44. HOME FOR THE
HOLIDAYS (A REAL HOME)
WALKING THROUGHout the de Oro house, Thea grinned happily, for multiple reasons. One: For the first time in so long, she was happy to be home. Her mental health was at all time peak and has been for so long. Two: It was Christmas Eve and Thea loved the holiday season. The de Oro house was decorated festively and it made Thea's heart soar. Three: Tonight she would be surrounded by friends and family, including her boyfriend— Who was coming over with his parents for Christmas Eve dinner.
Surprisingly, Thea wasn't as nervous as she thought she would. Yes, Cedric would be meeting her dad and grandparents for the first time as her boyfriend (He's met them before.) And Thea would be meeting Cedric's parents for the first time as his girlfriend. But she's met them before! And not to lie, Amos and Abigail adored Thea. She was not worried.
~
three weeks ago
"Thea, can you please stop being stubborn and just admit that you're cold?" Cedric begged and Thea giggled happily as she walked faster— Trying to put some distance between her and her boyfriend so he wouldn't give her his jacket.
"I am not stubborn and I am not cold!" Thea replied back, glancing at Cedric for a moment. The two were walking throughout the courtyard of Hogwarts. The ground was covered in snow and the temperature was freezing.
"My darling, I love you, more then anything, but you are quite literally the most stubborn person I know." Cedric disagreed, running up to her side and wrapping his arms around her from behind. "But it's fine, I love you for it."
"And I love you," Thea whispered and her eyes widened when Cedric gently pushed her arms into his jacket. "Ced! Love, take it back!"
Cedric shook his head, grinning at the girl while his heart skipped a beat when Thea called him 'Ced' and 'Love.' He kissed her nose and held her hands, speaking again, "Absolutely not, my love, your nose is red and you are shaking. I can feel how freezing you are."
"And I'm the stubborn one?" Thea questioned and Cedric smirked, kissing her lips for a moment before the two continued walking. "Actually Ced, I wanted to ask you something."
"Anything, darling." Cedric shrugged, holding her hand once more.
"My dad invited you and your parents, if you want, to our house for dinner on Christmas Eve," Thea told him softly. "Because I know you guys usually don't do anything that night. I could finally introduce you to my dad as my boyfriend, and you could meet my grandparents. But if it's too soon, it's—"
"It's not too soon, we will be there," Cedric promised with a small smile. "My parents and I, they also want to meet you— Again, as my girlfriend, you know?"
~
Walking into the living room, another grin rose to Thea's face as she saw her brothers, Lily, Alex, Carina, Eva, Harry, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny sitting on the couch or the floor. Different board games or videos games were being played throughout the group, and just seeing everyone together made Thea's heart skip a beat.
In the kitchen, Emanuel, his parents, Remus, Rosalie, Monroe, and Valencia all sat at the table with glasses of wine in their hands or walking around the kitchen to prepare the big dinner.
"Where have you been?" Tobi asked his sister and Thea laughed, shrugging. "Does getting ready take that long?"
"Please, hermanito, I was wrapping some last minute gifts." Thea replied before placing multiple gift bags and wrapped presents under the already extremely filled tree in the living room. "Fred, George, give me hugs! I haven't seen you guys in like a week!"
"So demanding, bloody hell." Fred scoffed and Thea smiled as she hugged her best friends.
"We've missed you too, Sunny." George grinned, giving his brother a shove. "Mother dearest sends her love, but she is busy preparing everything for tomorrow so she could not make it."
"But she sent Georgie, Ron, Ginny, and I as well!" Fred joked and Ron and Ginny waved, sitting next to Harry and Carina.
"Thea, the Diggorys are here!" Emanuel shouted from the front door and Thea's eyes widened, racing to the door. She slowed her pace, smoothening her dress out and preparing her smile.
Emanuel have his daughter a smirk and opened the door, revealing Cedric, Amos, and Abigail. Thea's eyes landed on Cedric, a smile gracing her lips. He wore a cable-knit sweater and nice pants, and his hair perfect as always.
"Hi." Thea whispered.
"Hi." Cedric grinned, sensing the girl's anxiousness and giving her a look— Almost silently trying to tell her to calm down.
"Papa, you know Cedric. We're— He's my boyfriend now." Thea turned to her father and Cedric shook Emanuel's hand, giving him a small smile.
"Do you treat her right?" Emanuel asked quietly.
"He treats me very well." Thea promised her father.
"I like to think I treat her well." Cedric nodded his head and looked at Emanuel. "Mr. Barreno, I love your daughter, I've loved her for five years— Since like first year."
And in that moment, Emanuel Barreno swore he was teleported back in time to when he was at Hogwarts. Cedric's words reminded him of two relationships— James and Lily, and him and Alejandra.
"You do not have to worry, sir. I treat Thea well, and I care for her a lot." Cedric promised and Emanuel nodded, patting the boy's shoulder. Thea and Cedric turned to Amos and Abigail, "Mum, Dad, you know Thea. I think both of you will be very happy to know that we've been together for some time."
"Yes, we are very happy to know this, dearest," Abigail agreed and hugged Thea for a moment. "He adores you, dear, and he has for so long."
"Thank you for making him so happy." Amos told Thea. "We have no doubt that you do not treat him anything but well."
Teo ran to the front door when he noticed that Flynn Barlowe was standing behind the Diggorys, smiling softly at his boyfriend.
"Teo, hijo, who's this?" Emanuel asked with a knowing smirk while Thea and the Diggorys walked further into the house.
"Papa, this is Flynn, my boyfriend," Teo told him nervously. "Flynn, this is my dad."
"It's very nice to meet you, sir." Flynn spoke, shaking Emanuel's hand firmly.
"Do you guys treat each other well?" Emanuel asked both of the boys.
"Yeah, I would say so." Teo confirmed while Flynn nodded his head.
"Then that's all I can really ask for," Emanuel grinned, patting Flynn's shoulder. "Welcome to the family— Come in!"
~
"Gracias, Abuelita and Abuelito, I love it." Thea told her grandparents, looking down at the sweater that had grandmother had made for her. Her brothers all had matching ones, made out of the yarn of their corresponding house colors.
"Do you like it?" Tommy asked Eva softly as the girl opened her gift.
"Tommy, oh my god," Eva gasped, staring down at the collector edition of Charles Dicken's most famous books. With covers and spines were made with golden details and Eva grinned, "Where did you these? Thank you, Tom."
"Found them at an old book store in a Muggle town, they just needed a bit of TLC." Tommy shrugged and kissed her cheek. "Merry Christmas, Ev."
"I love you." Eva whispered, a happy grin on her lips. "So much."
"I love you too." Tommy whispered back, wrapping his arms around the girl for a moment. "So, so much, and I would so kiss you if my grandparents weren't watching us right now."
"Harry, hijo, open this one." Emanuel suggested with a smile as he handed the boy a thin wrapped gift.
Harry ripped through the gift paper and gave Emanuel a strange look when it was an envelope. Gently opening the envelope, he took out a few pieces of typed paper, "Um, Uncle Emanuel, can I ask what this is— Oh my god."
Emanuel grinned at the boy as Harry realized what the papers were. The Potter boy looked up with tears in his eyes, "You want to adopt me?"
"Yes," Emanuel nodded, sitting down in front of the boy. "This has been my little project since I've been alone in this house all semester. I had a few conversations with your aunt and uncle, and they've agreed to give me custody of you. So if you agree, I just have to submit them, and you won't go back to them this summer— You'll live here, with me and the quads."
Not saying a thing, Harry just hugged Emanuel tightly, holding back tears. He mumbled into his uncle's shoulders, "Thank you."
"Of course, we're family, hijo." Emanuel told the boy.
"We are going to have so much fun next summer." Tobi smirked while the quads each hugged Harry excitedly.
"I can't believe you want to do this for me." Harry smiled at Emanuel again.
"Why wouldn't we? We take all sorts of strays," Emanuel joked and turned to Eva. "Right, Ev?"
"Right." Eva laughed while Emanuel smiled at her.
"Maybe not a stray anymore," Remus spoke up and walked over to Eva, sitting down next to her. "Merry Christmas, Eva."
With shaky hands, Eva took the envelope from Remus's hands and turned to him in shock. "Are you serious?"
"We're not letting you go back to those parents of yours." Remus shook his head.
"And it's probably a better idea that Remus adopts you and I don't," Emanuel added with a smirk. "Based on the fact you're dating my son and will probably marry him in a few years."
"Do you really want to do this, Mr. Lupin?" Eva asked softly. "Please, don't feel obligated just because I'm close with quads."
"No, no, I want to do this, Eva," Remus promised. "I once had a friend who lived in a very unhappy household, and Emanuel and I, we did whatever we could for him— But it wasn't much, for you, we can do this."
"Thank you." Eva whispered. "Thank you so much, Mr. Lupin."
"I think it's about time you just start calling me 'Remus.'" He shrugged and Eva nodded with a happy smile.
A NOTE FROM KAY !!
you are going to grow to love remus and eva's relationship so much like bro writing this is such a joy