Chapter 16 – Home for the Holidays

James didn't know how to process this new revelation and he could think about nothing else on the train ride back to London. Had Voldemort really returned? But how could that be? His father had defeated him seventeen years ago. Surely there was no way he could come back.

James didn't know what to do with this information. Should he tell his parents? But his father already had enough to worry about with the pressure from work over the unexplained Muggle death. Plus he didn't know if it was true. For all he knew it could be someone playing an elaborate prank on him due to the fact his father was Harry Potter. For now James thought it best to keep the information to himself until he had some firm evidence of what exactly was going on.

James' mother, brother and sister were waiting for him on Platform Nine and Three Quarters when the Hogwarts Express pulled in at Kings Cross. As soon as he got off the train James got a massive hug from his mother.

"Where's dad?" James asked, wondering if he was just waiting by the car as his dad had a fondness for Muggle transportation.

"He's still tied up at the Ministry but he will be home for dinner tonight… I hope," Ginny said, sounding rather annoyed as she looked over her son and was amazed how much he had seemingly grown in just a few months.

Once back at his family home, James' brother and sister wanted to hear all about Hogwarts for all of ten minutes before they got bored and went off to play a game of Gobstones, but James' mother couldn't get enough of hearing about her old school, slightly jealous that she wasn't back there herself.

"So what's your favourite subjects? What are your teacher's like? How's Hagrid? Is Filch just as grumpy as ever? How's Neville doing? It was terrible what happened to him, me and your father were so worried," Ginny said without taking a breath.

James and his mother must have been talking for hours as he told her all about his time at Hogwarts, but obviously omitting everything about his dreams.

"Your father heard at the Ministry that there was a serious fire there only a few days ago," Ginny commented as she prepared dinner.

"Oh yeah in the Great Hall, all the Christmas trees went up in flames but by the morning it was all back to normal," James replied as he picked at some caramelised walnuts that were on top of a cake Ginny had made for dessert.

His mother gave James a light tap on his hand to discourage him from tampering with her cake before dinner and James gave a cheeky grin back, glad to be home and having his mother's home cooking again.

"Seems like a lot has been happening at Hogwarts this year," his mother noted.

"What do you mean?" James replied, suddenly feeling guilty and wondering if his mother knew more than he had told her.

"Well what with the fire and Neville's accident and that girl being attacked by the statue, just seems odd all those bad things have been happening," she replied.

"True but it's still a lot quieter than when you were at school," James said, remembering all the stories he had heard about his parents' time at Hogwarts and his mother had to agree.

James helped lay the table and his mother waited as long as she could to serve, waiting for James' father to return from work but it was now nearly nine o'clock and everyone was hungry so they started without him. But Harry arrived about half an hour later as everyone had nearly finished their main course.

"Sorry I'm late," Harry said as he stepped out of the fire place, having just used the Floo Network to get home and carrying a big pile of paperwork.

"You're not bringing more work home darling? You promised not tonight," Ginny said disappointedly.

"Sorry, it can't be helped," Harry said as he placed the pile of papers down and headed over to James to give him a big hug. "Right you, I want to hear everything," he said to James before giving Ginny a quick kiss on the cheek and then sat down and started on his dinner.

James recounted everything he had told to his mother earlier again for the benefit of his father, but he didn't mind repeating himself, his dad seemed pleased to hear all about Hogwarts, probably because it was taking his mind off work.

By the time they had all finished dessert (James had had two helpings), James had felt all talked out about Hogwarts and it was getting late. For some reason sitting down on a train for several hours had taken it out of him and he was extremely tired. After a kiss goodnight from both his parents James went up to bed and took pleasure in being back in his own comfy bed. He went out like a light and only dreamed of pleasant things that night.

It was still a few days before Christmas and James was looking forward to spending some time with his family before they headed over to the Burrow for Christmas. However his father never seemed to be around. Harry had been planning to take some time off work before Christmas but things were just too busy. And most nights he was coming back late so James only got to see him for a couple of hours over dinner. Furthermore his brother and sister seemed bored by him already so being home wasn't as fun as he thought it was going to be.

On Christmas morning James was woken early by his sister Lily excitedly jumping on his bed at the crack of dawn. After she had gone round the house and woken everyone else up, James went down to the living room with his cosy dressing gown wrapped tightly around him to see all the presents waiting under the Christmas tree. But it didn't take long for the idyllic scene to turn into what looked like a war zone with wrapping paper thrown everywhere, open boxes littering the floor and toys, sweets and clothes spread out everywhere as everyone began opening their presents.

From his parents James had got a jersey, hat and scarf from his favourite Quidditch team – The Chudley Cannons, a new Wizard Chess set and a brand new broom – a Hurricane 7.

"You'll have to remember to take it with you to Grandad's and Grandma's and you can test it out there," Ginny said to an excited James, knowing it wasn't exactly ideal to go flying a broom around where they lived due to the many Muggles who lived nearby.

And from his brother and sister he got a giant box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, a set of Animoprhus potions (drinking one would give you a specific animals head temporarily). James thought it would be hilarious to pour one into his father's coffee and soon Harry had the head of a monkey and everyone broke into laughter except his father, though eventually he saw the funny side once his head turned back to normal. And he also got a pair of toy racing brooms that were about six inches in length and James and Albus soon had whizzing around the room racing each other, much to their mother's annoyance who had to keep ducking to avoid being hit.

Soon they were all stepping in turn into the fireplace, James with his brand new broom in hand and arriving at the Burrow to be greeted by a massive hug from their Grandma Molly.

"It's so good to see you James," Molly said after releasing him and then proceeding to give him several kisses all over his face.

Molly soon turned her attention to her other grandchildren as Albus and Lily arrived. James placed his new broomstick against a wall out of the way and looked around the Burrow, a place that felt more like home than his actual home.

The fireplace James had just arrived by was in the middle of the room and in the corner of the room was a very large and overly decorated Christmas tree and an extra sofa and armchairs seemed to have been added, none of which matched, to accommodate all the guests. There were various knickknacks and books around the room and lots of family photos on top of sideboards, on the mantelpiece, on the walls and in fact anywhere they could be fitted. There was one photo that took pride of place though and that was above the fireplace which was of Arthur and Molly's son Fred. Below the picture of Fred was a candle that was always lit. And on the wall surrounded by photos was the Weasley clock. Unlike a normal clock it didn't tell the time, instead it had numerous hands, each with a family member's name on it. It now must have had at least twenty hands on it and James could see his own named hand pointing to 'HOME' as suddenly his mum's hand moved to 'HOME' too and James turned round to see her stepping out of the fire place.

"Watcha James," his Uncle George called out as he stepped into the living room to greet him. "I heard about the Ghastly Ghoul incident, hope you didn't get into too much trouble," he said as he looked over towards his sister Ginny, who gave him a rather glaring look.

George led James over to the other side of the room as Ginny was distracted talking to her mother.

"Here," George said, thrusting a small, wrapped present into James' hand. "Best not let your parents see this one. But let me know how it goes. It's new. I haven't even started selling it in the shop yet."

"Thanks," James said, stashing it in his pocket before his mum could see.

Soon his Grandad Arthur was bringing round drinks and greeting everyone and showing off the Christmas present George had got him.

"It's called a mobile fone, that's right isn't it George?" Arthur said and George nodded back. "I have no idea what it does but apparently all Muggles have them but when I press the buttons they make a little 'ping' sound so it must be some sort of musical instrument. That's right isn't it George?"

"Close enough dad," George replied back, not having the energy to explain what it really was.

After greeting the rest of his aunts, uncles and cousins and when the last of the guests had arrived, they all squeezed in the living room (and it really was a squeeze with how many there were) they all began to unwrap the rest of their presents.

From his grandparents James got a big box of chocolates and his usual knitted sweater. This year it was in his Hogwarts house colours of red and gold with a big 'J' on the front. James immediately took his own jumper off and put the new one on.

From his Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron he received a new ink and quill set and a book on magical potions.

"Sorry Hermione chose the gifts," his Uncle Ron said when he knew his wife wasn't listening.

As well as a copious amount of sweets he also received a notebook and diary set from his Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey, a Chudley Cannons baseball cap and socks that changed colour depending on your mood from his Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur and a book on dragons and a real dragon tooth necklace from his Uncle Charlie.

Despite the cold and snow outside everyone was more than enthusiastic for the annual Christmas Quidditch match and everyone wrapped up warm and headed outside.

James was on a team with his mother, Uncles Ron and Charlie, and cousins Rose, Victoire and Dominique whilst on the opposing side were his father, his brother Albus, Uncle Bill and George and his cousins Louis, Molly and Lucy. Everyone else was sat on benches that had been placed on the roof of the Burrow to give them a good view of the action, all accept Molly who was busy in the kitchen preparing lunch and had refused everyone's offer to help.

"You go and enjoy your game, the food is all under control," his grandma had said but James was sure he could see carrots and parsnips shooting across the kitchen as Molly shoed everyone out of there.

Though it was meant to be a friendly game, nearly everyone was taking it seriously.

"Ok Ron you're in goal, Charlie and James are beaters and you girls will be our chasers," Ginny said, making herself the self-appointed captain of their team. "Now George is still nursing a hand injury after he had that accident with some exploding chocolate he was experimenting with so he's their weak link, make sure you aim your Bludgers at him where possible."

"Come on sis," Bill said feeling uneasy at the instructions. "He is our brother after all."

"Not today he's not," Ginny quipped back with a determined look on her face.

Granddad Arthur had erected some goal posts in the garden and now everyone had put on their protective equipment and were beginning to mount their brooms.

"Blimey is that the new Hurricane?" Ron asked noticing James' new broom as he passed him a bat. "They must be paying Harry too much at the Ministry if he can afford one of those."

"Trust me they don't pay him enough for all the extra work he does," Ginny snapped back bitterly.

James mounted his Hurricane 7 and instantly could feel it was much more powerful than his old broom and certainly higher powered than the practise brooms he had been flying at Hogwarts. He wanted to do a few laps of the pitch to get used to it but there was no time, his grandad had released the balls and blown a whistle to signal that the match had started.

It wasn't long before James was joining his Uncle Charlie in batting Bludgers at the opposing team and their team had scored their first goal when Victoire managed to get the Quaffle past her father.

"Ah come off it Bill, you let her score!" George furiously shouted at his teammate.

But it didn't take long for the other team to score when Louis put one past Ron to level things up and the lead changed several times as the game went on.

They had now been playing for over an hour and everyone was beginning to get hungry as the score stood at Ninety – Eighty to James' team.

"Maybe we should stop for lunch," Ron suggested as his belly rumbled.

"Afraid you're going to lose brother?" George taunted him.

"Not bloody likely," Ron shouted back. "I don't think Harry stands a chance of catching the Snitch. He's certainly not in the form he was in at school."

It was true. Harry had certainly put on a few pounds since his school days and he didn't get on a broom as much as he liked to practise. He used to be able to fly on a broom nonstop for hours but right now he was exhausted unlike Ginny who flew regularly and looked just as good on a broom as she did in her school days. And it wasn't long before the match ended anyway when Ginny skilfully caught the Golden Snitch when it flew into the broom shed.

"Next year Ginny's on our team," George moaned as Ginny flew down to Harry who had already dismounted his broom.

"You're still a winner to me," Ginny said as she moved Harry's tangled hair away from his forehead and kissed it before pressing the Golden Snitch into the palm of his hand.

Hearing the commotion that the game had finished, Molly came outside. "Look at the state of you lot," she said as the players took off their Quidditch equipment and looked rather sweaty and haggard.

Before she allowed any of the players to sit at the dining table Molly cast a sprucing up spell on them all and suddenly they were feeling refreshed again.

The dining table looked magnificent with a feast of food laid out on top of it and sprigs of holly and candles hanging from the ceiling. It was a squeeze to get everyone around it but no one complained and soon people were piling up their plates and digging into the delicious Christmas dinner.

"So how is school going?" his Auntie Hermione asked across the table to James.

"Yes it's going good thanks but the new Defence Against the Dark arts teacher hates me but then again I think he hates anyone who's not in Slytherin," James replied and Hermione thought back to all the Dark Arts teachers she had been taught by, some who were not the most savoury of characters.

"And have you made lots of new friends?" Hermione asked.

"Yes there's a boy in my house called Noah, you probably know his dad Dean, he was in your year," James said and Hermione nodded and James continued to mention some of his other friends before turning the topic to Polly. "But there's one girl in my class, she's a right pain, think she knows it all and she's a right teacher's pet," James said and Ron couldn't help but smirk.

"Sounds like someone I knew at school," Ron said and was met with an elbow in his ribs from his wife.

"Just because she's smart and isn't afraid to show it doesn't make her a bad person," Hermione said rather defensively. "You should give her a chance."

"No way she's way too annoying, I can't stand her," James replied before loading some more roast potatoes onto his plate.

"Is she pretty?" his Uncle Ron asked. "Are you sure you don't secretly have a crush on this girl?"

"Absolutely not!" James snapped back with a mouthful of food.

"Good," his mother interjected. "Because you're way too young to be worrying about girls."

After dinner desserts were brought out. There was the biggest Christmas pudding James had ever seen that his grandma brought in with multi-coloured flames and dazzling sparks coming off it, a huge strawberry trifle and a triple chocolate gateau. James had a piece of all three and was thoroughly stuffed afterwards.

After dinner various games were played. James had games of Wizard Chess against his Uncle Percy and then his Uncle Bill. He lost both. And then he played some Exploding Snap with his cousins.

"Are you OK?" Ginny asked as she went over to Harry who was still sat up the dining table on his own, whilst everyone else was playing.

"Yeah it's just work," Harry replied before taking another big swig of his wine.

"Come on we agreed no work talk today. It's Christmas," Ginny said as she stood behind him and put her arms around his chest and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I know but I'll probably have to go in a few days this week," Harry said and he didn't need to look at his wife's face to know that no doubt she was frowning.

But Ginny said nothing. She didn't want to get into an argument on Christmas day and she knew if Harry didn't need to go in he wouldn't. He would much rather be at home spending time with his family. Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and forcefully pulled him into the living room to join in the fun and games with everyone else and try and take his mind off work for at least one day. And it wasn't long before the whole family played a Muggle game that James' grandad was very excited to play.

"Ok everyone this game is called Charades and apparently it's very popular at Christmas time in Muggle households," Arthur said before beginning to explain the rules of the game in an overly complicated fashion and those that were already familiar with the game tried not to laugh.

"How about we just play the game dear or we'll end up listening to you explain it till New Year," Molly suggested as she went around topping up people's drinks.

The game started and everyone was soon laughing and enjoying themselves and James thought to himself what a great Christmas it had been. It was nice to not have to worry about school work and since being home he had not had one bad dream. Things were looking much better to James and he felt silly for ever thinking that maybe Voldemort had somehow returned. He was determined that the new year was going to be nothing but positive things for him.