Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the book so please don't sue.
Warning: Slash again! SBJP and at the end there will be a brief RLNT, this fic starts off a bit angsty, but does eventually get better!
A/N: I suppose this fics a little early, but hey, if shops can put christmas produce out now, I can put up a christmas fic!! Hope you enjoy! I just really wish my cold could be taken care of like James can...Sigh...
James couldn't stand this time of year, he never could. Instead of being a time for happiness, he could only find the misery in it. Looking out of the window, he watched as the snow slowly fell down, falling into the deep trenches that had already fallen. James sniffed again before diving for his tissue in his pocket ready to blow his already sore nose again. At least this was better than last year he conceded, then he'd had a temperature of 104 for the day until his mother had finally figured out why her son hadn't come down for breakfast or lunch that day and given him the pain relieving potion and some fever reducing potion. It wasn't that surprising he'd decided to stay here this year, at least this way he could wallow in misery without being forced to put on a smile for hundreds of strangers at his mothers ball, or family members who drank too much or just saw James as a small child who was meant to be seen, not heard.
Another sneeze hit him before he knew what was happening. Blinking away the tears that had formed as his raw throat was abused again; he tried to breathe slowly, swallowing a few times as he tried to make the stinging pain die away, but only succeeding in reminding himself of how much he hated sore throats.
'Suppose I'd better go to the infirmary soon,' James whispered to himself, wincing slightly in pain as he spoke and at how harsh his voice sounded, it had nearly disappeared.
If any of his friends had been there, they would have dragged him to the infirmary hours ago, probably at the first sneeze knowing his boyfriend, but with them all at home, well, Remus and Peter at home while Sirius was enjoying his first Christmas at his new house, it was just him left at Hogwarts.
Okay, not quite just him, but there were few others there and much less friends. Story of his life really, he never did get to spend the Christmas period with people he wanted, people he loved. His parents couldn't care less about him. To them, he was the afterthought, the heir to the fortune, the perfect son to show off in crowds, never just James to them. Barely remembered, but still he had to go home at Christmas, play the part before being forgotten again. This year was different though. He'd written and told them he wasn't coming home; he was going to spend Christmas at Hogwarts. He couldn't remember what excuse he'd given, but since they hadn't written back, he'd assumed it was fine with them. Perhaps they wouldn't notice?
Of course it was after that he'd found out everyone else was going home which put an abrupt halt to his plans of spending Christmas with his friends. It was their final year at Hogwarts, and he had been hoping, just for once to do what he wanted, but like usual, something always stopped him, he moped, leaning against the cold glass of the window.
'Christmas eve, nearly Christmas now.' James whispered to himself as he took off his glasses. He knew what was outside, he knew what was inside, there was no need to look any longer, not to mention this cold he had was giving him a bad headache. Groaning slightly, he began rubbing his temples, trying to make the pain go away.
'It would work a lot better if you actually went to see Pomfrey rather than suffer here by yourself.' A voice from behind commented; startling James. As he spun around, his glasses fell to the ground forcing him to squint at who was there, but he could only see a large blur.
'Great, now I'm hallucinating again too.' James whispered to himself, getting frustrated he couldn't speak any louder. A snort from the blob suggested maybe he wasn't quite right in thinking there was a hallucination. Jumping slightly when a hand was placed on his shoulder and another took his other hand, placing his glasses back in them. Putting them on, James wasn't too surprised he could see Sirius there.
'Do you always hallucinate when you have a cold?' Sirius asked as he sat down beside his boyfriend, wrapping an arm around James' waist.
'Did last year, but I felt worse than this. Probably going to find out soon you're a house elf soon and I'll have humiliated myself completely, or maybe you're Lily and boy have I embarrassed myself.' James shrugged before leaning into Sirius' arms.
'Do house elves do this?' Sirius asked before lightly placing a kiss on James' lips.
'I really hope not,' James murmured, his eyes drooping.
'Oh no you don't, we have a lot to do.' Sirius nudged James awake again.
'Please, I don't feel good.' James protested weakly.
'I know Jamie, I know but we're going to get you better now and then we have a lot to do.' Sirius told his boyfriend as he got up, helping James up.
'What do you mean lots to do, why are you here?' James finally realised Sirius shouldn't be here now, didn't he have a home to be at? Sirius just smiled as he led James out of the portrait hole and towards the infirmary.
'Ah, Mr Potter, I was wondering when I would see you here today.' Madam Pomfrey fussed as soon as she saw the two boys, instantly honing in on James' flushed face and rasping voice. A sneeze from James got her nursing skills kicking into high gear as she made James sit down on the bed and force fed him potions that almost immediately got rid of the symptoms of his cold. 'Now, next time you start to feel ill, I want you to come here immediately, not when you're dragged here.' Madam Pomfrey told him sternly, although James knew she wasn't as stern as she made herself out to be.
'Yes ma'am.' James rasped, his voice slowly coming back.
'Now, shall we go?' Sirius suggested, giving James a hand down as he jumped off the bed with a grunt. After receiving the potion to take in the morning to make sure none of the cold came back, the two of them made their way back to the dorm; meandering down the silent hallways. It was eerie how the place got when everyone went home.
'Where are we going?' James asked finally.
'The dorm,' Sirius answered with a grin causing James to give him a hard look.
'I know that, but then why are you here? I thought you were looking forward to spending your Christmas at your new house?' James stopped in the corridor, waiting for Sirius to tell him what was going on.
'I am.' Was all Sirius said, taking James' hand and threading his warm fingers through James' cold ones. Sensing he wasn't going to get any more out of the other boy, James allowed himself to be led back to the dorm and onto his bed, where Sirius left him. Watching his boyfriend, he began to get an idea of what was happening as Sirius took a selection of clothing from his trunk and packed it in a rucksack that he had re-sized from his pocket before handing James his thick outdoor clothing and shoes. 'Come on.'
'But I signed up to stay here over Christmas, I can't go home, I don't want to go home.' James' voice cracked when he mentioned home, he didn't want to go, couldn't Sirius see that? This was his first year away, please don't make him go! James' mind pleaded. Sensing how upset James was becoming, Sirius immediately sat down beside him, wrapping his arms around the distraught boy, giving a gentle kiss on one cheek, realising it was probably a mixture of the potions, the illness and stress that was causing James to react like this. The potions should kick in properly in a bit and leave James back to normal.
'We aren't going to your house, come on Jamie, trust me on this. You'll see.' Sirius reassured him before going over to his own bed and pulling on his winter clothing. James wondered how he had missed Sirius going upstairs to put everything there, but he supposed he had just been too deep in thought to hear. Taking a leap of faith, after all, Sirius had yet to let him down; he pulled on the thick cloak, scarf, hat and shoes before turning to face a similarly dressed Sirius.
'Stop worrying Jamie, I've already spoken with Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, and they've agreed to it.' Sirius told James as he took James' hand in his own and the two of them made their way into Hogsmead, enjoying the banter between themselves and the snow falling all around. Once there, Sirius wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and apperated the two of them to his apartment in London.
'Wow, where are we?' James gasped as he looked around the brightly decorated apartment. It wasn't at all big, but it had everything they needed. The kitchen was fully stocked with appliances and the small livingroom had a small, two person sofa and a chair with a waist level bookcase in one corner. There seemed to be two rooms leading off the area which James guessed were the bathroom and bedroom. The whole house though was covered in Christmas decorations making the place seem jolly and festive, especially the tree placed in the corner, the presents already underneath.
'My flat, you're going to stay here for the rest of Christmas, just the two of us.' Sirius answered as he placed a hand on James' shoulder. Turning to face Sirius, James could feel the smile spreading across his face.
'You mean it?' James gasped, hardly believing his ears. Sirius nodded. 'Thank you, thank you so much, it's just what I wanted for Christmas; it's the best gift ever.' James told him as he hugged Sirius tightly, kissing him in between words.
'I had a feeling, I saw how upset you were that we were all going home and guessed maybe you weren't going home like you told us you were.' Sirius confessed.
'I'm sorry, I just couldn't go back this year, I just wanted to spend this Christmas with the people I love not the ones who my parents choose.' James' voice came out muffled as he didn't remove his face from Sirius' jumper, enjoying the firmness of Sirius' body as well as the heat it provided.
'That's all I wanted as well.' Sirius replied with a smile. Looking up into Sirius' eyes, James could easily see the truth in written there.
'I guess that's why we fit so well.'
'I guess it is.' Sirius agreed. Seeing James yawning, Sirius cursed himself, he should have remembered James had only just been healed, a long-ish walk in the cold immediately after probably want the best idea he'd had that day, but he had only just gotten the house ready for James that day, he had no idea James had been sick.
'Come on, bed now, we can talk more tomorrow, it is Christmas after all.' Sirius nudged James towards his bedroom door. James looked a little worried.
'I'm sorry Siri, but I don't think I'm really up to any other activities tonight.' Sirius just gave a soft smile before kissing James slowly.
'I know, I did mean just to sleep, anything else can wait until we'd both enjoy it, and stay awake for it.'
'Thanks. You truly are the best boyfriend anyone could ask for.' James kissed Sirius back before heading towards one of the doors, only diverted when Sirius nudged him to the correct room.
The bedroom was minimal with only a double bed against one wall, a wardrobe to one side and a bedside cabinet on the side of the bed that was opposite the wall, however, it was warm in there as Sirius had set up a number of heating charms that kept it toasty.
Stripping off their outer clothing, they then moved onto their other clothing, stripping down to their nothings, a habit they had gotten into after beginning to sleep with each other a number of months beforehand, although both of them had slept occasionally in the nude before then, before climbing into bed, James nearest the wall with Sirius wrapping his arms around James' warm body, the blankets just adding to the nice warmth around them. In no time at all, they had both drifted off to sleep.
Slowly drifting awake, the first thing James was aware of was a pair of arms surrounding him and a warm body right behind him. Turning slightly in the embrace, James was soon face to face with a pair of amused grey eyes watching him.
'Alright?' Sirius asked, and James gave a content rumbling sound, this was perfect.
'Absolutely,' James whispered back, as though a too loud sound could destroy the peace there.
'I suppose happy 17th birthday is in order too.' Sirius added, brushing an errant lock of black hair out of James eyes. James gasped in confusion.
'How did you know-?' James' question was cut off as a pair of smooth, soft lips brushed against his.
'I saw your file during detention. I don't understand why you'd kept it from us? I know we always celebrated it during the summer holidays because you didn't like when your real birthday was, but why keep it a secret?' Sirius asked; his confusion evident in his eyes and voice.
I guess because I've never really celebrated it. My parents nearly always ignored it because it fell on Christmas day, the only reason I knew was because I saw my birth certificate, and I guess Christmas always reminds me that I don't get two special days a year to celebrate, just one hellish day of meeting relatives and strangers and anything I want to do is ignored. My mum didn't even realise I was ill last year until two hours before the party when she couldn't find me to help clean up. I suppose having something in the summer makes up for it for me.' James tried to explain, not managing to do it to well, but it seemed Sirius understood.
'Well then, I'll just have to make sure this is the best birthday and Christmas ever.' Sirius told him firmly.
'I know you haven't had great Christmases either,' James added.
'But I had great birthdays thanks to you guys.' Sirius interrupted, causing James to smile.
'So this year will have to be special for both of us.' James finished firmly before leaning over and kissing Sirius, the kiss gradually deepening and growing more passionate and forceful and their need more frantic for one another.
'Well that was a nice wakeup call.' James grinned, pushing back his sweaty hair from his eyes. Sirius chuckled but didn't disagree.
'How about breakfast in bed, then we can open presents,' Sirius suggested and James grinned as he climbed over Sirius, and without putting any clothes on except his glasses, headed to the kitchen to begin cooking.
'Hey, I'm supposed to be making this special, I'm cooking!' Sirius called after, hurrying out of bed, if he had his say, James would do nothing but have fun that day. After a brief, but passionate fight, along with another heated love making session on the kitchen floor, Sirius had managed to get James to take the presents into the bedroom, as well as take his potion, and had managed to make the cooked breakfast of fried bread, bacon, sausages, baked beans, eggs and hash browns, never more thankful for the money his Uncle had left him.
Getting into their bed, he really liked that, their bed, it seemed to make them even more official, he put down the tray, handing over the plate to James with a kiss.
'You know I could have helped.' James gave a mock pout.
'I know, but I wasn't going to let you. Today is about me spoiling you.'
'Can I spoil you too?' James asked hopefully. Sirius liked this new attitude, normally around this time he was depressed, but with a little love and affection, Sirius was seeing a whole new James at this time of year.
'We'll see how the day goes. It's not everyday you turn 17, become an adult.' Sirius replied as the two of them ate. After finishing, they moved onto their presents.
'So, what have we gotten this year?' James bounced as he pulled up a few parcels onto the middle of the bed.
'Well, these are the ones from us.' Sirius handed three presents to James, and separated three for himself, one James recognised immediately as the present he had wrapped for his boyfriend.
Opening them up, James smiled at the Quidditch Players History book Remus had gotten him and the large mix of pranking tool and sweets from Peter but was most pleased with the Quidditch sweatshirt and tee shirt Sirius had given him. James immediately thanked him, ecstatic with his gift; he couldn't remember the last time he had gotten something he really liked. To his parents, the gifts were simply ritual, always a broomstick every year, never changing. He wondered what was going to happen this year to his gift but the thought was gone immediately as he focused on his boyfriend who had just finished opening his present.
'Thanks Jamie, I love it!' Sirius gently kissed James, the dog collar, lead, and selection of CD's with tee shirts to match them laying on top of the duvet in his lap. James chuckled.
'Even the collar and lead?' James checked and Sirius joined in the laughter.
'Yes, even the collar and lead.' Sirius added, putting the collar on. It was all black and leather with a small silver tag at the front which proclaimed Padfoot. It looked as though it could be used for a human or a dog to wear, exactly how James had planned it as it fitted in well with Sirius' rebellious, rock star look. 'How do I look?' Sirius struck a pose causing James to almost choke on his orange juice. Finally swallowing it, he managed to answer, his voice strained.
'Lovely dear, may even look better when you're dressed.' James just managed to banish the cup to the kitchen, along with the rest of the dishes before he was set upon by Sirius as he began tickling him. James struggled to get out of the way but failed miserably as he struggled to breathe. 'Okay, okay! You look great just the way you are!' James conceded causing Sirius to stop and grin.
'Thank you!' Sirius sat back and divided up the rest of the presents. Neither were that surprised they hadn't gotten anything from their families, Sirius' hated him too much to even consider sending a present, Howlers are not presents, and James' simply forgot, again.
'So, what are our plans today?' James looked over at his boyfriend as he lay in bed, their presents now littering the floor. Lying back, Sirius rolled onto his stomach so he could see James better.
'Well, we could get dressed first.' Sirius suggested causing James to raise his eyebrows.
'I did kind of mean after that, unless you suddenly had some desire to go streaking.'
'Well now that you mention it…' Sirius trailed off when he saw James' look. 'It's your birthday, what do you want to do?' James shrugged.
'I don't know, just being around you is kind of enough really.'
'I have an idea, how about we put lunch on to cook, it takes a few hours anyway and we could spend the morning lazing around and then this afternoon go for a walk. The park should be beautiful with all of the snow around.'
'Sounds great.' James agreed, kissing Sirius once again before scrambling over the other boy to get out of bed, Sirius could only laugh at James' antics.
'See something you like?' James flirted as he spotted Sirius just watching him getting dressed.
'Of course, why do you think I was watching?'
'I thought you were planning on getting up?'
'I was, and then I spotted something I liked!' Sirius protested, not moving a muscle. James just blushed and pulled on his new Quidditch tee shirt and sweatshirt, covering up his bare chest while Sirius chuckled at his boyfriend's reaction.
Wandering out in the crisp snow, James slipped his gloved hand into Sirius', both of them full and content from their Christmas lunch. Sirius looked over at his lover, hardly believing James could ever love him, not knowing James was feeling the exact same way. They and both dressed warmly in muggle clothing, as well as a few heating charms, since they were wandering through muggle London instead of the Wizarding areas.
'Thanks for bringing me here Siri; it's been the best birthday and Christmas ever.' James stated, pulling himself closer to Sirius so they could touch as much as possible.
'It's been the best Christmas for me too.' Sirius replied as they entered the park. The paths had already been cleared of snow and gritted but the edges and the grass were covered, footprints everywhere from where children had been playing, dogs had gone running through the snow and adults had regressed a few years and had been having snowball fights. Seeing a beautifully frozen pond, and a bench next to it, Sirius led his boyfriend over there before stopping, allowing the two of them to take in the frozen landscape.
'James, I didn't just ask you for a walk today.' Sirius looked nervously at the other boy, who suddenly gained a scared look. Was Sirius going to break up with him? 'It's nothing to worry about; really, I'm not breaking up with you.' Sirius reassured him, he had a feeling what James was thinking, and was proved correct when James breathed a sigh of relief.
'Okay, what is it?' James tentatively asked in case he scared Sirius off, who looked scared enough already. Sirius took a deep breath and dropped to one knee.
'James, you know I love you with all my heart, body and soul, and I hope you feel the same way since I was hoping you might do me the honour of marrying me?' Sirius managed to keep his voice steady as he asked, quite a feat in his eyes. James' face lit up more brightly than Sirius had ever seen, making him question again how James' parents could never find the time for such an amazing person as Sirius knew James was.
'Of course I will, I'd love to!' James cried, dropping to his knees, paying no attention to the cold, and accepting the ring Sirius had produced. Taking off his gloves, he slipped the ring on, admiring it before kissing Sirius as hard as he could, trying to convey everything he felt.
'I'm glad,' Sirius sighed in relief.
'Why would have said no? I love you Siri,' James was stunned Sirius should think any other way.
'I know, but this is a big thing, spending our lives together, forever.'
'And I can't wait.' James whispered before kissing Sirius again, laughing into the kiss when Sirius pushed him backwards into the snow.
Getting out of the snow, James shook himself off, getting the snow out of his clothes and hair before helping Sirius to do the same.
'Thank you Siri.' James looked bashfully up at Sirius, a small smile on his face.
'For what?' Sirius felt confused, James agreeing to marry him wasn't anything to thank him for.
'Everything. Bringing me here, being my friend, being my boyfriend, loving me, asking me to marry you; everything.' James explained, leaning into Sirius' body, who immediately wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.
'James, it's no trouble, I fact I'm thankful to you for doing all those things for me. I love you James and nothing is too much for you. I do it because I want to, not because I have to.'
'I know, but it doesn't mean I can't thank you for doing it. You really made this day the best one I've ever had, birthday and Christmas, I couldn't thank you enough.' James grinned. 'So, what's the plan for this afternoon now that we've had our walk?' Sirius immediately got his mischievous smile on his face.
'Well how about we celebrate our engagement?' Instead of answering, James grabbed Sirius hand and began to run, dragging him back to apartment, the two of them laughing all of the way.
Heading into school, James couldn't help but smile for once. Normally at this time, even when he came back he couldn't manage to cheer himself up for a while because of the memories of being forgotten over the Christmas period, but this year, he'd been with Sirius.
'Hey James! Have a good Christmas?' Remus called out through the throngs of people with a grin of a person who already knew something.
'Great,' James answered, 'how about yours?' Remus shrugged.
'Same old; saw everyone, made everyone uncomfortable again, especially because of Christmas night.' Remus answered, referring to the full moon that had fallen on the night before Boxing Day 'Now come on, let's see the ring.' Remus demanded; an excited expression on his face. 'You did say yes, right?'
'Course I did.' James held up his hand, showing the ring off.
'Looks great!' Remus gave a one armed hug to James as the two of them made their way into the Great Hall for dinner, joining Peter and Sirius.
'You'll be my best man right?' James checked.
'I'd be insulted of you didn't ask!' Remus looked at him oddly as though James was thinking something else. James laughed.
'Well I had been thinking maybe Peter-' James was cut off as Remus jabbed him in the ribs. 'You disapprove then?' James asked innocently, taking Remus' laughter as a yes.
'So James, what do you think of this Christmas birthday?' Sirius asked as James sat in his arms. Looking around the room, James could hardly believe how far they had come. It was their seventh Christmas after being married and in their small house, they had moved three years before from the small apartment, was not only their family, their twin girls Olivia and Katie and their son Harry, but Remus and his wife Nymphadora, or rather Tonks as she preferred to be called and their son Nick.
Peter had moved away soon after their wedding and disappeared off their radar, loosing all contact with him, but the rest of the marauders had stayed as close as before, maybe even closer with their families living next door to each other with a connecting door between the two houses, deciding that way their children would grow up as siblings and their friendship would only strengthen.
Christmas day though had become a tradition, one of the most fun days of the year for everyone, as they celebrated Christmas as well as James' birthday, making sure no one was forgotten, and everyone enjoyed the day with a variety of things to do.
'It's brilliant Siri, just as good as the others.' James answered, unable to keep the smile from his face.
'I'm glad, and I'm so glad we aren't making the same mistakes as our parents did.'
'Me too, me too Siri.' Leaning back, the two of them enjoyed the families playing together and having fun. Catching their eyes, Remus grinned at them while Tonks kept all four children enraptured by changing her hair and face different colours and shapes, with the oldest ones calling out what she should do next. The three of them silently laughed at the scene, just enjoying the day, after all, Christmas was a day for families, and to them, they had the very best they could ever wish for.
The End