Rowena Potter

Break

It's hard to believe it's already Winter break.  Winter finals are over and I am busy packing for the break.  We were going to pick up Jasmine and go back to the village for a week before heading home for some quality time.  We would also be going to the Malfoy's ball, the day before school starts again, well I would be, while the kids stayed with the elves.  " Maddie, can you pack the kitten toys for Helena and Elena.  Thanks, Kit."  She smiled and went about packing up the kitten supplies.

Once everything was packed up, the kids got into the trunk room and I went up to say goodbye to Hermione, Neville, and Draco.  On my way into the great hall, I overheard Dumbledore talking to Weasley.  " You need to get her away from Malfoy.  Put some of this in her tea."  I saw Dumbledore slip something into Weasley's hand before I entered the great hall.  I made a mental note not to drink any tea for the day.

We all sat down at the Ravenclaw table and talked about our vacation plans.  Hermione was going to a family get together and would meet us at Draco's family ball.  Neville would be visiting his family, though I don't know why he's happy about it.  Draco was going to be visiting France and would see us all at his family's ball.  It hurt to think about being away from him, but I knew I would see him soon.

The kids and I would be going back to the village with Jasmine.  We hadn't been nearly as close this year and we needed time to connect again.  When we get back home, for the last week, it will be just us getting in touch with our past again.  There has been too much change happening all at once.  I finished eating my breakfast and went with my stuff to the train, along with the other children.  After loading the train, Neille, Hermione, Draco, and I found our own room and I cast a privacy spell before letting the kids out of the trunk room.

The train ride back was relatively calm, however, when we went to disembark the train, the babies started crying because Draco was leaving.  The twins surprised us when they said " Why do you have to leave daddy?"  Both Draco and I blushed, as we understood the implications more than they did, but something inside me purred at the idea.  I shook my head to get rid of some of the crazy thoughts running through my head.  The kids all told "Daddy" goodbye and gave him a kiss on the cheek, though Austin laughed after and gave his cheeky little smile.  " Why you?" Draco said before chasing Austin down and tickling him.

"Ok kids, we need to get going if we want to catch the portkey on time,  we still have to pick up Jasmine before we leave.  I promise we will see them later," I told them before hurrying them along, out of the train station and over to the bus station to wait on Jasmine.  Her mom was going to be driving the tour bus for some Americans all week.  This works out well because Yule was the day after we got back and celebrating holidays like Yule and Samhain, was part of the magical culture.  So instead of Christmas, we will be celebrating Yule and the changing of the year.

We didn't have to wait very long as they arrived in twenty minutes and we took the bus over to Kables, an electronic store across the street from the leaky cauldron.  As Vanessa sped off in the distance, I turned to the kids.  " We are going to be picking up our portkey from Gringotts and heading straight over to the bungalow then going over to the orphanage. Now let's go."  They linked arms and did the silly march all the way to Gringotts as I carried Asher and Gianna,  We went directly to the counter that Griphook was at and retrieved the portkey.  We disappeared from the room we were in and landed in our bungalow. 

Immediately after we landed, my chest felt tight and my mind screamed for Draco.  After a few minutes, my body settled, leaving only a slight ache behind.  I chose to ignore it for right now, focussing instead on the children.  " Everyone good, no injuries?" I asked, to which the reply was " We're fine."  I inhaled deeply to suppress the ache in my chest and we set out to the orphanage.  It took us fifteen minutes to get there and we were immediately filed inside.  The kids from before ran up to greet us.  Like with us, there was a new addition to their group.  A two-year-old who was dropped off during one of the recent snowstorms.

We spent a few hours there, just playing together before we went back to the bungalow.  I tucked the kids in that night and got to work on the presents for the orphanage.  I had talked with my account manager and we were going to donate money to have the orphanage expanded and a playset added.  This would give the kids a better life while there.  On top of that, all of the kids would be getting two new toys and three outfits each.  It was after midnight when I finally drifted off to sleep.

Over the next week, we spent as much time getting to know the traditions of the village and the kids as we could.  I found out that the village was actually a pack of Kitsune.  It was weird to know but the tribe leader told me that we were sisters in tribe and that I would know what they were talking about at a future point.  At the end of the week, we had gotten used to people traveling around with many tails and a set of ears.  When it was time to go, I gave all the presents to the orphanage and told them to expect another in the morning.

The trip home was quick, as was obvious.  Vanessa picked up Jasmine and headed off to her family farm, where they would be spending the holidays with her parents.  I enjoyed being back in my kitchen, as the tightness in my chest had greatly lessened when we arrived.  I put the kids down to bed and started planning for the Yule.  This year we were going to have a proper celebration, with all the blessings for the year.  This year was important and I was going to show it.