Hey guys! So in this chapter, I referenced some ancient Chinese mythology. I will post the link to the main article I used to get my info from. The idea came to me from a random tattoo I saw on someone's back at the beach, so of course, I had to go down that rabbit hole! I do not know a lot about Chinese mythology, but I tried my best to do research, and I have the utmost respect for the Chinese culture and its people. If there is an issue with anything I've written, please let me know, and I can adjust it right away. Thanks! Happy Reading! Here's the link: https//abx/dragon-and-phoenix-meaning-chinese-mythology?format=amp.

~Steph

Draco walked through Gringotts next to Hermione, and he could tell she was nervous. Bill had stated that it would take a few days to run the tests. On Sunday, after they had dropped the kids back at Hogwarts (they got special permission to come home for James' birthday that weekend), Bill had collected some of Hermione's blood and magically sealed it in a test tube, keeping it from spoiling.

Today, they would get the results of both her blood tests and the necklace. They had an appointment with a goblin named Dave (rather strange name for a goblin) and Bill Weasley to discuss the results. They found the office and sat down in front of Dave's desk, and Bill came in shortly after, standing in the corner. The goblin looked back and forth between the two, as if he was unsure which one to address.

"Mrs Malfoy, I have here the results of your magical genealogy testing. The report states that there hasn't been a witch or wizard in your family line for a few hundred years. However, if we go back 15 generations, there is a witch by the name of Lydia Howard. She is the last known magical human in your family line, aside from you. She had a daughter named Claudia Howard, who was a squib, and she married a muggle. Claudia was not on good terms with her mother, so Claudia never revealed to her husband that she came from a magical family. They had two children, who were also squibs, and so she never exposed her family to the Wizarding world. After that, magic in the family line is so diluted that it was recorded that the Howard line had died off.

Interestingly enough, Lydia was also a twin. Her twin was named Benjamin, but he died of dragonpox before he had any children.

I've had a look at the necklace, and the dragon and phoenix crest is actually the Howard family crest. It is goblin-made, and the crest was designed after the twins, Benjamin and Lydia, who both had birthmarks on their right shoulders of a dragon and a phoenix, respectively.

After they were born, their father, Andrew Howard, dove deep into research on the birthmarks. He didn't find anything concrete, but he noticed similarities between the birthmarks and a piece of Chinese mythology.

Generally it means the family will be harmonious and have good luck. The dragon is the masculine symbol symbolizing its strength and power. The phoenix is the feminine symbol, meaning grace and beauty.*"

"Harmonious?? There is nothing harmonious about Scorpius and Cassie!" Draco interrupted with a laugh.

Hermione shot him a glare, which shut him up. "Please continue."

The goblin eyed Draco suspiciously, "Very well. I'm afraid that is where the facts end, though; everything else I've heard of the dragon and phoenix is all folklore and speculation. Besides, there is no Chinese ancestry in your blood, so it may just be a coincidence."

In the Wizarding world, dragons are a source of great strength and power, and phoenixes are known for their grace and healing ability. However, they've never been known to appear in legends together.

Hermione nodded, trying to absorb all this information.

"What about the enchantment on the necklace? Is it dangerous?" Draco looked up at Bill for an explanation.

"Quite the opposite, actually. I've only ever read about this enchantment because it's complicated and very niche, so no one bothers to use it. However, in the right situation, it could be extremely powerful." Bill got the box that held the necklace out of its bag and returned it to Hermione, who was very confused.

"What do you mean?"

"The necklace serves almost like a reservoir for magic. In this case, however, the magic cannot be kept indefinitely; it must be used immediately after being siphoned. The only people who can use the siphoning enchantment are those with linked magic. And the only people who have linked magic like that are-"

"Twins?" Hermione breathed.

"Yes, and this enchantment being attached to a family crest, it will only work for twins in your bloodline, for example it wouldn't work for George's twin girls."

George had married Angelina, and shortly after, they had twin girls, Andrea (Andy) and Lacey. They are in their 3rd year at Hogwarts.

Hermione turned to Draco, "We have to tell them!"

Draco looked at her with a small smile, "We will, we're having their birthday party the first week of Christmas break, we'll tell them then."

Hermione nodded as she laid her head on Draco's shoulder. She couldn't believe that she had been a part of a magical line of wizards. How was this going to change things?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once they got off the train at platform 9 3/4, Scorpius and Cassie searched the platform for their mom. Draco had to stay behind to finish up some cleaning and preparing for next term, but he would be home in time for dinner.

Sure enough, their mom was standing with the crowd of family friends they had always known. This included Harry and Ginny, who were waiting for Lily and their youngest son Sirius, who was a 3rd year Gryffindor. James, their oldest, had graduated the prior year as a Slytherin and was currently an Auror like his father.

Ron and Pansy were waiting for their daughter, Madison, who was a sixth-year Hufflepuff.

Blaise and Astoria were waiting for their son, Kobe, a fifth-year Ravenclaw.

Theodore and Luna were waiting for Theo, who was standing with Cass and Scorp.

George and Angelina were waiting for the twins, both Slytherins.

The last person of the group was Daphne, she was waiting for her daughter Gabi, a seventh year Ravenclaw, and her son Brandon, a fifth year Hufflepuff. Her husband Neville taught herbology at Hogwarts and would be returning later that night with Draco.

Once all the children found their respective parents, mass chaos ensued as everyone tried to leave at once.

Scorp and Cassie came home to the house decorated for the holidays, all except the tree, which they would do together as a family. The house smelled like cinnamon, and Cassie breathed it in deep and smiled wide. This was her favorite time of year.

After unloading their trunks, they convinced their mom to turn on a Christmas movie. Draco came home in the middle of It's a wonderful life and admonished them for starting without him.

Then came dinner, which for Cassie was surprisingly awkward. Something must be wrong, they never just ate in silence, even if she had wanted to. What was going on?

Draco picked up his and Hermione's plates and carried them to the sink. "Once you guys are finished eating, meet us in the living room. Your mother and I need to talk to you."

Uh oh, that's never good. Curiosity got the better of her, though, and Cassie quickly finished her meal and vanished her dishes to the sink, hurrying to the couch. When Scorpius finally decided to show up, Cassie was beside herself.

"So what's going on? Why this whole ominous, sit-down, family meeting thing?"

Hermione chuckled, "Well, it's nothing bad, just...new...yes, new is the right word."

Draco entered the room with two boxes in hand. He gave the small black box to Scorpius and the rectangular box to Cassie.

"In two days you'll be 17, so your mother thought it was about time you had these. They're very important family heirlooms that will hopefully be passed down to your children and grandchildren if you choose to have any. Scorp, open yours first, son."

Already guessing what it was, he beamed when he saw the Malfoy signet ring in the box. "Thanks, Dad, I'm proud to represent the Malfoy name."

Cassie scoffed, "What a cheese ball!" Hermione glared at her daughter. Cassie cleared her throat, "Sorry".

"I'll tell you more about the enchantment on it, Scorp. It has a matching engagement ring that, when you're ready, you give to your wife. The magic of the rings will connect, allowing each of you to know if the other is in danger by glowing red. Until the other ring is activated, however, it's just a regular ring."

"Whoa, thanks, dad. This is so special."

Draco hugged his son. "Of course, you're a man now, and someday you'll be the head of the family."

Cassie was livid. "Hey, what about me? Just because he's a boy, he gets to be head of the family? Have our seat in the Wizengamot? Bear the family signet? What am I? Chopped liver?"

Hermione was losing her patience. "If you would be patient, we're getting to that."

Draco nodded, "We started with your brother because his gift was cut and dry, simple. Yours is a bit more complicated and has a lot to do with your family history."

Cassie was confused, "But the Malfoys have a very well-recorded history; what could be so complicated about that?"

"Not the Malfoys, sweetie. Your mom's ancestors."

"Mom's ancestors? But she's a Muggle-born, her ancestors didn't have magic..right?"

"Well that's what I thought, but that all changed when I went to find your gift at my parents' house. Open it." Cassie opened the box to find the most beautiful necklace she'd ever seen.

"Whoa! This is beautiful, mom! And look, it has a dragon and a phoenix! Just like our…birthmarks."

The fact settled in Cassie's mind, causing her confusion. Hermione saw her confused look, and she and Draco spent the next hour going over everything Dave had told them, from Hermione's blood ancestry to the origin of the necklace and the nature of its enchantment.

When they were finished, Cassie had the same overwhelmed look Hermione had at the bank. "I know it'll take a bit for all of that to sink in, just know that you don't have to do anything with the necklace, you can just wear it as a pretty heirloom or put it in storage like my mother did, it's up to you. And if you or your brother have any questions about it, I'm sure either of us or Uncle Bill would be able to help find the answer".

"We just want both of you to know how proud we are of you and the wizards you've become. We wouldn't give you these heirlooms if we didn't trust you. We love you both so much, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you".

Scorpius hugged both of his parents, "Thanks, Mom and Dad."

"Love you, son."

Cassie stood in front of her parents, shocked that they were trusting her with something like this. "Cass, you okay, hon?"

"Yeah, I just…um…thanks"

"Of course, baby girl," Draco hugged his daughter and kissed the top of her head.

Draco and Hermione went upstairs to bed, leaving Cassie in the living room, staring at the necklace in the box. "I don't deserve this..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Theo woke up to the sound of a crack. He knew that sound. "Who's there?" He sat and cast a lumos that lit all the lamps in his room and there, clutching a box and wearing pajama shorts and a t-shirt 2 sizes too big, was Cassie.

He stared at her, stunned. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?" He got out of bed and grabbed her hands. "Is everything all right? Should I call Mom and Dad?"

"NO! No, Theo, nothing's wrong. I just...I just need you...I mean, I need to talk to somebody...and I didn't know where else to go..." Theo pulled her in for a hug, smelling the vanilla scent of her shampoo, wondering what could have possibly happened to make her sneak into his room in the middle of the night.

Suddenly he remembered, he was asleep when she got here. He didn't have a shirt on, great Salazar! "Oh um…sorry, let me get dressed, hold on.."

She looked up at him with pink cheeks and nodded while he went to find a shirt. She looked around awkwardly, avoiding looking at his bare chest. It was a lot cleaner than her brother's room. He had a desk with school books on top, and a neat stack of papers and two quills sitting in a cup next to the inkwell. There was a Chudley Cannons poster on the wall next to a bookshelf, and on the other side of the room was the chest of drawers he was rummaging through to find a shirt. Her cheeks went pink again. Despite what her brother thought, she had never been in a boy's bedroom. Glancing at the bed, her cheeks went from pink to crimson, and she quickly looked away as Theo finally put a shirt on. "How disappointing," she thought to herself. Wait, what? No, no, it's Theo, for Merlin's sake!

"Ok so, what's going on? What's that?" Theo pulled her away from her thoughts. She gave him the box and gestured for him to open it. "Sweet Salazar, this is beautiful Cass, where'd you get it?" She went on to explain everything her parents told her about her ancestry and the necklace. After finally finishing the long complicated story, she slumped down onto his bed.

"I just don't think I deserve this. I mean, I'm a huge screw up. I barely pass my classes, I'm always picking fights and causing trouble, I'm too loud and obnoxious and opinionated, and-"

"Cassie, stop! Listen to me; you are not a screw up. Sure, you may have made some questionable choices, but that doesn't make you a bad person. And as for being loud and opinionated, well, those are just a couple of things I love about you, and—" Wait. Oh, Salazar, he hadn't meant to say that. Oh, Merlin, what now?

"And what?" Cassie brought him back to the present.

"-and you're not obnoxious. If people can't handle all of you then they don't deserve you." Theo swallowed hard, guessing she didn't notice his little slip up, he should be relieved though, right? Then why wasn't he?