Snow Day
The Christmas holidays came faster than she had thought. In next to no amount of time, it was Tuesday, and James's parents were driving them — in a car of all things — back to his house, having already picked them up from Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. As they pulled into a familiar road, number twelve, Grimauld Place emerged from between numbers eleven and thirteen.
"Grab your bags and I'll see you inside," Harry said to them, and winked. "I just need to send this car back to the Weasley's."
The four of them — Ginny, Amy, James and Lily — all trooped inside.
"Amy, you're in the room next to James as usual," Ginny told her. "Remember, up the stairs—"
"And to the right," James finished. "Mum, she knows. So can we go?"
She sighed. "Fine. But don't forget to unpack!"
Amy, Lily and James all hurried upstairs, lugging their bags behind them. James grinned as Spark ran up the stairs, and shot through his bedroom door, tailing a small, terrified dormouse.
"See you in a bit," he said, rolling his eyes. "Don't bother unpacking; Mum does it anyway. Just leave your bags on your bed and then come on downstairs."
She tried to smile. "Sure," she managed in a choked voice. "I'll, uh, just need to let Mist out first."
He paused, reading her expression. "Are you okay?" Another pause. "Look, I know you're worried about Aaron, but your—"
Hot tears pricked at her eyes, and she nodded too quickly. "I'll be okay."
"It's alright not to be," he said softly. He took a step towards her, and hugged her. She melted into him, looped her trembling arms around his broad back.
"Aaron..." she whispered, her breath hitching with tears.
"Amy, your parents and the Order are doing their best," he said. "He'll be found, of course he will. But you should give yourself a day to relax, since there's nothing you can do today. Aaron'd want that too, he'd doo the same. And then, from tomorrow, I promise you, we can both help with Aaron."
"I know," she said. "You're right. I just..." She took a deep breath. "I'll be fine. I'm just so worried. Thanks, James, for being a sweetheart."
He smiled reassuringly. "Anytime, Ames. You know Aaron's probably just up to one of his pranks."
They both knew that wasn't true.
"I know," she repeated. "Alright, I'll see you downstairs."
Amy shut the door lightly behind her. She would find the Marauders Map, but not today. Tomorrow. She hated herself for not finding the Map now, for not freeing Aaron as soon as she could. James was wrong when he'd said there was nothing she could do today. But with Uncle Harry milling around and all the business of the day, she would take James's advice and leave it for now, make sure she wouldn't raise any suspicions. Maybe early in the morning, though, when no-one was around...
She pushed open the windows, and Mist flew outside, squawking happily. Then, she hoisted her bags onto the bed, unclasped the two metal catches, and unzipped her bag, pulling out a slightly oversized pinstriped blue blouse, jumper and jeans, into which she changed.
She trudged downstairs to find Ginny bustling about the kitchen, cooking what smelled like fried eggs and sausages. She smiled as she caught sight of Amy, and gestured to the table, where James and Lily were already sitting. The kitchen was moderately sized, though longer than wide, with a large, red-brown table and chairs. A clock hung on one wall, and from the others hung full-blown photographs, mostly of James's family, although she saw some of herself and members of her own family as well.
"It looks… different," Amy commented, meaning the house. She sat down beside James.
"Mum wanted a change," James explained. "So we refurnished and redecorated."
"It's nice," she complimented. "I like it."
He grinned. "Same. It used to be a bit… cold."
She nodded in agreement, then quickly backtracked, blushing. "Um, I mean… It wasn't, just that—"
"Don't worry," he chuckled. "No offence taken. Mum, can you hurry up? We're starving!"
"Coming," Ginny announced, and the frying pan flew over with a flick of her wand, tilting itself so that each of them — including the two empty spaces left for her and Harry — had five sausages and a fried egg, sunny-side up. James dug in. Amy and Lily followed suit.
"I'm back," said Harry, walking cheerfully into the kitchen. "Mmm, smells delicious, Ginny."
He leant down to kiss her, and James made a face. Amy laughed, and this time, it was genuine.
"Did you know," he went on, coming over to sit next to his daughter, "that it's forecasted to snow later on?" He winked, as Amy, James and Lily broke out into excited chatter. "It's going to be quite heavy, I think."
"When?" Lily asked, beaming.
"Oh," he said, "around… now."
The three children's heads swung around to face the window. Flakes of snow, just as Harry had said, were beginning to fall, and already the neighbourhood was coated with a thin coat of white.
"Mum!" squealed Lily. "Can we go out? Can we go? Please?"
Aunt Ginny came to sit down as well, ruffling James's hair fondly. He scowled. "When you've finished your breakfast," she said, "then you can go. But you have to promise me you'll put on a coat. And you too," she added to Amy and James.
He rolled his eyes. "Mu-um. 'Course we will." Then his eyes flashed with excitement. "Mum, Dad, we can't really play outside here," he said. "Can't we, you know, go and visit Gran and Gramps? They have such a big garden… Or Rose and Hugo? Albus is there, and so is Geoff."
Lily chorused in. "Please, Mum? It's such a good idea. Because James is right… we can't play here, it's too full of Muggles."
"Amy?" Harry asked.
She grinned. "Can we?"
Aunt Ginny sighed, then smiled. "Finish your meal, then I'll go and get some Floo Powder. We're going to see Gran and Gramps. Rose and Hugo will probably be there, too, with Al and Geoff."
James punched the air. "Yes!"
The rest of the meal was eaten in a hurry as all three of them shovelled down their food, scraping their knives against their plates. Finally Lily, who they had all been waiting for, straightened.
"I'm done," she said.
"Go and get whatever you need, then," Ginny said. "Be back down here in five minutes, or we're leaving."
They raced upstairs, and Amy grabbed a coat, hat, and changed into boots. She was about to leave, when she grabbed an additional coat. Just in case…
"Bring your broom!" came James's shout from across the hall.
She stumbled. Her broom? Oh, well. All of her senses were screaming against it, but she picked up her broomstick, an old Dreamflame 90, and hurried downstairs. The others, yet again, were already there, waiting for her.
"The Burrow!" Lily said, stepping forwards into the fireplace and flinging the Floo powder down. She vanished in an explosion of green flames.
"Right, I'll go next," Ginny said. "The Burrow!"
Harry offered the glass jar of Floo powder to Amy, and she took a handful. "You next, Amy."
"The Burrow!" she said loudly, clearly.
She arrived, coughing and sneezing, in the fireplace of Mr and Mrs Weasley Sr., although the Weasleys Jr. were also there, with their two children Rose and Hugo. She was wondering if she would ever get used to the strange feeling of travelling by Floo powder, when James shot out of the fireplace, stumbling into her. They collapsed on the floor, laughing.
"Come on, let's go outside!" James said, hauling Amy up. "Look!"
She looked. There was so much more snow here than in London. The garden was white, covered in a thick blanket of snow, snow that was still falling. James waved at his younger brother, Albus, standing beside Rose and Hugo Weasley and, of course, Amy's brother, Geoff. All four were covered from head to toe in melting snow.
"Hey, Al," he said.
"James!"
"What's it like outside?" he asked.
"Brilliant." Albus laughed. "We're going out again, you coming?"
"'Course."
The snow was falling heavily, though it came down in light, dry flakes. As they left the house, Amy felt it in an instant in her hair, on her cheek. James threw Amy her Dreamflame 90, and he leapt astride his Swiftshot.
"Coming, Ames?" he called, and, feeling awkward, Amy flew up to meet him.
This isn't too bad, she thought. Amy never flew, never played Quidditch, because she was worried she would make a fool of herself. The truth was, she had only flown once before, when she was a first-year. It had ended disastrously when Turvulus Malfoy's broom had collided with hers in mid-air, causing her to fall.
Geoff, Albus, Rose, Hugo and Lily were now all hovering alongside her and James.
"So who's up for a snowball fight?" James asked loudly. Everyone cheered, even Amy. Here, in the snow with her friends, she felt she could forget what was happening to Aaron. Her expression darkened, and again she felt heavy, wondered what in Merlin's name she was doing. "Let's go!"
The fliers dispersed, swooped down to pick up large handfuls of snow.
Amy swallowed, and reminded herself that if she fell, the snow would cushion her a sudden burst of bravery, she dove down to the ground, and scooped up a handful of snow. She heard Geoff speeding towards her, and swerved to the side as he launched a snowball at her. She flung hers, catching him right in the face. The others roared with laughter as Geoff spluttered, bewildered, rolling back in the snow. He grinned, sitting up.
"Nice one, Amy!" he said. "I didn't know you could fly!"
It was true. She had just dove, picked up snow with one hand, swerved an incoming snowball, and thrown one… bull's eye. She looked up to see James staring at her, his mouth slightly open.
"Amy, you can actually fly pretty well," he said, surprised.
She felt a hot rush of pride, but shrugged casually. "Yeah, maybe."
Lily threw a snowball at Rose, and the snowball fight was back in motion. Amy, with a newfound confidence, dove, scooped, and threw snowballs at everyone, rarely missing. She laughed along with everyone else as others met their mark on her.
"James!" she yelled as she hurled one at him. He spun around, saw her snowball heading for him, and ducked. "Remember, Amy, I play Quidditch!" he teased. "You can't get me that easily."
"I bet you can't get me, either!" Amy chuckled back.
The challenge sparked in his eyes. "You think?"
"Five Knuts says you can't get me," she said, grinning. "Scared?"
"Five Knuts," he agreed. "But Five Knuts says you can't get me, either."
Then he nose-dived to the ground. She was close behind, and plummeted to the ground after him, running her hand through the soft snow. A snowball came whizzing towards her, and she quickly leant backwards, so it barely skimmed her face.
"Nice try, James," she said. "But you're not a Chaser. You'll need a better aim to hit me."
With that, she shot forwards and slammed the snowball into James. His eyes flew wide open. He couldn't believe it. Amy burst out into laughter.
"Pay up, James," she said. "Five Knuts, as you promised."
"What's this?" Rose asked, coming up behind them. "Amy, you hit James?"
"James, you let Amy get you!" Hugo and Albus teased.
"You're putting the Gryffindor Quidditch team to shame," Geoff said, shaking his head and grinning.
This caused James to retort: "Geoff, you were hit by Amy, too!"
Even Lily chuckled. "Ha!"
James finally saw the funny side, and his face broke into a grin. "Fine. Five Knuts. But you're going to have to catch me first, Amy."
He sped up into the air, and Amy flew behind him, laughing until her sides ached.
"James, this isn't fair!" she shouted. "Your broom is so much faster than mine!"
"You've still gotta catch me!" James yelled back, grinning. "Or are you too scared?"
She grinned back. "I'm going to get you for that, James Potter!"
Then she rushed forwards, feeling the snow cold on her face. James veered left and right, and, finally, she decided to stop. She sighed, hovering. James approached her uncertainly after a few seconds.
"Amy, are you okay?" he asked.
"I don't know…" she mumbled.
Concerned, he flew over to her. "Ames…"
She snapped out her arm, caught his wrist, smiled. "Gotcha."
He rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. You got me. I surrender."
Down below, Geoff, Albus, Rose, Hugo and Lily were cracking up. James looked slightly embarrassed.
The snowball fight began again with more enthusiasm, and all too soon, Hermione was calling for them to finish.
"Come on in, now! It's getting dark!"
They flew back inside, smiling. She brushed the snow quickly off each of them as they walked in.
"Five Knuts?" said Amy.
James dug a hand into the pocket of his jeans, and pulled out two Sickles. He shrugged. "That's all I have. Keep the change." He suddenly looked up, cocked his head, and sniffed. "What is that smell?" he breathed. "Roast chicken?"
Geoff ran up to them. "Roast chicken," he agreed. "Race you there?"
She sighed. Boys. All they cared about was food, it seemed.
But that chicken really did smell good.