{.77. Christmas and New Years}
Discussion around sensitive topics in regards to pregnancy.
Christmas Day at Montague Mansion had always been a lavish affair until 1977. The family relished being around one another and spending quality time together. This year was different, ally was hosting in her new home with Remus. Their friends were coming with their partners and so we're Perseus, Oberon, Atlas and Caspian.
It was strange, she had longed for Wolf, Jasmine and Graham to be there but Jasmine refused. It made Ally's heart break but she couldn't be sad about it forever, she was sure that Jasmine would come around one day.
"Merry Christmas beautiful girl," Remus hummed kissing her shoulder as the two lay in bed
"Merry Christmas Remmy," she smiled turning around to give him a kiss
She raised her hand and a few gifts began levitating into the room. She placed them down softly in front of him and smiled widely.
"There you go my darling," she smiled
Ally watched as Remus tore through the paper and smiled as he saw the first edition Virginia Woolfe novel that she had bought him. He gently opened the book and ran his fingers over the spine before he looked up at Ally with tears.
"My present looks terrible," he sniffed
"It's not about presents, I'm just...I'm glad you're here," she smiled softly
It was true, because Ally had dreaded Christmas. This being the first one without her dad and the fact that Wolf wasn't going to be there stung so she just wanted to be around the people she loved the most.
Remus reached behind him and pulled out a box. He passed it over to her with a smile. She unwrapped the brown paper and opened the box with a smile. In the box sat the most beautiful ring with an amethyst stone.
She gasped and placed it on her pointed finger. She held her hand out and smiled excitedly.
"This... this is beautiful. How could you even think this is terrible? Thankyou so much,"
"That's okay my sweet girl," he smiled
The two pressed a long kiss to each other's lips before they heard Toby, Luke, Sirius and Dorcas shouting hello from the living room. As they were catering for so many, they needed all the help that they could have gotten.
Everybody knew that Ally was no cook so she just hoped for the best. But Luke had told her that he wasn't not having a nice turkey at Christmas so he was more than willing to help the effort.
Both ally and Remus walked down hand in hand and smiled at their guests.
"Merry Christmas Lupin-Montague's!" Sirius cheered hugging Remus toghtly before spinning Ally around
She smiled widely before hugging Toby and Luke and kissing their cheeks. She couldn't help but notice how pale Dorcas was looking currently either. It concerned her. Once they all said their hello's Ally delegated jobs while she told Dorcas to help her with the outside lights. She knew that they didn't talk much, or ever really but it was important for her to try for Luke. Even if she didn't like the fact she used to fancy Remus.
"Dorcas... are you okay?" Ally asked
Dorcas looked at her with unease, on one hand she didn't know Ally but on the other hand it was really important that she spoke to someone as she didn't know what to do.
"I... I think I'm pregnant Alcyone," she whispered
Ally gasped and raised her hands to her cheeks in shock. She didn't think this was a happy moment for Dorcas so she tried to contain any emotion that she had to remain neutral.
"Is that not what you want?" She asked her
Dorcas flung the Muggle lights to the floor and sat in the steps to the cottage with a sigh, throwing her head into her hands.
"I always thought that I wanted to be a mum you know? But now, this is actually a possibility, I don't want it. I'm too young and have so much of my life to live plus there's the war, it would be selfish of me." She explained "does that make me a bad person?" She asked Ally
Ally paused as she thought of what to say. It didn't make Dorcas a bad person for not wanting to be a mum. It wasn't in everybody's path and she certainly didn't think it was in hers but Ally needed to support Dorcas and ensure Dorcas felt like there was no judgement coming from her. Ally advocated for people to make the choice that was right for them always.
"You're not a terrible person. Sometimes... I think that just because you want to be a mum and now isn't the right time, that's not a bad thing. You're protecting yourself from a lot of resentment down the line," ally told her sitting down next to her
"But I don't know what you can do in the wizarding world if you're pregnant," she panicked
"Hey, it's okay." Ally reassured "we'll go into the Muggle world and check one day this week and go from there. But you're not on your own Dor. Whatever the outcome and whatever you decide, know that you have my full support and love," Ally smiled squeezing Dorcas' hand
"Thankyou. I appreciate this." Dorcas sniffed wiping her eyes "do you reckon they're ruining the turkey yet?" She laughed through her tears
"Maybe," ally chuckled
"Al, your brothers have turned up in force," Toby called popping his head out the front door "hey what happened here? Are you both okay?" He asked
The girls just nodded as they got up. They didn't need to say anything more, sometimes keeping a secret was best.
It wasn't long until everyone was sat around the table. Ally's heart felt warm seeing everyone around the table in her home. James and Lily, Sirius and Toby, Luke and Dorcas, Perseus, Oberon, Atlas, Caspian and Remus. People that she loved were around her and she was just so thankful for them.
Perseus had finished carving the Turkey and they had all began tucking in and eating. There was love around the table. Ally cleared her throat and stood up with a smile, she wanted to express her gratitude but she was nervous.
"I'd like to say something if that's okay," she asked
"Speech!" James hollered
Ally smiled but she took a deep breath and looked towards where Perseus and Atlas were sitting. They both gave her encouraging smiles. That's what Ally did when she was nervous on the classroom, Look towards her brother and he always brought her comfort.
"Okay so, this Christmas was going to be particularly hard for my family and I was dreading it. It's been a hard year and it's only going to get harder but I know that with the love that's in this room today, we'll all be okay." She smiled through watery eyes "as long as we have each other, nothing will ever go too far wrong," she beamed
"We love you Cece," Oberon told her reaching over to squeeze her hand
"I love you too, so I hope you enjoy the turkey that Luke helped to prepare." She smiled before sitting back down.
The dinner was delicious. Ally had to say that she couldn't have pictured anything better for their first Christmas without their father. But she felt together and she felt wholesome, as she looked around the room she could see everyone laughing, smiling and enjoying and that made her heart warm because in the room was everybody that she cared about. She could only hope that this feeling of togetherness, love and warmth for as long as she could. She didn't want it to end.
Toby looked up at her with a smile, noticing that she was taking the moment in, making a core memory, he was proud of her. She had coke so far in terms of her individual growth and he would always love her for it. She shot him a wink and he nodded. Thankful that he was part of the day that meant so much to Ally.
***
New Year's Eve came around too quick. Boxing Day was spent in Montague Mansion, Wolf had joined that day as he had told Jasmine that they're was no way he was missing the anniversary of his Father's Death with his brothers and sister.
Luckily, Jasmine was at work so she didn't have a say in how he spent time with them. It was a nice day and they went through family photo albums together and spoke about all the good memories they had of their father and how much he did indeed love whisky when he was younger.
The subsequent days were spent at the Lupins, both Hope and Lyall ensured that Ally and Remus had enough food to see them through to the New Year and Ally was thankful.
The New Year's Eve arrangement was a party in James' with the order. Ally was excited to let her hair down if she was being honest with herself. She was relishing in the peacefulness of being carefree and acting like an eighteen year old. It was something she didn't think she'd have for much longer but she relished in it.
"Are you ready Cece?" Remus shouted
Ally finished placing her earrings in and smoothed down her ball gown. James decided that the theme was 'James Bond'. Ally thought it was brilliant, she didn't understand what it meant but she knew that she had to wear a pretty gold sparkling dress and Remus was in a suit... she couldn't think of anything better.
She walked down the stairs and Remus' eyes lit up. He truly thought that she was the most beautiful girl that he could ever have set his eyes on. Ally gasped when she saw just how handsome Remus was in his suit and bow tie.
She didn't think she could have loved him any more. She walked down the stairs, taking care not to stumble and fall. Remus lresssd a kiss to her forehead she smiled and done a twirl.
"You truly shine brighter than all the stars in that sky beautiful girl," he beamed
She grinned widely and chuckled before grasping Remus' arm so he could apparate them to James' house. Ally was looking forward to spending the night around friends again. Luckily, Peter was joining them today but Ally hadn't heard a word from him in a while and it was frustrating for them.
She hated the fact that Peter was distancing himself, especially because she couldn't work out why. She was furious, after everything they had done for him and he was taking them for a fool. She needed to work it out, but she didn't understand things as quickly as everyone else so she felt like she was quite slow on working things out in that sense because she missed details due to her lack of observation.
They arrived on the front door of James cottage and they knocked the door. Lily opened the door and dazzled in an emerald green dress. Ally couldn't get over how beautiful she looked as she hugged her tightly upon entry.
"Lily you look gorgeous," ally smiled
"Thankyou Alcyone, you're a vision yourself." She smiled
James arrived around the corner later and wrapped his arms tightly around the small girl. She smiled widely in happiness and squeezed him back as tight as she possibly could.
"Welcome! I hope you guys are ready. We're having martinis," he said to them
Ally looked at the table and there were an array of cocktails. Ally opted for the 'Pornstar Martini' but it was because it had a bubbly shot to go with it, that's why she found it so interesting.
"Star!" Sirius shouted
Ally smiled at the boys and grinned. She hugged them both tightly before she saw Luke and Dorcas enter with Marlene. Ally was shocked that Luke had made it because he had been pulling such long hours at the Muggle hospital for his uni. She was glad to see him have some time to relax, as soon as he saw them he ran over excitedly.
"How are my two favourites?" He asked wrapping his arm around them both kissing their cheeks
"I'm good Thankyou darling," ally smiled
"Is that a porn star you've got?" Luke asked and Ally nodded
"Honestly the bubble shot is crazy," she told him, giggling slightly
"That's champagne Ally, the bubbles will go to your head so be careful," Toby told her chuckling, knowing that Ally was quite the lightweight
They all laughed and began to catch up. They hadn't spent quality time together in a while but ally truly missed them and sometimes she felt pulled from reality when she didn't see them that often.
Dorcas came over and wrapped her arm around Lukes shoulders.
"Come and dance with me baby," she told him
Luke pressed a kiss to Toby and Ally's cheek and went off with Dorcas. Ally saw that she was drinking the cocktails so she could only assume that she wasn't pregnant. Ally was glad for her, especially because she seemed so upset by it the other day at Christmas.
Ally found Remus and went to dance with him, the time seemed to fly by as the cocktails went down. She found herself getting more tipsy by the second and before she knew it she could hear James shout the countdown for New Years.
"Cece, my New Years resolution is for me to become more present in the relationship." He told her
"Mine is to look out for you and continue learning to make the wolfsbane okay?" She told him and he nodded
"Seven... six..."
"I love you so much angel girl," he told her
"I love you more than the moon," she told him
Before they knew it the clock struck midnight and Remus pressed his lips onto hers for a gentle kiss. She kissed him with major ferocity back, she was happy and she couldn't wait for the next year together. Hopefully, it would only improve from there onwards because ally didn't want 1979 to be awful, she couldn't bare the thought of it.
***
Unedited
A bit of a wholesome chapter because it's about to go down hill from here x x x
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