I'll be Home for Christmas

21st of December, 1995.

Harry looked up at Hogwarts Castle. It was time to head home. The Grangers were joining him. They were coming to pick him and Hermione up at the station. From there, Harry would guide them to Ennerdale.

"So, are you coming over for New Year's?" Harry asked Fred and George as they passed them.

"Yeah, sounds like fun," George said.

"Can I bring Angelina?" Fred asked.

"Sure would love to have her over as well," Harry said. He waved them off before he sat down in an empty compartment. Hermione and Neville would join him after they had done their rounds. He brought Qozul out and let him move about the compartment before grabbing a book.

"Will we go home?" Qozul asked.

"Geh, yes Qozul we are going home," Harry said.

"Can I fly around?" Qozul asked.

"When we get home?" Harry asked.

"Geh!"

"Of course," Harry said.

Qozul bounced around. He looked out the window at the landscape. "What is the white?" he asked.

"Od, snow."

Eventually, Qozul settled down and Harry went back to reading the book he had picked out. He was still reading when Hermione and Neville joined him. "Can you come over for New Year's?" he asked Neville.

"Sounds fun," Neville said.

"I'm on the floo-network. It is Ennerdale Estate," Harry said.

"I'll be there," Neville said. "Grandma really likes you which makes things easier." He petted Qozul and the little dragon made a sound that almost sounded like a cat purring.

Outside, the hills rolled by. The sun moved lower in the sky as the planet moved. Orange and pink light covered the sky and snow. As the sky turned dark blue, the ground turned green and brown. They were too far south for the snow to stay on the ground. Soon enough it wouldn't snow at all.

Qozul was sleeping soundly when Tanya came in to wish Harry a Merry Christmas. She handed him a gift. "I'm going to see grandma," she said.

"Well in that case you should bring this," Harry said as he stood up and brought his gift for her out of his bag.

"Thank you, Harry," Tanya squealed as she hugged him.

Qozul opened an eye and checked who was there before curling in on himself and falling back asleep. He barely woke up as he was lifted off the seat. He curled around Harry's neck and shrank to fit.

"Bye Neville," Harry and Hermione called before moving through the barrier.

"There is mom and dad," Hermione said. She led the way through the crowd to her parents. She hugged her dad. "Hiya Dad," she said.

"Hey, little mage."

"Oh, Nathaniel," Hermione's mom said. She hugged her daughter before looking over Hermione's shoulder. She recognised the boy. This was Harry Potter. She had seen him before while picking Hermione up. This boy was supposed to have gone to another planet and fought in a war. Hermione turned around and introduced Harry before they all got settled into the Grangers' car. Harry gave Hermione's mother, Caroline, directions on their way out of London. When Harry and Hermione had discussed how they would handle his glamour drop they had decided to wait until they had reached his house. If for no other reason than to keep the focus of whoever was driving on the road.

As they drove, they spoke about school and how things were going.

"How much homework do you have?" Nathaniel asked.

"Not much," Harry answered. "We did most of the work the same day we got it. We mostly need to revise now."

Hermione nodded along. "It's been fantastic having friends that also care about their grades," she said.

Harry chuckled. "I guess you could say that is what we care about," he said. "I mostly just want to learn."

"Whatever," Hermione said.

Caroline laughed. "At least you are studying," she said.

Harry smiled. He liked Hermione's parents. Her father was clearly into fantasy and asked Harry so many questions about Nirn that Harry barely knew what he had said so far. Caroline seemed to be easygoing, but she also seemed to be the stricter of the two. She would have gotten along with Katla.

"If you could stop the car up here," Harry said. "I need to walk inside the wards to let you in. Please wear these. I won't be able to link you in otherwise." He handed them a bracelet each before stepping out of the car. He walked away from the car until he suddenly disappeared. Moments later a road appeared for Caroline to drive down. Lake Ennerdale spread out before them. Ennerdale Estate was lying like a lit-up gingerbread house by the water.

They parked the car and stepped outside.

"How much of this does he own?" Caroline asked.

"I don't know," Hermione said. Then she saw a dome appear around them. Her eyes widened. "Those are the wards," she breathed.

"How much money does this young man have? Nathaniel asked.

"Well, he can trace his family line to Linfred of Stinchcombe back in the twelfth century," Hermione said. "He was a Potions Master who earned himself the nickname 'The Potterer' from which the family name sprung."

"How do you know that?" Harry asked as he walked up to them.

"He was essential in the creation of Skele-gro and pepperup," Hermione answered. "You would know this if you paid attention properly."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You mean I would know that if I read about seven extra textbooks in a subject I have no skill in," he said.

Hermione opened her mouth and then she closed it again. He could very well be right. She might have found out about his family while doing some extracurricular reading which made her feel bad since she hadn't told him.

"That still does not answer how you own this amount of land," Nathaniel said.

"It is magically enhanced to be bigger," Harry pointed out.

"Ah, well that makes sense," Nathaniel said.

"Your wards look impressive," Hermione said.

"The goblins did a very good job," Harry said. "How about you come inside? Winky can take your things to the guest quarters." He led them inside and waited in the entrance hall as they took their coats and shoes off. "I'm dropping my glamour now," he said. "I don't mind answering questions if you have any."

Nathaniel and Caroline watched Harry as he grew older in front of their eyes. It wasn't what they had expected even though Hermione had quite clearly told them what had happened to Harry. Seeing the evidence was different than hearing about it though.

"I will just assume that everything that Hermione told us is true," Caroline said. "I'm surprised that you are still at Hogwarts yet it makes perfect sense. Why squander a perfect opportunity to learn?"

Nathaniel didn't say anything for a long while as Harry showed off his house. Hermione almost didn't come back out of the library. As they headed to the living room, Nathaniel grabbed Harry's elbow to stop him. "What are your intentions when it comes to Hermione?" he asked.

"Hermione has been like a sister to me for years," Harry said. "She was the only person I truly missed when I lived in Skyrim. I just want her to be happy."

"No romantic interest?" Nathaniel asked.

"In Hermione, no. She is lovely, but I would much rather do a familiar adoption. Now what that means is that she would become my sister and I would become her brother. Nothing else actually changes."

Nathaniel considered what Harry had said. "You want to offer her this?" he asked.

"As one of her Christmas gifts," Harry said.

"Go ahead," Nathaniel said. "I think she would like it and I can't see anything wrong with her gaining a brother. Not that I understand how it works."

"It will make us siblings magically. Biologically we will still be the same people we are, but in the magical world, she will be recognised as my sister. That carries with it both good and bad things. Goblins will show her more respect since I am a member of their clan. The danger she might be in should the Dark Lord return won't change much. She was already a target. As a matter of fact, it will be easier for me to find her if they were to kidnap her for example if she becomes my sister," Harry said.

Nathaniel nodded slowly. He knew they would have to speak to both Harry and Hermione more about this once his daughter was aware. He didn't want to ruin the surprise.

They joined Hermione and her mother in the living room. They spoke some about Nirn and some about school.

Remus came downstairs with a screaming Leoline.

Harry rose from his seat and took his guideson. Leoline stopped screaming almost immediately. Remus sighed.

"Get some sleep," Harry said. "I'll take care of Leoline."

Remus nodded and headed back upstairs.

"He looks like he could use a good cry," Caroline said. "Has he spoken to anyone?"

"I've tried to get him to see a professional," Harry said calmly. "Healer Green has helped me a lot the past half year with working through the loss I feel."

"You told them everything?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. "I showed them a lot too," he said. "They thought I was crazy for a total of ten minutes before I led them through Whiterun in my memories. Their healer's oath will make sure they can't tell anyone else."

"I'm just glad you realised that you needed help," Hermione said.

"I met someone this summer who had lost his fiancé. Talking to him made me realise that I had to talk to someone," Harry said. He looked down at Leoline. "Remus will get better," he said.

"He just needs some time," Caroline agreed.

"He is lucky to have you," Nathaniel said. "I take it he doesn't have any family?"

Harry shook his head. "His parents are gone," he said. "He was a werewolf and he still thinks no one would want to be his friend based on that. There are plenty of reasons that he needs to see a mindhealer.

"What about the mother's family?" Caroline said.

"I don't actually know. I was there for the funeral, but no one approached us then," Harry said.

"That sounds strange," Caroline said. She moved closer to Harry and looked down at Leoline. "Have you spent a lot of time with him?" she asked.

"I have," Harry said. "I was also the first person who held him."

"That is usually the mother or father," Caroline said. "I'm surprised you were there for the birth."

"Mom, he delivered Leoline. Harry is a Healer and he has been learning how to be an ob-gyn," Hermione said.

"Oh," Caroline said. "Well, that is different." She kept forgetting that this young man had a full-on education that would have taken much longer to gain in the non-magical world. Then again he had started young.

Leoline woke up and looked up at Caroline with curious baby-blue eyes. Then he looked at Harry. He reached up and grabbed Harry's hair in his little fist and pulled.

"That's not very nice," Harry said as he removed his hair from Leoline's grip. "Do you want food?" he asked. Then he cheated. He touched Leoline's mind very carefully to check if he wanted something specific. He chuckled as all he got was contentedness.

"Master Harry and guests have dinner served in the dining room now," Winky popped in and said a little while later.

"Thank you, Winky," Harry said.

"So that is a house-elf?" Nathaniel asked.

"Winky is a house-elf. She works for me," Harry said.

"They are slaves?" Nathaniel asked.

"In a way," Harry said. "Unfortunately they have been treated as slaves for generations and unlike humans who are treated that way and can see that other humans are free, house-elves don't have any role models who are free. I'm hoping that someday I will be able to get there, but it will take at least another generation."

Nathaniel nodded. He could see the logic in what Harry was attempting to do. He was right even if they could tell that slavery was wrong, house-elves didn't know any better. Freeing them from slavery wasn't mentally as easy as freeing humans since they didn't live under the same circumstances.

Harry placed Leoline in a little floating cot that he could take with him and placed him under Winky's watchful eyes as they ate.

As they went to bed that night Harry settled down in Leoline's room since Leoline was being fuzzy.

Remus stuck his head into the room a few hours later and found Harry sleeping in the plush armchair with Leoline sleeping on his chest under a cosy blanket Lana had bought. Remus stood there for a minute watching them before leaving.

They didn't need him.

They would be better off without him.

25th of December, 1995.

It was early in the morning. Snow was falling outside slowly. It would melt with the first rays of sun that morning, but at least it looked nice for now. Harry was standing outside watching Qozul fly around.

"Look at me monah," Qozul shouted happily. He looped through the air several times.

"Would you like an obstacle course," Harry asked. "Like the team does."

"Geh, sounds fun," Qozul said.

Harry weaved his magic and created an obstacle course for his little dragon. Qozul flew through the course so many times. He was laughing as well as a dragon could laugh. When they got back inside Qozul curled up in his bed and fell asleep. He had played and had loads of fun. It was good being home.

"Little Master has woken up," Winky told Harry. "He is crying."

"Thank you for letting me know. Will you get a bottle ready for him?" Harry said.

"Will do," Winky said.

Harry headed upstairs to get Leoline before he headed down to the living room. They had a massive tree set up with lights and decorations. Hermione and Caroline had taken over and decorated the tree. All Harry had done was make sure they had the decorations they wanted. Winky handed him a bottle and he started feeding Leoline.

"He still isn't back?" Caroline asked as she walked into the room.

Harry shook his head. "I'm a little worried, but he is a grown man. I'm not going to leave Leoline. My godfather made that mistake and I'm not repeating it. He'll come back when he is ready."

"Is there someone else you could ask?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, there are a few," Harry said. "I just don't want to bother them during Christmas. If he isn't back by the day after tomorrow then I'll ask her to take a look."

Caroline smiled softly. She wrapped herself up in a blanket as she sat down next to Harry. She had noticed that Harry tended to be up early. She had started joining him as soon as she had noticed. She was an early riser and she enjoyed their little morning talks. Nathaniel preferred sleeping in if he could. She smiled as Nathaniel and Hermione walked into the living room. Nathaniel yawned widely.

"Hermione thought it was time to wake up, dear?" Caroline asked. She sighed as Leoline threw up on Harry's shoulder. Then he spelled it off and she gave him an irritated look. "I hate that you people can just do that with magic," she said. "There are so many nasty tasks you can just wave a wand at."

"Isn't that good?" Harry asked.

"For you and Hermione I guess but all those children who are born in magic. Do they even understand what living without magic is like?" Caroline asked.

"Probably not," Hermione answered. "That is one of the things that makes them feel so superior."

"That and they don't know anything about technology," Harry said. "I'm planning on taking courses next year." He looked over at Hermione. "Do you want to join me?" he asked.

"Oh, that would be awesome," Hermione said.

Nathaniel gave Harry an approving nod. He wasn't impressed with the lack of non-magical knowledge that his daughter had because of the school she attended. If Harry would make sure she could attend some extra classes without overworking herself that would be good.

Hermione slipped down on the floor to where the Christmas presents were. She picked one up and handed it to her father.

"Oh, heavy," Nathaniel said. He opened it up with a single rip of paper. His eyes widened in child-like joy. "It's a DM screen," he said. "It is beautiful." He reached down and hugged Hermione.

"Don't," Hermione said as she noticed Harry's inquisitive gaze. "He will not stop talking. You can ask later."

Harry nodded and smiled at her. She handed him a soft gift in perfectly done glitter paper. He checked the name and shifted Leoline around. "This one is from Winky," he told Leoline. He heard Winky popping in. She settled down in her favourite armchair so she could watch. Harry pointed Hermione to another gift. He knew which one was for Winky then he helped Leoline open his gift. It was a little quilted plush owl made from scraps of fabric that Winky had hand-sewn. It sat next to Leoline watching him. He reached out with his little hand and poked at it.

Meanwhile Winky had opened her gift and her eyes had teared up. It was a basket filled with yarn. There were so many colours that Winky felt overwhelmed. She touched a book filled with patterns. She could make both clothes and little animal toys. She smiled. "Thank you, Master Harry," she said softly.

"You are very welcome Winky," Harry said.

They opened several more gifts before suddenly Hermione looked up at Harry. "Really?" she asked. She had opened a box with a potion in it and a letter.

"Really, Hermione," Harry said. "I would be honoured."

Hermione uncorked the vial and drank the potion down. "Nothing much should happen right?" she asked.

"No it is a sibling one so it shouldn't," Harry said. "You could technically take my name now if you wanted to, but I don't really care about that. The funny thing is that Kato doesn't look that far off from you colour-wise."

Hermione smiled. "Sure big brother," she said.

Harry laughed.

Winky went to fetch breakfast as they finished opening their gifts.

It was a slow day with a lovely Christmas dinner.

…

Remus woke up slowly. His head hurt and his mouth felt like it was filled with cotton. He blinked and tried his best to shield himself from the light filtering in through a dirty window. Sirius lay on the bed next to him snoring. He sat up and his stomach turned. He stumbled over to the bathroom and threw up. Between turns of his stomach, Remus came to a realization. He never wanted to feel like this again. Going to Sirius when he felt down had been the worst decision he had ever made. He pulled himself into the shower and cleaned up. A fresh set of clothes had appeared for him as he was in the shower. Winky had to be looking out for him even if he wasn't home.

"I'm heading out," Remus told Sirius. He needed to clear his head before heading home. He wondered briefly what day it was.

He passed window after window showing families around their Christmas trees. They were handing out gifts. He was missing his son's first Christmas. "I'm such a selfish asshole," he mumbled. He sat down on a park bench and looked around. He felt like death warmed over. The taste in his mouth felt like a mix between a dirty dishrag and something unseemly found at the bottom of a bin.

Remus wandered around until the sun had set. He felt better. His head had cleared up and he didn't feel like he had a hangover anymore. He guessed it was time to face what he had left behind. He wondered if Harry would be disappointed. He took another shower when he got back before he went looking for Harry and Leo.

"It is good to see you back," Caroline said as they met in the first-floor corridor. "Harry is in the living room. It is just him and Leo in there right now. I'll make sure you can have some privacy." She paused for a moment and reached out to grab Remus' arm. "He has been missing you," she said.

Remus nodded slowly. He was surprised that she didn't seem to judge him for his bad behaviour. He had just abandoned his son. He had disappeared without saying a word and he had gone drinking.

When Remus entered the living room he could easily see Harry sitting in an armchair. A book floated in front of him and he was reading to Leoline. He looked up at Remus and smiled as he got closer. "Look who is home, little lion," he said. He sat up straighter and held Leoline out to Remus. "He's been good," he said. "A little clingy maybe, but he's been sleeping alright with me in the room."

Remus sat down next to Harry. "I'm sorry," he said.

Harry smiled softly. "You needed it. You broke down and you did something stupid. How do you feel now?" he said.

"Like I need help," Remus said.

"Good. Will you go see Healer Green?" Harry said.

Remus nodded. "I would like to," he said.

"Take my next session. I'm doing much better and it takes a while to get an appointment with them," Harry said.

Remus considered declining, but he knew he needed the help.

"Leo doesn't understand what is going on," Harry said. "He's too small. He's been watching the colourful paper and ribbons. He won't remember that you weren't here don't feel bad about it."

"I'll remember though," Remus said.

Harry sighed. "I know," he said. He lifted the book back up and handed it to Remus before grabbing his guitar.

Remus started reading and Harry played.

Hermione snuck into the room and sat down on the floor next to Harry's chair. She had several books with her.

Caroline walked in with a camera so she could snap a few pictures. She met Harry's eyes and he smiled.

"How are they doing?" Nathaniel asked when she returned to their room.

"They look so cute together," Caroline said. She fell back into bed. "I could get used to this," she said.

"Do you want to take a walk?" Nathaniel asked.

"It is pitch black out there dear," Caroline pointed out.

"We have three people capable of doing magic sitting down in the living room. I'm sure one of them can give us something that will let us walk around out there without falling over," Nathaniel said.

Caroline laughed. "If one of them can, then sure. A walk would be nice," she said. She headed down to the entrance hall and started putting her clothes on. She blinked a few times as Nathaniel walked up to her. A ball of light floated over his shoulder. He touched her and the light was no longer blinding her.

"Harry said that the light will turn blue if we leave his wards," Nathaniel said. "It can also show us back home and it won't be visible to other creatures or humans who don't have magic."

"Sounds complicated," Caroline said.

"I gave up listening to his explanation as to how he got it to work that way. Hermione asked," Nathaniel said.

"Of course she did," Caroline said. She held her hand out to Nathaniel and he took it. "Let's take a look around this place."