A/N It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas Knuts wish I knew more words to that song. Well in that one phrase I basically gave you an idea of what this Chapter is about. How long it will end up I don't know. My chapters tend to be anywhere from four pages (Chapter 1) to 12 pages (Chapter 4) this will probably be closer to Chapter 1's length then Chapter 4's length. Christmas is my favorite time of year although it seems strange to be thinking about Christmas with Green grass on the ground and leaves on the trees and allergies bugging you from time to time. Mine though have been a little better since the Labor Day Storm of 1998 which caused a big Willow Tree (Not the Whomping variety though) to split in half with the half closest to our house handing on the house without doing any sirius damage (pun intended). Well we ended up cutting the tree down but every year it always dropped these little pods on the ground and our deck so I don't miss it at all. Part of the reason Christmas is my favorite time of year is because I was born on Christmas Eve (Once again I'm sirius about this (once again pun intended). Enough about me let's see how the Weasley's celebrate Christmas. Okay there were a lot of unfamiliar characters so I will try to separate out who is who.
Molly and Big Arthur: Mr. and Mrs. Weasley of course.
Percy and Penny. Percy and his wife the former Penelope Clearwater. They have two kids Arthur Harold (known as little Arthur (A/N named for his grandfather and a certain uncle) 9, and Jeanine 6.
Charlie and Colleen have two kids Sybill Eileen (A/N prefers to be called Elly) 10, and Rubeus H. 8.
Bill has one adopted son Samuel 14.
Ron and Ashley (A/N she was introduced toward the end of Moral Dilemma). Have three kids, Tammie Hermione (A/N yes that Hermione) 8, Richard Albus "Rick" 5, and Wendell H. P. 3. Care to guess what the HP stands for.
The other characters of course Amy, Hannah, Emily, along with Fred, George, Harry, and Ginny should be familiar to you.
Chapter 10 Christmas Weasley's Style
It's the week before Christmas and the occupants of the 1st years girls dorm in Gryffindor are gathered in their room getting ready. Emily, Hannah, and Amy are packing their backpacks since they had elected not to stay at school for Christmas since Amy and Emily had a family function coming up and Hannah had to stay with Amy.
"You know it's strange this is the first Christmas I'm not spending with my family," Hannah said.
"Well you did try to get the holidays off but my dad vetoed the idea. Maybe he will give you a couple days to Floo Powder Home and visit your family," Amy said.
"My mom was so disappointed that I couldn't come home. Aim, where did you put any presents you bought for the Hogwarts bunch?"
"I left them with Dobby figuring he can do what ever they do with the presents. I wonder what kind of tree Grandma and Grandpa got this year. Last years was almost as tall as Hagrid it was so big," Amy said.
"God Amy, you seem to know everything about our family and yet I know almost nothing," Emily said. "Well I should be going my mom is meeting me at King's Cross Station when the train arrives and we will go from there to her room at the Leaky Cauldron. See you at Grandma and Grandpa's on Christmas Day," Emily said.
"We are heading over a couple days before to help set things up. I'm sure you will manage," Amy said as Emily picked up her backpack and headed for the Great Hall so she could catch a ride to Hogsmeade Station.
A short time later Amy and Hannah were in their private clubhouse a.k.a. Myrtle's bathroom discussing a couple things.
"OK we figured on heading for your parents this afternoon. Do you want to take the High Road the Low Road or the Express route?" Hannah wondered.
"My dad arranged for a carriage just in case we had our trunks to worry about which we don't. My mom was going to Apparate to your house and get some extra clothes just in case. I'm sure you will manage fine. My dad was sort of an honorary Weasley after all before he and my mom got married.
"Probably a good idea," Hannah said. "Myrtle what will you and Ritala do for the Holidays?"
"Ritala tends to stay here and do her haunting. Me I'm not sure yet," Myrtle said.
Shortly after that Amy and Hannah walked out to visit the gamekeeper in his cottage.
"Hello girls where are Geoff and Emily?" Hagrid wondered.
"Geoff is back in the common room and Emily caught the train to London for the week. Unless something happens we will meet up at the end of the week at The Burrow," Amy said.
"Hannah, how come you didn't go home for Christmas?" Hagrid wondered.
"I would have preferred to but a certain Assistant Headmaster decided not to give me time off to do so," Hannah said while trying not to directly give a name.
"I'm sure he has his reasons. Have you even owled your parents since you arrived here?"
"A few times our butler isn't used to owl traffic yet. When I was home end of last month I mentioned to him how Owl traffic is standard in our world. Hopefully he will learn to get used to it. Oh man I hope to get the summer off at least so I can visit my parents. Even if it is only part of the summer I want to be able to be at home for a bit. The best I could do last time was one night. Even if Amy by sneaking off without me was able to spend a night with Lynda Malfoy before I invited them both to spend the night at my parents house in Epsom," Hannah said.
"Why did Amy leave you behind?" Hagrid wondered knowing Hannah was supposed to be with Amy when she was outside the castle walls.
"I was going to London to do Christmas Shopping. That plus Mr. Malfoy had invited my dad and I to dinner," Amy said. "My dad was with me. Besides nothing happened."
"There are rumors which the Ministry is trying to confirm that there might be a new dark force coming into power. This force is thought to be a greater Threat then You Know Who ever was. You two better be careful when alone," Hagrid said.
"I doubt we have anything to be concerned about Hagrid. After all I don't plan on leaving the house much except to go to my grandparents," Amy said.
"Be careful all the same Amy," Hagrid suggested. "You never know what can go wrong."
That afternoon Amy and Hannah were waiting in the Great Hall with Frank when the carriage arrived. They had just climbed in and Amy was getting ready to close the door all the way when it was yanked out of her hand.
"Dobby what are you doing here?" Amy wondered upon seeing the house elf.
"Dobby have special assignment over vacation. Dobby to accompany Professor Potter and Amy Potter. Christmas Presents all taken care of. Dobby thought Amy Potter knew of plan."
"Unfortunately I wasn't aware of the plan for you to accompany my dad and I," Amy said. The carriage started soon after that. After a long ride it turned onto Merlin Ave. A short time after that they were at the Potter House. Dobby took the time to open the door and bow as Amy and Hannah left the carriage. Amy couldn't resist slipping a couple silver sickles into Dobby's right hand which was sticking out his left hidden under his upper body by the bow.
"Amy Potter, I can't accept your money," Dobby said. "House Elves generally don't like getting paid for their services."
"Funny I thought that's why you had your hand outstretched," Amy giggled. Hannah simply sighed. Right then Ginny walked out.
"I wondered what time you girls would show up. Amy, that weekend you were in London shopping how come I didn't see you when you got home before returning to school?" Ginny wondered.
"I returned directly. Dad with Mr. Malfoy's help arranged for the Ministry to hook the fireplace in Hannah's bedroom at her home in Epsom into the Floo Network. Therefore WE had no reason to either return to Malfoys or swing by here," Amy said.
"I had some things for you to take back to school with you for McGonagall to review," Ginny said.
"Dad's note didn't mention that," Amy said.
"Hannah, will you be spending time with your family for Christmas or not?" Ginny wondered.
"Well unfortunately duty requires that I miss out on spending Christmas with my family. Oh well Schedule permitting I might spend a day with them after Christmas," Hannah said.
"It's so stupid that acting as a bodyguard for someone who will probably never be in serious danger can prevent a person from being with their family for Christmas. I'm sure if I spent enough time talking to Harry I can get him to let you Floo Powder home for a couple hours on Christmas morning," Ginny said.
"Mrs. Potter, It's okay. Duty does come first. Besides If I decide to become an Auror this will be good experience. Although Amy is pretty good at sneaking off when my back is turned," Hannah said.
"I had my reasons though," Amy said. "Besides it was sanctioned sneaking off."
"You could at least have made it look like you had slept in your bed. Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten suspicious quite as soon as I did," Hannah said.
"How would one have done that?" Amy wondered.
"Oh mess up the sheets, hide pillows under them. There are a number of things you could have done," Hannah said. "I tried that trick on my parents a number of times back in my Muggle days."
"Hannah, you were never Muggle. You just thought you were normal until my dad wrote you. A Wizard can by force or choice choose to live as a Muggle. Arabella Figg is one example. She was a witch but she lived a Muggle life. In fact she used to baby-sit my dad. HE just didn't know she was a witch at first," Amy said.
"How much shopping do you have left to do before we leave for the Burrow?"
"Mine is done. What about yours?" Amy wondered.
"To be honest I haven't even started mine. I wasted a good trip to London trying to track you down by not taking advantage of the time to do some shopping myself. Oh well we are in Hogsmeade so I can work fast. Who did you buy presents for?" Hannah wondered.
"Well as far as family goes my parents, Emily, and Angelina. My parents because I always do. Emily because I bought something for the various girls we live with, and Angelina because I drew her name for the family gift exchange. Of course I think it was rigged so I would get her name," Amy said.
"Why because you at least know her compared to if say Jeanine chose her," Hannah said.
"Exactly," Amy said. "Emily and I have been friends for years. WE just didn't know we were related at first. Plus Angelina was in Gryffindor with my parents along with the other Weasleys including Fred and George."
"You know Amy you have it easy, You have this nice long legacy of witches and wizard's going back a long ways and my family tree is what Muggle," Hannah said. "Not that there is anything wrong with being Muggle born."
"Our Transfiguration Professor is Muggle Born," Amy said. "Also My Grandma Lily Potter was Muggle born and If you went back far enough I bet you would find Muggles in the other parts of my family tree. Hannah, who knows you might be able to become part of a legacy of witches and wizards."
"Easily. Amy you think that Flint guy in Slytherin might like you or something?" Hannah wondered.
"He probably does. After all he helped us beat his team," Amy said.
"That is certainly unusual, I have a feeling there was a hidden meaning in his doing it," Hannah said.
The next Morning Hannah took some time off to do some shopping for Christmas. She mainly bought small presents for her family along with a tin of Floo Powder to keep on the mantel in her house. She also borrowed Hedwig to forward the presents to her house.
"Well my shopping is all taken care of," Hannah said that night at Dinner.
"That's good to know. Hannah, If you want to Floo Powder home for the night you can Slip home on the 31st at some point and ring in 10 with your family," Harry said.
"Okay Professor, I may just do that," Hannah said. "Your wife was a little annoyed that duty would keep me from seeing my family."
"It was a very hard choice having you remain on duty over the holidays. Easter Holidays though you will be given time off," Harry said.
"Thanks Professor," Hannah said. She then headed upstairs. Her first stop was the bathroom only to find it occupied.
"Oh Hi Hannah," Myrtle said.
"How did you get here?" Hannah wondered.
"Through the plumbing over the years since Harry moved here I've managed to map out all the pipes that run between Hogwarts and the wizarding village. I've sort of lived here over those years," Myrtle said.
"I see," Hannah said. "So you are sort of the Resident Ghost of Potter Manor."
"Part time Resident Ghost Maybe," Myrtle said. "At least these days."
"That sounds about Accurate," Hannah said. "Since you seem to spend a lot of time at Hogwarts enough that you have your own primary haunt."
"Well that bathroom is where I used to do most of my haunting," Myrtle said. "After all it was in there that I died."
Hannah after she finished up in the bathroom headed toward Amy's room where a cot had been placed for her to sleep. The cot of course was of the wizarding variety so it had a special compartment within which a wizard or witch could place their wand.
About eleven o'clock Amy peeked over towards Hannah.
"Hannah, you think you'll be stuck on duty over the summer?"
"God I hope not the whole summer. Otherwise I'll miss seeing the twins grow. Which one do you think might be magical?" Hannah wondered.
"Who knows it's not like it will be my little brother or sister," Amy said.
"True, but you never know," Hannah said.
The two girls then went back to sleep. The next morning Hannah was surprised when an Owl dropped a letter right on top of her waffles.
Miss Hannah
It is my hope that this owl can find you since I simply plucked one out of a tree on the grounds of the estate. Your mother is in St. Thomas's Hospital. Nothing serious she was simply in labor already it seems that Melissa Irene and Melanie Virginia were in a tad of a rush to be born but both girls are doing fine. IT is too bad you will be away for Christmas but we do look forward to seeing you at your convenience.
Sincerely
Richard.
"He is something else. Just picking an owl out of a tree and hoping it would reach me. Well he was successful," Hannah said.
"Who is Richard?" Harry wondered reading over Hannah's shoulders.
"He is our butler. He has a little trouble with Owl Post. I think he feels that it's below the status for our family to have mail delivered by owls," Hannah said. "The night we were at our house there was some slightly heavy owl traffic with both Hedwig and Screech delivering mail to the house."
"What will you do with the owl the message came from?" Ginny wondered.
"How easy is it to train an owl to deliver mail to places?" Hannah wondered.
"Don't know Hagrid bought me Hedwig in Diagon Alley as a birthday present," Harry said.
"How long have you had Hedwig?" Hannah wondered.
"Since the summer before my first year at Hogwarts," Harry said.
"Of course there is talk in the ministry of making Harry's birthday a Wizarding Holiday," Ginny said.
"Talk I am of course trying to squash," Harry said.
"Lots of luck dad," Amy said.
"With your grandfather as the assistant Minister I might get lucky," Harry said.
"Here's the thing my dad is the one trying to do it," Ginny whispered to Hannah.
After Breakfast Amy and Hannah went upstairs.
"Oh man it is hard to believe we leave for the Burrow Tomorrow," Hannah said.
"I know. The Burrow is a neat place. What are you going to do with the Owl release it since it is a wild owl after all not like the owls at school which are trained?" Amy wondered.
"Well this owl at least knew where to find me," Hannah said. "An owl would be useful to have then I wouldn't have to borrow Hedwig all the time. Next time we are in London I'm going to stop by Flourish and Blots and see if I can find any books on training owls."
They basically hung out that day though they did slip over to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. The next day everyone lined up in front of the Fireplace Floo Powder in hand.
"The Burrow," Amy said.
Everyone else soon followed. When Hannah came through the Fireplace and looked around she wasn't real impressed.
"Man what a dump," Hannah said.
"Well not everyone has the prominence that your dad those. A lot of the stuff my brothers and I used for school was second hand such that someone else generally used it before us," Ginny said. "By Friday it should look real nice," Ginny said as Molly walked in.
"I'm surprised Emily didn't come with you," Molly commented.
"She is coming on Christmas Day with her mother," Amy said. "When will everyone else be arriving?"
"Let's see Bill and Samuel will be here in an hour, Charlie and Colleen are coming Tomorrow Morning, Percy and that bunch are arriving tonight, Tammie has a recital for school so they aren't coming until dinner tomorrow, I have no idea when Fred and George are going to show up. If they pull anything like they pulled the last four years I will strangle them and just to be sure I will risk a life sentence in Azkaban by using the killing curse on them," Molly screamed.
Hannah was using Levitation charms to maneuver some garland onto nails around the Living Room when A Tall Red haired male and a younger slightly tanned looking male came through the door.
"Mom, I'm home," the red haired male said.
"Bill I'm in the kitchen," Molly called out.
Samuel meanwhile walked over to Hannah.
"Hi, I don't think we've met I'm Sam Weasley."
"You're the cousin that attends Wizarding School in Africa right," Hannah said. "I'm Hannah Williams. I help protect Amy while she is at Hogwarts."
"Yeah I attend the Luxor Academy in Egypt where my dad and I live," Sam said. "My dad is all I have he never married."
"I'm surprised you didn't try to attend Hogwarts," Hannah said.
"I wanted to but my dad didn't think he'd be able to afford to send me to England every year for school. Hogwarts will only pay for transportation between London and Hogwarts. Travel to London is at the Students expense. That new girl Emily here yet?" Sam wondered.
"Not yet. Emily won't be here until that day," Hannah said as Amy came in from her family's area.
"Hey Sam how is the Nile Valley doing?"
"We had a little bit of croc trouble the other day. A particularly mean one tried to eat our Potions Master. He survived though. Professor Tutanomen is a nice professor. We have some cruel ones though. Everyone calls him Professor Tut for short," Sam said. "Hannah would you like some assistance with the Garland. Amy how tall in relation to your dad's friend is the tree this year?"
"Don't know Charlie and Colleen are supposedly bringing it at least that's what Grandma said. They won't be here until tomorrow morning," Amy said.
"Anyone else arriving today?" Sam wondered.
"Percy and Penny along with their two goofballs," Amy said.
"I think I have everything all set as far as the garland goes Sam," Hannah said as Ginny walked in. "Sam how was the trip?"
"Long as usual Aunt Ginny. Your Potionry Guide even if it's a different school is a big help. Professor Tut is thinking of requiring it's purchase for next year for reference purposes," Sam said.
"Talk about Lucky Slimy Snape doesn't even use it in class. Yet at least once a week Professor Finch-Fletchley will assign us stuff out of the Transfiguration Guide," Amy said.
Amy, Hannah, and Sam were having a muggle style Snowball fight in which the main rule was you couldn't use your wand at any point when Percy and Penny pulled up in a Ministry Car with little Arthur and Jeanine. Jeanine immediately made a snowball that she threw at Hannah.
"Pretty good aim for a little kid," Hannah said as she made a big one and threw it toward Jeanine. The ball was big enough that it knocked the younger girl over backwards into the snow.
"Jean, you all right?" Hannah asked as she walked over to help her opponent up.
"Yeah I'm okay," Jeanine said. She then grabbed a small handful of snow and slipped it behind Hannah's coat.
"Yeouuccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhh," Hannah howled.
"Hate to say it Hannah but I think you deserved it," little Arthur said.
Hannah sort of wished she had her wand with her right then except she had left it in Amy's room so she wouldn't be tempted to use it. Dinner that night was a bit of a challenge with twelve people on hand of course they knew that others would be arriving over the next couple days including at least two people on the actual day. The next morning Amy and Jeanine who had slept with Amy and Hannah were sneaking from their room to the kitchen were surprised to hear a voice going
"Ruddy steps why did I have to trip over them," a voice said. Amy grabbed her wand and crept into the living room ready to use it. The first thing she heard though was a voice going.
"Enlargo."
A beam of light hit a small tree and it quickly expanded to stand about fifteen feet tall.
"Whoa that is bigger then last years," Amy said not realizing she was speaking out loud. Jeanine was right behind her with a muggle broom in her little hands.
"Morning Amy, Jeanine, We didn't think anyone would be awake at this hour. We came via port key under darkness so that no muggles would notice us," Charlie said.
"Well Romania to London is a pretty good trip. Especially when you consider how Romania is two hours ahead of London so you must have left at like 715 or something," Amy said.
"We did Amy, now back to bed," Colleen said.
Sybill their ten year old daughter followed them. An extra cot was in the room for her with space for Emily's cot should she stay over at all along with Tammie's cot. A few hours later the scent of frying sausages filled the air. Hannah almost knocked her left hand into Sybill's face as she woke up.
"Hey watch it stupid," Sybill said.
"Sorry that cot wasn't occupied when I went to bed last night," Hannah said. "I'm Hannah a friend of Amy's."
"I'm her cousin Sybill although I prefer to be called Elly. How come you are here and not with your family?"
"Because I help guard Amy. I'd prefer to be with my own family especially since my mom just gave birth to twins a couple days ago," Hannah said.
"Elly, go easy on her. She tried to get time off but my dad wouldn't give her any time off until the 31st," Amy said.
"So whose up for a Snowball fight?" Elly wondered.
"Hate to say it Elly but Hannah plays dirty," Jeanine said as she woke up and threw a quick pair of pants on under her nightgown. They then headed for the kitchen where Molly was cooking away and Big Arthur was reading the Daily Prophet.
"Morning everyone," Arthur said. "Sybil I didn't even hear your family come in this morning."
"What a surprise my dad made enough noise to wake Voldemort," Elly said.
"It wasn't that bad Elly. All he did was trip over the stairs thanks to a slightly miscalibrated Port Key," Colleen said as she walked in.
"Must have been an early Portkey," Arthur said as Charlie and Colleen's son Rubeus walked in.
"Grandma, what fine delights are you cooking up today?" he wondered.
"Just the usual ones Rubeus," Molly said.
"Any idea what time Rick is getting up I want to have a little fun today?" Rubeus wondered since He along with five year old Rick tended to be a couple of hellions except on Christmas Morning.
"Tammie has a recital tonight at school so they won't be getting in until late. Angelina and Emily aren't even arriving until tomorrow as for Fred and George lord only knows," Molly said as Bill's voice came screaming through.
"OK Who let one?" Bill screamed.
"Smells like a dungbomb to me," Amy said. "I left mine at home." As in within my trunk at Hogwarts.
"This could only mean one thing then since Dungbombs usually mean one of three like suspects, Amy is one of course, Rick and Rubeus is another, since Amy and Rubeus are in here and Rick isn't here yet then those two must have arrived."
"For the record we already ate," Fred said as he and George walked in.
"You two certainly know how to make an entrance," Ginny said as she walked in a conjured up wooden clothes pin in place on her nose.
"Okay we have a few things to do today. Cleaning, some people probably have wrapping, the walk to shovel, some final decorating since the tree is finally here. Charlie did you have to get so large a tree this year?" Molly wondered.
"Well I figured bigger would be better," Charlie said.
"Grandma, I'll take care of the cleaning," Amy said.
"I couldn't ask you to do that," Molly said.
"I'm just trying to volunteer to do something Grandma," Amy said.
"The caretaker taught her a few cleaning charms," Ginny said. "She'll probably have the entire house cleaned in two hours."
"Okay but Fred and George get all the bathrooms without magic. Amy can magic the rest," Molly said.
Amy took her time and got done in two and half hours.
"Some of the walls in Fred and George's old room had required more powerful charms then I knew. So I did a little hand cleaning to make the job better," Amy said as she twirled her wand and blew on it like some muggles did with their handguns.
Since things were under control the kids headed outside for another snowball fight. Amy and Elly were team captains. Elly ended up with Sam, Rubeus, and little Arthur, and Amy managed to snag Jeanine and Hannah.
"OK the rules are simple, first of all it's Muggle Style so those of us with wands can't use them at any time. If you do you're out permanently," Amy said.
The balls then went flying at one point Amy saw a snow ball levitating over her. She looked up to see all the snowballs were floating. She also looked up to see Fred and George hanging out a window enchanting the snowballs. After a couple minutes the balls all seemed to land on Amy's team the majority on Jeanine. In fact it took her five minutes to dig herself out by which time she was sneezing away.
"Amy, your uncles can be really cruel. No wonder Emily was so upset when she found out," Hannah said as she threw her cloak over the younger girl. They then headed inside. Amy quickly used her wand to clean up the water that Jeanine was dripping.
"You don't look too hot, Jean," Colleen said as she was assisting with some cooking. "What happened?"
"Take a wild and Crazy guess Aunt Colleen," Amy said.
"All you kids were doing was having a snowball fight. I don't see how that could have caused Jean to end up like that so quickly," Colleen said.
"Well Gred and Forge decided to use a levitation charm on all the snowballs and they bombarded Jean, Hannah, and I with them. Well Jean ended up with the vast majority of them and she got buried. It took her a few minutes to dig herself out," Amy said.
"Penny went into town with Ginny and Molly to pick a few things up and the Men except for Big Arthur and Percy are all watching some crazy ball game on Big Arthur's enchanted Television. Big Arthur and Percy are of course at the Ministry. Jean, maybe you should lie down. I'll conjure up some soup for you," Colleen said.
It was a regular feast that night. About 8PM Amy went out to the Garage where several Owl cages were. Hermes was in one cage, Hedwig another, Edgar which was the name Hannah chose for the Owl that her butler had used for his letter, Dragona who was Charlie's Owl, Knutcase who was Bills Owl, and Errol III who was Big Arthur and Molly's latest Owl. A small cage was standing by to Pigwidgeon along with an extra cage in case Angelina and Emily brought an owl. Amy then took the time to feed the owls a few treats and open the doors so they could go out if they had to. About ten o'clock as she was laying in her bed she saw Tammie walk in and lay down on the empty cot. Jeanine was having trouble sleeping due to her cold. Fred and George were in real hot water because of it. The next morning everyone was scurrying around trying to eat and open presents when Angelina and Emily arrived.
"Who is she?" Tammie whispered to Amy.
"That's Emily, She attends Hogwarts with Hannah and I," Amy said as Emily walked over to Fred.
"Merry Christmas Dad," Emily said as she hugged him.
"You know I think I saw a gift over here with Aunt Angelina's name on it," Amy said. She then carried the box over.
"I didn't even expect to receive a present," Angelina said. She then carefully unwrapped the gift. "Whoa these are United Quidditch League balls. They are said to be official balls. Who picked these up?"
"I did," Amy said.
"To think I wasn't even planning on coming here figuring on spending Christmas with my family but two certain red headed animals insisted Emily and I come here," Angelina said.
"Why am I not surprised," Emily said. "I figured since you were being so closed mouthed about it that you probably had her name."
"Is someone trying to send me a message or something?" Harry asked as he unwrapped his gift from Amy.
"Well your hair does need a little work dad," Amy said. At that moment Screech came flying in with a couple boxes which she quickly dropped in front of Amy before heading off. Amy quickly glanced at them. "One is from Lynda Malfoy and the other is from my cousins on dad's side," she said before opening a broom servicing kit from Lynda and a sweater from Abigale and Joshua. She then saw a small box in front of her.
"To Amy from everyone," the tag said. She opened it to find a key inside. "Vault 2358 Diagon Alley."
"We figured it could come in handy," Harry said.
"You know when you look it all we are missing is someone from Slytherin and we'd have a representative from every house," Colleen said.
"What do you achoo mean Aunt Colleen?" Jeanine asked.
"Well Jean, I was in Hufflepuff, your mom was in Ravenclaw, and most everyone else who either went to or is attending Hogwarts is in Gryffindor," Colleen explained.
"Does she have a cold or something?" Emily wondered.
"Yeah she does thanks to your dad and George," Hannah said. "That's Jeanine Percy and Penny's daughter. She and Rick and Wendell Ron and Ashley's sons are the little kids and the three of us, Samuel, who is the older kid over there with Bill, Tammie, Rubeus it's my guess he was named after Hagrid, and Sybil who prefers to be called Elly for some reason are the big kids near as I can figure."
"You figured that all out since you arrived impressive," Emily said.
Just then there was a knock on the door. Amy glanced over. "Well Slytherin has heard from." She commented seeing a familiar face in the doorway. She then walked over and opened it. "Flint, you care to enter?"
"I was hoping to. My dad was called away and my mom is in a daze half the time so I came here. Besides I have a present for you," Marcus said.
"Gang, this is Marcus Flint the token Slytherin here today. Marcus, this is the sum total of our branch of the Weasley family," Amy said.
"Hi gang," Marcus said. "Amy, you mind if we talk in private?"
"This is as private as it gets," Amy said. "My family believes in Big celebrations for Christmas."
"Amy, remember when you broke you arm. Well Leroy had a little something to do with it. He had figured that if you were unable to play Slytherin might stand a chance of winning. Nathan Boldegard managed to talk his cousin Nastia into trying to hurt you. She was hoping to break your knees with that stunt but apparently she wasn't successful," Marcus said. "If you ask me Slytherin got off easily."
"I agree," Harry said as he sized up Marcus's story. "Personally I was wondering what brought you around here today."
"What did you mean by token Slytherin when you introduced me?" Marcus wondered. "Is there a rule that big get-togethers have to have representatives of each house?"
"One aunt was in Hufflepuff and one in Ravenclaw, most of us either are or were in Gryffindor," Amy said.
"Amy, you might not know this and certainly the other Slytherins don't but I really like you," Marcus said. "Along with roughly half the guys in first through third years."
"In what way Flint?" Amy wondered. "After all Our houses aren't exactly on friendly terms."
"Like this," Marcus said as he ignored the others around them as gave her a quick kiss on the lips with his arms around her and his head positioned such that her head was leaning back. Of course she noticed Ron and Ashley along with Penny quickly shielding eyes on the younger kids so they wouldn't get too big a glimpse at Marcus's display of affection Amy when she realized what he was doing shoved him backwards into Rubeus and Rick who were plotting something .
"Flint, believe me the feeling isn't mutual," Amy said. Or is it. After all he treats me a lot better then any other Slytherin. Oh man why did I have to develop a serious crush on Geoff during the sorting. I am only eleven so I have plenty of time to sort things out.
"All because I'm a Slytherin huh," Marcus said.
"Well there is that," Amy said.
"Except I'm not your typical dark arts loving Slytherin," Marcus said. "In fact my love of the light is a big bone of contention with my dad. He is your typical Dark Arts Loving Slytherin. I tried to get the sorting hat to put me in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor except it wouldn't work. Too much evil blood I guess."
"Well I don't know if it's true or not but they do say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Amy said.
"I probably should be going," Marcus said.
"Nonsense Marcus, It doesn't sound like you have much at home if you came here. Stick around besides the kids have been having daily Snow Ball fights and the teams are a little uneven," Molly said.
"Mr. Flint just consider this if you had pulled you little manuever off in The Great Hall when it was crowded I most likely would have taken a few points off your house," Harry said.
"Amy, here is my actual present for you," Marcus said handing her a flat box about 20 cm by 10 cm wrapped in a beautiful Quidditch themed paper. Amy opened it to find a necklace inside.
"Oh man talk about beautiful," Amy said as she put it on over her neck.
"It was a challenge getting this part of that it would show unity and not competition as our houses tend to be in," Marcus said.
Amy decided to be civil with Marcus the rest of the day. She was a little anxious to get to Diagon Alley and see what the key meant by Vault 2358 but she knew a final snowball fight was in order. This Time the team captains were Amy and Samuel, Samuel's team consisted of little Arthur, Tammie, Elly, Rick, and Wendell even though he was only three. Amy's team had Jean so she could watch her, Hannah, Emily, Rubeus, and Marcus. Fred and George were given the Full Body Bind by Percy and Penny with the blessing of everyone else before hand.
"Amy, why did your family put the Full Body Bind on two of your uncles?" Marcus wondered.
"Yesterday Fred and George used their wands to enchant the snow balls such that they all headed for my team and well Jean the sneezy one ended up buried in the snow. Percy and Penny were not pleased but then Fred and George are a couple of heavy clowns. They are lucky they survived that stunt especially since they used a couple dungbombs to announce their presence yesterday," Amy explained.
"How long was it before they were expelled from Hogwarts?" Marcus wondered.
"They weren't. Dumbledore must have had a real good sense of humor," Amy said.
Amy's team creamed Samuel's team.
Everyone took the time for big mugs of hot chocolate after the fight except for Jean who had some soup that Molly Conjured up.
"Marcus, I assume that you will take the time to join us for dinner," Molly said as everyone was spreading out and Amy worked to clean a small amount of Hot Chocolate off her usual Yellow Christmas Sweater from her grandparents. Even if more had to be made Molly still made sweaters every year and as usual she insisted on making Ron's maroon.
"I really should be going After all I'd just be one more mouth to feed," Marcus said.
"Don't even think about going for the Floo Powder Flint," Amy said as she used a locking charm on the container of Floo Powder. "I believe my grandmother was inviting you to stay for dinner."
"You all need time alone as a family. I'd be in the way," Marcus said.
"Come on Marcus My grandmother whips up the best Christmas Feasts around. From what I've heard they are even better the at Hogwarts," Amy said.
"Well okay. Besides My dad will most likely still be gone and my mom can't cook to save her own life. I would have probably ended up going out," Marcus said.
After dinner Amy and Marcus managed to get a little privacy in the Garage with all the owls.
"Your family isn't bad Amy. Certainly a lot better then my family. If I had a choice I would have simply stayed at school for the holidays but my dad wanted me to come home for Christmas. You know the funny thing is the necklace I gave you goes real well with your sweater," Marcus said as he attempted to give Hedwig a couple of Owl Treats only for her to peck his hand until it was raw."
"My grandmother is real big on sweaters. She even have my dad one every year when he was at Hogwarts," Amy said.
That evening about 930 Marcus used a small amount of Floo Powder to return home but not before leaving one final cheek peck on Amy's sleeping form.
The next day things were busy as everyone was heading back to their homes. Jean was still all sneezy and sniffley. Emily decided to go to Amy's for the rest of the break.
"Man Amy, you had it easy. Here you've known all those people for some long and yet I know almost nobody except you, Hannah, an aunt or uncle here and there and of course that stupid Slytherin who had the nerve to show up and crash our family get together," Emily said.
"Well he had his reasons," Amy said as she fingered the necklace he had given her. Hanging on the necklace was the strange key.
Closing A/N's Okay First off what do you think the key went to. For the record Amy did not get a broomstick for Christmas. Believe me I would have mentioned that.
