A/N: I would like to address those who complained that James is acting too kindly for the bullying rich boy he was; I've never agreed with that notion. His mother Dorea (his parents will always be Dorea and Charlus to me) comes from the Blacks; a House filled with arrogant and rotten apples who bully others and look down upon them, why would she ever stand for her son turning out the same way? His parents would make sure he is down to earth and kind to others; regardless of where they are from...slimy snakes who deserve it aside. So to me, James has never been arrogant, badly spoiled or a bully and would instead stand up to those who do. Rowling pretty much tried to ruin his character alongside Sirius for me, but I cannot and will not believe a person so loved would ever have been a bully. So that is why James is the way he is in my stories; considerate and caring for others and very overprotective of his loved ones.
That said, Merry Christmas everyone!
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Waking up on Christmas morning, James beamed as he immediately spotted the pile of presents at the foot of his bed.
But his mother's rules were drilled into him deeply and instead of tearing into them, he turned to Sirius, only to find the boy already sitting up and staring at his own presents.
Worry immediately washed over him at the blank stare and he slipped out of bed to make his way over to the other, carefully reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder so not to startle him. "Sirius?"
The blankness immediately made place for a warm smile as he turned to him. "Morning."
"Morning," slipping onto the bed with him he automatically put an arm around him; pulling him into his side for a brief semi-embrace. "What are you staring at?"
Indicating to the presents, Sirius leaned into his side. "I was wondering what those were doing there."
James had noticed just how much Sirius craved the touch of another human being and had taken it upon himself to shower his friend in affection whenever he could get away with it. He was always happy to pull his friend into an embrace and hold him close and as always the contact seemed to relax him.
"Where else would your presents be?"
"Mine? Why would I get presents?"
"Because it is Christmas?" James wasn't sure why his friend looked so surprised, though he only now noticed the wand Sirius was holding tightly. "You've never gotten Christmas presents?"
"No."
"Ever?" James couldn't help but stare at his friend as Sirius' gaze found the presents again.
"No," the confirmation scandalised James, unable to apprehend never receiving any presents at all.
"What about birthday presents?"
"As the heir, Grandfather always gives me a book about magic on my birthday that I am to study that year and am tested on regularly."
There was so much wrong with that statement and a wave of disgust and anger rushed through James. How could any parent be that disgusting and cold?
"You have never gotten any other present?" He couldn't help but clarify, just to be sure he truly understood correctly.
"Uncle Alphard bought me my owl after I received my letter," Sirius looked at him utterly confused. "My relatives do not really believe in giving presents without a reason."
"So your brother Regulus doesn't receive presents either?"
"Not from the rest of the house, but Mother and Father always get him something on their travels and he usually picks out a few things on his birthday when they go out. But that's different."
"How is it different?" he wasn't quite sure he managed to keep the anger out of his voice completely, but Sirius gave no sign of having noticed as he shrugged.
"Grandfather gives us a reward in money if we do well on our tests and we can get extra by writing reports or learning extra spells. Regulus usually doesn't really do well on those, so he has less to spend than I do," Sirius truly didn't seem to see anything wrong with that arrangement and James wasn't quite sure how to make him see differently.
"Most of the Wizarding world works a little different," he finally decided on. "Most parents just give presents because they can and want to do so. Most commonly for birthday and Christmas."
"All right, but why do I have presents then?"
"From the looks at the similar wrappings between our presents and knowing our friends, I suspect the weirdly shaped one comes from Peter and the flat one is probably from Remus. I know I got you the dark purple one but I don't know who send the orange and light purple ones."
"You send me a gift? Why?"
It was rather heartbreaking to watch confusion and apprehensiveness flashing through those warm grey eyes, knowing his friend didn't understand the sentiment. "Because I wanted to."
"But why?"
"No reason. It's just something friends do for each other on special occasions such as Christmas and birthdays. It is kind of a tradition between friends."
"I...I didn't get anyone anything," Sirius swallowed.
"That's all right, it's not a requirement to return gifts," he wasn't quite sure why he had been so surprised by the workings of the Black family. If affection and praise were non-existing, then why would presents be familiar and he cursed himself for not thinking of this scenario as Sirius looked down guiltily.
The last thing he had wanted was for his friend to feel like an idiot or feel left out and he ranked his brain for anything to solve this.
"Do you have any money left from this term?"
"Yes, I have eight Galleons left and will receive ten more at the start of midterm."
It was a little more than James himself received from his parents at the start of each term, but he knew it was not unusual for most Pure-Blood Lords to give their Heirs enough money to show off their wealth to their peers. And while most used their money to buy sweets or order joke products from Zonko's, it seemed Sirius hadn't spent much of his allowance.
"If you want, we could go down to the shop and pick something out for them there?" He offered
"But they will know I didn't get them anything, won't they? Because the presents I might pick will still arrive much too late."
"Nah, it's been snowing since yesterday so we can just blame the weather on your owl being late. It's not unusual for young owls to get lost in the snow during their first winter so they won't ever know any better."
"I...but you know I didn't get anyone anything," the guilt in Sirius' eyes hadn't lessened as he looked down at his hands so James reached out to take it in his own, squeezing gently.
"I don't know what you are talking about, isn't my present waiting for me at the shop?"
A slow hesitant smile spread over Sirius' lips. "It's waiting to be picked up?"
"That's what I thought," James beamed. "Merry Christmas by the way."
"Merry Christmas," Sirius answered softly, blinking surprised at him as he slipped off the bed again. "Aren't you going to open your presents?"
"Later, Mum's always drilled it into me to only open one present before breakfast and since I want to open it together with you we better go pick my present up and send off the others."
"I...all right," the look of bewilderment that had fallen over Sirius was hilarious to see.
"Come on, chop chop. We've got things to do today!" he called back cheerfully, getting Sirius into motion as well and fifteen minutes later they were down at the shop.
"Morning boys. Forgotten your Christmas presents, have you?" Madam Pomfrey chuckled as she spotted them.
"Morning, something like that," Sirius shifted a little nervously. "Can we go in?"
"Of course, hurry up though, breakfast will be in an hour and you would not want to miss that."
"Yes, Madam," leading Sirius inside, James looked around at the rows of items he hadn't seen before. Where normally there were rows of parchment, quills, various potion ingredients and even catalogues for various shops in Hogsmeade; there were now also books, candy and exploding cards among other things. "Go pick things out then."
"I...what should I get them?" the question was barely above a whisper, uncertainly pouring out of Sirius as he looked around a little overwhelmed.
"Anything you want. I got both of them candy and some Zonko products but there is no guideline on this, you just get them what you would like to give them."
The uncertainty in Sirius' eyes didn't let up, but he did turn around to the shelves and began to walk through them; occasionally stopping to look at something more closely before he eventually came back with a few items.
"Found anything to your liking?"
"I think so," Sirius hesitated before nodding firmly, holding one item hidden underneath the others and James tactfully refrained from looking at it. "Yes."
"Would you like them wrapped up?" Madam Pomfrey asked kindly as Sirius paid for the presents.
"Yes?" Sirius glanced at James for confirmation, making him want to smile and cringe at the same time but he settled for simply nodding.
He studiously stared at the shelves above them as Madam Pomfrey asked Sirius if he wanted everything wrapped separately or together, resulting in some shuffling and although he was aware she was studying him curiously, he ignored her until Sirius slid the wrapped presents into his bag.
"Owlery?"
"Owlery," grinning, James reached out to take Sirius' hand and together they made their way there. "Would you like to borrow Oreo so they get it around the same time?"
"If he wouldn't mind flying through this weather?"
"From how much my owl seems to love you, I think he'd fly through lava if you asked."
"I would rather have that he didn't," Sirius smiled as the owls hooted in greeting upon their entering; his own screech owl immediately floating down to land onto his shoulder. "Hello Medea."
It was always a cute sight to see Sirius' little owl almost curl into his neck in greeting as she nipped at his earlobe affectively.
"Would you be willing to deliver this to Remus for me?" Sirius always spoke to the owls as if they were free to choose, not even thinking of ordering his owl to leave when she didn't want to; something James admired in him and the owls clearly appreciated it, too.
But Medea readily held out her claw, allowing Sirius to tie the present onto it without a problem. She nipped in his finger softly as he made no move to tie the other present on, hooting softly.
"I'm asking James' Oreo to deliver this, so you won't have to fly twice the distance in this weather," as he brushed his fingers over her feathers, she screeched.
James wasn't quite sure what to make of the sound, but Sirius smiled and Oreo suddenly came down; soaring over James' head to land onto Sirius' other shoulder and nipped his finger in greeting before holding out a claw as well.
"If you were anyone else, I would be feeling remarkably neglected by my own owl," James laughed as Sirius tied the other package on. "What is it with animals and you?"
"What do you mean?" Sirius opened the window, Oreo nipping at his ear gently as he was handed an owl treat before immediately flying off.
James watched in awe as Medea paused; hooting softly as she seemed to be able to sense to wait and Sirius brushed a hand over her soft chest feathers lovingly before leaning in to whisper something too low for James to catch. Only when he straightened again and leaned out of the window did she hoot one more time before she, too, flew off into the snow with an owl treat in her beak.
"Sorry, you were saying?"
"Hmm? Oh, don't think I haven't noticed that all the owls are always greeting you personally when we come up here," James accused good naturedly, not commenting on the owl's strange behaviour. "They don't greet me when I come up here alone."
"I like owls," Sirius simply smiled at James' raised eyebrow.
"It's not just owls, though," James descended the stairs again while Sirius tossed a handful of owl treats into the air, enough for those present, before following him down. "Cats like you very much, too. It's a good thing none of us are allergic."
"I don't know why animals seem to like me, they just do."
"I suppose it is a good thing you like them as well, then," retaking Sirius' hand once more, James smiled. "Breakfast?"
"We first need to stop by the dorm to pick up that first present," Sirius corrected him. "One before breakfast, right?"
"Right," beaming at his friend, James pulled him along and in no time had they returned to the dorm; where he surprisingly found a new present with very familiar wrappings waiting before his bed on top of the others.
"How..." looking back to where Sirius was picking up the dark purple present James had picked out for him, he only then realised his dark-haired friend had no longer been carrying any present. "Is that what you were whispering about to Medea?"
"I don't know what you are talking about, you must have simply overlooked it among those others," Sirius' grin pretty much ruined his attempted innocent look.
"Well played," he couldn't help but laugh as Sirius' grin widened; all signs of uncertainty gone. "Want to open our presents?"
"Just the one, right?" Sirius came over with his present in hand, bouncing a little as he dropped down onto James' bed.
"You're as bad as Mum is," complaining good naturedly, James tore into his present to reveal a fancy book full with defensive spells and their theory, a couple of sweets and a pack of exploding cards. "Wow, this will come in handy! Thank you."
"When my eye fell upon it, I thought it might," Sirius' smile was a little nervous, but James pretended not to notice and just pulled him into a hug.
"It will. Aren't you going to open your present?"
Sirius was a lot more careful opening his present and while James wanted nothing more than to urge him to hurry, he let him take his time and savoured the feeling of his present being the first his friend would see.
"James?" Surprised grey eyes looked up to him as he held the two books carefully.
"You did say you liked the book, so I figured why not get it for you to keep and the sequel while I was at it?" laughing as Sirius carefully placed the books onto the bed before tackling him in a hug, James readily returned it.
"I love it!"
"I hoped you would," James smiled. "You do have to loan them to me some time, though. If you love them so much, I just have to at least try them properly."
He didn't think the books would be something he would truly enjoy, but the brilliant smile on his friend's lips made him want to at least try.
"You know, you remind me of Bambi a little," Sirius teased as he pulled back and placed the books onto his night-stand carefully. "You have big brown eyes as well and are curious."
"Are you saying I have deer eyes?"
"Maybe...Bambi," a laugh startled out of Sirius as James tackled him, making them both tumble backwards onto Sirius' bed.
"Do I have to tickle you into making you take that back?" he threatened, making Sirius laugh.
"You can try, but I don't think I'm ticklish," Sirius' challenge wasn't one James could let slide but quickly found his friend was right.
"That's such a shame," he whined, letting himself fall down beside him.
"Does that mean I get to keep calling you Bambi?" Sirius' eyes sparkled mischievously as he teased him, making James grunt in mock annoyance.
"If you must," but he couldn't find it in himself to truly be annoyed by it when it made his friend laugh the way he was doing now. "I'll just have to find something to tease you back with."
Sirius hummed in agreement, shifting so that he was resting on his stomach and able to look at James easily. "Thank you."
"What for?" sensing the shift in mood, James shifted onto his side.
"Everything," the smile on Sirius' lips was as soft as his eyes were. "For being patient with me."
"Any time," reaching out to squeeze his hand, James smiled before clearing his throat. "But don't go thanking me just yet, we haven't ice skated yet."
"Peter seemed to be fairly convinced that it is very dangerous?" the inquiry in Sirius' voice wasn't matched with worry, though, and James simply grinned.
"Peter's a worry-wart; we'll just take it slow. Ice skating is just like dancing...do you know how to dance?"
Normally it would be a stupid question to ask, as all Pure-Bloods were taught how to do so at a young age. But the Blacks were proving to be even worse than he had always heard and he couldn't be sure this was something they would be normal in.
"Yes. Tuffy and Dinky taught me when I was little."
"House-elves, huh? That certainly explains a lot about your movements," James smiled at Sirius' confusion. "You walk very quietly and are quite agile, a bit like a House-elf."
"Dinky taught me how to walk, so that could be right," Sirius hummed. "But what does dancing have to do with ice skating?"
"Ice skating is pretty much dancing on special shoes and on ice," Sirius rose from the bed and held out a hand to pull him up as well, James eyed him curiously. "I reckon you'll be quite good at it, actually."
Grinning, he grabbed his friend's hand and allowed himself to be pulled up before suddenly twirling them around a few times, making Sirius laugh but move with him without argument. "Yup, your balance is great."
"Yours isn't so bad either. Do you like dancing?"
"Not really, I've always hated all those official balls Mum and Dad always took me to, too stiff."
"Formal ballroom dancing and just dancing because you can are two very different things," Sirius advised him. "I always loved dancing with Dinky and Tuffy, but never cared for it at gatherings. It's just lucky for me that most of the Blacks are too stuck up to ever want to be caught dancing and I was never forced to do so."
"Then maybe you can teach me that some time," although James wasn't quite sure there was a difference, he did find himself wanting to at least try. "I only know formal dancing, but I bet you learned a lot from your House-elves that is much less stiff."
"Only if you teach me how to do that ice skating thing," the bargain was completely unnecessary, but James still found himself happily shaking Sirius' hand in agreement.
"But before doing any of that, we should go down to breakfast or we will be late. After, we can open the rest of these presents and then you can begin teaching me everything you wanted to do today."
Not needing to be told twice, James quickly cleaned his torn wrappings away and shooed a laughing Sirius down so they could get started.
Ice skating brought forth no surprise as the same agility Sirius seemed to possess naturally allowed the boy to pick up on the skill easily and in no time at all they were skating together.
A few others joined them at some point, making them all laugh and have fun; ending the morning in a gigantic snowball fight.
James knew he had wicked aim, rarely missing a target as he ducked and ran to avoid being hit; teaming up with Sirius easily to take on as many opponents as possible.
It truly was a shame his friend didn't like flying, or they would have no doubt made a formidable team should they make the selection for the Quidditch Team next year.
But he kept those thoughts to himself, not wanting to press Sirius into doing something he wasn't comfortable with.
Dripping wet but pleasantly warm, they eventually made their way back to the castle to get cleaned up and James tossed one of his sweaters to Sirius as the other reappeared in a long sleeved shirt; aware the other only had one warm sweater with him.
"If you keep on dressing me in your clothes, people will talk, you know?" But Sirius did put it on immediately, snuggling into the too big fabric.
"Let them talk," grinning at him, James stretched a little. "It keeps you warm and I don't mind so it doesn't matter what they think. You are welcome to steal my clothes any time you feel like it."
"I'll keep it in mind. What else do you have planned today?"
"Not much as I figured that you would want to try and return a gift to Tiffy and Peeves?"
"I already kind of did," Sirius smiled at the warm red gloves embossed with the Gryffindor sigil now drying on the window sill.
"Enlighten me."
"Well, I've wanted to thank her for her kindness and asked Tiffy to teach me how to make cookies a few weeks ago. I made a whole batch of them yesterday, so decided to divide them to the House-elves as they are always working very hard. But I made some specific ones just for Tiffy and Peeves and left them in their rooms."
"They'll love that," not that James thought for even a single moment that either of the two wouldn't love anything Sirius did for them, but they would certainly like that. And since neither would have much use for stuff, cookies were a perfect gift.
"I hope so. I hadn't expected any presents in the first place and I am just glad I timed that surprise the way I did," looking down a little shyly, Sirius fingered the little coloured bouncing ball Peeves had given him for Christmas, letting it bounce down onto the ground between them.
While James had originally suspected a trap in waiting, he instead found the little ball simply lighted up in colours when thrown; dulling when caught.
It was a kind little gesture from the normally fairly malicious Poltergeist that he knew Sirius liked very much, but then it was much too easy to make the dark-haired Black heir happy in the first place.
James yawned and stretched once more. "Well, if we've got nothing special planned, then perhaps we could just laze around a bit and just skip lunch?"
"No objection from me there," Sirius smiled. "We could always get something from the kitchens if we get hungry before dinner."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Are you up for a game of Stratego?"
The challenge was one James was always up for and he nodded quickly. "The usual?"
Receiving a nod in return, Sirius turned to collect the game while James automatically made his way to the Common Room and claim their usual seats by the fire, quietly requesting a cup of hot chocolate for them both.
