Hermione flushed slightly, chewing on her bottom lip. "What makes you think
that—?" Tonks cut her off by raising an incredulous eyebrow. "He'll be at the Burrow for
Christmas."
December 24th, 1996Remus tried to be subtle about his excitement at being at the Burrow for Christmas,
but the moment Molly greeted him at the door with a large slice of treacle tart, all subtlety
had gone out the window. Normally, he detested the idea of anyone doting upon him—
even in his youth it had taken serious effort to allow Mia, and later Dorea, to take care of
him—but he was "much too skinny" according to Molly. He did not have the energy to
argue with her as she set a plate down in front of him and piled it nearly six inches high
with potatoes and roast beef.
He was thrilled to see Harry but disappointed in finding that Hermione had decided
not to come to the Burrow for Christmas. When Remus had asked why her plans had
changed, Ron mumbled under his breath, "She's probably too busy snogging Krum and
Cormac to bother with us," and then left the room.
Remus turned a stern eye on Harry, who nodded in understanding, raising his hands
in surrender. "I know. Believe me, I'm trying to fix it. They're both stubborn."
Remus spent the day catching up with Harry, who was very excited to tell him about
their Quidditch season thus far, his suspicions of Draco Malfoy being a Death Eater—
which Remus already knew about, thanks to Hermione's letter—and an Advanced Potions
textbook he found to be quite useful. Remus did his best to caution Harry, especially if his
suspicions were correct about whom the book might have originally belonged to—though
the title "Half-Blood Prince" meant nothing to him.
"You really should turn the book in to Professor Slughorn."
The look Harry gave him as he bobbed his head was far too reminiscent of James,
who had rarely accepted words of caution from anyone in his youth, especially when he
had his mind set on doing something already.