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Hello all you happy people! Chapter eleven is up! I'm sorry to say that the next chapter will suffer a delay. There are three more days until school starts and my mother is panicked that I haven't done any homework at all. I bet she just wants to play more "ricochet". Either way, computer is off limits.

Chapter eleven: Christmas at Hogwarts

James woke up on Christmas day surrounded by shouting and laughter. Sirius and Peter apparently had already woken up and started to open their presents. Groggily, he pulled the drapes and revealed a laughing Sirius who wore a jester hat and a shocked Peter who was staring at a box filled with underwear.

Grinning, James pulled out his wand and silently levitated the underwear and pulled them over Sirius's head. It was Peter's turn to laugh and Sirius to be shocked. Both of them soon discovered that James was awake and surprisingly, they didn't insult, mock or anything they usually did. Instead Sirius congratulated James for the prank and offered him some of his Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Unfortunately, James picked a shoe flavored bean that sent him into the bathroom trying to get rid of the taste accompanied by Sirius's and Peter's laughter.

Remus still hadn't come from the hospital wing which James regretted when he was muttering all sorts of incantations over the sink to clean his mouth. He finally decided to just Scorgify his mouth and let the soap taste replace the shoe taste.

Coming back in the dorm he was surprised to see a struggle between the two boys fighting over a picture of an incredibly pretty girl.

"C'mon Sirius, she gave this to me!"

"That's my bloody cousin and I'm not letting you do whatever there is in your head with it."

"But it's mine!" Peter moaned.

"And that's my cousin!" Sirius argued.

After five minutes of watching with amusement to those two arguing, James understood that girl was Sirius's cousin, Andromeda, who sent Peter her picture as her Christmas gift.

Going to his bed, he looked at his own stack of presents. It seemed bigger than Peter's and Sirius's. First he unwrapped the one from his mother. It was a book and a heavy letter. In the letter, his mother congratulated him for his good grades, for being a good son and wishing him all the happiness in the world. He found out the reason the letter was so heavy when in the letter, his mother mentioned that she added some galleons in case he needed to order something from a store. The book was a new special edition of "Quidditch Throughout the Ages" including information of new brooms and new teams statistics. He quickly hid it under his pillow for future reading.

Next he opened his father's gift which was the biggest of the stack. His father gave him a broom kit and James's broom explaining in a note that Dumbledore informed him of the intense Quidditch practice James was going to have. He added that he was proud of him for becoming such a good boy.

Other presents were from his friends back home who either finished Hogwarts or didn't even go to it because they weren't eleven years old yet. He grinned when he opened a magical Jack-in-the-box his neighbor gave him. It was charmed to open and kiss the one who touches it without saying the password "smooches". He put it aside hoping that Sirius or Peter would be curious enough to pick it up.

The last present was small and badly wrapped. As if the giver was in a hurry. James read the sign on it and discovered it was from Remus. He felt sorry for the boy and thanked Merlin that his parents were rich. Unwrapping, he revealed three new quills. He smiled remembering that before Remus left he was complaining about his leaking quill. He put them on the bed far from the other gifts that seemed so impersonal now. He hoped Remus liked the defense against the dark arts book he had given him. That boy always seemed to be with his nose in a book.

Sirius received a pair of new robes that conveniently had the Slytherin snake on it, a bag of sweets from Peter, a book all about dark creatures from his brother, joke presents from an uncle, and plenty of dark magical objects from his relatives. James wasn't sure if Sirius actually wanted that or he was given them to remind him of his family's beliefs. Nevertheless, Sirius didn't seem upset that he got them.

Peter, after getting rid of the underwear, explained that his mother probably sent it to someone else and that he received it as a mistake (though James saw that in the box there was a letter addressed to him). He also received Andromeda's photo - that Sirius ripped apart - and some books from his family and sweets from Sirius. Strangely, both got the same quantity of candy and neither looked surprised.

Coming down, James met with other Gryffindors that stayed at the castle. The Prewett brothers were cheering and wearing big brown sweaters with their respective initials on them. When James asked them they explained that a sister of theirs had her first child and they just received the letter. They were waiting for their cousin to come down and tell her the news. James smiled and congratulated them thinking that was probably the best Christmas gift anyone could receive.

Over the week, the Hogwarts staff had tried to bring the Christmas spirit into the castle. The large man that showed them to their boats in the first day, Hagrid, was the jolliest person James had ever seen. He single-handedly brought about twelve trees in the great hall and decorated them himself. But after he turned his back, McGonagall swished her wand and the trees redecorated themselves into a more pleasant view.

Flitwick and Dolohov charmed the suit armors to sing carols and with the help of the Herbology professor, Madam Sprout, hung mistletoes from place to place. A seventh year couple once walked under one and explained that their feet just froze and only when they kissed they were let free again. McGonagall transfigured some snow men to hop around in the grounds wishing everyone a Happy Christmas. Lastly, Filch agreed to clean the entire castle only because he was too exited after he received a small kitty that morning. Everybody looked surprised that the grumpy old goat cared for something in his life.

After a copious meal, making sure to stay far away from the Slytherins that gave a toxic smell, James headed of to visit Remus. Though it took much persuasion, and a lot of pleading, Madam Pomfrey, accepted and let James in.

Remus was sitting in his bead reading the book James gave him. Grinning, he walked over to him and said hello.

"Hey James," Remus greeted "Happy Christmas!"

"Happy Christmas Remus!" James replied.

"Thanks for the book by the way. It's interesting." Remus smiled.

"No problem. Thank you for the quills."

Remus turned grave "Er…I'm sorry! I didn't have much time and I…"

James interrupted him laughing "No, really, thank you! I wouldn't have replaced my old ones until after the school year ended. This saved me time and a lot of frustration."

Remus smiled "Well, if it keeps you happy."

James shrugged "It does. Slughorn usually forgave me for not doing his essays when I handed him a paper completely covered in ink. I'll just have to figure out another way!"

Remus laughed "You don't honestly think he would have bought that much more."

James grinned "Really, Lupin, you don't know me much do you?"

"Yeah, after you start with "Oh professor, I wanted to but I remembered my torment and it was just to hard!" he'll even give you a hundred points just to shut you off." James gave a small smile and Remus realized he said something stupid "Sorry!" he apologized

James ran his hand through his hair "No harm done! It's not your fault. And I don't really feel the need to talk about it."

Remus nodded "Yeah, I know how you feel."

They stayed there for a while in complete silence playing with their thumbs.

"What'd you get?" James suddenly asked.

Remus looked confused for a second before realizing what James meant "Oh. Well, your book, some sweets and a scarf from my mother, and a batch of new potion supplies from my father."

James looked surprised and confused. That was all? Did that mean James was his only friend and the closest thing he got after his parents? That couldn't be right!

"What about you? Remus asked.

"Er…" James was quickly searching for a way to tell Remus without breaking his heart, something that the boy understood.

"It's okay," Remus assured James "I live away from most children. My parents liked the forest so we moved there and I don't have many friends." He shrugged "It doesn't bother me. Besides, isn't everybody saying Christmas is about giving and sharing and not about receiving?"

"Right." James said though still unsure. He then told Remus about what his parents had given him. He also explained that somehow Dumbledore got James to practice Quidditch with the house team. Remus congratulated James and each started telling stories of previous Christmases, mostly James.

"Each year they give a giant party in my house inviting almost half of the wizarding population. They don't care if they're dark wizards or muggle-borns. Everybody they know is invited."

"Wow! Did they have one this year?"

James shook his head "My father suffered a stroke this summer. I guess the old age is finally getting to him. I had to go the Hogwarts express on my own. I nearly missed it."

"I'm sorry." Remus said.

James shrugged "It's not your fault you know! He's ok now! But their personal healer told him to stay away from parties."

"Personal healer?" Remus asked awed "But those cost like a fortune!"

James felt like somebody turned the heat in the room and he felt suffocated "Er…well, my parents have done their share of work for the world so the ministry rewarded them."

"What kind of work?" Remus asked.

"Er…I can't say that. It's…private."

Remus stared surprised at James "Ok. So…how are things with Corinne?"

James rolled his eyes "I swear Remus, if I didn't know better I'd say you have a bigger crush on her than I do."

"I'm just curios mate!" Remus explained.

"Sure you are! Do you still have that wizard's chess? I feel like beating you." James declared.

Remus grinned "Oh do you?"

They played three matches out of which James won one and another was a tie. James left after Pomfrey threatened to drag him out by his robes. They agreed to finish the game after Remus got better.

The day flew by for James. There was a party everywhere he turned. Slughorn invited all his favorite students into his office; the Great Hall had its own celebration but only for students for fifth year and up and the Prewett brothers brought about ten boxes of butterbeer and one of firewhiskey. Unfortunately, one of the Prefects was there and didn't let James take a swing of firewhiskey. He cursed under his breath when he saw Black and Pettigrew sneak away with a bottle while she was scolding him.

On the 27th, James had another meeting with Dumbledore. He entirely forgot to practice so his headmaster got full access into his head. They agreed to meet the next day but that only made James feel weaker than he was before. On the 28th, James finally succeeded to hang on his broom for five minutes but then Dumbledore threw him off and James fainted.

He couldn't find Shacklebolt anywhere so he assumed that he left for the holidays and decided to talk to him when he got back. Meanwhile, the weather was getting worse Dumbledore restricted going outside.

Most of the break, James spent in his dorm and common room with Remus and sometimes Sirius and Peter. The four agreed to make a truce until school started back. Sirius explained that Christmas was his favorite time of the year and he wasn't going to let anybody ruin it for him. James observed that while before Sirius kept insisting to go talk to Slytherins and tried to keep his old habits; now more and more Sirius avoided them and sometimes pranked them. His favorite victim was Snape. Black sent multiple cleaning charms on his head once and when asked why he said he was simply doing him a favor by cleaning his greasy hair. Making his own inspection, James agreed that the boy needed to wash his hair more often.

The New Year's party was spectacular. The staff planted fireworks all over the castle. The curfew was lifted so all students got access to the school all night. Dumbledore levitated a large countdown timer in the Great Hall. When the timer reached zero, the clock disappeared and the ground began to shake. Suddenly, the halls erupted into fireworks. The castle from outside looked like the center of a fountain and fireworks came out of it like flowing water. Somehow, some fireworks were redirected from their path and started chasing Snape all around the castle. Only after two hours the staff managed to save him.

On the first of January it finally happened. James woke up in the middle of the afternoon. Remus, Sirius and Peter were also sleeping. He pushed, or more likely shoved, Remus to wake him up. Both of them had bags under their eyes from sleeping and smiled at each other. They silently changed their clothes careful not to wake Black and Pettigrew. Not because they cared for the pair but neither wanted to deal with them so early on the first day of the year.

The common room, as well as the castle, was awfully quiet. On their way to the Great Hall they didn't cross anyone. Entering, half of the students that remained at Hogwarts, probably all the ones that woke up, were picking their meal not interested in eating. They wore sullen faces and some were actually crying. They approached their table. Strangely, there weren't any Slytherins there. 'They're sleeping.' James thought. Remus pointed at an empty space at the table and James nodded.

Somehow, he didn't have the courage to ask what happened. He just joined in the mood and stared at his plate. From time to time he glanced at the staff table. Half of them didn't come yet which was strange. Usually, Either McGonagall or Dumbledore was there to supervise the students in case they misbehaved. Neither of them was there now. The seat at the middle of the table was occupied by Slughorn who looked graver than James ever saw him. Hagrid was busy taking the decorations down so his back was turned to James. Sprout and some woman James didn't recognize were whispering to each other.

After half an hour Black and Pettigrew entered. They looked cheerful and Sirius blinked a few times before realizing something had happened. He shot Peter a puzzled look and Peter shrugged. They saw James and Remus and approached them, sitting across them.

"What happened?" Sirius asked lightheaded.

"Don't know!" James responded not looking up from his food.

"Why are people mopping around and crying. It's the first day of the year for crying out loud!"

"I don't know!" James repeated gripping his teeth.

Sirius looked at him exasperated "Well, you're no help!" he said rising from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Peter asked but Sirius ignored him.

He walked to a kid and whispered something to him. The kid nodded and handed him a newspaper.

James rolled his eyes when he came victoriously back. Ignoring Remus's protests, he grabbed "The Daily Prophet" from a second year sitting next to him. He gasped when he read the title and he heard a similar reaction from Sirius. Curiosity getting to them, Remus and Peter leaned next to their respective partners and read as well.

THE DARK LORD STRIKES

Mass killing of Muggles (see page 7)

Unforgivables performed (see page 8)

Dark mark in the sky (see page 9)

Flipping quickly through the pages, James realized for the first time what the man was capable of. Though he had been a constant threat for the past year and a half, he always considered Voldemort to be a petty serial killer which would be caught straight away. As a kid he was always led to believe that good always triumphed and the innocents would be saved. Now, as he spotted the photo of the village in flames, he started to fear him for the first real time.

Mass killing of muggles

On the night of the thirty first of December, while muggles were celebrating the passage to the New Year, the Dark Lord's followers Apparated in the middle of the streets. Muggle witnesses declared that they pulled their wands from their robe and one of them, who seemed to lead them, shot a green spell at a muggle (more details on page 8). Then all of them started hexing random people on the street. Mr. Lawrence, the muggle forester, heard while hiding behind the trees that the leader of the supporters kept shouting at them to stop playing and finish the job. They were many screams of pain large puddles of blood were found when the Aurors appeared this morning. Mr. Lawrence continued saying that after two hours of this massacre, they blew the mayor's door open and subjected him to what seemed like horrible pain. At about three a.m., they shot the dark mark in the sky and finally began leaving, keeping the bodies with them. It's assumed that a total of one hundred muggles died. Who knows what other horrible plans this criminal has?

James shuddered as he read the article and looked at Sirius to see his reaction. He was mumbling something. Reading his lips, James understood that Sirius was saying 'Death Eaters' and James nodded. When Black told him that Voldemort was planning something, he knew he should brace himself. However, he didn't expect an attack of such magnitude, the murder of one hundred people.

The other articles were less important. They were mostly filled with theories. Page 8 was all about the unforgivable curses. The introduction explained what they were and their effects. Different ministry employees stated their belief that the Avada Kedavra was used as well as the Cruciatus curse. There was no evidence of the Imperius curse but the possibility wasn't excluded.

Page 9 was more pointless than the last. Experts in cryptology and ancient magic tried unsuccessfully to explain what the sign meant. Even muggle experts were called before their memories were changed. Many of them claimed that the skull was the sign of a killer who was presumed dead so it was Voldemort's way of saying that he was alive and kicking. The snake represented Slytherin and that brought many idiotic ideas. Most of them thought that the dark lord was actually Slytherin reincarnated. Others believed that it was a setup by some hateful Gryffindor supporters. Either way, the reporter tried to assure that the Dark Lord would be caught and sentenced to death by the Veil.

At the end of reading, James's face was as white as sheet. Remus's face showed a whole new meaning of pale and James wondered for a second if the boy was breathing anymore. Across them, Sirius and Peter were yellow, neither having to worry since they were "purer" then most of the wizard community. Remus was a half-blood and since James's family were openly declared that they cared for muggles, they were thought as blood traitors.

They all sat in silence for the rest of the meal. Remus hardly ate after reading the article and after a while he excused himself and ran out. Sirius and Peter ate with their usual appetite and James felt sick.

"Th's 'sn't over y'know" Sirius said after a while through mouthfuls of food.

"Why do you say that?" James asked surprising himself that he understood.

Sirius made an attempt to swallow his food but he managed to choke himself. Peter patted him in the back and Sirius drank almost a full goblet of pumpkin juice. "Because, they didn't make a statement. If they wanted so much to declare to the world that they were Death Eaters they would have said it or write it on the sky. They just killed and disappeared! He didn't even kill a wizard. He's planning something bigger I know it."

Surprised, James nodded. Why did Black care so much for the future of muggles? Was he concerned? But he was a Black! With an uneasy feeling, James decided that Sirius was probably just fascinated by the man.

James finished and walked out of the hall. All students were frozen in their seats. 'They're scared to walk in the halls' James thought. He knew he was right. Most students of Hogwarts were half-blood or muggleborn. Pure bloods were so much rarer as the time passed. The frightened students had one or more muggle relatives.

It wasn't until January the third that the usual merriment of Hogwarts returned to normal. No student's family was hurt or killed. The incident was shoved off but an imprint still remained. It became general knowledge that the Dark Lord's name was Voldemort but there still wasn't a word about the change of his follower's name. It was kept more secret than James realized.

The students that went home started coming back to school. As they entered the Great Hall that morning, there was a mixture of worry and happiness to see their friends on their faces. Lily entered the hall and hugged everybody she knew. She even came to James and wrapped her arms around him saying that he was forgiven for everything he said. Finally friends again, the two enjoyed the meal together with Remus.

"You don't know how happy I am to be a witch!" she squeaked. "If they come to my home I can protect my parents and sister."

James wanted to ask if she thought that a few sparks could drive killers away but he bit his lip. Looking at Remus, he saw that the boy had a similar reaction.

"Was there anyone from your family killed?" James bluntly asked earning a kick on the foot from Remus.

Lily nodded "Yeah, a distant cousin of my mother's. The village wasn't so far away from my town you know. It could have been me." She stopped and sighed.

"Sorry for your loss." Remus lamented.

"I didn't know him very well. He seemed like a nice guy though. He was a priest."

James raised his eyebrow and wanted to ask Lily what a priest was but at that moment Corinne came through the door. They each caught each other's eye and shared a look before James looked away. After a while he looked at her and she seemed sad. He gritted his teeth and looked at Sirius who was at the other end of the table having a little food fight with Peter. He looked at Remus and realized that the boy was getting pale again. What was wrong with him anyway? Lily was telling stories about her Christmas and James was partly listening.

"My sister shrieked when I told her that dragons still exist. I think part of her still doesn't realize that magic DOES exist." She said.

James slowly nodded and searched for Corinne at the Ravenclaw table. She and Ludovic Palmer seemed to be having a pleasant conversation and he had a stupid smirk plastered on his face. James at that moment felt the urge to wipe it off. He focused back at Lily but still took glances from time to time at their table. Half an hour later, Ludovic began scratching his head and stood up abruptly and ran out of the hall. He grinned and looked at Remus but the boy was oblivious to everything. He looked around the Hall but none had their wands raised.

"What is it?" Lily asked seeing the grin on James's face.

He shrugged "It's good to talk to you again."

She raised her eyebrow unconvinced but said nothing.

"Well, I'm done." Remus muttered.

James nodded and stood up. They said goodbye to Lily and walked to their common room.

"Potter!" a voice called.

James turned around and saw a black kid from fifth year he recognized as Kingsley Shacklebolt running towards him.

"Hey" James greeted.

"I just heard the news." Kingsley said "McGonagall told me. I hear you want to participate in the Quidditch practices."

James nodded.

"Great!" he exclaimed "You're in. Practices are at six every Friday and Sunday. Be there!"

"Sure" James said and turned away and continues walking.

"Nervous?" Remus asked.

James shrugged "Not really. I don't want to brag but I'm excellent at flying. And if I don't do well it doesn't matter because I'm not on the team yet."

"Yet!" Remus repeated "I don't know. Slytherin beat us pretty good in the first match. You should consider begging Dumbledore to change the rules if you think you're such a good flyer."

James ran his hand through his hair "Neah, too much of an obligation. I want to see first how it goes before I make a fool of myself."

"What are you going to do with Lily?" Remus suddenly asked.

James looked at Remus surprised "What?"

"You didn't seem so eager to be friends with her a few months ago. Did you change your mind?"

"I…" he thought hard if he looked at her differently "I don't know. I guess I'll just see. She's a good person after all."

"And Corinne?" Remus asked

James scowled "You ask too many questions."

"You answer too few." Remus replied.

James grinned "I'll see how it goes ok?"

Remus shrugged "Your choice."

"What about you?"

"What about me?" Remus asked puzzled.

"Did a lady catch your eye?" James teased

"Yeah. I think Black's mother is cute don't you think?"

James stared at Remus not realizing he was joking.

"It was a joke!" Remus exclaimed horrified.

James smiled "Better not let Black know about your infatuation with his mother."

Remus rolled his eyes "Honestly!" he muttered finally arriving at the portrait.