The Week Before Christmas (Potter Fam)

It was the first day that the children would be back from Hogwarts, but James had been back for a few weeks already. Ginny was decorating the living room in a true Weasley family way: the tree was decorated modestly with tartan bows, gold bells and glass baubles in varying shades of gold and red. There was a lot of tinsel, a lot of wreath banners and mini trees on the cabinets and tables. The log fire was lit and had an warm, toasty glow throughout the room. Five stockings were hung on the mantelpiece with each of their names hand-stitched in the corner: a gift from her Mum many Christmases ago.

Happy with everything that she had done, she set a large bowl of snacks and a plate of mince pies at the centre of the table and a box of chocolates near the couch. Now Christmas was really here, and she could settle down with the family and spend some quality time with them all.

Planting herself on the couch with a long sigh, she helped herself to a caramel barrel chocolate and peeled back the foil. It was the middle of the afternoon, so she hoped the children would come out of their rooms and come downstairs now. If not, she would have to start knocking on their rooms!

@Harry Potter @James Potter @Albus Potter @Lily Potter

Just as he had told Lien, James spent much of the time sleeping. Well, he mainly slept whenever he wasn't eating at odd hours of the night or being forced out of the house to see the mind healer. His sleeping patterns had become more erratic again, so he got it whenever he was able to whether it was at 5 in the morning or 5 in the evening. Having to deal with Harry's disappointment more often was stressful. It only made his fantasies about moving out intensify.

He wasn't looking forward to Christmas break either outside of being able to see Lien more often again. James felt lonely being at home, especially now that he's had to cut down his social life to prepare for the child and stay sober. Of course, now that his siblings were back from Hogwarts, he'd have to force himself out of his room more so mum wouldn't get concerned.

James emerged from his room wearing flannel pants and a slightly small jumper he forgot he owned. He smelled strongly of incense as he spent a lot of time deciding which of his sticks he was going to light up. Going to the living room, he smiled seeing that it was just mum there. "Aye, mum," James greeted softly as he joined her on the couch. "Looks nice in here."

If he was decorating a house for Christmas, he'd go with a cooler, silvery color scheme. It'd be refreshing compared to how his family did it.

He really needed to start looking around for a nice pad...

@Ginny Potter

When she heard the staircase creak with the sound of someone descending, she looked up expectantly to see who it was. James emerged dressed in something very comfortable, likely an attribute he had inherited from her. Ginny was wearing one of her many comfy jumpers, this one was fluffy and added volume where she probably didn't need it, but it was too warm and cosy to avoid wearing.

She beamed brightly at him.

"Morning!" A little jest, seeing as it was already afternoon. She didn't blame him when it came to his erratic sleep schedule. In her eyes, he was just recovering. This was all very healthy. "Thank you! I think I went a bit over the top, but you know I can't help myself..."

Eyeing his jumper, she stood up and tugged it down for him. "You won't have to wait until Christmas morning to get new clothes, I have a few already that your Grandma made. All of you just seem to keep growing!" She was fussing with his hair now.

@James Potter

'Yeah, you've always been quite a decorator," he replied chuckling. That was something he also inherited from her. Somehow he had a more over the top bedroom than his own sister! James couldn't help that he wanted his area of the house to actually express who he was instead of just being a generic bedroom with some posters and sheets of his favorite color.

As his mum fussed over parts of his appearance, James leaned over to grab one of the chocolates. If only Lien liked chocolate as he'd like to-

Mum was right there, he couldn't just fantasize like that! "How many of 'em are jumpers? Think grandmum made me a new jumper for each year I've been alive..." It felt like all his grandmum did was either make food or clothing. Did she have any other interests?! James popped the sweet into his mouth as if it were a breath mint. Mm, it was decadent.

@Ginny Potter

Lily didn't want to be awake yet. She had misses her bed and her stuffed animals. She didn't bring them to Hogwarts because that was uncool. She was curled up under her blanket holding her stuffed hippogriff when she heard james walk past her room. She knew it was him because he was so damn heavy footed when they were at home. She groaned and threw the blanket off of her before getting out of bed herself. She walked down the stairs, still rubbing her eyes, "Morning. Mum, do we have coffee?" She hadn't told her parents she had started drinking coffees and such at school. 

@James Potter @Ginny Potter

When Lily came down and joined them, James waved at her. They were the closest out of the siblings, but he was absolutely puzzled at her question.

"Lils, since when the hell did ya start drinking coffee?"

He slowly unwrapped another one of the chocolates almost in shock. "You're too bloody young to depend on caffeine!" Why couldn't she have at least waited until fifth year? At least then she'd have the justification of OWLS...

James glanced over at mum wondering if she had any clue of this development.

@Lily Potter @Ginny Potter

Lilly looked at james with an annoyed and still tired look, "I'd say it started around the time I started falling asleep in classes because I was up all night worried about my brother. If there's none made, I'll make it myself." She said before going to the kitchen. Thankfully, there was a fresh pot made, so she made her drink and went back to the room and sat on the couch.

@James Potter

Oh. She started drinking coffee because of him. Now he had to live with that on his conscience. Great, just great. Shifting his position on the couch to give Lily more room, he crossed his legs. Merlin, that felt weird to do at home.

"Er, how was the rest of school, Lils..?"

Icebreaker?

@Lily Potter

Mackenzie had communicated with Albus about visiting over the break and decided she would pop over this morning. She knew Albus usually woke up early so she figured it would be ok. She went to the address he had given her and knocked on the door and waited. Hopefully It would be Albus that answered. She had on a pair of black jeans with a green sweater and her boots, it was an appropriate outfit as it was nothing Matilda would touch with a 50 foot pole. 

@James Potter @Ginny Potter @Albus Potter

Who the hell was that at the door? If they were going to have any visitors, wouldn't they just apparate or use the Floo? That reminded him, he needed to send Lien the Floo details to the Potter house. How else would Lien be able to apparate here later on?

Looking at the others, he asked, "Aye, who's gonna answer the door?" He placed his finger on his nose. "Notme!" There was no way he was getting the door unless he knew it was Lien.

@Ginny Potter @Lily Potter

"Morning sweetheart!" she chirped at Lily, but then her eyes fell a little. "Coffee? Really Lily, it's bad for you to drink that at your age. Just stick with tea. Pretty please?"

There was only a very slight chance she'd listen to her.

She had the determination that she had at her age.

Hearing a knock on the door, Ginny got up.

"Hm, I wonder who that could be..."

Walking over to the door, she opened it to... a Riddle girl. Or she believed her to be a Riddle. What was her name again? Unfortunately, she couldn't remember.

"Hello there... uhm. May I help you?" she asked, trying to be sweet.

@Mackenzie Riddle @Lily Potter @James Potter

Mackenzie was a bit relievrelieved that it was Albus mother who answered the door instead of James. That would be a bit hectic, "Good morning, Mrs. Potter, I'm Mackenzie. I'm here to see Albus?" She said as a question instead of a statement for some reason. Maybe it was nerves? "I thought he would be awake by now. If not, I can go and come back?" 

@Ginny Potter

Albus walked down the stairs when he heard the door ringing. He was upstairs getting some studying done. It was usual for him to spend his break studying. By the time he got down, he realized he was late. He didn’t want any of his other family members answering the door. “I was going to get it, mum.” he said with a sigh. Coming beside his mother, “Hey Mackenzie.” he said giving her a bit of a smile. “Mom this is my friend Mackenzie.” he said giving her a grin.

@Mackenzie Riddle @Ginny Potter

He loudly groaned when he heard who it was. Ugh. James didn't realize break would go downhill that quickly. Pulling out his crystal, he sent Lien a message:

Here are the Floo details to my house xxx

Miss you xxx

He assumed Lien would already be up as he had more of an actual routine and healthy sleep habits compared to him.

@Lien Chang @Mackenzie Riddle @Albus Potter

Mackenzie smiled when she saw Albus enter the door frame, "Hey Potter. Sorry if I'm a bit early. I thought you'd be awake by now." She said reaching out and ruffling his hair. She stood back on her heels and waited for someone to invite her in as it was a bit chilly outside, "Looks like we might get some snow." She stated, looking up at the sky

@Albus Potter

"Oh! I think he's--"

But the sudden appearance of her youngest son beside her gave her everything she needed to know. This was embarrassing for him. So, she smiled widely at Mackenzie Riddle, and stepped out of the way so she could come inside.

"Nice to meet you, Mackenzie! Please, do come in and help yourself to treats in the living room. Albus? You are coming in the living room, aren't you?" she asked hopefully. She'd hardly seen him!

@Albus Potter @Mackenzie Riddle

Mackenzie smiled and stepped inside, "Pleasure to meet you too." When his mother said she had hardly seen him she looked at Albus with a raised eyebrow, "Albus, have you been avoiding your family again? We talked about this, it's not healthy." She shook her head and looked at Mrs. Potter, "Is his father this stubborn?" She said with a tiny smile, trying to ease some tension. 

@Ginny Potter @Albus Potter

I should come now? Are you sure it's okay? I'm nervous...

He was sat on his bed reading when he received James's message, but now he had sprung up onto the floor and was looking around his room frantically. Perhaps he should wear a tie. Or was that too formal? Just a shirt and some nice trousers? He opened his wardrobe and it was despairingly empty. His Mum expected them to do their own washing while they were at home, which was fair enough, but Lien was incredibly lazy when it came to things like that.

Now he had to shower. It was a bit of a whirlwind, but he managed to find some clean clothes and get ready. This was stressful!

Just pop in whenever xxxx

If it wasn't for the fact it'd be obnoxiously long, James would be using a lot more x's in his messages with Lien. He loved how it was such a short, sweet way of showing how much he cared! He needed to put on something more presentable!

James hurried back up into his room to throw on some jeans and a better-fitting jumper. That worked well enough.

Due to being family, Victoire popped in unannounced as a surprise visit. She wore her tackiest Christmas jumper as hands were filled with gift bags full of her homemade festive mushroom chips and some American sweets Aloha Bill had lying around.

"Helloooooooooooooooooooo!"

@Ginny Potter @Albus Potter @Lily Potter @Harry Potter @James Potter @Mackenzie Riddle

Albus spent a lot of his time studying for hours and hours on end. He gave a smile to his mother, glad she didn’t seem too mad to see who it was. The Riddles weren’t all that bad in his mind minus Lochlan and the twins, but he supposed that bad blood made things hard.

He saw it bothered James, and just rolled his eyes. If only he knew that he actually cared about James, but the teasing ruined a lot for him. He nodded at his mother. “I promise, but you know how much doing well in school means to me.” he said giving his mother a smile. Turning to Mackenzie, “My dad usually works a lot.” he said giving a shrug, but his dad was stubborn.

Then Vic popped in. “Hey Vic. Did you bring any mushrooms?” he asked with a huge smile.

@Ginny Potter @Victoire Weasley @Mackenzie Riddle

Awwh. Mackenzie was sweet. She chuckled a little when she asked if Albus was as stubborn as Harry.

"There's certainly a lot of resemblance to Harry in our Alb."

Getting back into the living room again, she saw Victoire and gave her a big hug.

"What a pleasant surprise! Sit down, sit down. Help yourself to anything!"

It was so nice to have everyone around. She finally felt a little bit more at ease, after everything that had happened with James.

@Victoire Weasley @Albus Potter @Mackenzie Riddle

Feeling as ready as he ever could be, Lien followed James's instructions and said goodbye to his parents. When he popped in through the Potters' fireplace, he was surprised to see so many of them flooded in the living room. There were some chocolates and some wine that he'd brought along for his parents, although he was now worried that he'd actually be able to get a word in edgeways.

Was that Mackenzie Riddle?!

Lien smiled weakly at James after spotting him, stepping out of the fireplace.

"Hello..."

@James Potter

"Yep, I brought mushroom chips, I did!" Victoire affirmed with a wide smile as she sat the gift bags on an open space of the table. She glanced around the living room finding it to be very festive. Christmas felt even closer now!

"Hiiiii, aunt Ginnyyyyyyyyy! I brought candyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

Taking a seat, she excitedly grabbed one of the mince pies.

@Albus Potter @Ginny Potter

Huh, when did Victoire get here? That question went out of his head as quickly as he thought it when he noticed Lien arrived. Grinning, James sprinted to him and gave him a tight squeeze. He missed him so much! He rubbed their noses together before backing away.

"Ya look great!"

His eyes wandered down possibly a bit too low.

@Lien Chang