A Hope through time

When the group exited the fireplace, they made their way into the living room where Mixy welcomed them home, snapping his fingers to make food appear on the table for dinner.

Hope went to the table and sat down piling food on her plate as she looked at Mixy curiously. "So, Mixy?" The House Elf turned his gaze to her.

"Yes, Miss Heiress Flame?" The House Elf squeaked out with a small bow to his head, his large perked up as he listened out for any requests from his Masters.

Hope rolled her eyes at the title. "Please just call me Hope." She pleaded with the little creature.

"But I wanted to ask, how did you know that I was a descendant of Myrddin Emrys of the Legendary House?" She asked with a small grin as she placed her chin into her hand while leaning against the table in an all-knowing expression on her face.

The House Elf whimpered a little, while Perenelle looked exasperated at Hope's gleeful attitude. Nicolas just smirks as he sits down opposite Hope and murmurs. "I love this kid. She's so intuitive."

Mixy rubs his hands nervously together and worriedly asks. "Is the Legendary Lady Emrys upset with Mixy for not using the proper title?"

Hope placed her other elbow on the table and braced her head into both of her hands and groaned silently before counting to 3 in her mind before answering, "No Mixy. Also I wish to be called just Hope."

Mixy made a horrified sound causing Hope to look up.

"No! Mixy can't do that. It is disgraceful for a House Elf to call someone from a Legendary House so commonly." Mixy exclaimed with determination and extreme distress.

Hope couldn't deal with this tonight and slammed her head on the table loudly making all the plates and cups rattle dangerously. She let out a long groan and lifted her head to bang it a couple more times, although softer than before so the ceramics only rattle slightly.

Hope heard a deep laughter before calling out without looking up. "Not funny, Nic."

Nelle sighed in a tired voice. "Nic, stop laughing at Hope. Hope, stop banging your head on the table and Mixy, stop fretting so much. For now just call Hope, Lady Hope. Also Mixy? Could you please place some Elf Magic on Hope to hide her Legendary status until she's older and ready to accept her seat in the Ministry?" Perenelle berated the lot of them lightly as she went around the table before taking her own seat between Nic and Hope.

Hope's head popped up to look at Perenelle. "House Elves can sense my magical inheritance?" Hope questioned.

"Sort of. They can feel the family magic flowing through all wizards. It helps the House Elves to know who to respect in the wizard hierarchy. So they instinctively know which families to not piss off to make their families lives more difficult." Perenelle answered as she served herself some food.

Mixy nods enthusiastically before popping away with a bow after chanting a quick Elvin spell over Hope.

Once they finished dinner Hope took out the tiny boxes from her pockets and placed her purchases that she got today on her bed. She pulled out her wand scanning it over slowly before unshrinking them by touching her wand to the parcels like she had seen Nicolas do earlier and whispered, "Finate."

There was a loud crack as the parcels enlarged to their original size immediately and Hope felt the power that was behind that spell was even more powerful than her normal magic, by possibly 1 and a half. Hope blinked in disbelief as her familiar squawked loudly as he flew from his perch and onto her bed so he could glare at her for disturbing his nap.

Hope was silent for a moment and there was a knock at her door. "Hope? Are you okay?" Perenelle called through the door, concern practically dripping from every word.

"Yeah I'm fine. You can both come in if you want." She called back.

Before the Tribrid turned to the Phoenix and murmured. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." The auburn haired girl reached out with her hand to pet the bird's head in an apology, making him sing a pleasant song.

Her door opened slowly as Perenelle and Nicolas walked in cautiously, scanning the room for any sign of danger.

"What happened?" Nicolas asked with a tilt to his head.

"I tried to use my wand to use the 'finite' charm but there was a loud crack. I'm not sure exactly what happened." Hope answered in confusion.

"Though it felt like my magic flared as if it was magnified." She tried to explain while running her hand through her hair.

"Maybe because it is?" Nicolas replied while scratching his chin.

"I mean we already know you don't need a wand and that a wand helps a wizard or witch channel their magic. So maybe a wand acts as a magnifying glass for your magic and increases your magical output?" Nicolas theorises.

Perenelle considers this and bites her lip thoughtfully. "It's definitely possible. If this is correct then you'll need to learn how to use portions of your magic through your wand so you can pass as a Hogwarts student."

Hope grunted but agreed. "We have plenty of time to work on that before school starts."

She continues patting the Phoenix almost absentmindedly. "I think it's time to give this guy a name." Hope said as she scratched him under his chin.

The midnight Phoenix thrills happily.

"I'm going to name you after my ancestor and my apparent House in this universe. I hope that you are happy with the name of Myrddin. Because other than that, all I have is Shadow and that just doesn't fit for a Phoenix." Hope told the regal Phoenix with a half hearted shrug.

Nicolas looked slightly worried at Hope.

"Do you think that's wise? Naming your Phoenix after your ancestor as soon as you became Lady Emrys. It's risky." He warned.

Hope smirked in mirth. "Please, if the wizarding world can't figure out you guys they won't figure me out, after all we hid all the evidence. My ring can't be seen unless I want it to be. I'm beyond paranoid. So I highly doubt I would let anyone get close enough to me to feel my ring and the only thing people will know is that there is a 'Lady Emrys'. But they won't know anything about her, me. I'm practically a natural at sticking to the shadows as I had to do a similar thing at my old school and no one figured it out until I wanted them to. So, just relax. I know how to be careful." Hope reasoned in amusement.

The Flamel's sighed. "Very well." Perenelle agreed before adding as an afterthought. "The plus side is most wizards don't hear the name Emrys very often and can't match it to Merlin. They believe they are two separate lines."

Hope squinted her eyes and replied incredulously. "So they don't know that I'm related to Merlin because they don't know Myrddin Emrys is Merlin's birth name??"

Perenelle answered with a shrug. "Basically. I mean some might know, but not many."

The newly named Myrddin flew up to Hope's shoulder and chirped in agreement with Hope's mental indignation with wizard stupidity. "Nope. I'm not going to even dignify that with a response."

Instead she pulled out 3 bundles of sage from her jean pockets, bringing them to her lips so she could whisper an incantation into them.

Hope then passes one of the herbal bundles to the Flamel's, who accept the sage bundles with a confused expression on their faces.

"Here. If you light one of these in your room, it will provide a privacy ward so Werewolves and Vampires can't listen into a conversation within the room as long as the sage is burning. Since these are ever-lasting bundles of sage they will work against my hearing so you don't have to worry about that. I'll put the remaining two into the living room and one in my room. It should allow for privacy in the whole house but it will definitely work in the three rooms the sage is burning in." Hope explained what the sage was for.

"That works?" Nicolas asks in surprise.

"It does in my world. My grandmother created this spell. As much as I hate my grandmother, I can't deny she knows her way around magic and spellcrafting." Hope answered with some anger against her grandmother.

"Thank you. "Perenelle says, accepting the sage with a polite smile.

"No worries." Hope replies with a smile.

"Thanks for sticking by me in Diagon Alley, but I'm beat. We'll work on how to concentrate my magic later, so I only use a percentage of it." Hope thanked the immortal couple.

Before grumpily turning around to face the bed to murmur quietly to herself and Myrddin as he looks up at Hope with shimmering eyes, almost like he is trying not to thrill in laughter at the overpowered girl. "Instead of potentially blowing up the school." Myrddin nods his head in agreement at the bitter words.

"You're welcome dear." Perenelle replies with a kind smile as she didn't hear what Hope mumbled under her breath. "We'll let you get some rest. Good night."

"Good night Hope." Nicolas says with a smile walking out the door taking a second bundle of sage. "If you'd like, I can put this out in the kitchen?"

"Sounds good. Thanks Nic and Nelle for checking up on me. Good night." Hope replies with a smile as the couple leave her room. When the door clicks shut she places her wand on her bedside table and turns back to the Phoenix who flapped his wings and flew up onto her shoulder.

"Hmm… Now how do I take a Phoenix into school with me? The teaching staff won't like it. The kids would bug me about how a first year could have a Phoenix and Dumbledore would be worried about someone else having the ability to flame-travel outside of the school wards other than himself." She asked Myrddin thoughtfully as she sat on the edge of her bed.

Myrddin bumped his head against hers and she heard a regal and honourable voice that reminded her of her Uncle Elijah, 'There's no need to worry about that. Phoenixes can come and go as they please, so if I did show up in the Great Hall but didn't hang out next to you. No one would be any wiser.'

Hope thought she would be more shocked having a bird communicate telepathically with her but she wasn't.

"Good to know." Hope said quietly to the black bird.

"I'll try getting a dorm to myself. That way I can have somewhere for you to perch and a place to absorb my excess magic." Hope mentioned to Myrddin to try and make him more comfortable while also under the expectation that she wouldn't make any friends at the school due to her brash nature.

'Just don't isolate yourself. I can feel the pain you feel when you think about the friendships you have lost as well as the family that you miss and love. I'm sorry my songs can't help you.' Myrddin requests for her before apologising solemnly to the young girl.

"Your songs do help. But when I look at the effect they have on Nic and Nelle I can tell that your songs don't work fully on me." Hope denies weakly.

Hope sighs as she magically summons a blank artbook along with some pencils to herself.

"I'll try not to isolate myself. But I think that it's going to be difficult. Mentally I'll be older than all the other students. I'm easily going to be more powerful, even you can't deny that." Hope mentioned with a raised eyebrow to the black Phoenix.

Myrddin shook his small head, knowing that Hope was possibly more powerful than an entire staff of teachers. Especially if she was wielding her wand.

Hope continued with a frustrated groan. "Also I already believe that the students at the school are idiots thanks to the 'Harry Potter' movies. So many things could be easily fixed with magic and they never apply that to themselves. Not a great start I'll admit. But I'll try. I promise Myrddin."

Through the months of May and June Hope had learned how to hone her power through her wand. Although her first attempt will always be memorable for Hope as Nicolas and Perenelle placed a small rock in front of her and told her to levitate the rock using the 'wingardium leviosa' charm only.

Knowing that using her full power through wand would accomplish nothing other than to levitate the stone out into space. Hope decided to use only half of her power to start off with and performed the levitation charm on the stone.

The stone reacted immediately. Shooting into the sky like a rocket making Hope grind her teeth together.

"I'm not going to like using a wand as a Hogwarts student. That was using half of my power." Hope muttered.

The Flamel's were shocked by the revelation that the rock would most likely end up in outer space and that it was only at half of the Tribrid's power. That is completely outstanding in their world.

Nicolas did some quick maths in his head and suggested that Hope should try using 5% of her power, causing Hope to frown but she did as requested casting 'wingardium leviosa' again.

This time the rock still shot up fast, but it was more like watching Myrddin take off, much slower than the rocket takeoff from earlier. The rock with 5% power floated to the top of the tree line and hovered there much to the Flamel's amazement and Hope's displeasure.

Hope looked annoyed and cancelled the spell with a simple thought before catching the falling rock in her hand. Hope was grumbling in frustration as she placed it on the ground again and cast the spell one more time at about 2.5% output.

The group watched as it rose with the speed of a lightly thrown tennis ball. She ignores the rock and turns to Nicolas with a haughty expression on her face as she was not enjoying using such a small amount of her magic. "This is at 2.5% power. Will I be able to get away with using this amount of magic because I don't think I can go any lower?"

Nicolas nods starstruck, not noticing how frustrated the young girl looks. "You can probably get away with using the 2.5% handicap for the first 2 years of school. You should be able to increase it to between 3 and 5 percent for 3rd year onwards while at school as most wizards hit a magical growth in their 13th or 14th years of age."

"Just wonderful." Hope rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"I'll be using a fortieth of my power for at least the first two years at Hogwarts. I'm going to be so bored." Hope complained with a roll of her eyes

"Stop being so negative dear. I'm sure there's plenty of things you can do. Maybe plot out possible scenarios for each year of school and change them to be better than the original timeline." Perenelle advises her.

Nelle even throws out some suggestions. "You could keep looking into time-travel and universal travel? You could paint? Make some friends?

Hope lets out a suffering sigh as she was losing her own Hope of ever returning home. "Whatever."

Nic and Nelle shared a pitying look behind the girl's back as she walked off further into the forest so she could shift into her wolf and run free, without any of her burdens holding her back.

Near the end of June Hope practically has a handle on manipulating her power levels since she didn't really have anything better to do. Considering you can only read so much about metaphorical physics and fringe science before your head explodes from the strain of unproven theories.

Hope has only used the common spells from this world through her wand until it becomes natural to her so she will only use minimal amounts of magic through her chocolate coloured wand. In fact, since she hasn't used anything other than the levitation, illumination, summoning, banishing and neutralising charms.

Hope was terrified of using her full power through the wand. From experience the lumos charm blinded her for an hour and that was only at 10%! The summoning and banishing spells, accio and depulso respectively were quite dangerous if she went above 10 percent. Especially when Nicolas and Perenelle had mentioned that it shouldn't be possible to unroot a fully grown Cypress tree and fling it through the forest. Yet that's exactly what Hope managed to do using only a tenth of her magic.

Hope was picking some Fire Seeds for Myrddin when a barn owl showed up at her balcony tapping impatiently on the glass door, causing Hope to flinch slightly at the sound. The owl had a letter in its claw which it attempted to pass to her, but Myrddin screeched at the owl as embers fluttered across his feathers as if he was threatening to burst into flames.

The owl straightened in fear once he saw the Phoenix glaring at it, the owl made a croaking sound before hopping back away from the door before dropping the letter and flying off in terror.

Hope looked amused at her familiar.

"Was that necessary Myrddin?" Hope asked with laughter.

The midnight bird humphed at her before his flames flickered away so he could fluff up his feathers proudly and returned to his meal looking mightily pleased with himself.

Hope chuckled to herself as she collected the letter on the perch noticing the Hogwarts wax seal on the back of the envelope. She flipped it over and read 'Hope Mikaelson, Unknown Residence.'

Hope's eyes narrowed at the address and wondered if her barrier spell hid her location from unwanted mail. She hummed to herself, pulling the letter out and walked out to the living room to join Nic and Nelle.

"Hey guys. My Hogwarts letter finally arrived." She said waving it in the air gaining Nicolas' and Perenelle's attention.

Myrddin thrilled loudly from Hope's room causing the Tribrid to come to a complete standstill as she gazed off for a moment listening to the Phoenix' disgruntled thoughts.

Hope nodded to herself before focusing on the Flamel's before shrugging. "Apparently I'm going to teach you two the messaging spell from my world. Since Myrddin was not pleased when another bird delivered letters, however he doesn't want to be used as a messenger pigeon."

"That could be handy." Nic replies in excitement and a grin.

Hope reads her letter from Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry.

'Dear Miss Mikaelson,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress'

Hope found the list mentioned and looked over it. Perenelle and Nicolas were right, they had collected all the items during their trip to Diagon Alley.

Hope summoned some parchment from her room and conjured a quill with self inking qualities much to her displeasure. As she thought to herself, 'why can't they just use pencils and pens?' With a silent roll of her eyes she wrote out a reply to the Hogwarts letter.

'Dear Deputy Headmistress,

I accept your invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Thank you and regards,

Hope Mikaelson'

She signed her name and folded the parchment in half. "Nic? Nelle? Can you both come here please and I'll show you how to do the message spell." She called out to them.

Before muttering under her breath, "At least until I can figure out how to spell my amethyst crystals to work as astral projection crystals."

"What was that dear?" Perenlle asked, coming up next to Hope and leaning over the lounge behind her.

"Nothing important." She answered Nelle possibly a little too quickly but she ignored it and changed the subject.

Hope looked beside her and saw Nicolas.

"So for this spell," Hope starts as she has learned to incorporate some of the spells from her universe into being able to cast them using a wand, so she was able to teach Nic and Nelle how to use some of the spells from her universe. "Just lightly touch your wand to the parchment you wish to send and have the destination or the person in mind of who the message is going to and chant, 'Touve mon se kavo. Touve mon se kavo.'" Hope chants as she performs the spell following her own instructions as she had explained.

The letter lit itself on fire and vanished. "And yes, the letter was supposed to catch on fire." Hope mentioned with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Perenelle took the incentive first and quickly wrote a note with the parchment and quill Hope left on the table before repeating the spell Hope showed them. As Nelle touched her note with her wand, it flashed away on fire and a slight burning residue.

Hope waited for the note to reappear next to Nicolas and when it didn't she looked at Perenelle in confusion. "Where did you send it?"

Perenelle grinned and said. "If this works. You'll find out soon."

Hope blinked at the ominous words.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to enjoy this?" Hope remarks worriedly as she looks at Nicolas.

Nicolas shrugs off handedly as the remark but they were interrupted by a chime from the Floo signalling that there was an incoming fire-call. Perenelle walked into the study at a languid pace and a large smile on her face. Nicolas and Hope shared a worried glance at one another before getting up off the lounge to follow the Healer into the study.

Perenelle connected the call and a perfect symmetrical face showed itself in the fire. Hope was both impressed at the details the Floo-Fire was able to replicate while also being remarkably envious that there was a woman in the world that looked like a runway model.

A melodic voice came from the fiery face in the chimney. "Nelle? How in Merlin's sake did you deliver that note?"

Perenelle laughed in joy as she managed to surprise her friend. "Just trying out some new ideas. You know how my family loves creating new potions and spells, Anna."

Perenelle motions for Hope to come forward to which Hope complies although reluctantly and steps next to Nelle as the immortal Healer introduces her to the fiery image. "I was also wishing for you to meet our ward, Hope."

Hope waves her hand and smiles nervously, "Hi."

"Hi there sweetheart. It's nice to finally put a name to the face that Nelle doesn't stop talking about, even if it is on fire." Anna says to Hope with a teasing tone.

The light jab at Perenelle made Hope smirk and she looked over to Perenelle, "Aww, does Nelle gush about me? That's so sweet." Hope coos at Perenelle.

Perenelle rolls her eyes. "See what I mean? I live with two smart asses." Anna laughs at Perenelle's disgruntled joke.

"You poor thing. I would love to meet your ward in person if you're up for it?" Anna asks with a polite smile.

Perenelle and Nicolas feel as Hope flares her magic subconsciously at the thought of interacting with someone new and shares a discreet look before Nelle answers her friend's request, "Not today I'm afraid. We have a family day planned. Sorry."

"Sorry Anna." Hope apologises briefly. "But I was about to learn some potions with Nic. It was lovely meeting you though." Hope responds quietly with a small nod of her head as she grabs Nic's hand and pulls him out of the study.

"Potions?" Nicolas asked skeptically.

Hope looked back with a raised eyebrow,."Well I wanted to say Alchemy but thought that would be a massive giveaway for your identity." Nicolas just hums in acceptance as he follows the strong girl.

"Besides learning Potions here would be smarter than learning them under Snape's tutelage." Hope added with a despising glare at the thought of the Hogwarts Potion Master as she released Nicolas' hand walking to the end of the foyer to Nicolas's Alchemy room to study.

"You coming?" Hope called back cheekily, causing the immortal man to roll his eyes as he followed the Tribrid willingly.

At dinner that night Hope asked Perenelle why she sent that note to her friend instead of to Nic.

"Look, Hope. You are a 12 year old girl again and I was hoping that we could do a trial run with how you will act around kids your own age, especially with being de-aged." Perenelle mentioned with a sigh.

Nelle trailed some patterns over the back of Hope's hand as the universal-traveller mentioned to the Flamel's one day that she misses human contact since she's been here and that the tactile touch also calms Hope somewhat.

"Anna has a daughter your age and another daughter about 2 years younger than you." Perenelle admitted to the young girl, trying to get Hope to agree to interacting with kids her age.

Hope groaned as she knew Perenelle had a point. "Damn I hate when you're right. But not right now. Can you give me a week at least to get into the mindset? Then I'll give it a go." Hope promised reluctantly.

Within the week before Hope was about to have her first interaction with a child her own age, well her younger age, she thought bitterly as she was trying to clear her mind by running through the woods in human form. She's been running around the woods nearly every morning for about an hour, both as a form of exercise and also to start a healthy routine since she didn't have Alaric to train with her anymore.

Hope takes in her surroundings and enjoys the freedom it gives her. On the odd occasion she would add in some wolf speed, just to test her limits but usually she just runs normally as she finds the run relaxing.

As she came back before breakfast after her morning run she would have a shower to wash away the dirt and sweat before petting her Phoenix and asking him if there was anything that he needed. Some mornings Myrddin and Hope would just chat with their heads slightly touching one another so they could communicate telepathically as Hope stood in front of her easel, painting portraits of her family for the familiarity of seeing their faces again.

She also uses the time during her runs to think of how she will act at the school. Whether to be outgoing this time around or to follow what she did in the Salvatore School and hide her identity like last time, becoming the lonely girl again. She frowns to herself at this. No, she wants friends. Not everyone obviously. But a few truly loyal friends and she would be content with that.

Maybe this girl that Perenelle wants her to meet will be a good opportunity for her to make friends. Hope sighs as she walks back into the house.

"Hey, Nelle. Are we about to leave for your friend's place?" Hope asked with a reluctant expression.

"Yeah. Are you ready?" Perenelle asks softly knowing that Hope still wasn't completely on board with her idea but determined to see it through.

Hope scratched the back of her neck as she nervously responded. "Yeah, I guess. What are your friend's names? You never mentioned and I wanna get off on the right foot."

Perenelle let out a huff of amusement, "Dear. With how you mediated the Goblins, I hardly doubt you'll have any problems staying on their good side. But my friend is Annabeth Greengrass nee Selwyn." Perenelle answered Hope.

"She married into the Greengrass family through Marcus Greengrass and they have two daughters. The daughter who is your age is Daphne and the youngest is Astoria. Their family is the main spokesperson for the Neutral Faction." Nelle gave a quick explanation for the young girl.

Hope nodded thoughtfully. "Would the Greengrass' be upset once I take up my seat on Wizengamot?"

Perenelle bit her lip and frowned.

"I'm not sure actually. Anna probably wouldn't mind but Marcus may throw a fit if he thinks that 'Lady Emrys' is inadequate at managing the Neutral Faction." Nelle shrugged as she answered to the best of her ability.

Hope made a grunting noise in acceptance.

"Eh. I'll figure it out. Maybe I'll ask him for advice if needed." Hope replies as moves into the study and waits for Perenelle to join her.

Nelle grabs some Floo Powder from the urn beside the fireplace as she turns back to face Hope. "I'll see you shortly."

Hope gives Perenelle a two fingered salute like a soldier stating 'Roger that'. Perenelle enters the fireplace with a scoff at Hope's antics and calls out, "Greengrass Farm."

Hope watched Perenelle disappear in green flames and Nic walked into the study after his wife left with a few objects in his hands before passing them over to Hope. Hope accepts one of her sketch pads and with some pencils from the immortal Alchemist.

Hope frowns slightly as she raises the sketch pad in question before asking Nic in thinly veiled confusion. "What's this for?"

Nic gave a small smile as he answered. "Daphne. Art is one of her hobbies. Maybe you can draw with her?"

Nicolas gave Hope a quick hug.

"Have a good time and don't take the family's cold exterior personally. It's Occlumency shields protecting their minds." The ageless man informed her.

"Thanks for the heads up Nic." Hope said with a smile as she hugged Nic back.

Hope picked up some Floo Powder before stepping into the fireplace.

"Be careful Nic. Don't blow up the house while we're gone." Hope said with a smirk while Nic gaped at her.

Just as Nicolas managed to pull himself together to return fire on the Tribrid's taunt, Hope called out, "Greengrass Farm." Hope was able to see Nic sputter in indignation as she disappeared and grinned to herself.

Hope walked out of the fireplace into a spacious room with a large table in the middle of the room which was surrounded by three two-seater lounges around each edge of the table except for the edge facing the fireplace. There was a couple sitting on the lounge directly opposite the fireplace.

The man, Marcus, is in his early 40's with short brown hair, icy blue eyes, a stern look on his face and he is wearing a formal suit that reminds her of her Uncle Elijah. Marcus' appearance screamed that he was a man of power and knew exactly how to use it to his advantage. Anna, however, somehow looked even prettier in person with a symmetrical oval face, long blonde hair, a kind smile and chocolate brown eyes.

There were two girls sitting on the lounge to the right of the fireplace near the only door leading out of the study. The younger girl has brunette hair down to her shoulders, chocolate eyes and a petite form almost overly skinny, Astoria her mind provided. Which would make the blonde girl with the ice blue eyes and the stoic expression Daphne.

Hope took in the family before giving a short courtesy. "Thank you for allowing me into your home. It's exquisite." Hope said politely as she raised from her bow.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at Hope's greeting for a second then lowered it. "Thank you Hope."

Anna stood up so she could walk around the table to Hope, she gestured to the lounge with her husband before introducing him and Marcus gave her a slight tilt of his head as a way of greeting. Hope was slightly agitated at the stoic expression but ignored it for the time being. When Annabeth introduced Daphne, the younger blonde girl gave Hope a blank look but Hope could tell this girl was observant as her eyes were alert and taking in every move Hope makes.

Hope's head leaned to the right as she looked the girl up and down with a smirk forming.

"Hey." Hope said with a breathy voice, causing Daphne's eyes to narrow and her cheeks to flush pink ever so slightly.

Astoria grinned as she got up off the lounge, bounding over to hug Hope. "Hi Hope, I'm Astoria. But you can call me 'Stori'."

Hope returned the hug cautiously and moved closer when the younger girl yanked at her neck bringing the Tribrid ear closer to Astoria's mouth.

"Don't worry about Daph. She'll lighten up after some time." Astoria whispered into Hope's ear and released Hope from the hug.

The Tribrid gave the younger girl a genuine smile and she noticed the rest of the Greengrass' smiled slightly at the interaction between the two girls. Hope chose to sit with Nelle on the remaining lounge and listened to the conversation around her.

Annabeth noticed the sketchpad in Hope's lap that she keeps tapping on every so often in possible boredom as she listened to the adults talk. "Do you draw, Hope?" Anna asked the auburn haired girl in curiosity.

At the question Hope's eyes left the benches with all the knick-knacks on it as she was taking stock of the room to look at Anna sheepishly.

Hope rubbed at the back of her neck, a nervous tick that she was beginning to hate due to the frequent amount she was doing it.

"Yeah, it helps me relax." Hope answered quietly with a half smile.

Anna looked at her daughter with a mischievous gleam in her eye. "Daphne? Why don't you show Hope some of your drawings?" Daphne almost glared at her mother but instead she stood up and looked at Hope expectantly.

Hope suppressed her groan at Daphne's cold exterior but stood up, walking over towards the blonde girl with silent footsteps and followed Daphne as she exited the room. Daphne navigated around her extravagant home without so much as a care in the world and also choosing not to give a tour of the house to Hope. They walked through some hallways into a large foyer and up the stairs to the second storey, they turned down to the left and entered the last door to the right.

Daphne sat on her bed with her legs bent over the edge of the bed in the same ladylike posture she had in the lounge room causing Hope to frown slightly but she managed to neutralise her facial muscles before the blonde girl saw it.

"Just sit over on that chair and be quiet. I don't want to talk to you and I'm not showing you my drawings." Daphne coldly ordered.

Hope bit her lip, drawing blood but did as told. She sat on the offered chair with one foot on the chair and opened her sketchpad, placing it on her bent knee before pulling out a pencil. Hope tapped the end of her pencil against the page quietly as she started to look around the other girl's room looking for something to draw.

Daphne took out some parchment and charcoal from her desk sitting beside her bed before ignoring the pretty redhead… Or was she a brunette? Daphne thought with a furrowed brow before internally shaking her head, trying to shake away the thought before she started to draw her friend Tracey Davis.

Hope's eyes kept searching for something to draw. Until her attention was drawn to the Daphne sitting regally on the edge of the bed. Hope noticed that all of Daphne's hard edges from holding her occlumency shields were gone while she drew. It made the girl look beautiful and Hope looked at her entranced. Her Wolf purred in pleasure at the sight and Hope couldn't help but agree with the She-Wolf.

Hope placed her pencil on the blank paper and started sketching the girl on the bed almost as if Hope was in a peaceful trance. She started with a light outline of Daphne's body then added the bed she was sitting on, so she is able to start with the shading of her shadow.

Once she had the shadow and shading on the bed complete she could finally start on the blonde haired girl. Hope went back over the trace outline and pressed her pencil down a little bit firmer so the lead would come out darker in some areas.

As Hope finished the outline of Daphne's body she drew a copy of the clothes the other girl was wearing and added in the shading since she didn't have any colours with her, so the drawing would be in a black-and-white format. Hope used the shading to draw the attention to the natural light that came in through the window.

Next came the hardest part in Hope's opinion, drawing facial features. Hope started with the eyes, a nice almond shape while Daphne wasn't using her occlumency. Since Daphne was looking down at her own sketchpad, engrossed in her own artwork, Hope could only draw a single side of the other girl's relaxed face as Daphne was facing the opposite side of the room, showing off Daphne's right side profile.

Hope studied Daphne's facial features in silence, hoping not to disturb the other girl. Once Hope was sure she had Daphne's vulnerable expression memorised, Hope drew a straight nose and the corner of Daphne's lips were turned in a small smile as all of Daphne's worries had faded away.

Hope knew this feeling well, it was one of the other reasons she loved to draw other than to reminisce about her dad. Hope also had to draw an ear as the blonde haired girl had her hair tucked behind her right ear to keep it out of her way while she drew. Hope drew Daphne's hair, each strand at a time, starting from her scalp all the way down to the tip as it was the easiest way to draw hair while keeping the drawing as authentic as possible.

As Hope was only drawing light lines for Daphne's hair to try and match the colour in monotone, this caused natural shading as each time her pencil went over a strand of hair already drawn it would become darker.

Hope had finished her sketch of Daphne after almost an hour before looking over to the girl opposite her and compared the girl to the drawing with a smile. Pleased with herself that the sketch looked almost like a still-life portrait.

Hope pursed her lips and tilted her head as she heard footsteps approach, maybe 2 sets. Hope looked down to her drawing again and thought about her vow to make friends. Making a quick decision, Hope used the copying spell 'geminio' under her breath and tore out the doubled drawing she made and placed it upside down on top of her sketch pad, hiding it from view for now.

Just as Hope hid her drawing, Anna opened her daughter's door with a displeased look on her face as Perenelle and Annabeth checked on them after an hour of nothing being heard from the two girls.

"Girls, what are you two doing up here?" Anna asked with annoyance in her voice and Daphne froze at her mother's voice as her facial expression closed up with the cold mask at the interruption.

"Sorry Mrs Greengrass. It's my fault. I distracted Daphne and asked if we could draw together but time escaped me as I was drawing." Hope covered for Daphne, which Daphne furrowed her eyebrows at in confusion as she wasn't expecting the other girl to help her.

Annabeth looked skeptically at Hope while Perenelle looked almost pleased at Hope's protective response.

"What were you drawing, Hope?" Nelle asked her ward as she noticed Hope's fingers tapping on a seemingly blank piece of paper.

Hope stood up off the armchair before placing the drawing in Perenelle's outstretched hand. Once Nelle turned the parchment around in her hand, the Healer grinned as she placed her hand against her heart.

"This is absolutely amazing Hope! What would I have to bribe you with to draw me and Nic?" Nelle praised the young girl in French before bargaining with her all with a massive smile on her face.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Who says I haven't already?" Hope snarked with a smug smile.

Perenelle laughed cheerfully as she ruffled Hope's hair lightly, not wishing to destroy Hope's appearance. "Then I guess I can't wait to see it!."

Hope shared a quick exchange with Nelle, hoping the Healer figured out Hope wanted Nelle to show Daphne the drawing.

Thankfully Nelle picked up Hope's cues and walked over to Daphne while offering the blonde girl the drawing Hope made. "I think Hope drew this for you, Daphne."

Hope actually held her breath in anticipation as Daphne reached automatically for the pro-offered parchment from Nelle and looked at it. Daphne swallowed deeply as her expressionless mask cracked in front of the 3 other girls in the room.

The Greengrass Heiress looked at the drawing with awe in her eyes as her hand came up to her mouth to cover it in shock.

Daphne looked up at Hope and gave a small smile which Hope returned. "Thank you, Hope." Daphne got off her bed and gave Hope an impulsive hug.

The hug caught Hope off guard but she returned the embrace and her nose ended up buried in Daphne's neck. Hope's sensitive nose picked up Daphne's natural scent of parchment, fresh snow and oranges.

Hope's wolf embraced the scent, enjoying the smell immensely as the Tribrid tried to bury her nose even further into Daphne's neck. Hope purred lightly against Daphne who shivered at the rumbling vibrations Hope was giving off. Daphne slowly released Hope and looked at her strangely as she now felt completely safe around Hope all of a sudden, which confused her greatly.

"You're welcome Daphne." Hope replied with a genuine smile.

Hope looked over to Annabeth and asked her. "Do you think I may be able to come over a few more times before school Mrs Greengrass?"

Nelle looked momentarily shocked at Hope's offer as she knew that Hope was uncomfortable with her entire situation in this universe but the fact that Hope requested this of her own free will stunned the Healer into silence.

Annabeth managed to take a look at the drawing Hope made for her daughter and her eyes widened in surprise as her daughter hugged Nelle's ward willingly. Annabeth saw Hope hug her daughter back, to which Daphne had melted into the embrace happily.

This surprised Anna as she knows about her daughter's sexual preferences since she was about 8. Her daughter had no interest in men and even informed her mother of this one day. However Anna also knew how well her daughter was at hiding her feelings about the girls she was attracted to. Tracey Davis was a good example of that, along with Susan Bones.

Annabeth bites her lip and looks at her daughter's hopeful expression. Against her better judgement, Anna caves to her daughter's silent plea allowing Hope to visit Under the condition Hope informs them of her visits with at least one day's notice so they can check if they are available to take guests.

Hope agrees immediately, further surprising Perenelle, but the Healer was able to keep her thoughts and opinions to herself until she could ask Hope later.

Not long after Anna and Nelle came up to check on the kids, Hope and Perenelle said their goodbyes to the Greengrass' while Hope gazed longingly at Daphne the entire time.

After the Fell's leave Annabeth pulls Daphne aside and reminds her not to get too close to Hope otherwise her father would create a Betrothal Contract to ensure her purity for future alliances.

Daphne promised her mother that she would hide the relationship from her father, but she cried in her mother's arms and cursed her Heiress status of a Most Ancient and Noble House.

Annabeth's heart broke for her eldest daughter knowing that Daphne would never be in a relationship where she would be happy because an Heiress of a Most Ancient and Noble House could never be with another girl as it would be a scandal in the wizarding world. An Heir or Heiress' main priority in Most Ancient and Noble Houses is to continue the bloodline for future generations. Something same sex couples were unable to do.

Back in the Flame Cottage, Perenelle and Hope left the fireplace, unable to wait any longer Nelle asked. "So what was that in Daphne's room when she thanked you for the drawing?"

Hope looked away in embarrassment and shyly mumbled. "Wolf." As well as some other words Perenelle couldn't make out.

Nicolas came in and wrapped Perenelle in a hug which she returned but asked Hope. "What was that about your wolf, dear?"

Hope grumbled but turned around. "My wolf likes how Daphne smells. It's the first time my wolf has had an instant reaction to someone's scent."

The Flamel's were intrigued by Hope' admission. "Really? Does that mean something important? Someone's scent?" Nicolas asks curiously.

"For my wolf, yes. Though I tend to listen to her as she doesn't lead me astray." Hope explains.

"For instance, to me. Nelle you smell like apples, fresh linen and rosemary. I don't know why but I associate these smells with maternal attributes. Whereas Nic you smell like metal, fire and sandalwood."

Hope chuckled momentarily to herself as she explained her first interaction with Nic as her wolf, "It was the sandalwood smell that my wolf sneezed at. It's overwhelming for me, it's not bad, just strong."

Perenelle laughed. "Sandalwood? That's one of your weaknesses? Oh that's great, I'm sorry, honey, I can't help it." Perenelle said through her laughs pointing at her husband while he looks disheartened and trying not to burst out laughing and Hope just stares ahead with a slight blush on her face.

"Seriously? That's mean. I shouldn't tell you guys anything anymore if all you're going to do is make fun of me." Hope says, crossing her arms over her chest in mock anger as she rolls her eyes.

They looked at Hope and laughed loudly. "Bloody old pains in the ass." Hope mumbles loud enough for the pair to hear.

"I'll be in my room." Hope mentioned bitterly as she began to stalk off.

Nicolas managed to stop laughing long enough to ask, "Wait! Before you go brood. What does the Greengrass girl smell like that makes your wolf…"

Nicolas looked to Perenelle for help to finish his sentence. "Purr like a happy wolf having its ears scratched." Perenelle finishes with a cheeky smile.

Hope groaned at the description realising how unthreatening that sounded and brooded quietly to herself.

"She smells like parchment, fresh snow and oranges." She answered as she walked off to her room and closed the door behind her.

Myrddin's head popped up and raised its wings and flew over to Hope's shoulder and placed its head against Hope's.

'Well, well, well. Look who found their Mate. Congratulations, young one.' Myrddin says into her mind.

"You know I can't tell her right? It would destroy any relationship that she would have. After all, I'm an interloper from another universe, my interferences could cause massive ripples." Hope replied to the midnight Phoenix.

Myrddin thrills sadly. 'You have already caused ripples by being here. Including the Flamel's into the timeline, going to Hogwarts, making positive relations with the Goblins, destroying the Horcrux in Hufflepuff's Cup, becoming Lady Emrys and assigning a Proxy to your seat in the Wizengamot.'

Hope shook her head in denial.

"I can't deal with this at the moment. We'll discuss this later. Sorry Myrddin." Hope murmured sadly as she collapsed into her bed with a groan.

Myrddin frowned and cooed sadly as he watched over the girl's depressed form in worry.