Severus was so very nervous when he had gotten off the Hogwarts Express at Kings Cross Station. Even with Rin on one side of him and Petunia on the other, he couldn't calm down. His grandfather was supposed to meet them, then take them to his home.

The last week at Hogwarts had been awful. Petunia had detention, it was to resume once they returned to Hogwarts. Rin was busy with his own studies. Severus had noticed the Shacklebolt boy hanging around, but he decided to ignore him unless the older boy decided to talk to him directly.

There were also constant remarks from other students. The only happy time in the week leading to Christmas break was when he was tutoring. They never made him feel like a freak, at least not to his face. James and Remus were very funny when they were arguing about studying habits. He still didn't trust Black, but he wasn't actively planning his revenge. He had six and a half years for that. Right now, he couldn't afford to make an enemy of the four of them.

"Severus!" a loud, booming voice yelled.

Looking up he saw his grandfather, the man was as intimidating as he remembered. Instead of being alone, like he had expected; a tall, raven-haired woman was standing very close to him. She was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. He could tell his grandfather was uncomfortable with her being so close to him.

"Grandfather," he said firmly, not wanting his grandfather to think he was weak. "These are my friends, Rin and Petunia."

"It's wonderful to see you again, Severus. I'm happy to meet your friends also."

"Aren't you going to introduce me, Nexus?" the young woman asked, almost purring. Severus' eyes locked onto her jewel-covered hand rubbing up and down his grandfather's chest.


Nexus cleared his throat, he was doing everything in his power not to stun with wench where she stood. He didn't want her anywhere near his grandson or any of his family. Bellatrix Black was trouble. He didn't know what her sudden interest in his grandson was, but he didn't like it. Unfortunately, he also knew that she was close to the man calling himself Lord Voldemort. He couldn't risk being ugly to her, and risk bringing the man and his followers down on his family's head.

"This is Bellatrix Black, from the Noble House of Black."

His grandson's eyes leapt from glaring at the woman's hand on his chest to her face. For a split second there was murder in the boy's eyes but it cleared. It seemed he had his grandmother's temper when he felt that his family was being threatened.

"Bellatrix, this is my grandson, Severus, and his friends. I know you're waiting for Narcissa, so we'll just be going. Come on, children. Grab your things."

"Petunia," a female voice called.

A woman, man and young girl pulling a trunk behind her were coming towards them.


Petunia withheld a groan seeing her parents and sister coming her way. She had wanted to get out of there before they saw her. She had already gotten permission to go home with Severus and his grandparents.

"Hello, Mother, Father," she said, giving them a kiss each on the cheek.

"Petunia, I was worried you would leave before we got a chance to see you. Are you sure you just don't want to come home?" her mother asked.

"I'm sure, Mother."

"Love, we've heard things that make us a bit uncomfortable with you spending holiday, we have to insist on you coming home," her mother said.

She could feel her anger spike. Finally, she had her own friends who liked her for who she was. They understood her quirks, understood she was a cranky cuss when things didn't fit neatly. She wasn't going to let her parents or Lily take away the first time she's been happy in her twelve years.

"What things have you heard?" she demanded, ignoring her sister's smug smile.

"Things that shouldn't be talked about in polite company," her mother said.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but hear, possibly because you're standing directly in front of me. Just because you ignore someone doesn't mean they fade into nothingness," Severus' grandfather said.

Petunia glanced at Severus and Rin, all three did their best not to laugh.

"I'm Claudia Evans, this is my husband, Maxwell. As I was saying, certain information has come to our attention. There are things we don't want our daughter exposed as she is young and impressionable."

"What things? My grandson with top marks in school?"

"Please, this isn't the place," her mother said.

The raven-haired woman caught Petunia attention. She seemed to be playing a lot of attention to be what was being said. Something about it felt very wrong.

"Please, Mother. There is nothing wrong here. If Lily sent you the Daily Prophet you know it was neither Severus or his grandparents' fault."

"What's the Daily Prophet?" her father asked.

She had thought Lily had sent them the article about Severus. If that wasn't the problem, what was?"

"What are you accusing my family of?" Lord Prince demanded.

"I-uh-I," Her father looked between Lily and Mr. Prince. "the dark magic," her father whispered, eyes darting around to see if anyone heard.

Lord Prince surprised them all by laughing. "You tell us what exactly dark magic my eleven-year-old grandson has used?"

Petunia smirked when her parents sputtered. Finally, they seemed to lose steam. "Come, Lily, we must be going," her mother said, grabbing Lily's hand. Petunia tried not to let it hurt when they forgot to tell her goodbye. They weren't bad parents, just neglectful…but only to her.

"This way children!" Lord Prince called but he was stopped by the tall, raven-haired woman.

"Nexus, where are you going?" the woman purred, again running her hand up his chest.

"Would you so kindly take your hands off my husband!"

It seemed like time froze but it hadn't. No, everyone was just shocked still at the short woman, who looked ready to kill the young woman.

"Flora, it is wonderful to see you," the young woman said, not backing away from Nexus Prince.

"I'm sorry, dear, I only let my friends call me Flora." She turned towards Severus. "Come on, love. I have a welcome home feast for you. I'm sure you and your friends will have a delightful time."


Once they were at his grandparents manor they were all sent to their rooms to freshen up. The room they said was his, was larger than his family's entire house.

There was a loud pop and a small creature appeared in front of him. "Is Young Master Severus be wanting anything from Moxy?" He knew she was a house elf. His mother had told him about them. She was wearing a hideous pink dress that looked like it was for a doll, it looked dreadful but she looked happy in it.

"Erm, no, thank you," he said.

Severus stayed in the bedroom until Petunia and Rin found him later. They had started chattering about how nice the manor was, Severus had to agree. It was a really nice place, but it wasn't his home. The only place that felt like his home was Hogwarts, and that was slowly being taken from him because of the bullies.

"Your gran told me we could explore before dinner if we wanted," Petunia said excitedly.

"I guess that would be alright," he said nervously. He was all for putting off being in the room with his grandparents.


"Iggy said they are exploring the caverns," Flora told her husband.

He smiled. That should keep the kids entertained for hours. "That's wonderful."

The caverns were on the south side of their property, Eileen had never found them that exciting but when he was a child he practically lived in them. He'd never been allowed to invite kids over when he was younger, his parents had been very strict. They didn't want him being around anyone they thought were beneath them, and that was everyone. He had always tried to teach Eileen to treat everyone fairly. Unfortunately, he suspected his parents had more of a hold over his daughter than he wished. It still shocked him to find out about his daughter's crimes and her complete betrayal of her child and his father.

"They'll have fun there," she said. It looked like she was thinking before she spoke again. "Can you feel it, love?"

"Yes, I can. He's so strong and doesn't even know it. I don't believe I've ever felt such magic from someone so young." And it scared him.

"That's why Bellatrix Black was there, wasn't it?"

"I don't know. If the rumors are true, she's in league with Voldemort. I hoped we could stay neutral during this, but not if they want Severus." He wouldn't allow it.

"Dumbledore won't protect him, you know this. What are we going to do?" Flora asked, eyes pleading for an answer.

"We can have Slughorn take him under his wing."

"He's a Ravenclaw, not a Slytherin. Maybe Flitwick?"

"No, he's too far under Dumbledore thumb." Same with McGonagall and every other professor. "I think maybe we should call in the favor from Fleamont."

It bothered him, but the only way to protect Severus was to make sure he got in with the 'right' light family, and that was The Potters.

"That man, I don't want to talk about that man." Nexus could see she was not going to back down without good reason.

"It's for our grandson," he told her gently, taking her into his arms.

"You're an old fool," she said with a laugh.

"Aye, but I'm you're old fool."

"I guess I'll owl Euphemia. Ask them to come for tea the day after Christmas. I hope you know what you're talking about. Letting that man into my home again," she growled.

Nexus couldn't help but laugh at his wife's indignation. "Love, I think it's time to forgive and forget."

"Forget? Forget what he did to me? Forgive and forget, why I never," she snarled before turning and leaving the room.

Finally, he was able to laugh out loud. His wife was a loving, gentle and forgiving woman. That only went so far though, and never went to Fleamont Potter. Potter was a brilliant man, he invented an amazing product. Sleekeasy's hair potion. It made the man a fortune. But it was a little-known potion that made his wife hate the man so very much.

Truthfully, he found the whole thing very funny. But he had to swear his never-ending vengeance to the man. His brilliant, beautiful wife decided to be in the trial for the product. The product that never had a name before being scraped was supposed to be an anti-aging potion. There were some on the market but nothing that really worked for more than a few weeks at most. Long story short, his wife had scales for two months. She had never forgiven the man, and he did his best not to let her know how funny he thought it was. After all, she signed the contract.


Severus woke up early on Christmas morning. He was scared to leave his room. He had never had a Christmas tree or gifts, his parents thought it was a waste of money. What worried him was being let down. His grandparents had been so nice to him over the last week. He knew there was a Christmas tree, he and his friends helped decorate it. But what if it was just for decoration? He shouldn't expect presents. Really, he didn't. But a little part of him thought it would be nice to unwrap a gift.

It was selfish though, he should be grateful at what they had already given him. A home when he wasn't at Hogwarts. Books and robes that were new. His mother would be so ashamed at his audacity to hope there might be a gift for him under the tree. He did his best to push his mother from his mind, but she was always there, looking disapprovingly at him.

Petunia and Rin thankfully hadn't burst into his room to pull him downstairs. The later in the morning it got, the more he worried that he had been right to begin with. There was nothing under the tree, it was just like home. It was stupid of him to think that he would have a gift under the tree. He already had too much, more than he ever had before. Not only did he have a soft bed and clean clothes but he was warm. For the first Christmas he could remember, he was warm.

Someone knocked on his door, drawing him from his thoughts.

"Come in," he said loud enough for the other person to hear.

The door opened revealing his grandmother. "Severus, I'm so glad to see you're awake. We've been waiting for you."

"I'm sorry, Grandmother. I'll be right down. I didn't mean to keep everyone waiting."

"No worry, dear. Just come down when you're ready."

She left him to get dressed. He put on some muggle clothes his grandmother had gotten him. She purchased them after she found out he was more comfortable in them after being raised in the muggle world.

He could hear laughing as he descended the stairs. The tree was set up in the drawing room. He walked in and couldn't help but have his jaw drop. There were so many presents under the tree, last night there had been none. Rin and Petunia's parents must have send them so much.

"Finally, everyone's here now," his grandfather said jovially. He had his graying black hair tied back.

"I didn't mean to keep everyone waiting," he said, ashamed of his behavior.

"That's alright. We've just been chatting. Petunia tells us that you're making friends with children from other houses. I think that's wonderful. Sometimes the house cup makes it so hard to be friends with others," his grandmother said.

"Yes, we've been helping some Gryffindors with their studies," he said, feeling embarrassed.

"That's lovely, dear. Now, who wants to open the first present?" Flora asked. She was a little shocked when all the kids looked at their stockinged feet.

"I guess I'll go first," Nexus volunteered.

Smiling at her husband, she summoned his gift from Severus. She could tell her grandson was nervous, so Nexus was making a show of opening the gift. First, he shook it some, then he put it to his ear. "Just open it," she said, laughing at him.

Nexus harrumphed before tearing the gift open like he was a child. Inside the box was a frame with a magical picture of Severus, smiling shyly up at the picture taker. The frame was green with a silver serpent glaring at them from the bottom. Professor Flitwick helped him with the enchantment. Really, all he did was tell Severus the spell to use, he was able to do it himself. The snake would slither around the frame, but mostly he liked to glare.

Severus blushed. He hoped his grandparents like it, Petunia said that her grandparents always just wanted pictures of her. So, they could show their friends. Gideon took the pictures, Severus didn't really like them but Petunia said they were perfect. One was for his grandmother, the other for his grandfather.

"Oh, Severus, it's lovely," his grandmother gushed. She summoned her present from Severus.

She tore it open and pulled out a different magical picture. This one was of him, sitting in the common room. He was laughing at something someone just out of the picture said. He hadn't even known the picture was taken until Gideon told him. It was Rin's favorite, so they used it for his grandmother. Her frame was yellow with a black badger napping on the bottom. The badger seemed to sleep a lot, he hoped it would wake up once so his grandmother could see.

"I'm sorry they're not anything fancy," he said, ashamed.

His grandmother dabbed her eyes with a conjured handkerchief. "Nonsense, these are perfect. We will treasure them forever."

His grandfather cleared his throat, still looking at the picture and frame. "Yes, we couldn't have asked for anything better. Thank you, Severus."

"Alright, enough of this. It's time to watch you three open your presents," his grandmother said.

Suddenly, a gift was flown to each of the three children. Severus couldn't believe he really had a present. He didn't open it right away, he wanted to bask in the feeling. Soon, he gingerly peeled back the wrapping paper. He pulled out a book that he felt was mocking him but he was so happy, he promised himself he would read it cover to cover. Flight of Fancy: A True Guide to Quidditch by Luveda Brushier.

"Thank you, Grandmother, Grandfather."

"You're welcome, love. Next, present," she called out summoning three more presents to the three.

And so, it continued. He got a potion set for the manor. Two new school ties. A new set of quills. Seven more books, all very different. Rin and Petunia getting similar gifts, that made him happy.

"Only two more left for each of you. Rin, your parents sent two for you. Same as yours did Petunia, well with a little help from our owl Mitheous. And two more from us to you, Severus," his grandmother said.

He watched Petunia opened her presents first. One was a diary and the other a dress, that even Severus could see was too big for Petunia.

"Don't worry, dear. I'll hem it later," his grandmother said, smiling at Petunia.

Next, he watched Rin open his two gifts. They were both books and looked like books that Rin would never read"

"You now, Sev," Petunia said.

The first one was a large, long gift. It was shaped suspiciously like a broom. When he opened it, he smiled genuinely? A broomstick may not be his favorite thing, but his grandparents got it for him. That meant it was the best present ever. He then noticed he was only given one more present when they said two each. Before he could think of it much, his grandfather called Iggy.

"How's Iggy be helping, Master Prince?" she asked, bowing several times.

"Bring him," his grandfather said.

She popped out and popped back in with a large black cat. The cat was bigger than any cat he had ever seen, more like the size of a medium sized dog. Iggy placed the cat down, he then noticed he wasn't completely black he had a white patch on his chest. His eyes also looked too intelligent.

"This is a Cat Sith, the lore says a Cat Sith can turn from cat to human nine times. But that's all just folklore. He is a protector though, after he bonds with a witch or wizard he will spend his life devoted to that person. He'll also be able to sense when you are in danger," his grandmother said.

He'd never had a cat before. He just stared at it, unsure what he was supposed to do. Finally, the cat started to slowly stalk towards him. He forced himself not to run away. The cat was huge.

"Nice cat," he said, reaching his hand out. The cat walked under his hand, petting himself with Severus' hand. "You're a nice cat. What's your name?" he asked.

A weird feeling overtook him and he looked at the cat, knowing his name.

"What's his name?" Petunia asked.

"Gregor," he answered.

"That doesn't sound like a cat's name," Rin said.

He looked at Gregor and looked at them. How did he explain that Gregor was more than a cat? He truthfully didn't know, he only knew because he could feel Gregor's life tying with his. He didn't think that was supposed to happen, but decided to keep quiet. Gregor would look out for him and he would look out for Gregor.

"Thank you, this is the best Christmas ever," he said as Gregor laid down beside him on the floor. It really had been.