Fragments of Us
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Warnings: None for this chapter.
Chapter 15 – Homecomings, Christmas Dinner & Memories
Kate and Sirius arose with the first glint of light through his window. Kate returned to her room, albeit reluctantly, to shower and dress while Sirius remained in his own to do the same.
Kate took her time, as even though Sirius had said that they should have a relatively informal holiday, she wanted to look her best. Donning a pair of black, woolen Muggle trousers and a deep crimson turtleneck sweater, Kate then turned her attention to her hair, brushing it until soft waves fell around her face. Some light make-up and her shoes and she was ready to go downstairs to Sirius. She opened the door and stepped into the hallway, stopping to listen for a moment. Satisfied that everyone seemed to still be asleep, she made her way downstairs to the cavernous kitchen – certain she'd finished her preparations before Sirius had done. She wasn't halfway down the hallway leading to the kitchen stairwell when the scent of coffee told Kate she was wrong. She made her way quietly down the stairs and was surprised to hear Sirius' rich baritone-tenor. Kate slipped through the door, closing it silently behind her. The sight she beheld made it almost impossible for her not to laugh out loud.
Sirius stood at the stove, one of Molly's flowery aprons tied around his body, flipping pancakes with jovial abandon. Bacon was piled high on a platter on the table and the aroma of fresh coffee permeated the entire room. An endearing sight, but one that was soundly contradicted by the raucous "carol" being belted out by the pureblood "chef".
"Jingle bells, Snapey smells, that arse Kreacher never learns…" he sang ,then paused to consider his next line, and Kate took the opportunity to announce her arrival by jumping in with, "And if you don't tend to your job, that pancake there will burn……….!"
Sirius whipped around at the sound of her voice and Kate laughed out loud at the expression on his face. "Well?" Kate gasped, pointing at the stove. Sirius turned back to the pan and flipped the pancake over. It was, to his chagrin, a little brown.
Kate walked over to the stove and stood behind Sirius, wrapping her arms around his waist. "And just what is all this in aid of?" she asked affectionately, kissing the back of his neck, loving the shiver it produced from him.
"This, my love, is Christmas breakfast," Sirius announced, adding, "Come around here please so I can kiss you properly."
Kate complied, accepting a rather thorough kiss from Sirius before snuggling against his side, his arm draped around her shoulders. "But, Sirius, everyone is still asleep. We're the only ones up. There is way too much food for the two of us."
Sirius sighed dramatically and looked down at her. "Am I not a brilliant wizard?" he asked her.
Kate nodded. "Yes, you are a brilliant wizard – which does nothing to explain why you're cooking Muggle-style, by the way!"
Sirius dropped his hand and gave her behind a playful pinch. Kate jumped and let out a small squeak. "I am cooking Muggle-style because, first of all, I know how to do it and secondly, I like pancakes." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Besides, Molly probably wouldn't have made them for me, anyway."
Kate shook her head at him. "Bad boy," she said. "But what about the amount you've cooked?"
"Observe, oh doubting one," Sirius said mockingly. "Stasis!" he murmured and, with that word, Sirius cast a preservation spell that would keep the food fresh and hot until the remainder of the household came downstairs for breakfast.
"Coffee?" Kate asked him, moving toward the cupboard for a mug. Sirius grabbed her from behind and led her to the table. "Nope," he said. "I'm doing this. You sit. I'll serve."
Kate did as he asked and as she watched him pour the coffee, fix it as she liked it (he'd been watching) and fill their plates, she noticed that he was wearing his new jumper.
She smiled, glad that her gift had gone over so well.
"And what are you smiling about over here all by yourself?" Sirius asked, placing a full plate and her coffee in front of her, and then lowering his own plate to the table and Summoning his tea. He had removed the flowered apron.
"You," Kate said simply. "Oh, and thanks awfully for removing that apron. Very disconcerting. You might well have been sleeping alone from here on out had you not done so," she finished, smiling as Sirius' eyes grew wide at her final comment.
"Yeah?" he said, softly, watching as she bit into a piece of bacon. Kate looked back up at him. "I'm not sleeping alone anymore?"
Kate felt her face flush as she realized that she'd actually spoken that thought aloud. "I feel a little bit forward," she confessed to him. Sirius reached over and took her hand.
"Bugger that!" he said. "Did you mean it?"
"I guess I did," she said, smiling. "I still feel a little bit tarty suggesting it, though."
Sirius smiled and brought her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. "'tarty',eh? Well, I don't happen to agree with you. The idea of waking up to you in my bed every morning feels more right than anything else." He leaned over and kissed her gently.
"Now, eat your breakfast before the vast, thundering hordes arrive and clean us out."
Kate and Sirius spent an hour enjoying the relative peace and quiet of Christmas morning together – and alone. They had cleaned their dishes and were holding hands and talking quietly when the kitchen door banged opened. Kate and Sirius both jumped at the noise, withdrawing their hands and looking apprehensively at the open door. Smiling devilishly, Remus walked into the kitchen a moment later.
"Well, Happy Christmas!" he said cheerfully. "Any of that coffee left, Kate? It certainly would seem by your reaction that you don't need any additional caffeine," he added, eyes twinkling as he sat down next to her. She slapped his arm before getting up and pouring him a steaming mug. Returning to the table, she squeezed Sirius' shoulder gently before she resumed her seat.
"Happy Christmas to you, too, Remus," Kate leaned over and kissed his cheek.
"Happy Christmas, Mooney," Sirius said. "I can only assume that you'll give a man a moment to get over his Christmas coronary before you demand breakfast?"
Remus chuckled. "Depends on how long you think you'll need, Padfoot. I am fairly hungry this morning and, of course, it is Christmas."
"Speaking of which, that is a lovely jumper you've got on," Kate said, peering around to see the front more clearly. "Ah – a Weasley creation," she said, spotting the "P" on the front.
"P, Mooney?" Sirius said, getting up and heading over to fix a plate for his friend. "P for Prat, perhaps?" He chuckled at his own comment.
Remus caught Kate's eye and they both smiled. This was more than a glimpse of Sirius of old and they were both extremely grateful. "P for Professor, Sirius," Remus replied. "Please try to remember that your thoughts do not need to simply roll out of your mouth at will. You can edit them first."
"Professor? Not Remus or Lupin?" Kate asked.
"I've had those. Molly is determined to make me a jumper each year, so we're down to Professor for this model. Merlin knows what she'll come up with for next year!" Remus shook his head and smiled.
"Perhaps if she needs some help, I could accommodate her," Sirius said, putting a very full plate in front of Remus.
They were up to the G's ("G is for Git, Mooney", was Sirius' last contribution) when the kitchen door opened and this time it was Harry. Sirius greeted him warmly and indicated the seat next to Kate, which the boy dropped into. "Happy Christmas, Kate," he said, smiling shyly.
Kate squeezed his arm affectionately and returned the greeting. "Happy Christmas to you, too. Hungry?" At his nod, she winked at him, then called over her shoulder, "Honestly, Harry, good help is so hard to find! Sirius, Harry is hungry." Harry started to giggle, while Sirius met his gaze, then rolled his eyes in Kate's direction and went over to the stove to fix pancakes and bacon for his Godson.
Eventually, all inhabitants of headquarters made their way downstairs and Sirius was in his element. When everyone had been fed, they all headed outside for a snowball fight – an activity Sirius hadn't partaken in since his Hogwarts days – and one he intended to thoroughly enjoy. Once in the yard, sides were quickly chosen and the fight was on. Kate, Sirius, Remus and Harry went up against Fred, George, Ron and Ginny and it wasn't long before they were all soaked, but happy. As they were trying to decide whether to attempt one last rematch or go inside and warm up, Molly called them to come inside and clean up for lunch and the decision was made for them.
Kate and Sirius headed up to their respective rooms to clean up. Both were freezing from the combination of biting cold air and wet clothing and decided that showers were in order. After dressing, restoring order to her hair and applying some light make up, Kate was ready to rejoin everyone for lunch and headed downstairs. She hadn't gone far, though, when she felt a strong hand cup her elbow. Turning, she saw Sirius behind her, a warm smile on his face. He leaned forward and kissed her gently. Kate reached up and brushed a stubborn lock of hair away from his eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. "Having a good time?" she asked him. Sirius nodded. "A very good time," he said. "Better than any I ever spent in this mausoleum when I was a child."
"Well," Kate said quietly. "What do you say we focus on having more of this 'very good time', starting with lunch?"
Sirius nodded, but didn't let go. "Katie, I love you," he whispered.
"I love you," she said softly, kissing him.
Sirius smiled again and they descended the staircase.
Arthur arrived at Grimmauld Place with much fanfare sometime after the group had finished lunch. Tired from the excitement of his homecoming, his enthusiastic reception upon his arrival and his desire to be rested for dinner later that evening, he gave in to Molly's demand that he nap for awhile. While he was sleeping, the rest of the household -with the exception of Molly who was busy in the kitchen – brought a variety of gifts down to the library and placed them under the tree. Remus had suggested that everyone save their gifts to open together after dinner, and everyone had heartily agreed. Kate and Sirius exchanged slightly guilty looks, but said nothing about their early morning gift giving episode.
As Kate and Remus were arranging the piles of presents under the tree, he reached over and gently lifted her right hand, inspecting the band Sirius had placed there that morning.
With a raised eyebrow and gentle smile, he asked, "Anything you'd like to tell me?"
Kate returned his smile. "A promise ring – to remind me of his promise to work on our relationship, not shut me out. He wanted me to have something I could look at and know that he would keep those promises."
Remus squeezed her hand. "I'm happy for you, Kate. I know things aren't perfect, but I'm happy for both of you that they are improving."
"Best Christmas present I could ever receive," Kate replied, her smile brilliant.
Gathered around the large, formal dining table later that evening, surrounded by her friends – really, her family now and Sirius, Kate thought that perhaps the combination of this and Sirius' promise were the best gifts she could receive.
After the dinner was eaten, the Christmas crackers pulled and exclaimed over and the dishes cleared, Sirius again led the way to the library for their gift exchange. He and Remus had conjured great squashy pillows for the children and all manner of overstuffed chairs for the adults. Soon everyone was comfortable and Ron, who had been drafted to "play Father Christmas" began passing out the brightly wrapped gifts.
Remus was touched by Kate's gift card and Arthur was very interested to hear how it worked. Remus rose from his chair and hugged Kate warmly, thanking her for her thoughtfulness as Sirius smiled at the two friends. Wrapping paper flew around the room as everyone exclaimed over gifts that were unexpected and very much appreciated. Harry shyly handed Remus the package he had wrapped for him and Remus was delighted by its contents. He grasped Harry's shoulder for a moment, then smiled as Harry hugged him briefly and wished him a Happy Christmas, as well. Remus' eyes shone as he sat back down in his chair by the fire and both Kate and Sirius knew that the werewolf was remembering times long ago with another black-haired boy who became a brother to them both.
Finally, Harry wove his way through the scattered paper and each person's pile of gifts and stood before Sirius. In his hands was a clumsily wrapped package bearing a tag with Sirius' name on it. "Sirius," Harry began. "This is for you. Happy Christmas."
Kate made to stand so Harry could sit with Sirius while he opened his gift, but Harry shook his head. "Don't get up, Kate, really. I'm fine." With that, he perched on the arm of the loveseat next to his Godfather.
Sirius looked up at Harry and smiled. "Harry, you shouldn't have spent your money on me. Just having you here is present enough for me!"
Harry's face flushed in pleasure at Sirius' comment. "I wanted to do this. Go ahead, Sirius, open it. Consider it 14 years worth of Christmas presents from your Godson." He smiled as Sirius grinned back at him, remembering the words he, himself, had written on the parchment he'd sent to Harry to explain the Firebolt he'd bought.
Sirius carefully removed the paper and lifted a leather case from the packaging. Opening it slowly, he paused, his eyes growing very wide at the sight. There, nestled in tissue paper was a Muggle watch, rectangular in shape with a soft leather band. It was a duplicate of the one Sirius had worn when the picture was taken of the very first Order of the Phoenix. It had been a gift from James' father when he graduated from Hogwarts and he'd lost it upon his arrest that awful night. Sirius lifted the timepiece almost reverently for a closer look.
"Read the back," Harry whispered.
Sirius didn't trust himself to speak, but he did turn the watch around and spotted the engraving. "To my Godfather, Sirius. Love, Harry" it read. Sirius put his head down and reached for Harry's hand blindly. Kate saw the tears fall, spattering against the tissue paper still lying on Sirius' lap. Harry looked at Kate, alarmed, but she smiled at him and shook her head. "It's ok," she mouthed. "You did a good thing." Harry's face relaxed and, after a moment, Sirius released his hand and wiped at his face, awkwardly.
"Harry, I don't know how to thank you," he said. "I'm sorry about…" he trailed off, his hand waving vaguely at his face. Harry smiled and nodded. He understood exactly what Sirius meant. "This means more to me than I can ever tell you – and for so many reasons, Harry," he finished. "Someday, I'll tell you more."
Harry hugged Sirius. "I'm really glad you like it," he said. "Happy Christmas, Sirius."
"Happy Christmas, Harry."
Kate sat back and watched the scene play out before her and felt only gratitude and happiness that these two people who had lost so much had finally found each other.