The next morning, after breakfast, Alex made sure all his presents for his family and friends were packed up in his trunk and then joined the other students that were returning home for the holidays. He didn't have to worry too much about the dementors when leaving the castle grounds, since all the students were riding the carriages. Once on the Hogwarts Express, the Gryffindor quintet settled in their usual compartment at the end of the train.
After all the Christmas shopping they had done, they didn't have much money left, and so when the witch with the food trolley came by, they pooled what money they did have to buy some snacks. "It's a good thing that it's almost Christmas and the end of the month," Beth said when they returned to their seats with their food. "Granny Ilsa and Granddad Vladek gives all the grandkids some money for Christmas, and once January arrives, Mum and Dad will give Alex and me our month's pocket money. And if we really need some money before then, we can do some extra chores, or help out at Petrov's Potions like Percy does during the holidays."
"Could I help out at the apothecary?" Ron asked. "It's not like I'll be getting any extra money for a Christmas gift."
"Just ask Granny Ilsa or my mum," said Alex. "I'm sure they'll be happy to have you help out in exchange for a few Galleons. You'll probably just be preparing ingredients and scrubbing cauldrons, though. You're not old enough to sell potions to customers, and you can't brew potions since you're not a licensed brewer. That's what Percy was doing when he first started helping out at the apothecary, though now he's old enough to work at the counter."
"Ooh, I wouldn't mind helping, either," said Hermione. "I don't need the money, but I would like to see how the store is run and get some experience. I don't necessarily plan on getting a Mastery in Potions or want to run a store, but any work experience is good."
Alex wondered if that was why Fred and George had spent a few weeks for the past couple of summers helping out at Petrov's Potions. Yes, they were being paid for their work, but considering their ambition, they probably also wanted to learn how to run a store and what potions could be used for their joke items.
After a few games of chess, gobstones, and Exploding Snap, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. Everyone gathered their things and disembarked. Before even seeking out his mother, Ron found Ana Romanov. "Excuse me, Aunt Ana?" (She had insisted that the Weasley children call her that to differentiate from the other Mrs. Romanovs in the clan).
"Yes, Ron?" Ana asked, smiling kindly at him.
"I was wondering, could I help out at Petrov's Potions over the holidays?" he asked.
Ana blinked in surprise, but replied, "Of course you can. Come by the apothecary tomorrow at, shall we say ten in the morning, and my mother and I can find you some tasks to do. We could always use some help with scrubbing cauldrons or preparing potion ingredients. Just let your mother know that you're working at the store. Oh, and how does a Galleon for each hour of work you do and lunch sound?"
"That sounds great, Aunt Ana," said Ron enthusiastically. "But are you sure that's not too much money?"
"You can't use magic over the holidays, since you're not of age," Ana pointed out. "So you'll be scrubbing cauldrons and preparing ingredients by hand, using elbow grease, which means you'd be paid a bit more than if you could use magic to make your tasks easier. Anyway, you'll be working no more than five hours a day. You are supposed to be on holidays, after all, and I want you to have some time to spend with your family and friends."
"Thank you, Aunt Ana." Ron grabbed the handle of his trunk and his owl cage and dashed off to find his parents.
Ana and Stephan then greeted their children and Hermione, and the group headed for the exit. "Christmas is going to be bigger this year," Stephan said. "Not only are the whole clan, Sirius and Remus, and the Lovegoods having dinner together, but the Weasleys and Neville and his grandmother are coming over as well. And Jonas and David insisted that we invite the Rosenbergs, since as they're Jewish, they don't have any holiday plans, what with Hanukkah already over. Severus also agreed to come by for dinner, partly due to Mrs. Rosenberg's influence and partly because Saturday afternoon is his time with Ivan."
"Are you sure that there's going to be enough room for everyone?" asked Alex.
"It's being held at your maternal grandparents this year," Ana said. "There's two whole floors of rooms above the apothecary. All the young folks will be given the run of the top floor, and the adults will gather in the floor below. Dinner will be served on the respective floors, so there'll be room."
The family and Hermione left King's Cross Station and took two cabs to Charing Cross Road, where the Leaky Cauldron was located. They were going to then drop by Petrov's Potions, say hello the Granny Ilsa, and then take her Floo to their home.
Hermione was shown to the guest room. After that, Ana went to prepare dinner, while Alex, Beth, and Hermione went to the living room to decorate the Christmas tree. The 'twins' favorite part of getting ready for Christmas had been decorating the tree and making gingerbread houses, so their parents waited until they came home for the holidays to do both activities.
After a dinner of homemade pizza, salad, and breadsticks, with apple pie and vanilla gelato for dessert, the three teens settled down at the kitchen table to make gingerbread houses. Together they made one large one that looked like the Hogwarts castle, using the picture on the cover of Hogwarts, a History for a guide, and then they each made a small cottage with the sweets and gingerbread left over. The gingerbread castle was placed on a side table in the living room for decoration, while the teens were told that they could place their cottages in their rooms.
By that point, it was getting late, so after a bedtime snack of hot cocoa and some Christmas biscuits (cookies) that Ana had made the day before, everyone got ready for bed.
The next morning, after breakfast, Beth, Hermione, and Alex left with Ana for Petrov's Potions. Granny Ilsa greeted the three teens and had them make sure the storeroom and ingredients cupboard were tidy while she and Ana opened up the shop. An hour later, Ron and Percy arrived, and the former was put to work scrubbing cauldrons with Beth, while the latter was assigned to manning the counter. Hermione and Alex helped prepare ingredients and handed Ana anything she needed as she brewed various potions.
At noon, they took an hour for lunch, while Granny Ilsa took over the counter. Once that was over, she took her lunch and Ron and Beth helped prepare ingredients, while Alex scrubbed the four cauldrons that had been used that morning and Hermione was sent out to the counter to observe Percy and help him fill orders for completed potions.
When four o'clock rolled around, they were dismissed for the day, except for Percy, who asked if he could work an extra couple of hours. Ron was given five Galleons for his five hours of work. Hermione said that she was working more for the experience, but did accept two Galleons for her work, and Alex and Beth just accepted a Galleon each and said that they'd rather have the rest added to their Christmas money or next month's pocket money. The four of them then went upstairs to Ana's old room and hung out for an hour before Ron Flooed home.
Since dinner was being held at Grandmum Lise and Granddad Vladek's home that night, Beth, Alex, and Hermione Flooed there. Granddad Vladek took them out to the local Indian restaurant to pick up dinner, since that was what the grandparents were in the mood for and Grandmum Lise couldn't make as good curry or tikka masala as the restaurant did.
The rest of the clan was quite pleased to discover that they were having Indian food for dinner when they arrived, and Jonas and David set the table while the grandparents dished out the food. Once dinner was over, it was Vera and Ivan's turn to wash the dishes, which they did so, while Cara dried them with Hermione's help and Beth and Alex put them away. Grandmum Lise left for her shift at St. Mungo's, and everyone else settled down in the living room or study to relax or have fun for a couple of hours until it was time for everyone to return to their respective homes for bed.