a/n: Many thanks to poka for the reviews. Thanks to all for reading and following.

Day 3 Prompt: Christmas House Elves

Chapter 3: The Hidden Folk

Monday, December 24, 2001

"Lily! Come help Shiloh clean up this mess. You both had a hand in making it," Hermione called from the family room. She was at the stage in her pregnancy where bending over was an impossibility. She was out of breath just walking around. Sitting heavily on the ottoman she knew instantly she had made a mistake. She sank into the cushion and had nothing she'd be able to grab on to get herself up without great effort. Shiloh was oblivious to the world around her, she was so absorbed in the pop up book she had found. As she turned the page, the drawings from the story popped up and floated in the air above the pages. Narrowing her eyes, Hermione didn't recognize the story or the book.

Lily popped into the room and was right beside Hermione when she yelled. "Mom! I was in the middle of a game with daddy."

Hermione winced at the volume. "Lily, I'm right here, you don't have to yell. You can go back and play your game once those blocks are picked up," she said, pointing at the abandoned tower the sisters had been building that morning. "What's that book Shiloh has?"

Lily looked at it sheepishly.

Recognizing the guilty look, Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Where did you find it?"

Huffing slightly, like she was put out for having to divulge her secret, "It was in Kreacher's room. He said we could read it."

Trying to stand, she groaned in frustration. "Bring it to me? Let me see it. And then you two clean up those blocks."

Stomping over to her sister, Lily took the book more harshly than she needed causing Shiloh to cry.

"Lily Grace. That was unnecessary," Hermione scolded. "Shiloh, love, I'll get you another book. Help your sister clean up." And just like that her youngest was consoled and making her way to the toy box.

"Hold it open, Shi. I'll throw them in," Lily announced.

Hermione wasn't in a mood to micromanage the clean up process. As long at the blocks got put away without damage or injury, she'd call it a win. Flipping the book over, she read the title. huldufólkið og álfastríð. Taking out her wand, she translated the title. The hidden people and the elven war . Flipping to the first page of artwork, she was surprised by the dark content depicted in what was clearly a children's book. It was more horrifying when it came to life from the pages. Closing it up before the kids saw, she tried to get herself up with little success. "Harry!" she called, as she considered if she could try a hover charm again. The last time she had that idea, she was unprepared for how much her center of gravity had changed and she ended up floating upside down. That would be more embarrassing than just asking for a hand up.

"Yeah," Harry said from the dining room. She heard his chair legs scrap along the floor as he got up. "What's up?"

"Me," she said. "I want to get up. Can you help?"

Smiling, he held out a hand, grasped her free hand, and had her on her feet in one smooth motion.

"Thanks. Have you seen Kreacher?" she asked.

"He was in the kitchen finishing the pies for tonight," Harry said, and followed his wife as soon as she took off in that direction. "What's going on?"

Hermione heard his question, but didn't have an answer. "Kreacher?" she started, putting the book down on the island counter. "Who are the hidden people?"

The house elf had been busy stirring a large pot. The question ceased all movements for several seconds. Finally, he turned, wiped his hands on a towel. He slid up a tool to the island and hopped up on it. Looking down at the book he pulled on one of his ears. "Kreacher didn't mean to offend Master's Witch."

"I'm not offended. I'm not sure this book is age appropriate for the girls though. What is this story?"

Curious, Harry opened the book to a middle page. A great battlefield sprung up in the center of the island. "Oh. Wow. The kids were looking at this?"

"They asked. Kreacher didn't think it would be wrong for them to know our story."

Hermione's brows furrowed. "Who's story?"

"House elves. We come from Iceland. Hidden Folk and Elves lived quiet lives before humans built their villages. Cut into our land. The Hidden Folk and Elves had to fight for resources until one day, a Hidden Folk was killed. War broke out. A human town was burned with magical fire. Wizards came. Stopped the fighting. Punished Hidden Folk and Elves. Enslaved us both."

Hermione was appalled. Not just by the story but the fact that information wasn't recorded anywhere in the historical record. The ministry insisted House Elves chose to serve magical families. That it was a mutual agreement. She never really believed that completely but didn't have any evidence to the contrary. Other than holding a house elf hostage by denying them clothing. If it was a mutual agreement there wouldn't be a mechanism to free them. Looking at the drawing, there were clearly two different species. Neither looked like a modern day house elf but there were similarities. The hidden folk were taller with long regal ears, the elves considerably shorter and a pale grey complexion. "Did the hidden folk and elves have offspring together?"

"Forced to. Wizards thought they could breed the magic out of us. Made us better at it instead."

Harry closed the book, uncomfortable with the revelation. "Why doesn't anyone know this?"

Kreacher's eyes grew large. "We do not speak of it! It's a great shame."

"It's not!" Hermione objected, knowing it wouldn't be welcomed. She and Kreacher had clashed through the years over his viewpoint on house elves. "This was done to you. People should know where you come from."

"House elves know. We know," Kreacher said, hopped down off the stool and got back to work. "Kreacher won't let the children look at it."

Shaking her head, Hermione looked to Harry. "When they're older, Kreacher. Wait until they start Hogwarts." She was glad he felt comfortable sharing such a personal story with the family. She didn't want him to shut that instinct down. "Do you have other books? That I could read? So I know where you came from?"

He didn't turn back away from the stove. Still, he stood a little straighter with pride and nodded. "Kreacher will find them tonight."

A loud crash indicated Lily's clean up strategies took the inevitable destructive turn. "I'll go check on that," Harry said, quickly heading in the direction of another bang.

Hermione stood for a minute, wanted to say more to the house elf, not sure if it would be welcomed. "Will you eat dinner with us tonight?" she asked, hoping with the holiday he would finally accept her offer. "The girls made you a Christmas present."

"Kreacher will have pie with Master's family."

It was a step. She thought she saw a smile from the ancient elf. Not wanting to push her luck any further, she picked up the book and headed to the study to translate and read the story history forgot.