Christmas Is With You

18

Today's song: The Twelve Days of Christmas https://open.spotify.com/track/53AbwlWIQM3pc8j1KXWKsb?si=7GGjheWERiit1VH5hm08Mg

"Mum?"
"Hmmm?"
Cecily and Minerva were sitting by the fire, Mina was playing with her almost adopted daughter's hair, it was all so very cosy.
"What gifts did Pop give you? I mean... What gifts did you like best?" Cecily was thinking hard about what to give her for Christmas, she wanted her gift to be absolutely perfect and for that, she had to do research.
"Well, Darling, gift giving is Pop's love language, so I received a lot. Let me think..."
"It's my love language too!" Cecily exclaimed excitedly
"You take right after your Pop." Mina said gently, she knew how much it meant to Cecily to have a connection to them, to be told that she was like them. And really, Cecily beamed with pride.
"So anyway, gifts from your Pop... Hmmm. What do you want to know?" Albus gave her a lot of gifts, so Minerva didn't really know where to start.

"What was the first gift he gave you?"
Minerva smiled, thinking back to their first Christmas. It seemed so long ago now.
"A music box. Accio!" The box came from one of the shelves, landing softly in Mina's hands.
"Here it is, it plays the Twelve Days of Christmas." Mina wound it up and put it on the table, the fire's glow reflected off the golden decorations of the music box and in the middle there was a tiny lady dancing.
"It's magnificent." Cecily whispered. She watched the box until the music stopped, only then she turned back to Minerva. "He really does give amazing gifts. That box must have been expensive."
"Oh that's not the most expensive gift he gave me. Your Pop is very generous, he always says money is for spending." Mina laughed softly, Cecily looked almost shocked. She still couldn't imagine that they just had money to spend like that.
"So what was the most expensive gift?" She asked, even though she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
"This house. It was the Christmas after we got married. He... He wanted us to have a home that was truly ours instead of just living at an apartment in Hogwarts."
"I understand." Cecily said quietly. "I think having a home is a great gift." Mina gave her a hug.
"You have a home now, my darling."
"Hmm. What other gifts did you get? Did he ever make you something?" Cecily quickly changed the topic. She knew she couldn't possibly keep up with Albus and his splendid, expensive gifts, but maybe she would appreciate something handmade?
"Well he tried to knit me a scarf once, but that didn't go well, I spent most of Christmas day untangling him, he was trapped in a cocoon of wool when I came downstairs on Christmas Morning." Mina grinned. That had been a good year. "I love handmade gifts, but your Pop has no talent in that area. He's trying and I appreciate it. But that wasn't the most surprising thing I found on Christmas morning." Now Cecily was intrigued. What could be more surprising than the headmaster of the school, wrapped in wool under the Christmas tree.
"What was it, what was it?" She was slowly relaxing and forgetting about her gift related worries. She loved hearing stories from Mina, it meant that she trusted her enough to tell her about the relationship with Albus and everything. Being trusted tremendously helped Cecily with her self esteem.
"That was probably Snowflake. My first horse since I was a child. Oh he was magnificent, a pure bred Arabian Horse. He was wonderful, a joy to ride, a joy to work with." Mina sighed. She missed him.
"Why was he a surprise, you still have a horse."
"Yes, but your dad used to be scared of horses. And still he went to get me one. Over time he got used to them and learned to trust them, but he wouldn't go near snowflake, at least not in the beginning." Mina chuckled, she remembered Albus' first time on a horse.
"I'm not scared of horses!"
"No you're not. That's where you take after me, my love. You're definitely mummy's girl and I am so proud." Mina kissed Cecily's forehead and then carefully moved a strand of hair from Cecily's face.
One of her rings sparkled mysteriously in the fire's light.
"That's another gift, probably the most meaningful one your Pop ever gave me." Mina said, deep in thought. "He proposed to me with this ring, it's the Dumbledore family ring. It used to be his mother's, his sister died before it could be passed on to her. So Albus got it and he proposed to me and I haven't taken it off ever since." Cecily carefully touched it, the metal was warm from Mina's hand, the stones glittered.
"It's beautiful." She whispered.
"One day you will wear it, my darling." This made Cecily blush. "Oh don't look at me like that. This is a family heirloom and you're our daughter. One day this will be yours." Mina kissed her again but Cecily didn't want to think of that one day. Her wearing this ring would mean loss. Right now she couldn't bear thinking about yet another loss, so she changed the topic and Mina told her about other gifts she had received over the years.
Gifts like the telescope, the hideous vase that just wouldn't break, no matter how often Mina "accidentally" dropped it, the chess set he had given her one year, based off their colleagues, he'd been the king, she was the queen, the photo album of pictures she didn't even know existed and the self-refilling quill he had given her when she was completing her groundbreaking research (he always knew what she needed most, how did he do that?). Cecily had listened to it all, but she was still unsure about what to give to Mina. Nothing she could think of could even come close to all those thoughtful, carefully chosen gifts. Why did Albus have to set such a high standard? But she had one last idea.
Cecily was a reasonably good artist, maybe she could draw Mina receiving the gift that was her favourite.
"And what was your favourite gift, mum? The best one you ever got?" The light was very dim, but Cecily thought she saw a tear in the corner of Minerva's eyes.
"The best gift I ever got was last year when Pop said you could spend Christmas with us. When he said it would be okay for you to stay. Forever. I always wanted a daughter. Cecily, you're my greatest gift." Mina pulled Cecily even closer, she didn't want the girl to see that she was on the verge of tears.
"I love you, mum." Cecily whispered. Maybe she didn't need to give her something big. Or anything at all. Maybe they just need each other.