Remus wasn't sure what to think when he woke up early on Boxing Day morning in a bed that most certainly wasn't his own, and not just next to Sirius, but with Sirius curled around him. It wasn't exactly a position Remus could get out of without disturbing Sirius, and he absolutely did not want to do that. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable, but it was just a little odd. It was already strange attempting to fall asleep last night, with Sirius so close to him, their breaths so, so very close to matching. Not that Remus was paying attention, of course.

But now, with Sirius wrapped around him, Remus curled into some sort of ball, and the surprising lack of anxiety, Remus couldn't help but wonder. He knew that if he didn't accept it, he'd overthink the lack of anxiety into a panic attack, and that would just be a bad start to the morning. He'd definitely be disturbing Sirius then.

So he didn't do anything, he just lay there, thinking back over Christmas. It had been a good day. It had been more than that though. It wasn't just that it was good, it was probably one of the best Christmases he'd had. And definitely the best since he was much younger. Sure, James' favourites were probably the more recent ones, James particularly favoured the alcohol. But other than yesterday, Remus' fondest memories of Christmas were probably from when he was thirteen.

He wondered what Sirius' plans for the day were. Would he have the time to drop Remus home? Or would Remus have to find his way home on public transport? He didn't particularly mind, he certainly wasn't going to ask Sirius to take him home, though Sirius would probably prefer that. But Sirius had already done so much for him, he couldn't possibly ask for anything else. Except maybe for Sirius to come to Dorcas' birthday party. Which was definitely something Remus needed to sort out.

So many things that he needed to sort out. But mostly, he needed to not think about all those things until he wasn't next to a sleeping Sirius.

—

Luckily for Remus, it was only just over ten minutes before Sirius woke up. And it was as Sirius woke up, all yawns, arching backs and a muffled "g'mornin' Rem", that Remus realised he'd never actually been the one who was awake first. At James and Lily's it had been Sirius, on Christmas morning it had been Sirius too. It was probably the fact that he was in a new place, that made him wake up so early. He'd been seventeen before he could even sleep a little at someone else's house, before that he would always bring a torch and a book and just read. It made for sleepy mornings, but that was all he could do.

"Morning Sirius."

"Morning," Sirius replied, turning onto his side to face Remus.

"Christmas is over."

"Nope. Not until Boxing Day is over." Sirius grinned, brushing his hair back from his face. "Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Boxing Day are all Christmas. S'all Christmas!"

"All Christmas, huh?" Remus raising an eyebrow. "You sound like drunk James."

"I forget, you haven't seen me drunk yet, have you?"

"No, I haven't. Should I be scared?"
"You should have been scared when I was in your bakery at two in the morning."

"So, yes?"

"Oh, absolutely."

"I've no doubt it'll happen one day." Remus sat up, grinning down at Sirius.

He wasn't sure what it was about Sirius, but there was something that made him hope, hope to know him forever. He would like that, he knew he would. To know Sirius forever, that would certainly be interesting. He couldn't imagine Sirius growing old, he couldn't imagine him as anything else other than an excitable twenty-year-old with flashing eyes and a sharp sense of humour. He used to feel the same way about James and Peter. They would always be young in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to picture them as old and grey. He could never picture them as anything older than thirty. Lily was the same. Dorcas and Marlene were the only ones he could imagine, they'd have a home filled with cats and kids, still holding hands, probably still in period gowns. But who knows if he'd still know them. He had no idea if he would know any of these people in a year's time, but he hoped he would.

"Where've you gone?"

"Gone?"

"You completely drifted off just then. You alright?" Sirius asked, only now sitting up to face Remus.

"Yeah." Remus nodded, smiling ever so slightly. "Yeah, I think I am."

"Well, that's good. Because Christmas isn't over yet, and we're going to have an amazingly brilliant day."

"Are we?"

"Of course!"

"Well then, we'd better get started?"

"Absolutely. But be warned, Nymphadora wakes up almost as early as you, but she's far more energetic."

"Nymphadora?"
"Dora's full name. She hates it," Sirius replied, smiling fondly.

"I don't blame her."

"I mean, you got stuck with Remus, I got stuck with Sirius and she got Nymphadora. We could start a club."
"That should absolutely be a thing." Remus grinned, there were few things he loved more than watching people get excited over random ideas. "Let's wait 'til she's older and actually knows how a club works."

"That's a good idea. We'll start a club when she's eleven, maybe."

"Eleven…" Remus drifted off. Five years away that was. And here they were, sitting in bed, planning five years in advance. Something Remus desperately wanted to do, but he wouldn't dare. Couldn't dare. That was just planning for failure. Wasn't it?

"Five years away, I know. I'll be twenty-five then, Rem! We'll be old!"

"I'm not sure that is exactly what old means," Remus replied, but he could help the laughter that escaped him.

"It's exactly what it means, love. We'll be old. And do you think we'll still be celebrating in Andromeda's guest bedroom?"
"I sure hope not. Hopefully you'll have your own apartment and we'll be celebrating there," Remus commented without actually stopping to think about what he was saying. When he did realise, a bright blush spread across his face and he buried his face in his hands. Not under any false assumptions of any other reason as to why Sirius had stayed quiet.

When he finally looked up out of his hands, he saw that Sirius was also blushing, though to a much lesser extent. And of course, he managed to look attractive even when blushing.

"Me too, actually," Sirius whispered, not quite looking at Remus.

—

"Good morning boys," Andromeda greeted them as they walked into the kitchen, both showered and dressed. Neither of them had spoken about either of their comments, instead jumping onto their plans for the day.

"Morning Andy," they said in unison, sharing a quick smile before Sirius walked over to hug his cousin.

"What've the two of you got planned for the day?"

"So many things that I think we won't get anything done. Though Sirius seems to think we've got about eighty hours in a day," Remus answered, grinning over at the boy who was busy making toast.

"Ah, that'd be Sirius. It's great fun seeing just how many things you can do in a day, no matter how ridiculous. Give it a shot, it'll be worth it," Andromeda suggested, shaking her head slightly. Remus didn't miss the look that she gave Ted though, even if she thought he did. It was a look significant enough to have him wondering about it for days afterwards. "Though, I suggest that the two of you leave as soon as you've finished eating. If Sirius has got a list as large as I'm imagining, it's best to get started straight away.

"Oh, it's definitely a larger list than you were imagining."

—

"Are you making me breakfast too?"
"I swear, I've made more food for you than you have me and you're the baker!"

"Considering the great amount of pastries you eat, I doubt that very much," Remus replied, walking over to where Sirius was arranging plates as fancily as if he were serving some royal family. There were flowers and everything. "You should know that you're keeping us in business single handedly."

"That's not true at all. You refuse to let me pay half the time."
"That's what friends are for, right?" Both of them pretended not to notice Andromeda's scoff as Remus said "friends".

"Thank you," Remus said gratefully as Sirius handed him the most fancily arranged plate of toast and mushrooms he had seen in his life.

"Don't mention it."
"Idiot."
The two ate silently. Or at least they did until Dora came bouncing into the room, a book in hand, absolutely thrilled to see that everyone was still there.

"Hi Sirius!" she called out, positivity bouncing into her seat.

"Morning Explorer," Sirius replied, grinning brightly at the girl. "Are you hungry?"

"I've already eaten," she said before turning to Remus, "Hullo Remus!"

"Hello enaid bach. How are you this lovely morning?"
"I'm very good!"

"That's good to hear," Remus replied, smiling at the girl. Maybe he was the type of person to just melt in front of children, but he couldn't pretend that this kid wasn't amazing.

The rest of breakfast continued in much of the same stream. Ted came downstairs and Andromeda finally sat down. There was a lot of laughter. Everyone got involved in the conversation of whether or not Boxing Day was part of Christmas. Sirius, Andromeda and Dora said yes. Ted and Remus said that Christmas was just Christmas. They were proven completely wrong, though privately they agreed to just let the others win.

Remus found himself wondering what living a life like Ted and Andromeda would be like. Living with the people you loved most in the world, waking up with someone you love, but not being scared of them. Mornings filled with laughter instead of sleepy eyes. Breakfasts all together. It was a strange thought. An impossible one too, because Remus couldn't ever imagine giving up the bakery. Though at one point, Sirius' hand found its way to Remus' knee and for a second Remus found himself thinking that he'd do anything for another moment like this.

—

"So, why are we in a park, in the freezing cold?" Remus asked, looking over at Sirius who was just beaming. "I really can't find the fascination in it."

"Because it's Boxing Day so no one else will be here! And there's a tree I want to climb."

"A tree?" Remus would admit, one of his weaknesses was trees. He loved them far more than was healthy, he supposed Sirius would tell him, but there was just something about them.

"Yes! A tree! Come on."

"Alright, alright," Remus complied, allowing Sirius to pull him along across the grass.

"Here's the tree."

"That's a massive tree."

"Indeed it is. Now, are you going to climb it or not?"
"What sort of question is that?" Remus asked incredulously. "Shit! Of course I'm going to climb it."

And in a minute Remus was three branches up and calling for Sirius to join him. "Are you going to climb it, or not?"

"Shit! Of course I'm going to climb it," Sirius mocked, sticking his tongue out at Remus.

"Come on then!"

And so he did.

Ten minutes later they were both as high up as they could get and they were both laughing so hard that it was very possible one of them was going to fall out of the tree sooner or later. It was freezing cold and Remus probably would have been shivering if it were any other day, or in any other circumstances, but today was different. He was happy and he was excited and just amazed by the world. But most of all, he was amazed by Sirius.

—

Still up in the tree, both boys were startled when Remus' phone rang.

"Odd, I thought you'd be the person to always keep your phone on silent."

"Usually I am."

"Well, who is it? If it's Gilderoy, I'll murder him."

"Calm down," Remus said, shaking his head, though he would be more than happy for Sirius to murder Gilderoy if it was him. Luckily, it wasn't. "It's James."

"Hey James, you're on speaker because Sirius and I are in a tree."

"Hold on tight then," James replied and his breaths were coming faster than Remus had heard in a long time.

"Are you alright, James?"
"I, I think so."

There was a pause and Remus and Sirius exchanged a nervous glance.

"James, mate. Are you alright?" Remus asked, chewing on his lip nervously.

"Lily's pregnant!"