Chapter 55 : Christmas

Sirius woke before the sun on Christmas morning. He silently crept out of his bedroom, careful not to awaken Faith. He tiptoed downstairs, glancing at the Christmas tree as he made his way to the kitchen. The tree was average sized and bright green. An odd assortment of ornaments decorated it. There was to be a party later, and no presents would be opened until then, but Sirius needed to wrap what he got for Faith. She would have him busy with other things during the day, and he would never get another chance…besides he wanted to see if he could sneak a peak at what she got him.

Sirius pulled his wand out of his robe pocket and caused the stove to move from its place. He reached behind and produced a small green box. Working quietly, he wrapped the gift and then put it back in it's hiding spot. He then thought of where in the world Faith could have hid his gift. A closet was too predictable. After a minute or two of thinking he remembered seeing Faith creeping about their bed.

Sirius tiptoed back upstairs and into his room. Faith was still fast asleep, and he crept onto his hands and knees. Crawling he made his way over to her side of the bed. At first he saw only black underneath their bed, but slowly his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could make out a box. Giving a small smile of triumph he attempted to reach for the box. It was too far, so he stuck his head and shoulder underneath the bed, trying to reach the box.

"What are you doing?" Faith wanted to know. Sirius jerked his head up and hit it against the bed.

"Owww…." He groaned as he came out from under the bed. Faith sat up with her arms crossed across her chest and a puzzled look on her face.

"I was….uh…just…looking for…" he trailed off.

"I thought so," she smirked.

"Little Catherine's first Christmas!" Remus cheered as Catherine lay on the floor, rolling around in several different directions. Her brown hair had gotten longer and was put up into two tiny pigtails on the top of her head. Catherine looked at her father and gave a toothless grin. He grinned back and reached over to pick up his daughter.

"I think you spoiled that child for Christmas," Sarah joked from the other room.

"Eh..maybe, but its our first. Everyone spoils their first," Remus explained.

"Whatever you say,"

"I'm not the one that bought her a 45 galleon dress for Christmas," he teased as he carried Catherine over to her mother.

"Touché," she grinned.

"Besides," Remus muttered as he walked to the other side of the room. "I think I spoil you too," he continued as he came up behind and presented her with a neatly wrapped box. Sarah gave a small blush as she opened the gift. Inside was a beautiful diamond necklace. Her jaw dropped and she smiled at him.

"To a million more Christmases," he whispered kissing her.

"I really would like to help," Mrs. Weasley murmured as she ventured into Faith's kitchen.

"You can help make cookies if you want," Faith offered as she handed Mrs. Weasley a box of cookie cutters. She immediately got to cutting out sugar snowmen and snowflakes. Faith had a bowl of cookie dough already to go for a fifth batch; she turned her back for an instant and when she looked back to her cookie dough, a large chunk of it was gone. George stood there with a large spoon caked with dough. He gave an innocent smile and began to eat. Faith frowned at him and remembered when the twins were younger that they would often to that…together. She turned away from George, her eyes watering. Ever since Fred died, George hadn't been the same. He was still mischievous but he was quieter about it. He had lost his main accomplice.

As the sun started to drift down, everyone arrived. They all carried brightly covered gifts and were bundled tightly from the cold. Within minutes, Tera Manor was filled with laughter and people telling stories of past Christmases.

"Here ya go Harry. It's from the both of us," Sirius smiled as he pushed a brightly wrapped gift towards Harry. Harry quickly unwrapped the gift and pulled out a new broom he did not recognize.

"It's a Nimbus 2005, hasn't been released yet," Sirius commented.

"We nicked it from the Ministry," grinned Faith. Harry looked up and smiled at them. At the very bottom of the box was a picture frame. Harry picked it up and saw a picture of a past Christmas. A baby Harry was perched on top of his father's shoulders. His mother had an arm wrapped around her husband and a bright Christmas tree twinkled in the background.

"Get your girlfriend anything?" Sarah questioned giving Ron a nudge. Ron turned bright red and stared down at the ground. Sarah gave a loud laugh and set Catherine on the floor. A young puppy that Remus and Sarah had gotten for Ron bounded over to Catherine and proceeded to lick her hands.

"It's a key," Sirius commented as he pulled a shiny silver key out of the box Faith had handed him.

"Yes, but a key to what?" she charmed with a wide smile. Sirius looked at the key thoughtfully, there was something slightly familiar about it, but he couldn't figure out what.

"Is it to a house? Room?"

"No. No,"

Sirius frowned and turned the key over in his hands. That is when he saw something etched on it. It was way in the groove of the key. Sirius recognized the etching as his. He turned it peered at the words: 'Sirius& Faith' then he remembered. He looked up at Faith stunned, a wide smile beginning to spread on his face.

"Are you kidding me?" he wondered. She shook her head and he looked around before deciding to check outside. Sure enough, perched on the porch of their house was Sirius's black motorcycle.

Catherine lay on the floor, rolling from side to side, entertaining everyone.

"She is positively adorable," Mrs. Weasley cooed as she picked up the young child. She placed a left over bow on her head and laughed as Catherine tried to reach up and grab it. When she failed to grab it, Catherine resorted to sticking her fist into her mouth to suck on it. There was a light clicking noise as Faith snapped a picture of the scene.

At 3 a.m. Sirius and Faith began cleaning their house. Faith held open a large trash bag and Sirius would shoot crumpled up pieces of wrapping paper into it. There was a knock at the door as Faith hit Sirius in the head with a half-eaten cookie. She laughed at his stunned expression as she went over to the door. She opened it and looked at who stood in her doorway. All the breath was instantly sucked out of her lungs and the floor rushed up to meet her as she fell.