Christmas was fast approaching and all the students were already home sipping their hot cacao and trying to find their hidden presents. Number 12 Grimmauld Place was almost ready for the holiday, the house decorated with colourful lights, sparkly tinsel and magical garlands. There was a large Christmas tree in the living room and the inhabitants of this house could all feel the holiday spirit floating in the air.
Albus Severus Potter returned home for the holidays a couple of days ago and was kind of avoiding his father, their fight before the start of his fourth year at Hogwarts still fresh in his memory. Harry gave Albus an old blanket as a gift, which made the boy very angry. James got the Cloak of Invisibility, a truly useful gift, not like the old blanket he received. What would he possibly need a used old blanket for?
Albus had never had such a big argument with his father before. They used to be so close, and the boy really missed his dad. Albus had a lot of time to think about their fight in the half a year that he was gone and came to the conclusion that he was the one in the wrong. The young man hadn't yet mastered the courage to talk to Potter Senior, but he really wanted to.
A few days after the start of the break, Harry was sitting in his home office and reading through a new case. His and Hermione's research had stopped due to the Time-Turner rumours, so Harry had plenty of time to concentrate on his auror work. He was just skimming over another witness statement when Albus poked his head into the office.
Ever since their fight at the beginning of the school year, Harry had a heavy weight pressing down his chest. The wizard honestly thought that Albus would appreciate his gift, and his son's dismissive reaction upset and angered him. Harry understood now that his words, spoken in a fit of anger, had hurt his son, and he regretted his reaction. All these months while Albus Severus was at Hogwarts, Harry couldn't find a place for himself. He constantly replayed their argument in his head and realised just how wrong he was to behave the way he did. When the children came home for the holidays, Harry wanted to talk to Albus but was afraid of his son's reaction. He was scared that his son had not forgiven him yet, so when Albus came to his office, Harry let himself hope that maybe everything would work out.
"Dad, are you busy?" asked Albus, looking nervous.
"No, come on in." Harry immediately put the papers aside and got up from the table.
"I wanted to talk to you," began Albus, and sat down on a small sofa by the wall.
Harry went up to his son and sat down next to him. He looked into Albus's eyes and said, "I wanted to talk to you too, Al. I've done a lot of thinking about our fight, and I want to tell you that I was wrong."
Albus looked at his father and said, "I was the one in the wrong. I shouldn't have reacted to your gift like that. I can now understand that you put your heart into that gesture, and I threw it back in your face. I'm really sorry that I said so many nasty things to you. I miss you so much." Albus looked down, trying to blink away the tears that were welling up.
Harry reached out for his son and hugged him tightly. Albus hugged him back, and at that moment, he realised just how much he missed this.
"I'm so sorry, Albus. I regret the words I said to you so much. I love you, son, and I don't want us to fight."
"I love you too, Dad," said Albus without breaking the hug.
At that moment, Mrs Potter looked into the open office door and was struck by the scene before her. Watching her boys suffering and not talking to each other was breaking the witch's heart, but she didn't want to interfere. She knew that father and son had to be the ones to make the first step. Ginny quietly closed the door and blinked away her happy tears. With a smile shining on her face, Mrs Potter got busy with the remaining preparations for the upcoming dinner.
Holiday magic was already in the air, mending broken bonds and strengthening family ties.
Christmas was finally here. As soon as the first light appeared outside, Albus, James and Lily were already running to the Christmas tree to open their presents. Mr and Mrs Potter stood in each other's arms and watched their children with happy smiles. At the same time, in Malfoy Manor, Scorpius Malfoy was also awake, already sitting by the tree, and Malfoy Sr. watched his son with joy, colouring his usually stoic features.
It was the most wonderful time of year, a time of wonder, magic and miracles. Children all over the world were opening their gifts, and their parents watched them with love filling their hearts. Hermione Weasley was no exception. The night before, the witch wrapped the presents for Rose and Hugo and put them under the Christmas tree. There was nothing more perfect in Hermione's world than watching smiles blossom on her children's faces. In those moments, she forgot about all her problems and let herself be happy.
On that day, December 25th, all the people close to the Potter family would gather at Number 12 Grimmauld Place and as in all the years before, the house would be filled with joyful laughter and lively conversations. Albus couldn't wait for the evening to finally come. After his yesterday talk with Harry, the boy's soul felt lighter than he could ever remember. And he wanted to share that joy with his best friend. So, Albus went up to the recliner where his father was sitting and said, "Dad, I would like to see Scorpius before dinner."
Harry looked up from the new Daily Prophet issue. "So what's the problem? You can use the fireplace, and if Mr Malfoy doesn't mind, you can see Scorpius. The important part is to get home before dinner, otherwise, your mother will not be happy." Harry grinned at his son.
"Okay, then I'll contact Scorp right away. Thanks, Dad!" said Albus, and he ran to the living room fireplace.
Scorpius, at the same time, was sitting in the living room at Malfoy Manor and talking to his father. He didn't know how to correctly broach the subject of that mysterious girl. The boy didn't want to pressure his father, so Scorpius decided that it would be better if his dad told him himself.
The fireplace suddenly flared up, and Albus's head appeared in it.
"Mr Malfoy, Scorpius, Merry Christmas!" Albus said happily.
"And Merry Christmas to you, Mr Potter," Draco smiled and stood up from the sofa. "I'll leave you to it."
Draco left the room and went to his office. He had some business to attend to and wanted to sort it all out before the celebratory dinner.
"Albus, hi! What are you doing here?" Scorpius sat down by the fireplace with a huge smile on his face.
"I wanted to see you and wish you a Merry Christmas, of course! But I also have some news, and I wanted to talk to you before the dinner starts," Albus said with a smile.
"Great idea! Come in, I have something to tell you too."
Albus's face disappeared. Scorpius stood up and moved away from the fireplace when Albus Potter stepped out of the green flames, and the boys hugged.
"Wait here." Scorpius ran out of the room to get the present he had prepared for Albus. When he returned to the living room, both boys sat down in the armchairs by the fireplace and exchanged gifts.
Albus spoke first, "I made up with my father." Albus couldn't hide his happiness.
"That's fantastic, Al!" Scorpius smiled.
Albus retold the conversation he had with his father and then said, "I'm so glad we talked. Now, thinking about our fight this summer, it seems so stupid." Albus fell silent.
"I'm so glad that you moved past it. I think it's very important to have a good relationship with your parents." Scorpius smiled warmly.
"You're right," Albus responded with his own smile. "You wanted to tell me something, too?"
"Yes. You know that my parents are in an arranged marriage, right?"
"Yeah, you told me." Albus frowned.
"So, you know that they don't love each other. And last night, my father and I were talking, and I decided to ask him if he ever was in love."
Albus stared at his friend in surprise.
"Don't look at me like that, Al." Scorpius laughed. "I was really curious if my father ever felt that way in his life."
"So what did he tell you?" Albus leaned forward.
Scorpius in detail recounted his conversation with his father. As the story went on, Albus's eyebrows crawled up, his eyes widening in surprise. When Scorpius was done with the story, he asked his friend, "So, what do you think?"
"Wait a bit, I need to digest it first." Albus laughed nervously. "So you don't know who she is?"
"That's the thing. Dad was very careful to avoid giving any hints about her appearance and never mentioned her name. I could see how hard it was for Dad to relive everything, so I didn't press. But later I thought, what if that girl still loves him too? Because I could clearly see that he still loved her. It would be so nice if they could meet again." Scorpius sighed.
"So, what do we have?" said Albus. "She studied with your father in the same year, but was in a different house, right?"
"Right."
"She came to the Yule Ball in a pink dress with some Bulgarian. Right?"
"Right…" Scorpius was frowning.
"And she also had a friend who was ginger. Well, that's not a bad start," said Albus.
"What are you talking about?" Scorpius looked at his friend in surprise.
"We are going to find your father's first love," Albus said firmly.
"Are you being serious?" Scorpius could not believe what he was hearing.
"Absolutely. I will help you with this. After the fight with my dad, I realised just how important it is for him to always be in my life, and that I would do everything in my power to make him happy. So I will do my best to help you make your father happy too." Albus was speaking with such confidence, that Scorpius believed him.
At that moment, Scorpius realised how lucky he was to have Albus as his best friend. Young Potter would help him find Draco's happiness, which now became the main goal for Scorpius. He couldn't allow his father to live without love. Scorpius went up to Albus and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you. I'm so glad you stopped by." Scorpius looked at his friend with a wide smile.
"Don't thank me yet. But I promise you, we will find this mysterious girl wherever she is."
It was finally time for the Christmas dinner, and the house on Grimmauld Place was gradually filling up with people. The table was already full of delicious-smelling food, and all the guests had already arrived. Well, everyone except for Ron and Hermione with their children. Ron was still stomping around the bedroom as Hermione, Rose, and Hugo waited by the fireplace for him.
"Ronald, hurry up!" Hermione kept checking her watch, she just hated being late. "We're already half an hour late."
"I can't go to the party without my Christmas jumper!" Ron's voice came down the stairs. "Don't you understand how important this tradition is in my family?! Where did you put it anyway? You're always rearranging my stuff, and I can never find it!"
"I didn't touch your jumper, Ronald! Stop blaming me for everything!" Hermione shook her head and sighed. "That's it. We are going. You can catch up." Hermione took the children's hands and stepped into the fireplace.
Rose and Hugo were used to their parents' constant fights by now. However, lately, the arguments were becoming more and more frequent. When they first arrived home from Hogwarts, their father tried to pretend that everything was fine, but that didn't last very long.
"Found it!" shouted Ron and ran down the stairs. "It was under my old Quidditch uniform! Can you believe it?"
Hermione stopped herself from snapping at him that he should get rid of that stupid uniform. He couldn't even fit in it anymore. Ron Weasley pulled on his Christmas jumper, and the family went to Grimmauld Place.
When the last guests finally arrived, everyone sat down at the table together. The witches and wizards were talking and laughing, and an atmosphere of harmony settled around the house. It seemed that all the worries were left somewhere far away. When dinner was over, the children went upstairs, and the adults moved to the living room, splitting into groups to catch up and talk. Ginny was chatting with Luna on the sofa near the fireplace, Neville was explaining something to a grinning George, and Harry and Hermione quietly retreated to the kitchen.
"Hermione," said Harry, closing the door behind him. "I wanted to talk to you in private."
"I already realised that, Harry." Hermione smiled at her friend. "What did you want to talk about?"
"The rumours in the Ministry began to die down, have you noticed?"
"Yes. The excitement around the surviving Time-Turner is gone now," said Hermione.
At that exact moment, Albus Severus Potter was passing by the kitchen and heard the words "Time-Turner". The boy looked around to make sure no one was nearby, put his ear to the door and continued to listen.
"I noticed that they hardly mention it at the Ministry anymore. Now there is more talk about that singing mirror that was found in Headmistress McGonagall's office." Hermione chuckled. "I have no idea how anyone managed to sneak it into Hogwarts, let alone the headmistress's office. It's absolutely ginormous," said Hermione with a smile on her face.
"I don't know who did it or how, but I would give absolutely anything to see McGonagall's face when she looked into that mirror." Harry laughed.
"Harry James Potter." Hermione feigned seriousness but couldn't quite hide her smile.
"Okay, okay." Harry gradually calmed his laughter and continued, "Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about. I think now that the threat has passed, we can continue our research. Is the Time-Turner still in the Ministry?"
Albus became rooted to the door. Did he hear it right? There was one Time-Turner left and his dad knew where it was.
"Harry! We didn't muffle the room!" Hermione cut her friend off.
"Don't worry, no one cares about us right now. So where is the Time-Turner now?"
Hermione sighed, but answered, "It's in my office."
"Can you give it to me for some time?"
"Sure. Just promise me you will be careful and keep an eye on it at all times."
Albus didn't stay to hear the rest of the conversation. He quickly ran up the stairs and disappeared into his room. Thoughts swarmed in his head, racing one another. His father would soon have the Time-Tuner in this very house. It seemed that Albus had just figured out how to help Scorpius.