I decided to try something different for my Christmas one-shot (I'm one day late, I know, stupid me, but Doctor who's Christmas special was on.) So here it is, Harry Potter's first and Last Christmas surrounded by his closest family.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the other characters within. I also don't own the Christmas song "I'll be Home for Christmas."
Snow fell softly in Godric's Hollow, and a dark haired man walked through the early morning darkness.
Just as he was about to turn into what appeared to be an empty patch of field, there was a sharp crack, and another, far more ragged man appeared next to him. "Ah, Remus. You made it." Sirius said warmly.
The werewolf chuckled. "Barely. Traveling is hard these days."
"Yes. It is." Sirius pushed open the gate and he and his friend walked through the enchantment, towards the Potters' house.
Through the front window they could see the Christmas tree, with it's twinkling golden lights. It was too early for James and Lily to be up, although Sirius wouldn't have been surprised if five month old Harry didn't wake them up soon.
The two men walked right into the house, and added their gifts to the pile beneath the tree. "Too bad Wormtail couldn't come." Sirius said, slumping down onto one of the couches, and staring up at the ceiling.
"He was visiting his mother. He might as well seeing as he's the only one of us who still has parents." Lupin muttered, closing his eyes as he slumped into one of Lily's big armchairs.
Sirius snorted. "At least the only one who has parents he cares about."
Lupin shrugged slightly, and Sirius fell silent, allowing his friend to rest. Life wasn't easy for any of them these days, and for werewolves it was harder than most. Especially those werewolves that didn't join Voldemort. Lupin had been avoiding Sirius and James as much as possible to avoid attracting any attention to them, but he made an exception for Christmas, to everyones relief.
Sirius had almost dozed off when he heard someone laugh. "I see how it is. The two of you sneak in before dawn and take over, and then just fall to sleep without greeting us?"
Sirius cracked one eye open and saw James standing in the entrance to the hallway, Harry hanging off of him like some sort of monkey.
"Thought you were sleeping." Sirius mumbled, closing his eyes again.
"What's this I hear? Sleep? I don't think Harry and I recognize that word. He's been up since two, which is unfortunately not that long after I went to bed." James added. And Sirius could tell from the added pressure on the couch that James had sat down.
Sirius smiled. "You took him and let Lily sleep?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"She's a deep sleeper. She didn't wake up when he did, so I just let her sleep. It's better that she be well rested and happy, than me having a good night's sleep and then needing to deal with you two and my tired and grumpy wife."
Sirius groaned as a wriggly form was placed on his chest. "Oh look Harry! How convenient, a godfather! Just for you to play with." James said cheerfully, and Sirius opened his eyes to see Harry peering up at him in confusion, while James grinned and backed away.
"I'll get you for that later." Sirius muttered, then turned his attention to his godson, who was tugging on his long black hair with curiosity written all over his little face.
"That's not a toy Harry, that's part of me." Sirius grumbled, sitting a little straighter and placing the baby on his knee.
Harry laughed, his green eyes sparkling, and Sirius felt his face soften.
He let the baby play with his hair, and his clothes, but made sure not to let him have his wand. The last time that had happened, Harry had started a fire in the yard.
"You should settle down sometime Sirius. You'd be good with kids." Sirius looked up to see Remus watching him, his tired eyes teasing.
Sirius snorted. "As if any girl in their right mind would want me. I look like a runaway."
"You are a runaway." Remus pointed out, his voice amused. "And Sirius, you know there were plenty of girls in our year at Hogwarts who liked you."
Sirius sighed. "And how many of those girls are unmarried now? How many did I even like?" He asked pointedly.
Remus shook his head. "I guess you'll be single forever." He said, sounding resigned.
Sirius grinned. "Maybe mate, but I'll have Harry, so it's not that bad." Harry squealed, as if in agreement, and tugged extra hard on Sirius's hair, making him wince.
"You two are in big trouble." Sirius and Remus froze and exchanged panicked looks as a new voice rang in their ears. "You didn't even say hello? You just walked in and sat down to wait for us to wake up, without thinking we might want to greet you?" Sirius slowly looked up to see his best friend's wife standing next to James, who looked worried.
Lily was holding her wand, and alternating from pointing it at Sirius, and then at Remus. She looked furious, even though she was wearing a bathrobe, and her hair was a complete mess.
For a few minutes Sirius was sure he was going to be cursed. But then Harry laughed and clapped his hands.
Immediately Lily's expression changed from anger to surprise, as though she was only just realizing that Sirius was holding her son. Her wand dropped to her side, and she turned to look at James.
"How long has Harry been awake?" She sounded confused.
James smiled weakly. "Um . . . About since two this morning. Not all that long, really."
"And how much sleep did you get James?" Lily's voice got even more threatening, and Sirius couldn't help but be relieved that she'd turned her attention away from him.
James seemed to be thinking about his answer, and Sirius hoped he was thinking up a reasonable lie. "About an hour and a half I think." Sirius and Remus winced and even Harry fell silent, as though he knew that his dad had made a fatal mistake.
Lily stopped, and Sirius was sure that James was going to be turned into a toad, but then she hugged him. "Next time wake me up, and I'll take him you idiot."
Sirius felt his jaw drop, and closed it just as quickly.
James sighed. "Fine. Anyways. It's Christmas, and everyone made it, so we should be celebrating." He said, backing away.
Lily smiled. "Yes we should." She said, and Sirius wondered (not for the first time) why he liked to celebrate Christmas with his best friend's family.
It was a long day of presents, laughter, food, and joy. Sirius and Remus had both been on the run, traveling from place to place, popping up occasionally for meetings with The Order of the Phoenix, sometimes making the news in fights against Death Eaters (that was mainly Sirius, and he was never called by name) and very rarely did they get the chance to relax.
There were plenty of times where they'd made surprise messages to reassure Lily and James that they were alright after a particularly violent fight, or even if the stories in the news mentioned several people being killed but not their names.
Sirius sat on the couch again, flipping his wand up into the air and then casually catching it again, while red, green, and gold sparks flew from the tip.
They were talking quietly, studiously avoiding the topic of the war against Voldemort.
Somehow the discussion moved slowly towards Christmas music. "I've never really fancied Celestina Warbeck, and there aren't all that many great songs I've heard." Lily said, making a face. "I've always preferred the muggle Christmas songs, maybe because I grew up with them."
Sirius stopped tossing his wand for a moment. "No I agree. The muggles don't get much right, but Christmas songs is something they do well." He agreed.
Lily and James were curled up on the love seat, with Harry in between them, fast asleep.
Remus was sitting in the same armchair he'd been in before, and Sirius was sitting against the armrest, with his feet up on the couch.
"What's your favorite one?" Lily asked, her green eyes lighting up in interest.
Sirius thought for a moment, sifting through the names of the songs he knew. "I'll be home for Christmas." He said finally.
"I don't think I've heard that one Lily." James joked. "And I'd thought you showed me every Christmas song written by muggles ever."
Lily frowned at him. "Shush you. Sirius is right, that one is a good one."
"Then why don't you play it?" Sirius asked. He knew that Lily had found a spell that allowed her to tap into muggle technology and listen to their radios.
She smiled at him. "Good idea." She took out her wand and thought for a moment before quickly casting the spell.
Immediately music filled the room.
I'll be home for Christmas
You can plan on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the lovelight gleams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
I'll be home for Christmas
You can plan on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the lovelight gleams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
There was silence in the room as Lily turned off the channel. Sirius stared at the ceiling, and felt perfectly content.
Because everyone he cared about was home on Christmas.
I hope you all enjoyed it!
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