Albus Potter and the Cursed Legacy | Scorbus

33. Christmas Morning

Christmas morning at the Burrow always teetered on the verge of chaos--the house filled to the brim with red-haired family members and a bunch of children running about. Albus recalled one time as a child, spending thirty minutes with Rose trying to find her father amongst all the jumper-clad Weasleys. 

Jolly chatter filled the sitting room as the whole family gathered Christmas morning, mingling amongst each other. The fireplace was alight and crackling, Christmas carols played from old muggle records their grandad collected, and the kettle whistled from the kitchen as many cups of tea were passed around. Every so often, a cracker would explode with a loud bang, showering gifts upon the players. The scent of roasting beef wafted in from the kitchen where his nan was already bustling about, preparing the Christmas dinner with help from Harry and Fleur who both enjoyed cooking, unlike any of the Weasley children, who--to their mum's disappointment--didn't inherit her cooking talents. 

 With a cup of coffee in hand, Albus sat on the floor off to the side near the Christmas tree, surrounded by crumpled piles of discarded red, green, and gold wrapping paper. He watched as his grandad walked to the centre of the room with a rubbish bin tucked under his arm. With one swish of his wand, all the wrapping paper rose from the ground and flew into the bin. Albus couldn't help but chuckle as he watched one of the wrapping paper balls smack his cousin Molly upside the head before bouncing into the bin. She shot Albus a glare for laughing but he didn't care, giving her a cheeky wave in response as he took a sip of his coffee.

He was thankful that all of the kids in the family were older now, meaning they didn't have to be woken up at the crack of dawn by bouncing little primary schoolers, all too eager for the wee morning hours to see what Father Christmas brought. Although Lucy, at only eleven years old, still begged them to get up earlier, everyone agreed that sleeping in would be perfectly acceptable--especially for the older teens. Albus wasn't sure he could have woken up any earlier than he did after the late-night he'd had. The dark circles under his eyes were a staple of his morning look at this point but it would have been far worse had he been woken up by one of his younger cousins at sunrise. The coffee settling into his veins would at least last him until evening as he'd need all the energy he could muster to make it through the long day of family socialisation.

Besides gift opening, when all the adults took joy in watching the kids tear into the mound of wrapped parcels by the tree, Albus was able to go mostly unnoticed. Itching at where the wool of his jumper--which were always some shade of green with a large A on the front--he didn't notice someone approaching until their shadow fell over him. 

"Cracker? How 'bout it?" 

Albus glanced up to see his father standing over him, extending the colourfully wrapped tube toward him. Albus rolled his eyes at the offer but obliged for the sake of Christmas spirit. With a tug on either end, the cracker let out a cloud of glittering blue smoke and a bang as loud as a cannon. When the smoke cleared, Albus looked to see the longer end of the tube in his hand, the gifts falling onto the floor in front of him.

"You win," His dad smiled, squatting down to take a look at what was inside. He picked up the hat--a blue oversized top hat covered with silver stars--and popped it onto Albus' head before he got to protest.

"Dad," Albus whined, unamused, knowing he looked exceptionally silly, although he didn't try to remove it.

Harry chuckled, not used to seeing his son in such eye-catching clothing, "I think it's a good look for you, Al." 

"If you like it so much, why don't you wear it," He pulled it off his head, placing it on his father's. 

Harry posed dramatically, showing off his new look. Albus bit back a laugh, entertained by the show.