Chapter 45: End of Christmas

Summary: Severus and Sirius have Christmas dinner at the great hall and meet each other December 27th.

By the time Severus, Sirius and Remus got to the great hall for Christmas dinner, everyone else was already seated. Severus felt Dumbledore's eyes on him as they moved to the table. Severus and Sirius sat together and Remus took the empty sit between Filius and Mrs. March, the librarian.

Severus busied himself with the food. He had never seen a feast like this. He smiled when Sirius took his hand in his own and kissed the boy on the cheek. A few people gasped. Severus blushed, he had almost forgotten they weren't alone. Dumbledore was glaring draggers at him, along with James Potter who was sitting at the Headmaster's left. The others just looked surprised.

Sirius squeezed his hand reassuringly before letting go. Everyone got back to their dinner after a while but they kept looking in their direction. After a few minutes of silence Dumbledore cleared his throat. "James, my boy. I am very glad to see you have recovered so quickly. It's good to have our head boy here for Christmas."

Potter shrugged. "I was out of bed the first day, Professor. It was just a burn." he said dismissively.

"The damage might have been small, but you should never undermine the power of dark forces. Fiendfyre is one of the darkest spells there is. It takes great deal of courage to face it."

"That's what my father said." said Potter bitterly. "That someone without the right training shouldn't join a battle. That I should have left with the others and let the Aurors do their job." he added, stabbing his potatoes with a fork.

Dumbledore sighed dramatically. "People who are brave at heart can't turn their backs in the face of evil. Your father has fought in quite a few battles himself. But as a parent he is trying to keep you from harm. Parents' love for their children can cloud their judgment. It's their biggest weakness." he said, shaking his head.

Potter looked up sharply at that. "My father isn't weak!" he snapped. "He's the best Auror in the country. He knows I'm brave enough, he just doesn't want me to fight without the proper training." he continued defiantly.

Severus smirked to himself when he saw the shock on Dumbledore's face. He was gleeful at seeing his two least favorite people in the world at odds.

"I'm sure the Headmaster didn't mean that." said McGonagall. "Of course, he isn't weak. I know your father from my school days. I'm sure he's proud of you and after you complete your Auror training, he'll be happy to have you fight by his side." she continued, looking at the boy fondly.

The dinner was pretty much uneventful after that, but the tension never left the room.

...

Sirius was sitting against the wall, near Severus' quarters. Christmas day had been tense with James back in the dorm. Sirius and Remus had spent most of the day outside. At some point they had seen James watching them, from near Hagrid's hut.

It must have been hard for him to spend Christmas day in Hogwarts like this. James wasn't used to being alone, he had his loving family and his friends and admirers around all the time. He must have had a fight with his father to end up there. Sirius couldn't help but feel bad for his old friend. James was immensely selfish but he was the reason Sirius, the heir to a family as dark as the Blacks, had been able to find friends and be accepted in Gryffindor. The Potters were a highly respected and influential family in the wizarding world and their word went a long way. It didn't matter now, Sirius thought. He couldn't be friends with someone who looked down at everyone and was this nasty to Severus.

He didn't know how long he sat there thinking, until he heard Severus' footsteps. The boy smiled when he saw him, like he always did. "Hey! What are you doing here this early?" he asked as he pulled Sirius to his feet.

Sirius missed no time in giving his boyfriend a passionate kiss. Severus chuckled as they parted. "I guess, you did miss me." he teased. "I missed you, too. Come on. let's go inside." he said as he pulled his wand out of the pocket of his muggle jacket and dropped the wards.

There were a few wrapped gifts on the coffee table. Severus hung his jacket and blue scarf before sitting down next to the fire. He was wearing a wool jumper underneath with a geometric pattern woven in three shades of olive green.

"Nice jumper." observed Sirius.

"It's cashmere. Mr. Johnson knitted it herself." said Severus, looking down at his jumper. "They gave me hell about spending my money on the … telly, but they liked it. How was your Christmas day?" he asked.

"Not bad. Remus and I had a pretty violent snow fight, then we built a snow squid by the lake." answered Sirius.

Severus laughed. "Good thing you got that out of your system." he said and started to open his presents.

There was a box of fudge from Regulus and dragon hide gloves from Slughorn. Severus opened a gift from the rest of the teachers next. "It's coffee." he said as he brought the package to his nose and exhaled deeply. "I bet it was expensive." he continued and took out a couple of the coffee bins to examine them.

Sirius' eyes fell on the last package while Severus was busy with the coffee and he felt his stomach turn to knots. "Why is Andrew Parkinson sending you a Christmas present?" he asked, frowning.

Severus put the coffee away and took the small parcel out of Sirius' hands. There was some kind of herb inside. He shrugged, admiring the green leaves. "He was good friends with Lucius, so we were kind of friends and we talked that day in the infirmary. I didn't send him anything, though. Maybe I should have."

"Why would you do that?" snapped Sirius.

Severus frowned. "Why does he bother you so much?"

"Because,… You two were flirting."

Severus crossed his arms over his chest. "I wasn't flirting."

Sirius stood up and started pacing. "Fine, but he was flirting with you. He touched your arm!"

Severus stood up as well. "He was just telling me about his healing curriculum. Even if he was flirting, what does it matter? I don't like him that way." he said with a sigh. "I was actually going to meet him later this week. I'm doing something for St. Mungo's and I need his help."

"You can't go meet him! I don't want him flirting with you."

"Really, Sirius?" snapped Severus. "Girls flirt with you all the time. Does that mean I have to worry?"

"No!" answered Sirius quickly. "Of course not!"

"Then why can't you trust me the way I trust you?" asked Severus, hurt lacing every word.

Sirius looked into his boyfriend's dark eyes and felt his anger draining. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I trust you, I really do. It's just … What if he kisses you or something?" he asked.

"Then I'll tell him I have a boyfriend and I'm not interested."

"What if he doesn't back down?"

"Then I'll cut his hand off!" snapped Severus. "Do you really think I'm helpless? I'm not. And I'm sure he would never do something like that. I trust him. That's why I want to ask his help on that thing with St. Mungo's." he continued.

Sirius sighed. "Alright, I'm sorry." he said. "Are you going to tell me what this business with the hospital is all about?" he asked.

Severus smiled. "Make me some of this expensive coffee and I'll tell you." he said.