The Hybrid Child: Year One - Harry Potter Fanfiction

-Chapter Nine- Appoline and Andromeda

There was one more week of lessons and finally, the School broke up for the Christmas Holidays. Lena spent the first day with Marcus, finishing up homework and making use of the library before going home the next day. She left the common room with a backpack packed the following morning before most people were up. She then went to Professor Potter's office and knocked. James opened the door wide.

"Good morning, Lena. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Am I not taking the Hogwarts Express back to Kings Cross?"James shook his head.

"No, your Uncle Percy has some connections and has fixed it up with the Ministry of Magic to have the Floo Network connected here. You'll go straight to your parent's house." Lena nodded and placed her backpack strap on her shoulder. She took a scoop of Floo powder from the jar next to the fireplace and stepped into the fire.

"Lupin House." She dropped the powder and the flames turned green. Tucking her elbows in tightly and squeezing her eyes shut, she felt herself spinning until eventually, she stopped.

"Lena!" Lena staggered out of the fireplace. In front of her was her mother. Victoire dropped her book and got up from the sofa. "Teddy! Lena's back!" Victoire pulled her daughter close and hugged her tight, brushing ash off her clothes as she did so. Lena could hear her father running down the stairs. He burst into the living room and threw his arms around Victoire and Lena.

"Lena, sweetheart. You've grown so much since we saw you in September!"Teddy touched her cheek gently with his fingertips.

"I've missed you both so much," Lena said hugging her parents tightly. They let go and sat down on the sofa. Victoire summoned bottles of cold pumpkin juice and they drank while Lena caught them up on all that had happened at Hogwarts School. They listened and volunteered only some information, just wanting to hear their daughter talk.

"We're just glad you're home now," Victoire said softly, stroking her daughter's hair.

Lena felt overjoyed to be back home with her parents. It was quieter back at home and they all loved spending the Christmas holidays together. They went out on trips, muggle visits to the cinema or on a picnic, visiting Diagon Alley and visiting certain family members. Victoire wanted to visit her Aunt Gabrielle, which was Lena's Grand Aunt which would also mean to visit Appoline, Victoire's grandmother. They, therefore, had to use Apparition and apparate to two separate spots to get to France where Gabrielle and Madame Delacour would be. Lena's grandmother, Fleur and grandfather, Bill with her Uncle Louis joined them as well.

"Ah! What a surprise!" Appoline said as she opened the door to them.

"Maman!" Fleur embraced her elderly mother tightly.

"Fleur, my beautiful daughter. 'Ow lovely to see you!" Appoline held Fleur tightly too. She then turned to embrace the others. Appoline was in her senior years and yet she looked no older than sixty. It was the impressive cause of having a Veela mother.

Appoline led them into the house. She lived in a small cottage, having moved out of her huge house with her husband when he had died. Gabrielle now lived with her, having never married. Gabrielle came out of her room. Gabrielle was only forty-six years old and still could pass for thirty. She was stunning, as stunning as her mother and her sister. Her hair was greying in places, that was the only way to tell her age.

"Ah, Fleur!" Gabrielle hugged her sister too.

Once all the greetings were out of the way, Appoline called the house elf(who was called Rumpa) to make them all a cup of tea. Rumpa gave out cups of tea to each person while Bill waved his wand and set the logs in the fireplace burning, casting a warm glow over them. Lena sipped her tea while she looked around, wedged on the brown leather couch between her mother and her father. The room was very cosy with dark wooden walls and dark wooden floorboards with a darker brown fluffy rug in the centre. Balanced on top of the rug was a coffee table, lighter wood than everything else. The fireplace was made of dark bricks and the mantelpiece had moving photographs in every available space. There were three couches, surrounding the table. Lena looked at the photographs. Pictures of Appoline and Monsieur Delacour on their wedding day, a photo of Appoline's mother, of Bill and Fleur on their wedding day, of Teddy and Victoire on their wedding day, of Fleur as a baby, of Gabrielle as a baby, a news clipping of Fleur's participation in the Triwizard Tournament, a photo of Victoire as a baby, of Dominique and Louis as babies and of Lena as a baby. Next to the fireplace attached to the wall, were two shelves filled with books. A lantern was lit on the window sill which looked into the conservatory.