Disclaimer: Nope, still J.K Rowlings and not mine.
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, Christmas with the Malofy's should be up soon =]
Thanks for sticking with this!
Chapter 8: Christmas with the Weasleys
Christmas morning arrived with shouts of laughter and a new snowfall. Slowly Harry's green eyes opened to excited shouts and much whining.
"C'mon Harry" Ron whined, shaking his friend and jumping excitedly on the bed. "We've got presents downstairs and everyones already here and Mum said we can't start without you" Harry laughed, grabbing his glasses and shoving them onto his face.
"I'm awake, I'm awake" He gasped, pushing his friend off of the bed and sliding out from under the comfortable blankets.
Walking down stairs was like walking into a zoo, a zoo filled with insane animals, except these animals were people, mostly red headed ones. Smirking, Harry wandered into the living room, smiling brightly as he saw his parents and godfathers already there.
"Happy Christmas Pup" Sirius said with a small smile, patting the seat next to him indicating that Harry should come sit. The brunette grinned happily and very nearly skipped over to the seat, sliding in between his father and Sirius.
"Mum I want to open my presents now" Fred, or maybe it was George whined loudly, a perfect puppy dog expression on his face.
"Just wait a minute" Molly Weasley said in an exasperated voice. "Arthur's just getting us all some coco and then we can begin. Ginny dear, why don't you start by handing out all the presents?" She said a flustered expression on her face.
The youngest Weasley smiled, leaping to her feet and doing exactly as she was told. Soon everyone had a pile of presents around them, some larger then others.
"Here we are, are we ready?" Arthur said, handing everyone a mug of Molly's famous coco before taking his seat next to his wife.
"Yes Dad, can we just start?" Ron said practically bouncing from excitement. At Arthur's nod, chaos ensued and soon bits of coloured paper, mostly gold and red, covered the room.
Shouts of "Awesome" "Brilliant" and "Not fair" Sounded from the excited children and even a few of the adults, especially a handsome dog animagus.
Hours slowly passed and soon once presents had been ogled, played with and shared with friends, everyone was sitting down to a nice lunch prepared by before heading outside for a rousing game of Quidditch.
"So, Charlie, Sirius, Remus, Ginny, Fred and Dad are one a team we can play with only two chasers sine we don't have enough for a full team." Ron was saying as he orchestrated the annual match. "And Harry, myself, James, George, Bill and Hermione on one team" He beamed as the frazzled haired witch let out a squeak. "Don't worry 'Mione with Harry on our team how can we lose?" Ron said, grinning at the girl.
"Yea sounds good. Better watch out Pup, I'm a damn good beater" Sirius warned his godson with a grin. "Oh shush Siri" Remus said fondly, smiling at his husband with twinkling eyes. Yes, Remus and Sirius had long since admitted their feelings for one another were more then platonic and had married three years previous.
"So, Charlie's seeker, Sirius and Fred can be beaters, Gin and Remus are chasers and Arthur is playing keep?" James clarified with a grin.
"Yupp and our team, Harry's seeker, James and 'Mione are chasers, Bill and George can be the beaters and I'll play keeper" Ron said with a grin.
"Sounds good kids" Lily said, chuckling as she eyed her husband and best mates with a grin.
"Anyway, Quidditch can wait a few moments, lunch is ready" Molly chimed in, waving her wand over the table and making mass amounts of home cooked food appear.
"Molly, I know I've said this before, but I love you" Sirius said, before attacking a piece of chicken like a rabid dog. Remus groaned and buried his face in his hands, pretending to be disgusted with his husband's eating habits.
"George that wasn't funny" Charlie Weasley hollered at his younger brother as the Gryffindor beater pelted yet another bludger at the opposing seeker.
"Funny, I thought it was hilarious" George shot back, laughing lightly at the second eldest Weasley child.
"George.." Bill said in a frustrated voice, the match had barely begun and already George had decided to nearly kill Charlie.
"Just be thankful George and Fred aren't on the same team" Ginny pipped up as James went off to retrieved the quaffle from a nearby tree. It had been tossed their by Hermione by accident when the girl had panicked due to Fred terrorizing her.
"I hear they're pretty decent beaters' Sirius said, swinging his bat playfully.
"The best" Harry said, pulling his firebolt into the conversation as he hovered nearby. He and Charlie had agreed not to look for the snitch while his dad tried to retrieve the quaffle.
"We won" Ron yelled, punching his fist in the air as Harry circled the make shift Quidditch pitch the golden snitch firmly seated in his hand.
"You'd think this was the Quidditch world cup with the way you're carrying on Ron" Hermione said, obviously pleased to be back on solid ground, "Its just a backyard match" She reminded the red head, who scowled in her direction.
"Good match Harry" Charlie said as the raven haired teen landed, shaking hands, the two seekers headed inside talking over the finer points of seeking and what techniques they used.
"That boy is amazing on a broom" James muttered, laughing as Remus pelted Sirius with snowballs. Sirius had 'accidentally' hit Remus with a bludger right after Harry caught the snitch and Remus was extracting his revenge.
"I'm sorry Remmy" The black haired man yelped as snow was shoved unceremoniously down his back. "Please love stop!" Sirius cried as James doubled over in laughter. He had been worried when the two began to date, scared he'd lose his two best friends, but they had proven him wrong and now he enjoyed their relationship immensely. Fred burst into laughter as Sirius suddenly turned into a large black grim and made off for the nearby woods, yelping all the while.
"Think he's had enough?" Remus asked James innocently which resulted in more laughter.
Once inside and dried off, the group settled down in the Weasley's sitting room for dinner and to listen to the wireless wizarding radio.
Molly was in the kitchen with Lily and Ginny cooking up a storm. Fred, George, Harry, Ron and Hermione were playing a game of exploding snap in the corner, and judging from the cursing, Ron was losing. The adults were seated in small groups, talking about different things, inevitably the topic of the Malfoys came up. No one noticed that Harry sat up a little straighter and focused on Arthur, Remus, Sirius and James as they discussed the aforementioned family.
"Is there truly a blood line curse Sirius?" James asked, looking at his friend with a curious expression.
"Dunno, heard Narcissa talking about it once, back when we still got a long, but I don't know" Sirius replied, shrugging broad shoulders.
"Would explain why no one can heal Adrian though" Remus mused, holding Sirius' hand lightly as he watched the fire crackling.
"Do you honestly think someone would curse the Malfoy bloodline though?" Arthur brought up, "I know they have lots of enemies but that's a huge risk"
"I dunno" Sirius said again, "Either way Adrian's a nice kid, he doesn't deserve that illness"
"To bad his twin's a right git then" James said, remembering the awful things Draco Malfoy had done to his own son in the past couple years.
Remus just shrugged, he didn't particularly like the Malfoys, but he hadn't had a chance to interact with the youngest family member yet, and he wanted to give him a chance. Draco had been awful when he had taught DADA in the third year, but he figured the boy had just been raised that way and tried not to take it to personally.
Harry frowned, what the hell was a bloodline curse? And why did it pertain to Adrian Malfoy? He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face before forcing his attention back to the game with the twins.
Soon dinner was served, instead of moving into the kitchen where they normally eat, everyone stayed sitting in the living room. The food was amazing, and once again talk turned to christmas presents amongst the youth.
"Thanks again for those books Harry" Hermione said, beaming at her friend. Harry had managed to get her a bunch of first addition history books on wizarding politics and she was already enchanted with them.
"No problem 'Mione, the quill is awesome by the way" Harry replied. Hermione had gotten him an everlast quill, it would never go dull or break and it was a handsome eagle feather that suited him just right.
"The Quidditch gloves are great Harry, I needed some" Ron said, smiling at his friend, Ron had needed new Keeper gloves for ages and Harry had finally gotten him some.
"It wasn't just you who needed them, the team did" Harry teased, "The sweets are awesome Ron, and thanks for the Chocolate Frog cards" He said, not wanting his friend to feel bad. The banter continued on, Hermione had received mostly books for her holiday gifts, along with a Weasley sweater and some sweets from Fred and George. Harry had gotten a new broomstick maintenance kit, sweets, a few books, a Weasley sweater and the quill from Hermione. He had also gotten season tickets to his favorite Quidditch team from Remus and Sirius.
Ron had received gifts similar to Harry, except the whole family, including Sirius, Remus, James and Lily had pitched in and bought him a nimbus 2000. Not as good as Harry's firebolt but the teen loved his new broom and was already piping off statistics to anyone who would listen. Though it wasn't a fancy Christmas, everyone appreciated it, and to each person there, the most important part was spending the time together as one big family.
"Well pup, I think its time we headed out" James said, patting his son on the back.
"Okay Dad, just lemme grab my things" Harry said, he was leaving with his parents that night, though he'd see Ron and the rest at New Years which was happing at Godric's Hollow this year.
"See you all at the party" Lily said, using her wand to summon her son's wayward possessions.
"Thanks Mum" Harry beamed, hugging each of his friends, "See you later" He called as the Potters, accompanied by Sirius and Remus, whom were staying with them, headed out of the house.
Once outside the protective wards, Harry gripped his father's arm tightly, preparing himself for the awful feeing of apparition, which he hated.
-Crack- the noise cut through the quiet air of Godric's Hollow loudly as Harry and James appeared, closely followed by the others.
"Did you have a good Christmas Harry?" James asked as he led the way into their home, making sure the wards were secure behind them. Despite the Dark Lord being gone, there were still numerous Death Eaters running rampant and many, especially Bellatrix Lestrange wanted to capture his son and repay him for what he had done as a child.
"Yea Dad it was brilliant, thanks again for all the presents" Harry replied, directing the last of his statement to everyone in the room.
"Not a problem cub" Sirius said, heading into the kitchen to grab himself and Moony drinks.
"Time for bed I think" Lily said, looking at her son seriously for a moment.
"Aw Mum..." Harry trailed off as Lily got a stern glint in her green eyes and Harry knew there was no point in arguing.
"Fine, good night" He called as he headed upstairs.
Lying down on his bed, his room decked out in Gryffindor colours with moving posters of Quidditch and his friends on the wall, Harry sighed, his eyes slowly closing as he relaxed.