One week before Christmas:

"Ask her! Ask her!" Jamie nudged Harry in the ribs.

Harry turned and gave his de-aged father a glare. "You ask her. I already know what she's gonna say." They were in Harry's room, just down the hall from the kitchen, where Lily was baking gingersnaps and pumpkin pasties with Eric.

"Fine. If you're too much of a scaredycat . . ."

"You take that back, James Darius Potter, or so help me . . ." Harry had clenched a fist in warning.

"Hawwy, you fightin' with Jamie?" Rosie poked her little auburn head around the doorframe and looked at the two boys, wearing a scowl that was nearly identical to her father's. She shook a little finger at them. "You is not 'posed to do that. Daddy said so."

"Aww, mind your own business, you little baby," Jamie ordered.

"I's no baby! I's a big girl!"

"Uh huh. You're still in nappies," Jamie sneered.

Rosie's lower lip trembled. "I's a big girl!"

"Don't you be mean to Rosie, Jamie," Harry growled. "Or else you can go back to Riddle Manor and stay with the house elves."

"You're not the boss of me, Harry!"

"No, but my mum is, and if she hears how nasty you're being, she'll send you straight home and you won't get any presents for Christmas."

Jamie's jaw dropped open. "Not get any presents for Christmas? Who says?"

"Don't you know that if you're bad, Father Christmas will see and he'll put you on the Naughty List and then you won't get any presents for Christmas? Nothin' but a lump of coal. Or a paddle."

"A paddle?" Jamie repeated. He had never heard anything like this before.

"Yeah, so's your dad can spank you like you deserve, for being bad enough to go on the Naughty List." Harry said.

"How can Father Christmas tell if you're being naughty?"

Harry shrugged. "He's Father Christmas. He has magic to see if you're naughty or nice. Dad says sometimes he uses a crystal ball made out of ice to see how you've been behaving. And Mum says she heard he sends special elves from the North Pole to keep an eye on you and report back to him every night."

"Special elves? Like house elves?"

"Uh huh. But you can't see them and all they do is watch you and see how you're behaving."

Jamie looked around. "I'm sorry!" he apologized to Rosie and Harry. "Do you . . . think there's one watching us now?" He whispered.

"Who knows?" Harry said. "Just stop being mean and they won't report you to Father Christmas."

Jamie thought about that. He didn't want to get a bad report and disappoint his daddy and get spanked on Christmas. He wanted to get lots of presents and eat chocolate and cake and play with his cousins and friends. "Okay. I'll try and behave." Then he got an idea. "Hey, Rosie. Can you go and ask Aunt Lily something for me? Please?"

"What for?" she asked, frowning. She still hadn't forgiven him for calling her a baby.

"Because . . . I'll give you a chocolate bar if you do," he bargained.

Rosie considered. "'Kay."

Jamie winked at Harry. "Thanks! Okay, now ask Aunt Lily how long it is till Christmas."

"Why you wanna know that?"

"'Cause then we can count how many days it is till then. And when we can open presents." Jamie explained.

"Oh. Awright." Rosie toddled from the room, running down the hall. "Mummy! Mummy, when's Kwistmas?"

Lily looked up from where she was rolling out gingerbread. There was a smudge of flour on her nose and more on her apron. Her long red hair was pulled back in a tail. She looked down at her youngest, who came panting up to her and shouted, "Mummy, when's Kwistmas?"

"In seven days. Did your brother and Jamie tell you to ask me?" Lily wanted to know. The boys had been plaguing her nonstop asking when Christmas was and when they could open their presents.

Rosie nodded. She hadn't yet learned how to lie for the sake of childhood harmony.

Lily rolled her eyes. "You tell Harry and Jamie that if I hear that question come out of anyone's mouth again, they won't be having Christmas, they'll be in a room in the corner while everybody else celebrates the holiday."

"'Kay, Mummy. I tells them." Rosie grinned. She liked it when she got to order her older brother and cousin about.

"Wanna come make gingerbread, Rosie?" asked Eric. He had flour all over his little apron and even some in his hair. But that was all right. Lily told him everyone gets messy when they bake.

"Uh huh. I be back," she said, then scurried off, yelling at the top of her lungs, "HARRY! JAMIE! MUMMY SAYS YOU GONNA BE IN BIG TROUBLE IF YOU ASK 'BOUT KWISTMAS AGAIN. YOU ISN'T GONNA HAVE ANY, Y'HEAR?"

Harry winced. "I think they heard you at the North Pole, Rosie." Little sisters! They were so loud.

Rosie arrived back in his room. "I ask'd her, Jamie. She said seven days."

Jamie groaned. "That's forever!"

"Where my chocolate?" demanded Rosie.

Jamie dug in his pocket and handed the little girl a slightly squished Honeydukes bar. "Here."

"Thanks!" Rosie giggled, then she raced back to the kitchen to help her mother and brother finish the gingersnaps.

The next day, Severus was home with the children, it was Saturday, and he had them all help decorate the tree with special ornaments, some were gifts, others were ones that Harry had made in school, and others were made by Eric and Rosie. They strung popcorn and cranberries on strings, and hung candycanes on the tree as well.

The kids ate as much popcorn and cranberries as they strung, and had fun singing songs about Christmas. The only ones who could sing on key were Severus and Rosie, who seemed to have inherited her father's perfect pitch. The others warbled off-key and made their father wince but at least they knew all the words, and there was no one to hear who would laugh at them.

Once the tree was finished, they all had some hot spiced cider and then Rosie and Eric took a nap. Severus spent some time with Harry, letting the precocious boy read aloud to him from one of his favorite stories about Merlin, and then helped him brew a few potions.

Harry loved the time he spent with his da, since Severus was often busy at the shop during the holidays and rarely had a lot of time to spend with him now. So he was very glad that Severus had agreed to brew potions with him today.

"You're doing very well with your brewing, Harry," Severus praised his son.

"Will I be as good as you someday?"

"Yes, if you keep practicing," Severus said. "You have a lot of natural talent for brewing, like your mother, but all the talent in the world won't make you a master unless you practice, because—"

"—practice makes perfect," Harry finished the old saying, which he had heard countless times from Severus.

"Yes. But for now, let's stop and have something to eat. Then you can record your results in your journal." Severus told him, referring to the brewer's journal James had gotten Harry for his birthday.

"Da, will Jamie remember anything from being little once he's back to being a grown-up?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure, Harry. I've never known a person to be de-aged and then restored back to his proper age before. That's something we'll find out when Jamie is back to his adult age again. Any particular reason why you're asking?"

"No, but . . . sometimes we fight and I was wondering if I was going to be in trouble when my dad was old again."

Severus chuckled. "Ah, Harry. I doubt it, since James was the same age and provoked you. Generally, when you're older, you tend to look back on some of the things you did as a child and find them amusing or ridiculous. I think that your arguments with Jamie will be things he'd be amused at."

Harry sighed in relief. "Oh. That's good."

Severus knelt and looked Harry in the eye and said, "Harry, do you remember the talk we had, about why your dad was de-aged in the first place?"

"Uh huh. You and Mum said it was so he could learn responsibility and manners and stuff that he was never taught when he really was a kid."

"Yes, and one of the things he needs to learn is how to get along with others, especially other kids his own age. When James was growing up, he was an only child, and spoiled, meaning he got whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. So he never learned how to share or play nicely with other children, who were younger or older than he was, like you had to with Rosie and Eric and Dora. And that's one reason why he became selfish and a bully when he grew older, because he never learned to think of others feelings and compromise. It was all about him and what he wanted. That's why he was so jealous when you told him that you loved me the same way you did him."

"But Da, you can have room in your heart to love lots of people, not just one. Like I love Rosie and Eric both the same, and you and Mum, and Uncle Remus and Aunt Cissy and the twins and Draco. I like Headmaster Tom too and even Sirius is okay sometimes. Mum always says your heart is big enough to love everyone, if you want it to."

"And she would be right. You, Eric, and Rosie are all my children and I love you equally. That will never change. But James never learned that important fact and he thought either you loved him only and not me, or no one at all. But now that he's a child being raised by Headmaster Tom, he can learn differently, and hopefully those are the lessons he'll remember when he's returned to his proper age. Understand?"

"Yes. I think maybe this time he will. Least I hope so."

"I do too, Harry. I want to have peace in my family, not a war."

Then they went upstairs to eat a late lunch.

Christmas Day:

"Mummy! Da! Wake up, it's Christmas!" Eric cried, barreling into his parents' room without any regard for their privacy. Usually he knocked, but today was Christmas, and he forgot any manners he'd been taught on this wonderful exciting morning.

"It's Kwistmas!" shrilled Rosie, who was right behind him, dragging her doll Bitty.

"Rise and shine, Da!" Harry called, using the same tone of voice Severus used on him when he had to get up for school. "Mum, it's time to say hello to Mr. Sun!" Then he started to giggle, for Lily used to always say that to him when he was Eric's age and he had always thought it hilarious. When he was small he used to think the sun was a man made of light and when you said hello, he waved at you and created sunbeams.

Lily groaned and opened one eye. "Is it morning already, Sev?"

Severus was still asleep, and didn't realize their sanctuary had been invaded until Rosie jumped right on his ribcage. He made a strangled sound and woke up to stare into a pair of dark eyes shimmering with mischief. "Uhhh . . .Rosalind, would you mind getting off your da's chest so he can breathe?"

Rosie giggled. "Get up, Da! It Kwistmas!"

"Hallelujah!" grunted her father, trying without very much success to dislodge his baby daughter from his chest.

Rosie clapped her hands and sang, "Da's awa-a-ake! Yay!"

Then Eric swarmed up the other side of the bed and patted Lily on the cheek gently. "Get up, Mum. C'mon, you gotta wake up. Christmas is here an' Father Christmas came an' there's presents. C'mon, Mum! Wake up!"

"How do you know Father Christmas came, Eri?" Lily asked, burying her face in her pillow. It seemed Christmas morning came earlier each year, especially when one had been up late wrapping gifts and putting the finish touched on the plum pudding.

"Uh . . .cause Harry said so."

"And since when is Harry an expert?" Lily asked.

"Harry knows most everything, Mum," Eric told her solemnly. "Cause he's the big brother."

"Oh, he does, does he?" Lily snorted.

"Uh huh. 'Cept for the stuff only mums and da's know."

"He's your son all right, Sev," Lily chuckled, rolling over and kissing her youngest son on the cheek. "A born thinker even at age three. Okay, Eric, luv. I'm up." She sat up, her hair straggling down her back in a wild tangle. She turned and poked her husband, who was feigning sleep. "Severus, quit shamming and get your sexy behind out of bed. Before we have a riot."

Severus opened his eyes. "Hey, they're lucky we're not making them eat breakfast before they open the presents."

"What? That's crazy, Da!" Harry exclaimed.

"That's what your grandmother used to do to me," said Severus, and then he plucked his daughter off him and sat up. "Happy now, Rosebud?"

Rosie squealed and hugged him. Then she grasped his hand in her own and slid down the bed to the floor, tugging at him. "Da, let's go. I wanna open pwesents!"

"Were you good this year, young lady?" he asked, pretending to frown sternly at her.

"Yes, Da." She answered seriously. Then she started hopping up and down. "Huwwy, Da!"

"All right, you little imp," Severus gave in and got up, letting his little girl drag him down the hallway, her pink nightgown trailing behind her, her beautiful hair frizzing out around her head like a reddish-gold halo. Severus thought she looked like an angel.

Lily Summoned her thick rose printed terry robe and wrapped it about her and also her matching slippers, then allowed Harry and Eric to take her hands and escort her down the hallway to the den, where the tree was all lit up and sparkling with tiny magical lights and underneath it was mounds of presents for every member of the family.

All the children squealed in glee when they saw the presents and the stockings bulging with hidden sweets. Rosie released Severus' hand and made a beeline for the tree.

"Hold it, little girl!" Severus called sternly.

Rosie stopped dead. "But Da-a!"

"No opening presents until your mum and I are sitting down and I have the camera." Severus always took pictures on Christmas of his family. He called the camera over and then sat down next to Lily on the sofa.

Lily lit the fireplace with a simple charm, then said, "Harry, you pick out a present and read out the name on the tag. Rosie, Eric, you wait till Harry gives you a present and then open it. No pushing or shoving."

"'Kay, Mum!" her two youngest chorused.

Harry knelt and took a green present from under the tree. "This one's for you, Mum. From Da." He handed her it.

Lily carefully unwrapped the slender box and found a beautiful charm bracelet. Each charm was exquisitely rendered in sterling silver and there was a wand, a cauldron that smoked, a spellbook whose pages turned, and four miniature pictures of her husband and children, that waved and smiled at her. "Oh! Oh, Sev! It's so . . .it's perfect!"

"Do you like it, Lil? I asked Cissy for an idea since I was fresh out of them and she told me Remus got her something similar last year." Severus said, smiling at his wife.

"Like it? I love it! And I love you." She leaned over and kissed him.

Harry made a face. "Ugh! Not this again!" He quickly picked out another present. "Here, Eric! This one's yours. And Merlin, it's heavy." He slid a long large box towards his small brother.

Eric's eyes bulged, "Wow, a big present for me?"

"Want me to help you open it?" Harry offered, for the box was bigger than Eric.

"Me too! Me too!" cried Rosie.

Together, the three siblings opened the present.

As soon as the box was opened, an easel popped out, complete with sheets of sketching paper and canvas, with brand new sparkly magic paints in their holders and large and small brushes and an artist's palette and a little beret and smock.

"Well, Eric? What do you think?" asked Severus.

His little son's eyes were wide with joy. "Da! It's what I always wanted! My own art set! Father Christmas bringed me it! Lookit the paints! An' the hat an' smock, like a real artist!"

"Happy Christmas, Eric!" said his father, and then he came over to help his son put on the beret and smock and set up the paints.

Harry continued handing out the presents. Rosie got a beautiful velvet Christmas dress and matching shoes, all the Snape children got holiday outfits from their parents, the boys received velvet robes in green and red with matching ties. They also received books and small boxes of truffles.

Then Harry found a large box with his name on it.

"Yippee!" he yelled when he opened it. "I got a new broom!" He started to dance around the room, his green eyes glowing. He had been eyeing a new model in Quality Quidditch Supplies and dropping hints for months. "Wait'll I show Jamie and Teddy! Now we can play Quidditch like the pros."

"Looks like you were good after all, Harry," laughed his mother, coming over to hug and kiss him.

Harry grinned and then he handed Lily a large envelope with her and Severus' names on it in fancy gold script. "Here, Mum. This's for you and Da. From me, Eri, and Rosie."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Lily took the present back to the sofa. "Sev, come here and open this with me."

Together, the two apothecaries opened the envelope. Inside were tickets for a lovely getaway for two to Bermuda. It included the hotel and food and some different activities for a whole weekend.

At the bottom was a note in Eileen's handwriting. Don't worry about the shop or the kids, me and Henry will mind them while you're off soaking up the sun and drinking pina coladas!

"A whole weekend to ourselves?" Severus said. "I can't remember the last time we've been alone like that."

"It'll be heaven," Lily said. "What a wonderful present! Thank you all so much!"

"You deserve it, Mum." Harry said. "You both work too much."

Severus chuckled. "Thank you, Harry. I wasn't sure you noticed."

From Lily Severus received a brand new master's choice self-stirring cauldron. "Lil, I'm going to throttle you," he mock-growled. "I told you this was too expensive!"

"Don't be such a pennypincher, Sev! It's Christmas, you're my husband, and I'll spend however much I feel like."

"It's brilliant. You're insane." He declared. "But I love you anyway." Then he took her in his arms and kissed her.

Finally there was one last gift beneath the tree, a large box wrapped in sparkly pink paper.

"Hmmm. I wonder who that could be for?" Lily asked.

Rosie toddled over to it. "Is it for me, Mummy? Is it?"

"Harry?"

Harry grinned. "Yeah, it's for you Rosie-Posie."

Rosie squealed and began to tear off the paper. Harry helped her.

"Wow! What is it?" asked her brother.

"It. . . a doll house! Father Kwistmas 'membered!" She clapped her hands excitedly.

Lily came over and helped her take the fully assembled house (Severus had put it together last night when the kids were asleep) and the dolls that came with it. "Let me see, baby! Oh, isn't this a beautiful house! I wish I lived in a house like this. It's like a palace."

"An' here's the pwincess!" she held up a small doll in a sparkly pink robe with a tiny crown on her head.

Together, mother and daughter explored the magical house, which had very detailed rooms, doors that opened and closed, lights that came on and off when you put the dolls in the room, a table that set itself when you sat the dolls down at it and the food even smelled real.

There was a princess, prince, and two children, plus a horse, cat, and dog. When you put the dolls in the house they could move and would follow simple commands. They could "sleep", "eat", "smile", and the bigger dolls could hold the little ones or the pets. Everything in the house was painstakingly lifelike, down to the flushing toilet in the bathroom. The horse had a small stable attached and when a doll was placed on its back, it would gallop for a short distance.

Lily had always wanted a dollhouse like this as a child, but had never gotten one, and she had picked this out especially for Rosie. It would provide years of fun for her daughter and it was something she could share with Rosie. Additional rooms and furniture and people could be purchased as she grew older for more magical play.

"Look, Hawwy! It my dollhouse!"

"That's great, Rosie," Harry said, though he was less than thrilled. "Poor Draco," he muttered, foreseeing tantrums if the blond boy didn't play with his bossy little sister. "Da, can I go flying for a little?"

"Yes. But first you need to get dressed." Severus said. "And I need to be with you on my broom."

Harry ran back to his room to throw on some clothes and while he and Severus flew, Lily and Rosie played with the dollhouse and Eric painted.

Severus and Harry returned after ten minutes, Severus had taken plenty of pictures of Harry on his first solo flight across the yard, and now he took more of Eric, Lily, and Rosie. Then Lily snapped a few of himself with his children before they opened their stockings, which contained sweets. After that they all went into the kitchen to eat the breakfast casserole and sweet apple strudel Lily had made the night before and placed preserving spells on.

Riddle Manor

Later that afternoon:

Tom watched along with Severus, Lily, Remus, and Cissy as the seven children raced about the mansion and the grounds, finding clues and hidden sweets for the annual Christmas scavenger hunt at Riddle Manor. That was a tradition that the Headmaster had grown up with, and usually there was one scavenger hunt on Christmas Eve for his nieces and nephews and the other took place Christmas morning for the Snape and Lupin children, and now included Jamie and Draco. Since Tom had never had any children, he invited his younger siblings and their families and friends to celebrate the holiday with him. This year he had Jamie, but he still wished to share the joys of the season with his family and friends.

The scavenger hunt was geared towards both older and younger children. The younger children, like Rosie and Eric, who couldn't read yet, found picture clues hidden in large plastic ornament which were usually inside the manor on the first floor and just outside in the yard. Each clue led to another until they found the prize at the end which was usually some toy or sweet. The older children had more challenging clues to decipher, such as riddles and math problems, and their prizes were usually things like Zonkos products or expensive Honeydukes sweets.

The hunt was eagerly anticipated by all the children, as each one was certain of getting some kind of prize, Tom had planned it that way, by assigning each child a certain color object to find. It enabled the children to have fun and let off some of that excess energy while the adults relaxed with cinnamon cider or cocoa with a splash of firewhiskey.

Harry had brought along his new broom to show his friends and Jamie, who were very appreciative of it. Jamie in turn showed Harry his brand new magical camera, complete with several rolls of film.

"Daddy says that I can take pictures of anything and record it for . . .err . . .post . . .post –erity, whatever that means." He told Harry and the twins.

"Cool!" said Tessa. "Take one of me in my new dress!" She twirled around to show off her satiny lavender dress with its ruffles and heart-shaped bodice.

Jamie happily snapped her picture. He had also received a fine photo album from Lily and Severus, who had known what Tom had bought Jamie. Remus and Cissy had given Jamie a book of famous wizard photos, and Remus said that maybe Jamie might be influenced to take up photography as a hobby when he was an adult again, a far better pastime than that of playboy Quidditch fanatic.

Jamie had given Tom a very rare book on the life and times of Nicholas Flamel, the famous alchemist. Tom was a collector of rare books and had amassed quite a lot of them, all of which were carefully stored in his library on the second floor. Severus had taken Jamie to shop for the book just before Christmas and Tom had been very surprised when he had opened it that morning.

"This the perfect gift, Jamie. However did you think of it?" he had asked, hugging his son.

"Uncle Sev helped," the boy admitted, smiling.

Christmas morning had been a bit of a revelation to the former only child, for Tom did not believe in giving a child fifty presents for Christmas. Instead he carefully chose seven gifts, seven being the sacred magic number, and put them beneath the tree. Some were ones Jamie had put on his list others were Tom's own choices.

Upon first seeing the small amount of gifts, Jamie had exclaimed, "That's all there is?"

Tom had promptly pulled the boy onto his lap and said sternly, "Some children, James Darius Potter, only receive one gift on Christmas."

"Why? Were they naughty?"

"No. But they don't have families to give them loving homes and warm clothes or food to eat, and Father Christmas only gives children one special gift. You should be grateful that you have as many gifts under there as you do, son, and not be selfish and want more than your share. When I was little, I grew up in an orphanage, and we only received one gift at Christmas, a toy or a sweet or clothing. Though when I was six I wished for a family and my father came and found me and took me home. That was the best present I ever received." He set Jamie down. "Go and open your gifts, and remember, it's better to give than to receive. That's why we're going to a Muggle orphanage later on and handing out gifts to the children there."

Jamie did and he found that he could appreciate each gift better when he didn't have an entire toy shop to open. And he had fun waiting for the other kids to arrive and the scavenger hunt to begin.

The adults relaxed on the veranda while the kids rushed around gathering clues, and then when all the clues outside were found, they moved indoors until the final clues were found and so was the prize.

The prizes were Tom's gifts to each of the children, each of them usually had a sweet and small gift by the end of the game, though the hunt itself could also have been considered a gift.

"They're so cute when they're little," Cissy exclaimed as they watched Rosie and Eric searching under the couches and chairs for their plastic ornaments.

"But they grow up fast," Severus observed. "It seems only yesterday that I was bringing Eric home from the hospital and now he's almost four and ready to start school with Remus."

"And sometimes I look at Rosie and think, where did my little baby go?" Lily agreed. "Now she calls herself a big girl and wants to do everything herself."

"I know what you mean. The twins sometimes prefer their own company to mine and don't always like to sit on my lap anymore," Cissy said. "Although, that might be a good thing considering that I won't have much of a lap after a few months."

Lily's eyes lit with sudden comprehension. "Cissy, are you expecting? How wonderful!"

"Yes, and with this new baby we'll have four and I've missed holding an infant in my arms. Draco's a love, but he's getting too old to be cuddled."

"Congratulations, Cissy and Remus." Tom said. "I'm sure this new addition will bring you joy."

The proud parents beamed.

Once the scavenger hunt was over and all the kids had their prizes and had thanked Tom, they went to hand out gifts and baskets of food and clothing at Wool's Orphanage, the same orphanage that Tom had lived at so long ago. Though he was a rich man now, heir to two fortunes and a magical legacy, Tom never forgot he too had once been a motherless orphan boy, and his contributions to the orphanage were his way of helping those in need and reminding himself of how fortunate he had been to get what he wished for that Christmas morning.

It was a lesson meant to teach Jamie and the other children, that Christmas was more than presents and sweets, but a time to give to those less fortunate, like St. Nicholas had given presents to the poor children in Myrna centuries ago. He also gave a generous monetary contribution to the orphanage itself, but the toys and gifts of food were, he felt, just as important.

Jamie stood in line next to Harry and Teddy, holding out a gift for a small girl in a patched jumper, and at first he felt silly and wished his daddy had never thought of this crazy idea. But the girl walked over to him, smiled shyly and said, "Hi. My name is Maddie. Thanks for the gift."

Jamie handed her it. "You're welcome. Happy Christmas."

"Same to you!" she took it and walked back to her teacher.

At a prearranged signal, all the orphans lined up and opened their gifts.

Jamie had never seen anyone get so excited over a pair of mittens and a scarf. Or a rag doll or a checkers game. At first he thought it strange, until he recalled what Tom had said about them being poor and how any gift was appreciated because it was so rare for them to get anything. And the smiles on the faces of the children were infectious and he found himself smiling back at them, as he realized for the first time about the true meaning of Christmas and how it didn't come from a store, but was inside of you.