Tyrone had been scheduled for five peer counseling meetings with Emma, but he hadn’t showed up for a single one, which suited Emma just fine. Other than that, he was largely back to his old self, though a bit more withdrawn, and now ignored Emma completely. On the other hand, Ivy and Ted’s peer counseling went quite well, and Mr. Potter’s Defence classes were excellent.
Despite the grave events lately, the five friends were all in high spirits as they packed their trunks to return to Number Seven, Griffin Circle on Christmas Eve.
Haley had eschewed her usual pink-and-denim ensemble and was wearing a red Santa Claus jacket and trousers trimmed with white fur and a little Santa hat, and Ted was wearing a pair of reindeer antlers mounted on a headband. Bells hanging from the antlers jingled merrily whenever he moved.
“Christmas is going to be great this year!” Emma enthused. “Ted, is the rest of your family coming by this year?”
Ted nodded, causing the jingle bells on his head to ring. “Yup. They’re all coming by tomorrow, though, for Christmas Day-- tonight’s a full moon, remember? Even with the Wolfsbane potion, my dad likes to be in his special room for transformation.” He began to toss clothes into his trunk, then paused suddenly. “Hey, I just realized something,” he remarked, straightening up with a jingling of bells. “I’m the only one here who’s not part of the family!”
Haley smiled semi-evilly. “Of course, that’s easily remedied,” she noted. Her friends gave him quizzical looks, and she clarified, “When you marry Ivy, we’ll all be related!”
Ivy blushed slightly, but the others laughed, and they traipsed down to Professor Granger-Weasley’s office. She was the head of Gryffindor house, and the only fireplace from which students were allowed to come and go freely via the floo network was located in her office.
When they reached her office, Haley and Jordan’s dad was there as well-- the five of them were the last students in the school to floo home, as they were going with teachers, and the teachers had to wait for the other students to leave before they did so. Haley and Jordan’s father was there, too, waiting for them when they arrived.
“Hello!” Harry greeted them. “Sorry you had to wait so long… nice antlers, Ted.”
Ted grinned. “My dad gave them to me,” he informed Harry. “Actually, they were your dad’s antlers, and he forgot to give them back.”
“Wow, the Prongs of Prongs!” remarked Haley in a reverent whisper. “Ow! Ivy, that was my foot you just stepped on!”
“You have been stepped on by the Light Foot of Lightfoot!” Ivy replied in the same reverent whisper, as Hermione got out the floo powder. Haley and Emma cracked up, and Ivy looked surprised that she had said something remotely humorous.
Jordan stepped into the flames first, followed by Emma, Haley, Harry, Ted, Ivy, and last, Hermione. Number Seven, Griffin Circle whirled into view, and they couldn’t help but marvel at the lavish decorations as they climbed out of the fireplace. Ginny had obviously been busy putting up garlands, fairy lights, and enchanted snow.
Speaking of Ginny, she came in from the kitchen, her long red hair flying behind her. “Harry! Hermione! Kids! Just who I’ve been waiting to see!” Everyone except for Jordan greeted her with a warm hug, even Ted.
“Because I’m not important,” added Ron, who had just Apparated into the room with a sarcastic smile.
“Oh, come off it, Ron,” laughed Ginny, as a little girl with downy red hair in two wispy ponytails toddled into the room.
“Oooh,” breathed Ivy. “Is Holly walking now?” Holly and Jonathan, who would turn one year old on Christmas Day, were Haley, Jordan, and Ivy’s little siblings, the second set of twins in the family.
Ginny smiled proudly as a little red-haired boy toddled into the room after his sister. “They both are,” she informed them. “And Holly’s said her first word--Mama!”
“Mama!” exclaimed Holly, tugging on the hem of her mother’s robes with a pudgy hand. Harry scooped her up, holding her under the arms, and swung her in the air.
“You’re getting big!” he exclaimed. “Shooting up like a regular holly plant!”
Ivy’s face drained of color, and Ted remembered what she’d said earlier about Malfoy-- how he always swung he around saying, “You’re getting big! Shooting up like a regular Ivy plant!”
They all enjoyed a light supper-- Ginny didn’t want to exhaust her cooking skills before their Christmas dinner the next day-- and afterward, they gathered around the piano to sing Christmas carols. Ivy was a very talented pianist, and she played all of their favorite holiday songs with little Holly seated on her lap.
Ted wryly suggested that she play, “The Holly and the Ivy” at this, and she did so with a smile. Being back at Number Seven was obviously good for her psyche, and her face seemed to glow as her fingers danced up and down the keys. Even Jordan, usually rather cynical and detached, was enjoying himself.
“Last song before you go to bed,” Ginny instructed, glancing at the clock. “You’ll want a good night’s sleep before Christmas.”
“Play ‘Jingle Bells!’” suggested Emma. “But-- listen to this-- Jordan can play his guitar, I can play my drums, and Ted can play his harmonica! It’ll be cool!”
Ted smiled slightly, noting that his instrument was the only one that would not allow him to sing while playing it. Considering his voice, which had been extremely uncooperative and badly-behaved lately, this was probably wise.
“What about me?” demanded Haley, looking left-out.
“I know,” said Ivy, and she plucked the bell-decorated antlers off of Ted’s head. “Shake these. You can’t play ‘Jingle Bells’ without jingle bells!” Haley took the antlers eagerly, and everyone else got out their instruments. They all played together, the sound of the instruments and their voices rising and blending as one.
Harry put one arm around his wife and smiled fondly. They were all safe, all together, all happy and whole. Christmas would be beautiful.
Before going up to bed, Haley insisted that they put out ‘reindeer food’ in the backyard. It was a childish tradition, but it was a regular part if the Christmas festivities for the Potters, and she didn’t want to miss it. So all five friends bundled up in coats, hats, and scarves, and took a bag of oats outside to distribute over the snowy yard.
Ivy exhaled a puff of visible air. She’d always loved winter, and that particular night was especially beautiful. The cold night air whipped at her face, stinging her cheeks pink and making her eyes bright, and the stars and round full moon shone in the sky, reflecting ghostlike off the snow.
Of course, Jordan broke the silence by muttering, “How can anyone stand this weather? It’s freezing cold, and my socks are soaked through.” Emma rolled her eyes; trust Jordan to ruin any setting.
A thick forest began near the back of the Potter’s large yard, marking the boundaries of the property. Haley moved nearer toward it, scattering oats across the snow. Suddenly, though it may have been her imagination, something flickered behind one of the trees.
She blinked-- it had all happened so fast, she didn’t know whether it had really happened or not. She edged toward the forest, determined to see what had moved, ignoring Jordan’s calls of, “What are you doing, Haley? Get back here!”
Without warning, two large, luminous eyes appeared from around a bush, and there was a muffled snarling noise. Before she knew what was happening, she saw two slavering jaws studded with long yellow fangs, a muzzle covered in short wiry hair, a streak of brindled brown flashing past her, and then”
“HALEY! NOOOOO!” A blur of bright blue material was hurtling toward her, knocking her flat on her back on the icy ground. The person in the blue parka had their arms outstretched, and the creature, whatever it was, lunged, pinning the person to the ground beside Haley with its clawed paws, ripping into the person’s face with those teeth, digging into their arms with those sharp claws.
A frenzy of sounds filled the air-- terrible howls of pain from the person in the blue parka, and screams and gasps that weren’t coming from the attacked at all, but from the other three still on their feet. And just as quickly, the silver-brown creature streaked back into the forest, leaving the snow stained with scarlet.
Haley’s disbelieving eyes rolled back into her head and everything faded into blackness.
After what seemed like less than a second, her eyelids flickered open and two fuzzy faces swirled into view. She was lying in her own warm bed, swathed in a patchwork quilt. Haley blinked, and the image became clearer-- Ivy and Emma were leaning over her bed.
“Emma! Ivy!” she gasped. “What happened? It wasn’t either of you who got attacked? What was that…what was the… are they all r--”
Emma’s face looked oddly sober, her complexion an odd greenish white and her jaw clenched tightly. Ivy was deathly pale again, tears flowing freely down her tense face. The door opened, and Ron entered, equally grim-faced. “He’s going to be all right,” he announced. “Harry just sent a Patronus to me from St. Mungo’s.”
“Uncle Ron!” Haley cried. “What--”
Ron sat down on the edge of her bed. “Ted,” he informed her, his voice shaking dangerously, “has been attacked by… by a werewolf.”
Haley clapped her hands over her mouth. A werewolf? That couldn’t be. Ted… a werewolf? “It wasn’t…” she began.
Ron shook his head, “No, it wasn’t his father who bit him. Remus took his potion, and he’s safe. Apparently--” he swallowed very hard, “Malfoy sent a werewolf to attack someone, anyone, in the Potter family. He went after you, but Ted jumped in front of you.”
“But he’s all right?” Haley asked in a small voice, still unable to grasp the fact that Ted would have to live as a werewolf for the rest of his life, suffer everything his father had. Remus Lupin had lived a sad and lonely life and grown old before his time, and Haley didn’t know if she could bear watching the same thing happen to the boy she had known her whole life.
Ron ran his fingers through his short, slicked ponytail. “Well, werewolf bites never heal, and there’s no cure. He’ll have a pretty nasty scar on his temple, and of course, he’ll have to deal with a transformation every full moon. But with the Wolfsbane potion, and the fact that his father will be able to give him firsthand advice on how to manage his condition, he’s a lot luckier than Remus was when he was first bitten.”
Haley nodded, but she still felt tears welling up in her eyes. They welled up dangerously, then splashed down her face. It wasn’t fair! Someone had tried to harm, even kill her, but Ted had jumped in front of her. Ted, sweet, funny Ted Lupin was lying in St. Mungo’s at that exact moment with an incurable disease and a permanent disfigurement.
Of course, this was just like Ted, she thought. The previous year, he’d jumped in front of a curse thrown at Ivy by Ophidias Malfoy, and had gotten knocked unconscious and had his head sliced open. But this was so much more serious-- how could he be brave enough to do something like that for her?
“I want to go visit him!” she demanded, trying to get out of bed, but her knees buckled beneath her. “I need to see him!”
“He’s not seeing visitors until tomorrow,” Ron informed her gently. “Just go to sleep. It’s late. You too, Emma, Ivy.”
“How am I supposed to sleep?” hollered Emma, who seemed incapable of tears. “Ted--”
“--Will be perfectly all right,” finished Ron, though he didn’t look completely convinced himself. He left the room, closing the door behind him, and Ivy, shaking uncontrollably, followed him to her room.
But she couldn’t sleep. Horrible images, terrible thoughts, and Ted’s inhuman scream of pain kept floating through her head, and she couldn’t take it any longer. Fourteen years old and a Gryffindor she might be, but that didn’t keep her from running down to the kitchen where Ginny sat and collapsing at the table, sobbing her eyes dry.
No one was in a very festive mood the next day, although it was Christmas. Without even opening any of their presents, Ted’s four friends, accompanied by Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny set off for St. Mungo’s first thing. None of them talked very much on the Knight Bus journey, on the way through the crowded London streets to the entrance at “Purge and Dowse Ltd,” or up the stairs to the first floor of the hospital, which was devoted to Creature Induced Injuries.
They walked into the “Dangerous” Dai Llewellyn Ward for Serious Bites to see Ted, who was occupying the very same hospital bed once used by Arthur Weasley. There were only two other occupants, both wearing rolls of bandages on their legs and still asleep, and Ivy couldn’t help but notice that their cots had been moved rather farther away from Ted’s than was typical.
Ted’s parents were talking to him (his mother’s hair a subdued shade of mousy brown), but Ivy saw with some surprise that they looked far less sad and concerned than she would have expected them to be. Maybe Ted’s eternally optimistic attitude had even brightened his parents’ mood.
“Six at a time only, please!” a passing healer instructed sharply. Remus and Tonks made to leave, but Hermione stopped them.
“We’ll wait outside,” she told them, gesturing toward herself, Ron, Harry, and Ginny. “He’s your son, after all.”
“We’ve been here since five A.M., actually,” Tonks told them. “His brother and sister left a minute ago. I’m sure Ted’s getting sick of us by now.”
“It’s all right,” said Harry. “You stay with him.” And the four adults edged out of the room, leaving Ted’s parents and friends gathered around him.
Ivy approached Ted’s bedside cautiously. Ted was sitting propped up, but his face was unnaturally white, and his shaggy hair was pushed back from his right temple to reveal a bloody and shredded mess. Ted, however, did not seem aware of his friends’ apprehension.
“Hi Ivy, Jordan, Emma, Haley!” he greeted his friends, a wide grin spreading across his drawn-looking face. “Glad you could make it. Here I thought you’d be at home eating all my candy canes!”
Well, this was not what Ivy had expected at all. She’d imagined a desperate, sobbing Ted; or a sullen, unresponsive Ted; or a hard-faced and determined Ted challenging the others to look him in the eye; or a frail, sickly Ted, though none of these seemed like the friend she knew. She hadn’t thought that the person she would find in the hospital bed would be smiling and speaking in his usual light, casual, and predisposed-toward-cracking voice.
“Nice to see you,” Emma greeted him, sounding a bit awkward. “Erm… how are you?” She shifted her weight uncomfortably.
“Oh, I feel all right now,” Ted assured them. “I’ll probably be home in a few days.”
“That’s good,” said Jordan, his voice a bit higher and considerably less flat than usual.
“What’s wrong?” asked Ted, smiling again. “I don’t bite… wow, really bad way to put that there, I’ll have to rephrase that.”
Haley giggled, then clapped her hand over her mouth as the others turned to look at her.
“I’m not so ill that I’ll shatter if you laugh at me!” added Ted indignantly, raising an eyebrow. There was a bit of a lull, then he spoke up again. “I raised one eyebrow and Haley didn’t attack me? I ought to get bitten more often, maybe it’ll keep Haley from hitting me.”
‘How can he crack jokes like that?’ Ivy wondered madly. ‘How can he do that when he’s… a werewolf?’ They made uncomfortable conversation for several long minutes before Harry arrived.
“We should go now,” he told the non-Ted kids quietly, and they followed him to the door, waving to Ted and saying ‘goodbye’ and (very awkwardly) ‘Happy Christmas.’
“Wait!” called Ivy. “I brought my Christmas present to Ted. Let me give it to him!”
“Okay,” Harry replied. “We’ll wait for you outside.”
Ivy could hear Remus saying to Jordan in a low voice: “He’s taking it quite well, a lot better than most people would, though I don’t know whether he’s just trying to ease our tension or if he really hasn’t realized how serious his condition is going to be.”
Ivy moved back toward the hospital wing, holding a package wrapped in shiny red paper. “I brought you a present,” she told her friend, and gave it to him, standing back as he opened it. He tore off the paper eagerly.
“Oh wow! Thanks, Ivy!” It was a camera, a wizard camera, and a note inside the package read: “Ted-- you notice everything I miss. Next time, take a picture so I can see it, too. Ivy.” Ted smiled. “This is really cool. I can’t wait to take some pictures when I get out of here.”
Ivy just stood there, hands clasped, then she suddenly burst out, “Why do such bad things happen to good people all the time? It’s not fair… and it’s all my fault! If Malfoy--”
“Stop blaming everything on yourself. It’s not healthy,” Ted told her firmly, his voice cracking.
“You’re worried about MY health? Look at yourself.”
“I’d rather not, thanks.” Ted’s smile disappeared when he saw tears welling up in Ivy’s eyes. She was so emotional this year, crying or becoming withdrawn and nervous at the drop of a hat. This was a big difference from before, when she had always been cool and collected.
“Ted,” she said, her voice just above a whisper, “I just can’t believe this could happen to you! How can be you be so calm about it! You have to transform every month… and your face…”
Ted smiled. “It’s not so bad. I get to be an Animagus without all of the hard work and study! And as for my bites, your mum can tell you that girls love a guy with a scar on his forehead.”
Impulsively, Ivy reached over and took his hand in hers. It was warm. Ted looked slightly surprised, but didn’t let go, either. “It’s just…” Ivy sighed, “I know your whole life’s messed up now. You’re going to have to go through all the transformations and everything, and there’s no cure…”
“Look, Ivy, if my dad can handle it, I can, too,” Ted told her gently. “I’m a werewolf now, and I guess that’s what I‘m going to be for the rest of my life, so it would be stupid not to get used to it. I don’t feel any different or anything, so I don’t want to be treated any different, you know? And besides, it’s just one little bite… well, not so little, but just one anyway.” He paused and looked up at her, giving her hand a squeeze. “Are you scared of me?”
“What? Scared of you? What do you mean?” Ivy blinked. Ted was probably the least scary person she could think of, not counting when he was singing.
Ted shrugged. “It’s nothing, it’s just, I can tell that Jordan and Haley and Emma couldn’t get away from me fast enough. It’s like I’m contagious or something.” He smiled. “I mean, okay, I guess I am technically speaking, but I don’t plan on biting any of them! I can think of much tastier snacks, no offense to them, I’m sure they suit someone’s tastes just fine…”
Ivy chuckled in spite of herself, then realized the seriousness of what he was saying. “I don’t see how they can be scared of you… in any case, I know I’m not. Scared for you, yes.”
They looked at each other for a few seconds, silently but not awkwardly so. “Well, I guess I have to go now-- I just said I was going to deliver your present,” Ivy said at last.
“All right. Thanks again for the camera!” Ted said cheerily.
Before she turned to go, Ivy gave him a hug. He smelled just like always, of wool jumpers and peppermints. He’s the same old Ted, she thought. He might be a werewolf, but he’s still the same old Ted.
Ivy smiled at him and headed for the door. As she moved, she heard something jingle, and paused. The jingling stopped. She turned around, and the jingling began again. Ivy was puzzled for a moment, but then she realized-- she had Ted’s jingle bell antlers in the pocket of her trousers!
Quickly, she zipped back over to Ted’s bed and plopped the antlers down on his head. “Happy Christmas!” she chirped, and walked back out to the hallway where her three other friends were waiting.
“You took a long time giving Ted your present,” observed Haley.
“Yeah, what was it? A good Christmas snog?” asked Emma, smiling mischievously.
“Oh, well, we talked for a bit,” Ivy replied serenely, and she left the hospital considerably less pale than she’d been when she’d come in earlier.