A/N: I just wanted to thank BornGryffindor: thanks for your review, I really appreciate it. All right: on to the chapter!
Chapter 15: ChristmasAfter having been bored out of their skull the previous day, the five Gryffindors went straight to work after a hearty breakfast. They started with the hall, hanging streamers along the side of the stairs and placing little Father Christmas' everywhere. After that, they moved into the kitchen and decorated the dark colored wooden chairs with white fluffy lace. It looked very wonderful. Next room was the main living room, which was tackled by them with red and green streamers, hanging them everywhere they could. When Mrs. Weasley entered, though, she thought it looked rather messy and cleared most of them away with her wand, much to the displeasure of the children.
It had taken them all day to decorate the house and now they where just sitting… or rather, lying in front of the fireplace with hot chocolate when Lupin and Tonks entered the living room with quite a large Christmas tree. Exhausted from the decorating the five groaned at the sight of more work.
"Now, now, decorating the Christmas tree is fun!" Tonks exclaimed happily.
"Dinner's ready!" came Mrs. Weasley's voice from the kitchen. They all exited the living room and entered the kitchen, Tonks bounding in front of them, her blue hair flying behind her. Mrs. Weasley was already piling dishes of roast potatoes, beans, salads, pork roast, carrots etc. on the table.
"I'm starving!" Ron announced as he made for the potatoes. Mrs. Weasley slapped his hand.
"You will wait until every one is seated, young man." And with that she turned around to bring back yet more dishes full of food, Ron glowered, his ears red from being embarrassed in front of his friends.
After dinner they all groaned, feeling stuffed.
"That was yet again an excellent dinner, Molly," Lupin announced. He looked better than the last time they saw him. Tonks nodded her head in agreement when Kingsley entered the room. Every one turned around.
"Excuse me, Lupin, Tonks, if I could ask you to come with me," he said. He wasn't looking worried or panicky so no one paid much attention.
"Right, well, we have to go, but I'll see you guys tomorrow, I'm going to help decorate that Christmas tree," Tonks told them, smiling. After that they could hear them leave the house and Mrs. Weasley spoke again.
"It is quite late, and I'm sure you're all very tired due to all that decorating you lot did, which I'm very thankful for, by the way," she added smiling warmly at them all. "But I'm afraid you'll have to decorate the Christmas tree too. Though after that I think it might be a good idea to go out and get some fresh air in Diagon Alley." The others grinned.
"Mum?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, turning to look at her daughter.
"When are Fred and George coming?"
"They'll be here the day before Christmas, as will Bill, Charlie and… Percy."
"All right, then," Ginny said, looking a lot happier, for she loved her older brothers and they were all very entertaining. The five left the table and went upstairs. They decided to talk a bit though, so they went into Harry and Ron's room.
"What happened to Percy, after the Ministry found out that Voldemort had returned?" Harry asked Ron as soon as Hermione had closed the door.
"Well, he apologized to us, but I doubt mum and dad will forget about the way he acted," Ron began.
"Yeah, we do owl him every once in a while, but he's still a bit distant," Ginny finished.
"So what kind of job does Weatherby have now?" Nora asked. The rest chuckled.
"Well, after Crouch's death he worked as Court Scribe during hearings, as Harry might remember, but a few months ago he was offered the job of Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, because that Umbridge woman was fired," Ron told them.
"Ooooh, that's a really important job, and he probably needs to make a lot of big decisions," Hermione said, eyes wide.
"I guess, but I don't really care," Ron replied, looking very bored all of a sudden. Ginny started to yawn.
"I think we should get this little one to bed," Nora told Hermione grinning, receiving a glare from Ginny, which lost its effect because she had to yawn again. Hermione grinned too and grabbed Ginny's feet while Nora grabbed her hands. Together they picked her up and carried the little red head into their room, throwing her onto her bed. Ginny screamed as she was thrown in the air and then landed softly on her covers. She started laughing like mad and fell off of her bed causing her to scream again. Ron came hurrying into the room, with Harry right behind him. When he saw his sister rolling on the floor laughing he let out a sigh of relief.
"I thought you said you were taking her to bed, not kill her off," he told the other two girls, who just smiled sweetly and pushed them out of their room, so they could change.
Hi Harry! Yeah, hey!
I, we, couldn't ask you this the last time because Hermione was there, but we wanted to ask you a favor: yeah, see we made some new candy and we needed people to test them on. We're not asking you to try them, we were just wondering if you could give them to Ron or Ginny and just say they're sweets. They're called beet-ums. I wanted to tell him that! Deal with it Fred, this is my letter, I deserve the right to tell Harry what I want to tell him. What exactly is your point? Go write your own letter. But I don't have any parchment left, and you're writing him a letter anyway. I don't care: get out of my letter. Make me. Perhaps I will. 'AAAAH! George, GET OFF ME! Well then get out of my letter! No way! Besides, two can play that game. Hey, go away, get that out of my face!
…
Right, sorry about that Harry, we got a bit carried away. Anyway, here are your "sweets". Maybe you can give some to Hermione and Nora, toojust for the fun of it. By the way, the Beet-ums turn your face beet red, just so you don't freak out when it happens. Good point. We got the idea from Ron and Ginny, because they always turn such a deep, dark red when they blush. It's very entertaining, really.
Sincerely,
George and Fred.
P.S. We'll be visiting soon. During Christmas.
Harry laughed a couple of times while reading the letter and then took the sweets that had been mentioned out of the envelope. The were round and, unsurprisingly, beet colored. He had woken up at eight o'clock due to the twins' owl tapping on the window.
"Harry, 's that you?" Ron said groggily, sitting up in his bed.
"Yeah, we'd better get dressed. We still have to decorate that tree and then go to Diagon Alley."
"Ginny. Ginny! GINNY!"
"What?"
"Wake up!" Hermione shouted in Ginny's ear. "That Christmas tree doesn't decorate itself you know, and it's not a short trip to Diagon Alley." After Nora and Hermione had finally gotten Ginny up and dressed, they walked out of their room, bumping into a very sleepy looking Harry and Ron.
"Hi," Ron grunted. Ginny gave a grunt in return and the two Weasley's walked down the stairs, the others stared.
"It's amazing how some people communicate," Harry said, tilting his head in wonder.
"Yeah. They could be Trolls, with that grunting," Hermione said, watching the two red heads disappear out of view. It was ten o'clock and Tonks had arrived to help them decorate the magnificent Christmas tree. Upon entering the living room a wonderful smell of pine trees wafted towards them.
"All right, let's get this started," Tonks said happily. She had turned her hair blonde and her eyes a mixture of gray and blue. This reminded Harry horribly of Narcissa, Malfoy's mother, and she in turn reminded him of Sirius and how he wasn't here to help with the Christmas tree. And even though Sirius's letter had helped him over his Godfather's death for a large part, the thought of him not being here to decorate the tree depressed him. "Harry?" it was Tonks.
"What?" Tonks looked at him annoyed.
"I know you miss Sirius, we all do, but you have to help us decorate the tree, we can't do it without you. Come on, it'll be fun."
"Nah, you go on without me," and he walked towards the hall.
"Harry Potter! If you do not come and help us decorate this tree, I'll make you!" She threatened, grinning evilly. Harry turned around, with a slight smile; he was sure she had nothing on him.
"Like what?"
"I'll turn myself into your lovely cousin and snog you senseless." Harry was a shocked, but recovered quickly.
"You wouldn't dare…" he whispered in horror.
"Oh, wouldn't I?" said Tonks, an eyebrow raised. A few seconds later she had transformed herself into an exact replica of Dudley and then she immediately lunged for Harry, who ran around the living room as she chased him, much to the amusement of the others.
"All right! All right! I'll help decorate! Just please change into something… someone else than Dudley!" he cried weakly from his hiding place behind Hermione, who looked utterly bewildered that she was being used as a shield. Tonks turned into her previous form and smiled happily.
"See I could persuade you?" she said and then turned to open a box full of decorations, while Harry muttered things like: "blackmail" and "women" under his breath. The six began decorating the tree with various things and it wasn't until they were done that Tonks noticed the necklace Hermione was wearing. "It's absolutely wonderful!" she exclaimed admiring it. "The way those colors seem to be mixing. Though the black, dark blue, dark purple and dark green never make a single color, do they?" Hermione shook her head, and Tonks admired the necklace for a few more minutes until Ron exclaimed loudly that he was bored. "Yes, well, I should be taking you to Diagon Alley with your mother after we finished… so, I'll go tell her that we're ready." Tonks walked off.
"What on earth is so special about that necklace!" Ron said annoyed. He got up to take a look and see if it really was as amazing as Tonks had said. "Really, all I see are just a few col…" he stopped talking and gazed in aw at the wonderful colors. Ginny sniggered, and Ron snapped out of his trance, glaring at her.
"Our ride to Diagon Alley's here!" Mrs. Weasley called into the room. They all followed her and Tonks outside, shivering in the cold wind.
When they got out of the car, they walked through Muggle London a bit until they reached the Leaky Cauldron. They passed through the grubby place, and Mrs. Weasley tapped the brick on the wall. In front of them a hole appeared and it grew wider and wider until they could fit through. They looked around and found that the place looked rather magical: the shops were covered in a layer of snow, as was the large Gringott's bank, which towered over the small stores. The group walked passed the stores and entered the magnificent hall of Gringott's. Some Goblins were running around with packages and bags of money, others were standing behind marble counters weighing galleons, sickles, nuts, ruby's and other gems. Mrs. Weasley walked over to one of the Goblin's that wasn't busy and told him that they wanted to change some Muggle money, which Hermione had gotten from her parent's, and go visit vaults 563 and 382. After Hermione had gotten her wizard money, the Goblin called another Goblin, named Grudger, who led them out of the hall into a large room full of tracks. Grudger whistled and a cart moved onto a track and stopped in front of them.
"You may step in," he said pointing at the cart. The group did as they were told and after Grudger had gotten in with them, the cart began moving. It turned a couple of times going down hill and slowly started to gain a lot of speed.
"Oh, my…" Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley mutter. He thought back of the first time he had been here. It had been with Hagrid, who hadn't taken the cart ride well either. After making a couple of more turns and moving even lower, the cart came to an abrupt halt.
"Vault number: 382" Grudger said. They all got out and Mrs. Weasley leaned on Tonks, trying to regain her strength. When she had regained a little color, she followed the Goblin to her vault. Mrs. Weasley gave Grudger the key and he opened it. She stepped inside and began to gather up the Galleons, Sickles and Knuts that lay scattered on the floor. Harry peeked in and his stomach made a funny flop. The Weasley's really didn't have a lot of money. There was hardly anything left after Mrs. Weasley had taken out what she needed. They got back in the cart and began their roller coaster ride again.
"Vault number: 563" Grudger announced after the cart had made another abrupt stop, causing the passengers to bump into each other. Harry handed over the key to his vault that had been included in the letter Sirius had sent him. He rubbed the back of his head where Ron had bumped into him. Grudger opened Harry's vault and stepped back to let him enter. Harry walked in, trying to hide all of his money from the Weasley's view, but it was impossible. There was simply too much gold lying around. The whole vault was filled almost completely with Galleons and Sickles. He quickly grabbed some money and then left, leaving Ron staring at all of it in envy.
They were standing outside Gringott's, looking where to go next.
"I think that we should split up, and meet back here in about an hour, all right?" Mrs. Weasley said. "This way, we'll be done faster." The others agreed and Harry and Ron walked off in one direction, Nora, Hermione and Ginny going in the other, leaving Mrs. Weasley and Tonks alone.
"So, where to?" Ginny asked the other two. They looked down the street where all of the shops where.
"Well, we've got cauldrons, so we there's no point going there," said Nora, indicating towards the cauldron shop.
"And I don't need an owl, I've got Crookshanks already," Hermione said, which excluded the pet shop, too.
"Yes, and robes we have too, but I do need some parchment and new quills," Nora told the others pointing towards Liner's Parchment and Quills. "I think Ron may have stolen mine."
"Then we'll go there first." The three girls made their way through the crowd and entered the shop, welcoming the warmth. It had a high ceiling and the walls were stacked with different kinds of parchment and Quills.
"Oooh, this one looks rather nice, doesn't it?" Nora said, holding up an emerald green quill, with a purple feather sticking out of the end. "I actually think I'll have this one." And she walked over to the counter to pay seventeen sickles and six Knuts. After that she joined Ginny, who was looking for the right kind of parchment.
"I think this parchment is good quality isn't it?" Ginny asked Nora, while Hermione was expecting an expensive quill on display at the other side of the store.
"I honestly wouldn't know, I think we should ask Hermione, she's an expert in this kind of stuff, since she spends most of the day writing on it." Ginny sniggered, and then called Hermione. "Is this the right kind of parchment?"
"No… no, no, no… you don't want that kind, it's really tough to write on, you should purchase this one, it's a bit softer and thicker… or this one, it's not as thick but it is comfortable to write on…" Hermione continued rambling on for another couple of minutes until Ginny had had enough.
"You know, we only have one hour." Hermione closed her mouth, offended, and the three bought a couple of rolls of the parchment that she had "praised".
"Where to now?" They were yet again standing outside, looking at the shops.
"Oh, I need some new potions ingredients… Neville ruined most of them during last lesson," Hermione said and she dragged the other two over to the Apothecary. They entered and found the shop to be quite dark and there was a foul stench in the air.
"What will it be, m'dears?" A slightly sinister looking wizard asked them.
"Uhm… er…" Hermione mumbled, shocked by being asked so directly; she was a bit shy. "I… erm… I need some new potions ingredients… sixth year… please…" she added politely.
When she had bought every ingredient she needed, they nearly sprinted out of the store in their hurry to put a good distance between them and the sales wizard, who had a hump on his back and whose eyes each looked in different directions.
"Now I won't be able to sleep well," Ginny said, shuddering. "Did you see his back?"
"I know, and his nose," Nora replied, looking revolted.
"Yeah, I was on the verge of handing him a handkerchief." The girls laughed at Ginny's statement. "Well, it's true, you could clearly see everything in it!" This thought made them all gag.
"Let's go to Flourish and Blotts now," Hermione pleaded, rather than stated. Ginny and Nora only had time to glance at each other before they were dragged into the bookshop. It was incredibly large and there were more than a dozen bookshelves, stacked high into the air with nothing but… books! Hermione immediately ran over to the nearest bookshelf and began looking at the covers, running her finger down the spines as she read the title. The other two girls knew that if given the choice, Hermione would live here. After fifteen minutes of searching Nora had found a book that would make Harry extremely happy: Curses and Counter curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian. Harry had once told them in their first year how he had wanted to buy that book to find out ways to curse Dudley, but unfortunately Hagrid hadn't let him. She bought the book, grinning, and then put it in a bag. Hermione, on the other side of the store, had found a volume that she knew Ginny would be very fond of: Spells, Hexes and Curses: Their History (includes all you wanted to know on the Bat Bogey Hex, the Leg-Locker curse, the Avada Kadavra curse and Many More) by Forrest Finilandus.
When they left the store they caught sight of Harry and Ron hanging in front of the Quidditch store.
"What are you two goggling at?" Hermione asked them. The two boys spun around and Ron pointed at the shop window. On display was Quidditch armor. It took a while for the girls to drag the boys from the window, but when they finally did get them away, there was no time to shop for other things, since the hour was up, and they had to meet Mrs. Weasley and Tonks in front of Gringotts.
The ride back was very dull.
The next few days went by rapidly, and before they knew it, it was the day before Christmas. The five children woke up smelling a wonderful breakfast. They made their way downstairs, still in their pajamas. They entered the kitchen feeling extremely sleepy and found Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred and George sitting in chairs, talking happily.
"Well, it's about time you guys woke up," Charlie said cheerfully.
"Yeah, sit down, sit down!" Bill told them smiling.
"Damn morning people. Let me take my time," Ron muttered. Harry nodded in agreement and the two oldest Weasley brothers laughed. Ginny frowned and squeezed her eyes shut at this abrupt noise. During breakfast Harry mentioned Fred and George's letter.
"And… did you guys get into any more fights?" He asked, grinning.
"Well, a little," said George. "I just gave him a little nudge out of irritation because he'd joined in on the letter, and next thing I know he's lying on the ground two floors below me." He showed them the little nudge he had given Fred and pushed his twin off of his chair. "Whoa… Sorry, Fred," George apologized, while laughter could be heard from underneath the table.
"Isn't there any chance that I can open just one present right now?" Ginny begged her mother eagerly in the living room.
"No, honey, you'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to open your presents." Ginny moaned and sat down next to Ron who was playing exploding snap with the twins and Harry. Percy was sitting off to the side with Hermione, both of them engrossed in their books.
The living room was full of murmuring since the Weasley's, Harry, Hermione, Nora and a few members of the order were in there, waiting until the large Dinner Feast could be started. Mrs. Weasley entered and led them into the kitchen, which had been transformed. It was now larger in size, as was the table, so that everyone could fit. The feast began instantly and chatter broke over the crowd. It was very enjoyable, everyone was cheerful and the food was absolutely delicious, as it always was, thanks to Mrs. Weasley's cooking. Dumbledore had joined them and he was currently sitting next to Harry.
"Professor?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"When can I visit my parents' house? Potter Manor?"
"I'm afraid that can't be done until this summer, Harry," the old man replied. "I hope you can wait until then?" Harry nodded, as he looked into the headmaster's twinkling eyes.
After dinner, the members of the order left and the rest went into the living room, hardly able to move, as they had stuffed themselves with food.
"OI! Harry!" Ron yelled the next morning, completely ecstatic.
"Whazzit?" came his friend's sleepy and muffled reply from somewhere under his covers.
"PRESENTS!" Harry woke immediately to find a pile of presents at the foot of his bed. Ron was already charging at his pile when Harry stopped him.
"What do you say we take these presents into the girls' room, and open them with the others." Ron nodded and ran out of his room and into the girls' yelling: "PRESENTS!" They sat up, a bit annoyed to be awoken in such a manner, but then, seeing the presents, they immediately cheered up and began tearing at the wrapping paper.
"Oh my gosh! Thank you Harry!" Hermione exclaimed as she opened Harry's present; he had gotten her her own copy of Hogwarts: A History. The others grinned; Hermione never seemed to get enough of that book. It was Ron's turn next.
"YES! Stuff from Fred and George's shop! Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" He yelled at Nora and Hermione as he jumped around the room looking at everything in the packet: Canary Creams, Ton Tongue Toffee, Skiving Snackboxes, a few endless fireworks, a miniature ever lasting swamp, Beet-ums and a couple of more things. He stopped jumping and looked at the two girls. "What are beet-ums?" Harry had known that Hermione and Nora were giving Ron stuff from the joke shop and so he'd asked them to put in the Beet-ums he had gotten.
"I dunno," Harry said innocently. "Try them." Ron unwrapped one and looked at it suspiciously before popping it into his mouth.
"It tastes like strawberries, but nothing is happening… hold on…" As he said this, his face had begun to grow redder and redder until it really was a dark, beetlike color. The others burst out laughing. Just then Mrs. Weasley came in.
"Oh, Ronald, what have you done now?" she asked, heaving a sigh.
"What?" Ron blinked, not knowing what he'd done.
"Please, you only turn that color when you've broken something or done something forbidden… well?" she asked tapping her foot. The others laughed even louder.
"It's nothing, mum," Ginny said, rescuing her brother. "It's this new invention of Fred and George, they're called Beet-ums." Mrs. Weasley suspiciously looked at Ron one last time before putting down the fresh laundry she'd been holding and leaving the room. Furthermore Ron had received a red Weasley sweater with the letter "R" on it and a couple of mince pies. Harry had given him Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans, chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties and some other sweets, all packed into a large box. Ginny had given her brother a book about Quidditch. Hermione had also gotten him, besides prank items, a signed photo of Victor Krum, whom she had broken up with last summer. Lavender had given him a book on potions and how to brew them.
Harry had also received a Weasley sweater: blue, with the letter "H" on it. He beamed at Nora when he unwrapped the book about curses and counter curses. Hermione had gotten him a book called: Dark Arts and How to Defend Yourself Against Them by Menoe Itall. (A/N: Take a close look at them name, see if you get it) Ginny had gotten him what he had gotten Ron: Candy, and loads of it. Parvati had given him a picture of herself in a gold and silver frame, ("Can you say: conceited?" muttered Ron).
Nora and Hermione had both received a Weasley sweater too. Nora's was white with an "N" on it and Hermione's was Yellow, with an "H" on it. Terry had given Hermione a beautiful silver ring that had a little row of diamonds on the top. Dean had given Nora a beautiful silver choker, which had a heart shaped pendant hanging from it. It was gold and had a little diamond in the middle and on the back it read: I (heart) You. They were all brilliantly satisfied with their presents and in great moods until Hermione frantically said:
"Oh my gosh, we have to go back to school in about a week and I haven't gotten any homework done!" So the rest of the vacation was spent writing essays.
A/N: I'm sorry if that was a bit boring, but it's always calm before the storm, which means that the next chapter will be more eventful. Also: I'm a really big copycat and I put things that I read in other stories in my story as well. So sorry about that, but if you see anything that was in your story: Tell Me! And I'll give you credit.