14. FAMILY, BY LOVE
OR BY BLOOD
REMUS PULLED VALENCIA into a guest room of the de Oro-Barreno house, a look of disbelief on his face, "Does she know who her father is?"
"Wh-What?" Valencia whispered, her eyes widening.
"Don't play dumb, Val," Remus shook his head, growing angry. "She's so obviously Sirius's."
"No, she's mine," Valencia corrected. "He's not here, remember? He didn't give birth to her or raise her. And you didn't even know if Sirius is her father."
"You named her Carina." Remus crossed his arms. "That's a constellation, she has to get that pale skin of hers from somewhere, the curly hair— God, just looking at her for a second reminds me so much of him!"
"Fine, you're right, Sirius is her father– Are we done now?" Valencia tried to walk off but Emanuel walked into the room.
"Does that little girl have a clue where her father is?" Emanuel asked. "Don't even try to lie, Val. That smirk that I saw on her face once belonged to Sirius Black. What did you tell her?"
"That her father's away." Valencia shrugged, sitting down on her bed. "She doesn't know his name, or where he is, just that he's away. I'm not gonna lie to her. She's only 8, when's she older, I'm gonna tell her the truth."
"And what's that?" Remus spoke up.
"That her father is in prison, her father is Sirius Black." Valencia shrugged.
"What about his innocence?" Remus questioned.
"What innocence?" Valencia gave him a look, crossing his arms. "He killed 12 people, Remus—"
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Remus cut her off.
"Of course I do!" Valencia raised her voice. "I was with him that night! I found I was pregnant that day, and I begged him not to go after Pettigrew, but he still did! And then he killed people."
Emanuel heard his children call his name and sighed, walking out of the room. Remus looked at Valencia, "He's innocent, Val."
"I can't tell Carina that." Valencia shook her head. "Then she'll go into Hogwarts defending a notorious murderer, that's a good way to start off her new school. I gave her my last name for a reason, Remus, I didn't want her getting picked on just for who her father is."
"I didn't think you guys were having sex." Remus mumbled.
Valencia twisted her eyebrows, looking at him and getting up from the bed, "We were together, Remus! What did you think we were doing? Playing Ring-around-the-Rosie?"
"Oh, enough! You two were so obviously each others' beards!" Remus rolled his eyes and Valencia's jaw dropped. "I saw the way you looked at Marlene."
Tears filled her eyes as Valencia's breath hitched, looking down at the ground and shrugging. "It's a little late in life for me to come out, isn't it?"
"I did." Remus shrugged.
"Okay, but everyone knew." Valencia smirked and Remus smiled. "I did love Sirius, just not in the way everyone thought. We had sex to distract each other from the fact that we couldn't be with the people we really wanted."
"What? Who was Sirius interested in?" Remus questioned and Valencia looked up at him, opening her mouth slightly.
"Aunt Val!" Tobi shouted from downstairs and Valencia ran out of the room.
~
Tobi and Tommy rolled their eyes from the couch as they watched Teo run around with Alex and Lily, laughs leaving their mouths.
"Penny for your thoughts, boys?" Monroe questioned, sitting down next to them.
"Nothing special, just what a two-faced jerk Teo is." Tobi didn't hesitant and Tommy gave his brother a look.
"Knew something was wrong," Monroe sighed, glancing at them. "You weren't saying a word to him, just sending him death glares. Did you really think we wouldn't notice? What happened?"
"He got sorted into Slytherin and then just completely ditched us." Tommy whispered.
"More than just ditched us, practically pretending we didn't exist. He's been hanging out with these Slytherin boys that wanted him around just to pick on for his blood status." Tobi explained. "After the trash he said to Thea, I can't believe she forgave him."
"Your sister is like your mom in a lot of ways," Monroe shrugged, smiling slightly at the thought of her old friend. "When it comes to family, there's nothing she won't do. You guys need to forgive Teo."
"Why? Just so he can abandon us all over again when we get back to Hogwarts?" Tobi shook his head, growing angry. "He's my brother, he was supposed to stick by our sides!"
Teo stopped running around the room and began to listen in. He bit his lip, everything hurting when he realized how upset his brother was. Turning to look at Tobi and Tommy, "Can I talk to you two?"
The three boys walked into Teo's room, and the oldest boy looked at his two younger brothers. "I'm sorry. I'm so unbelievably sorry and you shouldn't forgive me, but I am asking you two. I was terrible, I was ashamed of us. Of you two and Thea but I don't have to be. You guys are the best parts of me, you guys are the good parts of me."
Tommy sighed, hugging his brother for a moment. "If you get more sappy, I won't forgive you."
Teo smiled, hugging Tommy back. "Thanks Tommy."
Tommy walked out of the room and Teo looked at Tobi. Shaking his head, Tobi spoke, "It's always been the four of us, always, but it's also always been you and me. We used to chase each other around the living room with paper towel rolls, pretending they were swords. Teo, with you, anything was possible to me. Thea and Tommy were always together and then it was always us. We were creating our own worlds, our adventures- And then you just dropped me— Us, for them."
"Tobi, I'm sorry. I'm not ashamed of you. I loved going on those adventures with you two, our worlds were the best part of our childhood." Teo promised, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Brother, I don't want to lose you, okay? I promise, do not doubt when I say that I will stay by your side."
Tobi pulled his brother in for a hug and Teo let out a sigh of relief.
~
Emanuel Barreno was born in London, but raised in America. His father was Ecuadorian but born in the US, and his mom Colombian, born in Colombia. When his parents found out about their son being a wizard, they collected all the money they could to send him to the best wizarding school, Hogwarts. Alejandra de Oro was born and raised in Spain, like both her parents. She moved to London when she was ten, a year before she began attending Hogwarts as all her father's relatives had done before her.
So, Thea, Tommy, Tobi, and Teo were pretty much from all over the place. Having Spanish, Ecuadorian, and Colombian blood, born in the United Kingdom, but raised in America. They identified most with being Colombian since Emanuel often took them to Colombia every summer with their grandparents.
Being Hispanic, they celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was for opening the presents from Santa and then cleaning up the mess. Christmas Eve, however, was where the quads and Emanuel got all dressed up and had a nice dinner with Emanuel's parents. This year, it was more than just the seven of them at the Christmas Eve dinner.
Thea straightened out her red dress before placing the red headband in her curly brown hair. She turned to face Carina and Lily, the three of them getting ready in her room for dinner. Carina sat in Thea's desk, messing around with her hair with a frown on her face. Thea glanced at her, "Need some help?"
"I forgot some of my hair products." Carina mumbled and Thea grabbed a spray, holding it up. "Do whatever, just fix it."
Smiling, Thea sprayed Carina's hair, which was dark and curly as well. She scrunched some of the hair before grabbing a green ribbon to match the skirt that Carina wore. Pulling the hair into a low ponytail, Thea tied the ribbon into a pretty bow.
Looking in the mirror, Carina smiled, she pulled two front pieces of her hair out of the ponytail. "Thanks Thea."
"No problem." She shrugged.
"Can one of you zip me up?" Lily asked, signing while she spoke. Thea nodded, walking over and sipping up Lily's black dress with a red band around the waist.
The door bell rang and it was heard throughout the house, making Thea smile. She ran out of the room, running downstairs just as Tobi, Tommy, and Teo are. Emanuel opened the door, revealing Lisette and Rafael Barreno.
"Abuelita! Abuelito!" The quads screamed excitedly, each taking their turn to hug their grandparents.
"Hola, mi cariños!" Lisette smiled, taking Tobi in her arms before looking at her son. "They're getting big, aren't they?"
"Taller everyday." Emanuel shrugged, ruffling Tommy's hair. "Do you need help unloading stuff from the car?"
"Yes hijo, I have a whole tray of empanadas that was too heavy for your father to carry." Lisette smirked and Rafael rolled his eyes. The two parents looked in the living room, where Remus and Valencia sat together, sipping wine.
"Remus Lupin, I recognize that face anywhere!" Rafael laughed and Remus smiled, getting up from the couch to shake the old Muggle's hand. "How are you?"
"Doing great, sir." Remus nodded. "Reuniting with old friends."
"Valencia, you haven't aged a day." Lisette grinned, hugging the girl. "Just as beautiful as ever."
"Thank you." Valencia replied. "It's good to see you."
"Mami, have you seen my shoes? The black ones?" Carina ran into the room, looking at Valencia.
"Carina, come here," Valencia gestured her daughter over and Carina walked over, Val wrapping an arm around her. "These are Tio Manny's parents, Señora Lisette and Señore Rafael. This is Carina, my daughter."
"Hola." Carina smiled. "It's nice to meet you both."
-
"This is the first year where it's more than just my parents, the quads, and I," Emanuel told the table as he held a glass of wine, just like all the other adults at the table. The children had glasses of apple juice. "I'm very grateful that my old friends and their families could be here, and that I could reunite with them after so many years. This definitely won't be the last time we all get together, I'm thankful for you all. My family, by blood or by love. To family."
"Familia para siempre, right?" Thea whispered to her brothers and they smiled at her.
"To family." Everyone at table said in unison as they raised their glasses, cheering together.
"Pass the aroz y frijoles." Teo insisted and Tobi laughed, grabbing the bowl and passing it to his brother.
"So, what did you guys get Papi for Christmas?" Tobi wondered and Teo and Tommy's eyes widened in panic. "Because I kind of forgot—"
"Don't worry, your names are already on my gift." Thea sighed, smiling slightly.
"You're the best, sis." Tommy smirked and Thea shrugged.
"I know." She smiled, taking a bite of an Arepa her grandma made.
-
This year, Thea and her brothers got to go to two Christmas dinners. The next day, Christmas Day, everybody in the de Oro-Barreno household traveled to Ottery St. Catchpole by Floo Powder.
Ottery St. Catchpole was a town full of Muggles and wizards. The Weasleys lived on a large field in what they called the Burrow. It was a tall stone building with multiple floors that Molly and Arthur Weasley added over time as they had more children. In the field where the Burrow stood was the Diggory house about a five minutes walk away, and the house of another Wizarding family, the Lovegoods.
Inside the Burrow was cluttered and filled with magic, but still felt welcoming to anyone who entered. Thea smiled at she saw the long table that was set up for the large attendance of guests for the dinner.
"Welcome, welcome, make yourselves at home!" Molly smiled, running back into the kitchen as soon as the de Oros, the Mitz-Blanchets, the Villarreals, and Remus entered the home. "Boys, Ginny, our guests are beginning to arrive!"
Thea turned to look at the staircase, her green plaid skirt twirling as she moved. The sound of multiple footsteps could be heard and Fred and George were the first to arrive downstairs. They shouted in unison, "Golds!"
"Happy Christmas, Thea." George spoke as he hugged the girl. The twins wore dark blue knitted sweaters, each labeled with their initial. Percy, Ron, and Ginny wore the same, all with their own initial. It made Thea smile, remembering how Fred and George had told her about the tradition of the sweaters their mother made.
"Merry Christmas." Thea replied.
"Merry Christmas, how American of you." Fred scoffed, hugging Thea for a moment. He held up a bag with tissue paper in it. "We got you a little something."
"Really? Boys," Thea smiled, reaching into the bag. "You didn't have to."
"Yes, we did." They said in unison before George spoke. "We refuse to accept the fact that you simply aren't in the same house as us."
Rolling her eyes playfully, Thea pulled out a maroon sweater with yellow cuffs at the sleeves. On the front was the Hufflepuff badger and the Gryffindor lion, side by side. A smile rose to the girl's face and she hugged both the boys, "I love it, thank you."
"We know there's a bit of Gryffindor in you." Fred shrugged.
"But you are a Hufflepuff, and I guess we love you anyways." George admitted and Thea laughed.
"I have gifts for you guys too—" Thea began.
"You can exchange gifts later, we have to set the table now." Percy interrupted, grabbing the twins by the collars of their sweaters and dragging them into the kitchen. Thea shook her head, following Lily and Alex into the living room where they sat down on the couch.
"How many children do they have?" Alex whispered, signing while he did.
"Well, there's the twins, Ron, Ginny, Percy, Bill, and Charlie." Thea listed and Lily and Alex's eyes widened. "Yeah, there's plenty of Weasleys."
"Alex, I never asked," Tommy walked up to the group, Teo behind him. "What house are you in?"
"Ravenclaw." Alex answered. "I've seem you in the common room a couple of times, but I don't talk much, plus I also had no idea who you were."
"I've never seen you with the other first years." Tommy noticed.
"Don't have a lot of friends." Alex shrugged.
"You do now." Thea smiled and Alex grinned. "You can sit with us and our friends when we get back to school. You too, Lily, when you go next year."
"I can't wait." Lily smirked. "Homeschooling with our mom is fun and all, but after everything I've heard about Hogwarts and everything Alex writes in his letter, I just want to go already."
"It's really like no other place." Tommy agreed. "Eventually, we'll all be there."
"When do you think James and Lily's kid starts?" Teo wondered.
"Harry? Our moms have told us about him," Lily spoke up. "He's a year younger than me."
"So you next year, Harry the year after that, then Carina the following year." Thea said. "Hogwarts isn't gonna be ready for the next generation of Marauders."
The doorbell to the Burrow rang and Molly Weasley walked away from the kitchen again to open the door. A smile rose to her face when Amos and Abigail Diggory stepped through the door, Cedric behind them. "Happy Christmas!"
"Happy Christmas! Oh, Molly, how nice to see you." Abigail hugged her for a second before looking at her son. "Cedric darling, put the pasta tray on the table before you say hi to your friends."
"Yes, Mum," Cedric nodded, smiling at Mrs. Weasley while Amos and Arthur began to chat about their work in the Ministry. Walking into the dining room, Cedric placed the tray on the table with the rest of the food.
"Ced!" The boy turned around to see Thea smiling at him. Cedric grinned, walking over and giving the brief hug. "Merry Christmas."
"Happy Christmas." Cedric replied, glancing at the living room. "Everyone in there?"
"Come on," Thea grabbed his arm gently, beginning to lead him out of the room.
"Hold on, hold on, Cedric," Abigail called, walking into the room and smiling at Thea before Amos followed him in. "Introduce us."
Cedric resisted the urge to roll his eyes and looked at his parents. He placed a hand on Thea's shoulder for a moment, making the girl tense up before she relaxed. "Mum, Dad, this is Thea de Oro, we're in Hufflepuff together."
"Don't act like we don't know, Ced," Amos smirked and looked at Thea. "You are the subject of all of his letters—"
"No, no, enough." Cedric shook his head, trying to steer Thea out of the room.
"No, no, keep going," Thea giggled and Cedric rolled his eyes. "It's very nice to meet you both, Mr. and Mrs. Diggory."
"You as well, so glad to meet the girl who my son hasn't stopped mentioning this vacation." Abigail grinned.
"Mum." Cedric scoffed and turned to Thea. "You just do so many chaotic things, there's so many stories to tell about you."
"Right," Thea nodded, unconvinced and Cedric shrugged. "Come on, I made Teo wait til you get here before we start the game."
"You lot made up with Teo?" Cedric questioned and Thea nodded, a happy smiled on her face.