Love, Somebody ~ Marauder's Era AU

Chapter 26 | maeve adopts a plant. and forgets her allergy to puppies.

Maeve grinned. "Thanks, mum, aunty."

It was evening by the time the trio exited Twilfitt and Tattings, handles of shopping bags covering their arms. Maeve had chosen her dress in green to be similar to the one in red, the only visible change being a brown belt instead of gold, simply because she liked the style.

When Maeve and her mother parted ways with Aunt Euphemia, they apparated home and spent the rest of Christmas Eve decorating the Manor. Marius had brought home a giant tree that towered over them and using the levitation spell, Maeve hovered high in the air to dress the tree with stars, bells, wreaths and any other ornaments they had.

Cracking jokes and stealing cookies, exhaustion had settled into Maeve's bones by the time she returned to her room. Yet, she managed to write and send all her friends letters wishing them a Happy Christmas, before plopping onto her bed and drifting into the realm of Morpheus.

The next morning, Maeve received an unexpected, unpleasant Christmas present by Rita Skeeter in the form of her article at The Daily Prophet. Rita had taken Maeve's musings regarding the Aurors' new authority one step further and woven her words into a terrifying tapestry by equating the Aurors to Death Eaters without skull masks. Rita's writing contained a theatrical flair for the sake of building a bigger readership.

And Maeve didn't have to be a seer to guess correctly that the government would then react to the public hysteria caused by Rita's article by passing laws to eliminate the exaggerated risk at a greater cost.

"Don't sully your mood with the news," advised her father, prying the newspaper out of her grasp. "Come on, pudding," he encouraged, bouncing giddily on his feet, "it's time to open presents!"

Maeve giggled. "Coming dad. Race you to the parlour!" She hurriedly said before dashing out. She heard her father yell, "Cheater!" before he ran after her.

Bruce got her a personalised nameplate containing the engraving, 'Maeve Macmillan, Journalist' which she spent a good twenty minutes swooning over along with a planner. James got her tons of chocolate and a new journal. Halley had created a scrapbook filled with a collection of Maeve's articles from the dawn of time to now, and Maeve teared up when she opened it. Max bought her a set of imported quills while Kate spoiled her with a variety of books she assumed Maeve would enjoy reading. Her parents, aunts and uncles surrounded her with various gifts ranging from clothes to lip-paint to a mug that read: World's Best Daughter.

By the time Maeve and her parents had finished their hugging and photo sessions, it was late in the morning. Marius had excused himself for a bit to prepare some documents for work the next day, and Mavis had expressed her disapproval that he was working on a holiday before she sheepishly excused herself as well, enlightened by a report she had to submit with tonight set as the deadline. When the clock struck 12noon, Maeve sat straight with a jolt of realisation from where she lounged on the sofa.

Jumping off the sofa, Maeve climbed up the stairs and navigated the labyrinth of hallways to her mother's study. Knocking on the door, Maeve peeked her head in, only for her brows to furrow when she noticed the distress etched on Mavis' face.

"Maeve, honey," said Mavis, a smile curving on her lips. "Is everything okay?"

"I think I should be asking that to you," said Maeve, but then she added, "Everything is okay with me, mum. But I was wondering if it was alright if I had lunch with my friend today?"

She wasn't sure if Regulus would attend their luncheons on Christmas Day, but if he did, she didn't want to abandon him without prior notice, much like she accidentally had when she invited him to the Hufflepuff kitchens but spent the night laughing with others.