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I Believed in Father Christmas	By : sarcastrow Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 1699 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and I do not make any money from these writings

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I Believed in Father Christmas

Chapter 3

A Dream of Christmas

Half an hour later they were all gathering in the sitting room. Rowan served tea to the women while Lavender’s father knelt next to the tree. “As I’ve been given the first gift of the evening, it’s only proper mine to you should be next,” he said, and passed several small packages from under the tree to his children. “I was a bit remiss in not havin' one for you, Seamus, I’m sorry.”

Seamus laughed lightly. “That’s fine, Nat. Not cursing me for holding hands with your daughter is present enough.”

As the laughter in the room subsided Nathanial turned to his wife. “Sylv, I’ve seen you look at this for a long time, 'bout time you had it.” He handed her a medium sized, but obviously heavy, box. Her bemused look told him she was completely mystified. The sound of tearing paper accompanied the Brown family opening their gifts. Jasmine pulled a glittering bracelet set with purple stones from her box. “I did pay some attention when we were in Diagon Alley last month,” her father said at her shocked expression. Artemisia drew a beautiful black quill with and ornate gold nib from her box.

“You certainly did, Dad,” she said, and smiled warmly at him.

Rowan lifted a pair of glasses from his box. At his quizzical look Nathanial chuckled. “Put them on, son,” he said. “I know you’ve wanted a Muggle microscope for your geology hobby, but this’ll be better. You can take them with you on your hikes, and look at your rocks close up without having to bring them home. Just slide your finger back or forward on the left temple piece to change the magnification.”

Rowan crossed the room and hugged his father again. “Thanks dad, this really means a lot to me.”

“I know, son. Don’t believe I think less of you ever again.”

Rowan regarded his father. He seemed both younger and far older at once. His voice was strong and firm, the quaver he had developed recently as his consumption of whisky had increased was completely gone. He was walking steadily and quickly, and he was alert, but his eyes, his eyes looked ancient. “I won’t, Dad,” he said.

Nathanial reached out, put his hand on his son’s shoulder and nodded. “Good.” He turned back to watch his family.

Lavender’s box contained a silver crescent moon pendant on a silver chain. A small wolf sat in the crescent and silently howled. Lavender smiled at her father clutched the pendant to her chest, the message of love and acceptance making her speechless. “We love you, Lavender. Never doubt that,” her father said.

A gasp sounded from his side as his wife pulled the top off of her box. “Is this the one from Borgin and Burkes?”

Nathanial smiled broadly. “The same.”

Her hands disappeared into the box and brought an eight inch rock crystal sphere from it, sat it in her lap and took the ornately carved wood stand from the box. After she had sat the stand and then the ball on the table she turned and stared open mouthed at her husband. “I never thought… Nat.” She kissed him soundly.

“Get a room,” Artemisia said, only half joking.

“Got one just upstairs, girl,” her mother told her. “And you be glad for it. It’s the reason you’re all here.”

Her husband chuckled at her side. “You know, somehow I knew this would be a special night,” he said. “I knew I had to make your presents special this year. I’m glad I listened to that little voice.”

“You did great Dad,” Rowan said. “I hope you lot like mine as much.”

Rowan passed out his presents. Artemisia, Jasmine, Lavender, and his mother each received a box of their favorite Muggle chocolates, for which they thanked him genuinely. His father received a new Muggle hat. “I’ll look right respectable out in public in this, thank you son, it’s very nice,” the older man said.

“Seamus, I kind of took a stab with this one,” he said as he turned to the younger man. “Don’t know if you can play these or if you like the band but here you go.”

“Ah a CD,” Seamus said as he took the small package from Rowan. “I can, in fact. Me brother is a Muggle like you. Has a very nice stereo set, he does. So what have we here… ah U2. We don’t have this yet, thanks, Rowan.” He held up the latest release from the Irish band. “Mike took me to see them a couple o’ years ago in Dublin; ‘twas a great show, it was. Bono had this electric suit; lit up all kinds of colors. Edge played like a madman, was great. Thanks, Rowan.”

Lavender's mother had made each of her children a book of the family recipes. The illustrations were charmed to move as the recipe was read to show exactly how stir this or fold in that. “I know Lavender will use it; I hope the rest of you find it helpful too,” she told them. For her husband she had a new watch chain. “Yours has been mended so many times I don’t think the charms can hold out any longer,” she said, and kissed him again.

“About that room,” Artemisia quipped again.

Her mother harrumphed at her.

“I noticed Seamus’s scarf was a bit worn last time I saw him, so I got you this,” she said as Seamus pulled a new Gryffindor scarf from his package.

“Thanks ever so, Sylvia,” he said. “I’ll give the old one a proper send off.”

Artemisia and Jasmine had got clothes for their family. Rowan and their father received new shirts and socks. They gave each other, Lavender and their mother dresses, and to Seamus they gave a wizard's hat. “Never had one of these,” he said with a smile. “Dad’s a Muggle, and Mam just never thought about it I suppose. Thanks, ladies.”

“Well I’ll do mine,” Lavender said from her chair. She handed her father a small box she pulled from her pocket. “I stole into Stourhead this autumn, hope you can grow these.” He opened the box, and several rose hips and other seeds tumbled into his hand.

“You know me too well girl, which ones are these?” he asked.

“Remember those purple roses up by the house that you liked?”

He nodded.

“Those, and the dark red, oh and the bright pink with the red fringe that are in the rose garden,” she answered. “There’s also some seeds from the rhododendrons in that walk on the north side and the clematis that grows round the Spread Eagle.”

Seamus spoke from her side. “Me mam is quite the gardener too, Nat. I’d be glad to introduce you.”

“Well we’ll have to arrange that soon then, Seamus,” he said, and looked at his daughter. “Perfect, Lavender, thank you. Will you help me plant them this April?”

“Of course, Dad. Here.” She handed a bundle to each of her siblings. “I got the employee discount, so don’t worry that I’ve overspent; besides, I don’t think Shay or I will ever spend our way through the awards the ministry gave us.”

“Luna seems to have done a fair job o’ it,” Seamus said with a laugh.

“She had to rebuild her house, buy all new equipment for ‘The Quibbler’, and get her dad well,” Lavender said. “Still, she’s not broke either, and Dean is as frugal as they come, so I’m not worried about her.”

“I’ve put most o’ mine aside for a house,” Seamus said. “Somewhere in Limerick, near home.”

Sylvia looked admiringly at the young man. “You’re wise beyond your years, Seamus,” she said.

Seamus shook his head. “Not really, Sylvia. ‘Tis me mam’s doin’, she gave me quite the lecture after they gave us all those medals and Galleons. Didn’t really sink in 'til a few months ago though.” He smiled at Lavender.

Artemisia and Jasmine gasped at the embroidered silk scarves in their packages, and Rowan crossed the room and hugged his sister when he pulled a black silk Kung Fu jacket with a large Chinese dragon embroidered on the back.

“This is for you, Shay,” Lavender said, and she gave him a soft bundle wrapped in red and gold.

He looked at her with a broad smile. “Got no idea, you know that, right?”

She smiled and nodded.

The cloak was dark green and the knot work on the back, in gold thread, almost glowed. Seamus’s eyes filled and he was choked from the rush of affection he felt for Lavender. “Thanks, love,” he managed, and kissed her.

“Will you people get a room,” Artemisia said, and her sister and brother fell about laughing

“My turn then?” Seamus asked, when they had recovered.

“I think you’ve given us the greatest gift of all already,” Jasmine answered. “But go ahead.”

“Ah well,” Seamus said shrugging his shoulders. “These are something like the Galleons that Lav and I have.” He pulled a group of small medallions on chains from his pocket, and smiled at Lavender. “Hermione helped me a wee bit with the charms,” he told her, and then turned to the rest of the family. “Since Rowan’s not magical we had to do the charms a bit different from the D.A. Galleons. Just squeeze the medallion and say your message. It’ll do three words fairly well, more than that might confuse it. The others will heat up just like ours, and you’ll be able read the message at the bottom.”

He passed a medallion to each of the family members. A tree and a rose adorned one side, a large capital B was on the other. Rowan squeezed his and said, “Thank you, Seamus.”

The others smiled as their medallions warmed and the message appeared under the B.

“And I have something just for Lav, if you don’t mind,” Seamus said to the group.

A wave of laughter ran thought the room. “So long as you can give it to her in public, no we don’t mind,” her mother said, and they all laughed again.

“Aye, that I can,” Seamus said. With a wave of his wand he summoned his satchel from the peg in the hall. It sat itself on the table, and he pulled a large square box from it. “I saw how much you liked Dad's,” he said in a quiet voice as he handed the box to Lavender.

Lavender looked up at him in awe. “Is it…” She tore the wrapping from the package, and a plain wooden box about ten inches on a side sat in her lap.

“Took most of November to get the charms right. Mam helped me a bit.”

Lavender gently set the box on the side table and drew Seamus into a passionate kiss.

“ROOMS!” Artemisia shouted, and everyone laughed again.

“So what is it?” Jasmine asked.

Seamus looked into Lavender's emerald eyes, and said, “Shall we dance, me love?”

Lavender nodded, and stood. “I need to send the table to the basement for a bit. Would you mind moving that spectacular crystal ball, Mum?” she asked. “And could we clear the cups?” He mother nodded and there was a flurry of movement as the table was rapidly divested of everything but the center piece. With a flick of her wand the table was banished. “Moondance,” she said as she bent and lifted the lid on the box. A soft bass line filled the room accompanied by alternating chords on a piano.

Seamus looked at Jasmine. “It’s a box o’ Morrison,” he said, and he swept Lavender into his arms. Then Van Morrison began to sing from the box.

“Well it’s a marvelous night for a Moondance

With the stars up above in your eyes

A fantabulous night to make romance

'Neath the cover of October skies”

Lavender and Seamus moved in perfect sync to the music. After his parents' twenty-fifth anniversary party Lavender had found that dancing with Seamus was one of her life’s great pleasures, and he was equally enamored of dancing with her. He had made a point of finding clubs that played older standards and the kind of jazz that lent itself to the dancing they liked, slow and sensual.

“Shall we join them?” Nathanial Brown asked his wife.

As the two couples swayed and weaved in the middle of the room, Artemisia, Jasmine, and Rowan watched and nodded knowingly to each other. “Inside the year,” Jasmine whispered to the other two. “Married in two,” Rowan whispered back, smiling. “At the outside,” Artemisia chuckled.

Lavender caught their eyes and mouthed, “Hope so,” with a grin.

“Damn, forgot about that hearing thing,” Jasmine said.

Lavender shook in a silent giggle.

After “Moondance” finished Lavender told the box, “Someone Like You”, and then “Have I Told You Lately”. Seamus dipped her and kissed her at the end of the last tune, and they stopped for some warm mulled cider.

“That’s a marvelous present, Seamus,” Sylvia told him. “Tell me about it, there’s got to be a story, am I right?”

“Aye there is, and a good one,” he said. “You see, after me mam and dad got together he found, like we all have, that the Muggle electronics have a hard time around magic.”

Rowan chuckled. “Can’t tell you how many mobiles I’ve gone through, drives Vodaphone nuts.”

“Yeah, well there’re some charms that help with that,” Seamus told him. “Me mam’s done some really great things along that line. Me brother, Mike has got a stereo set and a telly in our house, and they haven’t blown up in what, must be eight years now.”

“That’s impressive,” Artemisia said. “Why hasn’t she published them?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know. Guess she thought everyone’d figure it out eventually. She’s Ravenclaw too you know,” he said with a wink.

“Sounds like we need that Brown and Finnigan get together, hmm?” Sylvia said pointedly to her daughter.

“I’m sure Margaret would love that, Mum,” Lavender told her. “Shay and I’ll arrange it.”

“Good. Well, back to the story, Seamus,” Sylvia said.

“Aye, well Dad really missed havin’ his music, especially his Van Morrison. I mean the wind up gramophone doesn’t really do justice to modern records, so Mam made him a box. She sat by me uncle's stereo set for days putting the albums into it. Tricky business, that is. Have to play the songs one by one, and charm them into the box as they play. When she did it she hadn’t done all the work on the electrical stuff, so she had to be really careful with the strength o’ the charm, direction o’ the spell, lots o’ things like that. It takes a while. Fortunately I had a few three day periods I could devote to this project.” He winked at Lavender. “I got all of Van’s work in there, even his latest, and these are all off Mike's CDs, so they’re really nice and clear.”

“Who made the box itself? It’s beautiful,” Jasmine asked.

“Dad, Mike and me,” he said proudly. Dad’s quite handy with tools, and Mike, well he works down at Tree Farm. He got me that oak for the top and sides, and the ash on the bottom is from the Grove. We had to take down a tree a few years ago, and I wanted Lav to have a piece o’ me home.”

Lavender hugged him from his side. “You’re stuck with me now, you know,” she whispered in his ear.

“I’m good with that,” he said, and got lost in her eyes.

“Hello in there,” Rowan laughed. “Seamus, story.”

“What, oh yeah, right,” he chuckled. “So dad showed me how to use the planer and router. We have all these old foot powered tools in the shed you see, and then he showed me sanding and finishing. I did most o’ that meself.”

Lavender’s father nodded. “Well I’m no carpenter, but I know my way round a shop. You did a fine job, Seamus,” he said.

“Thanks, Nat, but I think Lav outdid me with this cloak.” He turned to her. “How’d you get the knot work done?”

“Your mum,” Lavender said with a smirk, “and Sheighly. You weren’t the only one sneaking around on my Hogwarts days.”

“Ooo, making friends with the family,” Jasmine said, nudging her baby sister.

“Hey, they’re nice,” Lavender said honestly. “You’ll see. We’ll ask Margaret as soon as we can when we can have that two-family get together at the Grove. She’ll be thrilled.”

“Aye, she will,” Seamus said. “Loves to show the place off, she does, and Nat, be prepared to have a never ending conversation on gardening.” He turned to Mrs. Brown. “Sylvia, when Lav shows that book to Mam, she’ll have questions about the recipes. I’m sure o’ that.”

“Tell her any time, Seamus. I’m thinking we should get to know each other,” she said, with a look at her daughter and sly smile.

“Well I think I’d like to dance with Seamus,” Jasmine said. “You mind, Lav?”

“Oh, I trust him,” Lavender said, and lifted the lid on the box. “Here’s a fast one for you, Jaz.” She winked at Seamus. “Precious Time,” she said to the box, and Seamus showed her sister what dancing was.

*

Two hours later Seamus sat on the rollaway bed crammed into Rowan's room. The walls were lined with bookshelves, and what didn’t have books had martial arts tools and weaponry. A large poster of Jet Li hung on one wall and a picture of Bruce Lee hung in a place of honor over his dresser. Several katana leaned in a corner, a staff was propped beside them, and two large knives hung on the back of the closed door. Seamus was impressed at the hardware, but even more impressed by Rowan's lack of exuberance over them. He thought most people he had met that had gotten into martial arts had some insecurity they were trying to compensate for, but Rowan had simply shrugged when Seamus had mentioned the swords. They were tools for his art, nothing more. He was proud of them for the beautiful objects they were, but that was as far as it went. “I can handle these pretty well; could probably take most anyone that didn’t have a gun,” Rowan had told him, “except my Sifu, I’d be better off hand to hand with him than trying to take him with one of these. He’d shove it up my arse.” Seamus had laughed heartily.

As they prepared to settle down for bed Rowan cleared his throat. “So, Seamus, that’s the most uncomfortable bed in the history of existence. Now I know with a flick of your wand you can make it as cushy as you like, but for now let’s just be a couple of blokes, okay?”

Seamus looked at him, curious. “Alright, Rowan.”

“I noticed a change in Lav about a month ago. She’s… happy’s not the right word… contented more like. I’ve been around enough that I suspect I know why.”

Seamus smiled and set his wand on the bedside table. “If you’re going to punch me for it, then let’s get it over with.”

Rowan laughed. “I do that and she’ll kick my arse.” – He shook his head. – “No, what I was going to say is why don’t you join her? It’s just two doors down.”

“Aye it’d be grand, Rowan, really it would, but it’d be poor manners,” Seamus told him.

Rowan looked at him sternly. “Listen, Seamus. You freed me tonight too. Artie and Jaz may be staying tonight, but they moved out of the house as soon as they could. I stayed. Do you know why?”

Seamus looked at him for a moment and then it all became clear. “Lavender… and your mam,” he said, awe creeping into his voice. “That’s what all this is about.” He indicated the martial arts paraphernalia. “Isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I had to stay and protect Lavender and Mum from him,” Rowan said. “He’s not so fast with his wand when he’s drunk, but still I knew I needed an edge. I saw a Bruce Lee movie when I was a kid, ‘Enter the Dragon,’ ever seen it?” Seamus shook his head. “I’ll show it to you some time. Anyway, I saw it when I was eight, and I knew that would be my edge. Turns out I kind of have a natural talent for it. My Sifu has asked me to move up to instructing the fourth-years, and the pay is better than I make pushing paper around for the Underground, so I think I’ll be taking it.” Rowan sat back and smiled. “I can move on now, I think. You see, there’s this girl.” His face lit up as he talked, and Seamus recognized his tone; Seamus wasn’t the only young man in love in the house. “Her name is Janice Long. We’ve been dating for years, but I couldn’t leave, not with Dad the way he was. Now I think I can. She’ll be really happy. This has broken us up twice, but we’ve got back together now, and I won’t lose her again. So I owe you; I owe you big, Mr. Finnigan.” He snorted a laugh through his nose, just like Seamus had heard Lavender do a thousand times. “Just go on. You're adults and heroes, the both of you. You’ve earned it. Artie and Jaz’ll be down in the sitting room gossiping and giggling till the wee hours, so go and get some cuddling in.” Seamus nodded and smiled as he stood. “Yes sir,” he said, saluting.

Rowan chuckled. “Besides, I’m sure she wants to thank you too.”

“Should I come back here in the morning then?” Seamus asked as he gathered his pajamas from his satchel.

“Probably not a bad idea,” Rowan answered. “This time at least.”

“Well, Rowan, I just don’t know what to say. I never expected this, and to make a friend like you… Thanks.” He held out his hand.

Rowan took it and shook. “We’ll be brothers soon enough.”

Seamus laughed. “You know, everyone but Lav and me has been talking marriage. Can’t say as I haven’t thought about it. I have, recently – a lot, in fact.” He looked into the distance and was gone for a moment.

Rowan smiled broadly, he’d seen the same look on Lavender’s face just two days ago when he had joked with her about Seamus during one of their Kung Fu sessions. “She’d say yes, you know,” he said quietly.

Seamus nodded. “Aye, I hope so, but I want to make it special.” He dropped the pajamas on the rollaway and paced in the small space left in the room. “You know, romantic and perfect. She’s had enough hardship and disappointments, she has. I want her to remember me slipping a ring on her finger forever.”

“You’ll do fine, Seamus,” Rowan said. “If her reaction to the box is any indication, you know just how to make her happy, so go on, get out of here and make her happy.”

“Okay,” Seamus said as picked the pajamas back up and went to the door. “See you in the morning.”

“Lav, Shay's coming,” Rowan said in a slightly louder voice. At Seamus’s concerned look he laughed and said, “Mum and Dad, and Artie and Jaz won’t hear that,” – he tapped his ear – “but she will. Go on.”

*

As Seamus approached the door down the hall from Rowan's it opened. Lavender stood in the doorway. Her hair, illuminated by the small lamp in her room, glowed like a halo around her face. That same light shown through her nightgown, silhouetting her form. They didn’t speak. Lavender smiled what Seamus called the “come hither” smile and they came together, like two magnets, falling into a passionate embrace. He kissed her like a man who hadn’t seen his love in years; she kissed him with all the hunger in her wolf blood.

“Guess Luna was wrong,” he said after a few moments, and then he closed the door behind them.

*

Rowan Brown had been born without magic into a pure blood family; it hadn’t been easy for him. When they had taken him to St. Mungo’s at age ten after he had shown no magic, the healers determined he was that rarest of pure blood magical births, a Muggle. He’d been given the same special charm to wear around his neck that they gave parents and siblings of Muggle born witches and wizards. It allowed access to the magical world for those without any ability at all. The hurt in his mother’s eyes and the disappointment in his father’s still haunted him, but his younger sister had been his salvation. Lavender adored her older brother, and she had told him, “It’s okay, Rowan. When I go to Hogwarts and learn magic, I’ll teach you everything.” To her great disappointment she had found later that she couldn’t teach him, but she could take him to Quidditch matches, ride her broom with him, and do a thousand other things that her older sisters had neglected to do. When she had been bitten he had been her salvation. They had grown even closer during her training sessions. Her wolf self took to Kung Fu with a natural grace that amazed Rowan. Lavender had an intuitive grasp of the art, and after a few months it became apparent to him that she would be a formidable opponent should anyone be rash enough to attack her. But the fates had not been without compassion. His mother’s family had “The Sight” as they called it. Rowan, an avid Stephen King fan, called it “The Shine”, and he had a strong case of it.

It came to him in dreams. They were rare, but very powerful. He knew, even during the dreams, that these were different from normal dreams. They didn’t tell a story exactly, they were more like little snippets of a movie, vivid and life-like, but sometimes out of order and jumbled. And on this night Rowan dreamt.

Lavender was standing at an altar, and a woman Rowan recognized, but couldn’t place, stood behind the low table. Seamus, dressed in his Irish finery, stood opposite Lavender. As the scene became clearer, Rowan recognized he was seeing their wedding. A large stone house stood across a manicured lawn from where Seamus and Lavender stood.

The scene changed. Janice was looking up at him with shining eyes. She held a small empty velvet box in her hand.

They were making love in her flat.

His mother was hugging Lavender in the kitchen and weeping tears of joy. “I’m so happy for you; he’s such a good man,” he heard his mother say. His father, thinner and fitter than he could ever remember him being, stood smiling from ear to ear next to the table.

He and Lavender were sparring in a dojo. He was giving it his all, and still she was besting him. At last he was face up on the mat, pinned by his sister half his size. They collapsed in a heap, laughing.

“I do,” said Janice’s face.

A blonde woman with misty blue eyes was looking at him and smiling. You are very strong, aren’t you? her voice said in his head.

Seamus sat next to a hospital bed reading a book. Lavender was in the bed sleeping.

Rowan woke and looked at the clock, it was just past three. He smiled and nodded to himself. Today, Janice, he thought.

*

Lavender dreamt that night too. Like her brother, she too “shone”, but her gift was muted, distant, and she rarely remembered the prophetic dreams. This night, however, the dreams were vivid and realistic.

She knew this dream; she’d had it so many times. “Reducto!” she shouted, and another Death Eater died, his head exploding in a spray of gore. Seventy-four, she thought, more or less. The stairs were slippery with blood and bits of the fallen, and she was hanging on to the banister to keep from falling when another curse connected with the underside of the stairs. They collapsed, sending her fifty feet to the rubble below, and her world was pain. As she struggled to crawl from the stones a nightmare of fangs and claws came out of nowhere. Its teeth sank into her side, and its claws raked across her chest and leg. A strange feeling set fire to her blood, and she felt the curse flow into her.

“NO!” Hermione’s voice boomed and Greyback was thrown against the wall. Then Seamus was there.

“Lav, Lav, stay with me.” She felt herself lifted from the floor and he was off at a run. “Don’t give up,” he said breathlessly as he ran. “I’m taking you to Madam Pomfrey.” She moaned in his arms as every time his foot came down it jarred her battered body. He kicked open the doors to the great hall and ran to the raised platform where the professors usually sat. She was carefully laid on the table and Madam Pomfrey was there in seconds.

“A werewolf bite,” she heard her say. “Broken bones, concussion, internal bleeding: you’ve moved to the front of the queue, Miss Brown.” Madam Pomfrey laid her hand on Lavender’s. “This will hurt a little, Renovo Os!” Lavender screamed. In a flare of agony she felt her bones resetting. “Cursed wounds,” the old woman muttered. “Step back, Mr. Finnigan.”

“Will she live?” she heard Seamus ask, through the fog of pain.

“Cruor Repleo! We’ll try, Mr. Finnigan,” Madam Pomfrey’s voice said, and Lavender could hear the doubt in it. “Why don’t you go and make sure she has a world to wake up to? Hemragis Termino!”

“Aye, I’ll do just that,” Seamus said in a cold, hard voice.

Madam Pomfrey leaned over her. “Drink this,” she commanded, and a foul tasting potion was poured down her throat. Suddenly most of her pain vanished and she felt as if she could sleep forever. “MR. GOLDSTIEN I NEED YOU!” Madam Pomfey shouted. “Take a nap, Miss Brown. Somnus!” was the last thing Lavender heard that night.

The dream usually ended there. Lavender would wake in a cold sweat, and clutch her pillow for an hour or more while she calmed, but this time was different. This time a new vision formed before her. Seamus was pushing her on the swing at the Grove.

“You’ve changed me life, Lav,” he said. “I was lost, after the war, I had really lost me way, and then you changed it all. Me mam, me brother, the whole family loves you, just like I do.”

Her heart soared.

“I’ve thought a lot about our future, I have. I want you to have a great life, and I think I can help you have it. I know you as well as anyone, and love you more than the Earth loves the sky. I will be by your side as long as you’ll have me. I’ll love you, hold you when you’re sad, and laugh with you when you’re happy. You’ve got a job you love, and if you decide to move on, Harry and Kingsley have made it plain they expect us at the Ministry if we go looking for work. I’ve not wasted my awards. As much fun as I’ve had, I’ve still got a fair few galleons in the vault, and I’ll wager you’ve got even more. We will live a charmed life.” The swing stopped and Seamus stepped around in front of her. “Lavender…”

The lawn at the Grove was set for a party, and a small crowd gathered in and around a pavilion. She was standing in the front of the pavilion, Luna was playing a beautiful piece on the piano, and Lavender could feel herself smiling.

She awoke with Seamus quietly snoring by her side. His chest gently rose and fell under her head, and she could hear the steady beat of his heart in her left ear. Her right arm was draped across his torso, and her right leg was entwined in his left. The light of the lone candle in the room made the sandy colored hair on his chest glow with a golden fire, and she absentmindedly twirled her fingers in it. Has it only been a month? She thought to herself and smiled. They’d made love for the first time after she’d come back from her monthly Hogwarts visit the cycle before the last one, and Lavender had been very concerned that once Seamus had seen her less than perfect body he would be repelled, but instead he had worshiped her. He had found the scars erotic and enticing, and he had also discovered that they had become an erogenous area all their own. When he kissed and stroked his way along them as they crossed her chest, or along her thigh it made her whole body tingle in just the right manner. The clock on her dresser said half six. She smiled as she casually traced her finger from his breast bone to his navel, and then slowly slid the sheet down his body. It was early, they had time.

*

Seamus dreamt of an angry beast chasing him down a hallway. “I’m sorry,” he kept shouting, but he couldn’t remember why. Golden eyes shone behind him as he ran. He was suddenly cornered, and he raised his empty hands to fight, but the beast had changed. Lavender was before him. She stroked her hands down his sides, and across his stomach. “You are forgiven,” she said. “I love you, my stupidly brave Gryffindor.”

He closed his eyes as she kissed him. He felt her head on his chest, the soft stroke of her hand on his stomach, then his legs. He reached down and threaded his fingers in her hair, and something warm and wonderful took him. His eyes drifted open and he realized he was awake. Seamus smiled.

*

The soft rapping on Rowan's door woke him. He rolled over and looked at the clock. Five minutes to seven, it said. “Cutting it a bit fine, eh Seamus,” he muttered with a smirk. “Come on in,” he said a bit louder. The door opened and Seamus entered. His hair was completely mussed, his pajama top was on inside out, and it had been buttoned wrong. Rowan burst into laughter. “You should take a shower and wash that ‘just been fucked’ look off you or Mum at least will know,” he said, and dissolved into chuckles again.

“Aye, probably a good idea, Rowan, but Lav’s in there just now,” Seamus said. “I shouldn’t think meeting your mum or dad, the two of us coming out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, would be a good start to the morning either.”

“When’d she get in?”

“Oh just few minutes ago.”

Rowan rose from his bed. “I’ll hurry her along. She’s actually pretty quick about it really. I suppose being the third girl and the fourth kid made her have to be.” He opened the door and stepped out. “I’ll be right back.”
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I Believed in Father Christmas