Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter Thirty-Five—A Hallowed Christmas

Harry woke to something buzzing against his face. He sneezed and opened his eyes, for a moment caught between memories and assuming he was a Kneazle again and had whiskers that a kitten was tickling.

It wasn't a kitten. Would that it were, Harry thought, as he stared at the buzzing, spinning Resurrection Stone that had taken up a place on the bed right in front of his nose. As he watched, it began to bounce up and down, the symbol of the Hallows shining in red light from its surface.

It bounced to the edge of his bed, and continued jumping up and down. There was movement beyond the bed then, and the Cloak rose up, looking like a manta ray from the angle it had adopted. The Elder Wand was tucked into the side of the flap.

"Uh, all right," Harry said, staring at them. "I know you've been bored, but you also know why we can't do anything more right now, until Voldemort consents to absorb one of the other Horcruxes."

The Stone stopped bouncing and began to spin in place. A strong impression came off it. The Hallows had never communicated with him in words except when Harry was deep in that world beyond the world where everything was dead or dying. But he knew their gestures and the emotional auras they could emit well enough by now. This was a question, a pointed one.

"Yes, I'm unhappy," Harry said, and rubbed his face. "But no, there's nothing you can do about it."

The Cloak abruptly floated into the air, stretching out like a flying carpet. The Wand floated up onto it, and the Stone gave one more bounce and catapulted off the bed to rest beside the Wand. Then they blurred and soared out through the wall and were gone.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Harry called after them.

Of course there was no answer, except for a stirring in the bedroom next to his and Jonathan's gleeful voice saying, "Harry said a bad word! I would tell Mum if everything was normal!"

Harry let himself fall back into the pillows with a sigh. Then he shook his head and remembered it was Christmas, and he would get to see the reactions of his loved ones as they opened their gifts. That had long been the best part of Christmas to him, even after lives where he was spoiled silly because he was a Black or an adopted Black or an adopted Malfoy (or when he got a rhinestone collar and feathered toys because Hermione liked to spoil her Kneazle).

"Come on, Harry! Get up!" Jonathan pounded on the wall.

"That's infinitely more annoying than saying a bad word," Harry called back, but he got up and started pulling on the red robes that he'd worn last Christmas and Lily had enlarged. She'd taken enthusiastically to wizarding traditions in all the worlds where he'd known her well, but, well, with her parents dead and the Dursleys as her only Muggle family left, Harry found it hard to blame her.

When Jonathan came out, in a green robe, he took one look at Harry and snorted. "You should have this color, it matches your eyes."

"Don't start about that again," Harry pleaded as they went downstairs. He'd made the mistake of revealing to Jonathan how much it had annoyed him in his first life when people tried to dress him in green, and since then, he'd been subjected to merciless teasing.

"We can probably switch right here," Jonathan promised, and acted as if he would drag the damn green robe over his head.

Harry was still glaring at him when James came around the corner at the bottom of the stairs and beamed at them both, spreading his arms wide.

"Happy Christmas, boys! Come down! We're going to have the Weasleys over tomorrow, but your Uncle Sirius is still here, so you'll have to hurry if you want any biscuits or strawberries."

Jonathan promptly forgot about the robe and took off. Harry did the same thing, smiling because that was what James would expect and it was still novel to be able to have a Christmas with most of the Marauders. Remus would come over later, as he'd heard James and Lily discussing last night.

Harry hoped that Remus would appreciate the gift Harry had chosen for him. It was something he could use and something that ought to improve his self-perception, if he would only let it.

Remus edged slowly inside the Potters' house, his hands still wrapped in the cloak that was draped around him. He wondered if he would find an excuse to keep it on all through the Christmas celebrations.

Probably not. If James or Lily thought he was cold, they would serve him an extra goblet of mulled wine and seize the cloak the instant he looked away.

"Happy Christmas, Remus!"

Remus managed to smile at Jonathan as he bounced over. According to Albus, this was the child on the correct path, the one who had displayed a great willingness to learn from both Albus and Sirius. Albus had even talked about having Remus teach him ways to combat Dark creatures. "Happy Christmas, Jonathan. This is for you." He waved his wand and floated in the aquarium that, in the end, he had decided not to wrap. There was no way to disguise the sloshing noise, anyway.

"Wow!" Jonathan grabbed the aquarium and stared into it. Remus smiled. The water was a deep, pure blue, with charms to keep it that way, but of course Jonathan was staring hardest at the small golden koi fish darting around inside it. "What's the fish's name? Is it magical? What's its species?"

Remus laughed, reassured and taken for a second back to one of the Christmases he'd spent with James's parents when Euphemia got him a Kneazle kitten. The kitten had unfortunately run away before he left Hogwarts. "That's a mythical koi. I call her Lucky, but you can name her something else. They reinforce cheerfulness and turn nightmares into gentler dreams."

Mythical koi also couldn't thrive in the care of a wizard who was less than purely Light. Albus was the one who had suggested the gift for Jonathan and given Remus the coin to purchase Lucky. At least, based on Lucky's health, they would have a chance to gauge if Jonathan was wandering too far into the Dark Arts.

"Hello, Remus."

"Hello, Harry." Remus swallowed fear, the way he'd learned to do on a full moon before he went into the Shrieking Shack. The confrontation was going to happen anyway, whether he wanted it to or not, just the way that he would always transform into Moony. He held out the small package. "This is for you."

Harry undid it to reveal the golden pendant with the blue stone that Albus had also suggested. He gave Remus a soft smile with a hint of sadness to it. "This is a Lightpath pendant, right?"

Remus blinked. Albus had told him that the golden chain would burn Harry's fingers if he was less than purely Light, which meant Harry shouldn't have been able to hang onto the thing without dropping it. But obviously he was. "Er, yes," Remus said, his brain a little scrambled.

"What's it do?" Jonathan spun around from admiring Lucky.

"It illuminates your path," Harry said quietly. He lifted the pendant and dropped it over his head so that it hung in the center of his chest. "See?" He twisted the top of the chain where it connected to the stone, and a small, dazzling spark sprang to life. Remus blinked. It had been full moon only two days ago, and the light was even more overwhelming than it would have been for a human.

"And looks pretty, I reckon," Jonathan said, not sounding all that interested. "Well, come on, Remus! I know Sirius wants to see you!" He hauled on Remus's arm and pulled him towards the drawing room.

Remus couldn't help looking over his shoulder as he went. Harry was watching him solemnly, one hand cupped around the Lightpath pendant. The light was more subdued now, but still clung to his fingers.

I don't understand, Remus thought, and then gave up on understanding as Sirius shoved a goblet of mulled wine into his hands and Lily hugged him in welcome. I suppose I can tell Albus that he's not as far gone into the Dark as I thought?

Jonathan watched Remus's face turn pale when he opened Harry's gift, and glanced at his brother. But Harry was busy explaining to Sirius how he was not going to take his Lightpath pendant apart to figure out how it worked, and he didn't seem to notice.

"What is it, Moony?" Dad scooted to the side so he could read the title of the book. "Great Werewolves Throughout History?"

"I've never heard of any book like this." Remus's voice was shaking. He turned the book over as if he wanted to see the back cover, although from what Jonathan could see, that was just leather with a golden circle on it. He put it down again hastily.

"Harry? Where did you get this?" Dad asked.

Harry yanked his Lightpath pendant away from Sirius with a triumphant little smile and turned to Dad. "Sirius found it for me. There was a book in his family's library that mentioned it, and then he managed to track down a copy for me." He threw his arms around Sirius and hugged him. "Thank you so much, Sirius! I can do chores around Grimmauld Place for you if you want to make up for it."

Sirius laughed and patted Harry on the back. "No, Kreacher does just fine with the chores. You go on doing what you need."

Jonathan narrowed his eyes at his brother. He was absolutely sure that Harry hadn't asked Sirius to find that book for him, especially since Sirius had looked baffled for a few seconds before he smiled. But he would wait to talk to Harry about it when they were alone.

"How can the book be about great werewolves?" Remus asked. His hands had stopped shaking, but his voice was very flat. Jonathan had to admit that he felt sorry for him. "There is no such thing as a great werewolf in history. They've always been monsters."

"I haven't read the book all the way through, Remus. But I thought it sounded interesting. And you're a great werewolf."

Remus muttered something that Jonathan thought Mum would have said was impolite and shoved the book down inside a bag of gifts beside him. Jonathan left the couch and went over to admire Harry's Lightpath pendant.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

Harry nodded and followed Jonathan out of the room. Jonathan turned around with a sigh when they were in the entrance hall. "Where did you really get the book?"

"I remembered it. I read it in one of my previous lives, and I wrote down the words. I couldn't do much about the illustrations, though, because I've never been a great artist and I didn't have the models in front of me to copy. Then I conjured the leather and sinew and bound the pages into the book."

"And why did you get it for him?"

"Because it really is about great werewolves in history, and Remus needs to learn to accept that he can be great, too."

Jonathan sighed, and wondered if he should explain to Harry that having a book like that probably just made Remus all the more eager to ignore being a werewolf. But Harry was looking him dead in the eye, and Jonathan was pretty sure that he already knew all the counterarguments to that.

"I don't know if Mum and Dad and Remus believed that story about you getting the book from Sirius," he chose to say instead. "You just reminded all of them that you aren't ordinary, probably."

Harry's chin lifted a little more. "Good."

Jonathan blinked. "But I thought you were trying to be an ordinary kid for Mum and Dad." And maybe Remus, too, although they didn't see him enough for Jonathan to be sure of that.

Harry sighed. "Jonathan, every ordinary thing I try to do only reminds them that I'm not. They have to start thinking about the fact that I know a lot more than a child my age normally would, and that's something they'll have to get used to. I can usually play a child pretty well, but only when people don't know who I really am. Now I do things I think are normal and Lily still looks at me with fear in her eyes."

Jonathan nodded. "I do get that. And—you're not going to keep things under wraps for Dumbledore, either?"

Harry hesitated for the first time. "There's something I wanted to try, except I didn't know if you and Sirius would agree to it."

"We sure can't if you don't tell us what it is."

Harry smiled for the first time in the conversation. "I wanted to portray myself to Dumbledore as someone whose power is failing. There are a few Dark rituals I could have done that would have that effect. He already believes I'd cross that line. So I want to pretend that my memory is fading and I'm desperate and I'm coming to him for help."

"Why?"

"Because it's a tactic that will hopefully distract Dumbledore enough that no one has to die, and it doesn't require Voldemort's help."

"You realize he has to reach out to you again?" Jonathan had read some of the letters from Voldemort, and honestly he thought he understood them better than his brother did. Voldemort was bloody obsessed.

"He might, he might not." Harry's face was set. "In the meantime, this'll get me close to Dumbledore and more trusted, and I'll know more of what he's planning. And you know what Dumbledore is like when there's someone he thinks he might have the chance to redeem."

"Well, um, not really. I don't think you told me about that part of your other lives."

Harry blinked, then said, "Yeah. Sorry." He grinned, and Jonathan leaned over and hugged him.

"Anyway," Harry whispered into his shoulder. "Dumbledore is never more fascinated with someone than when he thinks they're about to leave the Dark. He tries to get power over them, yes, but he also tries to honestly persuade them of his viewpoint. He wants them to agree with him. That's his ultimate victory. With me, he knows it'll be harder because I have those multiple lives and memories, but if he thinks I'm desperate in this life, and he knows that I love you more than anyone else…"

"So he'll keep on working on you." Jonathan hesitated once. "Is there any chance that he'll succeed?"

Harry snorted hard enough that Jonathan thought he felt disgusting stuff on his shoulder, and pulled back to stare incredulously to him.

"Sorry, stupid question," Jonathan said, but he was grinning. Harry like this was better than Harry brooding over Voldemort. "And what am I supposed to be doing while you're doing all this?"

"Continue on with your training. Make Dumbledore think the Occlumency I lodged in your mind is the only thing there is to you. And I'll talk to Sirius about some spells he should be teaching you that are on the border of Dark Arts."

"Uh-huh. What about Voldemort?"

"What about him? I have the power to counter any move he makes and ignore any letter he sends."

"Uh-huh," Jonathan said again. He watched his brother go back into the drawing room, to apparently play this mixture of innocent child and frightening one that he'd decided on.

Meanwhile, Jonathan started planning his own letter. Acanthus had given him the idea. She had decided to write to Harry even though Jonathan was right there and he could have told his brother any message she had for him. So Jonathan took it for granted that he could write to his brother's allies, too.

He needed to send a letter to Voldemort and see if his brother was wrong that Voldemort wouldn't reach out again. Jonathan would bet all his Christmas presents that he was wrong.

Albus sat back with a slight smile on his face. It was the largest expression of joy he would permit himself when he was still in front of the nosy, spying portraits in the Headmaster's office.

Everything was going well. The Lightpath pendant he'd given Remus to gift Harry had not reacted by falling apart, which meant that Harry was still far more Light than Albus had thought. Severus Snape had come to Albus, and as full of hatred as he was, he had valuable information on Voldemort as well. Even Harry had written a letter to Albus that said he'd been thinking it over, and there were Dark things he wasn't prepared to contemplate or do.

If it hadn't been for Augusta's failure to locate any of the Horcruxes and the lack of socks among the gifts he'd received, this Christmas would be perfect. Albus supposed he would have to buy the socks himself.

Then his gaze fell on the empty perch standing near his desk, and he frowned. Well, and he was missing Fawkes. This wasn't the first time the phoenix had disappeared for a long period of time; he seemed to enjoy wandering the world and showing himself to Muggles who needed a glimpse of hope or visiting other phoenixes. But he had never missed Christmas before.

With a sigh, Albus decided to fetch the bottle of Firewhisky Minerva had got him, which had been spiced with some special new preparation of Ogden's to make it taste even hotter. A search convinced him it wasn't in the office and he must have left it in the Great Hall. He opened the door of his office; a quiet, rejoicing walk was just what he needed right now.

Something blew past him, down the corridor.

Albus turned abruptly, blinking. It had been a strange object, something much bigger than any of the flying pranks the Weasley twins had managed to create so far. He cast a Lumos and peered down the corridor, but could see no sign of it now.

"Fawkes?" he called.

Silence returned, and after some time when he listened and heard no explosions and felt no hostile magic, Albus shrugged and continued on his way to the Great Hall. After all, if there was a mess, Filch would take care of it.

Harry yawned and rolled over in bed. Something snagged next to his neck, and he opened one eye in confusion. He was sure he'd taken the pendant off last night.

It wasn't the pendant. It was the Elder Wand, rolling proudly back and forth. Then it turned and pointed towards the edge of the bed. Harry stared at it, then followed the pointing end.

The Resurrection Stone was bouncing up and down in ecstasy on a fold of the Invisibility Cloak as it hovered in midair. Harry had just enough time to notice that the cloak was wrapped around something like a lumpy package before it unfolded.

In the center of the cloak lay Ravenclaw's diadem.

"Shit."