Destination Unknown

Chapter 11

Christmas, 2014

"Harry! Wake up!" shouted Ace, shaking her brother violently. As he opened one bleary eye, she yelled 'Merry Christmas' and ran out of the room, only to repeat the same process with her other brother, Cory. Soon they were all standing in front of the Christmas tree, waiting to open the presents.

"Whoa...look at our piles, Harry!" exclaimed Cory. It looked as if all their school friends had sent them gifts.

"I want to open them!" whined Ace, tossing her bushy blonde curls.

"Let Mum come, sis," said Harry. Draco smiled at his children fondly. Hermione entered the room.

"Can we open our presents now?" asked Ace.

"Sure," said Draco, and put an arm around his wife. They watched with a bemused expression as the children tore open the packets, squealing excitedly.

Cory tore open the gift from his parents. Aside from the usual set of dress robes, it contained a magical encyclopaedia. He was speechless. These books were very very rare.

"Thanks," he said, eyes round in wonder. His parents laughed. Harry immediately pulled out his own gift. With the dress robes, there lay a golden snitch.

"Cool!" he exclaimed. The two boys jumped up and hugged their parents.

"Well, you are the Slytherin Seeker, my boy," said Draco, ruffling Harry's hair, "we thought some practice would be nice. And you got in pretty early, too...usually it takes a long time to get on the House team."

"Nah...our previous Seeker left. And you were selected in your second year, too! I wish I could have gotten in last year itself...it seems as though Harry Potter was the only one who did it in his first year..."

"You're doing fine, dear," said Hermione, beaming at Harry. She turned to Cory.

"And you, dear, have made us very proud by being the top student from the very beginning...I can't tell you how happy we are to have such worthy sons..."

"True, very true," said Draco, "I must say that it's nice to have the top two students and a star seeker as sons."

"Add a star keeper to that, Dad," chipped in Harry.

"What?"

"Cory's going to play in the next match...our keeper backed out and we had to hold trials. He won hands down."

Draco was grinning like an idiot. Hermione shook her head, ruffled Cory's hair and said, "I think that calls for a little treat. You should have told us earlier, dears."

"You two are every parent's dream!" exclaimed Draco. Ace came up.

"What about me?" she pouted.

"You're the best daughter in the world, sweetheart," said Draco, patting her bushy blonde hair. Hermione smiled at her.

"And tell you what, sis..." began Harry.

"You're the best sister, too!" Cory finished.

Ace chuckled happily and they all shared a family hug before returning to the presents. Suddenly Harry held up a brown paper wrapped package, which bore no tag.

"Who sent this?" he asked Hermione.

"Open it. Maybe the person left a note inside."

Harry removed the card saying 'Harry' from the cover and opened the package. Out fell a shimmering cloak, which looked as if it were woven with water. Another card fell out. Harry stared at it in surprise.

Use it well.

"Wow...that's an Invisibility Cloak, Harry! Who sent you that?" asked Cory.

"No idea...there's just this card inside and this one outside..."

Hermione had paled. She whispered to Draco, "It's his."

"Are you sure?" he asked anxiously.

She nodded.

"Mum, Dad - who sent me this? Why didn't Cory get a package like this?" asked Harry.

"I don't know, dear...I wonder who would send you something so valuable..." Draco trailed off.

"Can I keep it?" Harry asked eagerly, "I'll share it with Cory, of course - and with Ace, too, when she comes to Hogwarts!"

Draco and Hermione glanced at Cory, whose face had shown disappointment that he hadn't received something mysterious, brighten up at Harry's words.

"Well..." began Hermione.

"Please, Mum? We won't get into trouble," said Cory, giving her a puppy-eyed look. Hermione sighed.

"Ok, but if the two of you get into trouble, I'll confiscate it."

Her two sons beamed at her. Ace was more concerned with her Dancing Doll than the cloak, and didn't bother to look up.

"Who could have sent him that cloak?" asked Draco.

"I've no idea," said Hermione.

"Whom did he leave it with?"

"I don't know, Draco. I'm worried...what if Cory resents it?"

"But he doesn't, does he?"

"Not right now...but what if he resents it later? What if they have a quarrel over it?"

"I'm sure they won't. They love each other. And don't you go on worrying, love. They haven't had any fainting fits since he gave us those lockets, have they?"

"No, but they are still receiving memories..."

"Hermione, could it be that he sent the cloak?"

"Maybe...his writing was similar...and the cloak was definitely his."

"Why did he leave Cory out? He could have put both their names! It isn't like him to be so inconsiderate."

Before Hermione could reply, however, Cory ran in, holding another packet wrapped in brown paper. It had his name on it.

"Mum! Dad! I got something, too! This was lying under the tree and we didn't notice it before!"

"Did you open it, dear?" Hermione asked.

Cory shook his head. Harry and Ace came up behind him.

"We wanted him to open it in front of you," said Ace. Her parents smiled.

"Go on, then," said Draco.

Cory tore open the cover. Out fell a note and a very old piece of parchment. He read the note aloud.

"This piece of parchment is a map of Hogwarts. To activate it, put your wand tip on it and say 'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good' and when done, repeat the wand action with 'Mischief managed' and the parchment will turn blank again. Use it well."

Hermione and Draco were both shocked and relieved at the same time. Hermione looked over the note carefully and saw that it was indeed his writing, though he had attempted to conceal it a bit.

"Will it work here?" asked Cory.

"I doubt it, son. I'm afraid you'll be able to use it only when you're back at Hogwarts," said Draco.

"I'll share this map, too!" exclaimed Cory happily. After receiving indulgent smiles from their parents, the children ran out to play in the garden.

Draco turned to Hermione.

"Was that what I thought that was?" he asked quietly.

Hermione nodded as tears fell from her eyes.

"That was the Marauders' Map, indeed. And I recognize the handwriting though he made a feeble attempt to disguise it. I knew he could never be so inconsiderate..."

Draco gave her a funny look, which she didn't notice.

"Why didn't he come to meet me, Draco?"

He was so taken aback by this question that he nearly fell off his chair.

"I don't know, Hermione. Maybe he charmed them to appear earlier?"

Hermione nodded unconvincingly. Draco felt jealousy nibble at his heart again. He is dead and cannot come back, he thought firmly, trying to convince himself.