Title: A Mistletoe Mystery!
Author: Little Miss Mionie
Summary: When the adults start acting funny, it's up to one group to figure out why; The Next Generation! Can Teddy, James, Al, Victoire and all the rest solve this Christmas mystery?
Spoilers For: Deathly Hallows
Revised On: 22nd October 2013 (Continuity and name errors fixed)
"They're hiding something! I know it!"
Victoire Weasley sighed. "Teddy," she preached, "Stop being so paranoid."
Teddy Lupin frowned and the tips of his hair slowly changed to orange, clashingly horribly with the turquoise, as it always did when he started to get cross. His Metamorphmagus abilities often reacted to his emotions, unfortunately.
"I'm not being paranoid! It's obvious that all the parents are up to something!" he protested to his girlfriend.
"I'm never paranoid!" he added, his eyes darting over to where Harry and Ginny were talking, over by the big oak tree out the back of the Burrow and back to his girlfriend numerous times.
The backyard had been charmed to keep away the snow; it was nice to see all the greenery around this time of year. He, along with his grandmother and a few family friends, had been invited to the Burrow for Christmas Day. It was a ritual they did every year, something Teddy had always looked forward to as a kid. Presents, then food; who could ask for more?! But this year, something wasn't right. The adults were being secretive; Teddy just knew it.
Victoire raised an eyebrow, directing her boyfriend to take a seat next to the wooden table. As he complied she countered, "When you were five you were convinced that my teddy bear was some sort of voodoo doll and that I was trying to hurt you. Now tell me that isn't paranoia."
Teddy blushed. The twenty-year-old looked around suspiciously before whispering, "You had named it Teddy! And it was a blue bear!"
Victoire laughed, her shiny hair almost as pale as the December sky. She plopped herself onto Teddy's lap. "Teddy," she said with a giggle, poking his chest, "you are an idiot. A paranoid idiot."
"Hey," ejected Teddy, "don't poke!"
Victoire poked him again.
"Ouch! You've got nails!"
"So?" teased Victoire, poking the Metamorphmagus again. She laughed again as Teddy frowned.
"Ha!" cried Teddy as he proceeded to poke the blonde-haired-girl. "How do you like me now?!"
"Can't you guys get a room?"
Teddy dodged another one of Victoire's poking fingers to see to twelve-year-old James Potter looking at he and Victoire with disgust written all over his face.
"James," greeted Victoire, getting out of Teddy's lap and giving her cousin a hug, "How are you?"
"Goo-" James started to reply. His younger brother had Albus walked over to the three of them and interrupted in a dry voice, "He likes to be called Jamie, now."
"I do not," argued James.
"That's not what I heard you tell Susannah Abbot…" countered Albus in a teasing voice, taking a bite out of the Christmas biscuits their Grandma Weasley had made.
James pointed to where his Uncle George and Aunty Angelina were sitting and exclaimed, "Look, Al! A Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"
As the green-eyed-boy turned and looked, Jamie deftly swiped Al's cookie and took a bite while his brother yelled indignantly, "Hey!"
Jamie then stuffed the whole cookie into his mouth.
"Mum! Dad!" wailed Albus. "James ate my cookie!"
Harry looked over, frowning before calling warningly, "James!"
"Okay, okay, sorry!" replied Jamie insincerely before aiming a kick at his younger brother and hissing "dobber!"
Victoire rolled her eyes as Teddy gave Jamie an incredulous look. "You're twelve and the best you can come up with is 'dobber'?" he asked.
James tried not to look too embarrassed.
Albus Potter, though, was paying no attention to this. He was eyeing his parents as he softly said, "They've been doing that all week."
"What?"
"Who?"
"My parents…going off and talking to each other all secretly."
"Yeah, Mum and Da have been doing that too…" came the familiar voice of Rose Weasley.
"See!" cried Teddy jubilantly, although his girlfriend looked unconvinced. "The Munchkins have noticed it too! Even Gran's been doing it! Something's up!"
"We are NOT Munchkins!" replied Rose indignantly.
"I'm thirteen!" said Louis, Victoire's younger brother who had appeared out of nowhere, a sandwich stuffed in his mouth.
"Hey, you all will have to wait until you turn seventeen before you're no longer a Munchkin, just like Teddy and I had to," said Victoire evenly before looking at her brother in disgust. "Louis, at least close your mouth when you're eating."
Louis rolled his eyes. "Yes, mum," he teased before swallowing the last of his sandwich.
Teddy surveyed the adults again. They kept giving him weird glances every so often.
How strange.
Teddy frowned before turning to Victoire, only to find that she had been swamped by Munchkins. All of the Weasley kids plus quirky Luna Scamander's kids were convening around the lunch table, talking animatedly about their parents' abnormal behaviour. Fred, Roxanne and James, the troublemakers that they were, were trying to convince Albus that the parents were actually extraterrestrial beings while Victoire was standing next to her sister, cooing over Lily's new Pygmy Puff, proclaiming 'Awww, cute!'
Teddy rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at his lips. Vic was funny when she went all girly. It seemed her fifteen-year-old sister, Dominique, did not think so, because she was looking at her sister with mild disgust. Teddy smiled at Dominique. She was the tomboy of the family and a bit of a punk. She had short blonde hair and an eyebrow stud. Teddy always liked to think that his Mum was a bit like Dominique; someone who loved to take the mickey out of people, but could also be very kind-hearted. There was also another reason Teddy liked Victoire's younger sister; she had the best name to toy with.
"Hello, Knickers!" greeted Teddy, waving a hand cheerily.
"Don't call me Knickers!" shrieked Dominque, locking eyes with the Metamorphmagus. "Merlin, sometimes you can be such a prat! I don't know what my sister sees in you!"
Overhearing this, Victoire smiled wickedly and seated herself next to her boyfriend, playing with a lock of Teddy's hair. "A devilishly handsome, sexy man, perhaps?"
Dominque pulled a face. "Oh, Sweet Merlin's Undescended Left Testicle, get a room you guys!"
"I agree with you, Dom," concurred James, "But wasn't it his right ball that was-?"
"Oi!" shouted Teddy, gaining all of the kids' attention before lowering his voice. "Can we have a bit of focus here? We need to figure out what all the parents are up to." there was a murmur of agreement throughout the group. "I say we split up and look for clues."
"Sounds good!" said Dominique, speaking for the group, as she was the eldest out of the Munchkins.
As the group split up in pairs, Albus quietly said to Rosie, "Didn't Scorpius say once that Merlin had three?"
..::ooOOOoo::..
The Munchkins, Teddy and Victoire had all split up into pairs. They were each going to eavesdrop or somehow force the parents to tell them why they were being so secretive. Fred and Roxanne had muttered something about extendable ears while James and Al had said they get Uncle Ron to tell them. He was the easiest family member to crack; Teddy wickedly remembered all the swearwords the redheaded Auror had taught him in his early teens.
Teddy and Victoire, naturally, were partners. But, unfortunately, they had - erm - gotten a little sidetracked. They had happened across some mistletoe again… Teddy had been so involved in snogging his girlfriend senseless that he hadn't noticed that everyone had gone inside the Burrow.
"Where is everyone?" asked Teddy once he had come up for air. "Inside?"
Victoire was staring intently at her hands. "Yeah, they must've. Erm…c'mon! I bet some of Munchkins found out something by now!"
Victoire yanked Teddy off the table with strength the turquoise-haired boy did not know she possessed. Holding his hand tightly, they began to walk towards the house. Victoire opened to door and pushed Teddy into the living room somewhat roughly.
Teddy tried to look around- but he couldn't! It was completely dark!
"Lumos," he whispered, waving his wand, filling the room with light. As soon as he did so, there was a big cry of 'HAPPY CHRISTMAS, TEDDY!'
Teddy cried out in alarm. Everyone was grinning at him like loonies. Harry stepped forward and gave a Teddy a small gift.
Warily, Teddy opened it. He wouldn't have been surprised if it were a joke shop item-
It was a key.
A house key.
They'd bought him a house for Christmas.
"You bought me a house," stated Teddy, deadpanned. Harry nodded, smiling.
"Dude, your apartment sucks," spoke up Dominique from the back of the room. "It's about the size of my room."
"A house?" repeated Teddy disbelievingly, ignoring Dominique. "You- you bought me a house?"
"Well, not just me," corrected Harry, "All the family chipped in a little."
Teddy's slacked jaw grew into a very large, sincere smile. "Thank you guys, thank you!" he cried.
The nineteen-year-old then did the rounds of hugging and thanking each member of the family, which took a considerable amount of time. As he finished, he found Victoire smiling at him, holding two glasses of Firewhiskey in her hand. She was seated on the lounge next to Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny and Lily. She offered one glass to Teddy, who took a long drink.
"I think I'm in shock," he said blankly, making Victoire laugh. She gave him a quick kiss before saying, "You do realise you'll have to have a house-warming party, don't you?"
"It's like an unwritten law," added Ginny with a small smile. She glanced past Teddy and her warm smile turned devious. "Excuse me, I just saw George slip something into Percy's drink and I really don't want to miss what happens…"
Harry chuckled at his wife as she vacated her seat, but his attention was quickly bought by Lily as she rushed over to him with a furry green thing in her hands.
Victoire was beckoned over by Grandma Weasley to help set the table for lunch, which left Teddy to watch Lily sit on her father's lap as she played with her green Pygmy Puff.
"Dad!" shrieked Lily, a big grin on her face. "I think it just growled at me!"
Harry laughed along with his daughter. After a moment, he caught his godson's eye.
"I think a house-warming party sounds good," he commented absently. "Although maybe just invite adults; you don't want the Munchkin's trashing the place."
Teddy quirked an eyebrow at his godfather's comment. "How do you know about that name?"
"I gave it to you, you dolt!" Harry smiled as he watched Lily giggle at her Pygmy Puff again. "I suppose you were too young to remember me saying it…"
A funny expression crossed Harry's face. "God, I sound old saying that… I probably am old, I guess," he added as an afterthought.
"Thirty-six doesn't make you old, Harry," replied Teddy. "Not in Wizarding years, anyways; you live longer and look younger than Muggles…" He trailed off before locking eyes with his beloved Godfather.
"Thank you, again, Harry."
Harry gave him a warm smile. "It was my pleasure, Bear. Besides, it was better than what your girlfriend suggested."
Teddy frowned. "What did Victoire want to get me?"
"A blue teddy bear."
Teddy Lupin hastily took another gulp of firewhisky.
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