AN: Here it is, the extremely overdue Christmas chapter. I apologize, I have been super busy for the past three months with packing and the movers and actually moving across the country and now unpacking...Anyway, after this chapter there will only be four chapters left until the end of the book but like I have already mentioned, I'm already working on the next one. I hope that you enjoy this chapter that I have written three times now because of Wattpad's glitches. Sorry to keep bringing it up, I'm just annoyed because it cost me a lot of time and effort. Also, the song for this one is just meant to be funny.
~
"What's going on?" Sirius asks as we all scramble to our feet. "Phineas Nigellus said Arthur's been badly injured-"
"Ask them." Fred cuts him off, gesturing to Harry and I over his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'd like to hear this for myself." George says, squinting at the two of us.
Everyone's eyes land on us, waiting expectantly. They aren't blaming us are they? We only saw it. We went and got help. Mr. Weasley would probably have died undiscovered until morning if we hadn't gone to Dumbledore.
Harry takes charge and begins to tell everyone what we saw in our... vision. I add things from time to time, but when Harry describes the scene as if he watched the snake attack instead of seeing it through the snake's eyes, I don't argue. Is that how Harry saw it? I don't want to say that I saw it from the snake's eyes if he didn't see it that way as well. If they seem to blame us now I can only guess that they would blame me more if I came clean, so I agree with Harry silently.
Ron, who is very pale, glances at me with hardness in his eyes and I know that he remembers that I said I saw the attack through the snake's eyes back in Dumbledore's office before the rest of the Weasley's arrived. I make a mental note to avoid him, though it isn't like I hang around with him much anyway.
"Is mum here?" Fred asks, turning to Sirius the moment that we have finished our explanation.
"She probably doesn't even know what's happened yet," Sirius says, "the important thing was to get you away before Umbridge could interfere. I expect Dumbledore is letting Molly know now."
"We've got to go to St. Mungo's." Ginny says urgently, looking around at her brother's that are still in their pajamas with the exception of Ron. "Sirius, can you lend us cloaks or anything?"
"Hang on, you can't go tearing off to St. Mungo's." Sirius replies quickly, holding up his hands and ushering the Weasley children into the chairs around the kitchen table. Harry and I sit down as well, and Sylvia runs over to sit on my lap with a yawn.
"Course we can go to St. Mungo's if we want. He's our dad!" Fred says, standing back up furiously.
Sirius goes on to explain that they can't go to St. Mungo's because they would have to explain how they knew their father was there when they haven't yet informed his wife and how suspicious that would seem, getting the order into hot water. The twins argue with Sirius that they don't care, they just need to see their dad for what may be the last time. Eventually the twins calm down, exhausted. Sirius summons a bottle of butterbeer for everyone and we sit in silence, just sipping our drinks to have something to do.
Suddenly, there's a flash of fire above the table that lights up the dirty dishes that rest on it. A single feather falls slowly onto the table just like the one that fell in Dumbledore's office, except this time a small roll of parchment falls with it. Sirius leans forward in his chair to snatch up the parchment.
"Fawkes." Sirius says. "That's not Dumbledore's writing, it must be a letter from your mum, here-"
George takes the letter from Sirius's hand and unrolls it, reading the short message aloud.
Dad is still alive. I am setting out for St. Mungo's now. Stay where you are, I will send news as soon as I can.
"Still alive..." George says slowly, looking around the table. "But that makes it sound..."
He doesn't need to finish the sentence for everyone in the room to understand what he means.
None of us speak for hours. We simply sit in a stiflingly uncomfortable silence. Sirius suggests that we all go to bed several times, but no one moves, speaking only occasionally to check the time. Sylvia does crawl into my lap and fall asleep around three in the morning though.
I can't recall ever sitting through a longer night than this. Suddenly, at ten past five in the morning Mrs. Weasley enters the kitchen looking extremely pale. Almost in sync, everyone - who is still awake at this point - turns to look at her and only then does she give us a warm smile.
"He's going to be alright. He's sleeping. We can all go and see him later. Bill's sitting with him now, he got the morning off work." Mrs. Weasley says.
Fred falls back into his chair with his hands over his face while George and Ginny get to their feet to give their mother a hug. Ron laughs shakily and downs the rest of his butterbeer. Guilt starts to eat me alive at the state of this family that I have so much love for, even though I know deep down that this wasn't my fault. I couldn't have attacked Mr. Weasley, I don't have fangs.
"Breakfast then?" Sirius asks cheerfully. "Kreacher! KREACHER! Oh forget it I'll make it myself - er, sorry Sylvia."
Sylvia shrugs as she sits up with a yawn. She turns to look at me as she notices Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen, an eyebrow raised.
"He's going to be alright." I whisper to her. She smiles and gets to her feet to go and talk to Ginny.
"Lets see then, sausages and eggs for... nine." Sirius mutters to himself as he counts the number of people in the room.
I stand and walk over to Fred who still has his face in his hands. I take the seat beside him and place a hand on his shoulder in a meager attempt to comfort him. He looks up at me and doesn't let another second pass before he's on his feet and pulling me into a hug.
"I'm so sorry, Fred." I whisper.
"It's not your fault," he replies, pulling me closer to him, "hell, if it weren't for you and Harry who knows what would have happened."
*
I finish wrapping the garland around the stair rail and sigh. I wish I could have gone with them to St. Mungo's but I promised Dumbledore, though I now regret it. I'm not a child that needs to be watched at all times to ensure that I don't make a mess of things. I have learned my lesson.
"Have you finished with the garland?" Sirius calls from downstairs.
"Just now." I reply, shaking my thoughts away and walking into the kitchen. I drop the excess garland on the large table.
"Come and help me with the tree then." Sirius suggests.
I shrug and walk over to the living room, past piles of magical glittering snow on the carpet, to where Sirius is surrounded by boxes of Christmas decorations. He's very excited to have some company for the holidays. The moment everyone left for the hospital he went into full Christmas Spirit mode, wanting to surprise the Weasley's, Harry, and Sylvia upon their arrival.
"Can you hand me some more of those green ornaments? I know they're terribly dull but it's all we have to work with here." Sirius says, waving me over to his mountain of boxes near the sparse Christmas tree.
I nod, chuckling at just how siriusly he's taking the job of decorating.
"What're you laughing at? This is very important." Sirius laughs as he takes the ornaments from me.
"Oh yes, of course. Very important." I nod, smiling. Sirius squints at me.
"You're mocking me."
"You're very perceptive."
After taking a break to catch our breaths from laughing so much, and to get something to eat, we eventually continue our work to fill this grim, old house with the Christmas spirit.
Hours later, the moment that everyone returns home, Harry rushes upstairs and is not seen again for the rest of the day.
"What's that about?" I ask, turning to the face the Weasley clan and Sylvia, dropping the tinsel in my arms.
Fred is the only one to react; shaking his head and mouthing the word 'later.'
*
"Possessed?" I exclaim with my eyes wide, completely forgetting about hanging the fairy lights above the kitchen doorway.
"Sh!" George says hastily, putting a finger to his mouth and dropping the lights he was previously holding.
"They think we're being possessed by Vold-"
"Sh!" Says George, again.
"You shush me one more time and I'll hex you." I threaten, dropping the lights in my own arms as well and drawing my wand. George hurriedly raises his arms above his head.
"Just keep it a little more quiet. Mum, Mad Eye, and Tonks don't know that we listened in to their conversation." Fred whispers gently.
"Right." I sigh. "Harry really should have talked to me. If what Mad Eye said is true then we need to figure it out together."
"We reckon the two of you should talk to Ginny too, as she was possessed by you-know-who back in fourth year when the chamber of secrets was opened." George whispers. I nod, opening my mouth to reply but I don't get the chance.
"What are you three doing?" Molly asks, appearing from kitchen with Sirius, both of them glancing between us and the lights on the floor.
"Sorry mum, got distracted." George and Fred say in sync.
"Are you calling me mum?" Sirius asks in a mocking tone. Molly chuckles beside him.
"Yes, is that a problem?" Fred quips, a crooked grin taking over his features.
Throughout the day almost everyone in the house goes upstairs to try and talk Harry out of the room he's locked himself in with Buckbeak the Hippogriff, but to no avail. Later into the evening, Hermione arrives at the house on the knight bus and she, Ginny, and I all head up to the room to try one last time to get him to come back downstairs.
"I know you're in there," Hermione calls through the door as she knocks repeatedly on the door, "Will you please come out? I just want to talk to you."
"What are you doing here?" Harry asks as he unlocks and opens the door to face her. "I thought you were skiing with your mum and dad."
"To tell the truth, skiing's not really my thing. Don't tell Ron I said that though. I told him it was really great because he was teasing me about how awful it sounded." Hermione smiles slightly.
Harry rolls his eyes, the the corners of his mouth lifting upward slowly. Ginny, and Hermione seem to take turns trying to convince Harry to talk to us about what happened, but the three of them start arguing. I stay silent, just listening.
"I didn't want to talk to anyone." Harry insists.
"Well that was stupid of you, considering I'm the only one you know who's been possessed by you-know-who before." Ginny snaps angrily.
"I forgot." Harry mutters after a moment of silence.
"Lucky you." Ginny replies coolly.
"I'm sorry. So... so do you think I- we're being possessed then?" Harry asks, gesturing to me.
"Well, can you two remember everything you've been doing? Are there big blank periods of time that you can't recall? That's how it was for me. I'd find myself somewhere and not know how I'd got there or what I'd been doing." Ginny says, calming down slightly.
"No." Harry says after a moment. I rack my brain for any time I might have experienced something similar.
"No." I agree.
"Then you-know-who hasn't ever possessed either of you." Ginny says simply. I let out a sigh of relief.
*
"Vanessa!" Sylvia cries out in joy. "Nessa wake up it's Christmas!"
"I'm up." I chuckle, sitting up in bed.
Sylvia pulls me into a hug before skipping over to Ginny to wake her up as well. Yawning, I glance down at the small pile of presents that rest at the bottom of the bed. I smile as I start to unwrap the gifts one by one. The first one that I pick up is from McKenna, and it holds a small book that's full of moving pictures of Me, Lani, McKenna, Sylvia, my muggle parents, Fred, George, and... Lee. What a surprisingly thoughtful gift. Seeing my muggle parents again and realizing that I won't be getting my annual journal this year nearly brings me to tears. Taking deep breaths, I hug the scrapbook to my chest before setting it aside.
The next gift I pick up is actually from dobby. It's a rather lumpy package that contains a pair of hand knitted, mismatched socks. I chuckle at the socks that are decorated with stripes and polka dots in an assortment of different colors. I put them on immediately.
Next I pick up Lani's gift. It's a rather small leather pouch that holds a hair bow that changes the color of your hair once a day. The pouch also contains a small silver ring that, according to the note also in the pouch, can allow the wearer to relive happy memories when twisted to the left. Finally, I reach the last present on the bed and unwrap it to find that it's from Mrs. Weasley. It's an emerald green knitted sweater with a white 'V' in the middle. I smile and stand, quickly changing out of my pajamas and slipping on the new sweater and a soft pair of pants, leaving the socks from Dobby on as well.
Then, rummaging through my trunk that was sent over from Hogwarts on the night we arrived here, I pull out my messenger pad that Lani gifted me last year that allows us to communicate with each other and McKenna -who received her own messenger pad from Lani as well - while apart. I quickly write a thank you to both of my friends for their amazing gifts.
Thank you for the scrapbook McKenna, it was unexpectedly thoughtful and greatly appreciated. And Lani I really love the bow, and the amazing ring. Thank you, lovelies!
I smile as I finish writing, and it isn't long before I get two replies, the first of which is from McKenna.
No problem, Ness, I absolutely love the unicorn necklace. It does looks a bit like Peak, doesn't it?
Lani replies a few minutes later.
I'm glad you like them. I thought you would like the ring especially, with all that's been going on. Thank you for the book on time turners and the locket!
After a few more minutes of writing back and forth, talking mostly about Mr. Weasley's condition. They were glad to hear that he's now home for Christmas even if he's in hot water with Mrs. Weasley for getting muggle stitches without her knowledge.
Sighing, I say goodbye to Lani and McKenna and wish them a happy Christmas. I set my messenger pad back in my trunk and pull my gifts for the twins, Sylvia, Ginny, the golden trio, and Mrs. Weasley out from under my bed before heading out to the living room where everyone else has already gathered together while Mrs. Weasley tearily makes breakfast after Percy sent back his Christmas sweater, and Sirius wanders around singing Christmas carols.
"Nessa!" Fred calls out when he sees me, pulling me onto the couch beside him. "I was just going to go looking for you. We're about to start exchanging gifts."
"Sorry, I was just talking to Lani and McKenna on my messenger pad." I yawn, laying my head on Fred's shoulder.
"Right, well lets get started." George says cheerily. "Who's going first?"
"I vote Sylvia goes first." Ginny says.
"Me too." I smile.
"I'm okay with that." Fred nods.
"I guess." George grumbles.
I elbow George in the side and we all begin to pass our gifts to Silv. She opens Ginny's first and finds a small grey box. Ginny explains that if you press the hidden button on the bottom of the box a projection of the night sky appears and rotates.
"Because you love astronomy class so much." Ginny smiles.
"Thank you, Ginny!" Sylvia exclaims, a wide grin on her face as she pulls the youngest Weasley into a hug.
She opens my gift next and finds two things. The first one being a small case of magical makeup that she can't stop smiling about, and the second one being a nicely framed moving picture of the two of us and our muggle parents.
"Thank you Nessa." She smiles, eyes watering as she walks over to hug me as well.
As she opens the rest of her gifts she receives a basket of pranking items and puking pastilles from the twins, a book on astronomy from Hermione, a packet of fizzing whizbees from Ron, and a pair of mittens from Harry.
I open my presents next and I get a new color coded homework schedule that's enchanted to say things like "Study now, be proud later" from Hermione. I also receive several sugar quills from Ron, mittens from Harry, a leather bound journal from Sylvia that strongly resembles the ones that I've been receiving each year from my parents since I was very young that nearly brings me to tears. Finally, I get a pair of extendable ears and a handful of Wonder Witch's new hair color changing candies from George, and a key on a necklace from Fred.
Fred pulls me closer into his side to whisper something to me.
"We've bought a building in Diagon Alley, and that's your key. Don't tell our mum though, she'll kill us. Just act like it's a necklace."
"I will, but that's amazing Fred. Are you planning to open a prank shop after we graduate?" I ask.
"Something like that." Fred shrugs, leaning in to peck me on the lips.
The twins go next and I hand my gifts to them, a tie that says Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for George and a homemade puzzle of the picture of our kiss at the Yule Ball for Fred.
"I love it Ness." Fred smiles, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
"Yeah, thanks Vanessa." George nods.
After we've all exchanged our gifts, I get to my feet and walk into the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley is setting out food on the table.
"Hello Mrs. Weasley, is there anything I can help with?" I ask.
"Oh thank you, Vanessa. Why don't you get out some plates?" I nod at her suggestion and do as she suggests.
Once everything is ready for breakfast, I tap Molly on the shoulder and offer her my gift.
"Oh, you didn't have to get me anything dear." Mrs. Weasley smiles.
"I know, but I wanted to."
Molly nods and begins to unwrap the slightly lumpy package that holds a knitted scarf that admittedly is not the best quality, but I worked very hard on it during the chaos leading up to Christmas break.
"Thank you dear, it's lovely." Mrs. Weasley smiles. "I needed something to make me smile after Percy..."
She trails off, but gently pats me on the back before wrapping the scarf around her neck. She then straightens up and calls out that it's time for breakfast. As everyone begins to pour into the kitchen, I smile as Mr. Weasley walks up to me with Harry beside him, and thanks us for telling someone what we saw.
As the morning continues, we eat and pull Christmas crackers, and just enjoy each other's company.