"Harry!"
Harry found himself caught up in a rib-creaking hug, then he was released.
"Hello, Hermione." He smiled, then he glanced round. "I see the cupboard's been moved."
"Dad said he was worried about me having boys over without his permission, so he moved it into his study," Hermione explained with a slight blush. "Come on, the others are already here!"
"Hang on a moment." Harry laughed. "Harriet?"
Herriet popped into the study, curtseyed to Hermione, and vanished again, leaving a small pile of presents in her place. Harry knelt down and picked up the pile, carefully balancing them as he followed Hermione out of the study and into the living room where the others were.
"Let me help." Ron Granger said, taking several of the more precarious presents off Harry's pile and placing them on the pile at the foot of the christmas tree. Harry placed the rest of the presents with them, and then looked around.
"Lord Longbottom, Lady Longbottom, Dowager Longbottom, Heir Longbottom…"
"That's a lot of bottoms." Jo stage-whispered to her daughter, who promptly turned purple with the effort of not trying to laugh."
"…Doctor Granger, Doctor Granger, Hermione." Harry continued after a short pause. "Merry Christmas. And thank you, Mr and Mrs Granger, for inviting me over."
"How many times, Harry, it's just Ron and Jo." Ron sighed dramatically, earning several smiles from the Longbottoms. "Anyway, take a seat."
Harry moved to the final chair in the room and sat down. A quick glance showed that several of the others were seated in chairs that had obviously been brought in from other rooms and while the older Grangers shared one sofa, the other was occupied by Neville and his parents. Augusta was relaxing in a well-padded recliner (enjoying the novelty of the retractable foot-rest) and Hermione was sitting on a wooden chair by the pile of presents, giving the brightly wrapped pile eager glances, seeming to vibrate with barely restrained impatience.
"Before we begin, I'd just like to say thank you all for coming." Ron smiled at the others. "Harry, Neville, the two of you especially. Before she went to Hogwarts, Hermione never had any real friends, and now… you two, Ginny, Luna… thank you."
Harry blinked several times as his vision tried to blur.
"Now that I've embarrassed Hermione…" Ron chuckled, "I think we can begin. Hermione?"
Hermione moved to kneel by the pile of presents and looked at the first one. "Dad, this one's for you from Uncle Wendell."
"Thank you." Ron smiled as he accepted the gift-wrapped package. As he started to open it, Hermione picked up a second box.
"Neville, this one's from Harry…"
.
.
"Your attention please!" Sirius Black stood up, gathering everyone's attention. "I have an announcement to make! Those of you who have chosen to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas, due to preferring these hallowed halls to your homes or because you are undertaking advanced brewing projects under the ever-watchful gaze of Potions Master Severus Snape, you have not been forgotten. Elves, if you would?"
Brightly-colored packages appeared in front of all the students with shapes different for each year. More packages appeared in front of each of the teachers and Severus raised an appreciative eyebrow at the sight of the silver-and-green wrapping paper used on his gift.
"For the first-to-third years, you are receiving wrist holsters for your wands. Merely sticking it into your pocket may seem easier, but you risk snapping your wand by accident that way. The holsters will help prevent any such accidents. For the fourth and fifth years, gift vouchers for reference books from Flourish and Blotts or wand accessaries from Ollivanders. After all, you are coming up to your OWLs and every little helps, especially with your chosen courses. Year six students, a gift of ten Galleons each, to spend as you will. And finally, for the seventh-years, reference books as recommended by the teachers of the courses you are taking. Use them well and for those of you studying potions… study hard."
Severus blinked, then gave Sirius a confused look. "Aren't you going to say it?"
"Nah." Sirius shook his head, grinning widely. "I'll leave it to you."
Severus rolled his eyes as Sirius reclaimed his seat, then slowly unwrapped the package to reveal several tomes. His eyes widened and he stared at Sirius, who nodded.
"A complete set of the collected Potente Potions and Potion Lore of Past Potioneers by Miaplacidus Black." He said, his normal joking manner in abeyance. "I asked Jorel to make those copies and update them with Great-Uncle's private notes. That set is one of only four."
Severus reached out with a trembling hand and reverently touched the cover of the topmost book, its cover made from something resembling leather with the titles embossed in gold while the corners were reinforced by metal decorations.
"I… during my apprenticeship, my Master owned a copy of one of the chapters said to be from one of the tomes… it was his most prized possession… to have a full set…"
"I have one in my library, Harry is getting one set for his and the last set will be in the Headmistress' Library. That set is yours. Not Hogwarts, not the Potions Teacher's, yours."
Severus slowly re-wrapped the books, then clutched them to his chest as he jerkily rose from his seat.
"I… excuse me…"
"I think he liked it," Minerva commented wryly as she finished opening her present. "Oh, Merlin! Is this…?"
"One of the last hundred bottles made in the Wolfburn Distillery." Sirius nodded.
"My grandfather worked there before it closed…" Minerva breathed, holding the bottle in her hands as if it were Helga Hufflepuff's Chalice. "Oh Merlin…"
"By the way, where's Hagrid?" Sirius asked curiously, looking around as if he had somehow simply overlooked the large Groundskeeper.
"Hmmm?" Minerva looked up from her examination of the bottle that she was holding. "Oh, Hagrid. He's gone to the Dragon Sanctuary to give Norberta a gift. Apparently, he's also covering for someone."
"I'll have to leave his gift in his hut for him," Sirius noted.
.
.
"…and last, one for Neville, from Harry." Hermione passed the present to Alice who relayed it to her son. Neville smiled as he opened the package, then his eyes widened as he held up a jacket of a design that Hermione only recognized because she had received a similar one a few moments prior.
"My own Torquasm Rao sparring suit!" Neville exclaimed in glee as he shifted his grip on the jacket so that he could pull the matching trousers out of the box.
"It does look a lot like a martial arts gi," Ron noted and Harry shrugged.
"Form follows function."
"It does indeed." Ron agreed, looking at the dark-colored outfit with the bronze highlights at the shoulders, wrists, and ankles while on the chest was a small patch on which the Longbottom coat of arms was printed. "Baggy enough to allow a full range of motion, but not too baggy as that would risk catching on things. Nice."
"It's made of a fabric that stiffens to absorb impact," Harry interjected. "Of course, it only works above a certain level, otherwise you wouldn't have any reason to learn how to dodge or block."
"Makes sense." Frank nodded. "Could have used that during my Auror training days."
"Me too." Alice agreed, rubbing at her left shoulder. "Mad-eye was a harsh task master."
Frank nodded in unwilling agreement, rubbing at his right leg. "That he was."
Harry gave both adults a questioning look, then mentally shrugged as neither elaborated further.
"Well!" Jo broke the contemplative silence, "It's time for some food. Harry, thanks again for loaning Gilligan to me, he's amazing."
"I know." Harry smiled. "He and Harriet have been Potter elves almost their whole lives, my grandparents purchased their services just after they got married. Herriet's the senior elf and Gilligan answers to her. More than that, I don't know since I try not to pry."
"Sometimes it's best to know when not to ask," Ron stated sagely and Frank nodded in agreement. "Now, as my beloved wife said, it's time to eat! Come on!"
.
.
Arthur smiled at his seven children. With Bill working for Gringotts and Charlie normally at the Dragon Sanctuary in Romania (although he had been released for a day thanks to Hagrid volunteering to take his place), it was rare for the entire family to be gathered together. As Molly continued bustling in the kitchen, making sure that the food was cooking, Arthur clapped his hands to get his children's attention.
"Okay, everyone. Are you ready? Excellent. Molly?"
"I'm here." Molly smiled as she stood in the doorway and Arthur nodded as he reached for the first present in the surprisingly large pile.
"Alright… this one is from Lord Black to… Gred and Forge?"
The twins snickered as they accepted the small present and ripped the packaging off, revealing it to be a notebook. The duo stared at it, wide-eyed and Ginny leaned across to take a look.
"The Marauders Manual Rewritten – How to be true pranksters without becoming bullies." She read. "By Sirius Black aka Padfoot and Remus Lupin aka Moony."
"Oh…" "….wow."
.
.
"Norberta!"
The dragon in question gave out a whuffling noise and lunged out of her cave as Hagrid laughed with delight. Reaching up, Hagrid scratched along her jawline and Norberta sprawled along the ground almost bonelessly, her neck being the only thing not horizontal as she held her head up to accept Hagrid's ministrations.
"Yer a beautiful girl, Norberta." Hagrid smiled, using his other hand to pick out small flakes of stone that had gotten caught in Norberta's scales. "Yer lookin' nice and healthy!"
The distant dragon-keepers watched in bemused amusement as the dragon happily submitted to the half-giant, despite being many times his size. Only one of the watchers saw the grumpy brown bear quietly but quickly sneak away from Norberta's cave.
.
.
"Welcome to your new home." Voldemort smiled at the five children who were staring at the boat moored to the (temporary) pier. "The expanded tents have been moved across, so your rooms are just the same, but now…"
"Will we be pirates?" Peter asked excitedly as he bounced up and down with glee. "I wanna be a pirate! Pirates are cool!"
"You can if you want to be," Gellert reassured the six-year-old boy.
"Cool!"
"Ninja are cooler," Mark argued.
"Pirates!"
"Ninja!"
"Pirates!"
"Ninja!"
Voldemort face-palmed as the two youngsters argued and Gellert chuckled.
"Why not go aboard and look round?" He suggested and the duo stopped glaring at each other, then sprinted for the gangplank as they tried to be the first one aboard. Gellert followed with a laugh and the trio of remaining Obscurials followed him.
"Master…" Pettigrew half-whispered. "When did we get a boat? And how do we drive it?"
"Gellert and I took it from a Muggle family." Voldemort shrugged. "After we'd finished, they didn't need it anymore. We also vanished their stuff, so the Obscurials wouldn't realize what we did. As for how to pilot it… prepare yourself. Legilimens."
Pettigrew stared into his Master's eyes, then blinked several times, rubbing his forehead as Voldemort repeated the process with Barty Crouch.
"Runes have been applied to strengthen the hull, reduce the action of water against it, and keep the fuel tank full," Voldemort stated as he led his followers up the gangplank. "Oh, Barty, there's a snake in a heated aquarium in my room, a Boa Constrictor which I am still in the process of enhancing to serve as my familiar since Potter stole my Basilisk. Since, when we get back to England, Peter will be conducting reconnaissance for us, I will leave her well-being in your hands."
"Yes, my Lord. As you command."
Voldemort waved his wand and the gangplank rose into the air and settled on a pair of hooks designed to hold it. "Excellent. Let us weigh anchor and prepare to depart."
"Next stop, jolly old England." Barty joked, earning a look from the other two men.
"Barty… when did you develop a sense of humor?"
"My lord… what about the camper?" Peter motioned to the vehicle parked nearby.
"Delayed flame charm to deny anyone any evidence." Voldemort gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Now come on, let us depart. The sooner we get away, the more comfortable I will feel. MACUSA has proven rather more capable than I anticipated, and it worries me…"