Heyyyy. How are you lovely people doing? :)

First of all. 160+ followers...that is beyond mental. Secondly I just thought I'd let you know that from their fifth year I have a pretty good idea what's going to happen. The rest of the second year and until then, pretty much writing as I go.

This chapter may be a little short, but it seems for now I'm somehow managing to do weekly updates, so the chapters will be a little bit shorter.

I thought everyone may be interested in knowing that I did make the snippet into a story...which now has four chapters. You can find it on my profile! It's called Time Travel? Piece of Cake. I honestly just pictured Sirius saying that and well here we are. Promise is going to be put on hiatus though, unfortunately :"(

So I just updated It Was Her Ginger Hair, and TTPOC over the last few days! So I hope you enjoy them.

This chapter is finishing off their Christmas Holiday and they'll be back on their way to Hogwarts, giving Minnie more headaches of course.

I just wanted to thank everyone for their lovely reviews on the last chapter! :3

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, only the story line and any OC's are mine.

December 22nd, 1972

Potter Manor

Gardens

Frank hadn't asked why Remus hadn't joined them yesterday, he had been too occupied trying to get the other boys to stop teasing him about Alice. Hermione had shot a few stinging hexes at them, which shut them up.

Now Hermione was properly freezing over the pool, to make sure none of them fell in when they went ice skating. Remus had spoken about how when he was little, sometimes his Mother would take him ice skating by a pond close to their house. After getting a description (even though she didn't need one; she had to keep up appearances though), Hermione transfigured all of their shoes into skates. Glacius! Hermione thought as she pointed her wand at the pool. Within seconds the pool was frozen solid, and Sirius was the first to hop onto the ice. He was also the first to fall flat on his face.

"Nice going, Sirius!" James clutched at his stomach as he guffawed loudly.

"Oi, Jamie, that's not nice," Draco scolded. "Sirius, mate? You alright?" The response was Sirius' hand thrust in the air with his thumb up, trying to manoeuvre his way to a standing position. "I think you're supposed to skate with you feet, not your face," Draco grinned.

"Hey, how's that better than what I did?" James complained.

"I asked him if he was alright before I laughed at him," Draco shrugged. "It's only polite."

Hermione rolled her eyes, tucked her wand into her jacket pocket and then carefully crawled onto the pool's surface. Taking her time before standing up. It had been years since she had gone ice skating, but it felt as if it was just yesterday.

"How is it that you manage to do everything so well?" Sirius grumbled sourly, sitting down, one leg extended, the other bent, as he propped his chin on his knee.

"Cause she's Mione," James smirked. "Alright, let's give this a go." James it seemed, was a natural. He skidded onto his knees once, but after that he was skating circles around Sirius; trying to get his friend to try again. Minutes later, James was holding Sirius' hands as he skated backwards, guiding his friend whose knees were knocking together as he shakily skated forward.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Peter piped up.

"It's just a little ice, Pete. What could go wrong?" James called out to his friend.

Peter climbed up, but instead of trying to stand up, he shifted until his feet were on the ground and he was squatting. Using his hands he started to skate forward at a snail like pace. Though the joy that lit up his face indicated that he was having fun.

Remus and Frank paired up, hands on each other's shoulders as they wobbly skated together. Hermione stopped by the pool's edge in front of Draco. The raven haired boy was glaring at the ice as if it's very presence offended him.

"Not going to try?" Hermione carefully sat down, eyebrows raised.

"This is ridiculous," Draco scowled, but Hermione saw right through him.

"You're scared," Hermione breathed, her hot breath visible in the air as her eyes widened.

"Shut up," Draco glared darkly at her.

"The great Draco Potter is scared of a little bit of ice," She teased lightly. It was a unspoken challenge and they both knew it.

"I'm not fucking scared," Draco grumbled, defiantly climbing up next to her, still on his knees as he stared suspiciously at the ice.

"I'll help you," Hermione offered, standing up again. Draco hesitated before reluctantly taking her hand. "I won't let you fall," Hermione said softly. I'm here for you, Draco.

"You better not," Draco sneered, for a moment he looked like his old self, but Hermione could tell that was the self preservation kicking in.

James zoomed by behind them, dragging a screaming Sirius behind him. It was the first time Sirius had lost his cool in such a way, and James was loving it. Remus turned his head to see Hermione's arm around Draco's waist as she helped him skate, a few times Draco had to lean on her when his feet wanted to slip out from under him; but he seemed to be getting the hang of it. His scowl faded into a pleasant expression, his vice grip loosening around Hermione's shoulders little by little.

Frank was tripping over his own feet a lot so Remus focused his attention back on the boy, making sure that Frank didn't injure himself.

Peter narrowly avoided getting cleaned up by James and Sirius as they flew by him, his hands flying to his head. Which caused him to lose his balance and fall gracelessly onto his back.

"See, not that hard," Hermione grinned brightly as she looked at Draco, carefully extracting herself until they were only holding hands. Draco's eyes widened with panic, but Hermione didn't let him think too much, pulling him behind her as they skated around the outer edge of the pool.

James and Sirius seemed to have traded places; the reckless one more subdued, and the one who could see reason, completely throwing it all out the window. James began to spin Sirius in a circle; Sirius feet moving in every direction possible as he tried to stay on his feet. Frank was slowly but surely getting a hang of it. Remus whispered words of encouragement, shaking his head as he watched his friends spin in circles.

An hour later, they all sat in an exhausted circle, panting heavily in the middle of the pool. Hermione was lying on James, who was ruffling Sirius's hair. Remus and Draco were staring at each other, trying to stifle their laughter as Peter lay on his side, spinning in a circle. Frank however was the one who broke the silence.

"Thanks you guys," Frank said shyly.

"What for, Frankie?" Sirius tilted his head in curiosity.

"For inviting me. I know we're friends, but you guys are different. You kind of exist in your own special bubble." Frank blushed, rubbing his already red nose nervously.

The Marauders didn't know what to say to that, they couldn't deny it, since it was true, but they didn't want Frank to feel left out. Draco was the one who stepped up to the plate, and from Frank's reaction, he said the perfect thing. "I can't really deny that, but Frank. You're a Gryffindor, our roommate, our friend. Trust me bud, you're family. I know I can rely on you if I'm ever in a tight spot," Draco smiled softly at the young Longbottom. Hermione turned to look at Draco, a tender smile on her face. We've come so far. A few years back Draco would have sneered at him and made fun of him mercilessly.

"Draco couldn't have said it better, you're family, Frank," James said, echoing Draco's sentiment.

After that Hermione transfigured their shoes back to normal and they all tiredly trudged back inside where Dorea was waiting with tea and a plate of freshly backed chocolate chip cookies. Mipsy had scolded her Mistress for baking them by herself whilst Mipsy did the washing.

Dorea merely laughed and offered her one.

The warm, gooey chocolate chips melted on Hermione's tongue as she bit into the cookie. Remus was exceptionally happy, sneaking five off of the plate, thinking that none of them noticed. Peter was sitting in the corner by the oven's fire happily munching away on his two. Hermione silently regarded the innocent, happy boy and wondered for the umpteenth time where it all went so wrong. James and Sirius were now fighting over who was to get the last one. I'll fix this.

"Remus, give Frank one of yours," Hermione commanded, Remus froze, backing them, she could see his red ears as he slowly extended a hand in Frank's direction and gave him a cookie.

"James, give Sirius the cookie," Hermione quirked a brow, her tone stern.

"Why?" James sulked, Sirius snatched the cookie off of the plate at the speed of light, taking a large, smug bite before James could do anything.

"You did unfair him a little bit just now," Hermione reminded him.

"THANK you," Sirius threw his hands in the air, cookie crumbs flying out of his mouth. Hermione didn't even say anything before Dorea beat her to it.

"Don't speak with your mouth full," Dorea pinched Sirius' cheek lightly, not hard enough to hurt, but it did get the point across. "Though with Walburga as your Mother, I'd expect you wouldn't know any better," Dorea shook her head sadly. A broad grin spreading across Sirius' face.

"Aunt Dorea, if you weren't Uncle Charlus' wife, and James Mother, I'd ask you to marry me."

"Sirius my darling, you couldn't handle me," Dorea smiled sweetly, sipping her tea.

"Mum...have I told you I love you today?" Draco sighed contently.

"No, as a matter of fact, you haven't," the corners of her mouth twitching upwards as she said it.

"After that comment, rest assured, I most certainly do."

The rest of their day was spent in front of the fireplace in the Drawing Room, eating sweets, tossing pillows at one another and eventually falling asleep in an entanglement of limbs. The Christmas tree glowing beside them.

...

December 25th, 1972

Christmas

Potter Manor

Sirius was the first awake. Excitedly jumping on the others to wake them up. Draco nearly hexed him for it. It wasn't even five in the morning yet. James dragged himself out of bed, only to fall asleep in Hermione's armchair, face down, glasses askew. Remus curled in between Draco and Hermione tighter, a pillow over his head. Hermione calmly sat up, eyes lidded, brow drawn together and cast a muffliato on Sirius. Falling back down again, and snuggling into Remus' warmth.

If they could hear Sirius they would have heard him bellowing at the top of his lungs, "It's Christmas! It's Christmas and I'm not in the shithole of a home that I grew up in! Wake up! Presents! Sweets! Candy! Closer to going back to Hogwarts! Minnie's bound to have missed us!"

It was only a matter of time before Sirius wore himself out; he really wasn't used to getting up so early. Soon he was splayed across the other occupants on the bed, leaving a huge space next to them where he could have easily fit himself.

When everyone woke up again, at a more reasonable hour; seven o'clock, then they all sluggishly made their way downstairs where Peter and Frank were being entertained by Charlus.

"Mince pie?" Peter asked gleefully, holding the plate out to James, who smiled warmly, ruffling Peter's hair and accepting one.

Hermione tucked her raven curls behind her ears, watching her boys excitedly gather around the tree.

At the base of the tree, reflecting the warms Christmas lights was a vast assortment of presents. The boys presents from their parents and family members had obviously been sent overnight. The various types of wrapping paper glittered and gleamed; on a few of them the illustrations were actually weaving and dancing around the paper.

"Ok. We're going to do this in an orderly fashion. Alright?" Dorea pointed at the boys in warning; they were practically vibrating with excitement, even Draco and Remus couldn't contain themselves. "We can do this one of two ways. You can either find the present from the same person and open them at the same time all together, or you can take turns."

"I vote the first, personally," Charlus added his two cents.

"I agree, Aunt Dorea," Sirius spoke on behalf of the rest of them.

Hermione finally decided to join their midat properly. Gently moving the boys out of the way as she grabbed a tiny package, wrapped it shiny silver paper and a dark green bow. A bit nervous, she rolled her bottom lip between her teeth as she made her way over to Dorea. Holding it out with shaky hands. Something her Mother was clearly not expecting.

"This is why you're my favourite," Dorea whispered with a wink, the shock fading quickly from her face.

"Hey!" James whinged, mouth full of mince pie as the white powder coated his lips.

Hermione clasped her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet as Dorea slowly removed the bow.

When Dorea had carefully removed the wrapping paper, placing it beside her neatly with the boy, it revealed a small box. Delicately she shimmed the cover off until it revealed what was inside. A soft gasp passed through her lips as her fingers moved towards it. Hesitantly, as if any sudden movements would cause it to disappear. "Where did you get this?" Dorea asked, choked up as she grasped the chain between her index finger and thumb, raising it into the air.

"Dad," Hermione jerked her head in her Father's direction, "told me the story about where you lost your locket a couple years before Jamie was born. So I decided to make you one as close as possible to it as I could." Hermione ducked her head, hiding her flushed face.

Hanging at the end of the long, silver chain was a matching locket. The intials D.B. were carved on one side, and when it spun around of its own accord, she saw that D.P had been etched into the other side. Meticulous engravings surrounded the intials that had painstaking detail, as they wove in and out of the letters, forming vines around the edges. "I love it, Hermione." Dorea sniffed, arms wide open as her daughter happily entered her embrace, glad that she liked her gift.

"Good ol' Mione...always outdoing us," James whispered light-heartedly to Draco, who merely smirked in agreement and watched the back of his 'twins' figure.

"Ahhh the bond of Mothers and Daughters," Sirius mused, hands over his heart. "Now let's get to opening some presents!" Sirius declared with a war cry.

"Hey, don't start without me!" Hermione protested, swiftly pecking Dorea's cheek before rushing back over to the tree. Sliding in between Remus and Sirius. The old Hermione would never have done that, but she found that every day she found herself unknowingly doing things she wouldn't have before.

Almost two hours later of mirth and ripping open presents and Remus had more chocolate than he could wrap his head around. Hermione refused to add to it, and had given him a first edition copy of Animal Farm, it was written by a Muggle author called George Orwell. Remus glowed with happiness after that, thanking everyone for their gifts before heaving his pile of chocolate into an large armchair in the corner of the room; settling down next to it and immediately starting to read.

The boys were all very pleased with their sweets, trading and bartering for their favourites. Hermione had jokingly given Sirius a picture book, saying that the pretty moving pictures were definitely his speed. Laughing unabashedly he hopped up and set after her, speeding through the house before they ended outside in the snow. Which of course broke out into pandemonium. The other Marauders and Frank soon joined them, Dorea and Charlus standing on the back porch, arms around one another as they watched in amusement.

"I bet Hermione hits Sirius next," Dorea bit her lip in excitement, eyes alight with joy.

"Not before Sirius lands a solid hit on Draco," Charlus retorted, kissing the top of Dorea's head.

"Did you imagine we'd ever have all of this?" Dorea murmured, it hitting her all at once as a snowball smacked point blank into the back of Draco's head.

"No, but aren't you glad that we do?" Charlus chortled when James ducked out of the way of one of Remus' snowballs, and shot one back quickly, hitting Peter instead, who had accidently ran straight into the line of fire.

"I've never been happier in my entire life," Dorea admitted.

It was a Christmas they would remember for years to come, hurling snow at each other before collapsing onto the icy ground. Shivering, teeth chattering when they retreated in doors, warming charms and hot tea to warm their cold bones. It was a priceless moment and Hermione found herself thinking, not for the first time, how happy she was to have travelled back in time.

...

After Christmas their days sped away from them. Frank returned home the twenty-seventh, and Peter left the twenty-ninth. Sirius ignored the eighteen howlers that entered the Potter household over the course of three days. After that there had been dead silence on his Mother's part. Which was never a good sign. With Peter gone it was a lot easier to sleep in the same room without having to sneak in there first. James, Sirius and Remus still felt slightly guilty about not telling him, but they understood that it was their thing. Dorea answered questions that Remus had about Lycanthropy, and Charlus took James, Sirius and Draco out flying. Hermione was quite content to wrap herself tightly in several layers and a large scarf and then sit under one of the trees on of her thick, woollen blankets and read. Some days Remus would join her. It was serene, sitting there in comfortable silence as they immersed themselves in their own worlds, occasionally peeking out to read a funny line, or talk about a particular character briefly.

Before they knew it, they were on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, leaning out the train window as they waved frantically at Dorea and Charlus; until the platform was a speck in the distance. Hermione reminded the boys to behave with a wink before hurrying off to find Lily and her other friends. Who squealed loudly and exchanged stories from the holidays. A new year had started, and with it came new challenges and new beginnings.

It's a bit shorter than my usual chapters, but school has started back so things have gotten a bit hectic. Hopefully I'll be able to update TTPOC soon, since they are much shorter chapters it's a lot easier to get them out faster.

I really hope you enjoyed this chaper! Love you guys so, SOOOO much!

Indieblue xx