was Jean who cut the heavy tension that descended on the room. "Reg, is it something you're afraid to tell us because we'd be upset or disappointed?" Jean recognized the wizard's actions, she saw this with Hermione over the years. Her daughter, a natural pleaser, hated when she let someone down, even if only in her head. "We just want to make sure everything is good, we worry about you. So you know that means Cissy and I have come up with our own theories. You can keep it secret and allow our theories to grow or just tell us."
If Narcissa ever needed proof Jean would have been sorted into the green and silver, she'd have it now. Jean Granger was a master at pulling the truth from people and between the pair of them, no man, wizard or not, in their lives would be able to fool them. Narcissa didn't add anything to Jean's statement, there wasn't a need.
"Jean, whatever you've thought, —" the wizard released a frustrated sigh, "— it's not that. I doubt anyone would have thought this was possible, but it is and I'm still quite overwhelmed with the truth." Regulus seemed to wilt in the chair and the two women watched to see if he would continue. "If I had a guess, I'd say your theories are either I've found someone or I've been blackmailed by some unscrupulous business associate. Both are wrong and the truth is far worse…" Regulus ran his hands down his face in sheer frustration.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
Regulus's memories began to play in front of his eyes as he told the women the story. "It started before the children returned for the summer. I started pulling together all the paperwork at Grimmauld to show Hermione everything about the House. One of the last documents I pulled, since I keep them in the safe, were the documents on the enchantments used to protect the properties, since we decided to introduce the theory this summer. I thought Hermione would like to see how ours were done."
Narcissa, not an heir to a house, but the same age as her cousins that were, remembered hearing the boys discuss it. At her nod, Regulus took a shuddered breath and continued. "It's silly, but I forgot before Father removed Sirius, he was the scion and had been learning how to create his own protection enchantment schemes to support the established ones. Before his fifth year he designed his first and Father added it during Yule that year. By the time he graduated, he added quite a few as Father expected. When the head of the house, heir or heir apparent adds a new scheme, it is woven into the established protective enchantments. This makes it more difficult for someone to circumvent or disable the enchantments."
Narcissa sat up straight and looked her cousin straight in the eyes. "Uncle Orion didn't remove them? What was he thinking?" Jean watched the pair, not fully understanding the implications the conversation, but gained enough information to understand the wards the family relied on, may not as secure as they believed.
"I don't know Cissy. I asked the portrait, both he and Mother acted as if they didn't know anything. That tells me either those memories weren't added or somehow they've been removed. Regardless of their desire, portraits cannot deny the Head of House when asked a direct question." By the end of Regulus's statement, Cissy began pacing the room and mumbling to herself.
"Well, it looks as if the children will be learning a bit more than I or Hogwarts anticipated this summer. At least Hermione won't have any issue with the addition to the summer's plans." Regulus pulled a number of books and parchment from his bag and began to set them on the large table while nodding at his cousin's thoughts.
"Agreed, I have the Black and Potter documents here. It's what took me so longer, had to get the paperwork to the goblins even though Harry is listed as our ward. I don't have access to the Zabini documents and I assumed Lucius would want to pull the Malfoy items himself. I think this needs to start today and not wait for when we return next month."
"Reg, have any of the properties been accessed? Are your personal schemes still active?" The dark haired wizard's expression made his cousin shudder. "I assume you've removed his additions and informed the goblins to do the same with the vaults. I'm not ready to discuss the particulars of what has been accessed."
"Of course Cissy. With him being in Azkaban now the urgency shouldn't be quite as pressing, but it's something I want finished sooner rather than later. I'm waiting on the goblins to provide the official listing of activity at all properties, I know a few of the properties accessed weren't done by me. I haven't been to those places in at least a decade. But there are a few, ones that are closer, where it could have been me or him. The goblins are also looking for any changes placed outside of the official documentation."
"The family is skiing and plan to be home for lunch. We can start the discussions then. Do you have enough books for each of the children? I was not prepared for this."
Regulus pulled four bundles of books from his bag. "None of were Cissy, none of us were."
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
While Regulus ran around London gathering documents, books and dealing with goblins, three men set up camp on the land between MG Industries and the more strongly protected property where the Malfoy and Granger families lived. "They will be gone for a month from what the sources told me, will you be able to get through the wards by then?"
"Do you truly doubt me? I escaped and got you out as well. There isn't a protective enchantment I can't break especially with the backdoor, so conveniently left open for us." The old man chuckled before turning back to his task and waved a wand. The other two men, one just as old as the first and the second much younger in years, leaned against a tree and simply enjoyed their freedom knowing they would get their revenge.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
It took Lucius and Rich longer than they thought to get the children to return to the chalet for lunch. They ended up doing the cross country loop three times, with the last loop being a race with everyone timing themselves to determine who was the best. The winners, because it wasn't fair for the kids since the dads both had much longer legs, ended up being the two Grangers. Both laughed at how shocked everyone was.
"You said you hadn't skied in years, how did you beat all of us?" The Malfoy men took the loss, as expected, badly. The Grangers smiled a secret grin and shook their heads. At their refusal to admit their secret, the others required a redo on the downhill courses. While Hermione wasn't the fastest at either the slalom or downhill, she was still pleased with her overall results. Draco continued to give her a speculative look.
"You are either a natural skier or there is something you aren't telling me." Draco's sulking made the witch giggle and give him a tight hug. Draco hid his smirk in her hair. He was slightly put out at the results, but knew if he acted a bit more upset her father didn't seem to notice how long they hugged. Hermione was 'making him feel better'.
After the first set of finals and getting the children to stop arguing over the scoring, Lucius directed everyone to return to the chalet. "I swear to Merlin, they act like toddlers when they're hungry." Rich agreed, he could feel how his hunger affected his current mood. Grunting, he pushed off to start his trek back to the large home.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
When the crew entered the home, Narcissa plastered a fake smile on her face and welcomed them home before ushering everyone to the dining room. The children, pleased to see Regulus sitting at the table already eating, failed to notice Narcissa's expression as they trudged to the table.
More hungry than they realized, the children focused their attention on the lovely spread the elves provided after seeing Regulus eating. Lucius, while hungry, learned over the years to pay attention to his wife regardless of anything and everything else. When he opened his mouth to question her, she quickly shook her head. Rich, seeing a similar expression Jean's face, eyed the Malfoys interaction and raised a questioning eyebrow to Jean. She nodded once and motioned for Rich to take a seat.
As soon as they were given leave, the children dove into their meals. Jean and Narcissa were equally surprised at how quickly and quietly the children ate. Normally meals were equal parts eating and talking. This was especially true after the children spent time doing something. Lucius chuckled after swallowing his bite of food. "They were quite active this morning and I think they overdid it a touch. I half expected to hear them continue their intense discussion over scoring." Rich laughed and looked at his daughter.
With a sigh, Hermione turned her attention to her mother and saw her intrigued expression. "We had a competition to see who was the best cross country skier and when I won the boys complained until I agreed to include an alpine element. Then they decided to include form as well as speed, we had an intense discussion on the fairness of personal perception of each other's form when scoring." When Hermione finished her explanation Jean began to laugh, loudly.
"You docked all of them for leaning too much on their turns?" Hermione shrugged and nodded. She was just scoring based on how she learned. Jean shook her head and asked her second question, "So you didn't tell them, did you?"
When Jean looked to both her husband and daughter, she saw their smiles turn from something innocent and sweet to a bit mischievous she had her answer. Looking to the rest at the table she saw their confused expressions. "It's rigged, never bet these two on cross country races. They practice year round. You never stood a chance." Hermione took a quick bite of food to stave off the upset looks from her friends.
After swallowing and seeing the boys were still expecting an answer, she took a drink first. "Fine, I didn't cheat and it wasn't rigged, —" Hermione glared a bit at her mum before continuing, "— Dad and I practice our form all the time. We may not have been on a track or skis in years, but we still practice. You never know when you need to escape on a set of skis across the country side." Jean shook her head at her daughter.
"You should have warned them or at least given them 30 seconds Hermione Jean." Draco's choke wasn't missed and Jean turned to see his expression. "She beat you by more than 30 seconds didn't she?" Draco nodded once and glared a bit more.
"It'll take more than a hug to make me feel better about myself Hermione." Draco planned to milk this revelation until they left the chalet. For her part, Hermione knew she was in for at least week of a sulking Draco. Harry and Blaise, who weren't even close to either of their friends continued to eat and watch the show. The Granger family brought a new level of entertainment to everything.
Narcissa, who watched the interaction between Lucius and Rich more than the children, let out a loud laugh when she saw her husband's pout. "Rich beat you as well didn't he, Lucius?" The older blond wizard nodded once. "At least I love it here since I'm sure we will be spending more time so you can train before challenging him again. It's like the jogging thing all over again. Jean how do you deal with this?" Both of the wives laughed as did Rich. Since he was on the winning side it was all smiles and laughs now. Lucius quietly tried to figure out how to determine what muggles did to train without actually skiing. Maybe Matt could assist him.
*TGE*TGE*TGE*
