Chapter 29-The Return!

Chapter 29

HERMIONE GRANGER

Christmas was finally here, and Hermione Granger woke to much commotion as her Father called out to her from the Living Room down below.

"I am up. I am up," she shouted as she lifted herself out of her bed, as her father continued from downstairs.

"Good. Come down, it's time to open the presents," and it was tradition in her family to sit together and open the presents in the morning. And it had become somewhat even more pronounced once she had left for Hogwarts, a couple of years.

Being away from the family for all this time, made them want to make memories together and it was a good tradition, made even more fun as she received some magical contraptions from her friends which always amazed her father.

"Coming," she said as she slid out of the quilt and groggily walked to the bathroom to freshen up. And after a quick brush she came down the stairs to her mother, taking a tray filled with three mugs of hot chocolate to the living room.

"You do know that both of you are diabetics," she added, as her mother simply shrugged.

"One cup of coco a year is not going to kill us any earlier," and it was hard to imagine that they were both doctors, though were dentists considered doctors.

Thanfkully for her she did not voice out the question, as she walked into the room to watch her father sitting there on the sofa.

Dan Granger was a lean man with brown hair and a small British face. He was the son of a farmer, and had turned his fortune around by becoming a Dentist. Her mother, Jane had been a classmate of his and had similar hair but a shade lighter. Both of them were clad in loose pajamas, and thick sweaters as they sat down and began to sip at their cup of coco.

"Well, then shall we get started?" her father said, and she nodded as she looked at the tree and saw a pile larger than last year.

"So, let the game begin." It was a simple game. Her parents would each make a guess about what the gift was, after she would tell them of the sender's name, and then they would decide on the winner.

And so she began, reaching for one present after another. Harry's came first, and her mother had the closest guess, with a book. And indeed Harry had gifted her a book on ancient magic of sorts.

He was spending the Christmas with Sirius according to his letter, having been granted special permission by the Headmaster to visit and stay at St.Mungo's for the day.

And she was much happy for him, as she turned towards the second gift, and it was from Mrs. Weasley, the sweet woman that she was had sent her another jumper, this time in a purple color, and her father evened the score.

And so they moved on, to Daphne's and Tracey's both of whom had gifted her a set of quills and a strange book about cats respectively. There were a few other packages, but it was a coincidence that the last one she picked up was from Cassius.

"Cassius Malfoy, another boy," her father raised a brow as she nodded, unaware of his insinuations.

"Yes, he is a good friend," and her parents exchanged glances, the smile on her face at the mention of the boy evident to them as her father nodded.

"I guess, another book," he began.

"That's cheating," her mother cut in.

"You have always guessed it like twice now," and Dan Granger shrugged.

"I have made my choice," and her mother rolled her eyes.

"I say that it will be a sort of a wand, a practical thing," and it was not a bad guess given the shape of the gift, so she tore away the packaging, and to all their surprise, the gift was not magical at all.

"What is that?" she asked, as she saw the box and found it to be Muggle.

"That's a Walkman," her father cut in, and she perked up.

"Walkman?" she asked, and her father.

"Yeah, its box like thing that you put tapes in to listen to music," and she had seen a commercial or two of it, and suddenly a few tapes fell out of the box as well, along with a hand written note.

"Your friend is like you," and she knew what her mother meant.

"No, his family is magical," and highly complicated, though she did not say the last part, as she unfolded the note, and her eyes widened as she skimmed over it.

"Impossible," she blurted out without thinking.

"What happened?" her mother asked, as she grabbed the box like thing back from her father.

"Sorry," she apologised as she began to examine it once more, this time noticing how the insides were layered with a whole runic formula, and now all of his studying of runes and so forth began to make sense.

"What happened?" her father asked.

"You know that muggle technology does not work well with magic," she began, and her father nodded.

"Yes, your teacher did mention it," and she nodded.

"My friend has gotten over that restriction," and her father's eyes widened.

"According to him, this device here could work everywhere. Both here and at school," and the tapes were special as well, allowing her to record something and have it played by simply writing it with a special quill.

"That seems hard?" her father asked, and he had no idea.

"It has been considered nearly impossible, but he has somehow managed to pull it off," she tried to make them understand the grandiosity of it all, as she glanced at it, realising that this was more than just a simple thing.

She could not even imagine the hours he must have spent working on something like this. And the tapes, the one's that had come carried a few famous Muggle musicians, and transcriptions of some of her favourite books on magic.

"Well, this boy seems like quite the thing," her mother added as her eyes remained glued to the box.

"Yeah, he is one of the smartest people I know," she added.

"Smarter than even you?" her mother asked, as she nodded.

"Wow, is he the one you asked to invite for the Christma..." but before her father could say anything else, she heard the flapping of the wings, and looked up and saw an Owl had flown into their House, one familiar to her.

It was Daphne's owl.

The grey owl encircled the living room as a letter fell into her lap before it flew straight out of the window. But she had read Daphne's greeting, so it was strange that she would write to her again.

"Who is it?" her father asked, their competition forgotten.

"Daphne," she answered as she opened the letter and began to skim over it, stilling as she read its contents.

"What...."

0000

CASSIUS MALFOY

The discussion with Ted Tonks had been exhausting and troubling. But it was one that was necessary. Cassius was not a fan of his father or what he had done yet he loved his mother, and knew that she loved him as well.

Initially, he had planned not to intervene in his father's case, and yet now he had no choice but to give the man a chance, not for himself but for their mother, because Cassius knew that she loved and cared for the man just as much as she loved him.

Yet she had chosen him and Draco over him. But he had made the choice as well.

There was not much that he could leverage against a woman like Amelia Bones, but there were a few cards he could play, and he had asked Ted to meet with the woman and give her an offer.

His father was back in the country, and he had an inkling that it was not for simply visiting. So, he hoped that he could intervene before he made a dangerous mistake and ruined his life forever.

Apart from that, the holidays was a bust time for him. As the new Lord of the Black family there was much that he needed to take care of, and apart from that he had finally begun to make some breakthroughs in his study of Parseltongue.

Much to his surprise, and if his own estimate were correct, he might be able to make it his own in a year.

And that was much important to him, for he did not wish to prolong the life of Voldemort anymore. The bastard was already weakened and so Cassius planned to weaken him further by ridding the world of his Horcruxes, to make sure that the man never rose up again.

It was a Sunday, and the students were supposed to all return today. It was rare of him to be out of the Room of Requirement, but today, he had decided to enjoy the weather as he found himself sitting under a tree on the grounds enjoying the fresh air as he took a small respite to prepare himself for the restarting of the term.

"Cassius! Cassius!" and he was broken out of his trance, as he looked up and saw a familiar figure racing towards him.

"Daphne," he called out and the blonde's face was flushed, and by his estimates she was much early, for usually the students did not return until dinner.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, as the girl came to a halt besides him.

"Are you really asking me that?" and he was, as she glared at him, huffing as the cold air wafted away from her face.

"What happened? How have you been?" she asked, and he understood the reason for her alarm.

"I am fine. Didn't I tell you so?" and the girl's lips thinned as she suddenly kicked him in the side.

"Ouch!" he rolled over as he began to rub his side.

"Merlin! WHAT THE HELL WOMAN!" he screamed, as she went off on him.

"AND WHAT EVEN WAS THAT!" and she was angry. She was very angry, for he had not heard her shout like this in years.

"I AM FINE! THREE WORDS! THREE DAMN WORDS! IS THAT HOW YOU RESPOND TO A LETTER! I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU AND YOU HAD THE AUDACITY TO REPLY WITH THREE WORDS!" and that may have been a mistake, but in his defence, he had just returned from meeting with Ted and was very tired after all that writing and signing.

So, he had been surprised to receive her letter, and somehow she had learned of his disinheritance. And in his not-so-finest moment, he had picked up a quill and replied back with three words.

'I am fine,' and it was a mistake indeed.

"I was tired..." he tried to argue, but Daphne was having none of it.

"I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU! YOU PRICK!" and he looked her in the eyes, and her blue eyes had become watery, as he took a deep breath and replied softly.

"What was I to say?" he asked, and she had no answer.

"You and I both know that such a day was coming. The only surprise was the suddenness of it all, but in the, end sooner or later such a day was coming," he said, and she had no answer to that.

"But..." and her words failed her as she moved, and in an instant a pair of arms wrapped around her, as she nestled her head in his shoulder.

"I am so sorry. I am so sorry," and the truth was that he was not fine. He was a bit anxious, a bit afraid, and much tired. But, he also knew that he could not it show, for it would worry the people around him.

It was one advantage of learning Occlumency, that the art allowed him to control his emotions expertly so that despite his problems, he could be his usual jolly and reliable self, while keeping his troubles buried deep.

"It's fine, Daphne," he assured her as they separated, and he shrugged.

"It was why I did not tell you myself so as to not worry you during Christmas," and she scoffed.

"But how did you even get to know about it?" he asked.

"My father," she replied as she plopped down beside him, and that made sense.

"A worker from the Ministry told him about it. I learned about it a day before Christmas and was worried about sick about you," and that was bad.

"I am sorry for worrying you, but I was dealing with the consequences of it all," he sighed as he tried to explain himself.

"I had a meeting with a lawyer to file for my emancipation and deal with some other things," and she nodded. Given who she was, she must have had an idea that such things were quite troublesome.

"I see, and what of your name?" she asked.

"To the public, it is still Cassius Malfoy," and she did not miss the insinuation.

"What do you mean by tha..." but before she could say anymore, suddenly he heard his name being called out once more.

"Cassius!" He looked up and saw a familiar brown-haired girl rushing towards him, and his heart sunk.

"Who else did you tell?" he asked Daphne, who raised a brow as she answered.

"All of us," and he groaned as he prepared himself for another chewing into.

"Damn you," and though he may utter those words, but a part of him was relieved that he had such friends.

"Look, I can explain... " But before he could say anything, the girl jumped onto him and wrapped her arms around him as she asked.

"Daphne told me everything! I am so sorry," and he reciprocated as he eased his arms around her, as he turned towards the blonde beside him and mouthed.

'See. This is how you greet a friend. You don't kick them out of nowhere,' and she rolled her eyes as Hermione separated from him.

"What happened?"

And before he answered, he saw Tracey walking towards them as well.

"Well, why don't we wait for Tracey as well, so that I don't have to do it all over again...."

0000

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