Hi! A little note:
I move into college on Thursday, so I'm hoping to get the last two chapters finished and published before then. I'm really excited!
Enjoy chapter 28!
DISCLAIMER:
I own nothing but my OCs and this plot line. Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Eight: House of Gifts
Albus' POV:
There was some bugger yelling at me to get up.
I wanted to curse them so badly.
"Wake up! It's Christmas!" James' voice had never been so loud. "Mum's already threatened to Bat-Bogey Hex all of us into another life if we don't get a move on! Lily's been pestering her for her gift, the little git."
"M'kay, be there in a few," I mumbled, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. I quickly found my glasses.
After putting them on, blinking a few times to refocus my vision, I realized something.
"Nina?" I said gently, shaking her shoulder. Evidently we'd fallen asleep last night and didn't realize it, as she was lying next to me. How I didn't notice was beyond my understanding.
"Hmm?" she asked, yawning and looking bleary-eyed. "Albus?" She sat up and took in her surroundings. "How-"
"Happy Christmas, Nina." I leaned over and kissed her.
"Merry Christmas, Albus," she responded, blushing.
"Children! Breakfast is ready!" I heard my grandmother holler from the kitchen.
"I'm gonna go brush my teeth," I said, getting up. "Meet me downstairs with the others when you're ready, yeah?"
She nodded and got up, and we both went our separate ways.
I was headed down the corridor and almost to the loo, when Amber stepped in my way. She just stood there, arms crossed.
"Can I brush my teeth?" I asked.
She completely ignored me. "What happened between you and Nina last night? She didn't return to our room, so that could only mean that you two did something dirty."
"What?"
A sly grin appeared. "Did you have sex?"
"We just fell asleep! Can't a guy and girl fall asleep without there being sex involved?"
Just then, the Scamander twins apparated next to her.
"Nope," they said in unison. "You're delirious."
"Where did you two even come from?" I asked, startled. "Anyways, Amber, nothing happened. I'm not like that."
"Not like what?" Fabian asked, coming down the stairs. "What happened?"
"Nothing," I sighed, running my hands through my hair.
"Al, are you still a virgin?" Lysander suddenly asked.
If my face wasn't Weasley red before, it sure as hell was now.
"Excuse me?" I ended up sputtering. "Yes," I answered after regaining some minuscule form of composure. My dignity was pretty much nonexistent, however.
"You don't want to do it with Nina?" Lorcan prodded.
"It's not that… Why do you all want to know so badly?"
"We're just curious," Fabian answered.
"I'm nosey." Amber flipped her hair and smiled.
There was an awkward silence.
"Erm, can I go brush my teeth now? Or have you lot not finished interrogating me?"
"Go ahead," Fabian replied, already walking away. "I'm gonna go see if Joy's up."
"I'll come with you!" Lorcan shouted after him. "I want to see Patricia."
Lysander just stared at us, then at his brother and Fabian's retreating forms, and simply Disapparated.
I made a move to leave, but Amber grabbed my shoulder.
"Oh, and Al?" she started off. "Happy Christmas."
I smiled. "Happy Christmas, Amber."
Nina's POV:
I love staying with the Weasleys.
We were all in the living room after breakfast, Lily having pestered Mr. and Mrs. Potter to the point of insanity on when she could have her gift, which was, in fact, a new racing broom.
I took out my wand. "Accio gift," I muttered. I would've gotten up to get it, but everyone was blocking my way. In no time, the wrapped box that contained Albus' Christmas gift landed safely on my lap.
I turned to him. "Merry Christmas, Al!" I exclaimed, handing him the present.
"Aww, thanks Ninkerbell!" He pecked my cheek after using my hated nickname. "Here." He took something out from behind his back. "You open yours first."
I grinned, staring down at the package wrapped in green paper. Anxiousness took over and I ripped it open as carefully as I could.
"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, beaming. "You got me a yellow Pigmypuff?"
"Of course!"
"It's adorable! I love it! I think I'll name it Bubbles."
"There's more," he continued, handing me another box. This one was a lot smaller and thinner, wrapped in the same emerald paper.
I hesitated and unwrapped it slowly. Opening the small box, I gasped as I picked up a silver locket on a chain.
The locket itself was shaped like a heart, and it had a small ruby centered in the front of it. I gingerly touched the clasp and opened it.
Inside was a moving wizards' photo of he and I at the end of our fifth year. We were smiling brightly at each other, sitting across from one on the rock by the Black Lake, holding hands. The rock, where he, Fabian and I had a few heart-to-heart talks before Joy arose from the dead.
"This is beautiful," I breathed, tracing the outline of the heart. On the other side of the inside of the locket, there was an N engraved in fancy cursive script. I closed it.
"Here, I'll put it on for you if you want," he offered. I obliged.
"Ah! Nina, isn't it lovely?" Amber interrupted, plopping down next to me.
"It is!" I answered. "Did you… help him pick it out, or something?"
"Nope! He did it all by himself. He just showed it to me beforehand, though. Of course I approved."
"Of course, Amber."
"Now, both of you open your gifts from me! Come on, do it!"
She shoved two square-shaped pink-wrapped boxes at us. Exchanging glances, Al and I opened them at the same time. He chuckled, clearly amused, while I smiled genuinely back at my best friend. I happily pulled out a very nicely-bound, red scrapbook, that had "Nina & Albus" printed on the front in gold. A copy of the photo in my locket was below it, cut out into a perfect heart.
"Amber," I started off, flipping through the pages carefully, staring at each picture and caption in amazement, "this… This is spectacular! Where did you get all these photos?"
"I helped her," Roxanne piped up. "She paid me to spy on you two and take photographs for the past two terms."
Albus looked dumfounded. "Really," he muttered. "Well that's just-"
"Sweet!" I finished for him. "It's really sweet, Amber. I love the scrapbook!"
She smiled triumphantly and went to go rejoin Alfie, Patricia and Lorcan.
The rest of the holiday and break went by without a problem, and eventually we got our coursework done after some intense procrastination.
Now, it was April. We were in Double Potions, and we had two weeks before our N.E.W.T.s were supposed to begin.
"I think you'll all do exceptionally well on your test for this course," Professor Slughorn said after an exhausting review of Advanced Potions Making. "Just remember: Revision! You may use this classroom freely, with my permission, to practice brewing potions in order to prepare for the examination. That is all; you may go."
"I'm going to fail," I muttered, walking out of the dungeons with Albus, Joy and Fabian.
"No, you'll do fine," Joy comforted.
"You're top in the class!" Fabian exclaimed. "Well, tied with Mara."
"Not helping, Fabian," Albus retorted. "Ninkerbell, you'll do absolutely marvelous. I'll even help you."
"And by 'help', he means he'll totally abandon all work and snog your face off throughout the entire time you're supposed to be revising," Lysander chimed in, falling into step with us. "What's up?"
Al and I glared at him while Joy and Fabian tried to stifle their uncontrollable laughter. It didn't work.
It turned out, with much stress and discomfort on my part, that I ended up getting top marks on all my N.E.W.T.s, especially in Potions.
"Shocker!" James sarcastically exclaimed. He was spinning around lazily in a stool in the Potter's kitchen. "You're smart, Nina."
"Why weren't you in Ravenclaw?" Mrs. Potter asked, coming into the room, Lily in tow.
"Mum, she's clearly braver than she looks," Al answered.
"Thanks, Al… I think," I replied. I stared back down at the parchment in my hand, declaring my marks. "I wish Gran were here to see this."
Just then, we heard screeching from their living room. It sounded like Sibuna, my owl. Rushing into the room with Albus, I felt my jaw drop as I took in the scene around me.
Gran was standing in front of the Potter's massive fireplace, wisps of emerald smoke evaporating around her.
"Nina, darling!" she exclaimed, opening her arms for a hug. I ran to her, a huge grin plastered on my face, and flung my arms around her.
"Gran!" I shouted. "How'd you get here? Well, I mean, it's obvious how you got here, but how-"
"Harry sent me an owl and told me you all got your marks in and finished your final year of Hogwarts. I'm so sorry I codlin't make it to the Seventh Years' end-of-year ceremony. Something came up in America with the Ministry."
"Is everything okay?"
"So far." She adjusted her dark green witches hat. "They, er, found some documents of yours that had to be… compromised."
"You're not going to tell her now, are you?" Mr. Potter asked, startling me. He appeared in the doorway to the room. "And it's a pleasure to see you again by the way, Irene."
"Oh, the pleasure's all mine, Harry," she smiled. "Well, Nina," she turned to me. "Your parents thought the Salem Witches' Institute to be a better school for you to go to instead of Hogwarts. They knew you were magical from the second you were born - the Magical Quill wrote your name down in the book - and they were convinced that, while Hogwarts had everything to offer and then-some, they'd rather you stay in America with them."
"But… Mom and Dad are dead," I stated plainly. "So, the American Ministry was trying to get me to graduate from the Salem Witches' Institute then, instead of completing my education at Hogwarts?"
"Precisely."
"But," Mr. Potter cut in, "your grandmother and I worked with the British and American Ministries of Magic to compromise your studies. Even though your parents would've preferred you go to Salem, you were already destined to be sent off to Anubis House School. You were already in England for an extended period of time; you put together the Cup of Ankh and defeated the Betrayer, and then your Hogwarts letter arrived."
"There was a document sent out to the American Minister about your attending the magical school here instead of being sent back off to America, but evidently he didn't get it until you finished your N.E.W.T.s," Gran finished. "Don't worry, everything's all set now. You may do what you wish - stay here with your friends, or come back to America. I support your decision entirely and won't hold it against you if you do decide to stay here. In fact," she grinned, "I might even pack up and move to England myself! I used to work for the Ministry of Magic in the United Kingdom before, so it should be no problem. What do you say?"
"I say that sounds amazing! But are you absolutely sure?"
"Of course! You're practically an adult - you can do magic legally outside of school, anyways, and you've finished school - I want to be able to spend more time with you and the Potter-Weasley family so I can make up all the time I lost."
It was settled. I'd be staying in England permanently, with Gran. "Maybe we could get a house in the same village as you guys so we could see each other more often?" I asked, turning to Mr. and Mrs. Potter.
"I don't see why not," Mrs. Potter answered, flashing me a smile.
