Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series. That credit goes to the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling. Go Jo! I also do not own some of the material used. Again that belongs to Jo and Warner Brothers.
Chapter 9 The Unaddressed Package
Albus stopped and stared at the Hogwarts Express as everyone boarded it to go home for the holidays. He couldn't believe how fast the time had gone by. They had only lost one Quidditch match since the beginning of the season, and that so to Ravenclaw.
"Are you all right, Albus?" James asked.
Albus turned to his brother and nodded.
"Yes," he said.
Rose and Lucy weren't paying any attention to the guys.
"Then what is it?" Fred asked.
"It's just…just that it's my first Christmas with you all," Albus said.
He was a little embarrassed to admit it.
"And you're going to love it," James said.
They all began walking onto the train now.
"Well, not every part though," Fred said.
Rose and Lucy started to giggle. Fred, James, and Albus looked over at the both them, but they weren't looking at them, so they assumed they had been laughing at something else.
"What are you talking about?" Albus asked, turning back to his Fred.
"When you get the annual Christmas sweater from Grandma Weasley, you have to put it on or else she'll get really upset," Fred said.
Albus looked down. He had only worn his sweater once since it was given to him last Christmas.
"Yeah, all right," Albus said, still feeling somewhat guilty.
They needed to find a compartment fast before they got all filled up.
"Come on, we need to get into a compartment," Rose said, finally taking notice of her other cousins.
They settled in to the last compartment that wasn't filled.
xxx
Everyone had just finishing opening their presents.
"Happy Christmas, everyone," Hermione told everyone as they began picking up the paper from the gifts.
"Happy Christmas," they all smiled.
Albus then caught sight of another package under the tree.
"What's that, Aunt Hermione?" he asked, pointing to it.
Hermione lowered her eyebrows and picked up the gift.
"It just was to The Potter Kids. It doesn't say who from though," she said.
Ron glanced over at his wife, but couldn't say anything. James took the box from his aunt's hands.
"Well, let's see what it is," he said, beginning to open it.
James's eyes grew as he pulled the cloak away from the wrapping paper.
"No, way," he gasped.
Ron and Hermione looked at it in aw.
"It can't be," Hermione said in a whisper.
Albus was confused as to why this cloak seemed to important.
"Um, I don't understand. What is it?" he asked.
Ron took the cloak and stared at it.
"This is your father's Invisibility Cloak," he told Albus.
Albus eyes grew. James had told him about their father's cloak a while back.
"This… this is it?" Albus asked in shock.
Ron nodded as Albus reached out to touch the cloak.
"I'd know it anywhere," Ron said with a smile.
Hermione sank into a chair and put a hand over her mouth. She put her free hand on Hugo's shoulder as he walked up to his mother in concern.
"What do you think it means?" James asked.
Ron shrugged his shoulders as he let the cloak fall into Abus's hands.
"I don't know," he admitted.
Lily then walked up to Albus and laid a hand on the piece of material.
"It's really quite beautiful," she said.
Rose crossed her arms as she walked behind Lily.
"Does it actually make you invisible?" she asked.
They turned as Hermione got up from her chair.
"It sure does," Hermione nodded.
Hugo's eyes grew with excitement.
"Cool," he said.
Ron laughed as Albus and James just stared at the cloak.
"Go on then you two. Try it on," he told them.
Rose dropped her arms and gasped after James and Albus wrapped the cloak around them.
"Oh, wow," was all she could say.
Ron laughed and shook his head.
"Look in the mirror," Hermione said, unable to hold her laughter any longer.
James and Albus gasped when they saw just their head in the mirror
"Our bodies are gone," James said in a whisper.
Ron's face then turned to concern as James and Albus threw off the cloak.
"I wonder why Harry sent this," he said.
He looked at Hermione, who was looking just as disturbed.
xxx
It was now time to go back to Hogwarts. Rose was of course thrilled about it. Albus's eyes grew when he spotted a tall blonde man talking to Ron and Hermione before they boarded the train.
"Look at that," he said, tapping James on the shoulder.
Fred, who had joined them, turned too. Rose had all ready ran off with Lucy.
"Is that…" James began, trying to get a better look.
"Little Scorpius's dad? Yeah," Albus nodded.
Fred gave a thoughtful sigh and looked at the brothers.
"I wonder what they're talking about," he said.
James gave a mischievous smile.
"I say give the Invisibility Cloak a test run," he said.
They moved to a place where they couldn't be seen. Albus took out the cloak and began to hand it to James, but he shook his head. Albus took a deep breath and pulled the cloak over him.
"I still think that's so cool your dad gave you that," Fred said.
The three adults were arguing when Albus got close enough to hear what they were saying.
"How do we you're being truthful?" Ron asked.
"Listen, Weasley. You're just going to have to trust me," Draco said, taking a step closer. "Do you or do you not want to find Potter and your sister?"
Hermione looked over at Ron and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Ron, maybe…" she began, but he acted like he didn't hear her.
"Why?" he demanded.
"I'm in your debt. Whether I like it or not," Draco said.
His eyes hit the ground, clearly embarrassed about this truth. James and Fred looked anxiously at Albus when he returned.
"Malfoy's offering help to find Mum and Dad," Albus said before being asked.
"To find… but I thought Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron knew where they were," Fred said, looking over at James.
James sighed as Albus too looked at him for an answer.
"I guess I've always assumed they did. I mean, I never asked because they wouldn't tell me even if they did know," he admitted.
"It must've been pretty serious if Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry didn't even tell Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron where they were," Fred said.
They walked quietly onto the train to find Rose and Lucy.
AN:
A little better, but not much in my opinion. Can't wait for the semester to end.
