a/n- check cast list for Odette! Blaise cast is just Blaise as in the movies (Louis Cordice)
The rest of November flew by and faded into December. The weather got cold: a lot of snow had fallen on the grounds of Hogwarts very early in the month already. Lately, there hadn't been any more news on Sirius Black. That caused for Lara to try and take her mind off of him as much as she could. Instead, she would just have fun with her friends.
The black dog was also becoming more involved in Lara's life. Whenever she would be outside on her own, the dog would come out of nowhere and stick to Lara's side until she returned back into the castle.
Lara didn't really know what to think of the dog. There was something familiar about his eyes, but Lara just couldn't figure out where she had seen that pair of eyes before. All she knew was that it felt comforting to have someone like him to tell everything on her mind to. He was an animal, animals couldn't judge.
Sometimes, Lara would come back to her common room, freezing cold because she had spend so much time in the snow with the dog.
However, Lara didn't get time to enjoy the snow at Hogwarts anymore because it was now time to go home for two weeks. Lara was excited to see Lily, James and Amelia again. She wondered what they had been up to for the past three months.
She also wondered how Pansy was going to get along with them. The Slytherin girl had a habit of being kind of cold and closed off towards people she wasn't close with or didn't know, but Lara hoped Pansy and her family would get along alright.
Unfortunately, Pansy was not able to stay for the two entire weeks. Her parents wanted her back home by the time of Christmas. Lara and Pansy both were annoyed by Pansy's parents because of course, Christmas was the exact day both girls would wish for Pansy to be able to be there.
"I'm going to miss this." Fred breathed as he broke off his kiss with Lara. The two had met up in one of the bathroom stalls of the Hogwarts express to say their goodbyes for two weeks.
Lara grinned up at him. "Come on, don't whine so much. You'll be able to spend your time pranking Ron instead of snogging my face off in every broom cupboard available."
Fred rolled his eyes and bent down to peck Lara's lips once again, but the girl quickly dove away and opened the bathroom stall.
"I should get back to my friends, or they'll wonder where I have been." She looked down and made sure her hair covered the light marks on her neck as much as possible.
A low chuckle came from Fred. "Alright, I'll see you in two weeks Lupin."
"See you, Weasley." And with that, Lara left the bathroom stall to get back to the compartment where she sat with Terry and Padma. Her and Pansy had decided to meet on the platform later.
Lara walked through the hallway, deep in thought about what her plans for the upcoming weeks were going to be. Her feet moved on the red carpet on the ground and Lara had her eyes fixed upon them, trying to walk in a straight line.
"Lara."
The deep voice that came from behind her took Lara off guard and she turned on her heel to see who was trying to get her attention.
It surprised her to see it was Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin in the same year as her. Lara raised her eyebrows, not really expecting what the boy needed from her. They had never talked to each other before and Lara wasn't sure if she even wanted to ever talk to him. After all, he was one of Malfoy's best mates.
"Zabini." Lara acknowledged his presence. She didn't really know what to do with his approach.
"I was supposed to give you this." Blaise extended his hand and placed a piece of folded parchment in Lara's hand.
The girl looked at him and raised one eyebrow. "I swear if this is coming from Malfoy th-."
Blaise quickly shook his head. "No, it's not from him. Just- read this letter and do with it what you want, ok?"
Lara's eyebrows furrowed together as she looked down and twisted the parchment in between her fingers. "But why-."
There was no point in finishing her sentence because Blaise had already walked away to return to his compartment.
Lara didn't understand why Blaise would suddenly reach out to her and give her a letter. She wondered who the letter was from. It could be from Malfoy, even though Blaise said it wasn't. It could be from Pansy, maybe? She didn't know. The girl quickly continued her way to her compartment.
"Let me guess. Your little trip to the bathroom took so long because of a certain red-headed Gryffindor?" Terry commented when Lara slid into their compartment and sat down next to Padma.
The boy received a knowing grin from Padma and an eye-roll from Lara, who said: "Obviously, you're just jealous."
Terry scoffed and placed a hand on his heart. "Me, jealous? Of you having someone to mess around with? I'm sure I'll have a real relationship before you do."
This time, Padma was the one who rolled her eyes. "Oh please, berry, Lara could get Weasley at any given moment of the day."
Terry and Lara stuck their tongues out at each other and it was Padma's turn to speak again: "Who gave you that letter?"
It wasn't until that moment, Lara remembered the letter Blaise gave her was still in her hand. She shrugged and answered: "Zabini gave it to me, I don't know why."
Terry and Padma both furrowed their eyebrows, but their interest got soon wiped away by the trolley lady who came to stand in front of the compartment.
Lara decided not to get anything from the trolley and she unfolded the parchment, which was being held together by a thin piece of rope.
Hello Lara,
You probably don't know why Blaise suddenly gave you this, he told me you both never actually talk much. That's such a shame, I'm sorry my son never even tried to befriend you honey.
I know I'm probably not making anything more clear for you now, so let me explain to you.
When I was a six-year-old girl, I got a little sister. My parents named her Camille. Yes, Camille as in the woman who is your mother.
I don't know if she has ever told you about me before, but as you might be able to understand, I'm your aunt and Blaise is your cousin.
You're probably wondering why I'm reaching out to you now. It is because I haven't been able to contact my sister. I understand she is not answering my letters because of some things that have happened between the two of us in the past. That's why I decided it'd be best to try and contact you instead.
The last time your mother and I have spoken to each other was when she told me she was pregnant with you. I was so happy for her, but things tore us apart. If you want to, I can explain that all to you some time, if your mom hasn't done that already.
If you, your mom and dad are feeling like it, you are very welcome to come to my house and join my son and I with our Christmas dinner. I wish I would've reached out to you sooner, I really want to get to know my niece and see my sister again.
Bisous et câlins from your auntie, (translation: kisses and hugs)
Odette Rousseau
848 Main Street, London, W23 1RA
After reading the letter, Lara read it again and again and again. She didn't believe this. How could this be possible? Blaise was her cousin and she had an aunt. She had more family than she imagined.
She wondered why Remus never told her about them. She deserved to know, right? And even though Lara had never met the woman, she felt her heart break because Odette clearly wasn't aware of the fact that Camille had never even had the chance to tell Lara about her aunt.
"Are you ok?" Padma asked, snapping Lara out of her thoughts.
Lara looked up to see Terry and Padma both looking at her with a sense of concern in their eyes. She handed Terry the letter and Padma moved next to him so she would also be able to read what had caused the upset look on Lara's face.
Even though Lara still had a lot of unanswered questions, she felt a spark of excitement when she realized she had family she could get to know. She only hoped her dad would want to spend Christmas at Odette's place.
✰✰✰
"No, absolutely not."
That was Remus' reaction as soon as they were all back home, catched up with each other and Lara told him about the letter.
"Dad I just want to get to know them better." Lara went against him.
All six of them sat around the kitchen table. Amelia, Pansy Remus and Lily with a cup of hot chocolate, James, Harry and Lara with a cup of coffee.
Fortunately, Pansy was immediately welcomed by everyone in the house and it looked like she was already comfortable.
"Lara, I said no. We're not going." Remus stated.
"Why not? What's the worst that could happen? Her voice sounded louder now, causing for the Potter family and Pansy to wisely not interrupt.
By looking at Remus' face, Lara wasn't exactly able what he was thinking or feeling. It was a mix between anger, disappointment and a flicker of fear. The man didn't say anything for a while, until he said with a low voice: "We are not going, Lara. End of discussion."
Lara's hands formed to fists underneath the table. She found what her dad was doing really unfair. He knew of Odette's existence and he kept it from her all these years. And now he was refusing to go. At this moment, Lara was going to do anything to be able to visit her aunt and cousin. She wanted to know them, to connect with them.
The fact that Pansy, James, Lily, Harry and Amelia were there didn't matter for Lara. With her hands still balled up, she stood from her chair and looked at her dad.
"Why not, Remus? They don't even know mom is dead!"
Lara couldn't stop herself from yelling these words, even though she knew they would hurt Remus.
Up there, Marlene and Camille watched the scene unfolding with wide eyes.
"Wow, the balls your daughter has." Marlene commented, her and Camille both knew Remus was going to be pissed about Lara's comment.
Camille sighed, both at the situation her daughter and Remus were in and the fact her older sister still didn't know about her death.
Back in the day, Camille and Odette were so close, even though there was a six year age gap between the two of them. Unfortunately, that had changed. Both women would wish they could turn back the time.
"Remus needs to stop being so stubborn. If she wants to go, she can go." Camille said, maybe more to herself than to Marlene.
Now, Remus also stood from his chair. Lily tried to hold him down but he shook her off and looked at his daughter.
Lara knew she had gone too far. She didn't mean to hurt her dad. And if she was completely honest, her own words also hurt herself. She had never actually said her mom is dead out loud and because of the look on Remus' face, Lara felt some tears welling up in her eyes. They weren't really sad tears, more angry ones.
"We are not seeing Odette. Now go to you room." Remus said calmly. Remus staying so calm didn't surprise anyone at the table, except for Pansy. She was used to her parents immediately using a punishment on her if she would only raise her voice one octave higher.
Lara shook her head. "You might not want to see her, but I do want to see my aunt. You can't stop me from going."
Everyone at the table was watching carefully what was going to happen. Remus' left eye twitched the slightest bit and Lara knew what he was about to do.
"GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Remus yelled, causing for Pansy to flinch and for Lily to send Remus an angry look while taking Pansy with her, out of the kitchen.
"Fine." Lara stated. "It's not like I even want to be here anymore."
With that, Lara stormed out of the kitchen, straight up to her room. How dared he do this? Couldn't he just be happy she might be able to reconnect with some relatives who were still alive?
One thing Lara knew for sure, she was going to Odette and Blaise. Nobody would be able to stop her.
After about twenty minutes, Pansy entered Lara's room and hesitantly sat down on the edge of Lara's bed.
Lara, who was laying with her face buried in her pillow, said: "Go away dad."
Pansy let herself fall onto her back, facing the ceiling and answered: "Don't be so mad at him. I'm sure he has a good reason for not wanting to go see your aunt."
Lara turned around so she was also laying on her back. "Sorry, I thought you were him. Let me show you around in my room."
A sigh escaped Pansy's lips. She was hoping maybe Lara would want to talk about what she was feeling but instead, the curly-haired girl pulled Pansy up from the bed and gave her a small room-tour.
The truth was, Lara didn't want to talk about her feelings at all. There was only one person she would want to talk to about them, but she would never be able to talk to that person.
After the two girls spent their afternoon in Lara's room, they went down for dinner. Remus and Lara didn't say a word. Instead, James, Lily and Amelia were in a conversation with Pansy. That was something that was surprisingly easy for the four of them.
Harry did participate in the conversation at first, but then he started paying attention to Lara and tried to take in how she was feeling. Based on Lara's face, it wasn't very easy to understand what emotions were rushing through her. But Harry being Harry was able to see she was having a lot of questions she wanted to know the answers to.
After dinner, Pansy and Lara immediately went back to Lara's room. They spent the rest of their evening playing some games, eating snacks and they watched 'The Little Mermaid.'
The next day, Lara and Pansy took Amelia with them to London to go shopping. Of course, Christmas gifts are things you would expect them to buy, but they didn't. The Lupins and the Potters never really did presents at Christmas. The kids did get something they would ask for from the adults, but they didn't all buy a present for all of the others.
For the past years, Lara and Harry had stopped asking for things to get because they truly didn't know what they wanted. Both kids valued a fun time much more than just some presents. Amelia did always ask for something because she was a bit younger than her brother and Lara so she did get much joy out of receiving a present.
However, because Amelia's birthday was on December 23rd, she also stopped asking for a christmas present last year because the girl already got enough on her birthday.
So now the three girls were going shopping together. Pansy and the still 10 year old Amelia were chatting while Lara was walking besides them, deeply in thought.
Her and Remus still hadn't made up their argument from yesterday, although Remus did try. Lara was just pissed at him for not just letting her go to Odette and she certainly wasn't going to listen. Of course she was planning on making up with him soon because Lara absolutely hated seeing her dad as disappointed as the way he had looked this morning.
There were just so many things Lara needed to figure out. She needed to know why her dad wasn't letting her go to her aunt. What happened in the past to create this issue? Then there was Sirius Black. Lara had a feeling something big was going to happen with him but she wasn't sure if it was going to be a good or a bad thing.
Then there were her feelings for Fred. For the past one and a half month it had been fun to have a fling going on with each other, but Lara wasn't sure whether Fred wanted more than that or not. She honestly didn't even know if she wanted it to be more than that. The decision to spend the break to think about all of that was easily made for Lara.
Luckily for her, she would have many of these questions answered before the end of Christmas break.
2946 words
a/n- long rant ahead!
k first of all, I tried finding some pics on pinterest to show y'all how I imagine Lara's room and this is closest I could find:
Alright so what did y'all think of this chapter? From the beginning I was already planning on letting Lara be related to Blaise, I just didn't know how to slowly drop hints or smth so I just did it with this letter.
Odette will mean more to the story when I get to Deathly Hallows, for now she'll be kind of a side character.
Ok I need to hear some of your theories:
What do you think will happen with our bae Sirius? I won't completely be following the original plot of PoA
And what do you think happened between Camille and Odette?
One more thing, when do you think (or hope) Lara and Harry will finally get together?
I already planned it all so your answers won't effect the story, I just think it's fun to know what you guys think :)
K ly all, bye bye