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I Believed in Father Christmas	By : sarcastrow Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 1699 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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I Believed in Father Christmas

Chapter 7

They Said There'd be Peace on Earth

“The Wizarding Wireless Network presents the Christmas Message of Queen Elizabeth the Second: and now, Her Majesty the Queen,” Kingsley Shacklebolt’s voice announced from the old wireless. They had finished the Christmas feast, and the Browns, Janice, and Seamus were in the sitting room lounging drowsily on the old stuffed chairs and couches as the Queen began to speak.

“A very Happy Christmas to you all. Listening to the choir from St. George's Chapel, Windsor, reminds me that this season of carols and Christmas trees is a time to take stock; a time to reflect on the events of the past year and to make resolutions for the New Year ahead.”

Seamus gathered Lavender in his arms as they sat on the couch. She closed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder.

“This December we are looking back not just on one year, but on a hundred years and a thousand years. History is measured in centuries. More than ever we are aware of being a tiny part of the infinite sweep of time when we move from one century and one millennium to another.”

“I was right,” Seamus whispered in Lavender's ear. She nodded without opening her eyes.

The Queen spoke of the challenges facing England, and she was fully aware of the challenges facing her Wizarding subjects as well, though she didn’t specifically mention those. She spoke of the trepidation of the old when faced with the extraordinary changes they had seen in their lifetimes. She spoke of the exuberance of youth when faced with those same changes. She spoke of learning the lessons of the past so as not to repeat them. And she spoke of the need for community, of the need for people to look out for not just their own selfish interests, but for those of their neighbors, and for those of the less fortunate. Lastly she spoke of the need to look beyond the latest in gadgetry, to the need to be each other’s keeper, to be caring and giving in the new year and new millennium.

“Greatest monarch you’ve ever had, she is,” Seamus said as she finished. “’Twas good o’ her to knight Harry.”

The wireless started playing Christmas music again as they talked.

“Yeah, she is one of the great ones,” Rowan said. “Victoria and Elizabeth the First are right up there too. Be interesting to see how Charles works out.”

Lavender’s mother emitted the same snort Seamus had heard from her son and daughter. “I don’t think he’ll be king long, if at all,” she said shrewdly.

Seamus looked at her with a confused expression. “What makes you say that, Sylvia?”

“Well, he’s been rather a large disappointment to her, hasn’t he?” she replied. “He damaged the image of the monarchy badly, and that’s all they have really. They’re a symbol of England, a living national treasure, and he tarnished that with his… unseemly behavior.”

Seamus nodded, and he noticed the others nodding too.

“I think she’s determined to outlast him,” Mrs. Brown continued. “I think she wants William to succeed her. Actually, he’s much more suited to the job. Diana’s influence is still very strong in him; she was a great mother and taught him well. Plus, I don’t think he likes that other woman very much. I know the Queen doesn’t, you can see it in her body language.”

“Think he’ll marry her?” Seamus asked.

“Be the stupidest thing he could do,” Sylvia said. “And yes, I think he will. The English people will never accept her as Queen.” She shook her head. “Daft, just daft.”

Seamus raised his cup of tea. “Well, long live the Queen then,” he said.

“Hear, hear, Seamus,” Mr. Brown said. “Hear, hear.”

Lavender smiled at her mother. Gossiping about the royal family was one of her favorite pastimes, so she decided to set her up on another of her favorite topics. “Andrew and Sarah seem to have played the press just right, haven’t they, Mum?” she asked.

“Oh don’t you know it, Lavender. Masterful!” She smiled with pride for the younger royals. “I don’t doubt they had some problems early in their marriage, but the divorce is a sham, and a brilliant one at that. Just look at them, you can see they’re still mad for each other. They’ve never taken the rings off. It’s just the perfect ploy. Kept the press away while they raised the girls, let them live together without all the pressure on Sarah to be ‘a Royal’, which she hated, and it let Andrew be the pilot he wanted to be. She’s even got her own pilot’s license now. Brilliant I tell you.”

“Never thought about it that way, Sylvia,” Seamus said. “Now that I do, I’m impressed. Really was a very smart move. Wonder who thought it up?”

“Probably Andrew,” she said. “He was one of Mountbatten’s favorites, and that man was another masterful player of the game.”

“Aye, well, on behalf of Ireland I apologize for the ignorant arses that took him from us,” Seamus said.

“Not your fault, nor your people’s,” Rowan said. “Idiots come in all nationalities and colors. Some are orange, some are green.”

Seamus smiled at him. “Thanks, Rowan.”

The wireless fell silent a then a woman’s voice said, “We interrupt today’s program with a special news flash. Alecto Carrow, Death Eater, and long thought killed in the Battle of Hogwarts, was captured alive today in Ipswich.”

Lavender buried her face in her hands, and Seamus went white. Everyone in the room had turned and was looking at them.

The radio announcer continued, “The Minister reports that two members of Dumbledore’s Army apprehended Carrow as she was picking the pockets of Muggles in the town square.”

Rowan started to laugh and shake his head. “You just can’t help yourselves, can you?”

“It’s not funny, Rowan,” Lavender said between her fingers. This only made her brother laugh louder.

“Carrow was taken to St. Mungo’s for healing of a wound she sustained in the Battle of Hogwarts. The Minister had this to say.”

Kingsley’s voice boomed from the speaker. “We owe a debt of gratitude to these two young people. They caught a very dangerous and unprincipled witch this morning. Carrow cast the Avada Kedavra twice in her attempt to evade capture, but the training they received from Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom ensured their success. No one was injured, and Carrow was apprehended before anyone could arrive to help. Most importantly they did it all without revealing our world to the Muggles present. I am speechless with gratitude.”

Seamus rolled his eyes. “Kingsley will never be speechless.”

“The Wizengamot has approved the use of Veritaserum on captured Death Eaters,” the announcer continued. “The Minister reports that Carrow has given valuable information, and that several raids, led by head of the Auror department, Dedalus Diggle, were carried out this morning on suspected Death Eater hideouts. Stay tuned to the Wizarding Wireless Network for more details as they come in.”

Lavender’s mother was standing with her hands on her hips as the music resumed. “What the hell happened this morning?” She looked at her daughter. “Lavender?” All she got was the shake of a blonde head. “Seamus?”

Seamus cleared his throat. “Well, you see Sylvia, we… ahh… It went this way, um.”

“Oh, I’ll tell her,” Lavender said in a defeated voice. She raised her head and looked into her mother’s eyes. “We were just there enjoying the decorations and the carol singers when I caught a scent. It was the pain potion, but not the usual scent of the potion, and there was another scent too. A perfume I recognized.”

“Aye, she didn’t know right then it was Carrow, but she wasn’t comfortable with it, not comfortable at all,” Seamus added.

Lavender nodded. “Yeah, my sweet was really adamant that this was not a friend, so Seamus and I went back into the crowd to find her. I sort of followed the scent trail, and then I noticed a person under the Disillusion charm standing next to a tree.”

Artemisia looked at her stunned. “You can see people under the Disillusion charm?” she asked incredulously.

Lavender shrugged. “Well, sort of. At that point I saw some branches of the tree bending oddly, but a little later I discovered that if I concentrate I can see their outlines in the cold. The heat coming off her formed this sort of shimmer around her. It was pretty clear, but I didn’t see her properly until she tried to escape. I stopped her Apparition with a finite, and that dispelled the disillusion too.”

Artemisia was wide eyed and open mouthed.

“And the killing curse?” her mother asked, tapping her foot and still looking cross.

“The first one was aimed at Seamus,” Lavender said quietly, and then her voice became a growl. “Then she tried to kill a little Muggle girl. When she did that I could actually feel my fingernails growing I was so angry.” Her teeth clenched momentarily, and then she drew a shaking breath. “I almost cast Lithos on her.” She looked at a stunned Janice. “The killing curse, Avada Kedavra, is forbidden, but there’s a dozen others that work just as well.” Lavender smirked. “Turning her to stone seemed a bit redundant though, plus that would have made it a lot harder to get her out of the crowd.”

“You’re not Aurors!” her mother nearly shouted.

“That’d only be because we keep declining Kingsley’s offers, Sylvia,” Seamus told her. “This morning makes three for me.”

Lavender nodded. “My second time.”

Nathanial Brown had been keeping quiet during the whole exchange, listening to both sides. “No, they’re not Aurors, Sylv, but they might as well be. I had more than a few close friends in Gryffindor while I was at school. Back then I never understood that selfless impulse they had to always rise to the call.” He smiled and looked at his youngest while pulled his wife down onto the arm of his chair. “I do now. Rowan’s right, it’s impossible for them not to do it.”

Jasmine was smiling and shaking her head. She sighed, closed her eyes, and asked, “So what happened next?”

Seamus looked around the room. “Lav stupefied her, we carried her off to an alley, and then we called for the ministry.”

“Yes, I’m sure it was just that simple,” Sylvia said sarcastically.

“Actually, it was,” Lavender said. “Not to be immodest, Mum, but Shay and I are quite good at this kind of thing. There’s a reason the Minister wants us.”

“Calm down, Sylv,” her husband said. “They’re fine, they acted heroically” –he rolled his eyes– “again, and another Death Eater is in Azkaban. How many does that make for you two?”

“More than I’d like to think about, Nat,” Seamus said.

Lavender looked at him and her mouth crooked into half a smile. “Shay, I think this is the first time either one of us has caught anybody.”

He chuckled. “Aye, you’re right… as always.”

Janice looked puzzled. “But Rowan told me… Oh!” Her eyes were wide as she looked in wonder between Lavender and Seamus. “How many?” she said in quiet awe.

Seamus met her eyes. “Five,” he said, without emotion.

“Five of the most evil men that ever walked the earth,” Lavender spat. “William McElroy, Eli Walker, Robert Mulberry, Jason Avery, and Rabastan Lestrange were long time Death Eaters. Not like all those idiots who took the mark and mask right before the battle.” She looked at Janice. “Seamus dueled each one of them on his own.” She smiled with pride. “They didn’t even ruffle his hair.”

“That’s not quite true, me love, got a rather nasty scrape on me shin dodging one o’ Avery’s curses.”

Lavender laughed grimly at him, and in a voice dripping in sarcasm asked, “Ooh a nasty scrape, however did you survive?”

Now it was Nathanial Brown’s turn to be stunned. “You killed Rabastan Lestrange?” he said in awe. “By yourself?” He looked shocked and a little afraid. “I knew him, did business with him. Now I’m really impressed.”

“I had motivation,” Seamus said grimly, looking into Lavender’s eyes. He turned to Janice, who looked back amazed. “We’re pretty sure Lav has the highest count o’ all o’ us, though.”

“What?” Jasmine said in the same surprised tone as Janice.

“They don’t know that part, Shay,” Lavender said in a quiet, serious voice.

The room had gone very quiet; the only sound was the wireless playing A Witch, a warm fire, and a wassail. Lavender had never told her family the particulars of the events of the battle. They hadn’t asked, and she wasn’t inclined to tell the tale.

Seamus nodded. “May I?”

Lavender nodded slowly. “Yeah, okay,” she said quietly.

Seamus looked them all in the eyes as he spoke. “Lav and Parvati accounted for almost half o’ Riddles supporters by themselves, and that number is well over a hundred. Can’t really be sure o’ an exact figure, but Parvati says that Lav is responsible for two thirds o’ it if not more.”

Sylvia Brown slid down the arm of the chair and into her husband’s lap. “So many,” she whispered. “I had no idea.”

“I told you, she’s the best shot I’ve ever seen, Sylvia. That’s why Neville placed her and Parvati on the fourth floor battlements. They… they work very well together, you see… We…” Seamus started to speak and stopped. “I’m sorry, talking about this with folks who weren’t there is very hard.”

“It’s okay, Seamus. Take your time,” Artemisia said, and patted his hand.

“Aye. Well Parv and Lav took out a few dozen in the first charge by sniping from their position, and they foiled the second charge mostly by themselves. I was in the courtyard by then, and didn’t get to see it, but Padma... Padma saw it all from the top o’ Ravenclaw tower. Said it was the most impressive use o’ Incendio and Wingardium Leviosa she’d ever seen. That’s where a good part o’ their tally comes from.” He looked at Lavender. “There was what, maybe ten or fifteen more in hallway duels?”

“Nine for me. Sixteen for Parv.” Lavender said flatly, and looked around the room at the shocked expressions on her family’s faces. “And this is why we only talk about that night with each other.”

There was a full minute where no one spoke as her family and her brother’s fiancé processed what Seamus and Lavender had told them. At last her mother spoke. “And you never used one of the unforgiveables?”

Lavender shook her head. “No. A few of the order and the staff used them all, and I think a few students may have used Cruciatus, but neither of us did.”

Jasmine shook her head. “Remind me never to hack you off.”

Lavender smiled at her sister and said, “Too late.”

Nervous laughter started from the tension and then it turned to real mirth as her family accepted what they had been told. Artemisia was still shaking her head as she laughed. “So I suppose taking Carrow this morning was a walk in the park.”

“Well, with the two o’ us I felt pretty safe going against any one adversary,” Seamus said to her. “Though there’s something Professor McGonagall said a long time ago.” He turned to Lavender. “First house meeting, it was.” She smiled and nodded. Seamus looked at her family. “She told us then ‘Courage isn’t lack o’ fear, courage is doing what’s right despite your fear, courage is not giving fear rule over your mind. You will be afraid many times in your life, but you are Gryffindor!’” He laughed and looked in Lavender’s eyes. “Remember what she asked?”

“Will you let fear decide your fate?” she said smiling.

“Never!” she and Seamus said in chorus.

Janice sat forward on the couch she shared with Rowan. “Amazing, so this minister, that’s the Minister for Magic Rowan’s told me about?”

“Aye, Kingsley Shacklebolt, he’s as fine a man as you’ll meet. He was there that night too,” Seamus told her. “He was the protection for your Prime Minister before the war. After they sacked Thicknesse, he was chosen as interim minister. Did such a good job the Wizengamot made it an official appointment.”

“And did I hear you say the Queen knighted one of you?” Janice continued.

“That’d be our friend Harry, that would.” Seamus smiled as he relaxed and shared his friendship with the chosen one. “He was in our year you see.” He turned to Lavender. “Not that I’m looking for trouble, but why was it you never set your sights on Harry?”

Lavender smirked. “Well first,” –she held up a finger– “Cho! And second,” –she held up another finger– “Ginny!” She laughed, and snuggled into him “Lastly, not my type.”

“Aye, alright.” Seamus kissed her forehead and turned back to Janice. “How much do you know?”

“That would be Harry Potter, correct?”

“Aye.”

Janice looked at her fiancé “Rowan told me he saved us all from an evil wizard named... What was his name?”

“Voldemort.” Lavender and Seamus said. Nat flinched, Sylvia’s hand went to her cheek, and both Artemisia and Jasmine squeaked.

Lavender looked at her family, exasperated. “Oh good god, he’s dead! Get over it!”

Seamus laughed. “His real name was Tom Riddle, just a man, and he died just like any other man.”

“He wasn’t ‘just a man’ Seamus,” Nat said gravely.

“Aye, you’re right, he was a giant arsehole too,” he said, and laughed at his own joke. “No, Nat’s right, Janice, he wasn’t ‘just a man’. However, Harry found a way to kill him, and kill him he did.”

“He came back before,” Sylvia said.

Seamus looked at her and said in a vengeful, confident voice, “Aye, well there’s no coming back from where he is now, Sylvia.” Seamus thought back to the night after the first Anniversary Party. An image of nine very drunk men standing in a circle in the forbidden forest came into his mind, and he smiled knowingly. “That I can personally guarantee.”

“And the Queen knighted your friend?” Janice asked.

“Aye,” Seamus said and nodded. “The royals know of us, always have. Even though ‘m Irish we’re still all her loyal servants. She calls, we come.”

“Why doesn’t England rule the world still?” she asked. “With all your powers at her command...” she stopped and nodded to herself. “There are magic folk everywhere.”

“Aye, Janice. We usually don’t get involved in Muggle wars unless it affects us directly.”

Janice looked at him, understanding written on her face. “I can see why.” She shook her head. “You remind me of my friend Cheryl’s older brother. He was in the Falklands.”

“I still think you’ve done enough,” Sylvia said. “It’s not your job to hunt down the surviving Death Eaters.”

“No, it’s not,” Seamus said. “It’s the job of Harry, Ron, Cho, Padma, Blaise, and host of others, but it’s our duty, Sylvia. It’s our duty to the ones like... Colin.” His lip trembled. “And Vicky, and professor Lupin, and his son.” He looked at her fiercely. “We’ll not stop! We cross paths with a Death Eater and...” Seamus fell silent, the muscles in his jaw flexed and determination was clearly written on his face.

Jasmine laid her hand on her sister’s, and looked into her emerald eyes. “Maybe you should take the Minister’s offer.”

“No!” Sylvia said. “They’ve done enough!”

Lavender smiled at her mother. She was getting worked up again, and Lavender wanted this to be a happy Christmas all round. “It’s okay, Mum. I’m not ready yet, and we haven’t decided if we want to do it anyway. I’ll promise you this, if we decide to go into the M.L.E.” –she stopped and smiled– “Department of Magical Law Enforcement,” she said to Janice. “If we do, I’ll talk to you first. Okay?”

Her mother relaxed a bit. “Alright,” she said tentatively.

Seamus looked at her “And besides, Sylvia, we won’t be joining until we know what it is they want us for. We’re not interested in being separated; we’re not interested in chasing Death Eaters; they come calling it’s another story, but till Kingsley is specific about what they want us to do, we’re waiting. He comes up with an offer we like, then we’ll talk. So far he’s just offered us jobs as Aurors, and I’m not in love with that.”

Lavender saw her mother nod, smile and shake her head. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Not to worry, Sylvia,” Seamus said. “I’ll be right here looking out for her, making sure she’s safe.”

Lavender turned to him, smiling skeptically. “Oh you will, will you?”

“Try and stop me,” he said.

Sylvia chuckled to herself. “Alright, but will you try to stay out of the news?” The young couple nodded at her. She drew a deep breath and let it out. “Well, in all the activity this morning, we didn’t get to the stockings.” Her eyes wandered to the mantelpiece. Seven stockings hung along the old wood. Hers and Nat’s were old and battered; she’d had them since their first Christmas together. A little less worn was Artemisia’s; Jasmine’s looked new, Rowan’s looked worst of all, Lavender’s had fared well for twenty years, and a new one hung next to it. “Who hung a stocking for Seamus?”

Artemisia smiled. “We did,” she said indicating herself and Jasmine. “Last night after everyone went to bed.” She winked at her youngest sister. No one else saw it.

“Oh, you needn’t have gone to the trouble,” Seamus told her.

“It’s our pleasure, Seamus,” Jasmine said. “If this one” –she poked her brother in the side– “had told us what he was up to, there’d be one for Janice too.”

Lavender rose from the couch. “Well let’s have a look.” Her eyes fell on a bright red cracker with gold ribbon around it. She pulled the cracker from her stocking and her face fell. Emblazoned across the side were the letters WWW. “Where did these come from?” she asked warily.

Jasmine perked up. “My friend, Louise got them, said they were great fun.”

Lavender smiled wryly. “You’ve never actually been in the Wheezes, have you?”

After convincing her family that setting off a Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes product around anything fragile was a very bad idea, they were back in the kitchen. Mr. Brown banished the table to the basement, and Seamus pulled a cracker from his stocking.

“Alright, Rowan. You ready to give one a go?” he asked.

Lavender’s brother chuckled. “It’s not going to turn me into a frog or anything is it?”

Seamus shrugged. “Dunno, but if it does, we’ll fix it.”

Janice leaned in to Lavender. “He’s joking, right?”

Lavender laughed. “No.”

Seamus and Rowan each gave a mighty tug on the ends of the cracker. The explosion was frankly smaller than Lavender had expected given the makers; still, it rattled the windows and made the floor jump. An enormous amount of ribbon and confetti erupted from the cracker and formed into a figure of Father Christmas. Red ribbon took the shape his hat coat, sack and trousers, black formed his belt gloves, and boots, and white fashioned itself into the shape of his beard and the fringe on his coat and hat.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” the ribbon man said. “Merry Christmas!” He reached into his bag and threw a handful of what turned out to be Bavarian caramels into the air before collapsing into a pile on the floor.

“Alright then,” Jasmine said as she levitated the caramels into a dish on the cabinet top and vanished the bits and pieces of ribbon and confetti.from the floor. “I see what you mean.”

Seamus leaned against the cabinetry, laughing. He took an orange from his stocking and began to peel it. “So, now you know what to expect.”

“Come on, Mum,” Artemisia said, and held out on end of her cracker to her mother. The same explosion of ribbon and confetti evolved into a huge bell that nearly deafened them as in rang. Peppermints fell from it each time it struck.

“I’m next!” Jasmine said, and she smiled wickedly. “Come on Janice.”

Janice cautiously took the end of the cracker.

Jasmine smiled at her. “Don’t worry. One, Two, Three.”

The cracker contained one of the wise men, and he handed each of the women a galleon before the spell evaporated and he became another heap of ribbon and confetti on the floor of the kitchen.

“Current rate’s twelve quid,” Mr. Brown told Janice.

“That must be a rare one,” Seamus said. “Can’t see George turning loose o’ very many galleons.” He shook his head and chuckled.

Rowan pulled one from his stocking. “Come on dad,” he said.

*

Seamus flopped down on the bed in Rowan’s room. It had been a good day. Lavender and he had captured a Death Eater, smoothed the ruffled feathers of her family after they found out, and eaten as good a Christmas meal as Seamus had ever had. He would have to tell George that they had enjoyed the Weasley crackers immensely, and the rest of the day and evening had been spent in happy conversation and nibbling on leftovers. He and Lavender had been offered the wishbone, but they had deferred to Rowan and Janice. Janice got the merrythought, wonder what it was? Seamus smiled to himself. As the evening had worn on, Rowan and his fiancée had bid the family good night and made their escape. Rowan had taken him aside and told him how great it was to meet him, how much he thought of Seamus, and that he heartily approved of him for his sister. Then he told him not to expect him back that night.

He was alone in Rowan’s bedroom, laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling reviewing the day. A wave of relief flowed through him. He had been very nervous, but committed to his plan involving Lavender’s father, and it had worked out better than he had dared hope. He still had a knot in his stomach when he thought about returning home tomorrow, but he decided that he would think about that in the morning. Luna might be angry with him, but he was most concerned with how Dean was going to react when he was next in his presence. It worried him a lot, so he decided to think about Lavender instead.

He smiled again, and discovered that his cheeks hurt a little. He shook his head. Been smiling so hard me cheeks ache he thought. This was a good day. Lavender had been downstairs last time he’d seen her. Jasmine and Artemisia had shooed him off to bed and commandeered his girlfriend. His girlfriend. The cheek ache was back. Aye, she’s a fair bit more than that though, isn’t she, me lad. He lost himself in fantasy. He saw them far in the future, sitting on a bench, old and grey and still in love. He saw them at Hermione and Ron’s wedding, just a few short months away. He saw them at Harry and Ginny’s wedding, a month later, dancing and laughing. He saw himself carrying Lavender into their own house. That, he decided, would happen.

A soft knock sounded on the door, drawing him back from his happy fantasies.

“Aye,” he said.

The door opened, and the girl of his dreams stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.
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I Believed in Father Christmas