The Holidays Part II

Harry rolled over and yawned as his hand slapped around on the nightstand looking for his glasses.  When he finally found them and were able to find the right spot on his face to put it on, he turned to see Ron drooling on his pillow.

            Harry snuck up out of his bed and crept over to Ron's bed and leaned over by his ear and screamed,

            "AHH THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!"  Just like he saw Sirius do, which made Ron jolt up and hit Harry in the nose as Harry fell back onto the floor.

            "Aww man Ron!"  Harry said gripping at his nose.

            "Where's the fire!"  Ron said as he saw Harry sitting on the floor gripping at a bloody nose.  "Did I do that to you?"

            "YEA!"  Harry said as he tried to stop the bleeding with his sleeve.

            "Well that's what you get for waking me up like Voldemort were about to kill us all."  Ron said as he crossed his arms.  "Are you alright?"

            "Maybe we should go down to your mum and see if she can fix it."  Harry said as Ron helped him up.

            They made their way down the stairs where Mrs. Weasly screamed and said,

            "Harry is it your scar?"

            "Er… no its my nose."  Harry told her through his hand.

            "Oh Ron what did you do to him?"  Mrs. Weasly said as she grabbed Harry away from Ron and brought him closer to her.

            "But mum I—" Ron started.

            "I want no more of this boy rubbish.  Why do guys think they always have to beat each other up?"  Mrs. Weasly was now cleaning off Harry's face. 

            "Everything always gets blamed on me!  It's Harry's fault—"

            "RONALD WEASLY!  I don't want any more of your nonsense!  Just go run along now."  Mrs. Weasly said rather upset.

            "But Mrs. Weasly, I did try and—" Harry started.

            "Now Harry, don't go on thinking this was your fault.  Ron please leave!"  Mrs. Weasly said ushering him to the door.

            "Ugg FINE!"  Ron screamed as he let his mum push him out the door and out of sight.  Mrs. Weasly shut the door and came back to Harry where she finished cleaning off his face and nose.  Just as she finished Fred and George burst through the door.

            "WE HAVE JUST THE CURE!"  George burst out.

            "Ron informed us."  Fred winked behind his hand to Harry.

            "Have him take this mum."  George extended out a hand holding what looked like the counter chew to the bloody nose chew.

            "Oh no!  Young Harry isn't going to be taking any of your products!  For all I know it can make it worse!"   Mrs. Weasly let out as she pushed George's hand away.

            "No but it works!"  Fred continued. 

            "Boys please!"  Mrs. Weasly said motherly like.

            "Mum when have we ever made you doubt us?" Fred said trying to sound sympathetic.

            "Er… Fred she doubts our decisions every other day."  George whispered behind his hand.

            "Well apart from all that!"  Fred continued.

            "Fred, George darling, let me just take care of Harry's—NOSE!"  Mrs. Weasly shrieked as Harry's nose started to shoot out blood again.  "Oh fine give him the darn product!  But cures don't always come from taking things to make them better!  Don't get all caught up in yourselves!"  Mrs. Weasly now made for the door and turned around to see Harry gladly taking the chew and having his nose stop running.

            "See mum, nothing to worry about!"  George smirked.

            "Yes well… come on, time to decorate the tree."  Mrs. Weasly sighed.

            Harry used his clean sleeve to wipe off the rest of the blood from his nose and followed Fred and George out the kitchen door.

            "Harry, darling you shouldn't use your sleeves to wipe off your face."  Mrs. Weasly said.

            "But mum it's the universal napkin!"  Fred said.  Mrs. Weasly tried to disregard this remark as she told Harry to change his shirt before helping to decorate the tree and house in Christmas decorations.

            Harry ran up the stairs and bumped into Hermione and Ginny giggling their way down.  Hermione looked at Harry's shirt and shrieked.

            "OH MY GOSH!  Harry what happened?"

            "Ask Ron."  Harry said as he continued up to his room and changed into one of the green sweaters that Mrs. Weasly made for him.

            By the time Harry came back down the stairs Fred, George, and Ron had taken their view of the story and told everyone, as they were all using the charm Wingardium Leviosa to put on different decorations on the tree.  Ginny and Hermione couldn't stop laughing, as Mrs. Weasly looked quite grim at the moment.  Lupin came in to join the commotion and the story was yet retold starting from when Ron woke up to when Harry took the bloody nose chew.

            "Well Molly you do have very talented boys, with the exception of Ron."  Lupin joked.

            "Lupin!"  Ron punched him in the arm as he tried not to laugh.

            "Well Percy has been so busy lately, what with all of the ministry trying to catch up on the things we've been trying to do to stall the time for when Voldemort reaches his height."  Mrs. Weasly said.

            "Well I meant Fred and George's business."  Lupin said.

            "Oh yes, that has been great on bringing in a bit of money."  Mrs. Weasly said.

            "Only if you would accept a bit more of it mum!"  Fred shouted.

            "You know what I don't get," George interrupted. "Why people always say FRED and George.  I mean is Fred more special than me?  Why can't it be George the Great and Fred the looser?"

            "Well, George I don't mean to be the one to break it to you, but you're a mistake.  See mum and dad only wanted a Fred not a George so they decided to make everyone say your name last."  Fred trying to sound serious.

            "If that made any sense Fred, it still couldn't answer my question."  George said.

            "Well Fred and George just sounds better."  Fred said.  "Fred Almighty and George the dufus." 

            As Fred and George continued to argue about this Harry's mind kept wandering off to his mum's diary.  Would he ever be able to open it?  Sirius surely knew another way…  Would Dumbledore let Sirius tell Harry how to open the diary?  Was it even a diary? 

            "Harry!"  Ginny shouted as an ornament flew up and hit the ceiling and broke into a bunch of tiny pieces.

            "Er… sorry I was just… sorry."  Harry said as he pointed to the bunch of flying tiny pieces and shouted "Repairo!"  The tiny glass pieces flew together to make a perfect looking ornament.

            "Well that's just about it for the tree.  Remus, would you like to out the star on the top?"  Mrs. Weasly wondered.

            "Of course Molly."  Lupin used his wand to lift the star to the top of the tree and as soon as the star rested on the top branch the tree's lights lit up making the tree glow brightly.

            "Alright, everyone grab decorations and enhance this house to look like Christmas!"  Mrs. Weasly said as she put Christmas music on and with a wave of her wand Christmas decorations, probably from last year, all flew from around the house and into the room.  Fred and George took off for work.  Harry grabbed the streamers and fake snow with Ron, as Hermione and Ginny took mistletoe and went around and hung them around the house.  Molly got out all of the stockings and hung them along the fireplace and Lupin took string lights and hung them along the trimming of the room.   All the while they sung Christmas carols. 

            "I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve!  Finally!"  Ron smiled as he and Harry intertwined the golden streamer in the staircase railing. 

            "I know, it's going to be great."  Harry smiled with Sirius singing in his mind.  Harry felt double exited.  "So Hermione is hanging mistletoe around the house Ron, ey…ey!"   Harry elbowed Ron.

            "Yea, I was just thinking the same thing."  Ron smiled.  "Oh but what am I going to do about Hannah?" 

            "Forget about her for these few weeks.  Come on you got a girl in a big house with lots of rooms!"  Harry smiled.

            "Yeah, and I like being able to see her out of those robes.  Easier to check out her as— Hello Hermione!"  Ron stopped himself as he saw Ginny and Hermione make their way up the stairs.

            "Hi to you too Ron!"  Ginny said angrily.

            "I don't have to say hi to my sis!"  Ron said.  Hermione just looked away and blushed.

            "Finish hanging your mistletoe?"  Harry wondered.

            "Just about, going to hang it in a few more doorways."  Ginny said.  Her and Hermione then continued their way up the stairs.

            "Smooth."  Harry said once they were out of earshot.

            "Shutup Harry."         

            "'Better to check out her as—oh hello Hermione!'"  Harry laughed.

            "Yea well good thing I caught myself."  Ron said now throwing fake snow all over the place.

            "Yup."  Harry continued to laugh.  "Now she's going to be hanging mistletoe around different rooms so just be prepared."

            "Yea, I like when the girls do the kiss first."  Ron said.

            "But they have this stupid thing going in their minds that we have to make the first move Ron, so don't depend on her doing it for you."  Harry said.

            "Since when are you a girl genius?"  Ron wondered.

            "I dunno, maybe it's got to do with Sirius being in my mind."  Harry smiled.

            "Oh bloody hell he didn't hear what I said did he?"  Ron wondered.

            "Ahh he told me he doesn't listen to that kind of stuff."  Harry assured Ron.

            "He better not."  Ron said as he flung the last bit of fake snow over the side of the railing.  Ron started to sniff around.

            "What is wrong with you, you dog?"  Harry wondered.

            "No, I smell… I smell… CHRISTMAS COOKIES!" Ron blurted out as he rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen leaving Harry behind on the stairs.

            "Man, what a pig."  Harry said to himself as he made his way after Ron.

            On Christmas Eve night, everyone in the house was enjoying a feast that Mrs. Weasly and Tonks prepared.  Ron actually seemed to be watching the way he was eating, because Harry could tell that he wasn't stuffing his face nearly as bad as he usually did.

            The people in the Order came in and out, grabbing a croissant here and there.  Some of them, who Harry saw the night he came here with Dumbledore, shot Harry a weird concentrating look before leaving the house.  Harry tried to flatten down his hair as much as possible, although it did nothing, and everyone already knew who he was and what he looked like without seeing the scar.  Fred and George were shooting Harry looks of why-did-that-person-from-the-Order-give-you-such-a-weird-look look, and Harry just shrugged and looked away.

            Harry couldn't remember if he told Ron and Hermione about his night here, but he was sure he didn't tell them about his parent's house.  Harry's mind constantly shot back to the diary, as though his mind were taunting him to do anything to open it. 

            Dumbledore insisted that he and Harry have Occlumency lessons tonight.  Dumbledore had told Lupin who told Harry, that this would be the perfect time for Voldemort to attack, for this is when Harry would be most vulnerable.  Harry knew that he would have his mind focused on Christmas and enjoying himself rather than trying to void off Voldemort, so he grudgingly accepted the lesson without a complaint.

            Tonight Harry would ask Dumbledore about the diary he found, and Harry just hoped that Dumbledore would let Sirius tell him how to open it, or Dumbledore himself would tell Harry how to open it.  What lied inside?  A memory of his mother preserved like one of Tom Riddle?  Or was it just a regular diary?  But he, Harry, had seen the letters disappear…

            "Harry! Hello?  HARRY!"  Ron shouted as he waved a hand across Harry gaze.

            "WHAT!"  Harry shouted as he picked up his fork and started to twirl the pasta around onto it.

            "Nothing you just looked like a zombie er something.  Making sure you didn't die on me!"  Ron laughed as he got, was it, a fourth serving?

            "Ronald Weasly!"  Mrs. Weasly shouted.  She obviously didn't find a joke of death appropriate, especially concerning Harry's case.

            "What mum?"  Ron said angrily.

            "I don't want any tragedy brought on Christmas! Now finish your plate and go to bed."  Mrs. Weasly said sternly.

            "Bu—what—what about desert!"  Ron said as his mouth dropped open in surprise.

            "Oh, right, well then after desert I want you to march right up those stairs."  Mrs. Weasly told Ron.

            "Ugg." Ron said as he stared down at his plate and ate it as slowly as he could, which seemed to be a bit faster than one of a normal person's pace.

            Once everyone was finished with his or her plates, and feeling stuffed, with the exception of Ron, Mrs. Weasly brought out a huge chocolate fudge cake with hot fudge dripping down its sides.  Harry looked over at Ron who was drooling and Harry could feel something also trickle down the sides of his mouth.  All of a sudden, everyone seemed to have enough room in their stomachs for a piece of this heavenly cake.

            "I call dibs!"  Ron said as he reached into his pocket for his wand to get the first piece.

            "Oh no!  I'm serving this one!" Mrs. Weasly said.

            "Mum, your cake looks delicious and all, but where's mine and Fred's cake?"  George wondered as he looked around.

            "We're not trusting your cake, what with anything that you can make us do without our own will!"  Mrs. Weasly said as everyone's eyes followed the cake to the center of the table where Mrs. Weasly started to use a muggle knife to cut it.  More hot fudge seeped out the middle.

            "No it's not contaminated mum!  It's actually a cake which whenever it touches a certain person's mouth, it tastes like anything they want it to taste like."  Fred said as he crossed his arms thinking how anyone could not trust something he made.

            "Yeah, seriously that's all there is to it.  We're even going to eat some, and if that doesn't convince you it's okay then I don't know what's wrong with you people."  George said also crossing his arms. 

            No one seemed to care about what Fred and George were saying for the different slices of cake flew onto the plates of all of the witches and wizards at the table.  Everyone dived for their utensils and started to eat the cake.  All different sounds of tasting the best thing they've ever eaten arose around the table.  Even Mrs. Weasly seemed to be enjoying her own product.  Fred and George also stopped bickering about their cake and said that they could always eat it tomorrow.

            Just when Harry thought nothing could ruin this moment Harry heard the swish of a cloak and Dumbledore appeared behind his chair. 

            "Albus, how wonderful it is to see you.  Would you care for a piece of cake?"  Mrs. Weasly wondered.  Harry turned to see Dumbledore search the faces of the people all around the table seeming to be in the best place in the world. 
            "Well I suppose I couldn't resist having a piece."  Dumbledore replied as he conjured another chair for himself and sat himself in-between Harry and Lupin.  Dumbledore even made a sound of satisfaction.

            Once Ron finished he was shooed off to bed without a second servings worth of cake, and Hermione followed shortly after.  Ginny seemed to be in deep conversation with Tonks, and Fred and George sat in their chairs rubbing their stomachs and chewing on one of their own toothpicks which made the flavor from the last thing you ate contain in your mouth.

            Dumbledore got up and motioned for Harry to do the same as they bid everyone goodnight, and thanked them for the wonderful meal.  Harry's heart rose in his throat.  He knew within a few short hours he could be unlocking the butterfly lock to his mother's diary, and speaking to his mother's memory.

            Dumbledore led Harry up a couple flights of stairs and into an empty room.  He then turned to face his eyes on Harry and Harry felt like a snake once again, wanting to snap out and bite deep into Dumbledore's skin.  Taste the blood, and hear his painful cry.

            "Harry?"  Dumbledore calmly said seeing the glow in Harry's eyes looking for an attack.  Harry didn't feel like he had any control.  He wasn't himself.  Harry leapt out at Dumbledore and tackled him to the floor snapping out his jaw at him.  He needed to taste the blood, to feel his fear, to see him in pain.  Harry felt like Dumbledore was keeping him from something, something that was tearing him up inside, something that aggravated him that he did not have.  He must pay, Dumbledore must pay. 

            Harry was trying with all of his power to snap at Dumbledore, to hurt him.  Dumbledore had his wand a short distance from his hand and Harry saw him reach out for it.  Harry instead went for that arm and dug his teeth into it, biting it as hard as he could.  But he only had human teeth.  He didn't have the teeth he thought he had, and the blood didn't taste like he had felt it to taste once before.  Harry stopped thrashing around at Dumbledore and felt like a wizard with a lot of power.  Harry reached for his wand and extended out his arm with it.  Harry collapsed and felt like he was dying once again.  This was pain he felt only twice.  Once in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and once in the Ministry of Magic.  Harry could feel his body force itself to stand and extend out its arm once again.  Harry's lips began to move, in a deep voice unlike his own.

            "This is it Albus, no one is here to hear you, no, we are too many flights up.  You lie helpless on the floor, and your wand is just out of your reach.  No more keeping me away from killing this boy, no more of his nonsense of surviving his encounters with me because of you, no."  Harry felt his lips form a smile.  "You're right Dumbledore, this boy is strong, yes, he is able to defeat you, or are you just getting too old and weak?  It's over for you and the boy now.  I have nothing more to say to you, but you deserve every ounce of pain you are about to taste."  Harry had felt himself laughing so happily, a feeling of something he never thought he could accomplish.  "Or you could just kill the boy and get me out of the way.  No?  Suffer death Albus, I have never feared you.  Avada Kedav—" Harry felt himself saying with his arm extended to Dumbledore's old skimpy bloody body bitten in several places on the floor.  Dumbledore seemed to be afraid; a face Harry never saw Dumbledore in before.  Dumbledore knew what was coming and could do nothing to prevent it.  The all-powerful wizard who Harry thought would protect him to his death was now dying at his hand.  Dumbledore's eyes had a glow as if seeing memories flashing before his eyes.  Harry felt helpless, as he knew he was about to kill his headmaster, his friend.

            Harry felt so weak, and like he was a dead body forced to stay alive and complete someone else's dirty work for them.  Not wanting to finish this word, which seemed, in Harry's mind, to take a lifetime to be forced to say, he could feel someone crying within himself.  Harry felt despair and pain, Harry felt like someone was crushing down his heart and letting the blood gush so he would suffer internal bleeding.  And it was he who caused this pain.  Harry felt himself scream out not the ending of Kedavra, but a pain of something unknown to him. 

            "I can't take it anymore!"  Harry's lips said as he collapsed to the floor once more and could see a black window shut over his eyes.

Authors note: MWHAHAHAHA I LOVE this chapter!  I hope u do to, and I hope this made up for loss time of not writing, Hehe.  Well I'll update pretty dam soon cause wow was that a cliffhanger, but u have to promise to Review.  Hehe WHAT WILL HAPPEN?  I already wrote it! Haha Haha the power of a writer….  ENJOY!