Author's Notes:

Hi everyone! I just have to say, bridal shower #1 was AMAZING. All the decorations were absolutely beautiful and perfect and the food was delicious. I literally couldn't have asked for a better party and I can't wait for #2 this weekend! I hope you all had a lovely weekend! I've also finally decided on a hair style—Hermione's hair from the GOF Movie during the Yule ball! It looks so lovely on me—especially with my Diadem hair comb!

I do want to give all of you a heads up that I'm going to be taking a two week hiatus. I am so stressed out between wedding planning and the bar exam and running the house/chores and such that I really need to focus on getting through this hurtle. I promise to have an update for you all the weekend of October 10th. I'll miss all of you while I'm gone and can't wait to see what you think of what I have in store for Christmas!

Beer of the Week: The Riverhead CiderHouse Founder's Reserve Hard Cider! This cider was absolutely fantastic. It was smooth and dry with notes of cinnamon and allspice. It really tasted reminiscent of apple pie! I strongly recommend this cider—it went down way too easily and left me wishing I had gotten more than one bottle!

Midnitewanderer: Snape is definitely one of my absolute least favorite characters. In fact, I think the backstory that JKR gave him made his character even worse. Trust me, he has some stuff coming throughout my series. We just have to get there. As for the wolf, I really love what Bree did in her "A Second Chance" story with Remus and his werewolf side. I want to do a play on that and see how it works out in my story. I think it gives him a whole other layer of character development I really want to play with. So, of course the wolf would be angry, the wolf knows what they want and it doesn't have the reservations that Remus does! Trust me, he will come around, it's just a matter of when at this point! SomeGuyFawkes: I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the first three chapters of my story. It's my goal at some point to go back and tweak the writing style so that it's more in sync with what I've grown into but it's still down the road. As for your "actionable feedback"—I understand that some words may seem repetitive, however, some descriptive language cannot be substituted. I continuously try my best to be sure that I avoid too much repetitive words and attempt to utilize synonyms as often as possible. Boothbonesrule: I can promise you that this will DEFINITELY be a Hinny story. They are, of course, only 10/11 right now. Give it time and I promise their relationship will blossom!

Potter671: I'm so sorry to hear about your dog! I'm a huge dog lover and I can't even begin to imagine your pain with the loss of a best furry friend. I'm glad that my chapter update was able to help you with their passing. I'm glad that you enjoyed how I wrote James! I have some ideas I want to tie in with that later on in the series that I think you'll enjoy. I'm definitely having fun fleshing out his character since we don't know too much about him from Canon. Smallwjl: Gotta love Remadora! The strong but moody werewolf and his one true love that turns him into a soft and squishy puppy. It's like the beginning of one of those cheesy teen books. Quansit: I never said that Draco's relationship with Crabbe and Goyle was a healthy one, just that he was a good friend in the ways that he was taught to be. You have to remember that Pure Blood children (with some exceptions) were generally raised with a different understanding of the world. You also have to remember how hard Draco tried to save both Crabbe and Goyle from the fiend fire in their seventh year and how upset he was when Crabbe didn't make it out of the room of requirement. In the end, he was a good friend for the way they were raised—with the right upbringing and influence I believe he would have been able to have healthy and positive friendships.

Thank you to all of you who have continued to read Ignoring Destiny this long! Thank you for your continued support and understanding as I complete my journey into the legal profession and get my wedding preparations underway. You are all absolutely amazing and you all remind me why I continue to write this fic. I can't wait to give you another update and I will miss you all deeply until I return.

Posting Schedule: Once a week starting again on October 11, 2020.

Enjoy this next installment of Ignoring Destiny!

Chapter Forty-Three: Snowy Evenings

The small group of friends were seated at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall eating breakfast together. Christmas break was still two weeks away but the hall was already buzzing with excitement. The holiday decorations had been put up the night before, bathing the room in Christmas magic with everything from trees taller than Hagrid to the small fairies and Christmas baubles littering the branches. Fake, everlasting snow had been strategically placed throughout the room, giving it a glowing, homey look. Harry looked up as the morning post flew into the hall, owls hooting and screeching as they flew. He watched as an old owl landed in front of Ron who blushed and attempted to remove the letter as quickly as he could. The old owl hopped down the table to the other Weasley children, depositing a letter to each of them.

Ron quickly opened the letter and read it quickly, his face falling as he took in the words.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, concerned.

Ron shook his head as he finished reading before setting the paper aside, sighing, "I guess I can keep doing research here over the break. Mum and dad are taking Ginny to Romania to visit Charlie for Christmas. We all have to stay here for the break."

"Yeah, well, I might be staying with you. I haven't decided if I'm going to go home for Christmas or not yet," Draco added sourly.

"You guys aren't going home for Christmas?" Harry asked.

Ron shook his head while Draco shrugged, "I don't know if I want to deal with my father right now. It won't be much of a Christmas, anyway."

"Should we get to the library and try to get some research in before classes?" Hermione asked brightly.

The three boys nodded solemnly before they all made their way to the library. Once they reached it, Harry made his way away from the group and ducked back out and into a room off the next hall, hoping he was far enough away that they wouldn't hear him if his friends came after him.

As he stepped into the room, he noticed immediately that the class room hadn't been used in a very long time. The desks and chairs were pushed up against the walls and stacked out of the way leaving the center of the room empty except for a large, ornate mirror. Harry only noticed the mirror as he was pulling out the one housed in the pocket of his robes—curiosity over the large object overwhelmed him.

He carefully walked up to the large mirror and looked into it, examining himself. He looked in surprise as he saw what looked like his mother and father in the mirror. He tilted his head as he saw the red head whose head was bent down, her hair shielding her face from view, as the black-haired man looked at her, deeply in love. The man who Harry assumed was his father had his arm around a woman he didn't recognize, her fiery red hair drawing his eye. He could see a small bundle in her arms, she was looking down at it, her hair shielding her face as he watched. Then his breath caught in his throat as he caught sight of the man's eyes, his eyes. Was the man him? If it was, who was the woman?

In the background of the scene he could see a pile of black robes and a broken wand on the ground. He realized that the pile must be Voldemort—he must have defeated Voldemort and married this woman? Does this mirror show the future?

Harry gazed at the mirror, drinking in the tranquil scene before him, until he heard the bell toll, signaling that classes were about to begin. He considered skipping his first class so he could continue to examine the mirror. Maybe he could figure out how it worked. But he decided against it. He knew if he skipped class his absence would be noticed by his friends and they would come looking for him. He wasn't sure if he was ready to share this secret with them quite yet.

Harry quickly made his way to class and barely made it into the room on time. As he ran into the classroom Ron, Hermione, and Draco look at him quizzically. He shook his head and took his seat and began unpacking his bag.

As soon as class ended his friends immediately bombarded him with questions regarding his whereabouts.

"I just nipped off to talk to my dad but I couldn't get ahold of him," Harry explained. He had decided not to tell them about the mirror yet. He wanted to return and look at it again before he did.

Hermione looked at him quizzically, almost as if she didn't quite believe his story, while Ron and Draco nodded, appeased. The group headed towards their next classes.

It wasn't until lunch time that Harry was able to step into an unused classroom and call James on his mirror. James answered on the third vibration.

"Harry! Hey! What's up? How's school going?"

Harry smiled as he caught sight of James' windblown hair and the sight of the blue sky behind him. He caught his dad at practice, apparently, "Hey dad! School's fine. They decorated for the holiday already here. It looks awesome!"

"Good. How are your marks?"

"They're alright. I could be doing better in potions," Harry admitted.

"Well, I can't really fault you for that," James said darkly, "That isn't really your fault."

Harry frowned, "Anyway. I called to ask you about Christmas. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are taking Ginny to Romania to visit Charlie for the holiday so Ron, Fred, George, and Percy won't have anywhere to go—they'll be stuck at school for the whole holiday! Do you think they could—"

James beamed, "Bring them home! The more the merrier and we certainly have enough room for them!"

Harry smiled, "Brilliant! And, Draco—he's not sure if he wants to go home or not…"

"Bring him, too, if he decides to stay. I'll deal with his parents if it becomes an issue."

"Are you sure that's not too many people?"

"Nah. We have so much space here. Honestly, we could house three Weasley families. Bring them along. It'll be better than staying at the castle, that's for sure."

Harry beamed at James, "Thanks dad! I'll go let them know now! I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Harry. Stay safe!" James warned.

Harry quickly put his mirror away and made his way to the great hall. His eyes scanned the crowds, searching for Ron and Draco. He found them quickly and made his way over to them.

"Hey! Guys, you won't believe it. Dad invited you guys for the holiday! Ron, your brothers can come, too, if they want. You can stay at the manor—it'll be much better than staying here for Christmas."

Ron beamed at him, "Brilliant, Harry! I'll go let Fred and George know. They'll tell Percy and I can write mum. You're the best, mate."

Draco frowned and hung his head a bit, "I can't. I just got a letter from father. He expects me home at Malfoy Manor for the holidays. This is going to be a wonderful Christmas."

Hermione frowned, "You don't think he's planning something, do you?"

Draco shrugged, "I don't know. I'm surprised he wants me home—I'm sure he's got some reason for that. Unless my mother asked him to allow me home. We'll see I guess."

The group grew silent, none of them liked how this sounded.

~ID~

"Ginny! Come downstairs and help me finish dinner!" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen.

Ginny sighed and flopped back down on her bed. She had been growing increasingly more bored over the last few weeks as she'd been stuck at home with her parents. Alone. She couldn't even go nick a broom from the shed because her brothers had taken all of the good ones. The one that was left flew to the side more often than not and it was increasingly frustrating her.

"Ginny! Now!" Mrs. Weasley called after a few more minutes, her tone growing impatient.

Rolling over, Ginny groaned audibly. She had no idea why her mom wanted her to come assist with dinner. Mrs. Weasley was very aware that Ginny burned any food she touched. This somehow had included the cereal she had poured for herself yesterday morning. That had been interesting. She had been pouring the milk into her bowl, over top of the cereal, while her mother had been nagging her about learning to cook, when the cereal had spontaneously caught fire. The flame had reached about 3 feet high, singing Ginny's eyebrows, before Mrs. Weasley managed to put it out. Ginny had actually just finished recounting the events of that morning in a letter to Harry and in one to Draco.

Ginny stood up slowly and began making her way downstairs. She made sure to walk down the stairs loudly so that Mrs. Weasley knew she was on her way to the kitchen. As she entered, she saw her mother with her back to the kitchen door as she stirred a pot on the stove.

Hearing Ginny walk in the room, Mrs. Weasley asked, "Ginny, dear, can you set the table? We're having onion soup for dinner. There's some rolls here on the counter I want you to set out, too."

"Sure," Ginny said grudgingly. She quickly set the table and took her seat, waiting for Mrs. Weasley.

"Ron sent me a letter today," Mrs. Weasley said.

Ginny suddenly felt a pang in her heart—she sadly recalled that Ron had yet to owl her since he'd gone off to Hogwarts, much in opposition to what he had promised. Fred and George had owled her a few times, but not nearly as much as they had promised to.

Mr. Weasley made his way into the kitchen and took his seat at the table as he smiled at Ginny, "Evening, dear. How was your day? Did your mum tell you the news?"

Ginny frowned, "What news?"

"I was just getting to that," Mrs. Weasley flustered, "I was just saying that Ron owled us today about the holiday. You know we're going to Romania, Ginny dear, and the boys were going to stay at Hogwarts because of how expensive the trip is. Well, Mr. Potter offered to have the boys over for the Christmas holiday. Isn't that lovely?"

"They're all staying together with Harry and Mr. Potter?" Ginny asked, a note of jealousy in her voice, "While I spend the holiday with you?"

"Well," Mr. Weasley started hesitantly, everyone in the family was quite aware of Ginny's temper, "Mr. Potter owled us as well, making sure that we were aware, and had given our permission, for the boys to stay with him over the holiday. He also asked us if we would be willing to let you stay there for the holiday as well. We thought we'd give you the option between visiting Charlie or staying with your brothers and Harry for the holiday. What do you think, pumpkin?"

Ginny blinked, taking in what her father had just asked her. She quickly looked over at her mother and then back at her father, unsure of what she was supposed to say or do.

"Well," Ginny said slowly, "I—I'd kind of like to spend the holiday at home. Charlie visits a lot but I haven't seen Ron or Fred and George or Percy since September. And it would be nice to see Harry. Would that be ok?"

Mrs. Weasley frowned at Mr. Weasley as he smiled at Ginny sadly, "Of course it is, pumpkin. We'll let Mr. Potter know you'll be joining them for the holiday and your mother will help you pack for the trip. We're going to miss you while we're gone."

"Ginny, dear, if you change your mind just let us know, ok?" Mrs. Weasley said to Ginny, "We'd be happy to have you join us like we originally planned."

Ginny nodded silently and watched as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ladled soup out and began eating, a large smile breaking out on her face as she thought about her upcoming holiday expedition.

~ID~

Harry and company sat at dinner the night before Christmas break. They had been discussing the possibilities of who Nicolas Flamel was and what books they were going to read next. So far their search had been unproductive but Draco had a few ideas on where to look next.

"Look," Draco said as he forked a bit of pot roast, "We're all going home for the holiday, right? Hermione, why don't you check out the muggle library? Maybe this guy was a famous muggle and we're protecting something he made or did? Or maybe even Flamel himself. That's unlikely but you never know. While you're doing that, Harry, Ron, and I can research the Potter and Malfoy family libraries. Harry, I know your library has that really cool search system right? Where you can check the book for specific names and subjects?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah. I think we can search by name. We can definitely search by subject though."

"Right. Our library has that, too. We can use that system to try to find anything about Flamel. Maybe the school library doesn't have anything about him because he worked with dark magic. If that's the case, one of our libraries would have something about him, right?"

"That's a really good idea, Draco," Hermione said, "I never would have thought to have you guys check your private libraries. And if none of that pans out, we can figure out a way into the restricted section of the library. I bet we could find something there."

The group nodded in agreement just as an owl flew over head and landed in front of Harry, his leg sticking out for him to take the letter attached to it.

Harry frowned, "What's this?" he carefully pulled the letter off the leg of the owl and unfurled it, scanning the document. His lips twitched into a broad smile as he recognized the curly handwriting on the page.

H

You won't believe what my parents just told me at dinner. Apparently your dad owled them about the holiday and invited my brothers over for it since my parents are going to Romania without them. Did you know that? Well, my parents gave them permission to go. But apparently your dad also invited me! Mum and dad gave me the choice between Romania and your house for the holiday. I told them I wanted to go to your house because I haven't seen any of you guys in ages but I see Charlie once a month or so. Isn't that exciting? I hope your dad didn't tell you before you got this letter—I know you two have those mirrors so you hear from him more quickly than an owl can fly but, still.

It must be nice having such an easy and fast way to communicate with your dad and uncles. I wonder why they never made more and sold them. Can you imagine how much money those mirrors would fetch on the market?

Anyway, I can't wait to see you tomorrow! Stay safe.

All my love,

G

"Guys! Check this out!" Harry said as he passed the letter to Hermione. Once she was done reading it she passed it to Draco who read it with Ron looking over his shoulder. Each of them beaming in response.

"Mom and dad are letting Ginny stay for Christmas? I wonder how she convinced them to do that. Mom and dad are normally much more careful with Gin than they are with us. I guess they think we're sturdier or something."

"Isn't it great? We'll all be together for the holiday. Well, you know what I mean."

Draco looked away from his friends, his eyes downcast.

As they finished up dinner Ron and Harry were still discussing the upcoming holiday together. They made their way ahead of Hermione and Draco as they made their way toward the common room. As they walked Hermione came to a slow stop. Draco, noticing this, stopped with her and looked at her, confused.

"Everything ok?" Draco asked.

"I wanted to ask you the same thing. I noticed you were upset during dinner. Is everything alright?"

"Oh," Draco said, smiling sadly, "I guess? Not really. I was just thinking about my holiday. I have to spend it at home with my father—I have no idea what he has planned for me and I'm really not looking forward to it."

"Why can't you just stay here for the holiday?"

Draco shook his head, "Father told me I have to come home. Ignoring his demands would be worse than just going home. Thank you for your concern though."

Hermione frowned, "Well, I'm here for you, ok? And I know Ron and Harry are, too."

"Thanks, Hermione. I'm going to head to bed now, though. I'll see you in the morning."

Hermione nodded and watched as Draco headed off toward Ravenclaw Tower. She was worried about what was to come over this holiday.

~ID~

Harry stepped off the Hogwarts Express after the long trip and glanced around the platform. Ron, Fred, and George filed out behind him as he looked around for James. He smiled as he caught sight of James and Sirius standing further down the platform as they eyed a man with blonde hair. Harry recognized the man as Draco's father. A sudden anger filled Harry as he saw Mr. Malfoy standing on the platform, a haughty expression on his face.

"Gin-Gin!" Fred yelled from behind Harry, making him jump in surprise. Ginny was here?

Harry looked around the platform quickly, searching for the scarlet hair in the crowd. It didn't take him long to locate Ginny making a beeline toward them, her hair billowing behind her. She quickly jumped into Fred's outstretched arms, giving him a tight hug. Her brothers quickly passed her around, each hugging her in turn and commenting on how much she'd grown since they saw her in September. Harry watched her smile as she commented on how much they changed before moving to Harry and engulfing him in a large hug.

He was surprised at how instantly he calmed down. He had been so angry, so worried, when he saw Mr. Malfoy on the platform but now he felt tranquil and happy again. Sure, he was still worried about Draco, but it was happy here.

The little group made their way toward James and Sirius. Harry could see how grey Draco had turned when he realized his father had come to fetch him from the train. Harry muttered to Draco from the corner of his mouth as they walked.

"Remember, our house is open if anything happens. You know how to get to us."

Harry saw from the corner of his eye Draco's head move a fraction of an inch, nodded his understanding before he walked off to his father. Harry watched as Mr. Malfoy turned on his heel as soon as he caught sight of Draco and walked off, Draco trailing behind him miserably.

Harry walked head first into James as he watched the scene unfold, completely oblivious to his surroundings. James quickly reached out his hands and steadied Harry, a frown on his face as he watched Draco walk off with Lucy.

"Careful, Harry, you'll run me over! Look at you. You had to have grown a whole foot since you've been gone! Hello everyone. I see you found Ginny. She was so anxious to see you she insisted on coming with us to fetch you."

"Alright Weasleys! Potter! Line up, let's go. One at a time now!" Sirius barked playfully to the group of kids. He and James quickly corralled them as they all began walking toward the barrier.

"Wait," Sirius said, "Aren't we missing one?"

James frowned and turned to count the group, "No—no I don't think so. Percy owled me this morning to tell me he was going to stay at school. He seemed to think it was his duty as a prefect to stay and keep an eye on those who couldn't go home for the holiday."

Fred and George rolled their eyes, "Sounds like Perce—"

"Did you know he's a prefect?"

"He only mentions it everyday—"

"Every hour—"

"Every minute."

"Honestly, he drives us bonkers."

Ginny mumbled under her breath so quietly that only Harry could hear her, "Those two drive me bonkers."

Harry snorted and looked as Ginny gave him a sly smile, her hair hiding her face from her brothers in a way that seemed oddly familiar to him. He frowned as they made their way out into the evening air, pushing it aside as they piled into the car James had enchanted to be larger on the inside. He watched as Fred and George pushed Ron to the side so that Ginny could get in first. She smiled and bowed to them before sliding into the car, a wicked grin on her face as she winked at Harry. It was going to be an interesting holiday.

End Notes:

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