Chapter Nineteen

Christmas Shopping

"Uncle Harry, is there any news from my parents?" Mia asked at breakfast on Sunday.

The naming party the previous day had been great fun. Teddy had solemnly noted down all the name suggestions, from the poignant 'Remus – after Teddy's dad', to the silly 'Louis – after his favourite uncle', to the downright ridiculous 'Infinitie' which had been Lily's suggestion. But now another day had passed without word from her parents, and Mia was starting to doubt that they'd make it home for Christmas.

"I'm afraid not," Harry said, "but how about after breakfast you and I get far enough away from this lot that their magic won't stop my mobile working, and we can trying to phone them."

"You have a mobile phone?" Mia asked. She'd never met a witch or wizard who had a phone, since magic and electricity didn't work well together. Mia had had a phone in her last year of primary school, but hadn't bothered replacing it when it broke in the summer holidays after her first year at Hogwarts.

"Yeah, he needs it for secret Auror missions, don't you, Dad?" James grinned, walking past.

"Something like that," Harry agreed. "We'll take a walk straight after breakfast, how about that?"

"Yeah, thanks," Mia said, tuning back into the conversation around the table, which was about the annual Ministry charity Quidditch match that afternoon, that Harry, Ron and Ginny were all taking part.

"You should've become an Auror already, James, then you could've played," Al was saying.

"Yeah, are there any people who used to be Quidditch players at Hogwarts who are playing today?" Lily asked.

"No idea," Ron shrugged. "Can't even remember their names."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Da-ad! You're hopeless."

After breakfast, Harry and Mia begged off from cleaning up and ventured outside.

"How far do you think we need to go?" Mia asked.

"Definitely out of the square," Harry said. "At home, I only need to go up the street, but there's a lot more magic here."

As they walked, Harry kept checking his phone. After about three minutes, he stopped.

"Let's try here."

Mia waited tentatively as Harry phoned. What if he couldn't get through? Or they didn't answer?

"Dudders?" Harry said, and Mia looked up. "Oh... sorry, didn't think... any luck on getting a flight? No? Okay... yeah, I've got her here with me – wanna talk to her?"

Harry handed the phone over with a sheepish, "it's 3am – I woke him up!"

"Dad?" Mia said.

"Mia!" Mia was so glad to hear her dad's voice. He sounded pretty groggy – Mia could tell he'd just woken up. "Are you okay? I'm sorry we're not there."

"It's okay," Mia said. "You can't help it. How's the snow – any chance of a plane?"

"I'm afraid not," her dad said. "They're saying no planes today – possibly tomorrow, but there'll be such a backlog everyone will be trying for limited seats. But we'll do our best. Are things alright – what have you been up to?"

"James turned my chair into an exercise ball and we had a naming party for Vic and Teddy's baby, and this afternoon we're going to a charity Quidditch match," Mia said.

"It sounds like you're having a great time," Mia's dad said.

"If you and Mum were here, it'd be perfect," Mia said.

"We'll be there as soon as we can," Mia's dad promised. "I ought to go, sweetheart – this call must be costing a fortune. I won't wake your mum now – you know it'll take her ages to become coherent – but if you call again this evening your time, we'll both be able to talk to you. I love you."

"I love you too, Dad," Mia said.

The line went dead and Mia handed the phone back to Harry.

"Could we use magic to help them get home?" Mia asked as they walked back to the house.

"I'm afraid not," Harry said. "The only thing which would work over such a long distance would be a Portkey, and they're really expensive, and can only be approved by the Ministry. Witches and wizards tend to use Muggle transport over long distances, although there are many still who won't use planes."

"Could you fly across the Atlantic – on a broom?" Mia asked.

Harry laughed. "It's been done, for sure, but I wouldn't like to."

When they got back to Number Twelve, it was to discover that Lily's grandmother, Molly, had instigated a study hour, and all the grandchildren (except Vic, James and Fred, who had already left school) were sat around the kitchen table. Harry summoned Mia's bag from upstairs for her, and she sat down between Hugo and Louis.

"Did you get hold of your parents?" Hugo asked as Mia rummaged through her bag and pulled out the History of Magic essay she's started yesterday.

"Shh!" hissed his cousin Molly.

"You know, you being Head Girl doesn't count for anything here," Hugo told her.

"Maybe not, but Dom and I are studying for our NEWTs and would appreciate some peace and quiet. You can chat later."

Even Hugo had to admit she had a point, so the conversation subsided. Afterwards, Mia filled her friends in on the phone call with her dad.

"I hope they can get back in time, Mia," Cassie said.

Mia smiled gratefully at Cassie. She guessed this merry, family-oriented Christmas had to be difficult for her, reminding her she didn't have much in the way of family.

The Quidditch match that afternoon was great fun. It was nothing like the one professional game Mia had seen, or even Hogwarts games. There was much more frivolity and rather less skill. Most of the players hadn't played properly since school, and their collection of brooms was haphazard at best. Ron's goalkeeping skills were a little lacklustre but that didn't stop his wife and children starting a chorus of 'Weasley is our King', which Hugo had told Mia was an old favourite from his time at school. The song was first taken up by the rest of the Weasley family and then by large swathes of the crowd. Ginny, who was on the opposing team, took great delight in putting half a dozen goals past her brother.

In the end, Harry won the match for his team by beating his opposite number – last year's Ravenclaw Captain Matt Toft – to the Snitch. The Weasleys all cheered loudly, and James and Fred used Sonorous to magically magnify their voices so their cheers were even louder.

That evening, Mia got to speak to both her parents on the phone, and went to bed feeling a lot better about things than she had that morning.

"Christmas shopping today!" Lily announced brightly as Mia arrived at the breakfast table on Monday morning.

"Good morning to you too," Mia grinned, sitting down next to Lily.

Lily leaned over, closer to Mia, and muttered, "I did it."

The two girls glanced surreptitiously over at James, who was sitting down at the other end of the table with George and Fred. So far, nothing seemed amiss; James was steadily working his way through a plateful of bacon and eggs. Mia had vowed revenge on James for the exercise ball prank but had had to be more creative in thinking of what to do. James very much had the upper hand as he was of age and therefore allowed to use magic whenever he wanted. So Lily and Mia had put their heads together and plotted and observed, and discovered that when it came to breakfast, James was a creature of habit. Every morning, he had whatever cooked breakfast was on offer and then followed it up with a bowl of his favourite cereal: Golden Snitches. And he was just about to get a surprise...

Lily and Mia chatted about Christmas presents and ate their breakfast, all the while stealing side glances over at James. He seemed to be taking longer than usual to eat today. However, he eventually reached over for the Golden Snitches box. Mia nudged Lily, who nodded.

James opened the box and started to pour out the cereal. Then he threw the box away with a screech. Lily and Mia both giggled, as everyone gathered around to see what was wrong.

Yesterday evening, Lily and Mia had gone for a walk and collected several fat juicy worms... which were now wriggling around in James' cereal bowl.

"Mia!" James yelled.

Mia shrugged. "Not enjoying your breakfast, James?" she asked sweetly.

"I'll get you back," James scowled.

"I look forward to it," Mia grinned.

Once James had disposed of the worms (which necessitated dangling them over several of his cousins' heads on his way to the door), everyone settled down to their breakfast again, and Mia started thinking about Christmas shopping. Not having thought she'd be here for Christmas, she'd already brought Christmas presents for her friends, and given them to everyone. She'd quite like to get a few more presents for the other Weasleys, but the main presents she wanted to get were for her parents.

And she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to find anything for them in Diagon Alley.

"Is something wrong, Mia?"

Mia glanced up from her breakfast to see Audrey sitting opposite her. Mia hadn't seen much of Percy's wife, but she liked what she'd seen. Audrey was the only Muggle in the family, and yet she didn't seem like an outsider. She got on well with her sisters-in-law and it was clear that Percy was devoted to her. And now, because she was a Muggle, Mia wondered if she was the only person who would understand her problem.

"My parents are the only people I really need to buy presents for still, and I don't think I'll be able to find anything for them in Diagon Alley," Mia explained.

Audrey smiled. "I know what you mean – I have the same problem when choosing presents for my parents and my brother's family. Would you like to come shopping with me, in normal London?"

Mia and Audrey ended up getting the tube to central London whilst the others went directly to the Leaky Cauldron via Floo Powder. The two of them spent a happy morning exploring Oxford Street and buying presents. Mia brought presents for her parents, and even contrived to slip off by herself for ten minutes and buy a present for Audrey – a scarf she'd been admiring. Afterwards, the two of them caught the tube to Charing Cross, and Mia guided Audrey into the Leaky Cauldron, where they met the others for a late lunch.

"Get all your shopping done?" Percy asked as Audrey and Mia joined the long table which had been made by putting half a dozen smaller tables together.

"We had a lovely time, didn't we, Mia?" Audrey asked, sitting down on the chair her husband pulled out for her.

"We certainly spent enough money!" Mia grinned.

Mia enjoyed lunch, despite the fact that James thoroughly amused himself by vanishing her food just as she was about to take a bite, and transfiguring her last mouthful of chocolate cake into soil as she picked it up. After lunch, they wall went back to Diagon Alley, and Mia was able to top up her potions ingredients, as well as purchase a few small gifts for some of the other Weasleys. By the time they headed home, everyone was ready for a quiet, peaceful evening around the drawing room fire.