CHRISTMAS WITHOUT YOU | POTTER FAMILY

[Deleted]

[googlefont="Open Sans Condensed:300"]

BUT WE DON'T
WANNA GROW UP

[attr="class","next"]

DECEMBER 24, 2024

Christmas Eve had fallen upon Godric Hollow as the snow fell everywhere around the little town. James had returned from his travels not long ago, Lily’s train back from Hogwarts arrived a few days ago, and Albus had appeared on the map once more. The only person missing for the holidays was her husband, who was still missing and presumed dead to the world. She didn’t believe the latter part; she would have felt it within her heart—she still had hope, as did James and hopefully her other children. The entire Potter family was getting together from Christmas Eve and day, Ginny unsure if they would visit the Weasley clan and their spread out among the wizarding world, but for now, she would spend time with her children.

She had started cooking earlier in the day, both baking treats and making dinner. A part of her hoped that Harry would walk back through the front door, alive and well, and kiss her on the cheek. But as the hours passed, it never happened, never came to pass. As time passed, she finished cooking and was adding the finishing touches to everything. She enjoyed cooking these days, glad that her mother had taught her over the years and re-taught her when she went to stay with them after her memory had been snatched. Cooking helped her think, and she was glad for it. She smiled lightly, brushing her fingers against the two rings on her ring finger as if she were touching a piece of Harry himself.

---

TAG Albus Severus Potter, lily luna potter & @rivjames

NOTES whatever order we start with is the order we will continue with!

[newclass=.next::-webkit-scrollbar]width: 5px;[/newclass][newclass=.next::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #000;[/newclass]

[lily luna potter]

@rivjames or Albus Severus Potter

12.24.2024

Lily had already decided that Christmas this year was going to suck and there was no way anyone was going to make her change her mind. The reason was obvious and she was tired of repeating why she was always in a foul mood or didn’t want to talk. All people had to do was look at a paper, get a clue, and then leave her alone to do her own thing. Her normal thing. The entirety of her summer had been spent wallowing in self-pity and she was trying to get out of that. Being reminded that Harry Potter was probably dead every ten minutes while at school was getting old, even for her. The jokes weren’t effective anymore and she was tired of brushing them off with self-deprecation. There apparently was a limit to how much she could take and she never wanted to experience that again. But that was a hard thing to avoid when having to go home for Christmas. She couldn’t stay at school for break – that would have been cruel to her mum and the rest of the family. Plus Christmas at Hogwarts was boring these days. She knew where all the secret passages were and screwing around on her own wasn’t fun. There had to be fun people there with her, and the only truly fun person was Adrian, and he was already back in California. Which she was secretly planning to escape to in a few days, unbeknownst to her family.

The trip was for later though because today was Christmas Eve and she wanted to be with the family before skipping town for a few days. It was the least she could do. After spending the majority of the morning digging through her bedroom closet looking for a specific sweater, Lily finally gave up and decided to ask for help. Whoever she saw first was going to be her victim. Plodding down the stairs at lightning speed and into the kitchen, where her mother was, she found her target, “Mum, have you seen my jumper? You know, the red and green one with Christmas trees on it?” It pretty much stayed locked away in her closet all year, never daring to leave unless she let it by deciding to put it on.

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

IT WAS THE FIRST POTTER CHRISTMAS SINCE Harry disappeared, and Albus wished they'd cancelled. It was like their mum was pretending he wasn't gone at all. As if the celebrations weren't tainted by his disappearance. Albus couldn't stand it, watching her busy herself with mindless cooking. It was Christmas Eve, but it didn't feel like it. No matter how hard she tried.

Albus spent much of his time in his old room, though he'd ventured downstairs when the oppressive smell of his mum's delicious cooking coaxed him out. He couldn't bear the thought of her pretending, but he felt sorry enough to show face when his stomach rumbled. He followed in Lily's thumping wake, all the way in to the kitchen, where he skulked around the perimeter, picking at food scraps as Lily bothered her with jumper talk. Albus couldn't help himself as he licked a bit of butter from his thumb.

"She means the ugly one," Albus piped up, leaning against a counter and hoarding a warm mince pie to his chest. "Hopefully mum's thrown it out," He said bluntly, shrugging his shoulders as he shoved the rest of the pie in to his mouth and chewed silently. Lily was Weasley enough that ugly Christmas jumpers were her forte. They were not Albus's. He stopped wearing his hand-made one years ago, though he hadn't been cruel enough to toss it out. Lily wasn't as smart, she'd even ventured in to uglier - less sentimental - options. 

@rivjames

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

While the lovely smells of a fine Christmas Eve meal drifted out of the kitchen and began to rouse James from what had been a fantastic nap, the sudden plodding of feet down the stairs greatly quickened the process, leaving no time for a slow wake-up. James sat up and yawned to the discussion of missing jumpers and Al being... himself. 

James smiled as he stood up and stretched his legs and back. It was good to be home again. The weight of their missing father was still heavy on everyone's shoulders, but James was determined to be there for his mother and his siblings, regardless. If he remembered correctly, Ariadne was out wrapping up something something shopping or something which had afforded him a bit of time to spend at the old Godric's Hollow place. 

With the triumphant cracking of his neck, James wandered in moments later to quip, "Damn. Wish I'd thought to hide it somewhere." He shook his head. "Have you even tried Accio? I could have sworn you were a witch..." He smiled, recalling the annoyance that was Hogwart's rules about using magic outside of school. James looked to Al, adding, "Rules aside, at least I won't rat you out if you tried." 

Ginevra Molly Potter - lily luna potter - Albus Severus Potter

[Deleted]

[googlefont="Open Sans Condensed:300"]

BUT WE DON'T
WANNA GROW UP

[attr="class","next"] The smell of food filled the home and Ginny was enjoying it all. It filled the empty spaces that were left by the people that weren’t here. She was, however, pulled from her thoughts as someone came rushing down the steps with a lightning speed that sounded like a herd of elephants, but it was no such thing. It was Lily appearing in the corner of her view. The young woman had asked about seeing her jumper, explaining what it looked like. She almost laughed, Ginny remembered a time when she had run down the steps the same way, questioning about her very own jumper and instead of being faced with Harry Potter – her crush at the time. God—even the things her kids said reminded her of the past, and ultimately memories with their father. Before she could speak, Albus was pipping in about it being the ugly one and hoping that she had thrown it out. “Albus, I did not do such a thing,” she started but was interrupted by her eldest telling her to try using the Accio spell, and Ginny rolled her eyes, “Lily will be breaking no rules this holiday James, I haven’t seen it. Did you check your closet or one of your dresser drawers?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow. She hadn’t seen the thing since the last time she had washed it for Lily, “Did it ever make it upstairs after the last time you wore it? Check the mudroom in one of the folded piles,” she stated.

---

TAG Albus Severus Potter, lily luna potter
& @rivjames

NOTES sorry for the wait ya'll!

[newclass=.next::-webkit-scrollbar]width: 5px;[/newclass][newclass=.next::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #000;[/newclass]

[lily luna potter]

@rivjames or Albus Severus Potter

12.24.2024

Negative thoughts had been a common occurrence since the spring, but there was nothing like a quality jab from Albus about her choice of ugly Christmas sweaters and the fact that her entire family collectively forgot that she was now seventeen and could legally use magic outside of school. The latter was worse than the former, because at least with the sweater she could own its ugliness. “Bingo! I love that you know exactly which one I had in mind Al,” she stuck her tongue out at him in annoyance as she pushed by him on her way to the kitchen. If he had been any closer and their mum out of view, she would have gone for a stomp on his foot. See how he liked getting kicked when he was down.

“Yes and yes,” Lily sighed, leaning on one of the kitchen counters, close enough to her mum that she could take all of attention for a minute or two. Albus would probably hate that and James would relish in the fact that she was being a brat. It fit the redhead to be that way. She had looked in practically every place it could be, and even a few where it shouldn’t, like in the pantry or hiding under one of the bathroom sinks. Her belongings had shown up in stranger places, believe it or not, so it was hard to rule anything out while searching. “I haven’t looked there yet…” she trailed off as the mudroom was brought up. She really didn’t want to continue digging through piles of clothes but she wanted the sweater.

Groaning, she slid her arms off of the counter and dragged her feet all the way to the mudroom where said piles of clothes were. A quick look around proved it was going to be a much more difficult task than she had initially thought. After flipping through a few of the stacks, she started to get bored with the tediousness of it, and slid her wand out of her pocket. James had brought up a good point – she could summon the sweater. Quietly, she cast the spell, her voice as close to quiet as she could make it, which wasn’t really saying much.

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

IT WAS RARE FOR ALBUS TO FIND HIMSELF IN agreement with his older brother James. But, funnily enough, it was almost always when pitted against their younger sister, Lily. That was when an age old camaraderie kicked in and Albus found himself snorting at his brothers quick wit. Wiping pie crumbs from his chest as he chewed quietly. He listened on the outskirts as Lily consumed all of her their mum's attention. Her beaming smile something to be seen, though it only made Albus frown. She'd always been a little needy, which was one of Albus's least favourite of all the traits.

Quirking his brows at James, Albus followed Lily as she stomped off towards the mudroom. He was very good at following quietly in people's wake. Though, that probably had something to do with the fact that his little sister was a glorified 'noise-maker'. As she entered the mudroom, he hovered, waiting to see if she would find it. He had every intention of snatching it, should she. But, instead, he saw her draw out her wand. Before she could cast a spell, he grabbed the end and tugged it. "Are you allowed to do that?" He asked her wickedly, his brows lifting, the ghost of a smile on his face. 

@rivjames

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

James rolled his eyes at his mother's insistence that Lily wouldn't be breaking any rules. He muttered to himself, "_{Do you know who your daughter is?}" He shook his head in amusement and wandered toward the fridge seeing if the brew he had brought was cold enough to drink yet. He smiled in satisfaction when the first bottle he pulled was at the perfect temperature. James pulled the top and wandered toward the mudroom where his siblings had disappeared off too.

He leaned on the mudroom entry just as Albus made a grab for Lily's wand. James gestured with the bottle before holding out his open hand, fingers set to snap.

"Accio that ugly sweater," he half-snarked, snapping his fingers for effect. Nothing appeared in his hand. James only shrugged and sipped at his drink before laughing. He knew the sweater she was after, so actually...

"Accio," he incanted for real, raising an eyebrow before snapping his fingers again. Something nearby made a soft thud sound, possibly against a wall. "Eh. Sounds like the ghosts got it, Lil." James turned back toward the kitchen and called, "It's all good, Mum! Lily's being responsible and stuff." 

Ginevra Molly Potter - lily luna potter - Albus Severus Potter 

[Deleted]

AND I DON'T REALLY CARE IF NOBODY ELSE BELIEVES
'CAUSE I'VE STILL GOT A LOT OF FIGHT LEFT IN ME

Lily was the first to leave the room in search of the Christmas sweater, likely going to the mudroom to find it as Ginny had suggested. Albus was the next to disappear, and Ginny shrugged her shoulders, getting back to the task at hand, which was finishing the stew that she had been working on and checking the ham that was in the oven. She had other foods mixing itself with a little magic, making dinner like her mother used to make back at the Burrow.

A few minutes later, a sound hit against one of the walls, and her attention snapped towards it. Had Lily gone and used the damn spell after all? She went to open her mouth, but James was already speaking, telling her that Lily was responsible and stuff. Ginny sighed, leaving behind what she was doing to the magic that started setting the table and dishing out silverware, going to where she had heard the sound. And there it was, the sweater hitting against the wall, and it had knocked over some books - there was the sound. She grabbed it and walked back into the kitchen, "This one, Lil?" she questioned, holding the article of clothing in question in front of her.

lily luna potter, Albus Severus Potter & @rivjames

template by punki of adoxography

[lily luna potter]

Albus Severus Potter

12.24.2024

Apparently she wasn’t quick enough to get the spell going before her brother took her wand from her. If she had paid attention in any of her classes for the last two years, she probably would have caught on with wandless or nonverbal spellcasting, which would have been great for right about now. Instead she was going to blame everything on Albus. It was easier that way anyways. Shooting him a dirty look, Lily immediately stepped as close as she could get to him, having to crane her neck back so that she could look up at him, “Uhh last I checked my seventeenth birthday was last May, Albus. So yes, I am allowed to do that,” she tilted her head to the side, challenging him to come up with another reason for why she shouldn’t be casting a simple summoning charm. It would be one thing if the object was a book or a broom, but this was her ‘ugly sweater’ as her brothers kept repeating.

Lily snatched at her wand as James decided to try his luck with the spell, though she wasn’t sure if his attempt would work or not with the way he described the jumper. She didn’t think it was ugly, and she never called it that to make it think it would be. But the sound of a thump and her mum calling from the kitchen, asking if ‘this one’ was it, had her poking her head out of the mudroom and squinting at the one being held up.

“Yes! That’s it!” she exclaimed, running back into the kitchen and taking it from her mother’s hands. “Thanks mum!” she yelled behind her as she hopped up the stairs and towards her bedroom so she could pull off the sweater she currently had on and replace it with her Christmas one. For only being back home for three days, she had already managed to create a sizeable pile of clothes and other belongings on her bedroom floor, adding her other sweater to the top of it as her ugly one went on over her head with a satisfyingly snug pull.

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

LILY COULD BE INTIMIDATING WHEN SHE TRIED to be, but Al wasn't a kid anymore, he couldn't afford to back down against her. He straightened his spine and furrowed his brow in humour. "Oh, yeah..." He hummed, rolling his eyes as he recalled the fact that yes, his sister was older than she looked. "But, you don't look it." He shrugged his shoulders loosely and slid past him, eyeing James with a laugh as he attempted to summon the sweater.

Something crashed in the distance, and Al expected to hear his dad strolling through to witness the carnage. Or, their mum yelling about how they better not break anything and to take it outside. But, none of that happened. The chaos was minimal as the sweater was discovered trying to make a hole in the nearest wall and Lily snatched it from their mum's patient hand.

"Well, that was a bust." Al grumbled, rolling his eyes heavenward as he shouldered past James and headed back towards the kitchen. "I'm gonna eat all your mince pies!" He shouted at the base of the stairs as a final blow, loud enough for Lily to hear as he flashed a grin at Ginny as he reentered the kitchen. Christmas wasn't the same, but sometimes Al forgot.

@rivjames

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

My power's turned on starting right now
I'll be strong I'll play my fight song And
I don't really care if nobody else believes

Raising children with no memory and no husband, wasn't something that Ginny had thought herself doing. Though, if she was honest, she had didn't know what she saw herself doing once she married Harry and had children. Her memories of that were lost forever, but each of her children reminded her a bit of herself and Harry. Though, that was much of a given. Sometimes, as she stood there listening to her children bicker and magic being used at home, she thought about her mum. She didn't know how she did it, especially with as many boys as she had.

Seconds after asking if the sweater in question was the one she was holding, her daughter took it and disappeared upstairs. Thankfully, she had taught them manners, and a 'thank you' was thrown in. Both of her boys returned to the kitchen, but not before Albus told Lily that he was going to eat all her mince pies. She smiled lightly, running her fingers through her hair. God...she wished that Harry was here, it wasn't going to be the same.

And with that, the family dinner began. And while the feeling of something missing was lingering, the time spent with family lightened the mood. And all was well in the Potter house.

lily luna potter & Albus Severus Potter ● since our james was dropped, imma wrap this up here!

MADE BY VEL OF GS