According to Katherine and the old butler, there was apparently some secret business on the European side that needed handling — they hadn't had time to give her notice, which was why things had run so late.
Kate took that explanation with a grain of salt.
But then again, she wasn't in charge of the manor yet. Having a few business interests she didn't know about was perfectly normal.
And when it came to secrets other people didn't want to share, Kate was curious, yes — but she also knew there were times when the right move was to keep your mouth shut.
What was visible, though, was that Katherine's attitude toward her had warmed considerably. She would occasionally join Kate in the library to read, pointing out things she didn't quite understand. More often than not, however, she was absent from the manor entirely — Grandpa Rand said she was out looking for a place to live, which kept her busy.
In any case, three days passed in the blink of an eye. Kate, who had spent all three of them in the library, finally left as agreed and made her way alone to Number 445 — her own home.
She'd barely stepped out of the fireplace, hadn't even had time to brush the soot from her robes, when she saw a small figure come thundering toward her at full tilt.
By pure reflex she caught the girl — and stared wide-eyed at the one now nestled in her arms. "How did you get in? Using magic outside of school is against the rules, isn't it?"
"No it isn't!" Hermione gave a small huff. "Grandpa Rand gave me a key ages ago — told me to come by whenever, so the house wouldn't get robbed."
Ah, well...
How had Grandpa Rand gone and handed out a house key just like that?
Kate was briefly at a loss for words, and could only let go of her first. "Looks like you came prepared. Did you let your mum and dad know?"
"Of course! When I told my parents I'd be staying at yours for a whole month, they were absolutely over the moon!" Hermione puffed out her little chest with great pride.
Well, naturally. Their precious child was going out to play, and they didn't even have to worry about her safety — any parent would be thrilled.
Kate was just about to say something when the doorbell rang. "That's probably Cho Chang. I'll get it."
"Mm!" It had been a bit of a letdown for Hermione when she first learned this wasn't going to be a just-the-two-of-them girls' get-together — but all things considered, she didn't have a bad impression of Cho Chang.
She followed Kate to the entrance hall. When the door swung open, Cho Chang was standing on the step with a suitcase, and the moment she saw Kate she stepped forward and gave her an easy, generous hug.
Something like a switch being flipped inside her, Hermione hurried forward and, as the two separated, pulled Cho Chang into a hug of her own.
"It's been so long, Senior Cho Chang!"
Then she spun to look at Kate — not saying a word, but her wide, beseeching eyes were practically spelling out "please hug me" in large letters.
Hadn't they just hugged a moment ago?
Kate complained silently to herself, but opened her arms all the same without complaint — and was immediately pulled into a full-on embrace by an enthusiastic Hermione.
Ah. She had to admit, hugging little Hermione the cat was always very pleasant.
She caught Cho Chang's amused, knowing look out of the corner of her eye, and felt an uncharacteristic flush of embarrassment — she quickly but gently pulled Hermione back.
"If we keep this up it'll be dark before we move," Kate said, helplessly planting her hands on her hips. "Now that everyone's here, let's head home first and talk inside."
Cho Chang asked curiously, "I've heard that many old wizarding families have magical wards around their properties — that you can only come and go using a Portkey."
"That's right." Kate nodded and picked up the suitcase sitting behind her. "Let's go in and I'll explain."
After a brief rundown of the house rules and how the Portkey worked, Kate took one girl by each hand and produced a key.
The world lurched and spun — and all three of them arrived simultaneously on the tree-lined avenue. Kate, who was used to this particular method of travel, was perfectly fine; the other two guests, however, were clearly not, and both staggered to the edge of a drainage ditch to retch.
It seemed the Shafiq family's hospitality still needed a little work.
Kate thought this quietly to herself as she rubbed their backs.
Once she'd finally managed to shepherd both of them to the castle, Grandpa Rand had already had the house-elf prepare their rooms.
Hermione had visited Shafiq Manor once before, so the place felt reasonably familiar to her — but Cho Chang was seeing a manor this grand for the first time, and looked distinctly overwhelmed.
"The East Wing is the library, the West Wing has all the function rooms, the ground floor of the main building is the great hall, the dining room, and the kitchen, the second floor is the guest rooms, the third floor is the master bedroom and the study, the fourth floor is the sitting room, and there's a basement used as a wine cellar and storage room!"
Hermione rattled off each part of the castle as if reading from a catalogue — then noticed Cho Chang's white-knuckled grip on her suitcase handle and her generally flustered air.
"Senior, you should take the room next to mine!" she said warmly, throwing an arm around Cho Chang's shoulder with a bright smile.
Cho Chang blinked, then gave a small nod. "Sure..."
"Hehe, the room I stayed in last time has a gorgeous view — let me show you!" And with that, Hermione flung her suitcase at Kate and dragged Cho Chang off toward the stairs.
Kate was left staring at an enormous suitcase, helpless laughter rising in her chest.
Wait — the guest room Hermione stayed in last time... wasn't that where Katherine was sleeping now?
The thought hit her all at once. She grabbed the suitcase and sprinted for the stairs — but it was too late to catch them.
By the time she'd wrestled the suitcase around the corner at the top of the second-floor landing, Hermione and Cho Chang were already standing rigid as statues in front of the guest room door.
And standing before them, exactly as Kate had feared, was her newly-acquired aunt.
"Pr-Professor Wynyard — what are you doing here?"
Running into a professor outside of school was enough to rattle even a model student like Hermione.
"Oh? I was actually about to ask you two how you managed to walk into my room without even knocking." Katherine leaned lazily against the doorframe, hair slightly dishevelled, wearing a silk nightgown that left a great deal on display — entirely unsuitable for young eyes.
"We..." Hermione was so flustered she'd started to stammer.
Cho Chang didn't dare make a sound at all, standing with her head bowed, utterly frozen.
"I did tell you to slow down," Kate said, slightly out of breath, finally hauling the suitcase to the doorway and planting her hands on her hips. "I hadn't even had a chance to mention someone was already staying here."
Then she looked at Katherine, face scrunching into a pained expression. "That outfit... I don't think it's really appropriate for minors to be seeing."
The casual familiarity of her tone made both Hermione and Cho Chang stare.
Hermione reached behind her and tugged at Kate's sleeve, whispering urgently, "What are you saying?! She's a professor!"
"I was just having my beauty sleep," Katherine said, the picture of innocence. "How was I supposed to know they'd just come barging in?"
Just as Hermione was scrambling to find something to say in their defence, Kate let out a long-suffering sigh. "Stop frightening them, Auntie."
Auntie?
Hermione and Cho Chang both snapped their heads up, throwing Kate a startled glance — then turned to stare at Katherine in her rather exposed state of dress.
Oh dear, oh dear.
Both of them quickly dropped their gazes again.
When they mentally overlaid Kate's face with Katherine's, they found, to their surprise, that the two really did share quite a few similar features.
"Alright, go back to sleep," Kate said, simply shoving Katherine back into the room. Then she turned to lead the two girls away.
But the moment she turned around, she was met with identical looks of intense curiosity on both Hermione's and Cho Chang's faces — if not exactly the same, then close enough to call it a match.
"The professor is your aunt?"
"How come you never mentioned it before?"
Kate was backed step by step into the corner until there was nowhere left to retreat, at which point she surrendered with a helpless raise of her hands. "It's a long story — how about we pick our rooms first and talk properly after?"
Hermione and Cho Chang exchanged a glance, then grudgingly let it go for now.
Phew... narrowly escaped.
Kate quietly wiped the imaginary sweat from her brow and watched the two of them walk ahead. In that moment, she finally, definitively confirmed what Katherine had told her.
Inviting both of them at the same time really did lead to complications.
The only difference being that she herself was the one suffering the complications.
Once they'd each chosen a room and dragged Kate inside to hear the full story, it was nearly noon by the time everything had been explained.
"So — Professor Wynyard is your mother's younger sister, and she'd been travelling the world for years before coming back a few months ago."
Hermione lay sprawled on the bed, chin propped in both hands, voice slightly muffled as she summarised.
"That's good then," Cho Chang said softly, eyes curving into a smile. "At least you still have family in the world. You won't have to feel so alone."
Kate sat on the bed, legs swinging idly. "Honestly, with you two around, I don't really feel lonely at all."
The moment the words left her mouth, the atmosphere in the room went very still.
She turned her head — belatedly — and found that Hermione had sat up at some point, her eyes shining with the faintest glimmer of tears.
"Ah... did I say something wrong?"
Kate blinked in mild alarm — and then Hermione lunged forward and threw her arms around her.
Her hands hung suspended in the air for a moment, helpless. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Cho Chang watching from the desk chair, expression warm and gently amused.
Something clicked into place inside her. She let out a quiet breath and laid her hands on Hermione's back, patting her softly.
"Alright, time for lunch."
It was possibly the least romantic thing she could have said, but the moment the words came out, Hermione wriggled free of her arms — face red, voice coming out a little jumbled. "I — I'm going for lunch!"
And with that she hopped off the bed, shoved her feet into her shoes, and bolted from the room.
Kate was left blinking in her wake, a little dazed. A long beat passed before she heard a quiet laugh from somewhere else in the room.
"Cho Chang, you're laughing at me too." She planted her hands on her hips, resigned.
"You're mistaken. I'm not laughing." Cho Chang composed her face with perfect seriousness — but the moment she caught sight of Kate's mortified expression, she couldn't hold it and dissolved behind her hands.
Kate scratched her head, then reached over and pinched the soft bit of Cho Chang's cheek. "That's what you get for laughing at me. That's what you get!"
"Pfft — hahahaha!"
It was like she'd been poked in a secret ticklish spot. Cho Chang completely lost it, laughter spilling out of her unchecked.
In the end, it was Hermione — who had been waiting impatiently outside — who came back and rapped on the door. "Hey! Weren't we going to eat?!"
Kate came back to herself, put on a show of clearing her throat with great dignity, and led Cho Chang out of the room.
The seating arrangement at the dining table was a little awkward.
Hermione and Cho Chang sat on either side of Kate, while across from them Katherine and Grandpa Rand sat with one empty seat between them.
Hmm... why did the mood feel a bit stiff?
Kate glanced up between bites, taking in both sides. The little lion and the little eagle were eating in silence, barely making a sound.
The two senior figures across from them were even less forthcoming, needless to say.
Grandpa Rand had always been a man of few words — but Katherine...
Kate looked at Katherine, who had wrapped herself from head to toe in layers of fabric, and felt her cheek twitch.
It was summer. Wasn't she going to pass out from the heat?
Katherine noticed her staring, arched an eyebrow, and curved her lips in a smug little smile — as if showing off her outfit on purpose.
...Fine. As long as you're happy.
Kate quietly looked back down and endured the rest of the silent lunch.
Once lunch was finally over, Grandpa Rand left as usual to attend to business matters. Kate was just about to take her two companions out to the garden for some fresh air when Katherine called out to her.
"From now on I'll be at the manor every weekend. If you need anything, you can find me in the bedroom or the study. The rest of the time is yours to arrange as you like."
Kate paused, eyebrows rising slightly. "Auntie, you found a new place that quickly?"
"More or less." Katherine gave a small shrug. "There's a lot to sort out with the new place, so I won't be staying at the manor during the week."
Kate's instincts told her this was a lie.
But there was no reason to call her out on it — and besides, her two friends would be a lot more at ease without a grown-up around.
"Alright," Kate nodded. "We'll be careful. You don't need to worry."
Katherine smiled warmly and ruffled Kate's head with some force. "As if I'd worry about you little lot."
Then she leaned close to Kate's ear and murmured something in a low voice, winked at her, and Disapparated on the spot — vanishing before their eyes.
Kate stared at the empty air, thoroughly bewildered.
What Katherine had just said was: she rather approved of both these girls, and Kate should make the most of it.
Make the most of what?
Surely not in the way she was imagining?
She glanced back at the two small girls behind her — both of them very much still looking like little kids — and shuddered involuntarily.
She was not into younger girls!
Katherine, that strange aunt of hers — no boyfriend of her own, so she had to come and tease a thirteen-year-old. Absolutely shameless!
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Hermione noticed Kate's expression and leaned in with concern.
At the same moment, Cho Chang's small hand came to rest on her forehead, murmuring to herself, "No fever, doesn't seem like a cold..."
Kate was quiet for a beat, then stepped back half a pace and forced an awkward smile. "I'm fine."
It was all Katherine's fault — making her read something weird into the most ordinary physical contact!
She shoved Katherine's parting comment firmly out of her head, cleared her throat, and said: "Now that the grown-ups are all out of the house..."
Hermione and Cho Chang exchanged a glance and simultaneously broke into knowing grins.
"There are some broomsticks in the basement storage room downstairs — people sent them as gifts. Want to try flying around the manor grounds?" Kate suggested, eyes glinting mischievously.
"Is there a prize for the winner?" Cho Chang's eyes lit up.
"Of course!" Kate waved magnanimously. "The winner gets to browse my family's library to their heart's content."
Even Hermione's eyes lit up at that. "It's settled!"
All three of them were top-students at heart — and nothing could motivate them quite like the prospect of books.
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