A/N: It would be useful if you check back on Chapter 18 because I re-wrote a paragraph near the end and introduced an important character. Please also take a look at the 'A/N' I posted on Chapter 3.

Chapter 19: Merry Christmas

It was dark. There were footsteps. Someone was walking. Far in the distance there was screaming. The footsteps grew louder and a dim, flickering light came into view. There was a room, a large, dark, cold room and Voldemort was sitting in the centre of it, enthroned in a large chair. A man, disguised by the shadows and gloominess of the room approached him and knelt at his feet.

"My Lord," he muttered bowing his head.

"Rise," was the hissed reply.

The man slowly rose and Voldemort stared at him.

"I am not in a good mood," he said, his eyes burning red. "Azkaban is nearly empty. I want more Aurors. My Death Eaters are failing. We are making no progress. What do you have to say about this?"

"I do not know, Master. I will try harder to deliver the Aurors to you."

"You do not have any idea then, why my every plan to capture them is foiled? It does not seem suspicious to you that they seem to know exactly when and where I plan to attack?"  his eyes flashed dangerously.

"I don't know what you mean, Lord." The cold air tickled at the man's hair.

Speaking with pure hatred and malice, Voldemort continued slowly, "It has not occurred to you - that perhaps, they are being - informed? From ... one of us?"

He avoided eye-contact. "If you wish for me to do so, I will interrogate the other Death Eaters."

"No, Snape. Look at me," he hissed venomously.

He did as he was told, feeling the infuriated wrath of Voldemort burning out of his eyes and attempting to read his mind. He forced himself to block off his thoughts, pushed himself harder than before.

 

"It's not them I am worried about. I know who the spy is. The Dark Lord always knows. Tell me I am wrong, Tell me I have caught the wrong traitor," he paused, his body stiff with confined rage. "I dare you," he whispered. The very darkness surrounding them seemed to be waiting with baited breath.

 "Lord, I remain loyal to You and only You."

"DON'T LIE!" he screeched, causing the torch on the wall to flare up and touch the ceiling.

Snape bowed his head, breaking eye contact and trying desperately to hide his mind from Voldemort.

He must not find out.

"How long have you been spying on me?" Voldemort asked maliciously.

"I have not been spying on you, Lord," he insisted.

"You are lying."

"Please believe me."

"Do not beg to me, Snape. I know you have been serving them. Admit it." He leant close to Snape, his putrid breath stinging his face.

"I maintain that I am loyal only to you, Master," he replied, managing to keep all quivering from his voice.

Voldemort threw his head back screaming. "YOU ARE NOT! I KNOW YOU ARE NOT!"

This was it. He knew. Snape had blown it. This was the end. Voldemort could sense the traitor in him. Just as long as he didn't let Voldemort break into his memories of the Order, it would be ok. He would have to sacrifice himself to keep the secret. It was the least he could do now that he had been discovered.

"I am sorry, Master," Snape whispered, bending his legs and crouching on the floor.

Voldemort stood up and raised his wand, livid and yelling. His eyes flashed and his body was rigid with rage. His suppressed anger burst out of him.

"CRUCIO!" he shrieked.

Harry awoke shaking and panting. It was the middle of the night and yet again his dreams had been disturbed. He rubbed his eyes and sighed. He couldn't remember exactly what happened in his dream. All he could recall was the image of a Voldemort's irate face and a nasty feeling of foreboding. Sometimes Harry thought it was better this way, not knowing what he had dreamt – at least that way he wouldn't have to be burdened with memories of every one. He felt sick from lack of rest and rolled over, willing himself to fall asleep again. He managed, despite the unpleasant, numb feeling in his stomach, and the searing pain of his scar – both signs that something was definitely wrong. But the next thing he knew he was waking up as sun's ray played with his eyelids and the pain and left.

He sat up, stretching and then suddenly realised what day it was. It was the 25th – Christmas Day. He pulled on his clothes and rubbed water onto his face. Decorations had been put up all over the house last night and it suddenly looked a look pleasanter. Emmeline had dropped a Tree off as she passed by yesterday and presents had started gathering under it. Harry went downstairs, ducking under a rather low tinsel streamer as he walked down the stairs.

"Happy Christmas, Harry!" Hermione squealed bounding towards him as he entered the lounge. She threw her arms around him and hugged him.

"Happy Christmas to you too," Harry smiled.

Everyone was bright and cheerful as they swapped presents and hugs. Ginny and the twins joined in later and Molly surprised them all by bringing them tarts, scones and hot milk shakes for lunch. "Merry Christmas you lot," she said, kissing each one in turn. "Everyone's coming at about 7 tonight. I'm making Christmas dinner at the moment, see if you can keep Kreacher away from the kitchen alright?"

A few people chuckled and Molly beamed, "Don't open the gifts under the tree yet, they're for tonight," she told them as she left the room.

The rest of the day was spent adding extra decorations here and there and preparing for their coming visitors. The first person to arrive was Hestia Jones who walked in the door at about 6 pm and announced her arrival cheerfully. Hestia had been an Auror for the past 2 years after training for 3, as soon as she graduated from Hogwarts. If you looked at her dimpled cheeks and confident grin you would never have guessed she'd been robbed of her family at the Dark Lord's pitiless hands 7 years previously. That alone had been enough to drive her to be an Auror and it was fortunate for her that her school grades were exceptionally good anyway. 15 year old Hestia slept right through her parents' and brother's murder and awoke the next morning to find herself facing the world alone and petrified. Her terror developed into fury and Voldemort had yet to pay for what he had taken from her.

No-one else arrived for at least another half an hour but after that people were arriving with as little as minutes between each. Everyone was dressed in acknowledgment of the season, some going as far as fluffy Santa hats and Rudolf antlers. Emmeline turned up dressed entirely in red and green with white fur trimmings and elf shoes to top it off.

Soon the large room set aside for the celebration was full up and already the noise level had risen.

Half an hour later though, Mrs Weasley had managed to round everyone up into the dining room, to eat their Christmas Dinner.

Crackers were laid between each plate, ready to be pulled, and fairies were sitting patiently underneath the overturned wine glasses, waiting to be freed. Harry took a seat between Hermione and Ginny and helped himself to food. It was a fantastic dinner. Molly had prepared food for well over the 20 or so people present. There were boats of gravy, trays of peas and sweet corn, bowls of steaming vegetables, plates of potatoes, roast, boiled and mashed, glass bottles of mint and cranberry sauce and of course - dishes of enticingly appetizing meat.

For a while there were no sounds except for the clinking of cutlery and the sipping of drinks. Gradually the conversation picked up and soon everyone was laughing merrily and sharing stories with each-other. After a rather large helping-and-a-half, Harry retired from trying to eat any more, remembering that was a scrumptious desert to fit in also. Harry freely placed his hand on Ginny's knee and she smiled at him.

"Time to pull crackers?" Tonks suggested once everyone had ceased eating.

"Oh, definitely," Molly smiled. "I'll go and get the deserts, you go ahead. Wingardium Leviosa," she said, standing up and pointing her wand at the dishes and plates along the centre of the table. They all rose into the air at the same time and the guests leaned back in their seats as Molly directed the crockery out of the room.

Ron and Hermione were already getting set to tug, so Harry offered his cracker to Ginny who gripped it and smiled at him. "I want to win," she said.

Harry chuckled, "We'll see about that.... 1, 2, 3, GO!"  -- BANG!

The cracker exploded, sending bright gold sparks in the air and the contents burst out, landing on the table in front of them. Ginny sat, holding the longest part of the cracker and grinning playfully. Harry pretended to be disappointed as she retrieved a tiara from amongst the confetti and placed it on her head happily.

"Oh! Look at these gloves!" Tonks exclaimed from the other end of the table, holding up her prize gleefully as another cracker exploded in the hands of Fred and George. The different coloured smoke, sparks, embers and clouds were starting to fill up the room as still more crackers banged open and spilled their surprises to thrilled guests.

Molly returned and guided 3 huge bowls into the centre of the table. One was a trifle, filled with so much fruit, sponge and cream that it looked at though it would overflow, another was apple and rhubarb crumble, steaming temptingly at the edges and the final was the traditional Figgie Pudding. Jugs of custard settled at either end of the display and Molly started levitating the plates and cutlery of each diner.

"Molly this is wonderful," Lupin said sincerely, "I haven't had such a delightful Christmas Dinner since my year teaching at Hogwarts."

Harry who had been staring at the Crumble, suddenly snapped to attention as a thought occurred to him. Lupin – teaching – Hogwarts. Lupin could  be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher! He was amazed he hadn't thought of it before.

Molly smiled, looking slightly flattered and answered with, "I'm very glad you're enjoying it, Remus, thank you."

Harry made a mental note to himself to ask Lupin if he would consider the job.

"Thank you Molly," Emmeline exclaimed, "I'm sure a lot of us haven't had the fortune to eat such a fine meal in such fine company for quite a while now."

 "They're right – it's delicious Mum," Fred added.

A heart-felt compliment from one of the twins was a rare thing and it was obvious that Molly appreciated the thanks she was receiving.

"Thank You everyone," she beamed and flicked her wand, causing the plates to form two piles. "I hope you won't have to take back all you've said once you've tasted the desert!" she laughed.

As it turned out, no-one had to. After the hugely successful meal, everyone moved into the large room, prepared especially for the party. Christmas songs were being played, echoing musically throughout the whole room. The main lights were turned off and the Tree sparkled gracefully in the corner whilst rows of glowing orb-like lights were attached to the wall, green, red and yellow.

People were milling around, drinks in hand chattering happily and enjoying the festive spirit.

"Silent Night, Holy Night. All is calm, all is bright" sang the fairies, sitting stylishly on the sweeping branches of the Tree. Harry looked around for Ron or Hermione, and saw them standing, engaged in conversation about 10 metres away. "Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child, Holy infant so tender and mild,-"  Deciding he shouldn't interrupt, he turned around, searching for one of the twins or Ginny. Instead he found Lupin standing alone and facing the other direction. "Sleep in heavenly pea-eace, Slee-eep in heav-enly ... peace!"

"Professor Lupin?"

"Oh hello, Harry." he smiled warmly, turning around. "Fantastic this isn't it?" he said, gesturing to all the effort put in to create such a wonderful Christmas party.

Harry nodded. "I love the Hogwarts ones – but it's nice to have a change."

"It is. And Molly looks after her guests very well."

The music faded and 'Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer' started playing. The fairies immediately started singing along, a few getting up to dance between the needles and boughs.

Harry nodded in agreement. "Yea ... Um ... Professor Lupin....er -  our last Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher turned out to be one of Voldemort's spies and so she's not teaching anymore, um,  obviously. We don't have a teacher now and we really, really one and there's not a lot of people good enough to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts anymore and-"

"No, Harry. I know what you're going to ask and the answer has to be no."

"Oh, but Professor Lupin!" Harry whined, looking crestfallen. "Please? There's no-one else good enough!"

Remus shook his head and took a sip of his wine. "No, I can't."

"Why not?"

"You know why," he replied looking Harry in the eye warningly.

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes, "Come off it! Dumbledore doesn't care! I don't care! No-one in Gryffindor cares! The staff don't care!"

"But there are plenty other people who do," Remus said firmly. Harry knew this topic was painful to Lupin. Even now he still blamed himself for his condition but Harry wasn't going to give up that easily.

"We need you!" he continued his eyes wide in plea.

Lupin shook his head, "I'm sure Dumbledore will be able to find someone suitable to teach you," he turned his head and started to walk but Harry took a step with him.

"Not soon enough," he argued.  "Please, please, please come back to Hogwarts! Everyone knows about you now and Dumbledore will explain it's ok. You can't let Snape keep teaching us - he's awful!"

"Harry, no. I don't want to go back."

Harry paused for a moment and then looked into his eyes. Harry was almost the same height as Lupin now. "Are you sure? Or are you trying to hide from yourself again?"

Lupin closed his eyes and inwardly sighed. He's not going to take 'no' for an answer.

"Please try and understand," he said, opening his eyes and creasing his forehead. "I had my chance and it only proved that I was not meant to teach at Hogwarts. I'm not safe-"

"Yes you are! You've got the Potion!"

"And there are better teachers than me who will be more than willing to take on the role of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor." He fixed Harry with a grim look that clearly said the conversation was over. Lupin started to walk away and Harry took one last stab.

"Moony?" Remus stopped.

He sounded so much like James when he said that. "Would you do it for Padfoot and Prongs?"

Lupin turned around a fixed Harry with a withering gaze, but his eyes softened when he saw Harry's expression. "I'll think about it," he replied reluctantly.

The night continued, the celebration growing more fun as the hours grew older. Emmeline conjured some mistletoe and stuck it in various places over the ceiling. Hermione and Ron seemed pretty pleased about it and occasionally Harry would find himself underneath one with Ginny. It was amusing to watch the adults get uncomfortable and start stuttering when they noticed what was dangling above their heads. After Tonks and Kingsley tried several times to just walk away, Emmeline pointed out that she had cast a spell so that once you were under it, there was no way to avoid the kissing. Blushing Tonks looked up at Kingsley who coughed and bent his neck down, giving her a hasty peck on the lips and stepping back. Harry grinned and looked up at ceiling, eager for someone else to get caught under one. People were certainly more careful where they stood - but later into the night Lupin found himself in a similar situation with Talia. Both were equally mortified but after noticing their avid audience they raised their eyebrows at each-other and smiled hopelessly. Putting on a bit more of a show than Kingsley and Tonks, Remus linked his arms behind Talia's back and gave her lips a soft press. Everyone applauded and the pair laughed.

When the carols were sung, dances danced to, jokes cracked, conversations worn to their limit, food eaten and drinks drunk, it was gone midnight. A few fairies had fallen asleep curled up in the needles of the pine tree and several of the glowing orbs had to be re-lit. The room was getting emptier and the company slowly left. Soon all the guests had disappeared and only the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione were left. "Don't worry about the mess, dears," Molly told them. "You go right on to bed we'll sort it out in the morning."

"It is the morning," Ron pointed out, trying unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn.

"Well, yes – but you know what I mean. Off you go, get some sleep you lot."

"Merry Christmas Mrs Weasley," Harry smiled.

She smiled back at him warmly, "Merry Christmas to you too, love."