happy december! this was something i wrote just to boost my nano count but then it turned into peak Soft Content, so.

"You know," Sirius says one Sunday afternoon whilst they're doing the washing up, elbows deep in soapy water, "I don't think I've ever had a proper Christmas."

James looks up from the plate he's drying. Water winds down his fingers and drips off his palm, landing on floor with a persistent pat. "You what now?"

"Honestly." Sirius continues. He tries to pass the saucepan he'd finished washing over, and huffs when he finds that James' hands are still full. "I genuinely do not think I've ever had a proper Christmas."

"So the parties my parents have every year are just… what? Pretend?" James raises an eyebrow, groans at the wet patch forming on the hem of his t-shirt and shoves the plate back into the cupboard. It rattles, and he casts a scathing look at it before slamming the door shut.

Sirius hands him the saucepan and then moves onto the next round of cutlery. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

"No, I know." James sighs. He rubs at his forehead with the back of his free hand. He flicks the tea towel over his shoulder and eases the saucepan back onto its hook. "Alright, we'll ignore the fact my parents sometimes forget which of us is their actual child and therefore consider Christmas with you to count. What do you want to do about it?"

Sirius drops the spoons he'd been holding into the washing up bowl and leans his arms against the counter, face pulled into a thoughtful frown. "I don't… I don't know. Something different."

"You're impossible." James smiles and reaches out to smooth his hands over Sirius' tense shoulders. "Think on it – we'll do whatever you want, alright?"

Sirius looks up, frown relaxing into a gentle smile and he lifts a hand to cup James' cheek. The resounding squawk when wet fingers meet James' face has him breaking out into what can only be described as giggles. When James has stopped scrubbing his face dry and the scowl has lifted, Sirius turns to him properly and loops his arms around his neck. "I'm kind of in love with you, you know."

"That's good." James manages to croak back, mouth suddenly dry. He blinks a few times. "Because I'm kind of in love with you too." He leans forward, presses chapped lips to the soft skin of Sirius' cheek and breathes him in.

"Why are we declaring love to each other in the kitchen?" Lily asks, appearing in the doorway as if summoned by magic. She's smiling, all soft and glow-y under the overhead light in the hallway. "And can I get in on it?"

James doesn't say anything, just pulls back enough to watch Sirius' face carefully. He sees the way Sirius' breath hitches, and the way he bites his bottom lip. He feels the way his shoulders relax.

"'Course, Evans." Sirius says after a few moments. He beckons her over with the waggle of a finger and huffs out a laugh when she crashes into them. The force of it makes them stumble a few paces, James' hip crashing into the counter and making him wince.

"Sorry." Lily murmurs, looking anything but. She's got her face buried in the crook of Sirius' neck, and an arm wrapped firmly around each of their waists. "Now, I seem to recall something about declarations of love." She gives James a pointed look, lips twitching when he lets out a long-suffering sigh.

"I, James Fleamont Potter," he rolls his eyes at her inelegant snort, "do love thee, Lily Evans more than I can articulate at this present moment."

"Impressive." Sirius says, winking at Lily when she glances up at him. "All I get is an 'I'm kind of in love with you', but you?" He gets cut off when James kisses him, laughing into it breathlessly.

When they pull away from each other, Sirius' face is a little pink and Lily rubs her thumb over his cheekbone. "I, Lily Evans," she begins, waiting until Sirius is looking at her properly. The hand she has resting on his hip tightens. "Do love thee, Sirius Orion Black, more than the number of stars in the sky."

"That doesn't even make sense." Sirius grumbles, but he pulls Lily further into his personal space. James coughs lightly, staring up at the ceiling when Sirius looks at him even as his lips twitch. "Jesus, okay, fine. I, Sirius Orion Black do love thee, James Fleamont Potter. To the furthermost reaches of the universe, and the deepest depths of the oceans."

James' cheeks hurt from trying not to smile. "See? Was that so hard?"

"Yes." Sirius mutters, pulling himself free. He dips a hand back into the washing up bowl and tuts. "The water's gone cold."

Lily nudges him out of the way. "I'll finish it, if you want."

Sirius nudges back and then waves a hand in James' face. "I dry, you put away."

"Sir, yes, sir." James answers, doing as he's told.

"Did you know," James says later, when they're all curled up on the sofa together watching a nature documentary about penguins, "that Sirius has never had a proper Christmas."

Sirius, who has his head in James' lap, legs thrown over the arm of the sofa so that his bare toes just about reach the floor, groans. "Don't start." He warns without much heat.

"I'm being serious." James grins, stroking a hand through Sirius' hair and pulling gently at the tangles. He eases the hairband Sirius had been using to keep his hair in a stubby ponytail over his wrist and lets the strands fan out over his fingers.

Lily looks at him over the rim of her mug, knee knocking into his thigh as she shifts. "Oh?"

"Just… never really had much of a choice." Sirius says quietly. He doesn't bother expanding and falls silent, frowning up at the ceiling.

"Hey," James says, wrapping his fingers around the wrist Sirius has resting on his chest. "I wasn't making fun of you."

Sirius twists his hand, so he can rub his knuckle over James' fingers. "I know."

"So what do you want to do?" Lily asks, freeing a hand from her mug so she can take over stroking Sirius' hair. It's an awkward angle, but neither of them seems to mind.

"I don't know." He says. "What do people usually do?" He smirks up at James. "Normal people, I mean. I know what obnoxiously rich people do."

Lily thinks about it for a moment. "A less expensive version of what obnoxiously rich people do, I suppose." She grins when Sirius laughs, rough and crackly around the edges.

"What about a road trip?" He asks, tilting his head so he can look at both of them. "Is that a thing people do at Christmas?"

"Don't see why not." James says. "Why? Where d'you want to go?"

"McKinnon mentioned something about her parents renting out a house in the Lake District every year." He shrugs as best he can. "Something like that, maybe? Might be fun." He's doing that thing that James hates, where he sounds so completely unsure of himself that everything comes out as a question.

Lily nods. "Petunia has my mum this year, so I'm free." Her hand stills in Sirius' hair and she tilts her head. "If you want me along, that is."

"Obviously." Sirius snorts. "You trust us two to go alone?"

James doesn't even point out that he hasn't agreed yet. He just nods agreeably when Lily looks to him for confirmation.

"Road trip it is, then." She leans her head on James' shoulder and takes a sip of tea. "Where to?"

"Scotland." James says immediately, pulling a face at Sirius when he narrows his eyes. "You want an actual road trip, right?"

Lily sniggers and then laughs at the frown Sirius gives her. "He has a point."

"Yeah, alright." He allows, turning his attention back to James' wrist. "Don't really care, so long as it's with you."

James shares a quick smile with Lily, before pressing a kiss to her forehead. She makes a soft noise in the back of her throat and then leans forwards to put her empty mug on the floor. "I'll look into it, shall I?"

Sirius scoffs. "You're only saying that, so you have an excuse to skive off doing any actual work."

"This is more important." Lily insists, smile sly. "Besides, no one actually checks what you're meant to be doing anyway."

They end up in Aviemore – a choice made entirely because of how pretty the pictures of the cabin had been, no matter how many times Lily tries to deny it. They've been here for three days already and she's only just about stopped vibrating with excitement.

"This what you imagined?" James asks, watching Lily attempt to wrangle a piece of tinsel around the tree they'd somehow managed to get into the living room. He still isn't exactly sure how they'd done it.

Sirius stands at his shoulder, a slight smile pulling at his mouth. His hair is down for once, and he pushes some of it out of his face, huffing when it catches on the silver ring in his nose. It's new, and much to his frustration, he's still getting used to it. "Not really." He says, eventually. He glances over at James and quirks an eyebrow. "Better, to be honest."

James' throat goes dry. "Yeah. Yeah, it is." He knocks his knuckles against Sirius' hand and manages a smile when nimble fingers latch on. "I'm glad you're here."

"Sap." Sirius says mildly. He gives James' fingers a squeeze and then eases free. "Best go help Evans before that tree comes down on top of her."

"Heaven forbid." James says with a weak laugh. He lets Sirius go, watches him skirt the entirely too comfortable leather sofa that takes up most of the room. He comes to a stop beside the huge box of decorations Lily had convinced them to fit in the very small boot of his car and frowns at it.

"Take this." Lily says, shoving a tube of baubles at him and grinning when he turns the frown on her.

"This feels excessive." Sirius protests, pulling the lid off and tipping the first glittery bauble into his hand anyway.

Lily laughs. "Where's your Christmas spirit, Black?"

"You seem to have enough for both of us." Sirius says, stepping towards the tree with the bauble held aloft. "Where do you want this?"

"Wherever looks best." Lily says, head almost buried in the box as she digs through its contents.

Sirius looks fairly lost at that idea, so James pushes off the wall he'd been leaning on and wanders over. "Need help?"

"No." Sirius murmurs, still looking up at the tree. He shakes his head and then puts the bauble on the nearest branch. He fusses with it for a moment and then looks at James, and no matter how much he'll try and deny it, he's excited. He wipes excess glitter off on his jeans and thrusts the tube of baubles at James. "Your turn." He says, voice barely above a whisper.

"I still think all this decorating is excessive." Sirius grumbles the next morning as he settles back into bed. There's a mug of coffee gripped between his palms, and his hair is sticking up at the back, but he's relaxed against the pillows. "Who needs that many window stickers."

"Learn how to have fun." James mumbles into his bare shoulder, eyes still closed. He makes a sleepy noise of protest when Sirius shifts around slightly and burrows closer when he stops. He's vaguely aware of the en suite shower running and Lily's muffled humming.

Sirius flicks him in the forehead. "I'm just saying, we're only here for another week. What's the point?"

"You wanted a proper Christmas." James reminds him, lifting his head enough to glare blearily up at him. "So you're getting one, tacky decorations and all."

"Alright." Sirius says. It's more like a breath, ghosting out across James' forehead as Sirius rests his cheek against the top of his head. "Your hair's itchy." He complains a few minutes later, although there's no real heat behind it.

James shakes his head deliberately and snorts when Sirius swears at him. The shower turns off and Lily's humming grows loud enough for him to realise she's actually singing.

"Why do I put up with you?" Sirius asks the ceiling.

"You loooooove me." James singsongs, before breaking into giggles. He buries his face into Sirius' shoulder, his own shaking as he fights to gain control of his amusement.

"Unfortunately."

The bathroom door opens, and James feels the heat of it even from the other side of the room. The carpet is so thick that James doesn't even hear Lily cross the room until she's climbing back onto the bed behind him. A small, warm hand winds around his waist and he hums.

"What did I miss?" Lily's voice is muffled from where she's tucked her forehead into the crook of his neck.

"James is being annoying." Sirius replies idly, taking a sip of coffee and raising his eyebrows innocently when James squints at him.

"When isn't he?" Lily asks, laughing when James reaches back to swat at her.

"This isn't 'gang up on James day'." He moans. He shuffles around so he can wrap an arm around Lily, careful not to dislodge Sirius' hand from where it's started tracing patterns into his arm.

Lily sniggers, and Sirius is outright laughing at him. "Yes, it is."