16
Christmas with the Lupins:
As expected, the weeks began to fly by and before any of them knew it Christmas was days away.
Lily and James were planning on spending Christmas with Lily's parents and Peter was going home to his family. Sirius was staying at his apartment. Both James and Doe had invited him to come with them, but he didn't want too, claiming he would rather spend it at the Lively Portkey, celebrating the holiday as one should, with alcohol.
On their last day of classes before their Winter Holiday, Sirius and Doe sat in Concealment and Disguise trying to completely change their facial structure for Auror Greenboil.
" You're being stupid" Doe told him shaking her head.
" No, I'm not" Sirius said sternly pointing his wand to his face and changing his chin into a much more defined one.
" Just come with me and Remus for Christmas" she told him, pointing her own wand to her eyes, which grew several sizes larger.
" Doe, just stop" Sirius said shaking his head.
" Sirius, I don't want you spending Christmas alone" She said exasperated.
" I won't be alone" Sirius said with a smile, " I will be spending it with Kathy and Amber at the lively portkey"
" Something tell me I don't want to ask who they are" she said shaking her head in disapproval.
Sirius face widened into a smile, " Probably not"
" But you should be spending the holiday with your friends!" Doe told him.
Sirius grabbed either side of her face and held it in front of him, " Doe, I will be fine. Stop worrying and enjoy your holiday with your boyfriend and his parents"
Doe bit her lip, " You know I am still going to worry, regardless"
Sirius sighed, " You are annoyingly concerned"
" I am your best friend" she reminded him, " It's my job"
" James manages to be less annoying than you" Sirius pointed out.
She crossed her arms, " Well I'm a girl, so thats what you get. Get over it"
Sirius laughed, " This is what I get for spending time with a girl I'm not sleeping with"
" You need me" Doe told him, " I keep you grounded"
" Is that so?" Sirius asked, a smile plastered on his face.
" Black, you are still recognizable. I expect more changes" Auror Greenboil said walking past the table we were sitting at.
" Maybe I don't want to change my face" Sirius whispered irritably, " I like it just fine the way it is"
" Here," Doe said pointing her wand at him and elongating his face.
" You're still coming tonight right?" Sirius asked.
Doe nodded quickly, " Of course".
The six of them decided that because they wouldn't spending Christmas day together that they would all exchange gifts tonight at the Lively Portkey.
" Your present is pretty excellent if I do say so myself" Sirius said proudly.
" It better be my foe glass that you stole" Doe told him.
Sirius grinned, " There's no way I am giving that, it's far too cool"
Doe rolled her eyes at him.
" You're present is pretty good too" She told him, she had goteen him tickets to a Puddlemore United V. Wilbourne Wasps Quidditch match in June. It was a very anticipated games seeing as the two teams were longterm rival, and it took forever to get them.
They spent the rest of the day working extremely hard. Their classes had gotten much more difficult seeing as the need for aurors was getting greater.
They spent their entire Dueling class learning about the proper way to use and administer unforgivable curses. Moody even made them try all three out on spiders. It made Doe slightly sick.
She didn't like the Killing Curse, and using it even on a spider, it felt very wrong.
When it was finally time to leave, she gathered her massive stack of books and headed for the door.
" Have a good Holiday, Moody" she called from the doorframe.
" You too Meadowes" he called back gruffly, " Constant Vigilance!"
She nodded and ducked out of the room. The Ministry was clearing out quickly, she walked into the atrium and apparated out of there, landing in front of her apartment.
She went inside and found James and Lily curled up on the couch.
" Oh, Hi Doe. How was class?" Lily asked, shifting from her previous position on James' lap.
" Long and exhausting" She said dropping the books on the table in front of her, " I almost poisoned myself in Poisons & Antidotes"
" They seem to give you guys a lot of work" James said noticing the tall stack of books in front of her.
" I don't think it was always this bad" she said sitting down, " I just think that things have gotten so bad lately they're trying to speed it up a little"
" Well hopefully soon, you will be catching all of these Dark Wizards and you won't have to worry about it anymore" James said.
" Hopefully" she agreed and walked into her room.
Lily and James were sitting at the table in her kitchen having a late breakfast on Christmas morning. They were planning on leaving for Lily's parents in a little while. Lily didn't want to leave until she absolutely had too, in an effort to spend as little time with Petunia as possible.
Doe had gotten dressed in one of the few dresses she had and was walking around the flat barefoot, not wanting to put her shoes on until the last minute.
Someone knocked on the door and she opened it to find Remus. He looked smart. He was wearing a jacket and a tie. She smiled brightly at him, thoroughly enjoying seeing him dressed up.
" You look nice" she said kissing him quickly and closing the door.
" You look gorgeous as always" he said, his hand on her waist.
" Hello James, Lily" Remus said.
" Happy Christmas Moony!" James said brightly.
" Yes, Happy Christmas" Lily said.
" Let me just grab my shoes and the gifts and we can go" Doe told Remus and hurried back to her room to slip on her heels and grab the bag of presents.
Remus was waiting for her, leaning against the counter.
She took his hand and said goodbye quickly to Lily and James and apparated to his parents house.
They landed at the end of the street and they walked together down the oak tree lined streets to where his house was.
" So how many people are going to be here?" Doe asked Remus while they walked towards the door.
" Quite a few" Remus said, " There's my mother's sister and brother Cicilia and Lazarus and their families and then my father's parents Blythe and Erasmus, and his brother Robert and his wife Penelope"
Doe tried to remember the family tree so that she didn't make a fool of herself once she got in there.
They walked up to the door and knocked. Remus clasped her hand. She was grateful, it calmed her.
The door opened and Carol answered it wearing an apron. She smiled brightly when she saw them.
" DENNIS THEY'RE HERE!" she shouted happily pulling them into a hug.
" Hello Mum" Remus said with a wide smile.
" It's nice to see you, Carol" Doe smiled.
She opened the door wide, " Come on in, you two".
She ushered them into the house and it smelled wonderful, like meat pies and fruit cakes.
The whole house was decorated lavishly with Wizard christmas decorations, complete with an enchanted Snowman in the corner.
There were several family members strewn across the room.
Doe noticed Remus' father sitting next to an older couple, who had to be his parents.
Remus led her over to his father.
" Hello, dad" Remus said pulling his dad into a tight hug.
" It's good to see you, Son" His father said patting his back, " and you as well, Doe" he said pulling her in for a hug.
" Come" Remus said eagerly, " Meet my grandparents"
Remus walked over and sat her down next to him on the couch opposite his grandparents.
" Grams, Gramps, this is Doe Meadowes, my girlfriend" Remus said introducing them.
" Lovely to meet you, I'm Blythe" Remus' grandmother introduced herself.
" And I'm Erasmus" his grandfather said.
" Carol and Dennis told me you two have been together for quite a long time now" Blythe said adjusting the string of pearls around her neck.
Remus smiled, " About three years"
" That's lovely," Blythe said with a smile, " I do admire young people who can stay committed to one person, so many of you are unable to do that"
" Well it's easy when you're with someone as great as Remus" Doe said smiling at him. He wrapped his arm around her.
" Well I am so happy you were able to join us" Erasmus said with a smile.
" Yes of course" Blythe agreed, " What about your family, what are they doing?"
Doe took a deep breath, somehow she was caught off guard by the question. Remus sensed it.
" My father passed away the year before last" Doe told Blythe, " and my mother and I aren't very close"
" Oh, My dear. I am so sorry, If I had known I wouldn't have asked" Blythe said quickly.
Doe smiled at her and shook my head, " Don't worry, I am completely okay with it" I looked at Remus, " besides I am spending it with family anyway".
Blythe smiled, " Well I must say, you two make a lovely couple"
Doe spent the rest of the day being introduced to various family members. Remus' aunt Cilcilia had just had a baby not to long ago and the little boy sat in his high chair smiling at everything.
There were also two eight year old twin witches who belonged to his Uncle Lazarus.
Almost of all Remus' family was either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. The only Gryffindor was Erasmus.
Doe found it fascinating how the families houses were so split.
It ended up being lovely. Doe had never before experienced a Christmas surrounded with a family. Even when her father had been alive, it had always just been the three of them.
When they all sat down to dinner, Remus and Doe became the sole topic of conversation, much to the dismay of the two of them.
" So you're both working in the ministry then?" his grandmother asked.
Remus nodded, " I'm working for the Department of Magical Cooperation and Doe is training to be an auror"
" An auror? How interesting" his Uncle Lazarus said, " you two are quite the power couple."
Remus and Doe looked up from their dinner to smile at each other.
" And you both manage to keep a successful relationship despite his condition?" Remus' Uncle Robert asked in a very harsh tone.
Remus' expression changed to embarrassment very quickly and he looked down at the table.
" Yes, why wouldn't we be?" Doe asked his uncle quivocably.
" Well it just seems like it would be a source of discord is all" his uncle said, " it can be quite inconvenient I imagine, having him gone once a month"
Remus' face burned scarlet as he grew infinitely more embarrassed.
" Not really" Doe said to his uncle, " It's no different than anything else"
Remus smiled at her quickly.
" Well, good for you, Remus." his uncle said with a condescending smile, " you seem to have found the one woman who is able to put up with your condition"
" So" Carol said changing the subject quickly, " Remus tell me more about your apartment"
The rest of the night passed quickly. It was a nice Christmas. Doe really enjoyed meeting most of Remus' family. Except for his Uncle Robert. He was sort of pompous.
They stayed there until very late. It was almost midnight when they finally left.
" I had a really nice time" she told Remus while they walked to the end of the road to apparate.
" I'm glad' Remus said, " My family seemed to really love you"
She took Remus' hand and apparated into her bedroom.
Lily and James were staying the night at Lily's parents so the entire flat was empty.
Doe pulled Remus towards her and began kissing him. When they broke apart she looked at him.
" Stay here tonight, okay? I don't want you to leave" Doe told him.
Remus smiled, " There's nothing I would like more"