Here we go, Christmas. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I nearly cried writing it, due to events in Book 5. Anyway I'm sorry I had to put Peter in it! But he's barely in it, but I had to. He was a Marauder and he would be there for Christmas. I've kept him out of the story as much as I could, I really do hate typing his name. So please forgive. This chapter goes out to all you Sirius fans... I love him dearly. I hope you enjoy it!
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Five in the morning... a time reserved for the weary, a time when those who work all day are still asleep and dreaming peacefully. It's also a time when those who stay up half the night prefer to be asleep and for hours to come.
But it was 5am on December 25 and it is a time when children are up, glowing with excitement. It is also a time when eccentric godfathers who act like children decide to wake the household from it's
slumber. First, as silently as only a Marauder could, he went into James' room and set up a few items around the room. He then sniggered silently and took a picture of the couple sleeping. He couldn't resist as James slept in a very undignified position. He and Lily were entangled in each other, though of one of his legs was not even on the bed anymore. They were both close to the edge and one small push would have them both on the floor. James' mouth was opened and if you looked closely you could see a bit of drool. Lily had her head on his chest and her red hair was every where. When James took a breath, he got some of it in his mouth. Sirius had no doubt what they had been doing last night. He looked around the room making sure everything was done. He needed to do something with this picture, it was too good to let go. Way too good.
Next he picked up Harry who had been watching him silently from his crib. He held onto the bars of it and his eyes moved with Sirius. Harry was learning fast, Sirius thought, he knew Sirius was in the middle of mischief making and he had not cried or made any noise to disturb Sirius's victims. Such a smart boy. Sirius rewarded him by picking him up and they went outside. Sirius whispered to him that he could take part in the joke. But first he had other business to do so he let the sleeping beauties sleep for a little longer. He had to attend to Remus' room.
The pair went into Remus' room. Remus was half sitting up in bed and judging by the book at his side he had fallen asleep reading. Sirius went over to see the title of the book, "Great Wizards and Witches of the Medievil time. Vol. 5". He made a face at Harry who stuck his small tongue out, Sirius had taught him that trick. No wonder Moony had fallen asleep, the title was enough to put him back to sleep. Sirius gave Harry a pat on the back, he would make a fine Marauder one day.
Sirius set up some firecrackers and put a few charms on Moony before leaving. Once again Harry was silent and he watched Sirius work. Outside it was time to put his plan to action when he got an idea. He knew exactly what to do with the picture. He smiled evilly and gave Harry a hug. It was a brilliant idea! It was prefect! It would be considered a Marauder great!
Fifteen minutes later he was back in James' room. With a wave of his wand firecrackers exploded. Dozens of Dungbombs fell to the ground. Harry found himself in the air. He squealed with delight. If the firecrackers hadn't woken Lily and James, Harry's cries did. He did somersaults in the air and with each he squealed louder enjoying every minute.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" Lily screamed. She knew how much he hated his middle name so she used it whenever she was furious with him.
"He's having fun," Sirius said but he released the spell and Harry slowly floated down into his arms. The Dungbombs were started to smell, now for the last part of the joke. He rushed out of the room with Harry in his arms. He closed the door and locked it, from the outside. Inside was James and Lily and about 30 Dungbombs.
Practically skipping he made his way to Remus' room. His charms were already in effect. Where a sleeping Remus had been, was now a sleeping chicken. He waved his wand and more firecrackers exploded. Dungbombs fell to the ground and a bucket of ice cold water fell right on Remus. The bed started to act like a spring and Sirius watched as the chicken was now in the air, and then fell to the bed, but then was back up again. Harry squealed with delight and Sirius took a few more pictures. Sirius started to laugh, he looked at Harry who thought the chicken was great. Sirius had also made the chicken temporarily blind so there was a blind and wet chicken sailing in the air.
"Sirius Black, I'm going to-" James came into the room smelling like Dungbombs. He had escaped the room. Damn Lily and her knowledge of charms. "Is that Remus?" He asked distracted.
"Well right now it looks like a wet, blind chicken sailing through the air," Sirius said but then started to laugh again.
"He's blind too?" James asked excitingly.
The chicken fell off the spring bed onto the floor. Still, blind it kept bumping into the wall. The two Marauders howled with laughter even louder.
All a sudden the chicken changed back to Remus. He sat on the floor, with his eye sight back but still blind. "I'm- going- to kill YOU!" He wiped the water out of his eyes.
"It was all Harry," Sirius laughed. "He's going to make a fine Marauder one day."
Lily came into the room. Judging by the wetness of her hair, she had jumped in the shower to get rid of the smell of Dungbombs. She looked at Remus who was still on the floor, "Why are you wet?"
Sirius and James laughed again.
"Is this get Remus day?" Remus asked.
"No, he got us too," James said. "Too bad Wormtail isn't here."
"Oh I could have had fun with him," Sirius grinned. "Hey Harry, next time Wormtail is here, you up to putting a cat in his room?"
Everyone laughed.
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS!" Sirius yelled when they finished laughing. "Almost forgot in all the fun."
"Like hell you almost forgot," James shook his head.
"Why the jokes Padfoot?" Remus got up from the floor.
"I had to make Harry's first Christmas memorable didn't I?"
Lily, James and Remus shook their heads. Silently they all agreed that Sirius took his job as godfather a little too far. James and Lily wanted to make Harry's first memorable too but it didn't involve the hour of 5am.
"Since we are all up," Sirius looked around, "how about breakfast?"
"Are food and jokes the only thing you think of?" James asked.
"No I think of Harry and Quidditch," Sirius shrugged. "Oh and my bike."
They went downstairs to the dining room. The house elves had decorated it very nicely, there were at least 12 Christmas trees in the room, twinkling lights floated above the table and snow came down from the ceiling. The large Potter Crest Banner was up and Sirius looked at it and smiled. He couldn't wait until dinner. They all sat down to Christmas breakfast. Rosy had been expecting them and they were served right away. As they ate, they talked about past years and what their school mates were doing for the day. They all agreed that Snape was either going around killing people or locked in some dungeon making potions that no one cared about.
Sirius started to get edgy half way through breakfast. He wanted to go and open presents. He might be 20 years old but Christmas always brought out his 5-year-old self. It might have something to do with the fact that Christmas with the Black family had never been too much fun. When he started at Hogwarts he would pretend to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas and then he would go to the Potters for Christmas. His father always tried to force him home but if he didn't get on the train, what could he do? Here though, with the Marauders this was what Christmas should be like, he was with his real family here. Brotherly bonds were tight in this room and were not to be broken.
Finally Remus and James catching onto Sirius' edginess went to open presents. Sirius sat on the floor with Harry next to him. A twelve-foot tree stood in the living room and presents were all around it, you really couldn't see the bottom of the tree. Sirius grabbed a few of them and threw them to James, Remus and Lily. He then took one and gave it to Harry. Of course the present for Harry was from him and he helped him open it. Harry who was more interested in looking at the paper let Sirius unwrap 2 dozen Dungbombs.
"I will ask you again Sirius, what is Harry going to do with 2 dozen Dungbombs?" Lily asked.
"I'm going to teach him how to use them," Sirius replied. "He'll be the finest Marauder ever when I'm done with him."
"That is what I'm afraid of," Lily sighed.
For Christmas, Sirius had given James the latest, "Curse your friends, bewitch your enemies." Book and a bag filled of Zonko's best tricks. To Remus he had given him some books. "The titles almost put me to sleep so I knew you would enjoy them." He had given Lily a bag of tricks as a joke and dinner reservations for her and James. He got Harry a pile of stuff, from tricks to a broom that didn't fly but taught you how to hold it properly and how to mount without falling off.
"He's not even one years old," Lily protested.
"These are skills he needs to know," Sirius said and James nodded his head in agreement. "He'll be a fine Quidditch player one day, and I'm just helping him get there."
"He needs to know how to fly," said James.
When gift exchanging was done they all went to rest. It was barely 7am and their guests wouldn't be arriving for a few hours. Lily put Harry down for a nap. Sirius went outside to ride his motorcycle, it was Christmas, he couldn't sleep. While he was gone, everyone else took the chance to make up for lost sleep.
Around noon Sirius had returned from his flight. Lily and James were still sleeping. Remus was no doubt now reading in bed. He went to go rescue Harry from his crib. He took him back downstairs and outside. He got back on the motorcycle and was showing Harry the finer points of it when he and the rest of the house hold heard the alarm that someone was at the gates. Hoping it was Katie and her parents he got on the bike and still holding Harry tightly they went to the gates to see who was there.
From a distance he could tell it was her. He smiled and he looked down at Harry, "Watch closely young man and your godfather will show you how to use this precious bike to your advantage."
He drove up to the gates where she and her parents were coming through. "Excuse me miss?" He stopped the bike. "Would you like a lift?"
"Is there room?" she asked looking at Harry.
"There is always room for a lovely witch like yourself," He answered giving Harry a wink.
"What about my parents?" she asked.
"Well there isn't enough room for them, but I could provide them with brooms?" Sirius looked at them asking if that was fine with them. "Unless you have a better idea mister, you got us into this mess."
Katie's parents nodded and Sirius took out his wand, "Accio 2 brooms!"
When the brooms arrived, her parents mounted and Katie got on the bike. They all went up to the Mansion. Katie had taken Harry from Sirius and was now tickling him. At the doors of the Mansion stood Lily and James looking like they spent hours getting ready.
"Happy Christmas Katie," James came forward and helped her off the bike. "I'm glad to see you made it, and surprisingly in one piece." He looked at the bike.
"Happy Christmas James, Lily," she smiled. "I think the bike is wonderful, I do hope to get another ride?" She looked at Sirius.
Sirius grinned, "Any time you want."
"Katie, let me take my run away son from you. I swear Harry is just so smart, he got out of his crib, crawled down two flights of stairs, and found his way to his godfather," Lily said glaring at Sirius.
"That's just about what happened," Sirius nodded. "What a smart boy."
"Oh James, Lily, I would like you to meet my parents," Katie laughed and then turned remembering her parents still stood by. "Mary and Peter Moon."
"It is a pleasure to meet both of you," James shook their hands, "Come inside, we can have tea."
They went inside. James showed Katie's parents the living room and Rosy came in at once with tea. The Moons were a pure blood family, not as rich as the Potters but they had their share of money. They looked at home and conversation turned toward families quickly. They were discussing relatives and who in their family could be related, since it seemed everyone was a cousin in the old pure blood families.
There was a knock at the door. A house elf went to answer it and James stood up to greet them. He figured it was Peter, since he was the only guest coming who could get in without James knowing. He was right, and Peter and his mother came in.
"Wormtail!" James sprang forward and gave him friend a small hug. He gave Mrs. Pettigrew a hug too, "It's so good to see both of you."
"I saw Padfoot putting away that motorcycle of his," Peter commented.
"Yes, he went to greet Katie with it," James whispered to him. "Come, we having tea."
As they walked back to the living room, James called to Lily, "How is your aunt getting here?"
"You set up a Portkey for her remember?" she looked back at him.
"Of course," James nodded. He had just sat back down and introduced Mrs. Pettigrew to the Moons when the alarm went off. "Who is it?"
"James, its Mr. Lupin," he heard Remus' dad's familiar voice.
"Come in, I'll send two brooms out to you, so you don't have to walk," James took out his wand and banished two brooms out the door.
Remus got up and went to go greet his parents. Lily also got up, "My aunt should be arriving any second now." There was a pop in the Entrance Hall and Lily's aunt appeared hoping an old newspaper.
"You travel like this usually?" she asked looking at the newspaper.
"No, we usually just disappear and appear in another place," Lily laughed and greeted her aunt. Aunt Elizabeth Evans, had been Lily's father's older sister. She had been closest with Lily when they were growing up. She found out about her being a witch at the funeral, she had kept it a secret but had been anxious to see more of her world.
"Petunia is having Christmas at their new place in Surrey. I was invited of course but I'd rather be here with you," she told Lily filling her in on the news. "Petunia has a baby boy too, Dudley they named him. Dudley Dursley."
Lily sighed, she didn't even know her sister had been pregnant. She wished they could be closer, like they had been when they were younger, but she knew that was impossible. Petunia would never change her views of the wizarding world, and nothing Lily could do would make Petunia like her again.
"Well come and meet everyone," she sighed and changed the subject.
Remus came in with his parents minutes later. He was the only Marauder to have both parents alive and the other Marauders thought he deserved this at least. He easily could have lived with them after graduation but he moved in with James to be closer to his friends. His parents he could visit and be away from but his brothers, they couldn't be separated.
"Mr. Lupin," James got up. He was fond of Remus' parents, they were two of the nicest people he had ever met. "Mrs. Lupin, it's so good to see both of you again." He looked around at everyone, "Well everyone is here, so introductions and then dinner!" James said and he introduced everyone to the Moon's and Aunt Elizabeth. The Lupins and Pettigrews knew each other of course and they both had heard of the Moon family.
They then went to sit down. Sirius looked up at the Potter crest and was pleased to see the new arrangement. He smiled and took his seat, he would wait for everyone else to realize it. Remus sat with his parents, he went to visit them when he could but he had been a few months since they saw each other last. Sirius looked over at them and thought, how lucky he was, his parents loved him. They accepted him being a werewolf and were the most encouraging parents Sirius had ever met. He knew they had settled down quietly when Remus started at Hogwarts, and they stayed out of the war. Sirius wasn't even sure if Voldemort knew they were still alive, Mr. Lupin had been involved in the clean up after Grindlewald and said he had seen enough then.
Everyone started to eat. The house elves as always over did it and Sirius ate all he could. He was growing edgy though, no one had noticed that the Potter crest was missing. Half the fun of being a Marauder was having people notice your work. He waited and waited.
Half way through dinner Remus turned to talk to James when he noticed it. "Is tha?." He pointed and directed everyone's attention to the wall behind James. "It is." He started to laugh and he smiled. He looked at Sirius, "You got them good Padfoot."
"That's Lily and James," Peter commented.
"I'm going to kill you," James had turned around and there where the Potter crest was suppose to be was the picture he had taken that morning of Lily and James sleeping.
"I couldn't resist," Sirius shrugged.
Lily took out her wand and muttered a few words under his breath. The Potter crest was back in an instant.
"Ah Lily," Sirius whined.
"Still making trouble?" Mr. Lupin asked.
"A Marauder is a Marauder for life," Sirius said solemnly. "I quoted that from Mr. Sirius O. Black."
Everyone laughed. James managed a smile, "He got everyone good this morning." Sirius laughed and then went into details about the morning's tricks. Everyone laughed hard but his victims.
When they had finished eating they all, went back to the living room and had something to drink. James stood up, "As it is Christmas, I propose a toast, to this wonderful day, and to peace."
"To hope," Lily raised her glass.
"To brothers," Remus said.
"To godsons, in hope they need not know this war," Sirius bowed his head.
"To family," Aunt Elizabeth said looking at Lily.
"To friendship," said Peter.
"To the safety of all," Mrs. Pettigrew went after her son.
"To every parent's pride and joy," Mrs. Lupin smiled at her son.
"To the end of the war," Mr. Lupin ended it.
They were silent after that. Each was lost in their own thoughts and the Marauders silently prayed for a better time. Harry sat in his father's lap and was trying to grab hold of his dress robes. Finally Sirius looked up, "Christmas is not ending on this sad note." He got up, "Lily, you promised me that when Harry was six months old he could get a ride on my motorcycle."
Lily started to open her mouth to protest, but James cut her off, "He'll be safe Lily. You know Sirius, he would never endanger Harry on purpose."
"You did promise Lily," Remus spoke.
"Fine, but be safe," she asked. She hated his motorcycle more than anything in the world. Well other than her sister and Voldemort.
Sirius smiled and grabbed Harry. He took him to the door and put on his small cloak. They went outside and got on the motorcycle. Sirius kicked it to life. He rose slowly into the air holding tight onto Harry. Harry clapped his small hands together and squealed with delight. He looked up at Sirius and giggled, and then tried to grab his chin.
Sirius took him all around, and he stayed in Lily's sight. Harry settled down in his arms but every once in a while he would laugh.
"Happy Christmas Harry," Sirius kissed his forehead. "I hope every Christmas will be like this."
Author's Note:
Because of problems with the story and the reformatting I was doing, I had to reupload the whole story. I mixed chapters up and I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out and it was just wasn't happening. So I lost all the reviews, but I really want to thank everyone who has reviewed, it has meant so much to me. I kept most of the reviews in my mailbox so I still have some of them. I just want to thank everyone for their kind words and reviews and I hope you continue to enjoy the story. I'm having a lot of fun writing it.
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Five in the morning... a time reserved for the weary, a time when those who work all day are still asleep and dreaming peacefully. It's also a time when those who stay up half the night prefer to be asleep and for hours to come.
But it was 5am on December 25 and it is a time when children are up, glowing with excitement. It is also a time when eccentric godfathers who act like children decide to wake the household from it's
slumber. First, as silently as only a Marauder could, he went into James' room and set up a few items around the room. He then sniggered silently and took a picture of the couple sleeping. He couldn't resist as James slept in a very undignified position. He and Lily were entangled in each other, though of one of his legs was not even on the bed anymore. They were both close to the edge and one small push would have them both on the floor. James' mouth was opened and if you looked closely you could see a bit of drool. Lily had her head on his chest and her red hair was every where. When James took a breath, he got some of it in his mouth. Sirius had no doubt what they had been doing last night. He looked around the room making sure everything was done. He needed to do something with this picture, it was too good to let go. Way too good.
Next he picked up Harry who had been watching him silently from his crib. He held onto the bars of it and his eyes moved with Sirius. Harry was learning fast, Sirius thought, he knew Sirius was in the middle of mischief making and he had not cried or made any noise to disturb Sirius's victims. Such a smart boy. Sirius rewarded him by picking him up and they went outside. Sirius whispered to him that he could take part in the joke. But first he had other business to do so he let the sleeping beauties sleep for a little longer. He had to attend to Remus' room.
The pair went into Remus' room. Remus was half sitting up in bed and judging by the book at his side he had fallen asleep reading. Sirius went over to see the title of the book, "Great Wizards and Witches of the Medievil time. Vol. 5". He made a face at Harry who stuck his small tongue out, Sirius had taught him that trick. No wonder Moony had fallen asleep, the title was enough to put him back to sleep. Sirius gave Harry a pat on the back, he would make a fine Marauder one day.
Sirius set up some firecrackers and put a few charms on Moony before leaving. Once again Harry was silent and he watched Sirius work. Outside it was time to put his plan to action when he got an idea. He knew exactly what to do with the picture. He smiled evilly and gave Harry a hug. It was a brilliant idea! It was prefect! It would be considered a Marauder great!
Fifteen minutes later he was back in James' room. With a wave of his wand firecrackers exploded. Dozens of Dungbombs fell to the ground. Harry found himself in the air. He squealed with delight. If the firecrackers hadn't woken Lily and James, Harry's cries did. He did somersaults in the air and with each he squealed louder enjoying every minute.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" Lily screamed. She knew how much he hated his middle name so she used it whenever she was furious with him.
"He's having fun," Sirius said but he released the spell and Harry slowly floated down into his arms. The Dungbombs were started to smell, now for the last part of the joke. He rushed out of the room with Harry in his arms. He closed the door and locked it, from the outside. Inside was James and Lily and about 30 Dungbombs.
Practically skipping he made his way to Remus' room. His charms were already in effect. Where a sleeping Remus had been, was now a sleeping chicken. He waved his wand and more firecrackers exploded. Dungbombs fell to the ground and a bucket of ice cold water fell right on Remus. The bed started to act like a spring and Sirius watched as the chicken was now in the air, and then fell to the bed, but then was back up again. Harry squealed with delight and Sirius took a few more pictures. Sirius started to laugh, he looked at Harry who thought the chicken was great. Sirius had also made the chicken temporarily blind so there was a blind and wet chicken sailing in the air.
"Sirius Black, I'm going to-" James came into the room smelling like Dungbombs. He had escaped the room. Damn Lily and her knowledge of charms. "Is that Remus?" He asked distracted.
"Well right now it looks like a wet, blind chicken sailing through the air," Sirius said but then started to laugh again.
"He's blind too?" James asked excitingly.
The chicken fell off the spring bed onto the floor. Still, blind it kept bumping into the wall. The two Marauders howled with laughter even louder.
All a sudden the chicken changed back to Remus. He sat on the floor, with his eye sight back but still blind. "I'm- going- to kill YOU!" He wiped the water out of his eyes.
"It was all Harry," Sirius laughed. "He's going to make a fine Marauder one day."
Lily came into the room. Judging by the wetness of her hair, she had jumped in the shower to get rid of the smell of Dungbombs. She looked at Remus who was still on the floor, "Why are you wet?"
Sirius and James laughed again.
"Is this get Remus day?" Remus asked.
"No, he got us too," James said. "Too bad Wormtail isn't here."
"Oh I could have had fun with him," Sirius grinned. "Hey Harry, next time Wormtail is here, you up to putting a cat in his room?"
Everyone laughed.
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS!" Sirius yelled when they finished laughing. "Almost forgot in all the fun."
"Like hell you almost forgot," James shook his head.
"Why the jokes Padfoot?" Remus got up from the floor.
"I had to make Harry's first Christmas memorable didn't I?"
Lily, James and Remus shook their heads. Silently they all agreed that Sirius took his job as godfather a little too far. James and Lily wanted to make Harry's first memorable too but it didn't involve the hour of 5am.
"Since we are all up," Sirius looked around, "how about breakfast?"
"Are food and jokes the only thing you think of?" James asked.
"No I think of Harry and Quidditch," Sirius shrugged. "Oh and my bike."
They went downstairs to the dining room. The house elves had decorated it very nicely, there were at least 12 Christmas trees in the room, twinkling lights floated above the table and snow came down from the ceiling. The large Potter Crest Banner was up and Sirius looked at it and smiled. He couldn't wait until dinner. They all sat down to Christmas breakfast. Rosy had been expecting them and they were served right away. As they ate, they talked about past years and what their school mates were doing for the day. They all agreed that Snape was either going around killing people or locked in some dungeon making potions that no one cared about.
Sirius started to get edgy half way through breakfast. He wanted to go and open presents. He might be 20 years old but Christmas always brought out his 5-year-old self. It might have something to do with the fact that Christmas with the Black family had never been too much fun. When he started at Hogwarts he would pretend to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas and then he would go to the Potters for Christmas. His father always tried to force him home but if he didn't get on the train, what could he do? Here though, with the Marauders this was what Christmas should be like, he was with his real family here. Brotherly bonds were tight in this room and were not to be broken.
Finally Remus and James catching onto Sirius' edginess went to open presents. Sirius sat on the floor with Harry next to him. A twelve-foot tree stood in the living room and presents were all around it, you really couldn't see the bottom of the tree. Sirius grabbed a few of them and threw them to James, Remus and Lily. He then took one and gave it to Harry. Of course the present for Harry was from him and he helped him open it. Harry who was more interested in looking at the paper let Sirius unwrap 2 dozen Dungbombs.
"I will ask you again Sirius, what is Harry going to do with 2 dozen Dungbombs?" Lily asked.
"I'm going to teach him how to use them," Sirius replied. "He'll be the finest Marauder ever when I'm done with him."
"That is what I'm afraid of," Lily sighed.
For Christmas, Sirius had given James the latest, "Curse your friends, bewitch your enemies." Book and a bag filled of Zonko's best tricks. To Remus he had given him some books. "The titles almost put me to sleep so I knew you would enjoy them." He had given Lily a bag of tricks as a joke and dinner reservations for her and James. He got Harry a pile of stuff, from tricks to a broom that didn't fly but taught you how to hold it properly and how to mount without falling off.
"He's not even one years old," Lily protested.
"These are skills he needs to know," Sirius said and James nodded his head in agreement. "He'll be a fine Quidditch player one day, and I'm just helping him get there."
"He needs to know how to fly," said James.
When gift exchanging was done they all went to rest. It was barely 7am and their guests wouldn't be arriving for a few hours. Lily put Harry down for a nap. Sirius went outside to ride his motorcycle, it was Christmas, he couldn't sleep. While he was gone, everyone else took the chance to make up for lost sleep.
Around noon Sirius had returned from his flight. Lily and James were still sleeping. Remus was no doubt now reading in bed. He went to go rescue Harry from his crib. He took him back downstairs and outside. He got back on the motorcycle and was showing Harry the finer points of it when he and the rest of the house hold heard the alarm that someone was at the gates. Hoping it was Katie and her parents he got on the bike and still holding Harry tightly they went to the gates to see who was there.
From a distance he could tell it was her. He smiled and he looked down at Harry, "Watch closely young man and your godfather will show you how to use this precious bike to your advantage."
He drove up to the gates where she and her parents were coming through. "Excuse me miss?" He stopped the bike. "Would you like a lift?"
"Is there room?" she asked looking at Harry.
"There is always room for a lovely witch like yourself," He answered giving Harry a wink.
"What about my parents?" she asked.
"Well there isn't enough room for them, but I could provide them with brooms?" Sirius looked at them asking if that was fine with them. "Unless you have a better idea mister, you got us into this mess."
Katie's parents nodded and Sirius took out his wand, "Accio 2 brooms!"
When the brooms arrived, her parents mounted and Katie got on the bike. They all went up to the Mansion. Katie had taken Harry from Sirius and was now tickling him. At the doors of the Mansion stood Lily and James looking like they spent hours getting ready.
"Happy Christmas Katie," James came forward and helped her off the bike. "I'm glad to see you made it, and surprisingly in one piece." He looked at the bike.
"Happy Christmas James, Lily," she smiled. "I think the bike is wonderful, I do hope to get another ride?" She looked at Sirius.
Sirius grinned, "Any time you want."
"Katie, let me take my run away son from you. I swear Harry is just so smart, he got out of his crib, crawled down two flights of stairs, and found his way to his godfather," Lily said glaring at Sirius.
"That's just about what happened," Sirius nodded. "What a smart boy."
"Oh James, Lily, I would like you to meet my parents," Katie laughed and then turned remembering her parents still stood by. "Mary and Peter Moon."
"It is a pleasure to meet both of you," James shook their hands, "Come inside, we can have tea."
They went inside. James showed Katie's parents the living room and Rosy came in at once with tea. The Moons were a pure blood family, not as rich as the Potters but they had their share of money. They looked at home and conversation turned toward families quickly. They were discussing relatives and who in their family could be related, since it seemed everyone was a cousin in the old pure blood families.
There was a knock at the door. A house elf went to answer it and James stood up to greet them. He figured it was Peter, since he was the only guest coming who could get in without James knowing. He was right, and Peter and his mother came in.
"Wormtail!" James sprang forward and gave him friend a small hug. He gave Mrs. Pettigrew a hug too, "It's so good to see both of you."
"I saw Padfoot putting away that motorcycle of his," Peter commented.
"Yes, he went to greet Katie with it," James whispered to him. "Come, we having tea."
As they walked back to the living room, James called to Lily, "How is your aunt getting here?"
"You set up a Portkey for her remember?" she looked back at him.
"Of course," James nodded. He had just sat back down and introduced Mrs. Pettigrew to the Moons when the alarm went off. "Who is it?"
"James, its Mr. Lupin," he heard Remus' dad's familiar voice.
"Come in, I'll send two brooms out to you, so you don't have to walk," James took out his wand and banished two brooms out the door.
Remus got up and went to go greet his parents. Lily also got up, "My aunt should be arriving any second now." There was a pop in the Entrance Hall and Lily's aunt appeared hoping an old newspaper.
"You travel like this usually?" she asked looking at the newspaper.
"No, we usually just disappear and appear in another place," Lily laughed and greeted her aunt. Aunt Elizabeth Evans, had been Lily's father's older sister. She had been closest with Lily when they were growing up. She found out about her being a witch at the funeral, she had kept it a secret but had been anxious to see more of her world.
"Petunia is having Christmas at their new place in Surrey. I was invited of course but I'd rather be here with you," she told Lily filling her in on the news. "Petunia has a baby boy too, Dudley they named him. Dudley Dursley."
Lily sighed, she didn't even know her sister had been pregnant. She wished they could be closer, like they had been when they were younger, but she knew that was impossible. Petunia would never change her views of the wizarding world, and nothing Lily could do would make Petunia like her again.
"Well come and meet everyone," she sighed and changed the subject.
Remus came in with his parents minutes later. He was the only Marauder to have both parents alive and the other Marauders thought he deserved this at least. He easily could have lived with them after graduation but he moved in with James to be closer to his friends. His parents he could visit and be away from but his brothers, they couldn't be separated.
"Mr. Lupin," James got up. He was fond of Remus' parents, they were two of the nicest people he had ever met. "Mrs. Lupin, it's so good to see both of you again." He looked around at everyone, "Well everyone is here, so introductions and then dinner!" James said and he introduced everyone to the Moon's and Aunt Elizabeth. The Lupins and Pettigrews knew each other of course and they both had heard of the Moon family.
They then went to sit down. Sirius looked up at the Potter crest and was pleased to see the new arrangement. He smiled and took his seat, he would wait for everyone else to realize it. Remus sat with his parents, he went to visit them when he could but he had been a few months since they saw each other last. Sirius looked over at them and thought, how lucky he was, his parents loved him. They accepted him being a werewolf and were the most encouraging parents Sirius had ever met. He knew they had settled down quietly when Remus started at Hogwarts, and they stayed out of the war. Sirius wasn't even sure if Voldemort knew they were still alive, Mr. Lupin had been involved in the clean up after Grindlewald and said he had seen enough then.
Everyone started to eat. The house elves as always over did it and Sirius ate all he could. He was growing edgy though, no one had noticed that the Potter crest was missing. Half the fun of being a Marauder was having people notice your work. He waited and waited.
Half way through dinner Remus turned to talk to James when he noticed it. "Is tha?." He pointed and directed everyone's attention to the wall behind James. "It is." He started to laugh and he smiled. He looked at Sirius, "You got them good Padfoot."
"That's Lily and James," Peter commented.
"I'm going to kill you," James had turned around and there where the Potter crest was suppose to be was the picture he had taken that morning of Lily and James sleeping.
"I couldn't resist," Sirius shrugged.
Lily took out her wand and muttered a few words under his breath. The Potter crest was back in an instant.
"Ah Lily," Sirius whined.
"Still making trouble?" Mr. Lupin asked.
"A Marauder is a Marauder for life," Sirius said solemnly. "I quoted that from Mr. Sirius O. Black."
Everyone laughed. James managed a smile, "He got everyone good this morning." Sirius laughed and then went into details about the morning's tricks. Everyone laughed hard but his victims.
When they had finished eating they all, went back to the living room and had something to drink. James stood up, "As it is Christmas, I propose a toast, to this wonderful day, and to peace."
"To hope," Lily raised her glass.
"To brothers," Remus said.
"To godsons, in hope they need not know this war," Sirius bowed his head.
"To family," Aunt Elizabeth said looking at Lily.
"To friendship," said Peter.
"To the safety of all," Mrs. Pettigrew went after her son.
"To every parent's pride and joy," Mrs. Lupin smiled at her son.
"To the end of the war," Mr. Lupin ended it.
They were silent after that. Each was lost in their own thoughts and the Marauders silently prayed for a better time. Harry sat in his father's lap and was trying to grab hold of his dress robes. Finally Sirius looked up, "Christmas is not ending on this sad note." He got up, "Lily, you promised me that when Harry was six months old he could get a ride on my motorcycle."
Lily started to open her mouth to protest, but James cut her off, "He'll be safe Lily. You know Sirius, he would never endanger Harry on purpose."
"You did promise Lily," Remus spoke.
"Fine, but be safe," she asked. She hated his motorcycle more than anything in the world. Well other than her sister and Voldemort.
Sirius smiled and grabbed Harry. He took him to the door and put on his small cloak. They went outside and got on the motorcycle. Sirius kicked it to life. He rose slowly into the air holding tight onto Harry. Harry clapped his small hands together and squealed with delight. He looked up at Sirius and giggled, and then tried to grab his chin.
Sirius took him all around, and he stayed in Lily's sight. Harry settled down in his arms but every once in a while he would laugh.
"Happy Christmas Harry," Sirius kissed his forehead. "I hope every Christmas will be like this."
Author's Note:
Because of problems with the story and the reformatting I was doing, I had to reupload the whole story. I mixed chapters up and I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out and it was just wasn't happening. So I lost all the reviews, but I really want to thank everyone who has reviewed, it has meant so much to me. I kept most of the reviews in my mailbox so I still have some of them. I just want to thank everyone for their kind words and reviews and I hope you continue to enjoy the story. I'm having a lot of fun writing it.
