I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

Holidays

Alex smirked as Harry sat across from him and Luna in the compartment. He was moving like he was sore, and he was avoiding Alex's eyes.

"I take it you had a good night," Alex grinned, Harry's face going scarlet.

"I don't know what you mean," Harry said. "And anyway, while it's just the three of us, you want to hear what I heard?"

"Do tell," Alex said.

Harry explained quickly, Alex pressing him for as close to exact wording as he could get. from what he understood, Malfoy had been given a job by a vague "He" and had a plan to accomplish it, Snape had made an Unbreakable Vow to Malfoy's mother to help him, and Malfoy had refused his help rather rudely, and argued, like a child, that Snape was trying to steal his glory.

Alex frowned. It wasn't definitive, or wholely incriminating, but it was definitely suspicious.

"Keep an eye on him," Alex advised. "He's obviously up to something."

Harry nodded as Ron, Hermione, and Ginny joined them, Alex filling them in as well, only to have to stop as Neville joined them. Then, once all of them had reached the Burrow, as agreed upon, he finished retelling Ron and Hermione the story as they all were peeling sprouts for Mrs. Weasley.

"So Snape was offering to help him?" Ron checked. "He was definitely offering to help him?"

"If you ask. that once more," Harry growled, "I'm going to stick this sprout-"

"I'm only checking!" Ron said hastily.

"Yes, Snape was offering to help him!" Harry said. "He said he'd promised Malfoy's mother to protect him, that he'd made an Unbreakable Oath or something-"

"An Unbreakable Vow?" Ron asked, looking stunned. "Nah, he can't have. Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Harry said. "Why, what does it mean?"

"Well, you can't break an Unbreakable Vow." Ron said.

"I'd worked that much out for myself, funnily enough," Harry said. "What happens if you break it, then?"

"You die," Hermione said.

"Fred and George tried to get me to make one when I was about five," Ron said, Hermione looking stricken suddenly. "I nearly did too, I was holding hands with Fred and everything when Dad found us. He went mental. Only time I've ever seen Dad as angry as Mum, Fred reckons his left buttock has never been the same since."

"Yeah, well, passing over Fred's left buttock-" Harry began.

"I beg your pardon?" Fred's voice asked as the twins entered the kitchen. "Aaah, George, look at this. They're using knives and everything. Bless them. Except our partner. He's gross."

Alex glanced at the sprout he was skinning with his claws, shrugged, and continued.

"I'll be seventeen in two and a bit months' time," Ron said grumpily, "and then I'll be able to do it by magic!"

"But meanwhile," George said, sitting down at the kitchen table and putting his feet up on it, "we can enjoy watching you demonstrate the correct use of a-whoops-a-daisy!"

"You made me do that!" Ron said angrily, sucking his cut thumb. "You wait, when I'm seventeen-"

"I'm sure you'll dazzle us all with hitherto unsuspected magical skills," Fred yawned. "And speaking of using magic, Alex, we asked dad to subtly check if you have a Trace on you. Turns out the Ministry never gave you one since you're not actually from here. They never got the chance to apply it at birth, and you'd have known if they did it when you started school."

"Awesome," Alex said, finishing his sprout before washing his hands, then retracted his claws and flicked a hand at the pile, multiple sprouts hopping out of their skins.

"What are you doing!?" Mrs. Weasley snapped.

"It's alright, Mom," Fred said. "He hasn't got a Trace on him."

"Yeah, we had Dad look into it," George said.

"Yes, but that doesn't make him exempt from Underage Wizardry laws," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I'll only use it in emergencies," Alex promised.

Mrs. Weasley nodded and turned to the twins. "Fred, George, I'm sorry, dears, but Remus is arriving tonight, so Bill will have to squeeze in with you two."

"No problem," George said.

"Then, as Charlie isn't coming home, that just leaves Harry, Ron, and Alex in the attic, and if Fleur shares with Ginny-"

"-That'll make Ginny's Christmas-" Fred muttered.

"-everyone should be comfortable. Well, they'll have a bed, anyway," Mrs. Weasley said, sounding slightly harassed.

"What about Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Oh!" Mrs. Weasley gasped. "Oh, that's right! And Luna, too!"

"I'll be alright," Luna said. "I'll just share a bed with Alex."

Mrs. Weasley clearly wanted to argue, but said nothing about that, looking to Hermione for a long few moments.

"I can share with Ginny and Fleur," Hermione volunteered.

"Alright, then," Mrs. Weasley nodded. "That'll work."

"Percy definitely not showing his ugly face, then?" Fred asked.

Mrs. Weasley turned away before she answered. "No, he's busy, I expect, at the Ministry."

"Or he's the world's biggest prat," Fred said, as Mrs. Weasley left the kitchen. "One of the two. Well, let's get going, then, George."

"What are you two up to?" Ron asked. "Cant you help us with these sprouts? You could just use your wand and then we'll be free too!"

"No, I don't think we can do that," Fred said seriously. "It's very character-building stuff, learning to peel sprouts without magic, makes you appreciate how difficult it is for Muggles and Squibs-"

"-and if you want people to help you, Ron," George added, throwing the paper airplane at him, "I wouldn't chuck knives at them. Just a little hint. We're off to the village, there's a very pretty girl working in the paper shop who thinks my card tricks are something marvelous...almost like real magic."

"And no magic, Alex," Fred reminded him.

Alex flipped him off. Then, he returned to peeling with the others. Once they were done, they all went outside to find something to do. Over the next few days, Luna and Ginny decorated the sitting room to the point of excess, and everyone else helped out where they could. Then, finally, Christmas Eve arrived. They all gathered in the sitting room where Mrs. Weasley tried to turn on a broadcast from her favorite singer, who Fleur disliked and tried to talk to Bill over. Alex smiled in amusement as Mrs. Weasley turned the music up for the fifth time, Fleur's voice rising alongside it, then stood, taking Luna's hand and heading outside, casting his temperature regulating charm on them both so that the cold wouldn't bother them. They relaxed for a while, simply enjoying the peace and quiet of being alone before Alex sent his letter to his family using the pond before heading back inside and both of them up to bed. The attic bedroom was cramped with three beds, and with Alex's and Luna's only being a small single bed, it was very hard to fit both. So instead, Luna kissed Alex goodnight, then shifted into her rabbit form so there'd be room, curling up on Alex's chest. He smiled, stroking her ears and back for a moment before allowing himself to drift off to sleep. The next day, there was a large, lumpy stocking for each of them on the foot of the bed. Luna shifted back to normal beside him as they both began to sort through it. Mrs. Weasley had given them both a sweater, Hermione had given them both chocolate frogs, though not the same giant box Alex usually got, Fred and George had given them a long list of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products, including fireworks, and the others had all given them candy as well. Except Winky. Winky, it seemed was determined to add to their collection of tiny pets, because she'd given Alex a figurine of a Thunder Bird and had given Luna one of an Occamy. It wasn't of a full-grown one, which would have two legs and a slightly more bird-like appearance, but rather an adolescent, with a mostly serpentine body, blue-green scales, a yellow, bird-like beak, and a pair of purple, feathered wings. Alex animated both, smiling as both began to fly around excitedly with their new family members.

They headed downstairs with the others, discussing the others' presents on the way. At the bottom of the stairs, Winky, who was polishing a mirror, bowed lowly, wishing them all a happy Christmas. Alex smiled, passing her present to her, and when she opened it to find a box of every-flavored chocolate frogs he'd asked Fred and George to make by combining Bertie Bott's Beans with chocolate frogs, she squealed excitedly, hugging him. Alex chuckled, hugging her back before walking into the dining room after the others for lunch. As he arrived, he found Harry removing a maggot from Harry's hair.

"Please tell me I don't need a full shower," Alex groaned.

"Kreacher sent him a package full of maggots for Christmas," Ron sniggered.

"Yikes," Alex said. "Well, if you were nice to him, he might decide he doesn't hate you."

Harry glared at him, so he shrugged.

"Gravy, Fleur?" Ron asked. However, in his eagerness to help her, he knocked the gravy boat flying.

Bill waved his wand and the gravy soared up in the air and returned meekly to the boat.

"You are as bad as zat Tonks," Fleur said to Ron, when she had finished kissing Bill in thanks. "She is always knocking-"

"I invited dear Tonks to come along today," Mrs. Weasley said, setting down the carrots with unnecessary force and glaring at Fleur. "But she wouldn't come. Have you spoken to her lately, Remus?"

"No, I haven't been in contact with anybody very much," Lupin said. "But Tonks has got her own family to go to, hasn't she?"

"Hmmm," Mrs. Weasley said. "Maybe. I got the impression she was planning to spend Christmas alone, actually."

She gave Lupin an annoyed look, as though it was all his fault she was getting Fleur for a daughter-in-law instead of Tonks, but Alex, knowing why Tonks was so distraught, gave Lupin an appraising, searching look, trying to see if he could tell how hopeless Tonx's chances were.

"Tonks's Patronus has changed its form," Harry told Lupin suddenly. "Snape said so anyway. I didn't know that could happen. Why would your Patronus change?"

Lupin took his time chewing his turkey and swallowing before saying slowly, "Sometimes...a great shock...an emotional upheaval..."

"It looked big, and it had four legs," Harry said, struck by a sudden thought and lowering his voice. "Hey...it couldn't be-"

"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley gasped suddenly. She had risen from her chair, her hand was pressed over her heart, and she was staring out of the kitchen window. "Arthur, it's Percy!"

"What!?" Mr. Weasley looked around.

Everybody looked quickly at the window. Ginny stood up for a better look. There, sure enough, was Percy Weasley, striding across the snowy yard, his horn-rimmed glasses glinting in the sunlight. He was not, however, alone.

"Arthur, he's...he's with the Minister!" Mrs. Weasley said, sounding slightly panicked.

And sure enough, the man Alex had seen only in the Daily Prophet was following along in Percy's wake, limping slightly, his mane of graying hair and his black cloak flecked with snow. Before any of them could say anything, before Mr. and Mrs. Weasley could do more than exchange stunned looks, the back door opened and there stood Percy.

There was a moment's painful silence. Then Percy said rather stiffly, "Merry Christmas, Mother."

"Oh, Percy!" Mrs. Weasley said, and she threw herself into his arms.

Rufus Scrimgeour paused in the doorway, leaning on his walking stick and smiling as he observed this affecting scene.

"You must forgive this intrusion," he said, when Mrs. Weasley looked around at him, beaming and wiping her eyes. "Percy and I were in the vicinity, working, you know, and he couldn't resist dropping in and seeing you all."

But Percy showed no sign of wanting to greet any of the rest of the family. He stood, poker-straight and awkward-looking, and stared over everybody else's heads. Mr. Weasley, Fred, and George were all observing him, stony-faced.

"Please, come in, sit down, Minister!" Mrs. Weasley fluttered, straightening her hat. "Have a little purkey, or some tooding...I mean-"

"No, no, my dear Molly," Scrimgeour said, Alex assuming that he had checked her name with Percy before they entered the house. "I don't want to intrude, wouldn't be here at all if Percy hadn't wanted to see you all so badly..."

"Oh, Perce!" Mrs. Weasley said tearfully, reaching up to kiss him.

"We've only looked in for five minutes, so I'll have a stroll around the yard while you catch up with Percy," Scrimgeour said. '"o, no, I assure you I don't want to butt in! Well, if anybody cared to show me your charming garden...ah, that young man's finished, why doesn't he take a stroll with me?"

The atmosphere around the table changed perceptibly. Everybody looked from Scrimgeour to Harry. Nobody seemed to find Scrimgeour's pretense that he did not know Harry's name convincing, or find it natural that he should be chosen to accompany the Minister around the garden when Ginny, Fleur, and George also had clean plates.

"Yeah, all right," said Harry into the silence.

Alex narrowed his eyes, but Harry shook his head warningly.

"It's fine," Harry said quietly, as he passed Lupin, who had half risen from his chair. "Fine," he added, as Mr. Weasley opened his mouth to speak.

"Wonderful!" said Scrimgeour, standing back to let Harry pass through the door ahead of him. "We'll just take a turn around the garden, and Percy and I'll be off. Carry on, everyone!"

Alex's eyes narrowed further. Leave it to the Minister to give orders in someone else's house and not even realize he was doing it. Percy joined them at the table, the tense air quickly growing as everyone did an honest job of attempting small talk. However, it didn't last very long. Roughly three minutes into Percy's five minute stay, Alex got tired of Percy's scathing glances.

"Do you have something to say?" Alex snapped, finally, all of Percy's siblings, along with Luna, instantly tensing.

"I just wanted to say I was impressed you managed to scrape passing grades together enough to stay in Hogwarts," Percy said coldly. "I was sure Umbridge would have managed to weed you out, but I guess she didn't try hard enough."

The table all but exploded. To everyone's credit, no one hit Percy directly with a curse, but buts of turkey, pudding, mashed parsnip, and the entire contents of the gravy bowl all exploded into Percy's face instantly, knocking him backward to the ground.

"How dare you!?" Luna seethed.

"Don't you dare talk about Alex like that!" Ginny snapped.

"He got almost as good grades as you without even having proper teachers!" Fred spat.

"How's it feel to be dumber than a half-breed the Ministry's taught you to hate so much?" George sneered.

"That thing doesn't belong at this house!" Percy snapped, shoving himself up and brandishing his wand, only for Fleur to flick his own, sending Percy's spinning out the door as she berated him with the most colorful French Alex had ever heard, enough to make him seal his own lips to avoid her fury.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!?" Mr. Weasley roared. "I THOUGHT WE RAISED YOU BETTER! GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE, AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU LEARN TO SHOW A BIT OF RESPECT FOR HOW YOUR PARENTS RAISED YOU!"

Percy stormed out, snatching up his wand from the snow and shouldering past Harry before Disapparating. Everyone stood in silence for nearly thirty seconds before Mrs. Weasley broke down into sobs. Alex sighed, putting his wand away and beginning to help clean up, now that dinner had been ruined.

Alex sighed as he leaned back against the railing. After taking the Floo network back to Hogwarts at the end of the holidays, they'd just been told by the Fat Lady that the password had been changed while they were away, so they they couldn't get into the common room.

"I've dropped off my things, so we could go relax in our cave," Luna offered. "Or not relax."

Alex smiled knowingly. "A fun as that sounds, it wouldn't help me with the password problem."

"Oh, you lot just got back, huh?" Seamus asked, stopping beside them. "I guess you haven't heard the new password, then." He looked to the portrait. "Abstinence."

"Precisely," the Fat Lady said.

Alex snorted, but then dissolved into fits of laughter as he saw Ginny's cheeks turn pink and Harry looking distinctly uncomfortable. The others all gave Alex a confused look as Alex choked out the password to Luna, who likewise burst into hysterical laughter. Alex waved the others off and they all climbed through the portrait hole, Alex following once he'd calmed himself down. He spent most of the afternoon in bed, eating left over candy and watching his miniature pets race each other around the room, the Thunder Bird making tiny storms to force the others to go around them, at least after Snow got zapped the first time and had to catch back up. In response, Blue had begun to send short bursts of flames into the Thunder Bird's path, delaying it almost as much as it was delaying the others. The next day, there was a notice of an optional twelve-week course to learn to Apparate that anyone who would be seventeen before next year could sign up for, and everyone did. Once he'd signed, Alex headed for the Great Hall to meet Luna, who greeted him with a kiss as usual. The day sped by, most of the school buzzing with conversations about Apparating, and Alex promising to take Luna alomg with him once he'd learned how, assuming he was able to get it right. The next day, after Harry's lesson with Dumbledore, passed just as fast. Hermione had nearly caught up to Alex with non-verbal magic, at least where the spells they were using were concerned, and Snape's lessons remained infuriatingly invaluable. However, during Potions, Hermione was beaten by Harry in an even more annoying way than usual. They were learning to make an antidote by identifying the ingredients of a poison and then crafting an antidote quickly from scratch. As Harry and Alex's notes in their potions books couldn't help, Harry's antidote fsiled miserably within seconds. Hermione and Alex, however, both had understood the information in the normal book well enough to succeed, though Alex being physically faster than Hermione allowed him to beat her, though only barely. However, where neither of their antidotes were finished when they ran out of time, Harry presented Slughorn with a bezoar. Slughorn was so impressed by Harry's cheek thst not only did he take top of the class without doing any work, but he also earned Gryffindor ten more points.

As they all left class, however, Harry remained behind to complete the task Dumbledore had set him. The memory he'd shown Harry the night before was tampered with by its owner, Slughorn, to hide what had actually happened, so Harry was to get the real memory. Alex was the only one of the four expecting a failure, though Hermione was close, as she believed it would be difficult. Sure enough, Harry failed.

"You could probably ask Snape what a Horcrux is," Alex said after days of Harry brooding on his failure. "It may not be the memory, but it might be enough for Dumbledore to go off for now."

"Why would Snape tell me?" Harry asked.

"Say it's from Dumbledore while he's away," Alex suggested. "Snape almost definitely knows what they are."

"Why don't you ask, then?" Harry asked. "You're top of his class."

Alex sighed. "Pass."

"Exactly," Harry said.

That option did not come up again.

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