Chapter 10 – Shake Up Christmas

'Tis the season to smile
It's cold but we'll be freezing in style

We can let our souls run free
And she can open some happiness with me

James Potter was in his element. Truly, he loved nothing more than being the centre of attention, surrounded by an audience who would engage with and encourage the great enthusiasm he had for life. And life, at least in that moment, was pretty good. He was married, at eighteen, to a smoking hot girl whom he was reunited with once more, he was surrounded by his huge family and all his old school friends, the Butterbeer was flowing, spirits were high, and he was pretty sure he would be winning one hundred Galleons in the next couple of weeks.

Fred had only jokingly wagered the bet, but James was seizing the opportunity. Granted, he didn't have one hundred Galleons to spare should he lose, but he was sure he could talk his way out of it. If he happened to win, however, which he was certain he would, he would absolutely be ensuring Fred saw his side of the deal through. Such was life.

"So do you call Professor Roberts 'Daddy'?" Janey asked Ebony, casually taking a sip of her Butterbeer.

The girls had returned from their little shopping trip in the village, and the teens had gathered around their own table in The Three Broomsticks. James had spent so much time in that particular seat in the pub that he was surprised they hadn't put a plaque there to commemorate him.

"No," Ebony replied, appalled. She was nestled into James' side, as she had been from the moment they'd reunited in the village.

James wasn't complaining. He loved Ebony, and he loved the physical feeling of her pressed into his side, but he was worried about her. She wrote to him with frantic urgency near-daily, and within those letters, she seemed desperately lost. James would be lying if he said it hadn't initially been a gut punch when she had confessed they were all planning to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. Every day he spent without her felt like an eternity—but he had known the sacrifice he was making when he had asked her to elope with him. He'd wait for as long as it took if it meant he got forever with her.

Ebony, however, seemed to have spiralled beyond what he could imagine. Not when she was with him, of course, but the sheer amount of time she spent writing to him suggested she wasn't at all engaging with life in the castle, and that thought made him feel terribly hollow. He didn't want to be the reason for her not being fully present in her life and with her youth. Maybe it had been selfish of him to marry her, he often considered. Maybe he had unintentionally taken something away from her that she should have been free to experience whilst she was still a student.

Ebony had vowed, in writing, that if he wanted her to, she would still come to the Burrow for Christmas, and as much as James craved her presence, he had urged her to stay in the castle. He knew she'd regret it in the long run if she sacrificed moments like that with her friends—with Bobbin too. Even if she wasn't necessarily aware of it.

He had been beyond thrilled when Ebony had written to say that she had asked Bobbin to arrange one last Hogsmeade trip for the students before Christmas. She was smart. In fact, she was probably the smartest girl he'd ever met. And the most beautiful. He just wished she was as confident and as assured as she had been in herself when they'd first met.

"I call him Cepheus," Ebony went on. "Which feels weird enough in itself as it is."

"I'd call him Daddy," Janey said in a low voice, which garnered an amused look from Taylor, who was sat beside her, while Rose rolled her eyes. Gwen, James noticed, didn't react at all. Weird.

"I call Bobbin 'Mum' and she hates it," James said thoughtfully. "But she hates it even more when I call her Melinda so I can't really win."

"Well, you can hardly call her Professor Bobbin anymore," Janey said in his defence. "She's your mother-in-law."

"I called her Mum the other day," Ebony said in a small voice.

James turned his head to look at her in surprise. "Really?" He had never heard Ebony call her anything other than Bobbin. Sometimes she referred to the Head as her mum, but she never outright called her 'Mum.'

"Mhmm, but only to try and secure the Hogsmeade trip."

"Crafty," James said with appreciation, taking a sip of his own Butterbeer. "Emotional manipulation is a very powerful weapon—very Slytherin of you." He was joking, but he was still concerned. He had thought and hoped that Bobbin and Ebony were making progress.

"She didn't buy it."

"Well, hey," Jinx said, raising her own goblet in a toast, "it worked. Cheers to you, Eb—we got one last trip to the village."

"And I'm very appreciative," James added, resting his head against Ebony's. "Though I wish we'd thought to do this last Christmas—so me and Mason could have been there too."

"Well," Mason said thoughtfully, "it's not like we were all friends last year."

True—James thought. The Gryffindors and the Slytherins had only really come together over the recent months, reuniting in May to embark on their little adventure.

"Scorpius and I still weren't speaking," Rose recalled, an amused smile playing on her lips.

"That was your own stubborn fault," Taylor pointed out. "You could have reconnected way sooner if you hadn't been desperately pretending he didn't exist."

"Can you blame me?" Rose scoffed. "I thought he was an arsehole. And it's not like he ever reached out to me!"

"He was just embarrassed," Ebony piped up, her head still against James' shoulder. "Believe me—we were trying to get him to talk to you again for months but he was scared you would react in—well, exactly the way you did when you saw him again."

Rose blushed, and James felt himself smirking at the memory. He remembered it well—Rose angrily bursting into the Room of Requirement and lunging at the boy. If her friends hadn't stopped her, he was sure she'd have slapped the grin right off of Scorpius' face. And, at the time, James would have rather enjoyed it.

"Really?" Rose asked, looking keen.

"Mhmm," Jinx agreed. "He was like a little lost puppy—it was so cringe."

But Rose looked thrilled by this revelation.

"Not that I particularly want to spend time with him above anybody else," James said, "but where is Scorpius? And the rest of the guys? As much as Mason and I are loving being part of girls' time, there is a distinct lack of testosterone around this table."

It was true. James had revelled in the time he had gotten to share with Ebony and all his family, but now that they had broken off into their own groups, and the girls had joined them in the pub—Rose, Janey, Taylor, Gwen, and Jinx—he was wondering where on earth all the guys were, and why they'd be excluding themselves from the opportunity to hang out all together one last time that year.

"Oh," Janey said brightly. "None of them have bought us any Christmas presents so they're desperately trying to do some subtle last-minute shopping."

"And what," James snorted, "we're all just supposed to believe they're having some guy time together?"

"Jealous?" Janey teased.

"No," James said defensively. "Just annoyed. Who leaves Christmas shopping to two weeks before the day? We should all be together," he said firmly. But something uneasy had begun twisting around in his own stomach. James had very much planned to give Ebony her Christmas present on the day itself, and now that he wouldn't be seeing her, he supposed that meant he should have been giving it to her then—at Hogsmeade. Shit.

He also supposed he should have bought her something already.

"In their defence, none of those idiots have ever had a girlfriend at Christmas before," Jinx pointed out. "Though I'm not sure why Albireo went with them—we don't buy each other gifts," she explained.

Janey looked at her sister so sharply that James thought she might have announced that she was about to drop out of Hogwarts to become a tap dancer. "What?" she breathed in accusation.

Jinx looked thoroughly amused. "Who needs the hassle?"

"You don't do gifts? That's the best part of Christmas!" Janey protested. "What's the point of even having a boyfriend otherwise?"

Whilst Rose looked horrified, Taylor concerned, and Gwen once more bizarrely passive, James nodded along thoughtfully. "That was certainly my motivation for asking Ebony to marry me," he said wisely.

He felt Ebony gently laughing by his side, an incredibly soothing feeling. "Once again, I'd like to point out that you never actually proposed to me! There was no getting down on one knee, no heartfelt speech, no ring."

James took another sip of his Butterbeer. "Technicalities," he said dismissively, unable to contain his grin. Their decision to elope had been somewhat of a spontaneous decision, but still incredibly romantic nonetheless, James thought. He knew Ebony didn't really care about all that traditional stuff.

Rose still looked completely perturbed by Janey's comments however. "Janey," she began warily.

The blonde girl turned her head curiously.

"Did you tell Sam you would… dump him if he didn't buy you an expensive Christmas present?"

"No," Janey said indignantly. Then, with an edge of sarcasm, asked, "Why would I compromise our agreement?"

"What agreement?" James asked, hating that he was so out of the loop.

"We challenged Janey to make it to Christmas without breaking up with Sam," Taylor explained cheerily.

James was alarmed. "Why would you want to break up with Sam?" he demanded. He felt personally invested in their relationship, having deeply suspected much sooner than any of them that their constant bickering had been nothing more than a facade for how deeply they fancied each other. As usual, he had been completely right.

"I don't," Janey said indignantly.

"They break up about once a week," Ebony explained to James in a low voice so nobody else could hear. "They're giving Jinx and Albireo a run for their money."

Ah. James relaxed. He knew Janey was afraid of commitment, but that's why he was so keen for her and Sam to see it through. They were good for each other.

"Well," Rose went on, still looking a little annoyed. "He certainly seemed to be under the impression that if he didn't get you a good enough gift then you would end your relationship," she said awkwardly.

Janey looked genuinely shocked. "He took that seriously?"

Rose just stared back at her.

"That was just flirting!"

"In what world is emotionally manipulating someone flirting?" Rose asked, looking outraged on Sam's behalf.

Janey rolled her eyes, and James felt his heart go out to her. Few people understood Janey, especially Rose, but James got her. Merlin, he missed being at school. To take some of the heat off of Janey, who he knew would blow up if Rose continued to shame her, James decided to move the conversation along.

"It's weird to think we're all in relationships. Even Al—who'd have thought!"

"We're not," Taylor said frostily, and James immediately felt bad.

"I thought you were dating that Ravenclaw guy?" he asked, certain he'd heard something about Taylor and one of Janey's exes at Bobbin's wedding.

Taylor had turned bright red, all eyes now focused on her. "Henry and I are not dating," she said shyly. She took a steadying breath, like she wasn't sure whether she should say what she was about to confess. "We haven't even kissed yet," she eventually admitted.

"You should—he's a good kisser," Janey said without thinking. She looked immediately embarrassed when she realised what she'd said. "Don't tell Sam I said that," she said quickly.

James recalled that there was some kind of tension between this particular ex of Janey's and Sam, but he could barely remember details. Janey had dated lots of guys, after all.

"You haven't kissed yet?" Rose asked in surprise. "You've been seeing each other for months!"

"We're not 'seeing' each other," Taylor defended, still blushing. "We just hang out sometimes. We study together…"

"That's dating," Janey said fiercely. "Or as good as. You need to snog that boy!"

Taylor looked alarmed. "I've no idea what the protocol is for how long you're supposed to hang out with someone before you… kiss them," she mumbled.

"Like—a day?" Janey suggested.

"It's different for every couple," Rose said kindly, after flashing Janey a look to let her know she was being unhelpful.

"Well, how long did you and Scorpius wait?" Taylor demanded.

Rose now looked mortified that her own relationship was being discussed. James' curiosity was piqued though. He knew he had been greatly unsupportive of Rose and Scorpius' relationship at the start, which had partially been why they'd kept it so hidden from the school, and he was curious about how long their little rendezvous had been going on for.

"Well, we met at the ball in February so it was… I don't know—a month?"

Taylor looked thoughtful. "And what about round number two?"

Rose was now as red as her roots. "What do you mean?"

"How long did you wait since you reunited in May to start snogging again?" Janey asked wickedly.

"We started dating again at Bobbin's wedding," Rose said calmly.

Everybody seemed to roll their eyes in sync.

"Not what I asked."

Rose refused to look Janey in the eye, instead staring off into a distant corner of the pub. "I don't remember," she lied.

"Rosewood," Janey muttered, concealed within a fake cough.

James subconsciously raised his eyebrows. He hadn't accompanied the group on their initial foray into Rosewood, rooting himself at Hogwarts as the leader they had needed on the inside—much to his initial reluctance. He had been able to communicate with the group of them momentarily thanks to a little device Janey had actually whipped up. Unsatisfied with the lack of means for texting or any kind of instant communication in the wizarding world, she had fashioned, on the face of it, two simple pieces of parchment. Except, whatever you wrote on one was instantly mirrored on the other, spanning miles of distance. They had lost both halves of the invention during their mission, but it had been useful to have them at the time.

It was remarkable what Janey could do when she actually applied herself.

James had used it to find out what was happening with the group in the woods, himself relaying details about what was happening inside the castle. And, he thought warmly, it had been a way for him and Ebony to communicate when they had been separated during that time. But, other than that, he'd had no idea what had transpired between any of them during their days in Rosewood, least of all Rose and Scorpius. It went without saying that they were probably warming to each other after a year and a half of strict separation, especially given how close they were when James had eventually reconnected with the group, but he was still intrigued nonetheless

Rose refused to answer, but her still shockingly red face confirmed to them all that she had, in fact, been snogging Scorpius as early as the Rosewood mission.

Satisfied, Taylor turned her attention to James and Ebony instead. "What about you guys?" she asked.

"Oh, Ebony threw herself at me minutes after I introduced myself," James said, unable to help himself.

"I was very drunk," Ebony added brightly.

"You're missing out the part where James obsessed over her for a solid two weeks, doing some major stalking before he manufactured the perfect moment to actually have the nerve to speak to her for the first time," Mason piped up with a smug grin.

James felt no shame, but the others all looked at him, Ebony included, with deep surprise. "Hey," he said in his own defence, "I'd say it worked out rather well for me." He offered Ebony a private smile, and she was looking up at him with awe in her eyes. Had they not been sat at the table in the middle of a bustling pub, he probably would have kissed her.

"What about you guys?" Taylor asked cautiously, now that Mason had drawn her attention. He and Gwen had used to date, of course, though they had been broken up for almost two years by that point. James had never understood why.

Gwen and Mason, who were sat next to each other, shared a look. It was Gwen who eventually answered. "Probably the same as Rose—a couple of months or so."

Neither looked embarrassed by talks of their past relationship, instead rather endeared. They had remained on good terms. More than good terms, James thought—they remained close friends—something James had never done with any of his exes.

"Well, there you go," James concluded. "You've had more than enough time to get to know the guy. Corner him under some mistletoe and have at it—Christmas is the perfect time for it!"

"Do you remember," Janey snorted, suddenly recalling something, "when you planted that enchanted mistletoe just above the portrait hole that one Christmas—and everyone who passed underneath it had to kiss?"

"James!" Rose accused, appalled.

Even Ebony turned her head to look at him sharply.

"Hey, okay," James said quickly. "You've taken it completely out of context and made me look like some kind of creep!"

"It was one of your pervier schemes," Janey said delightedly.

"It was perfectly consensual," James assured everyone listening, though he was looking at Ebony. "It was only activated if the people beneath it actually wanted to kiss—even if they wouldn't admit it. I was fifteen," he said in defence when Ebony cocked a judgemental eyebrow at him. "I was trying to get this girl to kiss me. I knew she fancied me."

"Did it work?" Jinx demanded, intrigued.

"No," James admitted sheepishly. "Well—yes. She did kiss me, but it turned out that she had a boyfriend who ended up seeing the whole thing." He took another swig of his Butterbeer. "Pretty sure I ruined their Christmas."

"I thought it was genius," Janey praised. "I snogged the life out of some guy on the Quidditch team and pretended like it had only been because of the mistletoe."

James grinned. "See? It brought Christmas cheer to people. Just suppose you and Sam had found yourselves underneath it—we'd have saved a couple of years of arguing."

"Ha ha," Janey retorted. "But I didn't like him back then."

James didn't have the heart to argue with her, but even she didn't look entirely convinced by her assertion.

"It was only up for a day or two," Mason told them. "Professor Longbottom had it removed."

"Spoilsport," James sighed.

"And how many detentions did you get?" Mason asked.

"Only a month." James leant back, feeling rather proud of himself. Not for the mistletoe—it had been rather pervy of him—though, in his defence, he had matured a lot since then—but because he was enjoying the camaraderie he had engineered. If he could make that moment last then he would. He felt giddy and light, and he could feel the contentment emanating from Ebony, which, perhaps, meant more to him than anything else.

"Well, anyway, there you go," Rose concluded, looking at Taylor with satisfaction. "We issued Janey a challenge—let's give you one too."

Taylor looked flustered. "What do you mean?"

"You have to kiss Henry by Christmas," Janey joined in eagerly.

"Or what?" Taylor demanded.

"Or else," Janey said without hesitance.

"Or… else?" Taylor repeated, amused.

But Janey didn't back down, glaring at her friend as her empty threat hung in the air.

"We'll see," was all Taylor said non-committedly, and Janey looked satisfied.

"See," James declared, raising his goblet before he took another swig, now draining its contents entirely. "All of us coupled-up at Christmas—a true Christmas miracle."

It was then that James noticed both Gwen and Mason looking at him with confused concern. "James," it was Gwen who said, and it only then struck him how little she had been involved in the whole conversation up until then. "You do know me and Mason are not together, right?"

In truth, James frequently forgot the former couple were no longer so. He had never been around a couple who had broken up and remained as close as them, and he really didn't understand why they weren't together. He knew they had taken a break about two years ago, just around Christmas in fact. But he and Ebony had just started seeing each other, so James had been far more invested in his own relationship to dissect his best friend's own troubles.

He seemed to recall Mason saying something about them just having drifted apart—having lost that spark—and them taking an amicable break from dating for a while. But they had remained on such good terms that he couldn't, for the life of him, understand why that break had seemingly never ended. He had just always kind of assumed they would get back together at some point—like Rose and Scorpius. But he supposed they never officially had. And yet, neither had dated anybody else during their separation. Not as far as he was aware—and James would definitely have known if Mason had been seeing someone else. Weird indeed.

"Well, yeah," James said casually, "but it's Christmas, isn't it? Everyone else is reconnecting."

Gwen and Mason shared an uncomfortable look with each other.

"We're just friends," Mason said firmly, presumably speaking to the group, but looking deeply into Gwen's eyes, like they were both communicating some deeper understanding. James didn't get it at all.

"Alright, suit yourself," James relented. "But you guys were good together—I never understood why you broke up."

Everybody around the table looked uncomfortable, but none more than Rose, James suddenly realised. Janey even stole an unsubtle glance at the redhead. She clearly knew something, but James supposed he shouldn't press. He probably shouldn't have said anything at all in the first place—but one of his many flaws was his inability to read a room and fight back against his impulsive urges to say whatever came to his mind.

"I'm pretty sure Fred's still keen," James moved on, offering a cheeky grin to Gwen who was now blushing. "Want me to put in a good word?"

James' cousin Fred had formerly played on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team with himself, Mason, and Gwen, and had confessed over the summer that he had formerly had a bit of a crush on Gwen, but he had since left Hogwarts.

"Also a good kisser," Janey said wisely.

"He's too old for me," Gwen said quickly, though it was clear she felt flattered.

"Besides," Jinx piped up, surprising them all—she hadn't contributed much to the conversation for a while—"I heard you were into younger dudes now?"

James sat up straighter, deeply fascinated. "Do tell?" he urged.

Gwen looked down, now blushing even harder. Mason looked surprised by her side but tried to disguise it.

"The new Beater Gwen recruited," Taylor explained, grinning at her friend. "He's called Frankie, and he's in Fifth Year, and he's got a massive crush on Gwen, and—"

"And it's not reciprocated," Gwen interrupted firmly. "He's fifteen—he's a baby!"

"Oh, he is hot though," Jinx said appreciatively. "Or, you know, he would be if he was older," she corrected with a frown.

"He's sixteen," Janey mumbled.

They all looked at her. As Gwen and Janey locked eyes, it was hard to tell which one of them looked away first, as both of them seemed to do so instantly. James regarded it all with suspicion. What on earth was going on?

"He's sixteen," Janey repeated, though this time looking definitely at Jinx. "Or, at least, he will be next week. His birthday is the last day of term. The same day as the—" But she immediately stopped.

"Well, there you go," Jinx urged Gwen. "He'll be sixteen, and you're seventeen—that's not so bad."

"I'll be eighteen at the end of the month," Gwen reminded them, almost triumphantly.

"Oh, that hardly matters!" Jinx insisted. "And even if it does, you've got a week or so of prime-time snogging you can squeeze in!"

Gwen just laughed, gently shaking her head from side to side. "I don't think he's even staying at Hogwarts for Christmas."

"So you've got a day!" Jinx declared. "You can cheer him up with a consolation snog after we've crushed you."

"Crushed you?" James repeated, desperately feeling like he was missing out on something.

"Quidditch," Ebony explained.

James' stomach seemed to flip over with reminiscent euphoria. Merlin, he missed Quidditch. "There's a Quidditch match on the last day of term?" he asked, surprised. That seemed ridiculous—why on earth would it have been scheduled like that?

"It's just a friendly that we arranged," Rose explained. "Slytherin versus Gryffindor."

If possible, James felt even more jealously hollow. For some reason, even though they all, bar Taylor, played for their respective house teams, at the mention of Quidditch, there seemed to be even more tension around the table.

"Well, you guys better bloody win it then—you can't tarnish the team's reputation by losing to the Snakes!"

"Wowww," Ebony drawled by his side—she, of course, being a Chaser for the Slytherins.

"Sorry, babe," James said with a grin. "You know I love you, but I'm Gryffindor til I die. I've got to back the Golden Gang."

"Well, the 'Golden Gang,'" Ebony scoffed, "lost their first match, and are currently sitting at third on the table. Slytherin are top."

James looked at her so sharply he thought he might get whiplash. "You're kidding?" he asked his wife, refusing to believe it. Was it just a wind-up? Ebony surely couldn't be serious?

She looked torn between being smug and guilty about what she'd said, but when she didn't deny it, James looked to Gwen in a panic.

"You lost your first match?" he asked in a hurt voice, like he, himself, had been personally betrayed. James couldn't help it—he felt like he had been. He had worked so hard to restore the Gryffindor Team to glory and his legacy was now already tarnished?

Gwen had a fierce look on her face, but she refused to even look at James, let alone answer him.

James rounded on his cousin instead. "You never told me this?"

"It's not a big deal," Rose said calmly, refusing to look at any of her teammates. "We were against Ravenclaw, and they've got a new captain—the son of some Falcons player or something. We played really well." She seemed to be assuring everybody around the table, though she still looked at no one in particular.

James knew he shouldn't push—he didn't want to make them feel bad, especially Gwen—but he felt slighted.

"Well, what happened?" he asked. "I can help you strategise for the next one."

"Hey!" Jinx said fiercely. "No scheming and cheating! You don't get outsider intervention."

James opened his mouth to protest, but it was Janey who got there first. "We lost because we were a shitty team," she said, suddenly vicious.

James looked at her in surprise, as did everybody around the table. Gwen looked shocked, and then immediately furious.

"I told you," Janey went on ruthlessly. "It's all gone to shit since you left."

James looked at Rose for any kind of help. What was happening? But she just looked pale and meek at her friend's savage declarations.

"It will be an infinitely better team now that the weakest factor has been removed," Gwen said in a cold voice, and James was surprised to see just as cold a look reflected in her dark eyes.

Janey abruptly stood up from the table, her chair scraping back against the stone floor of the pub with an ear-splitting screech. Jinx wasted no time before she yanked at her arm, forcing the blonde girl to sit back down as suddenly as she'd stood up.

"What the hell is going on?" James demanded of the group, absolutely baffled as to the comments being made and all the hostilities that were being thrown around the room.

Nobody seemed to want to say anything. Janey and Gwen were both staring fiercely away from each other, whilst Taylor and Rose looked uncomfortable. James turned to Ebony, but even she looked hesitant to speak on the matter.

James remembered what Rose had said earlier when Janey had made the same comment—that she would tell him later. But no one had told him a damn thing. Instead, he directed his attention to her with raised eyebrows, knowing she would crack first under the scrutiny.

"The Gryffindor team is, err, going through some changes," she said awkwardly, nervously side-eyeing Gwen first and then Janey.

"What kind of changes?" James asked with suspicion. He didn't appreciate that no one was being straight with him. What was the big deal?

A few tense seconds passed, in which no one dared breathe a word, and then, at exactly the same time, Gwen and Janey both burst into furious exclamations.

"She cut me from the team," Janey declared in a sneering tone at the same time as Gwen said, "Janey quit the team!"

"I thought you said you left," Gwen challenged, finally turning to look at Janey, though only to throw her a dirty glare.

"I left because you bullied me into it," Janey bit back nastily.

"Bullied you?" Gwen repeated in a dangerous voice. "Bullied you? Do you, of all people, really want to talk about bullying when you—"

"Hey!" James interrupted with authority, as he knew only he could.

He might not have been their captain anymore, but both girls fell obediently silent.

He looked first to Gwen, and he wasn't sure he had ever seen her convey much anger, but she was certainly seething right then. "You really cut Janey from the team?"

James was certainly surprised. He had recruited Janey for the team on a bit of a whim given that she'd never shown much interest in the sport, but she had thoroughly impressed them all, pulling off moves with effortless ease that most professional players took years to perfect. Her biggest downfall had been her distinct lack of interest, which had been infuriating given how good she was—but she had always come through for them.

"I gave her an ultimatum," Gwen said boldly. "She was the weakest member of our team, she wasn't committed to practices, and we lost because of her. I told her if she couldn't take it seriously then she might as well not be on the team—and she chose to leave."

"Hey," James said again, feeling himself get just as riled as though he were still part of the team himself. He had never liked anybody speaking ill of Janey—he felt weirdly protective of her. Perhaps because he saw a lot of similarities between himself and her, and he knew he wouldn't like to be spoken to like that. She often didn't defend herself, and James hated that. "That's not fair—we don't blame individual members for a loss. We're a team."

"We are not a team," Gwen bit back, now focusing her anger towards James. "You are not a part of this team anymore, James," she reminded him with a vicious snarl, and he was surprised to find how much it stung. "And how I choose to captain the team—"

"Is absolute bullshit," Janey interrupted with a scoff. "You'll never be as good as James was, and you—"

"Hey," James said once more, this time looking at Janey with condemnation. She, like him, could often say cruel and vicious things without thinking, which she would then later regret. It pained him greatly to see the girls, and the team, so divided. "Gwen is the captain now," he said in defence. "And it was only her first match. It takes time to find what dynamics work best."

"We didn't lose a single match when you were captain," Janey pointed out bitterly.

"Because you actually respected James as the captain and took it seriously! Now, all you care about is snogging Sam, arguing with Sam, breaking up with—"

As though speaking his name had willed him into existence, Sam was suddenly there in the flesh—approaching the table with the other three previously absent boys, all of them looking concerned by the raised voices.

"Who is arguing and breaking up with Sam?" the boy in question asked, frantically eyeing Janey for answers.

"No one," Janey said firmly. "Gwen is just being a bitch because—"

"Stop it!" Ebony's voice rang so authoritatively throughout the pub that even people seated at other tables turned to look at her. All eyes turned towards her with frightened respect, James included.

When he saw the look on his wife's beautiful face, something in his heart cracked ever so slightly. She looked so angrily upset that tears were threatening in her eyes.

"Everybody just stop," Ebony ordered.

"Ebony, are you okay?" Scorpius asked, looking deeply concerned, hovering awkwardly by Rose's side.

James felt like he should say something to calm Ebony, but he was kind of intrigued to see how she handled it. She looked upset but determined.

"I am sick of all this arguing," Ebony said. "It's Christmas, for Merlin's sake! It's the last time all of us are going to be together like this, and I tried so hard to arrange it so we could be, and you're ruining it over some stupid argument about Quidditch, and I—"

"Ebony, it's okay," James interrupted, taking control. Her voice had cracked on the last word, and her breathing was starting to increase with each passing second. She still struggled with a lot of anxiety over things that had happened in her past, and if she started to hyperventilate, it could be dangerous. James was not going to let that happen—not for something as stupid as this.

He had reached out a reassuring hand to take hold of hers. Her slender fingers slid into his like a jigsaw puzzle without her even outwardly reacting, but he could immediately feel some of the tension release from her body.

When she next spoke, her breath had evened out. "I just don't want us to ruin our last Christmas at Hogwarts," Ebony said weakly, almost apologetically. James hated that she felt like she might be responsible for any of the negativity in that room—Ebony hadn't done a single thing wrong.

"And it won't be," Rose said firmly. "We are not going to talk about the team anymore." She was glaring at her two roommates, both of whom had the decency to look apologetic for how petty they had both been.

"We should probably just cancel the friendly until this is resolved anyway," Scorpius considered, looking just as disappointed that Ebony had gotten so upset.

"No," Gwen said quickly, and then looked guilty, still avoiding looking at Janey.

"You guys should play," Janey urged, and she didn't look sulky as they might have expected, but almost reassuring. "I really don't care—it's probably for the best."

"Janey, you're a great Seeker," James assured her without thinking. He didn't want to step on Gwen's toes, but he also didn't want Janey to think, for a second, that she was the weak link in the team. The dynamics had just shifted—that was all. And he knew he had to respect that he, too, was no longer a part of it.

"You are," Sam encouraged, pulling an empty seat towards the table so he could sit between Janey and Jinx.

"Yeah, well, you've got a week to find an even better one," Janey said with a small smile.

Sam looked like he might protest but seemed to think better of it. "It's Gwen's call," he conceded, nodding towards his captain.

Gwen looked humbled, like she regretted having thrown his name out in her anger towards Janey. "Thank you, Sam," she said quietly.

The group of now-twelve all sat in an awkward silence, none of them really sure what to say or how to recover the formerly pleasant atmosphere. James desperately wanted to gloss over the slight hiccough for Ebony's benefit. She had been so happy since they'd all been reunited, and he didn't want to have to leave her in low spirits. Their time together would be drawing to a close soon—for the rest of the year, he realised sadly.

James turned to look at Ebony, his eyes asking what his mouth didn't need to.

She gave him a small nod in return, and he squeezed her hand gently. She was okay, and that's all that mattered to him.

"Well, geez," Jinx said, deciding to be the one to cut through the silent tension. "Where the hell did bossy Ebony come from? You're not gonna like it, but that was scarily Bobbin-coded."

Ebony did not look perturbed by Jinx's comment but instead smiled.

"She's Head Girl for a reason," Scorpius said kindly, grinning at his friend.

James subconsciously pulled Ebony's hand towards his mouth, pressing his lips to the back of it. He hadn't seen that fire burst from within her for a while, and she looked more alive than she had done the last time he'd seen her. He only hoped it lasted, even after he had departed the village.

"Oh, she used to speak to me like that a lot when we first started dating," James couldn't help but say. "Very bossy. She's gotten a lot softer since I proposed to her—I kind of miss it."

"Once again—you didn't actually propose to me," Ebony countered in a teasing tone.

"Technicalities," James said once more. "Anyway"—he cleared his throat, commanding attention once more—"now that we're actually all here, let's do something fun!"

"Fun like what?" Albus asked suspiciously. James was not a fan of how distrustful his younger brother was of him. Though he supposed he was Head Boy now—he probably took the role a lot more seriously than James ever had.

"Another round?" James suggested.

"God, no," Janey said with frustration. "I'm bored of being cramped up here in this dingy little pub—let's go outside!"

"Some of us just were outside," Sam pointed out with mild exasperation, "and it is bitingly cold!"

"Fine," Janey declared. "You can all finish your little guys date and have a romantic dinner together, and we'll all go and enjoy the snow."

The four boys shared horrified looks.

"It wasn't a date," Scorpius said defensively. "We were just—"

"Alright, fine, let's go outside," Sam interrupted, his face flushed red.

James assumed, even though everybody presumably already knew, he did not want to confess out loud that they had been Christmas shopping for the girls. "Let's have a snowball fight!" he declared excitedly.

James noticed Rose giving him a look that suggested she thought he was acting like a child but was endeared nonetheless.

"It will be fun," he said, now with a rush of giddy delight. "We can get the whole family involved!"

"Please not Victoire," Rose begged.

"Alright, but you try and tell her she's not allowed to join in."

The group all began to stir, some more excited by the prospect of a massive snowball fight than the others. James hadn't even realised he'd taken hold of her hand, but, naturally, Ebony was attached to his arm. Perhaps she had never even really let go.

The sun was already setting as they headed outside, the pinky hues of the dusky sky reflecting off the gleaming blanket of snow on the ground. James' sense of delight morphed inside his stomach to one of guilty anticipation. Sooner rather than later, he would have to say his goodbyes to Ebony. He knew he would miss her desperately, but all his hollowness lay in his worries for how she would take it rather than himself. He wanted her to be brave, to be strong. He wanted her to be happy.

"Do you want me to throw a snowball at your mum?" James offered her in a low voice.

Ebony snorted in the way that he loved. "I'm trying to endear her to me—so no."

He squeezed her hand in response. "Alright, but you can choose my first victim."

Ebony looked thoroughly amused as she scanned the unsuspecting faces of their friends.

"I could throw one at Uncle Ron and make it look like it was Scorpius?" James suggested with a wicked grin.

Ebony snorted again. "That's just cruel!"

"Hilarious, though."

"No," Ebony said thoughtfully. "I'd say Teddy but he's too close to Victoire."

"What about Fred? He's a been a right smug git about this bet—he knows I'm right."

"What about your dad?" Ebony said eagerly. "He's not paying attention."

"Mhmm," James agreed. "But he's got quick reflexives—he used to be a Seeker."

James scanned the vast crowd of people all traipsing out into the snow, and his eyes lit up. He had spotted another Seeker, but one who was definitely not paying attention to their surroundings and was perhaps rather hoping that the ever-nearing cover of night would conceal the fact that he was now snogging a redhead near the back of the group. Incredibly ballsy given whose company he was currently in, James thought gleefully.

Seconds later, he had balled up a handful of fresh snow into a smooth sphere, and with the incredible accuracy he'd apparently retained since he was a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, hurled the first snowball. It landed, with perhaps a little more force than James had intended, directly in the centre of the back of Scorpius Malfoy's blond head. As the snowball exploded on the unsuspecting Slytherin's head, and Ebony dissolved into laughter by James' side, Scorpius turned to look at James with irritated amusement.

Before he could retaliate, and before James could see it coming, someone else had thrown a snowball directly at James' own face, the cold slush coating his glasses entirely.

Ebony gasped, before she once more burst into laughter, and even though James couldn't see a thing, he could picture her doubled over so clearly in his mind, pure joy spread across her beautiful face.

And so the games began.

Author's Note: Title and epigraph inspired by Train's 'Shake Up Christmas'