Chapter 31

Christmas Morning

Harry woke up to Ron shaking him violently. It was the first full night of sleep Harry had gotten in a long time, and even knowing what day it was didn't make it any more pleasant to have his sleep interrupted.

"How is it you can't wake up any other morning on time?" Harry asked rubbing his eyes, his speech slightly slurred with sleep.

"It's Christmas! Come on, I bet the girls are already there."

In fact, they met the girls at the mid-way section where the stairs combined. When they did reach the tree, the sight that greeted them was even more spectacular then the pile of presents.

Sirius laid on the couch, and Heather laid right beside him, or rather, on top of him, both covered by a single blanket, and both were sound asleep.

Harry walked over to the couch, and gently shook his godfather's shoulder. Sirius blinked sleepily at him, and when recognition came into his eyes he looked down at the weight on top of him.

Sirius grinned, and Harry knew he was finally seeing the Sirius his parents knew, even if his hair was cut different and his eyes were a different color. The dull look in his eyes, that Azkaban had given him, that even changing the color didn't get rid of, had vanished. Not a trace of it remained.

Harry politely turned his attention to the tree. Harry caught Ginny's eye and they both smiled. As he sat down beside his friends he whispered. "What did I tell you, Christmas." They all couldn't help but smile.

Sirius tightened the arm he had around Heather. She mumbled something indefinable. "Heather," Sirius whispered. "Wake up."

"Mmm?"

"It's Christmas morning, the kids are already down here."

Heather buried her face father into Sirius' chest. "Tell them to go away."

Sirius chuckled, but sat up, bringing Heather with him. Once upright, things started to dawn on Heather. She flushed bright red when she saw the four kids looking anywhere but at her.

"Merry Christmas, Heather."

Heather let her head fall against Sirius' shoulder. "You too," she whispered, then said aloud. "Who's going first?"

"I am!" Harry said with a grin, grabbing a pile of presents from under the tree and passing them around.

Sirius chuckled as Harry handed him his gift. "Trust Harry to think you meant who wanted to give first, not get."

Harry blushed, but passed the gifts out anyway.

Ron opened his first. He pulled the paper off to see the cover of a book. Across it the title read; "All the Quidditch Plays You Ever Wanted to Know and Some You Don't". Ron opened it to a random page and his attention was immediately claimed by whatever he saw there. Distractedly, he muttered his thanks.

Hermione opened hers next, which was also a book. She laughed at the title. "101 Potions You Never Knew You Didn't Know"

"I figured it would let you learn some of the ones that they don't think are important enough to put in our text books."

"Like all the fun ones," Ron said looking up from his book and setting it carefully aside.

Ginny carefully opened up hers, and gasped when she saw what it was. "Harry, how?"

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"A- a poster, Golden Sky Navy Stars, but it's autographed. By all ten of them. Harry, how did you get this?"

"Do you like it?" he asked anxiously.

"Like it? I love it! It's amazing. I mean, one signature isn't too hard, but all ten, wow."

Harry grinned, a felt like a burden was lifted from him. Out of the three of them, it was Ginny's gift he had stressed about.

"Heather, Sirius, I want to give this to you now," Ginny said. "It's not all of your present, but I want to know what you think about it." She handed them a small package. Heather let Sirius pull the paper off. Inside was a picture frame, and when he saw the picture, his eyes went wide in shock. Wordlessly, he passed the frame to Heather.

Heather looked at the picture and gasped, throwing a hand over her mouth. Her eyes watered with unshed tears, but she was smiling. "It's our camping trip. Lily's favorite picture. Her bookmark. I remember when she lost it."

"Let us see."

Heather turned the picture so that the kids could see it. In the picture, Sirius, Remus, James, Lily, and Heather were all around a camp fire. Heather was sitting on Sirius' shoulders. Remus and James had Lily sitting on their shoulders between them. Like most wizard pictures, they were moving. James and Remus were losing their balance, and Lily toppled foreword off of them, saved from hitting the ground by James who caught her. Heather was hitting Sirius repeatedly on the head like drums, and appeared to be singing at the top of her lungs. Then Sirius' hand went behind his head and presumably hit Heather on the butt. Her eyes went wide in shock and her singing stopped. But with her feet hanging over Sirius' shoulders onto his chest, she easily repaid him with a hard kick.

"Rose, how did you find this? It was Lily's bookmark. She lost it in her sixth year."

"I found it in a book. It was actually marking the page I wanted. She must have left it in there."

Heather smiled at the picture, and glanced around the room to make sure there was nobody around. "Look at that, Padfoot. I was so obviously in love with you."

Sirius chuckled. "Obviously is the word for it. Lily didn't even have to tell me. Even being a guy I noticed."

Heather cringed. "I had it really bad."

Sirius leaned down and whispered in her ear, and whatever he said made Heather turn bright red.

"My turn," Hermione called, passing her gifts out to her friends. This time Harry opened his first, which also held a book. "Professional Quidditch, What to Do and What Not to Do."

Ginny opened hers next, and studied it for a moment. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Depends how well you have been studying for your next test."

"Is this a CD player?"

Hermione nodded. "The other things are some CDs. You kept going on about Muggle Studies and asking me so much, I figured I'd give you a little piece of the Muggle world right here."

Ginny's face lit up. "Wow, and it has those wires, and batteries. Hermione, I meant to ask, does it hurt the battery when it dies?"

Hermione and Heather burst into laughter, and Hermione hugged her best friend, telling her through her giggles that they would talk about it later.

Harry's present from Sirius looked like a clear, plastic spider. It had Harry very confused before Heather hit Sirius to make him explain. "It's a sound sealer. You stick it on a wall and push the button. As long as nobody walks in or leaves, it absorbs any sound that would otherwise leave the room. And it requires no magic, so you can use it during the summer."

"Wow, thanks Sirius! Now I can do my homework without worrying about waking them up."

Ron's present was heavy, and it required both Ron and Harry to get the paper off. When Ron opened the box, the first thing he pulled out was a chess board. Only it wasn't a regular chess board. It was good quality marble, but the design on it made Ron gape. On one side was the Forbidden Forest, in the middle was the lake and the grounds, and on the other side was the castle. It was an amazing likeness.

Then Ron pulled out the pieces. His mouth formed a small 'o' as he set them up. The forest side's pieces went on first.

In place of the king was a dragon, and the queen was a Hipogriph. The bishops were dementors, the knights three headed dogs like Fluffy, and the rooks were Womping Willows. All the pawns were spiders.

On the side of the board that had the castle there was a different set of pieces. This king was unmistakably Dumbledore. The queen was McGonagall, and it's lips were thinned just like hers always were when she was angry. The bishops were Hagrid, the knights Fang, and the rooks were broomsticks. All the pawns were Ron, right down to his freckles. Every piece was carved from marble with amazing accuracy.

"It's a Muggle set," Hermione said while Ron stared at it. "They don't move unless you make them, and they only leave the board if you pick them up. Do you like it?"

Ron swallowed once. "Books, how did you get this? Where did you get this?"

"A friend of my father's carves. I had Collen take some Muggle pictures last year to send to him. He had no idea they were real, and he's very good. Do you like it?"

"I love it," Ron said looking up at her with a grin.

Hermione turned slightly pink in the cheeks. "I'll be the first to play you, so you can break it in my kicking my butt."

Ginny reached over and picked up one of the pawns. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Ron, but you're not this good looking." Ron glared at her. "Alright, alright, I take it back. It's my turn." Ginny handed Ron and Hermione their presents first.

Hermione opened hers. Inside the paper was a daily calendar, and each day held a new charm. "Rose, this is cool. With this, and the book Harry got me, we're going to be causing all kinds of trouble."

When Ron ripped the paper off, he stared at his present in confusion. The cover was just blue, the title was inside. "Gryfindor Quidditch Team Plays". Every other page after that held a faint outline of a Quidditch field.

"What's it for?"

"Harry and I have been talking, and we want you to draw some new plays for the team. That's what his book was for, and now this. With your help, and our team, there's no possible way we can lose."

Ron grinned. "I'd love too! Here, you guys open yours." Ron threw a packages at both Harry and Ginny.

Harry caught his with a grunt, it was heavy. Ginny grinned at hers, and held it up to her forehead and closed her eyes.

"I'm seeing, I am seeing, a tiny book. Wait, it's blank. I am seeing, a diary!" She ripped the paper away to reveal just that. Ron grinned at her. "He promised me," Ginny explained. "Ever since my first year, he's promised that he will get me a diary every year for Christmas."

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Heather exclaimed. "You got lucky in the sibling area, Rose. My sisters were horrid."

"Lucky?" Ginny exclaimed, turning to Heather with wide eyes. "Have you met Fred and George? Or, God forbid, Percy?" They all laughed.

Harry's present was obviously a book, if a very heavy book. But when he removed the paper, he was surprised by two books. The first one read. "-Strenuous Sword Skills." Inside, along with the pages, was a sword caring kit. The other book read "The History of Magical Swords."

"Thanks Ron, I'll put both of these to good use."

Ron nodded. "There's a chapter on your sword in there. That's why I got it for you." Harry's eyes lit up at that, and he had to suppress the urge to open it and read it on the spot.

Ginny turned her attention to the small package she still held. "Harry?"

He looked up at her, his eyes twinkling in anticipation of what was waiting in the book on his lap. "Here," she said, practically throwing the small package at him.

He raised his eyebrows at her nervousness, but turned his attention away from her blushing face. He pulled the paper away to reveal a small, but rather thick, little notebook. Across the top it read 'Notes'. He opened the first page and held back a gasp.

On the page was a picture, one he already owned a copy of. His parents, holding him as a baby. Under the picture was a note in Ginny's handwriting.

Dear Harry,

Memories last a life time,

but just to be on the safe side,

we invented paper.

With Love,

Rose

The history of the Potter family. It is a family with many secrets, and holes, but maybe if everything is written down, the whole story can be worked out. In this book you will see the family lines of Lily and James Potter as far back as they can be traced. You will also see any information worth noting of the Potter family. This book is not finished, but then, it never will be, because the Potter family will continue, bringing more to the story.

Holding his breath, Harry turned the page again. There was his family tree:

(A/N: The real family tree doesn't work on FFN. If you would like to see it, E-mail me at Kkismagic@aol.com I'll just summarize it for you here.)

Daisy Rel married John Evans. They had Lily Evans and Petunia Evans.

Laura Jacklin married Chad Potter. They had James Potter

Lily Evans married James Potter. They had Harry Potter.

Petunia Evans married Vernon Dursley. They had Dudley Dursley.

On the next page was a picture. It was of a young woman with shoulder length blond hair. She had blue eyes, and somewhat resembled Harry's aunt, but she was very pretty.

Daisy Rel~ Daisy was a Muggle. She was born and raised in London, England. She was always described as a very sweet and caring person. She loved everybody, and never let anything get her down. She died at the age of forty-nine on September twenty first of a bad heart. This was only five days after her husband passed. She left behind two daughters, Lily fifteen, Petunia nineteen.

The next picture had a man with red hair and bright green eyes. The picture, like the first, was a Muggle picture, but the man's laughter was so visible, moving would have added nothing.

John Evans~ John was a Muggle, who lived just north of London in his adult years. He was an artist, but mostly specialized in carving animals or such. He was always seen as a happy man, and loved his work even when the carvings weren't selling. He died in an automobile accident when he was hit by a drunk driver on September sixteenth at the age of fifty-three.

Then there was a very beautiful woman in a wizard picture. She was sitting on a broomstick in front of a Quidditch goal post. She had shoulder length black curly hair. Her face was pale, her eyes as dark as her hair. Her lips were very red, and curved into a small smile.

Laura Jacklin~ Laura was a witch, born and raised in Italy. She moved to England when she was twenty two. There, she met her husband, who was actually her parent's best friends' son. They were married the very next year. She died in child birth at the age of thirty two.

The next picture held a shorter man with sandy brown hair. He had light brown eyes. The picture moved, but the man didn't. He stood glaring at the person who held the camera, his arms crossed. Then he grinned, but he didn't move from his spot.

Chad Potter~ Very little is known about Chad. He lived with his parents in Godric's Hallow, where his wife moved in and his parents out when he was married. What he did for a living is not specified, and he very probably didn't work. He was home schooled by his parents, and the only personality traits found was that he was spoiled by them, even as an adult. He died at the age of forty nine, but the reason is not recorded. Chad's death was, for an unknown reason, kept secret for the next ten years, and onlt then went to the public files. His son, James, was twelve when he died.

Harry turned the page to see his mother and father's pictures. Each had a page to themselves. The whole room was silent while he read to himself.

Lily Evans~ Lily was a Muggle-born witch who lived outside of London. At school she had no very close friends in her year. Her best friend was three years younger then her, Heather Deleve. Her other friends were all a year older then her. James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Petigrew, and Severus Snape. At school, she was very good. Her best, and favorite, class was Charms. Lily was always quiet and shy, and until Heather's arrival, spent most of her time with her cat 'Kitten'. She was also very kind and caring. She would never turn down a plea for help, be it in advice or a study buddy. When her parents died in her fifth year, it ripped Lily apart. People she had never talked to said it tore them up to see her so upset, because she normally was always smiling. This tragedy, however, is what brought her and James Potter together. Lily was not old enough to be on her own, but her older sister did not want to see her. Lily spent her holidays at various friends' houses. She married at the age seventeen, and shortly after was pregnant with her son. Her birthday was March sixteenth, and her favorite color was blue. Lily loved to care for plants and garden. She died by the hand of Voldemort, on Halloween at the age nineteen, while in hiding at Chad and Laura Potter's old house in Godric's Hallow.

James Potter~ James was a wizard. He was very good in school, and in the top three of all of his classes. His best subjects were Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration. His mother died giving birth to him, and his father when he was twelve. However, nobody was told of this. Where James lived for the remainder of his school years is unclear, as the house in Godric's Hallow remained empty until he and his wife used it for hiding. Though most of his summers where spent at friends' houses. Even the headmaster at the time, Albus Dumbledore, had no idea that he was without a family. He officially got the nickname of 'Prongs' and everything it entailed in his fifth year. In his sixth year, he and Lily Evans became a couple. When he graduated, he couldn't stand to be away from Lily for a year, and therefore came back to teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. He held the job for a year, and proposed to Lily during that year. They were married the next year when he was eighteen. James' birthday was January eighth, and his favorite color was red. He was also one of the writers of the Marauder's Map, which he reportedly left a room off of. This room only he knew the way into, and also Lily later was able to get there. James loved Quidditch, and played the position of Chaser on the Gryffindor team. He turned down Dumbledore's offer to recommend him for a professional team. James also loved to paint, and some his work is still residing at the Black household. Others are missing, and are suspected to be in the room that James claimed only he and his father could open. James died on Halloween at the age of nineteen by the hand of Voldemort.

Harry only glanced at the rest of the pages of information. There were notes on everything. Scores from the games James had played in. A sketch that James had drawn. A charms essay that Lily had wrote, complete with notes to Sirius in the margins. There were notes on the family that Harry had that wasn't on the tree. People whom all of the information was unclear. There were notes on what Godric's Hallow was now, about the memorial that stood over where his parents had died.

Harry knew none of it. Some of it he had never even realized he didn't know. But there were pages and pages, full of Ginny's neat handwriting. Even the messages from her dreams were recorded in it.

Harry looke"Wow, Rose, that was really sweet."

"Yeah, Ginny, that must have taken a very long time."

Ginny blushed slightly as Harry let her go, but she smiled.

"Are we done yet?" Heather asked.

"No, Ron's present to Hermione is all that's left," Ginny answered.

"Oh," Ron said, reaching under the chair. He handed a small package to Hermione then sat back down. "Here."

"Thanks."

Hermione slowly pulled the paper away to reveal a small blue velvet box. Her lips pressed tight as she opened it, and her eyes burned when she saw the tiny little owl earrings staring back at her.

"Ron," she started, her voice actually steady, "I think you've given me the wrong box." She looked up at him, expecting his eyes to go wide start apologizing, but he was looking at the floor, his face bright as fire.

And suddenly the practical voice inside Hermione hit her. Hard. How could she not have seen it? She was so blind.

She stood and crossed to room to where Ron was sitting, and slapped him. Very hard.

Ron shot out of his seat, taken completely by surprise. "What did you do that for?" he shouted.

"You let me think for three months that you were in love with somebody else!" Hermione screamed. "Do you have any idea what you've put me through!"

A few people still in their dorms were coming out to see what the noise was about. When they saw Ron and Hermione, most of them grinned and leaned against the stairway railing to watch. Fights were always good entertainment.

"Well if I would have known that you cared, I never would have!"

Hermione took a step toward him, and raised her hand to slap his other cheek, but Ron caught it. She went on as if this had been her own idea. "If you had known? IF YOU HAD KNOWN? I've been dropping you hints for the past FOUR YEARS!"

Ron stepped closer still, their faces were only inches apart. "HINTS? None that I've seen! How am I supposed to know what a hint even is!"

"Ron, you are a-" But what, exactly, Ron was, the common room never learned, because Hermione was suddenly cut off by Ron's lips.

The kiss only lasted about three seconds before Ron pull back about four inches. Hermione, however, didn't even look startled.

"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?"

"I THOUGHT YOU WOULD LIKE IT!"

"Well I did!"

"Fine then!"

"Fine!"

He kissed her again, and this time it lasted considerably more then three seconds. It was the applause from everybody in the room that broke them apart. Both turned very red.

"Finally it happened!" Harry exclaimed.

"I knew we were right. I thought my talent at knowing these things was leaving. I knew he liked her," Ginny said.

Harry turned to Sirius and Heather. "You have no idea how long Rose and I have been waiting for this. We are the ones that had to deal with them, but now they can deal with themselves."

Ron was staring at the ceiling, ignoring Ginny and Harry, and Hermione was staring at the floor. Both however, wore tiny smiles. Hermione held the box of earrings very tightly, as though she were afraid they would disappear.

"Alright Ron, these are the rules." Ron looked up at Harry, perplexed. (A/N: As if Ron would know what that word meant.) "There will be A- No kissing in the dorm room with the curtains open. B- No spending the night in her dorm without telling me first, I don't want to wonder where you are all night to find out you were snogging down the hall. C- Arguments between the two of you can now be solved in private, we don't want to be involved anymore. D- Please don't kiss in front of me again. E-"

"Harry!" They both cried out at once, their faces the same shade of red.

"What? I'm just getting started. I have the whole list written down for you upstairs. E- I don't want to wake up to find you two in uncomfortable positions in the bed next to mine. F- Please keep it down, I don't get much sleep as it is."

"Harry!" Hermione was hiding her face. Heather, Sirius, and Ginny were all doubled over with laughter. Harry looked over at them.

"Heather, Sirius, all these rules apply to you two also. You already broke rule E this morning." This made Sirius stop laughing and stare at him, but it just made Heather laugh harder.

She hit him in the back of the head. "What? Did you think they wouldn't know?"

"Us not know? We've been betting on when it would happen."

"Really," Sirius said, looking very put-out, "and who won?"

"Harry did," Ginny said with a grin. "He had the exact day. He said Christmas."

Heather and Sirius looked at him, and he grinned. "Just because I've been skipping my Divination classes doesn't mean I've clouded my inner eye. I saw it in my crystal ball."

"Yeah Harry, that's really not fair. She's starting to pick on me now. She predicts every class that you will be absent for the next one, and then she tells me that you are going to be the death of me."

"Maybe you should ask to drop the class, Ron."

"McGonagall won't let me."

"She might if you ask to take up another class."

"How come Harry can get away with it?"

Harry grinned. "I told Dumbledore I've turned it into my sword practice time. He thought it was funny. But maybe I'll show up next class, to throw off her prediction."

"You can't, Harry. As soon as Christmas is over, you have more classes," Heather said. "And I think they gave you one for that period because you play hooky to Divination."

"Heather! I'm insulted. Hooky! I'm not playing it, I'm doing it."

Heather threw a box at him. "You are your father's son, Harry."

(A/N: Draco- Well Lily, you really took your time with this one.

Me- Draco, I'm trying to get into high school! Give me a break will you? To everybody out there, I've been studying for finals. So it took a while.

Draco- I'll say.

Me- Shut up lost boy.

Draco- Yeah, about that. How come they all are together in two drawers, and I'm alone?

Me- Cause the one on top is for the good guys, the bottom drawer is for the bad guys, and you're in the middle because they don't know where you are yet.

Draco- But you and I know I'm on the- *covers Draco's mouth with hand*

Me- Heh heh, hope you liked it!)