Here we are with chapter 10! I know it's been a while, I hit a little bit of writer's block on this one. A big thank you to all reviews that have been left so far! Enjoy!
The next day we went to find a Christmas tree at the farm down the road, just like we did every year. It was a tradition I had started with Remus before Lily was born, so the older couple that owned the farm knew us fairly well, though I wasn't exactly sure how they would take Remus' return since they had gotten rather protective of me over the years. As we approached the small gift shop at the front of the farm, the couple came out to greet us.
"Ben, Marie, hi!" I said, hugging them both.
"Avery, Lily, it's so good to see you again," Marie said, hugging Lily too, her husband just looked at Remus.
"Is this…?" Ben asked me quietly.
"Yes, Remus. He finally came back to us," I said quietly with a grin.
"Remus, my boy! It's been so long," Ben said, hugging Remus with a grin on his face.
"It has," Remus said simply.
"Well, I think we're going to go pick out our tree and we'll get out of your hair," I said.
"Oh nonsense. You take as long as you need, we'll still be here," Marie said with a smile. We searched for about an hour before we found the perfect tree and cut it down with the saw Ben and Marie had given us at the gift shop. Once back at the gift shop, Ben and his grandson, Derrick, wrapped up the tree for us.
"Alright Lily, you know the drill. You pick out one ornament," I said once we were inside the gift shop and she rushed off to find the perfect ornament.
"Here, you look like you could use this," Marie said, handing me and Remus each a cup of hot chocolate.
"Thank you, Marie. You always have the best hot chocolate around," I said, taking a sip. I wasn't sure how she did it, but this little tree farm did have the best hot chocolate around for miles.
"Mum, I think I found the perfect one," Lily said, coming over to me and Remus with a tree ornament. I teared up a bit as I looked at the snowman family built on the ornament. There were three of them, two bigger snowmen and one smaller one, making the perfect little snow family.
"It's the most perfect one yet," I said, giving her the money to pay for the ornament, the door opening behind us.
"Alrighty, tree is all wrapped up nicely for you, should be easy to take home," Ben said as he took his gloves off once he was inside.
"Thank you so much, Ben," I said and we left to take the tree home once Lily had bought the ornament she picked out. While we decorated the tree we played Christmas music in the background on the radio, just as I had done with Lily her whole life, and suddenly there was an owl at the window.
"Oh, I bet that's from mum and dad," I said, recognizing their owl. I rushed over to let him in, giving the owl a few strokes on his head before he flew off again. I opened their letter quickly and it read:
Avery,
We're glad you're able to help out a fellow professor in this season, it can be hard to go through Christmas without a family, and we look forward to meeting them. As always, we will be there on December 23rd ready to celebrate with you and Lily.
See you then,
Mum and Dad
"What's it say?" Remus asked as he put more ornaments on the tree.
"Just that they'll be here on the twenty-third, as they do every year," I said, folding the letter back up and setting it on a side table.
"Oh, wonderful," Remus said with a small smile, but I could see the anxiety behind it.
"Hey, don't worry, you know they love you as their own," I said and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"They did. I'm not sure how they'll take my being here now after all these years," he said, pulling the star that went on top of the tree out of it's box.
"I'm sure they'll have questions, but don't worry yourself too much about it. Now, who's going to put the star on top of the tree?" I said and Lily jumped up from her place in the floor.
"Can I do it, mum? Please?" she said excitedly.
"I think that's a wonderful idea. There's only one small problem, though. How are you going to get up there?" I said, both hands on my hips.
"Dad could lift me up there, couldn't you, dad?" she said, looking at Remus hopefully.
"Of course," he said with a wide grin and handed her the star before picking her up around the waist. I watched with a grin as she reached up and placed the star on the top of the tree, beaming the entire time.
"It's beautiful," I said, studying the tree as Remus put Lily down.
"Just like it always is, mum," Lily said, coming over to me and wrapping her arms around my middle. I hugged her back quickly before heading to the kitchen to get dinner started. I could faintly hear Lily and Remus talking while I moved around the kitchen and smiled to myself, happy that they could bond while we were home for Christmas. Over the next few days we didn't do much but relax around the house. Lily, of course, wanted to play out in the snow outside, which I obliged to happily, and we made cookies the day before my parents were to arrive for Christmas so we could decorate them as a family just like we did every year. Lily always loved making the cookies to decorate, but even with how happy I was to have my small family back together, I was growing increasingly anxious leading up to my parents arrival, though it seemed Remus was more anxious than I was. The night before their arrival all he did a large portion of the night was pace. Lily had been in bed for a while and we were in our bedroom while I got ready to go to bed myself and he continued his pacing.
"Remus, I wish you would just relax," I said with a sigh. He just gave me a look before resuming his pacing around the bed.
"What if they end up just being angry with me the whole time they're here? What if they completely resent me for what I put you through? There's just so much that could go wrong," he said as I passed him to get in bed.
"Don't think about what could go wrong, though. You know my parents loved you, I'm sure they still do. They're going to be shocked, yes, but I don't think they'll resent you," I said as I climbed into bed. "Please come to bed."
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," he said, climbing into bed beside me. I turned on my side and put my hand on his chest.
"Now don't you worry about my parents. If something does happen, I'll handle them," I said and he just nodded. It wasn't long until I was asleep and was being woken up by the sunlight coming through our window. I sleepily reached over to cuddle back up to Remus, but he wasn't in bed. I sat up and looked around, but he wasn't in our bedroom either. I sighed and got up, going downstairs where I knew he would be.
"Hey, how long have you been up?" I said, walking up behind where he was sitting on the couch and wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Only an hour or two. I'm sorry I've been so worried about your parents coming," he said, holding on to my arms.
"It's okay. I know this week leading up to the full moon isn't easy on you, either. I'm just glad Severus had some Wolfsbane already made up for you. I could've made it for you, but I feel better about Severus having it for you," I said. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and made my way into the kitchen. "Do you want some coffee?" I asked him from the doorway.
"I would love some," he said with a half-hearted smile. While I was getting the coffee ready, I couldn't help but think about my parents. They would be here just before lunch and I was starting to get a little bit nervous about it. I tried to keep myself distracted all morning and before long the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Lily called, knowing it was my parents. I could hear them chatting happily as they all walked into the living room. Remus was in the kitchen with me, helping me get lunch ready since we were going to have two extra people eating, and I watched as all of the color drained from his face.
"You're going to be fine. I'll be right back," I said to him, giving him a quick kiss before heading into the living room.
"Where's your mother?" I heard mum ask Lily as I made my way into the living room.
"Right here," I said as I walked into the living room. I gave my parents a hug before they could start questioning me about my time at Hogwarts this year.
"So who is this new professor at Hogwarts that's staying with you?" mum asked and I immediately got butterflies in my stomach.
"They're the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. And I hope this one stays," I said, getting nervous again. "Here, you guys just sit in here until lunch is ready," I said after a beat of silence.
"Are you sure you don't want any help?" dad asked, giving me a suspicious look.
"No, everything is almost ready," I said and hurried back into the kitchen. Remus helped me get lunch finished in silence. "Well, I'll go get everyone," I said and went back to the living room.
"Lunch is ready," I said once I went back into the living room.
"Oh, good. Will we finally get to meet this mystery professor?" mum asked as we walked into the kitchen.
"Well, it may not be such a mystery to you," I said, walking ahead of them.
"What do you mean?" dad asked and my parents stopped short when they saw Remus in the kitchen, Lily hurrying around them to sit at the kitchen table. I was afraid to look at my parents to see their reactions since I wasn't sure exactly how they would take Remus' presence here and it seemed Remus was having the same problem because he was only looking at me.
"Remus," mum practically whispered.
That's all for chapter 10! Any reviews are greatly appreciated and helps keep me motivated! So let me know what you thought ^.^
