A Different Life

The next day, Beth and Ron went to Hermione's house. Fred and George remained at the Black home to talk with Sirius and Remus. Last evening, at dinner, the twins discovered that Sirius and Remus were the Marauders and had been over the moon about it. They explained that the Marauders were their idols and revealed that they had possession of the Marauder's Map, ever since their first year, when they'd snuck out out of Filch's office. Percy had been disapproving when he heard this, but since the Map wasn't dangerous, he had kept his mouth shut after his first protest.

The trio talked and then watched two movies. Ron was fascinated by the telly, VCR, and videos and asked several questions about them. The girls couldn't really explain how the telly and VCR worked, but they told Ron what they did know and he filed away the information to tell his father, who was obessed with everything Muggle, later.

That evening, letters arrived from Neville and Susan, who said they were accepting the invitation to the Boxing Day party Natalia and Sirius were hosting. A brief and curt note came from the Malfoys, saying that they weren't coming, especially to a party held by a 'blood traitor' and a 'mudblood'. Sirius had torn the note to tiny pieces and shouted for a full five minutes over his wife being called such a degrading name. He would have continued ranting longer if Remus and Natalia hadn't managed to calm him down.

A separate letter came him Draco. It read, "Guys, I'm sorry I can't attend your party. I really wish I could. It'd be more fun than attending the Ministry party my father is dragging me to. I also apologize on behalf of my father, because I saw the refusal he wrote and know he called Mrs. Black-Harper the 'm' word.

Beth, I've taken your advice and told my father that the Sorting Hat saw that my intelligence took precedence over my ambition and cunning. He reluctantly accepted it, and was very pleased when I dropped hints that my views on Muggleborns and Muggles didn't change. I had to use the 'm' word, or else he'd get suspicious, and I felt disgusted when I did it. As soon as I got away from my father, I rinsed out my mouth, though it didn't make me feel any better about using such a bad word.

Is your house connected to the Floo Network? If it is, please send me the location. I'm not promising anything, but if I can manage it, I'll Floo over and spend an hour or two after Boxing Day. I'll also ask Dobby, the family house-elf, to deliver your presents on Christmas Eve. Don't be shocked by his appearance. My parents don't treat him nicely. I used to behave the same way, but ever since becoming friends with you, I realized that it was wrong. I'm nice to him now whenever my parents aren't around. I want to set him free so he won't have to deal with my parents anymore, but Dobby said that now that I'm nice to him, he's willing to stay for my sake. He also added that if he was gone, I wouldn't have anyone to talk to at home or deliver packages for me. Since he does have a point, I'm not going to go against my parents and set Dobby free, at least for now. Well, have a Merry Christmas and I'll write again. I might have Dobby deliver them, if my parents get suspicious by how I'm sending out my owl so much.

Your friend,

Draco"

Beth immediately wrote a reply, telling him that he had to say "Gryffin Aeyrie, Roselea Street" to get to her house and the current password was "Junior Marauders." Ron and Hermione added some things, mainly making Draco feel better about not being able to attend the party. In the postscript, Beth added that Sirius's house-elf, Kreacher, would be delivering their presents. If Draco wasn't in his room at the time, Kreacher had orders to leave the presents under the bed and then return.

On Christmas Eve, the Grangers came over. Mrs. Granger and Natalia spent the afternoon in the kitchen, cooking. The kids decorated a gingerbread castle that looked a great deal like Hogwarts and then watched "A Christmas Carol" on the telly.

An hour before dinner, a house-elf dressed in a filthy pillowcase appeared in the living room, carrying three presents. He bowed and said, "Dobby is bringing Master Draco's presents." They thanked Dobby and asked him to give Draco their thanks. When the house-elf left, Hermione expressed her horror at how he had been dressed. Beth reminded her that house-elves couldn't wear clothes unless they were set free, but did agree that Dobby shouldn't have to wear such a filthy pillowcase. After all, the Hogwarts house-elves had on clean tea towels draped neatly like togas. But then, Helga Hufflepuff had made Hogwarts a haven for house-elves and ensured that they would be treated well.

After enjoying a delicious dinner, everyone bundled up and went outside, singing Christmas carols throughout the neighborhood. They were joined by two of the families from the apartment building.

When an hour had passed, the caroling ended. The Grangers, Blacks, and Weasleys returned to the Black home and had hot chocolate and eggnog with biscuits. At ten o'clock, the Grangers returned home.

On Christmas morning, Beth woke up very early. Christmas and Easter were her favorite holidays, and not just due to the religious signifigance. Unfortunately, her mother would not be pleased at being roused at five-thirty, so Beth had to contain her excitement and wait. She read the book A Christmas Carol until six-thirty, when she could no longer contain her excitement. She woke everyone up and then rushed downstairs. Only Ron and the twins were as excited as her and didn't mind being woken up early. Everyone gathered in the living room to open presents.

Beth opened her first present, which was from her mother. It contained a set of ruby dress robes, a gold chain necklace with a ruby dangling from it, a pair of ruby clip-on earrings, and a gold bracelet set with rubies. Next was Sirius's present, a box of prank items and an Invisibility Cloak that had belonged to Beth's father. Remus's present was two books, one on Defence and the other on useful jinxes and hexes. Hermione's present was the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Ron's present was a box of chocolate frogs. Neville had sent a book on North American Quidditch teams and Susan's gift was a bottle of nail polish that would paint each of your nails in different color and a regular one that was sparkly red. Draco had sent a combination music and jewelry box. It was made of mahogany and silver plated and studded with jewels on the sides, with a design of roses on the lid. Fred and George had given her the Marauder's Map and a small box of trick sweets and Percy a quill pen. Mrs. Weasley had sent a Weasley sweater, knitted in a light green, and a box of fudge. Hagrid had sent a wooden flute that he had obviously whittled himself. Finally was the present from the Drs. Granger, a watch and a purse.

The Weasleys were surprised that Natalia and Sirius had given them presents and thanked them for the dress robes. Percy added his thanks for the book that would help him prepare for his OWLS, the twins for an old journal that the Marauders had written down their prank ideas, and Ron for the book Flying with the Cannons.

There was a round of thanks and Beth asked the twins why they'd given her the Marauder's Map. "Well, as you're the daughter of one Marauder, the adopted daughter of another, and almost goddaughter of a third, we felt you needed it more than us," explained George.

"Also, Sirius and Remus created a copy of it for us," added Fred. "So we're giving the original to you. We're sure the Junior Marauders will get plenty of use out of it."

After that, everyone went upstairs to put their gifts away, get dressed, and brush their teeths. Beth put all her jewelry in her new music/jewelry box and then got dressed in a red skirt and the new sweater.

After a delicious breakfast, everyone put on their coats and went to church to attend the Christmas service. When the service was over, Ron asked several questions pertaining to the birth of Jesus and God. There were witches and wizards who were religious, but the Weasleys weren't, so Ron was naturally curious. Percy asked a few questions also, but Fred and George weren't curious enough.

When they returned home, they had a light lunch, and then the kids spent the afternoon playing. At five o'clock was the large and excellent Christmas dinner. Beth stuffer herself with turkey, masked potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and a medly of vegetables. That was followed by dessert, flaming plum pudding, a cake in the shape of a Christmas tree, and an apple pie.

When dinner was over, Sirius and Natalia cleaned the dishes and put them away by magic and then everyone went to the living room, feeling stuffed.

The next day was spent in readying the house for the party. In the afternoon, everyone showered and then got dressed. Beth put on her new dress robes and jewelry, then did her black hair in a twist and applied the red nail polish Susan gave her. She also put on some lip gloss, but didn't add any other cosmetics as her mother didn't let her wear them yet.

Beth then went downstairs with Ron, who was wearing the navy blue dress robes that Natalia had given him. A few minutes later, the Grangers arrived. Hermione was wearing pale blue dress robes and her normally bushy hair was now smooth and done in a French braid. She had painted her nails with the pink nail polish Susan gave her, and had on lip gloss and the sapphire on gold chain that Natalia gave her. She was very pretty and Ron stared at her for a minute before he managed to stammer, "M-Merry Christmas, Mia. You l-look lovely."

"Thank you, Ron," said Hermione, smiling. "You look nice yourself."

The fireplace flared up and Neville tumbled out a second later. His grandmother stepped out seconds later and helped him up. Neville was wearing dress robes of burgundy red. After he greeted Sirius and Natalia, he found his friends and hapily greeted them. The fireplace flared again and then Ted, Andromeda, and Nymphadora Tonks arrived. Beth greeted them and introduced them to Ron and Neville.

A few more guests arrived, among them Susan, her parents, and her aunt Amelia. Susan was wearing pale geen robes and her auburn hair was in a French braid like Hermione's. All the guests had arrived when the fireplace flared up one more time. The adults didn't notice, as they were talking to each other, but Susan did. She got the attention of her friends and pointed.

The mouths of the five Junior Marauders fell open in shock as the sixth member, Draco Malfoy, tumbled out of the fireplace. He was dressed in dark green dress robes. "What are you doing here?" demanded Hermione as Draco got up and brushed the soot off from his robes. "I thought you weren't coming, Draco."

Draco grinned. "True, but this morning I thought of a way that I could come. I pretended to have a headache and that I wasn't feeling well so my parents wouldn't take me to the Ministry party. They decided that I could stay home and rest and they left for the party, leaving Dobby to keep an eye on me. Once they were gone, I got dressed and came here. I can only stay until ten-thirty, though. My parents are going to be home from the Ministry party at eleven, and I don't want them to find out I'm not in bed. Mother is sure to check up on me to see if I'm feeling better. Dobby will come here to tell me when it's time to leave."

"Well, we're glad you're here," said Beth. "This party wouldn't be as wonderful without you. Come on, I'll introduce you to my parents. Sirius wants to meet his cousin that's different from the rest of the family."

"Cousin?" asked Ron. "You mean Sirius and Draco are related?"

Beth nodded. "Draco's mother was born a Black and is Sirius's cousin. Unlike Aunt Dromeda, she married into a respectable family and wasn't disowned. Mum, Sirius, this is Draco Malfoy."

Sirius and Natalia turned. "Hello, Draco," said Natalia. "I'm happy to see that you made it to the party after all."

"How did you make it here?" asked Sirius. When Draco explained, Sirius grinned and said, "I did the same thing when my parents declined an invitation the Christmas party the Potters were holding. I pretended to be sick to get out going to the party my aunt and uncle were having at the same time and then went to the Potter party."

Draco chatted for a few minutes and then went upstairs with his friends. Beth showed and did her best to explain the Muggle stuff and they watched a show on the telly. After that, they played some games and then went downstairs to the kitchen where the kids would be having supper. When dinner was over, the Junior Marauders played some games.

Dobby appeared at ten-thirty to take Draco home. Beth lent him some of her Muggle books and she and others bid him good-bye. Draco hugged his friends, thanked Beth for lending him the books, and then let Dobby take him home using the house-elves' form of Apparation.

Half an hour later, Neville, Susan, and Hermione had to leave, and half an hour after that, the remaining guests had all left as well. Beth went to bed, having enjoyed the party and happy that Draco had found a way to attend after all.