Chapter 15: Dragonfire Delights o’ Plenty (2)

The rest of December flew by, and soon Catherine found herself back on the Hogwarts Express, surrounded by screaming and laughing students, on her way home for the holidays. She ended up alone in a cab from King's Cross station, waved her friends goodbye one last time, and sighed heavily. She would have preferred to spend Christmas at Hogwarts, but her parents were adamant. This meant that, like every other year, she would be sitting in her room throughout all of the Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations hosted by the McMahons. While they did have a Christmas lunch together as a family, it was hardly worth pretending she didn't exist for the rest of the time.

The cab stopped in front of a luxurious building in Islington, where a tall blond boy was waiting with a smile on his face. Catherine paid the driver, who helped her take out her luggage, including Orion. Greg took the cage from his sister and hugged her tightly. 

"What are you doing?" – asked the witch, trying to free herself.

"I've missed you, Flame!" – Greg replied.

"Are you mental? You've seen me less than an hour ago." – panted the girl. 

"No, I saw Catherine Plantier, who I barely know." – smiled Greg.

"You've really lost it." – sighed Catherine.

"Why are the two of you out in the cold? Let's get home!" – Louisa McMahon's voice startled her kids as she apparated next to them. 

Fifteen minutes later, everyone was comfortably seated in front of the fire in the main living room of the McMahon castle. The house elves had served cocoa and gingerbread cookies, and the smell of home was penetrating every fibre of the eleven-year-old girl, filling her both with happiness and frustration. 

"Is Carsilion coming to the party?" – asked Louisa, staring at a long parchment levitating in front of her.

"No, he said he was going to spend his holidays in the mountains." – Edward replied cryptically. 

"Whatever." – mumbled the Duchess and crossed out something on her list.

"You may also want to know that Duke Prince is coming." – added the wizard, sipping from his cocoa mug.

"He is?" – asked his wife with surprise.

"I shall call and instruct the waiters on some details, then." – concluded the Duchess and left the room, her parchment obediently following her.

"It's going to be a mixed affair this year." – said the Duke – "Therefore, we have a lot of things to prepare in order to cover everything that looks too magical from our Muggle guests."

"Oh, no! Then I need to hide myself twice as well!" – exclaimed Catherine sarcastically.

"As you see, Dad, she has been fine at Hogwarts." – chuckled Greg – "Sarcasm level – untouched!"

Catherine hissed and left the room. While she wasn't particularly interested in the people attending her parents' party, she really wanted to join in. She had grown up in a place famous for its balls, and yet she had never attended one. The girl entered her room and went straight to her bed, lying face down. It appeared as if she had returned to a recurring nightmare. The young witch felt like crying, but then in her mind, she saw the faces of James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily – all of them smiling at her.

'I can soldier through this!' – thought Catherine with determination. 

***

Catherine was sitting at her desk, trying to concentrate on her homework, but the music and laughter from downstairs proved to be quite distracting. 

'It's truly pathetic to do homework on Christmas Eve while everyone else is having a good time.' – she thought and threw away her quill. 

The young witch went to her wardrobe and opened the doors, looking inside with a concentrated expression. Ten minutes later, Catherine stood in front of her tall mirror, wearing a knee-length dark blue organza shift dress. She examined her pale, thin legs, clad in matching satin dark-blue ballet flats, and internally accepted there wasn't much to be done about them. 

'At least my freckles disappeared.' – she thought and focused on arranging her long, straight black hair into a single braid, which she decorated with a lavish white silk bow. 

'I did my best.' – she concluded, looking at her reflection.

The girl left her room and quietly sneaked to the top landing of the grand staircase. It was dark, and with no one around, she could sit on the floor and watch through the rails as the guests danced and chatted downstairs. Catherine gazed at the women, who were wearing top Muggle designers' brands, parading around with their jewellery sparkling even from a distance. She could smell the blend of perfumes and recognised a few of the faces based on the descriptions she had heard from her family.

"I hope you don't plan on doing anything stupid." – she heard a voice behind her. Greg approached his sister and sat next to her on the floor. 

"I just wanted to see the guests." – answered Catherine sulkily. 

"Dressed like this?" – the boy asked, smiling.

"It's Christmas Eve. What's the harm in dressing up." – mumbled the girl. 

"You're right." – surprisingly exclaimed Greg – "So, have you seen anyone interesting?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but is this man, next to the fireplace, Duke Adrian Borealis?" – Catherine asked.

"Indeed, this is him – the Head of House Borealis, descendant of Merwyn the Malicious and Hengist of Woodcroft, and also one of our biggest enemies, hence a person you should avoid at all costs." – explained Greg with a chuckle.

Catherine rolled her eyes with annoyance. 

"What about the guy he's talking to?" – she asked.

"Oh, this one is Marquess North Redmond." – answered Greg.

"Was he the one whose ancestors started breeding Basilisks?" – wondered Catherine aloud, getting closer to the rails.

"The very same." – nodded Greg.

"So, what now, we have every head of the major houses here at our home when we know that they would have killed me immediately if I go downstairs now." – uttered the girl, her eyes fixed on the crowd below. 

"Well, first of all, there are a lot of important Muggles there – nobility, politicians, businessmen. They won't just kill you in front of everyone. Second, they are certainly not going solely after you. We would be accused of treason and killed as well. But most importantly, they never imagined that happening, so you are perfectly safe as long as you don't do anything stupid." – ended the young wizard. 

"I guess it just bothers me how hypocritical this whole situation is. I mean, they constantly go together and pretend they like each other when the only thing that restrain them from killing another family is that the rest will gang up on them." – said Catherine thoughtfully. 

"That's the name of the game." – laughed Greg – "At least you don't have to play it, unlike me. You may think what happened to you was unfair, and you are right, but at the same time, you had been shielded from all these pretences, lies and malicious intents. You don't need to think three steps ahead of everyone."

"At least you can go out and be yourself, unlike me." – whispered Catherine – "This is the first time I've worn this dress and probably the last."

Greg stood up and looked at his sister. "It's time for you to stop pitying yourself. You didn't ask for this, and you've suffered a lot, but it doesn't mean it was easy for the rest of us. I also didn't ask for any of it."

Catherine felt her face flush and cast her eyes down. The band downstairs started playing Moon River. The dreamy melody filled the witch's head. She looked up and saw Greg's extended hand.

"Will you do me the honour, Lady McMahon?" – he asked and bowed. 

The two children waltzed in the darkness of the landing to the enchanting melody of love and innocence. Catherine's blue dress twirled and flew around her, evoking the image of a mischievous fairy. In that moment, Greg couldn't help but see a resemblance to their mother - light and elegant, just like her. The final chords of the melody marked Catherine's quick curtsey before she darted back to her room. Greg lingered for a moment, his gaze fixed on the closed door. Eventually, he let out a deep sigh and returned to the radiant ballroom.

***

Catherine woke up the next morning feeling like yesterday's celebration was rather surreal and distant. Her room was filled with bright light, reflected by the generous amount of snow outside. There was a knock on the door, and Betty entered carrying a pile of presents.

"Young Mistress," – she chirped – "these arrived by owl. Betty can't believe the young Mistress has so many friends. Betty always knew..."

Catherine was no longer listening to the old house elf's teary speech. She grabbed the first package that was sent by James and opened it. Inside, she found a red box of Dragonfire Delights. She smiled and opened the package from Sirius, which contained exactly the same box. The girl tore the paper off the present sent by Remus, and surprisingly, inside there were two boxes of Dragonfire Delights. Now, at the verge of tears and laughter, Catherine opened the last gift, sent by Lily, wrapped in a nice blue paper patterned with snowflakes. Inside, she found… yet another box of Dragonfire Delights. 

'Oh, well,' – Catherine philosophically thought while opening the first box – 'I should do my best to honour their gifts.'