Life After Death - An Erica Black Continuation (4)

Fifty Four

"Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Ring the Hogwarts bell
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Cast a Christmas spell"  Sang Charlotte loudly before her twin took over;

"Have a wondrous wizard Christmas
Have a merry Christmas Day
Move around the sparkling fire
Have a merry Christmas Day" Willow Black piped up, her voice sweet and soft compared to her sister and closely resembled their mother's elegant tones.

"Find a broomstick in your stocking
See the magic on display
Join the owl's joyous flocking
On this merry Christmas Day" Remus and Teddy Lupin and the Black brothers chorused in, a jumble of voices varying in pitch and tone.

"Ding dong, ding dong
Ring the Hogwarts bell
(Ring the Hogwarts bell)
Ding dong, ding dong
Cast a Christmas spell
Ding dong, ding dong" Everyone chanted enthusiastically.

"Make the Christmas morning bright
fly high across the sky
light the Christmas night" Regulus Black continued, his voice alone smooth and deep.

"Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Ring the Hogwarts bell
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas" Erica sang softly, bringing the song to an end.

Everyone, The twins, their mother, Remus and Teddy Lupin, Sirius and Regulus Black, sat around the fireplace in the third floor living room. Teddy, Lottie and Willow sat on the floor roasting marshmallow on the flames whilst the others engaged in low, hushed conversation.
"Who's coming tomorrow?" Asked Regulus, looking up to his niece who smiled as she replied,
"Well, I invited everyone, I thought I'd take the weight of Molly's shoulders this year."
"That's.. over thirty people Erica. Are you mad? Molly is a saint but there's no way you could recreate what she does.." Muttered Remus, looking at his God-daughter, stunned.
"I don't intend to. This won't be a Burrow Christmas, it'll be a Black manor Christmas."
"You're due in what, a month?" asked Sirius, looking at his daughters bump, she nodded,
"Something like that, yeah.. I'm due on the 16th of January." She explained, wrapping a protective are around her belly. Her father nodded thoughtfully before speaking,
"Are you sure all this stress is a good idea?" Erica laughed at his question.
"What do you mean? All the preparations are already complete, I simply need to cook and host."
"For thirty people.." Remus jumped in. His God-daughter shrugged.
"I'm not saying it'll be easy, I'm simply saying it won't be as hard as I think you're imagining it'll be."
"Fair enough"
"So that's.. Everyone?" Sirius asked, his row furrowed in concern. Erica hesitated before answering;
"Almost, Draco and Astoria won't be attending and.. Scorpius can't quite seem to make up his mind. I told him to go to his father's for Christmas. We never know if he'll get another with his mother. He wasn't sure. He is very angry at Draco.. I have plenty of food for him if he decides to stop by. He knows he is always welcome in my home."

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Erica Black woke up as the sun came through her bedroom window, she pulled herself from the warmth of her bed and wrapped herself in a robe, glancing out the window and taking a moment to appreciate the snow of the Scottish countryside at dawn. She walked up the stairs to the third floor living room they had spent the previous evening in and lit the fire place, waving her wand to neaten up the space and then wandered downstairs to start the food, stopping on the way to peek into the twin's bedroom.

Once everything was in the oven and cooking, Erica wandered into the library, finding her oldest daughter, lost deep in her work.
"Merry Christmas, Wills" She smiled, leaning against the doorframe,  Willow looked up from her notebook to grin,
"Merry Christmas Mum" she nodded, her eyes meeting her mothers for only a brief moment before returning to her research.
"People will be arriving at ten, so can we make sure everything is away and you're ready by then?"  Erica asked her daughter, not wanting to keep her from her work, which she so clearly adored, for much longer than necessary.
"Sure thing mum"
"Thank you darlin'" The witch smiled as she left, heading back to the kitchen to pour two cups of tea.

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She climbed the two flights of stairs to her God-father's bedroom, knocking and barely waiting for a reply before bursting in. She placed the two cups on the bedside table and climbed into bed beside the tired looking man.

"Merry Christmas Mooney" She sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder, lifting her mug to her lips and taking a sip from it. He yawned and squeezed her closer to him, "Merry Christmas Pup, what time is it?"
"7-ish I think." She shrugged, after glancing down to check her watch only to realise she wasn't wearing it. Remus thought for a long moment, before speaking;
"And everyone is arriving at ten?"
"Yeah, something like that. Willow's awake now but the other's are asleep still." Erica nodded,
"Makes sense, Sirius was never much of an early riser." They both laughed, thinking of their friend and father over the decades and how true the man's statement was.
"Drink your tea, we'd best get the day started soon Mooney" Erica smiled, passing the mug to her God-father as she crawled out of his bed, re-securing her robe around her waist as she spoke
"Okay Pup, I won't be too long" He called after her.

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The entirety of the extended Weasley family sat around the large, formal dining table of Black Manor. The affair had taken substantial planning and in the end, Erica Black had come to the conclusion that there was simply no way to fit the family around the Manor's usual dining room table and that this situation called for something a little more specific. She had spent the last week stood in the corner of the vast events hall calling orders as the other members of the household decorated and moved tables and chairs. She had been reprimanded firmly once Sirius had caught her; his seven and a half month pregnant daughter, pushing wooden tables across a ballroom. She didn't have the heart to tell them that she could've completed the task with ease if she had used magic but her wand had been left upstairs, nor that they could also have been using magic. The thought hadn't seemed to of crossed their minds which she found amusing.
Now, there were Fourty-five witches and wizards sat around a large group of tables, nine, each with six seats around them and a large, buffet style, table of food in the middle.