𝐏𝐘𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐀 | Remus Lupin (2)

(𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝟗) christmas at the burrow

☽☽☽

THE BURROW WAS DECORATED in festive decorations. It was warm inside with a blaring fire that cast a crackling orange light over the carpet. Athena and Remus were sat beside it. Remus was staring deep into the flames as though he wasn't hearing the talk or the Christmas music playing at all

They were all supposed to be listening to a Christmas broadcast by Mrs. Weasley's favorite singer, Celestina Warbeck, whose voice was warbling out of the large wooden wireless set.

There was a large Christmas tree in the corner that didn't really fit into the room. The stem at the top was curved onto the ceiling and the angel had therefore been placed on the front. Other than that, the decorations were entirely mismatched. There was no single colour scheme and many of the ornaments seemed to be hand made.

Nearly all of the Weasleys were there except for Percy (who was still distancing himself from his family) and Charlie (who was in Romania). Harry was sat next to Ron over on the sofa and Elle was sat between the twins laughing about some joke that they had told.

The only other guest was Bill's new fiancé Fleur Delacour. Athena had recognised her as being the triwizard champion from Beauxbatons. She was a stunning girl with a sheet of silvery hair and crystal smooth skin. Apparently she had met Bill while working an internship at Gringotts and since then they had fallen in love. Athena believed they made an especially beautiful couple but she wasn't sure Molly agreed. Athena wasn't sure what it was about Fleur that Molly resented but she'd been giving her odd glances all evening.

Fleur, who seemed to find Celestina very dull, was talking so loudly in the corner that a scowling Mrs. Weasley kept pointing her wand at the volume control, so that Celestina grew louder and louder.

Under cover of a particularly jazzy number called "A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love," Fred and George started a game of Exploding Snap with Elle. Ron kept shooting Bill and Fleur covert looks, as though hoping to pick up tips. However while all of this was going on, Remus kept staring at the fire as though entranced.

Athena had already tried to talk to him but this hadn't lasted long. It was evident he was thinking about going away which was no surprise really. It was drawing closer and closer and soon he'd be gone again. While Remus was thinking about this too much, Athena was trying to completely block it from her mind.

Oh, come and stir my cauldron,

And if you do it right

I'll boil you up some hot, strong love

To keep you warm tonight

"We danced to this when we were eighteen!" said Mrs. Weasley, wiping her eyes on her knitting. "Do you remember, Arthur?"

"Mphf?" said Mr. Weasley, whose head had been nodding over the satsuma he was peeling. "Oh yes ... marvelous tune..."

Arthur was only just sitting behind Remus and Athena who were enjoying the most warmth from the fire. He looked tired and a little old but joyful none the less. Athena noticed he looked over to Harry who was sat beside him. It seemed Ron was ignoring his friend now half entranced by the exploding snap game that the twins and Elle were having and half amazed by Fleur who talked with incredible delicacy.