6 months later
"They're coming!" a voice shouted from the window.
"Coming! Coming!" a smaller voice echoed, and the patter of feet raced across the floor to where Tarian was orchestrating hanging the last of the greens, his wand edging them just a touch higher to become symmetrical over the archway to the kitchen.
"Alright, you girls wash your hands quick then."
A car door could be heard outside in the crisp December air. A few moments later, voices could be heard, and the front door burst open. In came a tall man with an large nose, a young girl carrying a carrier with a cat in it, and a tall, gorgeous man with sandy blond hair carrying a heavy suitcase.
Just as Fern was setting the cat carrier down and opening it, the excited squeal of "Kitty!" erupted in the doorway, and the small white cat leapt and raced up the stairs, Daisy hot on its heels, giggling all the way.
"Please be nice with Snuggles!" Fern called after her.
"I thought you were bringing Fern back, brother?" Tarian teased, stashing his wand.
"I didn't grow that much!" blushed Fern, but hugged him anyway.
"I don't know," David played along. "You're going to need a new uniform by next year I think!"
"Was it amazing? What did you learn?" Hyacinth butted in, grinning excitedly at her sister.
"Oh Cinth, you're going to love it. I made so many friends!"
"I don't care about friends- I want to know what spells you learned!" the younger scoffed indignantly.
"Alright girls," David intervened, "I'm sure Fern will tell us all about it over dinner. Smells great Tarian."
"Thank-you. Daisy insisted I do it in the no-maj way, so it took me all morning. Really, how you people ever advanced beyond cooking all day long…"
"That's why we invented the microwave," David chuckled.
"What's a microwave?" Wyatt asked quietly as David retreated to the kitchen with the girls.
"No-maj box used to heat some things up. You can't put metal in there though. That's how I broke the last one," Tarian sighed, taking his brother's leather auror coat and hanging it in the front closet.
Leaving the suitcase at the foot of the stairs, the brothers came to the kitchen as well, followed by Daisy soon after, holding a rather bedraggled cat.
"Wow. I knew you were domestic, but I had no idea you were quite this committed," Wyatt grinned at his younger brother. The table had been set with fine linen, the napkins folded into swans, and a myriad of dishes weighed down the table, from fluffy whipped potatoes, to fresh sourdough bread, glistening glazed carrots, bright yellow corn, and a perfectly roasted turkey leaking stuffing from inside.
Tarian shot him a look. "The girls dressed up the table. I just did the cooking. How was the trip?"
"Remind me again why we have to take the car? I mean dissapparating would be so much-"
"-is that the disappearing thing where I throw up almost every time?" David interjected, sitting and folding his hands.
The rest of the table became quiet and Fern said grace. Once the bowls began to be passed, Wyatt answered, "You didn't throw up the first time."
"My daughters had been kidnapped. I was a little preoccupied by that rather than the terrible feeling of being sucked down a drain."
"I never used to like side-along apparition either," Tarian softened, filling Daisy's plate for her. "So Fern, which class is your favorite?"
"Herbology," she grinned through a mouthful of corn. "I really like potions too. It's like baking."
"What kind of wand did you choose?" Wyatt inquired, "Tarian hasn't told me."
"She got a 9 ¾ inch willow with a jackalope antler core," Hyacinth answered for her sister. "I can't wait to see what mine will be," she added.
"Well it sounds like Professor Weedler has a very dedicated, budding herbologist on her hands," Wyatt concluded.
The rest of the meal was filled with sounds of delightful chewing, and it wasn't until the family began to filter out to the living room with their cocoa and chocolate pie that Tarian found himself alone in the kitchen, save for Fern, orchestrating the cleaning of all the dishes. Bringing her plate over to him, she asked in a quiet voice, "Is it ok that I'm not in the same house as mom?"
"Of course it is. Puckwudgie is an excellent choice for you. Is this what you said had been bothering you a bit in your letters?"
"Some people just don't think I'm her daughter, because I don't look a lot like her, and I'm not in Wampus."
Tarian sat on the kitchen chair, still making sure the dishes were cleaned, but putting himself at Fern's level. "You're her daughter, Fern. Not her clone. It's perfectly fine that you're not in the same house she is. In fact I suspect that all three of you girls will be in different houses." He paused, trying to be extra careful with the wine glasses. "Your mother was a warrior. It's how she identified herself. And while she was many things, she did not have the wonderful giving heart that you do. Don't let yourself try to extinguish your best traits in order to be like your mother."
Fern nodded, seeming to accept the advice, but still asked, "What house were you in?"
"Horned Serpent. And the rest of my family, for generations back had been in Wampus. There's nothing wrong with going your own way Fern, and no one here will love you any less, no matter what house you were placed in."
Smiling shyly, Fern hugged her nanny, sending a warm sensation through him. "I missed you. You always give good advice."
"That's because I'm old," Tarian chuckled, "No come on, I think everyone is waiting for us to open a few presents from each other, and we don't want to be late to put out cookies for Santa."
Little bits of paper littered the living room floor around the bright, bushy tree adorned with baubles and strings of multicolored lights. A new book on herbology and set of potion ingredients for Fern. A set of sparing pads and a quidditch poster for Hyacinth. A stuffed dragon for Daisy. A car cleaning kit for David. And Tarian had gotten Wyatt a fresh invisibility cloak, as his old one had worn out.
"One last one," David said, picking up the square package under the tree. "For Tarian."
"You guys didn't need to get me anything," Tarian said, though a thrill went through him. He hadn't gotten anything for Christmas in years. The package was clearly a book, the binding hard through the colorful green paper. "Gee is it a book? You can't go wrong with a book…" He said, holding it up to his ear and shaking it, as if he might hear the title spill forth. Hopefully it was a good read.
"Open it! Open it!" The two younger girls chorused.
"Alright, alright," Tarian acquiesced, ripping the paper to reveal a fresh leather tomb. There was no title on the front. Just a picture in the cover frame of a man and three little girls standing in front of a bright Victorian home, smiling and waving. Opening the cover he saw in big bold letters MY FAMILY. Underneath were several photos of the girls. Hyacinth climbing the tree outside. Daisy taking a nap on the couch. Fern placing some plants at the window sill, standing on her tippy toes to reach.
"Wyatt helped us with the photos since wizarding photos move and stuff, so we borrowed his camera," Fern explained softly into the silence that had fallen on the room.
Tarian barely heard her, lost in page after page of moving photo. David giving Daisy a piggy back ride. Hyacinth and Fern coloring. The final photo, before several blank pages waiting to be filled was Tarian with the three girls, their backs to the camera as they busily made cookies at the counter in the kitchen. Every so often a face turned and he could see laugher and love. His throat felt tight.
"Do you…do you like it?" David asked.
Tarian cleared his voice, but still didn't dare to speak. Men didn't cry, especially for reasons like this. He nodded quickly.
Wyatt caught his eye, grinned and teased, "You always were a little more in touch with your feelings."
Tarian cleared his throat again, and trying not to let the lump in his throat grow, said, "This is the very best present I have ever received, save having the privilege of being your nanny." Avoiding eye contact, he felt 3 pairs of small arms around him, the girls grinning and chattering about how excited they were that he liked it.
With a large, clearing breath, Tarian stood and closed the album, and changed the subject, for he could take no more of the heartwarming emotions without imploding on himself in happiness. "I do believed I promised at least two of you that I would read a book before bedtime, and seeing as how late it is, you better go get cleaned up and in bed if you want me to squeeze it in before Santa comes."
That night, after reading The Polar Express to the three girls, Tarian lay in his bed, sated quietly thinking. He came to the conclusion that this was perhaps the happiest he had ever been in his life, and also one of the few times he had cared so much for one entire family. And it was with this conclusion and the warm utter feeling of belonging that he drifted off, determined to hold onto it as long as he could.