Idiosyncrasy |Harry Potter

Chapter Twenty Three

Zakari was nestled in his bed on Christmas morning, very much like his mother, he was sound asleep, completely unaware of the activity going on in the house. Duncan had been cuddled up in a ball, resting into his back for warmth, when the corgi was alerted of noise happening outside of the bedroom. Rising to his feet to investigate, the service dog left the boy's side for a moment. But as he leaped off the bed and went crashing to the floor, he continuously would look over at the boy to assure that Zakari was still asleep.

When the child didn't stir, the dog used his nose to push the door open, only to see Roderick standing in the living room. His nub of a tail wagged in greeting as he padded his way over to greet the man. Immediately, he flopped on his side to receive his morning belly rub, allowing his tongue to hang out the side of his mouth and closing his eyes.

Eventually, the pampering came to a stop and the man moved on to enter Zakari's room. Duncan was quickly back on his feet to follow.

Zakari could feel a warm hand shaking him lightly before he opened his eyes slowly and lifted his head up from his pillow. He turned to see his father standing his bedside with a kind smile.

"Wake up." He signed to him before motioning to the door. It didn't take Zakari long to register that it was Christmas morning as his eyes widened and he moved to climb out of the bed hurriedly to follow his father outside of the bedroom.

To much of Zakari's surprise, his father was becoming his best friend, and was reaching the levels of closeness that he shared with his mother. However, his mother was still his number one. Nothing was going to change that anytime soon, but the more time that he spent with his father, it was as if the man hadn't been absent for over a decade. It was like he had been around all along because they got along so well. Even with the lack of signing, Zakari didn't find it all that bad. They were able to communicate with paper and ink, but Zakari was able to see the amount of effort his father put into trying to sign.

Although, Zakari had to admit, one of his favorite things about his dad was when he made a mistake with signing because it usually came out so silly that Zakari couldn't help but giggle in response. The fact that his father was putting in the effort was enough for the child, he didn't care if his father wasn't a hundred percent correct, just as long as he tried.

Roderick directed him over to a box covered in wrapping paper and offered him to open it. Zakari only hesitated because he didn't want his mother to miss out on opening the presents but Roderick urged him once more. He wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to open gifts especially since it was being offered more than once.

He sat down in front of the wrapped gift and began to pull off the paper, soon it was revealed that his father had gotten him a train set. He looked to his father with a bright grin and immediately pointed to the train set, wondering if they could put it together right away. His father seemed to have no problem with the request.

They sat together side by side and began to put the pieces of the track together. The pieces were able to be placed in anyway, and the track could even go upside down, much to the boy's delight. Eventually, the two were able to put together an elaborate track for the train to go on and Zakari couldn't help but giggle and laugh at the train moving about in all sorts of crazy directions.

Duncan made his way over at the bizarre train, sniffed at it, and suddenly bared his teeth before chasing the train around the track. Zakari giggled only to see his father tur his head. He turned his head as well and saw his mother standing and leaning against the wall, watching them in amusement.

Zakari pushed himself up quickly and ran over to his mother greeting her on the Christmas morning. But then his excitement took over as he began telling her all about the train.

"The train goes upside down and moves really fast!" He began to tell her all about the train which led his father to question what was going on. Once his mother answered, Zakari took hold of her hand and brought her over to sit with them and watch the train move about.

She sat in his father's lap and the three continued to watch as Duncan chased the train about.

Since his mother was awake, they were able to open up the remaining presents together. Zakari was given all of his presents first, and he had to admit that he was slightly alarmed by how many presents he had received that year. His mother usually got the items that Zakari requested, whether they were books or toys, but it seemed they had gone above and beyond that year with everything.

But then again, Zakari was unaware of just how much money his father had to his name. Even though the man had been locked away, the money to the Lestrange name belonged to him especially since the rest of the Lestrange family was locked away. He had access to the Gringotts' account upon his release. So the family would not be struggling for money anytime soon unless they planned on blowing through a fortune.

Books that he had requested and even some of them that he had eyed at one point were all waiting for him under the tree, including toys and clothing that his mother had picked out.

He looked to his parents, wondering if it was right that he had all the gifts before him.

"What is wrong?" His mother signed to him.

"There are a lot of gifts." Zakari replied. "All for me?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Most children wouldn't question the amount of gifts they would receive but Zakari had always been a special case as a child. His parents looked to him with a humored expression.

"You deserve it."