Christmas and A Meeting
Chapter 15 –
Christmas morning, like every year on that day, kids all around the world woke up before dawn and tried to sneak glances at their presents. Usually, those same kids would wait for a couple of minutes, trying to see if it was too early to wake up their parents, before deciding it wasn't.
What followed is the sound of running feet, doors opening, and a loud scream and a jump.
Nathan Frye, was no different than any other kid in the world, yes he had lived a life before this one, but he had also come to accept and cherish the little moments that life itself had to offer. He went to bed excited and tried to sleep, but he just couldn't stop his mind from wandering. From the promise of gifts that his mother had teased him with, as soon as they had entered their booked rooms at The Ned hotel, to the anticipation caused by the big meeting he was going to attend with Tonks' father, and his plans for the traitorous rat, hidden in the confines of the home of the Weasley family.
The previous night, he had gone to bed, with the idea of staying awake as long as possible, to ascertain the possible gifts he was going to receive, and think about the kind of talk he was going to have with Ted Tonks. He didn't even realize when sleep caught up to him.
When he woke up hours later, he jumped out of the bed and checked the time. It was still early he knew, the sun wasn't even up yet, but he wanted to peek at his gifts.
Making his way towards the main room, he spotted both the gifts placed on the round table. A huge grin crept onto his face. He needed to wake his mum and open his presents. He had to, he needed to see what was in the boxes. Then he needed to get dressed and leave for The Leakey Cauldron, to meet with Tonks, and head on over to her home.
He knew that it was still too early though, his mum would never let him open his presents at this time. So, he decided to get closer to the table and try to judge the things inside by their weight.
Slowly, he advanced towards the gifts and got hold of the smallest one. It was light, so he shook it a bit, but no sounds could be heard coming from it. He put it down and took another one, he got nothing from it, either.
"What are you doing, young man?" came the stern voice of his mum.
Nathan jumped. He clutched the wrapped gift in his hands tightly and his face was that of a deer caught in headlights.
"I'm waiting…" Jolene said, while raising her eyebrow in a questioning way.
"I… I… gifts?" he said, extending his arms, and showing her the box.
"I know what it is, but what are you doing with it?" she asked, a hint of a smile crossing her lips. He looked adorable in his oversized pajamas.
"I was waiting to wake you up," he said, giving her his best puppy-dog eyes. She smiled at him, and opened her arms, waiting for him to give her a hug. He put down the box he was holding and ran up to her, jumping into her arms and hugging her close.
"Merry Christmas Mum!"
"Merry Christmas, sweetheart!"
Separating from the hug Nathan moved toward the smallest gift again. Taking it in his hands, after looking to his mum, who was smiling mischievously at him, he slowly unwrapped the packaging. Inside was a book, that he'd been looking forward to reading, ever since he'd started learning math and science.
It was called 'The Human Physiology and Genetic composition' by Dr. Abraham Erskine. He had thought that he'd not be able to get his hands on the book till at least after Hogwarts because the books were extremely rare. And now his mum had somehow gotten him a copy.
Engulfing his mum in a tight hug, he exclaimed "It's wonderful! Mum! I love it, thank you so much!"
"I am glad you like it, I had to return to mail order it specially, from New York." She answered smiling, happy that he liked her gift.
Nathan turned to the other gift on the table, and quickly undid the covering and inside he found an official Barcelona FC Jersey, with the name 'Gary Lineker' on its back. Nathan loved playing football, and he immensely respected Gary Lineker. He loved both the gifts that his mum had gotten him.
Wrapping her in another hug, and kissing her cheek, he quickly got around to heading towards his room to try the jersey for himself.
"Careful Nathan! And once you're done, remember you need to get dressed! We will explore London and later we have to go meet that witch friend of yours!"
"Yes, mum!"
oOOOOOOOOOOOOOo
Standing outside on the muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron, dressed in a formal White shirt, with a button-up jacket, on top of black trousers, Nathan couldn't help the nervousness that was filling his being. He and his mum were waiting for the imminent arrival of his metamorphmagus friend, Nymphadora Tonks. She had advised them to wait for her so that she could guide them through the floo at the pub, back to her home, which was somewhere in the non-magical part of London.
The time was just about an hour before evening, and they had been waiting for her for about ten minutes and just when he was about to enter the pub to check whether she had arrived her heard her voice.
"Nathan! Over here!"
Both him and his mum, turned toward the entrance of the pub, and saw that she was standing there, waving at them. Quickly making their over to her, he heard her say. "Merry Christmas Nathan! I am so sorry for being late!" she apologized.
"It's quite alright Tonks, this is my mum, Jolene Shephard. Mum, this is Tonks, don't ask for her first name, she doesn't like it." He introduced the two.
"Merry Christmas dear, it is nice to finally meet you, Nathan told me a lot about you and the pranks you played on each other in his letters." His mum wished her.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Shephard. He's a good friend to spend time with, and I enjoy the pranks we play, though his are amateur at best." She jested.
"Hey! Last I heard, I was ahead in our war, it's you who is amateur, not me"
"Har Har! Believe what you want" She replied sarcastically, "Anyways, we should get going. Mum has prepared tea for the both of you. And we need to head on over to the Weasleys for dinner later."
"Alright, Nymphadora, lead the way." He teased her in retaliation for her jest.
She in return allayed a scathing look at him and exclaimed "Don't call me that!" but still turned around and led them through the leaky cauldron toward its attached floo system.
"Alright, so here's the deal, because your mum does not have magic, I will have to take her with me. So, I will let you go first, and I will bring her with me right after, all you have to do is take a fist full of the floo powder, step into the fireplace, throw the floo powder at the ash pile, and chant 'Tonks' residence' I've connected this floo point to the one in my home, so it should take you straight there." She explained to him the procedure.
Nodding to her, Nathan grabbed the floo powder from the bowl attached by the fireplace and while throwing the powder to the ash pile chanted the name of the destination. Immediately, green fire engulfed him, and he noticed that the flames were not hot at all, and he was pulled through a wide tunnel that looked to be stretching him thin and propelling him forward, but he didn't feel anything else. As soon as the sensation left him, Nathan was launched out onto a soft carpet with his face first. He could hear soft chuckles around him.
"You must be Nathan, here let me help you. You have to keep walking once you activate the floo, with the powder, I bet my Nymphadora didn't tell you that." A woman said as she helped him onto his feet.
After getting onto his feet, he looked at the woman who helped him. She was a tall woman, with light brown hair, a strong jawline, and light brown eyes. She was standing beside a big-bellied, fair-haired tall man, who had amusement and mischief written all over his face.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Tonk. I am Nathan Frye, Nymphadora's friend." He introduced himself.
As soon as he'd introduced himself, the fire in the fireplace flashed green and Tonks and his mum, came walking into the room.
"Dammit, I missed it. And Don't Call Me That! Nathan!" Tonks exclaimed.
"Now, now! Nymphadora, he's only using your proper name. Hello, you must be Jolene Shephard, it is wonderful meet you, I was just introducing myself to your son. This is my husband, Edward Tonks."
"Please, call me Ted."
"It is wonderful to meet you too. Please, give me a moment to adjust myself, I haven't used a magical means of transportation before and that was a little bizarre." Jolene requested, and Nathan could see the astonishment and wonder on her face.
"Take your time, why don't we head on into the lounge, and get comfortable, while your son finishes with whatever 'business' he had with my husband?" Andromeda offered.
"Yes, that would be wonderful."
"Come son, my study is over there. Dora, why don't you go help Dippy with the trays?"
"Alright, Dad!" Tonks nodded and headed inside the home, toward what he assumed were the kitchens.
Looking around the home, Nathan found it to be not that different from what the standard non-magical English home might have been. The only difference he could see, was the furniture around the house was Victorian in nature, and the lights were lit by candles instead of bulbs, but they gave off the same brightness as a normal incandescent bulb would have. Magic must be amplifying the power of the light, Nathan mused.
"Dippy is your house-elf, right?" Nathan asked, following Mr. Tonks down the corridor after the ladies had left for the lounge.
"Yes, that will be the house-elf, you don't have a problem with that do you?" the man asked hesitantly.
"Oh, I haven't studied enough about them to draw conclusions yet, but the idea of an enslaved race is a bitter pill to swallow. Though I would like to study about them first, before jumping to conclusions and chasing shadows." Nathan explained, "I asked because I thought house-elves could just levitate the trays and magically pop the food on over to the table, no?"
The man chuckled to himself "That's a smart policy to follow, son. I can see why Dora says that you're a smart one. The house-elves are a symbiotic species, they take magical power in exchange for working for a master. And yes, they can levitate or pop the food, true. But how else are we supposed to distribute the chores for Dora to work on? We don't want her more spoiled than she already is, or at least that's what my wife says. If it were up to me, I'd have spoilt her rotten." He finished as they reached his study.
Looking around, Nathan saw that it was an office room, filled with books inside of an office library on one side, a brown oak wood desk, with a comfy leather chair behind it. On the desk, was a stack of papers, and a book labeled 'Laws and Bills of the Wizengamot, circa 1930'. Beside the book, was a lightly golden wiggly television-like artifact, which Nathan had known to be a secrecy sensor and a sneakoscope. Nathan mused it must be because of the large number of clients that probably meet him in his office, tend to lie a lot as well. Though with Nathan's natural mind defenses, they were rendered obsolete as is.
"Please, take a seat, and tell me how can I help you?" Ted Tonks, offered.
"Uhmm, sir, I was wondering…, I mean, eventually, in the future, I wanted to start a business, in the magical community, something like a newspaper." Nathan replied, hesitantly.
"Well, that is interesting, what does an eleven-year-old want to do with starting a business in the magical community? Do you even know what goes into starting a business here?" Ted asked, nonplussed.
"Uhhm, no not really, that's why I've come to ask for your help, I want to get a general idea behind understanding business in this world, and as you're a solicitor and lawyer, I figured you would be able to help me." Nathan replied, a little embarrassed.
"Well, yes, I can help you, that is true. I can give you the general idea of the economic laws that are in place here, but before that, what makes you think that you would be able to run a successful business? Have you ever worked in an official capacity as either a store owner or manager?" Ted asked, in order to explain the levity of the task Nathan was trying to undertake. "Plus, do you even have the capital required to, first of all, start such an endeavor?"
Nathan did have basic understanding of what went into managing a store, but that was as his run as a cashier from his previous life, and he couldn't tell Ted that, so instead he replied "I don't really have knowledge about running a business no, but.. –"
"What about capital?" Ted asked.
"I have money in my vault that I could use." Nathan replied meekly.
"Let me guess, your parents left you a vault and you're thinking about using it to start a business, Nathan, son you have to understand, that money is for your Hogwarts education, you can't just go around investing half or more than half of it into some business idea that you have no idea how to run. And even if you did, you're a Half-blood, you don't have powerful pure-blood family backing you either, I would suggest you don't start off on a business endeavor now, you're young, you need to learn how to do these things first, you need someone from a powerful family backing you as well. It's just like the muggles in Middle Eastern countries, only purebloods are allowed by the government to own any business. The proprietary ownership, that is the majority ownership must be in the hands of a pureblood. The light faction in the wizengamot has been trying to change those laws for decades but has failed. You should try something small, something that you can do, if this is about money, then you should start small. Don't go around jumping headfirst into this." Ted advised.
Nathan just sat there, thinking about what he'd been told.
"Come, son. You're a smart lad, I can see you will do great things In the future, but my advise would be to take things slow. Now, come on. It's almost time for us to leave for the Weasley's. You'll love it there."
With that Ted got up from his seat, and helped Nathan out of the room, locking it behind him.
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