Author's Note:

Been on a series Beatles kick and I am currently listening to the Rubber Soul album while I write this chapter. I blame having James Potter in my head LOL. Anyway, here is some light fluff for you guys, but I hope you enjoy it. Felt weird to be writing about Christmas in June, but got to write where the story takes you.

Reviews and Comments: To E-Dett: Thank you! I did want to show Narcissa as being cold and arrogant yet hint that she is a bit sad she's not free from her environment so to speak. Andromeda doesn't hate her and she does miss her, she's her sister, and not evil like Bellatrix, but it doesn't necessarily mean she's a super good person either. Will she defect? We'll see. What is this interesting pairing you're thinking of? Thanks. To Lost: Sorry that you don't want any good Malfoy "shit" as you say. He will not be "good" but he won't be evil either. To Claire F: Thank you for saying my Ted and Andromeda are cute. I think Sirius and Andy are good friends as well as cousins. Thank you!

Thank you very much for reading and please, please review!

Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you!

CHAPTER FORTY:

The One With the First Christmas

Harry woke up on the twenty-fourth of December with Marauder's wet tongue licking his face. He winced and pushed the dog away from him, scrambling to sit up. He could hear Sirius singing carols downstairs and it made his stomach clench nervously.

He had never liked Christmas.

When he made his way downstairs, he found Sirius still singing Christmas carols in the kitchen.

"Happy Christmas Eve, Prongslet!" Sirius exclaimed enthusiastically, ushering for Harry to sit down before he plopped a plate of chocolate chip waffles with whipped cream and strawberries down on the table. "Eat up! We have a big day today!"

Harry stared down at his plate, rubbing his hands over his nervous stomach. The waffles did look delicious, but Christmas had always made him uneasy.

"What's happening today?"

Sirius sat down next to his godson with his own full plate. "It's Christmas Eve, Harry!"

Harry merely stared at him blankly. He could see that Sirius was excited at the prospect of it being Christmas Eve, but to Harry that made no difference.

To him, Christmas meant spending the entire day alone in his cupboard until Aunt Marge made him come out and sit quietly while she showered Dudley with presents and smirked at him as if expecting him to ask why she didn't bring him a gift.

To him, Christmas meant smelling the most delicious smells coming from the kitchen all day and then having to sit at the beautifully decorated table and be given stale bread dipped in hot gravy while the rest of the table ate roasted turkey and mashed potatoes and ham, followed by more desserts than Harry could name.

To him, Christmas meant listening to Uncle Vernon lecture him on how he was a freak and how freaks weren't allowed to be given gifts.

He knew that Christmas was going to be different here and he knew that none of those things were going to happen to him, but the thought of it being Christmas Eve still made his stomach feel uneasy.

"What are we doing today, Uncle Padfoot?" he asked. He couldn't help but smile as Sirius grinned happily at him.

"Lots of fun stuff, I promise. Eat up!"

By the time they cleaned up breakfast and Harry got dressed for the day, Sirius had already started to live up to his promise. They spent the morning outside building a giant snowman and an igloo. By the time Remus came by just before lunch, Harry was already climbing through the igloo eagerly, pleased with their work. They went inside for a hot lunch and then returned outside where an epic snowball fight took place and Harry found himself giggling madly as Sirius pinned him down into the snow and covered his face with a wet snowball. When Harry broke free, he ducked behind Sirius, jumping onto his back and sliding cold snow right down the back of his neck, laughing as Sirius swore loudly at the cold. Remus conjured a small snowman to throw snowballs at both of them and they laughed and rolled in their attempts to duck before finally crashing Remus' snowman to the ground and making snow angels.

They went inside, changed into some warm clothes and curled up in the living room by the fireplace to drink hot chocolate with marshmallows and eat Christmas biscuits. Then they built a gingerbread house. Harry laughed because it was crooked and the chimney kept falling off which Sirius rectified by eating it. Remus helped Harry make tiny gingerbread men to stand outside of the house and Harry accidentally squirted red frosting out of the tube backwards and it hit Sirius in the face. After the shock of it wore off, a small food fight had ensued and the three of them were soon covered in frosting and pieces of gingerbread crumbs. They cleaned themselves up and ate pork roast for dinner.

Once the kitchen was clean, and the gingerbread house was standing (mostly anyway) in the middle of the kitchen table, Remus led Harry upstairs for a hot bath and to change into his pyjamas.

"This was the best Christmas Eve ever," Harry told him as Remus brushed his hair.

"I'm glad," Remus replied with a smile. "Come on. My favourite Christmas tradition was always reading A Christmas Carol."

Harry took Remus' hand and followed him back downstairs into the living room where he plopped himself onto the couch. Remus sat next to him and Sirius came to sit on his other side. Sirius summoned a thick blanket over, covering the three of them and moving to put his arm around Harry as he passed him a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows again, kissing the top of his head.

Remus opened the worn book with a small smile. He remembered his first Christmas at Hogwarts. He was so excited to go home and to see his mum and dad. It was the day before the train was going to leave and he had been sitting in the common room, the Charles Dickens book in his hand.

"Remus, it's after two in the morning, what are you still doing up?"

He jolted at the voice, smiling at the pretty redhead as she joined him on the sofa in the Gryffindor common room. "Lily, you scared me."

She lifted the blanket up that he had on his lap and joined him under the covers. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I could ask you the same question, Miss Evans?"

She laughed and tucked her long red hair behind her ear. "I couldn't sleep. I'm excited to go home for the holidays."

"Me too," he told her honestly, smiling warmly. He held up the book in his hand. "I thought I'd get a head start on a family tradition. Mum and I read it every Christmas Eve."

Lily's eyes widened in surprise. "We do too! Tuney mumbles about it; says that it's the same old story every year, but Daddy and I love it!" she admitted, smiling widely. "We sit by the fire, all cozy with hot chocolate while Daddy reads it. It's a wonderful tradition."

Remus nodded, smiling back at her. "I agree. Mum and I take turns reading it now and Dad just listens to us, a smile on his face and cigar in his hand. We usually have hot cocoa too and sometimes chocolate biscuits."

Lily took the book from him and opened it with a smile. "You're already up to the Ghost of Christmas Present," her eyes moving over the print. "Will you read it to me?"

Remus smiled as he accepted the book back from her. "I'd like that."

And as his voice told the tale of the second ghost to visit Scrooge, Lily smiled contentedly, her head back against the sofa as she listened.

It had been the start of a new tradition that the two of them shared every year on the last night before they went home for the Christmas holidays.

"This is a wonderful story, Harry. It's about a grouchy old man who hates Christmas until he learns what the true meaning of Christmas really is," Remus told him with a smile. "My mum used to read it to me every year and then when I went to Hogwarts, your mum and I would read it together every Christmas. Your granddad used to read it to her every Christmas Eve when she was a little girl."

Harry smiled up at Remus. "My mum liked this story?"

Remus wrapped his arm around the boy, smiling down at him. "She loved it. Do you want me to start reading?"

Harry nodded, snuggling between the two men happily, holding his mug of hot chocolate in his hands. "Yes, please."

Harry fell asleep before the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, but Remus kept reading until the book was finished. It was almost midnight by the time he closed the book, smiling at Sirius.

"I think we did good today," he said with a smile.

Sirius grinned at his friend. "Me too. We make pretty good parents, Moony."

Remus chuckled. "Well, you keep the house so I guess that makes you Mummy."

"Fuck you," Sirius said with a snarl, making him laugh. "If anything you're the Moomy and I'm the Dadfoot."

Remus laughed. "You keep thinking that, Siri." He brushed his finger gently across Harry's cheek. "He's going to wake up early tomorrow."

"Do you think?" Sirius asked, glancing up at the clock. "I don't know if he's ever really experienced a real Christmas. Look at me, this is the first time I ever heard that Dickens story and I was friends with you and Evans for years."

Remus smiled. "It was something that Lily and I both loved. Come on, let's get him up to bed."

Sirius nodded, lifting the sleeping child into his arms and carrying him up to his bedroom. He was just tucking him in, Remus behind him with the stuffed stag and doe that Harry had brought downstairs with him when the child opened his eyes.

"Is the story over, Uncle Padfoot?"

Sirius kissed his forehead. "Story time is over, Prongslet, it's late. It's time for bed now. If you're not sleeping, Father Christmas won't come."

"Father Christmas?" Harry asked, looking at Sirius in surprise. "He won't come anyway."

Remus smiled at Harry, his eyes slightly bewildered as he took a seat on the bed next to Harry and handed the stuffed animals to him. "Won't he?"

Harry shook his head, cuddling the stag and doe in his arms. "He never brings freaks presents."

Sirius' eyes hardened slightly as they met Remus'. Every time that he thought Harry was passed the way the Dursleys had treated him, something like this brought it all back and it infuriated him. He had suspected that Harry had never really had a real Christmas and his reactions to decorating the tree and singing carols had only intensified that belief, but had he never even been given a Christmas present? After knowing Harry's birthday had never even been celebrated it shouldn't surprise him, but it did, and it hurt him to think about it. As bad as his own childhood had been, his parents still celebrated his birthday and holidays with him and he had always received extravagant gifts regardless of how much his behaviour was a disappointment to them.

He leaned down and kissed the top of Harry's head again. "Harry, Father Christmas brings all of the little children presents, every year. As long as they have been good and on their best behaviour."

Harry frowned at this. "Uncle Vernon was right. I am bad."

"No," Remus said, taking Harry's hand in his. "You are the kindest little boy in the whole world and Father Christmas has never forgotten about you." His eyes met Sirius' before he spoke. "I think your cousin might have just taken your gifts for his own, to be honest, or your aunt and uncle simply gave them to him."

Sirius nodded. "The Dursleys wanted you to be unhappy, Harry, and you never deserved that. But I promise that Father Christmas has never forgotten you and that if you believe in him, he'll leave you some presents under the tree tonight."

Harry's eyes widened slightly. "Really? There will be gifts for me?"

Remus kissed Harry's cheek. "Really. But you have to go to sleep or he won't come."

Harry settled himself down, smiling as Sirius tucked him in and Marauder jumped up onto the end of his bed. "Dudley always put out milk and biscuits for Santa, does Father Christmas like those too?"

Sirius smiled. "Santa Clause is just another name for Father Christmas, Harry, and he loves milk and biscuits. Don't worry, Uncle Remus and I will put some out by the tree before we go to bed."

They both kissed Harry goodnight and Sirius closed the door halfway and they headed back downstairs. Sirius poured a glass of milk and put a cooling charm on the glass to keep it fresh before adding a plate of chocolate biscuits.

"Help me put all of the gifts out?"

Remus nodded and together they filled the space under the tree with gifts for Harry. Remus smirked slightly at the large box that he knew contained the motorbike. "I can't believe that you're giving him that."

Sirius grinned. "He's going to love it! Not that he'll really be able to use it until the snow melts, but he's going to absolutely love it."

"Yeah, he will," Remus said with a smile as he yawned. "I should head home."

Sirius put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "No, you shouldn't. It's Christmas, Moony. There's a spare bed in the other room. You should spend Christmas morning with Harry and I."

Remus smiled. "I was planning on coming over bright and early."

Sirius grinned. "Just stay and that way you won't miss any of it."

Remus smiled gratefully at his friend. "All right then."

Twenty minutes later, Remus had run home to get some pjs and was settled into the spare room and Sirius crawled into his own bed. He couldn't wait to see Harry's reaction in the morning and he hoped that he enjoyed it.

He was asleep before his head hit the pillow and was surprised when he blinked awake and it was still dark outside. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was just after six in the morning. And then he smiled.

It was Christmas.

He hurried into the bathroom to wash his face and clean his teeth and then he hurried down the hall to check on Harry. Harry was still sleeping soundly, snuggled up against Marauder, legs sticking out of the covers. It made him smile.

He snuck off into the spare room, pushing open the door and turning on all of the lights.

"Ah, fuck!" Remus exclaimed, pulling a pillow over his face.

"It's Christmas morning, Moony!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping on the bed and laughing when Remus simply shoved him off.

"Is Harry even awake yet, you prat?"

"But it's Christmas, Moony!"

Remus only rolled his eyes. Sirius had always been ridiculously excited for Christmas morning. Every year at exactly five on Christmas morning, an owl would wake Remus up with a note declaring Christmas cheer — usually a Howler to express Sirius' excitement. It made him smile to think that some things had never changed.

"Okay, I'm getting up, now go away! Put on a jumper and some slippers or something, you're going to freeze!" he exclaimed, shoving at his friend's bare chest and pointing to his bare feet.

Sirius grinned widely and hurried into his room for a jumper and some thick woollen socks before he made his way downstairs. He turned the wireless on to hear some Christmas music, turning it up loudly and flicking his wand at the tree to turn on the fairy lights and lighting a fire in the hearth before he went into the kitchen to make tea.

The kettle was just finishing up as Remus stepped into the kitchen yawning loudly. "At least you had the decency to make tea," Remus said, tugging his own jumper over his tee shirt and pyjama bottoms.

Sirius made tea for both of them and turned up the Christmas music. "Do you think the music will wake up Harry?"

"Sirius," Remus said with a laugh as he took his first sip of hot tea and felt himself slowly waking up. "He'll wake up when he wakes up."

Sirius sighed dramatically and headed into the living room to sit down and wait. They only had to wait about fifteen minutes before they heard Harry on the stairs.

Sirius immediately jumped to his feet, grinning widely. "Happy Christmas, Harry!"

Harry rubbed his eyes under his glasses and then his eyes widened when he looked under the tree. "Wow."

Sirius scooped Harry up into his arms, kissing his cheek. "I told you Father Christmas would come!"

Harry simply stared, his eyes wide as Sirius placed him back onto the floor. He looked over at Remus and Sirius, his green eyes wide and shocked.

"He really came?"

Remus stood up, leaning down to kiss the top of Harry's head. "He did. Happy Christmas, Harry." He sat down on the floor next to the tree and gestured for Harry to sit next to him. "Let's see what he brought for you, yeah?"

Harry only nodded slowly, taking a seat next to Remus and grinning widely as Sirius passed him a present.

"This one is from Father Christmas, Harry," Sirius told him, grinning at Remus. "Go on, Prongslet, open it up."

Harry smiled so big that he thought his face would crack as he carefully opened the box and found three new books. "Stories!"

Sirius laughed and kissed the top of his head. "Let's see what else you got, Prongslet?"

Thirty minutes later, almost all of the boxes had been opened a mixture of gifts from both Sirius and Remus and from Father Christmas. Harry had gotten new clothes, new books, some new board games, his own wireless record player, candy and chocolates galore, a green jumper with a gold letter H knitted into it from Mrs Weasley with a basket full of sweets and some thick woollen socks, and a motorbike.

Harry stared at the motorbike, his eyes wide as Sirius held a helmet out to him. "A motorbike!"

Sirius laughed and strapped the helmet onto Harry's head, urging his godson to climb on top of it. "A mini motorbike for you. It doesn't go as fast as mine obviously, but I think it's pretty cool." He showed Harry where the button was that made the engine rev loudly and he helped him turn on the headlight, laughing as Harry's eyes widened in excitement. "When the snow melts, we're going to go for a real ride together, Prongslet."

Harry grinned. "Thank you!" He flew into Sirius' arms and Sirius hugged him close, a big smile on his face.

"You are very welcome, Prongslet. Happy Christmas."

Harry flew into Remus' arms next. "Thank you! Happy Christmas!"

Remus kissed Harry's cheek. "Happy Christmas, Harry."

Harry had made a drawing for Remus and he and Sirius had made the frame themselves and painted it in brightly lit colours. The drawing was of a wolf and a big black dog snuggled with a small dark-haired boy with green eyes and glasses. It was clear a child had drawn it, but Remus knew that he would treasure it. For Sirius, Harry had gotten an old pair of denim jeans that he and Remus had changed into an apron where in bright red was Harry's handprints and in Harry's printing in different coloured paints it read: Sirius' Grilled Perfection. Sirius immediately put the apron on with a big smile to start making breakfast.

Harry eagerly helped as the three of them had bacon, scrambled eggs, breakfast sausages, and grilled potatoes with cheese and onions along with with tall glasses of orange juice. After breakfast, Sirius told Harry to go on upstairs and get dressed and to make his bed and he and Remus would clean up the kitchen.

Once the kitchen was clean, Remus Flooed home to shower and dress and when he arrived back, Sirius was freshly showered and dressed himself. Sirius and Harry decided to play Gobstones on the living room floor so Remus made himself comfortable in the armchair to work on a crossword puzzle. Sirius had just defeated Harry making Remus smile as McGonagall stepped out of the fireplace.

"Minnie!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping to his feet and kissing the older woman's cheek. "Happy Christmas!"

McGonagall smiled, her cheeks flushed. "Happy Christmas, Sirius, Remus, and Harry. I hope you boys all have had a wonderful morning."

Harry grinned up at her, taking her hand and bringing her over to the tree where he eagerly showed her all of his new Christmas presents.

McGonagall's eyebrow rose slightly at the sight of the motorbike. "Sirius, if Lily Potter were still around you would be dead for giving her son that death trap."

Remus snorted into his tea. "My thoughts exactly, Minerva."

Sirius ignored her, grinning widely. "Ah, don't worry it's perfectly safe! Harry, hop on and show Auntie Minnie how it works!"

Harry put his new helmet on and climbed on the bike, laughing when Sirius used his wand to move the furniture out of the way so that Harry could rev the engine and drive through the living room and kitchen.

McGonagall's lips twitched slightly. "Hmm."

Sirius grinned. "Once the snow melts and we get it outside, it will be even more fun. Come sit! Would you like some egg nog or a tea?"

"Nog would be nice, Sirius, thank you."

Sirius immediately went to hunt up the egg nog as McGonagall took a seat in the chair by the fire after Remus had put the furniture back and conned Harry into putting the bike away.

"How was Christmas at Hogwarts this morning, Minerva?" Remus asked, smiling warmly at her as Sirius brought her a cup of egg nog.

"Wonderful as per usual. The feast will be in two hours so I can't stay too long, but I wanted to pop in and see how you all were doing on this wonderful Christmas day." She reached into her bag and pulled out a beautifully wrapped present. "And I brought Harry a little something," she said with a smile.

Harry's eyes widened as he accepted the present. "Thanks, Auntie Minnie!"

McGonagall flushed a little at the name and waved him off. "Happy Christmas Harry!"

Harry carefully opened the gold paper tied in a red ribbon and smiled when he opened the box and found a large red and gold leather book full of blank parchment. "It's empty," he said, staring up at her.

McGonagall smiled. "Yes, it is for now. It's a scrapbook, Harry. I thought that you could put all of your favourite memories in there, starting with today."

She pulled out her camera and snapped a photo of Harry, Sirius, and Remus sitting under the Christmas tree and as the photo printed from the bottom she tapped it with her wand and handed the photo to Harry.

"See, you can place it in like this and then you write the day on it."

Harry grinned widely as she wrote the words: Christmas, 1986.

"Thank you!" he hugged her tight and she smiled warmly, her eyes filling up with tears, which she furiously blinked back.

"You're welcome, Harry."

"Prongslet, sit up with Auntie Minnie and we'll get a nice photo of the two of you to put in your scrapbook," Sirius suggested, snagging his own camera which he had been using most of the morning to take photos of them opening presents.

Harry did as his godfather asked, surprising McGonagall by kissing her cheek and she looked pleasantly surprised in the photo every time as Harry's head turned and placed a sweet kiss on her.

After McGonagall left, Sirius, Remus, and Harry packed up the gifts that were still left under the tree and they headed to the Tonks family home. Andromeda greeted them happily with hugs and kisses as they made themselves comfortable in the living room near the tree. Harry immediately found Tonks and they began to talk about their new gifts as Andromeda made them comfortable in the living room with tea and desserts.

Harry couldn't believe it. Not only did he have even more gifts, this time from Andromeda, Tonks, and Ted, but they stayed for a Christmas feast of roast turkey, ham, potatoes, carrots, gravy, fresh bread, corn, and green beans. Then there was apple crisp, treacle tart, strawberry tarts, and chocolate cake for dessert. He was so full that he fell asleep on the sofa, his head against Sirius' arm.

Tonks sat down next to Remus and grinned. "I think you blokes wore him out."

Remus smiled at her. "He's had a very full day and I think maybe a bit too much food."

Sirius wrapped his arm around Harry, snuggling the boy closer to him. "I think it was a pretty great first Christmas, Moony, what do you think?"

Remus grinned. "Pretty great to me."

And when Sirius tucked him into bed that night, Harry thought that it had been the best day of his whole life.