Chapter 28 - Sometimes life needs counsel.
December 25, 2005
Leaning back in a terribly comfortable chair with his eyes closed, Sirius, well fed and watered and entirely content with his life, gradually became aware of his wife's apparent growing discontent. Sitting beside him, Lina would scribble in a notebook, fidget, scribble more, tap something out briskly on her phone, sigh, and repeat. "I should have cast you as Scrooge," he finally mumbled, peering at her through half closed eyes.
"Pardon?" she muttered, not really paying attention as she began tapping something on her phone again.
"It's Christmas Day," he said, opening his eyes and straightening up. "We're sitting here by a roaring fire, the snow on the ground outside is dazzling, and you're working. Where's your Christmas spirit? And if you say 'bah humbug' I'll hex you."
"Gareth and Deirdre are…dating."
"Yeah, I know," Sirius yawned. "I heard Cadmus tell Finn he saw him snogging her face off last night — his words, not mine. Why does that mean you're working on Christmas Day?"
She turned and looked at him, frowning. "Deirdre asked Severus to help her learn the things we taught Gareth before he moved to Peru, so she could fit in better."
Sirius winced. "Poor lass doesn't know what she's saying. Those lessons you made me help with were so boring. Fancy togs and stiff manners, reminded me of dinners with my mum."
"That's hardly the point," she said, looking at him with exasperation. "He doesn't make much of it, but Gareth is one of the wealthiest and most powerful people in Peru, worldwide probably in top ten. And he's expecting a working class squib from Manchester to just start hosting dinners and making small talk with politicians and billionaires?"
"That seems a bit harsh," Sirius said, frowning back at her. "Deirdre's a star. I mean, she's not as boisterous as Isabel, so I get that dinner parties might be a bit much to start, but she's always great with the kids and—"
"Sirius, I'm a working class mud blood from Yorkshire, it might be harsh, but it doesn't change what is. You were born to that toff world, Sirius, and as much as you tried to throw it off, part of it is still there, deep down. Deirdre is going to have to fight for it from the ground up, and I'm ready and willing to do what it takes to help her, but Gareth is being difficult."
The door to the dining hall opened, Severus and Eglantine came in, traveling cloaks on and luggage in hand. "We're off," Eglantine called cheerily. "Just wanted to say we hope you enjoy the rest of your trip. Remus said you were all leaving tomorrow to finish out the holiday on that island."
"That's the plan," Sirius said, standing to shake Severus' hand. "Lina was just telling me you're in on the objective to make over Deirdre."
"She has asked for my help," Severus acknowledged with a small nod.
"That sweet girl is trying to learn Spanish and some wizarding customs," Eglantine smiled. "I love a girl with gumption. I knew there were sparks there the first day we were at the house."
"When Mr. Rodriguez is willing to discuss the details rationally, you may send me an owl," Severus said, he and Lina sharing a look.
"Yes, school doesn't start back until the sixth of January, so please let us know how we can help," Elgantine added, leaning over to give Lina a peck on the cheek. "Merry Christmas!"
"Enjoy your time with your brother," Lina said. "I'll get things set up and let you know."
"Now tell me how Gareth is being difficult," Sirius asked, grabbing a candy cane off the tree after Severus and Eglantine had left, and settling back into his cosy chair. "He welcomed your help before. Ooo, this one's licorice flavoured!"
Lina flicked through her notepapers, and let out a frustrated huff. "He acted like we were being over the top. I suggested hiring her an assistant that could help her choose clothes and learn the customs and act as a bodyguard. I even have the perfect person in mind. But he said he was capable of hiring his own bodyguard! And he got very shirty when I mentioned I already had people on site that kept me informed of how things were going. The boy's not thinking things through!"
"Man," Sirius interrupted. "He's a grown man, not a boy." He studied her for a moment, licking the candy cane and then chuckled. "Do you remember what Daisy said? You and Gareth are very similar. How would you have reacted if someone had come in and started telling you who to hire and how to run your own ops?"
"If it was someone I knew I could trust to do the job properly…" she started to respond.
"Oi, this is me you're talking to, don't be daft. You like to be in control. So does he. When did you talk to him about this, anyway?"
"This morning."
Sirius laughed again. "You accost him on Christmas morning about how the woman he loves is going to need a bodyguard and you have spies in his company, and you're bothered by how he responded? Merlin, woman, you are too much!"
He caught the dangerous gleam in his wife's eye and offered her a charming smile. "Look here, my love, we all know you're ace at this sort of thing. You just need to ease him into agreeing with you more slowly. Use that manipulation you're so good at and make him think it was his idea."
"I suppose that might work," she said after a long, silent moment.
"Brilliant, now come sit on Santa's lap and give him a nice big Christmas kiss."
She snuggled up in the chair with him, leaning her head against his chest. "Only you can laugh at me and make me change my mind about something," she sighed. "Anyone else would have been hexed into next week."
"Mmmm," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. "It's my natural charm and debonair good looks."
After several long, delicious kisses that he once more had to tear himself away from, Gareth walked Deirdre back toward the houses. Near the dining hall, Ellie and Artemis were helping their daughters, Colleen and Ana, build a snow…something.
"Dee, come and help!" Colleen cried, running over to grab her hand. "We're making a unicorn!"
"Ah, is that what it is?" she laughed. "I think it needs more help than I can give it."
"Well, Mum is going to fix it when we're finished," Colleen said. "You can find some pine branches for the wings."
"I don't think unicorns have wings," Gareth offered, smiling at the scene. He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, since he was no longer the one holding Deirdre's hand.
"This one is going to!" Ana called indignantly from where she was working on a head that more resembled a hippopotamus. "But no boys are allowed to help!"
"Noted," Gareth laughed. "Maybe I'll find the boys and see if they want to make a snow dragon."
"I think they opted for another snow ball fight over in the meadow," Artemis said. "I'm sure they'd love to have you join in."
Gareth nodded and headed toward the meadow. But as he passed the outer ring of houses surrounding the central dining hall, he found Daisy, bundled up in a thick red cloak and walking towards the woods, a basket of bird feeders in her hand.
"Come join me," she smiled when she saw him. "I can't transform right now because of the baby, so I try to get in a little exercise each day. I thought I'd take some of these suet feeders and hang them up for the birds."
"I'd love to," he said, taking the basket from her.
She took his arm, nestling close to his side. "I'm so glad you're home. Even though we don't all live here anymore, it's still a little bit home, isn't it? Because we're all together."
"Absolutely," he smiled. "I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize I needed it."
"The fastest way to get where you need to be is to turn around as soon as you realize you're heading in the wrong direction," Daisy said firmly.
Gareth didn't laugh at the somewhat confusing statement. It was true, and he'd wasted a lot of time being too stubborn to recognize he needed to turn around.
They walked a short way into the woods and Daisy stopped to hang one of the bird feeders. A piece of twine ran through a donut shaped mold of suet that had been melted and mixed with nuts and seeds and allowed to harden. She twirled her wand through the air levitating the treat up to hang on a very high branch. Within seconds several little finches were fluttering around the feeder, pecking at the seeds hiding within.
Daisy watched them with a contented expression. Then she gave a happy little sigh and said, "The birds of the air do not plant or harvest, yet they are fed."
Gareth leaned against a tall sugar maple tree. He thought about what Josh had said, about liking the rhythms of the land. He could appreciate the sentiment, but it didn't have the draw for him that it seemed to have for Josh. He liked the faster pace of a world that ran by clocks and not seasons. He looked over the tree with a proprietary air. Grams would start sugaring in February, gathering the natural maple syrup from the trees. He'd always liked helping with that, it was one of the first signs that they were entering the last half of the winter. Then he laughed to himself. Even as a kid he was always looking more forward to the season coming than the one he was in.
He and Daisy walked further into the forest, hanging up the rest of the bird feeders while she chattered about a million things — memories of the reservation, details about their life on the farm in Yorkshire. They followed the river, still free and rushing along despite the cold and snow. It didn't usually start to freeze over until January, unless the winter was particularly hard. The further they went the more Gareth found himself unable to focus on Daisy's words, his mind running over all the scenarios Lina had suggested. As she hung the last feeder, Daisy stopped and looked at him. "Don't worry so much," she said softly. "Everyone is on your side."
"Can I ask you something?" He said, shoving his hands in his pockets and kicking at the snow drifted against a balsam pine. "I've got some decisions to make and I was worried about them. So I asked for help. Sort of. I kind of shouted at the air. Does that count?"
"Everything counts," she smiled.
"But I didn't get an answer."
"Oh, I think you did," she said, her smile widening and scrunching up the freckles across her nose. "What did Nana say?"
He didn't even ask how she'd known that he'd talked to Nana. "She said I like to solve problems and help people. But how does that answer anything?!" he huffed, throwing his hands into the air.
"I think it was supposed to remind you of who you are," she smiled, bumping his shoulder with her own. "You do like to solve problems and help people, and you're thoughtful about it. You like to do things that are…oh whats the word…like pastry, that phyllo dough…"
"Philanthropic?"
"Yes, that's it! You're afraid your decisions are going to be selfish, but that's not really how your mind works. Like how you sent that Healer here, because you recognized she needed help and that she could help Nana and Grams at the same time? Your mind sees connections like a spider's web, each strand makes the whole thing stronger and more stable. Now, what did Deirdre say?"
"That I should stop trying to manage everything on my own," he sighed. "And see," he adding gesturing towards her, "I'm asking you for advice, I'm not just stuck in my own head trying to work it all out."
Daisy laughed. "I think you should talk with Lina again. I'm sure the two of you can work something out."
Gareth made a face. "The more convinced she is that she's right, the icier she gets, just like Snape. She's just so stubborn."
"Well, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle and the skillet black!"
"Dee!"
Deirdre raised her head from where she was packing snow to fill in the unicorn's horn. Although she thought it made the thing look more like a rhinoceros than an elegant, magical creature.
"All right, Finn?" she asked, as the gangly eleven year old raced up to her.
"There's a fence over there," he panted, pointing vaguely over his shoulder. "And Josh says he thinks it's a little bit higher than the stone fences at home, and last time we jumped those Cadmus and I about tied, but you beat us both, and on this fence Cadmus beat me, but I'll bet you'd still beat him, so will you come try?"
"I already said I'd help your sister finish her unicorn, so maybe later—"
"It's all right," Colleen shrugged, eyeing their creation. She flicked her plait back over her shoulder and adjusted her pink knit cap. "I think that's about the best we can do. Mum's going to have to use magic to make it really look right. And she said I could design the mane and Ana gets to do the tail. I think I'll do pink with purple sparkles. So you can go race with the boys if you want," she added generously.
"I'll bet you win," Ana said, quite seriously. "Mum beats Dad in jumping all the time."
Artemis laughed, blushing a little. "Mountain lion," she shrugged. "The hind legs are designed a little differently. It's probably not a fair contest, but I still like to beat him."
"Let's go, then," Deirdre smiled, and followed Finn towards the meadow. He walked along, shuffling his boots through the snow drifts and glancing over at her. "What's on your mind, Finn?" she asked gently.
"Cadmus said he saw…well, that he saw you last night, I mean you and Gareth, and you were…snogging." He mumbled through the statement, scowling down at the ground.
"And?" she prompted.
"And he already had that other girlfriend, and you were sad about it, Gemma said so, and you missed all the parties last year and you didn't say goodbye when they left for school, and then he stayed away, and so this year you were around when I left for school, but next time it's Colleen's turn and what if he makes you sad again?"
Deidre stepped closer and slung her arm over Finn's shoulder. "How lucky am I that I've got you to look out for me?"
He made a half-hearted attempt to pull away. "I'm being serious."
"I know you are, and it's a wise thing to consider. It was cowardly of me to miss saying goodbye to Gemma and Cadmus. And I won't miss seeing off our Colleen for anything, I promise."
"I used to think Gareth was brilliant," Finn sighed. "But then he went away and changed. And it wasn't just you. Everybody was sad or angry about him."
"I know," she murmured. "Here's a bit of truth about growing up, our kid. People are going to make mistakes, and sometimes they try to fix them and sometimes they don't. Gareth has been trying to fix his mistakes. And you have to think of how it was for him, off in Peru all on his own. He didn't have anyone like you to keep an eye on him."
"I guess." Finn made a face and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Did you like kissing him?"
Deirdre laughed. "I will tell you a secret that I never said out loud before, all right?"
Finn nodded.
"I have loved Gareth for a long time. And even though he made me sad, he also makes me very, very happy."
He let out a long sigh. "All right, but if he messes about with another girl I'm going to…to boil his ass in molasses!" he finished wrathfully.
"Oh, and just where did you come up with that sort of punishment?" she asked, elbowing him slightly and trying not to laugh.
Blushing, Finn shrugged. "I've heard Dad say it, when Mum's not around."
"Well, I'll tell you again," she smiled. "I'm lucky I've got you to look out for me." The meadow was now in sight, a split rail fence between them and the group still throwing snowballs at each other over the wide expanse of frozen ground. "Now, let's say we race to the fence and see who who can leap the highest."
Finn eyed her. "Your legs are longer," he pointed out.
"But I am more out of practice," she countered.
"If you win, will you challenge Cadmus, so someone can beat him?"
"Absolutely."
He stopped walking and took a deep breath. "On your marks."
"Get set," she said, planting her feet to shove off.
"Go!"
They shifted into their wolf forms synchronously and raced toward the fence, paws kicking up snow behind them. Finn was faster, his lean form tearing ahead, but Deirdre threw all her weight behind her leap and cleared the fence with room to spare. Her landing, however, was not a ten. One paw hit a depression in the ground under the thick layer of snow, and she lost her balance, tumbling head over paws.
She scrambled to her feet, shaking snow off her fur, and changed back, trying to catch her breath.
Finn was doubled over laughing, as Remus, Xavier, and Joshua, with the younger boys in tow, came over to check on them. "That was brilliant!" Finn gasped, clutching his stomach. You looked like a cartoon!"
"But she topped you by half a metre!" Cadmus called back, grabbing his brother and shoving him into the snow.
"And she's going to beat you next!" Finn yelled, grabbing Cadmus by the legs and pulling him down.
Deirdre huffed a laugh, still trying to catch her breath. "I should have stuck with the sparkly snow rhino."