It was the day before Christmas.
Normally, Christmas is all about family reunions—everyone's supposed to be sporting happy grins, right?
"So why do you look like soone died?"
Cohen got picked up by Edward at the station, but even with Christmas right around the corner, Edward seed kinda down.
"Did Mom beat you up or sothing?"
"Your mom doesn't beat up," Edward corrected, then sighed. "It's just… ugh—you'll see when we get ho…"
The mystery didn't last long. The second Cohen stepped into Number 5 Privet Drive, he spotted an unfamiliar old lady parked on their couch.
A quick glance at the doorway revealed an beat-up suitcase with a tal tag stitched with silk thread: "Martha Norton." Looked like…
Grandma?!
"Oh, is that little Cohen back?"
The old woman was bundled in a thick brown knit sweater, her face a map of wrinkles.
[*Soul Strength: 37*]
"Go say hi to your grandma, Cohen," Edward said, hanging his coat on the hook by the door. He leaned in close and whispered, "Just don't ntion I'm out of a job…"
"???"
Cohen's eyes widened as he gawked at Edward.
"But—what—"
"Little Cohen! Co let Grandma get a good look at you!"
Martha flung her arms wide and charged over with a spryness that didn't match her seventy-or-eighty-sothing years, scooping Cohen into a bear hug.
He was totally thrown.
Dazed, Cohen got hauled to the living room couch. Martha's scarf practically smothered him—another minute of this, and he'd turn into a Dentor for real.
"Oh, heavens, look at you! What an adorable little angel…" Martha fussed over him, straightening his already-ssy clothes with enthusiasm. "I can't believe it, Ed—you and Rose kept and Charlson from eting him all this ti? Sure, Charlson's a bit set in his ways, but did you really have to cut us off for years? You could've at least written . I didn't oppose your marriage back then…"
"I *did* write!" Edward said, face in his hands. "Three tis a month!"
"You know your dad's got so… ntal stuff going on," Martha said, lecturing her son. "Where we live, no Muggle dares co near. The postman always ends up screaming and running from so freaky hallucinations. The Ministry's over there warning us once or twice a week. If your dad didn't have that St. Mungo's certificate, they'd have hauled him off ages ago. You should've used an owl—he likes the papers. But no need to worry about that now. Charlson's finally free of his headaches and those black monsters in the basent…"
"You *had* to have gotten them," Edward said, looking grim. "Right before he died, he said all my letters were full of nonsense. If he hadn't said that stuff about Cohen—I might've at least been nicer to him while he was still around."
"Edward!" Rose growled. "For God's sake, it's Christmas!"
"?"
Cohen sat on the couch, glancing back and forth, trying to piece together what was happening from their faces.
*Who am I? Where am I? What's going on?*
Cohen was utterly lost. Edward and Rose had never once ntioned anything about Edward's grandparents.
Martha's ramble was packed with info. Hopefully, Edward would pull him aside later for a private rundown.
"I'm just sticking to what I said that day," Edward said, unusually defiant against Rose. "Not a single word was wrong."
"And , Ed? What about ?" Martha asked calmly. "Was I part of that rant you went on? You didn't even glance back at that day. I was the one who dealt with his cold body—a seventy-six-year-old—"
"Of course not!" Edward cut in fast. "I was just pissed at *him*—Mom, I'm sorry, but it's Christmas, and Cohen just got back…"
"Edward, didn't you say you were gonna show Cohen that new chessboard you got him?" Rose jumped in to defuse things. "He needs to drop off his stuff anyway."
Cohen only had his trunk with the dragon and nightmare inside—not exactly "lots of luggage." And Edward wouldn't buy a "new chessboard"—the wizarding world didn't sell Dungeons & Dragons boards.
But everyone seed to need a breather, so Martha let it drop.
"See you later, Grandma?"
Cohen gave a polite goodbye before heading out. She'd called him her little angel—he had to act the part, keep the Christmas gloom away.
Martha ruffled his hair fondly, a total 180 from how she'd been with Edward.
Was the grandparent-grandkid bond so universal law?
"Edward's usually pretty chill, but when it cos to Charlson…" Rose started explaining his outburst to Martha.
For Cohen, this was… weirdly dostic.
In his past life *and* this one, he'd never had this. No "grandma" arguing with "dad" in the orphanage. The headmaster there was a stern old guy—strict managent ant a dull, rule-filled life.
"She always manages to get under my skin out of nowhere…"
Up in Cohen's room on the second floor, Edward rubbed his temples.
"Your grandma didn't used to be like this…"
"Too much ti with Grandpa?" Cohen tossed out casually. "I heard Martha say Grandpa had ntal issues—is that so big secret? Or are you gonna fill in on what went down back then?"
"Not exactly a secret…" Edward plopped heavily onto Cohen's bed. "Your grandpa was Charlson Norton. He—wait, did we even ntion Grandma's na?"
"Saw it on her suitcase by the door," Cohen said. "You've gotta pick up so survival skills to make it at Hogwarts. So, what's the deal with you and Grandpa? He didn't want you marrying Mom?"
"That alone wouldn't have ticked off so bad," Edward said. "Ten years ago, when and your mom—uh—wanted to adopt you, your grandpa stord over here, flipped out, and tried to stop it…"
"Maybe he had so weird hang-up about adoption," Edward added quickly before Cohen could jump in. "He said so really ssed-up stuff. I was young and hotheaded—couldn't take it, so I went off and got into it with him—"
"Who won? Who won?" Cohen asked, hooked.
"I didn't beat him," Edward admitted. "He used his wand—I swear it wasn't a fair fight—"
"Who fights a wizard with fists?!" Cohen said, facepalming. "But you still adopted anyway. He didn't keep pushing?"
"Rose stepped in front of you—your mom's a badass. A couple spells, and she shut him down. He stord off cursing, and we haven't talked since," Edward said.
"When'd he lose it?" Cohen pressed. "I caught sothing about 'headaches' and 'black monsters in the basent'…"
"Probably around then. Your grandma says he started getting nutty ten years back," Edward replied. "No clue what happened—every night he'd get headaches and swear there was a giant black monster in their basent."
"What if there *was* a giant monster?" Cohen frowned.
"Don't be ridiculous. I grew up there—there's no basent," Edward said, raising an eyebrow. "They had tons of magical creature experts check it out. No basent, no giant black monster hiding in it. If you're curious, I could take you to Grandma's place over the sumr, but don't get your hopes up. If there was a monster, Martha would've seen it in ten years. She's not the crazy one."
Cohen wasn't so sure this "giant black monster in the basent" was just Charlson's imagination—especially since his breakdown lined up with the year that lab experint ended.
Two creatures escaped that lab: the Basilisk, Sissoko, and the other…
"And you know the most ridiculous part?" Edward said, lost in thought. "Every ti I sent Martha a letter, he'd send back a pile of insults—like I wasn't even his only son. Even on his deathbed, he didn't have a single nice word for ."
"Maybe that's his way of loving you," Cohen guessed. "Love's tough, right? Writing you a ton of hate mail—he must've loved you to death."
"Ha! Should I start writing you so too?" Edward grumbled.
"Go for it. I'm too chicken to talk smack at school—could use you as my insult dictionary," Cohen nodded.
"Rose would murder ," Edward shot back. "You'd lose your dad."
"Speaking of that… not exactly…" Cohen blinked a few tis.
"Wait—I thought—hold up, what do you an 'not exactly'?"
Edward froze.
What did he an, *not exactly*?
"This might be a lot for you to take in, but Dumbledore said I should give you a heads-up since I'll be bringing it ho eventually…" Cohen said, layering on the buildup. "It might weird you out—like your status getting leveled with another species…"
"'It'?!"
Edward's confusion deepened.
"Rember that experint?" Cohen said. "The one that made ?"
"Don't—" Edward groaned, like he could guess where this was going and didn't like it.
"So magical creature wants to join the family," Cohen said.
(End of Chapter)
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