Christmas Eve at Pucey Villa

Wednesday — December 24, 1997

On Christmas Eve, Adrian Apparated the two of them to a snow-covered landscape at the edge of a wood instead of the gates of his parents' estate. Alicia blinked in confusion and looked around in the early morning light. It was cold and crisp and everything was perfectly still. There was a huge oak tree nearby, and to her right, sweeping white lawns.

"Where are we?"

"Pucey Villa. We can't go in through the main gates, because Death Eaters have been coming around trying to find me. So Mum put up a secret Apparition point here, remember?"

She turned to look around, and suddenly realized they were in a cemetery — presumably a family cemetery. It was covered in snow, but she could see tall marble obelisks and intricately carved marble headstones. And then Alicia realized quite abruptly that they were standing on a grave. She yelped and stumbled off of it.

Adrian, the arse, laughed at her reaction.

"Calm down, you knew Mum put up a secret Apparition point!"

"She didn't tell me it was on top of a grave!" Alicia nearly yelled. "Who the hell did we just land on?!"

"A house elf who worked for my parents before I was born. Mum said no Death Eater would guess the secret Apparition point was on top of a house elf's grave."

"But… isn't that dishonoring to the house elf?" Alicia cried, gaping at the headstone. The only thing visible was Always Remembered; the rest above was coated in a heavy layer of frost and snow. What an odd epitaph for a house elf, she thought.

A new voice said, "Actually, it's my way of honoring Chessy."

Alicia whirled around to face Alania Pucey, who was standing at the edge of the cemetery holding a broomstick. She smiled sadly and elaborated.

"Chessy was such a sweet, gentle girl. I miss her dearly. She loved our family very much. I know many witches and wizards claim to know their house elves, but actually don't… so I can only ask you to trust me when I tell you that I know Chessy would want me to place the Apparition point on her grave given the nature of the times we live in. However, the house is quite a distance from here, so we'll need to fly back."

With that, Alania waved her wand. What appeared to be a marble tomb opened and two more broomsticks came out. They flew up to Adrian and Alicia to hover at mounting height.

Alicia felt her breath catch. It had been ages since she'd flown.

Adrian could tell that any discomfort Alicia felt at having Apparated on top of a grave evaporated the second his old Nimbus 2001 hovered beside her. His Firebolt came up to him.

"Wait, this is…" A dawning sense of realization came over her.

Adrian smiled as he swung his leg over his newer broomstick. "My old broomstick, yes."

"The one Malfoy's father bought you?"

His mother rolled her eyes. "Lucius is such an arse. Always trying to buy people, that bastard. But that doesn't detract from the fact that the Nimbus 2001 was a bloody fine broomstick." She swung her leg over her own and was airborne before Adrian could speak. "Hurry back to the terrace, please. I need you both there to enact another protection charm, and I'd like to do it within the next hour."

With that, she was gone, and Adrian looked back at Alicia. "Well?" he teased. "Do you want to ride it, or not?"

Alicia bit her lip and looked at him eagerly. "Can I?"

"Mum gave you permission."

"Yes, but it's your broomstick."

Adrian gave her a slightly sultry, teasing smile. "Spinnet, I know for a fact you love riding my broomstick. You were at it for nearly twenty minutes last night after we went down on each other. Though, I suppose if we want to get technical, I went up on you."

At that, Alicia burst into laughter. "That was awful, Adrian!"

"Come on, I know you want to fly." He kicked off and hovered some twenty feet above the cemetery, waiting on her.

Alicia took her time, relishing and enjoying the fact that she was going to get to fly that Nimbus 2001. Adrian had mixed feelings about the stupid thing. It had been the broom to have that particular year, but he also loathed Malfoy. Alexander hadn't been happy about it, either. The end result was that Adrian got a Firebolt two years later, which was his favorite of the two broomsticks, but the Nimbus series was still a fine broom. It turned on a pin and was as sleek as the day he'd received it.

When she soared up next to him, her eyes were closed and she took a long, slow breath, inhaling the frigid air.

"Feel better?"

"Yes," she breathed.

"Come on, Spinnet, see if you can keep up."

And he took off, racing first over the lawns, not quite as fast as the Firebolt could go, because the Nimbus wasn't quite as fast, and he needed Alicia to catch up. She did so — easily — and as soon as she was next to him, he did a hairpin curve in midair and went back the way he came. The woods were bloody brilliant for training; he loved weaving between the trees. Alicia followed him, laughing brightly behind him as she expertly swerved around trunks with him.

It was hard to mind the time while flying, but despite gloves, a scarf, and a heavy coat (and hungrily watching Alicia fly), he was soon frozen, so he headed back towards the house with Alicia gliding beside him.

"Merlin, I'm so envious," she moaned. "You getting to grow up here, flying all the time. I hated that I couldn't fly during the summers!"

"It's much nicer in the summer, when it's warm."

"We'll have to come back when the weather's nice," she agreed.

"It's really pretty in the summer, too. The woods, especially."

"There you two are!"

Adrian landed on the terrace and smiled at Bridget. "Hullo. You remember Alicia?"

Bridget hugged Alicia as soon as she had dismounted. "Aye, I do. You snuck out with him at Bess and Conall's wedding," she teased. Alicia turned pink, but Bridget just laughed. "Come inside. Your mum wants to do something important but she needs us all there, Adrian."

"She mentioned a protection charm," Adrian said, frowning. "But the only other thing she could do to the estate is a Fidelius —"

He broke off abruptly. Fuck, that's exactly what his mother planned to do! His father had mentioned it last Christmas! They had finally reached that point! His stomach bottomed out.

"Aye," Bridget said darkly, as she led the way back into the family parlor. "You're a hot commodity, Adrian."

Adrian knew the theory behind a Fidelius Charm, but had certainly never seen one enacted. His father and Atticus had set one over Atticus's townhouse in Paris almost a year ago in preparation for the escalation of the war. Now, his mother and father stood facing each other in front of the fireplace with a small table between them.

Alicia suddenly tugged his coat sleeve and whispered, "Should I be here?" She looked worried.

"Yes," his mother interrupted, before Adrian could reply. She smiled at Alicia. "I want you here, too."

"Yes, but… Alicia and I aren't engaged like Att and Bridge," Adrian said quietly, meeting his mother's eyes.

"No," she acknowledged. Her eyes flickered to Alicia and back to his. "But I suspect one day, you will be."

Adrian felt his blush creep down his neck. He didn't dare look at Alicia. He'd be twenty soon, but that still felt way too young to get married, even if he loved her.

"Besides," his mother added. "Alicia needs a safe place to hide. Just in case."

Next to him, he sensed rather than saw Alicia wrap her arms around herself. Her parents were still stubbornly refusing to leave the country. It would end with her father being carted off to Azkaban, or else dead. The fact that Umbridge hadn't sent anyone after Leslie Spinnet yet despite the fact that he'd missed his "appointment" just a few days earlier struck Adrian as very ominous. The woman was waiting for something, but what?

Atticus, damn him, opened his mouth at that point. "Doesn't it put you at risk to shelter Alicia though, Mum?"

Adrian had his wand out before he thought about it, but it was Alicia who stopped him from hexing Atticus, not his mother.

"Your brother is right," she said quietly, refusing to meet anyone's eyes as she quickly grabbed his wrist. "I don't want to put your family at risk, Adrian. I already feel like I'm putting you at risk."

"I'm willingly putting myself at risk," Adrian said through gritted teeth. He was still glaring daggers at Atticus. "You aren't putting me at risk, Alicia."

"Atticus," Bridget huffed. "Knock it off."

"I'm just saying," Atticus started, but this time, his mother interrupted.

"It doesn't put us at risk to allow Alicia entry to Pucey Villa via a Fidelius Charm. She can't reveal the location to anyone, after all. I'm going to be the Secret Keeper, so it's my decision."

Nothing else was said about it. It didn't take long to enact a Fidelius Charm, but it was a complex bit of magic. His mother's forte was Charms, and she had a particular flare for this sort of thing. It was interesting to watch such brilliant magic; Adrian had never really seen his mother's intuition at Charms as he had seen his father's intuition at Potions.

As soon as the spell was complete, Adrian blinked in surprise. He couldn't see anything around him at all. Everything looked like white mist. He tensed in slight fear. What the hell? Alicia's fingers tightened in his hand and he heard her whisper, "What just happened?"

Then suddenly, he heard his mother's voice next to his ear.

"The entrance to Pucey Villa is located on top of Chessy the House Elf's grave in the cemetery, mon fils."

Immediately, the fog disappeared and he could see the parlor again. When he looked at Alicia, she looked terrified and resolute at the same time. Alania smiled and leaned over, whispered the location to Alicia, and Adrian saw the moment she could see the room again. Her shoulders sagged visibly.

Alania next told Bridget and Atticus, as they had been through this once already and knew what to expect.

"Att, love, I'll give you the address to pass along to Papi and Mamet before you leave for France again," Alania said conversationally. "Now! We should enjoy brunch. Cheffy's made so many good things today, he's excited to send them up."

As everyone moved to do different things, Atticus walked up to Alicia and Adrian. Ignoring his Adrian, he said gently to Alicia, "You know I wasn't trying to say anything about you personally, right?"

She nodded. "I know."

"Truthfully, you're good for Ade," he went on, smiling.

"I will hex you, Att," Adrian snapped. "You implied Alicia isn't trustworthy —"

Atticus shoved him, but his eyes stayed on Alicia. "That wasn't it at all. Just be careful, yeah? I'm worried about your family."

She swallowed. "I'm worried about my family, too."

"Bridget and I were watching you two fly together out there," Atticus added. "You're good. You played Chaser, right?"

"I did. You played Keeper, right?"

"I did." Atticus buried his hands in his pockets. "I miss it, sometimes."

Bridget interrupted, wrapping an arm around her fiancé's waist. "He should have gone professional," she said conversationally. "But he wanted to get out of England until You-Know-Who is defeated. It was bloody well hard to score against him, I can tell you that!"

"You played Chaser, too," Alicia said suddenly, to Bridget.

Bridget grinned. "Aye, I did."

Atticus smiled at her. "She was fucking amazing. She said it was hard to score against me, but the truth was, it was nearly impossible to block Bridget. Almost as hard as blocking the Wood brothers."

Alicia looked startled. "The Wood brothers? You knew Dougal and Fergus?"

At that, Atticus's face fell slightly. "I did. They were Chasers for Gryffindor in my day. Bill Weasley was their third, and Charlie Weasley was their Seeker. Bill, Dougal, and Fergus… they were friendly to me. It was rare, Gryffindors and Slytherins getting along, but we did. As long as there weren't other people around, anyways. I had to be careful, then."

"Bollocks is what that is," Bridget said, rolling her eyes. Then she added, "Dougal's wife was a fucking brilliant Beater for Hufflepuff. I knew her because we were on the team together."

"When I'd heard Dougal and Fergus had both been killed at Little Helga, I couldn't believe it," Atticus said hollowly. "They were good men, both of them."

"Alicia is friends with Oliver," Adrian said quietly.

Atticus glanced at her again. "I never really knew Ollie. He was a first year when I was a seventh-year, but I figured he'd play Quidditch like the rest of them. He's on with Puddlemere now, isn't he?"

"He is," Alicia murmured. "He was on the Reserve team until the Muggle-Born Registration Commission was formed. Within two weeks, he got bumped to the regular team because they lost their Keeper."

Atticus looked angry, but all he said was, "Damn."

"Angelina Johnson, she's one of my two best friends, and she got bumped from Reserve Chaser for Holyhead to the main team that week, too," Alicia added bitterly. "That wasn't how either of them wanted to make the main team."

"I bet not."

"Are you four talking Quidditch?" Alexander had approached them. "Come on to the dining room. Your mother thought you were all following her. You can keep it up there."

Atticus leaned over to Alicia as Alexander headed out of the room and whispered, "Dad could care less about Quidditch. I'm glad you like to play; that makes five of us against him."

At that, Alicia laughed. "You're awful, I think."

"Usually." Atticus grinned.

Always, Adrian thought. Merlin, his brother tried his patience.

The day passed cheerfully enough, despite the fact that Alicia was worried about her parents. She was concerned that she hadn't brought gifts for Alania, Alexander, Atticus, and Bridget, but they didn't seem to really exchange gifts the way most families did. Bridget gave Adrian a copy of a diary she'd been keeping since she became a Curse Breaker, and apparently Atticus had given Adrian a copy of Bill Weasley's Curse Breaker diary the year before. Alicia wasn't sure why they gave Adrian a copy of a diary about Curse Breaking, since that wasn't what he was interested in, but Atticus said something about curses being able to transfer between fields, and Adrian would likely find some of them useful. Bridget had worked on the standing stone ruins in Ireland and Scotland before transferring to Paris, and she told her future brother-in-law that there was some interesting stuff in her notes.

After eating brunch, then a late afternoon dinner, and flying some more over the frozen grounds, Alicia tried to apologize to Alania for not getting them anything. But Alania just laughed and hugged her.

"Heavens, ma colibri, don't worry about that. We have everything we need. Besides, you did give me something."

Alicia blinked. "What?"

Alania leaned close and whispered, "You make my son happy."

Alicia turned bright pink.

"Adrian was so depressed after he graduated," Alania went on softly. "Last Christmas he was so distant from everyone. It broke my heart. This year, he's smiling. Chérie, that alone is the best gift anyone could give me. And you wonder why I let you into the Fidelius Charm?"

"What does ma colibri mean?" Alicia asked curiously.

Alania smiled. "My hummingbird. That's what I will call you, because when you fly, you're so bloody fast. And just as good as Adrian. I saw you barrel roll out there and go past him."

Alicia laughed. "I love to do those. But the broom helped. That Nimbus 2001… I was so jealous when I saw the Slytherin team with those brooms that year. And so angry! The Gryffindor team didn't have any backers like that! Heck, the nicest broom on the team that year was Harry's Nimbus 2000. The twins were flying old Cleansweeps! We didn't think we were going to win at all. Harry pulled it off, though."

"What is he like?" Alania asked curiously.

Alicia thought a moment. "Harry's quiet. He was a bloody brilliant Seeker. He'd be good if he went professional. I don't know that he will, though. He's always been a bit different from the rest of us. Not that he didn't fit in with the team, just that…" She thought about how to phrase it, but to her surprise, it was Alexander who interrupted. Alicia hadn't even realized he'd come up behind her and Alania.

"He's set apart. He's been marked since birth, and many people think he'll be the one to defeat the Dark Lord."

Alicia hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, that. Harry knew how to have fun and laugh, but he was always just a bit different."

Alania asked, "What was the rest of your team like?"

"Ollie… he's an amazing Keeper. He's professional now, he plays for Puddlemere. And Angelina was always the best of the three of us who played Chaser together. She's professional now, too."

"Holyhead, right?"

Alicia nodded again. "Katie… Katie always had spunk out on the field. She'd be good professional, too. We got her out of the country in August, to France."

"I'm glad she got out," Alexander said softly.

"So am I. Katie, Angelina, and I… we're best friends. Fred and George Weasley were our Beaters until Umbridge banned them. They were the best Beaters you could ask for. Oliver called them a pair of human Bludgers themselves," she joked, imitating Oliver's brogue.

Alania laughed. "Oh, I miss playing Quidditch sometimes. There usually aren't enough of us here for a knock-about game, even if I invite some of Bridget's family over."

"Did you enjoy playing Seeker?" Alicia asked.

Alania smiled wistfully. "I did. I was very good at it, as vain as that sounds. I noticed things others didn't."

"Harry is like that too," Alicia murmured.

Atticus was suddenly at their side. "Did I hear you say one of your best friends is in France?"

Alicia nodded. "Yes, Katie. I hate it. I miss her so much, and I can't write her letters because they could be intercepted. But at least she's safe."

Atticus looked thoughtful. "Write her a letter tonight," he said. "And give it to me tomorrow. I can make sure it reaches her. Remind her not to write you back, though. But at least you can send her a few words, yeah?"

Alicia stared at him. "You would do that for me?"

He grinned. "I have a feeling you're going to be my sister one day. So yes, I would do that for you."

Alicia flushed, but at that very moment, a house elf appeared behind them.

"Mistress!" the elf squeaked, and they all turned. Across the room, Adrian and Bridget stopped their conversation to look at the elf.

Her eyes were wide and round. "Mistress, four young men are at the gate! They haven't rung the bell, though!"

Alania moved faster than Alicia expected. Her wand came out and she was striding towards the hall, Alexander in her wake. Alicia ran after them and knew Adrian, his brother, and Bridget were following.

To Alicia's surprise however, Alania went up the main stairs to the first floor. Startled, Alicia followed her. "Where are we going?" she called out.

"You'll see." Alania's voice was grim.

On the first floor, several Palladian windows overlooked the main drive and the gates. To Alicia's surprise, Alania stopped right in front of them, in full view of the gates.

"Er, shouldn't you Disillusion yourself?"

"No need," Alania replied, a wicked smile curving her mouth. "They can't see us."

"The Fidelius Charm," Atticus said knowingly, stopping beside his mother. "Who are they?"

Alicia's breath caught. The men were quite far away, but she could make out four heads of dark hair and one blond. "Cassius Warrington? And Miles Bletchley?"

"And Graham Montague," Adrian's voice was right behind her. "And Marcus Fucking Flint."

"Looks like you got that charm up just in time, Maman," Atticus said, putting a hand on his Adrian's shoulder.

Alania was smiling broadly now. "Alicia, love, come with me. The rest of you stay here."

Startled, Alicia followed Alania back downstairs and, to her horror, out the front door.

"Wait, isn't this dangerous?!" she hissed.

"Oh no, not at all. Just so long as you don't go past the gates. They don't know where the house is. The Fidelius Charm is perfect; it hides us completely."

Alicia felt incredibly nervous keeping up with Alania as they made their way down the drive. Alania walked all the way up to the gate itself, her face grimly satisfied in a dark sort of way. She was mere feet from four men Alicia had hoped to never see again in her life.

Cassius Warrington was the fittest of the three; there had been talk amongst girls at Hogwarts that he was attractive, though he wasn't nearly as fit as Adrian. He was tall, with yellow-blonde hair, but his face was thinner than Alicia remembered.

Montague, Bletchley, and Flint were stockier. Flint looked like a fucking troll — he always had. He was huge and hulking, with hard, cold eyes. Bletchley and Montague were broad and muscled, with dark hair. Except for Cassius, they all had facial hair now, and they all looked angry as they glanced continuously around them.

"Damn it, Warrington! You said," Flint growled, "it was somewhere around here."

"It is!" Warrington snapped. "You three didn't have to come!"

"Yes, we did," Bletchley snarled. "You know damned well Pucey can best three of us easily. It's going to take all four of us to bring him back to the Dark Lord, because he sure as hell won't listen to reason. That's if we can find his arse."

"I keep telling you," Warrington muttered. "If Pucey doesn't want to be found, no one is going to find him."

"Which is why I told you we're going to have to threaten his family," Flint responded angrily. "I don't know why you didn't do that the last time you visited to Pucey Villa!"

"Because I like his mother! She's always been nice to me," Warrington fired back.

To Alicia's horror, Flint raised his wand and hit Cassius with Cruciatus. Warrington hit the ground screaming, his body contorting in pain; Bletchley and Montague backed off, their eyes wary. Alicia almost screamed herself, but she just managed to clap a hand over her mouth to stay silent, though she did stumble backwards in fear. Even if the Fidelius Charm was protecting them, the fact that she was so close to four Death Eaters — who had also been in her year! — was unnerving and terrifying.

Flint lifted the curse after a few moments, and Warrington lay gasping, his eyes closed tightly, before rolling onto his side and pushing unsteadily to his knees.

"You need to stop thinking like that," Flint sneered conversationally. "The Dark Lord doesn't appreciate it. It's a weakness."

"I tried to Imperiuse his mum the last time we came," Montague complained. "But there was a barrier."

"Of course there was a barrier." Flint rolled his eyes. "They aren't stupid."

Montague glared. "Come on. It's obviously not here. Warrington was mistaken."

"I've been to Pucey Villa twice this fall," Cassius gasped, getting back to his feet. "I'm not mistaken."

"Obviously, you are," Bletchley bitched. "Come on. Maybe it was a mile down from here. Let's go."

"Either that, or they enacted a Fidelius Charm," Flint drawled.

All three other men froze and stared at him.

"Why would they do that?" Bletchley sneered. "Everyone knows they're Slytherin purebloods."

Flint snorted. "Personally, I don't think Adrian Pucey was ever a Slytherin. The fucking Sorting Hat made a mistake. I don't know why the Dark Lord even wants to recruit him! It's not like he would willingly curse anyone. The arse should have been in damn Gryffindor."

Alicia noticed Alania's face had darkened, her eyes were narrowed dangerously, and her wand was shaking slightly, but otherwise, she didn't move.

"So are you saying their family are blood traitors? We don't have proof of that," Warrington retorted, holding his wand up just in case Flint tried to hit him with Cruciatus again.

"Wouldn't surprise me if they were," Flint sneered. "But come on, we'll check another mile down just to make sure."

Without another word, the four men started walking down the lane. Alania and Alicia watched them until they disappeared around the bend.

Only then did Alicia take her hand off her mouth and let out a shaky, terrified breath.

"Oh, Godric," she breathed.

"Come on, let's go back inside," Alania said. There was a current of hatred in her voice.

"You got it up just in time," Alicia gasped, staring at her.

"I did. But I didn't know they would be here today. It was just luck."

"Luck?"

"I took a swallow of Lucky Potion this morning. I had a feeling it might be needed. I was right." Alania grit her teeth. "Salazar, but I wanted to curse all four of them. Or kill them. Marcus Flint would certainly kill you and Adrian if he had the chance."

"I always hated Bletchley, Montague, and Flint, especially."

As they started walking back to the house, Alicia realized Bridget was standing halfway down the drive, her wand out. Atticus and Adrian were in the doorway to the house; it looked as if Atticus still had an arm around Adrian's waist, holding him back.

"Adrian was about to go spare," Bridget groaned. "Atticus had to temporarily hit him with a Body Bind."

Alicia grimaced. "Oh, damn, really? He'll be livid!"

"It was the only way to stop him from running down the drive after you. What were you doing, anyway?"

"I wanted to hear what they were saying," Alania replied calmly. "And I heard exactly what I needed to hear."

By that point, they were back at the house. Adrian managed to yank himself out of Atticus's grip; he whirled around and tried to curse his brother, but Atticus threw up a barrier with a mere flick of his wand and Alania grasped Adrian's shoulder.

"You should learn to trust your maman," she murmured. "We were never in danger, mon fils."

"You had Alicia six feet from four of the cruelest men in the country!"

"Adrian, I'm fine," Alicia insisted, startled by how angry he was. "Your mother and I needed to hear what they were saying."

"Which was?" Alexander asked quietly.

Alania frowned darkly. "That they want to take him to the Dark Lord, though Flint would just as soon kill him if they found him. He believes we're all blood traitors." Her eyes went to Adrian. "They noted it would take all four of them to take you down, Adrian. Flint said he didn't believe you were a Slytherin, and the Sorting Hat made a mistake."

At that, Adrian laughed bitterly. "What a surprise. Merlin, I fucking hate him. Of course he would think some shite like that."

"Fortunately, we got the charm up in time. I suspect they came today to try and ruin our holiday." Alania looked back at Alexander. "We just need to be careful going forward, that's all."

Alicia shakily wrapped her arms around Adrian's waist. "I'm fine, Adrian. I need you to be careful."

"I'm always careful," he assured her. "Whatever Flint thinks, I am a Slytherin, and we always think of ourselves first."

Alicia groaned. "They were literally just outside the gates talking about how they wanted to drag you back to You-Know-Who. On Christmas Eve! Like your mother said, they wanted to ruin your family's holiday!"

"I've managed to elude them for the past year, Alicia. I can keep on. It's you I'm worried about, going to your grandmother's house tomorrow."

"I know, but I'll be fine. Angelina will be with me."

"Well," Alania interrupted. "You'll stay here tonight, dear. Come, let's go back to the parlor and have a light afternoon snack."

But even though they all went back to the parlor, the mood remained tense. The fact that four of Adrian's classmates-turned-Death Eaters had shown up on Christmas Eve to drag him back to Voldemort didn't sit well with anyone.

Alicia couldn't decide if this Christmas was better or worse than the previous year, if she was honest. It was a toss-up, really.

Author's Notes:

1. Alicia flying Adrian's Nimbus 2001, as well as some of the conversation about Harry, were ideas I borrowed from Mandy.

2. The idea of the Fidelius Charm creating vision impairment for those who are within it when it is in enacted, until someone gives the address, was something I randomly created after trying to think how the charm might possibly work. I've read one or two stories about how the Fidelius Charm works and wanted to put a different spin on it.

~EA