Bleak
A Request from Gaby Black
By: Slytherclaw Coffee Ninja
When Sirius was younger, he had always been of the opinion that Christmas was not supposed to be a time of joy, or a particularly happy holiday in the slightest. After all, it never had been for him.
His mother would have Kreacher cooking and cleaning Grimmauld Place from top to bottom for days before Christmas arrived, and then when Christmas did arrive, his relatives would come from far and wide, wearing fur coats buttoned up to their necks and his aunts and cousins wearing expensive, goblin-made jewelry.
They would all sit around a long table, and dinner would begin at exactly eight o'clock in the evening. He would always sit between Regulus and opposite Bellatrix, who would be making faces at him through the entire dinner.
There was never a tree – his mother was allergic to them, and father disliked the whole business that went with decorating a tree, saying it was something that only muggles would associate with the holiday.
There were no presents, and if there were, they were things like clothes or fur coats or books written by wizards that were long-dead. There were never toy broomsticks or stuffed animals.
Christmas was always a bleak holiday for Sirius.
"You look like you've seen a ghost."
Sirius was still trying to take in the image of the glistening tree, the presents underneath, and Mrs. Potter scurrying around the kitchen, getting their dinner together.
Before he could come up with a retort to James's statement, Mrs. Potter came from the dining room, and said, "Dinner's ready!"
For a moment, Sirius stood where he was, admiring everything in the room, before James asked him if he was waiting for New Year's to come.
He wandered towards the dining room, where Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and James were sitting, waiting for him before they started eating – in actuality, James was sneaking bits and pieces of bread when his parents weren't looking.
It was only at that moment that Sirius realized exactly why people said "Happy Christmas".