Chapter 13, A Mostly Slytherin Christmas

Christmas was always held at #12 Grimmauld Place so as not to leave Walburga and Orion out of the festivities. Things didn't get started until after the sun set so that the Daddies could be present. This meant everyone began arriving around four-thirty in the afternoon. Anyone who had other family obligations handled them on Christmas Eve or during the earlier part of Christmas day. The Lestranges always arrived first with Rodolphus's father Corvus, who was always invited. The Grandparents were always very pleased to see him, as he'd always been one of their best mates.

The elder Blacks, Bellatrix and Narcissa's parents, always came as well. Usually the Malfoys made an appearance and sometimes friends dropped in when they weren't occupied with their own family obligations. When Hydra and Loughness were very young, they simply were not able to wait to open their gifts until the evening. Such was too much torture to be born, so the Daddies were given a vampiric draught of wakefulness and all the gifts were brought into their bedroom where it was suitably dark.

Draught or no draught, it wasn't natural for vampires to be awake during the day, so both were quite out of it, but they always sat on the edge of their bed, giving dazed smiles as the twins eagerly opened their gifts. Now that Hydra and Loughness were older, they had a bit more self-control, so the Daddies were able to have their Christmas rest undisturbed until the evening. The only downside of the family gathering was that the twins were expected to entertain Scorpius Malfoy, to whom they had little to say. It wasn't just that he was two years younger. The twins and Sortia were five years younger than Wulfric, after all, and one year younger than Guillermo. They were more mature than Scorpius, though, which mattered.

Scorpius also ran with a Potter which was embarrassing to say the least. The Potters consorted with Weasleys, after all! Weasleys were out and proud Muggle lovers. Muggles would see all magic users dead if they had their way. Definitely not all Muggles, but enough to cause a life-threatening problem for sure, a point which Muggle-loving wizards like the Weasleys tended to stridently and stupidly ignore. Once a few Christmases ago, Scorpius had even confronted the twins on this saying, "I hardly see why you're so stuck up, being Half-bloods yourselves. One would expect that you'd both have a bit more sympathy."

Hydra had just nodded while Loughness sighed, wandering in disgust from the room, leaving it for her to deal with. "I understand that you don't see," she'd replied complacently. "There is a flaw in your line of reasoning. Our Half-blood is still half magic either way you swing it which means full magic when put together. Muggle blood weakens the magical bloodlines and ours only strengthens it.""

"But half of your blood is slave blood, so again you'd expect a bit of sympathy," Scorpius had argued.

"Oh I do sympathize with any enslaved elves," Hydra had assured him. "Muggles, however, aren't slaves to wizarding kind, and elves have never persecuted wizards as Muggles have. I do hate it when people ignore most facets of a situation in order to keep their annoying and harmful views." With that conclusion she'd swept from the room before she lost her temper with a house guest. Not that she would mind, considering she hadn't invited him, but the Daddies would complain when the Malfoys did.

Of course the Daddies agreed with their children on the matter, but that didn't mean they wanted to hear bitching about it. After that, the twins just tried harder to avoid interactions with Scorpius if others weren't around, because they were unable to avoid him entirely. That was one of the few drawbacks to family gatherings. There were always a few people there that you preferred weren't, but such was life. That particular year, Sortia dropped in with her parents, so the twins were fortified with no risk of being stuck alone with Scorpius. He was rather frightened of Sortia, so stuck close to his grandfather. Lucius doted on him in spite of his Potter-loving ways, so that worked out well for everyone. "Mum says it's rather fascinating how Daddy even has the Malfoys liking him," Sortia mused. She sat with Hydra and Loughness in the kitchen, watching as the four elves busied themselves with final Christmas dinner preparations. Though all three offered to help, the elves politely refused with only slight horror in their eyes.

"Daddy Regulus charms all the women without even trying, but I must say, Malfoys are even a bigger achievement, so I take my hat off to Severus," Hydra said with a chuckle.

"Daddy Regulus uses the gay look, and that wouldn't work on the Malfoys," Loughness said.

"The gay what," Sortia demanded. She glanced over at Loughness rather carefully as though he'd quite lost his mind.

"The gay look," Loughness repeated. Girls always want the guys who don't want them. It's a thing," he informed. "No man who wants another man wants a woman, so he gives that impression effortlessly. Seeing it as a challenge, for what ever reason, the girls all proceed to throw themselves at the disinterested man. I am trying to perfect the gay look so that I can use it to get any girl I want."

Sortia and Hydra both groaned. "Stormy, may we have some of your gingerbread hot coco," Hydra asked, striving hard for a coaxing tone. Stormy was unmoved, shaking his head as he arranged a platter of turkey.

"That is for after dinner. Hydra can have it then along with everyone else."

"But it's Christmas," Sortia tried.

"It will be Christmas after dinner as well," Stormy pointed out. He hastily turned away in a clear attempt to hide his amused smile. If only Scorpius could hear her being bossed about by Stormy, Hydra thought dryly. Elves who were slaves had to do what they were told, but the elves who worked at #12 Grimmauld Place were free to do what they wished, including denying her gingerbread deliciousness. She doubted that he knew much about elves when it came down to it. Most wizards didn't.

"Does Kreacher also have this supposed gay look," Sortia asked Loughness. "Gods, Loughness, you are so weird sometimes!"

"Very observant you mean, and thank you," Loughness replied smugly. "And not really. Daddy Kreacher uses the same suspicious glare on everyone who isn't Daddy Regulus, Kereston, Millicent, Blaise and sometimes the Lestranges."

Hydra chuckled, glad to be drawn from her annoyed thoughts about Scorpius bloody Malfoy.

"Wasn't it Blaise who first approached Kreacher about making items with him and Grindelwald in their shop? Is that why Kreacher likes him so much," Sortia asked and Loughness nodded.

"Yeah, he wanted to see what wizard and elf magic could do when combined. That's another bloke with the gay look," he said of Blaise.

"He doesn't look at anyone but Gellert, Loughness," Hydra said with a sigh.

Loughness nodded. "Exactly! He doesn't even look at the girls and they still swoon after him. That's some talent! It's taking ignoring them to an entirely new level. I'll probably never be that good," he lamented.

"That's a good thing, because if you are, they shall never guess that you're interested," Sortia told him.

Loughness shook his head. "You don't get how it works," he said dismissively.

"That's right, I'm only a girl, you know one of the individuals this gay look of yours is intended to attract."

"Not you, though, so it doesn't count," Loughness said. "You're just Sortia," he explained as if she were unaware.

Hydra and Sortia exchanged a long-suffering glance. Of course both knew that Loughness only meant that he and Sortia weren't into one another like that, so her opinion on the matter would not be the same, but he put it in such an idiot boy way that it was painful for the brain to digest.

"Well if I ever decide to like someone, Loughness, please do inform him that I am just Sortia so not a completely valid girl in case he's confused," she drawled dryly.

Loughness nodded. "Sure, sure, okay."

"Idiot," Hydra said, reaching over to smack him on the head.

"No fighting in the kitchen," Piper called. The elf sported a red Christmas sweater. He was the only of the four who'd bothered to put on anything particularly different for the holiday this year.

"Kay. Sorry," Hydra replied. "That means you can't retaliate," she murmured to Loughness.

"Everyone is here, so it's time to open gifts," Walburga called, floating into the kitchen. "You too, Stormy, so leave that Christmas pudding be for now. Besides, it looks perfect."

Hydra sprang up eagerly from her chair. She so loved this bit, as the Daddies and the Lestranges always gave the most amazing gifts! Likewise she was just as eager to see how everyone liked what she'd found for them while mall shopping. She always felt sad that the grandparents had to watch everyone opening gifts without partaking themselves, but they always insisted that being here with the family again after all that had happened was gift enough.