Disclaimer: All people and places belong to J. K. Rowling.

Life Had Just Begun

By Terra

Chapter Seven: It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

It was soon the Christmas season and time yet again for the annual Ministry Christmas party. All Ministry employees, government members, their families, and famous celebrities were invited to a large gathering at the Ministry to pretend that Christmas was still a time of goodwill towards men and try to forget that a mad psychopathic Dark Lord was systematically murdering and torturing Wizards and Muggles alike. And to ignore the evidence that many of our honored government officials were helping him along.

For children, it was a time of running around without purpose and getting presents and sweets. For young adults, it was a time to get sloshed. For parents, it was a time to smile at their darling children still innocently believing in Father Christmas. For Lily and I, being at a crossroads, it was a time to reflect.

It was December 22nd and our baby still refused to show itself. Lily and I congratulated ourselves on buying our presents before this date while Sirius still had to find something to give to others. We tried not to tease him too much. We knew how unbearably hard this would be on Sirius; Clarissa had cherished Christmas. It was so natural to identify Clarissa with Christmas that I slipped up and asked what he was planning to buy for her this year and whether he was spending the day with her as well. It took me a minute of Lily's dirty looks for me to remember that Clarissa was dead.

At first, Lily and I felt terribly guilty about leaving him behind while we went to the party but Sirius assured us that he was fine. He was going to visit Elliot while we were gone.

We took a Muggle taxi to London. As we rode to the Muggle city, Lily said, "It must be weird for Sirius to visit Elliot and not see Clarissa's decorations."

"I doubt the couple who owns it now would leave their house completely bare."

"But it's not Clarissa's decorations. He must miss her a lot. She was all he had."

"I should visit Mother this year."

"Yes," Lily said pointedly, "you should."

"Christmas Eve perhaps."

"She'd like that."

When the taxi stopped in front of King's Cross Station, we got out and walked to the Leaky Cauldron in the blistering cold. The bar was full of lonesome ruffians escaping the cold or men worrying about what to buy their kids. We walked to the back and met a wall.

"Uh, Lily, I've never gone this way, so…"

Lily took out her wand. "I'll do it!"

"No, just show me and I'll do it."

"Don't you trust me?"

"No."

Scowling, she tapped her finger on the required bricks as I repeated her actions with my wand. The wall opened up, revealing Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley, being underground, was warmer to our relief. We trotted to the Ministry building, where the party was being held.

A House Elf took our cloaks at the entrance. The main lobby had been transformed like every other year. Differently decorated trees lined the walls and non-melting icicles hung from the ceiling. A corner of the room had the illusion of falling snow where the children could have snowball fights and build snowmen without getting wet and cold. We could hear the squealing from the other side of the room. Tables had been set up for sitting or eating at the party goers' discretion. Along the left wall, between trees, tables with mountains of food had been laid out. An orchestra was playing winter selections from both Wizarding and Muggle composers. People were chatting delightedly and milling around us like a human river.

"Lily!"

"Arthur!" Lily ran towards a red-haired man that could only be Arthur Weasley. He was tall and lanky with slightly thinning hair. He worked in the same department as Lily in Muggle Affairs but his office was the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. I didn't know him very well in school, he was Head Boy when I was in third year. Sirius knew him better than I and only because they had lived in the same town, Recluse Proper. There had been rumors circulating during my youth that the Weasleys were once a respectable family but an affair with a Muggle woman had destroyed them completely. However, I don't know for sure. Arthur Weasley was married with five children with one on the way, two of them identical twins, as I've mentioned before.

"Lily, how are you? You look splendid!"

"I'm great. How's Molly?" Molly is Arthur's wife.

"Begging for the baby to get its act together and be born. Besides that, she's good. I heard how well your little addition is doing."

Lily beamed. "Yes, we're very excited."

Arthur turned his attention to me, his eyes sad. "I'm so sorry about your father, James. It must be a terrible blow."

I shrugged. "Thanks." Hoping to change the subject away from me, I asked, "When is your baby due anyway?"

"End of February, early March. Molly can barely wait."

The conversation then turned to our due date and Lily asking for advice. I patted her on the shoulder to indicate that I was leaving, and then I drifted into the crowd. I soon found myself near the children giggling and rough-housing in the magical snow shower. There were chairs nearby so one could sit and watch the children and relax. In one chair was a young woman with elbow length light brown hair, sketching in a notebook. She was wearing a red dress robe with sparkling white snowflakes.

"Hello, Virginia," I greeted.

She looked up and smiled. "Hi! How are you?"

I sat down in the chair next to her. "I'm good. And you?"

"I'm great. Percy told me about you and Lily, congratulations!"

Who else could this be then the famous Virginia Lenore? Or, more correctly, Virginia Weatherby, famous for her stories, poetry, and paintings. Lily and I were actually unknowingly the subjects of "The Kiss", which I found out years later. She was two years under me and always struck me as a bubbly, electrified hyperactive Hufflepuff girl who never seemed to be able to shut up. At Hogwarts, I always saw her with her quieter friend, a girl that Sirius and the rest of Recluse Proper called "Little Finger" in reference to her dyed pink-highlighted hair and her older sister's nickname, "Proper Finger". It was quite obvious to Remus, Peter, and I that "Little Finger" was quite enamored with Sirius because of her constant stuttering and blushing around him but Virginia made it her mission to catch Sirius' attention for her friend. I don't think Sirius ever noticed. After I left school and she was in her seventh year, she became famous for some novel she had written based around a dream she had. All I knew about it was that it was about some little orphan named Ron Seannings who has a rat named Scabbers who goes and saves the world with his little friends named Harry Ians and Hermione Rowling. Or something like that.

Upon meeting Virginia for the first time, two aspects of her life usually confuse and stun the greeter. First, although Virginia wrote Ron Seannings and Christmas Voyages, both children's books, most of her work was dark and downright bizarre while in real life, she was a cheerful, lively individual. Second, she was married to her long-time crush, Percy Weatherby, the blandest, most inflexible, and most anti-social man in existence. The public constantly wondered what Virginia could possibly see in Percy. I was baffled with the best of them. I personally couldn't stand Percy Weatherby and couldn't believe he was the cousin of the hospitable Arthur Weasley. All I knew about Weatherby was that he worked under Barty Crouch, who he seemed to worship like a deity, in the Magical Law Enforcement division and was insufferable to everyone who was in a fifty-mile radius of him. Most shrugged their shoulders and sighed, "Opposites attract".

She closed her sketchbook and gave me her full attention. She frowned and said, "I'm sorry about your father."

"It's alright. What are you working on?" I asked.

"Oh, illustrations for a new story I'm working on. Just simple drawings. To tell you the truth, these things make me uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable? Why?"

"All these important government officials and I'm just a silly author after all. I'm only here because Percy is with the Ministry and I'm married to him."

"And because you wrote Christmas Voyages."

"Anyone can read that aloud." She shrugged. "Food's good though."

"Yeah, I just come here for the food myself," I admitted. It's true!

She laughed and placed her notebook on the ground. "Doesn't Lily feed you?"

"She feeds the cat."

"You poor thing! You should tell Molly, she'll feed you."

"Doesn't she already have to feed her children?"

"Well, most are at the horrible picky stage, don't eat half of their plates. You can have whatever they pick over." Her face fell slightly and she muttered, "Uh oh."

"Virginia!" A voice called out from behind me.

"Gilderoy, how nice to see you!" Virginia flashed a very big forced smile to her audience. I spun around to see who was behind me. It was a blond man in velvet green dress robes with purple flourishes all over it. His hair was curled and he was grinning too broadly like some invisible force was holding his lips apart so you could see every single one of his bright-white shiny teeth. My brain scrambled for a name to fit this bizarre face.

"Gilderoy Lockhart," he announced, practically punching me as he threw out his hand for me to shake, which I did weakly. "And you are?"

"James Potter," I mumbled. I knew Gilderoy was a boy's name but it seemed that the old baby factory couldn't decide whether or not the Lockhart child should be male or female; apparently the jury was still out. He promptly ignored me and quite forcibly sat down on the other side of Virginia. He didn't notice her turn slightly green.

"How are you, Virginia? I haven't seen you since that book signing three years ago! Been simply ages, hasn't it? What's new?"

"Um... I got married to Percy Weatherby two years ago."

"Percy Who?"

"Weatherby. The Ravenclaw in our year, don't you remember?" Virginia turned to me. "Gilderoy was in Hufflepuff with me."

"That's right, I was! Funny how we both became authors! It must be fate!"

I admired Virginia's public face. I rolled my eyes. I had never actually met Mr. Lockhart before but now I realized how happy my life had been before. I got up to leave but Virginia held on to my robes. "No, please, stay. You're not bothering us." If Lockhart hadn't been so annoying and if Virginia hadn't been so pitiful and defenseless against him, I would have left. Instead, I sat down again.

Virginia asked, "I hear that you have a new book coming out soon, Gilderoy. What's it called?"

Gilderoy practically burst from excitement. "I call it Holidays with Hags. Brilliant title, isn't it?"

"Yes, as good as Year with the Yeti and Voyages with Vampires. You're so clever!" Virginia praised him. I nearly burst out laughing. Was he going to write books using every letter in the alphabet? What's next? Adventures with Ashwinders? Battling Bicorns? Conversations and Crumpets with the Chimaera Clan? Dueling with Dragons? Encountering Erumpets? Farces with Fire-Crabs? Guarding Gringotts Against Giants? Investigating Imps? Joking with a Jarvey? Keen on Kappas? Looking for Lethifolds? Mangling the Mackled Malaclaw? Nights with a Nundu? Observations of Off-The-Wall Owls? Pricking Pogrebins? Quick Tricks Against the Queen of the Quintapeds? Rousting Redcaps? Sneaking to Safety Beside a Sphinx? Tricking Trolls? Uncovering Unhappy Unicorns? Waking Werewolves? (That's a story I'd read. Remus sleeps like the dead!) Xciting Xplorations of Type-XXXX Creatures? And right before he retires, Zany Zippers for Demiguise Cloaks? It took all my strength not to laugh at all the potential book titles I could offer for Lockhart.

Lockhart didn't notice my strangled giggling. "My, Ginny...!"

"Um, I don't like to be called Ginny," Virginia corrected politely.

"But it's so cute, just like you!" He flashed that smile again and edged closer. She edged herself away.

"But I still don't like it, Gilderoy."

"That doesn't matter! I was about to say how smashing you look tonight. Red always looked very sexy on you."

Virginia tittered nervously. "Uh, thanks. You look good too."

"Yes, I know." He flashed a smile again. Narcissus, call your office, I thought. He edged closer but Virginia had nowhere to go except the floor or my lap so she had to lean back instead. "You wore red that night."

There was a long pause. Virginia's eyes rolled around as if she was searching for something inside her head. Finally, she asked, "Uh, what night?"

"You know, that night."

"No, I don't. What night?"

"The night after the book signing."

There was another long pause and more eye-rolling on Virginia's part. "Uh, I remember the publishing company having a party afterwards but I barely spoke to you."

"Ah, but you looked, didn't you?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"I walked you home."

Virginia's face scrunched up. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Yes! You did! I remember now!"

"Ah, you remember."

There was another long pause. Finally, Virginia nodded. "Yeah, that was nice of you. I would've gotten lost otherwise."

"You still feel the same, don't you?"

Yup, another pause. "Huh?"

"In your heart, you know the truth."

"About what?"

"Us!" Gilderoy announced seductively.

"We're both writers?" Virginia suggested nervously.

"Ginny..."

"Virginia," I corrected. "And she's married, in case you forgot."

Gilderoy looked at me as if he hadn't seen me before. "Are you still here? What's your name again?"

"James Potter and yes, I'm still here."

"Oh, okay." He turned back to Virginia who didn't bother to hide her revulsion. "Virginia, we can continue what we started."

"Um, what did we start?"

"Don't play innocent, Ginny."

"For the umpteenth time, Virginia, and I have no idea what the blazes you're talking about!"

"I know you're attracted to me and you have always been attracted to me. Come to my hotel room tonight." At this, he began to grope her knee. Her eyes widened in shock. I stood up, ready to strike but Virginia turned her face to the crowd, pointed and proclaimed, "Isn't that the Daily Prophet?"

Gilderoy paused in his groping but did not remove his hand. "Is it?"

"Yes, and they have photographers!" I followed her line of vision and indeed reporters were politely asking dancing couples their views on the night as photographers took shots of their smiling faces. "Oh, Gilderoy, I can't afford to leave the children alone! Could you go distract them for me? Keep them away?"

Gilderoy removed his disgusting hand and immediately began preening himself. "Well, if I must," he said with a wide smile, "I will force myself into the spotlight for you, Ginny."

"Virginia. Thank you," Virginia sighed. Gilderoy went up to a reporter and led himself away from Virginia and me. She smiled a grim smile at me. "That'll keep him busy," she said scathingly. "The most vain man I know."

I sat down again. "Do you have any idea what he was talking about?"

Virginia rolled her eyes in exasperation. "We were both at a book signing. We both went to a party. He walked me home. He made a pass. I slapped him. Nothing happened between us besides that. I don't know what happened in his little universe but nothing ever happened between us."

"Was he like that in school?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

"He made passes to all the girls. Most accepted them but I didn't. He was annoying as... anyway, what I don't understand is how he is doing all those things that he writes about! He was the worst student in the Defense! He was helpless against the Cornish pixies that infested our Common Room in fifth year, for Heaven's sake!"

"Maybe something finally clicked."

"In that brain? Highly doubt it. Must be sheer luck," a voice interrupted. Percy Weatherby had just walked over.

"Percy! Where you were five minutes ago?" Virginia asked jokingly.

"Talking to Mr. Crouch, Virginia. It would have been extremely rude of me to run off." Percy answered, clearly not understanding the joke. "You seemed to be able to handle that Lockhart idiot." Percy looked at me in distaste. "Hello, Potter. How's your wife?"

"Doing well. You?"

"I'm fine," he replied tensely.

"Uncle Percy!" A little voice cried out from behind the sheet of magical snow. A red-headed face peeped out.

Percy actually smiled and knelt down to be eye-to-eye with the boy. "Are you having fun, Percy?"

Percy Weasley was the third child of Arthur and Molly, after Bill and Charlie. He was four years old and wore glasses. He greatly admired his "uncle" Percy (being Arthur's cousin, Percy wasn't really his uncle but the children called him uncle anyway) and frequently turned to him for advice and praise. If I didn't know better, I'd say that Percy was Percy Weatherby's true son because the resemblance was so striking.

"Yuh-huh! I made a snowball all by myself! Wanna see it?"

"Percy! Don't step out, the snowball will...!" Virginia warned but Percy had already run out. The enchanted snow did not really exist; it was merely an illusion protected by a magical barrier. However, if you stepped outside of it, the snow on your clothes, hair, or on your hands in the form of snowballs would vanish. This fact little Percy had not considered and held out his hands only to find them dry and empty. His face fell in sorrow. In a matter of seconds, his tiny face scrunched up, his eyes filled up with tears and he let out of heart-wrenching sob.

"My snowball! It's gone!" he croaked out, his hands in fists. "I want it back!"

We adults swarmed around the little toddler. Virginia patted his back. "Percy, we tried to tell you. The snow can't exist out here."

"I want my snowball! It was mine!" Little Percy took a shaky breath. "I wanted to show it to Uncle Percy!"

"I'm sure it was wonderful, Percy," Percy Weatherby said soothingly. "Now, dry your eyes."

"We can help you make another snowball," I suggested. Little Percy hiccuped and nodded, wiping his eyes.

We stepped into the magical barrier and nearly bumped into Bill, the oldest Weasley child at age ten. "You okay, Perce?"

"Yuh-huh," His brother replied. He brightened up. "I'm gonna make a bigger snowball!"

The older Percy smiled at his cousin's son in a fatherly sort of way. "That's the spirit. Shoot for the bigger and better things."

"Yup!" The toddler plopped down into the warm glittering snow and set to work immediately with his mentor at his side, offering advice but letting the child to do the desired work on his own.

"He'll be a good father someday," Virginia sighed.

That's all a matter of opinion, I thought.

*** ***

After making ten snow angels with Charlie, the second oldest Weasley at age six, and helping the twins, Fred and George (age two), with their angels, Lily sneaked in to watch me. When I noticed her shadow, I looked up and saw her trying to not to laugh.

"You're so cute, do you know that?" she said, getting on her knees. Fred (or was it George?) wriggled free of my grip, allowing Lily to have my full attention.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"A minute." She opened her mouth to say something more but stopped herself. After a slight pause, she suggested, "Say, do you want to stay to hear Christmas Voyages? Or go home?"

I put my arm around her and we rocked back and forth. "Sure. We got to start memorizing. By next Christmas, we're going to have someone to tell it to."

She smiled back. "Yes, we are."

We left the snowy wonderland as the parents began to creep in and inform their children that Mrs. Weatherby was going to read them a story. Most children jumped up and down and squealed. This is what they had been waiting for all night.

The dance floor had been covered in throw rugs where children scrambled for a good seat. In the center of the room was a hunter green plush overstuffed chair with Virginia sitting primly, book in hand. Children chattered and rolled over each other in excitement, infants sitting in their older siblings' laps. Adults stood around them, separating the children from sight of the doors. Adults without any use for children's stories stood apart, either preparing to leave or drinking heavily, laughing softly. A few chairs were brought out for ones who could not stand for long. Most of these were pregnant women. I looked at Lily.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Just hold me up," she suggested softly. I put my arms around her and she leaned into me. She hummed a Muggle Christmas carol softly. Before I could ask what she was humming, Virginia spoke, "Well, it's Yuletide again, children." The children giggled. "Every year, I tell you about my adventures with Father Christmas but..." she stood up, appearing to be deep in thought, "perhaps you're bored with it now." The children cried out for her to start. Yes, they wanted her to tell it again. She sighed melodramatically. "Well, if you insist." She sat down again, picked up the book, opened to the first page and held it up so everyone could see the illustration. It was obvious she didn't need to read the story herself. "The story I am about to tell is true. Every word comes straight from reality..."

You probably know the story. All this young girl wants for Christmas is to help Father Christmas on his Christmas voyage around the world. Since she's such a good girl and does not want anything else, he grants her wish and she travels the world, meeting all the other characters that other countries say he's accompanied by as well. I had never heard it before but I soon found myself enraptured by the beautiful sights described by Virginia and impressed by the other countries' little helpers. Of course, the girl must go home and the story had to end.

"... I was glad that I had that chance to travel with him. I know I was one of the lucky ones. Don't fret, my little friend. Just because he can not let you travel with him does not mean you can not help him as well. Everyone can be like him, just keep a kind heart and be giving to all and you too will be a welcome guest on his sleigh."

She closed the book and sighed. "The End!"

A young boy cried out, "Is that really true?"

"Of course! He and I even owl post each other all the time!"

"Cool!" another child responded.

"It would be really nice if he could come here, wouldn't it? Let's all close our eyes and wish really, really hard! On three! One, two, three! Wish!" All the children squeezed their eyes rather tightly. Virginia kept one eye open and grinned at the adult crowd. I saw Lucius Malfoy and his wife, Narcissa, look at each in disgust and roll their eyes. I saw that Narcissa was sitting in a chair because she was clearly pregnant, probably a couple of months away from her due date. How dare they roll their eyes at these children who still believed that Christmas was pure and good! And they were about to have children?!

"Ow, James, you're hurting my arm," Lily complained. I loosened my grip on her upper arm.

After the children had wished long enough, Virginia gave a slow nod. Someone behind me began ringing sleigh bells. A few children gasped. Virginia opened her eyes, looked completely astonished and cried, "Are those sleigh bells I hear?"

"I heard them too!" A small girl replied.

"Me thwee!" A smaller boy next to her, probably her brother, whistled.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" A booming voice announced.

A small boy of about six stood up to see above the adults, pointing. "It's Father Christmas! He came!"

The children jumped up and down and practically screamed their lungs out. I looked behind me. In a large red suit and long white beard, was Arthur Weasley, made fat with padding. The adults who had drinking clapped and muttered to each other in praise. Virginia stood up and went to "Father Christmas", her arms reaching for a hug. "Father Christmas! What a surprise!"

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Well, you of all people should know that I can hear wishes!"

"Of course! How's your wife?"

"She's excellent! And all the elves and all my companions around the world are ready and willing to go!" The children cheered. "And how are you?"

"I'm great! Since you're here, why don't you let the children remind you what they want for Christmas?" The children cheered again with delight.

"Well, I do have a few moments to spare," The red-clad man chuckled.

"Take my seat, Father Christmas," Virginia offered, taking him by the hand to the overstuffed chair. "Now, everyone, let's all get into a queue, okay? If you are disorderly, he will be late going home and you all know he has so much to do in the next couple of days!"

"Okay!" The children responded, getting up. They didn't exactly form a perfect queue but they tried very hard to be good since "Father Christmas" was there, looking at them. Most children ask for the usual things, like Quidditch sets, dolls, and other childhood necessities. A few children, to my despair, wished for their mother or father to be home more often or to "come back", which obviously meant they were dead or missing. Even just one child asking for that would have been too much for me.

The Weasleys were adorable. Bill went first, climbing on to his father's knee. Bill gave him a slight smile. Bill already knew that there was no Father Christmas and that was just his father in a suit.

"Have you been a good boy this year?" His father asked.

"Depends on who you ask."

"Bill!" Percy hissed, clearly worried, "don't say stuff like that or he won't bring you anything!"

"Father Christmas" laughed. "Not to worry, little Percy, (this prompted a jaw drop from Charlie and Percy. "How'd he know my name?") I know that Bill has been a good boy."

Bill politely asked for a book on myths and legends and leapt off. Charlie quite proudly told him to bring "anything with dragons. Surprise me." Percy, quite timidly, crawled on to the giant lap.

"Have you been a good boy?"

Percy looked at his mother. Molly answered, "Yes, he's been very good." Percy sighed a breath of relief.

"And what do you want for Christmas?" Percy answered something quietly. "I didn't hear that." Percy mumbled. "I can not hear you."

"I WANT A BABY SISTER!" Percy screamed. A few in the crowd laughed. "Father Christmas" turned red under his beard. "Uh, Percy, your mother isn't

going to have her baby until March, it won't be here in time."

"Oh," Percy replied, then said sagely, "well, I'll just have my present late then."

Molly put a hand on Percy's shoulder, "Dear, I don't think Father Christmas can give you that."

"Why not? He's Father Christmas! He can do anything!"

"Well, um, not exactly…" Molly seemed to be at a loss. This wasn't the time for a discussion on where babies come from or the limited powers of Father Christmas.

"Percy," Bill explained with the gall of a ten-year-old, "Father Christmas doesn't handle babies."

"He doesn't?"

"That's a whole other department! It's like the Ministry. Dad can't do Uncle Percy's job and Uncle Percy can't do Dad's job. Father Christmas can't do the baby thing because that isn't his department."

"Father Christmas" coughed and nodded. "That's right. That isn't my job. What else would you like?"

Percy frowned. "I can't think of anything else."

"Surely you must want something else, just for yourself," Molly responded. Percy shook his head.

"If Percy doesn't want anything, can I have two presents?" Charlie interrupted.

"No!" Molly answered sternly.

The older Percy came to the rescue. "Percy, weren't you telling me the other day that you wanted that easel with the large parchment pad with multicoloured quills?"

"Yeah, I did but I thought you wanted to get me that."

"I'll surprise you instead."

"Easel it is then! Is that all?" The red man asked. Percy shook his head.

Fred and George yelled, "We want bouncing balls."

"I'm Fred, and I want the wed one."

"I'm George, and I want the 'ellow one."

"Alright then!" Virginia said, clapping her hands, "that's everyone!"

"No, it's not, Virginia," The sitting man replied with a smile. "There are others."

"Others?"

"The ones not yet born." With that, he pulled Molly into his lap and said to her stomach, "And what do you want for Christmas?"

Virginia laughed. "Alright, everyone here who is still inside someone else, please have your representative step forward!" A few of the drunk adults squealed with laughter. "Not that sort of inside someone!" Virginia laughed, trying and failing to sound cross. The drunks laughed harder, a couple falling down.

The assortment of barely showing to about to burst pregnant women walked or struggled over (one had to be carried) to "Father Christmas" to ask usually to be healthy but some asked for Quidditch brooms or dolls. One woman shocked her husband by stepping up, taking the opportunity to tell him she was indeed pregnant. "Just found out last week. Never got the chance to say before!" This woman asked to be healthy as well. Lily came up last, sitting delicately on his knee.

"What does our baby want for Christmas?" Lily replied. "I guess our child wants what I want. Our child wants his daddy to be happy, and wants his foster uncles to be happy. Our child wants our missing to be alive, wants our suffering to suffer quickly, and wants our dead to be watching and be proud of all of us. Our child wants the guilty to be punished, the innocent freed, the evil condemned, and the good rewarded. Our child wants every other child to not find the need to ask for a family member returned for Christmas ever again. Our child wants a world where intelligence, wit, and courage are praised above trickery, lies, and cruelty. That is what my child wants. That is what every child wants." I could hear some people crying softly or muttering prayers under their breath. Lily continued with a smile, lightly adding, "And a mince pie. A whole one to eat just by myself." The crowd laughed and the tears dried.

"Well, Mrs. Malfoy, you're the last one. Come on up." "Father Christmas" patted his knee.

Narcissa glared at him. "No."

"No?"

"I am not sitting on your lap."

"It's only for a few moments," Virginia interjected.

"I'm not doing this."

The children murmured like a bubbling river. "Why doesn't she sit on Father Christmas' knee?" "Her baby is not going to get anything." "She's mean."

Virginia looked around nervously at the children. She laughed, "Of course! Why didn't I think of it before? Mrs. Malfoy doesn't want to hurt Father Christmas, he's had a lot of people sitting on his knee. She's being considerate."

"What's considerate?" Percy asked.

"It's when you think of someone else before you think of yourself. Good children are always considerate." Virginia turned back to Narcissa. "You're thinking of Father Christmas' poor knees, aren't you?" Virginia stressed her words.

Narcissa rolled her eyes in disgust. "Yes," she replied sarcastically, "I'm thinking about his safety."

"Father Christmas" stood up. "Ho! Ho! Ho! I believe I must be going back to the North Pole now. Lots to do!"

The children clamored for him to stay but he politely told them he could not. As he left, he reminded the children to be good and to go to bed early on Christmas Eve, explaining, "I get so nervous around an audience." With a wink and wave, he swept out the door and vanished.

The party was over and everyone went for their cloaks. Arthur, as his usual self, strode back in, trying hard not to look cold (he had merely Apparated to the other side of the building), asking, "Did I miss anything?"

Percy huffed at his father, "You missed everything, Daddy!"

Charlie added, "Father Christmas came!"

Fred and George chanted, "Balls! Ballie ballie balls!"

Arthur snapped his fingers. "Oh, shoot. I knew something would happen as soon as I left."

Lily and I laughed. "You have rotten luck, Arthur," Lily teased, as I helped her with her cloak.

"I guess I do. Happy Christmas, you two," Arthur responded joyfully.

"Happy Christmas!"

*** ***

"James?"

I grunted. I was tired and about to fall asleep in our bed when Lily spoke. "Yuh?"

"Do you want to know what I was thinking while I was watching you play with the Weasleys?"

"Sure."

"You'll make an excellent daddy."

"You really think so?"

Lily sighed. "I do, yes. There's two parts to being a parent. One is basic care: feeding, bathing, clothing, all that. The another is actually caring. I was watching you with the twins, Charlie, and Bill. You cared about those kids. I think you can give all the material possessions in the world to a child but the child is still heart-broken if no one loves them. While I was watching you, I kept seeing our child with you. You're going to make a perfectly wonderful daddy, James." She gave me a hug and rested her head on my chest. I stroked her hair in silence.

"You'll make a great mother, too, Lily," I finally answered.

She made a little sigh of contentment. "I love you."

"I love you."

Then we both fell fast asleep in each other's arms.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: Wouldn't it be nice if I could just end the entire fic on that note? Just stop the tale right here and not talk about that nasty stuff. Unfortunately, I can't end the story here. The tale has barely begun. The idea of a Wizarding Christmas story was inspired by Caitlyn's fic "Lessons For Life" (which, by the way, I wrote a sequel to called "Scorched Earth Policy"). When I first wrote this chapter, I didn't realize that "The Kiss" is a real work of art! It's a statue by Rodin. That's not the one I'm talking about, it's supposed to be a modern Wizarding culture painting done by Virginia Lenore. If you know of the real thing, it's not a reference to that one. However, Ron Seannings, if you haven't figured it out, is a reference to the Harry Potter series, a sort of Harry Potter for the magical world. If you wondering about the names, Seannings comes from Rowling's friend, Sean, who acts a lot like Ron in the Harry Potter books. Ians comes from Rowling's other friend, Ian Potter, whose last name inspired the last name of our favorite child hero. Rowling, of course, is a reference to the great woman herself since Hermione in the books is sort of based on herself as a little girl. So, what did you think? Review! Flame! Ask questions! E-mail to destinyplot@lycos.com if you'd rather do that. See you soon!