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Thanks to my beta : Wise . fan . Girl15

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Chapter 18: Well-Deserved Rest

Once the threat of Ingrid completely cleared from the city, the lives of the people of Storybrooke could finally return to normal. Elsa, Anna and Kristoff were sent back to their world to avoid an invasion of Hans and his brothers. The Christmas holidays could finally be a real vacation and that relieved more than one person. Regina, not wanting to suffocate her daughter too much, decided to spend some time with Robin and Roland to let the young woman make her own marks in town. She also knew she would not be alone, because Henry was planning to learn as much as possible about the young witch while she was here.

They walked together all the rest of the day, visiting every nook and cranny in the city. Hermione was more than curious to learn as much as possible about the history of the city's creation as the lives of the people. That's how she learned the whole story of Emma and Henry. She also learned that she had an aunt named Zelena, who is now dead after attempting to kill Regina. It was a lot of things accumulating in the young woman's head and she found herself lucky to have a pretty quick assimilation capacity.

"And the rest of the family? Well, I mean, do we have other aunts or uncles? Is Cora still alive? And our grandfather?" Hermione exclaimed without really giving Henry time to react.

"To my knowledge, we have no other family members still alive. Cora was killed some time ago and regarding our grandfather..."

"What's the matter?"

"Mom killed him. To activate the curse that brought us here, she had to sacrifice the person she loved most in the world. It was her father: Henry, I have my name from him."

"I see …"

At first, Henry thought he had said something stupid and hoped he had not complicated the relationship between his mother and Hermione. Noticing the smile the young woman gave him, he realized that Hermione did not care about Regina's past. Hermione had the maturity to understand that the woman who did all these things was not the one who presented herself as her mother today. This greatly simplified the mother/daughter situations that could result. The discussion then drifted on to the different stories of Belle, Rumple, Hook, and even Robin. Hermione was taking notes internally to tell Harry everything for when she will go back to school.

"When are you going back to class?"

"Until the end of the holidays, I prefer to spend here entirely rather than with my ... In England."

"You're going back right after the New Year then."

"That's it, I feel that I will have a lot to tell my best friend after then."

"Harry, if I understood everything you told me."

Hermione nodded. She came to talk about her part of the world and especially the magical aspect of it. The young witch explained how her school was built, how people saw witches according to their status. After all, many things depended on being a Pureblood, a Half-Blood or a Muggleborn. It was necessary for her to explain the concept of these three categories to Henry, who was finally able to understand Draco's behaviour with her. It disgusted him to know that a man can feel superior just because of his ancestors.

Henry thought of the questions he had asked as he looked at Hermione's life with everyone at Granny's. He then questioned the young woman about the different houses in her school and she was more than happy to answer anything Henry could ask. Finally she had met someone as curious as she! She could not push him away. She explained to him then the principle of the distribution and the character that is theoretically necessary to be admitted in this or that house. Henry drank in her words without interrupting until she had finished.

"But, there is only one school of magic?"

"No, no, of course not! Otherwise we would be redundant. There are several on each continent. In the United States, it is Ilvermorny. In France, Beauxbatons; In Uganda, you have Uagadou ... Hum ... There is also Durmstrang in northern Europe or Castelobruxo in Brazil. I could give you more, but I think you already have a lot!"

Hermione and Henry laughed together before slowly calming down.

"And Ilver ... Ilvermorny, do you know where it is?"

"In Massachusetts, so about 4 or 5 hours from here. But it is hidden from the eyes of all those who do not study or teach there, like Hogwarts."

"So, if I understand correctly, you're a Gryffindor from Hogwarts School. That's it?"

"You have understood everything!"

Henry smiled broadly, he was delighted to have been able to satisfy his curiosity. They continued to discuss various topics such as the side roads or the dragons for the rest of the afternoon.

-0-

On the other side of the city, Snow and David had a small idea in mind. For a long time they had been dreaming of a ball to which they could take their daughter, and they knew that Regina would love to be able to prepare Hermione for this kind of event. They asked the main heroes of the city to meet at Granny to propose the said ball which was agreed upon and would take place for the New Year, a big party in their perspective. Emma did not dream so much of that sort of thing, yet she could not deny that she enjoyed dancing in Hook's arms. She accepted and even offered her help.

Regina, Emma, and Snow worked together to prepare the room so that it would be perfect for the New Year. There was also a time to choose the dresses. Leroy took care of the lanterns while Granny finished the buffet, which was meant to be the most royal. Even Neal would have his evening outfit. A mother/daughter preparation was planned for Regina and Hermione as well as Emma and Snow.