The Lord and Lady Phoenix: The Stone Chapter 22: Holiday Madness, a harry potter fanfic

Hello all! Welcome to the latest installment of my story. This one's a bit longer than the last few chapters. About five thousand or so. I hope that satisfies you all until the next installment.

Last chapter, Harry and Ginny saved Nickolas Flammel's life from a maniac. We also got a little tease of a Quidditch match. In this chapter, we shall finish up the Flammel episode. We shall see a full Quidditch match and glimpse the first half of Christmas.

I am proud to present to you the twenty second chapter of The Lord and Lady Phoenix: The Stone.

Previously on the Lord and Lady Phoenix…

Snape, with many charms placed on himself to avoid the headmaster's attention, quietly opened the door and gazed at the mirror.

He stood in front of it, gazing at the haunting image forming in the cool glass.

There stood Lily Evans, the only one he had ever loved. He saw himself as well. The two in the mirror had made up and become friends again.

Snape placed a hand to the icy glass. But then immediately took it away. His deepest desire was to make amends with Lily. But that was impossible now. He had been too late and made the wrong choices. She had died before he had the chance.

But then, the image of Lily began to disappear. She faded into the glass but her emerald eyes remained.

Immediately, a new image was forming. He found those same exact eyes on the face of Lily's son. Harry.

A soft breeze came from the open window.

"I understand." Snape said. The breeze died down.

Snape then focused on finding the stone. He had watched, hidden from sight, as the Headmaster placed the Stone inside the mirror. He performed the same procedure as the headmaster.

Nothing.

He tried the same procedure. Something was not right.

Nothing.

He tried a third time, making sure that every step was performed exactly.

Nothing.

The Stone was…gone.

The Lord and Lady Phoenix: The Stone

Chapter Twenty Two

Holiday Madness

"THAT RAVING LUNATIC!" Shot through the forest.

"And that's it." Ginny finished the tale. The wife of Nick, Perenelle, had come home a while ago, and was experiencing the same reactions as her husband.

"He stuns us, steals the stone, does a rushed job of obliviation where we only remember half of what happened, and now he hides the Stone…IN A SCHOOL FULL OF CHILDREN?" Perenelle screeched.

"Yes. And I have a feeling that it is for more than just keeping Voldemort from returning." Harry continued.

"What do you…" Nick trailed off. Then, it hit him. "He wouldn't."

"He would." Ginny told him. "And he was."

"Yes, I have a feeling Dumbledore was using the Stone for it's elixir of life."

"That selfish bastard." Nick muttered to himself. "And after all that we did to help him."

"We owe you two so much for returning the Stone back to us." Perenelle began.

"Mrs. Flammel…we don't want a reward. We wanted to return the Stone to its rightful owners." Harry said. "And we could not allow Dumbledore or Voldemort to get their greedy hands on it either."

"True. But Harry, we are in your debt. We are both masters at the art of Alchemy and can help you in numerous ways. If there is anything we can help you with in the future, just let us know." Nick thanked them.

"Thank you sir." Harry and Ginny answered.

"Just one last question dears." Perenelle said.

"Yes?" Ginny asked.

"How did you know where to find where we lived?"

Harry and Ginny looked at each other. In the branches high above, a speck of gold shined.

"We have our ways." Harry said simply. One second later, they were gone.

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November had come to a close and old Jack Frost was making his way to Hogwarts. The air was getting colder and colder by the second. December had arrived.

The numerous hallways and corridors within Hogwarts were drafty and icy winds pounded across the grounds.

Thankfully, the Common Rooms as well as the Great Hall had giant fireplaces to warm up the frozen students and staff.

The New Marauders were pranking nearly every day now. One student from Slytherin found his ears growing at an alarming rate when he entered the Great Hall. Another from Hufflepuff had their robes turn hot pink and yellow. Dumbledore's beard had doubled in size though no one seemed to notice due to its already abnormal length.

They made sure to prank themselves once or twice as well. It might have drawn suspicion if they were the only ones in the school who were not pranked.

Harry found himself turn into a redhead. Ginny's hair turned bright blonde. Tonks's robes turned polka dot. And the Twins's skin looked like they were covered in scales.

The Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff Quidditch match was approaching quickly. After performing their daily routine of pranking and studying, Harry and Ginny snuck out onto the pitch at night to perfect their Chaser skills.

Their captain wanted to keep them a secret until the game. The opponents would become cocky and underestimate them, leading to poor defense and easy goals. While the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins slept innocently in their beds, Harry and Ginny were slowly becoming an unstoppable force as their shots soared through the golden hoops, on the ancient school brooms, every single time.

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Dumbledore sat at his desk, boasting about how truly brilliant his grand master plan really was. He reached for a bowl and plucked out a lemon drop. He sucked on it with pleasure. Soon, once his master plan was complete, he would have as many lemon drops as he wished!

In the corner of the oval office full of numerous strange trinkets, a majestic avian creature glared at his "master." The man he had once thought a friend had succumbed to the promises of power, fame, and somehow…candy.

The bird's thoughts were interrupted when the sound of a knock came into the room.

"Enter." The headmaster commanded. It was about time he showed up.

The door opened and Severus strode into the office.

"You wished to see me headmaster?" Snape asked.

"Yes Serverus. But you are five minutes late. Next time come on time."

"Of course sir. My apologies." Snape said with a forced apologetic look.

"First of all, would you care for a lemon drop?"

"No thank you sir." Snape answered.

"Alright then. Now, how are the students acting?" Albus began.

'Knew he would ask that first.' Snape thought. "They are under the impression that I am biased towards my own house. Yet they do not have the slimmest chance of even brewing the simplest of potions. The fifth years are doing far worse than the first years regrettably."

Snape knew that he was not imagining Dumbledore mutter, "Good. Very good."

"Yes. And the first years, as usual, are complete dunderheads."

"And how is young Harry performing?" Albus pressed on.

Snape decided to give Albus a little bit of a shock.

"Surprisingly, he performs much better than most of his classmates." Albus looked scared. His eyes devoid of their usual twinkles.

Snape felt a small push against his mental barriers. He saw images of Harry and his classmates creating horrid attempts at the simplest of potions.

"But still, his potions are…adequate at best." Dumbledore's face became calm. His eyes twinkling once again. A small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Very well." Albus said finally. "I think that is all I needed to hear. You may go Severus."

Snape turned around and left the office.

'I'm glad I thought of creating those fake memories before coming here. I know that I would not be able to defend my mind if he paralyzed me completely and brought on a full mental attack. Dumbledore is up to something. I will not allow him to manipulate Harry any longer. I owe Lily that. I will not treat him like I did with James. I was being an idiot. Lily will not lose her son just because Dumbledore wants power.'

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The morning of the match was rather quiet surprisingly. The entire school was wondering what could possibly happen now, considering both Slytherin and Gryffindor had tied and their was no definite leader in the Quidditch Cup.

Harry and Ginny walked down to breakfast and as usual, they were they first to arrive. Soon Hermione and Neville entered and the four began to talk of the upcoming match.

"So…when will it happen?" Neville asked.

"Mark and Greg need to get here before the owls deliver the mail." Harry said.

"It's brilliant. And there isn't a single rule that says you cannot do it." Hermione informed them. She had done her research before "allowing" them to do it.

As time went on, more and more students filled the vacant seats of the Great Hall. Mark and Greg had sat down and given them a thumbs up. Harry and Ginny gave them the same gesture.

Ten minutes later, the sounds of feathers hounded into the Hall, which quickly filled with hundreds of owls. Two handsome owls flew in, each carrying a long package.

They dropped them into the awaiting laps of Mark and Greg. The two picked up their presents and walked out of the Hall.

Five minutes later, Harry and Ginny got out of their seats, said goodbye to their friends, and walked out of the Hall to prepare for the game.

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In the Ravenclaw Common room, two first years entered.

"Hey you two. Brilliant plan." A voice called out to them. They turned and found their fellow Beaters sitting on the couch.

"And you two have told Professor Flitwick, right?" Harry asked.

"Right." Greg confirmed.

"Well, let's open them up!" Ginny said.

Bits of torn wrapping paper flew as the packages came into view. There, sitting in front of the roaring fireplace, stood two brand new broomsticks.

The one on the left was a stone white. Golden lines traced down the stick in elegant patterns.

The right one was the darkest black. It had golden patterns racing down itself as well.

"They're beautiful." Ginny gasped.

"And they are perfect for you two." Mark said.

"They aren't Nimbuses or Cleansweeps." Greg noticed. "They don't look like they're from a racing broom company at all."

"That is because they aren't" Harry told him. "These are not processed like Nimbuses and Cleansweeps. They were not made in a broomstick factory at all like every other broom these days. They were handcrafted just like it used to be."

"Processed?" Greg asked.

"That's right." Ginny said. The wizarding world is becoming lazy. Broomsticks, potions, everything these days are created without the love and care they used to be. The wizarding world is creating quantity over quality just to make more money."

"Wow." Greg said.

"These however, were made completely from scratch." Harry continued. "We found a small shop in Diagon Alley where the man running it wanted to create brooms that were matched to the rider, not unlike wands."

"How did he do that?" Mark asked.

"It's similar to how wands are created. The man gave us a choice of numerous types of material. We found the ones that matched to us and he crafted our brooms."

"So what are your brooms made from?" Greg asked.

"Mine is yew. Harry's is made of Ash. Both are lined with pure gold."

"We are sure to win." Mark proclaimed.

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"Hello everyone and welcome to the second match of the season!" Lee Jordon announced to the population of Hogwarts. "Today's match, Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw!"

In the Ravenclaw Locker Room, the team was preparing for the game.

"Alright everyone. This is it. This is our moment to shine." Mark began. "Ravenclaw has been last place for too long!"

"And now we have gotten rid of those idiots." the Seeker, Cho, said.

"Right. We've got players that can actually do what their supposed to do. And we have our secret weapon. No one knows who I selected for the team. Not even our own house. That's why I wanted to hold our tryouts and practices at such random hours. That way, no one would be able to spy on us. It looks like it worked and we've practiced in dozens of different conditions."

"And…we've got our ultra secret weapon." said Lucy, the Keeper.

"Right. When they see Harry and Ginny, two first years, they'll think we've thrown in the towel."

"No offense but you two are not very intimidating." said the other Beater, Greg.

"None taken." both Harry and Ginny said.

"Right. They'll underestimate you and then I want all three of you Chasers to score as quickly as possible. They'll be traumatized once they recollect themselves and notice the score. Got it?"

"Yes." Ginny answered.

"Right." Harry proclaimed.

"Okay." The shy boy, Paul, said.

An invisible voice entered the room and spoke, telling the teams to get into their positions in five minutes.

The team members were making their final preparations. Mark and Greg were practicing swinging their bats and Lucy was doing some stretches. Ginny looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Cho standing idly. She was staring at an unknowing Harry Potter who was walking towards the third Chaser, Paul.

There it was again. That same feeling she had encountered when Cho was staring at Harry during the tryouts. But what was it?

Harry walked over to Paul, who was standing away from the rest of the team.

"Hey…Paul…you doing alright?"

"Oh hi Harry. Yeah…I'm okay." Paul said quickly.

"Paul, I'm not trying to pry into anything. But I can tell something is seriously bugging you. Want to talk about it?"

"I…I don't know. I…guess I'm just nervous."

"It's alright. I'm nervous too. This is my first ever match."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I didn't even know what Quidditch was until a few years ago. I grew up with Muggles."

"Oh…" Their was an awkward silence hanging in the air.

"I have a feeling that it's not just your nerves." Harry continued on.

"Well…my Dad's out there…to watch the game."

"Do you two not get along?"

Paul paused for a moment. "No. He thinks I'm worthless."

"Is he abusive?"

Paul glanced around, as if he was worried his father might hear him. "Yes. He drinks a lot you see."

"My uncle's the same. How's your Mom feeling about your father?"

"He beats her up and threatens her if she tells anyone."

"Paul…as soon as we win and show your Dad just how great you are, I will bring this to the authorities."

"You will?"

"Of course. I won't allow any friend of mine to deal with this alone."

"Thanks Harry."

"Your welcome. No come on. We've got a game to win, and a Father to prove dead wrong."

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"And now. Here they are! On this side. I give you the Hufflepuff Team!" Brooks! Adams! Wilson! Wrandi! Morran! Gigan! And…Diggory!"

"And now, I have been given the list of the names of the new Ravenclaw Team. Until today, no one has known the full team. I present to you…." He looked down at the list and read the names in order.

"Splia! DeGani! Martin! Potter! Weasley! Martin! And…Chang!

There was a dead silence. Not a single sound could be heard throughout all of the grounds.

Potter and Weasley? Two first years? As Chasers!

Slytherin mocked the Ravens as they did with every other team.

Most of Gryffindor were laughing at the Ravens. Their Quidditch Team in particular were creating the most noise. Fred, George, Tonks, Hermione, and Neville on the other hand, did not make a single sound.

The house of Ravenclaw was the quietest of the four. Half thought making DeGani Captain was a horrible mistake. The other half had numerous ideas of why two first years were on the team.

As Mark had planned, the Hufflepuff Team looked cocky and arrogant. All except for their captain, Cedric Diggory. He was staring at Harry and Ginny, trying to analyze them.

Madame Hooch walked onto the field. She opened up the trunk holding the four balls. The bludgers took off. The Golden Snitch quickly followed before soaring out of sight. Chang and Diggory both watched as it disappeared.

Madame Hooch picked up the Quaffle. Harry and Ginny looked at each other. Then they looked at Paul. The three of them nodded.

Madame Hooch threw the ball into the skies.

"The game begins!" Jordon announced.

Less then a second later, Ginny had snatched the Quaffle. Paul and Harry surrounded her as she tossed the ball flawlessly into the top hoop.

Once again, the stadium was silent. How had that happened? How could a first year score that quickly?

The Hufflepuff Keeper tossed the ball to Gigan. The poor Chaser would need a week in the Hospital Wing to recover from the onslaught the came in the next two point eight seconds. Luckily he was only twenty feet off of the ground when he was swarmed, so the fall was not as bad as it could have been.

Another throw, this time by Paul, and Ravenclaw was winning twenty to nothing.

"Incredible! Hufflepuff is getting slaughtered by two first years and a third year!" Jordon proclaimed.

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Up in the stands, a conflict was going on between the Headmaster and Professor Flitwick.

"Filius, Harry and Ginny are not allowed to own their own broomsticks. It is a rule. I am required to pull them from this game."

"And Albus, I keep telling you! They do not own their own broomsticks! DeGani and the older Martin bought them."

"Then why are young Harry and Ginny riding them?" Albus pushed on, feeling confident that he would win this argument. He would not allow Ravenclaw to win. They would get more house points and could possibly win the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup.

Gryffindor needed to win both so Harry would want to switch to the house that would always win.

"Because DeGani and Martin are letting them borrow their brooms!" Filius practically shouted.

"It is against the school rules!" Albus said once more.

"Albus give it a rest!" McGonagal sighed.

"Headmaster, as much as I hate to admit it, Filius is correct. There is no rules against borrowing a broomstick. Mr. Potter and Ms. Weasley are not breaking any rules at all."

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Down below, Harry, Ginny, and Paul were quickly racking up the points. By the time five minutes had past, the score was one hundred and seventy to thirty.

"And Ravenclaw is definitely making up for the numerous years it had come dead last. They are crushing the badgers!" Jordon proclaimed. "Hufflepuff in possession. Morran passes to Wrandi. Here comes Potter!"

Harry sped straight towards Wrandi. The two tried to out smart him and right when he was about to grab the Quaffle, they stopped, causing him to fly past. Harry quickly pulled up and was immediately upside-down. Hanging onto his broom with his legs, he used his hands to capture the Quaffle.

He was approaching the hoops. Brooks looked ready to block him. Still upside down, he spiraled around the goals. Brooks kept a steady eye on him.

He quickly pulled up. Brooks did the same. But immediately, Harry did yet another loop feinting his final throw.

Brooks followed him upwards as he pulled into the dive. The ball fell effortlessly into the golden ring.

"And yet another ten points for Ravenclaw! Even if Diggory caught the Snitch now, the game would end in a tie!"

The crowd silently gasped. Could another tie be in the near future?

"Wait a second?" Jordon breathed. "Was that the Snitch? Diggory thinks so! And Chang is not too far behind!"

The two teams watched as the Seekers raced for the golden ball.

Harry flew up to Ginny.

"Ready to do our special move?" He asked.

"Ready." She replied.

While the crowd and teams were distracted. Harry grabbed the discarded Quaffle sitting atop the grass. He and Ginny flew to the sky so no one could see them.

Once at about a thousand feet, they dived. The ant sized pitch was quickly growing before their very eyes.

Someone from Hufflepuff called out to his team. Finally, everyone noticed the Quaffle in Harry and Ginny's hands. Immediately, all members of the opponent team, save Diggory, shot right at them.

If they scored, it wouldn't matter that Cedric caught the Snitch.

They swerved and weaved out of the way. They spiraled around each other, building up speed.

Harry gave the ball to Ginny.

"Win it." He said.

"I will." She answered. He stopped flying and Ginny shot ahead, Quaffle in hand.

Out of nowhere, both of the Bludgers whooshed towards her. She couldn't turn. The bludgers covered both sides and were flying closer. She couldn't rise or fall. They were right next to her.

She performed the only option left.

She did a barrel roll.

The bludgers swirled past her and she threw the ball. It spiraled in a great circle. It could have gone in any of the three hoops. And could just as easily missed any of the three hoops. Brooks couldn't tell where it was or where it was going. The ball was much to fast for her.

It rushed past her at super sonic speed and soared through the top hoop.

"Chang has caught the Snitch!" Jordon announced. Everyone's' heads turned to the Ravenclaw Seeker holding a speck of gold in her hand. "Ravenclaw wins!"

The stadium exploded with noise. The Ravenclaws were the loudest of course. The had won! The were

almost double the number of points Gryffindor and Slytherin had. And Hufflepuff had only thirty points in their paws.

This was a huge victory for the house of Ravenclaw.

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Just like the monh before it, December had quickly rolled by. Hogwarts found herself buried in snow. The Black lake had frozen over. Fred and George had pranked Quirrel by charming snowballs to bounce off of his turban.

One week before the holiday break, Professor Flitwick came into the common room.

"Anyone who will be staying at Hogwarts for the Holidays must sign their name onto this list before Monday night. That is all."

Harry and Ginny walked back down into the common room once everyone had fallen asleep. They cast their "bubble" and began discussing the holidays.

"So are you going to be going home?" Harry asked his best friend.

"I'm not sure if that's the best thing to do at the moment." Ginny said honestly. "I know my mother is still mad at me and she holds grudges for a long, long time."

"She sure can. Ginny. She sure can."

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Hermione, Tonks, and Neville were all going home to their families for the holidays. Only Harry, Ginny, and a few other students were staying at the school.

The four promised to give each other their gifts once the new term had arrived.

The train rolled out of the station. Soon enough, the mountains hid the steam from the engine. Their friends were gone.

Surprisingly, Ron had stayed, much to their annoyance.

"Hey Harry! Why don't you ditch the brat and celebrate Christmas Gryffindor style?" He grabbed Harry and began to drag him towards his common room.

Harry easily got out of his grasp.

"Ron, I'm going to spend Christmas with my friends." He turned and left Ron standing alone in the middle of the hallway.

For the rest of the week, they stayed in either the comfort of their common room or the comfort of the library.

They hadn't seen Dumbledore or Ron at all.

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It was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Well, except for Harry and Ginny. They wanted to watch as the Eve of Christmas turned into the Day.

"Almost time Harry." Ginny said.

"I know Ginny. I can't-"

Tap Tap Tap.

They looked to the window where the tapping sound was coming from. Harry opened the window and an extremely old owl wheezed its way in.

"Errol!" Ginny gasped. "How did he survive that blizzard? He barely can last a normal trip!"

Errol stuck his leg into the air. Tied to it was a very soggy letter.

Harry untied the parchment from the molting owl's leg and performed a quick drying charm on it.

Written on the front of the letter in a messy scrawl were the words,

Harry Potter

The Boy Who Lived

Ravenclaw Common Room.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"Well, I can see where Ron gets his horrible handwriting. I can just barely make out the words." Harry said.

Ginny giggled. "It's true you know."

Dear Harry,

Hello dear. How are you? I do hope that you are enjoying your classes.

We met a few weeks ago, during that horrid duel between your friend Ronald and my daughter Ginevra. First and foremost, I would like to apologize for any problems Ginevra brings you. She refuses to listen to what her betters say and creates all kinds of trouble for her own amusement.

Onto the main point of this letter, the Weasley family would like to invite you to spend the Holidays with us. You will be able to spend more time with your friend Ronald and away from Ginevra. We are not inviting her to stay with us until she learns her place.

We are sorry for you to spend your days without a family. However, we as a proper pureblooded family of the light, are ready to accept becoming your new family and raising you to become the proper wizard the wizarding world always knew you would be.

It is far too dangerous to have you ride the train home. We will be there tonight in Dumbledore's office to collect you.

Until Then,

Molly Weasley (née Prewett)

Ginny looked up at Harry. His face was motionless.

"Harry?" She asked gently.

"That lousy, no good, $%$%, %$^%, $$^&(, whore!" He screamed.

Ginny wondered if someone could hear him rage through the "bubble."

"Harry." She said gently.

"who does she think she is? Saying she is ready to become my new family!"

"Harry." She said a little louder."

"Raise me to be the proper wizard I was meant to be? Dumbledore's puppet! That's what I'd be!"

"HARRY!" She yelled at him. He stopped and looked at her. His emerald eyes were full of tears.

She walked up to him and hugged him.

"Harry. They are not and never will be your family. You already have one. Hermione's your family. Neville's your family. I'm family…right?"

"Of course your family Gin."

Their faces were close together.

"What did you call me?" Ginny asked.

"Gin."

"I like that name." Ginny said with a smile.

"Then I'll use it from now on." Harry replied with a grin.

Their noses were touching.

"Merry Christmas Harry." Ginny said.

"Merry Christmas Ginny."

Christmas came to life with a kiss.

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A/N: Yeah! And that's the end of this chapter! Finally the two kiss! About time! Dumbledore is still trying to lure Harry to Gryffindor.

And now, we wait as the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future come to….oh wait a second…wrong Christmas story.

Next time we shall watch Harry and Ginny deal with the Weasley's invitation and yet another one of Dumbledore's numerous schemes. So until then, review and do the challenges below.

Thanks To…

Buddygirl1004 CometJim Namiki

Nightwing509 azphxbrd Vampirefan900

The Spiked Dragon Nightwing27 Madi mo

JourneyRocks12 Diana Black Daniel White

Taeniaea Miss Millie Mei fa-chan

Mrs. Yaya Alou Kerr NUDGELOVER

Bragging Rights Go To….

Buddygirl1004- feels betrayed, Snape looks out for Harry,

CometJim-Alliances, lemon drops

The Spiked Dragon-Frustration

NUDGELOVER-Dumbledore steals stone

Challenges

1. What will happen during Christmas Break?

2. What will happen concerning Molly's invitation to Harry?

3. Luscious and Narcissa Malfoy. Friends or Enemies to Harry?

See you all next chapter.

SuperXBrother.