THE HOME THAT ATTICUS and Alyona had made for themselves wasn't anything like the home that was left to Atticus once their parents were gone. It sat at the end of a cul-de-sac, with a family of no-maj's living on either side of them. It's lawn was perfectly trimmed, and it had hedges that kept their lawn apart from their neighbors. Their sidewalk from the street to their door was bordered with rusty orange flower pots that during the summer months were filled with blue morning glories that Alyona was convinced brought them luck. To someone who wasn't a witch or wizard, it looked like just another home. Atticus and Alyona and their daughter, Marianne were just like any other no-maj family. But inside the house was a completely different story, there wasn't a thing that wasn't touched by magic. There was a charmed dust pan and small broom read to sweep up anything that came in on anyone's shoes. So as soon as you entered, you were surrounded by magic. Luckily, Alyona had been the main homemaker. Nothing resembled the gloomy feeling that seemed to be in any Black home. Leo had always been surprised that his parents approved of someone like Alyona. Someone who came from a family that wasn't all blood traitors, but was riddled with them for generations.

Leo had been tempted to say no to their invitation. Last time he met with a family member it played a part in him losing his job. And now, after working with Nick Finch for a few weeks, he was beginning to wish he never got it back. In fact, Finch was the reason he finally agreed to come here, an opportunity to leave Nick on his own at the ministry. Leo hoped it was awful...and he hoped that this visit wouldn't be as awful. Like he was expecting it to, usually anything that involved his family was bound to be horrendous. He would rather be suffering through Christmas with Sirius. The only good thing that was coming out of that was Marianne, or Mary as Leo preferred to call her. The four and a half year old didn't deserve to be named after someone as awful as their mother, but it hadn't been up for debate at the time.

Before Leo could even make it to the front door the handle began to rapidly shake before it finally opened just enough for Mary and hurry through it.

"Uncle O!" the nickname that Leo wasn't fond of was one that Mary had come up with on her own. When she had first begun to speak, she just couldn't get the hang of Leo, so it was shortened to just O. And eventually Uncle was added to it because oh was her favorite response to just about anything for a short time.

"Marianne, I said not to just open the door you don't know who could be here." Alyona's voice came from just inside as Mary wrapped her arms around his legs.

"Yes I did, I was looking out the window." Mary replied glancing over her shoulder as Leo scooped her up into a hug.

"You're tall enough to look out the window now?" he questioned, raising a brow as he glanced towards the windows that looked out from the living room over the front lawn.

Mary shook her head, "But I'm tall enough to stand on the couch."

Leo smirked, "Already working smarter, not harder. As you should be."

Mary smiled, her baby teeth already formed a near perfect smile. And her dark hair was thick and fell in waves to her shoulders. The only way she resembled Atticus at all were her blue eyes. Otherwise she looked more like Alyona than the last time Leo had seen her. "So did you bring presents?" she questioned.

"Is my presence not enough of a present?" he questioned, sounding almost offended as Alyona pulled the door open all the way for Leo to walk in with Mary in his arms.

"You said that you would bring me something special when you came to visit." Mary reminded him.

"Did I?" Leo replied, "I must've forgotten."

"But you never forget." Mary said, arching a brow, unfazed by Leo claiming he had come empty handed.

"Marianne, let your uncle get settled in before hounding him about presents." Alyona stated sternly, causing Leo to give his niece a knowing look.

"She just doesn't understand our sense of humor does she?" Leo said softly.

Mary shook her head, "I don't think so."

Alyona cleared her throat.

Leo sighed heavily, gave Mary one last squeeze before setting her down. "I might be able to sneak you one of your gifts after dinner, alright?"

Mary's smile grew as she eagerly nodded, "Mother got me a new dress for Christmas dinner tomorrow. Mother can I show him? Please?"

Alyona sighed heavily.

"Please?" Leo echoed.

"Alright, but you need to change right out of it."

          With that Mary scurried off and disappeared into the house to go to her room. Inside the house, it was well lit and the entrance was lined with family portraits, some from Alyona's family but most were from the Black family. Not exactly the decor Leo would have chosen, but he could imagine Atticus wanting them just to please their parents when they came to visit.

"When did she start using full sentences?" Leo questioned, adjusting his bag on his shoulder that didn't look like much but held about a dozen boxes and a few different outfits and a toy broom that Alyona had told him not to get because she thought flying was too dangerous.

"A few months ago," she replied, "come on, we've got that guest room finally finished."

Lovely, he thought. Living under the same roof as Atticus wasn't exactly ideal. He had been hoping that the guest room would still be stacked with boxes and boxes, forcing him to get a room elsewhere.

"Atticus will be home this evening, he's getting a few things from his office at Ilvermorny." Alyona said as they walked up stairs to the second floor and then to the end of a short narrow hall. "He's really glad you agreed to come." she informed him as she pushed the door open to reveal a plain room with beige walls and dark wooden furniture.

"I was surprised to even be invited to anything to be honest."

"You know Atticus really doesn't blame you for Elladora."

Leo scoffed, "Could have fooled me, I didn't hear from him until his letter about Christmas. Our mother was the only one that I heard from after the trial."

Alyona sighed heavily as she stepped aside to allow Leo to make his way over to the bed where he could set down his bag. "He just didn't know what to say, that's all. She's still your sister."

"She's a nutcase." Leo replied simply, "Who would kill me if she had a chance. It's alway's been that way since I made the grand announcement that I was dating a no-maj." he added, his tone dripping with a bitterness.

Alyona sighed again, "Well, you didn't exactly warn your family about her before bringing her to dinner if I remember the story right."

Leo huffed as he began to reach into his bag to pull out his clothes to shove into the dresser for his short visit.

"What happened to her anyway?" she questioned.

Leo shrugged, "Lost touch with her after she went to school and I started working at the Congress." he replied as he began to form a pile of clothes in the middle of the bed before he pulled out his wand and gave it a flick and the clothes began to find their way to the dresser.

"Perhaps that's for the better?" Alyona replied, "I can't imagine a family like ours would be very pleasant for a no-maj to be a part of."

"It's barely pleasant for me," Leo replied, smirking a bit hoping she'd take the hint that his smirk gave; drop the subject. That was one thing that Alyona had never been very good at, taking hints, and she always refused to drop a subject. She had a knack for getting answers out of anyone when she set her mind to it.

"Well then in that case, maybe it would have worked out. You two could have been miserable together." Alyona replied, "Unless you've got someone else in the picture now."

Leo sighed heavily, his smirk faded and he arched a brow as he turned away from the bed. "Why so interested in my love life, Alyona?" he questioned. Mona wasn't exactly a topic he wanted to discuss with anyone, and he definetly didn't want it to be a topic during Christmas. Leo had kept his distance from the Leaky Cauldron, and he had avoided Arthur Weasley as much as possible. So much so that he had gotten into a habit of arriving to the Ministry a half hour earlier than usual since it was always the beginning of the day that he ran into him.

"Well, I'd like a sister-in-law who isn't so...insufferable to be around at family dinners I suppose." she replied with a shrug as the sound of small feet running down the hall filled the room.

"Well, for the time being, you'll have to go without I suppose." he replied quickly, before Mary appeared in the doorway to the guest room.

      Without even stopping to great them, she twirled dramatically in the doorway. The blue skirt of her dress circled her in waves, specks of glitter sparkled as she did so. Leo had hated dressing up when he was a kid, but his clothes were always picked by his mother. And if she had been given the opprotunity to dress Mary, she never would have allowed her to wear something that stood out so much. Nothing that looked like the clothes that no-maj kids got to wear on special occasions.

"I picked it out myself!" Mary smiled as she finally came to a opportunity in the doorway, "Mother wanted be to pick the red one, but I think the blue suits me better."

Leo chuckled, "Well, I would have to agree." Leo replied, earning a big grim from his niece.

"Well, do you think I could get one present now?" she questioned, before quickly looking at her mother, "Daddy did say that this was my present opening dress."

Alyona sighed heavily and Leo laughed, "Well then, we should make sure we don't jinx it." he replied, "I've got the perfect one for you to open. But you have to change right after you open it, you don't want to risk ruining your dress do you?"

        Mary quickly shook her head as Leo waved his hand to signal to her to come into the room. He gave the empty spot on the bed a pat for her to sit there. So he gave her a boost and once she was seated, he began digging in the bag for the toy broom. But it was way at the bottom, so it took him a moment to find the box. And once he had a grip of it he looked up at Mary and didn't say anything for a moment.

"Now, with this you can't use it unless you've got someone with you. Alright?"

Mary eagerly nodded again as she folded her hands in her lap as if to seem more patient. "I promise."

          Leo pulled the box out of the bag, and as soon as Alyona saw the brightly wrapped box, she let out a small disapproving sigh. Earning a smirk from Leo as he laid it across Mary's lap who didn't waste anytime at ripping open the paper to reveal the cardboard box with an image of a light colored broom.

As soon as Mary opened it, Leo could almost feel the disapproval radiating off of Alyona. Hopefully now, she'd be more concerned with this gift than hounding Leo about his love life...

AUTHORS NOTE;
Leo and kids is just superior and I can't believe I haven't written it until now. Also, this chapter wasn't extraordinarily Christmas-y. I know— but it is April sooo...

stay classy!