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Lucy May Weasley ([info]lucymaybefierce) wrote in [info]20somethings,
@ 2021-12-25 19:28:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:c: albus potter, c: dom weasley, c: frank markham, c: lucy weasley, d: 2027 12, Ω: rp

RP: A Very Weasley Christmas
Who: Weasleys/Potters/Grangers and friends
What: The big, crazy, family Christmas
When: 25 December 2027
Where: The (rebuilt) Burrow
Warnings: Tbd, likely none
Completion Status: In progress

Spending Christmas afternoon and evening at the Burrow was a longstanding Weasley extended family tradition. The house and grounds were bustling with seas of red hair and a smattering of others, some of the family having even brought along friends who would have otherwise spent the holiday alone. There was lots of delicious food, Grandma Molly having spent most of the morning in the kitchen, with some help, to ensure there would be plenty to eat throughout the afternoon and evening. Gifts were aplenty, as was the laughter.

But with so many people with strong personalities, it was only a matter of time before dramas arose. Lucy hoped that any fireworks that went off were from WWW.

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Dominique and OPEN
[info]domweasley
2021-12-26 10:54 pm UTC (link)
Although she didn't have to be in the office this weekend waiting for an incident, Dominique was still on call. That meant she could come to family Christmas but had to keep her phone on her at all times and had to stay sober. At least she knew she wasn't the only cousin not drinking this year...

Having ditched her usual red wine for coffee and clad in her new knitted jumper, Dom had snagged a coveted spot by the fireplace indoors. Truthfully, she was sad that she'd had to miss out on festivities in France last night for the first time in as long as she could remember, so it was nice to be surrounded by the other half of her family today.

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]_markham
2021-12-27 08:04 pm UTC (link)
Christmas chez Weasley had been more than a little overwhelming to Frankie, but they definitely couldn't deny they had been given a warm welcome. And been distinctly had their arm twisted into eating far too much food. They had taken to the garden in an attempt to walk off a little of the overstuffed feeling and escape from some of the closest crush of bodies. The garden hadn't been exactly empty of people, but Frankie had found a quiet enough corner to wander in. Unfortunately it was also a quiet enough corner that apparently several gnomes, who had stuck back after the de-gnoming they had been assured had happened, had been bold enough to come out and trip them over. They were thus rather huffy and had scuffed knees to their black trousers by the time they snuck back in and found an open spot on the floor near the fireplace.

They pulled out their wand and started doing some localised cleaning charms. "Gnomes are a menace," they said to Dominique in explanation of their slightly muddy waistcoat they'd wiped their hands on at one point. At least their shirt had been spared because they'd slung their cloak on for warmth before heading out. Trying to cast off-handed to clean the opposite palm was definitely giving them some issues. "Would you mind? Not sure I can move again now I'm down here," they said, holding out a mucky palm they hadn't wanted to invade the kitchen in order to properly clean. At least neither of their pins appeared to have been ruined.

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]domweasley
2021-12-27 09:13 pm UTC (link)
Dom's eyes widened as her contemplation of potential New Year's resolutions was interrupted by the arrival of the muddy and tousled figure. "Someone persuaded you to degnome the garden? That's basically a right of passage in this family." Her mother still told the story of her uncles goading her into doing it. Naturally, her maman had performed the task with aplomb.

As she spoke, she drew her wand out of where it was nestled inside her long boots, a lazy flick cleaning Frankie's hand. The glow of the fire highlighted the roughened fabric on their knees. Thinking that Frankie looked too put-together to have any intentional holes in their outfit, she gestured at the patch. "May I?"

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]_markham
2021-12-27 10:17 pm UTC (link)
"Ugh, I didn't so much get asked, as much as one of them tripped me up when I was trying to walk off some of the food. Then I sort of volunteered myself to at least get rid of that one," they said.

They were slightly confused by the offer until they spotted the scraped fabric. "Oh sh-oot, I like these trousers. Please," they said with a little gesture. "These aren't supposed to be full of holes." They definitely had a fair amount of clothes which were supposed to be scruffy looking, but this combo wasn't amongst them. "Thanks," they added as Dom finished.

"Molly Sue warned me your family Christmas was chaotic, but I still wasn't quite prepared," Frankie added, gesturing around to the sound and bodies careening around the house.

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]domweasley
2021-12-27 11:07 pm UTC (link)
"Oh, you didn't have to do that. That's what my Uncle Ron's for," she joked with one of her broad smiled. "Got to make him useful somehow. He's not good for much else."

From the next room, Dom could hear a shout of, "I heard that!" which made her laugh as she used a spell to knit the scuffed fibres back together. Her mother, often concerned about appearances, had taught her all sorts of useful spells like that years ago.

She popped her wand back into her boot. "There's just so many of us, that's the problem." Dom sympathised. It was a lot even when you were born into the chaos. "People will probably start slipping away over the course of the afternoon," she promised, having heard a few of the uncles mention needing a nap after the amount they'd eaten. "Can I get you a cup of tea or anything?" she asked, her own cup nearly empty.

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]_markham
2021-12-28 01:03 am UTC (link)
Frank couldn't help but giggle at both Dom's comment and the indignant voice from the next room. "I mean after it almost made me faceplant it was a little of column helpful and a little of column revenge," they admitted. They knew it wasn't going to do the pesky things more than the most minor damage either, so they were fine with it.

The brushed off their knee again and smiled at the smooth finish. They had a feeling looking up more household spells would come in handy for their future. They had picked up a fair amount between school and a guide a helpful friend had gifted them when they broke out on their own, but they still did far more things by the muggle method than the average magical person.

"Mostly I've just had my parents and maybe a set of grandparents. I think the most I've seen at Christmas before was nine, and that involved my youngest cousin. The last few years it's only been me and my parents and that wasn't happening this year," they said, adding an eyeroll to the end. It didn't even come off too bitterly. They considered for a moment and nodded. "Coffee, black, and I wouldn't say no to a splash of whisky if there's any going," they said. They had been glad to discover that very few parts of Christmas festivities here were mandatory, including drinking wine with the meal, which their mother had always insisted on once they were of reasonable age.

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]domweasley
2021-12-28 05:00 pm UTC (link)
"Well, I'm glad you aren't spending Christmas alone." Dom wouldn't wish that on anybody. She cared little for any religious significance of the season, but she loved the way it brought the family together.

"Coffee I can do," she said with a little relief. Dominique rarely drank tea and, as a result, was not exactly known for making a good cup of it. "Give me a sec." She headed into the kitchen with a swish of long red hair, reemerging with a couple of minutes later with a full cafetière and cup for Frankie. A bottle of whisky that she'd snuck away from her uncles was tucked under her arm.

Dom put the coffee on a table that looked too rickety to hold much more than a piece of paper without falling in on itself. However, it appeared to have hidden strength, only wobbling a little. "Give it a couple more minutes to brew," she advised, adding the bottle to the table. "I wasn't sure how strong you'd like it? So I'll leave that up to you. I'm on call so no booze for me today."

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]_markham
2021-12-28 11:30 pm UTC (link)
"I was planning on it originally," they said, "but Molly insisted, and she was right. I'm glad I came." They looked at the cosy chaos and smiled. "It was weird, but good."

The limbs that had been slightly chilled by the jaunt outside had transition through warming and into toasty by the time Dominique reappeared proffering a drink.

"Habit says pretty much the stronger the better, but the beauty of being the research grunt is I don't even make the on call rota, so no need to let it get super bitter," they said with just a touch of smugness. "Are you actually expecting to get called in?" They knew Dom also worked for the Ministry, but they were currently blanking on the specific department. Most departments had at least someone on call if there weren't outright regular working hours.

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]domweasley
2021-12-29 07:47 pm UTC (link)
"Yes, Molly's good like that," Dom agreed. It seemed to Dominique that Molly had changed over the last year, polishing up the maturity that had been under the surface the whole time.

Not for the first time recently, Dominique found herself missing some of the more research-based aspects of her job, the learning and development of her skills. "Unfortunately... maybe." She looked around for a clock that told the actual time. The day was ticking on, which meant people up and down the country were probably well into their Christmas tipples.

"Christmas booze plus gadgets and gizmos means it's probably only a matter of time before someone does something in front of Muggles that they shouldn't. Low-level memory charms can usually be managed by Aurors or hit wizards or whoever. So touch wood there's nothing too serious."

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]_markham
2021-12-30 12:51 am UTC (link)
Frank smiled softly. "She's been great ever since we started becoming closer again," they said.

Never having had a thoroughly magical Christmas since the one time they had stayed at Hogwarts, it wasn't something they had much experience with. "You know that makes a lot of sense. I can only imagine it's worse when people live closer to muggles too. I'll be sure to confine all my magic to inside my flat as usual," they said. In actuality their flat, while thoroughly magical was not so at simple inspection and they kept it that way on purpose, or close enough to be quickly covered up. All the easier for bringing muggle hookups to.

Judging the coffee was probably brewed enough they poured themself a cup, added a fairly small splash of alcohol and proceeded to nurse it close for warmth to not burn their mouth on the liquid. "Maybe if I get one of the slightly more senior and hands-on research jobs I'm working on applications for I'll make my way onto an on-call rota for the next round of holidays."

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]domweasley
2021-12-30 07:55 pm UTC (link)
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Dom said with a grin. "It's always good to be cautious." Even with the proliferation of technology into wizarding society, some people still forgot that basically all Muggles carried sophisticated cameras in their pocket these days.

She took the coffee after Frankie, pouring slowly. It smelled amazing. "What are you applying for?" she asked curiously. Ensconced in her little memory modification bubble, it had been a while since Dom had looked at any internal vacancies. Since she didn't much fancy moving into a different type of law enforcement role, there was really only one other department that held much interest for her but it was also the smallest in the Ministry. "Anything interesting?"

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]_markham
2021-12-30 10:30 pm UTC (link)
"Growing up without magic probably makes it way easier," they said. "I can get by without if I need to, even if I usually use magic for most things these days." They weren't going to mention the various experiments they had been known to perform within their flat with the curtains carefully closed.

Frankie couldn't help but laugh. "Eh, depends on what you count as interesting. There's a more senior post in Transport coming up in a Knight Bus improvement project fixed-term, since I still think anything in Apparition is really a no-go for me," they said, thinking of their first Apparition test, which they had failed. "There's a place in the Patents Office, and I think Maternity cover in Games, but I'm so not the person for that." They had also heard tell that there might be a place in the Department of Mysteries coming up, but those were so rare that they were absolutely not sharing the info around since it was absolutely the sort of place they wanted. "There are places in DMLE, but not really ones I'm qualified for, or want."

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]domweasley
2022-01-01 04:35 pm UTC (link)
Dom sipped her fresh coffee, shaking her head in amusement. "I always thought there's no point in even thinking about Games unless you're a Quidditch nut." Sure, there were other magical games and sports, but Quidditch was the dominant one.

"DMLE isn't the right place to be for research," she agreed. "I kind of wish I could do more research. The mind is just so fascinating and there's so much we still don't know." Saying it aloud reminded her that other people saw Obliviators as one of the shadier aspects of the Ministry, literally manipulating people's memories for a living.

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]_markham
2022-01-01 11:38 pm UTC (link)
"You've definitely got be obsessed with your chosen thing, and I am not that about any games or sports," they said with a slow shake of their head. There were some good people in the department, they were sure of it, but all of the ones they had met were very single minded.

Frankie's mouth moved into a moue of sympathy before taking a sip of coffee. "Transport isn't bad but the research we do is so damn dry most of the time. That or it involves far more talking to the public than my introvert self can deal with," they explained with a sigh. "The mind is interesting, I think if I had money I'd be in experimental charms research, but there's not really much money in it. Low-level Ministry isn't outstanding, but at least it's steady and reliable."

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]domweasley
2022-01-02 04:20 pm UTC (link)
Dom had mixed feelings about working with the public since most of the people she dealt with on the job had either broken the law or were Muggles having their memories modified. Not really people who were ever happy to see her or her team; some people could be downright unpleasant.

"Steady, reliable, respectable, yeah." There were a lot of good reasons to stick with the Ministry. "I really hope you find something you enjoy doing," she said genuinely. "And I'm good at Ministry-speak if you need another pair of eyes to look at applications?" Dom offered.

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]_markham
2022-01-02 09:43 pm UTC (link)
"Ah, fuck, when you put it like that I am doing something far too much like my mother would want," they said, keeping the swear word just loud enough for Dom to hear. They groaned and flopped their head back against the chair they'd been leaning against. "I guess being myself in other ways is plenty of rebellion."

It took a few moments for them to compose themself. "Sorry, the day has me a bit all over the place. I really wouldn't say no to a second set of eyes on applications," they said. "Ministry speak is about the only language I do speak, but applications always make me nervous."

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]domweasley
2022-01-02 11:21 pm UTC (link)
"Sorry, didn't mean to," Dom apologised, a laugh escaping her when Frankie groaned. "A government job isn't exactly subversive," she teased over her coffee. "Your rebellion suits you, by the way." Dom, someone who sometimes felt uneasy over that tiny trace of Veela in herself, could appreciate when someone was at home in their own skin.

Dom smiled reassuringly. "That's okay." She'd noticed that Frankie wasn't the only stray that her cousin had brought home today either. "And yeah, of course, any time. Anything to avoid my own paperwork."

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]_markham
2022-01-03 12:08 am UTC (link)
Frankie waved a negligent hand, not really bothered by the comment. "Yeah I'm actually okay with being personally rebellious, but having a secure job. It appeals to my Ravenclaw, introvert, academic side." They grinned at Dominique when she complimented them, blushing slightly. "Thanks, it took plenty of time to get to the place where everything aligned pretty well."

The snort that came out of Frankie was undignified but heartfelt. "Oh, wow, don't I know that feeling! I'm still having the debate between working on them a lot over the break to get them done and taking the time to ignore everything work related that I can get away with."

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]domweasley
2022-01-03 04:11 pm UTC (link)
Dominique hummed softly as she considered what she might do in that situation. Both options had their merits. "I vote for taking a clean break from everything to do with work. Go into it with fresh eyes in the new year." She felt fortunate to be able to leave work at work and not think about it too much when she was off the clock.

Sipping her coffee, she came to the decision that she had room for something sweet. "I'm going to hunt down some chocolate," she announced. "Do you want anything?"

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Re: Dominique and Frankie
[info]_markham
2022-01-03 04:54 pm UTC (link)
"Probably sensible," Frankie agreed, surprised by a yawn they had to stifle which cut off their words. "And I'm definitely not against ignoring things I don't want to do until at least new year." Maybe a bit of a head start before going back to work, there wasn't too much of a space beyond that for the deadline, but a clear brain would probably help with actual writing.

Their nose wrinkled slightly, still feeling rather full. "Maybe not yet. Maybe...dammit now I want chocolate, or maybe fudge," they said with a groan. They levered themself up. "C'mon I'll help you search," they said. "Your family is ridiculously good at food." It was somewhere between admiration and complaint.

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Albie and Lucy
[info]albie_potter
2021-12-28 06:32 pm UTC (link)
Albie was used to being the centre of attention, either by design or default, even among his own family. For Christmas Day, he'd donned a purple velvet suit Albie had bought second-hand (or maybe even third- or fourth-hand) and tried to make casual with heavy biker boots and a t-shirt with a printed pattern that imitated a fair isle Christmas jumper. But he was pretty sure it wasn't his outfit that was drawing the curious looks today.

He tucked his phone back into his jacket pocket, having just received another video of Orion opening Christmas presents on his group chat with Scor and Lyra. Albie wished he was there. Maybe next year.

"Hey, Luce." He gave his cousin a nudge with his elbow. "How're you holding up?"

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]lucymaybefierce
2022-01-01 01:42 am UTC (link)
It was, perhaps, a bit cliché, or maybe it would be thought of as a kiss-up to Grandma Molly sort of thing, but Lucy had opted to wear the green Christmas jumper Grandma had knitted for her this year. It was oversized, reaching halfway down her thighs, and she'd paired it with a thick pair of black leggings that came all the way up to her bra line. With any luck, she'd be able to keep wearing them through the winter, even with the pregnancy. She'd toed out of her flats when she'd come inside a bit ago, leaving them with the pile of others.

She was just wishing she could have a shot of whiskey when Albie nudged her. Lucy glanced at him and groaned softly at the question. "Oh god, does everyone know now?" She'd known it would happen fast, of course, but that didn't mean she had to like it. In truth, she was still wrapping her head around it. Even so, her hand went to her lower belly, still relatively flat this early in things. "I'm okay, though, yeah. You?" she asked, though not about anything specific, his bit of gossip not having reached her yet.

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]albie_potter
2022-01-01 03:49 pm UTC (link)
Albie exhaled. "I dunno about everyone," he said, thinking some people might be making a bigger fuss if they knew. "But I had to talk to my mum about something similar last night and it kind of came up." Albie hadn't spread Lucy's news to anyone else, though, not even Scorpius, as he knew it had to be early days for her still.

"I'm alright, though. Hopefully going to eat my weight in cheese this afternoon."

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]lucymaybefierce
2022-01-02 03:35 am UTC (link)
He had a point there, and Lucy blew out a soft breath, reminding herself to relax. She was, after all, amongst family, and whatever dramas they might have, she knew they all had her back. "Well, your mum was a wonderful ear while I was sorting it all out, so I suppose I'll allow it. Still wish I could have a bit of whiskey, though. Not that it would do anything for the queasy," she sighed.

Lucy chuckled at that. "That sounds inspired! Cheese makes everything better." Maybe that was why she liked Jaimeson so much. He could certainly be cheesy. Not that she'd brought him along today. They'd agreed that he should keep things as normal for Bella as possible this year, as things would be changing so much in the coming year.

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]albie_potter
2022-01-05 10:06 pm UTC (link)
“Yeah, she’s good like that.” When it came to his usual attitude towards his parents, that was glowing praise from Albie. “I think she’s mellowed with age.” Which he had, naturally, been sure to tell her last night. Taking the mick was a sure sign that he was feeling more like himself after the week he’d had.

“She might need a bit of that support in reverse,” he admitted sheepishly, sure his news had shaken her more than his mum had let on, especially since she was pregnant. “I just had to tell her that she’s a grandmother.”

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]lucymaybefierce
2022-01-05 10:32 pm UTC (link)
The quirked brow she gave him seemed to question his sanity. It wasn't that he'd ever been one to speak poorly of his parents, but to outright compliment one of them? Yes, something had to be wrong with him!

Whatever she could have imagined him saying next, it certainly wouldn't have been that! "She is? Not 'is going to be'?" she asked, catching onto the particular phrasing. That meant that one of Albie or his siblings had had a child, though that seemed unbelievable. At least it almost certainly wasn't Albie and Maria. Try as she had, she'd never particularly liked her and had found Albie's interest in the werewolf rather strange. "But... Who? When?" she asked.

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]albie_potter
2022-01-05 10:34 pm UTC (link)
“Yup. I found out a few days ago that I have a son.” Albie shook his head, the idea of being a father had settled into his brain over the previous days, but it didn’t yet feel completely natural. That would come, he hoped, and he was secretly looking forward to Ori maybe calling him dad one day.

“Hang on.” He retrieved his phone from his pocket, always happy to show off pictures of Orion even just as Uncle Albie. Ori in his Christmas outfit giving his mum’s round tummy a hug was his new lockscreen. “Orion. We sort of solved a two-year-old mystery this week.”

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]lucymaybefierce
2022-01-05 10:38 pm UTC (link)
Lucy blinked at the announcement, somehow sounding casual despite it being the biggest bombshell. "What?!" she practically shrieked, blanching a moment later as a couple heads turned their way. "Sorry," she mumbled a beat later, hoping no one else would come bother them before she got more details.

"Oh. My. God," she breathed as she looked at the picture. "You… and Lyra… You’re the mystery man from that party?" Good god, she'd helped Lyra hide that pregnancy their seventh year! She loved her and the little toddler monster, and she could hardly believe her own cousin was Orion's father! "She didn't think she'd ever figure out who his father was. To think! You've been right here the whole time!"

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]albie_potter
2022-01-05 10:46 pm UTC (link)
Despite the casual delivery of the news, Albie’s gaudy exterior hid the nerves that surfaced underneath. People were going to judge him, he knew that. Hell, he’d judged Lyra’s mystery baby daddy plenty of times over the last couple of years. Every barb he’d directed at the unknown man was now jabbing silently into his heart; he desperately wanted to be a good dad to Orion since he couldn’t erase two years of not knowing.

“And she’s my Mystery Blonde.” It was all so stupid now that he said it aloud. They should have figured it out ages ago but the idea of him and Lyra? That was too foreign to contemplate. “It wasn’t even Lyra who figured it out in the end. I don’t know if Juliet Nott just has some weird intuition or something but…” Albie shrugged. He needed to send her a gift or something maybe? “We got it confirmed the other day.”

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]lucymaybefierce
2022-01-05 10:49 pm UTC (link)
How had they not put two and two together ages ago? Though Lucy had not actually gone to the party in question and so hadn't seen Albie there as well, she'd heard bits about both of their mystery hook ups over the years to justify having at least an inkling of what had happened.

When he brought up Juliet Nott, her brows furrowed. She didn't know the other woman well at all, but she'd met her briefly a couple of times recently, at the Montgomery-Knottingly wedding most notably, but she hadn't noticed anything particularly about her, though she did know that the Malfoys and Notts were close. "Wait, some random woman told you you're Orion's father?" she asked, just a touch confused. "Was she there that night? Did she see you two together or something? But why would she have waited so long to say something?" she wondered aloud.

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]albie_potter
2022-01-05 10:51 pm UTC (link)
“She’s friends with Lyra. And… your guess is as good as mine?” Albie’s brow furrowed as he tried to remember exactly what had prompted Juliet to bring the subject up. He’d been too stunned by the potential revelation to even remember which book had been read to the kids. “Me and Scor took Ori to this story thing at Flourish and Blotts and we got talking afterwards. No idea if she was at the party.” He didn’t remember much about the party, which was how Ori came into the picture in the first place.

He took another look at Ori before putting his phone away. “I’m not thinking about it too much. The important thing is I know now.”

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]lucymaybefierce
2022-01-05 10:53 pm UTC (link)
That seemed to be a healthy way of approaching it, though Lucy was certain the mystery would linger in the back of her mind. Being out of work was not doing anything to curb her tendency of overthinking and trying to fully understand any- and everything. "I suppose so," she agreed lightly.

She was happy for her friend, for Lyra had been tremendously upset at the thought of both her children not knowing their fathers, and now Orion would know his (not that he'd not known Albie, but it would be in the correct context now!) and the new baby would know their father from the start. Lyra was a wonderful mother, but she knew how important this had been to her friend.

"Are you excited to be a dad, then?" she asked, a touch of her own insecurity leaking through her voice, those little fears about how she would handle motherhood still not completely quelled.

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]albie_potter
2022-01-05 10:54 pm UTC (link)
Lucy’s question gave him pause. “Yeah. And terrified. It’s like I’ve got this massive responsibility just dumped on me all at once. Even though I know him and love him it’s just… huge.” Albie felt word vomit coming on. “I had days to prepare for fatherhood, not months, and I still don’t know how it’s all going to work out with me helping to look after him and everything.” Lyra’s voice was the most important in that discussion and she had her hands full preparing for the new baby which would change things for the family even more.

“And it’s not just him, y’know? Finding out changes my relationship with Lyra.” He sounded wistful now. “And Scor.” Could things ever really be the same again?

He gave Lucy a wry smile. “Looks like we’re in an exclusive little club.”

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]lucymaybefierce
2022-01-05 10:59 pm UTC (link)
She looked at him as he rambled a bit, feeling a sudden surge of gratitude that she would have so long to get used to the idea of a baby before it joined the world. "You'll figure it out," she assured him, confident that he and Lyra would work out a custody arrangement that would work for both of them.

How would those relationships change? It would be interesting to see how it all played out, she rather thought.

Nudging him with her elbow, she said, "At least it's good company." Would their little club grow in the coming months? Years? It was bizarre to ponder. "And at least I'm not the first after all," she added wryly. She'd despised the thought of being the first of the cousins to have a baby, considering she was one of the youngest of them.

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]albie_potter
2022-01-05 11:02 pm UTC (link)
“Yeah, it is. And even if you’re not the first, you’ll probably be the best,” Albie joked. “You always were better than me at everything.” Being something of a disappointment had always been a sort of badge of honour for Albie, everyone in the family always so sure that he was capable of so much more. But he’d managed to knock up his best friend’s sister when she’d barely been of age. Merlin, he needed to make changes.

“And there’s my new little sister to add to the mix, which is still so weird to think about.” He hadn’t felt ready for a sibling, let alone a son of his own. “Nan’s going to be in her element. Just imagine all the tiny knitwear.”

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]lucymaybefierce
2022-01-05 11:06 pm UTC (link)
The scoff was automatic, though she knew she deserved it. As much as Albie had built a reputation of disappointment, Lucy had built hers on achievement, and she desperately wanted to believe that she would be just as brilliant in this venture. "Only because you didn't want to bother trying," she pointed out, giving him a shrewd look. A Slytherin whose ambition it was to underachieve was mind-boggling to her, but she'd never given him too hard a time about it.

"Oh my god, right! I can't even imagine!" She was so thankful her own mum was through her baby-making years. "I do love Nan's sweaters though," she admitted, tugging on the extra long hem of the one she was wearing. And she could admit she was a little excited to see what her grandmother would make her own little baby.

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]albie_potter
2022-01-05 11:09 pm UTC (link)
He laughed. “Eh, trying is for goody two shoes.” Albie grinned at Lucy. He was generally happy in his life, even if he wasn’t living up to his so-called potential. That was his real ambition in life, just to be happy. He didn’t need fame and riches or a fancy job title, none of those things had ever appealed to him. Climbing a ladder to a higher office or getting certificates to stick on a wall wasn’t going to give him satisfaction. Albie would leave that sort of thing to other people. “I’m trying to picture a world where I’m like you or Lily.” He smiled sweetly. “At least this way I make the rest of you look better.”

Although Albie hadn’t worn his most recent one today, he also appreciated the handmade gifts. This year, his had been the most horrendous shade of eye-burning neon green and he loved it. “Maybe she’ll do matching family ones next year.”

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]lucymaybefierce
2022-01-05 11:15 pm UTC (link)
She scrunched up her nose and stuck her tongue out at him briefly. "The world can't handle too many like me. Probably for the best." Not that she thought Albie would be competition for her if he did decide to become more ambitious in his career. She wasn't particularly worth competing with at the moment, considering she'd been out of work for over a month.

"Ooh, maybe!" How strange that was to imagine, Nan making matching sweaters for them and their kids! "It'll be even more wild and hectic here next year." She could remember when they were small, with so many cousins about, and she was glad that her baby would have Orion at least, even if none of the other cousins or Molly decided to start reproducing soon.

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]albie_potter
2022-01-05 11:17 pm UTC (link)
Lucy’s enthusiasm for the idea of matching family outfits – or at least the fact that she didn’t outright dismiss it – made Albie chuckle. She was going to be one of those ones who sent out family photo Christmas cards or be a mummy blogger or something, he could just see it.

“Yeah, probably.” Would he be able to bring Orion next year? That was another thing they would have to sort out, Albie realised, along with a whole host of other things. Maybe he could even bring Lyra and Scor to the Burrow, like Molly had brought her friends this year. He was going to have to start making a list of things he needed to consider - clearly sitting with Lucy was already rubbing off on him. “I kind of like the wild and hectic, though. Makes me feel at home.”

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]lucymaybefierce
2022-01-05 11:19 pm UTC (link)
Lucy smiled at the admission. "Yeah? Me too," she said. Although she did prefer things calm at times, wild and hectic would probably always feel like home. Probably stemmed from growing up in the Percy branch of the Weasley family, which she always imagined was a bit more mellow than her cousins' branches.

"I think I'm going to get some cocoa. Fancy anything?" she offered, the craving hitting her rather suddenly. Good god, was this how her pregnancy was going to go? Sudden cravings and an inability to ignore them?

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Re: Albie and Lucy
[info]albie_potter
2022-01-05 11:20 pm UTC (link)
Albie frowned ever so slightly as he considered. “Yeah, cocoa sounds good.” As much as he’d eaten today, he could always find room for chocolate - especially on Christmas Day. “Cheers, Luce.”

He flashed his cousin a lazy grin. “I’ll save you a seat. When you get back you can tell me all about Jaimeson.” The barman in him knew there had to be a story there and he was dying to hear it.

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