Title: This Christmas

Category: Romance

Summary: Sequel to 'It's Christmas'. The Fates of our six couples are revealed on Christmas Days years after the ending of 'It's Christmas'.

DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author notes: It is BEST if you read It's Christmas first but I don't think it will be mandatory. I'm actually planning to do a one-shot for every couple (even those who DID NOT get the girl) in It's Christmas during the Holiday season. It's going be like a homage to the original story. The Theme of this Series of One-shots is my favorite Christmas music; every one-shot will be named for one of my favorite Christmas songs!

I know this is not Christmas Day but Christmas Eve worked better for this one.



This Christmas:

Installment 2: "My Grown Up Christmas List"



+ December 24 +

Julius Montague silently watched the little creature as she charmed every man in the parlor, his heart ached, he felt so much love for her that he feared she was going to be the death of him. She smiled a toothless grin as one of her uncle's complimented her new robes, her thick black hair swaying with every move, her coal black eyes setting off the soft brown color of her skin. Julius looked around the crowded parlor, filled with three Christmas Trees and a little less than forty people, and wondered how his little princess had stolen the heart of every grown man in the room. He glanced quickly at his wife, who was in deep conversation with her sister-in-laws, and wondered did she realize how much Christmas had come to mean to him in the past six years.

Six years ago this same season had been a turbulent one for his family, it had been the time when his worst mistake of the year had become common knowledge, and it was also the season that had conceived that same little angel that was now perched in her grandfather's lap. Julius chuckled to himself, this was the year that the Montague and Johnson family's were spend their Holiday season at his and Angelina's estate, and it had not been a sliver of silence since the families had arrived. Julius' mother and three brother's were there with their families, as were Angelina's father and four older brothers with their families. and although the differences were there the families had always meshed together quite comfortably. Their thirteen-year-old son Miles was discussing school with a few of his cousins, while the older cousins were occupied near the fire, as if their few extra years warranted a grant of extra space from the first, second, and third years, and those four little ones who were just a year or so from school were attempting to map out the space for presents around the trees. Still, there was the youngest, and in his opinion, the prettiest of the children charming his brothers, her mother's brothers, and her mother's father out of all the change and candy they owned. He chuckled, that was five-year-old Angelica, spitting image of her mother and the apple of her father's eye.

"Happy Christmas, Julius," said his mother, Estelle, as she came gliding up to him.

"Happy Christmas, mother," Julius replied, sincerely, leaning over to kiss her reverently on the cheek.

Estelle glanced over the room with an approving eye. "I'm so glad all of the Johnsons could join us this year. Angelina seems to have missed her brothers quite a bit."

"Mother," Julius groaned, good-naturedly, "stop behaving as if this wasn't your idea."

"Well, you have to admit that it was a good one. With her brother Jon dying last November it reminded us all a little too much of the war and how much we have all lost, and are still losing . . ." she trailed off, her eyes trained sadly on her favorite granddaughter as she sat stoically by the fire, just one of the millions of children who had been affected adversely by the Great War.

The death of Jonathon David Johnson the Third had affected the Montague clan just as strongly as it had affected the Johnson family. Jonathon was the oldest son of Lucille and Jonathon Johnson, Angelina's parents, and a highly celebrated Veteran of the Great War. He had suffered from injuries acquired during battle for many years after the end of the war and last November, after more than ten years of fighting, he finally succumbed to an infection that would never let him heal. He left behind a wife, two children, and a scar upon both families, one that seemed to deepen as more people from the War passed on, years later. His death had reminded Estelle of Cortland, whom she lost during the final battle, and her daughter-in-law, Phillipa -- who had been murdered accidentally by Death Eaters during a raid – who had left behind her second son Bernard and her favorite granddaughter, Helene, who at eighteen needed her mother more than ever. Jon's death had hit them so that Christmas was almost canceled, for both families, having only been salvaged for those young ones who needed something magical to lessen the sting of loss.

"It helps, mother," Julius said gently, interrupting the thoughts that were gnawing at his mother's soul, "it really does."

Estelle shook the sadness off so quickly that one who had not been watching would never know it was ever there, saying sternly, "Oh, Julius, you do need to discipline Angelica soon. Look at her, quite improper she is and I must admit she is too sweet to know how improper she is behaving right now. But it is your duty, as her father, and Angelina's, as her mother, to inform her of that. Why if your grandmere was alive she'd be quite appalled and insulted. "

"Mother, mother, mother," he replied, sipping softly of his Champagne, "Angelina and I have decided to let her innocence mold her, we have no desire to train her into some society darling before she even gets her wand."

Estelle tsked quite loudly before frowning at her third son's choice of drinks, remarking, "Dear, you are too much like your father."

"I know," he whispered, the sting of her words not being lost of his mother who quickly understood.

"Oh, dear, I did not mean it like that," she quickly explained, her dark eyes sweeping over her tall son apologetically. "I meant only that Cortland was the only non-alcoholic I ever knew to drink more than one glass on Christmas, that is all."

"I know, it is just that she came by the office last week and I've been irritated ever since," Julius admitted, as if his mother was a normal confidante of his.

Estelle fought the urge to ask her son if anything happened but she refused to start a row on Christmas. "What did she want? Did you tell Angelina?"

"She wanted nothing more than to gloat about her engagement to some poor Australian billionaire. Humph, good luck to him, I say," he snarled, gulping down the rest of his drink, "and I would not have payed her any attention except . . . she brought up what happened and I keep hearing her words in my head. What sort of man cheats on his beautiful, faithful, adoring wife without so much of a second thought? You, Julius Montague, are not half the man that you have the world believing that you are."

"And you are actually entertaining that whore's word?" Estelle asked, incredulously, realizing that he had not told Angelina.

"Mother, you have to admit she has a point," Julius replied, his green eyes meeting hers for the first time since she had come over.

"I do not," she answered quickly, taking her son's hand. "Julius you are everything that the world believes you to be and more. You made a mistake, we all do, all that matters is that you learn from it and turn away from it, leave it in the past."

"I-I-I just keep thinking about Miles and Angelica," he whispered, the fear in his voice palpable, "and remembering how felt about father after I found out about his indiscretions."

"Don't you worry about that now, dear, they could never feel that way about you. The dynamics in our household were much different than the dynamics in this one. At this very moment the three most important people in your life adore you – Miles thinks you are nothing short of a god, Angelica thinks you made the heaven and the Earth for you two, and your wife, your wife, Julius, loves you more today than she ever has before – that is all that matters. So when that day comes they will be so full of this love they feel for you that they will be lucid enough to see it for what it was, a mistake. Your father made his mistakes a lifetime, which is quite, quite different, dear," Estelle said, a said smile lingering on her lips.

"Mother, I'm sorry," Julius retorted, sincerely noticing that glint in her eye that he had spent much of his life wishing he could get rid of.

Estelle gave a brilliant smile before reaching up to touch his cheek with her forefinger. "Don't be, dear, just look forward to watching your family grow. Don't brood over her words, she just wishes to see you affected, that is all. Now brighten up, dear, Father Christmas comes tonight."

Julius chuckled as his mother went to join her daughter-in-law who was having a conversation with one of Angelina's sister-in-laws. He nodded to himself, sitting his glass down, attempting to straighten himself up, it would not do for him to lose control tonight. Looking over at his wife and daughter, he decided to get some much needed air. He grabbed his coat and quickly snuck out onto the wide terrace, sighing softly as the slow onslaught of snow surrounded him. The beauty of his country home had never been lost on Julius, in fact the very image of it surrounded by snow had persuaded him to give it to Angelina as a present in their first year of marriage. Somehow the gardens still looked full of bloom as the snow steadily buried the flowers under a white blanket.

Julius walked slowly over to the stone rail, placed his hands firmly over the snow covered top and looked out onto his grounds. And before he could think twice he began to speak, saying, "Father Christmas, I know it has been years since I have confessed to any belief in you but I sure hope you aren't too busy to hear me tonight."

He was silent for a moment, the snow seemed stop and Julius looked up at the gray clouds that seemed to be stacked in the sky. Finding his voice again, he continued, "These past few years have been good to me, even last year, losing a brother-in-law made me appreciate my own brothers more. People say we have everything but it is all material. How I wish you could givethe world so much more, I wish every man could know a woman who could love him like my wife loves me. I wish you could halt every war before it ever gets started, I wish you could show politicians, and power hungry deviants, how the emotional devastation costs so much more than reconstructing any city. Oh, Father Christmas, you could have given me coal that year but you didn't, you gave me my family back and as a bonus you gave me Angelica. And for all of that, what do you get? You give so much and receive nothing in return, what motivates you?"

Julius trailed off as if he expected an answer when suddenly he felt a snowflake land on the tip off his nose. He smiled as he began to speak again, "I really didn't want anything personally this season, I just wanted to ask for a few things for my family. I want Miles to be the Quidditch player he's always dreamed of being, I know he's my son, therefore a Montague, and he can do whatever he wants, but I thought I'd ask you anyway he probably wants that more than he wants that family signet ring Ivan had made for him. And for my darling Angelica, I want her to smile, always, I want her to retain that innocence and humility, even as a Montague. Somehow I believe she'll be the best of us yet. Now, Father Christmas, this is the wish that means the most to me, so if you can't give them all just give this one. I want my Angelina to have the world, whether it is with me or not, I want her every whim to be taken care of, mostly I want her happiness no matter the cost. I wish I could repay you, Father Christmas, you do seem to always come through every Christmas."

He was silent for a few moments before removing his frozen fingers from the snow, looking down at them in complete surprise before he felt a small hand grab them and attempt to give them heat. He looked over to be met with the warm eyes of his wife, even after almost fifteen years he got butterflies just being near her. Julius always found himself thinking, how could he even look at another woman, how had he reached that moment when he forgot what it felt like to love her.

Angelina smiled up at her tall, dark haired, husband, asking, "What brings you out here in this weather, darling?"

Julius smiled at her before looking out onto the ground again, answering, "I was just hoping for a glimpse of Father Christmas before we went to bed."

Angelina raised an eyebrow as he wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him, she wrapped her right arm around his waist and laid her head on the snow covered coat that shielded him from the air. "What did you ask for this year?"

"The same thing I've asked for since our second year at Hogwarts," Julius replied, his gaze still on the bits of green that had not be covered by the endless barrage of snow.

"What? For Slytherin to win the House Cup," she joked, laughing at the playful tap on her arm.

"Don't provoke me, Angie," he chuckled, wondering how, in the midst of all the snow, he could feel so warm.

"Darling you didn't answer my question," Angelina remarked, a few seconds after they had fallen into a comfortable silence.

"What?" he asked, without annoyance, his green eyes looking pointedly at her full, pink, lips.

"I had asked what you asked Father Christmas for this year," she replied, batting her eyelashes, attempting to rid them of the flakes of snow but she wound up only making her vision even more blurry.

"The same thing I ask for every year," Julius whispered, finally meeting her eyes, "you."

Angelina gasped, her brown eyes widening, and her mouth settling in an 'o'. "Oh, Julius, you need not ask for me, you know I'm yours no matter what."

"I just don't want to lose you, is all," he replied as she turned to him, wrapping both her arms around his waist and pulling her petite frame closer to him, forcing him to do the same.

"What's wrong, Julius?" she asked, propping her chin on his chest so she could look up at him.

"Nothing, Angie," he answered, honestly, "I'm just taking this season to reflect upon my life."

"Darling, we have such a good life," she whispered, watching his green eyes cloud over, "who could ask for anything more?"

"You're happy?" he asked, he eyes questioning as he pulled her closer, noticing the tinge to her brown cheeks.

"How could I not be?" Angelina retorted, pulling his head down gently for a quick kiss.

"Happy Christmas, Angie," Julius crooned, almost as if he were saying 'I love you.'

"Happy Christmas, love," she remarked, with a smile, "now let us get out of this cold."

"Let's," he said simply, allowing himself to be led by the one present that ever meant anything to him.

Looking over his shoulder quickly, as he allowed Angelina to enter the parlor before him, he whispered, "Father Christmas someday I shall repay you."