(Notes for this chapter updated 17th February, 2015; minor revision to the wording of this chapter 3rd May, 2016)

Disclaimer: I still haven't turned into J.K. Rowling. I still don't own Harry Potter.

Note: The following is set in a crossover alternate universe where the existence of Simon Templar impacted events in wizarding society during the 20th century. This chapter takes place on Christmas Morning, 1979, and, as with the first chapter, the scene is a small fortified residence adjacent to a goblin-run lead-mine. Whereas the first chapter was a sort of general narrative, this installment specifically peers over the shoulder of this universe's Peter Pettigrew. Some characters and events have diverged (or are in the process of diverging) considerably from the canon universe. In this universe James Potter married Selene Tilde Tombs, a grand-daughter of Simon Templar. Selene is tall, blue-eyed, blonde, and muggle.

Further Note: This piece is background/supporting material for the universe of the 'Saint Potter?' story. This piece is rated 'T'.


James and Selene had disappeared a short while before midnight to participate in some sort of traditional muggle Christmas activity. Peter would have liked to have tagged along with them too (he hadn't understood it, but he had gone along to such an event the previous year), but James and Selene had needed someone to stay behind to 'hold the fort', so to speak, in case of messages or visitors. Neither messages nor visitors of any kind had arrived in their absence, and James and Selene had duly returned and everyone had gone to bed.

Apparently James and Selene's late night trip had fatigued them – either that or they were engaged in whatever mysterious things it was that married couples got up to – since Peter emerged from his guest room, bright and bushy-eyed on Christmas Morning somewhat earlier than James and Selene. Peter was in fact left for a considerable length of time staring at the mysterious packages parked under the Christmas tree in one corner of the 'sitting room', wondering whether, if he looked at them for hard and long enough, he might temporarily develop some sort of ability to see through solid objects?

Sadly, by the time James and Selene had eventually appeared (to organise a belated breakfast) Peter had not attained any such miraculous faculty, which left him having to play the usual guessing games after breakfast, and as usual being in general hopelessly wrong. (The only thing he actually guessed right had been the tin of Scottish gingerbread that Selene had got him, which he'd been able to identify by smell and the sound the parcel produced when shaken.)

Moony hadn't sent anything for Selene and had been notably stingy in the gift he'd sent James this year, Peter noted, and Padfoot hadn't sent anything at all for Peter or James or Selene. Peter hoped that in that latter case of presents (or rather their absence), that that had been because Sirius had been too busy with his mission. Still, it had made James frown for a moment.

And after the present unwrapping, James and Selene had bustled off to the kitchen, whilst Peter alternated between clearing up paper and staring, trying to imagine what it might be like next year, with a baby around?

And then the peculiar sound of a muggle vehicle climbing the hill outside arose, which segued into an eventual crunching of rock chippings under-wheel as it came to a halt outside and the open and slam of a vehicle door – followed by a knock on the front door.

That would likely be their lunchtime guest, Peter realised, and he went into the hall to see to her. Selene was already there, ahead of him, the door opened and a broad smile on her face.

"You really weren't joking when you said I might have to abandon my usual wheels and hire a Land Rover locally to get up here, were you Leeny?"

Peter Pettigrew stared for a couple of moments at the tall dark-haired woman in knee-high black boots, a black dress, black leather gloves, and some sort of fawn-coloured long muggle coat, currently hugging Selene in greeting. He'd seen this woman at the wedding of course – she had been Selene's bridesmaid – where she'd been the principle reason that the small number of witches and wizards in attendance had had to be on best 'observe the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy' behaviour. Selene had mentioned the name of this, one of her old school-friends, multiple times in the last few hours, but for some reason he was drawing a blank.

"However do you get your deliveries up here? Or yourselves for that matter?" the woman continued, having disengaged and pulling off her gloves now, to tuck them into a pocket.

Ethel, Peter's mind belatedly supplied the visitor's name.

Selene tapped her nose meaningfully with her left forefinger.

"I could tell you, but secret government agents would show up and wipe your memory of the explanation, so you'd end up not knowing anyway."

Ethel giggled.

"It's such an amazingly dull building to look at from the outside. Looks like a medieval bunker, or something. And right on the doorstep of a mine or quarry, too, if the piles of stone I passed on the way up are anything to go by. You do pick the most unusual but classy places to stay over Christmas, Leeny. There are girls who were in our class at school with lineages going back to the Conqueror, who'd sell their souls to be as effortlessly stylish as you."

Selene snorted.

"Some of them have sold their souls already, in the name of trying to keep a roof on the family home. I heard only the other day that Magdalene married some sort of stockbroker from Guildford of all places. This is the same Magdalene who was all airs-and-graces and 'I'm-going-to-marry-Prince-Charles' and who almost killed Maud to get the part of Cinderella ahead of her in the school pantomime one year. But you'll have to update me on the others later, as I've got to get back to the kitchen before James burns the brussels sprouts . I'll leave Peter to entertain you. You remember Peter, don't you?"

"Of course." Ethel turned to Peter, as Selene disappeared. "You're the friend of James who was his best man, and whom he said in the after-dinner speech was 'the-life-and-soul' of a small band of his friends during his school days. And he hinted that you'd got up to some pretty naughty stuff at school – not that I doubt that Leeny and I couldn't have given you a run for your money back then. Before we grew up to be quite so posh and respectable, we had a wild year or two at our school, let me tell you – in fact we pretty effectively terrorised half the teachers when we were in class 4B, between rubber snakes, whoopee cushions, and on one occasion a fake-knife-in-the-back and pool of stage blood gag that took us hours to plan out and set up. Of course we got hundreds of lines for that last one – how we never got detention for it I don't know. Leeny said something to the deputy headmistress, but she never told me what."

Ethel's words left Peter feeling uncomfortable for a moment; he felt torn between his obligations to James (and to Sirius and Remus too) and guilt over some of the things that they'd done. Four years on he could still exactly remember the headmaster's look of disappointment, over one time in particular in their fourth year at Hogwarts, and the wild-eyed looks of contempt that Lily Evans had cast their way in the Gryffindor common room for weeks after that event.

He blinked the memory of those looks away and tried to sound appropriately light-hearted.

"It sounds like the pair of you had a great time, being funny. Sometimes I wish that we – meaning James and I and 'the gang' – had spent more time being funny during our school days and less time simply 'having fun'."

Oddly, Ethel seemed to understand this in some way, much better than Peter had thought that she would:

"Well, nobody died, did they, and what's important is that now that you and James are men that you behave like grown-ups."

It was only thinking back on this remark later – much later – that Peter realised that this had been a statement, not a question, implying that Ethel was much better informed than Peter had thought possible, and the only way he could think of that that might have happened was that James had at some point already bared his soul – keeping nothing back – to his wife, and perhaps Selene had in her turn discreetly discussed such as she considered appropriate with her best friend; but these were thoughts which were still a long way from occurring to Peter Pettigrew, and now it was Christmas Morning, and lunch was (in theory) in the offing.

"Well, if I might take your coat?" he politely enquired.

And at this point, a slight whiff of smoke drifted through the air to Peter's delicate nose, accompanied by a strangely breathless cry of alarm from the kitchen, by Selene of:

"The sprouts, James!"


Author Notes:

James and Selene went out to a midnight (carol) service between the previous chapter in this piece and this one. Twelve months earlier, one sort of served as their 'first date'.

The goblins are taking Christmas Day off, too, so as not to disturb festivities.

When Ethel mentions 'the Conqueror' she is referring to the King of England known as 'William the Conqueror' (William I).

Again, the time Peter feels particularly uncomfortable about, from his fourth year at Hogwarts, is this universe's version of 'The Shrieking Shack Incident'.

Whilst Selene ostensibly went back into the kitchen to check on the sprouts, she actually also had a rendezvous with her husband and a sprig of mistletoe...

Update: (17th Febrary, 2015)

In response to a comment by one early reviewer, it seems to me that even in canon there's a fair amount of crossover between how at least parts of the British magical and non-magical worlds observe Christmas. In canon we see Hogwarts being decorated (including with Christmas trees), indication that Christmas presents are given, and Harry Potter having Christmas dinner at Hogwarts (including such details as dinner being accompanied with Christmas crackers that contain small gifts and hats). I think that some things such as the Queen's Christmas broadcast and religious services likely are outside of the magical experience (and probably the concept of Santa Claus too), but in this universe Selene has been busy introducing her husband to some of the non-magical traditions and activities.