Call Me Home

Chapter One

To Feel Again

Hermione smiled as she got into bed beside her husband, absently noting how pleasant it felt for the Manor to be completely silent for once. It wasn't often that the air was free from the sounds of children bickering, playing and running around the many rooms whilst wreaking their signature youthful havoc. Not that Hermione minded babysitting her grandchildren whilst her children were at work; it was just getting quite tiring now that she was not as spry as she had once been.

True she was only middle-aged by wizarding standards but that didn't mean looking after four children whilst she was in her mid-fifties was an easy task. Rose's girls had been born troublemakers and Hermione had no doubt that they would one day be known as the female counterpart to the famous Weasley twins. They delighted in trying to thicken the strands of grey that wove through her chocolate brown curls.

She thanked Merlin that whilst Aurora was mischievous, she was also a relatively well-behaved child who preferred quietly painting in her room to joining her cousins on their numerous escapades. She was much like her mother in that way, silent yet deadly. Aurora's magic was already very advanced for such a young child, no doubt due to the fact that both her parents had been exceptionally talented in the art but it still stunned Hermione whenever she walked into the room to see her granddaughter summoning something from a high shelf that would be otherwise out of her reach.

Alexandria, her youngest grandchild by her youngest son, was a little under a year old and as such required constant supervision and care. Her grandchildren had been what had motivated her to resign from her job as Head of The Department of Experimental Magic at Malfoy Holdings and become a fulltime housewife. What with Cassiopeia running the Potions Department of the family business, Scorpius running the business as a whole, Rose being the Headmistress of Hogwarts and Hugo being Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry they all needed there to be somebody trustworthy to babysit for them.

Hermione was quite thrilled to take up that role and though she never regretted it, there were days when the four children under her care made her want to tear out her hair in exasperation. It was worse on the days when Matthew and Riley Avery were left at the Manor for a play-date with the others because when you combined the Avery Brothers with the Zabini Twins you had a ready-made recipe for potential disaster.

It was not that they didn't get along; it was that they got along perhaps a tad too well that was what worried her. Because she was never sure as to when one of their schemes would be in action, they were a well-oiled machine and Draco often commented that they would make excellent cat burglars.

However, today had been a harder day than most. She had gone to Aurora's bedroom to give her a glass of pumpkin juice and to check if she was ok only to find her sitting beside her child-sized easel and painting. When she had looked at the picture she had felt her heart throb painfully in her chest and she had had to bite her lip to keep from emitting a sob.

Aurora had painted a picture of her family, but it was the nature of the picture that had caused Hermione such emotional pain. The girl had often painted pictures of her mother and herself before but in this particular portrait . . . there was a man with black hair and green eyes, lifting a dark-haired girl into the sky. Beside the pair stood a blonde woman who was smiling at them, to her left stood a tall blonde boy with the same green eyes as Aurora and Albus, though it was chased with Malfoy silver. The picture was clumsy; her youthfulness shown off in the inexperienced painting but Hermione could tell that she had a real talent for art.

The picture was of the family that Aurora should have had . . . had Harry Potter not intervened and destroyed their happiness.

"What's wrong, 'Mione?" asked Draco as he contemplated the pained look in his wife's eyes.

"Just thinking," she replied, and he nodded because he understood. Albus had been like a third son to him, Leo would have been his second grandchild . . . the couple didn't often talk about them because it hurt too much to do so.

"Rose popped by the office today," he said after a brief lull in the conversation and Hermione frowned at the hopeful spark that had appeared in Draco's eyes. Her husband was the Minister of Magic and was often very busy, especially as Britain was still healing from the scars wrought by the Cataclysm and so it was rare for any of the children to visit him at work.

"And?" asked Hermione warily, apprehensive as to what it could be that had gotten him so excited. The last time she had seen that look on his face was a year ago when he had found about muggle sky-diving and insisted the two of them do it.

Hermione still maintained that that had been their worst anniversary to date.

She contemplated the man lying in bed beside her, considering what it could be that had him in such high spirits. There was no denying that he was still a very handsome man, despite his age. Yes the platinum may have dulled to grey and the corners of his eyes may be crinkled but to her he was still the most attractive man in the world.

"The Quill of Acceptance penned a new name into the Book of Admittance at Hogwarts," he said with a bright smile. Hermione looked at him thoughtfully for a moment; the Quill and the Book were both Hogwarts relics that had been enchanted by the founders of the school. They were sentient in that they could pick up magical signatures and it was the quill which wrote the Hogwarts Acceptance Letters every year – on its own with no person having to hold it – both were locked in one of the private towers of the school.

But the quill only then entered a name into the book when it was confirmed that a child would be attending the school; how the quill knew this had never been determined but not once in a thousand years had either magical instrument been incorrect.

But why was Draco so excited about this? It was not as though they knew any eleven year ol–

Hermione's eyes widened, her mouth opening in a small "o" of realisation as her brain made the necessary calculation and associations. It had been eleven years since she had left . . . didn't that mean that he must be eleven by now.

"They're coming home?" she asked, her voice barely audible as happiness flooded her veins – Scorpius would be thrilled. The boy deserved some happiness in his life; he had lost so much whilst still so young. She had frowned at his relationship with Adrianna Zabini but held her tongue, it seemed to her that Scorpius was trying to force himself to love her. But that wasn't how things worked because Hermione had learned long ago that love had a will of its own.

"Yes," Draco grinned from ear-to-ear, "Our grandson is coming home."

(*)(*)(*)

Selena stifled a yawn as she made her way through airport security with Orion, who seemed for the most part dead on his feet. They were both jetlagged and exhausted to the point where she had no qualms about subtly casting a few confundus charms on the unsympathetic security guards who were insisting she remove her boots, jewellery and gloves.

Did they not care that she was a single mother whose eleven year old son was about ready to curl up and fall asleep on the floor beside them? There was also the fact that she simply could not allow them to scan her handbag which was enchanted with an undetectable expansion charm. She doubted she would be able to explain how she had managed to fit in all their clothing and possessions into a bag which seemed to weigh little more than a feather.

What did they expect though? She was a witch and there was no way in hell that she was prepared to pay the exorbitant customs duties that always accompanied moving abroad the muggle way. She had also opted not to travel by any magical means lest someone from her past see her when she arrived. She wanted to be fully settled into her new apartment before having to face the inevitable confrontations with her family.

"I'm tired, mum," complained Orion as they made their way to the small airport coffee shop. Selena planned to apparate to their new apartment and doubted she would be able to muster up the energy and concentration required for the journey unless she had caffeine in her system.

"I know, Ryan," she said wearily, "Let's just get something to eat and then I can get us to our new place." Orion grumbled but fell silent; he could see that his mother wasn't faring much better than he was and so decided not to add to her stress. Blinking his eyes a few times to try and clear the gritty feeling in them, he gratefully sank into the booth beside his mother.

Selena sighed as she placed their orders, a black coffee for her and a soda for Orion and groaned when she looked up from the menu to ask him what he wanted to eat only to find that he was already asleep, his head laying on its side on the slightly sticky table.

"Two toasted cheese sandwiches," she said to the waitress, who nodded sympathetically – no doubt she had seen her fair share of jetlagged children – before taking off for the kitchen. Selena leaned back against the stiff seat and closed her eyes, eager for a few minutes respite when suddenly she felt the booth dip beside her. Her eyes flared open as her hand flew to her chest, her heart beating in shock at the sudden intrusion before she caught sight of her guest. Selena barely kept herself from pouting as she contemplated the veela gazing expectantly at her.

"Well what do you know," grinned Louis, his bright blue eyes flashing cheekily as he drank in the sight of his long-lost cousin, "Look who finally decided to come home." Selena groaned, of all the people to run into on her first day back she had been chanced upon by her impishly mischievous cousin. Then again . . . it could have been James or her mother and Merlin knew she wasn't ready to see either of them yet.

"Louis Weasley," she managed a faint smile, she had been quite close to the strawberry blonde back in her youth and deep down she was glad that he looked well. In fact, he seemed to have just gotten home from a tropical vacation judging by his glowing tan.

"Its Weasley-Jordon now," he smirked, fingering a diamond ring on his finger and gesturing at a dark skinned man who was had just walked in, hefting two heavy looking suitcases at his sides. Selena studied him for a moment before her mouth dropped open in recognition. Joshua Jordan had been one of her eldest brother's best friends during their Hogwarts days. She hadn't even known he was gay.

Then again, she hadn't known that Louis played for that team either.

"Nana Molly must have loved that," she said, easily falling back into the comfortable relationship she had once had with Louis. She couldn't help it; there was something about him that just made her feel like they were thirteen and fourteen again and hiding from their parents after raiding their grandmother's pantry.

"She's just disappointed that she misses out on the great-grandchildren," snorted Louis, before his eyes widened as they fell on Orion. He let out a low whistle as the boy shifted in his sleep slightly – Selena could only marvel that her son had so far managed to stay slumbering, what with Louis' naturally loud voice.

"Speaking of great-grandchildren," he said with a teasing smirk on his face, "Is this the mystery kid who caused you to ditch us?" There was a hint of bitterness in his voice though and Selena felt the pang in her heart that always accompanied the realisation as to just how much she had hurt her family by leaving without a word of goodbye.

"You know why I had to run," she said in a quiet voice and was relieved when he nodded.

"You did what you had to do," he replied, a faint smile on his face as his husband slid into the booth beside him. Selena couldn't help but smile at the sight of the chaste peck Louis placed on Joshua's cheek before both men turned to face her again. They were so obviously in love that it brought a tear to her eye as she remembered how in love she and Scorpius had been.

"Lily Luna Potter," Joshua's eyes widened as soon as their gazes met, "You grew up fast."

Lily smiled as her food arrived and Louis placed their own order would the waitress, very soon the three adults were conversing as though she had never left in the first place. A half-hour later when she turned to rouse Orion so that they could leave she was stunned yet heartened that Louis and Joshua both stood up with her and offered to side-along apparate her and Orion to their apartment – which was incidentally in the same neighbourhood as their own.

Lily couldn't help the tears of happiness that fell from her face as she hugged her cousin goodbye – though only after giving in to his demands and promising that they would come over for dinner. She had missed this feeling, the feeling that could only come from being around one's family.

The feeling of home.

(*)(*)(*)

Cassiopeia closed her eyes as she lay back in her bed, her silky platinum hair tousled gently by the light breeze of wind that accompanied his manifestation. The room was in much the same way as it had been six years ago, back when they had been happy together, when he had been alive. Emerald green sheets and curtains, walls painted a deep brown, the colour of home and hearth. The furnishings were simple yet elegant, the only major difference were the picture frames depicting the various stages of her daughter's life.

Her eyes opened and he was there, or rather, the Shadow of him lay beside her upon the silken sheets. He was dark as midnight, translucent as the darkness which composed his silhouette, a perverse outline of the man he had been in life. The only recognizable feature, save for his outline and dishevelled hair, were those green eyes glimmering like two starlit emeralds.

"Hey, Albus," she murmured softly, a wan smile on her face as she turned to lie on her side so that she could face him. He looked back at her sadly but reached out nonetheless, his icy palm moving to cup her cheek. The cold burned her skin but she didn't flinch, she was used to his grave-stained touches now.

"Cassie . . ." his voice was a whisper, faint and sorrowful but still his. She knew it was wrong to keep him bound to the world of the living; she knew he didn't want it but dammit she needed him. He wasn't supposed to have died; he was supposed to have been here with her, alive, raising their daughter together.

Why did you have to die?

The question on her mind whenever she missed him . . . and the only time she missed him was when she was breathing.

"Aurora painted a picture of us today," she told him, her eyes growing misty as she saw his shadowy lips curl into a smile.

"I . . . saw . . . beautiful," his words were disjointed; he had been kept on earth for so long without nourishment that he was fading. As a Shadow he couldn't die, but without being able to consume blood or darkness he lost what little semblance of life that she had given him when she brought him back from Death's sweet embrace.

And Albus refused to consume either of those things, so she was forced to watch him wane whilst unable to let him go. It broke her heart to pieces. Because yes her husband may have been the darkest wizard to ever live, but he had died as he lived, a hero.

"It was beautiful," she agreed softly, "She looks so much like you, Al. She would have been a daddy's girl if you were still here."

"My . . . girls," he whispered, and she knew he was talking about their daughter and herself, "Love you . . . both . . . so much."

"I love you too, Albus," she said, her voice breaking as her tears began to fall. He smiled that same sad smile as he put a freezing arm around her waist and lulled her to sleep by his familiar presence alone. She bit back a gasp as she huddled into her blankets, crying softly into a shoulder that wasn't truly there as she slowly was drawn away from conscious thought to dwell safely in the land of dreams. The Shadow vanished when she fell asleep, reappearing on the window seat where he could watch over her for the night as he always did.

In her sleep she moved, her arm sliding to grasp for her husband that was not there. A pained expression flitted across peaceful face as she subconsciously realised that the other half of her bed was empty, and there not even an indentation to indicate it had ever been filled.

"Cassie. . ." he said her name like a prayer as he kept his vigil, his ghostly tears falling like shards of black ice to shatter upon the floor.

(*)(*)(*)

Katherine Avery shook her head as she reached home, exhausted from a long day at work. Upon leaving Hogwarts she had taken a job at Malfoy Holdings in their financial department but after Albus had passed she had discovered the need to help prevent such tragedies from ever occurring again. Much to her husband's horror she had then applied to Hugo Malfoy at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and had then been accepted to work in his new division. The distinction was that she did not work for The Order – that division of law enforcement that existed in the same manner as the FBI did in America – nor did she work for the Aurors. Kat was a fully licensed field agent for Ghost Division, a highly secretive network that conducted assignments which were too delicate for the aurors to handle.

Ghost Division was perhaps the most enigmatic organization since the Outcasts had first rose to power and was in fact the brainchild of that particular movement. Kat often came home with a bitter taste in her mouth, although she always knew that her actions were helping protect the people she loved and the world at large it didn't help when she contemplated all those who she had been forced to kill.

It had been a hard day; there were numerous intelligence reports about a strange new cult gathering on the fringes of society and from what she had heard of them, it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Director Blaise Zabini was exceptionally nervous about the movement – it would seem he had already lost two agents investigating their movement.

The loss of two of their number had driven a steel spike through Kat's heart, Ghost Division was a very small organization and there were only fifty agents at most, all of whom were exceptionally close to each other because most of them had no real family of their own due to the nature of their work. Kat was one of the rare few who had a husband and children waiting for her at home.

Pushing thoughts of the strange cult to the back of her mind, she quickly started on dinner as she knew that her boys would be very hungry when they got home. Xavier was picking them up from her mother's house tonight – Daphne Nott doted on her grandsons – and they were quite the prodigious eaters. Matthew was eight, Riley was six and between the two of them they could often eat more than Xavier and her put together. She envied them for that, that they could eat so much and yet somehow never gain a single pound. It must be an Avery trait, she mused as she began dicing the chicken. Even though Xavier was now thirty he was still as thin and wiry as he had been at fifteen.

She heard the fireplace roar in the background, accompanied by the loud arguing of her sons and the wearied attempts of her husband to separate them. She smirked, whilst Xavier could cut people to the bone with his cynic and sarcasm he had never mastered the art of disciplining their children. She was the figure of authority where Matt and Riley were concerned and both children housed a healthy fear for their mother, even though they both knew she was only strict because she loved them.

Because of their youthfulness they had no idea as to the nature of her work, she could almost imagine how easily they would let it slip that their mother was for all intents and purposes a secret agent.

Her in-laws would be horrified . . . they thought she still managed the finances at Malfoy Holdings. Her mother-in-law made regular complaints about her apparent lack of ambition as it were; maybe it would kill the old bat to learn that Kat could snap a finger and the crone's entire life would be erased from society without a single question asked. Kat smiled at the thought, she really had never gotten along with Lady Avery.

"Hey," said Xavier as he walked into the kitchen, the boys in tow. He paused only long enough to peck her cheek before disappearing to his room to change. Due to him working in the Department of Experimental Magic he was often filthy by the time he got home. Kat fondly remembered the time he had accidently ingested Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder and started to glow in the dark because of the way it reacted with the iron in his blood.

"And what exactly is the argument about today, boys?" she asked , raising an eyebrow at her sons who were shooting dirty looks at each other.

"He started it!" whined Riley, sticking out his lip in a well-practiced pout. He had inherited her knack for manipulation and whilst it worked on almost everybody else it failed dismally when directed at her. After all, the student could never hope to defeat the master.

"Liar!" scowled Matthew, sticking out his tongue at his brother, "He's the one who said that I can't fly."

"You're the one who stole Grandpa Theo's broomstick," pointed out Riley.

"You told me where he hid it," accused Matthew.

"But I didn't tell you to take it."

"Yes you did! You said I was a chicken if I didn't!"

"I swear I will bend you both over my knee if you both don't hug and make-up," said Kat sternly, not looking up from the pasta that was now simmering on the stove, "You two are brothers so start behaving like it." Their arguments were a particular sore point to her, she had seen firsthand the damage caused by James and Albus' volatile relationship and she prayed every night that that did not happen to her own sons.

She often felt pity for Ginny Weasley, and wondered how she would feel if it were her boys who had stood at the top of that tower all those years ago. On nights like those when she found herself succumbing to dark thoughts, she would drift away from the conversation and stare moodily at her food. Then Matthew would break her from her despondent reverie by flicking a spoonful of vegetables at his brother who would soon respond in kind. Kat was very sure if she was not present then Xavier would be throwing his food at them as well. Her husband was still a child at heart; he was one of the few people who would be forever young.

But they were her boys . . . and she wouldn't trade them for the world.

(*)(*)(*)

A/N: Ok so that's Chapter One, I hope you all liked it – Please drop me a review if you did.

Also, who is your favourite OC: Cass? Xav? Kat? Del?

I have a question for you though: I have a three-quarter written short companion piece for the series written titled "The Saltwater Rose" which is the Delphin/Rose story of their brief break-up in Book One "The Good Son." I am wondering if you would like me to publish it now, in between updates of Call Me Home or after this story is done but before Book 3. Please let me know.