Ch 7 Not Much of a Christmas
Very minor changes by my fabulous beta readers for a change.
Monday December twenty-first, twenty-twenty-one, Ginny showed up at the Ministry. All the members of the Department of Law Enforcement, and their spouses and anyone else living in their household, were going to be receiving their Covid-19 vaccine.
Ginny grumbled to anyone who would listen, "I wish that the Hogwarts students could be vaccinated and come home for Christmas. It is not going to be much of a Christmas with the children stuck at Hogwarts."
Ginny was reminded that Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and the surrounding area were scheduled to start receiving their jabs the middle of January, and they hoped that the whole magical community would be fully vaccinated by the end of January. That was good news, but it didn't much help this Christmas.
Harry looked at the report. This was going to be one of the most difficult conversations he could imagine. Rosa, the woman they were calling Pippa Lewis, was pregnant with Teddy's baby, and she was living at the New Burrow. He was going to have to tell Andromeda, and Victoire, and the rest of the family. Once the baby was born it was probably going to be at least suggestive if not obvious that Teddy was the father. He scheduled a meeting with Rosa, Arthur and Molly, Bill and Fleur, and Victoire for Tuesday evening, at the New Burrow. Ginny had to know too, so she and Minerva, who was too young to understand, would accompany him. He had already told Ginny, and she had cried and cried. Teddy going undercover had turned out to be more difficult than anyone could have imagined.
Rosa was obviously pregnant, and Harry started out, "Pippa, we ought to make sure we always refer you by that name, I have some information that the immediate family, and only the immediate family, needs to know.
"We know you are pregnant, and that is not a problem. Any new life is worth celebrating. We know who the father is. I know that because of the immorality, forced immorality, on the island it is not always certain who the father is, but we have ways of confirming it. The father of your baby is Edwardo Wolfman, who is an undercover agent. His real name is Teddy Lupin."
"MY Teddy?" Victoire shrieked.
"Your Teddy, Victoire," Harry confirmed.
"Are you married?" Pippa wondered.
"We are engaged to be engaged," Victoire mumbled. "You cannot go undercover if you are formally engaged, but we were going to get married as soon as Teddy is no longerundercover.
"Pippa, does Teddy have any more children?"
"One that I know of," Pippa confirmed. "The mother is evil, and … that whole island is such an evil place.
"Edwardo is better than some. Many of the wizards just rape you, and you get used to it, but at least Edwardo tries to make it acceptable for both of you. You cannot be a good person and survive on that island, but there are plenty of wizards who are worse. I guess. I never want to go back.
"I am going to be happier staying hidden here until I die, instead of risking having them find me and torture and kill me."
"Do you want to marry Teddy, Edwardo?" Victoire wondered.
Pippa shook her head no. She put her head in her hands and started to tear up. "If your Teddy wants to marry you, I think you should. He is going to need love and understanding, if he escapes."
Harry added, "He is going to need to forgive himself, and accept love he does not think he will deserve, Victoire. If he escapes, and has maps of the island, it will be the most successful undercover operation we have ever had. He will be a hero, and just like Pippa he may have to be a hidden hero until we can capture the island."
Before the meeting was finished Harry had them all agree, with binding spells, to keep Teddy's information secret.
Victoire was standing in the large living room of New Shell Cottage, looking out at the ocean, a sad look on her face, when her mother went over to stand beside her.
"What will you do when Teddy comes back?" Fleur wondered.
"Marry him, and have our babies," Victoire insisted. "Love the hurt and horror away. Love any children we need to love, if he is a parent or if he just drags some bedraggled poor things home with him.
"I'll probably cry too. I'm not sure how many more Christmases I can stand like this, waiting for him, but I will.
"It is not going to be much of a Christmas for me until Teddy is home, home to me."
Victoire turned and hugged her mother, both witches crying and comforting each other.
"I hope we can have Christmas at Easter break," Cleo sniffed, Wednesday evening, December twenty-third. "I wish I didn't have to go to the depressing Malfoy Christmas's ever again. She and Albus and their band were practicing Christmas carols, but no one was much in the mood for upbeat Christmas songs.
Albus took out the magical gut string guitar that had belonged to his grandfather Potter, and started to sing,
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
Next year all our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away
Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Will be near to us once more
Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now
Cleo had tears in her eyes as she repeated the last verse
Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow sob sob
Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow
Cleo's voice had caught, and she stopped, not knowing if she could go on, before finishing
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now
"I missed summer at Potter's New burrow!" Cleo sobbed. "I missed going to the castle in Switzerland. This has been a TERRIBLE year."
"We are all healthy," Albus countered, hugging the upset girl.
"FINALLY!" Cleo sniffed. "We almost DIED, and it took all autumn to get better. I feel like I've muddled through this whole year, muddled through somehow, but I don't feel good about it."
"Band practice is over," Albus announced. Albus and Cleo hugged, and Cleo cried and cried.
It was hard leaving Albus and going to the Gryffindor dormitory.
Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow.
Cleo cried herself to sleep. She awoke feeling a little better in the morning, but this was not going to be much of a Christmas.
Thursday and Friday, Christmas Eve and Christmas day, were rather subdued. They did hold a Christian religious service Christmas Eve. Cleo was still subdued, but at least held it together until the service was over.
Christmas morning presents were at the end of most of the students' beds. Rose and Cleo found and put on the jumpers from grandmother Molly, and wore them down to breakfast.
Albus found his jumper from grandmother, and wore it. Scorpius looked in awe at the handmade articles. They were not exactly stylish, and if he ever wore something like that he was sure his family would not approve. They were so much better than the store purchased and, too often, meaningless gifts he received from his parents. At least his grandmother tried to buy meaningful presents.
At breakfast Scorpius looked at Rose, and tried to imagine how he would look, he and Rose, in grandmother's jumpers. It would be so nice being part of that loving family. Well, that was not going to happen any time soon, if ever. Scorpius stifled a sob. It didn't make any sense wanting to be part of that family, but he did.
It wasn't much of a Christmas.
Rose looked at herself, Albus, and Cleo in grandmother's handmade jumpers, and Scorpius with his all too perfect … sad …
Scorpius needed a loving family. Someone other than that stupid Cassie girl.
Monday, December 28, was going to be a school day, so Minerva and the staff decided that the Sunday Christmas Ball was going to start early, about two in the afternoon, and be over by nine. There was going to be an hour and a half Dinner from five to six-thirty, in the middle. Instead of hiring an outside band they decided to use the orchestra that Professor Flitwick led, plus the band of Albus and his friends.
Sunday morning after breakfast Minerva stayed to watch the band set up. Albus had heard more than one Magi refer to modern music as "rolling rock" music instead of what he had explained to her was "rock and roll," so they had named the band "The Rolling Rocks." He had even procured costumes for the band, although Minerva had not seen the band in costume.
Minerva had to admit that she was a little nervous about the costumes. Albus would not do anything too suggestive, but Cleo could dress in almost anything and look … well like Cleo, which was embarrassingly curvy.
The dance started at two. After the orchestra played the band came out. The boys were dressed in costumes that included trousers with decorations of musical notes and the little rocks rolling downhill that was the symbol of this "Rolling Rock" band. The costume shirts were tight on the boys, with short sleeves. They were collarless, and open on the front halfway to the waist. Albus in particular looked like a little Greek god, tiny, but with wide shoulders, a tiny butt, and a mustache much too big for his age. Minerva knew that many boys thought that although they looked at girl's figures, girls were not all that interested in how boys looked. Girls did pay attention to how guys looked, however, and all the wizards in the band were good looking.
The girls wore dresses that again had the decorations of musical notes and the rocks rolling downhill. The skirts were tight to the widest part of their bottoms, and then flared out, three-quarters length. Minerva was glad the skirt part of the dress was not any shorter, considering how Christy Shook bounced and moved when she was playing drums. The dresses had sweetheart necklines that were just revealing enough to demonstrate that all the females were not little girls, without being too revealing, with the exception of Cleopatra. Cleo's dress was not objectively that much smaller in proportion, but there was so much of her that it was impossible to hide the abundance that was Cleo, top and bottom. Any suggestion that Cleo wear something that would minimize her shape was met with total incomprehension.
Minerva had even suggested to Rose, who Minerva knew worked with Cleo on her clothes, that they could purchase minimizer bras. Rose replied that they had. But Cleo hated it, and anything that minimized her shape. Cleo was horrified at how she looked unless she looked like, well, like Cleo. Cleo was not fond of dark colors that minimized her shape either.
To Minerva's great relief Cleo disappeared behind the large organ with foot petals and two ranks of keys, further hidden by a two rank portable keyboard above the organ, and another device that she knew controlled the sound for the individual instruments and singers. There were times when Minerva though Cleo had seven hands, she was doing so much back there.
There was no lead singer in the band. Everyone had a chance to sing, voices blending. Cleo never sang lead, always adding her alto harmony when appropriate. Albus had become a deep bass, so he seldom took the lead either.
The key members of the band were Cleo on keyboard, Albus usually on electric base, plus Sheryl Shook on guitar, Christy Shook on drums, Cal Glenbell on lead guitar, Colin Creevey II, who sang and had learned to play flute and recorder, Edmund Lewis who played in both the orchestra and band, cello, and his little sister Lucy Lewis, also in the orchestra and band, who played violin.
Occasionally three horns from the orchestra would join in, but they were not regular band members.
The last song in their first set was Yesterday, and for this song Albus brought out his gut strung guitar and started solo, with the end of the song swelling with the string instruments, the violin and cello.
It was eight in the evening, and the band was coming on for their last set.
Cleo stepped out front like she was going to sing. Albus started to play.
Dum, Dum, Dum, Dumdy Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum went the base, then once more.
Dum, Dum, Dum, Dumdy Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum.
Cleo started to sing, her alto voice exuding sexuality,
"Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I give you fever that's so hard to bare
You give me fever …"
Cleo and Al looked at each other as Cleo paused and Al emphasized the next three Dum, Dum, Dum's. Suddenly the room had become so quiet you could hear a pin drop, absolute silence between each note.
"When you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
FEVER … in the morning
Fever all through the night
Cleo's smile was so broad it almost touched her ears, and you could tell her smile was all for Albus. Albus returned an adoring smile.
"Sun lights up the daytime
Moon lights up the night
I light up when you call my name
And you know I'm going to treat you right,"
There was some magic between Albus and Cleopatra that was becoming visible, like they were not quite two separate people any more. You could tell they lit up each other.
Minerva thought of her all too brief marriage, and more than one night of passion. Fever indeed!
"You give me fever"
Dum, Dum, Dum,
"When you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
FEVER … in the morning
Fever all through the night
Everybody's got the fever
That is somethin' you all know
Fever isn't such a new thing
Fever start long ago
Romeo love Juliet
Juliet, she felt the same
When he put his arms around her
He said, "Julie, baby you're my flame
Now give me … fever … when we're kissin'
Fever with your flaming youth
Fever, I'm on fire
Fever yeah I burn forsooth
Christy was adding the slightest drum rolls, very quietly emphasizing the lyrics.
Cleo was moving in that sexy way she moved, turning almost every male on, but then causing them to focus on their girlfriend if they had one and not on her. It was really strange, how someone could cause wizards to want a witch, but not her, and how she could cause witches to be aware of their own sexuality and, what was even stranger, fertility.
Al joined is a very quiet harmony, his bass voice singing under the strong alto of Cleo,
"They give you … fever … when you kiss them
Fever if you really learned
FEVER, till you sizzle
But what a lovely way to burn
But what a lovely way to burn
But what a lovely way to burn
But what a lovely way to burn."
Cleo nodded, and the band immediately started playing an upbeat little rock number, while Cleo disappeared into her organs and sound board.
Minerva thought she ought to tell Harry and Ginny Potter about this song, but before she could the business of being headmistress overtook her.
Few people who attended the Christmas Ball forgot the song, or Cleo and Albus's singing it.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and introduced by Judy Garland in the movie Meet Me in St. Louis.
Yesterday was written by Paul McCartney, although all the songs written during that era are credited to Lennon and McCartney. The author has seen Sir Paul sing it in person.
Fever was written by Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell. Peggy Lee added to and changed the lyrics. Peggy Lee's 1958 version is the most widely known, and the version you should listen to if you want a feeling for how Cleo and Albus sang the song. It is worthwhile trying to find a video of Peggy Lee singing the song on the internet. I feel the Peggy Lee version is maybe the most erotic G rated song ever sung.
2021