Chapter Fourteen

A Very Potter Christmas

Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to

~John Ed Pearce

"Honestly, Professor. We didn't have anything to do with this! We were just as shocked and appalled by what happened as everyone else. Sure, we wanted Gryffindor to win, but win fairly. Winning by cheating cheapens the game and the win," Remus spoke, his eyes wide as he attempted to convince Professor McGonagall of his and his friends' innocence. It had been several weeks since the Quidditch game and, despite an investigation conducted by Professor Strinkley, Professor Slughorn, and Mister Broadmoor, no suspects had been established.

The jinxes placed on the broom were at a second year level, meaning there was a wide suspect pool of anyone able to perform second year magic. The jinxes had been difficult to deal with because multiple jinxes had been cast on each broom. It had taken Professor Strinkley about an hour to remove all the jinxes on all the brooms as a result. However, aside from the same jinx being used on Cadwallader's broom as Sirius had placed on Snape's, there was nothing about the jinxes that linked them to any person or group.

The Gryffindor team was quickly cleared because, as per Hogwarts Quidditch regulations, they'd left their wands in the changing rooms and had no opportunity to jinx the brooms. Suspicion then shifted to James and Sirius. They were where Professor McGonagall's suspicions had rooted in particular. Aside from the jinx similarity, James and Sirius had come into contact with the Slytherin team's brooms when they'd cleaned them during detention. However, other Professors had cleared them because the pair had been in with the brooms without their wands. They, too, didn't really have an opportunity.

Yet, Professor McGonagall was still suspicious. They'd gotten away with the Halloween incident. Who was to say that they hadn't done it again? Because of this, Professor McGonagall had taken to questioning the boys repeatedly, most likely trying to catch them in a lie. When James and Sirius had failed to convince McGonagall of their innocence, they'd turned to Remus. He was the only one who hadn't faced detentions, so there was a slight hope that he would be more believable.

So far, that hadn't been the case.

"I would like to believe you, Mr. Lupin. However, the track records of Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, and even Mr. Pettigrew make it hard to take them at their word. The evidence of who committed the act against the Slytherin's is unclear, but some of it points towards them. I sincerely hope it isn't the case, but I can't dismiss them as suspects yet," Professor McGonagall responded. She truly did look sorry, and the boys hoped that would come to outweigh her suspicions.

However, as the month of November passed, it seemed that McGonagall remained steadfast. For their part, the four Gryffindor first years, chose to spend the last few weeks of their first semester focused solely on their schoolwork. McGonagall was keeping an extra close eye on them, and it made pulling off even a small prank against Snape extremely difficult. She seemed to be everywhere all the time. But the quartet had resolved, once their winter break was over, and the heat of the Quidditch incident had died down a little, they would be back with a vengeance.

The whole thing with the Slytherin brooms had also put James' hackles up. As he and Sirius were marched behind Professor McGonagall up to her office after the match, James remembered the strange sight he'd seen between Professor Strinkley and an upper class Slytherin. James now recognized him as a member of the Slytherin team, and as a result of that revelation, James now found the already suspicious situation even more suspect.

"It must have been then, when I saw them in the hallway! They must have been plotting something then. I don't know why they would want to throw the match, ruin their own chances at victory and even lessen the odds that they would make the Quidditch House Cup," James spoke, emphatically. He waved his hands around as he did so, causing the small bit of egg he had skewered on his fork to go flying.

"I don't know, James. That seems a little far-fetched. Even you can't come up with a reason for it. Why would they tamper with their own brooms?" Remus asked. James gave his friend an exasperated look. While Sirius, and especially Peter, were usually pretty easy to convince of his point of view, Remus was always a little more resistant. He required actual proof before he believed something.

"Well, who else would it be? This was the first match of the season. No one had any real stakes in who won or lost the game. There was no point to it. But, if the Slytherins are plotting something bigger, this could only be the first step. We should keep an eye on them, see if we can spot any other suspicious behaviours."

"But we have been looking in on Strinkley, trying to see if we can come up with a fireable offence, and we haven't gotten anywhere. Maybe what you saw was a one-off," Sirius spoke, shovelling in potatoes in between his sentences.

"Or, maybe they are done meeting with Strinkley and are meeting with someone else, somewhere else." James wasn't about to let this drop. He had a feeling about all of this and, when he thought he was right, he wasn't about to let it slip through his hands.

"That makes sense," Peter piped up.

"But where would we even start to look?" Remus added. James was getting a little annoyed at Remus' negative Nancy act, but he bit his tongue. Normally, James would have gotten angry, maybe even lashed out, but his relationship with Remus was already in a precarious position. He didn't want to push the other boy away.

"Fine," James grumbled, conceding. "But if there is something else suspicious that happens and the Slytherins have any role in it, even if they are the victims, we should put in a real effort. Two strange events cannot be a coincidence." James looked at his other friends who all seemed to agree with what he said.

Hopefully, there would be something that would happen, but James was pretty sure it wouldn't before the Christmas break. There was only two weeks left until then.

Finally, the semester came to an end and Christmas break was upon the Hogwarts students. James was excited to be heading home to see his parents and regale them with all the adventures he'd had. His possible guilt in the Quidditch debacle still hung over his head and threatened to dampen his spirits, but James tried his best to ignore it all.

He quickly packed his trunk and ran nearly as fast as he could down to the train. He and Sirius sat in the same compartment they shared on their first trip to Hogwarts. This time, though, Peter and Remus joined them. Remus looked almost as excited as James. The sandy haired boy had spent the days leading up to the break enthusiastically talking about all his family traditions, and now he was nearly bouncing. James had only become more and more pleased the more Remus talked about his family. The messy haired boy had known that his persistence would eventually pay off. The skinny, sandy haired boy was no longer reserved and apart. He was a full-fledged member of their group.

Peter had said he was happy to be returning home and he looked it, but James sensed there was something keeping him from being completely joy filled about the holiday. Something in Peter's eyes, concern and worry, kept James from fully believing the mousy boy. There was some aspect of the coming holiday that had put Peter slightly on edge, but he was very good at hiding it.

For his part, Sirius looked like he'd rather be writing a twelve-foot paper than going home. Sirius had mentioned he didn't get along all that well with his family, but James hadn't really understood the extent until he saw his friend's less than enthusiastic expression as they sat on the train for home. Sirius had complained about his parent's on several occasions, but James had assumed that was just a young boy upset at his parent's strictness, but maybe it was more than that.

"Anyone for a game of exploding snap?" James asked, trying to distract Sirius and Peter from their thoughts and emotions. Peter quickly chimed in, followed by Remus. Sirius seemed to be a little reluctant, but James chose to interpret that as a by-product of the shaggy haired boy's foul mood. However, after only a few rounds of the game, all four members of the compartment were quite loud and raucous, thoroughly enjoying their game.

As they were enjoying themselves, James caught a glimpse of Severus Snape and Lily Evans making their way through the hall. Lily was clearly animated and eager, talking and gesticulating. She had a wide smile on her face and a shimmer in her eyes. In stark contrast, Snape had his shoulders hunched, his head hung low and a sour expression on his face. He looked very similar to Sirius whenever someone mentioned the holidays. Maybe Snape, too, was not looking forward to the time off with family.

However, James wasn't given too much time to dwell on the thought because Lily and Snape quickly moved on and the current game of exploding snap quickly drew back his attention. The foursome spent the rest of the train ride playing various card games and devising new pranks and hijinks they could inflict on the castle when they returned from the break.

Finally, the Hogwarts Express pulled into King's Cross station and the students disembarked and began their vacation.

James hoped off the train, mid-sentence. Sirius quickly followed suit, and they were followed by Remus and Peter. James was animatedly talking about a Quidditch match his father had taken him to a year before and the crazy play that one of the chasers had performed. He was so involved in the conversation that he didn't even realise when Peter and Remus left to join their parents, or when he walked right passed his own.

"Jamie are you planning on going home with your new friend there?" the sweet voice of his mother asked. The sound jarred James and he stopped in the middle of his stride. He spun on his heel and turned to see his parents smiling faces. Overcome with emotions, James quickly ran to his parents and embraced them, his exuberance nearly knocking them over.

"Careful Jamie," his father spoke, a chuckle in his voice.

"Sorry, dad. I just missed you."

"We missed you too Jamie. Now, are you going to introduce us to your new friend?" his mother asked. She smiled warmly at Sirius, who was standing rather awkwardly a few feet away, witnessing the happy family reunion.

"Oh right! This is Sirius Black! We're both in Gryffindor. We both love Quidditch! And he's an absolutely brilliant spell caster. And then there's Peter and Remus," James whirled around, looking for his other two friends. When he didn't find them, he made a waving dismissive motion. "I'll point them out after Christmas."

Euphemia laughed at the rapid fire pace her son was speaking at. She smiled warmly at Sirius and addressed her next question to him. "Are your parents picking you up? If they aren't here yet we can wait for them with you. The train was a little bit on the early side today."

Sirius looked down at his shoes when he responded. "No, that's okay. My parents said they'd meet me outside. They think the station is too busy, so they prefer not to come in. I'll be fine. Thanks though, Mrs. Potter." Sirius spoke quickly, then smiled up at the Potters before turning on his heel and heading into the crowd. James saw his parents share a strange look, but he wasn't quite sure what it meant.

"Alright, Jamie. Let's head home!" his father finally spoke, cupping the young boy on the shoulder before picking up his bag and following in the same direction as Sirius had gone.

James sat on the floor in front of the large Potter Christmas tree. Wrapping paper was spread throughout the floor surrounding him. A wide smile was plastered on his face. This Christmas had been absolutely perfect. The night before, the extended Potter family and many of the Potter's friends had gathered at the mansion to celebrate with copious amounts of food, drink, and good cheer. The party had gone late into the night as the revelatory party-goes thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

James had been excited to regale his family and his parents' friends with tales of his Hogwarts adventures. He talked about all the magic he was learning, the Quidditch he'd witnessed, the tomfoolery he'd been involved in. He even broached the subject of the strange behaviour he'd witnessed between Strinkley and the Slytherins, and his belief in how it connected to what happened at the first Quidditch match of the season. The group that had gathered around to hear James' tales hesitantly agreed. None of them really knew Strinkley, he was a fair amount younger, but they all didn't trust a Slytherin, especially one that had already shown he played favourites and was untrustworthy. James enjoyed every minute of it.

Then, on Christmas morning, James had awoken early and gone down to see the family tree with a mountain of presents beneath it. Most were for James, gifts from the guests of the party as well as his parents. His eyes wide, James sat down on the floor in front of the tree and took it all in. He didn't think himself spoiled, he didn't need, want, or expect the gifts that he got, but that didn't mean he didn't appreciate the gifts.

Somehow, and he wasn't quite sure how he managed it, James waited until his parents joined him. They only slept about twenty minutes longer than James had, early risers that they were, but it still felt like an eternity. While his parents sipped their morning coffee, James tore into the stack of presents. With each gift that James had opened, his joy had only increased. Now, having opened the last gift, James sat and took in the moment.

Christmas was his favourite time of year and this one hadn't failed to deliver in joy, merriness, and general Christmas spirit. It had truly been a very merry Potter Christmas.