G. Lippert - James Potter and the Hall of the Elders' Crossing

Ralph rolled his eyes at Ted.

"I didn't say anything," Ted said primly. "I happened to mention to him that you were on Team B, way back when we ordered our little surprise package. He figured out the rest on his own when he found out you were here."

Ralph squirmed. "Well, that's not really true, you know. I'm just a kid."

"Never underestimate what a kid can do, Ralphie," George said seriously.

"That's right," Katie nodded. "George and his brother, Fred, caused the best class disruption in Hogwarts history in the middle of the reign of Umbridge the Terrible."

"Like I said, it's all about the spectacle," George said.

"With a little revenge thrown in," Katie said, smiling.

"How dare you even suggest such a thing?"

Ralph and James exchanged looks.

James, Ralph, Ted, and George were the last at the breakfast table. The younger siblings and cousins fairly dragged them from the table, finally getting the entire household together for the opening of the presents.

"Didn't you do like I told you?" George said, laughing as Albus pulled him into the parlor. "Open the presents in the middle of the night and then re-wrap them again with the Reparo charm?"

"I tried!" Albus replied earnestly. "I nicked James' wand and practiced on a box of biscuits. Couldn't get it to work! Made no end of a mess. Mum just about thrashed me."

"You nicked my wand!" James cried, lunging after Albus. "I'll thrash you myself! Give it back!"

Hooting, Albus darted away with James in pursuit.

There was much yelling and shredding of paper, and James couldn't help thinking that Christmas at Grimmauld Place probably wasn't much different than Zane's description of his family Christmas in the States, hinkypunks and all. When the younger Weasleys and Potters had all opened their presents and scampered off to enjoy them, the rest of the gifts were opened with a bit more reserve. Harry had gotten Ginny an unusual new cauldron, which she unwrapped and stared at rather blankly.

"It's a Conjure-Pot," he explained, a little defensively. "It makes dinner a snap! You just throw in a few ingredients each morning, whatever you have left lying around the cupboard. It doesn't matter what. The Conjure-Pot figures out the best dish to make with it, prepares it, and cooks it up during the day. We all come home at night and voila, mystery meal. Great for the working mum on the go."

"At least that's what the sign on the display at Tristan's and Tupperworth's said," Ron remarked, grinning. Harry clipped him on the back of the head.

Fleur sniffed. "Vere I come from, eet is considered improper for a man to buy cookery as a gift."

"That's because where you come from, my dear," Bill said gently, "the men do most of the cooking."

"Oh, just open the next one," Harry said, annoyed.

Ginny's next present turned out to be a pair of mer-pearl earrings, which went over much better. Ginny seemed simultaneously distraught and overjoyed by them.

"Harry! How did you pay for these? Mer-pearl! I never expected…!" Her eyes glittered as she blinked back tears.

"Just put them on," Harry smiled. "If it makes you feel any better, they're fake. Leprechaun-pearl. They came as a bonus gift with the Conjure-Pot."

"No, they didn't," she smiled, and kissed him.

Ron had gotten Hermione a small but apparently expensive bottle of perfume called Whimsies' Enchantment, which Hermione was very pleased with. Ginny and Hermione had gone together to buy Harry and Ron tickets to the Quidditch World Cup.

"We knew you'd both been wanting to go for the past several years," Hermione explained as Harry and Ron congratulated each other. "But you never think ahead to get advanced tickets. We've got eight total tickets, so you can take the kids, if you wish. They'd love it. And your wives, of course, if you wished. It's up to you."

But Harry and Ron had fallen into a debate about what teams would be in the Cup and barely heard the last.

James opened his present and was surprised to see that his parents had gotten him a new broom.

"Wow," he breathed. "A Thunderstreak! Mum, Dad, you got me a Thunderstreak?"

"Well," Harry said slowly, "I knew you'd had some trouble getting started on the broom, but I spoke to your friend, Zane, and he said you were coming along really well. I thought you might like to practice on your own broom. Those school brooms are too old. Slow, unwieldy, and the handling's gone all mushy. You try this out and I think you'll notice the difference straight off."

"Course, if you don't want it," George offered, "you could always trade with Ted. That old Nimbus of his may be slow as a flobberworm, but it has loads of antique value."

Ted hurled a ball of wrapping paper at George, hitting him square in the face.

James felt a little sorry for Ralph, who had not heard from his dad since the message that he'd be travelling over the holidays. Ralph shrugged it off, saying his dad had probably sent his Christmas gift to the school. James and Ralph were both surprised when Ginny handed Ralph a small, wrapped package.

"It's not much," Ginny smiled, "but we thought you might enjoy it."

Ralph unwrapped the package and looked at it. It was a very dog-eared and dilapidated book, the words on the cover almost illegible with age. It was called Advanced Potion-Making.

"That belonged to a great Slytherin, like you'll be, no doubt," Harry said somberly. "Frankly, I thought I'd lost it, but it turned up a few weeks ago. I didn't know what to do with it until you came for the holiday. Then it just made sense that you should have it. Don't let Professor Slughorn see it, though. Just use it as a… reference."

Ralph flipped carefully through the old book. The margins were crammed with hand-written notations and drawings. "Who wrote all this stuff inside?"

"Doesn't really matter," Harry said cryptically. "You don't know him. Just take care of it, and be careful how you use some of the stuff in there. It can be a little… dodgy, sometimes. Still, it just seems right that it should be in the hands of a good Slytherin man. Happy Christmas, Ralph."

Ralph thanked Harry and Ginny, a bit puzzled at the serious looks both he and the book were getting. He recognized that, mysterious as the book was, it was apparently rather meaningful. He wrapped it in a piece of cloth Ginny gave him and placed it in the bottom of his trunk.

James was delighted when Neville and Luna Lovegood arrived that afternoon. The two had been seeing each other for the past few months, but James had heard his mum tell Andromeda Tonks that it wasn't going anywhere. James couldn't guess how his mum knew such things, but he never doubted that she was right. For James' part, Neville and Luna seemed just a bit too brotherly and sisterly to be a couple.

After dinner, Grandmum Weasley appeared in the fireplace to wish everyone a happy Christmas.

"We're having a perfectly delightful time here with Charlie," she said from the grate. "And Prague is just lovely. I think you boys need to have a talk with your father, though. He's gotten rather enamored with the Muggle architecture here and is talking about staying on a few more weeks. He's become so unpredictable now that he's retired from the Ministry. Oh, it is so difficult having you kids all over the world like this. How am I supposed to keep track of my grandbabies?"

"How are Charlie and Claire and the kids, then, Molly?" Hermione asked, gently steering the topic to pleasanter subjects.

"Quite well, although Charlie insists on taking little Harold and Jules to work with him on occasion. How these poor children can endure the sight of such creatures and not have constant nightmares is simply beyond me."

James, who'd met his younger cousins, Harold and Jules, a few times, knew that it was likely that they, in fact, might give nightmares to the dragons rather than the other way around.