Chapter 4: Christmas with the Potters

Author's Note: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Rewritten with more juicy story goodness!

The rest of the story will come along as I get it done, but with other projects going on, I make no promises as far as when it will be up.

A few days after Katie Bell's accident, Harry was in the Room of Requirement when he heard hissing outside. Recognizing the sound as Neville using Parseltongue, Harry called to his friend. "Come on in, Neville," Harry said and a moment later, Neville entered, Sirius following.

"What's going on, Harry?" Sirius asked as he sat down on one of the couches in the room.

"Nothing," Harry muttered.

"I know something's up, Prongslet," Sirius said, firmly. "Spill it. What's got you upset?"

"Ginny," Harry whispered and Sirius hooted with laughter.

"Harry James Potter, you could join Voldemort himself and that girl would still love you to pieces!" Sirius said, laughing.

"I know," Harry replied. "And that's the problem." Correctly interpreting Neville and Sirius's silences as confusion, Harry continued. "I don't have any clue what to get Ginny for Christmas."

Neville smiled as he threw an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Harry, whatever you get her, I'm sure she'll love it."

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Ginny Weasley was a complete wreck.

The closer it got to Christmas, the more frantic she grew as she tried to figure out the perfect gift for Harry.

But everything she thought of had some sort of visual element and since Harry couldn't see…

"Argh!" Ginny screamed as she jumped of her bed in the Gryffindor dormitories. She paced around, kicking aside the scraps of parchment upon which she had jotted down her gift ideas. Looking out upon the new snow, Ginny decided to clear her head by going for a broom ride.

Half an later, she was kicking off from the frozen Quidditch field and soaring upwards before diving down steeply and spiraling, pulling up close enough to the ground that her boots left tracks on the snow. Smiling broadly, Ginny took off again. This was a feeling of freedom unmatched by anything else in the world. Not even the sky was an obstacle when you were on a broom. She longed to give this feeling back to Harry, but without knowing where he was going or what he was doing…

As the sun started to set, Ginny was still flying around, thinking about her quandary. As she watched the owls fly out of the owlery and heard the bats fly out of the rafters of the castle…

Ginny pulled up short as one of the bats flew right past her, sonar chirping. No, it could work… Could it? Stashing the broom in the shed, she hurried back into the castle and ran to find Hermione in the library. The bushy-haired Gryffindor, as usual, was hidden behind a stack of books in the back of the library. "Hermione," Ginny whispered, sitting next to her. "I need your help." Once Hermione looked up, Ginny asked, "Is there some way I can charm an object so it works like bat sonar for Harry?"

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The first day of Christmas holidays found Harry sitting in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express with Tobias and Mallory who was sprawled on the bench seat across from her brothers. "I… am in love," Mallory said dreamily, looking at Tobias.

Tobias, who had been reading, didn't even look up as he replied, "Neville's taken, Ron is Hermione's, Harry's off limits for obvious reasons, so anyone else is forbidden."

"Tobias, you are such a mood killer," Mallory said, sitting up. "Harry, what do you think?"

"I think that if Mom and Dad approve, its okay," Harry said, shrugging.

"You're not helping, Harry," Tobias protested.

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Tonks was waiting cheerfully at the King's Cross station to drive Harry, Mallory, and Tobias home as the three teenagers got off the train. Once they pulled up to the Potter's home, Sirius bounded out of the house in dog form and buried each kid in the snow as soon as they got out of the car.

"Sirius, you furry dolt!" Tobias said as he helped his younger siblings up. "What was that for?"

"Just my way of saying Happy Holidays," Sirius said after he changed back and used his wand to send the luggage to the appropriate rooms. "James and Lily just got back from doing something for Dumbledore so dinner will be a little while, so you kids can go rest for a bit before we dine."

"Okay," Harry said, heading to the stairs. "In that case, I'm going up to finish Ginny's gift."

"I'm going to owl Katie and Angelina their gifts," Tobias muttered, but Sirius overheard.

"Tobias, are you dating two girls at once?" Sirius asked in a would-be stern voice.

"Yes," Tobias said, looking down.

Sirius threw an arm around Tobias's shoulders and laughed. "Just like your old man and a true Marauder! Good for you. Now go make two girls very happy."

Tobias nodded and headed upstairs along with Mallory while Sirius headed into the kitchen where Lily was mashing potatoes by hand and James was sitting at the table reading the Daily Prophet. "Prongs, did you pick up Tobias's gift?"

"What did you get him, Sirius?" Lily asked, as she added hot cream that had been steeped with both fresh and roasted garlic.

James and Sirius exchanged looks, and then James said, "A motorcycle."

There was a split second when Sirius thought Lily hadn't heard him, and then a plate slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor with a crash. "You got my son a WHAT?!"

Sirius tried to act calm as he heard Tobias and Harry came down stairs to investigate the noise. "A motorcycle," Sirius repeated. "It's red with gold trim. And James and I did a bunch of safety charms on it."

James was just getting up to leave the kitchen when Lily turned on him and he froze in his place. "YOU KNEW about this?!" she snarled.

"Um, well, I-" James shut up when he found a thin willow wand pointed at his nose. "Lily, now calm down. It's perfectly safe and I promise that nothing will happen."

Lily lowered her wand but just as James was breathing a sigh of relief, Lily slapped him hard in the shoulder. "If you EVER pull a stunt like this again, James Rufus Potter…"

"Mum? What's going on?" Harry asked as he entered the kitchen.

"Sirius got Tobias a motorcycle for Christmas and now Lily's going to kill me for helping," James said, eyeing Lily warily.

"Cool!" Harry said, excitedly. "Can I ride with Toby sometime?"

"JAMES!" Lily screeched and James dove under the table in fear for his life. Lily bore down on Sirius and James as she said in a soft, yet deadly voice. "If any of my children get hurt because of that Godforsaken gift I will personally kill the both of you with my bare hands!"

Sirius looked down at James who was starting to come out from under the table. They both nodded in unison as they meekly muttered, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good," Lily said, going back to the potatoes and adding shredded white cheddar cheese and chunks of butter.

Tonks poked her head into the kitchen and looked at James and Sirius. "Hey, when is Remus coming over for dinner, boys?"

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Christmas Eve morning, the Knight Bus arrived at the Potter home dropping off the Whole Weasley family—minus Percy—as well as Hermione and Luna. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Luna were surprised to see Harry waiting out front for them with James, Sirius, and Remus.

After saying a pleasant hello to the Marauders, Ginny dropped the bags in her arms and launched herself at Harry, and both of them ended up falling into the pile of snow next to the walkway.

"Well, that's one way to melt the snow," Fred said, nudging George in the side as Harry and Ginny made out, only stopping when Harry reached up and put a handful of snow down the back of Ginny's sweater, making her leap up, screaming and hopping around.

"Harry James Potter, I'll kill you for that!" She said, as Harry made a mad dash for the door.

The rest of the guests followed and Lily came out of the kitchen looking happy to see so many friends there for Christmas. "Molly, I am so happy you guys could come for Christmas."

"Well, I'm glad you invited us, Lily. What with everything that's been going on, it's nice to be able to enjoy a nice, quiet Christmas and…" Molly trailed off as a fat snowflake landed on her nose. Looking up, she noticed that the ceiling was gone and now it was snowing inside the house.

"JAMES!" Lily shouted, looking around for her husband who was crouched behind the sofa in the living room with Sirius and Remus. "What did you do to my ceiling?" Lily snapped, crossing her arms.

James stopped laughing with his friends and rolled his eyes. "Relax, Lily. It's a temporary charm and the snow won't stick to the floor. Come on, luv, it's Christmas."

"I guess it is pretty," Lily admitted, getting a dirty little smirk on her face. "And we haven't made love in the snow in ages…"

James cottoned on quick and said, "I'll show everyone where they're sleeping, and then meet you in the bedroom."

Lily smiled before headed upstairs. "Take your time, Prongs," she said, giving her rear-end a teasing wiggle.

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That night, Harry, Tobias, Ron, Fred, George, Mallory, Ginny, Hermione, and Luna camped out in the fully furnished basement in sleeping bags on the floor. As Harry lay awake thinking, he was dimly aware of the absence of Tobias's soft snores next to him. "Toby?" Harry asked, softly, so as not to wake the others.

"I'm awake, Harry," Tobias said, rolling over on his side to look at his younger brother. "Can't sleep?"

"Can I ask you something?" Harry asked, still staring at the ceiling.

"Sure, little bro."

"Does it… bother you?" Harry asked, turning Tobias

Harry's unfocused eyes made Tobias uneasy, but he didn't look away. "Yeah, Harry. It does, a little," Tobias replied. "You know, I'm supposed to protect you and Mallory. And I couldn't, and then Umbridge and Bellatrix… I'm sorry I failed you, Harry."

"You didn't fail me, Tobias," Harry said, defensively. "You're the best big brother I could have."

"Really?"

"Yes!" Harry said, smiling. "Look, I know me being blind is hard on everyone. But… It's just…"

"Something we have to deal with," Tobias finished. "I know. But it's hard."

"Try being me," Harry muttered as he rolled onto his back and tried to go to sleep.

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Harry was awoken on Christmas morning by Sirius in his dog form bounding around the basement, barking at the top of his lungs. "Sirius, you idiot, Leave me alone! I'm sleeping!"

"Harry, get up, it's Christmas!" Tobias shouted, getting up and pulling his younger brother to his feet before pressing Harry's cane into his hand. "Come on, let's see what we got, little brother."

Harry nodded before donning his sunglasses and following Tobias upstairs and into the living room which had been magically expanded to accommodate all the people and the presents crowding the room.

Lily and James sat next to each other at one end of one of the couches, Molly and Arthur at the other end, holding hands and watching Bill who was sitting in an armchair, his fiancé, Fleur Delacour, sitting on the arm and playing with Bill's hair.

Harry, Ginny, Tobias and Mallory sat on the second couch, while Ron, Fred, George, Hermione, and Luna sat on the floor, staring at the enormous Christmas tree in the corner of the room under which about a hundred presents were piled, spilling onto the floor at everyone's feet.

Fred, George, and Hermione sorted through the piles of gifts, handing them out to their intended recipient.

Harry opened his gifts carefully, as he had no visual clue as to what anything was. The first gift he opened was from Charlie and when Harry opened the gift box something flew out and landed on Harry's wrist. The card inside was in Braille, and Harry ran his fingers over the raised bumps. 'Harry, some friends of mine have managed to cross breed an Antipodean Opaleye dragon with a phoenix to create a new breed which we are calling a Phoenix Flame dragon. Here's a model of the new species. Happy Holidays, Harry!' The dragon let out a call that sounded similar to phoenix song, but was slightly rougher. Harry ran a hand over the dragon model, and found it to be unusually bird-like for a dragon; though its belly and legs were scaled, it's back and tail were softer and almost feathery and it's snout was rather beak-like.

The Phoenix Flame flew off of Harry's wrist and landed on his shoulder where it remained as Harry opened the rest of his gifts, which included a tame garter snake from Mallory, a cat from Tobias, a stereo system from James and Lily, self-writing quills from Sirius, and a journal from Lupin.

From the rest of the Weasleys, and Hermione, there was large box filled with various baked goods and candies along with a copy of Jennifer Waldenmyer's autobiography.

After a while, Sirius took Tobias outside to see his gift, and Ginny took Harry's hand and after the two donned robes, cloaks and boots, they went out the back door and into the snowy back yard. "What's going on, Ginny?" Harry asked as Ginny pulled him along since there was too much snow for Harry to use his cane. "Why are we out here?"

Ginny stopped after a moment and turned to Harry, brushing some hair away from her boyfriend's face and taking his hand again. "Come with me, Harry."

Harry wordlessly followed and they walked to the edge of the yard where Ginny placed his hand on the smooth wood of the handle of his old Firebolt. A small smile tugged at the corner of Harry's mouth as he ran his hand along the handle. The broom seemed to shiver slightly under Harry's touch, as if it remembered him and remembered Harry's magical signature. "Ginny… what's going on?" Harry asked again, curiously.

"This is my gift to you, Harry," Ginny said, taking Harry's other hand and pressing a small box into it.

Harry opened the box and found what felt like a bird pendant on a leather cord. "Ginny, what does this have to do with why you have my Firebolt out here?"

"Put it on, silly, and get on the broom," Ginny said, as she mounted the Firebolt James and Lily had given her for her birthday a few years ago.

"Ginny, I can't fly if I can't see," Harry said, firmly. He wanted so badly to mount that broom and take off, but without being able to se where he was going…

"Harry," Ginny said, laughing. "Shut up, get on that stupid broom, and trust me." Watching Harry start to set the bat pendant down on the snow she said quickly, "Oh, and put that on first."

Harry did as he was told and mounted the broom. He kicked off and just as he started to rise into the air, he heard a faint chirping sound from somewhere to his left. Responding to the sound, the charm around Harry's neck chirped and Harry gasped as he saw Ginny next to him. "What…?"

She gave him a quick kiss before flying off a little ways. "Merry Christmas, Harry!"

Harry zoomed off and after a moment, his charm chirped again and Harry saw that Ginny was flying above him. Laughing, the two started flying higher, Ginny zipping around and Harry following the echo from the bat charms.

It was well after nightfall before the two finally went inside.

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While Harry and Ginny had been flying around, James, Sirius, and Remus had been watching from the upstairs windows.

James had been unbelievably proud of Harry when he'd made seeker in his first year at Hogwarts. Harry flew even better on a broom than James and that fact was no secret in the Potter family.

When Harry had first needed glasses at age 7, James had been worried that it would damage the boy's chances for a future at a Quidditch career, but when Harry had helped the Gryffindor team with the Quidditch cup in Harry's 3rd year all doubts and fears were cast aside.

And when Harry had lost his sight, James had been sure that his youngest son would never be able to fly a broom again….

Until now.

"I haven't seen Harry this happy in months," Sirius said, as he sat in the kitchen table late that night with James and Remus.

"Harry belongs on a broom," Remus agreed. "It was good to see him flying again."

"Maybe Harry could be the first blind Quidditch player," Sirius said, grinning.

"Did you have too much firewhiskey, Padfoot?" James asked, staring at his best friend.

"I'm serious, James."

"Serious James," Remus mused, smiling. "Is that anything like Curious George?" Lupin said, ducking as James and Sirius tried to whack the back of his head.

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When Harry and Ginny finally decided to turn in that night, they moved their sleeping bags off to one lonely corner of the basement lying facing each other. Harry's blank eyes stared over Ginny's shoulder, but Ginny reached out a hand and brushed Harry's bangs out of his unseeing eyes. "So… did you forget about me this Christmas?"

Harry smiled and dug into the pocket of his pajama bottoms and pulled out a small pendant on a long silver chain. Ginny took the necklace and as she looked at it, it changed from a rose in full bloom to a hummingbird and back again. "How could I ever forget the love of my life?" Harry said as Ginny put the necklace on. "I love you, Ginny."

"I love you, too, Harry," Ginny said, giving Harry a kiss before lying down and closing her eyes, falling asleep moments later.

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