It was his third day at the Bells and he still had fixed feelings about staying with them. They tried to include him in conversation but he just deflected their questioning. They tried to include him in family activity but he would always make up some excuse not to join in.
'Freeloader' a voice in his head whispered.
'You're just a good-for-nothing leech' another voice, this one higher pitched than the first
'Freak!' both voices yelled at the same time causing him to gasp.
He looked around, he was still in the Bells' house, thank Merlin. He opened his curtains and found it was still dark outside but he knew if he tried to go back to sleep, it wouldn't work. He opened his bedroom door quietly and crept down the hall to the staircase trying as hard as he could to not wake anyone else up.
He wandered aimlessly through the large house, running a hand absentmindedly on the stone walls which reminded him slightly of the corridors in Hogwarts. He pushed his way through a large oak door in the dining room and stood completely awe-struck. The room was a giant kitchen, a mix of modern muggle appliances- like the Dursleys had- and older wood fire cooking pots filled the room. He began looking through the cupboards, picking things out and laying them on the counter.
He turned on the electric stove and placed an oil-coated frying pan with a small smile. He hummed the tune to 'Bang' by Blur merrily as he cooked, not noticing the gaggle of small figures watching him from the corner. A small pop disguised by the sound of oil sizzling was heard first in the kitchens and then in Alexia and Damian's room as a house elf materialised at the bottom of their bed.
"Master and Mistress Bell," the elf said with a bow. The two adults woke up with a groan, Alexia groggily flicking her wand which caused the room to fill with light. "What's wrong, Feeny?" Damian groaned, sitting up in his bed and rubbing his eyes. "Sorry for disturbing your sleep, Master Bell, but there's be a strange boy in our kitchens," the elf squeaked. The wizard and witch looked at each other in bewilderment for a moment before realisation dawned on Alexia's face.
"Thank you, Feeny. I will be down in a moment," Alexia said with a smile. The elf bowed again and disappeared with another pop. Samantha got out of bed, draped a dressing gown around her and slotted her feet into a pair of woolly slippers. "I'll go see to Harrison. You go back to sleep and I'll wake you when the girls are up for their presents," she said quietly. Damian nodded his understanding and slid back down his bed, falling asleep in record time.
Alexia crept down the stairs, lighting the lamps on the walls as she walked to try and bring some warmth to the dim corridors. As she drew closer to the door of the kitchen, she listened to the growing volume of Harrison's singing. She pushed the door open and stood watching him for a while, taking note of the contented smile adorning his face. She leaned against the doorframe and spectated as her young guest tear from one end of the kitchen to the other whilst minding pans and adding ingredients to his dishes.
She heard footsteps come up behind her, turning around to see her family walking up to the door. Alexia held a finger to her lips and nodded her head towards the kitchens. Katie, Felicity and Damian stopped at the door and watched on with wide eyes as Harrison managed two cooking stations at once. After a few more minutes, Harrison turned off the stive and began to pile food onto four plates. He picked two up and turned to the door, ready to serve the food to his hosts but stopped in his tracks when he reached the door.
He looked at the Bell family nervously, his face progressively reddening. "Merry Christmas, Harrison, what you got there?" Damian said with a grin as he entered the kitchen and began moving towards Harrison. Katie reached out and grabbed the back of her father's shirt to stop him and he looked at her, utterly bewildered. Harrison moved awkwardly as he placed the plates of food down in front of each seat at the dinner table before striding off to the far corner of the room.
Katie and her parents watched him solemnly, knowing this behaviour probably wasn't abnormal in his daily routine outside of Hogwarts. Once everyone- except Harrison- had finished eating, they moved into the living room and sat around a roaring fire to open presents.
"Harrison, since you're our guest, why don't you open your gifts first?" Alexia asked warmly before taking a sip of coffee. "I have gifts?" he asked, bewildered, his eyes bulging in surprise. "Of course you do, here open this one first," Katie said, handing him a parcel wrapped in red paper. He read the card attached saying the gift was from Alicia and he slowly ripped off the wrapping paper to find a mauve diary, along with several quills, inside. It turned out the diary was charmed to have infinite pages but keep the appearance and weight of only having fifty.
He placed the diary on his lap as Katie handed him another gift from the pile, this one wrapped in golden paper from Oliver. He ripped it open gently and a pair of leather seeker gloves fell out into his lap. He picked them up and tried them on, smiling at how comfortable they were compared to the oversized borrowed school gloves he used. The twins had got him a crate of Honeydukes treats and Zonko's products which made him smile.
He opened Angelina's gift next. It had a card attached to it with a note that made him shed a few tears before he opened the present. Onto his lap fell a life-size phoenix plush that looked extremely similar to Saveuse. He picked it up and held it close to his chest, smiling as the sensory charms enchanted onto it activated like Angelina said were present. One was a warming charm which felt like it filled his entire body with comforting heat. The other released familiar scents: damp grass, wood and, surprisingly, there was also a hint of citrus.
The Bells looked at him with different expressions. Katie looked as if her heart had melted straight through her chest, Damian and Felicity looked confused as to why an eleven year old boy wanted a stuffed animal whilst Alexia adorned a warm smile that made Harrison wonder if that was the look he was supposed to receive off Lily. He placed the plushie on top of the Zonko's box and accepted the small velvet box from Katie.
He looked at it confused for a moment before running his finger along the ridge of where the box opened. He pulled the lid open and gasped. In the box, lying motionless, was a golden snitch. He placed two fingers on it but pulled back quickly as the Quidditch ball activated and fluttered out of the box. It circled Harrison's head for a moment before he caught it and placed it back in the box, clasping the lid shut.
"That one was from all of us, we tried to make your first Christmas gift from us extra special," Katie said with a smile. She grunted slightly as Harrison torpedoed into her side, wrapping his arms around her middle tightly. She sat stunned for several seconds before she smiled again, wrapping her arms around Harrison's shoulders and chest, pulling him closer to her. He breathed out an almost unintelligible thank you and she held him tighter. This lasted for several minutes until another present was placed on the arm of the sofa for him.
The present was another small box, wrapped in purple paper with a card attached to the side with instructions in perfect quillmanship. It detailed how the box would expand upon removing the paper and that his gift was actually a lot bigger. The card was signed by Alicia but he already guessed that when he first saw the extremely neat handwriting.
He pulled open the paper and the brown box inflated in his lap. He opened it to find a full, brand new potions set with a note in the cauldron 'For your favourite subject from your favourite chaser' which made him laugh quietly. Katie read the note over his shoulder and sighed in feigned annoyance. "The note isn't true- but don't tell Alicia because she'll probably kill me," Harrison said after returning to hugging Katie. The second year laughed and soon the full family joined in as they went back to opening presents.
Katie got down to her last present, a small rectangular box wrapped in parchment and spellotape. She picked it up and looked at it with a bewildered look, the present was definitely hers otherwise the house elves wouldn't have placed it on her pile but there was no note or anything that addressed it to her or said who it's from. She tore off the paper with little difficulty amd held up the silver box, even more confused then before.
She lifted the lid off the box and gasped. Lying in the felt-lined bottom half were three ribbons; one red, the next light blue and the last a sort of copper colour. Stuck to the lid was a note in untidy scrawl that she recognised 'You shouldn't have to hide who you are.' she read and her eyes widened in shock. She looked at Harrison tentatively, calculatingly. "How did you know?" she asked in a shaky tone making the rest of the family look at the two Hogwarts students in confusion.
"How did you know?" she repeated, "I only ever told Angelina and Alicia so how do you know?" She stared down the first year who squirmed and looked at the floor. He started to stammer, feeling more than uncomfortable under her calculating stare. "I'm sorry," he muttered out, hastily wringing his hands without looking up from the floor. At his apology, her features softened and she looked at her family who were all looking at the two.
"Y-you're magic," Harrison stammered, "it's mostly human but, in your core, there's a part that isn't." He still didn't look up whilst everyone else in the room did a double take. "The other magic, it's... similar to the elves living in the forest at the Delacour's. Not exactly the same but really close to it," he muttered. He dared not to raise his gaze from the floor in case his hosts were angry that he'd found that out.
Katie suddenly hugged him, placing her chin on his head. "I'm sorry- I should've known you'd be able to tell with your magic it's just- when people like Malfoy find out that I'm a 'half-breed' as they call it, they usually report it to the Ministry," she sobbed as tears began to roll down her cheeks and into Harrison's hair.
Alexia watched the two with a solemn expression whilst Damian was confused and staring at his wife. "Harrison, should I tell him or shall I let you?" Alexia asked in a calm and gentle voice. Harrison just nodded, curling himself into Katie whilst Felicity did the same with Alexia.
"Harrison is a druid, a wizard who has two cores. The first being the normal magical core like what all wizards and witches have. The other consists of both nature and creature magic. That's why he's able to tell that the girls are half-elf, it's because druids can sense magical creatures with their own magic. They can also use their magic to communicate to different magical creatures in their language," Alexia explained, running a hand through her youngest daughter's hair.
Damian nodded slightly in understanding and turned to watch the two quidditch players. Tomorrow, they would be going into Diagon Alley to buy gifts for family friends and colleagues, he just hoped Harrison would be able to brave the crowded streets. For now, though, he was perfectly content in watching his two daughters and his guest enjoy the day in the house.
~~~~~
Oliver Wood was a very happy teenager. He had woken up early on Christmas Morning to the sound of loud voices and a symphony of laughter ringing throughout his home. When he entered the living room where the rest of his family were sat, he joined in the conversations and festive cheer.
His family opened all their presents but one was left on the floor, unopened as nobody know who it belonged to. The parchment and spellotape wrapping confused everyone in the room. Oliver's father eventually decided to open it outside in case it had something damgerous contained within the haphazard packaging.
The grey-haired man entered the living room again less than two minutes later, holding what looked to be the British Quidditch League Cup with a large Puddlemere United badge engraved into it. The golden goblet spun through the air and Oliver caught it, looking down at the trinket in both incredulity and elation.
"For you," Oliver's father said as he placed a piece of parchment down on the arm of the sofa closest to his son. Oliver picked up the note and read the untidy scrawl of Harrison Potter's quillmanship. Grinning widely he picked up his Quidditch League Cup and filled it with hot chocolate, sighing contentedly at his gift from the youngest member of the team.
~~~~~
Alicia stepped into the drawing room at her home, mug of coffee in hand. Alicia never was a morning person, it was bad enough when they had to wake up early for Quidditch but when her older sister woke her up at five in the morning in her holiday for Christmas presents, she was ready to hex everything in sight.
Alicia torr through her presents with unparalelled haste, wanting to get back to bed as soon as possible. She received a bracelet from Oliver, sweets from the twins, chocolates from Angelina and a potions book from Katie.
"Do you know who this is from?" her sister asked, holding up a box wrapped in parchment and spellotape. "It's so poorly wrapped I think even an infant could do better," her mother said as she sat down next to her sister. Together the two worked to tear the parchment and tape away from whatever was held inside of the makeshift wrappings.
"Alicia, this one is for you," her mother said as she handed the chaser the book that they unwrapped. She looked at the note and shook her head with a smile, thinking up plans to help improve Harrison's handwriting because his scrawl was close to unintelligible. She took the parchment away from the cover and gasped as she looked down at the title: 'Advanced Magical Medicae'. She had told Angelina and Katie weeks ago that she wanted to start an apprenticeship with Pomfrey but didn't know anything more than the basics. Had they told him about that conversation?
No they can't have, they wouldn't remember it unless it was a conversation about Quidditch, Witch Weekly or boys. This gift was entirely thought of by Harrison which brought a smile to her usually emotionless face. Her smile was ruined when her sister started giggling like a schoolgirl.
"The stone-cold Spinnet smiling at a gift from charity case? How the pure of blood have fallen," her sister gasped in mock horror. "He's not a charity case!" Alicia snapped before gathering her gifts and leaving the room to go back to sleep.
~~~~~
Angelina sat in front of the fireplace, bundled up in a large red duvet as her two older siblings and parents opened gifts behind her. She was absentmindedly rolling a crimson coloured leather bracelet around her fingers as she stared into the flickering mixture of colours in the mantel.
Usually, she would detest the fact that she had been gifted jewellery but she couldn't complain about this specific piece. The bracelet she was holding was a gift from Harrison that she found wrapped in parchment and tape- something which amused her family members. She sat planning a way to thank him for the gidt whilst also pondering if he would like the one she gave to him.
~~~~~
"Molly!" a man's voice came ringing through the lopsided house. He waited as the sound of heavy footsteps on a staircase echoed around the building before a short, redheaded woman appeared in the living room.
"What is it, Arthur?" She asked as she made her way further into the living room. "These," he replied, holding up two identical parcels wrapped in parchment and spellotape. She looked at them, narrowing her eyes sceptically. Thanks to the twins' constant pranking, she had grown to be quite shrewd of the unknown and these parcels were certainly setting off alarm bells in her mind.
"Do you know who sent them?" Molly asked as she drew closer to the boxes that were now resting on the coffee table in the centre of the room. "No idea. They aren't addressed to anyone and there's no note to tell who it's from," Arthur said, his facial expression growing more into one of puzzlement.
After several minutes discussing the pros and cons of opening the parcels, they eventually agreed to open them in the garden so as not to damage or dirty the house in case they were pranks. When they opened them, however, all they found were two boxes of sweets with a note addressing them to "Gred" and "Forge" from a person called "Harry".
Molly just sighed and waved her wand which caused the parchment to repackage the gifts before she took them to the family owl to send off to the twins at Hogwarts.
~~~~~
In the Potter Manorhouse, everybody was in high spirits celebrating Christmas. Alexander was showered with gifts from his parents' friends and attention from all the Ministry officials visiting. Present at the get together were the Longbottoms, Patils, Crouches, Macmillans, Smiths, many OotP members and lots of Ministry employees who were mostly heads of departments.
The adult Potters were enjoying playing the happy host family for their guests but realised a few usual visiters were missing. Most recognisably, Sirius wasn't present at the party and neither was Amelia Bones, the Diggory's or the Abbotts. They didn't have time to dwell on that however as a lot of their attention was taken up talking to the upper echelons of British magical society. Nobody seemed to care about the missing blonde haired twin of the Boy-Who-Lived as the group drank and laughed the day away.
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A/N: Yeah I know I took ages but school started up again and we got set a shit ton of homework so I havent had much free time.
Please dont complain about time between chapters for either of my stories pls as im trying my best :(
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this one and any reviews or critiques are appreciated as always. :)