"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley wrapped him up in a bear hug. "So good to see you."
"Good to see you too, Mrs. Weasley," he replied.
She went down the line; Ginny, Ron, Hermione. Ron's face twisted into a scowl at seeing his mother treat Hermione like a daughter. "Well, come on," she said. "Dinner's on. Fleur has made us some French cuisine!"
From the kitchen, they could hear Fleur's voice-- "Eet eez un petit rare, cherie!" A moment later, she emerged from the kitchen. "Cooking for zat man is impossible," she sighed. "But you'd know all about werewolves and zair rare meat, no?" With an airy giggle, she floated back into the kitchen.
"Blimey," said Tonks from behind Ron, and Harry realized that she was who Fleur had been talking to.
"I didn't know you were coming!" Ron exclaimed.
Lupin appeared, looking patched-up. "Both of us are here," he said with a smile. "Your mum, whose heart is bigger than anyone's I know, was kind enough to invite us."
Mrs. Weasley, wearing an apron over her robes, blushed. "I'd better see how Fleur's getting on." She disappeared.
"So," Harry said to Lupin, "what's the news on the werewolves?"
"Unfortunately," he sighed, "a lot of them are siding with Greyback. Not in the sense that all of them want to attack children, but he's certainly swayed a lot of them into hating humans."
"And what have Bill and Fleur been doing?" he asked. "I know Fleur went to France with Madame Maxime--"
"Maxime is finishing Hagrid's crusade," Lupin told him. "She's back with the giants. And Fleur, she's been at Beauxbatons, helping out in Maxime's absence."
"What about Bill?"
"I don't know if I should divulge that information just yet," Lupin said, after a sharp glance from Mrs. Weasley, who had come back to set salt and pepper shakers on the table.
"We're ready," she said. "Have a seat!"
"This is Christmas dinner?" Ron said, an eyebrow arched, as Fleur set a tureen of onion soup in front of him.
"Eet eez the first course," Fleur said haughtily.
Hermione leaned over to Harry. "Eat the onion soup before it eats you," she jested, and Ron found himself chuckling.
You're still mad at her, he reminded himself, and stifled his laughter. With every ounce of dignity he could scrape together, he placed a spoonful of soup in his mouth. "It's very good," he said stiffly.
Fred and George breezed through the door, loaded with packages. "Sorry we're late, Mum," George called.
"Shopping took a little longer than expected--"
"We looked high and low for a life-sized troll for Ron--"
"Guess you can start with some Chocolate Frogs, though." Fred tossed one to his brother, grinning.
"Thanks," Ron said.
Mrs. Weasley snatched it up. "No chocolate before dinner!"
"It's not before dinner," Ginny pointed out. "We've already got soup." A fake smile plastered on her lips, she bit into a baby onion. "Mmm. Delicious."
"Ginevra," Mrs. Weasley reprimanded, and she scowled.
"You know I hate being called that, Mum."
Tonks regarded her sympathetically.
After dumping their packages under the tree in the livingroom, Fred and George slid into their chairs at the table.
"Oy, Bill," Fred said, "nice earring."
Bill fingered the fang earring that dangled from his earlobe. "Like it? It's real, too. From a viper that bit me."
Fleur gazed at Bill. "'E's so brave," she said adoringly.
Harry exchanged a glance with Ginny, who looked like she was going to be sick. "So, Bill," he said, not able to quell his curiosity, "what have you been doing since the wedding?"
"Oh, different things, here and there," he said dismissively.
"Trying to sway the goblins?" pressed Harry.
"A little, yes," Bill replied.
"Is it true that some of them have joined with Voldemort because they were promised rights and freedoms?"
Bill glanced at his mother. "He knows more than you give him credit for." Turning back to Harry, he nodded. "Yes. But some of the other goblins are content with their lives, and still others want to be treated as equals but also know that Voldemort will not hold to his promise."
"They're pawns," Harry said.
"Exactly."
Fleur and Mrs. Weasley took the soup bowls away and returned with a tray of turkey, mashed potatoes, and several other delicious-looking dishes.
"Phlegm did all this? I'm impressed," Ginny whispered in Harry's ear. "I didn't know that she knew how to cook without servants and house-elves."
Harry coughed to cover his laughter, and allowed Mr. Weasley to set a generous slice of turkey on his plate.
"Ron, would you pass the potatoes?" asked Hermione.
"So, Dad," George piped up, as Ron silently handed the bowl to his former girlfriend, "how's the job at the Ministry coming along?"
Mr. Weasley grinned. "I don't think that the Minister likes Dolores Umbridge all that well," he said with satisfaction.
"Who does?" Harry pointed out, helping himself to more corn.
Ron laughed.
"At any rate," Mr. Weasley continued, "I'm not sure that I'll get it, but it's looking alright."
"Oh," Tonks said, "don't be so modest. Scrimgeour is looking for a reason to get rid of her. He doesn't want to promote her."
Mrs. Weasley beamed. "This job is going to mean a lot to this family," she said, passing the butter dish to Fred. "We'll have plenty of Galleons!"
Ron shifted uncomfortably.
"What is that noise?" Mrs. Weasley said suddenly.
Fred grinned. "Sounds like it's coming from the livingroom," he said.
"Sure does, Fred. Mum, why don't you come out and see what's making all that racket?" George suggested.
"Perhaps I will," Mrs. Weasley agreed, setting her napkin down and rising from the table. Followed by the twins, she went into the livingroom.
"Oh, boys," Mrs. Weasley said, pulling a cover from a cage to reveal a large eagle owl. She put her hand over her heart. "I don't believe you."
"Errol's getting so old," George said, "we thought perhaps you should just let him stay around the house for what's left of his life."
"And what's this guy's name?" Mrs. Weasley cooed, sticking a finger in between the bars of the cage.
"She's a girl," Fred told her. "We haven't named her yet."
"Let's call her Artemis," Ginny suggested from the doorway.
"Oh," Hermione breathed, coming in from the kitchen, "she's beautiful!" She turned to Ron. "No more crash-landings in the Great Hall," she said with a smile.
Ron scowled. "What, am I good enough for you now that my dad's getting a new job and we have a decent owl?"
Everyone turned to Ron in surprise.
"That's not what I--"
"Oh, forget it," he sighed, and trudged up the stairs to his own room.
A bit later, Harry joined him. "Hey, mate."
"Hey."
"They're going to open presents."
Ron shrugged. "I'll have a sweater from Mum, something ridiculous that I don't want from Hermione--"
Harry tossed a bag of Honeydukes sweets onto Ron's bed. "Here's part of my present for you," he said.
"Brilliant," Ron approved, digging in. He chose a box of Ice Mice for himself, and threw a Chocolate Frog to Harry.
"Thanks," Harry said, pulling the cord.
"Who'd you get?"
"Dumbledore." Harry turned the card over in his hand-- the portrait of Dumbledore winked at him.
And then something occurred to him. He put the card up to his face. "Can you hear me?" he asked tentatively.
The portrait smiled. "Ah, you've figured it out," it said.
Ron started. "Did-- was--"
"Is that Mr. Weasley in the room with you?"
"Yes," Harry said.
"Good, good. And Miss Granger?"
"No, she's not here."
"Ah."
"Sir," Harry began, unable to stop himself, "why didn't you let me help you? That night in the tower? I could have stopped Malfoy--"
"Ah, but Draco stopped himself."
"But Snape didn't, Snape went right through with it--"
"Professor Snape, Harry."
Harry was livid. "How can you still want me to treat him with respect? Professor-- he's a murderer!"
"I trust Severus," said the portrait.
"I don't believe it!" Harry exploded.
"You know," said Hermione's voice from the doorway, "wizard portraits repeat phrases and wisdom that the person said in their lifetime. Maybe Dumbledore-in-the-card doesn't realize what's happened."
"Don't you knock?" Ron spat.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said sarcastically, "it's just that there's a Dark Mark in the sky, and I figured maybe you might want to know." With that, she turned on her heel and left.
Harry and Ron exchanged a look, and Harry flew to the window. Sure enough, a bright emerald skull had emerged in the sky.
"Someone's been murdered," Ron said. "It looks like it's over by the Diggory place--"
Harry ran downstairs. Tonks and Lupin were already out the door; Bill, Fleur, and Ron's parents were putting on jackets. Harry reached for his.
"No, lad," Mr. Weasley said, "let us handle this one."
"I'm not a child," Harry protested.
"We know it," said Mr. Weasley. "We all know you'll have to fight You-Know-Who when the time comes. Save your strength for that." And they left.
Swearing under his breath, Harry toppled over a chair. "I am so sick of--"
But he never got to finish his sentence. At that moment, the back door nearly came off its hinges, and a gust of wind shook the house.
"Just the wind?" Ron said nervously.
Harry pulled his wand out and edged toward the kitchen. Steeling herself, Ginny followed.
"Charming," said the voice of Bellatrix Lestrange, picking up one of Mrs. Weasley's prized teacups. "Look at the cute little roses."
"Put it down," Harry demanded, his wand raised.
"Ohh," she cooed, "we have company!" She threw the cup to the floor where it shattered into pieces. "Come, Natalya... meet our little baby Potter."
From around the corner stepped a slender albino girl with blood-red eyes, her skin white as parchment, her hair like silvery threads of moonlight.
"Natalya Ivanakov," Hermione said, a trace of shock in her voice.
"That's right," said the girl. Her eyes blazed. "And you, you must be the Granger girl. Oh, how Viktor went on about you... pity he won't be getting any more letters from you..."
Bellatrix cackled. "At least Amos Diggory and his wife have joined their bitsy boy," she said, switching into her baby voice.
"You killed them," Harry said, aghast. "That's what the Mark in the sky was for..."
"He's got it now," said Bellatrix.
"What," Harry found himself saying, "no rat to do your dirty work this time?"
"Pettigrew!" spat Bellatrix, and he scurried into the room.
"Aha," Harry said. "Just who I was looking for. Expelliarmus!" Pettigrew's wand flew from his fingers, and Ron grabbed it immediately.
"Incarcerous!" Ginny shouted, and Hermione echoed her; in seconds, Bellatrix and Natalya were frozen in ropes.
"You," began Harry, advancing on Pettigrew, "you are going to tell me something."
Wormtail shuddered.
"You drowned Regulus Black," he said. "What river did you drown him in?"
Hands shaking, teeth chattering, he looked from Bellatrix to Natalya. "I don't know!" he wailed pathetically, covering his face with his hands.
"Oh, but you do know," Harry pressed, sinking the tip of his wand into Pettigrew's temple. "Tell me."
"Don't you tell him," snapped Bellatrix. "The Dark Lord will punish you..."
Pettigrew cried out. In his mind, the betrayal of Harry's father kept poking at his conscience, and he thought of the day in the Shrieking Shack that Harry spared his life. He fell to his knees.
"Mistress," he said, appealing to Bellatrix, "don't tell..."
"If you reveal your secrets, I will inform the Dark Lord at once!" Bellatrix shrieked.
Harry grabbed him by his collar and dragged him into the next room, away from her piercing eyes. "Tell me."
Pettigrew cowered. "The... the River Thames," he squeaked out. "The Dark Lord... he used it... under his orders... a Horcrux, the wand..."
"He will torture you... I will torture you..." Bellatrix screamed wildly from the kitchen.
Pettigrew shuddered. "I've paid my debt," he breathed, "and I'm dead now."
Natalya's concentration was bent on her wand, which was lying at Ginny's feet. "Accio!" she commanded, and her wand flew into her palm. She released herself and Bellatrix in a flash.
"Stupefy!" yelled Fred instantly, and Natalya crashed into the kitchen cabinets. She made to raise her wand, but grabbed her wrist in pain.
"He calls," Bellatrix said, closing her eyes to relish the burn of the Dark Mark on her wrist.
Instantly, Pettigrew Apparated away.
"You haven't seen the last of us, child," Bellatrix seethed, and before Harry could retort, she and Natalya had vanished.
"The Thames," Ginny said.
"I'll go stay at the Leaky Cauldron for a day," Harry said. "Bring the water back in a jar to Hogwarts-- that should do it, don't you think?"
"Maybe you actually have to put it in the river," Ron said.
Hermione put her hands on her hips. "Didn't you hear me? Harry can't throw it in the river..."
"I know that," said Ron impatiently. "I just meant... maybe he had to hold it underneath the surface."
The front door opened, and the Weasleys came through the door, followed by Lupin and Tonks.
"Amos and Elizabeth have been killed," Mrs. Weasley said listlessly, sweeping her tartan off her head and hanging it up.
"We know. Bellatrix, Pettigrew, and-- who was the third one?" Harry looked round at Hermione.
"Natalya Ivanakov," she said.
"Right." He blinked back up at them.
"They were here?" Tonks' hair relaxed into a light teal, showing her surprise.
Harry nodded. "I got the information I needed from Pettigrew," he said. "I need to go to the Thames."