Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I'd have a lot more money and a lot less financial worries. Needless to say, I don't.
Harry thought that this would easily be the best Christmas he had ever had.
First of all there was Quidditch. Gryffindor had beat Slytherin with a score of 260-30, and Ron's Keeper skills were coming on nicely. To top it all off, Gryffindor's rendition of Weasley is Our King had wiped the smirk off Malfoy's face for the better part of a month.
Better even than Quidditch, however, was the thought that, for the first time in his life, Harry would be going back to a real home. He smiled as he threw things into his trunk, savoring the feeling of packing up to go home just like everyone else.
He was just closing the lid on his Broomstick Servicing Kit when there was a loud bang and Dobby appeared on his bed.
"Harry Potter, sir!" He bowed so low that the end of his long nose touched Harry's sheets.
"Er, hey Dobby." He looked around and saw that Neville, Dean, and Seamus were all staring. "Um, what are you doing here?"
"Dobby has come to give Harry Potter his present, sir!" The elf beamed. "Dobby has heard that Harry Potter is leaving for Christmas, sir, and Dobby wanted to give Harry Potter his present first!" He handed Harry a small package, and Harry unwrapped Dobby's gift of socks.
"They're… they're really… well, thanks, Dobby."
The elf practically beamed with happiness.
Early the next morning they all boarded the horseless carriages that took them to the Hogwarts Express. Once there, they sought out their usual compartment at the back of the train, accompanied by Ginny and Neville. Harry was talking animatedly with Ron and Hermione.
"You've got to visit me sometime after Christmas," he said. "Sirius said you're both welcome if you want to come, and I don't want to wait to get back to Hogwarts to see you again…"
"I dunno, Harry," said Ron, though he looked pleased with the idea. "Only mum was saying she'd like you to come visit us again…"
"Come on, Ron, I've visited you loads of times. You've only been to my house once."
"I'll try, then," said Ron. "But you have to get me there some way other than the motorbike, mum won't let me near it…"
"That's right, Harry," chipped in Hermione, "how are we going to get there? I'll ask my parents, of course," as Harry opened his mouth, "but they do like me to be home for the holidays and I don't know whether they'll let me stay over if I'm the only girl."
"I'll talk to Sirius, see if we can work something out," said Harry, whose mood was beginning to deflate. Of course they had made the house inaccessible on purpose, but at times like this Harry wished more than ever that he could just be normal, that he had never heard of Voldemort and that this damn scar on his forehead really was just the relic of a car accident.
They'd been traveling a few hours when the door to their compartment opened and Malfoy came in. Harry couldn't say he hadn't expected this, but it did nothing to improve his mood.
"Going home for the holidays, are you?" he sneered. "Finally found someone who wanted you, Potter, I never would have guessed."
"Shut up, Malfoy."
"But then again," continued Malfoy, giving no indication that he'd heard, "you're both afraid of the scary dementors. Tell me, Potter, does he faint when one gets near him too?"
Harry had his wand in his hand and had started to rise out of his seat when Hermione grabbed his wrist. "Harry, no," she whispered, sounding terrified. "Don't let him get to you, that's what he wants…"
"Yeah, Potter, you'd better not show any… violent tendencies. You wouldn't want anyone to think you've picked up any… bad habits." He leaned casually against the door, stroking his chin thoughtfully as Harry struggled to control himself. "But then again, there are always other solutions. They have a special ward in St. Mungo's for people whose brains have been addled by magic—"
There was a scuffling sound behind him, and Harry turned to see Ron and Ginny struggling to hold back Neville, who looked ready to pounce on Malfoy and strangle him with his bare hands. He looked furious. "Don't you—if you ever—I'll—I'll—"
"You'll stutter at me, Longbottom?" His eyes glittered maliciously. "Go on then, try it, I'll even give you the first—"
But the words died on his lips, for every occupant of the compartment now had their wands out and were pointing them directly at him. "You were saying, Malfoy?" Harry asked coldly.
Malfoy sneered, but he wasn't stupid enough to take all five of them on by himself. With one last contemptuous glare he turned and strode back down the aisle. Slowly, Ron and Ginny released Neville, who was now struggling to breathe.
"Neville, what-"
Neville shook his head and yanked his robes straight. Then, without speaking, he went to the far corner of the compartment and sank into one of the chairs. He looked utterly miserable.
The group of them exchanged baffled looks. Hermione opened his mouth as if she wanted to say something, but after floundering for a moment she gave up with a sigh, staring sadly in Neville's direction.
"Hmph." To Harry's surprise it was Ginny who pushed out of her seat and shoved past him, where she went to sit by Neville instead. She leaned over and began talking to him quietly; Neville listened for a moment before giving a small, watery chuckle. After a few more minutes they were both smiling, Ginny giggling behind her hand at something Neville had said.
Ron watched them for a moment with a baffled expression, but then shook his head and pulled out a deck of Exploding Snap cards. He raised an eyebrow at Harry, who nodded enthusiastically. Hermione rummaged in her bag, eventually pulling out a textbook which she opened in the middle and started to read. By the time they reached King's Cross, the incident with Malfoy was all but forgotten.
Harry's stomach did a pleasant swoop when he disembarked and saw Sirius standing there waiting for him, accompanied, to Harry's surprise, by Lupin. He started lugging his trunk over only to have Sirius point his wand and levitate it.
"Ready for the holidays?" he asked, throwing an arm around Harry's shoulders. He seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood.
"Yep," Harry grinned back. "Hey, Professor Lupin."
"Harry, I'm not your teacher anymore," said Lupin with a faint smile. "You can call me Remus if you want to."
"Oh, um… sure, Prof— er, Remus."
"I invited Remus to spend Christmas with us," put in Sirius.
"That's great!"
At that moment Mrs. Weasley came over to them with Ron and Ginny in tow.
"Harry, dear, how would you like to visit us over Christmas?" She looked rather coldly at Sirius as she said it.
"That's nice of you, Molly," Sirius replied before Harry could open his mouth, "but you see, Harry and I have never spent a Christmas together, and Harry was actually hoping Ron could come and visit him…"
"I'm afraid," said Mrs. Weasley, and now her voice was positively frosty, "that I cannot allow that. I cannot leave one of my children with—"
"With?" Though Sirius was outwardly calm, Harry could hear an undertone in his voice that said he was readying himself for a fight. Harry exchanged a horrified look with Ron. Why was Mrs. Weasley so hostile, when she had always been so kind before…? And suddenly, Harry realized what the problem was.
"Mrs. Weasley?" he said. She looked at him in surprise. "You don't believe the rubbish that Skeeter woman's been writing, do you? Because Sirius hasn't been mistreating me. I really did trip over a tree root at the World Cup."
"It's true, mum," Ron put in. "It was while everyone was out trying to rescue those Muggles. I was with him; I saw."
"Well, I… Of course I know that Rita Skeeter lives to stir up trouble…" She still looked doubtful, though.
"So can I go visit Harry, then?"
"We'll discuss it," she said shortly. "I do hope to see you soon, though, Harry dear." With that, she was heading back to the rest of her family. Ron shot Harry an apologetic look over his shoulder as he followed along in her wake. Sirius was still scowling.
"Really enjoys ruining people's lives, that Skeeter woman," Lupin commented. Harry noticed that his hair had more gray in it than ever, and his robes had reached a new level of shabbiness. "Do you really think Molly is going to let this go?"
At this Sirius scowled even more and strode off toward the barrier without answering, Harry's trunk in tow. Harry and Lupin followed, Harry still gaping at Lupin's last comment.
"You think Mrs. Weasley might still believe that article? After I told her everything was all right?"
Lupin pinched the bridge of his nose. "Harry, it's quite common for abused children to deny that anything is wrong. If you want to know the truth, I think the fact that Ron witnessed your fall did more to help your case than anything you might have said."
"So she thinks I'm lying?" said Harry incredulously.
"I doubt she thinks that you're lying to her. More likely she believes that you're… in denial." Harry's regard for Mrs. Weasley rather suddenly plummeted.
"Harry, you mustn't blame her for this," said Lupin, seeing the look on his face. "Molly cares for you, and she's only acting the way she is because she has your best interests at heart."
"If she thinks it's in my best interests to send me back to the Dursleys—" Harry began hotly, but Sirius interrupted.
"We're here," he said shortly, tossing Harry's trunk into the sidecar. Far from being in a good mood anymore, he looked as if he had worked himself into quite a temper.
"I'll meet you there," said Lupin with a warning look at Sirius. "I'm Apparating," he explained at Harry's questioning look. "There's a small wood a short distance from your house… Be sure you've got your cloak on, Harry, it's going to be a cold ride."
Thankfully, the incident with Mrs. Weasley was all but forgotten over the next few days. Whatever misgivings she might have had Ron must have managed to work her over, for he wrote Harry a few days later saying that he could come over right after Christmas, provided they could come up with a means of transportation that didn't involve the motorbike.
Hermione's parents proved a bit more difficult to persuade, most likely because she would be the only girl in a houseful of men. But eventually she, too, told Harry she could come, though she also sent a list of requirements that her father had apparently demanded be met if she was to be allowed to spend so much as a single night at Harry's place.
"She has to have a room to herself that locks from the inside?" said Harry, reading over Hermione's letter on Christmas Eve. "Why?"
Lupin chuckled from his place near the fire. "I'd explain it to you, but I think that's his job." He waved a hand toward Sirius, who shot him a dark look that seemed quite out of place with the subject matter.
"Anyway," Harry continued, sensing a change of subject was in order, "how are we going to get them here? If they can't Floo or use the motorbike…"
"Well," said Sirius, "as neither of them can Apparate yet…"
"…and setting up an unauthorized Portkey would be more than our lives are worth…"
"…that leaves the Knight Bus, but that's a long way to ride by themselves."
"I think our best course of action is to meet them at their houses and have the Knight Bus drop us off within walking distance," Lupin continued. "We can't get off too close to the house, though, since Dumbledore wants its location to remain a secret."
"Wait a minute," said Harry, frowning. "Isn't that why we put the property under Fidelus in the first place?"
"It is," Lupin explained, "but it would be a bad idea for the Death Eaters to find out even the general location of your house. Even if they can't get onto the property itself, they could just as easily wait out on the road. If you were living in the city it would be different, but as things stand…"
"I'll meet them at their places and bring them here," said Sirius. "Remus can stay with you, Harry."
The conversation lapsed into a comfortable silence. For awhile Harry just stared into the fire, enjoying the feeling of being in a cozy house on Christmas Eve while a steady fall of thick snow drifted down outside of the window. Yes, his life might be more difficult than normal, but he had his friends, and for the first time in his life he had a home. Not mere house space, but a real home, where he was welcome and wanted.
Harry smiled to himself as he went to sleep that night, the thought of home still in his head.
He was awakened Christmas morning by a large black dog landing squarely on top of his bed.
"Ouch—Sirius!"
"I tried to stop him," said Lupin from the doorway, though his lips were twitching uncontrollably as if he were trying very hard to hold back a smile. "But he simply insists that it's time to open presents."
"All right, all right!" Harry laughed, pushing the dog off of him. It chased its tail in a circle around the room before bounding off down the hallway.
Harry yawned and rolled out of bed, grabbing the first pair of socks that he could find. "He's sure excited."
"It is his first real Christmas since you were born." The smile faded from Lupin's eyes. "They're terrible creatures, dementors," he said softly. "When one is exposed to them for as long as he was… one still suffers the effects, you know, even years afterward."
Harry, having no idea how to reply to this, finished pulling on his socks in silence. Lupin followed as he got up to leave the room, and Harry was glad that he didn't pursue the topic.
They opened presents in the sitting room. Harry and Lupin had a good laugh at Sirius, who for at least ten minutes tried valiantly to open a particularly large box with his teeth before finally giving up and turning back into a man.
"Really, Sirius, that could have been something breakable," Lupin admonished as he unwrapped Harry's present with quite a bit more finesse.
"Nah, I could smell that it was— Harry, what are you wearing on your feet?"
"What are you… oh." Looking down, Harry belatedly realized that the socks he had pulled on without looking were in fact the mismatched pair that Dobby had given him on the day he left Hogwarts. "Dobby the house-elf knitted them for me," he said, grinning sheepishly. At their questioning looks he told them of Dobby's numerous attempts to save his life, and how he had eventually managed to set Dobby free at the end of his second year. There was no shortage of commentary throughout the course of the story.
"Flying the car to Hogwarts, a trick worthy of the Marauders in their heyday!" Sirius laughed. "I wanted to come to Hogwarts on the motorbike sixth year," he confessed in a stage whisper, "but Moony there wouldn't—"
"I should think not," Lupin interrupted, though there was a faint smile playing about his lips. "Didn't you hear the part where they crashed into the Whomping Willow and nearly got expelled?"
"All part of the fun!"
"…and when that didn't work he bewitched a Bludger to attack only me…"
"So let me get this straight. He tried to save your life. With a Bludger."
"Well, I only ended up with a broken arm, but then Lockhart—he was the Defense teacher that year—tried to fix it and ended up removing all my bones…"
By the time he had finished telling of the fiasco that was Dobby's attempt to save his life, Sirius was sitting on the floor and shaking with laughter. "I tell you, Harry," he said when he could speak again, "if he'd kept on trying to save your life he just might have killed you."
"That's what Ron said." Harry pushed away the last of the torn wrapping paper and stood. "So… breakfast?"
"Yeah, I'll get started on that. What's up with you, Remus?" For Lupin was still sitting on the floor, frowning.
"I was just thinking…" He looked at Harry. "What you said about being locked in your room for days on end. Have your aunt and uncle always treated you that way?"
"Well…" Harry faltered. He had not expected this topic to come up again. "Uncle Vernon locked me in my cupboard for weeks before, but I always managed to sneak food then…"
"Your cupboard? They locked you in a cupboard?"
"That was his bedroom, Remus," Sirius said darkly as he went about fixing breakfast. "Dumbledore knew about it, too. He knew about every rotten thing that happened to Harry in that house and—"
"Sirius." Lupin silenced him with a warning look before turning back to Harry. "They nearly starved you before second year, as well."
"I got out okay." Harry shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal." He stood and began picking up the wrapping paper.
Lupin opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something else, but changed his mind at the last minute. Instead he shot a pointed look at Sirius, who returned his gaze levelly. Baffled, Harry finished cleaning up and went to help Sirius in the kitchen.
A/N: Large, hyperactive dog-on-bed is a very effective way of waking up. Yes, I do know this from experience.
I anticipate a negative reaction to Molly's behavior, but there is precedent in GoF (Harry Potter's Secret Heartache, anyone?) and in OotP. She's not letting this particular article go as easily as she did the one about Hermione because, knowing Molly, she's going to take an allegation of child abuse a lot more seriously than the love-lives of fourteen-year-olds, no matter who it's from.
restoringthehistory: I agree completely; Harry Potter just wouldn't be Harry Potter without Voldemort coming back at some point. Exactly how long I'll continue this story is still in the works, but it will be through 7th year at least.
Jen11: Thanks! The twins are among my favorite characters, though I haven't gotten to write them nearly as much as I would have liked. There aren't many who could go up against Mama Weasley and survive, but she and Sirius were bound to clash at some point - as witnessed in this chapter.
