My Hallelujah Song (Lee)

[Deleted]

May Hogsmeade Weekend, 2025

About a month had passed since she had met Lee at the Three Broomsticks—at the very same table, Chrissy observed—when she had offered to adopt her. It had taken her time to process the idea, to know that it was what she wanted without a doubt. The news about Hag's Fever and the quarantine measures for its containment, which had come in the meantime, had solidified her decision. She didn't want to go to another foster family, or even to the orphanage there in Britain wherever it was. She had never had to worry about as much of anything with Lee in her corner, and who knew if she would ever find someone like that besides her? It was hard to trust people after everything that had happened to her, and it was hard to find anyone willing to adopt a teenager. More than anything, the thought of the regret she knew that she would feel if she decided to turn Lee down was enough to convince her that she was making the right decision.

Her parents—if they weren't dead—would have understood, too. They would have wanted her to have a real home again, and they would have known what she had realized—that it didn't mean that she was replacing them or that she no longer missed them. Most importantly, they would have liked Lee, Chrissy thought.

She watched the door carefully, having arrived earlier than necessary to make sure that she wouldn't miss Lee when she walked in. As she waited for any sign of red hair, Chrissy tapped her fingers against the tabletop, still watching.

@alyra

[Deleted]

This time, Chrissy had asked Lee to meet her, which Lee thought was a good sign. She would have asked to have lunch anyway during their next Hogsmeade weekend, she tried to make it a tradition with both girls to check in and make sure they were both doing okay. But lee knew this was more than just a check in lunch, this would more than likely be the results of Chrissy’s decision regarding Lee’s recent proposal. She still had the velvet jewelry box in her bag - she didn’t give it to her last time, she didn’t want it to sway her decision. She didn’t want it to feel like there was any bribery going on to get Chrissy to want to join her family.

She walked into the three broomsticks and looked around to find Chrissy sitting at the same table by the window where they had sat last time. That was convenient. “Hey! It’s nice to see you. You’re not feeling sick at all, are you? No Symptoms?” she asked as she sat down at the table. Not because she was afraid of catching it, but because she wanted to make sure her girls were okay.

@chrissy

[Deleted]

May Hogsmeade Weekend, 2025

Chrissy noticed Lee enter and smiled, waiting for her to notice her. She watched as Lee looked around for where she was seated. It didn’t take her long, though—in her anticipation—Chrissy was prepared to stand up and call her over to her. She didn’t have to do that, because Lee was already making her way over and then sat down at the table.

“Hey! It’s nice to see you. You’re not feeling sick at all, are you? No symptoms?”

“Hey—Uh, no, no symptoms,” Chrissy assured her, shaking her head. She knew that Lee had every reason to be concerned about her health, but she would have cancelled on her if there was even a chance that she was under the weather. She wouldn’t have been out in Hogsmeade, especially not at a pub, if she were feverish. “I’m fine, but, um…” How was she supposed to continue to make small talk, when Lee probably knew exactly why they were having lunch at the same place that they had the previous month?

Tapping her fingers against the table again, Chrissy tried to figure out how to word what she wanted to tell Lee. It was Lee; she shouldn’t have been so nervous. “I’m not sick, but, uh, I—I did want to tell you something…” she continued. Not just coming out and saying it was so hard. She wanted it to sound just right. “I—” She breathed in, wrapping her fingers together against the table to stop her fidgeting. “I want you to adopt me. If you still want to?”

@alyra

[Deleted]

Chrissy promised that she wasn’t feeling sick at all and that she had no symptoms, but the said that there was something that she wanted to talk to her about. Lee nodded, fairly sure that she knew what it was going to be about, but still having no idea what the words that she was about to hear would be. But then Chrissy told her that she wanted to be adopted if Lee still wanted to adopt her and Lee could barely believe it. Not that she had expected that Chrissy would reject her offer, but she had kind of braced herself for the worst, but she was still going to offer to keep her at least until the end of the quarantine regardless. But she had said yes. She wanted Lee to adopt her. Lee nodded. “Of course I still want to. I told you the offer was standing.” she agreed. “We can go into the ministry and sign the papers when the term is out.” she added. She was sure that she could request permission to take Chrissy out of school to go and do it, but she didn’t think that she would want to miss her lessons. She tried to contain her happiness, but it was bubbling up within her. She couldn’t imagine her future without the young girl anymore.

@chrissy

[Deleted]

May Hogsmeade Weekend, 2025

“Of course I still want to. I told you the offer was standing.”

Chrissy’s anxieties melted into a sense of relief. However small it might have been, there had still been a chance that Lee would say no after her initial offer. She had wanted to brace herself for the worst; it was what she had been conditioned to do for years. Worst-case scenarios too often became her default focus. Even if not everything was certain, at least she could be certain that she would have a real, legal family again. She wasn’t sure if she could call Lee her “mother”—even if that was what she technically would be. But she was already her guardian, and she had been more of a mother to her than most of the foster mothers she had had back in California.

Lee added that they could go to the Ministry and sign the papers when the term was out. It was only a few more weeks, then, before they would do that. It wasn’t long at all. Chrissy smiled as she counted how long it would be in her head. It would be real. Official. Binding. Her smile grew as she continued to relax. It wouldn’t matter what was happening with the quarantine. She wouldn’t have another foster home ever again. If she moved anywhere, it would be with Lee.

She didn’t intend to get misty-eyed, but it was almost impossible. Her life would be simplified. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much when she didn’t have to correct teachers and whoever else about her being an orphan anymore. It felt as though she could breathe, suddenly, for the first time in years. She stood from her chair and stepped over to Lee’s. “Can I hug you?”

@alyra

[Deleted]

Chrissy rose up from her seat and walked around to Lee’s while asking if she could hug her. Lee stood up as well, tears almost breaking through her own eyes. “Yeah I think you’d better.” she agreed and wrapped her arms around Chrissy, pulling her to her gently. It was a weird feeling, she knew now that she would be responsible for this child for the rest of her life, but it was just as exciting as it was scary. Lee never saw herself having kids. She had a somewhat dangerous profession and was away from the house sometimes for weeks at a time. With a child of Chrissy’s age, that didn’t matter so much since she would be at school. Lee had a connection to the girl since the day she first met her, but she never in a million years would have thought that it would have resulted in an adoption. Now, err, soon, Chrissy would be her child. Her daughter, she supposed, but she didn’t really think of herself as a mom. “oh,” she said. “I have something for you…”

@chrissy

[Deleted]

May Hogsmeade Weekend, 2025

Lee said that she thought that she had better hug her, and Chrissy laughed through her tears. They were good tears, though—one of the few occasions on which she could recall having had happy tears rather than ones of anger or sorrow. In some ways, too, it felt like a release of all of the awful things that had brought her to that point. It wouldn’t change that they had happened, but there was something. The fresh start might have come when they had arrived in London from California, but it had really hit her.

She practically fell into Lee’s arms but wrapped her own arm’s tightly around her, too. It was strange to think of Lee as her mother, because she had one already, as well as a father… She found momentary amusement at the thought that Mazie—who was sort of like an older sister to her, albeit less close to her than she had been for years to Lee—would be her aunt. It was complicated and maybe a little bit strange, and she knew that she would probably have to explain all of that to people… But it didn’t matter so much, which was funny even to Chrissy. Family—whatever people wanted to make of it—was… something.

And Lee mentioned that she had something for her, too, which broke Chrissy away from her thoughts.

Curiously, Chrissy eyed Lee. “What is it?”

@alyra

[Deleted]

Chrissy gave into the hug easily and hugged her back. Lee was glad for that, she didn’t want it to be weird with them. Especially because they already had so much that they were going to have to figure out. Chrissy asked what it was. Lee broke away from the hug and reached down into her bag, which she had dropped on the floor when she took her seat at the table. She pulled out the black, velvet box and handed it to Chrissy. Inside the box was a bracelet that Lee’s own mother had sent when Lee called home to say that she was going to be adopting the child. It had taken a moment for her parents to come around to it, but now they were excited and accepting. More so than Mazie had been at least. It was a charm bracelet with two charms on it so far, one palm tree, because Malibu was home. And the other spelled their last name, Pond, in cursive. When Chrissy opened it, Lee felt the need to clarify, “Obviously you don’t have to change your name, but if you want to, you can, and either way, you’re a Pond.” she explained.

@chrissy

[Deleted]

May Hogsmeade Weekend, 2025

Chrissy watched as Lee went to grab something from her bag. That it was in her purse itself didn't say very much about what it was; for all Chrissy knew, Lee could have expanded it somehow to contain whatever it was she was fishing out, but what she gave her was a black velvet box, the look and size of some sort of jewelry box.

Chrissy handled it gently and took great care to open it, not wanting to drop whatever was inside. What she found was a bracelet—a charm bracelet. There were only two charms on it so far, but she knew the significance of them in a heartbeat. If she hadn't been crying already, she was then. It was beautiful: A little palm tree—to represent California, no doubt—and "Pond" in cursive.

"Obviously you don’t have to change your name, but if you want to, you can, and either way, you’re a Pond."

"Y-You weren't supposed to… make me cry this much," Chrissy smiled, shifting the box in her hands so that she could wipe away her tears with her arm before moving the box back and looking at the bracelet again. "It's beautiful."

@alyra

[Deleted]

Chrissy said that Lee wasn’t supposed to make her cry that much and Lee smiled, she had been smiling the whole time but felt like it just kept getting a little bit bigger. “Trust me kid, this is a lot sappier than I thought it would be too.” she laughed. Chrissy said the bracelet was beautiful and Lee added, “It’s from my mom, actually. She’s excited to meet you.” She didn’t want to put any pressure on Chrissy to have to act a certain way or impress anyone in her family, but she wanted to make it known that they knew about her, and they already loved her. “if we ever get out of England.” she joked. Of course the quarantine was serious but Lee also didn’t think it was going to last forever. And as soon as it was lifted she’d take a leave from work so they could at least go back to visit.

@chrissy

[Deleted]

May Hogsmeade Weekend, 2025

Tears turned into laughter as Lee told her that it was sappier than she had thought it would be, too. It was true, and Chrissy found the humor in it. What surprised her, though, was when Lee revealed that the bracelet hadn’t been a gift from her; it had been from her own mother, who she said was excited to meet her. “If we ever get out of England,” she added, though Chrissy knew that—eventually—they would. They would have to.

“Yeah. It’ll be nice to see home again,” Chrissy agreed, nudging the little palm tree charm as she spoke. Real sunshine that lasted, the beach, fewer orders of fish and chips… Little by little, she was beginning to regain her composure, though she was sure that she would still look like she had been crying for a while after the fact. She looked up from the bracelet to Lee. “I’m glad your mom is looking forward to meeting me,” she said to her, “and tell her that I said thanks for the bracelet. Actually, um, I think I’m gonna put it on…”

@alyra

[Deleted]

“Yeah go for it.” Lee agreed when she said that she was going to put the bracelet on. It made her happy to see her wanting to wear it. “Do you still want lunch or something?” she herself wasn’t feeling very hungry but it was just the jitters running through her. There was suddenly a lot to figure out, but she also knew that a lot of it would just work itself out over time and that they would just have to find their rhythm. “Or, any questions or anything?” she asked.

@chrissy

[Deleted]

May Hogsmeade Weekend, 2025

Chrissy nodded as Lee told her to “go for it” in regards to her putting on the bracelet that she had been given. She carefully removed the bracelet from the box and then put it on her wrist, tightening its clasp enough to ensure that it wouldn’t fall off. It looked even prettier on, and it was really thoughtful of Lee’s mother, too, she thought; she didn’t even know her!

“Do you still want lunch or something?”

“Um, not really,” Chrissy admitted, feeling slightly bad about not wanting anything after they had taken up a table in the pub. She got the feeling that Lee didn’t really want lunch right away, either.

“Or, any questions or anything?”

Chrissy then shook her head. “No, um, not really, I—” she started, though she quickly changed her mind and looked to Lee. “I guess, um… About the paperwork and stuff…” Considering that they weren’t in the United States, she wasn’t sure how it would all work out. “Since we’re not technically under MACUSA right now, I mean… How does that… Do they just send it to the Ministry here?” Leaving the country wasn’t an option.

@alyra

[Deleted]

Chrissy admitted that she wasn’t really hungry and Lee couldn’t blame her. The food here was fine but it wasn’t anything special. It was pub food. And it was already so full being a Hogsmeade weekend that she was sure the waiters didn’t even notice anyone taking up tables. But then Chrissy said that she did have questions and asked about how the paperwork would work given the quarantine and Lee nodded, technology was new to the ministry and most of the wizarding world hadn’t heard about the switch yet. “We use a fax machine to send papers back and forth. It’s this old muggle machine that sends them digitally. So it shouldn’t be an issue.” she explained. She had yet to use the fax machine, but it seemed to be fairly simple.

@chrissy

[Deleted]

May Hogsmeade Weekend, 2025

"We use a fax machine to send papers back and forth," Lee explained to her. "It’s this old Muggle machine that sends them digitally. So it shouldn’t be an issue."

Chrissy wasn't sure what was more entertaining about what Lee had said—her mention of a fax machine or her use of the word "Muggle" instead of "No-Maj"—but she laughed at the comment. She knew a little bit more about non-magical technologies because of the fact that America and MACUSA had been more amenable to them than the British Ministry had been until only a few months before, not that she was certain how, precisely, a fax machine worked. Weren't they really old? Had No-Majes had digital stuff that long? "You sound so British, Lee," Chrissy teased, though she knew that Lee had originally lived there. "But they'll just send them through the fax… thing? And then after we, like, sign it and everything… It's official?" She hoped that that would be all that there was to it.

@alyra