AN: Another one, as a compensation for my February absence.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that there'd be no such thing as white Christmas this year, as the temperature barely got bellow zero at Hogwarts, so it was hardly going to be better in Buckinghamshire, where Harry now knew Travers Manor was. At least, he thought, it wasn't raining.

They took their usual compartments on the train ride home, with the Ravenclaws having once again squeezed themselves between the Slytherins and the Hufflepuffs. This time, however, it was Pansy who took off shortly after the train started to go and talk to some of her friends from different years, making the atmosphere of the journey more pleasant.

Mandy from Ravenclaw was sitting in her place – such as it was, the compartments were made for eight people and it was getting harder and harder for all the other houses except Gryffindor, which were bigger, to fit all people from their year into one – and she was talking to Daphne, while Parvati was out in the corridor chatting with her sister.

"Will we meet up over the holidays?" Dean asked.

"I can't, I'll be in Egypt," Ron replied. After last Christmas with one absent brother, they would be spending this one with the other.

Harry thought about it. "Sorry you won't be able to join, Ron, but we really should, shouldn't we? At least once...what about the day after Boxing Day? Or are you in Scotland already, Neville?"

"No, we only leave on the 30th. Next Monday is good."

"Where? Diagon Alley again?"

"Or we can meet at Travers Manor?" Harry suggested tentatively, knowing that in Diagon Alley, they'd probably need numerous adults as escort, while at home they'd be left in peace. "I mean, I'll have to ask Alduin, but I think he will probably not mind." In fact, Alduin had encouraged the idea of Harry asking his friends over during the holidays in his letters – Harry just wasn't sure he meant all of them at once.

"Yes, let's," Lavender said. "The weather'll be terrible as likely as not, and if we go to your house, we at least don't have to step out at all if we don't want to."

So this plan was agreed on.

"Anyone up for chess?" Ron asked and Sophie groaned. Dean, however, volunteered easily enough. "I think I'll go talk to Ginny, rescue her from her irritating year-mates," Sophie muttered and left. Not long after, Hermione stuck her head in and Harry waved her over to sit in the free space.

Hermione, as was her habit, started to chatter away immediately, talking about the past term and the future one and her plans for the break. "We're going skiing with my parents," she said.

"Is it fun?" Harry asked. "I've never been."

Hermione grimaced a little. "Mum likes it a lot. Me and Dad are not quite so enthusiastic, but...I like seeing them after I'm at school for so long."

"Do they owl you during the school year?"

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't they?"

"Well, I just wondered...what is it like for Muggles to deal with all that, you know. It must be strange. Sending letters by owls..." Both Dean's and Sophie's parents wrote to them, of course, but he knew from that that it took a while to get used to this new way of messaging.

Hermione nodded. "It is strange," she said. "My parents adjusted, but my grandparents actually had to be given a cover Muggle address of Hogwarts to write to me. The Muggle post is screened, Professor McGonnagal explained, and it reaches me here, but writing back is more complicated. I usually just have to send it with a letter to my parents and then they post it."

Harry frowned. "Really? That's irritating...there should be a way for you to write to them directly, perhaps a place that took owl messages and transferred them to Muggle post...I mean, if it works the other way round..."

"You're right," Hermione agreed. "I know wizards are usually useless with the Muggle world, but if they had someone Muggle-Born do it, it wouldn't be a problem at all." She frowned. "Why hasn't it been done already? Do you think there's someone I can ask or petition or something?"

Harry had no idea, and he was just about to say he would ask his cousin when Su stuck her head in. "Hermione?" She called. "Come, Lisa found something really fascinating in her book, you have to see it."

Hermione immediately got up and, with only a nod to Harry, briskly walked out of the compartment. Seamus rolled his eyes. "Ravenclaws are strange," he said.

"I concur," Harry muttered and turned his eyes to Ron and Dean's chess game just in time to see Dean getting beaten.

"But you lasted much longer this time, Dean!" Ron said. Dean didn't appear to be much cheered by that.

"Have you ever played any of the Ravenclaws, Ron?" Harry asked, a sudden idea occurring to him.

"No," Ron said with a slight frown, "why?"

"Well, I think some of them are pretty good players – better than we are, certainly. I'll ask Hermione. Maybe it would be more fun for you than to just win over us so easily all the time!"

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When Harry and Alduin arrived to the Manor, the boy received a peck on the cheek from Alexandra, but all of his attention was on little Wynn. He took the boy into his arms and cuddled him. "You've grown so much!" He said. "And your Mummy tells me you can stand already when she holds your hands to help you a little. Can we try?"

The last question was directed at the adults, and at their nod, he sat the baby on the floor carefully and took his hands. Wynn looked a little wobbly, but he stood and smiled at Harry and made little baby noises and Harry was sure there was nothing more precious – or cute – in the world.

His cousins left him to it for a moment before Alduin lightly touched his shoulder. "It's time to go change for dinner," he said softly, and Harry nodded, handing Wynn's hands to Alexandra, who took over with a smile.

"So, has anything interesting happened lately that you haven't written about?" Alduin asked once they sat down to dinner.

Harry did his best to honestly think about it. "Nah," he said then. "Since the drama with the diary and figuring out the Chamber, everything's been really quiet." He sniggered. "Without Lockhart, too."

Alduin only rolled her eyes, but Alexandra interjected: "The Chamber is absolutely fascinating. I have been thinking about it – technicallyy you could get in, could you not?"

Alduin gave her a very sharp look, and she arched her eyebrows at him in response. Harry, meanwhile, was confused. "You know how to get in? We looked around the toilet where Myrtle died, but we didn't see anything."

Alduin's sharp look transferred to him. "Were you planning to go inside?" He asked with a frown.

"Not on our own!" Harry reassured him. "But with proper escort...it could be cool, couldn't it?"

"Indeed," Alexandra seconded.

Alduin frowned at them both, and then at the world in general, before he sighed. "I will consider it," he said at length. "It is nto as if I am not curious...and I suppose the basilisk does remain a danger, in case someone else finds out how to eliminate it, so it would probably be sensible to go there, though definitely not to take you."

Harry scowled. "I helped with the diary," he insisted. "Don't I have a right to see it, if it would be safe?"

"You have a right to see it once the basilisk has been dealth with," Alduin corrected. "Until then, I will not allow any such thing."

Harry supposed that was good enough. It wasn't like he actually wanted to meet the giant killer snake, anyway. "All right," he said. "Now what's been going on here, except for Wynn growing up super fast?"

"Well, related tot he Chamber problem, i've gone to the Shaklebolt elves about Dobby."

Harry was surprised. "To the elves? I mean, from what you said, it sounded like you hardly ever talked even to your own..."

"That is true enough, so I should have been more precise – I sent Tobby to talk to them. They promised they'd keep an eye on Dobby and make sure he doesn't go off half-cocked like that any more. The housekeeper seemed to be willing to take him under her wing, so hopefully he will be fine without doing any more damage."

"Great," Harry replied. It was. He had been torn about the elf, and this seemed like a good solution. "And from the more normal stuff?"

"We've been seeing the Shafiqs a lot," Alexandra replied. "I have to say Abdulaziz is quite enjoying being the oldest of the 'not yet at Hogwarts' crowd, from what Isobel told me. Or among the oldest, anyway."

"Well, there's a whole bunch of them the same age...but God, he must be thrown together with Astoria all the time now, doesn't he? I bet he hates it."

"They made peace, from what I understand," Alexandra told him.

"Peace?" The world truly was coming to an end.

"We also hear much gossip from Hogwarts from some of our other friends, though," she added. "Why didn't you tell us Maurice broke up with his girlfriend, the one he had been threatening to marry just this summer?"

"I didn't know," Harry muttered. "They broke up? Really? But I mean, he seemed so serious about her..."

Alduin smiled at his genuine incomprehension. "It happens, Harry," he said. "That's one of the reasons why it's not a good idea to marry on the spur of the moment because your feelings prompt you to do it. It's good to step back and think about these things a little."

"Did you ever have someone you were sure you'd want to marry, only to change your mind later?" Harry asked curiously.

It seemed to him like a shadow crossed Alduin's face, but it was gone in an instant and Harry was convinced it must have just been a trick of light. "No," his cousin said, "not like that."

"So Alexandra was the first person you wanted to marry?"

The shadow was back. "Not...exactly."

Alexandra gave Alduin a pointed look. He sighed and seemed to deflate, but he gave her an affirming nod.

"Alduin was engaged once before me," she said softly, to Harry. "It fact, it was only a few days before his wedding that Riddle's lackeys caught up with him and put him in that coma. When he woke up nine years later...well, his once-fiancée was already married, and to someone else."

Harry stared. He couldn't really imagine something like that, but it must have been terrible. "I'm sorry," he said weakly.

Alduin sighed again. "It hadn't been pleasant," he agreed. "No time at all had passed from my point of view, so it was literally like discovering that the person you were to marry in three days married someone else instead. But I adjusted in time." He smiled at Alexandra. "I certainly can't complain."

Harry wondered about that, but he wanted to change the topic for his cousin's sake, so he turned to his wife and asked: "And you? Have you ever wanted to marry someone before?"

Alexandra shook her head with a smile. "No," she said, "in this respect, Alduin was my first."

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The day after Harry came from Hogwarts, Alduin dragged him away from playing with Wynn, saying that they needed to train.

It took all of five minutes for Harry to realize that he had not managed to keep his hand in at all.

Alduin stopped after another five, frowning. "Is Maurice not pushing you hard enough? I expected you to get a little worse, but not this much..."

Harry bit his lip. He didn't want to snitch, but he also needed to give his cousin a reason. So he said vaguely: "Well, the training was cancelled a couple of times, so maybe..."

"Was cancelled? Who cancelled it?"

"Maurice," Harry said reluctantly.

Alduin's frown deepened.

"Look," Harry said, "if he just broke up with his girlfriend, I'm sure he had a lot on his mind."

Alduin nodded. "I'm not saying I blame him, exactly," he said, "but I need to deal with the practical side of it. Has it only been in the last month?"

"Well...no," Harry admitted reluctantly.

Alduin's frown deepened. "You need someone to train with regularly. I'll have to consider this for a while."

"Well, Mr. Titus will be teaching again, won't he? Couldn't he do it?"

Alduin shook his head. "I trust him to be a tolerable Defence teacher," he said, "but that's quite different from trusting him to teach you privately. Understand, it would inevitably raise the question of why it is necessary, and there are really only a few people I trust with an answer to that. No, I'll need time to think it through. In the meanwhile, though, we have a lot of catching up to do."

Harry was sore the rest of the day, and had the unpleasant feeling he'd stay that way most of the holidays.

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On Christmas Eve, they visited the grave of Harry's parents, the Potter house memorial and Mrs. Bagshot once again. "And how are you history classes going, young man?" She asked him.

He sighed. "It doesn't get any better," he said. "I'm very grateful for all of your tips for books and things like that."

"Oh, yes, yes. But then I'm sure Alduin's wife can help you as well."

Harry could only agree to this. "Alexandra has been most helpful."

"Of course, Alexandra," Mrs. Bagshot muttered. "That was the name..."

Harry gave Alduin a confused look. His cousin looked sad, and resigned.

"Mrs. Bagshot is very old now," he said after they left her house and walked away from the village to Apparate. "Her mind is beginning to give way. In a few years at most – at least that's Mercurius' estimate – it will be gone completely."

Harry shuddered at the idea, and was happy to be back in the comfortable warmth of the Manor soon afterwards. Getting old, he realized, was no less terrifying when one was a wizard – it only took longer.

The Christmas Day, in contrast, was completely precious. It was Wynn's first Christmas – or the first when he could interact with the outside world, anyway – and the boy seemed to love everything.

The bright Christmas tree decoration fascinated him, and Alexandra had to stop him repeatedly from reaching for it, until finally she gave up and charmed them with a mild repelling charm. Wynn then reoriented himself to the shiny wrapping paper, which he seemed to like much more than the actual gifts, and especially enjoyed tearing.

Harry supposed he couldn't blame Wynn for not being too excited about the gifts – he mostly got clothes, which were probably not very interesting to a baby, though there were some toys as well, wooden but brightly coloured, and when the elves cleaned the wrapping paper away, Wynn was content with them too.

As for Harry's gifts, there was a lot of clothes as well, but there were also books and comics and displayers and some Quidditch gear. The most important gift he got from the Traverses, though, was a new mirror – a multi-way one this time.

"They seem to be spreading among Hogwarts students, from what we've heard," Alexandra explained, "and it seemed more practical in the long term than you having lots of two-way ones."

"Did you get one too, then?"

Alexandra nodded, and produced it among from Alduin's presents. "I'll show you how to pair them," she said.

Harry nodded. "It's great," he said. "I'll be able to pair mine with Draco's. What to do with the old two way ones, though?"

"I was thinking I could give my half of it to Neville," Alduin said. "That way you could speak to him, too. As for the other pair you have, you'll have to agree with Draco. Since it was his gift to you, I think it'd be perfectly fine for you to ask him to pass his half of it to someone of your choice."

Harry considered it. Ron would be the obvious choice, but he was absolutely not going to ask Draco to give a mirror to that particular friend. Hermione would be the most practical, since he had no way to reach Ravenclaw and she was a good choice for a number of homework question, but she was almost as bad a choice as Ron in terms of who to ask Draco to give his mirror to. In the end, Harry decided on Theo – Draco shouldn't have a problem with that, and it'd be nice to be able to talk to the boy over the holidays, since he attended so few parties and his father didn't really let him visit Travers Manor much.

As for the gifts from his friends, Neville gave him a book about famous historical Seekers, Ron some Magpies team memorabilia – Harry couldn't help but feel the contrast with last year, and be pleased – and Draco some book with Shakespeare's stories that had magical characters inserted in them. It looked like fun.

He also got sweets or fancy quills from the rest of Gryffindor first years, Hermione, Horatio and Daphne. Theo didn't get him anything, which made Harry frown a little and reconsider the idea with the mirror.

There was also one other worry on his mind. He held the package from Sophie in his hand and frowned.

"What is it, Harry?" Alexandra asked, noticing his expression.

"Well...Sophie send me some Bertie-Bott's beans, and I got her some Martin Miggs comics, and now I'm worried she'll feel bad..."

"You didn't give her too much, did you?" Alduin asked, frowning.

"I hope not, just one comics book, but..."

His cousin sighed. "I really wish we could help your friends' families," he said.

"Perhaps something could be done," Alexandra mused. "A lottery win or something..."

"And how do we know they ever buy lottery tickets?" Alduin asked pointedly. "No, these things have a very high chance of discovery...the same with faked inheritance and similar..."

Harry frowned. "And would it be so bad if you were discovered?"

Both of his cousins gave him looks with hints of pity in them. "Many people don't like the feeling of being the object of charity," Alduin answered for both of them.

"Especially from people they know," Alexandra added. "Don't you remember Seamus' mother refusing to have his birthday party hosted here in the summer? It's the same thing. It creates a feeling of obligation, and many would rather go without comfort than have that."

"The people who will simply accept anything you offer them without any misgivings," Alduin said with a sigh, "are sometimes desperate, but usually either rich, or the sort who feels no obligation about it, and when you need something from them in turn, they ignore you."

"Or both," Alexandra commented drily.