Santa Paws
by Teddylonglong
Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1.
In case you have not read yesterday's chapter yet, please go back and read chapter 32 first :)
On a summer evening, when the extended family was sitting in front of the screen as usual, Amelia suddenly said something that made everyone look at her in surprise.
"Today, someone asked me where my predecessor was and what he was doing," she said, only to add, "and I realised in surprise that I haven't wasted a thought on him – ever after cleaning out his office."
"I haven't either," Sirius spoke up.
"Good riddance," Severus quipped.
"Let's check it out," Santa suggested and headed to the screen. "Cornelius Fudge," he requested, and the screen immediately changed to what Harry on the first glimpse thought to be a dungeon. However, after a moment of watching, he realised that it had to be a wine cellar, in which Fudge was inspecting a huge wine barrel. They observed him interact with some men, before he left the cellar and headed outside.
"He must have bought a wine yard," Luna spoke up, smiling. "The old-fashioned house looks beautiful from the outside."
"That looks like one of the small, old villages on the River Moselle," Santa said, pensively. "It's in the Western part of Germany."
'Perhaps I should have taken her somewhere else but home on our honeymoon,' Harry mused, only to decide, 'we can still go on a holiday at any time.'
"Luna," he spoke up, "do you want to go on a holiday somewhere?"
"I'd like that," his wife replied, wearing a dreamy expression.
"You should take her to the Christmas market in Cologne once," Miranda, who had recently become Remus' fiancée, spoke up. "It is exceptionally beautiful."
=You won't be able to take her this year though, as Santa Lily and Lily Paws are going to be born on Christmas,= Santa Paws spoke up, matter-of-factly, causing Luna and Harry to exchange a look of annoyance.
"Who decided on such a name?" Harry asked, strictly.
=You did… err… sorry, you will do, Santa Moon told me,= Santa Paws replied, giving him an innocent look.
"I know that it was going to be a girl," Luna said, dreamily, "even if I didn't really want to know in advance."
"We might name her Lily, if Luna agrees, but certainly neither Santa Lily nor Lily Paws," Harry explained to his familiar in a strict voice.
=Santa Lily will be our baby. It's going to be Lily Paws' twin familiar,= Santa Moon informed him in a soft voice.
'That reminds me of something that I really need to do,' Harry thought and excused himself for a while.
HP
He headed into his old room in Santa's quarters, which was adjacent to the screen room and with Dobby's, Holly's and Santa Paws' assistance installed a fireplace, before he took an old crayon out of a drawer and made a Portkey from it.
'Stupid me; I should have taken something bigger,' he scolded himself, when he motioned the two elves and the canine to hold on to it to travel together.
Glad that there already was the large fireplace in the founders' quarters at Hogwarts, he hesitantly asked the founders if they had an idea how to connect it to his own fireplace on the North Pole.
"Harry dear," Helga was the first to gently respond, "you should know that we don't have a clue about fireplaces, as they did not exist in our time. Perhaps Hogwarts can help you though."
"Let me try to reach out for it," Hogwarts said, thoughtfully, and Harry felt the magic swirl all around the parlour, before the castle finally informed him that their fireplaces were now connected.
=Will I be able to use it as well?= Santa Paws woofed, glancing upwards like Harry always did when communicating with Hogwarts.
Smiling, Harry translated for his familiar.
"Santa Paws, please put your forepaws against my wall for a moment. I shall try to acquire the ability to understand your language," Hogwarts instructed him, and the canine hurried to obey.
It took about two minutes, before Hogwarts informed them that the fireplace was now charmed to be accessible under the name North Pole in human as well as in dog language.
Harry and Santa Paws profusely thanked Hogwarts, before they both used the fireplace to comfortably travel home.
HP
During the following months, the fireplace was put to good use. Not only Harry and Luna were living on the North Pole in spite of being professors at Hogwarts, but also Severus and Regina as well as Remus and Miranda and Sirius. Amelia was also able to travel to her own office in the ministry through the fireplace on the North Pole.
"Why only now?" Severus enquired, quirking an eyebrow.
"Because Luna is pregnant, and I don't want to endanger her or our daughter by having her take a Portkey on a daily basis," Harry replied to his mentor in a firm voice. "Plus, I hope that Neville and Daphne as well as Draco and Hermione will move to the North Pole as well once they're married."
"What about Dudley and Ginny?" Luna enquired, causing Harry to stare at his wife in shock.
"Dudley and Ginny are a couple?" he asked in disbelief, inwardly groaning upon seeing her nod. "I hoped to never see any of the Weasleys again except for the twins," he stated. "There was no need to even become family with them."
"I fully agree," Luna said, sighing.
"Oh well, I'm sorry for Dudley, but he won't be allowed to bring Ginny here onto the North Pole," Harry replied in determination.
"That's fine. They don't have to come here anyway," Luna said, matter-of-factly.
HP
During the following weeks, Harry had to take turns with Minerva overseeing the headmistress' office at Hogwarts. However, whenever he was on the North Pole, he took some time to skim Merlin's potions recipes together with Severus.
They found several recipes of potions, which they deemed useful for muggles, and spent some time brewing many batches of them, so that Santa would be able to bring potions for muggle illnesses as Christmas presents for the upcoming holidays.
"It's still four months until Christmas," Luna said in surprise upon hearing about the matter.
"Four months pass quickly, and once we're back at Hogwarts, we won't have so much time anymore," Harry replied, smiling.
"I wished the months would pass quickly," Luna groaned. "The doggies are lucky. For them, the pregnancy only lasts two months, and I'm going to have to carry our daughter for nine months. How unfair is that?"
=I told you to make children in your puppy forms,= Santa Paws pointed out, causing Harry and Luna to stare at the canine in exasperation.
HP
Harry's second year of teaching was as pleasant as the first if not even more enjoyable, as some of his first students slowly managed to transform their left or even both hands into their Animagi forms.
'I wonder what age would be the minimum for a child to teach them the Animagus transformation,' Harry thought one day. 'I can't wait to teach little Lily to transform into a dog. Provided that's what she wants,' he added as an afterthought.
When he voiced his thoughts, when they were in bed later the same evening, Santa Paws quickly voiced his opinion. "She'll be the sister of Lily Paws, so she will want to transform, and it'll work. I can sense that she's very powerful."
Luna merely chuckled, causing Harry to cast her a surprised look. "My clever wife," he whispered, before he pulled her into a loving kiss.
HP
In the morning of Christmas Eve, Harry received a letter from Albus Dumbledore.
'Dear Harry,' it read.
'During the 155 years of my life, I have made many mistakes, my biggest one causing the death of my beloved sister Ariana. I will never forgive myself for this. I know that I have wronged you, and I profusely apologize for it. Please believe me that nothing that I did was out of malice. I only meant well, even if I might have chosen the wrong means. During the last couple of years, I have had much time to think, and I decided to voice a final request to you.
I know that your familiar, Santa Paws, cherishes the spirit of Christmas, and in this spirit of Christmas, I would like to ask you to please consider giving me the potion that might restore my magic. I promise that you will never hear from me again, and that I will leave you and your family in peace. I just would like to enjoy the last couple of years I have before my next great adventure being able to do magic.
Yours sincerely
Albus Dumbledore.'
Harry let out a long sigh. Placing the letter onto the breakfast table, he excused himself for an hour and headed into the lab, where Severus was already busying himself with some research concoction.
"What brings you here this morning?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow. "I thought you and Luna would be waiting now for her to get ready to travel to Hogwarts."
"According to my wife and her familiar, the baby is going to be born tomorrow," Harry replied in a bored voice. "Therefore, I'll have enough time to brew the second-magic potion before having to deal with pregnant women, human and canine."
Severus could not help a chuckle, however, then enquired, "Whom are you going to give magic?"
"Dumbledore," Harry all but growled. "He's an old man, and I don't want anyone to suffer over Christmas." Holding up his hand to stop Severus from commenting, he continued, "I know that he has wronged several people, but he also did some good, and, well, I'm not going to be the kind of person that Voldemort was, so I will cure him." Giving his mentor a mock glare, he added, "Any questions, Professor?"
Severus smirked, before he replied. "No Harry, I believe that you're doing the right thing. I have also made many mistakes, but first Dumbledore and then you and Santa were there to help me improve my life greatly. Maybe Dumbledore deserves the same lenience."
Later the same day, Harry sent Fawkes to take the small phial to Dumbledore. It was labelled in his scrawly hand-writing 'The second-magic potion. H.P./24.12.1999. Merry Christmas.'
Early on Christmas morning, he received a response, in which Albus Dumbledore profusely thanked him for his mercy and wished him a happy Christmas in return.
HP
Just a few hours later, the extended family was sitting in front of the screen looking into the small room behind the hospital wing at Hogwarts, where Luna was supposed to soon give birth to her and Harry's first-born.
While Santa had originally decided to have the screen display something else, Luna had all but begged the extended family to observe the child's birth.
"Oh well, it's going to be my great grandchild and the child of the North Pole, so let's do the girl the favour and watch it," Merlin had decided and instructed Severus to invite the whole extended family.
Minerva looked at the screen. On the one hand, this was such a private moment of two of her favourite students that it seemed like a sacrilege to watch it; however, she somehow felt magically attracted to the scene.
After witnessing a discussion between Luna and Harry, in which Luna had instructed her husband to transform into his canine Animagus form and Harry had tried to refuse insisting to hold her hand, Santa had switched sounds off in both directions to give the young couple at least the minimum amount of privacy.
Luna was lying in a bed wearing a light pink nightgown, while Harry was cuddled into her side in his canine Animagus form.
'Luna won,' Minerva thought in amusement, just when the head of the baby came out. Unfortunately, she could not see any details, as Poppy was standing in the way; however, when Poppy turned around to show the baby to the proud parents, a collective gasp sounded through the room. It was a canine baby and the spitting image of Santa Paws.
Santa quickly switched on the sound, just on time for them to hear Luna say, "Welcome to the world, my Lily Paws."
=Our little sister,= Santa Paws declared, proudly, before all of a sudden, the small room of the hospital wing was showered with Christmas decorations, and Santa Moon stepped into the room carrying a new-born puppy in her mouth.
"Welcome to the world little Lily Paws and Santa Lily," Santa roared, only to add, "Ho ho ho, merry Christmas!"
tbc...
Thank you so very much for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please let me know what you think of this chapter.
Next chapter: "Epilogue".