Honesty for the Holidays

Irlynn sat on Hogwarts Express as it chugged along through the country side. She'd been excited to go home for the Christmas holidays. She had never spent Christmas away from her family. As she stared at the passing trees and hills covered in a thick blanket of snow, she couldn't help but reflect on her first term at school. It had certainly been an experience. She enjoyed most of the classes and had made quite a few friends. Finally the train came to a halt at King's Cross Station. She disembarked and found her trunk. Not two minutes after she'd crossed the barrier back onto the Muggle section of the station, her parents flagged her down.

"Happy Christmas," Victoria said, pulling her daughter into a firm hug.

"Happy Christmas, Mum," Irlynn replied, beginning to follow her father out towards the car park.

"How was your term?" William asked as he took the trunk from her.

"It was good. I learned a lot. I made friends…they're in other houses though," she began as the three of them climbed into the car and headed off towards the ferry.

"I told you about the houses, didn't I?" Irlynn asked as she caught the slightly dazed looks on her parents' faces.

"Yes, you did. In one of your first letters," Victoria answered.

Irlynn continued to ramble all the way to the ferry and for most of the trip across. She hadn't realized how much she still had to tell her parents, despite how often she wrote them letters. She was in the process of telling them about History of Magic when the ferry docked.

"Ghosts can teach classes?" William asked, sounding surprised.

"Well everyone says he taught when he was alive but one day he just died and his ghost keeps teaching," Irlynn answered.

"Sometimes we don't know if he knows he's not alive anymore. I think maybe he bored himself to death," she speculated. Her comment earned her a disapproving look from her mother.

"It sounds like you enjoy all your classes this term," her father said as they drove off the ferry and towards the main road.

"Mostly all of them. Potions class is hard and sometimes I don't think the Professor likes me…or anyone who isn't in his house. But I do all my reading," she said in one large breath. No one said anything for the remainder of the drive. Irlynn had worn herself out talking so much and her parents had thoughts weighing heavily on their minds. William pulled into the drive and cut the engine. Irlynn stretched a little as she climbed out.

Several hours later, Irlynn sat with her parents in the sitting room watching a movie. Just as the credits began to roll, Victoria caught sight of the clock on the mantle.

"I know you're on holiday, but I think you should get to bed," she said. With a small groan, Irlynn stood up and headed for the stairs. Once she'd reached the top landing, Victoria turned to her husband and let out a breath.

'We need to tell her while she's home," she said.

"I know we do. We can do it this weekend," he offered.

"Maybe we should tell her after Christmas Morning," she answered.

"Why don't we tell her after we do presents," he replied. She nodded and reached for the remote.

As Irlynn climbed into bed, she was hit with another vision. She saw the remaining students and professors at Hogwarts all eating together. It looked very calm and congenial. When she came out of it, she couldn't help but smile a little. She wished meals were that way always during the school year. Whoever had been there had felt content.

She let out a sigh and leaned back against her pillow. She wished she knew who it was she kept seeing through. She knew it had to be someone at Hogwarts; that much had become evident to her at the start of term. She drifted off to sleep, the vision still floating around in her head.

The weekend arrived quickly in the McQuillen household. Christmas morning was upon them and Irlynn was up at eight o'clock. They had all settled on that time the evening before. She walked by her parents room as quietly as she could but realized upon walking into the sitting room it hadn't been necessary. Both of her parents were already sitting on the love seat with mugs of coffee in hand. A mug of hot chocolate sat on the table for her.

"Happy Christmas," she said, giving her parents a hug.

"Happy Christmas, darling," Victoria said. After enjoying her drink, Irlynn began to distribute presents from beneath the tree. She carefully unwrapped her gifts. She beamed brightly at new robes as well as some new Muggle clothes. She'd gotten several new books as well.

"Thank you," she said, giving her parents another hug once al presents had been opened.

"How about some breakfast?" William suggested. Irlynn nodded vigorously and they headed for the kitchen. She helped her father prepare scrambled eggs, toast and grits while Victoria set the table and poured more coffee and set a pitcher of juice in the center of the table.

"I think this is the best Christmas ever," Irlynn said after swallowing a bite of toast.

"You do? Why is that?" Victoria asked, glancing briefly at her husband.

"I like the presents I got and I like being home for a while," the eleven-year-old answered.

"Good. I'm glad you liked the presents," her mother said. The room was silent as they finished the meal and cleaned up. Just as Irlynn was about to walk back upstairs, William caught her by the arm.

"Can you come in here?" he asked, indicating the sitting room. She nodded and followed her father into the room. She sat down and looked at her parents. She didn't have a very good feeling about this. Victoria cleared her throat and took a breath. This was not going to be an easy conversation to have.

"Your father and I have been meaning to talk to you about something for a while," she began. Irlynn drew her feet beneath her.

"Did I do something?" she asked. Her mother shook her head vigorously in the negative.

"No, of course not. It's just…something that you need to know. It's time you know," Victoria answered.

"Honey, we want you know that we love you very much," William interjected. Irlynn just nodded her head.

"There's no easy way to say this. You…were adopted," Victoria finally admitted.

"What?" Irlynn croaked out.

"We know this is going to be hard," William said, sliding over to sit next to his daughter.

"We wanted to tell you over the summer when you got your letter for school. But we didn't want to scare you when you were going into a new experience," he continued.

"So…who are my…" Irlynn began, trailing off.

"Your birth parents. Well we have your birth certificate right here to show you," her father answered and pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to her and Irlynn looked at it. Her name was written in elegant script; Irlynn Belle McQuillen. Her eyes travelled down to the bottom and saw only one name written; Lily Evans. Her whole body began to shake with tears. Why would her mother give her up?

"Why…why would she not want me?" she sniffled, leaning against her father's shoulder for support.

"We don't know sweetheart. Sometimes people have babies and aren't ready to take care of them. Sometimes giving them up is the best thing they can do," Victoria replied.

"Why isn't there a name for Father?" Irlynn asked.

"We're not sure. The hospital said that your birth Mum didn't give a name. Maybe she didn't know," William replied.

"So…my…my Mum was a witch?" she questioned, trying to calm down.

"It looks that way. So you have always been a witch," Victoria said, reaching over to stroke her daughter's hair.

"Do you think she's out there somewhere?"

"She could be. We will support whatever you want to do baby. If you want to find her, we'll help," her father assured her. Irlynn nodded her head and took several deep breaths.

"Ok," she murmured and stood up. She walked towards the stairs and up to her room to get dressed for the day. As she changed, she set the certificate on hr desk. Downstairs, Victoria had taken over Irlynn's seat.

"I hope we did the right thing," she said.

"We did, Vic. She's going to need some time to process all of this. But she'll be ok. She's a strong kid," William answered.

"And I told you she wouldn't love us any less," he added. Victoria nodded her head. She hoped everything would turn out alright in the end. A small part of her hoped that Irlynn wouldn't want to search for her birth mother. She didn't want to risk losing her little girl.

The next few days passed by more slowly and Irlynn didn't mention anything about finding her birth mother. She could tell the subject upset her mother. The ride to King's Cross was much quieter than the trip several days previous.

"Have a good second term," William said, kissing the top of her head.

"I will. I love you," Irlynn called and raced off towards the train.