Christmas

When James got off the Hogwarts Express and saw his parents he had to contain his excitement to keep from running up and hugging them. There were a lot of eyes, and at Hogwarts, he came across as someone who was a joker, and from what he heard from Penny along with the marauders they were popular.

Besides, he didn't want Rabastan and his Slytherin friends to see him lovingly hugging his parents and be teased later, as he might end up with Rabastan stuck against the wall at Hogwarts and James with two weeks of punishment.

They got into Fleamont's Peugeot 504 and the whole trip he spent the whole trip telling them everything he did at Hogwarts. Especially about the flower prank.

"That's a good one! I would have never thought of that joke," said Fleamont, laughing loudly, "Pay attention, you're driving," said Euphemia, who had also thought it was a great joke. Especially because it was harmless. Otherwise, she would be lecturing James.

James didn't tell the part where he stole ingredients from a professor, and according to his version they managed to get the ingredients "legally."

Arriving at Godric's Hollow, he could see how the whole town was painted with snow and festive decorations. On every door and window, Christmas garlands give all the houses a very charming and magical air.

As they passed through the main square, James could see that in the center was a huge Christmas tree that seemed to reach the sky. He wasn't too surprised as it was not the first time he had seen how picturesque the town was at Christmas, but he still was very happy when he saw the town with all the Christmas decorations.

When he got home he saw that everything was the same, the only difference was the decorations. Lights, garlands, and the tree in the center of the living room.

'It's good to be home,' thought James, entering the warm hearth. With his parents, they sat in the armchairs in front of the fireplace which gave off a very warm heat.

The family of three stayed for a long time chatting happily. James had missed his father and mother whom he loved so much in this life. Later that day, his grandfather arrived and had to repeat all the same stories, but it didn't bother him at all.

'Almost two weeks break,' thought James as he yawned, already lying in his bed.

The days passed quickly much to James' chagrin as he enjoyed the company of his family. Besides spending time with his parents and grandfather he also spent time practicing defensive magic, reading books, and flying his broom.

He did all of this in the training room that his father had built. It was a very large and high room that allowed him to fly without any problem, although it did not compare to the Quidditch pitch.

As for flying, he practiced releasing the golden snitch and trying to catch it, since he could not escape. It was a very effective training. The only thing that didn't resemble reality was that there weren't two Bludgers heading at full power towards him.

"Another fabulous catch!" praised Fleamont, watching as James took the snitch taking a sudden turn.

"You will be one of the best seekers in Gryffindor history," he added as James landed softly. As a father, he was very proud that his son was a great talent at quidditch. He knew that he was given special permission to practice with the team, which fueled his pride in his son even more.

"We can add a couple of Bludgers to simulate a real match," commented Henry, who was watching everything with a big smile on his face.

"Not. It's good enough that I've let him chase the snitch while performing those dangerous spins," said Euphemia in an irrefutable tone.

'I've already trained with Bludger's mom...' thought James as he put the snitch away instead.

Even though Euphemia knew that James has already trained with real Bludgers, she didn't want him to do it at home and have an accident happen.

"Tomorrow your friend is coming, right?" asked Henry.

"Yes, Peter," nodded James, who was waiting for him to arrive to train him and for the cowardly Peter to improve his flying.

The next day, Peter arrived along with his parents. Euphemia had them come in for tea and to get to know each other, as her sons are friends.

Peter's parents seemed very nice, and despite being pure-blooded wizards, they showed no dislike for Muggles, nor did they think they were superior to others because of their lineage.

For the next three days that Peter stayed at the Potter house, they spent the next three days flying in the training room, playing magical chess where Peter showed talent. However, he could not beat James.

On Christmas Eve, James went to bed excited for the next day to come and have presents and eat all kinds of food prepared by his mother. He had already arranged to send presents to all his friends, including Penny, Gwen, and Emily, although he had distanced himself from the latter two.

Early the next morning, his parents woke him up by bringing him breakfast in bed, a cup of hot chocolate with milk, marshmallows, and pumpkin pancakes.

"Merry Christmas, sweetie!" greeted Euphemia lovingly as she kissed him on the forehead.

"Merry Christmas, champ!" said Fleamont, messing up James' hair lovingly.

"Merry Christmas, Mom, Dad!" said James as he hugged his parents tightly causing him to almost drop his hot chocolate on the bed.

Even though every Christmas had been this way, he still wasn't used to how loving his parents were, so he hugged them so he knew it was all real.

"Have a quiet breakfast, there are lots of presents waiting for you," Euphemia said in a happy tone, as she had seen many presents from her son's new friends.

Hearing this, James ate breakfast in a hurry, as he was eager to open all his presents. He went downstairs to the living room, where under the Christmas tree was a large pile of presents wrapped in all sorts of colored paper.

James picked up the package that was on top of the small mountain. It was wrapped in shiny green paper and had a simple statement on it: 'To James, from Gwen.'

'She's not that heartless,' thought James with a slight smile as he saw that Gwen was still sending him gifts. What struck him as odd was that Emily's name didn't appear, usually in previous Christmases they both sent him a gift, and both Shafiq girls' names appeared.

He eagerly opened the green package. It contained a bracelet made of fine silver, intricately worked to form delicate links. The silver shines with a subtle luster, giving the jewelry a noble look. On the links could be seen a message that James did not understand as it was printed in ancient runes.

'I wonder what meaning it will have,' thought James as he moved the bracelet closer to his wrist. When it was close enough it opened automatically and was placed on his wrist. To take it off he only had to think about it, and it came off easily.

The second one was smaller. When he saw the note, he knew it was in the handwriting of his friend, Sirius. It read as follows: 'This is all I could buy. Now my mother is giving me less and less money. Very stingy. Because of the tradition thing and acting like a Black, blah, blah, blah. Plus, I also need money for the prank you know... Sorry, see you soon, Sirius Black.'

James let out a chuckle imagining Sirius as he was ranting and writing the note. Opening it, he saw a case containing a fancy black magic writing quill.

He opened more and more presents. From his grandfather, Henry; his Potter uncles, whom he saw every so often; his friend Peter; from William and other members of the quidditch team; even from Penny, who gave him a book about quidditch and a box of chocolates.

'I was right to send her a gift,' thought James, as it would have looked bad if he didn't send her a gift.

Then came the turn of the gifts from his parents which were many. For one, his mother personally knitted him a red sweater. A gift that James appreciated all the more since his mother made it with her own hands. She also gave him a Falsoscope and a lot of sweets (dragees of all flavors, chocolate frogs, sugar feathers, etc.)

On the other hand, his father gave him a completely custom-made Puddlemere United uniform. Identical to the one worn by the pros, only matching James' body.

"Isn't that great, son?" asked Fleamont with a smile as he saw the look of excitement on James' face as he looked at the uniform.

"That's great!" nodded James, who already wanted to try on the uniform.

"In a little while you'll be flying in the Puddlemere uniform. Now tell me, which present was the best?" asked Fleamont confidently.

"Mom's gift!" said James without a second's hesitation as he hugged Euphemia, who accepted the hug and looked with a triumphant smile at her husband.

After they finished opening the gifts, Henry arrived, and they had a Christmas meal, with a plethora of dishes and delicacies. After the meal, hot puddings followed for dessert.

In this way, Christmas came to an end, being one of the best Christmases for James (like all the others since he was reborn in this magical world.