Chapter 29 Christmas

I had signed the paper, saying I was going away for the holidays. McGonagall was surprised to see that I was going to the Malfoy's for Christmas. She pulled me aside and told me I was more than welcome to come back at anytime during the holidays if I didn't feel safe. I told her I appreciated it and I would send a letter as soon as I would.

I was standing with my friends in the Great Hall. Harry and I haven't said anything to each other since he told me what he heard in Hogsmeade yesterday. He was angry and shouted and I was crying.

I couldn't tell them the truth. How could they believe me when I didn't know how to get them to believe me. Harry did huff off and Ron followed him, giving me an expression I couldn't read.

Hermione stayed with me, but she didn't comfort me.

"I didn't know." I finally said.

"You didn't look it up?" Hermione asked.

"I did. But I didn't find anything about him betraying his friends." I said, using my cloak to wipe my face.

Hermione didn't say anything, and she left the room. I didn't go down to dinner. I went back to the common room and avoided Ginny who looked at me and tried to follow me up the stairs, but I just wanted a bath.

I was sitting on my bed, waiting for time to pass so that I can leave with the rest of the school. Hermione was sitting on her bed and was watching me.

"Are you angry with me?" I asked dryly.

She looked away from me and started to pet Crookshanks who was on her bed.

I gave a noise of disgust and picked up my trunk and Ariel's carrier and headed downstairs. I saw that Ron was with Harry on the couch and I didn't bother to stop to talk to them.

"Cassie!" I was surprised to hear Ron called after me.

I turned around and waited for him. Hermione had followed me down the stairs and joined Harry on the couch.

"If you're just going to say something along the lines of how I'm more than likely going to be like my father, shove it." I said, glaring at him.

He paused and looked over his shoulder.

"Just give Harry some time. He'll come around." Ron murmured to me.

I blinked in surprise at him.

"If you need to come back early, just send an owl." He added before turning back around and walking back to Harry.

I turned around and left the common room. My insides felt warmer with what Ron had said and I felt just a little better about leaving Harry in his situation.

Ron was quick to defend any of us, and if anyone was going to make sure his friends were alright first, it was Ron. I was glad he was my friend in that moment, even if we didn't have the strongest friendship between the two of us.

I made it down to the Great Hall and Malfoy was waiting for me. And it was clear he was impatient about it. Goyle and Crabbe were with him and Goyle got a little flush on his neck when he saw me.

"About time!" Malfoy huffed.

He lead the way down to the carriages. I stumbled a bit when I saw the strange creatures pulling the carriages.

"I know I'm supposed to wait for you, but I don't want too." Malfoy said coldly.

"Sorry!" I said, avoiding the black skeletal horses.

Goyle helped me get my luggage in the carriages and even held his hand out to help me up into the carriage. I gave him a smile of appreciation and he didn't look at me, but his neck flush crept higher.

I was putting Ariel back in her carrier when Goyle reached for my trunk.

"Oh!" I said, surprised.

He looked at me and had a faint blush on his cheeks.

"Thank you, Gregory." I smiled to him.

He gave me a curt nod and rolled my trunk ahead of me. When we were getting out of the train he turned around and held a hand out.

"Thank you." I said quietly, taking his hand and stepping down from the train.

He gave another nod and rolled my trunk over to the Malfoys.

Narcissa had a kind smile on her face, and Mr. Malfoy was as stoic as ever.

"Welcome back, Draco." Narcissa hugged her son.

Malfoy returned it, but stood next to his father, looking proud.

"Hello, Cassie." Narcissa surprised me with a hug.

"Oh! Uh - hello." I hugged her back.

"Shall we?" Mr. Malfoy held his elbow to me.

I gave him a nod and took his elbow. He turned with a crack, and we were in a beautiful sitting room. Ariel gave a hiss in the carrier.

Mr. Malfoy clapped his hands and a house elf appeared.

"Yes master?" He bowed.

"Take Miss Zwart's belongings and animal to her room." Mr. Malfoy was cold.

"Yes master." The house elf bowed.

The elf held his hand out for Ariel's carrier. I hesitated before handing her off.

"Why don't you follow him? He'll lead you to your room and you can get settled in." Narcissa had appeared with Malfoy and his things.

"Oh, thank you." I nodded to them.

Malfoy sniffed and I followed the elf up a grand staircase. The walls were a brilliant emerald color that had silver and black trimmings. They also had family portraits. I tried not to stare, but I heard the portraits whispering and were also trying not to gawk at me.

"Here is your room Missus." The elf had opened the door and bowed as I stepped into the room.

I felt a rush of appreciation for Narcissa, because I knew it was her. The bed was a huge King size four poster, but it was decorated with Gryffindor colors. The crest was on the blanket and pillow covers were red with a golden trim. The walls were bare, but that didn't upset me too much. I was used to bare walls.

"Will Missus need anything else?" The elf was still in a bowed position.

"No, thank you." I said to the elf.

She bowed and with a snap of her fingers, she disappeared.

I turned into my new room and gave a little giggle of shock. I put my carrier down and opened it so that Ariel could start exploring the new space. I had started to unpack my trunk when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" I called.

Narcissa opened the door and walked in.

"Oh, hello!" I greeted her.

"Hello, Cassie." She nodded to me.

"Would you like to sit down?" I asked, gesturing to the bed.

"Oh, thank you, dear." She smiled kindly.

"Thank you for inviting me to you Manor for the holidays." I said, turning back to my unpacking.

"I know it must be strange." Narcissa said in a conversational tone.

"It is." I nodded, closing up my trunk and pushing it under my new bed.

"I hope you like your new -?" Narcissa looked around awkwardly.

"It's lovely. Reminds me of my common room." I answered honestly, sitting on the bed with her.

"Oh good." She nodded to herself.

"May I ask you some questions?" I hesitated.

"Of course, I'm sure you have a lot of them!" She nodded.

"How are we related?" That was my first question.

She paused, then stood up.

"Come with me." She held her hand out for me.

"Okay?" I stood up and gave her my hand.

She put my hand in the crook of her elbow and she lead me through the house. It wasn't necessarily a tour, but she did give me the history the portraits and of the house. I was intrigued by it all, but it wasn't answering any questions I had. After some time of walking, she opened a door and it was a mostly empty room.

Mostly because there were two chairs in the room, but they looked to be more complementary than comfortable. What caught my eye was the wallpaper. On one side was a major tree with the common surname Black, and the otherside was the surname Malfoy.

I let Narcissa's arm go and walked along the wall, just looking. Narcissa walked after me and allowed me to look. I got to the edge of the wall, where the Malfoy and Black line joined together with Lucius and Narcissa.

Narcissa Black was connected to Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Black was connected to Rodolphus Lestrange, and Andromeda Black was connected to Ted Tonks. Though the faces of Ted and Andromeda were burnt. I pointed at Andromeda and Narcissa had a moment of sadness.

"If we do not abide by the family rules, we are burnt off the family tree." She explained walking up to it.

I nodded and Narcissa was kind enough to point out the line connecting her parents to my grandparents. Druella Rosier and Cygnus Black were married, and Cygnus and Walburga Black were siblings. Walburga was married to Orion Black and according to the family tree, they were cousins.

I gave Narcissa a look and she nodded, "The Black's wanted to be as pure-blooded as they can be."

"Even if they were closely related?" I asked, feeling a little gross.

"Yes." Narcissa nodded.

Looking back at the line, Walburga and Orion had two sons. Sirius' portrait was burnt off, but Regulus, his brother, was still intact. I knelt down to look at Regulus portrait. It wasn't as detailed as I would have liked, but I could see he had the striking resemblance of my father.

"Your portrait appeared over the summer." Narcissa explained.

My name was under Sirius, and my hair black rather than some strange color.

"Where is Regulus?" I asked, standing up.

"I don't know." She replied.

I gave a nod and looked back at the tree.

"Do you want me to call you Aunt Narcissa?" I asked slowly.

"Dear, you can call me whatever you feel comfortable with." She stepped up and took my hand.

"Thank you." I smiled kindly at her.

"I'm sure you have more questions." She prodded gently.

"Oh I do, I'm just unsure of what they are." I giggled nervously.

"That's alright. If you don't mind, I do have some questions for you?" She started to lead me out of the room.

"Not at all." I shook my head.

She proceeded to ask me about my life in the orphanage. I gave as much detail as I wanted, I left out Gertrude's accident, but I told her about the pranks I pulled and how life was. I told her about my first year, and what happened with the philosopher's stone. She gasped when she heard about what I did to my arm, and held a hand to her mouth when I showed her the result.

"Is there nothing that can be done for it?" She asked quietly, moving my arm to see the extent of the flames.

"Just a little spell that can keep the heat at bay." I answered, rolling my sleeve so that she can see how far up it goes.

She nodded and looked me in the eyes, something registered in her mind and she gave a subtle nod to herself.

"Tell me more, please?" She asked, leading me once again through the house.

I then told her about my second year, about how Voldemort had managed to control Ginny and how I got my second scar from the wizarding world. I showed her that one and she traced her fingers over it.

"Why do you hurt yourself for your friends?" She asked, her voice almost a whisper.

"No one protected me when I needed it." I gestured to the scar on my face.

"Why do you keep that one, but cover the others?" Narcissa asked as we turned into the dining hall.

"I got this one when I was eleven, before I had met my best friends. I earned the other scars and Harry feels like I got them because of his actions. I don't want him to feel guilty for what I chose to do." I answered.

She paused and looked at me.

The rest of the break was uneventful. They were the strange family that would have a different set of clothes for the day and for dinner. Ariel was transitioning well. I would find her laying with Narcissa in the library room, whether it be on a pillow that appeared one day, or even in her lap.

The snow covered the grounds and I wasn't able to go exploring, but Narcissa did tell me that Mr. Malfoy kept his prized peacocks in a coop. I've never seen peacocks and I was pretty excited to be close enough.

When I wasn't off exploring, I was sitting in my window seat looking across the grounds. I would sometimes be reading and doing my homework. Malfoy took to ignoring me, even when we ate. Mr. Malfoy, though he was cold, tried to hold conversation with me, but I don't think he knew how to talk to someone without mentioning pureblood things.

I was excited to open my eyes on Christmas day and see the pile of presents. I got a broom servicing kit from Hermione, a snake charm from Harry to go with my bracelet, some pumpkin pasties from Ron, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mr. Weasley had sent me a present.

I put on the poorly knitted jumper and read his note, 'Molly didn't want to send you anything, but I didn't want you to feel left out. I hope you like it!'

He had also given me a piece of Christmas cake and a mince pie. I'm sure it was all he could get away from Mrs. Weasley.

There was a smallish box, and it was plainly wrapped with a single bow on top. The note on it said, 'I held onto this when I found out you were going into someone else's care. I think it's time it gets returned to you. I hope you don't mind, it was the only thing I can think of getting you.'

My curiosity was piqued and so I opened the box. Inside was a little stuffed hippogriff. The one I knew I had when I dreamt about it my first year and I didn't know where it had gone. I picked it up gently and examined it.

It was still gray, and it looked like it had stayed in one piece, and it smelt like fresh laundry detergent, so it was washed recently.

"My hippogriff." I whispered, looking at the note for a name, but there wasn't one.

What caught my eye was the long thin package lying on my bed. My heart grew cold and my breathing grew shallow. There was a note attached to it, 'I know you still have yours, but it was the only thing I could think of getting you.'

I slowly opened the package and my heart melted.

A gorgeous ebony handle, connected with twigs of birch. A silver foot rest was wrapped around it. The Firebolt started to vibrate as soon as I touched it. When I put it on the ground, it floated to the perfect height for me to swing my leg over.

There was a knock at my door. I put the Firebolt under my bed and went to open the door.

Malfoy stood there. He sneered at my appearance.

"Mother says we are to have Christmas brunch together. I am to escort you." He said stiffly.

"Should I get changed then?" I asked, looking down at my pajama bottoms and new jumper.

"No." Malfoy shook his head.

"Alright." I nodded.

I looked back to make sure that my broom was still under my bed and walked out and closed my door. Malfoy sniffed at me again and lead the way to the dining hall. When we made it, he paused and held his arm out for me.

"For appearances only." He muttered to me.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." I said to him.

I took his arm and when we walked into the dining hall, Narcissa and Mr. Malfoy were wearing silk bathrobes over their pajamas. I held my head high when Malfoy walked me to my seat.

"What a - lovely - jumper." Narcissa complimented.

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley made it for me. Mrs. Weasley… is not being very accepting of my parentage at this moment." I said, smiling at my jumper.

"Ah." Narcissa said.

Brunch was quiet for the most part. I knew the bedroom was my present from them so when Malf- Draco - started thanking his parents for his gifts I kept my face as still as I could. I realized he was trying to make me jealous when he kept mentioning things like, 'dragon-hide cloak' and other things.

"What did you get for Christmas?" Mr. Malfoy asked me.

"I got a Firebolt."

Draco's face dropped and he suddenly looked angry.

"You got Zwart a Firebolt?" He hissed across the table.

"I did not." Narcissa looked at Draco reproachfully.

Draco dropped his gaze.

"Who gave you the Firebolt?" Mr. Malfoy asked, his voice low.

"I believe it was my father, Sirius."

Ah the wonderful Christmas holidays. I currently only have a Santa Figurine and a small light up tree. They're both sitting on my coffee table because half the fun is shopping for Christmas decorations later in life. Hopefully next year I can get an actual tree and put our ornaments up.

Shout out to Cassie112392 for following this story!

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katie owl: I AM SO GLAD YOU LOVED THIS CHAPTER! I was super worried that you would be disappointed with how it went about and to hear that you like it, I was relieved!

Books4life: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I was worried it was going to be a disappointing chapter personally.