James wasted no time the next day at lunch in telling Lily the conversation between him and Sirius. She was extremely happy for him, but James couldn't help but notice that she did sound a little off. He didn't know what the problem was, and when he asked her she had said she was fine and asked him when he was going to talk to Sirius again. James told her he didn't know, because he had left the dormitory before James was awake, and he hadn't been at breakfast. She smiled, still lost in thought over something, and continued eating her lunch.

That night James waited in the common room for Sirius, and he finally showed up around 9:00. James didn't want to seem too eager to talk to him about last night's conversation again, so he waited for Sirius to broach the subject first. Sirius started in on homework immediately, a clear warning sign, and their very casual conversation consisted only of them asking each other questions about the work. James grew bored of this after awhile and went to bed.

A couple weeks before winter break James got a letter during breakfast from his parents, asking if he was going to come home for Christmas. He hadn't made plans otherwise, so he wrote back to them saying he would. He turned to ask Remus what he was doing for Christmas, and he noticed a very gloomy look on Sirius's face. They still hadn't continued their conversation from that one night, and although they hung out like usual their friendship felt too formal. Despite this, James knew this wasn't the reason for Sirius's mood. James would be going to his cozy home, Remus to his loving parents, and even Peter had travelling plans with his family, but Sirius would be going back to his pure-blood crazy parents and his prejudiced brother.

"Hey, Padfoot, why don't ya come round my place this Christmas?" James couldn't bear to see him so miserable.

Immediately Sirius's expression cleared. "Really? Are you sure? You're parents won't mind?"

"You know they won't, you're like a son to them." Sirius's ecstatic face made James's heart throb.

So James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter shared a compartment on the Hogwarts Express as it took them to Platform 9 ¾ for the break. The four of them joked nonstop the whole ride, and when the lady came by with snacks they all bought a substantial amount of sweets and shared them around. It was one of the first times they had all had so much fun for awhile, and the absence of school was definitely a part of it. Lily walked by when there was less than an hour left, stopped and waved when she noticed James, and looked pointedly at Sirius. James just smiled and tipped her a wink, and she walked off. Peter laughed nervously, and James prepared himself for Sirius's teasing, but Sirius only cleared his throat and looked out the window, with a somewhat confused and moody look on his face.

James saw his parents waiting outside the platform, and they greeted Sirius very warmly.

"Sirius, I'm sorry but my sister decided to stay with us until after Christmas," James's mother told him, "so she's taken the spare bedroom."

"It's fine, Mrs. Potter," Sirius told her. "I can sleep on the floor in James's room."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, it's not a problem."

So they had folded some blankets on the floor of James's room for Sirius to use when they got to the house, but before either went to sleep they sat on James's bed and talked. James apologized for Sirius having to sleep on the floor, and Sirius responded by throwing a pillow at him and telling him to stop apologizing. After that Sirius asked about Lily, and James told him how she had helped him through a lot. Sirius nodded, not paying much attention, and the next thing James knew they were kissing.

James woke the next morning and realized instantly that Sirius hadn't slept on the floor he had slept in James's bed. As soon as he realized this he also realized someone's hand was on his bare chest, and when he looked to his right he saw Sirius was lying on his side, facing James, also shirtless and fast asleep. James took a deep breath and tried to remember what had happened the previous night. He could remember sitting on his bed with Sirius and joking with him. Then he remembered the kiss. Sirius had leaned in and kissed James full on the mouth, to which James had reacted by ripping off Sirius's shirt. Sirius had responded in kind, but after that James was having problems separating reality from what had happened in his dreams.

He shifted slightly, not wanting to wake Sirius, but Sirius opened his eyes regardless.

"Morning, sunshine," he said with a smile, and started stroking James's chest lightly.

James was a bit more hesitant with his response. "Um, morning. Sirius we didn't…I mean did we…?" He trailed off, unsure of how to voice his question.

Sirius chuckled. "James, relax. All we did was kiss." Then he looked nervously at James's face. "That's not a problem, is it?"

"Um, no. I guess not." James's head was still spinning, and he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Sirius laughed again. "How can you not remember what happened?"

"Well I remember the kiss, but after I fell asleep things didn't exactly…" he trailed off, not sure how to put it.

"Cool down?" Sirius suggested.

James laughed. "I suppose that's one way to put it."

James was silent then, and Sirius propped himself up on his elbow so could look at James better. Then he leaned in again, but paused a few inches from James's face. James could feel Sirius's hot breath on his lips and he closed his eyes, waiting for Sirius to close the gap. He could have done it himself, but he was too nervous. Then he felt Sirius's lips on his own: warm and soft. Even though the kiss only lasted for a few seconds James thought he could almost feel an electric current surging through the two of them, searching for an outlet to escape into. But Sirius pulled away, studying James's face and looking for more of the nervousness. But James was over that now all that was on his face was longing, and he pushed Sirius onto his back and leaned over him, his own hand stroking Sirius's chest as he ran his lips across Sirius's throat. Sirius moaned pleasantly, urging James on, and James kissed Sirius with more vigor than before, parting Sirius's lips with his tongue.

They laid in each other's arms like that for a while, just kissing, when James finally sighed and said they should get ready for breakfast.

"Hey, James?"

"Yeah?"

"Erm, would you mind if we didn't tell people about this?"

James watched as Sirius put on a shirt. "No that's fine. I kinda wanted to figure some stuff out anyway before I started telling people."

Sirius sighed in relief. "I hoped you would say that. Thanks, I just don't want a serious relationship right now."

"It's cool." James pulled a shirt on and once his head was out Sirius placed his hands on James's shoulders and bent down to kiss James again. James returned the kiss eagerly, reaching his hands out to place them on Sirius's back. A little while later they broke apart, both breathing hard, and they walked downstairs for breakfast.