The Return of the Marauders

"Hey, the witch returns," said a slurred voice, as Mildred di Sanguini pushed open the door to the flat. She spotted her mother, Martha Robinson, sprawled on the sofa, a bottle of gin in one hand. "How was Toadwarts?"

"Hogwarts, Mum," Mildred said, shutting the door behind her. "It's called Hogwarts." She looked around, but saw no Christmas tree, not that she had expected to see one. Her mother rarely celebrated the holiday, or any holiday for that matter.

"Whatever," her mother said, struggling to sit up without spilling her bottle. "I've been saving caps for you," she said, nodding at a pile of bottle caps on the flimsy card table in the kitchen. "You can turn them into gold, right?"

"No," Mildred said, groaning with exasperation. "I told you; only the Philosopher's Stone can do that. Besides, if everybody did it, gold would be worthless."

"But we'd be rich," her mother insisted.

"For about ten minutes," Mildred muttered, looking around the filthy apartment. Nothing had changed; the carpet was still dirty, and from the smell, the same dishes were in the sink that had been there when she'd left for school. She gave her mother an appraising glance, wondering where she'd found the extra money for liquor, before the weekend. After rent and groceries there was usually only a little left for "essentials" as her mother called them. Then something else caught her attention. "You're a blonde, now? It makes you look older."

"Well, Richard likes it, and he's than some men I could mention."

Mildred ignored the dig at her father's memory, and gritted her teeth. It's just for a week, she told herself. Then I can go to Grandma's house to stay until New Year's! That'll be a bit better. "What happened to Sid?" she asked, changing the subject to the man her mother had been seeing, when she'd left for school. She pulled her rolling bag behind her as she headed towards the sanctuary of her room. Whenever her mother was on a bender, the room meant safety.

"He violated his parole, I think. Anyway, he's back inside. I visit him sometimes. I'm going to visit him next week and bring him a present. Do you want to come?"

Mildred didn't answer, but opened the door to her room, and the blood drained from her face. A heap of dirty laundry sat on top of her favorite blue throw rug, beer cans and cigarette butts littered the floor, while two separate posters of bimbos in bikinis covered her framed acceptance letter to Hogwarts. "What have you done to my room?"

"Oh," said a slurred voice behind her. "Well, Richard's mate is renting it from me, and he pays me in cash once a week!"

"You rented out my room! How could you do that to me?"

"You weren't using it, and I need the money. This couch is comfortable enough for you to sleep on and you'll be gone in a couple of weeks. What's the problem?"

"Of all the things you could have done to me, this was the worst!" Mildred stepped into her room, tore down one of the posters to retrieve her framed letter, then grabbed her suitcase by the handle and rushed back to the door.

"Hey, where are you going? You just got here."

"I don't know why I bothered to come at all," Mildred said, yanking open the door. "You're hopeless, Mum!" She stumbled out into the hall, tears starting to course down her face.

"Will you want the room at the end of the year?" Her mother called after her, which only made Mildred cry harder.

She ran down the hall and pressed the lift button, and then hammered at it when the doors failed to open. "Why? Why did I have to be born to her?" she wailed and fell to the ground, weeping openly in the cold hallway of the block of flats. The injustices piled up around Mildred, threatening to bury her. "Why did you have to die, Daddy? Why?"

The lift doors finally opened, to reveal the huddled form of a young man already far gone in shaking withdrawals. As Mildred stepped into the lift, he ran out, screaming and clutching at his head.

Mildred ignored the sight as she walked in and pressed the ground floor button.

The worst part, she thought, as the numbers flashed above her head, is that the Headmistress had talked to Mum! She knows who I am! What I am! Her lips trembled, and she started to cry again.

Later Mildred would realize she didn't remember leaving the building, just running through the streets, pulling her suitcase and crying. When it started to snow, she flipped up hood of her Muggle raincoat, and kept running.

The snow was still falling, when Mildred finally found an empty bench at a bus stop two blocks from the building. She sat down and cried until she could cry no more. When she was done, she felt better. Well, she thought, I've got a suitcase full of clean clothes, ten Galleons, seven Sickles, and five Knuts in my pocket, my wand, and a few odds and ends. Where can I go? Grandma's house! Where else? She took a breath, glanced about, and then walked to the nearest side street, and raised her wand. After a moment, there was a familiar rushing sound, a sonic explosion, and the Knight Bus appeared.

"Where are you headed?" Stan Shunpike asked, hefting her suitcase and waving her aboard.

Mildred told him, and he shuddered. "Oh! You don't want to go there, Missy!" Stan said, looking at her with wide eyes. "That's vampire territory!"

"Trust me," she said, smiling.

Stan avoided her, took only five sickles, and the bus took off again almost before Mildred's feet touched the street. She looked at the crowds of Muggles walking along, most of them looking at the river. None of them noticed the huge dark house standing in their midst, with its sinister green gargoyles hunched on the roof. Mildred took a deep breath and marched smartly up the steps dragging her suitcase behind her and yanked on the bell-rope.

After a few minutes, a simpering ghoul footman appeared and bowed before her. "Mistress Mildred," the creature gasped, fawning visibly. "We didn't expect you for another week."

"Thank you, Vanir," she said, ignoring the musty odor on the creature's green fur. "Is my grandmother at home?"

"The mistress is asleep now, but she will awaken at nightfall, as you know."

Mildred nodded, used to the routine. "Take my bag up to my room, and tell Cook I need some human food, with hot chocolate!" she added in a commanding voice, "none of that sick crap she keeps for the captives in the basement, either!"

Vanir nodded, cowering before her. "I will tell her. Will you want a bath, too?"

"Yes," she said, and then rolled her eyes at the creature's fright. "It won't kill you to draw me a bath! How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Vanir said nothing, merely shut the door behind her and then scuttled away.

Mildred looked at the cobwebs clinging to the wooden banisters, the dusty furniture, and the smell of death in the air. Doxies and other pests cowered in the moldy curtains or from behind wobbly furniture. She thought longingly of the blue marble passages in Ravenclaw tower, and the huge four-poster bed that she had all to herself back at school. Well, only a couple of weeks to go! Maybe next year I'll stay at school for the holidays! That thought warmed her insides.

She marched up the stairs and pushed open a door, and looked at the dusty room that she lived in whenever she stayed here. If only she could convince them to keep the place clean! Then she remembered the cleaning spells Ramona had used in the Shrieking Shack. I wonder if I can remember them.

Twenty minutes later she was looking around the place with satisfied smile. Not as good as Ramona, but not bad. The place is cleaner, and I haven't even worked up a sweat! Even the bedding smelled fresh after the drapery-cleaning spell she'd used. Okay, so technically I'm not supposed to do magic outside school, but the Magical Law Enforcement Squad never bothers to enforce the rules on vampire households! I can probably get away with this!

Vanir chose that moment to enter with a passable meal: Knockturn Alley Pea Soup, with fresh bits of octopus in it, bread (not too stale) and the mug of hot chocolate she'd asked for. Setting the tray down on the desk he bowed before her and asked if there was anything else she needed.

"Yes. Get me a Post Owl, quill, parchment, and ink."

As Vanir scuttled out, Mildred turned her attention to the meal. Not too bad, really. The cook is getting better. Grandmother must actually be letting a few of the captives stay alive to work here, instead of finishing them off like she always did!

Finished with her meal, she took her bath, and then changed back into her Muggle clothes. As she relaxed on the bed, her thoughts turned back to her mother's betrayal. "Damn her! Just to pay for an extra bottle," she muttered, and sniffled.

Vanir's arrival with the owl saved her from dwelling on it. She dismissed the cringing servant, and sat down to write a letter. When she was finished, she sent the bird out the window and hoped the answer came back fast. She lay down again, and without even thinking about it, fell asleep.

It seemed like only minutes later, she was gently shaken awake. She recognized the cold touch, and immediately sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her grandmother was standing beside her bed. Mildred bowed her head and made the ritual sign of the Sanguini clan. "Good evening, Madam."

Helena Sanguini Worple smiled at the formality of the address. A thin vampire with lustrous black hair and dark hooded eyes, she looked at her granddaughter with fondness. "I didn't expect you until much later," she said in a soft hissing voice. "The human was bad to you again?" She refused to grant Martha Robinson with the title of, "Mother", although the human had borne her son's child.

Mildred nodded, and explained what had happened. "It's my only sanctuary when I stay there. No matter how bad things got, I could always shut my bedroom door and crank up the tunes. Now I can't even do that!"

"Perhaps I should pay her another visit," Helena said ominously, flexing her hands. "Of course," she said, smiling briefly, showing her needle-like incisors, "I wouldn't need to, if you would just join the rest of the family; embrace your true heritage."

"Please, let's not go into that again, Grandma!" Mildred groaned, "if I do the change now, I'll be stuck as an eleven-year-old for eternity! You told me I had until I graduated to make up my mind whether I wanted to stay human or join your ranks. Don't go back on that promise. Please!"

Helena Worple wouldn't let it go. "But you'd gain so much, my dear! You could live here and not have to mix with mortals anymore. No more tedious human food, no traveling to Hogwarts on that stupid iron horse--"

"Train, Grandma. It's called a train!"

She waved a hand, dismissing the correction. "The whole family is waiting for you to embrace your heritage, child. When you were born, Viscount Sanguini acknowledged you as his rightful heir. That is a singular honor, besides your being the only human in the world that is one-quarter Nosferatu. The spells and enchantments Eldred and I had to undergo just to birth your father were uncanny--but you! Created by sheer chance, in a single night's rendezvous! You're already famous, Mildred. Why not embrace that fame and your heritage? Show the supremacy of the vampire race! We can perform the ceremony tonight!"

"Haven't you even been listening?" Mildred cried out, clenching her fists. "I'd be stuck like this forever! Undead, like you! I've barely done anything! I've never been on a date, never shopped for a bra, I haven't even had my first period yet! Can't I at least enjoy being human for a few years?"

The owl she'd dispatched chose that moment to return, and Mildred snatched the letter from the animal's beak. She tore it open and read through it hurriedly. It said what she wanted it to! She glanced up at her grandmother, and then leapt up and grabbed the suitcase handle.

"What's that? Where are you going?"

"To see a werewolf," Mildred muttered, making a dash for the staircase, and the front door.

"Are you sure?" her grandmother called out to her. "They lead such random lives. Why would you want to take up with them?"

Mildred didn't answer. She was out the door and fumbling for her wand, hoping that the Knight Bus would come quickly.

**

Mildred shifted forms and flew up to the window. She peered through and saw what she wanted, and then fluttered and rapped on the glass until the sleeping occupant raised her head and blinked dreamily.

"Mildred?" Ramona asked. The bat fluttered in a familiar pattern, so she went to the window and opened it.

The bat flew in and shimmered into human form. "Hi, Ramona; thanks for letting me in," she sniffled and dropped to the ground, sitting cross-legged

"When you asked if you could visit, I didn't think it would be this soon," Ramona exclaimed. She was dressed in an oversized T-shirt and bent low to look at the younger girl, stopping when she saw her friend's stricken face. "Are you okay?"

"No," Mildred said shaking her head; then she collapsed into her friend's arms, crying, "they all want something from me, Ramona! Everybody wants something from me!"

**

Dawn was just starting to lighten the horizon, and the larks were starting the second chorus, when Mildred and Ramona shared a long embrace, having at last talked their way through the younger girl's anguish.

"I'm sorry to just show up like this," Mildred was saying, "but...I didn't have any place else to go."

"It's not a problem," Ramona assured her, smiling, "my parents are always telling me I should have friends over more often."

Mildred stared, and then exclaimed, "You're not wearing your gloves! I just noticed!"

"There is no need," she said with a laugh. "My folks removed all the silver from the house a long time ago. You can take yours off, too. We're perfectly safe here."

Ramona's bedroom door opened, and a woman poked her head in. She was of medium height with shoulder-length brown hair and a heart-shaped face, although a bit full in the cheekbones.

"Ramona, I heard you talking--" the older woman stopped at the doorway when she saw Mildred sitting on the floor in the middle of the room.

Ramona jumped to her feet. "Look who turned up last night, Mum! This is my friend, Mildred Worple."

Mrs. Lupin, clad in a white dressing gown, smiled, and her hair changed from long and brown to short and bubble-gum pink.

Mildred suddenly remembered her friend saying her mother was a Metamorphmagus, a person capable of changing her appearance at will. Although the sight was strange to see, she felt less nervous for some reason.

"Hello, Mildred. Ramona has told me a lot about you. Have you come to stay for the holidays? Good." She turned and left without another word.

Mildred looked at Ramona, stunned. "That's it? No questions? No demands about how I got into your room?"

"I told you it wouldn't be a problem," Ramona said, shrugging into her dressing gown, "and she made her hair go pink! That means she likes you."

"Your Mum's hair is a mood monitor?"

"No," Ramona said, grinning. "But it's a good sign. Now let's both wash up a bit, huh?"

After finishing in the bathroom, the girls stepped into an outer hall, and met an older, slightly bedraggled man with white hair who smiled at them. "Are you Mildred?"

"Yes," she said, "and you are...?"

"I'm Ramona's father, Remus Lupin." He smiled and extended his hand, and when their hands clasped, the signature of Dark passed between them, and they recognized each other's kind. Their hands stayed together for several moments, and their eyes locked, and more passed between them than familiarity. At last, Remus broke the grip, and he smiled slightly. "I understand," he said, and smiled a bite wider, "I see now, why you and my daughter are so close."

"Pleasure of coincidence," Mildred said, her own face smiling more than it had in two days. "'I feel doubly welcome now, with an ally of darkness'," she said in the old form, and was pleased to see his hands make the ritual sign, thumb and forefinger spreading to symbolize a crescent moon. She made another sign with one hand to complete the ritual greeting, and they stood apart, appraising each other. Although easily in his sixties, and a bit haggard, he was visibly holding onto some insular joy that sustained him. Mildred could see now where Ramona got her fierce sense of determination.

"Ramona, Mildred!" cried out Mrs. Lupin, stepping out from the kitchen to yell up the stairwell "Breakfast is ready!"

All three of them came down the stairs, and Mr. Lupin stopped to kiss his wife.

"Mildred, we're very glad to have you here," she remarked, after pulling back from her husband's embrace.

"Yes, Mrs. Lupin, your husband and I were just talking about that."

Breakfast in the Lupin household was nothing like Mildred had ever known. For one thing it was eaten with cloth napkins at a table that had lots of good things in the center of it: baskets of rolls, plates of sausages, pots of jam, slices of fresh bread and a colorful basket of fruit. But best of all, everyone seemed to be smiling!

Then there was the conversation! Mr. Lupin talked about his work; he was a writer of some sort. Mrs. Lupin explained to her guest, about her work as an Auror at the Ministry of Magic, and Ramona was chattering about new shops that had just opened in Diagon Alley or elsewhere in Muggle London. Best of all, every one of them tried to include their guest in their talk. They wanted to know her opinion, and they didn't laugh or make fun of what she said.

"This is the best breakfast I've ever had," Mildred said, meaning ever word. "You're a wonderful cook, Mrs. Lupin."

"I learned from a woman who had seven children, and a husband," she said with a smile. "Take another roll, Mildred, they're best when they're still warm!"

"I have to go to Obscurus Books later this week," Mr. Lupin was saying, as he spread jam on a muffin.

"Again?" Mrs. Lupin said looking upset his words. "I thought you were through for the rest of the year."

"I'm sorry, dear. But this should be the last time, until the next big project. To make up for it, I was thinking that we could take the girls on a shopping trip today."

"Good idea! We'll have to pick up a few things for Mildred, too."

"No, I don't need anything," Mildred protested.

"Nonsense," Mr. Lupin said, smiling. "Every girl should have a present during the holidays."

Mildred looked away from Mr. Lupin and found Ramona smiling at her.

**

For Mildred, the holidays became a bewildering crazy-quilt of experiences she'd never known before, helping to decorate the tree, playing games of Exploding Snap, making Christmas cake, or simply wrapping presents. One evening, in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace, Mr. Lupin told stories about his own days with the original Marauders, whereupon Mildred learned that Ramona had been writing up all the exploits of her own group and sending them back to her parents; and far from scolding her, they were cheering her on!

Remus Lupin laughed at his guest's surprise. "I raised her on stories of my own exploits, so I could hardly tell her that she was wrong, now could I?" He suddenly became a bit sterner on seeing his wife's disapproving frown. "Not to say that we aren't a bit concerned for her safety."

"Of course," Mrs. Lupin spoke up, looking at Mildred, "she's made the right choices in her friends. Ramona told us how you saved the New Marauders from the vampires in the forest. That was very brave!"

"Well, there wasn't much to it, really," Mildred protested, feeling her cheeks go red. "All I had to do was claim the other Marauders as family, and in a way they already are."

"But you did it," Remus pointed out. "You didn't run away and you didn't hide. You stuck by your friends. That speaks well of you."

"Dad!" Ramona chided, "stop embarrassing her!" Ramona cocked an eyebrow at her friend. "My Dad can be a bit intense sometimes!"

When Mildred glanced at Mrs. Lupin, she saw that the woman was another intense person. Though younger than her husband by thirteen years, the bond between them was very close; the same as it was with their daughter. But, far from being excluded, she felt as though she was a part of the family.

"You're really lucky," Mildred said to her friend that night as she lay in the bed that had been set up for her in Ramona's room. "Such wonderful parents, this house, and the close relationship they've got--"

"I know," Ramona said. She was lying on her side, her head propped up on one hand, looking at her friend. "My Mum had two stillbirths and three miscarriages before me. My Dad says she was in labor for thirty-two hours before she finally succeeded in having me. That is why I said I understood when you told me about your own heritage. I know what it's like to be the product of a cursed parent." The girls were silent for a while, and then Ramona spoke again. "I've always wanted a sister or a brother, but Dad says it was all very hard on Mum, and he doesn't want to run the risk of losing her. They talked about adoption, but no wizard agency would consider them as suitable parents when they found out about my Dad's lycanthropy. He never thought he'd marry at all, so having her, and me, he says it's the greatest treasure he's ever had."

"I understand. Believe me, I do." She reached out in the darkness, touched her friend; they held hands and spoke without speaking.

**

The following evening, as the girls were laying the table for supper, they heard a sharp curse. Entering the living room they found Tonks looking up at the Christmas tree with despair. She pointed upwards. "The star fell off the top! Remus levitated it into place after I made the tree fall over twice! It's out of my reach, and caught in the branches. Do you think one of you could fix it? I wanted him to see it was all done when he got home tonight."

Ramona turned to her friend. "You could do it!"

Mildred caught the thought, and nodded. "Yes, but turn out the lights in here, okay? It's too bright."

With the light extinguished, Mildred shifted form and quickly took flight. She spotted the fallen star and picked it up with her hind feet fairly easily. Maneuvering it back onto the top of the tree was a bit trickier. She finally resolved the matter by continually broadcasting her screeches and piloting by sonar. At last, the job was done and she dropped back to the ground and resumed her human form.

Ramona and Mrs. Lupin broke out in applause.

"That deserves a special treat," Tonks said, leading the way to the kitchen. After several taps of her wand and the sound of pouring liquids, Mildred had a hot cup pressed into her hands. "Take a taste, but only a sip at first!" The first mouthful felt as though she had just swallowed an entire slab of Honeydukes chocolate.

"This is great!" she gasped.

"Remus Lupin's Chocolate Express!" Mrs. Lupin said, smiling, "a special treat. He perfected it during test time at Hogwarts, and used to pass it out as a reward when he was a prefect! It was one of the first secrets he told me." She passed a mug over to her daughter, then said, "Now, we'd best get ready. He'll be home soon, and I want everything to be ready for him."

Mildred dropped a flower from the garden into a vase, and then put it onto the table as a centerpiece. "Where is he, Mrs. Lupin? I would have thought he wouldn't have to work during the holidays."

"Well, Remus' work is a bit different from any other man's job. He's at a special meeting of his publisher's," Tonks said as she passed a handful of steel cutlery to Mildred. "Despite the awards he won for his wartime service, and the fact that Harry Potter has personally endorsed Remus, it's still hard for him to find teaching work. Some prejudices die hard, I'm afraid."

"I know, Mrs. Lupin."

Tonks smiled. "I imagine you would more than anyone. Anyway, even though my dear husband loves teaching, he can't do it as much as he likes. So, he writes textbooks instead. The funny thing is that it pays better than teaching! His texts have become required reading in most wizarding schools and right now he's finishing up work on a new one: The Guide to Ghosts, Goblins, and the Great Dark. The editing work is hard; he says they always want to cut out the good parts. So, unfortunately, he always comes home exhausted after one of these sessions, so I try to have everything just right."

Mildred sipped her hot chocolate, savoring the richness of the taste. "Well, give him a flagon of this, and he'll be happier."

Tonks smiled, pointing to an end table next to a chair in the living room, where a steaming tankard sat waiting. "I'm way ahead of you."

A door slammed, and Mrs. Lupin flashed her wand at the table, everything arranged itself in an instant. She then joined Ramona and Mildred as they stood waiting to welcome Remus home.

Remus Lupin walked with a slight forward stoop, it was clear he was worn thin with impatience at his editors and publishers. Then he stopped, stared, and smiled. "Some men are welcomed home by a friendly woman, and here, I see three!"

Mildred felt a rush of warmth at being included, looked at Mr. Lupin and mouthed the words, "Thank you."

**

Christmas morning was full of surprises, especially for Mildred, who opened a package containing a handheld mirror that actually showed her reflection! Not the usual blur she was used to seeing, but her full complete face. As she stared, Remus Lupin chuckled, remarking, "We thought you might enjoy that."

"Where did you find this?" Mildred gasped, as she touched her face, still staring in awe as the girl in the mirror followed her every move.

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," Mr. Lupin said with a smile. "Fred and George Weasley just started marketing them for those of the Dark."

Mildred looked up, tears starting in her eyes. "Thank you! It's wonderful!"

"Now you'll be able to use my present," said Tonks, passing over a small package that proved to be a small compact of makeup.

"Thanks," Mildred said, and then passed around her own presents: a big box of Bertie Bott's for Mr. Lupin, a brand-new Gryffindor muffler for Ramona to replace the one she'd lost in the Forbidden Forest and a bouquet of Everfresh flowers for Mrs. Lupin. As they thanked her she congratulated herself for staying within her limited budget.

***

"You're kidding!" Mildred said.

"No," Mr. Lupin said, buttoning his cloak. "Every holiday, we always make it a point to drop in on the Potters for their After-Christmas Party. The Weasleys will be there, several of the Hogwarts staff, some foreign dignitaries, dozens of other people, and probably even Hagrid as well. Everyone who's connected to the Potters attends the party. Harry and his wife, Ginny, like it that way, actually."

"But-but what do I say? He's the Minister of Magic!"

Mrs. Lupin laughed out loud, and helped Ramona on with her school cloak. "No need to be nervous, dear. Harry Potter is one of warmest, kindest men I know." She put a placating hand on her guest's shoulder. "Just be yourself."

"I don't know about kindest," Mildred said, as she nervously buttoned her cloak, and ran a brush through her hair. "When he was running the war against Voldemort, his armies executed a lot of residents from the dark side. A lot of the people in the vampire circles are honestly afraid of him."

"Talk to your Great-Grandfather," Remus Lupin remarked, smiling. "Viscount Sanguini actually worked for Harry during the war, gathering intelligence. I won't say they're fast friends, but they have a mutual respect for each other."

Mildred's eyes popped out. "He never told me that!" She turned it over in her mind, and then nodded. "All right, if Mr. Potter's respected in my old neighborhood, then I guess he's okay."

The Lupins tightened up their cloaks, pulled out a pot of Floo powder, and began to line up in front of the fireplace. "Mildred," Tonks asked, "may I ask you a question?"

"Sure, I guess."

"You said, 'my old neighborhood' when you were talking about the vampire clans; but from other things you've said, you're not terribly fond of the place. I must admit I don't really understand."

Mildred smiled briefly. "Well, it is a sort of a confusing relationship." While she was talking, Remus Lupin stopped in front of the fireplace grate, to hear the end of the explanation. Mildred took a breath. "My grandfather, Eldred, married Viscount Sanguini's daughter to seal his relationship with the clan. That way, he could be accepted, and pursue his dream of writing a memoir of life among vampires. My grandmother wanted a child, because it would solidify her relationship, and give her status. That proved to be difficult, for some of the same reasons you and your husband understand."

Tonks and Remus held hands, and after a moment, Ramona joined them.

"I'm sorry to bring up bad memories," Mildred said.

"I asked," Tonks said.

"Finish what you were saying," Ramona said in a small voice.

"Eventually, after performing a lot of complex spells and rituals, they succeeded in having a boy, my father, Ethelred. He was a really rebellious kid; talked back, ran away a lot, and started hanging with the London nightclub crowd. He met my Mum at a rave, and they were together for a few months. She was a rude girl, wore a lot of leather--I think you understand. Anyway, she found out what he was and left him. He died not too long after that, and pretty soon I entered the picture." Mildred sighed again.

After a moment, she continued, "Grandpa's father-in-law, Viscount Sanguini, insisted I be brought back to live with the clan, but that didn't work out too well. I'm not like them, and, let's face it: a decaying old castle and babies just don't mix! There was a big fight among the clan leaders, and finally they reached a compromise; I'd live with my Mum, but Viscount Sanguini designated me his official heir. So, I have the recognition and protection of the Vampire Clans, even though I'm mostly human."

"Very unique," Remus Lupin said, nodding to her.

"Well, when I come of age at seventeen, Viscount Sanguini wants me to make a decision about whether I'm going to remain a human, or make the full transformation and become one of them. Right now, I don't know what I want."

"I hope you stay human," Ramona said firmly.

"Ramona! It's her decision," her mother admonished her.

"So, you belong to both worlds," Remus remarked, and Mildred nodded.

"There's plenty of time to decide," Tonks said, "now, let's not be late to the Potters." The jar of Floo Powder was held out in her hands. "And don't worry," she said to Mildred, "Mrs. Potter has probably heard all about you from her boys. I'm sure she wants to meet you."

"Really?" Mildred was skeptical. "The twins said they didn't want their Mum to know anything about what they were doing."

Mr. Lupin snorted. "Sirius and James always forget that Harry and Ginny had plenty of adventures of their own, and they know all the dodges." He hurled the Floo Powder into the fireplace. "Potter Place!" A colossal burst of green fire enveloped him, and then he was gone.

"You next, Ramona," Tonks advised, and her daughter was likewise gone in a tumultuous blast of green fire.

"Mildred, go ahead." Mildred stepped into the fireplace, took a handful of Floo Powder, for an instant considered going back to Hogwarts, but then realized how embarrassed Ramona would be. Oh, why not! The worst the Potters can do is throw me out! "Potter Place!" she shouted and blasted through the Floo Network. After a flurry of images, she stepped out into a virtual sea of people, many of them celebrities! Even as she heard the Floo blast of Mrs. Lupin behind her she continued to stare at all the faces, some familiar, and others not so much. There was professional Quidditch star Ronald Weasley, Professor Slughorn, a bearded man wearing a Durmstrang jumper, Professor Merrythought, a tall, muscle-bound red-haired man she didn't recognize, another red-haired man in his forties leaning heavily on a stout cane, Prior Smith; a house-elf in a tuxedo carrying a tray of drinks, two tall Indian women who were obviously twins, Viktor Krum, and then she saw Mr. and Mrs. Lupin and Ramona talking to a black-haired man in glasses who could only be Harry Potter! Mildred swallowed once, and then maneuvered through the crowd to stand behind her friend.

"Here she is!" Ramona pulled her forward. "Mr. Potter, this is my best friend at Hogwarts, Mildred Worple."

"Ah, Mildred," Mr. Potter took her hand and shook it. Mildred looked into a very kind face with bright green eyes, the famous lightning bolt scar, framed by a mop of unruly black hair. His hand was very firm, and she could feel the callus on his middle finger from holding a quill. "I've heard so much about you from my boys, Sirius and James. Your grandfather, Eldred, speaks highly of you, too." He smiled at her. "I hope you'll come to visit us often."

This wasn't at all what she'd expected! After a moment she smiled and murmured, "Sure, that'd be great."

Harry Potter smiled, and then whispered to her, "Viscount Sanguini's told me to tell you he's very impressed with the way you handled yourself in the Forbidden Forest!"

Mildred coughed, and looked at the Minister of Magic in wonder. He winked at her, and she stumbled away, looking back at him now and then. Ramona kept pace with her, and finally Mildred gasped, "He's definitely not what I thought he'd be!"

"You were thinking, a stuffed shirt?"

Mildred nodded weakly.

Ramona laughed, and sat down on the floor behind the Potter Christmas tree, and waved her friend to sit beside her. "Keep in mind that Harry Potter is the son of an original Marauder, and the father of two new ones! He was also in charge of the war against Voldemort, and he had to adapt to new situations all the time. Wait until you have to study his exploits in the History of Magic. You'll learn a lot about him, then.

"I've grown up seeing him off and on," Ramona went on, "and the one thing I've learned is never to think that I know him perfectly."

"I guess I've got a lot to learn about the wizarding world," Mildred muttered.

"Well, from what you said about your background, I think you've gotten a slightly distorted view," Ramona said, smiling.

Mildred grinned at that.

"Well, hello there!" A red-haired woman was staring down at the two girls. "Ramona, are you trying to hide from me?"

"Never, Mrs. Potter!" Ramona stood up and took the woman's hand, and Mildred stood up as well. Ramona introduced them, and suddenly Mildred found herself engulfed in a smothering hug.

"I'd hoped to meet you, Mildred!" Ginny Potter stepped back and looked her up and down. "The boys told me what you did for them; I'm very grateful! Now, have you two had any Christmas cake?" The girls shook their heads, and Mrs. Potter waved them to follow her, and they soon found themselves with full plates, and steaming cups of eggnog. A brown wall suddenly appeared in front of them, and the girls drew up sharply.

"Hagrid!" Ginny said, as the Hogwarts gamekeeper stopped.

"Hello, Ginny. Just came from checkin' on Kay. Poor lil' tyke is sleepin' like an angel."

"Be careful, Hagrid! You almost stepped on the girls." Ginny waved, and Hagrid jumped.

"Sorry abou' tha'," Hagrid murmured. "Didn' see yeh two," he filled a platter with refreshments and then walked off, looking embarrassed.

"Hagrid is the godfather of our daughter, Katherine." Ginny confided in a whisper. "He shows up every few days to check on her. This is probably the closest he's ever gotten to having his own child, so if he seems preoccupied today, or sometime in the future, don't think he's being rude. He's just a bit overwhelmed with the new responsibility."

Mildred and Ramona looked at each other and giggled.

The girls found a couple of empty chairs and sat down to eat their cake. In between bites, Ramona named several of the people who wandered by. "There's Dirk Cresswell, of the Goblin Liaison Office, with his son, David."

"Cute kid," Mildred said around a mouthful of cake. It was rich with icing, nuts, and cinnamon and she relished the taste. Now this was a proper Christmas holiday!

"Here's Violet Snape," Ramona said, indicating a slender woman with black hair and eyes. "She's married to Severus Snape. He might be here somewhere; I've heard that Mr. Potter is one of the few people who still talks to him."

"I can understand why," Mildred said, sipping at her eggnog. "Who's the girl with the braids?"

"Lily Muriel Potter, the twins' younger sister." Lily was talking with Ramona's father. "Dad says she looks a lot like Mr. Potter's own mother. He says the resemblance is so uncanny it scares him, sometimes."

Mildred drank more eggnog, but didn't say anything. She hoped she didn't look remotely like her mother at all!

"You came!" said a voice, and the girls turned around to see James Potter in a new dress-robe and flashing a smile like a beacon. "Great!"

"Where's Sirius?" Mildred asked.

"Oh, he's around someplace," James said vaguely.

"James, you promised to behave," his mother said sternly, breaking off from her conversation with Horace Slughorn.

"I'm just saying hello, Mum."

Ginny Potter looked at her eldest son suspiciously, and then suddenly little Molly Potter came running up, crying, "Mommy! Jenna Abbott spilled coffee on my dress robes!" Ginny scooped up her daughter and carried her off, consoling the girl and telling her the stain could be taken out very quickly.

"Saved by the bell," James muttered. "It's really great you could both come!"

"I wouldn't miss this for anything," Ramona said, waving one hand at the crowds of people.

"Well, I'm just glad you're here. It's great to see you here, for once."

"Wait a minute, if you and your family come to the Potter house every Christmas," Mildred said to Ramona, "how come James says this is the first time he's ever seen you here?"

"It is," Ramona remarked, smiling. "Last year, he and Sirius were locked in their room for the holidays because they burned their Christmas tree down."

Mildred looked at James, and he flushed. "Sirius and I thought it would look really cool with lighted candles on it."

"The year before, they were in body casts after one of their big pranks went wrong!"

"Don't ask!" James said sharply, holding up his hands, palms out.

"The year before that, my family got invited to Norway to spend the holiday at a Troll Reservation, and the last few times, Sirius and James were off playing. It's just bad luck, I guess."

Mildred nodded, and looked around the room. "This place is incredible! It's so big; it's almost like my great-grandfather's castle."

"Well, we didn't always live here," James explained. "When my Mum and Dad were first married, they had a flat in London. Just about the time she was expecting my sister Lily, we came here. Before, this was the old Malfoy estate."

Mildred gasped. "Really? I thought the whole family was extinct."

Ramona nodded. "Yes, but after the war, Harry Potter bought the entire place for his own. I thought everybody knew that."

James smiled, a touch of pride in his face. "C'mon, Ramona and I'll show you around, Mildred."

Mildred nodded absently, her mind still reeling at the implications. Lucius Malfoy had once had a big following among renegade vampires; of course, those who had abandoned the 'Compact of Peace' and followed him into the war effort had all been destroyed. Still, there was a great deal of romanticism for the 'good fight', as it was known.

Over the next hour or so, James led his fellow Marauders around Potter Place, showing them the warren of rooms, various passages and cellars, as well as all the rooms of the various Potter children. As they were leaving the nursery where Katherine and baby Arthur were sleeping under the watchful gaze of two gargoyles and a house-elf named Winky, Mildred remarked, "You've got a lot of brothers and sisters."

"Yeah," James said, "my Mum and Dad eventually want to have an even dozen, so there's a few more to go."

"Twelve kids, wow!" Mildred exclaimed, shaking her head in awe.

"I can't even imagine that," Ramona remarked.

"Well, you're never short of playmates," James remarked with a shrug.

Mildred laughed, and then stopped before a wall of pictures. One in particular caught her attention, a man and woman holding hands and waltzing amidst a storm of autumn leaves. The man in the picture looked a bit like James, except that he was wearing glasses. "Who are they?"

"Those are my grandparents, James and Lily Potter, the first ones."

"They look so happy," said Ramona looking at the photo of the dancing couple.

"Dad says he talked to a few people and found out the picture was taken shortly after he and my grandmother were married."

Mildred looked closer at the picture. "You do look a bit like him; you've definitely got his hair."

"And his style," Ramona added. "Don't forget, Mildred, James Potter was one of the original Marauders. He started the tradition."

Mildred looked at the James Potter she knew, and saw him smiling with pride. "Well, I bet this one will outdo his namesake."

"He's trying!" Sirius Potter shouted, leaping out of a nearby closet, scaring Mildred and Ramona half to death.

James took advantage of their fright, and slapped two handfuls of Whizzing Worms in the girls' hair and went running down the stairs beside his brother. The two boys gave each other a high five, whooping with laughter.

After a few screams, as the creatures oozed down their heads, the girls gave chase.

***

The holidays passed too quickly, and Mildred abruptly realized that the following day she and Ramona would have to return to Hogwarts. That night, as she ate supper with the Lupin's she thanked them; "This has been the best holiday of my life."

Remus smiled, and nodded. "We've enjoyed having you here, Mildred. I hope you'll come to visit again."

She swallowed hard. "I'd like that, thank you."

"Good. We'll look forward to it," Mrs. Lupin said with a smile.