Chapter 6:
Christmas With the Potters
A/N: Yeah, I know, it's nowhere NEAR Christmas, but this chapter had to be written. This is one of the only chapters that is not 100% reality, but is based on an entirely different set of events.
Now that Matt and Dwight were friends, life had a more interesting approach for Charity. She discovered that having two best friends, both guys, was actually fun. They were "her guys," and with her perky personality and beauty, she was loved by them both. Unbeknownst to the group of friends, all of the Hogwarts instructors were watching them fondly, noticing the uncanny similarities between this trio and the original trio. Dwight, with his reddish brown hair and clueless personality could easily have been the apparition of Ron Weasley, Matt was the exact image of his father, complete with "survivor-mentality" of constant boldness, and Charity was the smartest student since Hermione Granger-Potter, although Charity was already beautiful in her first year, while Hermione had taken a few years to blossom… Whenever McGonagall saw Charity, Matt, and Dwight together, the firm corners of her mouth twitched slightly in a rare smile as she relived the nostalgia of Hogwarts past days.
Even though teachers are never supposed to have favorites, it often does happen. All of the instructors, excluding Snape, were especially excited on the days that they were to instruct the first year Gryffindors. Charity and Matt were always the top of the class, and though Dwight earned mediocre grades, his witty, ornery personality won the teachers' hearts. When the teachers enjoy teaching, the students enjoy learning, and before the trio knew it, it was time to head home for the Christmas holidays.
"I just adore winter!" Charity said one afternoon as they walked across the snowy grounds towards Hagrid's house. A snowflake fell in front of her and she leaned her head up towards heaven and caught it on her tongue. "Everything is just glorious!"
Dwight smiled and raised his eyebrows. "Glorious, eh? That's a funny way of putting it."
"It makes sense to me, Dwight. You just have no creativity." Matt said this with a smirk, knowing that Dwight was annoyed at the fact that he was somehow different from both Matt and Charity. Charity smiled and hooked on to Dwight's arm.
"It's not his fault he has the attention span of a goldfish. We love him anyway, but only because it's Christmas."
Dwight's ears turned red and he gave them a look of pretend frustration. "You two just wait! Whenever I am old enough to be a full wizard, well, watch your backs."
Charity rolled her eyes and ran ahead of the boys to Hagrid's little wooden hut, her light brown braids flying from underneath her blue beanie. She rapped smartly on the door until Hagrid opened it and stepped onto the porch.
"Why, hello there! What're you doin' down here at ole' Hagrid's house? It's a snowy day, you three should be having snow fights with yer friends."
"It was Matt's idea to come visit a friend."
Hagrid smiled and motioned for the three to follow him inside. The hut was warm and cozy, and before long all three of the friends were shedding their cloaks. Hagrid poured steaming cups of tea for them all before joining them from his perch on the old rocking chair.
"I take it you three are going home for the holidays."
Matt nodded and set his mug down. "What are you planning on doing, Hagrid?"
Hagrid shrugged and darted his eyes away. "Oh, now, I was gonna go see Grawp in France, but he has plans. So looks like it'll just be me here!"
Matt couldn't help but notice a sad note in the giant's voice. "Hagrid, Mum and Dad and Jeremiah and I, we were wondering if you wanted to come spend Christmas Eve with us. Charity and Dwight are coming, along with the Weasleys, and we'd love for you to come, too."
"Oh, you wouldn't be wanting old Hagrid spoilin' your holiday…" But a twinkle had entered his beetle eyes. After talking for the remainder of the afternoon, it was settled that Hagrid would be joining the Potters, Sullivans, Bells, and Weasleys for a huge Christmas Eve celebration.
The next morning, the Hogwarts Express rolled into the Kings' Cross Station. Harry, Hermione, and Jeremiah were there to pick up Matt. He said his good-byes to Dwight and Charity, with the assurance of seeing them in one week's time.
Matt loved Hogwarts, but it was nothing compared to being with his family. The Potters were a close-knit bunch, and Matt cherished every moment he got to spend with them. From the second Matt had stepped off of the train, Jeremiah had attached himself to Matt, and the brothers happily spent every day together, building snowmen, wrapping presents, or flying around on Harry's Quidditch pitch.
One snowy morning, the day before Christmas Eve, Matt and Jeremiah lay sprawled out on the floor in the den, playing wizard chess before a crackling fire. Ron had taught both boys how to play, and they could easily beat their father any day.
"Matt, what's it really like, being at Hogwarts?"
Matt thought for a moment, moved his queen, and looked at Jeremiah's chocolate eyes. "It's all right. The classes are okay, except for Potions, but Snape just hates our family. But Charity's showing him up. She has higher grades in there than even the Slytherins, and Snape hates her with a passion for it."
"You talk about Charity a lot."
Matt felt his face turning red. "She and Dwight are my best friends."
"Yeah, but you don't talk about Dwight as much. Checkmate."
Matt pursed his lips. "Well, she and her family, Dwight and his family, are coming over tonight and staying until tomorrow night. Of course I've been talking about her."
"Okay. So have you used the invisibility cloak or the marauder's map yet?"
Matt smiled and nodded. "This one time, me and Charity were going to spook Dwight with the invisibility cloak. We both got under it and were going to move stuff around in front of him, blow in his ear, you know, the usual. But right as we got near him Charity started sneezing, and then she tripped over a chair leg and landed in Dwight's lap, the invisibility cloak only covering her legs. So Dwight started screaming, Charity started screaming, and everyone in the dorms got really mad. It was really kinda funny, now that I think about it."
Jeremiah smiled and sat up on his hands. "Matt likes Charity!"
Matt's mouth opened and his face turned crimson once again. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You've found your true love."
"Have not!"
"Yuh-huh, because I asked Mom what my name meant and she told me it meant `sent by God'. She told me Matthew means `God's gift'. Harry means `army ruler', Hermione means `earthy', Ronald means `advisor', Dwight means `fair', and Charity means `love.' So you love Charity."
Matt opened his mouth to speak, but promptly closed it and looked down intently at the chessboard. Jeremiah smiled. "Why don't you tell her?"
"You don't understand, J. That would mess things up."
"How do you know?"
"It…It just would, okay! Charity's one of the greatest people I've ever met, and I don't want to lose her."
Jeremiah shrugged his little shoulders. "Whatever. But I think it would be nice of you to tell her."
Dwight and his parents and older brother, Tanner, were the first to arrive. Tanner was an athletic sort, somewhat surly and looking as though he'd rather be anywhere in the world but at the Potter home. But when the Weasleys arrived next, Tanner soon forgot his annoyance and was soon under the enchantment of Scarlett. Dwight and Matt were glad to be rid of the two, and left to go play a game of exploding snap in the basement room, followed by Jeremiah and Rhett Weasley. Rhett was a pretty good guy, despite his sister, and before too long, all four boys were having a blast. Half an hour later, Charity and her family arrived, and both Matt and Dwight dropped what they were doing to go meet Charity.
Upon seeing Charity, Matt stopped in his tracks. She was even more beautiful than he had ever seen her before, her light brown hair fanned out and curled loosely, dressed in a red sweater and a black skirt…
Matt heard Dwight inhale quickly from behind him. Matt smiled and Charity smiled back.
"Hey, Charity."
She came across the threshold to join the boys, quickly introducing her older sisters, Faith and Hope. They forced smiles and greetings before joining Scarlett and Tanner in the den. Once they were gone, Charity gave a little wiggled and dropped her arms to her side.
"So what have my boys been up to?"
Matt shrugged. "Nothing much, just waiting for you!" The trio adjourned to the basement where they spent the small remainder of the night playing games and decorating a small Christmas tree. During this time, Matt couldn't help but watch Charity. He noticed everything about her: the way the fire glow softened her features, the way her contagious personality won over everybody, even Jeremiah, the way she hummed Christmas carols under her breath at all times, so happy she was with the holidays…
The friends carried on their party until midnight, when the adults came and told them to get some sleep. Charity, having to go upstairs to the girls' room, gave all four boys kisses on the cheek before wishing them goodnight and departing.
The boys situated their sleeping bags around the basement fireplace and fell asleep relatively quickly, but Matt couldn't shut his mind off. He kept replaying scenes of Charity's beauty and goodness that night, and his face was still warm where she had kissed him. Jeremiah's previous words echoed in his head, and he punched his pillow furiously before laying back down. Finally, after a couple of hours, he decided on going up to the kitchen to get a few chocolate chip cookies before going to bed.
************* **************
Charity snuck slowly towards the dark kitchen, looking around in admiration of Matt's house. It was so beautiful and old looking that she could have stayed there forever. There was a touch of comfort and love in every wooden panel, in everything about the house. She could perfectly imagine a little Matthew running crazily around the huge house, growing up happily and perfectly. Charity paused at the foot of the staircase and tried to imagine what it must have been like to grow up as a Potter. Matt's childhood must have been as near to perfection as possible, having such wonderful, loving parents that she had instantly loved as her own, and a little brother who looked up to him. Plus, he had had the assistance of magic throughout his life, even though he hadn't gone to primary school. A sense of envy welled up in Charity's bosom and she paused for a moment, wishing she could have grown up like Matt had.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she softly padded her way to the kitchen, her long checkered pajama pants sliding under her pink socks. She made her way through the dark kitchen, and as she walked towards the light switch, she ran head on into another warm body. She gasped as her heart began to pound, and the person's arms went around her to quiet her. When the person leaned back to turn on the light, she saw that it was none other than Matt. Realizing that she was still in his arms, she blushed and pulled softly away. Matt, seeing it was Charity, smiled and leaned up against the island in the middle of the kitchen.
"So, what do you think you're doing, roaming around my house at two a.m.?"
Charity smiled and went to the opposite side of the island and leaned her elbows on the surface. She flicked her reddish hair over her shoulder and looked up at Matt enchantingly. "For your information, I wasn't roaming, I was just having some midnight exercise."
Matt smiled and shook his head. "Do you want some hot chocolate?"
"That would be nice."
Matt got a kettle out of the cupboard and Charity measured out the cocoa. After a few moments (and a peppermint drop later), both of the midnight wanderers were sitting on stools around the island, sipping cocoa contentedly. As Matt drank, he began to get a funny feeling and Jeremiah's words rattled about in his head.
"It's really nice to be able to stay with your family tonight." Charity sighed and cupped her hands around her mug.
"Your family is really nice."
"Well, they can be. Mum's a bit irritable. Dad and I get along splendidly, but generally Mum and Faith and Hope are always together. I just usually don't get along too well with Faith and Hope."
"Why not?"
"They're just…well, they're pretty much everything I'm not. They're girly and popular and absolutely beautiful."
Matt thought about Charity's older sisters and remembered that they were rather pretty. But their beauty was from makeup and clothes, whereas Charity's…
"I think you're the most beautiful one in your whole family! And as for the rest, well…does any of that really matter?"
Charity blushed and looked away. Matt, realizing the boldness of his words, compensated for the silence by choking on his cocoa. The two sat in silence for a few moments before Matt found his voice again.
"Charity, I need to talk to you about something…"
"I have to talk to you about something, too! But you go first."
"I-" I love you, you're the most amazing person I've ever met in my life, and even though I'm young, I know that I don't ever want to live without you… "You go ahead, really."
"Okay. This is really weird and random, but you're my best friend ever, and I know you can help me, -because I really, really need advice! - and I know you won't laugh at me or anything, because you understand me better than anyone and-"
Matt chuckled. "Okay, Charity, okay. Carry on."
"Right, sorry." Charity blushed and looked at her mug. "I don't know why this has happened, but…No, it's stupid."
"Charity, you know you can talk to me, of all people."
She took a deep breath and spoke softly. "I think I have a crush on one of my best friends."
Matt's heart flew out of his chest, but he forced himself to remain calm.
"He's a great guy, and I really want to tell him how I feel. But that's just the problem-I don't know how to tell him. Plus, I mean, there's NO WAY he could ever feel the same way. And I just…I don't know!"
"Well, I don't see how "he" could possibly feel anything but affection towards you."
"Oh, but poor Dwight has the emotional range of a teaspoon, he could never really figure it out."
At Charity's words, Matt looked away quickly, willing himself not to cry. He was made of stronger things, and he wasn't going to show Charity how he felt. It would only hurt her to know that he was hurt. He could handle it; he had dealt with other tough things before.
Yeah, but nothing I've EVER had to go through in my life has ever hurt like this. Matt's mind began to run rampant, and he imagined a life spent watching from the outside of a relationship, getting further separated from Charity…watching Dwight kiss her under the mistletoe by their Christmas tree…Matt standing as best man to a man who was marrying the love of his life…watching "their" family grow and flourish while Matt stayed single…
"Do you think I should talk to him about how I feel?" Charity's voice brought Matt sharply back to reality. He brought his hand up to his temple and rested his head gently against it. How could he help Charity when it would only hurt him? He took a deep breath before speaking.
"Charity, you are… an amazing person. And I know that you never feel anything half-heartedly. And if this is honestly how you feel, well, if I were you, I would pray that God would turn Dwight's heart if it's meant to be. And if it is in His Will, I'd pray for an opportunity to talk to him about it. And if that opportunity comes, and you spill your heart and Dwight still doesn't love you for you…"
"Yes?"
"Then he's not good enough for you, to not appreciate you for who you are, and there's someone else out there who will always love you." Someone like me…
Matt looked at Charity and was surprised to see her eyes shining with tears. "Did I say something wrong?"
Charity smiled and shook her head as a fresh tear fell from her bright eye. "No, no, it was…wonderful. Thank you so much for listening and helping me." She leaned across the table and gave his hand a squeeze.
"It's no problem. You know I'm always here for you, no matter what happens."
Charity nodded and smiled. "Ditto. Hey, what were you wanting to talk to me about?"
Matt's heart sunk once again. "Oh, I…it's nothing. Forget I said anything."
"Okay…?" Charity's brow arched in a curious stance.
"Really, it's okay."
She shrugged and took another sip of her cocoa. "What was it like, really, growing up Potter?"
"Oh, I dunno…"
"I mean, has your life always been magical? Did you and Jeremiah get to travel all over the world or watch your parents fight evil forces or anything like that?"
Matt squirmed uncomfortably. "Not exactly."
"So what was it like?"
Matt shrugged. "No life is perfect, and the son of Harry's and Hermione's life is no different."
Charity smiled and nodded knowingly. The two finished their hot chocolate in silence before Matt bade Charity good night and slowly went back downstairs. Charity stayed at her perch, musing as to why Matt had spoken so emotionally and why he had still never told her anything about his life growing up.
************* *****************
The next morning, both Charity and Matt acted as though the night's occurrences had never happened. The boys slept late, waking up a little before noon and spending the rest of the day playing Quidditch in the snow and toasting everything they could find on a fork. Surprisingly, during a snowball fight, Matt realized he felt no hard feelings towards Dwight, who wouldn't have had a clue if Matt had been mad at him. It wasn't Dwight's fault-Charity just liked him more. Matt paused in mid-throw and breathed deeply. It still stung to think of Charity, whom he had barely had a chance to talk to all day. Instead of spending her time in warfare, she had spent all day with Hermione.
Inside, Hermione and Charity alone were making a huge batch of gingerbread cookies. Charity was honored to spend time with Matt's mom and the heroine of the wizarding world. Likewise, Hermione was having a great time in Charity's company. She loved this younger girl, and knew that she was a very special person. She had already seen Charity's influence on Matt even after such a short time. Ever since Charity had entered Matt's life, he had come out of his shell more. The moment that Charity had entered the Potter household the day before, Hermione had realized a wonderful truth: Charity was changing Matt's life for the better. Matt had always been an exceptionally great kid, but under the influence of Charity's huge heart, he was becoming more caring, under her childlike innocence he was becoming the little kid he had never really had the chance to be, her intelligence stimulated him to achieve his full potential; her faith led him to pray more, too.
Yes, Hermione was absolutely positive that Charity was the one, special girl that God had created specifically for Matt.
"So, Charity, what do you want to be when you get out of school?"
Charity shrugged and pulled her brown hair out of her face, leaving a trail of flour on her nose. "I'm not really sure. When I was a really little girl, I told everyone that I wanted to be a nurse, so I could help sick people. But seeing as how I'm mortally afraid of needles… Well, I know God has a plan for me that's bigger than what I can plan for myself, so I'll just trust Him and go from there."
Hermione smiled. I love this girl. "I really admire your outlook on things! I always wanted to be a teacher, but God called me to be a nurse, and here I am. God has really blessed me and my family."
"Matt talked to me about that once."
"He's a pretty perceptive person."
"Can I tell you something, honestly, without you telling Matt?"
Hermione wiped her hands and considered for a moment before nodding. "You can trust me, I promise."
Charity fingered her hair lightly. "Matt's the best friend I've ever had in my whole life. Before Hogwarts, I was a shy little nobody, but Matt makes me feel…free. I'm just so thankful that he's a part of my life. And like last night? I needed some advice on a boy, and he helped me out tremendously. I'm just so…proud to have him as my best friend."
Hermione nodded and her eyes clouded up. "I'm really proud to call Matt my son."
"I can imagine."
The timer rang and Charity jumped down to get the cookies out of the oven, doing a favor to Hermione. "You know something, Charity?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"I'm proud to know that you're Matt's friend. You've really influenced him for the better in just this short time you've known each other. I can't wait to see where God brings you two in the future."
"Well, uh, thank you." She hugged Hermione around the waist, feeling as though she was hugging her own mother. Suddenly, the floo alarm went off, and a few moments later, Hagrid bumbled slowly into the kitchen.
"Happy Holidays, Hermione…Charity." Hermione ran to hug the giant and Charity waved warmly. After a few moments conversation, all the boys came in at the same time that the girls and Tanner did. Charity listened politely to Scarlett's innocent pleas for Charity to join them before grabbing her coat and heading outside with the boys.
*********** ***************
When night fell, the Potters, Weasleys, Bells, Sullivans, and Hagrid all gathered around a warming bonfire outside. While waiting for the fire to begin a good blaze, Matt and Dwight created an entertaining game in which Scarlett and Charity got on trash can lids and the boys competed to see whose girl went the farthest down the snow bank. The losers, Matt and Scarlett, had to sing a karaoke Christmas song, which Matt hammed up by singing in a high pitched voice complete with a spastic jig, much to the embarrassment of his partner. After several more shenanigans led on by Matt and Dwight's caffeine high, the fire was finally large enough to roast things by it's heat, and the real festivities began.
Hermione and Luna and Charity's mother led the group in singing O Holy Night. Charity sang along from her perch between Matt and Dwight; a more pure, angelic voice Matt had never heard. Finally, they distributed presents. Matt had easily found a present for Dwight (a book on Quidditch) and Jeremiah (a video game all about flying and dragons). But for Charity…well, he just hoped that she liked his present.
After he had received a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, a green sweater, a tin of treacle fudge, a Quidditch pitch model, several books, and a gold pocket watch from Charity, Matt reached down beside him and gingerly picked up his present for Charity. She was sitting serenely on a log near the fire, listening to Scarlett's chatter. When she noticed Matt, she looked up at him and smiled.
"Merry Christmas, Charity."
She unwrapped the parcel carefully and smiled when a leather journal flopped out into her hands.
"I didn't know if you'd like it or not, but I know you're always writing poems and stuff on scrap paper, so I thought you could organize your thoughts better."
"It's perfect, Matt! Thank you so much!"
They embraced, and before too long, Dwight joined them. Charity pulled away from Matt and attached herself next to Dwight. Matt looked away, but when he did catch Charity's eye, he saw that what she had told him the night before was true. He could read how she felt by her eyes, and her eyes were twinkling with only one possible emotion: Love for Dwight.
"Okay, kids, we're going to sing another hymn!" Harry was smiling towards his son and his friends. Matt left the other two and stood hugging his dad. Everyone gathered around, and Hermione hugged Matt on the other side, Jeremiah standing in front of Matt.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman
Let nothing you dismay!
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy, oh tidings of comfort and joy!
Matt looked around at the faces of the loved ones around him: Hagrid, face beaming merrily, Ron and Luna and Scarlett and Rhett, all singing off pitch, Dwight, Tanner, and their parents, Charity with her family, and last but not least, his own wonderful family, holding him tightly and loving him always. His life was still being written, and even though Charity and Dwight may hurt him, he knew that he'd endure just as he had always endured before.
A/N: Wow, looking at the meanings of the names, quite coincidental compared to this story's predecessors… Also, do not be angry at Charity, she's only human!
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