Home For Supper

Scorpius could hardly believe it. The first part of the term was already over, and they were heading back home to the Manor. He and Hyperion had kept their promise to Ara and had made time for the three of them to be together. It ended up being a perfect balance of new and old friends. The boys were both glad when Ara had made new friends in their year. Marie had been a bit pushy with Ara, but she had held her ground, and now whenever they saw her, the three of them got nasty looks. They figured that they needed to be careful around the girl, and Ara was particularly careful whenever she was alone and saw Marie. Now that it had been pointed out, Ara always got the weirdest feeling when Marie was around, and it was highly unsettling. 

"What do you think Mother is going to make us wear to the ball this year?" Hyperion and Scorpius had always worn dress robes, but they were both hoping that now that they were attending Hogwarts, their mother would allow them to wear suits just as their father did. 

"I am not sure, Scorp, but I hope it isn't those awful dress robes again." 

"They are not that bad boys," Ara rolled her eyes. She didn't see the problem with the dress robes. All wizards wore them for occasions just like a ball. All except her father, it seemed like. He always had a nice suit on, and when more important people from the Ministry attended, he wore a tux. 

"That is easy for you to say; you don't have to wear one. You have always been allowed to pick out what you wear." 

"That is cause I am a lady," Ara smirked at the boys, and they all laughed. 

"We shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves anyway. First, we are going to be able to have supper at Mrs. Weasleys' for Christmas," Scorpius hadn't stopped talking about Mrs. Weasley's cooking since they had gotten to Hogwarts. The food was incredible. Everyone agreed on that, but Scorpius didn't think anything could rival her cooking. 

"Do you think Lysander is going to be alright? I mean, he is the only one in our group that stayed behind at the castle. How could Blaise and Luna leave for a trip at Christmas?" Ara had been so upset when he had told them. He didn't seem to mind, but Ara insisted to everyone he was trying to put on a brave face.

"Ara, he is going to be alright. He is going to have the library to himself. His room to himself. It is going to be the best Christmas ever. Plus, he told me that his parents wanted him to come on the trip, and he didn't want to go." Hyperion had already told Ara many times, but she didn't seem to believe anyone. 

"Well, alright. But we need to all send him something for Christmas," 

"We will." Scorp put his arm around his sister and pulled her close. She had become a different person since they started Hogwarts. She was less sneaky, though when she was, it was to the extreme. She was constantly worrying about everyone else, where before, she only cared for herself and her brothers. It was strange to the boys, and they wondered if this new Ara was still the person they had grown up with or if they were going to drift apart as they got older, took on new adventures, and shaped into new people. 

They sat through the rest of the ride in silence. Ara had fallen asleep on Scorp, and the boys didn't dare wake her. 

"My babies!" Hermione didn't care that people were staring at her on the platform or that she had ignored dozens of people while she was waiting. It was a perk that came with her title. All she cared about was hugging her little ones and being with her family again. 

Scorpius was the first into his mother's arms. He had missed her so much—morning chats with her, and the smell of her perfume. Hyperion was. Next, he knew that his mother needed a long hug from them, and he didn't disappoint. As was usual when it came to greeting their mother, Ara was last, but everyone, including Hermione, was surprised when she wouldn't let go of their hug. Hermione stroked her daughter's hair and picked her up when she heard the soft whimpers that indicated that her daughter was crying. Hermione would have never thought that her daughter would have a hard time away from home, and she certainly never received any letters that indicated so. 

"I missed you, mother," Ara finally let go and dried her tears before sheepishly smiling at Hermione. 

"I missed you too, darling, father, and I have missed all three of you. Shall we go home? He should be there soon to welcome you."

Once they were home, Ara ran into the living room where she knew her father would be and the entire scene before repeated itself with Draco. Only this time, Ara was the first to greet him, and Hyperion the last. 

"Did you all have a wonderful time?" Hermione asked her triplets as they sat down for dinner. She couldn't wait to hear all about their time at Hogwarts. 

"Well..." Hyperion didn't ever send the letter that James had written for them about Ara's ankle, and he wasn't sure if they knew. Or if Ara even wanted them to know. 

"Well, what son?" Draco knew that look. The triplets were discussing things silently in their heads together. What kind of trouble had they gotten into?

"Well, we ran into a few bumps, but we are all doing great now. Not one of us has received detention. Great marks in every class." Scorp finished the thoughts they were having out loud. Ara smiled the best she could. She didn't want her parents to worry about her. 

"What kind of bumps, darling?" Of course, Hermione and Draco knew about Marie, but they knew that McGonagall was taking care of that over the break. A little visit to Pansy's house should sort everything out. Plus, Hermione had found things out as Minister of Magic. She wasn't proud to use her new position to snoop around, but she would if it meant keeping her children safe. 

"Ara, are you alright?" Draco hadn't seen Ara cry in such a long time. She was staring at her plate and looked as if the world was coming to an end. He didn't know what had gotten into his daughter. 

"I didn't want them to get in trouble. I didn't know what else to do." The boys stiffened up in their chairs. If Ara told them about the map and the cloak, James would get into trouble too. 

"What happened, dear? Why are you so upset?" Draco had gotten out of his place at the table and was now holding Ara in his lap. 

"I did it. I didn't trip." Draco and Hermione shot one another looks. They had no idea what she was talking about. They both then looked at the boys. The look their mother was giving them basically said, speak up now. 

"Ara broke her ankle a little before Holloween. We thought you knew." Scorpius was trying to be vague. Hopefully, they wouldn't put together that she did it. They didn't want her to still feel this bad about everything. 

"How would we know that. It was never in any of your letters?" Draco hugged his little girl tighter. Why was she so upset about getting a little hurt. Madam Pomfrey probably fixed that up in a second. 

"Ara, you should never have used magic that advanced. You could have really hurt yourself. What were you thinking?" Hermione had, of course, put together in no time what Ara's previous statement had meant. 

"Ara, you're telling me you broke your own ankle?" Draco had no idea his daughter was so good with spells. He was slightly angry with Hermione. She had set a professor on fire their first year and thought nothing of it. Not to mention the whole thing with the glass jar. So she broke her own ankle. He was sure there was good reason behind it. 

"I just wanted to keep the boys safe. I didn't know what else to do." 

Hermione was trying to stay calm. She had done plenty more at her time at Hogwarts to protect the two boys she held so dear. They had done plenty for her. She knew that they loved one another and would go to the ends of the earth for one another. Plus, Madam Pomfrey was able to mend broken bones with ease. She could grow them back if needed. 

"Well, I am just glad to know you are alright now and that you are looking out for one another." Hermione smiled at her daughter. She didn't want her children to keep everything from them.

"I hope you two boys didn't do whatever made Ara go to such lengths to make sure you stayed safe and out of trouble." Draco was now glaring at his sons. 

"We didn't, father." Scorpius blurted it out so fast at the angered look on Draco's face.

"We are not going to," Hyperion added with a curt nod. 

"Good." Draco released Ara from his hug, and they all went back to eating dinner. Nothing else was spoken about the ankle, and all three children were glad. Ara wasn't sure why she had gotten so upset about it all. Maybe she thought her parents would be mad, but they had never really been angry with them before; she didn't know why she felt so hopeless and strange.

All they talked about for the rest of the night was classes, essays, and exams. Ara and perked up when the subject of potions was brought up. Draco was particularly happy that his daughter enjoyed potions so much. He would have to make sure and ask her more in-depth about it. Show her some secrets, perhaps. 

The triplets, after supper, were so tired from their day that they all went to bed. Draco and Hermione, though, sent letters right away to Harry and Ginny asking if they had heard about the whole ankle situation. Then they sent out letters to McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. Hermione was worried about her daughter. Something seemed off about her behavior. She would have never broken down like that at the dinner table. Ara always held herself to the standards set by Cissy, and those were very high.