A/N: This is a general sort of story post DH centering around Christmas time and some of the main characters although not all of them, this is all Harry generation, no Marauders, I know,so unexpected since I absolutely love them!
Disclaimer: The characters here don't belong to me, they are the property of J.K Rowling…and we all knew that!Except one or two OCs for supporting the fic!XD!Enjoy reading!
Christmas that year
Harry smiled at the chubby boy trying to make his legs work their way in the direction of the kitchen where his Grandma Dromeda was just about finished. Taking off his glasses Harry tucked them in the V-collar of his tee under the jacket before advancing on the now crawling Teddy and picked him up. Andromeda came out smiling as one was wont to do on Christmas with the only remaining family or at least what they had made to be a family and directed her wand expertly towards the table. The moment the covered dishes whizzed by them Harry caught a delicious whiff of freshly baked cake and everything else Andromeda could make 'better than any one else', Ted had said once and remembered both Sirius and Remus agreeing.
Teddy's hair changed to a bright yellow and Harry ruffled it before taking a seat opposite to Andromeda, even after months had passed he still found it difficult to never lose his formal tone in his voice or actions. If he ever though rarely flooed in on Andromeda holding a sleeping Teddy when she took him out of his cot Harry ignored the look of grief no doubt for her husband and daughter and probably Remus too, although he couldn't escape the waves of guilt that threatened to wash over him during endless nights of naps followed by insomnia.
With a startled expression Harry looked up when he found Andromeda's kind gaze directly looking into his eyes as she beckoned him to take the seat on her left as she adjusted Teddy on her left putting up the child-safety wards. Harry let a smile show when she began talking in what had to be the most normal manner he had ever heard about everything, everything about this year's presents, past Christmases, Christmases spent with the young Marauders. Andromeda was an admirable woman; really, it wasn't just anybody who decided to marry a Muggle-born coming from a family such as hers. Harry laughed when she shook her head and told him that Sirius had always considered her one of the only sane family he had. He leaned back on his seat and waved his wand at the bubble solution Dudley had sent him after knowing that his cousin now was a godfather to a baby. Teddy loved the bubbles, Andromeda loved her grandson, Harry loved his godson; Christmas this year could've been worse but that wasn't happening. Harry smiled.
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It was too late this time, already Christmas morning and she had yet to finish the sweaters. She picked up her pace although her wrist was beginning to hurt.
"Mum?" It was Ginny's soft call that broke Molly's concentration during her knitting and she looked up her hand stilling on the shorter horizontal line of an incomplete 'F'. When her daughter's eyes dropped to the sweater in her hands, her eyes slightly large and dewy she looked down and choked out a sob but then wiped her eyes and put away her knitting equipment and the incomplete sweaters. She walked over to her daughter and patted her shoulder.
"Let's get that treacle done; you know how Percy loves it." Molly ushered Ginny out of the living room and followed towards the kitchen, "It's been such a long time since he's had dinner at home." Ginny nodded and indulged.
Ron looked up and grinned when he caught sight of a silvery glow and Fleur kissed Mrs. Weasley on the cheek. When Bill squished in beside him the conversation started picking up becoming noisier and even though he could barely cut his slice of pudding it was more than welcome, it was better than having a thoroughly silent George who had begun putting up large smiles just for the sake of looking normal.
"Finish it Mum." George held out the unfinished sweater to his mother the next day with a somber look that had become familiar these days and she obliged. When it was over George kissed her on the cheek and spread the sweater on Fred's unoccupied part of their bunk bed. He smiled almost feeling a welcoming weight which came and rushed past him; no doubt his present was well accepted. When an unfamiliar owl arrived with a letter for George later that evening and Ron with his usually horribly accurate timing for interruption read out Angelina's name at the end Mrs. Weasley looked at him thoughtfully.
"Johnson...Johnson, oh yes, Maria Johnson's brother Adrian?" She looked at George for confirmation who nodded and Mr. Weasley beamed.
"Ah yes, Maria Johnson, yes-very fine at our time, beautiful...uh-George so how is this Angelina?" He quelled under a look from Mrs. Weasley and immediately turned to George who stilled for a second before laughing out loud for the first time in months.
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It was sometime in between their dinner when they were on their third course that Mr. Granger looked at Hermione in a reprimanding manner when she looked longingly at the trifle for a larger helping. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Mrs. Granger spoke up.
"Oh alright you two." Her voice rang out startling both of them and the two stared at her wide-eyed when she filled their plates with more of the dessert, "Just for today, better not get used to it." She announced. Hermione beamed and Mr. Granger cleared his throat hiding the small smile.
Hermione looked up from her plate when her mother lit the candles in the Muggle fashion with matchsticks and switched off the lights. She took her seat again on their round table and smiled at the other two. It was then she felt the slight wetness in the corner of her eyes as her mother in her champagne tinted dress tilted her blonde head to her right slightly with a smile that her father returned, the skin around his blue eyes crinkling. Leaning forward an inch Hermione took hold of both of their hands and placed them on the table and her own ones over theirs. Yes, it was really over, they didn't have to forget her existence to remain safe anymore, the safest Christmas in years proved just that.
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"Yes mum, I'm good." He ran the pad of his thumb over Alice's knuckles and she held on, "D'you know, Gran actually invited Luna and her father-Xenophilius Lovegood, I heard you knew him at Hogwarts." He looked over to where Frank Longbottom remained on his bed and continued as though he had indicated for him to do so, "Tomorrow evening to her house. It was surprising really, I mean Gran doesn't really-er-approve of Mr. Lovegood-yeah, I know everyone-"
"Excuse me." The healer interrupted in a gentle voice and motioned at her watch, "Visiting hours will be over in two minutes." With that she stalked off to a bed opposite them and Neville turned back to his mother who continued rubbing her hand against his.
"I'll see you later then yeah?" he enclosed her hands in his, "Merry Christmas." He whispered to her and then looked at his father's direction who cast his glassy gaze at him and kept it locked. He stepped back tucking Alice's hands under the sheets at her sides but then she began fumbling for something under her pillow and extracted a brightly colored bubble gum wrapper. Neville accepted it like every other time and exited the Hospital to head to Gran's house on foot.
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"Daddy look!" Luna straightened up and dusted the envelope along with Witch Weekly's latest edition that had fallen out of the mail-box. Xenophilius charmed open the door to their house and out of sheer habit craned his neck around for a good few seconds before walking in through the door and shutting it rather fast as discreetly as possible. Luna gave her father a slightly reprimanding look at his paranoid behaviour, it had been months since the war was over and any remaining Death Eaters had been dealt with appropriately.
While Xenophilius busied himself in preparing the Gurdyroot infusion Luna opened the Witch Weekly interestedly since neither her or her father subscribed for it. When she saw the postcard from Ginny with the magazine directing her to check page 43 she propped it open on the arm of a couch and settled down. She beamed widely just as her eyes found what she was supposed to and stood up to assist her father happily setting the table for two where a small photo of her mother remained in its frame as always. Well, maybe the Ministry witches had lost much of their valuables during their girls-only bonfire night but at least now it wouldn't be just her or Daddy who really believe that Heliopaths existed.
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"Master Draco, your father wishes to see you." The house elf kept its head bowed low and the blond boy dismissed it with a half-hearted wave of his hand. He straightened his robes for any creases that obviously were not there but may have been and made his way to his parent's room pausing only to knock and for permission before turning the knob and entering.
Narcissa looked up from her seat in front of the mirror where her flowing hair was being styled into an elegant bun and she smiled, still heavily without most of its previous opulence, Bella's death even now leaving its imprint. Lucius however strode forward and placed a hand on his shoulder as if measuring his son and let his lips turn upwards at what he saw and ushered for the both of them to head towards their living room.
When the Greengrasses arrived and they were finished with the formal welcoming Draco felt a hand slip into his and for a moment Narcissa smiled fleetingly at him then slightly raised her chin towards Astoria a little behind her with her sister Daphne. Draco returned a reassuring squeeze before his mother let go and fell back into step with Mrs. Greengrass as the families headed to the living room and Draco held out his arm as one of the last to enter which Astoria took with a beatific smile before settling down with the rest of them.
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When she looked at the cupcakes with chocolate filling that her neighbor, the Half-blood Hufflepuff girl had handed to the house-elf, Mrs Crabbe simply stared at the cakes in a floral arrangement on the plate then pointed her wand at it with trembling hands. At the memory of how much her son had loved them she lowered her arm and placed the wand on the table beside the plate where a small Muggle postcard was attached to the cling film before downing her Firewhisky closing her eyes and drifting off into the glorious days that her life had seen long time ago.
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Five, McGonagall counted and returned to her pudding with an inward sigh. It couldn't be helped, the parents still found it too early to let their children stay over for the holidays at Hogwarts. No doubt the students had written from the start about how parts of the school were still being repaired, dark curses had their way of having prolonged effects without Peeves adding to his mischief. A seventh year Ravenclaw winked at the Gryffindor beside him before raising his wand very discreetly. Seconds later McGonagall's face lost its color before darkening to a shade of red that her House would take great pride in as Professor Flitwick pointed to a point above between her and Pomfrey's chairs where a charmed tiny fairy had turned to a wreath of…
"Ooooh! Mistletoe." The Gryffindor girl exclaimed before spotting the identical furious looks directed at her and her boyfriend. Uh-oh?
In the headmaster's room Albus raised his glass in the direction of a portrait across the room as the dark-haired occupant grudgingly raised his glass where the red liquid sloshed merrily in contrast to his mood before pushing away one of the drunken monks out of his portrait. A laugh resonated throughout the circular room from Phineas Nigellus's direction and Albus Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"Tuck in Severus, a very merry Christmas to you."
-Fin-
A/N: Well…I almost kept thinking of anyone else I could fit in there but then I'd probably never finish it so I just stuck to these few characters! And uh, if you want to look up Heliopaths on Wiki you can or let's just say that they are some spirits that burn everything in their way but only Luna and Xeno feel that they exist in the books!XD! If anyone likes SBRL then I have a series of one-shots of them in my profile, right, sorry for that shameless advertising! And of course, as all fanfic authors love, ahem, reviews are lovely and welcomed!