A/N:Hey everyone, this chapter is extremely late. I tried to write it during my winter break but I had so much going on during the holidays, I could never get into a good mood to write. Anyway, here is the Christmas chapter. I really liked how this one turned out and I hope you guys do too. I know I sound like a broken record at this point but I really like hearing from you guys in the comments. The things you liked, things you didn't like, I am open to all kinds of comments and criticisms.

Remus comes back to Grimmauld Place just before the November full moon. He's exhausted and badly bruised but tries to hide it from Sirius. He tells Sirius that Dumbledore pulled the plug on his mission, saying it was ineffective but not a complete waste of time. Dumbledore also said they could both expect more work for the Order in the future.

The first week in December, Harry received a letter from his guardians, inviting him to Grimmauld Place for the Christmas holiday. He was ecstatic. He'd never had a real family Christmas, and that's exactly what he'd begun to think of Sirius and Remus as, a real family.

Late one night, a couple of days before break started, Harry awoke in a familiar sweaty panic. Ron was standing over him looking concerned. Only one thought remained in Harry's mind : Arthur Weasley's been attacked.

After a long, restless night of sleep at Grimmauld Place, Mrs. Weasley showed up around 11 in the morning. She assured everyone that Arthur was stable and practically strangled Harry as she hugged and thanked him. Sirius invited the Weasley's to stay through Christmas in order to be closer to St. Mungo's, the hospital where Arthur was. Harry was incredibly surprised at how grateful the Weasley's were towards him. He was expecting them to be angry or awkward around him. When Mrs. Weasley said they were all going to St. Mungo's that afternoon, he had been ready to stay back at Grimmauld with Sirius and give the family their space. He was amazed when she told him to join them because Arthur wanted to say thank you.

"You-Know-Who's possessing him …"

Mad-Eye's words were echoing in his head all the way back to Grimmauld Place. Everything hit him all at once as he paced back and forth in his room. Why Dumbledore wouldn't tell him anything. Why he seemed so distant lately.

I'm the weapon.

The thought hit him like a brick wall. Suddenly he wanted to be a million miles away from everyone.

He opened his trunk and started throwing things in. he thought of where he could go as he grabbed his clothes off the floor. The Dursley's were obviously out. Hogwarts was as well. I could at least take the Knight bus to the Leaky Cauldron and stay there while I plan a bit more.

A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts.

"Harry!" Sirius said in a tone that implied he'd been trying to get his attention for a while. Harry turned towards him embarrassed.

"What on Earth is wrong?"

"Nothing, I was just … reorganizing my trunk." Harry said, biting his bottom lip.

Sirius eyed him warily. "Prongslet … I know someone running away when I see it." Harry looked away sheepishly. "What is it that could make you want to leave? Are you unhappy here? Did you change your mind about spending Christmas here?" Sirius asked sounding legitimately worried.

"No. That's not it at all. I was just …" he paused, choosing to stare at his feet. "I was just trying to protect you all." he finished in a voice that was barely audible.

Sirius quietly laughed. "Protect us from what?"

"Protect you … from me."

Sirius looked as though he was going to laugh again until he saw how worried Harry looked. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Why do we need to be protected from you?"

"You can stop pretending. I overheard Mad-Eye talking at St. Mungo's. I know what the Order's been hiding from me." he said sharply. Sirius stared at him confusedly. "I'm the weapon, aren't I? Voldemort's been possessing me and that's why everyone's so worried around me. Why no one will tell me anything. That's it isn't it?"

Sirius' mouth went 'o' shaped for a second before his face changed to an unreadable expression. He grabbed Harry by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. "You are not being possessed, nor are you the weapon." Sirius said firmly, speaking every word clearly.

Harry tried to squirm out of Sirius' arms but he held his grip. "I heard Mad-Eye. I heard him say it. I'm not going to stay here so that next time it'll be one of you that gets attacked!"

"Harry!" Sirius said loudly. Harry stopped squirming. "Firstly, you did NOT attack Arthur. You just had the misfortune of witnessing it. Secondly, you know how paranoid Mad-Eye can be. Why would you believe him but not me. You know I would never lie to you."

Harry thought about what Sirius had said. It was true, Sirius had never lied to him. Though it was possible that Dumbledore chose not to tell Sirius either. It was also very possible that Mad-Eye was just paranoid. He decided to trust Sirius, at least until another nightmare happened.

He nodded and Sirius wrapped an arm around his shoulders as he stood up. "Excellent! Now, I came up here to ask if you wanted to help with the Christmas decorating. However, after everything you've been through, I believe you could use some Christmas cheer, as could this house, so, I think I'm going to make it mandatory."

Harry laughed heartily as he followed Sirius out into the hallway.

On Christmas Eve, the Weasley's decided to visit Arthur in St. Mungo's and spend the evening with him. Despite Mrs. Weasley's endless attempts to persuade him otherwise, Harry had decided to give the Weasley's some family time and spend the evening at Grimmauld. This was also due to him wanting some family time of his own and thought it the perfect idea to spend Christmas Eve with Moony and Padfoot.

He spent the afternoon helping Sirius make a small feast for the three of them.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask you," Harry starts as they sit down for dinner. "Did my parents have any Christmas traditions? I mean, I know they didn't have many Christmases together, but I thought they might have had one or two and I was just curious."

Sirius and Remus shared a fond smile and a small laugh. "Of course they did, Harry." Remus answered.

"You should have seen the two of them during your first Christmas." Sirius continued. "They both had had traditions from their families that they wanted to share with you."

"Lily had her muggle traditions," Remus added. "like cooking an entire feast from scratch and putting up all the decorations on Christmas eve, both of them without any magic."

"And James had his own magical traditions as well, like live fairies on the tree and enchanted candles floating all over the house." Sirius continued. "And, of course, they invited us all over to spend Christmas eve through Boxing day at the cottage in Godric's Hollow with them.

"When Moony and I arrived that afternoon they were both really excited as well as extremely sleep deprived. It seemed a certain baby had been having trouble sleeping and had kept his parents up for 48 hours straight."

Harry's face went red as he grinned. "Obviously," Remus added. "We offered to leave and come back a few days later. But, your parents, being there usual stubborn selves, refused. They insisted that they were fine."

"We even offered to watch you for a few hours so that they could take a nap but they again said that they were fine and that they wanted everything to be perfect." Sirius added. "They were so out of it, James nearly burned down the tree with the candles and Lily filled the house with smoke when she forgot the turkey in the oven."

"Luckily," Remus interrupted. "We finally got them to admit that they needed a bit of help. They gave you to us while they went to take a nap for a few hours."

Sirius laughed heartily. "They ended up sleeping straight through Christmas morning. Of course, by that time Moony and I had gotten you to sleep as well."

"Padfoot was always a genius when it came to you. He could get you to do anything. Sleep, eat, stop you from crying, he was even the one that got you to say your first word. Made the rest of us incredibly jealous."

Sirius grinned smugly. "That's because I was always his favorite person, Moony." Sirius paused. "Well, that and I used to bribe you with cookies whenever you said anything close to 'Padfoot'."

They all laughed. "Anyway," Remus started. "When James and Lily finally woke up, we had the house decorated and, even had a small dinner cooking."

"It was nowhere near what they had planned, but it was still a pretty brilliant Christmas."

The Weasley's got back shortly after dinner. Everyone sat by the fire, talking for hours that evening. Slowly, everyone made their way to bed until it was just Sirius and Remus cuddled together on the couch.

"Something the matter, love?" Sirius asked, noticing the thoughtful look on the others face.

"Hmm? Oh. No, just thinking."

"You do that far too much, you know." Remus laughed softly. "What were you thinking about?"

"James and Lily."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Remus sighed. "They didn't get near as many Christmases with him as they deserved."

"No, they didn't. But, you know, I like to think they were here with us tonight. That they got to hear him laugh at our stories and see him having a happy christmas for once." Remus hummed at the image. Sirius stared solemnly at the fire. "Moony?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think they're happy with us? With how we take care of Harry. Or … do you think they'd be jealous?"

"Not at all. Padfoot, this is what they wanted. If they can't be here, then I know they are here watching us, happy that Harry has people who love him as much as we do. And … I know that James is proud of you. Of the parent you've become." They both sat in comfortable silence for a while. The giant grandfather clock in the back of the room chimed, telling them it was midnight.

Sirius leaned up and kissed Remus. "It's Christmas, Moony!" he said excitedly. "Oh! Can I give your present to you now? I wanted to do it in private. Without everyone else watching."

Remus laughed and nodded as Sirius reached for his wand.

"Accio Moony's gift." a few seconds later a big box wrapped in bright red and white wrapping paper came flying through the door, landing in Sirius' lap. "Promise you won't laugh." Sirius said as he handed it to Remus.

"Oh, I can't promise that. Not to the person who once gave me a framed picture of himself."

"When I had asked you what you wanted, you told me, and I quote, 'I was all you needed'." they both laughed at the memory as Remus tore off the paper and opened the box. He reached inside and pulled out a bulky, slightly misshapen sweater. Remus looked up at him confusedly. "Why would I laugh at a sweater? You know how much I love them."

"Because, this sweater was specially made … by me."

Remus looked surprised but smiled brightly. "How?"

"Molly taught me, while you were on your mission. It was a bit hard at first, and one of the sleeves is longer than the other but, I think I got the hang of it."

"Oh, Sirius, I love it!" Remus said as he took off the sweater he was wearing and put the new one on.

"You haven't even heard the best part yet. I found this book that said you could put all kinds of charms into the yarn, and … well, smell it." Remus looked confused as he brought his sleeve to his nose and inhaled.

His face lit up. "Leather, dog fur, and motor oil. But … how?"

"I charmed it with amortentia … so that no matter where you are, I can still comfort you."

Remus pulled him into a fierce embrace and kissed him thoroughly. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

"Yes. But, y'know I always love hearing you say it."