kwidditchfan: I'm glad you like my story so far! Such compliments are always appreciated :) Here's the next update.

Hanalei: Thank you! I'm sorry to hear that about your family, but I'm glad my story seems to have made a difference :) This next update's for you!

Saturday

December 21st

8:53 pm

After dinner, the whole party (save Ron and Hermione, who decided to go home for the evening) drove to the Potters' house in the truck; the sky began to darken rapidly as they went. The group was silent during the trip – James had been teasing Rose throughout dinner about her liking Kendall Dobsen, who was in his year, and Rose was sitting in a huffy silence, refusing to speak to anybody. Al was gazing out the side window, looking up at the stars that were appearing overhead, and thinking that in a few minutes time he would be home again.

Harry finally turned the car onto a familiar street and, moments later, pulled into a driveway. Al smiled when he saw the familiar outline of his house.

The Potters lived in a large house just outside a small Muggle town in the country; the place was called Peridot Manor, which was a very fitting name. A peridot was a precious jewel forest-green in color – and green was certainly a color prevalent at the Potter's house. Fields of grass and trees surrounded the manor, and Ginny Potter kept a vast, lush garden of flowers, shrubs, and trees in the backyard. Al had many happy memories of playing with Rose and James in that garden when he was little.

Mr. Potter put the car in park, and the kids all hopped out. Rose finally broke her silence when she whispered to Al: "It's great to be back here, isn't it?"

He grinned at her.

"Come along, you lot, into the house," Ginny ushered the children toward the front door. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley should have already brought your luggage here."

"What's Dad doing?" James asked, looking back at his father, who was just standing and gazing toward something in the distance.

"Your father has to go pick up Ben's mother right now," Ginny said, glancing over her shoulder. "I think he needs to send her a message first, though, to let her know he's coming."

At this, Lily let out a squeal of delight and ran to her father's side. "Daddy! Is it really true? Mummy said you had to send a message!"

Harry looked down at his daughter and smiled. "Yes, I think I'll have to. You want to see?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" she trilled happily. Hugo, upon hearing this, quickly ran to stand next to his cousin, wanting to watch as well.

"Alright – here goes," Harry said, lifting his wand, and shouted into the night:

"Expecto Patronum!"

An enormous stag burst from the end of his wand, its blue light piercing the darkness; the group was forced to shield their eyes from the brightness. The Patronus cantered around Lily and Hugo, who laughed with delight at this spectacle, before it eventually slowed to a halt, facing Harry.

"Harry Potter for Mallory Staglovich," Harry said clearly to the stag. "Ben is here. Meet at corner of Rosedale and Warwick. Notify when ready."

The stag turned around and galloped away. It shone like a beacon in the distance for several moments before disappearing completely into the cold, wintery night.

The entire group was silent for several moments before Kyra suddenly burst out: "Okay, what in the name of Merlin was that?"

Several people in the group snickered, and Harry turned around to look at her, smiling, "That was called a Patronus Charm, Kyra. Its main use is for warding off dementors, but I can also use it to send messages quickly and efficiently, and with no threat of it being intercepted."

"Yeah, Kyra, don't you know anything?" Ben smirked at her, and Kyra shot him a glare. Lily and Hugo tittered, and began chasing each other around the yard, laughing giddily.

"Alright, then, c'mon inside," Ginny called out to the young ones, and once again began to chivvy the whole group into the house. "It's freezing out, and it may be some time before the Patronus comes back."

"Can I just wait out here for a bit?" Ben asked her imploringly, and Ginny smiled down at him.

"I suppose so… but please put on a jacket, Ben, I don't want you freezing to death."

"I'll wait with you," Al said, and Ben grinned at him.

Kyra moved toward the front door, shivering. "Have fun in the cold, guys – I'm going where it's warm."

Ben and Al chuckled, and followed her into the house to grab their coats, when a bright blue light suddenly shined behind them. They whipped around, and saw the stag Patronus cantering back toward the house. It slowed to a stop in front of Harry, and then bowed its antlered head.

"Thank you," Harry said. The stag then vanished. "She's ready," Harry turned toward his wife. "I'll go right now."

"Be careful," Ginny said anxiously.

Harry nodded; he kept his wand clutched in his hand, and began to walk away, into the night. Ben looked as if he wanted nothing more than to go with him, but Al held him back, and they both watched Harry go further into the darkness before Disapparating at the end of the drive.

Ginny sighed before turning and walking back into the house, leaving the door open and the porch light on.

"He'll only be gone for a couple minutes," Al assured his friend, who was gazing at the spot where Harry vanished with extreme anxiety. "It shouldn't be too long before your mum's here."

"She hates Apparition," Ben said nervously, shaking his head. "She's always hated it, I should've told you… my dad would drag her places she didn't want to go, and then he would Disapparate with her at his side… when they came back she would always start gasping, as if she was being choked… and he didn't care, he just kept doing it…"

Ben was rambling, and he began to pace back and forth along the lawn, looking more than a little agitated. Al stared at him.

"Hey, don't worry – it's gonna be alright," he said to his friend. "If she doesn't want to come by Apparition, my dad'll send another Patronus, and my mum would drive over and pick them up in the truck…"

But Ben didn't seem to hear Al – he was still pacing nervously back and forth, biting his thumbnail and glancing up now and again at the place where Harry had Disapparated. Al decided not to press the matter any more, and the two waited in silence for several long minutes.

Suddenly, a loud crack rent the freezing night air, and the boys looked up. In the distance, two figures were moving toward the house, the larger one carrying a suitcase under his arm. Ben had finally stopped his pacing, and stared.

"Benjamin?"

One of the figures, the smaller one, walked closer into the light coming from the open front door. It was a young woman – she was of medium height, and had the same handsome features as Ben, the same brown hair, the identical blue eyes. Premature lines on her face were indication of the hardships she had faced for the past eleven years, but a sparkle of life seemed to shine in her countenance when she saw her son. Her eyes brimmed with happy tears.

"Mum," Ben whispered, and immediately ran toward her. Mallory opened her arms, and next moment, they crashed into a hug, laughing and crying and holding each other for the first time in months. They swayed where they stood, sobbing happily, interlocked in an embrace where neither looked ready to let go any time soon.

"My son," Mallory wept, running a hand over Ben's hair and smiling tearfully down at him. Ben grinned up at her, his eyes also red with moisture.

Harry and Al smiled as they watched the two reunite; Harry edged silently around them with Mallory's suitcase in hand, and walked over to his son.

"C'mon," Harry said quietly, putting a hand on Al's shoulder, and Al understood. The two glanced back at the mother and son for a moment before turning around to head back into the house. Al couldn't help but smile slightly for his friend's sake.

A/N: So I've finally revealed to you all my odd obsession with precious jewels. Peridot's alright, but my favorite is ametrine. Just sayin'...

Review, please and thank you :)