Harry Potter- The New Prophecy

Christmas

December 22nd, 2009
Christmas was fast approaching, and with it came joy like no other. It was hard to mope around the house, mulling over the weight of life's problems, when talk of the holidays filled the house. The children were especially excited, and their innocent smiles brightened everyone's day.

Normally, Harry and his family would spend the weeks leading up to Christmas decorating the house, but with everything going on, it had almost been forgotten. It wasn't until Teddy wrote home, talking about how excited he was to see everyone, that Harry realized how little time they had left to prepare. The house was bare, and as Harry looked around, he couldn't help but feel like the scrooge. Christmas had been a favorite of Harry's ever since he started Hogwarts, and his fondness of the holiday had only grown after he had children of his own. Their home was always filled with decorations, but so far, they didn't even have a tree.

Harry had just been considering how he was going to get a tree on such short notice when Kreacher appeared one morning with one in tow. It was rather skinny, and it looked kind of lopsided, but Harry couldn't help but feel like it was the most beautiful tree he had ever seen. The children had all begged to decorate it that night, but Harry insisted they wait for Teddy. He was and always would be a part of the family, and celebrations just weren't the same without him.

It was now the evening of Teddy's arrival, and the inhabitants of Grimmauld Place were gathered in the sitting room, surrounded by several boxes of ornaments. Some of the boxes were Sirius's decorations, which he had brought down from the attic, and others belonged to Ron and Hermione, but most were decorations that Harry and Ginny had accumulated over the years. Some were passed down from Arthur and Molly, while others were bought over the course of Harry and Ginny's marriage. Each and every one held a memory and, therefore, held a special place in their hearts.

"Baby's first Christmas," Lily read, as she pulled an ornament out of the box. Harry looked over and was surprised to see tears flooding her eyes as she looked down at a picture of baby Al. "We used to have one of these for you," she sniffed. "It must have been destroyed in the house that night. We only had the chance to put it up one time."

James handed his wife a tissue and gently rubbed her back. This only seemed to make her cry even more, and not knowing what to do, Harry tried to picture his first Christmas. He couldn't help but smile at the thought. Growing up, there was a similar ornament with Dudley's picture in it, and one of the first questions Harry could remember asking his aunt was why there wasn't one of him.

"You think we care to have your face on our tree?" She scoffed. "And don't ask questions."

"You know," Sirius said, snapping Harry out of his thoughts. "I think you made a copy of that ornament for the godfather. If I remember correctly, it's in that small box over there."

Lily went to stand up, but James beat her to it. He made his way over to the box, which was practically empty, and seconds later he was pulling out an old ornament with those same words and a picture of Harry. Lily immediately reached out for the ornament, and James handed it over.

"Oh my goodness," she gasped as she held the ornament up to the one of baby Al. "You're quite a bit younger in your picture, Harry, but other than that, it could almost be the same baby."

Teddy put down the box he was looking at and went to steal a glance at the ornament Lily was holding. "That's Harry?" He sniggered. "Why does he have a Mohawk?"

James and Sirius roared with laughter, and even Lily couldn't help but smile.

"That would be because of those two dolts." She said, pointing to James and Sirius. "They thought it would be hilarious."