JAMES POTTER AND THE VAULT OF DESTINIES

bleeps. James took off his stocking cap and stared out the windows, watching the city go by.

       The drive took rather longer than James had expected, and James recognized vaguely that they were passing through the historical section of the city. He wished that Zane had come along with them for Christmas, if only so he could tell them about the buildings they were passing, his infectious enthusiasm brightening what was, otherwise, a fairly boring trek. As it was, the blonde boy had left school the day before, taking the train back to his parents' house in Kirkwood, Missouri. Before Zane had departed, however, James had finally decided to share with both he and Ralph some of the things that he had thus far kept a secret.

       He'd begun by telling them about the strange prediction that had occurred during his Precognitive Engineering midterm, when he had envisioned the strange, impending convergence between the mysterious lady, himself, and the twin entities of Petra and Morgan, somehow separate even though they were both merely parts of the same person.

Then, because the two seemed vaguely connected, he'd described his last encounter with Professor Trelawney in the dawn corridors of Hogwarts, the day when they had begun their journey. Zane and Ralph had listened with wide eyes, obviously understanding the significance of such a haunting prophecy coming from the lips of the otherwise comical old professor.

       Finally, James had reminded them of what had happened on the stern of the Gwyndemere, when he had miraculously conjured the shining silver thread that had saved Petra's life. He explained that the thread was still there, still somehow connecting him to her, and that that was how he knew she could be trusted.

       'I can see her dreams and feel her thoughts, sometimes,' he'd said, although he hadn't told them about the written dream, the one that had conjured the frightening vision of the nightmare island and the black castle, before vanishing entirely. He had vowed to Petra not to tell anyone about the dream story and he meant to keep that promise. 'I know that she's telling the truth about not being involved with the attack on the Vault of Destinies, no matter what we saw on that night. It couldn't have been her because when she says she wasn't there, I can sense that she's telling the truth. I don't think she could lie to me even if she wanted to.'

       James didn't really know if this was true or not, but he did know that she sincerely believed that she was innocent. This was what he had most wanted to impress upon Zane and Ralph, since their belief in that fact was going to be essential to the success of their attempts to clear her name.

       'We'll work it all out after Christmas break,' Zane had said eagerly. 'You spend some time working on your cousin Lucy. After all, Rose is right: if we don't know what the dimensional key is, we won't recognize it when we follow Magnussen into the past. Lucy's all googly-eyed for you, so it should be no problem to convince her to let us scour Erebus Castle for clues.'

       James' cheeks had heated a bit at that. 'She's not googly-eyed for me. She's my cousin, if you remember.'

       'Have you taken a good look at her lately?' Zane had asked, cocking his head and pointing at his face. 'Not much of a family resemblance. I'd guess the only blood you share is the blood pudding you all put away last Weasley family picnic.'

       'Shut up,' James had protested. 'You're daft.'

       Ralph had shrugged with one shoulder. 'I think he's right, James. Even Rose and Scorpius say so. Rose says Lucy's been sweet on you ever since last year.'

       James hadn't been able to argue it any further. He knew that it was true, as uncomfortable as it made him. He was, however, a little rankled about the fact that he'd been, apparently, the last person to find out about it. He couldn't quite bring himself to manipulate Lucy's feelings for him (whatever they were) to get a tour of Erebus Castle, but maybe if he just asked nicely, that would be enough. After all, she was his cousin. They'd always gotten on very well, which was more than he could say for some of his other cousins, particularly Louis. Why would Lucy say no?

Silently, James cursed himself for having asked Lucy to go to the Halloween Ball with him. Why hadn't Zane and Ralph warned him since they had all apparently known how Lucy felt about him?

       'We're almost there,' Lucy said from the front seat of the car, turning to smile back at James. 'We'll all be staying over at your parents' flat for Christmas Eve. Won't that be fun?'

       James nodded and forced a smile. 'Sure, Lu.'

       Next to him, Albus began making obnoxious kissing noises. James shoved him hard enough to knock his hat off.

       Uncle Percy parked the car in an underground parking structure and led the troop to the silvery doors of a large elevator.

       'Muggle condominiums,' he said disdainfully, pressing the up button. 'Refitted for magical occupancy, thankfully, at least on the thirteenth floor.'

       The doors swooped open and the group clambered inside. There was no thirteen on the bank of lit buttons, but Percy didn't seem to mind. Producing his wand, he tapped the buttons for floor number one and floor number three. Immediately, the doors shuttled closed again, and the elevator lurched, rocketing upwards much faster than any elevator James had ever ridden before. His feet left the floor for a split second as the lift shuddered to a sudden stop.

       'Here we are,' Percy said briskly, watching as the doors socked open once more. James had expected a hallway, but the lift apparently opened directly onto his parents' flat. It was quite large and open, with high ceilings, heavy decorative woodwork, and a rather baroque chandelier hanging over the entryway. From the perspective of the open elevator, the living spaces all seemed to run together, forming an airy blend of kitchen, dining room, and parlor. James' sister Lily was seated at the dining room table across from Izzy, a collection of half-decorated sugar cookies and coloured icings spread between them.

'They're here!' Lily called, looking up and grinning.

       Behind James, Percy sighed. 'Being Head Auror,' he muttered, stepping into the high foyer, 'certainly has its perks.'

Shortly after their arrival, Uncle Percy left again, meaning to pick up Molly at the nearby magical elementary school and then collect Audrey at their flat. Ralph joined Lily and Izzy in icing duties, using his wand to recolour the icings with stripes, sparkles, and the occasional flashing He appeared quite pleased with himself and James was glad. Lucy and Albus went upstairs to explore the bedrooms and stake out the best beds for themselves while James climbed onto a stool near the kitchen and pulled a plate of tiny mincemeat pies toward himself.

       'Your father's still at work,' Ginny, James' mum, said with a hint of worry in her voice. She was in the kitchen, cooking madly, as she was wont to do whenever she was fretting. Back at Marble Arch, Albus had had a pet name for their mum whenever she got like this. 'Look out,' he'd say, usually slamming the bedroom door behind him, 'Hurricane Ginny's on the rampage. Tie everything down before she blows in here and gives it a good cleaning.'

       'That's an awful lot of puddings,' James commented, peering over the countertop. 'Expecting the Harriers for dinner, are we?'

       Ginny sighed and dusted her hands on her apron. She took a moment to look around at the crowded countertops. 'You know,' she replied, 'whenever Christmas comes around, I seem to forget that I'm not still a kid living at the Burrow, with Mum and me downstairs baking everything under the sun and my brothers eating it all up nearly as fast as we pull it out of the oven. Some habits are hard to break.'

       James wished that they were having Christmas at the Burrow like they normally did. He asked, 'Will we see