Christmas part two

Isaac picks me up on the Friday before Christmas. "Dad's excited to see you again." He smiles carrying my trunk to the car.
"Yeah? I thought I was a piece of shit back then." I sit down in the car, Salem in his cage on my knees.
"Watch your language!" he warns me.
"Sorry." I mutter "Pretty excited to meet him too."
Isaac smiles "I'm glad to hear that. "Are you sure you want to work this Christmas?"
I nod "I like it."
He shrugs "Your choice. Wanna play your music?" he asks.
I nod eagerly and take the music box out of my pocket.
"You just carry that around?" he laughs.
"Well, I was going to play music whether you liked it or not." I grin.
"Of course you would have. What's your favourite so far?"
"Lorinda and I love Queen. Journey has a few good songs but Merlin's beard, the Smiths? They're brilliant."
Ha laughs "You always said that. And the book?"
I frown "I like it... did I ever tell you why I liked it so much?"
He shrugs "You were a weird kid. Always a little too... deep for my taste. You said it reminded you of your mortality." he chuckles "Carpe diem, you always said."
"Carpe diem?"
"Latin for cease the day."
"Oh..." I push the buttons on the music box and that one song I really like begins playing. "I really like that one too, but we couldn't figure out what it's called or who it's by."
Aidan smiles softly "You like it?"
I nod "A lot."
"You used to always skip it. It' by the Samples and it's called Could It Be Another Change."
"Why did I skip it?"
"You said it was stupid. The whole theme of self love annoyed you."
I roll my eyes "I sound stupid."
He laughs "Yeah."
We sing along for almost the entire ride until Twist and Shout by the Beatles comes on. I notice that Isaac is too busy smiling to get out a single word. "What is it?" I ask.
He grins "It's this guys favourite song."
"What guy?"
"He's a Muggle, his name's Spencer Zimmer. He took me dancing a coupe of weeks ago." he grins.
"He's your boyfriend?" I asks.
"Well..." Isaac grins a little more "For now we're just dating... but I think he likes me quite a lot. And I sure as hell like him."
"Well, seems like he's gor quite a decent taste in music." I say "I approve."
He laughs "Can you convince dad to do the same?"
"He doesn't like him?"
"He hasn't met him yet but... he doesn't like that Spencer's a muggle."
"I thought he doesn't mind muggles."
Isaac quickly shakes his head "He doesn't. It's just... since mom and Tony died, he doesn't really feel comfortable with relationships to muggles."
"Oh. Tony was-"
"My brother." Isaac nods "He was just five year older than you." He sighs and wipes a tear from his eye.
I stare at my feet. I kind of forgot that my other cousin was murdered by death eaters.
"Well," I change the subject "I wanna meet that Spencer guy. Make sure he's good enough for my big cousin y'know."
He laughs "No way I'm letting you embarrass me."
"Hey!" I playfully punch him in the arm "I never embarrass anyone. I'm the least embarrassing person there is."
Isaac laughs "You look like a poodle with rabies. One look at you and he'll disappear forever."
"Again with the dog comparison!" I frown.
"Not the first time?" Isaac laughs.
"George called me a chihuahua, Fred simply called me a dog. And it's never the cool dogs either."
"Poodles are cool." grins Isaac.
"In what reality?"
He laughs "They can do tricks, you can shape their hair in funny ways. Fabulous little beasts."
I roll my eyes and mutter "One day, I'll be taller than any of you."
"No doubt." Isaac grins. "So, our plan is work today and tomorrow and Monday, home for Christmas Eve, we stay at Dad's for two days, the back to the hotel to celebrate with the rest of the staff and then next Friday I'll take you into London and to Diagon Alley and we'll go Christmas shopping for your friends."
I smile "Brilliant. But can we maybe make a stop in London today as well? I didn't know what to get you dad."
"Don't call him my dad." Isaac laughs.
"But he is." I say confused.
"Yes, but he's your uncle. Call him Russel, or uncle Russel. He's your family too."
I feel warm inside "I didn't know what to get uncle Russel."
"We'll go tomorrow. I've got some things to do today. Fedoria and I are going to be pretty busy today."
I nod "Tomorrow is fantastic."
Isaac turns to smile at me then focuses back on the road.
In the hotel Fedoria greets me with a soft hug "Haven, how have you been? How's school?"
"School's great." I smile. "How have you been? How's- what's his face- Jim?"
Fedoria laughs "What's his face is doing fine, so am I." she gives me a room key "You're rooms right next to Isaac's."
"Thanks. I smile and carry my trunk and Salem to the room, leaving her and Isaac in the lobby.
I sit down on my bed and look at my work schedule, one hour to get settled in before I can go back to scrubbing the floors again. "Back home." I say to Salem and open his cage and he jumps out onto my lap "I missed you so much buddy." I grin stroking his feathers. Living underwater has it's disadvantages, such as barely seeing you owl because you can't just leave a window open for him. Salem spent most of his time in the owl tower or flying around and we saw each other maybe once a day, if we had good timing.
Salem hoots softly, pressing his head into my palm.
"You wanna go for a flight. spread your wings a little?" I ask, patting his head "It was a long car ride, wasn't it?" I give him a small treat and open the window. "Wait!" I shout after him and he comes flying back "You're going to Hogwarts?"
Salem hoots softly, which usually means yes. I quickly scribble a little note to Harry wishing him a happy Christmas " Give that to Harry then, will you?" I say giving Salem the note. He hoots again, then flies off.
I decide to go out until work begins but stop when I see Isaac and Fedoria arguing, half hidden in an alcove "They're after her." mutters Isaac.
"They won't find her here." says Fedoria just as quietly.
"No, but they'll try. Fedoria I need you to take more safety measures." I realize that this conversation isn't meant for my ears and hide being the counter.
"Isaac, you know that's bad for business."
Isaac scoffs "You can't be serious. You know they'll stop at nothing, Fedoria they won't give a damn."
"Isaac, it would mean to basically close the hotel. Can't do that during Christmas time. The kitchen is protected and so is her room."
"It doesn't matter! They'll kill you, they'll kill me, they'll kill every single person until Haven gives herself up. That's bad for business."
I hold my breath. Who are they? Why would they want me.... oh right.
"Fedoria please." says Isaac desperately "You're pregnant. At least that should mean more to you than a few stupid extra galleons."
I suddenly feel very uncomfortable being in the lobby. I run to the kitchen and lean against it's heavy door. I can't stop myself from crying a few tears as the anxiety slowly fills up my entire body. Why did Isaac take me here if he knew it would put everybody in danger. Why does it put everybody in danger? I am basically a walking health risk. What if they kill her because of me? What if they kill Isaac? What if they find Russel and kill him? Oh god... what if they see Salem and shoot him out of the sky? Could they get into Hogwarts? They could kill everybody in he hotel. Every single soul. There's children here. So many people stay here. I sink to the floor thinking about all of the people I'm putting at risk just by being here. I should've never come. Did I risk everybody's life while I was on the Hogwarts Express? When did they start looking for me? Was it something I said? Something I did? WHO ARE THEY? I feel Isaac grabbing my arm.
"Can you hear me?" his voice sinks through the thick curtain of thoughts running through my head. I can feel my quick breathing, barely enough to actually get any oxygen. I'm crawled up on the kitchen floor and everybody's standing around me, staring.
"What happened?" Isaac asks them.
"I don't know!" says Michail with his thick Russian accent "Kid just came in and broke down. Tried to talk with her but she just went... down." he frowns.
"Hey Haven, can you hear me?" Isaac asks me again.
I nod.
"Good, come on get up."
I shake my head. I can't.
"Okay. It's okay." he says "Breathe, okay? You breathe with me now. Are you with me?"
I nod, still shaking and hyperventilating.
"We're going to breathe in for four seconds, okay?" he waits for me to nod "Then we hold our breath for seven seconds, yeah?" I nod "And then we slowly breathe out for eight seconds, yeah?" I nod again. "Good, very good. I'll count on my fingers yeah? Just look at my fingers and breathe." He sits down on his knees.
I try to breathe in for four seconds but fail miserably and begin panting after two seconds.
"No problem." says Isaac with a calming voice "We'll go again, yeah? Breathe in through your nose."
I breathe in again. Four seconds. Some of the dizziness disappears. I stare at Isaacs fingers as he counts to seven, holding his breath. I begin violently shaking but manage to hold my breath. Breathing out for eight seconds is the hardest as it only comes out in parts.
"Very good." says Isaac "We'll do that a few more times, okay? Breathe in... and out..." he whispers. With every breath I feel a little calmer, and less and less tears stream out of my eyes.
"Good job." he says softly.
"Kid needs water." says Michail and hands me a glass of cold water, which I drink in small sips with a shaky hand. Isaac lays his hand on mine to keep it steady.
"You okay?" he asks after a while.
I stare at the ground with nothing but shame. Everybody saw that. But when I look up nobody's looking at me. They all went back to working, talking like nothing happened.
"What was that?" I ask quietly, with a terribly hurting throat.
"Just a little panic attack." whispers Isaac "Nothing we can't handle." he talk softly and strokes my head "You'll be fine."
I shake my head "I heard you and Fedoria talking."
He closes his eyes and sighs "Nothing to worry about."
"How-" I feel myself growing more anxious again but Isaac immediately stops me.
"I got her to listen. She's just a little stubborn."
"Who's looking for me?"
He shakes his head "Don't worry about that."
"It sound like quite a lot to worry about."
He nods "Exactly. You're too young to deal with any of it."
I sigh "I don't think my age maters in this case."
"It does. I am here to keep you safe. I will keep you safe. You don't have to think about a thing."
"It's my fault everybody is-"
"It's not your fault." he interrupts me "How could it be? You did nothing wrong."
"How did they find out about me?"
"They always knew. They just lost track for a while."
"Because of the memory charm?"
"Precisely." he nods.
I sigh "It's going to get worse and worse now, isn't it?"
Isaac nods with a heavy sigh "We have to be careful."
"Then why am I here?" I ask.
He shakes his head "We have to be careful. We don't have to lock you up and take your childhood away. You'll be okay."
"How can you be so sure?" I frown.
"Because I kept you as safe as possible for eleven years." He smiles proudly.
I grin "You did a pretty decent job with that."
"Are you ready to go?" asks Isaac on the morning of Christmas eve, carefully knocking against the door.
"Just a second!" I throw the gifts for Russel and Isaac into my bag and put my wand up my sleeve.
"Normal clothes need wand pockets." I mutter.
"Maybe they don't have them because you're not supposed to use magic out of Hogwarts!" He reaches his hand out "Give it here. You know the rules."
"I might have to defend myself." I frown.
"No, you won't. Hand it over, now."
I exhale sharply "You have no reason being so boring." I put the wand into his hand.
He rolls his eyes before expecting it closely "It's pretty."
"Thanks?"
He grins "Mine's kind of boring. Look." he shows me his wand. Just like mine a snake-like shape is wrapped around the handle but instead of gold, like mine, it's black and the rest of the wand is a dark wooden colour.
"What's it made of?" I ask him.
"Acacia wood with a unicorn hair core, 13 ½" and slightly yielding flexibility. Yours?"
"Sycamore wood with a dragon heartstring core, 12 ¾" and unyielding flexibility." I shrug.
He sighs "Dragon heartstring. I always preferred those."
I smile "Yeah it's quite nice."