☽☽☽
THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS CAME AS A BIT OF A RELIEF. After all they were a distraction from the hectic life that Athena was currently caught up in. Therefore she relished the train journey home, her head against the window and her eyes admiring every field, tree and river that the train sped past.
The friends had exchanged presents on the last day (ruining the idea of secret Santa by saying who had who). Lily had loved what Athena bought her and said that she'd even wear the blouse on Christmas Day.
Turns out that Dorcas had Athena meaning she'd received a pair of shoes that she wouldn't normally wear. They were patent leather booths with a block heel and a rounded toe. Athena liked them a lot but she wasn't sure whether she had the confidence to pull them off.
The train pulled into the station and the kids clambered out staring around for their families. Everyone was going home this year. Sirius would be staying with James as usual although he kept going on about how he was going to get a new apartment soon enough.
Athena spotted her parents nearby waiting with Aurora who was waving her arm wildly over her head to catch Rena's attention.
"That's me" Rena smiled as she hugged her friends goodbye. Aurora hurried over and smiled Athena's group before turning to her sister.
"Remus you're coming with us" she smiled cashing Athena's stomach to do a somersault.
"How come?" Asked Remus,
"Your parents are at our house, we're all spending Christmas together isn't that great!" She grinned while clapping her hands. Nothing excited Aurora more than the prospect of Christmas.
"Sounds great" Remus smiled in response. Athena shot a look over her shoulder to Lily who was smirking at her.
"Have a good Christmas" she winked and Athena frowned at her trying to use telekinesis to convey that the girl had it wrong (even though Lily couldn't be more right).
"Apparently" Aurora continued as the group walked across the station, "your brothers coming from London to spend time with us, I haven't seen him in years"
Remus stopped dead with an expression of worry on his face,
"Did you just say my brothers coming home?" He asked,
"Yeah he's coming up tomorrow" Aurora nodded, "and we'll have aunt Honey, Aunt Melissa, and the cousins of course"
The rest of Aurora's ramble seemed to fade into nothing as Remus went rather pale,
"Are you ok?" Athena asked in a low tone,
"I haven't seen Sam since... I'm not sure maybe three years ago"
"Three years" Athena gasped, "he's your brother Remus how come you haven't seen him?"
"He wanted nothing to do with us" the brunette explained, "went of to London as fast as he could... mum and dad were distraught and now they're just letting him waltz back into your house for Christmas"
"Look I'm sure it'll be fine" Athena smiled, "at least you're at our house, it'll be busier that way, not as awkward"
"I suppose so" Remus shrugged, "but I don't want to ruin your Christmas"
"Oh you won't" Athena frowned, "it'll be great don't stress about it".
However these words didn't seem to console Remus who looked as though he'd just swallowed something foul.
Hope and Lyall Lupin were two of the nicest people you could possible meet. Lyall was tall and slender (probably where Remus got that from) with silver hair and an infectious smile that lit up his blue eyes.
Hope was more frail than the last time Athena had seen her. Her hair retained its brown colour and her eyes a soft twinkle. Remus looked like the perfect mixture of both of them.
"It's good to see you Athena" Hope smiled as she hugged the girl gently,
"You too Mrs Lupin" Rena replied,
"You've known me all your life" the woman laughed, "you can call me Hope by now"
School always ended rather close to Christmas Day giving students more time in the new year to have off. This meant that it was the day before Christmas Eve when Athena and Remus arrived home.
Mary Sinistra loved hosting parties and celebrations. It was something she prized herself in. The house was decorated beautifully for head to toe in fairy lights, Christmas trees and tinsel.
Aurora and Athena were sharing a room over the holidays. They'd done this before when guests came over at Christmas as it just made everything easier. Neither of them were opposed to it, they got along well anyway. The only issue Athena had was the fact that her sister currently had a habit of singing Christmas songs at full volume whenever they popped into her head (which was all the time)
Remus was being rather quiet that night, mainly due to the fact that he would be seeing his brother tomorrow for the first time in three years. Athena felt rather nervous for him, it seemed his emotions were wearing off onto her. They spent that night watching movies by the fire.
Athena and Remus sat rather close to each other and every few minutes or so, Aurora would glance over and smile knowingly at Athena. It seemed that everyone believed that the two friends should be together except for Remus. Aurora never usually got involved with things liked this but Athena presumed the three glasses of eggnog that she'd consumed had something to do with it.
"Rena I don't want to sound ungrateful" the boy muttered. It was late at night now, maybe two in the morning. Everyone else had gone to bed leaving the two of them sat up while 'It's a wonderful life' played in the background,
"I'm sensing a but?" Athena smirked,
"I'm supposed to share a room with Sam" Remus continued as he ran a hand nervously through his hair, "it's going to be awkward enough as it is"
"I'll sort it" Athena smiled, "theses a sofa in my room you can just sleep there"
"There's a sofa in your room?" Remus laughed, "god aren't you fancy"
"Shut up" Athena laughed as she turned her attention back to the movie. 'It's a wonderful life' had always been her favourite Christmas movie. Something about it made her feel warm and safe.
The next day was Christmas Eve. The family went out early in the morning for a walk around the village. There wasn't any snow, just frost lining the front of cars and the windows of houses. It was so early that the town was nearly desolate. Athena wrapped her coat tighter around her wondering why they had to come out in the first place.
"I'm glad we can spend Christmas together" Remus smiled down at the girl as they walked behind the group,
"Me too" Athena replied, "though you have to put up with my family tomorrow"
"I've met your family before" Remus pointed out, "they're nice"
"Oh they're nice" Athena laughed, "just very lively... and aunt Melissa loves to critique everything especially when she's drunk"
"I'm sure I'll cope" Remus shrugged, "can't be worse than Sam"
"Hey" Athena turned to him, "stop worrying about him, if he's a dick then we'll just stay away from him, he's only here for two nights anyway it'll fly by"
"I suppose" Remus sighed lightly.
Henry bought a couple of loaves from the bakers which they sad with some warm soup for lunch.
"So what's Mary doing this Christmas?" Hope asked her son as lunch was passed around,
"Oh" Remus froze a bit as he looked up at his parents, "I forgot to mention... me and Mary aren't together anymore"
"Really?" Hope frowned, "she seemed so nice, what happened?"
"It's a long story" Remus forced a smile as he tucked into his soup. Athena sat awkwardly staring at her sister who had seen Mary kissing Avery just as she had. The girl shrugged lightly at her sister with a sympathetic glance.
Athena wrapped up her family's gifts after lunch, she enjoyed wrapping and was rather good at it. Remus sat up on her bed reading a book as she did this.
"Whenever I wrap something it always goes shit" Remus replied,
"It's a skill" Athena smirked as she took a piece of sellotape that she'd stuck on the end of her bed and used it to stick down the final piece of paper.
"I can see that" Remus smirked, they sat in silence for another moment or so before Athena heard the doorbell ring.
The boys face went as white as a ghost almost immediately. He jumped up and stared at Athena in anxiety,
"It'll be fine" Athena told him with a smile, "come on"
She led the way as they walked out of her room and paced down the stairs which led immediately into a large part of the house where the front door was located.
Mary and Hope were already there causing Athena and Remus to stop dead towards the middle of the stairs. Mary pulled open the door to reveal two people standing there.
One of them was Samson, Athena hadn't seen him in about six years and he'd only been fifteen then. Now he was twenty one which was evident by his mature face and slight stubble over his jaw.
He didn't look much like Remus, his hair was darker but he was just as tall. He had stern eyes that didn't have the same softness as Remus'.
Beside him stood a woman that Athena did not know. She had waist length blonde curls, a round angelic face, large blue eyes, pale eyebrows and a beaming smile.
"Sammy" Hope breathed in happiness as she hugged her eldest son.
"Hello mum" he replied with the hint of a smile, "Mrs Sinistra" he nodded,
"Lovely to see you again" Mary smiled, "my, how you've grown"
Samson laughed as he and his guest stepped into the house,
"I hope you don't mind but Heather's parents are away so I asked if she wanted to spend Christmas with me"
"I don't want to be an inconvenience" the woman called Heather jumped in,
"You won't be dear" Mary smiled "there's plenty of room".
Henry and Lyall walked into the porch now. Lyall grinned upon seeing son and walked over briskly to give him a hug,
"Glad you could make it Sam" he clapped him on the back as though there'd never been tension between them,
"And this is?" Henry asked with a welcoming smile.
"This is Heather" Samson introduced, "my wife"
Athena thought that Hope might have fainted there and then. There was a general gasp over the room and everyone seemed completely lost for words. Remus gripped hold of the banister in front of him as he glared at his brother.
"You got married?" Hope asked in a small voice, "and didn't invite us?"
"It was a spur of the moment thing" Heather explained, "in the Bahamas"
"Sounds lovely" Lyall smiled in a strained manner, "you never mentioned you'd met someone Sam?"
"Sorry dad" Samson replied, "I just wanted to make sure everything went well"
"Well it's lovely to meet you Heather" Hope smiled, a touch of sadness still in her eyes.
Samson turned his attention to the stairs where Athena and Remus were still stood.
"Remus" Samson smiled, "it's good to see you"
Remus took one look into his brothers eyes and went storming back up the stairs.
Everyone stood silent for a moment before they heard the loud sound of a door slamming.
Heather looked as awkward as Athena felt as she stood on the stairs alone.
"Hi Athena" Samson added as though nothing had happened,
"Athena" Heather smiled, "that's a beautiful name"
The girl wondered how Samson had managed to find someone as stunning as Heather, sure he wasn't bad looking but he always looked slightly angry.
"Thank you" Athena replied gratefully, "good to see you Sam and ... good to meet you Heather"
"You too" Heather smiled, "you have an incredible house, she added as she turned back to Mary"
"Thank you dear, would you like something to drink , here take your coat off"
It didn't seem as though Athena would be missed. She turned around and paced up the stairs seeing that it was her bedroom door which had been slammed shut.
The girl took a deep breath before walking towards it and opening it carefully. Remus was laid on the bed staring up at the ceiling angrily.
"He got married" Remus muttered bitterly as Athena entered the room and shut the door behind her, "he bloody went and got married without telling anyone"
"She seems nice" Athena shrugged optimistically, "don't be too hard on her"
"Oh I won't be hard on her" Remus scoffed, "it's him I'm pissed at"
"I know" Athena replied, "it seemed your parents didn't even know she existed"
"Well that's not a surprise" Remus laughed, "he tells them shit all, I don't know how I managed to land the worlds shittest brother"
"Look it's not that bad" Athena began, "at least he's here"
"I'd rather he wasn't" Remus grunted.
"Well it's only two nights and then he'll be gone" Athena pointed out, "you'll probably not see him for a bit after that so make the most of it while you can"
"Who let you get so good at these things?" Remus smirked as he turned his head to look at her,
"Remus I'm good at everything, you should know this by now" she joked with a light smile.
☽☽☽
"Merry Christmas!" Aurora called causing Athena to wake with a start. Her sister was standing over her already fully dressed in colours of burgundy. Athena looked to the small clock on her bedside table and audibly groaned. It was only eight in the morning.
"Come on I let you have a lie in" Aurora smirked, "guests are arriving in an hour and breakfast is in twenty minutes. With that she turned on the heel of her smart boots and left the room. Athena sat up with her hair messed around her head like a nest. Remus was a asleep on the sofa placed under Rena's window. Aurora had done her the favour of letting Athena wake him up.
She tied her hair back and moved over to her friend quickly.
"Remus?" She murmured gently. Athena tried not to be creepy by noticing how cute he looked as he slept. His eyes flickered for an moment before they opened as met Athena's in a gaze.
"Merry Christmas" she smiled gently, "we have to get up unfortunately"
"Merry Christmas", he mumbled in response, sitting up and letting out a large yawn. The girl moved away towards the bathroom turning on the water from her shower and staring at her reflection in the mirror.
She wondered how people looked so effortlessly beautiful in the morning. She looked like she hadn't slept in days despite having just woken up.
It took her twenty minutes to get ready and by the time she was finished the girl could smell the scent of bacon working it's way up the stairs.
She dressed in a red corduroy dress, a white jumper and the boots that Dorcas had bought her for Christmas. Despite not actually leaving the house she thought her outfit hadn't looked complete without some boots.
Breakfast was slightly awkward since the two brothers weren't really talking. They had been civil, such as passing the salt over the table however they hadn't actually talked. Everyone else was trying to keep the mood up by smiling and creating long conversations about trivial things such as the weather.
Unfortunately it hadn't snowed like last year. In fact the sky was a bleak grey which shed it's colours to the world which looked dull and uninviting. Inside the house on the other hand looked wonderfully cozy and festive. Athena was glad that they didn't have to go out.
The rest of Athena's family arrived at nine. By then the piles of gifts under the tree were getting particularly busy. The wrapping shone off the range of lights in the living room casting colours of green and red over the walls.
The doorbell rang precisely on nine and it didn't take a genius to work out that it wouldn't be Aunt Melissa who was on time. Athena rushed to open the door leaving everyone else sat around the living room.
She opened the door to see her Aunt Honey smiling at her. Aunt Honey was married to a man named Jackson (making her Honey Coleman rather than Sinistra). Jackson was tall with light blonde hair and piercing eyes.
Together they'd had two children, Grey and Sapphire. Grey was a year younger than Athena and Sapphire was a year older. Both of them were very enthusiastic with curly hair and an abundance of freckles over their pale bronzed skin.
"Merry Christmas!" Honey beamed as she pulled Athena into a hug. Her Aunt gave the best hugs without question. She always smelled like cherries and vanilla something that took Rena back to her childhood.
"Merry Christmas" Athena replied thinking that this phrase was definitely going to get worn out by the end of the day, "come in, we're all in the living room".
"Hi Rena" Grey grinned as they walked through. Rena and Grey had used to be rather good friends, or technically cousins.
As for Sapphire, she got on better with Aurora. Today her hair was curlier than ever springing over her shoulders like a cascading waterfall.
They moved into the living room where everyone jumped up in immediate greeting.
Honey placed even more presents under the tree which was now almost obscured with gifts. Athena sat back down into her seat which happened to be next to Remus. Sapphire and Aurora sat on the sofa as well while Grey sat on the foot stool next to it.
Remus looked happier than he had done before, maybe this was because with all the new people there was less chance that he would have to talk to Sam.
"We just have to wait for Melissa now" Mary noted with a swift look at Henry who avoided her gaze.
Melissa and Mary didn't get on very well, that was a very known fact with everyone in the family. In fact Melissa was quite hard to get on with because she spoke her mind about everything. Despite this Athena loved her, she made Christmas a bit more entertaining.
Other than that she was always late. Athena remembered that she always used to tell elaborate stories of how exciting her life was. Always jetting off for some expensive holiday, meeting a new man every month.
In reality she didn't do any of this. By the time Athena had turned twelve she'd come to realise most of Melissa's life was fiction. Turns out she couldn't keep a job to save her life and no one was interested in dating her. This was mostly to do with the fact that she was a drunk.
Athena felt sorry for her even though everyone else couldn't stand her.
She arrived ten minutes late, which wasn't a surprise given her record. Aurora went to answer the door this time as Athena was engulfed in conversation with Grey about school.
Grey and Sapphire were also a witch and wizard however they didn't go to Hogwarts. Instead they went to a school located somewhere in Europe called Durmstrang. No one (who didn't go there) really knew the location of this school as it was very secretive.
Melissa walked in with a smile on her face dressed in a very elegant pant suit. She looked a lot like her older brother with brown hair and blue eyes coated in makeup.
"Merry Christmas one and all" She smiled pointedly, "I love what you've done with the place"
"Thank you Melissa" Mary replied with a tight lip smile, "now that everyone's here, we can finally get on with presents".
Athena had worried that the atmosphere inside of the house would be unbearable with so much tension going on but the presents seemed to distract everyone from their resentments.
Everyone always said that Christmas wasn't just about the presents and while this was the case, they really made the day better. Athena loved seeing the faces of her family as they opened their presents. Their eyes would light up and they'd analyse everything with such interest.
Athena and Remus hadn't gotten each other gifts (due to the secret Santa) but she still watched as he opened the presents he'd received from his parents (and Athena's parents) which mostly consisted of books, jumpers and chocolate.
Christmas dinner was also something which made the day better. Henry and Mary were a great team when it came to preparing the food and by the end of the meal Athena was sure that she'd never be able to eat again.
The day wore on, Athena was surprised to see at some point that Remus had actually gone to speak to his brother. She was currently in a conversation with Sapphire about her new boyfriend but she'd resigned paying attention to eye the brothers warily across the room.
Spirits were kept up by Aurora who kept turning up the Christmas music whenever Mary wasn't watching. After that she kept trying to invite people to dance in the middle of the living room. Much to her resentment, Athena was dragged into dancing by her sister while Remus watched from the side of the room laughing.
It was around eight when Athena's family left. They hugged goodbye and promised they'd see escorted soon. This may be the case for Honey who would obviously be attending order meetings yet probably not for Melissa, god knows where she'd be going next year.
Athena and Remus ended up sitting by the fire, the only two still awake in the house. Everyone else had gone to sleep feeling content after their large meal and festive day.
The music of Bing Crosby was still playing lightly in the background.
"Rena?" He asked causing the girl to look at him, "I um... actually got you something"
"You got me a present?" Athena asked with a frown, "but you didn't have me for secret Santa"
"I know I didn't" he laughed, "I just wanted to get you something"
"You shouldn't have" Athena smiled, "not that I'm not grateful... but I didn't get you anything"
"That's alright" he replied as he moved to the tree and took out a present that had been well hidden behind it.
It was a rather flat box wrapped in green. She took it from him as she sat down again beside her.
Her heart was beating faster than usual as she gently ripped away the paper. Beneath the layers sat a black box.
Athena opened it lightly, it clicked open to reveal a golden necklace. It had an oval pendant decorated with embedded stars.
"It's beautiful" she smiled as she turned to her friend, "thank you"
"It's a locket" Remus continued, "a special one"
"A special one?" Athena laughed, "how's it special?"
She turned and opened the locket carefully, it was currently empty inside and didn't seem to look any different than a normal locket.
"You're supposed to put a picture inside" he explained, "a picture of someone"
"Anyone?" Athena asked,
"Anyone that's alive" Remus added, "otherwise it wouldn't work... you see when you put someone's picture inside and then hold the pendant in your hand... you can feel their heartbeat"
"I love that" Athena gasped as she stared back at the golden jewellery,
"I was hoping I'd get you for secret Santa so I could give you it" Remus explained, "I got Sirius and I'm sure he'd appreciate this"
Athena laughed gently, "I'm not sure, Sirius does love his jewellery... thank you though, I love it"
"You're welcome" Remus smiled,
"Put it on me" Athena added with a smile as she handed it to Remus.
The girl turned around and moved her hair to the side. She felt the pendant touch her chest, it was a cool metal that prickled her skin.
She could feel Remus' fingers lightly graze the back of her neck and he did the clasp and it took everything in her not to shiver.
"There" he smiled as she turned back around to admire the locket now hanging around her neck.
"I thought it might be something you'd like" Remus smirked, "you suit it"
Athena grinned in return. He didn't ask who's photo she was going to place inside of the locket. She was glad because if he had she wasn't going to tell him that she had every intention of putting a picture of him inside.
☽☽☽
A/n
Words - 4117
Published - 23rd January 2021
Sorry I haven't uploaded in a few
Days this took me ages to write
It seems that Thursday and Friday
Are the days that I have absolutely
No inspiration to write anything