Christmas Eve morning had a lazy start. The boys got up before anyone else. Buddy brought his new game council and began instructing Albus and James in the art of human vegetation. The adults all slept in, all except for Aunt Kathy who went dutifully to the kitchen to start up the coffee and construct a beautiful quiche Lorraine for brunch. By the time Harry came down, there was a plate or warm cinnamon buns on the table, freshly cut fruit in a bowl, cranberry bread and pumpkin butter, and the inviting scent of the quiche in the oven.

"Oh, good morning, Harry," Kathy greeted in a sleepy voice, "Have some coffee." Harry sat down gratefully and Kathy set him up with a strong black coffee. Suddenly, the sound of the babies wailing came over a tiny monitor on the counter.

"Uh, oh!" Kathy said, "I guess someone wasn't planning on sleeping in." She excused herself upstairs just as Dudley was coming down.

"Morning," he greeted gruffly as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," Harry answered. Dudley sat down opposite him and they both stared into their cups. Harry still didn't know what to say to his cousin. Fortunately, Dudley spoke first.

"You know, I was sort of wondering something," he began uncertainly.

"Yeah?" Harry asked.

"You remember back when, well when you went away to that place the first time?"

"Of course."

"And you remember how that man came and got you? How he found us even in that shack Dad had us hiding in?"

"How could I forget?"

"Well, what I was wondering is, how did he know you were there?"

"Dumbledore probably told him, I expect," Harry answered, "He was the one who left me with you all, after my parents died." They could hear Aunt Kathy coming downstairs with the babies, and telling the boys to clean of the remnants of their fort. Dudley paused to listen and when he was certain she wasn't coming into the kitchen, he continued in a lowered voice.

"But your mum, my mum's sister, their parents didn't know about that place. How did they know to come and find her?"

"Honestly, I'm not really sure. I've never really thought about it before. I just took it for granted that they knew. Muggle-born witches and wizards get their letters like everyone else." Dudley looked stupid and frustrated. Harry could tell that his question had not been answered.

"But what if a letter doesn't come? What then?" he asked. Harry couldn't figure out what Dudley was getting at. He was asking some strange questions and with a matter of urgency that didn't suggest mere curiosity. Harry honestly didn't know the answers. He was about to try to reply when they were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.

"Who in the world is that, ringing?" Kathy's voice came from the next room.

"Probably the neighbors to complain about all the noise," Dudley said as he rose from the table. Harry followed him into the living room. Everyone watched the door curiously as Buddy opened it to reveal an enormously fat old man, wearing a red suit, and carrying a very large variety of brightly-colored boxes and bags. Everyone drew his or her breath in sharply, Dudley dripped hot coffee on his hand, and Aunt Kathy gave a small shriek of horror.

"Grandad?" Buddy said in a shocked voice.

"Who else?" the man said in a loud voice, "Happy Christmas, Buddy!" Pushing her way past her husband came a trim, skinny, and very wrinkled lady in a perfectly ironed blouse with an electronically lit Christmas tree broach. .

"There's my grandson!" she howled as she caught Buddy by the neck and squeezed him until the tiny plastic bulbs on her shirt made indentations in his face. As she released him, she shoved still more packages in his arms.

"Aren't you going to invite us in, Kathryn?" Aunt Petunia demanded. Kathy glared in hatred and said nothing. It was clear she had no inclination to accommodate her parents-in-law. Perhaps, Harry speculated, she had heard how difficult it is to get rid of the undead, once you've invited them into your home.

"Dad," Dudley began nervously, "I thought you and Mother were going to spend Christmas at that resort in Florida."

"Well, we WERE," Petunia said, answering for her husband, "But we couldn't leave poor Aunt Marge up here, all alone from Christmas…"
"You've never had a problem doing it before," Kathy pointed out coolly. Petunia continued, ignoring Kathy's remark.

"And since we were already here, we thought we'd bring our sweet little grand-babies their presents!"

"Who's that funny-looking ginger on the couch?" Uncle Vernon interrupted meanly.

"That's my cousin, James, Grandad," Buddy explained, "And he looks fine."

"Oh, we were wondering whose old car that was out there? One of YOUR relatives you've invited over, Kathryn?"

"Yes," she responded, growing more and more red in the face, "Relatives. INVITED relatives."

Vernon grumbled something rude about red-headed boys that was mostly overlooked as Petunia swept across the room to the corner where Lilly was playing with the twins.

"Ohhh! My little angel twins!" she squealed and she knelt down and scooped them up in her arms, smothering them with kisses. It was there she stopped short for she had caught sight of Lily, sitting bewildered in the corner.

"Merciful heavens!" she moaned, "Lily?"

Lily stared curiously at this overbearing woman she had never seen before.

"How do you know my name?" she asked. Petunia gasped and stepped back as if she'd seen a ghost.

"What is it Petunia?" Vernon demanded as he deposited his load on the sofa near the spot where Albus had been enjoying his turn at Teenage Samurai Cyclone Wars. As Albus turned to look at him, Vernon grew quite white in the face.

"What the blazes is going on here?" he bellowed, turning from stark white to beet red, "Who are you!"

"Albus Severus Potter," Albus answered properly, "And I'm not funny-looking either."

"Potter? He looks just like…" he raised his eyes to his son and found Harry lurking back in the doorway. "YOU! What in blazes is HE doing here!" Vernon bellowed.

"THEY were invited for Christmas Eve. The question is, why are YOU here," Kathy explained slowly and evenly as if she were speaking to person who was not very bright. Then to her husband she said, "I have to get the quiche out. There's not enough for two more." She picked up the babies and left him with a look that meant in no uncertain terms that when she returned, his parents had best be gone.

"Come on, children," Ginny said, "Let's go help Auntie in the kitchen." James and Lily got up obediently but Albus was still taking in the two angry strangers.

"Albus Severus," his father called, and he rose and followed into the kitchen.

"What are you doing, letting him in your house?" Petunia berated her son, "Have you forgotten all the trouble he caused us?"

"Mother, he's my cousin…" Dudley tried to interject.

"We had to go into bloody hiding because of him and his… people!" Vernon bellowed.

"That wasn't his fault!" Dudley argued, "And have you forgotten when he saved me from those…horrible…things!"

"That little girl…" Petunia spat through trembling lips, "She looks just like my sister! And did you hear that boy, that Albus Severus…Severus! That was that little freak boy that was always hanging around Lily, trying to encourage her to do magic. HE was the one who took her away!"

"Mother, you don't understand…" Dudley desperately tried to argue.

"I understand that if it wasn't for that boy my sister might still be alive! They came for her all right…And that boy! Potter! We raised and fed him! When his letter came we tried to hide him, but they came for him nonetheless. And they took him away to that SCHOOL! And don't you think for a minute that they aren't after your children as well!"

"Mother, please, you don't know what you're talking about! Harry's not going to hurt my kids."

"Hurt them?" she sputtered, "manipulate them, corrupt them, steal them away and turn them into freaks like him… like those horrid brats of his!"

"STOP!" Buddy cried. No one had realized he was still in the room. Dudley looked at his son apologetically. He was all white, his eyes blazing, his blond hair seemed to stand up, and he was shaking violently. "Don't…call…my cousins…names!" he said slowly and defiantly.

"Mother, we're trying to have a Christmas party here. It's time you left."

"I'm here to visit with my grandchildren," she stated defensively.

"Al, come back here," Harry's voice came from the hallway. Albus had come into the room. Buddy saw his cousin and then looked back at his grandparents.

"I want you to leave," he told them.

"But, sweetheart," Petunia said, trying to crack a smile, "It's Christmas Eve…"

"No!" he replied sharply, "You're being ridiculous…and you're upsetting me. You should go."

"But, Sport," Vernon continued, "We've brought all these cool presents, just for you."

"I don't want them. I want you to leave. I'm getting angry," Buddy repeated again.

"Albus," Harry whispered, "Come back in the kitchen with your brother and sister." Albus nodded. "Sure, Dad," he said, "But Buddy too." Buddy looked back at Albus, then faced his grandmother again.

"I said 'go'. I don't want to see you now."

Petunia squealed in frustration.

"You see! You see what they've done to him, the monsters! They've already brainwashed him!" Vernon pointed an enormous finger at Albus and Harry.

"You're the ones who should clear out!" he bellowed, "Casting your evil spells on my grandson! You and your lot! I wish I could wash you off the face of this earth! You freaks! If I could I'd lock you all up and…" But Vernon didn't get a chance to tell them what he would do. His face went all white and he put his hands to his throat as if he were seizing. Large purple boils began to form on his face and hands. Petunia screamed.

"What are you doing to him?! Leave him alone!" she pleaded.

"Albus, calm down!" Harry ordered taking his son by the shoulder. The lights flickered and Buddy ran upstairs sobbing, presumably terrified. Vernon was gasping for air now as the purple boils began to pop with sickening squeaking noises. Harry dragged his son by the arm, back into the kitchen, and set him down beside his mother.

"Hold him," he commanded and then headed back into the living room. Albus looked curiously up at his mother.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked her. Kathy watched Harry leave.

"Ginny, is your husband a violent man?" she asked quietly.

"Of course not!" Ginny exclaimed as if offended.

"Pity." Kathy responded and continued to pour the orange juice.