Echoes of Time (Harry Potter)

December 21, 1943

Wednesday Early Evening

Good luck?

Why would he need that?

Harry shook his head and took his seat between the nicest two Goldhorn girls, or in better terms, the two that had the least mischief in them. Across from him were Sana and Katie, the two most mischievous, while Kathy was sitting beside her mother at the head of the table and looking younger than she truly was.

"Harry Peverell isn't it, or does my age get to me?"

Harry turned towards the direction the voice came from and saw Sarah's grandfather; Sammi was talking to the older woman beside him, her grandmother.

"Harry Peverell, yes sir" Harry replied to the older man, taking in his general appearance of a short pure white beard, large sideburns and short, closely-buzzed hair. His manner of dress was sharp too, the outfit being an old set of wizarding robes with a youthful infusion in the form of a gold trim as well as the Goldhorn coat of arms stretched across it.

"I half thought the news was wrong," Grandpa Goldhorn said. "Perhaps things may've been different last your family can remember, though I'd bet against that; everyone knows most forms of news are far from trustworthy - Once my granddaughter told me that she'd met you herself I finally started to believe the rumours that your family had returned after so very long. Tell me lad, are you up to dat-"

"Father, Harry's only been here for a few hours at the most, surely you'd not have his second meal start with all the serious political nonsense that you and my husband go on about, hm?" Lady Goldhorn came to his rescue. Grandpa Goldhorn glanced at his daughter for all of a second before relenting with a begrudging nod; although his eyes remained on Harry from that point on.

"Sorry, Harry. All of the boys in our family, my husband and sons included, get ever so political when a guest arrives… or if they find themselves deep in their cups" - Taking a gentle sip of her fanciful Greek wine, Lady Goldhorn gestured towards a servant to come forward and fill his glass. Harry wasn't exactly keen on drinking, but he didn't want to decline and come off as rude or otherwise disrespectful to Sarah's mother as well as a potential ally as the Carrow's were tentatively becoming. - "Vintage from nearly three decades ago, it was only recently found onboard a downed muggle ship, we took all the contents considering we'd been the ones that found it. Very sweet-tasting too, I doubt we'll find anything of its likeness again."

Harry's eyes stayed on the woman the entire time she spoke, not glancing down once despite the harshness in which she'd referenced the muggles with or the age of the liquid now in the fancy glass before him.

"Thank you for allowing me a taste then," Harry said once the woman was finished.

Him saying what he had earned a smile from Lady Goldhorn, that smile widening when the older woman saw him take a swig of it.

"Only the finest for our guests, isn't that right Sarah?" Lady Goldhorn looked purposefully at her daughter beside him, and in turn, Sarah looked at him with an equally charming smile on her face.

"Of course, mum," Sarah agreed. "If you enjoyed that, Harry, you'll very much enjoy the upcoming food - all the traditional stuff from our family was made for today before the majority of our guests arrive, I really hope you like it all!"

Harry had sincerely enjoyed the sweet-tasting wine that was almost reminiscent of muggle candy, but he wasn't sure what Sarah meant in regards to her families 'traditional food' considering they looked and sounded pretty English to him; the thought didn't register that the same could be said for Corene too, though the girl hadn't ever spoken French within earshot of him before he'd visited her home. Thinking about that was going to make him wonder just why she hadn't, surely more Hogwarts peers of his spoke the language, right?

It wasn't like French was entirely uncommon being right across the channel.

"What type of food is it?" He finally asked, the curiosity getting the better of him.

Sarah got halfway through sticking her tongue out at him when she retracted the teasing appendage and sat up straighter in her seat, a small cough clearing her throat as she did so.

"Greek!" the girl happily responded. "Moussaka, Dolmades, Kolokythokeftedes, Dak-"

"He probably doesn't know what any of that is, Sarah. Morgana, I don't even know what that third one is after having eaten it for years now," Sammi said with an eye-roll and light elbowing to Harry's ribs.

"I'll teach him then, Moussaka i-" Sarah was interrupted again, this time with Sana being the offender rather than his typical saviour of Sammi.

"It's boring. Why don't we talk about better things over a light dinner with Gia and Pap here?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow while her mother was discussing something lightly with Kathy, the older woman either choosing to let the conversation run its course or not hearing it in the first place as she was talking to the youngest of the five in attendance; Harry figured it was more than likely the first option.

"Yeah? Such as?" Sarah said it in such a way that he pictured her arms would've gone to her hips if she'd been standing, though the arched eyebrow and challenging tone were good enough.

"Maybe what we can do tonight, or, if that doesn't interest you" - Sana leaned in so her voice was a whisper and gestured for the others across the table as well as her co-conspirator beside her to do the same when they did, she continued - "We could talk about the love life of Harry and you."

Katie snorted and jolted back in her seat while Sana made a show of picking up some sort of bread-encased snack on the table a few inches to her right.

Sammi pulled him back alongside her, the two of them right behind their plates and seated properly while glancing at the last of the group that'd leaned forward; Sarah. She was blushing madly, her bottom lip was trembling and her eyes were narrowed so much that they almost looked closed - Sana was likely in for it the moment the parental guard was gone, or so he assumed if he was the one that ever received such a look.

"Mum, Sarah's doing it again," Kathy's voice from Harry's left made him look over in time to see the youngest Goldhorn girl pointing at Sarah, the latter looking more flushed when her mother, as well as her grandparents who'd been quietly speaking with one another, looked towards her.

He understood now why Sammi had bid him 'good luck', eating with the Goldhorns was a journey in of itself.

A good few hours later and when he had the time to process exactly what had happened during his early dinner with Sarah's family, he knew the remaining time today, as well as the next couple he'd agreed to spend with them, would be completely different than the day he'd spent with the Carrows.

Where one family was serious and similar to an almost mechanical level, the other was jovial and almost every member was unique in their own way (sorry Katie) to the point arguments would start from said differences. Their homes exemplified this too, the Carrows had a castle where they'd done their best to match the initial portion from the Romans while the Goldhorns' various homes and additions were completely different, though not in a way that detracted from their beauty.

Put simply, he could very easily see the differences between the families which meant the way he approached them and vice versa, would be just as different.

If only every one of his friends were more similar, it'd certainly make dealing with them as well as their families far, far easier.

Though then again, it'd be pointless working them all over if they were mirrors of one another - different perspectives and that would do him good so long as they weren't different enough to cause problems.

"Good evening sir, the snack you'd ordered earlier has been procured and is currently in preparation, is there anything more I could do for you?" A butler the Goldhorns, or more accurately, Lady Goldhorn, had assigned him, asked from a few feet away whilst standing in the entrance to the balcony Harry was currently seated on.

"No, thank you," Harry answered, dipping his head once to the friendly man before going back to overlooking the vastness that made up the Goldhorns land; unlike his home, they weren't surrounded by forests and uneven, jagged, terrain, no, they had rolling hills with lush meadows that only complimented the gardens that undoubtedly took years to perfect.

Again, it made him wonder why he'd not heard or seen anything about the Goldhorns if they were this wealthy and polite.

And again, the signal from below came that a person was coming up to visit - as annoying as that particular feature was, it was bloody helpful in alerting him that someone had decided to visit.

One minute later when the climb was finished for his visitor, he heard the telltale sign of bare feet slapping along the cold stone until the voice of said person greeted him a few feet before coming into view.

"Reading anything, Heir Peverell, or simply enjoying the view?"

It was Sana's voice, the oldest of the Goldhorn girls had decided to visit him 'alone' and seemed more proper than she had thus far.

"Latter" Harry answered while glancing warily at the girl. "What made you come to visit… alone?"

He wasn't entirely sure the girl was just that, but he didn't hear any additional footsteps nor did he see the slight shimmering from the disillusionment charm - whether that meant Katie was master of stealth and Sana was wicked at charms or nobody had accompanied her, well, he hadn't decided yet, it'd likely depend on whatever topic was brought up.

"Mum did, she's not entirely fond of my behaviour for some reason," Sana laughed as she approached, eventually plopping down in one of the empty seats near him. "Suppose I should get this over with and say, 'I'm sorry for being immature and unhelpful as the eldest daughter of House Goldhorn' or something along those lines… maybe that was good enough to spare the both of us any embarrassment?"

Harry could say no, that it hadn't been good enough, but he'd rather not ruffle any feathers until he was only minutes away from leaving on his last day. Once that time came, maybe he'd launch a prank attack of his own, but until then, he'd keep the peace in hopes that she'd do the same, her mini-me included.

"That was fine."

"Thank Morgana!" Sana shouted before wincing and glancing at him with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, habits, you know?"

"I know," Harry agreed, nodding his head with amusement on his face.

"So…"

Harry glanced at Sana again, the oldest Goldhorn refusing to let the silence linger while in his presence.

"So?"

"Don't you have any questions about the family? Maybe where my older brother is or why dad hasn't greeted you?" Sana was watching him curiously now, her eyes not once straying from his general direction despite his incessant glancing at the doorway every fifteen or so seconds.

"Not really. I guess I could ask why Lord Goldhorn or Heir Goldhorn haven't visited, but if the information wasn't offered and the two of them aren't here, I don't suppose it's my business, now is it?" Harry didn't want to press the matter with Lady Goldhorn anymore than he did with any of her children, and truthfully, he figured if it mattered they'd share it.

Sana laughed in response, she did so for nearly two minutes while glancing from him back to the view across her family's lands. Her doing so just so happened to be the time needed for his snack to arrive; it looked marvellous, though he expected nothing less from a set of cooks that'd made something as wonderful as the dinner he'd had earlier.

"Treacle Tart?" Sana asked. "I didn't think we had any on hand."

Harry plucked a finely cut piece in a napkin and handed it to the older girl before taking one for himself.

"You didn't. I asked for some when the butler your mum assigned me came up, but I didn't press it for it when he said there wasn't any - he was very adamant that he went out for the ingredients to make a fresh batch while visiting others that'd likely have it so there'd be little in terms of waitings" - Harry gestured to the full platter of nearly twenty pieces - "Think he gave me a whole batch to myself, or, almost to myself. I'll have to give him some galleons when I see him next, he might've become one of my best mates in one evening."

Sana nibbled idly on the piece given until he'd finished.

"He'll refuse them, he's like a lot of the giant half-breeds."

"He's a giant half-breed?"

Harry had seen the man thrice now, and at the most, he was halfway to seven feet; sure that was pretty tall, but half-giant tall? No, Hagrid was far larger in stature.

Sana laughed at his expression and nodded a few times.

"Maybe more like quarter-giant, but yes, he's not fully magical like you and I are. Still better than being a muggle though isn't it?" Sana pulled a weird face. "Imagine being all squishy without magic or creatures to help you, sounds dreadful, doesn't it? I've even heard they use contraptions built out of pure metal that let them fly like our brooms or ones made for the ground like the train to Hogwarts only smaller."

Harry imagined she was talking about planes and cars based on the descriptions, but he was more distracted by her dislike towards Muggles - he shouldn't have been considering that seemed to be the big difference from his time to this one, that being that there seemed to be less a problem based on blood status and more based on Muggles v Magicals. He wondered what changed that made that reverse over time, or rather, what made the Purebloods dislike anything but them instead of tolerating the Muggleborn and Half-Bloods as they currently seemed to.

"Yeah, imagine that," Harry replied with a hopefully convincing wince. "You're not going to tell me about your older brother and father are you?"

Sana leaned towards him, her eyes darting towards his lips and back to his eyes as she grew ever closer, until, inches from the frozen Harry watching her, she flicked his nose and jolted back in her seat with a giggle.

"Father, no. My brother, however, yes - sorry for that too, teasing you and Sarah is too fun!"

Harry exhaled and rubbed at his temples, the difference from Sarah's energetic, friendly attitude to that of her older sister's wasn't as large as he'd initially thought based on her earlier attitude. If anything, Sarah used her extroverted personality lightly and in a friendly manner while Sana seemed more about teasing and making those around her uncomfortable for her amusement or that of others.

Sarah was most certainly preferential, Sammi wasn't too far behind her.

Shrugging in response, Harry waited for Sana to say what she wanted about her brother, and after one last giggle, she did.

"Desmon's out visiting his fiance, she graduated a year before he did so they've been working together with our families to build them a home where they wanted. Obviously, that takes up a lot of his time while she stays at home with her mother working on the finances and all the other things a soon to be Lady of a home needs to know," Sana said everything so fast he nearly couldn't follow, her next words were said with her best smile yet. "He's been looking forward to meeting you the moment Sarah started speaking fondly about you. Unfortunately, he'll only return in time to see you off in the last few hours you're here; don't think about leaving earlier either, Sarah would be absolutely inconsolable if her big brother couldn't meet one of her best friends."

That didn't sound great. Sana's wide smile and sharp bite to finish her tasty treat shortly after made it sound worse.

Swallowing nothing, Harry nodded and put on his brave face.

"I look forward to meeting him as much as I look forward to your teasing Sarah tomorrow - I know her well enough that she'd want to call me her 'best friend' before anyone else."

Sana shrugged.

"I'm her big sister, I get to spoil things from time to time… like this" - Sana darted towards the tray of treats and withdrew four more as she bounded towards the exit from his balcony - "See you at breakfast, Harry!"

He didn't try to stop her as she bolted from his room, especially since she could apparate on the grounds and she'd left a good majority of his favourite food to him. It was eating those pieces of treacle tart and overlooking the beautiful landscape that was the last thing he could recall for the evening.

Such a beautiful view reminded him of his window in the Slytherin boys' dorms.

December 22, 1943

Thursday Morning

When Harry rose early on Thursday morning, it was to the musical sounds of birds, a light breeze from the nearby body of water and the fresh air one could only get from being in the open countryside - in other words, it was worlds away from waking up anywhere he had before, the comfort of the chaise especially had surprised him.

Twenty minutes later - ten having been used for the same purpose that nearly an hour had been last night, that being relaxation while overlooking the Goldhorn lands - he was freshly showered, dressed and ready to start the only full day he'd spend with the Goldhorns. He very much looked forward to how it'd go, especially since it seemed like Sana was more willing to interact with him without the need to tease him as she had for most of yesterday; he didn't particularly care if that was because of her mother.

His bell ringing as he pondered in one of the chairs of his room alerted him that a visitor was coming up, and, a little less than one minute later, his favourite butler had arrived with a plate of fresh fruits likely grown from the garden as well as various cheeses that looked wonderful.

"Good morning, Heir Peverell," The man said while placing the tray of food on the nearest table. "Lady Goldhorn would like you to join her for brunch in two hours, this tray should serve to hold you over until then - she asks that you spend your time beforehand doing whatever you'd like so long as Sarah or Sammi accompany you."

"Thank you…?" Harry felt rude not having asked the man his name last night and figured now was as good a time as any to fix that.

"Gregor, Sir, you are very kind to ask," Gregor bowed in a very well-practised manner.

Harry took the man's appearance in better than he had before after hearing the name, and once he had, he couldn't stop the snort of recognition that left him.

"Would you happen to be related to Grigor? He works for the Rosiers."

Gregor dipped his head once.

"Yes, Grigor is my namesake and uncle, he has worked for two families for far longer than I've worked for the Goldhorns."

"Grigor's very kind, could you greet him for me the next time you see him?" Harry smiled when the man nodded. "Wicked, thank you Gregor, I'll join Lady Goldhorn a couple of hours from now."

Again, Gregor dipped his head, and this time, the quarter-giant left Harry to the food he'd brought up.

It didn't take too long for Harry to finish the wonderfully fresh food, leave the extravagant tower he still couldn't believe they'd given him sole usage of, and find the two girls he was told to; they were together reading books on the two chaises outside the tower entrance.

"Harry, you're up earlier than I thought you'd be," Sarah said with a smile whilst closing her book.

Sammi scoffed and took the same latter action her sister had.

"He's up around the same time he usually is, it was only those first couple months where he'd be sleeping into the afternoon" - Sammi looked from Sarah to Harry while standing up from her seat to gesture towards the nearest exit - "You'll have to tell us one of these days why that was, but that'll be a matter for another time because right now, I think we have some time to visit the water."

Sarah pouted and reclined in her seat at Sammi's words.

"Do we have to? We'll have to walk through the woods, through the overgrown meadow and pass by the old Yule shrine before we get to the pier - you know how much I hate that walk, especially because of the meadow!"

Harry cocked his head at Sarah. He thought he remembered her family keeping with the old ways, so he didn't understand why she'd not be overly fond of the woods or 'old' Yule Shrine; it also made him wonder if 'old' meant abandoned or just what the word regularly meant… Come to think of it, he hadn't seen too many Yule decorations around their land either, only the bare minimum.

"What would you rather we do then? Stay inside reading all day? Sit in the gardens and let the breeze mess up your hair?" Sammi had her hands on her hips while looking at her older sister, Harry, on the other hand, smartly stayed out of it by taking a sudden interest in a nearby bust of an old member of their family.

If only a ghost or a servant had been nearby, he'd have distracted himself with one of them instead.

"Harry was reading a lot right before Yule break came around, maybe that option wouldn't be too displeasing to him."

Sarah's reply wasn't wrong, he'd truly spent a lot more of his time in the latter weeks of his time at Hogwarts studying than he had earlier on, though he blamed that on the shell shock that came with being deposited in a time he had almost zero knowledge on - he'd definitely never let that grudge go whenever he met with the being that'd sent him back here, there was no chance of that.

Sammi sighed and rolled her eyes whilst looking at Harry.

"You pick, Harry, otherwise Sarah's likely to have a fit."

He didn't think his answer through too carefully, but when he saw the one girl that he knew could help walking at the other end of the hallway, he tried it.

"Can't Sana apparate us to the beach?"

Sammi snorted while Sarah shook her head, the latter was the one that answered.

"She'd have to make multiple trips, and even if you convinced her to do that, she'd not know when to come back for us unless she stayed - we may as well fly out with bro- no, wipe that smile off your face, brooms don't sit well with us."

"Sarah's the worst at flying, but none of us are much better. Well, other than Desmon and his wife I guess; that includes our mum and dad too, they're no better than Sarah or I, we've always been pretty poor when it came to flying for some reason," Sammi finished with a slightly put out expression on her face.

Harry nodded at their words and decided with Sammi's first option she'd given; reading. Maybe there could be books in the Goldhorn library that'd be good for him to read, though he doubted they'd grant him access to anything too important, assuming such books weren't hidden away in a private portion of the castle in the first place.

But, that wasn't to be, at least not at the moment.

"Heir Peverell?"

Questioned a small, child-like voice from another hallway, one in which he wasn't facing.

Harry turned around to face whoever had spoken to him, but before he had, Sarah was already scolding them.

"Webster! You're supposed to be in lessons right now, what're you doing in the halls?"

Ah. Harry thought. Sarah's little brother's finally come to visit.

"I wanted to meet Heir Peverell, I didn't get to last night and I knew today I wouldn't be allowed to either!" Webster stomped his foot during his whining before coming to regard Harry again. "Mum and Nanny read so many tales about your family when I was a baby, they still do too - not that I'm a kid anymore! Could I ask you about them, Heir Peverell? Please?"

"Webster…" Sammi's voice carried the same tone of warning that Sarah's had.

Rather than let the two send the boy away, however, Harry waved both the girls off; he didn't mind speaking with the boy and any chance to learn tales, regardless of how embellished they likely were, would be beneficial… especially if the Hallows came up again considering he still knew nearly nothing about them.

"I don't mind it, really," Harry said, moving closer to Webster. "We were looking for something to do, weren't we? Stories and good conversation can be as good as any reading or adventure on the grounds."

Hopefully, they'd not press the issue, and if they did, he'd find another time to speak to their younger little brother. Especially if they raised a fuss about it right this second.

Sammi looked to Sarah, Sarah looked to Sammi, then both looked at him; neither was especially pleased with the presence of their little brother based on the faces they were pulling, but a few nods given from both told him that he'd get what he wanted. It happened so quickly that he half thought he'd missed the whole thing too, for the next blink he had, matching smiles were on the faces of the girls as they each picked a boy and began dragging them towards what he assumed was the small interior courtyard he'd been shown yesterday - while much smaller than the gardens or Corene's families courtyard, it was still a sizable and relaxing enough place for any conversation.

"Alright," Sarah said with a clasping of her hands. "You can have thirty minutes with Harry, Webster, then we'll be sending you back to your lessons - that doesn't mean we'll lie for you either if mum or nanny come looking for you" - Sarah held up a hand to silence the boy and looked sterner than she ever had before - " We had to take these same teachings before Hogwarts too, and believe me, you absolutely need them, otherwise you'll fall behind or look like a dunderhead to your classmates."

Sammi nodded along with Sarah's words, "She's right Web, imagine all your friends doing well and going out having fun in the halls while you're stuck with us in the library."

Webster looked wide-eyed between his two older sisters while Harry tried his best to hide the smile and snickering; they were laying it on a bit thick for him, but honestly, he wished he would've had some level of preparation before going to Hogwarts too. That wasn't to say he didn't understand what Webster was thinking to some degree, being stuck inside during the summer for writing or reading had to be tremendously boring.

"Fine!" The young boy finally agreed, kicking his feet in the chair.

Sarah and Sammi both looked pleased enough, turning to Harry while the former sipped a drink and the latter took a piece of fruit that'd been brought out for them.

Harry took that to mean he could start conversing with the boy now that he'd been thoroughly warned by his two older sisters and did just that.

"Call me Harry, like Sarah, Sammi or really everyone does - no need for the Heir Peverell stuff between friends yeah?" Harry smiled at the boy. "What were you wanting to ask me about? I'm curious as to what stories you're referencing."

Webster looked to be in awe when Harry said the boy could use his first name rather than his title, and as soon as Harry was finished speaking, the boy started kicking his feet fast enough that he could paddle a boat like a muggle engine; his tongue moved at that speed too, though that didn't help him in getting his words out in the slightest.

"H-H-Harry, could I-I ask a-about the s-st-story where you-you" - Sarah paused the boy's speaking by raising a hand as she'd done earlier before scooching her chair closer to his, and once she'd done that, she used one hand to rub the boy's back while the other pulled his head close to her so she could whisper to him; Webster turned red and wouldn't look at Harry as that was happening.

"He gets extremely nervous around new people," Sammi answered his unasked question. "We don't exactly know why, but his throat tightens up, he gets quite red and his words start getting mixed up - he says it feels like his tongue is swollen even when we can see that it's not. Sarah, Mum, really any of us can calm him down so long as it doesn't get to the point that he runs away."

Harry was nodding his head along with Sammi's speaking, but his eyes were solely on the pair across from him.

Sarah would say a comforting thing after comforting thing that he'd barely get a word or two of before her pitch was quieter, all the while Webster's movement would slowly recede until eventually, the boy was just leaning into his sister's touch while answering under his breath.

"Is this why he was kept from meeting me?"

Harry hoped his voice didn't come out as challenging or something similar since that was the last thing he wanted, but Webster's earlier comment about not having been able to meet him made it sound like they were pushing it off for a reason, and if Harry were to guess, it was this exact reason.

"Yes."

Sammi confirmed his guess easily enough, her eyes staying on his, and for the first time in his knowing her, they narrowed.

"I won't tell anyone," Harry said, hoping that was the reason for the sudden look of distrust. "Your family's been incredibly kind to me, especially with the Yule traditions and helping me get accustomed to the magical world without the insane amount of politicking that Slytherin has."

Sammi exhaled a breath and smiled at him.

"Thank you, Harry."

He nodded his head once while inwardly cheering; he had guessed correctly, the old mug that he was probably wouldn't have guessed as quickly as he'd done, if ever… Slytherin could be helpful so long as he had friends outside of it.

"Hey, you two," Sarah's voice drew the attention of Harry and Sammi. "I'm going to take Webster to Sydny, Gregor should be waiting right inside if you need anything… wait for me here?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Tell Sydny hi for me too."

Harry responded without a second thought and instantly turned to Sammi as he had, hoping again, that he hadn't come off as rude when he'd failed to see if she wanted to do anything else while they waited - Sammi's reaction to his looking was a wider smile followed by a week as she added her own comment for Sarah.

"She'll probably think you did something like when you were younger," Sarah teased her sister before switching her attention to Harry. "I know this didn't go as you'd expected, but just so you know, you've made a huge friend in Webster in the few words you said to him - we'll be expecting you at his birthday party over the summer."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Harry promised.

Sarah's dimpled smile and the bright look in her eyes told him he'd said something as perfectly as he could, a few seconds later while she was carrying Webster out, the boy shyly looked over her shoulder when she'd whispered something to him and did something Harry hadn't expected him to; he waved with that same Goldhorn smile.

A huge friend indeed.

After that event happened, Harry waited alongside Sammi for Sarah to return; topics ranged from dipping a bit more into Webster's fiasco, the inner workings of Slytherin, the view he had from his dorms (hers as well) and finally, right before Sarah arrived, what he knew about Yule - the final topic was comedic considering he'd discussed it with Sarah before, Yule was something he had extremely limited knowledge on considering the pagan holiday that it was.

Obviously, he knew they celebrated with wreaths, Yule Altars, trees decorated with nature-like ornaments rather than synthetic. Merlin, he even knew the fertility associated with the various decorations too, but he still didn't know how the actual celebrations themselves went, and thankfully so he didn't appear as ignorant as he truly was, they'd toned it down a fair bit with his presence considering it was a bit more of a private matter.

Once Sarah did finally return, the trio spent the remaining time until he met with Lady Goldhorn simply enjoying the company they provided for each other - nothing important was discussed, they didn't stay in the courtyard for all that time either.

He got to see one of the smaller buildings where one of the older branches of House Goldhorn had once lived; the decorations were a couple of centuries-old though the building itself was still in pristine condition thanks to the caretakers of it. Harry nearly asked what happened to them too, until he came across the office where that head of that branch would've been. Just as Sirius' home had, this one had a family tree on a wall, though the one he'd looked at alongside Sarah and Sammi was wilted with not a small branch or the trunk itself appearing healthy… he supposed it matched the extinction of that portion of the family based on the lack of living people the portrait portrayed.

It was sombre, even if he'd never met one of them, seeing a whole family gone was always a sad thing; that branch made him wonder though. If this family had one, he could assume the larger Goldhorn family did too, and if that were the case, did that mean the Peverells as a whole had one? One that contained the entirety of the family so he could look through it?

He'd have to check again once he returned home, he'd have to do the same for that book on the Peverells too, the one that the family hadn't even trusted the house-elves to look after.

Not too much longer after exiting the house and with a slightly sombre mood hanging like a cloud over the trio, Gregor found them, and his reason for seeking them out was to warn Harry that he had five minutes until his brunch with Lady Goldhorn started - Sarah and Sammi's exclamation of surprise alerted him that neither of the two girls had been invited, much to their displeasure.

Ah well, at least Harry wasn't the one they'd be going after, that'd only be the person he'd be meeting within the next few minutes… it was a good thing the two girls had run off the moment Gregor said those words, it meant if he took his time in getting to the woman, maybe the whining and argument would be done by then.

"Finally, there you are dear," Lady Goldhorn greeted. "Please, take a seat and help yourself to the assortment of snacks - I have it on good authority that treacle tart happens to be a favourite of yours as well as the cheese we'd brought forth on the platter last night."

Harry took the seat the woman indicated, and, looking at the food resting on the table, saw the two items she'd just mentioned laid out for him; the tarts were cut differently than the one's last night, likely on account of the staff here actually making them while the cheese, on the other hand, looked exactly as it had the first time he'd seen it.

"Thank you, La- Allie… did Sa-"

He hadn't even gotten halfway through saying her first daughter's name before she waved him off with a laugh and gesture towards the main building of their estate.

"My daughters have already made their displeasure known at the lack of invitation for this meal, consider such trivial things settled, there's more I'd discuss with you in the limited time we've got together," Lady Goldhorn's voice was polite, her smile matched and her body language portrayed the epitome of friendly-nature.

Harry went on guard at the overabundance of kindness from the woman and instantly, he wondered if more political nonsense would be getting brought up as it'd been from his first letter exchanged with the family. If it were, he wondered why her husband wasn't present alongside her considering he'd brought up questions of his own alongside those of his wife. There was the possibility that Lady Goldhorn led the family similar to how most Lords did, but even then, wouldn't her partner have tried his damndest to sit in for any talks had?

Helping himself to a small portion of the food that'd been spread for them, Harry indicated that he was ready for the woman to say what she'd like, and just as Sarah had always done, she hadn't even waited for his head to cease its shaking by the time the first word exited her mouth.

"I'd like to speak with you about a few political matters, assuming you'd not be too against it - discussing it through the post was quaint, but for anything meaningful, I'd much rather have it done in person with as much bluntness as you can handle" - Lady Goldhorn sipped leisurely from her glass of wine and regarded him coolly for a few seconds - "Would that be agreeable? Not mincing words for the sake of formalities? I'd like to imagine two families as old, storied and respected as ours are past the need of such things."

"That's fine," Harry agreed, his inward thoughts being jumbled from the lack of knowledge he had on the Goldhorn family as a whole; his face didn't portray that though, at least he hoped it didn't, and unlike with Corene's mother or Elaine, he didn't feel that tickle at the back of his mind.

"Wonderful darling, let's st- ah, lunch has arrived."

Lady Goldhorn paused her speaking while the servants went about laying food on the table and only once they were finished did she continue.

"There's been a good deal of time since our owls to one another, and as I recall, your stances weren't set in stone due to the freshness that the wizarding world presented itself with. While understandable to some degree, I'd like to think more than enough time has since passed that you'd have a certain grip on the politics our world is currently part of - would you agree? Do let me know if I'm blatantly wrong too, I'm sure there are other things we could speak about; your family is one such interesting topic I'd love to know more about or your friendship with Sarah comes to mind too, she's ever so secretive about her friends."

One of those was something Harry only had a rudimentary knowledge of, and the other, well, the older woman wouldn't likely settle for anything less than whole recountings that she'd likely already gotten from her daughter. In other words, it was a lose-lose-lose situation regardless of the topic chosen… Her initial one granted him the benefit of learning about more current happenings in the world to some degree, so maybe that wasn't truly horrible.

Obviously it'd be skewed since viewing something without bias is hard, but learning more of what Sarah's family thought, especially considering the seeming dislike they had for muggles and Dumbledore, would be pretty beneficial.

"We could talk about my stances on things, I can't speak for my family though, they've not seen the world the same way I have," Harry said, hoping she understood his meaning.

"That's fine dear, your stances don't matter all that much to us. Put plainly, my husband and I are hobbyist historians to some degree, learning about where you stand in relation to where your relatives stood in the past would be very interesting to people like us" - Lady Goldhorn took another sip of her glass while looking at him, pointing at his own with a finger from her opposite hand when she saw he hadn't touched his yet - "Elvish wine imported from Uzbekistan, it's quite brilliant if a bit expensive considering the species making it. Anyhow, Harry, I'd be more than willing to help you with anything you're unfamiliar with in terms of policies, the abundance of new laws is likely jarring even now."

He nodded his head along with the woman's words, thinking; Jarring doesn't even begin to describe my life since being sent back here by that bloody mo- being.

Harry stopped himself short of going on a tirade for two reasons, the first was so he didn't lose track of the conversation, while the second was something anyone in his shoes would agree with. Badmouthing something strong enough to send you back in time to a potentially different world while hiding your memories was stupid, as the thing could just as easily torment you without a second thought if it wanted to.

Seeing that Lady Goldhorn was looking at him, he brought the dark glass up to his lips and faked a drink, Yaxley's words bouncing fresh in his mind at the oddest of times about trusting those who offer food or drink. He could use the spell that checked for any magic in the items too, but doing so in front of your host was probably pretty rude in wizarding culture - he knew he'd be offended if somebody blatantly checked a meal for poison if they came over to Peverell Mansion. Still, Yaxley's words ringing between his ears in Yaxley's voice was something that frayed his nerves to some degree, thus, he'd not drink properly until the woman was distracted enough for him to check the wine.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" Lady Goldhorn smiled and took a deep breath of the nice, cold, breeze.

There wasn't any snow yet, not like there'd been around Corene Castle, Merlin, he still didn't know why he felt as warm as he did in the still pristine looking gardens when the temperature should've been anything but warm - was he still in Britain anymore? How far did Floo's even go?

"Yes, thank you… what were you wanting to talk about first?" Harry hoped she'd not delve into some intricate law with the numbers and letters they so often had because if she did, he'd be well and truly done out in the first question.

"Perhaps what you think of Horace Slughorn? From what I recall the hefty man was always too fond of his partying even while acting the part of a Professor. Has he changed since then, or is he still ever so focused on building 'friendships' as he'd call them?"

Lady Goldhorn's visage had shifted to something decidedly less friendly, he wasn't sure if the look of annoyance mixed with disliking was meant for him or the man that was being discussed. Regardless of who it was meant for, his hand shifted a few inches closer towards his wand, two warnings having gone off in his mind in the short time he'd been sitting with Sarah's mother.

He wasn't sure how he should answer that question either; did he tell the whole truth, parts of it, or outright say what he thought she wanted to hear? No, that last bit wouldn't work, he hadn't a clue as to what Sarah's mom wanted with this… Sarah! Harry remembered that Sarah had been excluded from the 'Slug Club' this year, maybe that was the reason the woman looked so unhappy when she usually held that same smile her daughters had, mischievous ones included.

"Professor Slughorn still enjoys an occasional party," Harry said, choosing to tell the truth or a portion of it. "He's not hosted nearly as many as I'm told he used to, nor has he seemed overly concerned in building the 'friendship' I think you mean."

Lady Goldhorn laughed, sipping yet another drink from her refilled glass.

"He focuses too much on three students, though I'm surprised you're not one of them. His loss I suppose, anyone with half the intelligence of the Malfoys would've seen you're wonderful, especially if my daughter's say as much."

Harry's cheeks coloured as he thanked the older woman for her politeness, and just as easily, she waved it off while bringing forth another topic, one that was far closer to home.

"I hear the Deputy Headmaster's not been feeling too well, were you able to read a copy of the Prophet this morning? My apologies if you weren't, Gregor's still in training."

"Gregor's been very kind and helpful, really," Harry didn't want a relative of someone he considered a friend getting in trouble over something as minor as forgetting to toss him a paper.

"That's surprising to hear, though it pleases me endlessly - I find those like him aren't often up to a job that requires a higher capacity of thinking, still, they're wonderful."

Harry blinked at the woman a few times, wondering if he'd misheard her until he realised, he hadn't. As soon as he fully registered her words, he understood the necessity to push on rather than getting caught up in them, otherwise, he may say something that'd be less than good for any continuation of a friendship with Sarah's family.

"What happened with Prof-essor Dumbledore?"

He'd had to clear his throat midway through, but almost as soon as he'd asked, Lady Goldhorn cocked her head at him.

"He's on extended leave until the end of the year, there are rumours he'll not be returning for quite some time, though the validity of such things are questionable… do you find him to be a teacher of sufficient quality?" Her face had the usual pleasant smile back on it, but her tone was as cold as when she'd spoken about Professor Slughorn; it was easy to tell there was no love lost from her to him, and likely from her family towards said man.

"I do," Harry stated. "He helped me along the few times I'd gotten stuck."

He'd also seemed on edge, worried and different from the man I knew.

Harry's brain added inwardly, the lattermost sentence not having left his mouth for a myriad of reasons.

"Ah, a better master of Transfiguration you'd be hard-pressed to find."

He nodded along with Lady Goldhorn's words, and all too suddenly, a lull had fallen over their conversation only two questions in. It lasted for nearly two minutes too, a duration he thought was far too long for their supposed 'time restraints' that she'd said earlier.

Her pause threw him off though, he hadn't expected the next question asked in an altogether different tone and mood thus far.

"Do you like my daughter, Harry?"