Friends Are The Best Presents
Disclaimer: All Fantastic Beasts names, characters and locations belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing you recognize.
Dedication: This was written for my forum friends, for Maisie and Quico, for those who've loved and supported me through this miserable year. No matter what happens, Dragon will always love you.
The year 2020 had been one of the worst years she could remember. Everyone in Nurmengard was feeling the effects of it, starting with Abernathy, who was too afraid to leave the castle on his usual shopping trips, claiming that he didn't want to chance it in case wizards were able to contract this bizarre new virus.
Grindelwald, of course, had experienced his fair share of misery and woe, having been unceremoniously kicked out of his own film series. After a brief period of profanity laced screaming, during which he locked himself in the closet and unleashed every English and German swear word he could think of, the cat man finally collapsed at the kitchen table, drowning his sorrows in catnip infused wine until he fell asleep face down at the table at two in the morning.
Dragon had also been feeling low during the past few months, plagued by a horrible sickness that left her barely able to move from her son's bed. Credence had carried her to his room, which was quite an accomplishment considering her immense size and weight. And yet she seemed lighter somehow, mainly because she hadn't been eating as much as usual. She was in too much pain and had little to no appetite thanks to the medication she was on.
Credence had done his best to care for her, their roles now reversed, the Obscurial covering her with his blankets and bringing her an ice pack to ease some of the pain and swelling. And then she heard it, her son sitting at the foot of his bed, talking in hushed tones with Nagini about the dementor's Christmas party.
So there was going to be a holiday celebration at the daycare center. Dragon had always hated Christmas, but this year the holidays seemed even more depressing than usual, thanks in part to a prolonged illness that had been making her miserable for more than a month. But if she could do this for her son... if she could make him happy one last time, then she would do it for him. It might very well be the last time she saw her friends anyway.
She shifted her weight, lifting her head off the pillow and looking over at her son. "Creeds," said Dragon, her voice low and groggy. "You want to go to Quico's Christmas party?"
Her son nodded, not wanting to say anything because he knew how she felt about Christmas. She wasn't really in any shape to be out and about, so unless Nagini took him, he figured his chances of going to the party were slim to none.
"I'll take you," said Dragon, surprising both her son and his girlfriend. "There should be enough time between now and then for the medication to kick in. And you know mommy only wants to make her baby happy."
"Ma, you don't have to..." Credence insisted, not wanting to be a bother when he knew she didn't feel well. The last thing he wanted was for her to take him out then suffer a relapse because she should have been in bed.
"Now I won't hear one word against it." Dragon struggled for a moment, finally managing to sit up in bed, her fur slightly damp from where a leak in her ice pack had soaked into her mane. "My mother hated Halloween, and yet she took me out trick-or-treating anyway, because she loved me and knew that it would make me happy. Parents do that, Creeds. We make sacrifices for our children because our babies always come first."
"But you're sick..." Credence persisted.
Dragon cocked her furry head, a grim note of determination lacing her tone. "I'm still alive and breathing aren't I?"
"Well y-yes," he stammered.
"Then we're going." She then turned in a circle and resituated herself, pressing her cheek against the drippy ice pack and going back to sleep.
.oOo.
In the mid morning sunshine, so bleak and grey within the halls of Nurmengard, the Dranine padded along, making her way along the stone corridor. She had managed a meager breakfast of mushy oatmeal, her festive bell collar jingling, such a hollow sound, so empty and alone.
She ventured out into her master's garden, wishing for a moment alone to gather her strength. The skies overhead were bruised and broken, shades of grey betwixt snow covered mountains, so beautiful in their isolation. The colors of autumn had long since faded, the light passing into the earth, sunken memories and day dreams, forever gone.
Raindrops streaked her silvery fur, running between shadows, her once bright eyes now cloudy and dull. She had a good time here, thinking back on the days when her son danced beneath the emerald boughs.
He made her so proud, a magnificent singer, a wondrous wizard, the best son a mother could ever ask for. Somehow he had survived, Obscurus Invictus, these words carved into the entrance of Nurmengard, directly below Grindelwald's elegant handwriting.
She never thought her Obscurial son would outlive her. Always she had been waiting for the day he would pass from this world, not thinking it distant, not thinking he would have to care for her. But for now she was feeling a little better. For now she had been given another day. And so she decided to make the most of it, even if it meant taking her son to her best friend's Christmas party.
"I hate this holiday," Dragon grumbled, looking down at the decorative bricks that formed a path on the lawn.
Since he had locked himself inside the castle, Abernathy had been keeping busy by working in the garden. These ornate paths, winding and twisting their way through lush foliage, gorgeous blooms and trailing vines were just one of the many projects he'd been working on.
He had left a pile of spare bricks off to the side, the winged wolf snickering mischievously when she saw them. "Merry fucking Christmas," she muttered, picking up one of the dusty, rust colored bricks. She would find a use for it later.
.oOo.
Within a few hours Dragon found herself on the steps of Quico's daycare. She could see inside the windows as they walked up the stairs, the building filled with glittering lights and fancy trees, one of them drenched in saliva and covered with dangling cereal wipes, the dripping branches glistening.
"Maisie and Amycus must have joined in the decorating," Dragon said with amusement.
Her suspicions were confirmed when they walked through the door, a festive desert tea party on display beside the entrance. Dragon couldn't help but smile when she saw this, the cactus draped in silver and green tinsel, a few tea cups here and there, filled with hot cocoa and nestled in a pile of sand.
However, her smile quickly faded when she looked around at the other not-so-Malfoy decorations that were strung up throughout the building. The sight of these brightly colored ornaments, flickering lights and hanging wreathes were enough to make her want to stab her eyes out with a fork.
"A most loathsome holiday," Dragon complained, passing a shiny package to Maisie. She would rather unwrap diarrhea and shove her face in it than have to tolerate this wretched holiday. "But Creeds wanted to come to the party, and he's been doing so well lately."
Her gift delivered, Dragon released her son and made her way over to one of the tables. She crawled under the furniture, where she discovered Alecto playing with some produce and a toy car, then quickly backpedaled and sat down on the floor. She was contemplating the possibility of hiding in one of the Christmas trees when the toy car went speeding past her feet, followed by an adult baby crawling after it.
Once Alecto had vacated the space under the table, Dragon slipped out of sight, her massive form curling beneath the furniture. It was all she could do to block out the grotesque anomalies that surrounded her, her paws covering her face, flattening her ears against the base of her skull.
This was a bad idea. Her tooth was throbbing, her stomach ached and she was surrounded by screaming children and holiday nastiness. How could it possibly get any worse than this?
"Who wants to do a Christmas scavenger hunt?"
The Dranine lifted her paws, olive green eyes peeking out from under thick tufts of silvery fur. She had heard her friend Quico call out amongst the sea of adopted children, offering them a chance to participate in some festive activities.
"There are prizes," Quico continued, earning the attention of everyone in the room.
All around the room people raised their hands. Amycus raised his tongue, which got tangled in the hanging strands of tinsel. Even Dragon thought about raising her paw, but instead she looked around at her friends, wondering if she had the strength to join in the activities.
"That's better. Now, Barty here has left some clues all over the daycare to help you find the numerous items I hid. Some of them are toys, some are treats, and some are...well, a surprise."
"Treats?" Dragon echoed, her tail swishing from side to side.
She knew better than to eat anything sugary, but maybe she could find a box of chocolate frogs and put it away for later. Much later, considering the way things were going. She then forced herself onto her feet and crept out from under the table, her wings folded against her sides to avoid bumping into the table legs.
Keeping her distance from the others, Dragon began her search, uncovering a tin of cookies that had been hidden under the throw pillows on the couch. She looked around, seeing the others busy with the Christmas scavenger hunt, and then tried to figure out how she was going to pick up the tin without hurting her teeth.
Normally, the winged wolf would carry objects in her mouth. This had become next to impossible due to an infection in her wisdom teeth. And so in desperation she changed into her human form, clutching the cookie tin against her chest while digging through the pocket in her little black dress.
"Someone is gonna love getting this," she said, taking out the brick and shoving it under the pile of pillows.
Dragon carted off the cookie tin, snickering at the thought of someone getting a merry Christmas brick. She didn't really do it to be mean, though. It was more of a joke. A gag gift, and there were plenty of decent presents to go around anyway.
Still in human form, Dragon settled beside one of the Christmas trees and opened the cookie tin. Inside there was an assortment of butter cookies, some shaped like circles and squares, a few dusted with sugar, shaped like pretzels which made her think of Mary Lou.
She selected a cookie and carefully nibbled on it, then another and another. By the time she'd finished with her fourth cookie, her jaw was aching tremendously.
Clutching her cheek, Dragon looked down at the remaining treats and sighed. There was no way she could eat this. And if she put them away for later, they would be stale in a couple days
She looked around the room and spied a rather sad looking pair of toddlers, their bag of chocolate coins taken by Maisie Malfoy. The Death Eater had then given the treats to her adopted daughter, gold wrapping paper flying in all directions as Alecto shoveled the candy into her face.
If Dragon had been in her magical creature form, her fur would have bristled in annoyance. Those poor children were now left with nothing, and there sat Dragon with a tin of cookies in her lap. Which meant that there was only one thing left to do.
"Albie, Gel," she said softly, approaching the boys and holding out the cookie tin. "You guys look like you could use some treats." She gave the tin a shake and forced a smile on her face. "Auntie Dragon has cookies."
Gel momentarily forgot about yanking his pants off, and practically flung himself at the cookie tin. "Cookies!" he cried happily, pulling off the lid. His friend Albie leaned in for a closer look, his eyes wide and his mouth watering.
"Tank you, Aunnie Dragoon," he burbled, smiling up at her. The little boys then proceeded to devour the cookies.
Dragon was just about to head back to the Christmas tree in the corner when she felt the freezing aura of her dementor buddy.
"I saw what you did there," Quico stated mildly, and Dragon knew that she was smiling under her hood. "And I just wanted to say thank you. That was very kind of you, Dragon."
Dragon shrugged. "It was for the greater good."
"Da gweater good!" Gel called out, a cookie in one hand and his pants in the other.
Quico rolled her eyes and sighed. "Excuse me a moment." She glided across the room, returning to Dragon's side after wrestling her son into his pants. "Do you want to sit down for a while?" she asked the tired Dranine. "You look like you're going to drop."
"That sounds good," Dragon said, a weary sigh chasing her words. "I am completely exhausted."
She allowed the dementor to steer her towards an empty table, sinking into the chair as soon as Quico had pulled it out for her.
"Do you know why I came here, Quico?" Dragon asked, her friend taking a seat beside her. "It wasn't just for him," she said, nodding in the direction of her son. "I came here so I could spend time with my friends. The cookies don't even matter that much. None of this does. Because friends are the best presents. They even said so on Daniel Tiger," she added as an afterthought.
"You think so?" Quico said thoughtfully, rubbing her chin with one grey, scaly hand.
"Of course I do," Dragon continued. "Take away all of this other shit and you'd have something that's actually nice. Because when you strip away everything that we have in life, all our possessions... we can't take any of that with us anyway. But when we make friends, when a bond goes deep enough it lasts forever, from one lifetime and on into the next. I believe that, little buddy. What we have in our hearts and souls is eternal."
"That would explain the indigestion I got from that last soul I devoured," Quico said, placing a hand over her mouth and stifling a belch. "Sometimes I swallow souls that don't agree with me. Must be something inside of them that refuses to go away. So then I have to spit them up on Mary Lou's front lawn and say fuck it."
Dragon laughed. Merlin, it felt so good to just sit here and talk to her best friend.
"Might be a good way to introduce her to some souls," the dementor continued. "Show her what one of them is like, seeing as how she doesn't have one. Trust me, I know. I tried, but I ended up with nothing... Nothing except the lingering taste of pea moonshine."
The Dranine wrinkled her nose in disgust. "That doesn't sound good..."
"It's not." Quico summoned a mug of hot cocoa from the kitchen and took a sip. "Want some? Barty made a fresh batch a while ago, so there's plenty to go around."
Dragon gazed longingly at the steaming mug of hot cocoa, the puffy marshmallows so tempting, bobbing on the surface of the warm liquid. "I'd better not," she said at length, massaging the side of her face.
Quico slowly lowered her mug, looking at her friend with concern. "You know, you might be a little less miserable if you did something about that. I keep telling you - "
"It doesn't matter," Dragon grumbled, cutting her off in midsentence. Her gaze drifted to the side, watching as little Severus crawled under the couch. "It doesn't change the fact that Christmas sucks. Even if I were in better spirits, I still wouldn't enjoy this holiday."
"Uhm... excuse me, Mrs. Dementor...?"
Dragon and Quico looked up at the sound of Credence's voice. The Obscurial had been digging through a toy box when he uncovered a gift wrapped lightbulb. He now stood before the dementor, the Maledictus at his side, both of them looking rather confused.
"Credence says it is a... how do you say? A light bull?" Nagini said, unsure of what to do with this strange artifact. "We do not know how it got in the toy box. Do you know?"
"I...didn't put that in there," Quico replied. She too was feeling rather confused, and wondered if maybe this was Barty's idea of a joke.
There was a sudden shout from across the room, the noise startling the Obscurial. Apparently Severus had uncovered a coloring book and some crayons at exactly the same time Alecto did. They were now engaged in a fierce tug-of-war, both of them yelling like a pack of wild animals.
Quico sighed, rolling her eyes and pushing out her chair. "You'll have to excuse me," she told the others, taking her mug with her as she glided away from the table.
Groaning, Dragon let her forehead hit the table with a soft thump.
"Ma?" Credence's voice, worried from the sound of it. "A-are you alright?"
"Mommy's alright, she's just very tired, sweetie," came Dragon's muffled response. She felt ready to sleep right where she was, her human guise fading as she spoke, too exhausted to remain in human form.
It became too much for her to move at this point, too much to think and stay awake. Her limbs were heavy, her thoughts weighed down from constant fear and anxiety. She hated this time of year. She hated being sick, she hated the way her stomach burned every time the infection came back, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She only wanted to sleep, listlessly dragging herself from one day to the next, thinking she might never wake up each time she fell asleep.
Her mind weary, Dragon dozed off at the table, sleeping through the long list each child recited from memory. Quico had asked the children what they wanted Santa Claus to bring them for Christmas and, as expected, a majority of the little darlings all spoke up at once, leaving Barty to pick one so they could begin.
Nagini chimed in, joyfully stating that she wanted her very own pygmy puff farm. Credence, who had his head down and was spinning the center piece on his silver ring, quietly said that he wanted a Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood DVD box set.
"And I would like for my mother to start feeling better again," he added, glancing in the direction of his mother.
"Pardon me," Amycus interrupted, waving his tongue in order to draw attention to himself. "Though I'm not a child, I must say that it has long since been my desire to obtain three-hundred and sixty-five lollipops, each one a different flavor, so that I will have a new taste sensation to lick every day of the year."
Barty huffed out an exasperated sigh. "Is this guy for real?" he said under his breath, massaging his temples with one hand. Merlin, this lot was going to give him a migraine.
"Unfortunately, yes," Quico replied, and all the while Amycus kept himself busy by licking one of the ornaments he plucked off the Christmas tree.
One by one the children continued to recite their holidays wish lists, the adults now busying themselves with the holiday snacks and treats, taking them down from their hiding place and depositing them on the table.
Maisie swiped a few cookies then washed them down with a cup of tea, death flavored, of course, with just an ounce of Muggle blood and whipped cream to give it some extra spice. Barty thought nothing of devouring a cream filled snack cake that was shaped like a Christmas tree, globs of frosting and red and green sprinkles sticking to the front of his jacket. And Dragon continued to sleep with her head down at the table.
The table she slept at was carefully avoided by the adults, each one placing their heaped up goodie plates on other tables around the daycare center. Obviously they didn't want a bunch of sugar crazed little ones climbing on top of the ailing Dranine, tugging on her wings and trying to ride her around the building.
They wanted to let her rest, and yet the smell of chocolate and frosting reached her nose and made the Dranine snuffle and mutter, her eyes fluttering open, looking around at the variety of treats piled high atop the tables.
And there was her son in the middle of it all, salivating at the sight of all those delicious pastries. There was so much to choose from, frosted cookies, cakes and miniature candy canes galore. There was even a freshly baked fruitcake dotted with almonds, cherries, raisins and pineapple.
Credence glanced in his mother's direction, looked around the room then reached for a cookie.
"You mustn't, Creeds," said Dragon, her paw on his wrist. Frowning, his mother shook her head. "I'm sorry, baby. But mommy doesn't want you throwing up again." She then summoned a packet of graham crackers from her purse, removed them from their packaging and pressed them into his hand.
Not knowing what else to say, Credence tried using his Dumbledore heritage as an excuse to have some treats. His brother was quite fond of Muggle sweets, they said, and was always devouring bags of lemon drops which Credence had discovered were quite tasty. Ever since then, the Obscurial always kept a bag or two hidden in his room, eating only one when he was was sure his stomach could handle it.
But this was different. This was plate after plate of gooey, sugary pastries, saturated with artificial dyes and processed ingredients. And if he had one, he was going to want more and more until his insides rebelled against him.
"Try not to look so glum, sweetheart," Dragon said, snuggling up close to her son. "Mommy can't eat any of this stuff either. Not unless I want to set my teeth on fire with pain. And I'm so hungry for sugar cookies," she added, looking over at a plate of frosted cookies that Alecto was shoving in her face.
Credence put his arm around her, sitting on the alphabet mat while munching some graham crackers. He certainly understood how she felt, having been in a similar situation a few years ago, back when he still worked in the circus and Nagini was taking care of him.
He decided to stick close to his mother, offering her a bit of comfort, keeping her company as they shared the remaining graham crackers. They still had each other, and they were surrounded by their friends, which was all they really needed to be happy. Then out came Quico with a monstrous book in her hands, and everyone turned their attention to her as she began to read.
Dragon, having never heard such a story, listened for a while before she began to doze off on the rug. Her son, meanwhile, had placed his thumb in his mouth and was gently sucking, his eyelids drooping as he too began to fall asleep.
He drifted off in the comfort of his mother's embrace, feeling warm and protected, nestled in her shaggy winter coat. It hadn't been a very good year, which made these moments together even more important, and his mother knew that. Now, more than ever, they needed each other. And maybe, if things didn't come to a disastrous conclusion, Dragon would join them again next year.
.oOo.
They returned to Nurmengard a short while later, the Obscurial half asleep and muttering to himself about pancakes as Nagini helped him into bed. She draped his robes across the foot of the bed, his mother settling beside him amid the mountainous pile of pillows, blankets and stuffies.
It only took a brief incantation to transfigure his clothes into something more comfortable, a baggy pair of pajama bottoms replacing his black pants, a soft sweater taking the place of his shirt.
Outside the snows were falling, blanketing the mountains that surrounded the castle. The sun was sinking beyond the hills, turning the skies a dusky shade of violet tinged with midnight blue, the first stars twinkling on the horizon.
Nagini was the last to join them in Credence's luxurious bed, a blue ball of fluff wriggling beneath the blankets, followed by the appearance of a cold wet nose when Credence's pygmy puff peeked out from the covers.
The tiny creature gave voice to a series of squeaks, purring softly as he settled beside his owner. It wasn't long until the four of them were fast asleep, coils and paws and arms intertwined, holding on to each other in depths of a cold winter night.
Before she had been miserable, but being with her friends had lifted her spirits. They had been given one more day, and for that she was grateful, because friends are the best gifts a Dranine could ever receive, and she loved each and every one of them very much.