Note: This chapter is written by tonberrys
For the ten days leading up to Christmas, we will be posting a POV Christmas scene from a different member of the Black family, including (in no particular order): Cassiopeia Black, Arcturus Black, Orion Black, Lucretia Black Prewett, Pollux Black, Walburga Black, Bellatrix&Andromeda&Narcissa, Cygnus Black, Alphard Black, and Regulus&Sirius.
"What is that atrocious thing?" Pollux's voice held a certain measure of drama that brought a smile to Cassiopeia's lips every time. She had yet to step through the threshold of her brother's house - the ancestral home, he loved to say, as though their patriarch cousin Arcturus had not passed it over in disinterest - but already he looked quite ready to send her back home. Technically, she supposed this was not his home anymore, having passed it along to his daughter and Orion, but one couldn't tell from the way he swanned about.
"He's your nephew," she said, and in one arm a lithe black cat was slung, nuzzling her chin from beneath a cascade of ash-blonde hair; yet one would be hard pressed to say with any sort of certainty what color the cat was, snuggled as he was in a fitted, navy blue jumper. The large white star knitted along his back was sprinkled with smaller stars and a subtle weaving of silver. "You really shouldn't call him atrocious."
"I have one nephew. Dorea is the only one of you who isn't useless," Pollux said bitingly, though Cassiopeia was scritching at her cat's ear with a look that implied she wasn't listening. "You're nearly forty years old, Cass. I swear, you didn't even try."
Touching her nose to the cat's, she crooned softly, "Pay him no mind, Mars. You are just as much a part of this family as any of us, and we are going to have a lovely Christmas."
"It's a cat."
"How lucky that we cast that criticism-repelling charm before coming. Quite clever, aren't we?" she continued with a smile, skillfully lifting the flap of the small bag slung over her shoulder, and out hopped three more full-grown cats, each in mismatched Christmas jumpers shaded in red, green, and white, possessing of their own unique star-themed patterns.
"Put them back. I never said you could bring those things with you," Pollux said with the start of a grumpy tone ruffling in his voice.
"They get lonely when I'm gone. Besides, it's not as if I can leave them in a bag all day," Cassiopeia said with a shrug as she watched the grey-mottled tabby - Pallas - sniffing cautiously at a floorboard. "Walburga and Orion won't mind." They might mind, but at the very least, they probably wouldn't throw the cats out or feed them to a cabinet.
"They had better not break anything priceless," Pollux muttered with an exacting stare at a golden-orange and white tabby (sweet Maia) pawing precariously at the troll leg umbrella stand. It had the starry forest green jumper on.
"Don't be so overwrought about it." Cassiopeia swept past her brother, followed up the stairs by her three free-roaming cats.
Peeking into the drawing room, she saw two little boys perched at a wizarding chess table. Her great-nephews, growing so much already. The littler one, Regulus, couldn't be more than a few years old, and Sirius not much older than that - named for her deceased cousin and uncle, respectively, though it was hard to tell yet if they would favor their namesakes. Sirius struck her as rather more lively than his.
"You're the white pieces, Reg - Dad said we move the castle one like this. It's called a 'rook,'" Sirius was coaching, and looking quite proud of himself. Neither of them were dressed in a particularly festive manner with their dark robes and smoothed hair, though the green accents on their robes addressed at least half of the Christmas spirit.
The fourth cat, a calico named Corona, hopped up onto the nearest plush chair, and Pallas let out a throaty mrowr that startled the two boys to attention.
"You brought your cats," Regulus said with a subtle air of wonder, turning in his chair to face outward, though he was small enough to still sit criss-crossed in place without issue. "Why are they wearing jumpers?"
"So they don't get cold, and to share in the Christmas cheer," Cassiopeia responded. "Cats are people too." Both boys seemed to think it was a strange answer, but they reached down to greet the sniffing cat-noses, nonetheless.
From beyond the doorway, a younger woman poked her head around, deep brown hair tied up in a braided knot atop her head and a mildly indulgent expression on her face.
"I thought I heard Uncle Pollux griping about furry monsters."
"Be a dear, Lucretia, and take my bag," Cassiopeia said as she slipped it off her shoulder and held it out, still holding the black and blue cat snugly to her chest, "Mars keeps getting tangled in it."
"Of course, Aunt Cass," Lucretia said as she took the bag over her shoulder, though Cassiopeia wasn't an aunt to her (nor was Pollux an uncle) so much as a some-odd cousin. No one gave much mind to the distinction. "Their elf is preparing the roast now, so you are just in time," Lucretia continued, then turned her attention to Sirius and Regulus at the chess table. "I was coming to tell you boys to clean up."
The boys nodded, slipping out of their chairs without argument, sparing their final cat-pats before scampering along their way.
"I suppose I will see you in the dining room, shortly?" Lucretia was saying as Cassiopeia walked in the opposite direction towards the calico flopping to the side on her chair.
"You would be right in supposing that," Cassiopeia responded, and it was not until Lucretia had vanished from the doorway that she permitted her eyes to find the grand family tapestry hanging on the drawing room wall. Names were smattered everywhere, generations of Blacks for hundreds of years, but there was only one that her eyes searched an settled on - a name smothered by a scorching black mark.
Approaching the tapestry, she cuddled Mars closer beneath her chin and reached out with her free hand, daring a brush against the char. In her mind, she could see a little boy with smooth black hair and a gentle disposition, eyes as grey as a pre-storm billow and a moon-light smile.
"Happy Christmas, Marius," she whispered under her breath and kissed the top of the cat's head before turning to join the rest of the family in the dining room, a terrible pang twisting in her chest as she passed the chess table.
It was another Christmas with family, at the very least.
