Chapter 737: Animated Christmas (Edited)

"Harry! Kreacher! Sirius! Fish is here to play, nya!"

(≧≦)

On Christmas Day, Fish and Hermione arrived early at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, followed by the house-elf, Comey.

Professor McGonagall had some matters to attend to and had to pick up Hermione's parents at Newt Scamander's house afterward, so she would arrive a bit late.

"Welcome, Master Fish!" Kreacher was the first to appear in front of Fish, muttering ill things about Sirius and Harry.

"By the way, nya..." Fish reached into his magical pocket and pulled out a small quilt printed with cat paws of different sizes, handing it to Kreacher.

(つΦωΦ)つ

"This is a gift for you in return. Fish didn't expect you to give me a Christmas gift, so I didn't prepare one for you earlier, nya." Fish explained to Kreacher, "It's what Fish used to use when I was a child, and it's just the right size for you, nya."

Comey looked at Kreacher sadly. Before this, only he could receive such a gift, and the other house-elves only received some snacks.

"Master Fish is as kind as Master Regulus! Old Kreacher will treasure this gift." Tears of excitement welled up in Kreacher's eyes as he carefully stored the small quilt. "Giving the old master Regulus's old badge collection to Fish was the best decision old Kreacher could have made!"

The badge Kreacher had given Fish was a silver one with the Slytherin House logo. It had been popular among pure-bloods to privately have a few of these to identify themselves as Slytherins or Death Eaters when Regulus was at school.

The corners of Sirius and Harry's mouths twisted as they greeted him and also received Christmas gifts from Kreacher: two packs of live wriggling worms.

But they didn't expect anything good from Kreacher, so their disappointment didn't last long, and they soon greeted Fish with enthusiasm.

"You're the first ones to arrive," Sirius said cheerfully, telling Fish about the others. "Arthur and Percy have work at the Ministry and won't be here until later. Remus is on a mission Dumbledore assigned him recently, but he should be back today, and Tonks, Molly begged me to invite her, and she agreed."

"Because she wants Bill and Tonks to fall in love," Harry shrugged, explaining, "Mrs. Weasley doesn't really like Fleur. She doesn't think she's right for Bill."

"Oh," a strange smile appeared on Sirius's face. "Molly might be disappointed then," he didn't sell the story, stating directly, "There's something between her and Remus."

"What? Tonks and Lupin?" Hermione and Harry, both intrigued by the news, hurried to follow up with questions.

"Hehehe... more or less," Sirius smirked smugly, raised two fingers, and pointed them at his eyes. "Although they both hide it well, Remus won't be able to hide it from his good friend."

Fish wasn't particularly interested in the matter; knowing that Tonks and Lupin might have become a couple was enough for him. As for why and how they had come together, Fish didn't care.

Instead of joining Hermione and the others in their conversation, he ran toward the portrait of Mrs. Black and greeted her.

"Walburga, Fish is here to play again, nya! Merry Christmas!"

(ΦωΦ)

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"You are always welcome at the Ancient House of Black, Fish," said Mrs. Black, her somewhat fierce face now sporting a kind smile as she looked at Hermione, lowering her head and muttering under her breath, "It would be nice if that filthy Mudblood didn't come."

Fish twitched his ears and pretended not to have heard.

He had argued with Mrs. Black many times before when Hermione was a guest at the Black's house, but the Blacks were so stubborn about purebloods that Mrs. Black was actually doing Fish a favor by maintaining her attitude, so Fish didn't bother arguing with her about it now.

They followed Sirius into the living room, where Kreacher had brought drinks and snacks without Sirius having to ask, and placed them all in front of Fish.

After a few more moments, Kreacher cursed and led the Weasleys inside.

"Merry Christmas!" The Weasleys greeted Fish with a smile.

"Merry Christmas, Fish, Harry, and Hermione." Fleur followed the Weasleys, greeting them with a hoarse, guttural voice before giving Fish and Harry a kiss on each cheek, under the deadly gazes of Hermione and Ginny...

Of course, Hermione didn't stay silent, but from the expression on her face, she didn't seem thrilled with Fleur's overly intimate behavior.

After a couple of compliments, Mrs. Weasley rolled up her sleeves and headed to the kitchen, asking for help from the twins, George and Fred.

Mr. Weasley and Sirius went to a corner to talk about the Order of the Phoenix.

As much as Harry wanted to know what had happened with Professor Slughorn's memories, he knew it wasn't the right time to ask, so he joined Ron and Ginny and played with a deck of cards.

As for Fish, he ate some snacks and then transformed back into his cat form, jumping into Hermione's arms and purring.

Just as Harry and the others were starting their third round of cards, and Hermione was halfway through her book, Professor McGonagall arrived with Hermione's parents, along with the Newts and their grandson Rolf.

"Minerva~"

●ω●

Fish approached and hugged Professor McGonagall before turning to greet the others, and Hermione, who hadn't seen her parents in a long time, rushed towards them...

Then Mrs. Granger turned around and opened her arms to hug Fish.

"Oh my! It's been so long since I've seen Fish, let me have a look at him!" Mrs. Granger rubbed Fish's cheeks and looked at him closely. "Well... you've grown so much and you're so handsome that I don't think Hermione is good enough for you."

Hermione: "..."

Mrs. Granger, already fed up with Fish, turned around and hugged her daughter with a cold expression, complaining, "What's the matter? You haven't seen my mother in a long time and you still look unhappy."

Hermione rolled her eyes, annoyed...

Who is she putting on that face for?

And Fish, having escaped from Mrs. Granger, approached old Mr. Scamander.

"Newt, Fish saw the memory of the duel between Albus and Grindelwald earlier, and you were there..." Fish tilted his head and asked the question that had been puzzling him, "Who was that witch standing next to you with curly hair? She doesn't look much like Tina when she was younger."

?ω?

"Curly hair?" Elderly Tina Scamander raised an eyebrow. She had always had straight hair, so the woman couldn't be herself. She narrowed her eyes, looking at her husband, and asked slowly and softly, "Was it Rita? Or was it Bunty? Or perhaps some witch I don't know?"

Newt: "..."