STARS | r. lupin (1)

CHAPTER TWELVE

WHEN ALTHEA WAS AWOKEN, IT was only four in the morning. It was Christmas day, of course, but sleep came before presents.

"WAKE UP LITTLE SHITS, IT'S CHRISTMAS!" Sirius walked around the room clapping his hands together loudly.

"Sod off!" Althea threw one of her many pillows at the boy in a poor attempt to shut him up.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Thea." Remus said sadly. "Because it's Christmas!" He yelled in her ear and she shoved him off the mattress.

"Shut up." she grabbed the pillow from under her own head and used it to block her ears. Aubrey plucked it from between her hands and bent down to yell in Althea's ear.

"GET UP!"

"Alright, alright, I'm getting up." she glared at the rest of the group who were all hovering over her and pushed herself off her mattress. "Petites merdes*."

"Hello to you, too." Reina grinned.

"Stooop, I'm already awake, just..." Althea pulled on a Christmas jumper. "Stop talking."

As they walked down the staircase, Remus pulled Althea by the arm and pulled her aside. "Out of curiosity, did you get me a present? 'Cause I got you one, and it'd be weird if you didn't."

"I don't know why you felt that you had to pull me aside to ask me that, but yes, I did." she crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow, trying to hide the fact that she felt slightly flattered that he thought of her.

"No need for the snark, it's just a question." he rolled his eyes playfully

"Oh, please, that's not snark." she narrowed her eyes, smirking. "That is not even a drop of my usual snark. It's Christmas. I'm going easy on you."

"Oh, thank you." he clutched his heart and wiped a fake tear from his eye.

"It's too early for this." she mumbled and joined her siblings and friends in the living room.

Thalia tugged at Althea's sleeve, Aaron by her side. "Can we open our presents now?" Althea looked at the kitchen, where the parents were chatting. She was tempted to say no, but she didn't want to disappoint her little siblings.

"Sure," she smiled warmly and Aaron grinned, dragging his sister along with him to a large pile of present that they ripped open without a second thought. Althea shook out her head and let out a quiet laugh.

"Are you guys ready for presents?" Sirius grinned and gestured to all the small packages under the tree in the living room.

"Yeah, one second." Aubrey stood up and took a few steps closer to the kitchen, before yelling, "MUM, DAD, PRESENTS!"

"Yes, yes, we're coming." was all she received in response. Aubrey shrugged and sat down in front of the tree.

"On the count of three?" Caroline suggested. The group shuffled closer to the presents and readied themselves.

"One." James started.

"Two," Althea continued.

"Three!" Sirius yelled.

The first present Althea spotted with her name on it in black sharpie was small and rectangular. She carefully opened it, being sure to not rip the wrapping paper (it bothered her to rip such pretty packaging). It was, unsurprisingly, a book in a green cover. However, intricate patterns were carved into the spine in gold and the pages already yellowed. Little women, Althea read on the cover.

"Who got me the book?" she asked, carefully observing it. "It looks ancient."

"That's because it's a first edition," Reina smiled.