Bells ringing in the air
a/n: This is for the Twelve Days of Pottermas Challenge on NGF forum. There will be twelve drabbles, each featuring one or two of Next Gen characters. And all of these will be Christmas themed. Even though I know this is a little late for a Christmas fic, but who cares.
Enjoy reading! :)
Day 1 - December 25, 2012
Prompts: Partridge, Pear, Tree
Character/s: Lorcan and Lysander Scamander
The queerly decorated tree at the center of the grand living room was not the only indication that the house belonged to the Scamanders. There were odd tidbits lying around here and there as well.
A row of plotted plants was placed across one side of the living room. The small plants, each of them a weird shape, looked nothing like the normal European plants that a normal household would have. If a person went too close, the plants gave out a bad stench.
A tiny plastic bird, with wings and too large features, hung from the ceiling. A range of pictures and books decorated the shelves. There were odd titles like Unnamed Creatures of the Wild by Sarah Burke and Nargles and Snorkacks by X. Lovegood.
The twin boys inhabiting the house were used to these oddities. They had grown up, listening to their mother's strange bedtime stories and learning to admire their father's love of creatures.
But after spending two years in Hogwarts, which lacked any of the strangeness lurking in their house, they had learned that not all of their friends believed in weird creatures that haunted mistletoes and stole shoes.
So a few days before Christmas, when the thirteen year old boys came back from Hogwarts for the holidays, they were a tad bit surprised to see the decorations on the large Christmas tree.
Light bulbs of different colors hung from the branches which, when lighted up cast an opalescent quality on the floor. Stars and moons, shining a bright golden colour could be seen stuck on the leaves of the tree amongst the countless light bulbs. And perching on top of the large, colourful tree was a small plastic bird like the one hanging from their ceiling. Except this one was clearly a grey partridge with beautiful wings that looked oddly real.
Lorcan, the elder of the two, raised his eyebrows. "Looks like Mum's got it worse this year."
Lysander shook his head, and said in an exasperated tone, "I can't invite my friends over if that tree is going to stay there."
Lorcan laughed, and plopped down on the couch. "There's nothing you can do about it now, is there?"
"I guess not," he said, mocking disappointment. His mouth was twitching and they both burst out laughing.
"What's so funny, boys?" said a voice from the doorway.
They both looked up to see a tall woman, with shoulder length blonde hair and grey eyes. She was standing just outside the room, staring at them both with a curious expression on her face.
"Oh, nothing at all, Mum," said Lorcan as he got up and strode forward towards her. He gave her a light kiss on the cheek and grinned at her. Lysander, who wasn't as physical with his affection as his brother, just stood apart until his mother came and gave him a big hug.
"What's that?" asked Lysander, tilting his head a little and pointing to something in Luna's hands. She was holding a small round yellow fruit in her palm. He raised his eyebrows at her, and asked, "Is that a pear?"
She shrugged. "I thought it would be nice to have a pear on the Christmas tree. After all, it is a pear tree."
"A partridge on a pear tree?" asked Lorcan, pointing at the bird on the top.
She nodded, and said, in a very logical tone, "The partridge on the pear tree would help to keep the nargles away. Dad showed me this new technique and now, we can hang mistletoes in the house." She beamed up at them at the last sentence, like a little child who had just found his long-lost toy car.
Lorcan and Lysander looked at each other. Some silent amusement passed between them. And then, Lorcan said with another big grin, "Do you need any help hanging it up?" Lysander was holding back a laugh, and he tried hard to look serious.
Luna's smile widened, "I'd love some help, boys."
