The Tabby, the Phoenix and the kitten

Chapter twenty seven

The next day Albus, Minerva and Arianna headed to Hogwarts, they apparated outside of the front gates and walked up the long pathway to castle.

As soon as they were inside, Minerva and Arianna went to go say hello to Poppy while Albus went to his office to settle in and answer letters he didn't doubt had come.

As they walked through the big wooden doors of the hospital wing, Minerva called out to Poppy.

"Oh Minerva! how are you? Did you have a nice holiday?" Poppy asked, but she didn't let Minerva answer her questions.

"And Miss Arianna! My how you've grown and over just a short time! How was your holidays? Any injuries?" she asked as she began to look over Arianna.

"I'm fine Aunt Poppy! I only fell a few times! But I had a great summer!" Arianna said in a fit of giggles as Poppy tickled her.

"Good, got your homework all finished?" Poppy asked after she was finished tickling her.

"Yes!"

"Good girl!" Poppy responded before looking up to Minerva, "I'm sorry I wasn't up to visit! Alastor surprised me with a trip to France!" Poppy said excitedly!

"Oh, don't worry about it! next summer! How was France?"

"Beautiful! It was such a romantic trip! But I'll spare you the mushy details for now Minerva." she winked (as she was sure Minerva wouldn't want a certain pair of little ears to overhear them) and let them go to their quarters to unpack.

When they got there, Albus was waiting for the in the cozy living room.

"Ah," he said standing up, "my two favourite girls," he smiled and kissed them both on the cheek.

"Sherbet! why don't you go put your things in your room." Albus said, some excitement in his voice.

Arianna found her room and understood why her father had sounded a bit excited. He had added an extra room onto his and Minerva's quarters and decorated himself.

The ceiling of the room was decorated using the charm the ceiling in the great hall had been bewitched with, making it look like the sky outside. The walls were a deep red and were covered in glow in the dark stars, which made Arianna laugh.

Other than that, the room was very much like her room back at the manor, a four poster bed, tartan bed sheets, a large book shelf filled with books of all kind.

Arianna turned to the door, Albus and Minerva were standing in the doorway. Minerva shook her head at the glow in the dark stars.

"It's wonderful!" Arianna said with a laugh.

"I'm glad you approve! You'll also have a room in your mothers private quarters to stay in during the school year if you so desire." Albus added.

Albus showed Arianna around the rest of rooms before they all went to the great hall for lunch with the rest of the staff.

They sat at a round table in the centre of the room, making it easier to talk and catch up with one another. Everyone was speaking with Arianna at different points of the meal, asking about her summer, if she was excited about the upcoming school year. Even Professor Snape was speaking to her, kindly! Arianna soon came to realize that Professor Snape was not nearly as awful as he seemed in class, in fact he was rather pleasant to be around.

It was here that Arianna learned that he was her godfather! She tried her best to hide her surprise at this and the fact that he had agreed to be called Uncle Severus by Arianna in private, but only in private as he had a reputation to uphold.

Everyone could see Minerva was having no trouble adapting to being a mother again. She had scolded Arianna at the table for reaching for dessert with vegetables still on her plate.

"Vegetables first, then dessert." she had said, pointing to Arianna's plate.

"Just like your father." Minerva mumbled, shaking her head causing the table to erupt with laughter. Arianna's cheeks grew a deep red, with her embarrassment, as everyone continued their meal.

For the next two weeks Arianna would do some reading, or explore the castle and the grounds, and sometimes even practice magic, with the supervision of her parents or other professors.

The time at the castle, before school started, went by extremely fast and with few trips to the hospital wing in need of treatment for the clumsy Arianna, and the next day Arianna would be on the train with her friends coming back to Hogwarts for another year of learning.

END OF BOOK ONE
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Hey guys!! Thank you so much to those who have stuck with this story, even with my infrequent updates! (sorry about that) I hope you all enjoyed it! I will be writing a second, that will be called My Darling Daughter so keep an eye out for it!! Thanks again guys!!