the boy that could have been

libraries and letters

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Cress spent the next month searching through what felt like thousands of library books, looking for any hint of who Nicolas Flamel could be.

"I'm sure I've heard the name before!" Harry asked furiously, slamming shut A guide to wizards who fought off evil. 

"Maybe your parents know? Why don't you write to them?" Ron asked obliviously. 

"Hmm, let's see." Said Harry sarcastically, "First of all, after speaking to Minnie both of them would probably murder me for focusing on this rather than school work. Second of all, we're not supposed to bloody know, and third of all, I'm not supposed to be getting into any trouble! Oh, and the fact that they haven't written to me since the first Quidditch match."

"You just managed to make one point into three separate ones, congratulations." Grinned Cress, causing the others to look at her in surprise. She'd gained a lot of confidence around the three of them, but she normally preferred to remain quiet. Before anybody could respond (and probably scare her off speaking for the next two weeks), Hedwig flew into the library and dropped a letter on Harry's head before settling on his arm. After a death glare from Madam Pince, he hastily hurried outside to open his letter.

Dear Harry,

Sorry we haven't written in a while, we went away to France to sort some things out, but we're back with Padfoot now. How are you?

Your father and I were hoping that you'd want to come home for Christmas? You can bring as many friends as you'd like, the house is definitely big enough and we wouldn't mind a bit of extra help cleaning it out! Hang on - your dad wants to say something.

Hey son! I hope we didn't embarrass you too much when we were there? I promise you it won't happen again, I've grown up a bit over the past month - even Lily thinks so! Anyway, this may sound like a strange request, but do you know Fred and George Weasley, a couple of years above you? Well, I assume you do because you gave them the address and apparently you're friends with their younger brother. Could you maybe invite them for Christmas? I'll explain when I see you poochkins :)

I know as much about that as you do, Harry, but as I said, the more the merrier! Send us an owl ASAP, and sorry again for not writing to you! But thank you so much for your letters, we read them when we got home and I was so happy to hear about the points you earnt in Charms!

All my love, 

Mum x and dad :)

Harry grinned. He had of course been a bit worried when they hadn't replied to him, but he'd assumed that they were playing Vernon's favourite game of pretend-Harry-doesn't-exist-to-punish-him. That had obviously been more of a reward when it came to the Dursleys, but he'd missed his parents. Now it all made sense though. He was assuming that they'd gone away to solve the issues that had come up from Snape and all of that stuff. James still sounded incredibly subdued, but Harry was sure that his lively personality would return soon - even if a bit more caring too.

The others soon emerged from the library, looking defeated, and he ran over to them excitedly.

"Guys! My parents said I can have as many people round for Christmas as I want! Do you all want to come?"

Ron's face immediately lit up, "Yeah! My parents said yesterday that they're going to Romania to visit my brother Charlie, so we were gonna have to stay here, but I'd love to!"

"Cool! Oh, and d'you think Fred and George would like to come? Apparently they sent my dad a letter and he wants to see them."

"I'm sure they'd love to, although then we'd be leaving Perce all alone..."

"Well, he's welcome if he wants to come, but I'm not sure if it'll really be his scene... but what about you, girls?"

"I wish I could," Hermione said wistfully, "but I'm going home to my parents. We can swap presents when we get back though? Well, you obviously don't have to get me anything, but I can give you yours?"

"Of course I've got you a present, don't be daft! Anyway, how about you Cress?"

"Erm- I-" Crescent blushed bright red and fiddled with her hands, "I'd love to, but you know how I left for a few days the last two months? Well, my mum is, erm, ill, so I would have to go for a few days to help her out and make sure she- err- has her potion."

Harry lowered his brow. Something was off, but he supposed it wasn't really his place to say anything; if she was lying, she probably had a good reason, so it was best to just go along with it for now.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about your mum, I had no idea. But if you'd like to come for part of the holiday, I'm sure mum or dad, or even Padfoot, would be happy to take you home when you need to go? Knowing mum, she'd probably want to stay and help!"

Crescent's eyes widened, "NO! Erm, I mean, no, that's not necessary, I really don't want to be any trouble, maybe I should just stay here then go home for a couple of days."

"Cress, my parents - and me - want you to come. I've told them all about you - all of you - and they want to meet you properly. I mean, I know you saw them at Quidditch but that was a bit chaotic. Please come, it won't be any trouble at all!"

Cress nodded and gave a weak smile, whilst Hermione let out a small sigh, "I wish I could join you, I'll be alone whilst you're all together."

After promising Hermione they'd write to her so she didn't miss out on anything, Harry and Ron sped off to find Fred, George and Percy. The twins immediately agreed, grinning wickedly, but Percy said that, as a Prefect, he'd rather stay at school and help out the teachers. Slightly relieved, they left him alone and Harry went to write a letter to his parents.

Dear mum and dad,

Thanks for your letter, I'm doing okay but I wish you would've at least sent a note so I knew that you weren't just ignoring me!

I would obviously love to come home for Christmas! I asked my friends and Ron, Fred and George would all like to come for the entire holiday. Cress can come too, but she has to leave for a few days because her mother is ill and she needs to take care of her. Hermione wants to come, but she's going home to her parents.

Harry suddenly caught sight of Charlotte sat alone in the corner, scowling at a wall. They'd never exactly got along, but he couldn't help noticing that she didn't have any friends in Gryffindor, and none of the Slytherins were really talking to her anymore. Acting on an impulse, he called across the room to her.

"Hey, Charlotte?" She turned to scowl at him and he immediately felt a bit regretful, but continued anyway, "I know that we don't always see eye-to-eye, but would you like to come to mine for Christmas? A couple of others are coming and we're gonna have fun decorating my uncles house and stuff? Just, if you wanted to of course?"

Charlotte looked slightly dumbstruck. She would never have expected Potter to invite her of all people. What did Perfect Potter want to be her friend for? Suddenly, she remembered that his "uncle" was actually her father. Well, there was no way she could pass up on the opportunity of meeting him and seeing why the hell he'd abandoned her for.

"Thanks, Potter. If you're sure that's okay, it might be kinda cool."

Harry grinned at her before turning back to his letter.

I've also invited a girl named Charlotte if that's okay? I haven't mentioned her before because we didn't always get along, but she's kinda cool and as you said, the more the merrier right?

See you soon!

Lots of love,

Harry

PS, can we secretly go to Diagon Alley one day, I told the others I bought their presents already but I kinda forgot to. Whoops?