AN:- Yo ho ho! Merry Christmas! HOOTENANNY!
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Chapter Fourteen: Christmas at Home
They spun to a halt in the back garden of their own house, Lily almost throwing up into the roses. She had forgotten quite how much she hated side-along apparition. Her mother gave her a worried look and knelt down to rest a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay darling?"
"I'm fine mother," She gasped, leaning in to the hug which her mother gave her, "It's very nice to see you." She pulled away from her mother and was pulled straight into her father's rib cracking embrace.
"Come on," Her mother said, taking her by the hand and leading her towards the house, "Let's get inside and have a proper chat about your lessons."
They went into the living room and sat in the armchairs by the fireplace, Lily perching on the edge with her back straight and her hands folded in her lap. Vincent swept to his usual place and sank into it gratefully, Selene taking the seat next to him, "So," She said when she had got comfortable, "Charms?"
Lily nodded, "Flitwick is a good teacher, and I've been progressing very quickly. I have mastered most of the charms we've tried so far, and I've started to look ahead in the book, and my practice with them has actually gone quite well."
"And you're not worried you might be overtaxing yourself by trying to work ahead of yourself? I know that Transfiguration is hard, and Severus Snape must be quite a taskmaster when it comes to learning Potions."
"Lisa is very good at Transfiguration, so she helps me, and we all work together for Potions, so I'm learning it quite well."
Selene nodded, "I remember that when I was at Hogwarts my friends and I worked together on our History of Magic homework together all the time. Although that was more because we took it in turns to be the one who took notes while the others caught up on sleep." She smiled at Vincent, who nodded and leaned forwards.
"And what about your other subjects? The core groups are important, but you said in your letters that you had discovered an affinity for Herbology?"
"Yes father," She shifted in her chair a little, "I think it's fascinating to see the progress the plants can make, and knowing how the ingredients we use in potions have been prepared helps me to understand potions better. It's a much more interesting subject than I'd have thought it was."
"And how about your life outside of lessons?" Vincent asked, "We've met your friends, but what about the people in your house?"
Lily didn't know how to answer. The one thing she didn't want was for her parents to worry about her while she was at school, but they had surely been through something similar, having people like Lucius Malfoy in their house. She decided that it would be better to tell them at least part of the truth, because they would know exactly what other Slytherins were like.
"Pansy Parkinson isn't very nice to me, and most of the girls are her friends. Draco Malfoy is almost idolised by the boys, and he doesn't like me very much. But Daphne Greengrass is quite nice and she's very good with Charms as well, so we talk about them a lot."
"And what about people outside of Slytherin, are you friends with anyone apart from Lisa and Sally?"
"Well," Lily shrugged, "Being in Slytherin seems to give you a bad reputation, so people don't usually talk to me that much. Some of the Ravenclaws talk to me in history of Magic or Magical Theory but usually just to ask questions or talk about the lesson."
"Well I'm glad people are at least talking to you," Selene said, "Back when I was in school people wouldn't even have talked to someone in Slytherin."
They had never told her that before, "Why not?" She asked curiously.
"Something rather unpleasant happened a few years before we were at school, and Slytherin weren't exactly popular for a few years after that."
"What happened?"
Vincent started to say something, but Selene glared at him, "I don't think the whole story is really appropriate for you to hear," She said, "Maybe when you're older."
Lily knew better than to try and argue when her mother decided not to tell her something. Instead she looked from one parent to the other, "So has anything exciting happened while I've been away?"
Vincent shook his head, "Work continues much as it always has. We accepted a new contract with Nimbus, but the numbers are proving difficult."
"What do they want you to work out?"
"When they develop new broomsticks the general aim is more speed and manoeuvrability, but the equations they're working with at the moment aren't producing powerful enough results. The wood shakes apart, and if it doesn't then the wind rushing into players' faces isn't being deflected enough. The spells are an intrinsic part of the wood with brooms, so the numbers have to be exact."
Lily smiled at her father's speech. He normally wouldn't have cared one bit for broomsticks, but suddenly he was seeing a side of them he could understand. She looked to her mother, who smiled back, "I've been working on a new textbook actually. It's about advanced defensive magic for auror trainees to study. I'm mostly working with other people, but I get to write a chapter or two."
"And your novel?"
"On hold until I can earn a little money. My publishers have been very understanding."
It was something of a family in-joke. Selene's publishers might have been more easy going than someone else, but they still bombarded the house almost daily asking if the next book was ready. Selene specialised in literature about muggle adventurers, but she also had a very profitable series following the adventures of a muggle school. The first book had been published when Selene was barely out of Hogwarts, and there were talks about turning it into a radio production soon.
"We heard from Peter that Harry Potter is the new Gryffindor Seeker," Her father's tone held a reminder that she hadn't written to them to tell them anything about her term, but he moved on quickly, "I suppose the first match must have been exciting?"
"Well," Lily wondered whether any other news about the events of the match had got out, "His broom went crazy halfway through the match and he nearly fell off, but he managed to catch the snitch anyway. Actually," She amended, "He practically swallowed it."
"So where does that put Gryffindor in the House Championship?"
"Right behind us actually." Ravenclaw had dropped into third after the match, something Lily had wasted no time in reminding Lisa of.
"Good to hear that Slytherin are still keeping up a good quality of work," Her father said. "There is a proud tradition of our house winning that cup. Back in our day it was always neck and neck whether it would be us or Ravenclaw."
Lily shrugged, "Gryffindor have been doing quite well actually, especially in our year. Hermione Granger is really smart."
"And have you had a chance to talk to this Hermione?" Her mother asked, "It seems like the two of you would have a lot in common."
"Well she kind of hangs around with Harry Potter, and he doesn't like Slytherins very much..." She left the rest unsaid, but her parents knew.
"It's a shame that the house loyalties are so deeply ingrained even into people who don't know about them. People just follow their house without really thinking." It was an old argument of her father's, and one he wheeled out whenever they had friends over. Lily had often heard him sitting around with the Grissoms or the Stewarts, debating late into the night over a bottle of fine wine as to whether the House system was a good or bad idea.
"I don't think it's house loyalties with him," Lily said fairly, "I think he just met Draco Malfoy a bit too early."
"Ah," That was more than enough for Vincent, who leaned back in his big armchair and folded his hands on his stomach, "Well it's no good trying to be friends with people who don't appreciate it anyway. Far better to stick with people who understand you."
Lily nodded, and they sat in silence for a short while before Selene clapped her hands, "Well, I think that's enough serious talk. Let e get something on for lunch and we can have a proper family Christmas."
"Do you mean," Lily started cautiously, "That we're not going to be going round to the Malfoys or the Greengrasses this Christmas?"
"I think that we haven't seen nearly enough of you," Selene said as she stood and swanned her way into the kitchen, "And I don't want to have to share you with the cousins."
Lily looked to her father, whose face had crinkled into one of his rare smiles, and found that she suddenly felt rather giddy. She jumped up and hugged him, then followed her mother into the kitchen.
They spent the afternoon sitting around reading some of the muggle fairytales Mrs Perks had recommended, laughing at the absurd depictions of magic that could be found in them, and as the evening drew in Selene gave a dramatic reading from her latest work, in which the new first years at the muggle high school encountered their first older year bully. Far from Pansy Parkinson and her own experiences, Lily was able to laugh at the over the top antics of the heroic first years, who soon bested the bully with little more than wits and courage.
I've got one; she thought as her mother bowed to an imaginary crowd, I just wish I had more of the second.
Finally it was time for a last drink of milk and she was sent off to bed to await the morning, where her presents would have mysteriously appeared at the foot of her bed. She didn't quite know when she had stopped believing in San D'Klass and realised that it was her parents doing, but every year they continued to go through the same ritual, and as she pulled the covers over her head and closed her eyes, she was very grateful for it.
The next day couldn't have been any better. She woke early to find the usual pile of presents and immediately set about dragging them through to her parents' room, along with the gifts that she'd bought them before heading off to Hogwarts. She piled her stuff onto the bed and got to unwrapping as her parents conjured cups of strong coffee and tried to wake up. By the time she was halfway through they were properly awake and exchanged their own gifts, her mother receiving a beautiful gold broach from her father and a lovely new quill that Lily had spotted in Diagon Alley while they were shopping for her school things. Her father received a book on new theories in Arithmancy from Lily and a brand new set of dress robes from her mother.
Lily found herself surrounded by books, her favourite gift, and with a new scarf resting atop the lot. The scarf was a shiny silver material that looked almost like it was glowing in the morning light. She ran her fingers over the soft fabric and admired it, remembering that Slytherin did have two colours, and one of them she liked. Her books included two textbooks of higher level spells and a variety of fiction, both muggle and wizarding.
They spent the day being very lazy, an experience Lily was still getting used to. Her parents didn't even get out of bed until nearly half eight, and they had their breakfast sitting in the front room and listening to the wireless. Selene brought her writing table down with her and broke in her new quill with a new chapter of the defensive magics textbook while her father lost himself in the world of numbers required to make a broomstick fly.
While normally her parents did all of their cooking by magic, Christmas lunch was one of the few times they rolled up their sleeves and made a valiant attempt at using the increasingly new fangled ovens. Back in their day, they told Lily every single year, they hadn't had as many spells to cook things, and so all cooking was done by hand, and if you wanted to experience a proper Christmas lunch then it had to be entirely without magic. Then they put her on duty peeling carrots and potatoes.
Lunch wasn't ready until half past two, and by the time they had made it through the starter, then a huge rack of beef and portions of vegetables that would normally have lasted them for a week, and finally a chocolate pudding that could at best be described as 'generous' it was nearly four, and they were far too full to even think about leaving the house. Instead Vincent suggested that they work on their cleaning spells, and then enjoy whatever happened to be on the wireless.
Lily wholeheartedly agreed, and very shortly the effects of good eating and being back at home conspired to send her happily off to sleep.
The next day dawning sleepily over their house, and once more her parents slept late, and let her have a much needed lie in as well. When she finally made it downstairs she discovered two parcels waiting for her on the kitchen table, her mother sitting next to them and watching them closely, "It appears your friends have sent you something," She said, "I hope you thought to do the same?"
Lily nodded, holding up the bag that she had managed to keep hidden while she had been round the Perks. It had a raven shaped pendant she had seen in a shop in Cambridge for Lisa, and one of her own books of wizarding fairytales for the Perks. "I meant to send them last night," She said sheepishly.
"I'm sure it will be okay," Her mother took the gifts and waved her wand, wrapping them in glittery paper and levitating them over to the fireplace, "Get the floo powder dear?"
Lily chucked some floo powder in, followed by the presents. The gifts would be sent to the central floo office, and then on to Sally and Lisa's before lunch.
"Now, let's see what they've sent you."
Lily sat and pulled the gifts in front of her, noting that both of them felt an awful lot like clothes. She chose to unwrap Lisa's first, and was rewarded with a jacket made out of some sort of navy material. It felt almost stiff to the touch and was accompanied by a note, Now this is definitely an outer-outer thing. Hope you like it.
There was also a shirt of the sort Sally liked wearing, soft cotton with short sleeves. Thankfully Lisa hadn't gone with the sorts of colours Sally liked wearing as well. Instead the shirt was a pale grey colour which looked close enough to silver that she thought she would probably get away with wearing it around the school.
She moved on to Sally's gift and smiled as a pair of jeans fell out. They were the same colour and material as the jacket, and the note explained that they should fit her perfectly. She laid the whole outfit out on the desk and examined it, wondering just when Sally and Lisa had conspired to get her a matching outfit, and smiled as her mother rested a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sure it will look lovely," She said, a little uncertain. Her father chose that moment to come stumping in, trying to fix the belt on his robes properly, and saw the clothes.
"Is that what muggles are wearing these days?" He asked, eyeing the jeans.
"Yes dear, just like they've been wearing for the last forty years."
"I'm getting some," He announced, abandoning the belt entirely, "Anything has to be better than these blasted robes getting bunched in the wrong places all the time."
Lily giggled as her mother sighed and made a visible effort to restrain herself from commenting. "I'm going to go and get changed," She told them, scooping up her clothes and escaping to her room.
When she had dressed and returned to the kitchen her father's belt had been tied properly and her mother was back in her seat sipping her coffee and glaring at her husband whenever he turned around.
"I thought we might go to the village and see if we can catch a good play," Selene said, "Unless you had any better ideas for today?"
Lily gave her mother a sly look, "Well..."
"That was certainly an experience," Her father said a few hours later as they left the cinema.
"I know," Her mother's eyes were shining, "Wasn't it just wonderful? Who knew that the muggles could do something like that?" The wheels in her head were almost visibly turning, "I wonder if it would be possible to adapt something like that for us as well?"
"That would depend," Lily sensed one of her parents' deep discussions coming on, "What spells exactly would you use to record and then project the image again?"
"Well obviously some of it would have to be done mechanically. Do you know how they record the images Lily?"
Lily shook her head, but it didn't matter, her parents were off now, and such an exciting and new topic would last them until at least dinnertime.
As it was it lasted them the whole of the rest of the day, and as Lily went to bed her mother was still declaring her intention to write a script for her next work instead of a novel. As she settled in to sleep Lily decided that it had probably been the best Christmas ever.
AN:- I had a fantastic Christmas this year personally. I got a jumper so warm you literally can't wear it indoors and a Kindle, which is nice because I read far too much. I also got a chance to reread my Harry Potter collection, so I've got a whole load of new ideas for this story.
The plan for these fics by the way is definitely to go all the way to the final book. I've got the basis of ideas for 2nd, 4th and 7th year, and some sort of preliminary ideas for the other books, and I want to get them out there.
Some notes about this chapter:
In the British education system there is a division made between the 'core' subjects and the rest. English, Maths and Science are the core subjects and the rest are basically counted as extras. I think Hogwarts would probably divide in the same way, with Defence, Transfiguration, Potions and Charms considered to be the core subejcts and the rest considered to be extras.
Lily's father is an Arithmancer (foreshadowing at work here! I mentioned he loved Arithmancy in the letter from her parents, aren't I clever?) He works with numbers and in this case is basically part of the team designing the Nimbus 2001 for next year. Selene is an author, both of fact and fiction. Her main series is basically Harry Potter but reversed, and her tendency to write muggle adventurers is a bit of a jab at Thriller writers like Dan Brown, but with magic from Harry Potter obviously.
'Peter' who Vincent mentions is Peter Grissom, his very good Hufflepuff friend. San D'Klass (or San the Deluded) is taken from Artemis Fowl (obvs) and the rest of their activities are me trying frantically to find something for a family without a television to do. (Seriously, what did people do before television?)
Oh early 90s fashion, what was the world thinking? Denim. Denim was what they were thinking. Denim everywhere, and now it's on my main characters. (For the record, I'm a Status Quo fan, so it would be possible for me to dress in 90% denim if I wanted. I love denim.)
I'm probably going to skim over the time at Lisa's, so they can get back to Hogwarts faster. This book is already practically longer than the first Harry Potter anyway.