Dreams of Home

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Waking up the next day in the Scottish Highlands was a winter wonderland that brought a smile to Harry's face. The thought of going home and spending the next few weeks with his family was something that put butterflies in his stomach. It would be his first holiday season with his family and was immensely looking forward to it. The thought of Elaina joining him over the holidays put a touch of anxiety over the matter, but he knew the time to give his friend a small insight into his past was coming.

The Slytherin Common Room was full of people as he made his way downstairs with his things shrunk down into his cloak pocket. Arriving in the Common Room people created a path for him as if he carried some type of plague. This had been happening since his duel on the grounds over a month ago, and after Elaina throttled Rabastan last night the same whispers now carried on about her. The two had become even more prominent than before and Harry was starting to wonder who next might take a shot at cursing one of them in the back.

The path that his eyes followed was to his small group of four Slytherin friends, however, all of whom seemed to be in good spirits. Pandora was wearing a hideous Christmas sweater that definitely made Harry think of Luna. A gift from Xenophillius Harry thought with certainty. Nate and Andi were both in travel robes with small emblems of their family embedded into their lapels. Harry supposed this was a Pureblood tradition at this time because he noted many others around the room were wearing something similar. Elaina for her part remained in her Slytherin robes and offered Harry a smile as he greeted them. Inwardly the young man noted the girl seemed to smile a lot more since they had delved deeper into their training together. The girl was not so unlike him, at times that was almost painfully clear.

Andi offered him a sly grin, "You two excited to spend the holidays together?"

The raising of her eyebrows was suggestive, but Harry didn't rise to it, "Well we would be disappointed if you didn't at least make one appearance at Potter Manor. I am sure we will get tired of hexing each other at some point."

Defensively raising her hands she said, "Well I wouldn't want to intrude on your time together."

Rolling his eyes Harry said, "You are all welcome at Potter Manor if we want to gather around Christmas as a group."

Pandora offered him a bright smile, "It would be nice to be among friends over the holidays. Xeno has so few family members left, and my family isn't exactly rolling out the welcome wagon for me."

Nate grimaced at his cousin's words, "You did tell the Lord of our house, my father, that you cared little for his opinion when it came to matters of the heart."

"That was as respectful as I could manage to portray my feelings over the matter." Pandora said defensively, "Trust me had I told the man what I really thought we probably would have drawn wands over the matter."

Pandora flipped her hair over her shoulder and held her head high over the matter and Harry grinned, "I don't think I've ever heard this story."

Andromeda shuddered, "There isn't much to it. Pandora came from a sacred 28 family and marrying into another that could barely be classified as Pureblood caused quite the stir. Doing it the day she turned seventeen just led to more excitement. I think she was lucky Lord Greengrass didn't strike her from the family. I am certain that it is what my fate would be if my mother and father didn't decide to kill me first."

Darkly, Harry remembered what had happened when she had decided to run off with Ted Tonks in his timeline. She was exactly right, but he was unaware of what the fallout may have been like with her parents. Pandora however scoffed, "I may not have been stricken from the family, but I was told I was on my own. My last year of Hogwarts had already been paid for, but other than that...there wasn't exactly a dowry for my wedding with Xeno. Regardless of that, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I love him, and that's all there is to it."