Chapter 9 - Sins of the Fathers

"Hey, what's that?"

James was helping his father sort out some old boxes. Not quite, because what they were supposed to do was go and pay a visit to Teddy and his grandmother, Andromeda, but Al was taking forever again to get ready, and so Dad went back to the old boxes and James just started going through stuff, too.

Dad was now going through some old picture albums, and in James's opinion, looking at the pictures more than arranging the boxes. James was doing a much better job of sorting the albums, but now an old photograph fell out, full of people whom he didn't recognise, and didn't seem to fit in any of the picture albums. "Where did it fall from?"

"Let me see," Dad said, then took the picture. His forehead wrinkled in surprise. "I didn't even know I had it."

"What is it?"

"Mad-Eye gave it to me - Mad-Eye Moody, he was an Auror. It's the original Order of the Phoenix, the group Dumbledore set to fight Voldemort - look." He shifted the people in the photograph and showed a couple of people to James. "There's your grandparents, James and Lily Potter. And that's Sirius Black, my godfather." He looked some more. "That's Albus Dumbledore... and blimey, that's Remus!"

"Teddy's dad?"

"Yeah... I should bring this with us. I don't think he's ever seen pictures of Remus when he was that young." Dad stared at the photograph for a while yet, pointing out someone every once in a while. "That's Aberforth Dumbledore... I think these are your mother's uncles, Gideon and Fabian... Neville's parents, too - Professor Longbottom, I should say..."

Dad was so entranced by the photograph, that he didn't notice that the phone rang. Mum sighed. "Hello?" she said, then twisted her face in a way that made it obvious to James she was not pleased. "Harry? Dudley's on the phone." She covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "You did give him the instructions, right?"

"Yeah," Dad jumped towards the phone, pocketing the photograph. "They can find Ottery St Catchpole with the GPS, though, and from there it's pretty straight forward."

"Unless they end up in Luna's old house," Mum laughed and Dad took the phone. "Yeah, Dudley?"

"Hey, what's that?" Al finally walked into the room.

"About time."

"Dad's still on the phone."

"Yeah..." James said and shot his father a look, to see whether he was likely to finish soon, and then they could continue to Teddy's house.

Something wasn't quite right. There was a curious, frozen expression on Dad's face as he listened to whatever was said on the other end, and he was nodding even though his cousin Dudley couldn't see it. When he answered, he talked in short, clipped tones, so unlike his own. Mum also figured out something was wrong, and looked at him curiously. Finally, Dad put the receiver down.

"What is it?" Mum asked immediately.

"You need to tell your mother we're going to have an extra guest," Dad said. His voice still had that clipped tone about it.

"Sure, I don't think she'd mind. Who else is coming?"

"Petunia."

"Petu - not your Aunt Petunia?"

"Yeah."

Mum's nostrils flared in an almost dangerous way. She didn't say anything - James had the feeling a lot more would have been said had they not been in the room. But they were, and she said nothing, just crossed her arms and pursed her lips, and let her nostrils flare.

"I'll tell Mum," she said eventually. "What about your uncle?"

"Dudley only said Petunia..." Dad now frowned as well. "Alright. See you soon." Dad gave her a kiss on the cheek, then called James and Al.

"What was that about?" Al immediately asked.

"Nothing."

"We're going to be at dinner, you know," James said.

"Then you'll meet your great aunt Petunia and be polite," Dad said, and, more quietly he added, "even if it kills all of us. Come on guys."

They stepped into the fireplace and came out in Andromeda Tonks's kitchen. It was full of Christmas decorations, with lights and glittering paper chains. Teddy was at the counter, trying to cook something. His hair was half white, half red, in the best of his Christmas tradition.

"Hey, Teddy," James said as soon as he stepped out of the fireplace.

"Give - me - one - second!" Teddy said, then tipped his wand at the pot and turned around.

"This smells horrible," Dad said with a smile.

"Yeah, well, I thought Gran had enough of cooking, you know what she's like."

"Yeah." Dad rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, Al came out of the fireplace. "How come you're not coming to the Burrow this year!" he demanded as soon as he saw Teddy.

"Hello to you, too," Teddy said, but the tips of his mouth twitched. "We got company this year. Gran's finally back on speaking terms with her sister, so they're here for dinner tonight."

Dad rolled his eyes once again. "Christmas dinner with the Malfoys," he said dryly. "That gotta be fun. But you are coming tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I already told Gran, and I think she's kinda relieved, too. And I should do something to cheer her up - I have to go back to the Ministry around midnight and then she's stuck with the Malfoys."

"What? Why?"

"I pulled the Christmas Eve shift," Teddy said in an unhappy voice.

"Your grandmother is going to kill me, you know that?" Dad said, and Teddy laughed. "Stone dead. As soon as she sees me, wands will be drawn."

"Yeah, I wouldn't get too close to her if I were you. Keep a safe distance and all."

Dad laughed, too. "Anyway, have you got a minute, I wanted to show you something..." he pulled out the photograph, and James looked at the two for a moment. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but for some reason, it made him jealous of Teddy. Teddy got to hear all about the War, he knew. Teddy told him once - Dad had sat him down before he went to Hogwarts, and told him he could ask anything about his father and the War and everything. He never did the same with James or Al or Lily.

Someone new walked into the room - Scorpius Malfoy. Oh, this visit was just becoming better and better, wasn't it?

"Hi, Scorpius," Al said.

"Hi," Scorpius replied in an even more sullen voice than usual.

"What's up with you?" Al asked, and James, more out of annoyed boredom than anything else, listened in.

"My grandfather," Scorpius said shortly. The three of them looked out of the door into the living room, where James could see Professor Malfoy - and on the holidays, too! - with a man who looked too much like him to be anyone but Scorpius's grandfather.

They looked very much alike, Draco Malfoy and his father. They both had blond hair, although the hair on Professor Malfoy's father's head looked more white than blond now. They both had pointy chins and grey eyes and an expression as if something died just under their nose.

But where Draco Malfoy always made sure to try and look as if his family still had the amounts of money they were rumours to have lost after the War (even if no one was buying it), his father seemed to have given up on the notion. He was unshaven, and the stubble on his chin was at least three days old. His shirt was a few sizes too large, and seemed old and worn. His hair looked like a dead lump on his head, and too long in James's opinion.

The thing that James had noticed the most, though, was not his external appearance, but the way he sat there on the armchair, fidgeting and looking around. Even now, when he was talking to his family, he kept on moving his gaze from one spot to the other, never letting it rest on any one thing more than a few seconds at a time. The three of them stood there and watched the Malfoys in silence. James had noticed that Scorpius was in no hurry to rejoin his grandfather.

"What's up, guys?" Dad must have finished showing Teddy the picture, and joined them at the door. "How come you're stuck here?"

Scorpius Malfoy gave him a worried look. "Hi, Scorpius," Dad said, but Scorpius didn't return the greeting, and then Dad looked up.

James had never seen his father change colours this fast. In the living room, Scorpius's grandfather jumped from his armchair.

"What's he doing here?" Dad snarled.

"Dad - it's okay, it's Scorpius's granddad - " Al tried to say, but Dad dismissed him on the spot.

"I know who this is. What is he doing here?" Dad already had his wand in his hand.

"Harry," Andromeda jumped now as well. Behind her, Scorpius's grandfather was pulling his wand, his grandmother seemed to try and push her husband back, and both Draco Malfoy and his wife looked from Dad to Mr Malfoy in apprehension.

"You know how you've always said I should get back in touch with my sister," Andromeda continued in a low voice. "It's just a family thing, that's all."

To James's surprise, his father was shaking with rage. He looked at him, incredulous, as Dad completely ignored Andromeda and instead stared at Scorpius's grandfather and took another step into the living room. "What is he doing out?" he demanded.

"Harry," Teddy put his hand on Dad, trying to calm him down, but he just made Dad jump. "It's all legal. He got released a couple of weeks ago."

"It hasn't been thirty years yet. You got thirty years."

"I've been released on parole, Potter," Malfoy spoke now, his voice full of venom and contempt. "Good behaviour. Perhaps you should have appealed to the Wizengamot, like your friends, Finch-Fletchley."

"How didn't I know about this?"

"It was all in the files, Harry," Teddy said quietly. "It just got buried under all the rest of the paperwork. I guess you didn't have time to get to it, what with everything else that's going on and Hogwarts and everything. Bad timing, that's all."

Dad swore.

"Mr Potter!" It was now Draco Malfoy's wife who spoke. "Watch your language next to my son, please. You may not care what words your children use, but I do."

Dad stared at the Malfoys for a moment longer, still shaking with rage and completely pale. All of a sudden, he turned back to the kitchen. "Al, James, we're leaving."

"Dad!"

"What - Dad - no!"

"Now."

"Harry," Teddy tried to talk to him, but Dad wasn't hearing any of this. He stood next to the fireplace and glared until James pushed Al towards it.

"I'm not going," Al tried to protest.

"Not now, Al," James said, trying to somehow stop this from becoming an even worse disaster. The last thing they needed was for Dad to start shouting.

"No! I'm not going. We said we'll stay here for a couple of hours and I want to stay here with Scorpius and Teddy."

"Al," that was Dad. He didn't shout. Rather, his voice was low, almost soft. But there was something there, beyond anger - almost dangerous. Even Al looked up in surprise, almost in shock, at the sound of his voice. "We're leaving. Teddy, Andromeda, we'll see you tomorrow. Happy Christmas."

They took the Floo straight to the Burrow.

Mum and Lily must have got there only a few moments before them. Grandma was still hugging Lily and going on about how she had grown when they got into the room.

"Oh, and look at you!" Grandma jumped immediately and hugged them. James returned the hug, but Al was still angry, and tried to wriggle out of her arms.

"Hi, Molly," Dad said shortly and gave Grandma a kiss on the cheek.

"Harry, dear, how wonderful to see you!" she beamed at them. "But I thought you'd only get here in a couple of hours!"

"Change of plans," he said.

Dad continued to be in a foul mood for the next few hours. Grandma looked in confusion both at him and Al, who was apparently not talking to Dad now, but instead sat by the fire and did nothing.

"What happened, James?" Grandma asked quietly.

"The Malfoys were at Andromeda's," he said.

"Yes, but Harry knew that before you came," she said, confused.

"I don't know, he didn't know Scorpius's grandfather would be there, and then he went all mental when he saw him."

"Lucius Malfoy was there?" Granddad asked, an odd expression on his face.

"Don't know what he's called."

"Professor Malfoy's father."

"Yeah, him. He was there."

"He was a Death Eater." Granddad obviously thought that was enough of an explanation.

"Yeah, but wasn't Professor Malfoy a Death Eater too? And Dad doesn't go all nuts when he sees him."

It took a couple more hours before things started to make sense. Rose and Hugo came with their parents, and as the kids were sent to set the table, Dad was in the kitchen, talking to Hermione and Ron. James could hear a snippet here and there of their hushed conversation as he was walking in and out of the kitchen to fetch dishes - especially those bits of the conversation when Dad lost his temper and talked louder than he realised.

"I'm not letting my kids anywhere near that man!" was the first bit James heard. He didn't hear Hermione's response, but when he got back, Dad was talking again.

" - Cedric Diggory's body and laughed. He laughed, Hermione. And Diggory just lay there dead and he was laughing. Hell, he didn't have any qualms about seeing a fourteen-year-old being tortured half to death right in front of his eyes, and there's nothing - nothing! - to suggest he changed in any way."

"It's been twenty five years, Harry," Hermione answered. "And things changed. He's not going to torture James or Al or Lily in front of your eyes."

"Yeah, and I'm not going to give him the opportunity - James!" Dad finally noticed it was taking James a long time to fetch those plates. "Get going, will you?"

"Sure, sure," he muttered, but now he had a new target. He stacked the plates on the plate and told some of the younger kids to arranged them properly, and ignored their protests as he went to find George - who was his coolest uncle and also just about the only one who didn't treat them as if they were all stupid kids.

George was sitting on the sofa in the living room, showing some Muggle gadget to Lily - probably trying to see if he could make a cool trick out of it, James thought.

"Hey, George, can I ask you something?"

Lily made a face at him, but his uncle put down the Muggle device and said, "Sure, what's up?"

"And you promise not to act like I'm a stupid kid for asking?"

"That would depend on how stupid your question is," George laughed, then said, "Sure, alright."

"Who's Cedric Diggory?"

George's smile was wiped from his face. "Where did you hear that name?" he asked quietly.

James thought for a moment, then decided to tell the truth. "Dad's arguing with Ron and Hermione in the kitchen. About Lucius Malfoy."

"Lucius Malfoy? What does Lucius Malfoy have to do with anything?"

"He's a Death Eater," Al joined in the conversation. James didn't even realise he was listening. "He was at Andromeda's house today and Dad lost it."

"Yeah, and now he's going on in the kitchen about that Cedric Diggory."

"Oh." George must have understood something, something that still escaped James. He looked from James to Al, to Lily and then to James again. "I think you want to talk about this with Harry," he said carefully.

"Yeah, but Dad does think we're stupid kids and never trusts us enough to tell us anything!"

George bit his lip for a moment. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again and thought for a moment. "Cedric Diggory was a year older than me and Fred... a few years older than your dad. He was murdered by Voldemort. Harry was there when it happened. I guess Lucius Malfoy was there too. Makes sense, anyway, from what your dad said."

"But Dad saw a bunch of people murdered by Voldemort, didn't he? Why is this one important?"

George shifted uncomfortably. "Look, James, you really need to talk to Harry about this. He doesn't think you're stupid, I guess he just thinks you're too young for this."

"We're not," James insisted.

"James..."

"We're not," James repeated again, and George sighed.

"Alright. That was the first time Harry saw someone murdered like that, James. He was... fifteen at the time, I think? No, hold on, fourteen, should be around fourteen then, yeah, in his fourth year, me and Fred were in our sixth year, so Harry was fourteen then."

That was what Dad had said to Hermione, wasn't it? Lucius Malfoy had stood and watched a fourteen year old tortured half to death... James just hadn't realised he was talking about himself. He thought for a moment about the contempt in Lucius Malfoy's voice. A man who tortured his father when he was younger than he, James, was today. And he was Scorpius Malfoy's grandfather, and now Al and Scorpius were friends.

"Look, James, Lucius Malfoy is a nasty piece of a work, always has been, and there's nothing to convince me he could ever be anything more. Your dad's been through a lot, and he wants to protect you lot, and when it comes to Lucius Malfoy, I can't say I blame him."

"It was when he came back," Lily said quietly. "The D - Voldemort. He wanted Dad, and Diggory just - well, he got in the way," she finished, looking slightly embarrassed.

Her cheeks grew more and more red and she realised everyone in ear shot was looking at her. James and Al stared at her in surprise - when did she ever hear this? But George had a weird expression on his face. If he was going to say something in response to Lily's claim, they never knew - at that moment there was a knock on the door, and George jumped on the opportunity to drop the conversation and went to open it.

"Harry," he called, as the door revealed Houda's family.

Dad got out of the kitchen, still looking angry, and it didn't look like the sight improved his temper at all.

"Hi, Dudley, Aminah, Houda," he said.

"Hi, Harry," Dudley said. "You remember my sons, Vernon and David?" the two boys were looking in amazement all around them. "And, uh, Aminah's parents, Dawd and Mouna - "

"How do you do?" Dad asked and shook their hands.

Behind them was another woman. She was thin and blonde and looked around with her eyes darting all around, and kind of reminded James of Lucius Malfoy. The way Dad had treated her, she might as well had been. He didn't shout at her, nor did he kick her out, but he had that same frozen stance he had adopted when he first saw Lucius Malfoy sitting in Andromeda's living room.

"Petunia," he said coldly.

She nodded curtly. "Harry," she said, in a somewhat nervous voice.

"You remember George Weasley."

"No, I'm afraid I don't," she said, still nervous, in an apologetic voice.

Dudley looked at George and swallowed. Petunia's eyes, on the other hand, had now landed on Al. She seemed almost taken aback, looking at him.

"That's my son, Albus," Dad said, his voice still cold. "And James. And Lily is here somewhere too."

"Lily..." she whispered.

Everyone stood there at the entrance, looking awkward and uncomfortable, until his grandparents walked in and rushed everyone inside, and started talking excitedly to Houda's grandparents. Houda walked in to find Lily and Hugo, and James took David and Vernon and introduced them to everyone. Dad's aunt Petunia kept on looking rather lost throughout the entire thing.

Christmas dinner turned out to be the most awkward dinner James ever had the misfortune to attend. His grandfather spent most of the time with Houda's grandfather, asking him all kinds of odd and rather embarrassing questions about Muggles, and only stopping when Grandma told him off. Aminah and Hermione hit it off quite well, which was a small blessing, because Dad was sitting next to Dudley and the two of them hardly exchanged a word. George tried to show some of the stuff from the joke shop to Vernon and David and got told off almost immediately by Grandma, to everyone's great disappointment. Roxanne and Dominique went on and on and on about their N.E.W.T.s and bored that entire section of the table. And Petunia Dursley looked completely and utterly lost, and wasn't talking to anyone in particular, not even to Houda's family or Rose and Hugo's Muggle grandparents, who tried engaging her in a conversation every once in a while.

Opposite them, the conversation raged on.

"'Raiding squads'! Honestly, Harry, why don't you call them assassins and be done with it?" Ron said and rolled his eyes.

"They're going to areas we know are bases for goblin activity and just attack without warning, what else d'you want to call them?" Dad answered in annoyance.

"So what, we should sit back and let the goblins attack us without warning and do nothing?"

"Because the past twenty years have been a resounding success..." George mused.

"Exactly," Dad latched on to this. "Every time they go on another raid, we're going back months in the negotiations."

Ron snorted. "Those negotiations haven't changed a bloody thing for the past twenty years - and you know it. It's not the negotiations that bother you, it's that you lost the vote last week."

"We only lost the vote because I wasn't there in time, seeing as I was busy chasing Death Eaters while those useless, good-for-nothing politicians - "

"You know," Hermione's voice drowned Dad's statement, "talking politics is never a good idea, and while I'm usually thrilled not everyone's participating, there's plenty of people at the table who can't participate, so can we keep this for later?"

"Sorry," Ron mumbled. Dad looked like he was going to finish talking about useless good-for-nothing politicians, but then Hermione raised her eyebrows and he went back to staring at his food.

"Don't worry about us, we got used to all of this a long time ago," Rose's grandmother was laughing now. "When Hermione was growing up, the things she told us... Oh, but you must have gone through the same thing with Harry, I imagine, you know all about it!" She told Petunia Dursley.

Petunia mumbled something.

"And your husband, too - it's such a shame he couldn't come," Rose's grandmother continued, completely oblivious to her surrounding. But what had escaped her eyes had not escaped James's. He saw it all - Petunia, mumbling, looking hard at her plate and flushing red, and in front of her Dad, who looked more and more like he did when he shouted at Lucius Malfoy.

"Yes, Petunia," Dad said all of a sudden. His voice sounded unnatural and was full of nastiness. "How come you ended up coming?"

She pursed her lips. "Well, since Dudley ended up going here, there really wasn't any point in having a Christmas dinner for two, wasn't there," she said. "Christmas is a time for family."

"Well, you're right. Family is important, magic or no magic, right?"

"Harry," Mum somehow managed to hear this over her conversation with Aminah - or, perhaps, she had stopped the conversation when she heard Dad talking to Petunia. Finally, Rose's grandmother realised something was wrong and was looking in confusion from Harry to Petunia. Petunia said nothing.

"How come Vernon didn't come?" Dad pressed on.

She pursed her lips further, and still did not speak. Dudley answered instead, "We, uh, had a bit of a fight with Dad. Before term started."

"His own granddaughter." Dad asked in disgust. "Unbelievable. Well, I guess he's got other grandchildren, the way he sees it."

"Harry," Mum said again, more sharply this time. But much like earlier, when he ignored Andromeda and Teddy and focused only on Lucius Malfoy, he ignored Mum now and focused his gaze back on Petunia. The entire table was listening in now, except for Roxanne and Dominique who were so deep into their conversation about the N.E.W.T.s that they just weren't paying attention to anything else.

"I guess grandchildren, at least, are something worth ripping your family over, isn't that right, Petunia?" The nastiness in his voice gave way to fury.

"That's not fair," she whispered.

"Harry, that's enough," Mum said.

"I'm just saying, funny how things change. So many years of hating and despising anything - anyone, I should say, that had anything to do with magic, but I guess even Petunia Dursley can mellow over the years, no?" Dad was doing a worse and worse job of controlling his voice and stopping himself from shouting. The rage that was seething out of him was visible to everyone in the room - even Roxanne and Dominique were now looking curiously at the show at the middle of the table. Dad just went on and on. "Your own sister, your nephew, but I guess you finally gave in to those screwed up genes of yours, to the fact that there's magic in your family, and - "

"Harry, that's not fair," it was Dudley now who spoke. He looked just as scared of Dad as his mother was. "Things change, people change..."

"Yeah, people change, everything changes! Lucius Malfoy and Petunia Dursley and only Vernon Dursley can be trusted to prefer sitting in a dark room all by himself than have Christmas dinner with wizards!"

"Harry!" Mum now jumped from her seat. Dad finally caught himself and stopped talking. "Help me get pudding, please. Now."

But dinner was already lost. "We, uh, I think we should be going," Dudley said and got up to his feet as well. Houda looked almost in tears. Lily gaped at Dad in shock. Al and Rose stared at each other in silence.

"No, Dudley, stay for pudding," Gran tried, but Dudley shook his head.

"No, we still need to get to Bristol tonight, to Aminah's parents, we're staying there for the night. It's really getting late."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's for the best, really, it's getting very late."

Houda gave Lily and Hugo an unhappy smile and said 'bye', weakly. Vernon and David both seemed completely confused - and not at all happy that they were missing pudding, but got up as well. Their grandmother simply fled the house. Aminah and her parents found Gran and bade everyone farewell, as did Houda's father, Dad's cousin, but he left the house without saying another word to Dad.

George, meanwhile, volunteered to help Mum with Grandma's pudding, which turned out to be several cakes with a magnificent amount of cream. Dad followed them to the kitchen, but didn't rejoin the table when the cakes were served.

It was just what they needed. No one could remain cross for long while confronted with one of those cakes. James watched his mother cut generous slices of the cake and hand them around, and made sure to get his, and when they all retired to the living room and started playing Exploding Snap, things were slowly getting to normal again. Even Dad came out of the kitchen eventually, and sat down with them with a bit of cake.

The night might have been salvaged after all, if it weren't for the man who walked through the fire then.

It took James a while to realise who it was, and when he did, his mouth opened in surprise. It was Dad's boss - Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister for Magic.

"Kingsley!" Granddad and Ron jumped at the same time. Dad got up, too.

"Oh, Kingsley, so great to see you here," Grandma said. "I think we still have some cake..."

"Thanks, Molly," the Minister said apologetically. "I'm afraid I can't stay for long, though. I need a word with Harry."

"What's up?" Dad said. The Minister shook his head, as if saying 'not here', and they went outside.

James wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it, but as Mum watched them, she looked even angrier than before, when Dad had destroyed dinner. After five minutes or so, Dad rushed in, grabbed his cloak, gave Mum a kiss on the cheek and told her he had to go somewhere, and he'd be back soon. Mum said nothing.

By the time Dad came back, they were already back home. James was in the bathroom, brushing his teeth, when he heard raised voices from downstairs. He got out of the bathroom, his toothbrush still in his mouth, to see Al and Lily crouching on the stairs.

"Shhh," Al said and put a finger on his mouth, and James nodded in agreement. If their parents realised they were overheard, the three of them would have no chance to actually hear what was going on.

"It's Christmas, Harry," Mum was saying now.

"You know I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't - "

"Wasn't urgent, yes. It's always urgent. The emergencies never stop. When are you going to start delegating, Harry? What are you going to do when Kingsley retires, huh? You know they expect you to take over."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, alright? There's plenty of time yet."

"Not as much as you think. And you know perfectly well that's not going to happen, either."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dad's voice was cold now.

"Exactly what you know it means. Harry, you ended up being an Auror out of some ridiculous sense of duty, and then you got sucked into all the Ministry's politics because of - "

"Because Kingsley needed me."

"Exactly, out of some ridiculous sense of duty."

"Yeah, I guess I should have just let Will Jones take over, and let the Ministry look exactly the same way it did in Fudge's days. That would have worked. That's the world you want to raise your children in?"

"So now you end up being a politician and hating every moment of it, is that better?"

"I ended up doing what I needed to do, yes, to make sure we never go back to how things used to be. So that our kids don't have to live through what we had to go through. Is that so bad?"

"Right. Our kids. You should have heard what James said today to George. They think you don't trust them. Your own children, and they don't understand why you never talk to them with anything even remotely close to respect. You hated that when you were their age."

"Is that what it's about? About what James said? Come on, Ginny," Dad tried to shrug it off now, "you know he's too curious for his own good."

"Like his father? Except that you had your cloak and your map and so all the mad things you did with Ron and Hermione never got you caught. You were just as bad. But no, Harry, this isn't about what James said, this is about what you said."

The louder Mum's voice had become, the quieter Dad became. Now, at that, he spoke so quietly they could barely hear what he said. "I'm not going to pretend to like Vernon and Petunia Dursley."

"No one's asked you. And no one's asked you to like Lucius Malfoy, either. You know I hate that bastard myself. But it'd be nice if you made an effort not to make it obvious to their grandchildren that you hate their family."

Dad's response to that was completely undecipherable. But whatever it was, Mum had stopped shouting, and just said wearily, "I know that they deserve it, Harry. And if I thought... if you were the kind of man to have such a nasty streak in him, I wouldn't have minded. Because they deserve it. But that's not you. It's never been you. You know, sometimes I think... These are the times I hate your aunt and uncle the most, Harry. When I have to actually remind myself that you wouldn't be behaving like that if it weren't for them. For the damage they did."

Dad didn't answer.

"You were the one who kept on insisting after the war that we should all put everything behind us. You were the one who pushed Andromeda to make up with Narcissa Malfoy. You kept on being the one who told everyone over and over again that the war was over. And now everyone has managed to move on. Except you."

"Lucius Malfoy - "

"Lucius Malfoy would have got a life-long sentence like the rest of the vermin if it weren't for you. You were the one who decided to testify in favour of Draco and Narcissa, should I remind you, when everyone told you - when we practically begged you - not to do it and just let the whole lot of them rot in Azkaban. Like they deserved. Did you ever believe any of this? Or did you think your 'forgive and forget' speeches were only relevant to get Draco Malfoy a reduced sentence because you felt sorry for him and insist on naming your kid after that bastard Severus Snape and that there'd never be any other consequences?"

Al got up. James and Lily both stared at him. 'That bastard, Severus Snape'? The only thing they had ever heard of Severus Snape was that he was a brave man and had saved Dad's life.

"Al!" James whispered. It looked like his younger brother was in half a mind to start walking down the stairs and demand some answers on his own. "Don't."

His foot already on the top step, Al stopped - but didn't come back to where James and Lily were standing, either.

And downstairs, Mum kept on talking. "But he'll never know, would he, not about Snape and not about Dumbledore" - it was the first time James had ever heard that name spoken in such a derisive manner, in any way but the deepest reverence - "because you don't even know how to sit down with your own son and tell him the things he has the right to know."

Dad still didn't answer. Mum didn't continue talking. The next thing they heard was the loud slam of the kitchen door, and James knew it had slammed behind his father.

He half-expected Al to rush downstairs and demand answers from Mum - but no, his brother walked into his room instead and slammed his own door behind him. Lily, looking on the verge of tears, walked to her room as well, and James rushed to the bathroom, to spit the toothpaste out, and with it the bitter taste it left in his mouth.

He knocked on Al's door afterwards; there was no answer. "Al?" he tried. Still no answer. He opened the door anyway.

"Go away," Al said quietly. He was lying in his bed, on his stomach, and staring at some book - but James could see he wasn't reading it, not really.

"Nah, I'm your older brother, it's my job to be annoying and not go away," he said and closed the door behind him. Al turned around in his bed, presenting his back to James.

"C'mon, I'm sure Mum's just angry," he tried.

It didn't work. Of course it wouldn't - they both knew that their mother never said things she didn't mean to, even when she was angry. And whatever he'd say, he knew it wouldn't help Al, at least not now. James might have been named after important family members, after Dad's father and his godfather, the war heroes, but Al was named after two very important people, after Dad's mentors, and it had always been a great source of pride for him. James had the feeling that if Dad had only sat down with them and told them about those two people, whatever Mum said now wouldn't have been so bad. There must have been some proper explanation to what she meant.

But that was exactly what she told Dad, wasn't it? Dad never did that. Dad never trusted them enough to tell them the truth.

"James!" Mum called from downstairs. Great.

He looked at Al again and left the room.

Dad still wasn't back by the time he went to sleep. Mum was in a filthy mood, Al didn't show the tip of his nose outside of his room, and Lily sat in the living room, reading a book and looking generally miserable. James sent a letter to Colleen, telling her just how miserable Christmas had become, and eventually went to sleep.

-X-

The two Gaul warriors were thinking of another elaborate plot to defeat the Romans. Al just turned the page of the comic book when he heard his father's voice. "What are you still doing up?" he said.

Al didn't raise his head. "Reading."

"It's 2 a.m., Al."

"It's the holidays."

Dad sat down on the bed. "What are you reading?"

Al pushed himself away from his father. "Just some Muggle comic book," he said. "The Grangers gave it to me for my last birthday."

He didn't need to lift his head to know what his parents were doing now - Dad would be raised his eyebrows at Mum, Mum would just smile and shake her head, and then Dad would say -

"Well, alright then. Good night. Don't stay up too late."

"Fine."

Dad stayed seated on the bed for a while longer. Al wondered whether he would decided to try to talk to him, and dreaded that possibility. It was hours after they had overheard the argument, but still he didn't think he could talk to his father without shouting. And he knew it would just make everything a thousand times worse.

But Dad must have decided he was just in a bad mood, because then he got up and walked to the door. "Good night." he said again, and when Al didn't answer, he closed the door.

His father might have left, but Al's concentration was hopelessly ruined. The questions he had managed to banish away until now settled back in his mind, and drove out everything else. He kept on staring at the two little Gaul warriors, but they didn't seem as funny anymore. After another futile fifteen minutes, he sighed and decided he was hungry. He knew he should have just gone to sleep, but something in him rebelled at the idea. And besides, now the thought of the superb cake they had brought back from his grandparents' house would not leave his mind.

He tiptoed down the stairs and into the kitchen. The cake stood there in all its glory - huge and full of cream and strawberries. He cut himself a big slice - much bigger than Mum would have approved of, he knew - and was just about to leave the kitchen when he thought he heard a knock on the door.

A quick glance at his watch confirmed the time. 2:37. Who'd be knocking on the door at this hour?

He tiptoed to the front door, the cake still in his hand, and stretched to look through the peephole. The only thing he could see was bright blue hair, but that was enough.

"Teddy!" he called as he opened the door and hugged him, cake and all.

Teddy didn't smile and didn't really hug him back. "Hey Al, what are you doing up?" he asked. Al had the sudden impression he was rather nervous.

"S'the holidays, no?" he answered. "Want a piece of cake?"

"No, I'm fine - listen, Al, I need to talk to Harry."

"D'you know what time it is?"

"Yeah."

Al sighed. "I'll call him, hold on."

He put down the cake on the small stand near the door, and rushed up the stairs. The bedroom's door was closed - they could have gone to sleep already, Al thought gloomily, and knocked on the door.

They weren't asleep, apparently. He could hear his father whispering, "Shhh!" and his mother giggling, and all of a sudden his father whispered again, "Don't you dare!" Al rolled his eyes to no one in particular. What were they, three? Didn't they realise he could hear them?

He knocked again, this time, also saying, "Dad."

"Harry," Mum said a bit louder inside, and Dad muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Aren't they too old for bad dreams?" in a resigned voice.

"What is it?" Mum finally called through the closed door.

"It's Teddy."

"What about him?" Dad said now.

"He wants to talk to you."

"What, on the phone?" Dad asked in a confused voice.

"No, he's here."

It wasn't ten seconds before the door was opened. Dad was closing his robe, his glasses askew on the bridge of his nose and his hair a complete mess. He didn't stop, thought, just rushed down the stairs to see Teddy. Al followed him.

Teddy was still at the entrance, right at the foot of the stairs where Al left him. He didn't sit down, nor did he eat the cake. He was just pacing back and forth, drumming nervously with his fingers on the bannister.

Dad didn't ask him what he was doing there so late. Nor did he ask how he was. He didn't ask anything, only said two words. "Death Eaters."

Teddy nodded. "They blew up a building in the middle of Muggle London. There's a huge fire and everything, at least ten people dead. We've already got Obliviators there, trying to contain it before it spreads too far. Looks like they wanted to get our attention."

"Well, they got it," Dad answered. "Call everyone in, cancel all holidays, you know what to do. I want to catch those bastards. Were there any goblins with them?"

"Goblins?" Teddy looked confused. "No, not that I'm aware of."

"Okay. Make sure the Obliviators interrogate everyone before they wipe their memories. Wounded, the lot. Get them to the hospitals if you have to. There's Aurors working with them? Good," he said as soon as Teddy nodded. "Give me a couple of minutes, I'll put something on and come down."

"Sure."

By now, Mum was already in her dressing gown. She went down the stairs and stood next to Al, in front of Teddy. The three of them didn't say a word to one another. Dad just rushed back up the stairs, past her and past Al, and into their bedroom. After about a minute he emerged again, not dressed in the robes he usually wore for work, but instead in jeans and a t-shirt.

Only at the door did he stop in front of them. "Ginny, I'm so sorry, I - "

"Go," she said softly.

Despite the stress, despite the lack of time, he stopped now to kiss Mum, a long, deep kiss. Then he put his hand over Al's head. "Watch after your mum," he said and left with Teddy.

Al and his mother stayed there behind the now closed door.