Christmas at Lionfire Hall

The train ride towards platform nine and three quarters had been rather dull. And once on the platform all of them had been anxious to get home. Of course, their parents needed some time because they wanted to talk with all four of them for a while. Harry guessed it was nice of them, but to be honest he had still not been fully awake. The last DA meeting had been extremely crazy, involving a huge free-for-all fight that lasted for over two hours because people kept coming back for more. He had only been hit twice during the whole fight, which meant that he had only two short three minute breaks during two hours of dodging, running and shooting spells. Even Hermione, who had finished second, had six of those breaks. Neville and Susan had both been hit seven times. Several others were hit less than ten times, which had been the goal of the whole exercise. Surprisingly enough Daphne Greengrass was among that small group, all others had been practically involved with the DA from the start. So it was nice to see at least one new face among them.

As if that DA meeting was not enough all teachers had been trying to cram some last minute knowledge into their heads just before the Christmas break. And they had their last flying lesson, in which they had to prove to professor Hooch that they could handle a broom well enough to fly without adult supervision. Even on school brooms that was easy enough, but it meant that her class took twice as long. So both Thursday and Friday had been very busy. All in all Harry figured their compartment had not been the only one filled with sleeping DA members. It was a good thing that Hermione knew a few nice locking and alarm spells because none of them had the necessary energy to keep their eyes open.

Harry was somewhat disappointed when he saw that his parents had come by car. He had hoped for a quick side-along apparation to Lionfire Hall. But maybe he could use the ride to remove the last bits of sleep from his head. His parents seemed determined not to give him that chance though. As soon as dad got the car in motion his mother turned around and asked: 'You look a bit tired dear?'

Harry nodded: 'I think I just need to wake up a bit. We practically slept all the way from Hogwarts to King's Cross. So I should be fine.'

'How come you guys were so tired?' Dad wanted to know. And so Harry quickly described the last two days. Both his parents were proud that he had won the free-for-all, although he tried to explain to them that it was not really a competition. He told them how their small group had claimed the first four places, although George Weasley had finished on a shared third place with Neville and Susan. That reminded him of something and he added: 'Ron was hit nine times. He was teasing us this morning when we had to wake up early to catch the train, so Neville and I promised to hunt him down next time.'

Dad chuckled and mum asked: 'Isn't he going home for Christmas?'

'No, his parents and little sister are going to Romania to visit one of his older brothers. He works on a dragon reserve I think… I thought about inviting him and the twins, but I did not know if you had plans for the holiday. And of course then Percy would have been all alone.' Harry replied.

His parents looked at each other until mum said: 'I think it is nice to keep Christmas a family occasion. Although of course on Christmas day we have the usual suspects coming along.'

Harry grinned, Christmas with the marauders was always fun. And of course it would be nice to have Neville, Hermione and Susan and their parents around too. Meanwhile his father took over again: 'Oh, and we have plans for the holiday alright. You want to hear them.'

He just nodded, but he quickly realised that his father could not see that while watching the road so he said: 'Yes, of course.'

'Good.' Dad seriously replied. 'As for the first week, we all have a week off.'

Harry frowned: 'What do you mean?'

With a shrug his father answered: 'Well, just what I said. There will be no practise, no research, and no schoolwork. Just wake up when you want to and enjoy yourself. We figured we all could use a bit of that.'

Harry enthusiastically nodded in reply. He was feeling a bit more awake by now, but still it sounded cool to just have a week with no obligations. Then his mother said: 'Of course, during Christmas day we will be quite busy with all our guests. And we will use Boxing Day to prepare for the last week.'

'What are we going to do then?'

'We want to check all of your occlumency shields, just to be sure.' Mum replied, 'And beside that we are going to teach you the protego spell. You know what I mean?'

'Yeah of course.' Harry replied, 'The shield charm. Isn't it supposed to be a fourth year charm?'

His mother went into lecture mode at that: 'Yes, you are right of course. It is only taught during fourth year because it takes a bit of power to stop serious curses. Beside that it is quite difficult, but not half as difficult as occlumency for example. Anyway, we want the four of you to know it so you can start working on using shields in duels. The good thing is that for now people will not be shooting bone crushing hexes against you anyway. And if they do please tell me, I will kill them with my bare hands.' She added that last sentence without changing the tone of her voice, but both Potter men knew she was very serious about it.

Dad quickly changed the subject: 'In fact, we experimented a bit and we think it will be a nice spell to use during some paintball fights in the summer.'

Harry smiled at the idea. It was a shame that he could not take those paintball guns to Hogwarts, they would be great fun during the DA meetings. A thought jumped into his mind and he blurted it out without thinking: 'I wish I could invite all the DA to visit us during the summer.'

Instead of immediately shooting it down his parents looked at each other again. After a while mum said: 'In the muggle world they sometimes have summer camps. Maybe we can try and organise a wizarding variant? Say for a week or so? Timmy and Jenny would love to cook for so many people, and we can install some large tents.'

'Really?' Harry shouted happily, all thoughts of tired eyes suddenly forgotten.

'We'll think about it.' Dad replied, 'Beside that, it might be difficult to get people interested. I mean, families only really get together twice a year after their kids go to Hogwarts.'

'Yeah, but a while ago Hermione and I had a long talk over the mirrors.' Mum added, and both dad and Harry looked at her in surprise. She smiled and replied: 'No, we do not talk with each other that often. But Hermione was apparently worried about certain feminine problems and she once contacted me to ask if there were magical solutions.'

'Ah.' Dad nodded, Harry just looked confused. He had no idea what his mother was talking about. But he guessed it had nothing to do with him so he just listened when she continued: 'After that first talk we had a few more in which we just chatted and gossiped. Anyway, one time she told me that the four of you were trying to make as many friends as possible.'

Harry nodded: 'It was her idea actually. She said that if we knew that I was going to be in danger sometime it would be a good idea to have many friends.'

'She has a good point.' Mum agreed, 'Anyway, I think a camp like this would really help with that. Beside that, it will be good for a few of those pureblood kids to do something muggle like paintball.'

Harry grinned, excited by the very idea. It was almost a shame that the school year was only halfway done. His parents tried to explain to him that they were not sure if it could happen yet. But he replied by saying that they were the coolest parents ever to even think about it. This had them smiling, and Remus actually commented about how happy the Potter family looked on returning home.

- Two days later -

Yesterday had been great. Harry had tried to do absolutely nothing all day. He had simply dived into one of the comfortable leather chairs with the first part of Lord of the Rings. Hermione had repeatedly told the others that they had to read it if they ever had the time, and since his parents had a copy in the library Harry figured he should give it a try.

To his own surprise the adventures of Frodo and the others had kept him occupied until lunch. And only when Remus started to wonder if Harry's chess skills had improved at Hogwarts was he distracted from the book. It had of course only taken thirty minutes to get defeated by Remus again, but according to the werewolf he had definitely improved. Harry had just smiled and said that Remus should try and play against Ron Weasley during the summer sometime. After that, he had dived into his book again.

Now at breakfast his father asked: 'So Harry, what are your plans for today? More reading?'

Next to him mum smiled proudly: 'He gets it from me, I am sure of it.'

With a snort Remus added: 'Well, I know for sure James never used to read if he was not forced by the teachers.'

Harry just smiled: 'Well, I never really read fiction before either. But this book is great. I want to read a bit more today, but I think I'll go fly a bit as well.'

Now dad beamed: 'See, now that is what he got from me!'

With a grin Harry continued: 'Yeah, as you know I want to try out for seeker next year. And since I can only use those old school brooms at Hogwarts I figured I should do some practise runs at home.'

Dad started to beam even more: 'Yeah, those stupid things are useless. So you definitely have to train now and during the summer. As you know, I was a chaser, but I am sure I can give you a few tips. And maybe I can play beater, just to make it more realistic… Maybe I should invite Sirius as well… He is a beater you know.'

Harry and Remus just grinned at him, but mum interfered: 'James, you can not pull Sirius away from Amelia and Susan. We all agreed this week would be a family week.'

'I bet Susan would not mind shooting a few bludgers at me.' Harry tried, but his mother ignored all their arguments and simply forbid them to invite Sirius for quidditch training. Somehow dad managed to get both mum and Remus involved though, and after lunch Harry and Remus played a few mini matches against his parents. Remus and dad were beaters while mum was Harry's seeker opponent. He quickly learned that she was very good at spotting the snitch, but she too careful in her chases. So Harry managed to win four out of five times. Eventually his mother and Remus had enough of it, but together with his father Harry kept practicing until dinner.

In the evening, he finished the first book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He was determined to finish them all before Hermione arrived on Christmas day. She would be so happy to finally have someone to discuss the books with.

- Christmas day -

Harry walked around the manor again. He wanted to get a bit more used to his dress robes before the others would arrive. Normally they simply wore muggle clothing at house. But apparently the adults had decided that everybody should wear dress robes today. Most likely another 'let's prepare the kids, just in case they ever need it'. He guessed the dark green robes were nice enough, but they were a bit stiff. And so he just kept walking in the hope that he would get used to them.

Neville and his parents were the first to arrive, they were accompanied by Neville's grandmother as well. A stern looking woman that wore an odd hat with a stuffed vulture on it. Her robes were also green, but a lot lighter than Harry's. All the younger Longbottoms wore blue robes. Hermione and her parents arrived shortly after the Longbottoms. Hermione was dressed in a very nice light blue dress. And Harry wondered if her parents had not been able to get dress robes. To his surprise his own mother was also wearing a dress when she arrived a few minutes later. She had been wearing her old clothes while helping the elves in the kitchen. Not that they needed it, but mum always wanted to help for special occasions. Apparently women could choose between dress robes or dresses. Harry thought this unfair, but then he realised he would never wear a dress anyway. So it was hardly relevant.

The three families easily chatted while waiting for the last guests. Harry overheard Remus commenting that Sirius had most likely overslept, but his father argued that he was most likely working on a nice entrance. It soon turned out that dad was right. The fireplace sprang to life and suddenly a loud chorus of jingle bells rang through the room when Susan, Sirius and Amelia appeared. They all wore dark red dress robes, and somehow Sirius had managed to convince the two women to wear Christmas hats. He himself carried a big brown bag and shouted: 'Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas all!' before running around the room and passing around more Christmas hats that he kept pulling out of the big bag. A few seconds later everybody was wearing one. Even madam Longbottom, although Sirius had compromised by not removing her own hat. Instead he had put the Christmas hat over the vulture.

There were some complaints, but nobody removed the hats. When Harry tried to shift his own a bit he noticed why. It was impossible to move the thing! Somehow it seemed to be stuck to his head. Amelia dryly commented to the few people that were still trying to get them off: 'You might as well stop trying. I have been trying to remove mine for over an hour, but Sirius ensured me that the sticking charm will disappear at midnight.'

Harry shrugged, he guessed he would just have to walk around with an off centre Christmas hat then. It was not like he really cared, but several others including his mother were still complaining to Sirius. In reply the man merrily waved and shouted 'Ho ho ho!'

Eventually they all gathered around the long circular table in the dinner room. Harry had to admit that it was a nice image, all those red and white hats. Soon enough the table was filled with all kinds of delicious food while the wizarding radio was broadcasting Christmas songs. Harry was happy when Hermione's father suggested switching to a muggle radio after a few hours. It had a much broader selection of Christmas music instead, and Celestina Warbeck got a bit boring after a few songs.

During the long dinner the adults carefully talked about subjects that had nothing to do with Voldemort. Harry was not sure if this was because they did not want that subject to spoil the happy atmosphere, or because Hermione's parents still did not know all details. Meanwhile Harry and the other three kids were happily telling each other what they had done last week. Hermione's happy scream when she heard that Harry was now half way Lord of the Rings had all the adults look at her in surprise. But they quickly went back to their own conservation when they realised that Hermione was excited about a book. It was like Sirius dryly commented hardly newsworthy.

When his mother mentioned the subject of summer camp Harry waved the other three to silence and they all listened while the parents shortly discussed it. It seemed all of them were interested in the idea, although madam Longbottom thought it unlikely to work. On the other hand Hermione's parents said they had visited several camps like this in their own youth and they offered to help organising it.

For a while the kids kept listening while Hermione's father talked about his own experiences during some of those camps, but eventually Susan was the one to say: 'This sounds cool! I really hope they will make it work, it will be great to see the DA over summer!'

The other three quickly agreed and soon they were vividly debating what things they could possibly do during the summer. They only were distracted from this subject when Sirius shouted: 'And now it is time for presents!'

Immediately a huge pile of presents appeared in front of the Christmas tree. And Timmy and Jenny both appeared and quickly filled everybody's glasses one more time before they also took a seat. Years ago his mother had forced them to accept some Christmas presents. And although they had been very reluctant at first by now they were very excited about it. It was, as Remus once said, the only time in the year that he could fill his own glass.

To their surprise another house elf appeared with a loud crack. He seemed even more excited than Timmy and Jenny together. Next to Harry Susan chuckled and he turned to her. She smiled at him and said: 'That's Dobby, our house elf. Last year Sirius gave him some colourful pieces of yarn as a Christmas present. He has been knitting mismatched socks out of it and gave most of them back to Sirius, who now wears them most of the time.'

Apparently Sirius was telling the Longbottoms about Dobby as well, for he was just lifting his dress robes a bit and showed a flashy neon blue left sock and an orange with green right sock. Susan continued: 'I believe he ran out of yarn a few months ago. Sirius of course wanted to give him some more, but Dobby refused to accept it before Christmas.'

Harry grinned. He knew that Timmy and Jenny, and most likely all house elves, were very smart and dignified most of the time, but if they got excited it was like watching small kids on a sugar high. He overheard madam Longbottom complaining that house elves never used to receive gifts in her time and he wondered shortly why anyone could complain in face of so much excitement. Then he himself was also distracted again by the huge pile of presents and he forgot all about house elves.

It took a long time before the last present went to Hermione's mother. As soon as she opened her gift, a book about magical tourist attractions around the world, everybody started talking excitedly about their gifts. Harry himself was especially happy with the gift he received from his parents. It was an official snitch, signed by Iris White, the seeker of Harry's favourite quidditch team Puddlemere United. Dad had explained that it was the actual snitch she caught in the match against the Falmouth Falcons. Then Sirius, who knew just as much about quidditch as his father had explained how an official snitch like this was almost twice as fast as the ones used in Hogwarts. It was a shame that Christmas day was after their free week, but Harry hoped he could find a bit of time to practise with his new snitch.

Beside that, he had received all kinds of different things. Clothes, candies and books about various subjects, including his own copy of Lord of the Rings from Hermione, a thick tome with all three parts bound together. Hermione had apologized for giving him a book that he had already partly read, and she had offered to take it back and trade it for another book. But Harry had assured her that he was very happy with it, now he could take the book to Hogwarts and finish it between homework and DA meetings. Susan and Neville had both promised Hermione they would give the book a try sometime, although Susan shot a few doubtful glances at the thick book.

Susan herself had given everybody a large pack of Honeydukes chocolates. Apparently she had enjoyed her birthday gift and decided to return the favour. Neville's gift had been the most unusual. Each of them received a small crystal from him. They all looked confused at first, but Neville explained that it was a very basic sneakoscope. It would change in colour if someone close was doing something untrustworthy. A while the things turned blue and while the kids were still looking around suddenly Remus jumped up in shock when his robes turned into bright neon pink. He immediately pointed his wand towards Sirius, who tried very hard to look innocent. Remus' wand turned to Harry's father, who copied Sirius. Grumbling Remus sat down and removed the colour changing charm from his robes. Seconds later the sneakoscope turned to orange and they looked up just in time to see how both James and Sirius were suddenly wearing large Santa beards.

With the amount of pranks that the marauders fired at each other during Christmas the kids quickly figured that Neville's sneakoscopes would change into a different colour when another person started to act up. It was too bad that the colours were not dedicated to a single person. The first time that the orange colour showed up again they all looked at Remus, but this time he was actually the victim.

After a long and tiring day Harry had eventually went to bed with the Christmas hat still stuck on his head. Mum had been muttering about what she would tell Sirius about that, but Harry hardly cared about the hat. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was gone anyway.

A/N: I figured I had to write a Christmas chapter sometime, so why not during first year;) I was planning to write another chapter about the week after Christmas, but I think I am going to skip that to keep the story moving a bit. Otherwise we never get anywhere…

A nice 22 reviews again, I really should think of an easier way to reply to them. But it is fun to answer them;)

Emarald: I guess that is basically the problem of every time-travel/ book reading or in this case foreknowledge story. Although I do hope I have some surprises left.

Slytherinlover143: I'm not sure about diffindo as a first year spell, sounds a bit dangerous… And with a nick like yours you should not complain about the first chapter that shows Slytherins;)

Happylady, Taeniaea, XXRemusXXTonksXX, MSupernatural, X-marks-the-spot1974, Rori Potter, Mwinter1, Love-Pink26, Guest #1, Penny-is-Wise, The-Untempered-Schism666, Jbfritz: Thanks!

ILikeComps: It might help a lot in some situations yeah.

Sanbeegoldiewhitey: Not quite sure what I should say about your review to chapter three;) I somewhat agree with you, but I can hardly change what happened in canon… Anyway, welcome to the story and thanks for the reviews!

Man of faith: I figured that with a bit less evil Snape Ron would hear less horrorstories about Slytherin from his five elder brothers. So I tried to make him a bit less hostile. Oh, and Padfoot actually suggested to them not to consider all Slytherins as enemies, so he should be fine;)

Anime Princess: I guess so, but the problem in canon was that they included Peter in that group anyway. Of course, in my story they could have avoided the direct confrontation with Voldemort by asking somebody else to activate the land mines, but there would always be the risk that he would find out about it somehow.

Serena Bluemoon: Welcome back! As to your questions, the big events will most likely still happen. I ask myself all the time if there is a reason for it not too happen in my timeline. In example, a more confident Neville with actual flying experience removed Harry's opportunity for first year quidditch. But for now I can not really think of a reason to remove the tournament. I probably need to come up with some alternative events for third year though… Oh, and the pairings will more than likely be noncanon, although they are still not set in stone.

Guest #2: Basically because Quirrell does not act like he is possessed. I just assume that there is no real divining spell to see if anyone is possessed. As far as I know the only real description the books give about someone being possessed are Ginny in second year and Harry after the fight in the department of mysteries, although Harry was only possessed for a few minutes. Still, Quirrell seems a lot less affected by it. Maybe because he is actually carrying Voldemort around instead of being possessed in a more insubstantial way.