Note: When we last left off, the Potters were headed to the Burrow. Harry is dredging up memories of bad Christmas experiences he had at Hogwarts. I don't know much about what happened to the Weasleys after Deathly Hallows, but this goes as though…well, you'll see.

When the Potters arrived at the Burrow, it was about midday. Ginny got out of the car first, followed by Harry, James, Albus, and Lily.

"Tell me again," she started, glancing at Harry, "why couldn't we just take the Floo Network?"

Harry looked away from her, thinking back to the first time he had traveled by Floo Powder. "It's not important," he said, shaking off the memory, "besides, we're here now, aren't we?"

The family walked to the front door, but it opened before they reached it as Mrs. Weasley came out to greet them.

"Mum!" Ginny cried, running to hug her.

"Ginny! Harry! Oh, I saw you coming. I still have the clock, although some hands have been removed…."

All three of them flinched. Soon after Fred's death, his hand on the Weasleys' clock had been removed. Suddenly, Harry snapped out of it. "Some hands? What do you mean?"

Ginny frowned as Mrs. Weasley gaped at her. "Goodness, you haven't told them?! Oh, dear…Arthur…he's gone."

Harry gasped in shock. He looked around to see if the others had heard, but they were still in the car. "What happened?" he asked, turning back to Mrs. Weasley.

She sighed. "I always told him not to muck about with muggle objects. One dad he found something. I'm not sure what he called it. It was long with an odd hole in it. He wanted to know how it worked and set his office on fire. By the time they found out…."

She trailed off and looked away, silently sobbing.

Ginny patted her shoulder lightly. "May we come in?" she asked.

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Yes, of course, dear. Ted and Victoria are already here."

Harry's face lit up as he was gathering the children from the car. James was talking to him animatedly about it.

"Dad, Professor Longbottom says you once crashed a car into a tree on the grounds. Is that true?!"

Harry laughed slightly. "Now, now, you know there's no tree on the grounds. Come on, let's go inside."

He herded them into the house, then took a look around. "Are Ron and Hermione here?" he asked, a smile starting to spread across his face. He rarely saw them lately, as Hermione had taken up traveling the world and insisted Ron and their kids come too.

Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "'Fraid not, Harry. They've gone off to Australia for the holiday. I expect they'll be back around New Years', though."

Harry sighed, the smile fading. Ah, well. We're here now. Best to have a Happy Christmas instead of dwelling on the bad past, he thought, just as he stepped into the kitchen to see—

"MALFOY?!"