CHAPTER SIX
CHRISTMAS AT THE BURROW

Harry thought that after twenty years of Christmas as part of the Weasley family, that they would have had Christmas Dinner down to an art.

However it seemed to simply get more hectic; with families increasing, children growing and stomachs widening, it became a bigger feast annually. They were due at The Burrow at noon and with thirty minutes to spare before they left, James and Albus, home for the holidays, had still not fully changed out of their bedclothes and Lily was complaining about her hair, which today was particularly frizzy.

"James, Albus… clothes, now. Lily, Mum will sort your hair out," Harry shouted across to them while he continued to wave presents into a bag with his wand.

Harry couldn't help but cringe at an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Had he forgotten something important?

"Dad, can't we just open one present now?" James asked, hopefully.

"You know the rules, James. We open the presents at Gran and Grandad's, all together, like every year," Harry said, a little more frustrated than he'd meant to sound.

After Ginny had used several helpings of Sleakeazy's Hair Potion, which Harry had discovered some years after leaving Hogwarts was invented by his grandfather Fleamont Potter, Lily's hair was tame enough to where she was happy with it. Albus and James were finally dressed and ready to go a few minutes later.

At midday exactly, Harry, Ginny and the children took their turns going through the fireplace. First, Ginny and Lily, and then Harry, James and Albus right after.

Arriving at The Burrow was a blur of greetings, reunions and hugs.

"Lovely to see you, Harry!" Molly called over as she embraced him with a tight squeeze, her grey hair with patches of red that had stubbornly refused to vanish yet.

Harry saw Arthur next, who's hair had long abandoned its redness, and who's cheeks had become incredibly rosy with older age, and shook his hand.

"How are you, Arthur?" Harry asked.

"Very good, Harry. And yourself?"

"I can't complain too much," Harry grinned back.

"Everyone is in the sitting room… come on, kids," Arthur called to James and Albus.

Once they were in the sitting room, Harry acknowledged Ron and Hermione with a nod, and then went around greeting those he hadn't seen in a while. George, and Angelina, who was busy fiddling about with Roxanne's hair. Bill, his scars long-since faded but still apparent, Fleur, looking as beautiful as she ever had. Percy and Audrey did most of the talking when Harry greeted them and he was relieved to move on to Charlie.

Charlie clasped his hand with a hearty handshake. Charlie looked fantastic, considering he was closer to fifty than fourty. Not a single hair on his head was grey and he looked as toned as Harry had ever seen him.

"Doesn't dragon taming get harder with old age?" Harry teased.

"Oi!" Charlie protested, "Call me old when I can no longer bring a Hungarian Horntail to its knees, thank you very much!"

"Still no woman in your life then?" Harry asked.

"No," Charlie said, and then looked around and leaned in with a whisper, "but if Mum asks, I've been dating this girl called Sarah, but it's too early in our relationship for her to come to Christmas dinner this year."

"Think you can keep that fib up?" Harry grinned.

"Well, I'm heading back to Europe after Christmas, so she won't be able to constantly badger me about it," Charlie replied, with a wider grin.

Harry momentarily glanced over as George and Arthur got all the kids together.

"Right, quick game of Quidditch before dinner, what do you say?" George asked the kids.

There was a general murmur of agreement.

"I'm refereeing," Arthur said, quickly.

The twelve kids followed Arthur and George outside, though Harry knew some of them would only watch. As much as it pained him to admit it, not everyone in the family was as mad about Quidditch as he was. He didn't think he'd ever seen Hugo, Roxanne or Lucy ever pick up a broom.

"Well, if you ever add to this family," Harry said to Charlie, "We might have enough players to start a Quidditch League of our own."

"Now that would be worth dealing with Mum's lectures," Charlie laughed.

When Harry stepped into the dining room, Molly moved her wand swiftly in the air, allowing all sorts of cutlery, clothes and plates to take their positions on the massive dining table.

"Is everyone here now, Molly?" Harry asked.

"Nearly, dear," Molly replied, "I believe Hagrid is joining us for dinner. Teddy will be visiting after dinner, too."

"Great!" Harry beamed.

"As lovely as it is to see you, Harry," Molly smiled, "could you be a dear and wait in the sitting room?"

"Sure thing," Harry nodded and went back into the sitting room.

"Molly has begun evicting the dining room," Harry told everyone with a hushed chuckle.

"You know what that means…" Ron said.

"No-one in or out of the kitchen or dining room until dinner is ready," Charlie and Bill said in unison. For a moment, Harry saw them as Fred and George, quipping together in their school days.

"Right," Ron said, standing up, "who wants to go see how that Quidditch game is going?"

Several people stood up at the same time, as Harry, Charlie, Bill and Fleur all followed Ron out into the garden.

There was a chill in the December air, but the skies were clear and the sun was shining.

Harry didn't expect any snow this Christmas; what he did expect, however, was Hugo, Roxanne and Lucy opting not to play. Hugo was reading a book, sitting on the garden bench. Lucy and Roxanne were chatting away, watching everyone else play.

Ten minutes later, Harry and Ron had been convinced to join in.

Harry joined George's team, with Lily, Fred, Victoire and Dominique while James' side had Ron, Albus, Rose, Louis and Molly.

"Now remember," Arthur said, "We play with one quaffle, one snitch and no bludgers. If you get tagged, you relinquish possession. Let's go!"

Arthur lifted from the ground on his broom and threw the quaffle into the air.

Thirty minutes of play later, and James' team up by thirty points, came the call of Molly from out of the kitchen window.

"Dinner will be served in ten minutes! Hagrid has just arrived!"

"Hagrid, yes!" Albus exclaimed, touching down and dropping his broom without a second thought. He and James raced back to the house.

Harry and Ron picked up the littered brooms and followed behind.

"Ready for utter madness?" Ron nudged Harry.

"Madness is my middle name at this point," Harry replied.

Once they had collected the brooms in a pile, both Harry and Ron flicked their wands, and the brooms hovered one by one in a line to the broom shed, the door of which flung open of its own accord.

When Harry and Ron had finally made it back inside the house, the sound of twenty six people conversing in multiple groups, clattering chairs and cutlery and swishing wands, filled Harry's ears. He heard Hagrid's booming voice before he saw him.

"...and so I said to 'em, what do you mean there's no eggs in the basket - what do you think they are?!"

James and Albus roared with laughter, and even Charlie let out a knowing chuckle, shaking his head.

"Harry, Ron! How are yeh?" Hagrid called over when he noticed them.

Harry waved back.

"All good, Hagrid. Merry Christmas."

"Aye, it is!" Hagrid bellowed, "And to you too."

"Dad," James called over, "Can we open our presents now?"

"James," Harry warned, "You know the rules; dinner first."

"Can we just open one, then?" Albus piped up, hopefully.

Harry glanced over at George, remembering a conversation they had had earlier.

"Fine. I think Uncle George has something for you all."

George grinned and nodded; he reached behind the sofa, and pulled out a large, red sack.

"Right then, kids. I've gotten you all the same thing. And I've got one for you too, Dad."

George pulled out multiple green boxes. They were all identical and he handed one to each child. He threw one over to Arthur.

James was the first to open his box and pulled out a black, circular rock.

"Uh - it's a rock, Uncle George."

"That's certainly what it looks like, Jamesy… but see the button on top. Press it."

"Oh yeah," James muttered, noticing the small button on top. He clicked it.

Immediately, a beam of light, almost like a torch light, burst from it. To everyone else, it looked like a simple white beam, but James' eyes widened.

"Woah… George, is this…?" he started, in awe.

"Yep. Knew you'd figure it out," George smirked.

"I don't get it," Lily frowned.

Harry was also frowning; he didn't get it, either.

George took Lily's rock from her and placed it on the table. He clicked the button, and the beam of light appeared. Then, he clicked it again, and Harry suddenly understood why James had been in awe.

A screen had appeared in the air, as big as those flat screen televisions Harry had seen in modern Muggle houses. On this screen, which Harry assumed that he could only see because George had set it that way, was an endless scrolling list of posters.

Harry didn't recognise a lot of them. He hadn't seen a film since he was living with the Dursleys.

"Introducing the MuggleVision; the one-stop-Wizard-shop for all your Muggle entertainment! You want to know what Muggles do with their spare time? It's these! Movies, television shows, if it's been on Muggle television, you'll find it in here," George beamed.

"Wow - how did you pull this off, George?" Harry gushed.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I had some help off some of our more Muggle-acquainted pals. Seamus is good with computers, and he helped me get a lot of this."

"Isn't it breaking Muggle law to have all these?" Lucy piped up.

"You're smart, Luce, I'll give you that. Just like your Dad. But no, this isn't piracy. You have to pay for these just like in the Muggle world. I've just given the Wizarding World access. Took ages to work out the details with the Muggle Prime Minister, since Kingsley took so much convincing to approach him with the subject."

"And it was A LOT of paperwork," added Ron, "Seriously, they better do well. More hassle than any other product we've ever sold!"

"Oh, they'll do well, dear brother," George nodded, confidently, "Now, as you lot are family, I've put ten credits on each of your MuggleVision Devices, or MVDs. Use them well, because once they're gone, you have to pay up. Merry Christmas."

"Awesome, thanks Dad!" Fred grinned.

A chorus of thanks from the other children followed in quick succession.

"Remember, one click for solo viewing, two clicks for group viewing."

"But you can use them AFTER dinner," Harry added, hastily, before the group of kids decided to flee.

Ten minutes later, with the magnificently huge table decked out with tinsel, decorative tablecloths and glistening cutlery, everyone took seats around the table.

Molly sat down last, but not before waving her wand so that everyone's glasses were filled with butterbeer.

"Thank you all for coming… it's so lovely to see everyone… and Merry Christmas!" she toasted.

A chorus of cheers and "hear, hear!"'s echoed around the room as Arthur stood up.

"And because she's too humble to do it herself, a toast to Grandma Molly, for making this all possible!" Arthur raised his glass.

Everyone repeated their cheers and hollers of agreement.

Once Molly had sat down, she flicked her wand one final time, and instantly, every bowl and plate was filled with all sorts of wonderful food. The smells made Harry salivate.

Harry looked around at the feast before him. It was like a mini-Hogwarts feast and that was no easy feat.

Piles of potatoes and carrots, mountains of turkey, lamb, beef pies and pork sausages, heaps of mashed potatoes and sprouts and parsnips, boats of gravy and mint sauce, bowls of beans, peas and yorkshire puddings. The people around the table took their turns dishing out what they wanted, like a fifty-two-armed octopus.

When everyone had wolfed down some of their food, conversations broke out. There were far too many people for them all to have one big discussion, so they formed into little groups, catching up with those closest to them on the table.

Sitting next to Harry was Ginny on one side and Ron on the other. Opposite him was Hermione and George. Molly was sitting at the head of the table, and Arthur between her and George.

"Remember that one year when Kingsley thought it would be a nice idea to host a Ministry Christmas Dinner on Boxing Day?" Ron guffawed.

"It was a nice idea," Arthur jumped to Kingsley's defence.

"Sure, but only seven of us turned up," Harry added.

"And the food was horrendous," Hermione laughed, "At least that's one worry we don't have here."

Molly blushed.

"Hermione, dear," she said, "I heard a rumour that you were… maybe…"

Ron cleared his throat, half-hiding his face. Molly pretended not to notice.

"...that you were considering running for Minister next year," she finished.

Hermione glared at Ron, then turned to Molly.

"Well, I had resigned when I told Ron not to tell anyone, he would of course tell you," Hermione grinned, "but yes, I suppose since it's just family here, I think I'm going to."

"Wow, good for you, Hermione," Harry said, raising his glass.

"I think you'll be wonderful, Hermione," Molly agreed.

"It's not that I don't think Kingsley is a wonderful leader," Hermione added, defensively, "But there's some serious changes needed in the Ministry, long overdue."

"Well, you can count on my vote," Ron said, with a sheepish grin.

"Problem is, Won-Won," George said, "Hermione has got to convince people a lot smarter than you. Ever since we started doing elections again after the War, Kingsley has won all four of them."

"And so if you did win, I suppose you would want to take Hermione's role as Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Uh… maybe," Harry said.

"Maybe?" Ron repeated, with an incredulous look, "What do you mean, maybe?"

"Well, Head of Magical Law Enforcement is more of an office job. I want to be on the field, dealing with problems head on. Head of Magical Law Enforcement is perfect for Hermione, but I don't think it's my thing," Harry explained.

"How was Brazil, Harry?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, it was nice. Hot though, almost too hot. And we went in October, Luna and I," Harry replied.

"Did it help the investigation?" Arthur pressed, in between mouthfuls of mashed potato.

"A little bit. We still don't really have a solid lead though… but plenty of research points. Hopefully, I'll dig up something good."

"I was talking with Luna and Rolf recently," Charlie leaned over from the seat next to Hermione.

This surprised Harry; he didn't know Charlie even knew who Luna and Rolf were.

"Really?" He asked, confused.

"Yeah, I heard Luna discovered that new dragon in Brazil," Charlie explained, stabbing a fat potato with his fork.

"Ah," Harry nodded, finally understanding.

"I asked them whether they wanted to accompany me to Brazil to find some more of the Sharp-Ridged dragons, so I could tame a couple and bring them back to my den in Romania," Charlie said.

"How did that go?" Ginny asked, curiously.

Charlie grimaced.

"Well, they were polite enough," Charlie said, "but they made it perfectly clear they didn't find dragon taming to be the most… environmentally-friendly of career choices."

"I thought it might have gone a little something like that," Ginny grinned, knowingly.

"Still, there was a resurgence of an endangered breed in Spain. El Cuernos Diablo. Or the Devil-Horned Dragon. So, I'll be heading there next year."

"Oh, we can meet up in the summer," Ginny piped up.

"You're going to Spain next summer?" Molly asked.

"We all can, if you want to. The Quidditch World Cup! I'm covering it for the Prophet, and we can all get tickets from the Ministry," Ginny replied.

"Another World Cup, Molly," Arthur said, with almost a plea in his tone, "That would be our fourth - whoever thought we'd have that opportunity!"

"I - oh, all right - yes, I think we'll probably join you," Molly nodded.

"You hear that kids?" Ron piped up, "We're going to the Quidditch World Cup next year!"

"Really?" Lucy cried.

"Awesome!" Fred jumped up.

The rest of the kids cheered and murmured among themselves.

"And that was your present from me, by the way. All of you." Ron added, with a grin.

The conversation turned to George and Ron's shop. George couldn't help but brag at how well they were doing.

"We're even thinking of opening a second store in Hogsmeade, give old Zonko a shock!"

And after that, Hogwarts became the topic. At this point, the adults called over to the kids, asking what they had been learning at school. James, now in his third year, said that he had been practising his Patronus, but he had not gotten a corporeal form yet.

"Don't expect that anytime soon," Bill told him, "Your Dad was a natural, but most people don't get it in their first year. When I was at school, they didn't even start teaching Patronus charms until fifth year."

Lucy was doing exceptionally well in all her subjects, Percy and Audrey were pleased to tell everyone, and Molly had become something of a whizz on a broomstick.

"I'm sure you all saw for yourselves earlier. Did you see that double-hooper? That's my Molly. Next Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, what do you say, Molly?" Percy beamed with pride.

Albus was keen to tell everyone how Professor Longbottom had taught them all about the Devil's Snare and Mandrakes.

"How is Neville?" Harry asked.

"He's fine," James shrugged, "Don't think he's too happy with you though, Dad."

Harry chuckled.

"Really? Why?"

"I dunno, something about you not showing for Hogsmeade last time," James said.

Harry's smile faded; a surge of guilt shot through him like ice.

"He was just messing around, Dad," James added.

Harry looked back at him.

"Yes, I know," Harry said.

Still, he ought to arrange a meeting with Neville. He knew that Hogwarts students went to Hogsmeade a couple of days after Christmas, and made a mental note to send James' owl to Neville later.

Harry noticed Hagrid was being exceptionally quiet; he then realised that none of the children had brought up his subject yet.

"Hagrid," Harry called over, "Why don't you tell the younger kids what you'll teach them when they get into third year?"

"I - yeah, alrigh' … see, there're so many creatures in our world. Fascinatin', all of 'em. I'm gonna start you real simple like, with flobberworms, they don't do much, but they are easy to look af'er…"

Hagrid kept the kids occupied through most of the dinner and desert, with his tales of different creatures he had come across over the years. After everyone had finished eating and Molly had started clearing the table, Teddy Lupin arrived.

"Thought I'd come see you all, just had dinner with Gran," Teddy explained.

"How is Andromeda doing?" Harry asked him.

"Oh, she's fine… besides the usual aches and pains, you know. She loves telling me how old she is getting," Teddy lamented.

"I think you've earned a firewhisky," Harry grinned, "Ginny, can you grab the bottle for me please?"

Ginny turned and flicked her wand over into the corner of the room, muttering "Accio Firewhiskey."

The bottle flew through the air and into Harry's outstretched arm. Following the bottle came a bunch of small glasses, that lined themselves up along the table. Harry drew out measures for all the adults and handed them out.

Teddy let out a small cough after drinking his, but smiled.

"That's the good stuff."

Harry was expecting the children's minds to turn to presents at any moment, and five minutes after the table had been fully cleared, James once again approached him.

"Dad, can we open presents now?" he asked.

Harry could hear the desperation in his voice; that this would be the last time he would have to ask.

Harry decided to give in.

"Alright, then," he nodded.

James punched the air in celebration, "Presents!"

The kids all suddenly broke into a jumbled discussion and the adults had to shout over them to maintain order.

"Alright, everyone sit down -"

"Make sure you have enough space -"

"Patience, Hugo -"

"Lily, out of the way -"

Eventually, the children had all taken a seat on the floor in a large circle, with a fair amount of space between them all. The adults all had sacks filled with presents, and they slowly emptied them all with a flick of their wands into one big pile in the middle of the circle.

Harry felt an uneasy twinge in his gut as he magically emptied some presents on to the floor.

Something wasn't right; he had this same feeling earlier. He really hoped that there wasn't some big present he'd forgotten. He knew he had James' Firebolt Storm, he had specifically pulled it down from the loft the night before and wrapped it first. Was there something else?

He looked around at the huge pile of presents, while the children all approached and rummaged through for presents with their own names on them. This is how they did it every year, a free-for-all treasure hunt, whatever has your name on it, is yours.

Harry tried to remember all the presents he knew they had bought, and tried to imagine which of the randomly sized gifts they were, to ensure he definitely hadn't forgotten something.

Ginny approached him; she had clearly noticed the distressed look on his face.

"Harry, what's the matter?" she asked, under her breath.

"I don't know… I feel like we've forgotten something… or something is wrong…"

"I triple-checked the presents before I wrapped them all, I think we're OK," Ginny reassured him.

"Yeah, maybe I'm just being -"

But then it happened.

Harry glanced over at James, who was holding a present with an odd expression on his face.

Harry knew that all of the presents he and Ginny had wrapped were green. This one was purple. Harry looked around the other piles of presents; yellow, red, blue, orange… no purples.

"Dad, there's no name on this," Harry heard James say, but Harry was already moving.

Suddenly, he understood why an uneasy feeling had been creeping up on him all day. His training had suddenly kicked in and he was on high alert.

Harry grabbed the present and ripped it out of James' hands.

"Hey, no need to snatch!" James protested, but Harry pushed him out of the way and ran out of the room, heading for the back garden.

Harry heard some shouting behind him, but was too focused to listen or decipher what was being said.

He burst through the kitchen, and almost knocked over Molly, who gasped, shocked by his sudden appearance. As Harry stepped outside into the open, evening air, he planned to launch the present into the air.

But he couldn't; it was too late.

The weight of the gift sagged and weighed him down.

Purple lightning exploded out of the wrapped present, evaporating it until there was nothing left but a scrap.

Harry felt a shock rip through his body; his muscles tensed and spasmed and he collapsed to his knees. The world was spinning; he was hearing like he had suddenly been submerged underwater, foggy and distant. His head felt like it was being crushed by steel.

"Harry!"

Ginny's scream broke through whatever was ailing him; he forced his eyes to focus. The remnants of the present, a glowing purple piece of ribbon, sat inches away from him on the floor.

"Don't - touch - that!" Harry gasped.

Then his tongue fell limp and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

And there was darkness.