Christmas morning was as exciting as usual. Harry feltbad he'd only sent off candy and promises of their real gift later to hisfriends, but the amulets needed a lot more blood first. Hermione had sent him abox full of fidget toys because he was constantly annoying her (and all theprofessors and the librarian and everyone at dinner) with his body's refusal tosit still. Harry tried out the rubix cube and accidently sat there for at leasttwenty minutes calmly working on it. He wondered if Snape would dare sayanything when he brought it into class. Probably not, the man was absent morethan he'd been teaching lately. He wasn't likely to even notice. He avoidedHarry like the plague, it was awfully funny.
Ron had sent over some Quidditch supplies and candy andLuna had given him a charm bracelet made of black beads. The little charmslooked handmade, a spinning Golden Snitch, a roaring lion's head, the symbol ofthe Deathly Hallows, a - wait, what?
Harry stared at it in confusion for a split second beforeshrugging. Mama had always figured Luna had a natural talent for divination.This was probably one of those things. Plus they knew Mr. Lovegood had a bit ofan obsession with them, so it was not the most suspicious thing she could haveput on a charm. It was a little bit suspicious though. But whatever, Luna wasalmost as weird as he was.
Harry was going to enjoy his day, and not think aboutanything dramatic for once.
They'd been invited over to the Weasley's for Christmas.Mama had originally intended to drop him off but Mrs. Weasley (in the lettershe'd sent to mama, not him) had implied very heavily that she wanted both ofthem there. That there would be " plenty of fun for both the children andthe adults" and Harry had given his saddest face and she relented. She hadgotten used to nights spent in small talk with the Lovegood parents while Harryand Luna played. It couldn't be too awful.
… It was probably a terrible idea to go. With thesolstice just past, the two were dripping Dark magic. And she'd been fine withonly three Lovegoods to deal with. There were what, seven - ten - Weasleys? Fartoo many, and most of them children. She shuddered.
Harry crashed into the kitchen, having run full speedtowards his breakfast.
"Happy Christmas, mama!"
"Good morning, Harry," she said, leaning overto fix the chair he'd knocked over on his mad scramble in.
"Are you ready to go to the Weasleys?" Harryasked, bouncing up and down with excitement.
She sighed. "Harry, you're still in your pajamas.It's six in the morning."
"Oh," he frowned. "What should we do untilthen?"
Alabasandria rather wanted to hide in her room and notspeak to anyone.
"We could research how we're going to get intoAzkaban?"
"That's boring," Harry complained. "Willyou read to me?" She rolled her eyes.
"Beedle the Bard?"
"Please!" He ran off to find it before shecould protest.
...
Ron greeted his friend with a smile - a very brief smilebecause once he got a good look at Harry he had to pause. And frown. Harrylooked…
Well Harry looked exactly like how he figured the scaredfirst years who all thought he was the Heir of Slytherin imagined him as. Eyesfaintly glowing despite the bright sunshine. His usually bronze skin wasstained sallow. Standing next to him felt more frosty than the winter weatheroutside despite Harry having just popped out of the fireplace.
"Oi," he whispered. "Alright, mate? Youlook like shit to be honest."
"Thanks, Ron," Harry grumbled at him. They wereinterrupted as Mrs. Weasley pulled him into a tight hug which Harryreciprocated for a moment before squirming. They watched in horror as shefearlessly pulled Harry's mum into one as well, greeting the terrifying womanwith a warm smile and an offer of tea. Ms Adams looked rather shocked at herbehavior but followed after the Weasley clan as they swarmed into the kitchenfor snacks.
"You don't have to lie," Ron whispered lower,gripping Harry's arm to keep him from following. "What's up? I'm not goingto pry, and I'm not going to judge. But you look half-dead, Harry.Literally." Harry bit his lower lip, thinking.
"I don't mean to worry you guys," he saidfinally. "And I'm fine, really. It's just a side effect of the wintersolstice. It's a very powerful time for our uh, you know, Potions stuff, themagic and all that. I was working on your Christmas present, and now I've gotsome excess magic to work out."
"Oh, I didn't know you were Pagan." Thatexplained a lot. Yule was a very powerful time for those of a darkerinclination. And Harry was literally glowing with Dark magic. "You saidyou weren't done with it yet? It's not a girly present like Luna's is it?"He showed off his own charm bracelet, the beads a bright red and orange.
"No," Harry laughed, "But it is jewelry,sorry mate. Protective amulet, in case the Heir of Slytherin attacks any ofyou. I'm almost done with them. They should be ready by the first day of term,but mama is helping me with the spellwork."
"That's a good idea, thanks Harry," Ron said."Especially for the girls. I know Hermione's been really worried sinceMalfoy keeps making those snide comments about muggleborns." He didn'twant to ask about the specifics of how these amulets functioned. He trustedthat they would work, with his mama helping and the stench of death wafting offof them, but he really, really, did not want to ask. Better make sure Hermionedidn't hear about the details, he sighed.
Fred and George came over to greet Harry, complainingabout the two hiding in the corner. They pulled Harry into the kitchen and Ronfollowed slowly watching everyone's reactions. Fred and George seemedunaffected by Harry's aura as they began to discuss pranks to pull on Snape,but they also knew Harry better than his other siblings and might have grownaccustomed to his Weirdness. He watched Charlie and Bill shiver as mumintroduced them to Ms Adams. Percy greeted Harry before slinking back into hisbook, but that could just be Percy being Percy rather than him feeling offabout the boy. Ron's dad - the most outgoing and friendly person he knewbesides Luna - however, seemed very uncomfortable around the pair. His eyesfurrowed and darted between them. Ron slid over to his side, picking up a plateof food as an excuse to talk to him.
"Are you ok, dad?"
Mr. Weasley looked startled as he focused on his youngestson.
"Yes, Ron. Don't worry. I'm just realizing I'venever met Harry's mother before now. She's not what I expected." Ronsuppressed a grin.
"You mean they're both bloody freaky, yeah?"
"Ronald!" Arthur said, although by his tone,Ron knew he agreed.
....
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