Looking up, I saw him with the scissors between his teeth and a crease in between his eyebrows as he concentrated on the gift in front of him.

"And…" He leaned forward, pulling a piece of tape from the box and sticking it to the side of the paper. "There! A masterpiece!"

I laughed, taking the gift from him. "It only took you seventeen tries."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "It's hard with all of the folding and cutting and taping. Couldn't be just get someone else to do it or do it the good, old-fashioned wizard way?"

I gave him a look. "Would you like to see my parents' reaction to a wizard-wrapped gift?" They were all about Christmas the muggle way. Muggle feast, muggle gifts, muggle music, muggle everything. It was my mum's idea and traditions – she just couldn't part with them, even if the wizarding way was easier.

"Do you even think your mum will like her – what is it?" Sirius rattled the gift next to him.

I grabbed it away, holding it to my chest. "It's a record of White Christmas. It's her favorite movie, favorite Christmas song and favorite singer. Of course she'll love it." Even I loved it and it wasn't my gift; luckily, I managed to get another copy for me.

"If I say it's from me, do you think she'd proclaim her love for me?" Sirius asked with a grin.

Brushing a piece of hair out of my eyes, I barely glanced up at him. "You should be glad she tolerates you now." After the news of our engagement, she finally was beginning to act civil to Sirius After Aunt Denise's constant badgering about "the boy" too. We only managed to visit a couple times since then, but it wasn't as bad as Sirius's first visit. They could almost carry a whole conversation just by themselves.

"What do you think I could possibly do this year to make them hate me?" Sirius mused, stacking the pile of presents.

If he was expecting an answer, I wasn't about to give one; I didn't even want to think of the possible situations.

"Oh, hello, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. Surprise, Ivy's pregnant!"

My alarmed eyes met his amused ones. "You wouldn't."

He just shrugged, his lips curved in an absolutely frustrating smile.

"You wouldn't tell them – it's a lie and they'd kill you," I reasoned, my breath catching in my throat at the very idea of him saying such a thing. I could just see the looks on my parents' faces. My mother would be horrified and my father wouldn't even pause to jump across the table to strangle Sirius.

Sirius laughed, shrugging again. "Oh, it could be worth it to see your mother's expression."

Grabbing the gifts and placing them on the table, I turned to him with my arms crossed. "It'd ruin dinner. You wouldn't do that to me."

Sirius watched me for a long second and then held his left hand up in a vow. "I promise not to do anything to make them want to kill us."

Wincing, I took in a deep breath and managed to say, "Great promise." With a promise like that, it was just bound to be broken. "I'm going to get dressed," I told him after checking the time; it was only an hour until we were supposed to be there.

Sirius, who had already gotten dressed in his button-up dress shirt and dark trousers, nodded at me. "You should wear that green dress." I blinked at him and he continued, "You know, the one you got for the work party a couple months ago."

He couldn't be serious. "The really fancy one? Don't you think that my mum would complain about how I was overdressed or something equally absurd-"

"You shouldn't care about that," Sirius cut me off. "I just think you look beautiful in it."

Taking a moment to teeter on my toes, I watched him and then sighed heavily. "Fine, but then you have to wear a tie."

He grimaced, but I could tell by his grin that he had already given in.

-x-

"Stop fussing."

Mustering up my best glare, I threw it in Sirius's direction and juggled with the gifts in my hands. "It's just – I'm worried my mom is going to expect another big announcement by the way we're overly dressed."

When we showed up to tell her about the engagement, I had spent hours on my hair and makeup, messing with every strand of hair and flake of eyeshadow. And I only showed up in a modest skirt and blouse but she already knew everything the moment she opened the front door. Wearing this, she was going to immediately suspect something.

All eyes and attention were going to be on us tonight.

Pressing the boxes against my chest, I stopped on the porch and rang the doorbell, sharing a quick look with Sirius as we waited for the door to open.

"Ivy, dear!"

Of course my mum had to be the one to open the door. Forcing a smile on my face, I handed the gifts over to her and managed to pull her into a one-armed hug. "Hi, mum. Happy Christmas."

My mum immediately pulled around and turned around. "David, Ivy's here. Come say hi!" she shouted into the hallway, pulling me inside. "How are you, dear? You look lovely."

Even before I took off my coat, my attire was mentioned. Biting down on my lip, I struggled to say, "Oh, I'm fine, thanks for asking. How are you, mum?" I could feel Sirius standing awkwardly next to me. As usual, my mum was ignoring him. It wouldn't be until he said something would she finally realize he was there.

"Ivy!" My dad bounded in the room, his arms spread out. "I haven't seen you in forever."

"Hi dad," I greeted him, feeling someone pull on my coat. Without even looking, I knew my mum was taking our coats and already running around, getting everything ready for Christmas eve dinner.

"How have you been holding up, Sirius?"

At least my dad realized he was there.

Sirius immediately held out his hand for my dad to shake. "I've been well, Mr. Bennett."

Already so awkward and dinner hadn't even started yet. Reaching out, I found Sirius's hand and grabbed it, just for reassurance that he was still there. Even after spending my childhood in the house, I felt out of place. My room had been stripped for my mum to use and everything seemed so different.

My mum never even decorated for Christmas when I was growing up, but now it was covered with mistletoe and tinsel and lights. I could barely turn in the hallway without running into something festive.

"Hey Eleanor!"

Turning around, I saw Sirius going to greet Eleanor at the end of the hallway. She was wearing a dress like me – maybe I wasn't going to be the center of attention after all – and Liam was standing next to her.

"Hi," she responded.

"Still friends with him then?" Sirius gestured toward Liam, who looked even more awkward than I was, just standing there, watching us intently.

They shared a quick look. "That's why he's here," she explained, lowering her voice probably so our parents wouldn't hear. "They wanted to meet him since they heard I had a friend that was a boy and you know how mum is."

"You even wore a dress," I pointed out and she winced.

"I didn't plan it like that; it's just my holiday dress." Our mum always liked to force us into holiday dresses. I used to refuse, but since Eleanor got to actually pick hers out, she never had much problem with it.

"Ivy, Eleanor, time for dinner!"

We didn't even have to mention that they neglected to say the names of the other guests. With just one look, Eleanor and I knew that this was bound to be a long, awkward Christmas eve.

-x-

"We're thinking about just a small ceremony. Just something quick, not costing much, we don't need that," Sirius was explaining to my parents.

Swirling the mashed potatoes around my plate, I refused to look up. I knew exactly what everyone was doing without even taking a glance. My dad was nodding every so often, my mum was scowling and trying to hide it, Eleanor was watching with interest and Liam was eating and trying to forget everything around him.

"Just a small ceremony? You don't want everyone to celebrate with you?" my mum asked.

Biting down on my lip, I shook my head slightly and took in a slow breath. "I just think it'd be nice," I muttered.

A long silence and then I could hear my mum 'hmm' softly. Probably in disappointment but without looking up at her, I couldn't tell.

"So, Eleanor," my mum immediately changed the subject. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eleanor stiffen, but I knew was ready for whatever was coming her way. "How long have you and Liam been friends?"

"Since…first year," she said softly. She was beginning to mash her potatoes too; it was a good distraction.

"Don't you have any roommates that you'd rather be friends with?"

The way my mother worded it even had me cringing. The boy hadn't done anything and yet, my mum already had some sort of vendetta against him.

"I'm friends with them too," Eleanor explained, her voice a bit louder. When I looked up, I saw Liam watching her, almost as if he was waiting for her to start saying something bad about him.

"Oh."

I knew my mum was thinking about what to say; what to accuse the boy of next probably. Just by looking at her expression, I knew she didn't like Liam. There was no reason not to like him, but only by his presence, she had already made her mind up about him.

"Mum," I suddenly said, my chest tightening. "Do-do you like my new dress?"

She barely even glanced at it. "Oh, yes, Ivy. It's pretty." But she was still glaring at Liam and he was squirming in his seat. Eleanor was tapping impatiently on her plate and I could see her gritting her teeth.

"What?" Sirius breathed next to me, probably noticing the awkward silence. He immediately grabbed my hand, patting it to reassure me. But I didn't even need any reassurance anymore.

Looking over at him, I saw him raising in his eyebrows and gesturing with his head over to Eleanor and Liam. Of course he figured out what was going on too.

'Do you want me to lighten up the mood?' He mouthed.

'No!' I immediately mouthed back, my eyes going wide. He wasn't going to try it. If he was going to say anything – he wouldn't –

"Hey, guys-"

He wasn't.

Suddenly, he was pushing his chair backward and making his way over to Eleanor and Liam.

Maybe he wasn't going to – what was he was going to do –

"Look, it's beginning to snow!" Sirius exclaimed, pointing to the window at the end of the hallway. There wasn't a window in the dining room and the one on the opposite side of the house was the closest. But there was no way he could tell – it was too far away.

"C'mon, you've got to see this!" Sirius began shouting, ushering Liam and Eleanor out of the dining room first. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me along behind them. They were like sheep, being herded down the small hallway and they had to choice but to head toward the window.

Eleanor stopped first, blinking for a second and then turning to Sirius with a frown on her face. "It's not snowing."

"Of course-" Sirius tried, but I couldn't see any snow either.

"It looks like it might snow soon," Liam said, gazing up at the clouds.

I was about to take a step forward and see for myself when Sirius's arm held me back. When I turned to look at him, he was grinning and shaking his head.

"Oh, look!" he exclaimed in a falsely cheery voice. "Is that mistletoe?!"

…He didn't.

He was pointing to the archway above the window where a sprig of mistletoe was hanging. Right above Eleanor and Liam's heads and Sirius planned the whole thing and he wanted them to put under the mistletoe and what the hell was he thinking?

"Why would you put them under the mistletoe?" I immediately cried out, hitting him in the chest.

Liam was standing with his eyes wide and almost frightened (I couldn't blame him; he was under the mistletoe with Eleanor at her parents' house when they hated him) and Eleanor was looking at us like we were crazy.

"What the-" I heard my mum gasp behind me. "They're only children!"

Sirius flashed another smile and shook his head. "They're teenagers now actually."

Oh no –

"I know you guys were scared to be here together tonight but it's okay; it's mistletoe and you're supposed to kiss and you don't have to worry about whatever anyone thinks," Sirius continued, that stupid grin still on his face.

"They're not together!" Oh god, this was a disaster. "They're best friends, Sirius. They're not – why would you even think – "

"Ohhh…" Sirius said slowly, finally figuring it out as he looked back at Eleanor and Liam, his grin now guilty.

Liam was blinking furiously and Eleanor was still watching us and even looked almost calm about the whole ordeal.

"Did you know-" Her voice broke through the awkward silence that followed, "The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe comes from a Norse myth after which a goddess's son was killed by mistletoe, so now it's remembered for love instead of death and people honor that by kissing under the plant."

There was silence, and then Eleanor continued, "And, supposedly, a young lady cannot refuse to be kissed, because a kiss could not only mean romance but a deep, lasting friendship. And I don't want to ruin our friendship, so…"

She leaned forward and quickly pecked Liam on the cheek. "There. Now can we go back to dinner?"

Without even waiting for us to follow, she pushed her way past us and made her way back in the dining room.

"You mean, they're not together?" Sirius asked as soon as everyone left back down the hallway.

I pursed my lips and shook my head. "Not even remotely."

Sirius turned to me, his expression apologetic. "Crap," he muttered. "I just – oh and now your parents are going to hate me even more now."

I found myself laughing despite the situation. "It was kind of cute," I admitted, shrugging. "You didn't know any better. At least you didn't announce I was pregnant or something equally as stupid. You just…celebrated in some Christmas cheer."

Sirius still grimaced. "And made your parents forever worried-"

"About Eleanor and Liam. Maybe they'll lighten up on us," I exclaimed.

I could hear the chatter in the room down the hallway and knew without even making out the words that my mum was interrogating my sister. Just like she did to me the past couple Christmases.

"Ivy? Where are you?" my mum suddenly shouted, making us both jump.

"Or not," I added, smiling weakly.

Sirius shrugged and pulled lightly on my arm. "I'm used to it," he said, his voice softening as it always did when he was this close. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and my lips curved upward. "What?"

Leaning up on my toes, I looked quickly to the side, checking a glimpse of the snow falling down outside before whispering, "Kiss me, it's beginning to snow."

"Told you," he smirked before pressing his lips to mine.

It been awhile since I finished a story and made this face: :D so I think I like it.

YAY, IT'S A CUTE, AU CHRISTMAS ONESHOT. Like last year, but this one has some Liam and Eleanor to make EmmieLou555 a very happy person. I didn't even talk about this on my Twitter. It's a surprise!

This is also Christmas 1979 like my other AU Christmas story, so yeah, this doesn't happen in the world of Nobody Sees Me Wishing.

Hope you liked!