As the weeks progressed and the first-years grew accustomed to their classes, the weather took a drastic turn for the worse; by the opening match of the Hogwarts Quidditch season on November fourth, between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, the spectators could see their breath as they huddled together for warmth in the stands.
“I really don’t see why we bothered coming. The weather’s awful, and everybody knows Gryffindor’ll win, anyway,” Rose complained as the students took their seats just prior to the beginning of the game. She clearly would have rather spent her Saturday morning in the cozy Gryffindor Common Room with a book.
“That’s the point, Rose. We’re obviously going to win! And besides, it’s our first Hogwarts Quidditch game. Why wouldn’t you want to be here?” Albus asked as he took the seat Matthew had been saving for him.
“Well, I just hope it’s not too long. I’m about to freeze to death,” Rose mumbled. Albus rolled his eyes and sat forward in his seat as the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams walked out onto the field. Minutes later, the game had started.
***
A deafening roar came from the Hufflepuff stands as Seeker Jennifer Chancess held the Snitch above her head in victory. As the Hufflepuffs celebrated their win, the defeated Gryffindors quietly left the stands, embarrassed and infuriated by the unbelievable defeat.
“Merlin’s beard! I can’t believe we just lost!” Albus exclaimed as he, Matthew, Philippe and Rose headed back up to the Common Room. The match had been surprisingly short, and the final score was 10-160. Each team had made just one goal prior to the Snitch being caught in a move most Gryffindors considered pure luck on Jennifer Carroll’s part; apparently, the fourth-year had never even come close to catching the Snitch in her two years of competitive play at Hogwarts.
“It’s not even noon yet. What are we supposed to do all day?” Rose asked.
“I thought you didn’t even want to go,” Albus pointed out.
“Well, oh, never mind, Albus,” Rose replied as Albus, Matthew and Philippe giggled.
“It really looked like Jeremy Bucket wasn’t even looking for the Snitch. He just kept an eye on the Bludgers the entire time,” Albus said in reference to the Gryffindor Seeker.
“It’s a shame. The rest of the team’s so good. If only we had a better Seeker,” Philippe pointed out as the four arrived back at the Gryffindor Common Room. In anticipation of their expected win, some third-years had gotten up early to decorate the Common Room with a “Congratulations” banner and red and gold streamers. The four, along with a few other students that had arrived early back at the Common Room, began taking down the decorations, hurrying to remove all signs of celebration before the dejected team returned to the castle.
***
Classes continued as normal, though the first-years were infuriated by the ever increasing amount of homework; it seemed the teachers were piling on work in anticipation of the upcoming Christmas holiday. Still, between History of Magic essays and frequent Potions tests, the fall seemed to fly by.
“You forgot this,” Albus said as he tossed a hopefully clean sock over toward Philippe. The students were packing to head home for the holidays, and, as usual, Albus and the other boys had left this task until the very last minute. The Hogwarts Express would be leaving in just under two hours, but Albus, Philippe and Matthew had each barely sorted through the piles and piles of clothing strewn around the room, filtering dirty from clean, school clothes from home clothes. The three heard a knock on the door to their dormitory.
“Merlin’s beard, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Rose exclaimed as she tentatively opened the door to the room, perhaps expecting a dragon made out of dirty clothes and candy wrappers to engulf her as she caught sight of the room’s disarray. “I thought you guys were packing last night!”
“Yeah. Well, that didn’t quite happen,” Albus said as he sat atop his bed, which was covered in random articles of clothing, throwing any winter gear he could find into the open trunk that lay on the floor.
“You know the train’s leaving at elev--“ Rose pointed out.
“Yes,” Albus interrupted. “We do.”
Rose rolled her eyes and gave Albus a look of great annoyance, but he was too busy searching for last year’s Weasley sweater to notice. Feeling a little pity, she decided to help. “How about I bring you some breakfast up from the Great Hall? That way you can just continue packing,” Rose said, turning to leave.
“Thanks,” Philippe and Matthew said simultaneously. Once the door shut, Philippe looked over toward Albus. “Sure is a moody one, isn’t she?” he asked.
“Yeah, but that’s just how she is. It can be irritating----“ Albus replied.
“Trust me, I know,” Philippe interrupted. “But I’d have to say, she’s grown on me. I could hardly stand her at the beginning of the year.”
Albus laughed. He couldn’t help but wonder if Philippe had a thing for Rose.
***
“Here, let me give you a hand with that,” Mr. Potter said, taking Rose’s suitcase from her as she, Albus, James, Victoire and Philippe arrived at the Potters’ doorstep in Godric’s Hollow, accompanied by Albus’ father, who had picked the five up from King’s Cross. Matthew, though invited to celebrate with the Potters, had returned to his home to spend time with his own family. There was still a week until Christmas, and the remaining family members, including the rest of Rose and Victoire’s family, as well as some of the other Weasleys and Philippe’s parents, would be arriving over the next few days. Thankfully, Mr. Potter had erected a “small” house in the backyard of their modestly sized home, much like the tent he had used in the year prior to the Great Battle; though the house was merely the size of a storage shed from the outside, its interior included six bedrooms and five bathrooms, along with a kitchenette (which the mothers planned to use for all the Christmas desserts, given that the Potter’s real oven would be used for the bird).
“Hi everyone!” Mrs. Potter called, emerging from the real house’s kitchen as the group entered the foyer, her baby blue apron and fiery red hair sprinkled with flour. “I’ve missed you so much, Al!” she exclaimed, running over to her youngest son and kissing him on the forehead. “You, too, of course,” she said to James. Lily appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, sticking her tongue out at James, who said “Mum! She’s already bugging---“
“Oh, come on, James, she’s your little sister. Be nice,” Mr. Potter warned James with a stern look, not wanting any sibling drama to tarnish what should be a perfect holiday season. “How are you all doing? Philippe? Getting taller, I see. Soon you’ll be towering over my boy James here,” Mr. Potter said with a smile, referencing James’ height, well above average for his age.
“We’ll be eating dinner in about an hour. How about you all get settled in in the meantime? I think we’ll have you, Philippe, room with Albus, just to simplify things. Dominique’ll be with you, Lily. Rose and Victoire, you’ll be together in the little house outside, just pick whichever room you like. The beds and everything are all set to go,” Mrs. Potter said as she rushed back to the kitchen to keep an eye on her shepherd’s pie.
Rose and Victoire (Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur’s eldest) left for the backyard, accompanied by Albus and Philippe, who offered to take their bags. “It’s going to be so crowded this year. Normally, my dad’s brothers and their kids don’t come for Christmas,” Rose commented.
“Yeah, it’s going to be crazy. Crazy delicious,” Albus joked as he exaggerated a big sniff of the scrumptious smell wafting from his mother’s kitchen.
***
With a bustling houehold, hours of cleaning, eating and wizard’s chess-playing, the entire family finally breathed a huge sigh of relief once Christmas dinner was over. While the adults scattered across the house to help clean up, Albus, Rose and Philippe took off for the living room, needing a seat to recover from the feast.
“I haven’t even started studying yet,” Rose said after a few moments of blissful silence, with Christmas music emanating from the dining room and the soft glow of the lit Christmas tree in the corner illuminating the otherwise dark room.
“What are you talking about?” Philippe asked.
“Exams, of course. We’re in the second half of the year now, and the finals will be cumulative, so---“
“You’re mad, Rose. You know that? Seriously mad,” Philippe replied, rolling his eyes. He and Albus had every intention of cramming solely the night before each final exam, though it wasn’t surprising that Rose was already preparing for the tests. “I’m about to pop a button on my pants. I’m going to go change into some pajamas, I think. The pie was worth it, though,” Philippe said, turning to leave for the house out back.
“I’ll change, too,” Rose said, leaving Albus alone in the living room. About five minutes later, he heard a voice from the doorway behind him.
“Harry, I know you don’t want to talk business today, but we’ve got to tell the Leroys what we’ve learned. Pascale is leaving early tomorrow morning, so this is really---“ Uncle Ron abruptly stopped as Albus turned around to face him in the loveseat. “I’m sorry, Al. I thought you were your Dad. Never mind,” Uncle Ron continued, looking embarrassed and somewhat nervous as his face quickly reddened to match his hair. He immediately left the room, and Albus knew something was fishy.
About five minutes later, after explaining the situation to Philippe and Rose, the three found themselves with their ears plastered against the wall of the living room, adjacent to the kitchen, where the adults were talking.
“So the Head of the Department of Magical Transportation thinks they saw who it was?” Mrs. Leroy asked.
“Apparently. Tall, dark brown hair, pale skin. Had never seen him before,” Albus’ father replied in a hushed tone.
“I thought there were no witnesses,” Mr. Leroy, pointed out.
“I thought so, too. Apparently, Josephine had left her watch in her office that day when she left, and she was just about to leave for a family vacation, so she needed to go back to get it. She returned to the Ministry at around four in the morning or so; she said their family portkey was leaving for Bermuda at six. When she got to the Ministry, the whole place was, unsurprisingly, deserted. But on her way out, she saw a man walking in the general direction of the Minister’s office,” Albus’ father explained.
“But why didn’t she come forward earlier. It’s been a year! And that still doesn’t explain why the Minister was there,” Mrs. Leroy said.
“I presume she didn’t want to get involved,” Uncle Ron said.
“That’s what she told me. And as for why Lee was even there at four, I have no idea. But we’ve got to find this guy,” Albus’ father said. “There’s got to be more than this to the story. Something’s ver. People don’t just go sneaking around Ministry headquarters at dawn. And we still don’t have any possible motive for Lee’s murder. And then, of course, there’s the question of Terry,” he continued.
“Do we have any profiles on criminals that sound like this man? Any ideas whatsoever as to who this might be?” Mrs. Leroy asked.
“Nothing. I mean, the reality is, we haven’t seen such high profile murders since, well, since we were kids,” Albus’ father said tentatively. An awkward moment of silence came over the group. Albus, Rose and Philippe could feel the tension from behind the wall.
“I have a feeling there’s a connection. Why would two consecutive ministers be attacked like this, by different attackers. It just doesn’t make sense. Anyway, we need to discuss this further as soon as the holiday’s over. At least now we have some information about the suspect. Ron and I’ll just be focusing on this case until, well, until everything’s all sorted out,” Albus’ father continued.
“Yes. When can we meet next?” Mr. Leroy asked.
“A week from tomorrow? My place? The kids’ll be off at school by then. Except for the little ones, of course,” Uncle Ron responded.
Albus, Philippe and Rose heard murmurs of agreement. As the footsteps of those in the kitchen grew louder, the three sprinted over to the couch opposite the Potters’ fireplace, sitting down just as Uncle Ron and his lifelong best friend entered the living room with surprisingly jovial expressions.
“What have you been up to?” Albus’ father asked cheerfully. Albus was impressed with his change in demeanor in a matter of sheer seconds.
“Oh, nothing. Just trying to digest,” Rose replied, a little too eagerly.
“I sympathize,” Uncle Ron responded with a smile, rubbing his belly.
Albus Potter and the Directorate by HPFanObsessed
Chapter Notes: A big big big thank you to my beta, Bookworm!!!
I hope you all are enjoying the story...Please review and give me your thoughts!