Lions Inside¹ | James Potter

twenty-five

-//-

(Jingle Bell Rock//Bobby Helms)

24th of December, Tuesday, 1974

Andrea woke up late on the morning of Christmas Eve. She stretched and yawned loudly, snuggling into her cosy sheets. Her mother had changed her regular yellow ones for red and white flannel ones, in support of Christmas. Andrea turned her head and looked out her window, the white, Winter Wonderland outside looking frosty and beautiful. 

Christmas and winter were definitely her second favourite time of the year, after warm summer days. She hated the cold, but the chances of thunder and lightning were a lot smaller in the winter months. 

But her calm morning didn't last long.

"Get up, lazy butt!" her older brother, Gian, yelled through the door. The older Russo siblings had arrived at the Mansion the day before and Andrea was thrilled. Even though her older siblings were a lot older than her, she loved having them around. 

She was lucky to have James around through most of her childhood, so she wasn't always left behind from the other three. "Svegliati, pulce!" Romeo, her older sister's husband shouted through the door.

"It's the holidays, piss off!" Andrea grumbled back, covering her head with her duvet. She heard her door open. "Ah, patatina. Still, in bed, I see," Romeo tutted. Andrea stayed quiet under her sheets. Jadah, the oldest sibling, had been up most of the night with her 10-month-old, Grady, most of the night so Andrea assumed she wasn't there. 

But as multiple people jumped onto Andrea's bed, she could tell Romeo and Gian weren't alone.
"Oomph," Andre grunted as someone fell on top of her. Her duvet fell away from her face, and she saw a grinning Rico on top of her. 

"Aren't you a little too old for this?" she grunted, trying to buck him off her. "Aren't you a little too pretty to need this much beauty sleep?" he retorted back. Andrea recoiled and Rico looked confused.

"Did you just give a comeback that was a compliment?" Gian laughed at him. "I think I did. Must be all that time I've spent around Romeo lately. My brain cells are disintegrating." That earned him a whack in the head from Romeo. 

The wake-up crew consisted of her two older brothers, Rico and Gian, her sister's husband Romeo and Rico's girlfriend Vanessa. Gian's boyfriend, Luke, had to stay in New York for the holidays so Andrea wouldn't be seeing him until next summer. 

"Ok. I'm up, I'm up. Get off." In true 24th tradition, all the Russo siblings and their significant others headed downstairs in their Christmas pyjamas. With their many different traditions and cultures being intertwined into their family, Christmas had changed a bit over the years.

The Italy trips were always full-on Italian Christmas, but when they stayed home, in New York and now in Suffolk, it was a little mix of everything. Andrea entered the kitchen with her siblings to smell bacon, eggs and coffee. "Morning, Papi," she smiled, hugging her dad tightly. "Merry Christmas."

"Buon Natale, cocca," Marco greeted back, kissing his youngest's cheek. "You slept in quite a bit." 

Andrea grumbled. "Well, I finally got to sleep later than 6 AM. Sue me for taking advantage," she muttered, grabbing mugs and pouring coffee for everyone.

"The school doesn't let you sleep longer than 6 AM?" Rico questioned, surprised. Andrea shook her head. "School does. James doesn't." Gian choked on his coffee, putting himself in a coughing fit. "And what, dare I ask, is the Potter boy doing in your room every morning?" 

Andrea rolled her eyes, patting Gian's back to help him breathe again. "He's not, dummy. He barges in to wake me in the mornings to drag me out and practice." "Practice what, exactly?" her mother asked with raised eyebrows.