Chapter 14

Dear Scorpius,

I know I promised I would write as soon as I got back to Godric's hollow, and I swear I've tried, but the words haven't been coming out right. I think I just need to go and write it all out, and if it makes no sense, you'll just have to forgive me, because I'm running out of parchment.

Albus paused at the last line, and almost crumpled it up for the wastebin again, but bit his lip and powered through the discomfort. He really was running out of parchment.

It's simple, really. I don't fit in here, and though my parents try really hard not to show it, I know that they prefer James. I've always sort of known it, in the back of my mind, but last week I knew it for sure. My dad gave James

Albus paused again, his hand hovering uncertainly. He knew it was supposed to be a family secret. But Scorpius was Scorpius.

My dad gave James the family invisibility cloak. It's priceless, passed down from generation to generation, and he gave it to James. I don't think I can explain any more than that. I know you'll understand. You always do.

Yours truly,

Albus

P.S. I'm waiting to give you your present until we're back at school. I want to see your reaction! Fling a wad of mushy peas at Grandpa Malfoy for me. Happy Christmas.

Albus finished his letter with a flourish, and quickly tied it to the barn owl waiting at his window. He gave the owl a treat, and it nipped his knuckle affectionately. "Have a good trip, Xerxes" he said, and the animal was off with a fluttering of feathers and a faint hoot. Albus stayed at his desk for a moment, looking at the shrinking image of the bird in the pale moonlight.

It really hadn't been a bad Christmas holiday so far, accounted for mainly by the fact that a letter had preceded the arrival of the Hogwarts express. This letter had been from McGonagall, denoting the events of the morning, and had resulted in James being grounded. Albus had not had to interact with his older brother except for mealtimes, which had made the fact that he was barely speaking to him less noticeable to his parents. His dad was working some big case at the ministry, and wasn't often home for mealtimes, and was so exhausted if he was that he barely spoke at all. Albus hated him even for that, since whatever case he was working had clearly taken priority over Elle's.

All of that was going to change tomorrow however, when the entire Potter family would be going to the burrow for the remainder of the Christmas holidays. At that thought, Albus remembered that they would be leaving early tomorrow, his father insisting on driving, to make it easier to travel to King's Cross when the time came. He shot one look at how high the moon was in the sky and groaned. He was up way later than he should be.

Elle's eyes found the same moon only moments later. She had been roused from her sleep by a shrill scream. For the next thirty seconds Elle was ten years old again, on the streets of London, and she was patting the soft comforter around her for Cat's wiry body, her heart pounding and her muscles tensing to flee. But Cat was not in the room, Cat was sleeping downstairs, curled up to the Weasley's black cat Sunny, who he had become immediately fond of. Instead, Elle's hands found Rose's thigh, as she herself shot up to sitting, apologizing profusely.

"Ow! Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry"

"What?" Elle said, finally remembering where she was.
"Sorrysorrysorryit'smyMum"

"What? Your?... Oh. Your Mum."

Rose nodded, her face half lit from the light of the moon, enough to give her cheeks the colour that rose to them. "She gets… nightmares. Sometimes. From the war, you know." Elle nodded. Looking back through her panic, she realized that the sound had been suddenly cut off, too quickly for it to be natural. Someone had cast a silencing charm. The speed of reaction had to have come from years of practice.

Elle could tell that Rose wanted to apologize more, could even reflect and realize this might have been a part of why she was so shy to ask Elle to stay with her. She looked at Rose a little differently in the moonlight. "No biggie" Elle said "Let's sleep. We've got an early start tomorrow."

The next morning arrived with a flurry of last-minute activity as the Granger-Weasley household prepared for the holiday visit to the burrow. Rose's mum had placed all the suitcases, neatly packed, ready by the front door the night prior, but her Dad, her brother, and even Rose herself kept dashing down the stairs to add or take things from the cases, each time leaving the insides in slightly more disarray.

Rose's Mum looked to be back to her cheerful self this morning, and was absolutely lovely to Elle, who had picked up at thing or two from her time in the kitchens and offered to help make breakfast. Half an hour past their anticipated departure time, the scrambled eggs were eaten, the bags finally packed (Rose's Dad discretely tapping his so that it zipped shut despite being seriously overfilled), and the cars were off. Rose's Dad was a terrible driver.

Elle had been extremely nervous about the prospect of walking in to 'the burrow', the legendary house that Albus and Rose always talked about. This prospect was made worse by the fact that when they pulled up, Rose's Dad announced to her Mum "Harry's later than us. You owe me a galleon." Elle looked out the window and saw the empty spaces next to their car and sighed. She'd been hoping to run off with Rose and Albus as soon as she arrived.

If Elle had been a little younger, or perhaps even a little closer to Rose, she might have been tempted to grab her hand as she walked up to the towering house before her. There were multiple levels to the house, with clear add-ons that defied gravity, and windows of all shapes and sizes in various odd places. Despite all the quirks, the house did exude a certain warmth, added on to by the sounds of laughter and shouting emanating from the cracked front door.

Before Elle could steel herself for the big introduction, Rose's Dad was throwing open the door, and a dozen different voices were ushering them in. The next few moments were a jumbled confusion of greetings, where she was sure that some people shook her hand before realizing she wasn't family. "And you must be Elle" a plump woman with snow white hair said, smiling kindly "Rose's friend Elle, come to stay with us for Christmas" she announced, and Elle blushed furiously under the attention.

Rose grabbed her hand, and Elle was grateful she had, and Rose led her away from the adults, who were loudly catching up. Rose led her straight to the backyard, where there were half a dozen Weasley children playing in the snow. Elle recognized Molly and Hugo (who had disappeared quicker than they had managed to), and was introduced to a Fred and Roxanne, ten and nine, and tiny Lucy (just about to be seven). An hour later, with a roar of noise from the house, Albus finally emerged to join them, bringing his younger sister Lily. "James has decided he's cool enough to hang out upstairs with the big kids this year" he announced, with so much bitterness Elle wisely decided not to probe any further.

The next few hours were some of the best and most fondly remembered of her life. Elle and 'the cousins' made a snow fort, amusing themselves by trying to pick off any gnomes that wandered out of the bushes with snowballs. Ms. Weasley came out with hot chocolate and cookies - both the most delicious versions Elle had ever tasted. The dinner, eaten outside in a large pavilion tent that had been erected in an adjacent field, was similarly amazing, and Elle had great fun at the kid's table. She formally met both of Louis' sisters (Elle remembering with a lurch that Victoire had caught her in a fight that had caused her first detention the previous year), as well as Teddy Lupin, Victoire's boyfriend who had a mass of turquoise ringlets.

"Oy! I remember you!" Teddy had said to Elle, and she had shaken her head vigorously in response. "You're the little one that almost missed the train last year. I sprained my finger tossing that trunk onto the steps." Suddenly, Elle remembered seeing a flash of bubble gum pink hair all that time ago, and blushed furiously, apologizing. Teddy just shrugged, laughing it off good naturedly. Albus and James sat on opposite sides of the table and did not so much as glance each other's way the entire meal.

After the last plates had been cleared, Elle's eyes were heavy with contented exhaustion. She was about to get up, thinking longingly of the bed that she had been shown in the burrow ("you're so lucky you don't have to sleep in a tent like I do" Albus had moaned when he found out. "Nan is giving you a good room because you're a 'guest'), when Mr. Weasley, the elder Mr. Weasley that is, stood up and clapped his hands together "time for presents!"

"It's only Christmas Eve!" Elle exclaimed, suddenly panicked. She had been planning to sleep in tomorrow and avoid the awkwardness of not giving or receiving many Christmas presents. "Everyone gets to choose their favourite gift they purchased this year and give it to someone tonight" Rose whispered, "it's a tradition". Elle frowned. she'd only made one present for Albus and one for Rose, and due to her extremely limited funds, both of those were handmade. It would be rather embarrassing to present the measly gifts in front of a huge crowd. "It's mostly an adult thing. The kids just have to watch" Albus explained further and Elle breathed out a sigh of relief.

It occurred to Elle about five minutes into the ritual that she had never seen what wizard gifts looked like at Christmas. Over the span of the next hour, she discovered just how magical they could be – dragon-hide leather, and watches that screamed at you when you were late, and dress robes that glittered and moved with a time-lapse of the stars in the sky. Elle thought that every gift that was opened was the coolest one, until the next one was opened and looked even cooler.

"Right" Mr. Potter said, slapping his knees as he stood up from his chair. I believe I'm the last one to give my gift tonight." There was a general murmuring of agreement from the crowd of adults. Mr. Potter walked forward "I'm afraid I'm breaking a little from tradition tonight" he announced, placing his hand on Teddy Lupin's shoulder "my gift is for one of the kids, though I think it's about time we made a spot for him at the big table. There was some general cheering at this, and one of Rose's uncles (who only had one ear) let out a loud whistle.

Mr. Potter produced a small package from his coat and placed it on Teddy's lap. "This has been a work in progress gift for quite some time. Took me forever to find it for starters, that damn Moody had all his old trunks and things guarded against every summoning charm under the sun, but it finally turned up, in the cupboard under the stairs, funnily enough… And I will have to say that Hermione contributed to this as well, they're damn hard to duplicate, what with the complexity of all the movement, and I have to confess I wanted to keep the original for myself… Go ahead and open it."

Elle watched as Teddy tore open the package and produced a small picture frame. Teddy traced his fingers over the glass and looked up to Harry for guidance. "I know you have some photos of your dad from the wedding, and you have tons of photos of your mum at your nan's place, but there aren't many pictures of your dad from when he was younger. This is a picture of the original order of the phoenix. Here's my mum and dad" Harry said, pointing to a spot on the glass "and my godfather, Sirius Black" Harry traced his finger gently over another spot on the glass, and Elle could hear his voice soften "and here is your dad, Remus Lupin. He would have been about your age when this was taken."

Elle was suddenly aware of the thick and heavy silence that had taken over the tent. It was a quiet sort of sorrow that filled her lungs, and she saw that many of the adults around her had faraway looks in their eyes, as if they were imaging places and people that had been long ago. "I… I… I don't know what to say" Teddy said thickly, his voice catching in his throat. He was holding the picture with a delicate reverence. "Usually a thank you suffices" Mr. Potter said, clapping the younger man on the back and smiling.

The brand-new screaming wristwatch on Rose's dad's wrist suddenly announced in a shrill voice that it was midnight. "Happy Christmas!" Harry said, raising his glass of elfish wine in the air, and meeting the others in cheer. Just like that, the sorrowful silence was dissipated, and the party was back to its raucous nature, but Teddy was still sitting stock still, pouring over the picture.