The Way Back Home

WL1031: Sorry I took so long! My classes got a little busy!



Jade: *sighs in relief* I’m definitely glad to be back! And we got over a thousand hits now!



WL1031: Yes! * High fives with Jade* I know what you mean and we got over twenty reviews! Now, enjoy the chapter people! And please review!



Jade: Yes, please review!



Disclaimer: I don’t own it. Only the story line and the characters that you don’t recognize are mine. Everything else—the main characters and the Harry Potter Universe—is the fabulous brainchild of J.K. Rowling and her publishing company friends.







The Way Back Home

Chapter 14: Holiday Festivities at Twelve Grimmauld Place





Twelve Grimmauld Place



Molly Weaseley was doing what she did best when the kids weren’t home: cleaning. She set the brooms to sweeping, the mops to follow them, and magicked away the dust lifted from around the house into the garbage bins outside. She had been at this for an hour, working especially hard since the kids would be showing up soon. She looked at the clock and found the hands pointing to “almost time” and picked up her cleaning efforts.



Leaning out of the doorway of the kitchen, she beckoned to Tonks as she walked towards the stairs.



“Have the decorations been brought down?” Molly asked.
r />r />
Tonks nodded her head, the bright fuchsia locks bobbing to and fro. “Sure thing Molly, they’ve been placed in the living room. Anything else needed before I head upstairs? I’m going to try and get a nap inore ore it’s time to go get the gang.”



Molly thought for a moment, tapping her wand against her chin. She ran the lists of what needed to be done through her mind’s eye, checking off what had been completed. Finally, she shook her head. “No, there’s nothing left. Just be ready when it’s time to leave. I’m going to start preparing the food in a little bit. I can get Bill—and Charlie when he gets here—to help with the decorations.” She made a shooing motion with her wand. “Go on with you now. Just be sure to be ready.”



Tonks nodded her head, smiling. “Alright, Molly, I’ll see you later then.” She turned and started up the stairs, only to trip and land with a loud crash. Luckily, the portrait of Mrs. Black had been covered—after a harrowing twenty minute long episode of her screaming one night over the summer, her painting had been charmed with a motion-locking spell to keep her from jumping to another frame and the curtains had been permanently sealed to silence her shouts—to ensure silence in the hallways.



Molly shook her head at the clumsy Metamorph and went back into the kitchen. She had been cutting vegetables by hand for a few minutes when her husband came in.



“Hello dear.” Arthur kissed his wife on the cheek and leaned against the counter. “Preparing the food already? Well, be sure to make a little extra. There’s going to be a guest.”



Molly stopped her chopping, putting her knife down. “A g? Wh? Who’s bringing a guest?” A quizzical look settled on her face. “I was sure that Charlie and Bill were coming by themselves. They didn’t tell me, those sneaky boys! Oh, just wait until I get them—”



Arthur laughed at his wife’s antics. He reached over and patted her cheek lovingly, smoothing the little frown that came down around her brows. “Well, this guest is an acquaintance of Albus by way of an old friend. However, she will be arriving a bit later because of who she’s arriving with. But, her and her escort will be in time for dinner.”



Molly’s mouth hung open, looking much the same way that Ron’s did. “Albus’s guest is a girl?! Who is she? Where did she come from? How did she—”



“Molly, my love, calm down. You’ll meet her when she gets here.” He smiled. “Now, let me help you with the cooking. You know that I like to bake cookies.”



Molly laughed, completely over her shock. “Let me just get the sugar. You can get the flour to get the dough started.”



Arthur rolled up his sleeves and set to work. He happily started on his second favorite hobby: baking.







Hogwart’s Head of Slytherin Private Rooms







Zeporiap snapped her bags shut, finished with her packing. She had packed her clothes, along with the presents that she bought inside the magically enlarged case, and shrunk it down. She put it in her pocket for safe-keeping. Sighing, she sat down on the bed and closed her eyes for a moment. She smiled as she thought of Severus. She had finally accepted him as her soul mate—after much contemplation—and things had been moving along swimmingly. She noticed the change within herself just from being with him; she wasn’t as shy as she had first been with him—both in bed and out—and she found that under his dark and brooding exterior lay a sensitive and caring man; well at least for her he was. She still smiled when she thought of how he had drawn a warm bath for a quiet soak and then held her in bed as she curled on her side with cramps. He had been so considerate to her and for her that she felt a little guilty that she didn’t have anything to give him.



I’ll think of something, she thought. I know that there’s something I can give him—something to show my complete thanks and love.



She thought silently for a few more moments, her mind circling back over her inner dialogue. Love? She wondered. Since when did I…



You do love him. Her heart echoed. It was true: she loved him. She sighed again, opening her eyes. She had probably loved him since the first day she’d met him—the day that he told her his name. Hearing a door open, Zeporiap stepped off of her train of thought. She’d think about her feelings later. It was time to leave the school for the holidays.







Severus stepped into the room. He paused to look at her, like he always did. He still could not believe that this beautiful woman was his—he thanked whatever gods there were for bringing her into his life. She pushed the darkness out of his life, his soul, and made things worth it. She really had made it worth his while. She was something that he never wanted to lose—ever.



He stepped forward and caressed her cheek. He could feel her smiling all the way into his heart. “Are you ready to go, my dear?” She nodded and stood up.



“Well then, let us be off. It is dark now, but no one will be able to see us.” He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her, covering her with the voluminous folds of his robe.



They vanished from the room with a crack.







Appearing on the front lawn of the house, Severus put his finger to her lips. When Zeporiap was about to speak, he leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.



“Now that I have your undivided attention, my dear, I need to tell you a few things about this house. This is the headquarters for the Order. There will be quite a few people here: Potter, Granger, the Weaseleys—the whole lot of them—and a few others. Of course, Albus and Minerva will be inside as well.”



Zeporiap was in awe. “That is a lot of people to deal with.” A sly smile settled over her lips, her eyes glittering in the moonlight. “They get on your nerves, don’t they Sev?” He laughed quietly.



“Yes, they do get on my nerves at various points.” He sighed. Zeporiap wrinkled her nose, laughing. She tapped him on the arm. Her eyes glittered again.



“Well, then I will be here to keep you calm.” She smiled sweetly then leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. She squealed as he spun her around.



“I am very glad that you are here with me.” He said into her hair. He sighed. “I’m going soft being with you.”



Zeporiap laughed. “You weren’t so soft last night—Hey!” Severus dropped her down to the ground, her feet crunching in the snow. “Oh calm down, Sev. I like you the way you are—darkness and all—and I don’t ever want you to change.” He smiled and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers.



“Now, that those matters are all settled. Let us go inside.” He led her towards the front door, opening it quietly. Loud voices could be heard coming from the kitchen.



They made their way to the loud room, coming closer and closer to the voices echoing from inside. They stood in the doorway for a little while before anybody noticed them.



“Ah, Severus I see that you have made it.” Albus said with twinkling eyes. He looked at Zeporiap and winked. She smiled sweetly.



Albus looked around the room and saw a few astonished faces—Harry and the gang were talking like normal already used to their friend’s looks. He glanced at Minerva, who was hiding a smile behind her teacup. He turned back to Severus and smiled hugely, beckoning the couple forward with his hands. “Oh do come in Severus and bring Miss Luz forward for a round of introductions.”







Severus Snape came in with a girl! Molly thought, mouth hanging open. And a gorgeous one at that! She quickly gathered herself, turning to look at her husband and two older sons: they all had the loo look on their faces. She stepped forward to introduce herself.



“I’m Molly Weaseley and those three people over there are my husband, Arthur, and my two older sons, Bill and Charlie.” She shook the girl’s hand. “What’s your name, dearie?”



“My name is Zeporiap, Señora Weaseley, and it is very nice to meet you. I’ve heard much about you from Ginny.”



The smooth accented voice flowed into Molly’s ears. “Señora? What an absolutely charming accent you have, child! I’m going to have to work on pronouncing your name, but you can call me Molly.” She smiled and motioned her sons forward. They had finally come out of their shock. Molly rolled her eyes, smiling.



Bill and Charlie quickly introduced themselves to Zeporiap, followed quickly by Arthur. She chatted with them for a few minutes, getting to know them. She turned to Molly saying, “You have such a nice family, Molly. I’ve only just met them but I feel like I’ve known them forever!”



Molly smiled. She liked the young miss already and she’d just met her ten minutes ago. She turned and looked at Severus and saw him sitting and talking with Albus. She noticed the way his eyes followed the young woman around the room as she moved from person to person to introduce herself. He was sitting in a relaxed poise, much different from the stiff, stick-up-your-arse posture he had when she saw him before. He was not as uptight, and seemed to even have a calm air about him—much different from the restrained aura from before. Oh he was still a dangerous man, but he seemed to be more…relaxed and settled, than before. She watched as his eyes flicked to the beautiful young miss laughing with Ginny and Hermoine over something Ron and Harry did. Then she saw Zeporiap smile at Severus and was surprised when he gave a small smile back.



If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that they are in love, She thought smiling. But, it seems as if the other doesn’t know it yet. She smiled a little more, tears coming to her eyes.



“They’ll figure it out soon enough.” She said quietly. “If anybody deserves to have happiness in their life, it’s Severus.”



She turned around and wiped away the tears with her apron hem before anyone could notice—it wouldn’t do to put a damper on the festivities.







Fred Weaseley stepped into the house, quickly followed by George. It was very early in the morning, just before dawn. They had finally gotten away from their shop. They were tired and just wanted to sleep. They hoped to sneak upstairs to their room and were almost there when they heard a small crash in the kitchen.



Fred motioned to his twin to follow him. “Let’s see who that is—”



“Hopefully, it’s not Mum.” George finished. They began creeping along the hallway, careful to avoid the occasional creaking floor boards.



A cabinet door coul hea heard shutting, along with the drawer to the silverware being opened and closed.



Fred peered around the doorway, looking to see who was making all the noise. He could see somebody rooting around in the icebox. He froze when the person stood up. It was a woman! It’s probably just Tonks, he thought, looking at the long curly black hair. But something wasn’t quite right—the woman was too short to be Tonks. He stepped forward into the kitchen and stopped when she turned around.



He was so busy staring that George crashed into him when he hadn’t heard anything for a few moments.



“Wow.” George was just as shocked. Since when did this new, fabulous creature become a member of the Order?







Zeporiap came downstairs to make a cup of hot chocolate. She had left Severus in bed after he placed a sleep kiss on her shoulder and came down to the kitch She She had found where the cups were, but had dropped the one she had pulled down.



“Ai, rompí la taza..” She quickly cleaned up the mess and placed the broken pieces on the counter. When she went to repair it magically, she realized that she had left her wand upstairs—when she had got out of the bed, she put on Severus’s silk robe over her hastily put on pajamas and came downstairs. Shrugging her shoulders, she went for another mug and set it on the table. Then she began to dig around in the icebox for some milk. Successful, she stood up and turned around.



Two red-haired boys were standing in the doorway with their mouths open.



“Wow.” One of them said.



Zeporiap laughed, instantly knowing that they had to be Weaseleys.



She stepped forward to introduce herself. “You must be the twins. My name is Zeporiap Luz. I’m a friend of Albus Dumbledore.”



Just thelly lly entered the kitchen, bustling towards the little trio.



“Fred! George! You’ve made it!” She hugged them and kissed their cheeks.



“Hullo Mum. We’ve just got in from the shop.” George said. He nudged his brother.



“Yeah, it was a little tough to get away. Sorry we missed dinner last night!” Fred said smiling. They turned to Zeporiap who was standing there smiling prettily at the exchange.



Molly rolled her eyes then noticed that Zeporiap was a little underdressed. She was wearing a long silk black robe over her nightgown. It was obviously not her size as it trailed on the floor several inches behind her. She arched an eyebrow.



“Sneaking down for a bit of morning respite, Zeporiap?” She had finally mastered her name by the end of dinner last night. Zeporiap had the grace to look bashful.



She nodded her head, feeling her cheeks heating. “Sí, I had the urge to have some hot chocolate. I thought that I would just pop down and get it, but I broke the mug I pulled down. Then, I realized that I didn’t have my wand.”



Molly smiled happily. Now, her suspicions were confirmed—Zeporiap and Severus were together. While she usually frowned on pre-marital sex, she made an exception for Severus and Zeporiap because they belonged together. When they came in last night she could see the auras around them—not many people in the magical world could see the aura of a person, but Molly could.—and they were the exact matching color and shade: that meant that they were soul mates.



“Well my dear, I will fix that right away for you.” She swished her wand and the cup was repaired. She swished her wand again and four steaming mugs of hot chocolate appeared on the counter next to a plate of buttered toast.



They sat laughing and talking for a few minutes before the twins decided to head upstairs for a little rest. Molly and Zeporiap wished them a good rest and settled back down at thble.ble.



Molly got right down to business. “So my dear, tell me something about yourself. You have a most unusual name, what is its origin?”



“My abuelita, my grandma, was a black Mayan Indian from Guatemala. My name is actually her middle name, taken from the Mayan language. I don’t know what it means and I actually disliked it when I was a small school girl. Nobody could get my name right!” She laughed at the memory. “But, when I found out that my abuelita had the same name, I was honored and proud to carry it on.”



“That is wonderful that you’ve been given your grandmother’s name. I also have my grandmother’s middle name, but as my own middle name.” She patted the younger womahandhand. “So does that mean that you’re not from the British Isles? You’ve got an unusual accent and I can tell that you’ve not had English as your first language.”



“I’m actually from the States. I didn’t really speak English until I was in grade school, but I’ve always spoken Spanish at home.”



“So, how long have you known Severus? It’s quite alright, my dear. I can see your auras; you are soul mates.” Tears came to her eyes causing Zeporiap to gasp in dismay. “Oh, I’m not crying from sadness. I am crying out of joy. Severus has not had a very good life and for you to come along is the best thing ever. You’ve given him a gift and I want to thank you for that.”

Now Zeporiap had tears of her own falling down her cheeks. Her eyes sparkled in the sunlight, making the tears look like tiny diamonds stuck to her lashes.



“Oh Molly, that was beautiful. I didn’t know what the effect of my being here would be to his life. He’s so—”



“You love him.” Molly said gently.



A surprised look came over Zeporiap’s face. She was quiet for a moment and then smiled. She nodded her head, curls bouncing around her face. “Yes, I love him. I think I’ve been in love with him my whole life and I just never knew what that feeling was. I didn’t know what it was until I met him.”



Now both women were really crying. Minerva came into the kitchen with tears in her own eyes as well. She had been listening from the hallway—she couldn’t help being nosy.



Zeporiap and Molly turned at her entrance and froze. They started to wipe their tears, but giggled when Minerva began to wipe her own. She sat down at the table and they all cried together.







That was how Severus found them a few minutes later. He shook his head as his soul mate and the two other most important women in his life cried their eyes out and laughed at the same time.



Women always find time to get emotional. He smiled inwardly and stepped into the kitchen to greet them.







Hermoine laughed as Ginny tried to fix the last bit of ornaments to be hung on the enormous tree in the living room. This year everybody in the house was ordered to make an ornament to be put on the tree. Zeporiap got so excited at the idea of making a personalized ornament that she made two: a small silver cloud and a little potions cauldron for Severus complete with a small puff of smoke curling from its brim. Zeporiap smiled as she handed hers to Ginny.



“Severus didn’t make one, so I made one for him. I hope that he likes it.” Zeporiap said.



Ginny smiled, looking at the little cloud of smoke. “I think that he will like it. It just fits him perfectly.”



“Oh that suits him nicely. It even has the little puff of smoke winding up into the air—just like in class!” Hermoine laughed, nudging Zeporiap. The three girls fell into a fit of giggles.



Finishing their task they sat down in a group of chairs in a corner of the room. Tonks came and joined them. The girls quickly introduced Tonks to Zeporiap and then began laughing and joking with each other like old friends.







Across the room, a group of guys were sitting around joking, playing games, and laughing.



Fred looked over to the group of girls and then slid his eyes back. George caught him staring and elbowed him in the stomach. Fred shoved him back when he caught George doing the same thing.



“I saw you looking over there, mate.” Fred said slyly.



“Yeah, so were you! You looked more than I did.” George said. “And if I didn’t know better, I’d say that your eyes were about to glue themselves onto her— Umph!”



Fred had tackled his twin to the floor, causing a loud round of laughs. Harry, who had been sitting on the couch with them, jumped over the side to avoid the commotion. Ron scooted out of the way, quickly followed by Bill and Charlie when their game of Wizard’s chess was knocked from the table. Remus, who sat to the side rolled his eyes and turned back to his newspaper.



“I was not staring, mate!” Fred had gotten his twin in an odd head lock by sitting on his back. “Say I wasn’t or else!”



“No way! You were totally staring over there!” George screamed. He began to laugh when Fred put an outrageous tickling hex on him. He screamed a laugh and tried to get away, but Fred grabbed his ankles and one of his arms.



“Do you give in? Say it!”



“No way! I’m not giving in!”



“Say it!”



“Alright! UNCLE! UNCLE! UNCLE! You weren’t staring!” George screamed. Immediately, Fred took the charm off. George was totally heaped on the floor still laughing, but not as insanely as he had with the charm on.



Harry shook his head at the twins. “There’s never a dull moment with you two around.” He said smiling. “But to make things even, you both were staring over there.” He laughed at the silly grins on their faces.



“If it makes you feel better, the only ones who weren’t staring were Remus, Harry, and Ron.” Charlie said. He ducked out of the way as Fred chucked a pillow at him.



Remus’s voice came from around the newspaper he was reading. “Who said I wasn’t looking?” He folded the paper and set it down on the arm of his chair. “I’ll have to admit that Miss Luz is a very attractive woman.”



Bill agreed. “She’s very attractive, definitely fitting into the exotic category. I’ve never seen a woman that looks like her.”



“Well, you should have seen her this morning then. She is a right piece, I tell you.” Fred said, nodding his head in confirmation.



“She was wearing this robe and it just slid open when she crossed her legs—”



“Absolutely fabulous legs, my man—”



“And she was perfectly comfortable sitting there with us totally oblivious to the fact—”



“That she’s a gorgeous—”



“And absolutely ang—”ng—”



“…woman gracing us with her presence. It’s like she’s some kind of goddess that had floated down from the sky.” They sighed wistfully.



Harry and Ron laughed at the twins finishing the other’s sentences in an excited manner.



“You’ll never know how right you are about the last bit you said.” Harry said.



Ron laughed at the incredulous faces around him. “She definitely came down from the sky—we should know: we were there.”

“Wow.” They all said at once. Even Remus, the usually calm and collected man, was shocked.



“Really? Do you think that she’d—” Fred said.



Ron held up his hand. “Sorry guys, she’s already taken.” The look of disappointment on the faces of the guys was comical. “Tell them Harry.”



“I’d rather you not, Mr. Potter.” Severus said. He had stepped into the room on the last bit of conversation and didn’t like where it was going.



“Alright, I will leave it up to you Professor.” Harry said a little flushed from embarrassment.



Snape nodded his head and walked over to the group of girls. The guys watched as Zeporiap jumped up and kissed him on the cheek. Then he smoothly took her hand and led her out of the room. She waved over her shoulder to the girls, who burst out into giggles and laughs. Tonks pantomimed a whip crack with her hand and the group fell out into laughs again.



The guys turned back to their conversation. Remus smiled and put his paper back up again.



Fred and George grumbled, as did Bill and Charlie.



“Greasy git—” Fred mumbled.



“He’s still lucky though—” George complained.



“Real lucky. It’s not everyday that a goddess comes down to grant your wishes.” Fred said shaking his head.



“Yeah, especially one that looks like that.”



The twins were silent for a moment. Then Fred piped up saying, “Do you think she’d grant us a few wishes?”



The guys fell out laughing at the question.







The holiday morning dawned bright and beautifully. Presents were shared under the fabulously decorated tree, everyone smiling and laughing with each other as they opened their gifts. Later that day, the group passed the time playing in the snow, having a humongous snowball fight. They ran around in the backyard, dodging magical snowballs around corners, behind trees, and under bushes. Zeporiap, never having touched snow in her life, had blast dumping snow on Hermoine and Ginny when they weren’t paying attention. She got the twins as well, but took off running when they set a snowman on her. Ginny and Hermoine took off running with her when the snowman came tipping around the bush they tried to hide behind.



The twins howled in laughter as the snowman danced along behind the escaping trio. They soon stopped laughing when a huge pile of snow landed on them courtesy of Tonks and Remus.



Jumping over another bench, Zeporiap huddled down next to Ginny and Hermoine. The snow man became distracted with the snow woman they conjured up and then laughed as the icy pair glided off to a secluded section of the yard.



Ginny wrinkled her nose laughing. “Eww, I guess that’s how snow people are made.” Hermoine and Zeporiap giggled and then got up.



“Well, let’s go before they decide to give a show.” Hermoine said. She turned, pointing her wand at the bushes where the snow couple had gone behind. “Finite Incantium” she whispered.



Heading towards the house, the girls went into the kitchen for some hot chocolate. Molly smiled at the girls as they came in, watching as they sat down.



“Coming in from the cold, girls? I’ll get some cookies to go with the hot chocolate I know you’re thinking about having.” She swished her wand and a plate of warm sugar cookies appeared on the table, along with three mugs of steaming hot chocolate.



The girls smiled thankfully and sat down to enjoy their warm snack. They enjoyed each other’s company laughing and talking for the rest of the afternoon.



“So, what is going on for New Year’s Eve?” Zeporiap asked after a while. “I know that we’ll be back at Hogwarts by then because classes start two days later.”



Minerva and Molly had just come back into the kitchen right then. They had gone out for a bit and were grateful to step into the warm living space. They sat down at the table with the younger girls.



“Well, there usually is a little party of some kind with the usual countdown to the new year. People dress really nice, looking completely fancy for the night.” Ginny said.



Hermoine nodded her head. “That’s the same as what muggles do, right down to the fancy clothes and countdown. I gather that it will be pretty much the same.”



“Well, girls I will let you in on a little secret. The letters have already been sent out about this. The school board has asked that all students return early to attend a New Year’s Eve ball.” Minerva said smiling. The girls looked on excitedly. “It’s something going on for this year in place of the Yule Ball that happens every four years with the TriWizard Tournament. So girls, be sure to look your best for the affair.” Zeporiap squealed in excitement.



“I’ve never been to a New Year’s Eve Ball. I don’t even know where to start with this.” Zeporiap said excitedly.



Molly and Minerva smiled at the girls as they talked about what they would wear to the ball. They laughed at the outrageous ideas they came up with for outfits, smiling at each other as the girls giggled about what they thought happen when they came downstairs to go for the ball.



Soon they jumped up to head up to the room Ginny and Hermoine shared. Zeporiap kissed Molly and Minerva on the cheek in thanks before running out of the door.



The two older women sat quietly for a moment sipping their warm tea. They looked at each other and then rolled their eyes.



“Make sure you send me some pictures of the girls.” Molly said smiling. “I’m curious to know what they’ll come up with.”



Minerva smiled conspiratorially. “I’ll be sure to get a picture of Severus’s reaction to Zeporiap. It’s definitely something that I don’t want to forget.”



“Five galleons says that he has her out of her dress before the Ball is over.” Molly said slyly. Minerva tried to look horrified—she failed miserably.



“Make it ten and you’re on.”



The two ladies fulfilled the stereotype of witches and cackled.









_,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_._,’^’,_.





WL1031: Hmm… that chapter was very fun!



Jade: I think so too! I loved the part with the snowman!



WL1031: It was great! Thanks Jade—you did a good job! *hugs her*



Jade: *blushes* Well, I was glad to help! Hopefully the next chapter will be just as good!



WL1031: I hope so too! And there’s a ball! They’re all going to be looking so fancy!



Jade: I can hardly wait! Review people! WL wants more reviews!







Translations:



Señora: Lady or Madam. (This is interchangeably used with “Mrs.”)



sí: yes



Ai, rompí la taza.: Oh, I broke the cup.



abuelita: grandma