Chapter 12: A Christmas with the Ethenes
Three weeks later, the Christmas holidays had started and Martha had spoken to her parents about spending Christmas with Dean's family. Natalie had told her she would talk to them about it, and they'd organised that she could go to the Ethene household with Dean and spend the Christmas there, before coming back for the start of the next term. She met Dean in the common room on the morning of Christmas Eve.
"Good morning Dean!" she said excitedly, running up to him and kissing him.
"Good morning Martha. Are you ready to go? The train's not going to wait forever, you know." He said and Martha nodded enthusiastically, following him to the front doors. Together they walked to Hogsmeade station and boarded the Hogwarts Express. They sat together in a compartment near the front of the train, Martha in his arms.
When the train pulled into Kings Cross Station that evening, Martha and Dean met his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Ethene looked a lot like their son, except that Mr. Ethene was rather large around the waist and Mrs. Ethene was slightly shorter than him.
"Hello Mum, Dad." Dean greeted his parents, hugging them each in turn. "This is my girlfriend, Martha." He added, introducing Martha.
"Pleased to meet you Martha. We're happy to have you over for Christmas, and we hope you enjoy yourself." Mrs. Ethene said, greeting her happily.
"Thank you. It's good to meet you, too." Martha replied, embarrassed.
"Have you ever been on side-along apparition before Martha?" Mr. Ethene asked her gently.
"Yes, my mother takes me all the time." Martha replied softly.
"Okay, so you'll be used to it, then?"
"Yeah. Thank you for the concern, though." She said, grabbing Dean's hand and holding it tight. Dean held his mother's wrist and his father held onto Martha's left arm.
They were soon in a street that was lit by street lamps, but was deserted.
"The house is just over there," Dean said, pointing to a house they were in front of. From what Martha could see of it from the street lamps, it was large, white and had a huge number 68 in curly font attached to the front above the door. The front door, itself, was large and had decorated windows in it.
"It's beautiful." Martha said, her jaw dropping in awe.
Late that night, Dean had come into the room they were sharing for the holidays, carrying something clenched tight in his fist and looking cheeky, as though he'd just done something he shouldn't have.
"What did you do now, Dean?" Martha asked him in a whisper, sighing. He sat next to her, unclenching his fist. In his hand were several condoms.
"See, now your parents can't tell us off, because we'll be using protection. I'll be hiding some in the pocket of my school robes so I can take some to school, just in case we end up doing it at school." He whispered in reply. Martha looked at him and moved closer to him, kissing him passionately and he slowly took her pyjama top off her.
"Should we be doing this, Dean?" she asked him once he'd got them both completely naked.
"Who cares? Why not just throw caution to the wind? You do want to do it, don't you?" he murmured in reply, kissing her neck as he pushed her onto the bed.
"Of course, I'm just wondering about if we get caught." She said, gasping slightly.
"Did you magically lock the door after I came in?" he asked her.
"Yes. Did you put a condom on?" she asked him softly, brushing his hair back from his eyes and putting it behind his ear, kissing him.
"Yes. Not that I'm fertile yet, anyway." He replied, shrugging.
"Dean, it doesn't matter if you're fertile yet or not. It matters that we protect ourselves, just in case you become fertile without realising it." She replied, gasping loudly as he started kissing her collar bone.
Both Martha and Dean woke early the next morning and Dean pulled Martha close, kissing her deeply.
"I still can't believe we did that last night." Martha whispered, gasping very slightly as Dean pulled her onto him so they were facing each other. "Dean, we shouldn't do that. Will you please stop trying to have sex with me? We already did it last night; I don't want to do it this morning as well." She said, getting off her boyfriend and sitting up, drawing the blanket up so it covered her chest.
"Sorry Martha, I just lost control of myself this morning. Last night, we both did it and made sure it was protected. This morning was different." He apologised, hugging her tenderly. "But I still love you. I love you more than anything on this earth."
"You know you don't have to pretend. I already know you love me, and that's enough. You don't have to pretend that you love me more than anything." She said, kissing him tenderly.
"But I really do Martha. I love you more than anything." He replied, smiling.
"There's got to be something that you love more than me, and its okay if there is." She said but he sighed.
"No there isn't Martha. I love you more than anything." He said.
"Okay then. Merry Christmas by the way." She said and he kissed her.
"Merry Christmas Martha." He whispered and she laughed softly, hugging him tightly. Martha looked into his eyes and sighed. She was starting to feel as though sex was a good idea, after all. He looked at her, kissing her passionately. When he moved his lips to her throat, she gasped slightly.
"Dean, if we're going to do that, put a condom on, just in case." She whispered and he pulled away briefly, grumbling slightly as he did so. "Are you done?" she asked him and in reply he went back to kissing her throat and he pushed her gently back into a lying position, getting on top of her.
They eventually parted, breathing heavily. Martha looked quickly at the clock on the wall, realising that it was nine-thirty that morning.
"Dean, we've been going for about two and a half hours. We'd better go to breakfast, before your parents come looking for us." Martha said and he nodded as they got up and got dressed. Leaving the room, they walked down the hallway before turning left and continuing on until the end, before turning left two more times and into the dining room, where they saw Mr. and Mrs. Ethene sitting at the table with Dean's elder sister, Tanya, sitting at the table next to her father.
"Good morning, sleepy heads, and Merry Christmas!" Tanya said happily, greeting Martha. Martha and Dean sat down at the table, Martha next to Tanya.
"Merry Christmas all!" Dean said happily, addressing his entire family.
"Merry Christmas, you two. Dean, we've already told your sister this, but your grandparents from both sides will be coming over for Christmas dinner, along with your aunt, uncle and cousins. They'll be arriving around three this afternoon, I expect." Mr. Ethene explained to his son as they all ate.
"Okay, thanks Dad. Martha, this will be your opportunity to meet my extended family in their best spirits." He laughed in reply.
"Dean, please act your age and not your shoe size, just for once." Tanya told her brother, sighing disapprovingly. "Especially if you have your girlfriend over."
"Just because you don't have a boyfriend, Tanya." Dean retorted.
"Shut up! Anyway, I'm proud of being single, so you can't bag me about it!" she said and Dean rolled his eyes.
"Sure you are," he muttered. "That's why you're so defensive when I remind you that you're single."
"Dean, I heard that!" she shouted, picking up her plate and storming into the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.
"Dean, you know you shouldn't aggravate your sister. She is of that age where she's a little more snappy than normal." Mrs. Ethene told her son sternly.
"Yes Mum. I know." He groaned, sighing deeply. "I'll go apologise to her after breakfast."
"Thank you. By the way Martha, a couple of packages arrived for you this morning from your mother. We've put them under the Christmas tree so you can open them when the family opens their presents." Mrs. Ethene said, smiling at Martha.
"Thank you Mrs. Ethene." Martha said, smiling shyly.
At about three o'clock that afternoon, a knock was heard and Mrs. Ethene rushed to get it, while the rest waited patiently in the lounge room. Mrs. Ethene opened the front door and four older people and a middle-aged couple walked in, a toddler holding the woman's hand and three other young children following their parents into the house.
"Hello all and Merry Christmas!" Dean said happily, greeting his respective family members.
"Hello Dean, my boy!" one of the older men said, scruffing his grandson's hair in an affectionate manner.
"My, how you've grown, Dean!" one of the older women observed, hugging him.
"Oh yeah, everyone, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Martha." Dean said, introducing Martha to his relatives.
"Pleased to meet you Martha!" Dean's maternal grandmother said, adjusting her glasses to get a better look at Martha.
"Dean seems to get good looking friends all the time, doesn't he?" his paternal grandmother asked the remainder of his relatives.
"Yes, he does, doesn't he? He's lucky. Being the youngest in the family and all. I wonder if Tanya has a boyfriend yet?" Dean's maternal grandfather replied but Tanya shook her head, shooting a dirty look at her brother.
"Well, Tanya, my girl, you'd better get a move on or all the good ones will be taken." Grandmother Ethene told her, laughing.
Christmas dinner was a noisy affair, with the whole Ethene family talking excitedly to each other, and Martha didn't get to escape from the conversation either; she was called upon regularly to give her opinion and tell them all about where she'd come from and what her family was like, etc. She answered all questions truthfully – except the part about her father – and quite enjoyed herself that evening.
When it came to bed time that night, she farewelled Dean's family and went to the bedroom Dean's parents had allowed them to share during the Christmas holidays. In the bedroom, she got changed into her pyjamas and got into bed, awaiting Dean, who appeared shortly afterward, getting into his pyjamas and also getting into bed, kissing her before she turned over and he moved closer to her, cuddling her from behind. He laughed softly before falling asleep.