It's Christmas Time Again: A Time-Traveling TMS Holiday Extravaganza

Christmas 2009 (Part One)

Ginny was pale as she gripped Albus on her hip, carrying him along the hallway. James-Sirius's shoes padded on the tile alongside mine. I was in charge of watching over him. "Keep up, sweethearts, come along."

St. Mungo's smelled like cleaning potions so heavily I felt a bit dizzy from the combination of the scent and anxiety building in me.

"Come, come," Ginny urged us to hurry up, to keep up, and I pushed myself to keep walking, barely seeing where I was going, my head spinning. "You're my helper, Teddy; you have to be my helper."

I nodded. I wanted to be. Just, things were getting blurrier and breathing was getting harder as an invisible band tightened around my chest.

"Teddy?" Albus asked, looking over his shoulder, "What happened?"

James-Sirius looked up at me, wiggling his fingers against my sweaty palm, and then staring off toward the wall.

"We don't know yet," I said.

I had been allowed to sleep over for the first time in a long time, due to how busy things had been around the Potter Cottage with James-Sirius being five, Albus three and a half and Lily a year and a half. "They're lucky they have a breath to spare," Gran always said when I complained I never got to visit Harry anymore. "Not to mention adding you to the lot!"

I was a handful, as I was reminded frequently. Which is code for a nuisance.

But on the day before Christmas eve, I'd begged and Harry had said there would be no harm in it and told Gran to let me stay, even though she'd argued I would just be in the way. "How? We'll have loads of fun," Harry laughed, and she'd finally relented.

"But you floo him home the minute he's a problem," she'd insisted. Then she'd pulled me aside, "Be helpful, do whatever Ginny and Harry ask, say please and thank you, and most of all behave yourself."

I'd nodded, "I will."

And we'd had a grand day. Me, James-Sirius, Albus, and Harry all played in the snowy field behind the Potter Cottage, made snowmen that Harry enchanted to play with us and he magicked the snow into balls that we threw at one another and we made forts by packing the snow down. Ginny called us all inside for hot chocolate with marshmallows and Harry's butterbeer cookies, and we warmed by the fire and listened as Ginny played with baby Lily and Harry read Christmas storybooks aloud while James-Sirius and I played at gobstones by the hearth.

It was just before bedtime, we were all in pyjamas and Harry was bouncing Lily as he walked back and forth in the living room, Ginny was making up a bed on the couch for me, when a Ministry owl arrived for Harry.

"What is it?" Ginny asked, seeing Harry's brows knit together as he read the owl, still holding Lily. Ginny was just putting pillows on the couch for me, the other two boys having already gone upstairs to await their Mum to come tuck them in.

"Some trouble in Blackburn," Harry murmured, "That old pack house out there. Apparently there's some fight broke out between a couple werewolf leaders."

I could've sworn they both looked at me.

"Is it serious?"

"Dunno, there's not much information. I better go in to make sure they don't need me."

Ginny frowned. She'd been extra persistent that they all spend the holiday together since this was the first year they were all home and the kids were getting older to remember. She'd even rotated herself from playing the Harpies matches this week - aside from the traditional Christmas Eve one - in lieu of being home with her family. Harry had taken the week's vacation. Until the news of Blackburn came, he hadn't gone to the office in three days.