Then also added, "But, you still scared the life out of me for three days."
"Sorry," said Harry, as both boys took their seats. "I couldn't afford your grandmother stepping in and stopping me acting. And the goblins demanded of me I not tell where your parents were for the duration."
"But, you still placed yourself at risk of my Gran getting hold of you before today, by hinting to me you had them."
"It saved you from worrying too much," shrugged Harry. "It was worth the slight risk."
When the two teens quietened, Bones asked Harry. "So, Lord Potter, what's your next trick to be?"
"Finding worthwhile Christmas presents for everyone!" he declared. "I'd completely forgotten, until today, just how close Christmas is. Ten days!
"My mind's been busy with other matters. Now I have to think of what to buy folks. That's going to be hard."
Sirius snorted and said, "You've had almost the entire senior faculty of Hogwarts arrested and fired; one of them sent to Azkaban for life. You have the Minister and his Senior Undersecretary arrested and both sent to Azkaban for sentences in excess of five years. You argue a case before the Wizengamot so effectively you forced them to strip an entire Statute from the books. And engineer the healing and recovery of One of the Seven and his Lady, in secret. A healing feat, I might add, that the best at Saint Mungo's couldn't figure out. And now you go and say buying gifts for Christmas is hard?"
Harry shrugged and said, "Everything you mentioned was simply a case of applying logic to the problem. Christmas gifts have to come from the heart. That's something entirely different.
"Besides... beside my first, I suppose... the first time I ever received a Christmas present I remember about that wasn't one meant to insult me, was my First Year at Hogwarts. Even then, because I was stuck in the castle every Christmas, I couldn't go out and buy presents for anyone. I couldn't do that until last year. And I was restricted there to what was available for purchase in Hogsmeade.
"This is the first time I'm going to remember ever having a proper Christmas. And I want to make it the most special ever. That includes buying just the right gift for everyone."
"Oh, Gods!" squeaked Hermione.
She then practically levitated off her own chair and into his lap, before then trying to kiss him senseless. No one tried to stop her. If anything, they were deliberately looking away.
Once she pulled away a little, she vehemently stated, "This Christmas will be the best for you, Harry. I'll make sure it is."
Sirius gave a little cough and said, "Count me in with that."
Even though she was happy to have given 'her' Harry a big kiss and cuddle, Hermione was in no hurry to hop off his lap. Besides, Harry had curled his arms around her and was holding her by her offside hip and across her thighs. She liked it. She felt safe.
Neville quietly said, "It's about time, you two. Everyone else in Gryffindor - probably in the entire castle - knew you two were going to get together. I think you two, Ron and Ginny are the only ones who didn't think you would.
Harry frowned and asked, "Ron and Ginny?"
Neville nodded and replied, "Ginny's had her eye on you since before she even arrived at the school. And I'm pretty sure Ron was trying to build up the courage to ask Hermione out."
"Ginny's a fangirl," said Harry. "You know how I feel about that."
"And, me and Ron?" asked Hermione. "Probably the laziest boy in school, with me, someone who believes in striving and working hard? That wasn't ever going to happen."
"I know," said Neville. "But, they seem to think it would."
Turning to Bones, Frank said, "Now that the kids have caught up. Madam Bones, tomorrow or the next day, depending on getting things sorted at home, I'll be bringing Neville in to be interviewed. He'll be talking about two experiences, at least, he had as a small child that I know of. They relate to one Algernon Rosier, I believe, attempting to murder him."
Neville looked at his father in shock. "You know about that?" he asked.
"Yes," said his father. "And it's time that man faced justice for what he did."
"I take it this has to do with one time when Rosier tossed him off a pier into the sea and he almost drowned?" she asked. "And a second, where he dropped him out a window of Longbottom Hall?"
"You know about it, too?" asked Neville, now completely shocked by what he was hearing.
"I do, young man," she replied. "But, what I have is only hearsay. I want that interview with you about it to progress this to a full investigation. And then I'll be interviewing your grandmother as to why she never reported either event."
Neville seemed to shrink in on himself and quietly said, "I don't want Uncle Algie to get into trouble."
"It's not your call, dear," said his mother. The two were sitting in chairs and almost hard up against each other. He sat between his parents.
Alice reached around and massaged his back. "It is for the adults and the Wizengamot to decide if there is to be any punishment or not. This is not something you need to worry about."
"Neville," Frank softly said. "As your grandmother and guardian it was her duty and responsibility to be your protector. It was her responsibility to have raised this with the DMLE as soon as the first one happened. If she had, the second wouldn't have.
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