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Christmas dinner at Grandma and Granddad Weasley's home, the Burrow, was perhaps the best meal of the year, according to James and Albus. Usually their grandmother's meals were always excellent, but there was something about the Christmas meal that made them seem unimportant. Perhaps it was the fact that there was so much food that they needed an extra table. James always looked forwards to the pudding, while Albus looked forward to seeing his relatives all together in the same room, laughing and telling interesting and funny stories of past years.
James, Albus, and their younger sister, Lily had exactly four cousins. Rose and Hugo were the closest to their age, Hugo being Lily's age and Rose was Albus's. Their older cousin, Victoire was extremely pretty, which made their Uncle Bill nervous, especially when she was around other boys. She was four years older than James, who was eleven and had light orange hair with twinkling blue eyes. Their youngest cousin was three years younger than Lily, making him four, but he was smart. He spiky, dark red hair and had glasses like his father, Percy and was known as the rat to the kids. He tattled on everyone, but had the looks to make the adults seem like he was an angel. And the young boy had an annoying habit of trying to be the best at everything.
Albus looked up anxiously from the bottom of the staircase. He checked the clock off to his right and could not help but wince at the sight of the time. Lily was visible on the couch, reading the newest edition of the Quibbler she had gotten for free from their parents' friend, Luna Lovegood, who had taken over the business after her father retired. He did not ponder to wonder why Lily bothered to read that magazine, since most of the stuff in it never made any sense. Maybe because she was bored and needed something to do while they waited for their parents to finish the usual argument with James upstairs.
"I don't care if it's broken. You weren't supposed to bring it to Hogwarts anyways!" They heard their dad exclaim before appearing at the top of the stairs.
"But Dad," James began, appearing from behind. "Uncle George is the only one who knows how to fix it. Can you imagine what it'll be like when I get back to school? I'll never be able to–" James stopped himself from reveling what he did with the Extendable Ear in his hand.
Harry, now halfway down the stairs, raised his eyebrows at his oldest son. Albus had a feeling he was going to ask James what exactly he did with his Extendable Ear, but decided against it. Albus himself had a feeling it would be an answer neither of his parents would want to know, otherwise the thing would not be broken in the first place.
"Just leave it here," Their father finally said before going into the other room to grab his traveling cloak.
James growled and threw the Extendable Ear on a side table when he reached the bottom of the stairs. Albus could have sworn he muttered something under his breath about the fact he could easily get a new one while visiting at the Burrow. Albus had to agree with him on that one. Their Uncle George himself had shown the boys the stacks of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in his old bedroom. Albus remembered the sad look when he showed them the products. He knew it was because of his late brother, Fred, who was also his twin. George still owned the joke shop, keeping it in memory of his brother and knowing he would want him to continue since they had worked so hard for it.
"Are we ready yet?" Lily called from behind her magazine. Everyone heard their mother's reply 'yes' from upstairs. She quickly came down and handed out each of the trucks, which had been shrunken to fit inside their pockets, and then gave them each their traveling cloaks. Their father returned from the other room with a pot of floo powder and had everyone gather around the fireplace.
"Alright, who's first?" He asked.
James instantly raised his hand. He grabbed a handful of the powder and went into the fireplace. Albus watched him erupt in green flames after yelling out 'the Burrow' and then disappeared right before their eyes. Their mother went next, followed by Lily, and then Albus went. He, like the other, yelled out his destination and instantly tucked his elbows in as he began to spin and feel the flames.
When Albus opened his eyes next, he pulled saw himself being dragged into a giant, tight, hug. "Oh there he is!" His grandmother's voice came from the person who was hugging him. Albus made a face before returning her hug, knowing it was the only way she would let him go. She pinched his cheeks and kissed them as his father arrived and then moved on to him. Albus wiped his face clean when she was not looking.
He looked around to see who was already here. He instantly knew his Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione were here, since Rose was sitting by the fireplace with Hugo playing Exploding Snap. They stopped their game when Lily came to join and restarted. His Uncle Charlie could be heard talking to his Uncle Ron in the kitchen about, what else, Quidditch. Albus's mother also went into the kitchen and he then heard that his Aunt Hermione was there as well. He turned around and looked at his grandmother. "Are Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur here yet and Uncle Percy and Aunt Penelope as well?"
"Nope, your only cousins who are here are over there." She pointed by the fireplace and left for the kitchen probably to help out Hermione and Ginny. Albus frowned when she left since he had another question that he needed an answer to. He looked around for James, who had suddenly disappeared, probably upstairs looking for a new Extendable Ear. With a sigh, Albus quickly ran over to the fireplace before the others began their new game.
Peter appeared at his side almost two hours later when it just started to snow. He had brought his new chess set and since Albus was bored, asked him to practice with him. Peter was new to the game and already obsessed. He told Albus he wanted to beat the unbeatable Ron Weasley before he could reach the cookie jar on the counter without standing on the tip of his toes. Albus could not help but wonder if Peter would ever reach the cookie jar, but practiced with him anyways. James was now in the room, discussing something in the corner with George. Each of them had quills and parchments and were talking so quietly, Albus forgot they were there the moment Peter destroyed his knight five minutes later.
"How many more games will it take until you're satisfied you're better than me?" Albus asked angrily after Peter wanted to play again after their twelfth game, winning eight times in a row. Peter ignored him as he ordered one of his pawns to move two spaces forward. The front door opened, bringing in a rush of cold air into the house and three figures emerged from the darkness outside.
"Excellent!" Mrs. Weasley said coming from the kitchen. "Everyone's here. We can eat!"
Peter, who had been like a stone every since their first game started, was the first one off the floor and in his seat at the table. Albus did a double-take before getting up quietly to see who had come. He heard a woman's voice in a French accent and instantly knew it was his Uncle Bill and his wife and daughter who had arrived.
As Albus sat down three seats away from the end of the table, next to Victoire, he examined the faces of everyone seated and frowned. "But where's–?"
The front door flew open and a rush of cold air came again. A cloaked figure came in from outside and shut the door behind it. It then brushed the snow off its cloak and took it off to hang it on the nearby coat rack. He tried to get some mud off of his pant's knees, but it was useless. Brushing the remaining snow out of his dark brown hair, Teddy Lupin came into the kitchen and was instantly pulled into a hug by Mrs. Weasley, who almost pulled the 17-year-old down to the ground.
"Oh Teddy, I didn't think you'd show up!" She said as she kissed his cheeks. Ted's ears went red and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Sorry, Mrs. Weasley. I had another… 'dinner' to attend to." He explained quietly and she nodded, understanding. Albus raised his eyebrows and caught James's eyes across the table. He simply shrugged and anxiously awaited food on his plate. Albus turned back to Ted as he sat down across the table two seats down. Ted looked a bit tired, but smiled when he caught Albus looking at him, then his eyes wandered over to Victoire as he took the goblet of water in front of him and sipped from it.
Mr. Weasley, who was at the head of the table, stood up and said, "Well, now that we're all here, let's eat!" Everyone instantly agreed and food appeared on the plates in front of them.
The Christmas dinner, like always, was delicious in words that Albus could not even describe. He ate a bit of everything from the large turkey in the center to the rolls of bread placed beside him. James and George ate the most, and it made Albus wonder how they made it to their fourth helping of the chocolate cake Mrs. Weasley had made which was too filling for him. They even ate most of the cookies and the other pastries on the table. Percy was glaring at the two, and Peter was trying to copy his position, but did not hold it for too long. Peter ended up giggling to himself and returned to the brownies on his plate.
Hugo, who was sitting on Albus's other side, began to tell him about the new broom he hoped to get for Christmas. He was so into his own conversation that he became oblivious to everything else around him because of his own excitement. Albus could not help but noticed how much Victoire moved in her chair next to him. Bill noticed too. He gave her a look, and told her to fix the dress she was wearing and sit still. She pouted and did as was told but still sat in the same position: her legs were crossed, one finger twirling a strand of hair as she ate her chocolate cake, and her head was held in a position so her hair fell down the front of her shoulder, creating a curtain on the other side in the direction of her father. Albus noticed that Victoire's eyes would occasionally look up. He once followed her gaze and saw Ted quickly look away and back down at his pie.
Ted's eyes would also look up at her every so often. They would occasionally linger over Victoire, moving from her lips, down her chest and her legs, licking his own lips as he silently observed her. Albus had this sudden urge to call across the room and point out to his uncle and everyone else what was happening. But when he opened his mouth, he had to stop himself. Could he really do that to Teddy Lupin, some one who was close he enough to Albus that he would not hesitant to call him his own brother?
Things only got worse for him when Teddy quietly left his chair and came in between Albus and Victoire. Albus watched in horror when he leaned forward and brushed his hand against hers. His lips were inches away from her face as he whispered in her ear, "Mind if I have some?" and motioned to the cake. Victoire blushed and nodded eagerly as she passed it to him. As Teddy took the plate from her as he got up from the table, his eyes lingered over her once again a few second longer than necessary.
Albus's own eyes were now wide and he looked away from them, not wanting to see more. "Yeah, I know!" Hugo said excitedly, mistaking his expression for one of surprised. "This thing is faster than your dad's Firebolt!"
(A/N): Alright, I fixed it up a bit by adding in a few sentences. If you haven't figured out where Teddy was, I did mention there were mud on his pants. Please review!