England's Bloody Rose

Flashbacks Chapter #16

"Sorry Regulus," Lydia apologized to the first year, "seems your future self has been subjected to the Lydia treatment."

"I don't think future me minds all that much," Regulus pointed to the screen. Indeed, older Regulus had said all that with a rather fond look in his eyes.

"Wait a minute," Thee's eyes had widened, "back track for those of us out of the know. DIA'S PREGNANT?!"

"Approximately five months in," Regulus, unfazed, answers, "she has an appointment to determine the gender next week. You are welcome to go and discuss it with Lydia herself. She's inside."

"I can't believe this," Jospehine's hand is on her mouth, "the poor girl. She's already lost Benjy. This must have been a huge shock."

"It was," Frank sighs, "Alice and I took her to St. Mungo's to get tested. All in all, she's taken it rather well."

"Dia's having a baby?" 17 year old Mallory Scamander asked, walking in with her 15 year brother Jacob. They were dressed in typical 80s American fashion, startling the more traditional English witches and wizards.

"Are they in a phase?" Alice whispers to Josephine.

"It's not just them," Josephine sighed audibly, "it's the entire America. It's the newest fashion statement. I told them to dress a tad more formally, but they were rather insistent."

"Teenagers," Alice rolled her eyes, before looking at her surroundings, "why are we all standing here? Let's go sit inside."

The scene shifts to the family all settling at the tables. The kids were sitting and eating, and the adults were all talking. Regulus had, somehow, managed to make friends with Mal and Jay.

"They get along!" Sirius cheered, "my baby brother made friends!"

"Aren't you happy?" Andromeda asked her younger cousin, who had been sitting with her for most of the film.

"I don't know," Regulus shrugged, "I guess I'm happy for future me? It's not really relevant to me now."

Andromeda groaned. She wasn't getting anywhere with him. This was frustrating.

"Alright," Lydia clanked her glass of sparkling juice with her spoon, "it is time for us to go around and say our moment of rebirth. For all those who were too dumb or intoxicated to remember from last year, or simply are new to this, I will explain. Yule is the time of the Winter Solstice, the rebirth of the sun and the light it shines on Earth. Therefore, we must ask and answer the question. How have we re-birthed ourselves this year? What have we done to transform ourselves? How about you start Mal?"

"See," Fleamont showed his daughter, "even future you agrees. It's a tradition."

"Future me is also an orphan,  widow, and hormonal mother to be," Lydia deadpanned, "she's bound to be more sentimental than I am." 

Fleamont was too stunned by the depressing nature of his daughter's statement to argue the matter further.

"Well," Mal cleared her throat, "I experienced rebirth in my life when I decided to begin getting along with one of my housemates. Catherine Green and I have been rivals since her first year, and I'm proud to say we have stopped fighting."

"And you got a boyfriend," Artemis added cheekily, "Aaron's really nice. He gets me candy."

"You what?!" multiple aunts and uncles stood in overprotective wrath, "who dares to ask our Mal out?!"

"Simmer down," Lydia laughed, "Mally, did you ask him out like I told you to?"

"Of course it was Dia," Frank shakes his head, "it seems she's learnt how to cause mischief in more subtle ways."

"Yep," Mal said, slight blush on her face, "I asked him out first month back to school. We've been dating since."

"You knew?!" Thee turns to his cousin with betrayal, "how could you?"

"If I'm not mistaken," Lydia tilts her head, "you're married."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Thee's face forms one of confusion.

"It means you identified that you loved someone," Lydia calmly elaborates, "and acted on your feelings. Why would you deny that to your daughter? Or if it had been the other way around, to the very kind boy that Mal fancies."

"Did Lydia just say something wise?" Dana Eulalie gasps, "Mom! Get the camera out!"

"That was a very mature thought," Fleamont kissed his daughter on the forehead, "and I'm very proud of you for voicing it."

"I guess she's right," Nico sighs, "I wouldn't want to get threatened just because I love someone."

"Does that mean you won't shovel talk my future husband?" Lyetta eagerly asks her brother.

"Since I'll be forgetting this," Nico smirks, "I highly doubt that."

"Darn it," Lyetta grumbled, "almost got it."

"You're so much like your father," Newt shakes his head, "he thought the same. Your own child will be a lucky one indeed."

"Thanks for reminding me," Lydia smiles, "my rebirthing moment was when I found out I was going to be a mother. It changed my entire lifestyle. Literally."

"And we're all excited for you," Esther reassured her younger cousin, "now that I know, I'm going to knit you a baby blanket, just like your mum did for me. Do you know the gender?"

"Regulus said she has an appointment next week," Thee, desperate to be relevant, adds, "and you better let us all know immediately. I can't believe Frankie knew before us all."

"Speaking of," Lydia turns to Regulus, "would you like to share your own rebirthing moment? I'm pretty sure you have plenty of options to choose from."

"He does," Lyetta agrees, "lucky brat. I never know what to say by those."

"Visiting Sirius's apartment that night," Regulus immediately answered, "I'd be dead if I didn't go there. Wouldn't have had any other rebirthing moments."

"I'm afraid to ask this," Bart asks regardless, "but why would a 17 year old be dead?"

"He wanted to go visit a cave of inferi by himself," Sirius interjected, "Lydia and I managed to talk him out of it."

"I'm suddenly more intrigued," Lyetta glanced at Regulus, "why did you want to go there anyways?"

"To kill the Dark Lord," Regulus shrugged casually, ignoring the gaping looks of the other people, "turns out that wouldn't have helped. So I didn't go drowning in a cafe of inferi."

"Although he now has a sick depression cave," Sirius added, "now that we cleared away the inferi, the place is pretty good if you wan to be alone."

"I''m suddenly worried for the sanity of you three," Tina looked concernedly at her niece, "are you three quite alright?"

"No we are not," Sirius stated brightly, "but that's irrelevant."

"Why is it that both Regulus and Sirius caused an uproar with their rebirthing moment?" Lydia clucked her tongue, "let's ignore all of this, and move on."

In direct parallel to the Yule of 1972, the Yule of 1979 had a son of the Back Family learn what family is like. Once again, the Potters (and Scamanders and Longbottoms) had saved a Black.