Chapter 19: Christmas
Sarah Lupin prepared a Christmas Eve dinner. Christmas was her and Remus's favorite holiday after Halloween. Remus was still sleeping at 1 in the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Last night had been the last day of the full moon and Remus was grateful for it not being on Christmas Eve. Sarah hummed a quiet version of jingle bells as she put a chocolate pie together.
"Hi." Remus whispered as he surprised her with a hug. Sarah smiled and turned around to wrap her arms around his neck.
"Have a good sleep?" she asked. He gave a small nod and kissed her lightly.
"You have whipped cream all over your nose." Remus said with a smile and kissing it off for her.
"I can't believe that for the first time in…forever….I can truly smile again." Remus said softly.
"Couldn't you when I was gone?" Sarah asked.
"No it was like the sun never shone and the grass didn't grow. It was if a dementor was my shadow, taking away all my happy thoughts and leaving me with only sad ones. My life was a dark void without you and now seems to be full of meaning and happiness now that you're here." Remus whispered to her.
Sarah couldn't find the words. All she could do was kiss him and for once she was happy, happy to be with her husband for Christmas, after 16 years apart.
"Faith!" Charlie said with a bright smile.
"Hey Charlie." Faith said with a smile as Charlie wrapped her into a big hug.
"Faith, dear. We were afraid you weren't going to be able to make it." Mrs. Weasley said giving Faith a hug after Charlie was done.
"I couldn't stay away from your cooking." Faith said with a smile and looking at the food Mrs. Weasley had prepared. Mrs. Weasley gave a proud smile.
"Hey Harry." Faith said ruffling Harry's hair as she passed by the kitchen table where he sat.
"Ohhh. Bill who might this be?" Faith asked as Bill walked into the kitchen.
"Uh…this…this..is…er…Fleur." Bill said tripping over his words.
"Bonjour." Fleur said with a smile.
"Ah, Bonjour mademoiselle." Faith said as she exited the kitchen and headed upstairs.
"Yeah she hates Christmas still." Charlie said sitting down.
"Pay up." Fred and George said both smiling as they entered the kitchen. Bill and Charlie sighed and handed over 3 galleons to Fred and George.
"What? What is this all about?" Mrs. Weasley inquired.
"Well you see mum, Fred and bet Charlie and Bill that Faith still hated Christmas and-"George started.
"We won." Fred finished. George nodded. Mrs. Weasley did not look pleased. She simply rolled her eyes and continued with her cooking.
"Who hates Christmas?" Ron asked as he came into the room.
"Don't worry about it." Fred and George said leaving the room laughing at Ron's frustration at not being told anything.
After a delicious feast of food, which the entire Order attended, well minus Remus and Sarah, Faith sat up in her room diligently working on a present for Harry. She had been working on it for a good three weeks and knew he would love it. Just as she placed it into a box and began wrapping it, there was a knock at the door. Faith walked to the door and opened it a crack. Fred and George stood out in the hall.
Faith shut the door and waved her wand, The present quickly wrapped itself and Faith reopened the door.
"Come downstairs." The whispered
"Why?" Faith asked.
"Just do it." They said with a smile. Faith did as they said and came down. The surprising thing was that Faith came down in her pajamas. If the twins were going to force her to come downstairs just before bed then there was no way she was going to change. Faith's pajamas consisted of long flannel pinstriped pants and a button up flannel pinstriped shirt.
She walked into the kitchen to discover that the Order had all banned together to form a Christmas party of some sort. Faith raised an inquisitive eyebrow when she saw all the people gathered together for a Christmas Eve Party.
"It's not." Faith said smiling and grabbing herself some pumpkin juice. She took a sip and screwed up her face.
"Whoa! What's in this stuff?" She asked staring down at it.
"Don't worry about it. Just drink. We wanted to make sure everyone enjoyed themselves." Fred said as he grabbed a bit of Faith's pumpkin juice. Mad Eye Moody stared at the pumpkin juice and growled
"I'd rather not." As everyone went onto enjoy themselves, Faith and Mad Eye stood next to the pumpkin juice, Faith taking large quantities of it.
"I despise this holiday." She grumbled.
"So do I. At any moment someone could send you package carefully wrapped with a dangerous item inside." Moody said, his bulbous eye moving on its own.
"Let me guess. You hate the fact that everyone seems so joyful and the whole giving spirit?" Moody assumed.
"Acutally…No. That use to be my favorite part about the holiday." Faith said taking a last drink of her pumpkin juice.
"Why?" He asked.
"I was supposed to get married Christmas Eve." Faith grumbled. There was a moment of silence which Faith soon broke with.
"So…can you really see through certain things with that eye of yours?"
"You're wearing white underwear." Moody responded blankly.
"That's creepy." Faith said flatly.
"Faith! Come on! It's a party!" I remember a time when you were the life of the parties. Particularly the holiday ones." Dumbeldore said with a large smile on his face.
"Come on dance!" Dumbeldore said with Faith said nothing.
"Oh I don't know if I still can Dumbeldore." Faith said shaking her head.
"That's like saying that Sarah forgot how to sing or Lily forgot her spells." Dumbeldore said taking Faith by the hand and twirling her out and away from the wall. And Faith danced. She danced and danced till her pain and the blisters on her feet joined together. And Faith was almost happy for once on Christmas.
"Harry! Harry wake up! It's Christmas!" Ron said jumping on Harry. Harry groaned as he fumbled with his glasses. Ron's face was eager as he and Harry trampled down the stairs. Almost everyone was in the kitchen and had big smiles on their faces as Mrs. Weasley quickly dished out breakfast.
"Eat first and then you can open presents." She said.
Faith, Fred, and George all came in at the same time looking slightly frazzled.
"What'd you put in that stuff?" Faith asked stroking her head.
"My head…." George moaned.
"Serves you right drinking that pumpkin juice. Why you right passed out on the stairs!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.
"Ahh…the noise." Fred groaned as he clamped his hands over his ears and stumbled to the table.
"Here. Drink this." Mrs. Weasley said passing out steaming purple drinks to the three. Fred and George both took big gulps and managed to spit it all over the table. Faith was able to take it down without and complaints.
"Ok were done." Ginny said practically bouncing out of her seat.
"I guess…everyone follow me." Mrs. Weasley said. She led them all into a room that Mrs. Wealsey had obviosuly spent some time fixing up. The floors were a rich mahogna y color and had a beautiful rug in the middle. Over on one wall was a roaring fire and the walls were line with wall book cases.Tucked away in the corner was a large tree that touched the ceiling. The tree seemed to be almost drowning in a sea of brightly colored paper and bows.
Harry set to unwrapping presents, Ron was done with his in lighting speed. Hermione first handed out the presents she had gotten everyone. It seemed that Hermione had made everyone a scarf with their initials on it. Mrs. Weasley had once again made sweaters with everyone's first initial on it. Harry noticed that Faith quickly put hers on which was a dark blue color with a large 'F' in white.
Hermione had given Harry a book entitled 'The Oppression of House Elves'. Ron gave Harry a chess set where the pieces actually helped you out. Just as Harry was about to take all his gifts from friends and others up to his room, Mrs. Weasley stopped him.
"Harry, you forgot one." Mrs. Weasley said pushing a green wrapped box towards him. Harry looked perplexed and inspected the gift. It said on the outside:
To: Harry
From: Faith.
Harry stole a glance at Faith who was opening a gift from McGongall. Harry quickly ripped off the paper and opened the box. In it was a large leather bound book. Harry carefully pulled it out and opened it. The first page said 'Hogwarts'. Harry began to flip through it and found that it was a photo album. It held pictures of his parents, Faith, Sirius, Remus, Sarah, Alice and Frank Longbottom and lastly Peter from their first year up to their seventh. It also held stories of events throughout their school year.
The next section held pictures from after Hogwarts. Pictures from Sarah and Remus's wedding. His parents wedding. Pictures of him and his parents. Harry looked at the gift with a shocked face. As he came to the last page it said:
Harry,
Your mother always dreamed that one day all the pictures I had take from school would be put into an album for you. James was a handsome man that made all the ladies swoon. He was well liked by all and whizzed through his classes like no other. He was also quite skilled on the broom. Lily was a vision of beauty. Her eyes were enchanting and won her the heart of many men, including your father. She was smart and courageous. There was nothing more important to her than the people she loved. I couldn't possibly imagine going through life without having the knowledge of knowing your parents. Hopefully this book will help you know them better.
Faith
P.S. I have a book from Hogwarts that you should take a peek at whenever you get the chance.
Harry could feel this weight drop in his stomach. He could feel tears well up in his eyes. This was by the far the best gift he had ever received. As Harry looked up from the book her saw that Neville had a similar but much smaller book in his lap. He was bent far over the book and carefully taking in every word and picture. Harry couldn't believe that he didn't even get Faith anything, when she got him the best gift in the world. His parents.
"Ok Everyone I'm leaving. Hope to see you all at the Christmas Dance…party…thing." Faith hollered up the stairs. Harry's head snapped up. He had become totally oblivious to the time, the photo album had completely consumed all his time. It was already noon and Faith was leaving. Harry hadn't even managed to thank her.
Faith was headed out the door when a voice stopped her.
"Professor?"
Faith turned to see Neville staring up at her. He stood there for a minute in silence, but in the blink of an eye he had his arms around Faith in a bone-crushing hug.
Harry stopped. He watched Neville hug Faith and noticed his album on the table. Harry sneaked a peek and read the message that was written there:
Neville,
Your parents were both amazing people. I know what it's like to see a parent and have them not even know who you are. It's a horrible feeling, and you have both parents lost but not gone. This album is to remind you that your father was a handsome man full with intelligence and courage. Your mother was nice and kind, she also had a fire in her and had more courage than any person. Remember that.
Faith
Harry stared down at the note and thought that maybe he'd thank Faith later, after Neville was done.
"I'm going to sleep so much after this." Faith muttered as told house elves where to put food and decorations. Faith had managed to get the Weird Sisters to come and play. They were busy setting up their equipment as Faith went off on all the things that needed to be done.
"Ok..Food." Faith said pointing to the long table of food and the small tables set up in the very back of the great hall.
"Music." She said spinning around and pointing to the Weird Sisters.
"The Chaperones are coming later. Dumbeldore already took care of that." She said biting her lower lip.
"What am I forgetting?" Faith asked herself aloud.
"Miss?" A house elf said. This house elf appeared to be wearing several pairs of socks and a bright green sweater.
"Shouldn't you be getting dressed?" he asked pointing. Faith looked down at herself. She still had her pajamas on, the only difference was that she had on a coat.
"Right. That'd be very important." Faith said with a smile and walking off.
"Why aren't you boys ready?" Mrs. Weasley asked when Harry and Ron stumbled down the stairs for dinner.
"Ready for what?" Ron asked.
"Your school dance. Hurry up and get ready!" Mrs. Weasley said ushering them upstairs.
"Never tells us anything." Ron said and heaving a huge sigh.
Faith walked back to the Great Hall. She had slipped into a simple black dress with the sleeves hanging off the shoulders. She had let her hair do its natural curls. She of course had on her silver cross and was fixing earrings on as she entered the Great Hall. So far everything looked fantastic. The tables all had little white cloths with holly on top. The ceiling was a midnight blue full of bright stars.
"This looks great." Faith said beaming.
"Thank you miss." The house elves said as they left the hall.
"I can't believe Dumbeldore is making us do this." Serverus grumbled as they walked through Hogwarts front doors.
"Come on Serverus. It's a party." Flitwick said, practically running to keep up with the fast pace of his colleagues.
"Why in the world does Dumbeldore-" Serverus started as he opened the doors to the Great Hall but stopped when he saw Faith. She looked stunning standing there with the midnight sky and her black dress and that smile of hers.
"You must be my chaperones." Faith said smiling and approaching them.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville all stepped out of the flying car Mrs. Weasley had rented from the Ministry.
"Hermione, Ginny I must say you two look beautiful!" Faith exclaimed as the group approached the open door of the Great Hall.
"Thank you professor." Hermione said beaming, Ginny just blushed.
"Oh Harry." Faith said grabbing Harry by the shoulder. She looked down at him and shook her head. Mrs. Weasley had made a feeble attempt at getting Harry's hair to lie down. She placed her hand on it and ruffled it about.
"Girls always prefer messy hair. How do you think James and Sirius got Lily and I?" Faith said with a little wink and pushing Harry through the door.
Two hours into the party and Faith stood next to the punch bowl ,where all the chaperones stood, a glass carefully cradled in her hand. At the beginning of the party, the professors had been quite involved with the dancing and the all out talking, but they had slightly heavy things weighing on their minds like grading finals, Voldemort, School restarting, lost loves, and new ones.
"What time does this thing end?" McGonagall asked. She was seated in a chair and looked rather tired.
"Well…anyone below a fifth year is supposed to leave at midnight, in another hour, the others…I guess whenever they drop to the floor. I have to take those 5 back home after this thing." Faith said running a hand through her hair and sighing.
"I still have a stack load of finals to grade." Flitwick said sighing.
"That's the nice thing about not giving them a written final. It gets rid of all your grading all at once." Faith said with a smile.
"I 'av got to plan fer next year and grade their finals." Hagrid said. Faith set down her glass and said
"I've just realized I've forgotten something. If you'll excuse me I'll be right back." Faith said leaving the Great Hall. Serverus stood for a minute and stared at the doorway. He then set down his glass and followed after Faith.
Faith rustled through several papers in her office. She cursed loudly as she got her finger stuck in a drawer. Finally she found what she was looking for. She had to have several papers mailed off by the end of the night. She bit her lower lip as she looked at her owl. She sighed and attached the papers to it's leg. Her muggle employees already thought that their boss was slightly eccentric, why not give them one more reason to think so.
"Faith?" A voice said from behind. Faith spun around to see Serverus coming into her office.
"Tell me…why did you come back?" he asked as he came and stood in front of her.
"I heard Voldemort was back…I knew that the Order would be back in business, plus I heard that I'd get to see Harry." She replied.
"I've thought about you a lot lately." Serverus said. Faith gave a perplexed look and asked
"Why?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'd thought that by now you would have figured it out. You're not stupid. I know that for a fact. I love you." Serverus said (AHH those words killed me to write). Faith looked taken aback.
"What's not to love? Your funny, smart, beautiful, you were always one of the nicest girls in school. I love you Faith. I always have and I always will." Serverus said and with that he grabbed Faith by the shoulders and kissed her.
Faith's mind buzzed. Not buzzed in a good way. Buzzed in a way that said 'Oh…My…God…What is going on? Has the world gone insane?'. Serverus broke the kiss and searched Faith's eyes for an answer.
"Serverus…" Faith said softly. She had hardly said a word but he got the message. He let go of her and left. Faith just seemed to look shocked. She sat down and put her head in her hands.'Why does life have to be confusing?' she thought.
(A/N: I need to know for a future chapter: Who do you think the male students of Hogwarts are more infatuated with, Faith or Sarah?)