"Thank Merlin you're here, Albus. Mother invited Caroline Lupin, and I cannot figure out why, or where to put her. She's quite offensive to the other occupants of the house, you know." A slim woman with long silver hair and a long, thin nose greeted them at the door. The ghosts, Severus, and Harry looked at each other with distaste.

"Why in the world would she invite that woman? You do know she's a marked Death Eater, don't you, Margaret?" Minerva looked at her sister-in-law, aghast. "That woman hates Harry with a passion."

"So I've heard several times, out of her mouth, when she saw your family picture on the mantel. Michael got so sick of hearing her that he just stunned her."

Remus and Lily rolled their eyes. "We apologize. Our mother isn't the best company, Margaret."

"You're telling me. Come in, everyone. It's lovely to finally meet you. Your mother has told me a lot about you." She patted Harry on the arm. "You'll be sleeping in Anthony and Zacharias' room. Everyone else can take their usual rooms."

Harry gave his brother a look of annoyance. "Do I have to sleep in the same room as Smith, Aunt Margaret? You see, I teach his Defense class, and he doesn't like me very much."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but there's not really much we can do about that for tonight. Our house might look big, but half of the rooms are filled with ancient furniture with some sort of dark magic on them. The only rooms large enough for proper bedrooms are going to be filled."

Harry sighed, and followed the rest of his family into the house. "I'm sneaking into your room, Sev. I don't care if you snore."

"Whatever you say, Harry." Severus patted Harry on the back. He wouldn't want to sleep in the same room as the annoying Hufflepuff either.

"Who was at the door, Margaret? If it was one of those traveling cauldron salesmen again, the Minister is going to get an earful." Harry hadn't realized that it was possible for someone to look so very old, but his grandmother certainly changed his mind.

"No, Mother. It was Albus and his family." Margaret motioned for Harry to come closer to the chair where the ancient woman sat, surrounded by fluffy pillows and several kneazles. "This is your youngest grandchild, Godric. He prefers to be called Harry, though. He…"

"I know what he did, dear. He, unfortunately for all of us, killed the Dark Lord. That was a shame; I rather liked his ideas about getting rid of muggleborns." Her eyes narrowed at Harry. "Nevertheless, Harry is still family, and we sometimes overlook large mistakes where family is concerned."

Severus, who had been standing next to his younger brother, kept a restraining hand on the sixteen- year-old's shoulder. He knew exactly what Harry could, and would not hesitate, to do to their grandmother, or anyone else who had been a follower of Voldemort, and he wanted to make sure nothing happened.

"That's enough, Mother," Albus said firmly. He, too, knew what Harry could do. "We've had a long trip, and none of us are in the best of moods. Sister, do you think we could get something to eat. We didn't have any lunch, and supper is a long way off."

"I'll have a house elf send something up to the other sitting room." Margaret hurried off toward the kitchens, and Albus led his family members up the long, winding staircase that led to the upstairs parlor.

"That, Minerva dear, is exactly why I had reservations about coming to Christmas this year. If Severus and I hadn't been silently casting spells on Harry, he probably would have killed her." Albus wearily reclined on one of the leather couches.

"Wow, Jamie. You were right. I think your grandmum is worse than my mum and Moony and Lily's mum combined!" Sirius whispered theatrically.

"No kidding, Padfoot. I told you she was nasty, but you wouldn't believe me." James crossed his arms. "At least your mum didn't have a Voldie-shrine in her bedroom."

"Mother has a Voldemort shrine in her bedroom? I wasn't aware that he had been giving out signed photos or merchandise."Albus eyes went wide. At his age, it wasn't every day that you learned something new, especially new things about your mother.

"You didn't know that, Dad? At the place in Hogsmede where we went to get a few Christmas presents, they had Voldemort T-shirts, Voldemort posters; they even had Voldemort socks… everything you could possibly want." Harry grinned. "It was kind of creepy, wasn't it, Sev?"

Severus rolled his eyes. It had been slightly disconcerting to see Voldemort's face on a T-shirt. "A bit, though the socks with my face on them were slightly more disturbing."

"I wish I still could wear socks… I always wanted socks with my dear twin brother's picture on them!" James gave a rather accurate demonstration of a 'fan girl.'

"I do know that spell Voldemort used to lock you in that room, Jamie. I would use it, but for some reason, Harry, Remus, Lily, and Sirius like you." Severus glared at the grinning ghost.

Harry laughed at the scene and grabbed a sandwich off of the tray that an ancient house elf had brought in. Maybe this Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all.

A/n: Sorry this chapter took so long. I was recovering from my four days at Journalism camp…okay, so there wasn't much to recover from, except for the thirty or so mosquito bites I managed to get. I was also suffering from a bit of writers block on this chapter. Expect another one out soonish.