“What’s Mr. Orson doing for Christmas?” I called from the kitchen. I’d begun to make dinner for tomorrow night and the fumes were cascading all though the house. I was surprised that James hadn’t come in already; his Animagus was a stag but he had a nose like a dog.

“I don’t know,” Remus yelled back. “Probably just sitting at home. He has no local family, you know.”

“Get out of here!” I cried, thinking of Avery and how he’d said Orson was his uncle.

“I’m not in there,” Remus grinned, popping up at the bar. “But I could be, if you need some assistance eating that food.”

I laughed and threw a dishtowel at him. “That’s not what I meant… It’s just… Before I came here, I ran into Avery.”

“Head Boy Avery?” he asked, and I heard the door open and close.

James appeared, his hair damp. “Did I hear Avery’s name?”

“Yeah. Lily was just about to tell me about an encounter that she had with him.”

“No, I wasn’t,” I hissed.

James sat down and crossed his arms firmly. “Yes, you were.”

I glared at him. “Urgh, you’re so stubborn! Fine, but you’re not starting a fight over this.”

So I then told them all about the Alihotsy leaves, Avery admitting that they were related, and my conversation with Snape.

“You let that greasy git touch you?”

“That greasy git saved my life,” I shot back hotly. “I thought you’d at least appreciate that. Can you now see why I didn’t want to tell you?” I left the kitchen and went into the foyer. “Don’t touch any of the food. I’ll be back shortly.”

“Where’re you going?” James roared, following me.

“Out, now leave me be for a while.”

I slammed the door in his face and stormed away from the house.