Summer is here! Finally, no more cold whether!

Chapter Twenty-Two

Remus Lupin was a slave driver. Harry hadn't noticed before during their classes, possibly because the man was still working on them with creatures and hadn't started on wand work with them yet, but Professor Lupin had decided that if he was going to teach them the Patronis, he was going to make sure they damn well mastered the charm.

Harry didn't know whether to thank the man or continue groaning in pain on the floor of the Defense classroom along with Ron. Hermione, somehow, was still standing though she looked just as exhausted as the both of them.

Professor Lupin seemed even more amused at their theatrics though the man was kind enough not to say anything to the downed children. "I must say, you three have made remarkable progress." He told them all, that deceivably gentle smile plastered on his face.

'Sadist,' Gabriel whimpered from inside their mind. 'That man is a closet sadist.'

'No arguments here,' Harry agreed silently as he forced himself to his feet. If anything this was going to make getting into shape easier. It would probably help his muscles develop more than working with his sword would have, otherwise.

'Or we'll die from being overworked,' Gabriel grumbled.

'Don't be melodramatic,' Harry told him, rolling his eyes as he hefted himself up. Great, now he was calling himself melodramatic. Like he didn't already have enough problems on his plate without adding that to the list.

Gabriel grumbled some more before falling quiet just as Professor Lupin began addressing them again. "In the last two weeks you've all managed to get a mist from your wands at least once," he praised them, pleased. "As you no doubt know, this is a feat that most adult wizards can't claim to have made. The Patronis requires intense focus just as much as it requires perfected wand work and a strong will. The happy memory that it's based off of can do nothing for the charm if you don't learn how to focus that happiness and direct it towards the charm."

This was something that Professor had been stressing since they had first come to him for lessons and Harry found that it helped him in more than just the Patronis. His transfiguration work had also improved using the method that his professor was describing.

He wasn't the only one taking the lesson to heart as Hermione's charm work improved and Ron had begun working harder on his own spell work, though he focused more on jinxes that Fred and George had taught him than on class work. The improvement was still there, though. It just took Ron longer to manage than it did him or Hermione. Harry wondered if it had something to do with Ron's rather hot-headed temperament than anything else. Hermione was the calmer of them both and she was the first that had produced the fine mist of her beginning Patronis.

It was just before the winter holidays that Professor McGonagall finally discovered Havoc and Tinker's existence.

Havoc and Tinker had become the unofficial mascots of Gryffindor Tower, making small amount of mischief every now and then and generally just endearing themselves to the entirety of the Tower. Even Percy liked the two pixies and it was one of the few times the redhead didn't go running off to inform a teacher that a rule was being broken.

In fact, Percy and the older Gryffindors seemed to like the two pixies as much as Harry did. Tinker, living up to his name, was rather adapt at fixing small things broke or shattered in the Tower. This included quills and inkwells that had either snapped or had fallen to the floor. Harry didn't know what kind of magic Tinker was using but it was became a common thing for Harry to find the pixie slowly reassembling a bust inkwell while a first year watched on in awe. It was cute, Harry decided after the third time he'd come across such a scene.

Havoc also lived up to his name as well. The pixie kept to their original agreement to be on his best behavior in the Tower but that didn't mean that he couldn't mess with people outside of the Tower. It was unsurprising that Havoc got along famously with the Weasley Twins and Harry suspected that some of the more recent pranks they'd pulled had been with the pixie's help.

It was during one of the few times when Tinker had enlisted Havoc's help to fix a broken jewelry box that one of the older girls (a third year) had brought down to the common room that Professor McGonagall walked into the common room, for a reason Harry never did discover, and paused to stare at the odd sight of two pixies reassembling a jewelry box while a group of first years and a third year watched them.

It had been a close call but after every older student, including Percy, came forward with a list of things that the two pixies had helped with (conveniently leaving out the fact that Havoc was usually in the company of the Weasley Twins), the stern Professor had conceded the point. Harry was sure that the only reason she had backed down was because the entire House was protesting against their banishment. Well, that and the fact that they had been there since the first Defense lesson of the previous year and hadn't caused any real harm in that time period that she knew of. It helped that Havoc had the most convincing puppy dog eyes Harry had ever seen.

The Monster Book of Monsters Harry had named Ruth had also become rather like a beloved pet in the common room. Harry wasn't sure why he had such an effect on sentient things but Ruth was almost like a cat with how it would brush up against the legs of the nearest person, demanding attention. It was becoming an on-going joke between the Gryffindors to bet on what Harry would bring to the common room next.

It was becoming a common belief that Harry would end up with a small herd of different animals and sentient objects following him around by the time he graduated. Harry didn't really know what to think about that considering that he had already been forced to talk Buckbeak out of following him into the castle at the end of his Care of Magical Creature's class, to the bemusement of the other members of the class. Even the Slytherin's weren't sure what to think of the weekly argument Harry had with the prideful Hippogriff.

Gabriel was no help as the archangel was all for the Hippogriff coming with them. Apparently, Gabriel didn't care if it would cause chaos or not, just that Buckbeak was another 'cute' animal that he wanted to keep.

Harry sometimes wondered about his archangel self's sanity. Just because an animal was 'cute' didn't mean that it couldn't very easily kill someone if it happened to get upset. In fact, Buckbeak still glared at Malfoy whenever he saw the blond pounce. Harry was just glad that Malfoy's self-preservation kept him from going within twenty feet of the irate animal.

He was more glad that meant that Malfoy was also usually about twenty feet away from him as well. Harry never denied to being self-serving every once in a while.

Then, in what felt like a blink of an eye, it was Christmas break and Harry was once again leaving the castle behind to spend Christmas with the Weasley family.

Headmaster Dumbledore had seemed like he was going to put up a fight at first. Obviously, Sirius Black was still an issue that needed to be dealt with yet something still felt wrong to Harry about the entire situation. If Black wanted him dead, just why would he wait twelve years to break out from Azkaban? Being his father's best friend, Harry knew that Black would likely know about his muggle relatives. Hell, even if he wanted to wait until Harry was at Hogwarts, that didn't explain why Black hadn't broken out to come after him in his first year!

Something had caused Black to decide to break out of Azkaban. Something had motivated him and Harry had doubts to whether or not that something was him.

"So, Harrykins," one of the Twins began, dragging Harry back out of his thoughts.

He could dwell on the motives of Sirius Black at a later time.

Christmas at the Weasley's felt weird, with two of their members not joining them. Bill and Charlie had both been unable to get the holiday off this year. Bill was in the middle of a job for the goblins and Charlie was helping with a newly nesting mother. Apparently, this breed of dragon nested during the winter months instead of summer, like most dragons and Charlie was the only one that the dragon let get close to her nest.

The house felt strangely empty without every Weasley there, Harry noted as he watched Fred and George tear open their presents. Without the oldest of them there, the Twins were the first to open presents. It was no surprise to anyone that most of their presents were prank themed. Christmas was likely the only time that Molly Weasley turned a blind eye to her twin sons' mischief.

While the Twins were distracted by their newest possessions, Percy began unwrapping his own presents. Besides the traditional Weasley sweater, Harry had gotten him a book on Transfiguration and Charms, the two subjects that Percy liked the most. Ron, Ginny and the Twins combined forces to give him a new book on rare spells that had him beaming. Yet his favorite gift was the summer interview his father had arranged at the Ministry for him.

Harry didn't think he had ever seen the most well mannered of the Weasley children that excited before. Arthur seemed to be proud that his gift was being so well received, beaming at his third eldest child in happiness.

Ron went next, humming in happiness at the broom care kit that Harry had gotten him. Harry knew that Ron would have protested anything else, still humming over the new wand that he'd gotten with the birthday money from Harry. He hadn't looked forward to replacing Charlie's old wand with Bill's. Harry didn't really mind spoiling his friends but he knew that Ron would find some way to label it as charity if he didn't tone it down until his next birthday.

'Maybe we should get him some Quidditch gear?' Gabriel suggested. Harry considered the idea before shelving it for future observation. It did have merit to it.

Ron also received a book from Hermione, this one on famous Quidditch players, much to Ron's delight. Percy, the Twins, and Ginny had chipped in to get him a new Chudley Cannons poster from their newest game and he got a traditional Weasley sweater and some fudge from his parents. The redhead was rather pleased with his newest possessions and beamed his pleasure to all of them.

Ginny, once again going before Harry at his insistence, received a necklace made of…radishes? Harry looked at the item in bemusement as Ginny explained the necklace had come from her friend Luna. There was something off about that necklace but even looking at it, Harry couldn't tell what he was supposed to be seeing.

'Some sort of blessing,' Gabriel agreed in his head. 'I have no clue which one though. That girl is an enigma.'

Putting aside the necklace, Ginny opened the rest of her gifts. Her parents had gotten her a newish winter cloak to replace her old one that was rather tattered. The burnt red of the cloak went rather well with her tan skin and red hair, Harry noted as the girl immediately put the cloak on. Ron, the Twins, and Percy had gotten her a book. Harry was unable to read the title as Ginny quickly hid it away, her face turning an interesting pink color as her siblings laughed. He was missing something, he just knew it.

Harry's gift was opened last and Ginny practically pounced on him after seeing what it was. After a year of getting to know the girl, Harry had realized rather quickly that Ginny was a tomboy. She could appreciate some girly things, like jewelry and make-up, but she also loved sports and fighting. So Harry had gotten her a book set on curses and the like that would give her an edge in any of the fights that she got into.

He also figured that she would appreciate the hidden broom that was waiting for her in her dorm at Hogwarts. Sometimes being mentally older than his friends was handy, especially when getting gifts for friends. He really didn't want to deal with the disapproving looks that giving her a broom would have gotten from the rest of the Weasley's, thank you very much.

Harry himself had a rather large pile of gifts to open. Luna had sent him some sort of amulet that was carved in Holly wood. Harry blinked at the strange symbols on the amulet, the words seeming to shift whenever he looked at it. 'Impressive,' Gabriel said, his voice showing his pleasure at the gift. Harry fascined the amulet to his robes, glad that he had thought to give the girl a present as well.

From the Weasley's, he received a Weasley sweater to go with his other two from previous Christmas', a book on household charms, and fudge. He raised his eyes at the Twins, Percy, Ginny, and Ron when he looked at the books but all he received were snickers. Deciding that he didn't care if he appeared childish, Harry stuck his tongue out at them all, causing even more laughter to fill the room.

Hagrid's present had to be one of his favorites, though. To go with his previous gift themes, Hagrid had sent him another hand carved gift. The carving was of Buckbeak, Tinker, Havoc, and Ruth. Harry had to laugh at the ridiculous scene that the hippogriff, two pixies, and a sentient book made together. It would join his other gifts in his trunk until he had someplace to display them at.

The rest of the day was spent out in the yard, swinging snowballs at each other. Percy tried to bow out at first but reluctantly joined them as Harry, Ron, and Ginny forced him from the house and into the snow bank outside the door.

It was quickly discovered that Percy, being seventeen, could use magic and did so without any mercy. Not even the twins were spared from the onslaught of snowballs that the seventeen flung at them, grinning widely as his shield charm kept their retaliation against him.

Four hours later, they surrendered and Percy called off the snowballs, laughing at their drowned puppy look as the Twins managed to dump a bucket of snow over his head while he was distracted.

In the end, they retreated inside the house drenched to the bone and laughing loudly. Molly took one look at them before shaking her head in exasperation and ordering them upstairs to dry off and change into dry clothes.

Molly had diner on the table by the time that they returned downstairs and the rest of the night was spent reading and listening to the Wizarding Wireless. Percy eventually retreated back upstairs to finish off his homework and to read his newest books. Harry was playing a game of chess against Ron, getting his ass thoroughly kicked by the redhead. Really, it was impressive how badly that he was being trashed by his best friend.

In all, Harry thought with a grin and Ron happily proclaimed Checkmate, he could get used to having Christmas' like this.

It was nice to have a family.

Okay, so this is not my favorite chapter. At all. But even after a few days of tweaking and all but rewriting it, I've just decided that it's going to be one of those chapters that I'll never be pleased with and just call it quits while I'm ahead. It was bound to happen at least once in this story. Considering I've only had one other big problem before now (that was the fault of the chapter and not electronics, that it) I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and go with it.

There isn't really anything big in this chapter but if you have any questions, feel free to ask them and I'll clarify where I can.

You're all amazing!

~MisteryMaiden~