13. CHRISTMAS BRINGS
PEOPLE TOGETHER
THE RIDE HOME FROM Hogwarts was full of Thea simply panicking over having to confront Teo while Fred and George tried to calm her down. Tommy and Tobi just stayed silent, also not enthusiastic about having to see their brother. The five all sat in one compartment that is originally meant for four, but they were all pretty small. Dread filled Thea's chest as the train came to a stop, meaning they have arrived.
She almost forgot about her dilemma for a moment when she saw her father standing at the station, waiting for them. Thea smiled and ran into her father's arms, "Papa!"
"Geez, Thea! Have you gotten taller, mi corazón? I think you got taller." Emanuel joked, hugging his daughter tightly.
"Yeah, right." Tobi scoffed as he and Tommy walked up to their dad, each taking their turn to hug him.
"Boys," Emanuel smiled before noticing there was only three of them. "Where's Teo?"
"Don't know, don't care." Tobi rolled his eyes and Thea stayed silent.
"Also, he goes by Teodor now." Tommy sighed.
"Is that so?" Emanuel questioned before seeing his oldest get off the train. "Teodor!"
Surprisingly, Teodor walked off the train alone, no Slytherins surrounding him. Emanuel waved to the boy, and he quickly walked out. Thea saw the twins with Molly Weasley and ran over, "Hi Mrs. Weasley!"
"Thea, how nice to see you!" Molly smiled, hugging the girl for a moment. "Had your father informed you that you and your family will be joining us for Christmas dinner?"
"Yes, he has," Thea nodded. "I'm very excited, I was just wondering, is it possible you have room for seven more people?"
Molly didn't hesitant for a moment, immediately nodding, "Of course! The more, the merrier of a Christmas it will be!"
"Thank you so much, I'm having some of my dad's old friends from Hogwarts and their children stay with us." Thea explained and Molly smiled before Thea turned when she heard her dad calling. "Well, I better be going then, thank you again, Mrs. Weasley."
"Hey sunshine." Fred called before the twins hugged her tightly, making Thea smile.
"See you guys on Christmas." Thea grinned.
~
The air was thick and tense in the Barreno-de Oro house. The family of five sat at the dinner table, eating while Emanuel looked at children. Losing his patience, the father sighed, "Alright! What is going on with you four?"
"Nothing." The four quads answered in unison.
"I call BS!" Emanuel shook his head, making Thea smile for a moment. "I've never seen the four of you like this. Which one of you screwed up?"
With no hesitation, Tobi and Tommy pointed at Teo and Thea's eyes widened, staring down at her food again. Teo rolled his eyes while Emanuel crossed his arms, "Teodor, what did you do?"
"You don't have to call me that." He mumbled and Thea glared at him.
"Really? Because you seemed pretty adamant on us calling you that at school." Tommy spat and Teo gave him a look.
"What? We're not at Hogwarts anymore so you can actually acknowledge our presence and not be a pompous dick?" Tobi raised his voice.
"Tobias!" Emanuel immediately shouted but Tobi didn't back down.
"Sorry that I was trying to create an identity for myself besides being 1/4 of the Golden Four!" Teo yelled. "I didn't want to just be know as one of the quadruplets!"
"And being known as a jerk is better than that?" Tobi yelled back. "And as soon as you stepped off the train, you didn't have a group of Slytherin to kiss up to! Well, where's your entourage now, Teo?"
"Or did you finally come to your senses and realize they didn't care about you?" Tommy questioned.
"Or did they just kick you out because you're a halfblood?" Tobi smirked.
"You're just jealous! All of you are just jealous!" Teo shouted before storming out of the room and running upstairs. Tobi rolled his eyes, getting up from the table and going to his room as well. Tommy did the same, leaving just Thea and her father at the table. Tears flooded up to the girl's eyes and she finally broke down, letting out multiple sobs of frustration over the chaos she's been meaning to cry about for weeks.
"Oh, mi muñeca," Emanuel sighed, getting up from his chair to take his daughter in his arms. "What happened?"
"So much." Thea cried, covering her face with her hands. "And I didn't think they would explode on each other that soon! I thought I would be able to keep the peace at least till Christmas. Papa, what do I do? How do I fix this?"
"Shh, calm down, this not yours to fix. Thea, you don't have to do everything on your own." Emanuel whispered. "I need you to tell me what happened so we can both fix it."
"Papa, we have to fix it fast," Thea sighed. "I had a surprise for you but I kind of need your help now so, I invited Uncle Remus, Tia Val, Aunt Rosalie and Monroe to stay with us for Christmas."
Emanuel's eyes widened and he couldn't help the smile rising to his face. "Really?"
Thea grinned through tears, nodding, "They're arriving tomorrow."
"That's why you were cleaning the house before dinner." Emanuel guessed.
"Yeah, and it's gotten kind of messy now that I'm not here for months." Thea replied and Emanuel shrugged. "Okay, so it started the first day of Hogwarts—"
~
Emanuel stood at the door of Teo's room about half an hour after dinner, seeing the boy laying on his head, reading a comic book. He had a frown on his face as he read and Emanuel spoke, "You know, frowning gives you wrinkles."
Teo looked up at him, mumbling, "Hi Papa."
Sitting down at the bed, Emanuel sighed, "You messed up, Teo, like, big time."
Teo stood silent, not saying a word and Emanuel shrugged. "And that crap you said your sister, not okay, at all. I'm disappointed in you for that. I'm also disappointed that I trusted you with looking after your siblings, because you're the oldest and I thought I could."
"I know." Teo mumbled.
"Really? Do you? Then why have you been acting like this?" Emanuel asked.
"I just— I wanted them to like me." Teo whispered, sitting up in his bed. "And it's true what I said, I didn't just want to be a quad, a de Oro."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but no matter what you do, you are always going to be a de Oro." Emanuel explained. "And you're always going to be a quad. It's not something to be ashamed of Teo, you and your siblings have this powerful bond and love that some people spend their wholes lives searching for. I get not wanting to just be a quad, and you're right, you are more than that. But don't pretend you're not a quad. Embrace it, it's a part of you."
Tears brimmed Teo's eyes and Emanuel frowned, wrapping an arm around his son. "What's wrong, hijo?"
"They called us mudbloods." Teo admitted and Emanuel took a deep breath, trying not to grow angry. "My friends, members of Slytherin that I was tagging along with. I'm not even mad that they called me it, but then they said Tobi and Tommy and Thea's name, and I wanted to use some of the worst hexes I knew."
"What did you do?" Emanuel questioned.
"Nothing," Teo shook his head. "I was frozen, it was pathetic. Because I realized how right Thea, Tobi, and Tommy were about them. They didn't care about me, just wanted a halfblood to pick on."
"I'm sorry." Hugging his son for a moment, Emanuel spoke.
"I'm sorry too." Teo whispered. "But I know, I shouldn't be apologizing to you."
"I would start off with your sister, she's the easiest." Emanuel suggested. "She was crying earlier, wants you four to make up more than anyone."
Teo nodded, walking out of the room and standing in front of Thea's door, knocking before he heard a small, "Come in."
Opening the door, he saw Thea laying on her bed, using magic to make the paper birds that hung from her ceiling move. She glanced to see who it was, surprised when it was Teo. "Hey."
"Hi." Teo walked in, pointing at the bed. "Can I sit?"
Thea nodded, not saying a word and Teo continued. "I'm sorry."
"About time." Thea mumbled.
"I know, and I'm really sorry. I said some really, not okay stuff to you." Teo explained. "You guys were right, they didn't want to be friends with me, and they—"
Teo looked at Thea, who sat in front of him, eyes red and on the verge of tears. He thought about it for a second, wondering if he should tell her what his so called friends said about them.
"They just weren't good people." Teo shrugged. "I really don't deserve your guys' forgiveness after the way I've acted, I've been a jerk. But I'm sorry. I was acting like being a quad was something to be ashamed of, when in reality, you guys are the best part of me."
Thea smiled, a tear falling on her face and Teo grinned. "You're my sister Thea, that's not something for me to embarrassed about. You're incredibly loyal and kind and smart, and you're just like Mama, and honestly, I would kill to be like her. I don't know why I shamed you for it. I'm sorry."
The girl pulled him in for a hug and Teo didn't hesitate to hug back just as tight. Thea smiled, trying not cry, "I forgive you, of course I do."
~
It was the next day, and the house had been cleaned and organized, ready for the holiday guests. The boys still hadn't made up, even after Teo stood outside their doors for an hour to try to talk to them, Tobi and Tommy didn't budge.
"Can someone please let me know why I just cleaned the bathroom in the basement that no one uses?" Teo walked into the living room as Thea fixed the pillows on the couch.
"You'll see." Thea smiled, checking the time. "Teo, can you turn on the tree?"
Teo nodded, walking over to where the Christmas tree is and turning on the lights, making Thea smile more.
"Alright, the kitchen is stocked with plenty of food and if anything, we'll probably order a couple times." Emanuel shrugged. "Am I missing anything?"
"Don't worry Papa, it's gonna be fine," Thea promised him, smiling at him. "I know it will. I just have to keep Tobi and Tommy from killing Teo."
"Oh, that's good." Teo mumbled, standing next to Thea and the two looked at each other when they heard people outside.
Emanuel smiled and opened the door, seeing Monroe and Rosalie outside, talking to two kids. "Long time no see, ladies."
"Manny!" Monroe and Rosalie smiled, each taking a turn to hug their old friend. The two women glanced Thea and Teo, their eyes widening.
"Thea, and," Monroe took a second to figure out which one of the boy quads was it.
"Monroe, it's so obviously Teo!" Rosalie scolded her wife with a french accent, smiling at Teo. "That's my godson!"
Teo grinned, hugging Rosalie for a moment. Monroe looked at Thea, smiling, "You look so much like your mother."
"Thank you?" Thea whispered and hugged Monroe. She was still trying to figure to say every time people say that to her, which happened a lot.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Monroe shook her head. "You must hear that a lot."
"Um, Manny, Thea, Teo," Rosalie walked over to her two children. "This is Lily and Alex."
Lily had pale skin and pretty strawberry blonde waves, and blue tough eyes while she stood in front of her brother. Alex was taller and lean, with dark hair and green eyes that seemed brown at some angles. They both didn't say a word until Monroe gave them a look. Both siblings just gave a wave and Rosalie smiled, moving her hands while she spoke, "They're a little shy."
"I'm not." Lily finally spoke, also moving her hands and Thea quickly recognized it as sign language. "I just hate people."
"Lilith!" Rosalie scolded and the girl shrugged.
"Manny, where are Tobi and Tommy?" Monroe asked.
"Plotting my downfall, probably." Teo spoke up and Thea stifled a laugh.
"Haha, hilarious." Emanuel patted Teo's shoulder, looking at Rosalie and Monroe. "Kidding, he's kidding."
"I wouldn't be surprised if it was true, we all know how many times we plotted each other's downfall, Flame." Emanuel turned to see Remus Lupin walk towards the house, holding a duffel bag.
"Moony!" Emanuel shouted excitedly, the two old friend hugging for a moment while they laughed.
"Uncle Moony?" Thea guessed and Remus laughed, looking at her.
"Am I looking at Alejandra de Oro or are my eyes deceiving me?" Remus mumbled to himself and Thea walked over, giving him a hug. "Hey little Gold, you've definitely gotten taller."
"Since I was three? Yeah." Thea nodded with a smile.
"It's good to see you, Thea." Remus grinned, hugging the girl once more.
"Forgive me for interrupting this sweet reunion, but can we please go inside before my hearing ear freezes and I go fully deaf?" Lily wondered while she signed and Alex laughed.
~
"Alex was three when we adopted him and Lily was two," Monroe explained to Emanuel and Remus as the three of them and Rosalie sat at the dinner table, eating pizza. The kids were all in the living room, content with eating pizza on the floor. "We adopted them a month after the end of the war, they were the only two deaf kids in the agency, ironically their names were Alexander and Lilith and it wasn't hard to tell that the other kids weren't treating them well."
"Lily is deaf in her left ear and Alex in his right," Rosalie added. "But they have hearing aids, we all learned to sign, they speak French, they're amazing kids."
"Hold on, is Alex the same age as the quads?" Emanuel asked and Monroe nodded. "Meaning, he's attending Hogwarts right now?"
"We were going to reach out, but we weren't sure if you wanted to hear from us or if you still in hiding." Monroe replied. "But thankfully, Thea reached out."
"She's an amazing girl, Manny." Rosalie smiled and Emanuel nodded.
"So, Tommy, Teo, and Tobi," Lily pointed to the boys as she said their names and they all nodded. "Okay, shouldn't be too hard to remember."
"Alex, what house are you in?" Thea wondered.
"Ravenclaw." Alex answered. "And next year, Lily will definitely be in Gryffindor."
"Woo!" Tobi cheered, high-fiving the girl. Everyone in the house turned their heads when a knock was heard on the door. Emanuel stood up from the table, walking over and opening the door. A smile rose to his face when he saw Valencia Villarreal standing there. His eyes widened and his smile quickly turned to a look of shock when a young girl stood behind her.
"Manny," Valencia smiled, giving the man a quick hug. "This is my daughter Carina."
"Christmas brings people together." Lily signed to Alex and the two siblings smiled.
"This is gonna be good." Alex signed back.
~
CAST ~ the gold era
kayla maisonet as carina villareal
nyle dimarco as alexander mitz-blanchet
katie leclerc as lilith mitz-blanchet