December 2005

Chapter 5 - Holidays

"Where are you going to spend the holidays?"

"I thought Maman will take me to Malfoy Manor and we can stay with my brother, but it turns out he is spending the holidays with his in-laws somewhere in south-America, so we are going to stay here, at Hogwarts."

"Why won't you come with me for the holidays? I'm sure my parents would love to meet you!"

"I promised to stay with Maman. She had been alone long enough."

"She can come along! I'm sure my parents will accept her as well. She helped Dad during the last battle, you know."

"But we are still Malfoys – the bad guys, the enemy..."

"No! You are my friend, regardless of your name."

"I really appreciate our friendship" said Dianna, her eyes suddenly moist. "I think that if you want my mother to come you must have your parents invite her officially. Just telling her would not be enough," she added.

"Don't worry, I'll handle that."

Dianna joined Lillian, Andrew and Brenda on the train. Julius also joined them for most of the ride. He enjoyed telling the younger children about the more advanced magic he was learning and Lillian seemed to listen very attentively to his words. Brenda wasn't as interested in his tales and left the compartment, looking for her older siblings.

The train was getting empty as students rushed out to meet their parents. Only Lillian and Dianna waited in their compartment until the whole hustle and bustle calmed down before grabbing their luggage and stepping out of the train. Professor Malfoy was already waiting there.

"I assumed your parents will be waiting for you here," she said to Lillian.

"Mom is currently working at a muggle hospital. She probably couldn't come. I'll call Dad to see why he isn't here already."

She took her mobile phone out of her pocket and dialed. The others looked at the instrument with some puzzlement.

"Hi, Dad. I thought you will be waiting for me here... Ah, I see... But I'm not alone. Dianna and her mother are here with me... Fine, I'll do that."

She noticed the puzzled expressions. "This is just a mobile phone. I called Dad. He said my sister didn't feel too well so he stayed with her. He suggested we apparate home."

"I can't apparate there – I don't even know where it is!" Narcissa was quite unhappy about the situation.

"That's no problem. Just grab your luggage and hold my hands. I'll take you there."

"You can apparate!" Both her companions seemed shocked.

"I've been doing this since I was four. I can teach you, Dianna. I'm sure you can do it as well."

"I've never even tried," said Dianna.

"Are you sure it's safe?" asked Narcissa.

"I do it all the time," assured her Lillian.

The others held their luggage and grabbed Lillian's shoulder. A moment later they were standing in front of the Potter residence.

"Come in now! Don't just stand and stare," said Lillian.

Dianna stirred and started moving. Narcissa looked around before joining them.

"Hi, I'm home!" called Lillian as soon as she opened the door.

"Lilly!" shouted the small dark-haired boy who shot directly at his sister and hugged her.

"Hi, Lilly!" said the blue-haired boy who followed the younger one.

"Professor Malfoy, Dianna – these are my brother James and Teddy, who is my father's god-son. Teddy – please escort them to the living room. I'll go tell Dad we're here."

Teddy made a face at her but invited the guests to follow him. James held Lilly's hand and went with her to their sister's room.

Harry embraced Lillian warmly and planted a kiss on her cheek. He then looked at her as if searching for changes. "You're growing up so fast..." he noted. "It seems as if I only got to know you a few days ago and now you are becoming a really nice young lady."

Lillian giggled in response. "Daddy, we have visitors and I don't know where you planned to lodge them. Don't you want to say 'hello' at least?"

Harry smiled. "I sure do. Would you keep an eye on your sister while I talk with our guests?"

Lillian looked at her sleeping sister. "Can't James do this? I'd like to show Dianna around."

James straightened up, as if accepting the responsibility. "I'll call you when she wakes up," he promised.

Harry smiled. "Don't do any mischief! Show me I can really trust you!"

James, still completely serious, promised: "I won't do anything to bother her, not until she is well again."

Father and daughter came to the living room, where Teddy was showing his Metamorphmagus talents to the guests.

Harry turned towards the guests and froze for a moment seeing Narcissa. "Mrs. Malfoy…" he finally managed to say, and then noticed blond Dianna and recognized the hair color. He wanted to say something but was cut by his daughter: "Daddy, this is Dianna de-Poitiers, my good friend whom I've already told you about, and this is her mother, Professor Malfoy."

"Glad to meet you, Miss De-Poitiers. Lillian seems to be very fond of you." Dianna brightened hearing this. He turned to Narcissa.

"I'm glad to host you under my roof, although I didn't really expect Mrs. De-Poitiers to be Mrs. Malfoy."

"Well, Lord Potter…"

"Just Harry, please…"

"Ok, Harry. I was sure Lillian has already told you who her friend was. If my presence causes any problem, then I'll leave," she said.

"No problem at all, Mrs. Malfoy…"

"Just Narcissa, please, unless you want me to call you Lord Potter."

"Oh, I can't risk that, can I?" said Harry with a broad smile. "I'm sure Hermione would be quite surprised," he added.

Narcissa was still looking at Teddy. "Isn't he Andromeda's grandchild?" she asked Harry quietly.

"Yes, he is. Andromeda prefers for him to grow up in a magical family, especially since her health seems to be unstable since the war."

"I should make up with her," said Narcissa. "I've never intended us to drift apart, but Lucius' association with the Dark Lord left me no choice. It's difficult to resume our close relations after more than twenty years of separation. I still don't know what to say to her…"

"I would suggest you just hug her and say 'Happy Christmas' to her. She is invited for dinner on Christmas eve along with many other friends, not all magical."

Dianna was enchanted by the personal computer in Lillian's room. "My surrogate family didn't think computers were to be used by children. They only use computers for their businesses, and quite reluctantly at that."

Lillian smiled. "Mum wanted to make sure that I miss nothing of muggle life due to our magical abilities. She finds it outrageous that magical folks know nothing about modern technology and about muggle way of life. It's really absurd, you know. There are so many muggles compared to us that it's just unthinkable to ignore them. Don't you agree?"

"The De-Poitiers family is really part of both magical and mundane society. Most of their close friends are actually muggles, yet they are very conservative about adopting new technologies. This seems to be quite common in the Noble families of Europe, even the non-magical ones."

"They are just too stupid, so it seems! Would you like to play some computer games?"

"Sure!" answered Dianna enthusiastically.

After several games they stopped for a chat.

"I'm still amazed at your ability to apparate so smoothly. How did you learn it?" asked Dianna.

"I didn't really learn it. I was about four years old when I first apparated. I was sitting in my room – I was still living with my grandparents at that time – and I wanted something from the kitchen. The next moment I was in the kitchen. I actually fell down, as I was just sitting on air. It frightened me very much at first, but then I found a book describing apparition and I found out it was quite common for magical folks to do it..."

"You read books at four?"

"Well, yes. My gr'ma taught me to read when I was only three. She was tired of my nagging her to read yet another book for me."

"Wow! I learned to read at five, and I thought I started early." Dianna seemed to be at a loss of words.

"So, do you want to try and learn apparition?" asked Lilly.

"Sure! Will you teach me?"

"I'll try, but we should rather do it in the morning, when you are more alert. This really needs some concentration, you know."

Dianna looked at Lillian. "I believe you are a very powerful witch," she said.

"Why would you think so? You've seen I could hardly do my charms correctly and I'm still not good enough with potions."

Dianna thought for a moment before answering. "You know, when one has to keep secrets since early childhood, one gets to be quite good at noticing others who keep secrets..."

Lilly was quick to understand. "So – you tell me yours and I'll tell you mine," she said, smiling.

Dianna sighed as if she was much older than her eleven years. "You already know I'm a Malfoy. I couldn't really hide it once I came to Hogwarts. It would have come out one way or another. You also know about my father being a convicted death-eater and my brother being pardoned only due to his age, yet these were all secrets I grew up with since I could understand anything at all."

Lilly only nodded.

"I was quite young – three or four years old at most – when I found out I could see people's aura..."

"You do? I mean – It's quite a rare ability, or so I was told."

"Well, yes, and I believe you can as well, or else you wouldn't even know it was so rare."

"Yes, I can see auras. Yours is just as bright and wide as mine, so I believe we are quite similar."

"Your aura was the first thing I noted when I first saw you. You are the only person I've met with brighter aura than mine."

Lillian seemed to want to object, but Dianna stopped her. "The difference is quite small, but it's there nevertheless."

Lillian just shrugged.

"I can also do wandless magic quite easily, although I've never tried such advanced magic as you do." She was staring at the vase and the flowers that Lilly had conjured and was playing with while listening to her friend.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't even notice I was doing this. I usually play with such flowers when I watch TV or when I just listen and have nothing to do with my hands."

"You shouldn't do it at school, you know!"

"I know. It's really hard to refrain, though. Luckily I can hold a book or a quill to keep my hands busy."

"I'm not as fidgety, but I can understand..."

"How do you manage to control your charms? I almost always overpower them."

Dianna smiled. "The secret is in the wand. I use a damping wand – one designed especially to dampen the effect of my magic to prevent overpowering the spells."

Lilly gave it some thought. "Such a wand may be helpful in class, but eventually you don't get to control your magic. I believe that training to gain control would be better in the long run, although I may try and get such a wand just for class."

Dianna laughed at that. "Where can we train? Even training in empty classes may prove too risky. I've blown the door once when I tried it."

"You should shield the door, the windows and the walls before training."

"I know, but I don't know how to shield them."

"I have a book about shields and wards. Let's find what can be done!"

"Can't you create a shield without a spell?"

"I probably can, but I won't be able to teach you if I just do it."

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