I actually can't believe it's been over a year since my last update. Life got pretty hectic with starting University and everything! I hope this update was worth the wait. For all of you still with me and this fic, I love you and thank you!

Voldemort had been sitting on the couch, staring intently at the clock on the opposite wall, for a solid twenty minutes as he waited. Every so often his gaze would flicker to his phone just to check, but every time there were still no messages, and he was getting pretty impatient.

Quirrell had gone to fetch Wang Mu from King's Cross station for the winter holidays, and Voldemort was going stir-crazy waiting for them both to get back. It had been a long few months without his daughter; letters and muggle technology had definitely made it easier, but he was still struggling with her being away. He wondered if he'd ever get used to it, and then wondered if he wanted to.

He grumbled slightly to himself as he unlocked his phone, but there were still no notifications. He mollified himself with the notion that he'd basically been waiting for his daughter's return since he'd said goodbye to her in September. He could wait a few more minutes.

XxX

Thankfully, the platform wasn't as busy as Quirrell had been nervously anticipating, and there also seemed to be no sign of Harry Potter. That didn't stop him from self-consciously pulling his scarf up to cover the lower part of his face, keeping his head slightly bowed. The last time Potter had recognised him hadn't been bad, per say, but it had resulted in a lot of unnecessary stress and wizard paparazzi. At least it had been for good reasons rather than Potter still holding a nasty grudge.

None of that was important, though. The only important thing at this moment was picking up Wang Mu and giving her the biggest hug before taking her home. Quirrell shifted from foot to foot, sticking his cold hands in his coat pockets. He'd flat-out refused to put on his robes, which probably wasn't helping him blend in that much, but he really did hate those things, and—

Quirrell jumped a little at the sound of the steam train as it pulled into the platform, and he eagerly pulled down his scarf as kids started emerging from the doors. It wasn't long before he spotted Wang, and she squealed as she ran up to him, dragging her heavy-looking trunk behind her. "Daddy!"

"Hey, you!" he beamed as she leapt into his arms. "It's so good to see you!"

"You too!" she said, squeezing him tightly. "I missed you so, so much."

"Right back at you, sweetie," he said honestly, kissing the top of her head. He wondered if his parents had felt this weird ache every time he went to school, and then pushed the idea aside for the moment. "Congratulations on getting into Gryffindor!"

She pulled away, grinning at him. "You're not annoyed about it, are you?"

"Are you kidding? Didn't I tell you I'd be happy with whatever House you go into, as long as you were happy?" He playfully bopped her nose. "Besides, after a lot of contemplating, I realised Gryffindor's actually pretty decent. If you ignore the whole—No, you know what, it's all fantastic. How'd your first semester go?"

She snorted, bending down to pick up her trunk, but he beat her to it. "Thanks, Dad," she said as they began walking. "It was so cool! There are ghosts and unicorns and Quidditch games—"

"Which team is in the lead so far, then?"

"Slytherin," she replied enthusiastically.

"Oh, your Papa will love that. He's looking forward to seeing you, sweetie. As soon as we get home you're telling us everything. I want to know it all."

"Ok! I had so much fun, Daddy. The people are really nice too!"

"That's great to hear," he told her, beyond thankful she hadn't encountered any jerks like he had.

"Have you and Papa missed me?"

"Absolutely. Within two hours we were almost crying," he teased, then squeezed her hand. "Really. We missed you like crazy."

She smiled up at him. "I missed you too. I also missed Benji. Is he ok?"

"He's doing fine," Quirrell said. "Enjoying not having you chase after him, I think. Your Papa's also letting him sleep on the bed with us now, so I think that says it all."

"He's an old cat now," Wang sighed a little. "I can't wait to see him."

"Well then, let's Apparate and get you home. I got some new plants I wanna show you that might come up in a Herbology lesson if you're lucky."

She squeezed his arm enthusiastically. "You were right, I do love Herbology! And I love Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Charms and everything!"

"And I bet you're the best at all of them too." Quirrell kissed the top of her head again, just because he could. "Now c'mon, let's get home!"

XxX

"Papa!" Wang Mu yelled, bursting through the front door into the house.

Voldemort immediately stood from the couch and swept her up in his arms. "Hey, kid! Welcome back!" He kissed her forehead before putting her back down. "Lemme see that tie of yours."

She grinned, proudly presenting the red and gold tie.

"Not half bad! I tell ya, kid, you'll be the best Gryffindor in the whole school. Though I guess that wouldn't be too hard in that House—"

"Oh leave her alone, Voldemort," Quirrell scolded as he hauled their daughter's trunk into the house.

"I'm kidding, Squirrel. I'm really proud, Wang."

"Yeah?" she had to ask.

"I swear it. Now c'mon, tell us how it all went!" He sat back down and gestured for her to sit next to him. Quirrell soon collapsed by the other side of Voldemort once he'd finally finished carrying the trunk into the living room. Voldemort wrapped an arm around him, making him snuggle closer, as Wang Mu started telling them all about her first semester.

"...And I really like Professor Flitwick in charms, 'cause he makes me look tall. Oh, oh, and Daddy, Professor McGonagall says hello!"

Quirrell raised his head from Voldemort's chest in confusion. "Really? Um...Well that's...nice, I guess."

"If you ask me, they miss you as a teacher." Voldemort fluffed up his hair. "If you ignore the fact that I was on the back of your head, you were pretty good at your job."

Quirrell rolled his eyes. "Oh, sure. Anyway, Wang, what did you think of the grounds? The Quidditch field and the gardens?"

She nodded eagerly. "They're amazing."

"Just remember to stay out of the forbidden forest," Voldemort warned. "All kinds of creepy shi-uh, stuff in there."

"There are some beautiful creatures too, though. Like unicorns," Quirrell pointed out, then grimaced, clearly remembering how Voldemort had had to drink unicorn blood all those years ago. Voldemort instantly kissed his cheek in apology. Quirrell cleared his throat, hastily changing the subject. "You liked the Quidditch, huh?"

"Yes! My friends and I want to try out for the team next year."

Voldemort grinned. "Awesome! What position?"

"I like Chaser. Or maybe a Beater."

"I was a badass Beater." Voldemort grinned. "Wang, I've gotta coach you during summer. I'm gonna get you on that team if it kills me!"

Quirrell chuckled affectionately. "One day at a time, guys. Let's get Christmas over with first, right?"

"Right!" Wang gasped. "Do we have our tree yet?"

"Sure do." Voldemort stretched. "We were waiting for you so we could decorate it. It's out in the back garden just now. I'll set it up later. Or maybe Quirrell should do it, he's better at that gardening crap."

Quirrell rolled his eyes, muttering something along the lines of "language", but then he conceded with a sigh. "Fine. I'll sort it. As long as you give me a kiss."

"You've had all semester to do that!" Wang Mu protested. "Please, control yourselves and get the tree."

Voldemort snorted with laughter and pulled Quirrell in for a quick kiss. "Sorry, kid. Why don't you go outside, check the tree out, and we'll be with you in a second."

Wang sighed good-naturedly, bounding from the living room to get to the back door through to the garden.

"You go join her, and I'll take Wang's trunk upstairs," Voldemort said. "Sooner we get this tree indoors and start decorating it, the sooner I'll start to feel Christmassy."

"Good luck lifting that thing upstairs," Quirrell replied. "Wizard God knows what that girl's put in there, it weighs a ton."

"I'm planning on using a little thing called magic to help," Voldemort teased, ruffling his hair.

"Hey, that's cheating! I could hardly levitate it around Kings Cross." Quirrell grouched, snuggling against him again. "You gotta lift it too. Fair's fair."

"Alright, alright. I guess that's reasonable." Voldemort shot him a sweet smile which Quirrell returned.

"Isn't it great that Wang had such a good first semester?"

"Yeah, it is," Voldemort agreed. "I'm really glad, actually. I'm always worried they'll find out about...well, you know." He pointed to himself with a sigh, resting his head on top of Quirrell's. "I hate that I'm not registered as her Dad."

Quirrell softened against him. "I know. But it still doesn't make you any less of a parent."

"If I could go back and change everything—"

"Then we never would've met," Quirrell interrupted, "and we wouldn't be where we are now. We've been over this, Voldemort. When Wang's of age, then we'll tell her the entire story, if that's what you still want to do."

Voldemort rubbed his jaw, shaking his head. Every time he thought of telling his daughter the entirety of his murky past made him feel as if he was going to throw up. Not to mention the fact she still didn't know it had been his fault that Quirrell went to prison in the first place.

Quirrell kissed him again, softly. "Please don't stress about this, alright? Everything'll work out."

"I sure as hell hope so because—"

"Daddies!" Wang Mu had hurried back into the house, thankfully interrupting them. "The tree looks great, but it'd look better inside."

"Coming, coming," Quirrell said hastily, standing from the couch. "Patience is a virtue, y'know."

"Not when it's Christmas!" Wang Mu protested, grabbing him by the hand and tugging him to the back yard. "At Christmas patience doesn't exist."

"Oh, is that it? Ok then." Quirrell chuckled, reaching up to grab the top of the tree so he'd be able to drag it into the house. "Wizard God, this thing's heavy too. I'm too skinny for this."

"I can help you," she offered.

"No, no, I got it," he said, even if he really didn't. He huffed slightly, his breath fogging in the cold air, and then gave a small nod. "Yeah. I'm going to cheat."

"Magic? Shall I get your wand?"

"Nah," he said, focusing on the spell he had in mind. Soon the tree was levitating a few inches from the ground, and he smiled proudly. "There we go."

"That's still so awesome," Wang breathed as she trailed after the floating tree. "Will I be able to do wandless magic one day?"

"If you practice really hard, I don't see why not," he said. "It's a lot of work, but I have total faith in you."

She shot him an excited grin over her shoulder, and he smiled back, a warm feeling in his chest at finally having his daughter back home.

XxX

Once the tree had been decorated to Wang Mu's approval, they ate dinner and picked out a movie to watch. It was almost like their daughter had never been away, a fact that was simultaneously weird and comforting.

As much as he enjoyed The Nightmare Before Christmas, Voldemort wasn't really concentrating on the film. Quirrell's head was rested against his shoulder, and Wang Mu was curled up on his other side, so he was occupied with stroking her hair.

"There's absolutely no point in Sally as a character," Quirrell was mumbling. Voldemort only just noticed that the credits were now rolling. "It's such a weird love interest."

"I like her," Wang argued. "She's nice, and she keeps trying to poison the weird zombie guy."

"She's not being that smart about it, though," Quirrell said. "Besides, she's proven how easy it is to escape him, but she always keeps coming back. I don't like her."

Wang poked Voldemort's chest expectantly. "What do you think, Papa?"

"I'm on the fence," he replied. "I'm the man in the middle. You both make valid points."

Quirrell huffed, and Voldemort just knew he was pouting, which made him playfully tickle his side. Quirrell yelped, scrambling away from the onslaught, already reaching for a cushion to fend Voldemort off.

Wang Mu was laughing, which immediately made Voldemort turn to her, reaching out and tickling her neck. She squealed, squirming and batting away his hand, her face flushed as she giggled. Her laughter died down once Voldemort backed off, and then she was flinging her arms around him in a crushing hug.

"Whoa," he managed, carefully wrapping his arms around her once it was clear she didn't plan on letting go anytime soon. "Missed you too, kiddo."

"I'm really, really happy I'm home," she said, sounding a little choked up. "I love Hogwarts, but it's so weird sometimes, not being here."

"I feel you on that," Quirrell said, moving over to stroke her hair. She still had her face pressed in Voldemort's chest. "It's ok, baby. Being away from home is weird, and it's weird not having you here all the time, but it gets easier."

She finally moved away, wiping her eyes. "I'm…Yeah. I know. It's just weird."

"I think you're a little overwhelmed, which is totally normal," Voldemort told her with a soft smile. "Listen, we have weeks together now, and we're gonna have a really good time. And then when you're back at school we'll carry on with our letters and calls, and you'll continue to have a good time over there with your friends. We just need to balance it all out, yeah?"

"Yeah." She nodded, shooting them both a watery smile back. "Sorry."

"You have nothing to apologise for," Quirrell said instantly. "What, you think I haven't cried a ton since you started school? It's an odd adjustment, but it's all working out really well, and we're so proud of you."

"What he said," Voldemort agreed, bopping her nose.

She batted his hand away with a small laugh, and then yawned with a stretch.

"We get the hint," Quirrell grinned, helping her up from the couch. "C'mon. Your room's all ready for you. Your Papa's been cleaning it religiously."

She glanced at Voldemort sheepishly. "I left it kind of a mess, huh?"

"Kind of," he said. "But you won't find a cleaner room in the whole town now. You're welcome."

She reached for another hug. "Thank you," she said with a grin. "Goodnight, Papa. See you in the morning."

"Bright and early," he teased, blowing her a kiss. "So you can go out and buy me my Christmas present. Love you, kid."