-//-
(Jingle Bell Rock//Bobby Helms)
24th of December, Tuesday, 1974
Andrea woke up late on the morning of Christmas Eve. She stretched and yawned loudly, snuggling into her cosy sheets. Her mother had changed her regular yellow ones for red and white flannel ones, in support of Christmas. Andrea turned her head and looked out her window, the white, Winter Wonderland outside looking frosty and beautiful.
Christmas and winter were definitely her second favourite time of the year, after warm summer days. She hated the cold, but the chances of thunder and lightning were a lot smaller in the winter months.
But her calm morning didn't last long.
"Get up, lazy butt!" her older brother, Gian, yelled through the door. The older Russo siblings had arrived at the Mansion the day before and Andrea was thrilled. Even though her older siblings were a lot older than her, she loved having them around.
She was lucky to have James around through most of her childhood, so she wasn't always left behind from the other three. "Svegliati, pulce!" Romeo, her older sister's husband shouted through the door.
"It's the holidays, piss off!" Andrea grumbled back, covering her head with her duvet. She heard her door open. "Ah, patatina. Still, in bed, I see," Romeo tutted. Andrea stayed quiet under her sheets. Jadah, the oldest sibling, had been up most of the night with her 10-month-old, Grady, most of the night so Andrea assumed she wasn't there.
But as multiple people jumped onto Andrea's bed, she could tell Romeo and Gian weren't alone.
"Oomph," Andre grunted as someone fell on top of her. Her duvet fell away from her face, and she saw a grinning Rico on top of her.
"Aren't you a little too old for this?" she grunted, trying to buck him off her. "Aren't you a little too pretty to need this much beauty sleep?" he retorted back. Andrea recoiled and Rico looked confused.
"Did you just give a comeback that was a compliment?" Gian laughed at him. "I think I did. Must be all that time I've spent around Romeo lately. My brain cells are disintegrating." That earned him a whack in the head from Romeo.
The wake-up crew consisted of her two older brothers, Rico and Gian, her sister's husband Romeo and Rico's girlfriend Vanessa. Gian's boyfriend, Luke, had to stay in New York for the holidays so Andrea wouldn't be seeing him until next summer.
"Ok. I'm up, I'm up. Get off." In true 24th tradition, all the Russo siblings and their significant others headed downstairs in their Christmas pyjamas. With their many different traditions and cultures being intertwined into their family, Christmas had changed a bit over the years.
The Italy trips were always full-on Italian Christmas, but when they stayed home, in New York and now in Suffolk, it was a little mix of everything. Andrea entered the kitchen with her siblings to smell bacon, eggs and coffee. "Morning, Papi," she smiled, hugging her dad tightly. "Merry Christmas."
"Buon Natale, cocca," Marco greeted back, kissing his youngest's cheek. "You slept in quite a bit."
Andrea grumbled. "Well, I finally got to sleep later than 6 AM. Sue me for taking advantage," she muttered, grabbing mugs and pouring coffee for everyone.
"The school doesn't let you sleep longer than 6 AM?" Rico questioned, surprised. Andrea shook her head. "School does. James doesn't." Gian choked on his coffee, putting himself in a coughing fit. "And what, dare I ask, is the Potter boy doing in your room every morning?"
Andrea rolled her eyes, patting Gian's back to help him breathe again. "He's not, dummy. He barges in to wake me in the mornings to drag me out and practice." "Practice what, exactly?" her mother asked with raised eyebrows.
Andrea huffed, feeling uncomfortable from all the attention on her. "Quidditch. New topic; where's Jadah?" she asked, not willing to talk about this anymore. She couldn't quite realize why, but she didn't think mentioning her and James' tradition of Sunday sleepovers to go over too well with her older siblings or her parents.
"Sleeping. She was up all night with the baby," Romeo explained, yawning dramatically.
"Oh, I heard," Andrea huffed. Grady had cried loud enough for the whole Mansion to hear last night.
As the Russo's set the table with breakfast, a loud knock sounded on the front door. "RUSSOS!" Monty called out loudly. "Potters!" They all yelled back.
Rico, Gian and a newly woken up Jadah ran out to the grand entrance hall and tackled a startled James Potter.
"Oy! Stop manhandling the child!" Aisha scolded them. "ANDREA!" James yelled out for help. Andrea ran out as well and saw Mia and Monty smiling as their son got mauled by the grown-up Russo siblings. "I'll avenge you, James!" Andrea cried out, jumping on Rico's back as James tried to put the 6'6 Gian in a headlock.
"Enough!" Marco yelled out. They all froze, still in their wrestling positions and turned slowly to look at Marco in the doorway to the kitchen. He had a stern look on his face with his hands on his hips. But the frilly, pink apron reading 'Kiss the Cook' kind of made him less intimidating.
"I have been working for two hours to make a lovely breakfast and decorate a beautiful table. Now get your butts in there before it gets cold." Andrea released the grip she had around Rico's neck and slowly slid off his back.
She hugged Monty and Mia quickly, before leading the way into the dining room where her father had set up ready for their breakfast. As the day went on the Russo's and Potter's set out decorating, tidying and getting the house ready for the Christmas party.
"Andrea, letter for you!" Vanessa, Rico's girlfriend called out from the back door. Andrea abandoned James and her mother in the dining room and ran to the back door in the kitchen, joining Vanessa on the back patio. Andrea looked at her in question and Vanessa pointed at an Eagle owl sat perched on the railing of the patio.
Andrea reached it and pulled the letter out of its beak. The owl flew past Vanessa and helped himself to the seed feeder behind her.
She didn't recognize the owl, but she did recognize the handwriting. It was the same handwriting that had written notes in the margin of every single werewolf book she had bought that summer.
"Sirius," she breathed out. She turned the letter over and quickly ripped open the wax seal that held the Black family crest.
Dear New York,
I write today to inform you that I will be seeing you this evening.
You see, my father laughed in my face when I asked him to spend Christmas Eve at your place for a Christmas party. Quite a pleasant man my dad. But then, my dearest younger brother showed us that he really did get some brains. Which is fair since I got all the good looks.
Regulus reminded my father that Andrea Russo is part of the well-known Italian Russo's, and also her mother is a Shafiq, leaving her as one of the Sacred 28. My mother liked the sound of that. Then he went and shocked us all, saying it would be a perfect time for his chance to start courting you. With you having the blood status you do, they were thrilled.
He then asked if not I could join as well, see if your family could positively influence me. He even reminded my father that it was a good thing that I wanted to spend Christmas with you instead of those rotten Potters.
I went to punch him when we went upstairs but I guess the 'courting you' was just part of his master plan to escape this hell hole and allow us to see you and all my friends.
He's quite brilliant when he wants to.
So yes, my brother and I will be at Russo Mansion at 5 o'clock sharp.
See you then, future-sister-in-law,
Love, London
"JAMES!" she yelled out running back into the house. "James, Sirius is coming!" "WHAT?!" James, Fleamont and Euphemia crowded her excitedly. Fleamont grabbed the letter out of her hand and read it out loudly.
"Urgh. You and Reggie?" James exclaimed in disgust.
"Yeah, I don't like it. He sounds like bad news," Marco added, scrunching his nose in disgust as he had also joined the group when Monty had started reading out loud.
Andrea rolled her eyes. "Did either of you catch the part where he said it was a joke? And Reg only said that so they would get to come? And look at that, it worked!" she cheered.
With that good news, everyone hurried up and got the house finished. They were all very lucky that the Russo Mansion was as big as it was, because they were fully booked for the evening. With all the siblings and their loved ones joining them, the Potters having room to stay in and James having his own guest room, they were running out of free beds.
As the hours ticked by, Andrea was pulled off with Vanessa, Jadah and her mother to get ready. All the girls gathered by the large vanity of their parents' bathroom and helped each other out with their hair and make-up.
Reluctantly, Andrea let her mother smooth her hair down with some of Fleamont's Sleekeazy Potion, and then straighten it with her hot wand. "You finally got your wish, Mama. You finally tamed my curls," Andre chuckled, lightly brushing some blush onto Vanessa's cheeks.
With her South American complexion, she was around the same tan shade as the rest of the half-black kids, but Andrea always admired the golden glow her skin always seemed to have. She barely needed any make-up.
"You know I love your curls, sweetie. Heck, you got them from me. I just think it's lovely to put in the effort on special occasions." Jadah snorted. "And sometimes, people who spend an hour on their hair in the morning, annoy everyone in their life." Andrea scoffed.
"That sounds a lot like Sirius," Jadah smirked at her mother. "So, what's all this talk about these Black brothers?" she asked her, wriggling her eyebrows at her younger sister. Andrea huffed a breath. "Sirius is a drama queen unhinged. He spends most of his time on his hair, bragging about being the best looking one in the room and flaunting his perfect grades without putting any effort into it."
"And the other one?" Aisha pressed on. Andrea smiled to herself. "Reggie's a bit more standoffish. A lot more calm, cool and collected, works hard at school and gets perfect grades in every single subject. He doesn't seek out attention but would rather just disappear in a crowd."
"Sirius is on the Quidditch team with you too, right?" Jadah confirmed with her. Andrea nodded, running a hand over her silky-smooth hair. "Yeah, that's right. Reggie isn't on his team yet, but I know he loves Quidditch. But so does Peter and he sucks at it so maybe he's not the athlete type either," Andrea giggled.
"Well, you know what they say," Vanessa mused, checking her eye makeup in the mirror. "No, what do they say?" Andrea asked, intrigued. Vanessa rolled her eyes. "My Abuela always said, 'más vale maña que fuerza'," she smiled happily at the other girls. Andrea scratched her head cluelessly.
"Uhm, your Abuela sounds very... clever?" Vanessa huffed. "If I have to learn Italian, you all need to learn Spanish," she argued, crossing her arms.
"We will. As soon as all the spanishes finally agree on how to speak," Jadah argued back. Vanessa considered this for a second before shrugging with a small smile. "Fair point. What it means is basically brains over brawns." Andrea nodded, smiling at her. "I get that. But none of them really have that brawn part going for them," Andrea laughed.
She exited the bathroom and grabbed her dress from her mother's closet door. "What?!" Jadah sputtered. "I know I am not the only one who realized how much bigger James Potter is now than he was when he was in New York last summer." Andrea rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, so am I. It's called puberty. Doesn't mean James could beat me in a fight," she said stubbornly.
"Whatever you say, chica," Vanessa laughed, changing behind the screen door. "Yoo-hoo," came a high-pitched voice from the hallway. Andrea furrowed her brows. "Pete?" she called back. "I hope you're decent ladies, cause I'm coming in." Before they got a chance to respond, Peter opened the door and grinned at Andrea. His eyes went wide when he saw her.
Andrea was not one to spend a lot of time on her hair and getting ready while they were at school. Usually, her hair was tied up in a messy bun and her face was make-up free. But tonight, she had wanted to put in the effort. It was Christmas, after all.
"So? What do you think?" she asked him, twirling for him in her purple, silk dress. "I think your boobs have never looked better," he grinned. Andrea rolled her eyes as her mother, sister, and sister-in-law joined her.
"You can barely see my boobs," she retorted. Andrea had a very slim build. She was also very muscular from playing Quidditch for years and was getting more and more toned the more James forced her to work out with him. So, Andrea had a very small chest, compared to her mother, anyways. But she was hoping they'd come out when she got older.
One thing she had always had on her side were her curvy hips. As a child of course, there was nothing there to notice. But after she'd turned fourteen, her genes had finally been on her side and giving her the female curves long before any of her classmates. "Also, you shouldn't compliment my boobs in front of my family. Even if you aren't into girls," Andrea added, pointing to her mother and the others. Peter turned to them with a slight bow.
"Merry Christmas, ladies. And no, I'm not into your boobs in that way, thank you very much. I'm sorry Andie, but I'm actually your one friend who can still compliment your body without it being weird or anyone getting mad."
"How'd you figure?" she chuckled, applying lip-gloss in her mother's vanity mirror. "Yes, I'm curious about this too," Aisha said, studying Peter sceptically. Peter grinned at the women.
"First off, I'm the only one in our friend group who's not sexually attracted to you - don't look at me like that!" "How did you figure that out?!" Andrea laughed, "however you did it, your math is wrong."
Peter walked over and patted her head pitifully. "Oh, you poor thing. Dorcas and Marlene both like girls so if either of them said anything, the other would get jealous. Remus is for sure, 100 per cent a bisexual so he'd blush like crazy and make it a point to only look at your face or eyes. James is a teenage guy and Sirius worships the ground you walk on. Even him, who's hopelessly in love with someone else, would snog you."
Andrea had dropped her lip gloss and gaped at Peter in the mirror. He picked up the brush she had dropped and quickly bottled it again. "You see? Easy math." Andrea shook her head with a light chuckle. "It all sounds clever when you say it like that, but I don't believe most of it."
Peter snorted. "Course you don't. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you someone from our year is in love with you either," he smirked. Andrea rolled her eyes and smoothed her hair down her back again.
"OK, Pettigrew. Sounds like someone snuck into their parents Fire Whiskey before getting here." Jadah walked over to Peter and hooked her arm through his. "I like this one. Can we keep him?" she asked Andrea. Andrea considered it for a second. "Sure. Just don't let him eat too much sugar." Jadah squealed like a little girl. "Perfect. He can tell me all about the gossip and drama going on at Hogwarts," she smirked, pulling him along with her.
"Happy to. See you Andie. You look amazing!" he called out as Jadah dragged him out of the room and Vanessa shut the door after them.
Aisha uncapped her lip-gloss once again and applied it gently to Andrea's lips. "Whatever that boy says, you really do look beautiful. And I'm sure others down there will compliment you too, but the most important thing is that you feel beautiful yourself," she said gently, clutching her shoulders.
Andrea gave a small smile. "Thanks Mama. And I do feel beautiful. Thanks to you," she said hugging her. "Oh, please. I just straightened your hair and bought your dress. None of that is what makes you beautiful, my dear girl. It's your personality. The way you shine." Andrea pulled back from the hug, blushing slightly.
"Mama!" she whined, looking away awkwardly. "Oh, stop being such a teenager. Now listen. people will tell you you're pretty and gorgeous and whatnot. What you need to remember, is what they mean by it. Are they calling you beautiful because of the way you look, or are they calling you beautiful? You're mind, your opinions, your personality.
Those are the compliments that matter." Andrea smiled lovingly at her mother. "You know, you're very wise for your age," she teased her, letting her mother lead her out of the room. Aisha grinned down at her daughter. "Why thank you. I am quite wise for 38, aren't I?" Andrea paused and raised an eyebrow at her mother.
"So you had Jadah when you were three?" she asked her mother, unconvinced. Her mother shrugged, wrapping an arm around Andrea's shoulders. "The world is full of unexplainable things. Your mother's age is one of them," she said matter-of-factly.
Andrea rolled her eyes. "Anything you say, Mama," she chuckled.
As they approached the grand staircase, Andrea couldn't help but look around over their entrance hall in awe. In a few hours, they had managed to set up the large Christmas tree, decorate it, add more decorations around the room and organized everything ready for their guests.
There was tinsel twined up both sides of the staircase railing, Christmas greenery hung over every doorway and a sneaky piece of Mistletoe hung over the kitchen archway. As Andrea looked around, she saw most of the guests who had arrived were her parents' guests. Older people who they probably worked with or kept in contact with over the years.
Then her eyes landed on James.
It was easy to drift there because his eyes were already on her. Wide-eyed and mouth gaping slightly.
The dress her mother had bought for her had spaghetti straps over her shoulders, the silk material coming straight across her chest and hanging slightly looser over her small cleavage. It went straight to her ankles, a slit coming up on her right leg and the back coming down halfway to her mid-back.
She grinned and slowly walked down the steps.
James had changed since he arrived too, wearing a black suit with a white shirt and no tie. It was very typical him, much like his school uniform.
His top two buttons were undone, his jacket buttons were opened, and his shirt was slightly untucked. His hair was just as messy as ever, but today it looked like it was styled that was purposely. Andrea reached him and quickly spotted Remus, waving him over as well.
He was wearing a suit Andrea figured had been handed down from his father, the cuffs looking slightly worn and his pants looking a little too short. "Why, don't you two look handsome," she greeted them, hugging each gently. "You too," James stuttered, looking down at her admiringly.
Andrea gave him a second. James squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head to himself. "Uhm - pretty. You look, really, really pretty," he savoured.
Andrea brushed her hair over her shoulder and smirked. "Well, if I've wow-ed the James Potter, my life is complete. Because confirmation from boys about my appearance is really the only thing I need to survive," she smiled sarcastically. Remus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Don't go all female on us. You look lovely. So do James, and Peter, and myself. Can we move on now?"
"Where is Peter?" James asked, looking around the foyer. Andrea searched out her sister and spotted Peter beside her. "He has been taken by the Russo's," Andrea chuckled. Quickly, Andrea grabbed Remus' wrist and turned it towards herself, checking his watch.
"Shit, it's nearly 5. The Black's will be here soon." She led the way into the formal dining room, picking up Peter on the way and smiling politely to her parents' guests who greeted her. As they waited by the fireplace, green flames erupted and two charming boys came striding out, looking as flawless as ever.
"New York!" Sirius greeted loudly, pulling Andrea in for a hug. "And others," Regulus grumbled to the other Marauders. "Oh, come here grumpy pants. It's Christmas!" James said happily, pulling Reggie in for a hug. "I want it stated for the record that I am opposed to this," Reggie grumbled against James' shoulder, his arms pinned to his sides.
"Noted," Peter chuckled, greeting Sirius. "So this is the boy who plans to court my daughter?" Everyone turned around in alarm as Marco stared at Regulus with a stern expression, his hard lines making him look much more intimidating than he actually was. Reggie turned to Andrea in alarm.
Andrea winced.
"Yeah, Monty might've read Sirius' letter out loud earlier," she grinned sheepishly. Regulus turned to Marco Russo with wide eyes.
His arms were crossed across his chest, his dress shirt tightening over his arms and making him look burly and scary, his tanned skin and dark eyes working to his advantage.
"Oh, uhm. Mister Russo, sir. That - that was just something Sirius made up. I mean, yes, I did tell my parents that, but only..." Marco's face split into a wide smile and he clapped Regulus on the shoulder.
"Relax, piccolo. Sto scherzando." Regulus turned to Andrea for help again. She smiled and leaned closer to him. "That means, relax, he's only messing with you," she giggled. Marco furrowed his brows at that.
"I thought this was the one who spoke Italian," he questioned, pointing at Regulus. Sirius stepped forwards proudly. "No. quello ero io."
"Ah. I'll be taking this one then." Marco wrapped an arm around Sirius' shoulders and guided him out with him.
James narrowed his eyes at the back of his best friend's head. "Curse you, Black! Stealing all my admirers!"
-//-
The party was in full swing. Dorcas and Marlene had arrived with their families a short while after Sirius, and Mary had come with her muggle parents, who were enjoying the company of a Goblin and James' father.
Andrea stood in the kitchen chatting with Mary, Remus and her siblings when James came storming in, looking alarmed. He ran up to Andrea and grabbed her shoulders. "Did you invite Evans here?!" he shouted at her face, shaking her shoulders as he shook her. "Ow, yes. Now let go of me," she grunted, pushing him off her.
James let out an animalistic groan and grabbed her elbow, dragging her into the Entrance Hall with him. "How could you do this to me?" he whispered at her aggressively. Andrea looked to the front door and saw her mother greet Mr and Mrs Evans, Lily standing between them and smiling brightly.
"I figured if I told you, you would freak out and make a big deal out of it. She's just a human, puffo. Now go and say hi." She nudged him in that direction, making him stumble forwards a few steps. James took a deep breath, ran a hand through his hair to mess it up a little more and finally approached Lily Evans. Andrea shook her head in exasperation.
He was so confident and smooth when it came to everything else in his life. School, classes, friends, Quidditch, everything. But as soon as he saw Lily, he lost his whole cool and as he tried to act cool and like he didn't care, he was causing the opposite effect of what he wanted. Making her repulse him instead of fall for him. Regulus joined Andrea's side and looked at the two interact. Andrea sighed. "You know, if he just treated her like any other human being in his life, he could probably make her fall in love with him." Regulus scoffed.
"Nah. I just don't think that was meant to be." Andrea turned to him thoughtfully. "How d'you mean?" she pressed on. Regulus grabbed her hand and lead her out through the back door in the kitchen, leaning against the railing of the patio.
"I think there is one person meant for everyone in this world," he considered. Andrea furrowed her brows in thought. "Like soulmates?" Regulus nodded. Andrea rubbed her arms as a cool breeze blew in.
Regulus took off his suit coat and slung it over Andrea's shoulders, rubbing her arms up and down. "I think everyone has their soulmate out there, and some of us are lucky enough to find them. But it doesn't have to be someone you fall in love with and marry."
"No?" Andrea asked, curious where he was going with this. "No. Your soulmate can also be your best friends, your sibling. Someone who is meant to be in your life for the rest of your time here.
Someone who was made to fit you, and you them. Someone who compliments you and you can make a bigger, better person just with your presence." Andrea smiled at him. She nudged his arm. "Don't get all sappy on me, Black," she teased him.
Regulus rolled his eyes, jumping onto the railing and swinging his feet back and forth. With his black hair, white shirt and the white winter backdrop behind him making him look angelic in that moment. "What I'm saying is, Lily Evans isn't James' soulmate. No matter how hard he tries to make her a part of his life, she's not going to be a constant in it forever."
Andrea rubbed her bottom lip between her teeth, her cherry lip gloss sending some flavour to her tongue. "Why not? He's a catch, isn't he?" Reggie chuckled.
"Sure he is, but that doesn't mean he was meant to be a part of her life, nor her his."
The back door opened again, and James came out. He glanced from Andrea to the coat over her, to Regulus, and back to Andrea. "Um, am I interrupting something here?" he asked suspiciously.
Andrea went to wave his question off, but Regulus jumped off the railing, stepping closer to Andrea. "Yeah, kinda. We'll be in in a minute or two though. Maybe five," he said, sending a wink down at Andrea.
Andrea scoffed and turned to see a hard glare on James' face. "Right," he said shortly. "I'll see you later then." He turned quickly on his heel and slammed the door behind him. Regulus burst out laughing, leaning his forehead on Andrea's shoulder.
"Stop riling him up," she laughed. "You know how overprotective they get. They think they need to shun all guys," she said, rolling her eyes dramatically.
"That - was not overprotective. That was jealous," Regulus declared, pointing after James. Andrea scoffed. "Jealous of what? You think James has the hots for you?" she teased him, poking his ribs.
Regulus scoffed. "Honestly, I thought you were one of the smart ones."
"And I thought you were one of the straight ones."
"Whatever gave you that impression?"
-//-
A/N
I finally cast the other Russo's!
Say hello to;
Aisha and Marco Russo
Portrayed by Angela Bassett and Stanley Tucci
Rico, Gian and Jadah Russo
Portrayed by Luca Marinelli, Shemar Moore and Alicia Keys
Fleamont & Euphemia Potter
Portrayed by George Clooney and Meryl Streep
Italian Translation:
Svegliati, pulce - Wake up, flea
Patatina - Little potato
Buon Natale, cocca - Merry Christmas, sweetie
Rilassati, ragazzo. Sto scherzando - Relax, kid. I'm kidding
No. Quello ero io - No. That was me
Spanish Translation:
Abuela - Grandmother
Más vale maña que fuerza - Better skill than strength
– ACE
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