Chapter 15-Chirstmas Eve

Harry was so ready for Christmas to come around as he was excited that this would be the first Christmas that he could remember where he would be able to spend it with his parents. It would also be a much-needed rest as since this was his O.W. L's year and the homework he was getting was hard and on top of that running Dumbledore's Army was also burning him out. Defense was still a nightmare for him as Umbridge was still doing only theory-based practices he had however, learned how to hold his tongue in the class as he didn't want to get any more detentions, he knew that he had to pick and choose what battles he fought and right now wasn't one of them. Potions was significantly better now for some reason Snape's mood changed from a cold, sour, and toxic demeanour to just a cold, and sour demeanour towards him. Most of the time Snape just ignored Harry and most of the other Gryffindor's now. It was better this way though as they couldn't get on each others' nerves and that means less detentions for Harry and the rest of Gryffindor.

James and Lily were so excited for Harry to come home for Christmas they had been busy decorating the house they had a tree and they put up lights around the inside of the house. They didn't bother putting lights up on the outside of the house as no one was able to see them anyways. James and Lily always put in extra effort into decorating their house for Christmas it was by far the best holiday to the two of them. James had been getting Christmas presents for Lily since fifth year of course Lily didn't get him a gift until they were together. But the best presents that they got each other were the ones that they had gotten since they were married. For the first Christmas as a married couple James had gotten Lily a broom for her it wasn't as much about the gift but more about the gesture as one of their first dates James had taught Lily how to fly. That year Lily on Christmas told James that she was pregnant with Harry. The next year James had gotten her a house in Godric's Hollow as they had previously just been renting a flat. Lily gave James a muggle scrapbook of their years together. James always loved what Lily got him and Lily loved what James always got her.

It was two days before Christmas break at Hogwarts was about to start when James and Lily got the terrible news about what had happened to Arthur Weasley. They were also informed by Dumbledore that Harry and the Weasley kids were going to be back at 12 Grimmauld Place a little bit early and that they could meet Harry there. James and Lily took the floo there and they were greeted by Sirius who had also heard the news about Arthur. James and Lily started making a meal for the Weasley's as Sirius got the bedrooms ready for the kids. Molly who was usually at the headquarters was at the hospital, so they wanted to be there for the Weasley kids while their mom was looking after their dad. It wasn't until about midnight till the kids got back to Grimmauld Place. What was usually a joyful time was a very somber time to them. Even the Weasley twins who were usually able to keep a positive attitude were very somber.

"Hey, Harry, how are you doing?" Lily asked when she saw Harry.

"I'm alright a bit shaken by what happened but at least we found him." Harry responded.

"How did you guys even find out did someone from the order tell Dumbledore then he told you?" James asked.

"Actually, dad it was me who found out." Harry responded.

"How did you find out Harry?" Lily asked.

"I don't exactly know it was like I was having a dream and then I saw Mr. Weasley being attacked." Harry answered.

"Well did you see who or what was attacking him?" James asked.

"No not exactly." Harry responded.

James and Lily could tell that Harry was holding some information back from them, but they didn't want to push him any further.

"Well, all that matters is that you found Mr. Weasley and that he's alive because of you." James said. Harry just nodded in response.

The Weasley kids were getting restless as no word had come from anyone on the condition of their father. It wasn't till around one in the morning that Mrs. Weasley had come back to Grimmauld Place to tell them that Mr. Weasley was expected to make a full recovery and that they would be able to visit him tomorrow when he was in more of a stable condition. This came to a huge relief to everyone as they were all fearing the worst for him.

It was Christmas eve when the Potters returned back to Potter Manor, they had invited the Weasley's over for Christmas eve dinner. Sirius and Remus would also be coming over and the Weasley's would be coming over after they visited their dad at the hospital. Hermione would be coming over on Christmas as she was spending time with her parents. James and Lily were really excited to host people for Christmas it was the first time that they had hosted people for Christmas. They also wanted to do something for the Weasley's as they were having a hard time and they always helped out Harry when he was having a hard time. This was big for Harry as well as he had never had friends to where he lived for obvious reasons it would be nice to host for once.

James and Lily did a majority of the cooking even though they had house elves James and Lily loved to cook and to be honest they loved to do a lot of household chores together because they loved to do those things together. They would have let the house elves free if they had let them but, both of them refused to be freed so James and Lily took good care of them and had them do small tasks for them. The biggest thing that they had the house elves always do was making the dessert as the house elves were far superior at making those desserts then James and Lily were.

It was at about six when the Weasley family showed up to Potter Manor from visiting their father in the hospital. All of them were in pretty good moods from their visit as Mr. Weasley was doing much better than the last time, they visited him. Remus and Sirius came in a little bit latter. James and Lily were still cooking when the Weasley's were still cooking so they let Harry tour the Weasley's around the manor. Harry gave the Weasley's a tour and showed them all the guest rooms that they would be staying in and anything that they would need during their stay at Potter Manor. Once the tour of the house dinner was finally ready.

It was a pleasant dinner as James and Lily had prepared an excellent meal for everyone. It was nice for everyone to have this meal as everyone needed a break from everything that was happening in the world right now. The kids needed the break the most as all of them were splitting hairs because of what Umbridge had done to the school. It didn't help that Umbridge took away Fred, George, and Harry's brooms but James had a solution for that. He still hadn't shown Harry the best part of the manor in his opinion.

Once dinner and dessert were finished, they all went into the sitting room and sat by the fireplace. Harry took this time to wrap his presents for all of the Weasley's. He had a lot more free time now then he did when he was doing quidditch and Dumbledore's Army. In this extra free time, he went and got gifts for all if the Weasley's. Once Harry had finished wrapping all of the gifts, he took it downstairs and put them under the tree.

By the time Harry had finished most of the talking had died down but James and Lily weren't ready to go to bed and neither was anyone really. James and Lily also had a tradition since they've been married of singing Christmas carols before everyone went to bed on Christmas eve. So, James went to the piano and started to play The Christmas Song, and everyone started to sing along.

The night was winding down and they had been singing for a while and everyone was starting to get tired, so they ended the caroling. As everyone went to bed ready for Christmas to come tomorrow.