Harry couldn't remember coming home, but when he opened his eyes he was definitely in his bedroom. The blue walls seemed so familiar now, almost like a friend. He climbed out of bed to nearly be bowled over by Jethro. The puppy had apparently been waiting for him to wake up. Did that mean he was late? There was a clock on his bedside table, but Harry wasn't very good at reading it. He could see that the little hand pointed to seven, and the big hand was pointing to six, but he wasn't sure what that meant. He didn't think that it would be a good idea to come out of his bedroom, even though it was Christmas. Sirius had said that he was getting presents and Harry did not want to annoy him that much that he took them back. Harry resigned himself to playing with Jethro until one of the men came to get him.
The door creaked open as Harry sat on the floor, Jethro sat on his lap as Harry scratched his head. A sliver of Sirius' face was visible in the gap. "He's awake Moony! Thank god Harry, I didn't want to wake you but-"
"Sirius wants to start opening presents. He's like a little child" Remus interrupted, smiling at the look of bliss on Jethro's face.
"It's my first Christmas in three years. Give me a break" Sirius answered bitterly, and then immediately appeared to regret his words. Harry was confused. He'd been too grateful that they'd taken him away from the Dursleys, but now that he thought about it, why had he had to go there in the first place? Why didn't Remus or Sirius take him in straight after his parents died? Not that he was being ungrateful of course, he was just curious.
"Why? Where have you been?" Harry asked curiously. He noticed the glance between the two men and immediately worried that he'd overstepped his bounds. He knew that they'd been trying to make him talk more, but Aunt Petunia had always told him off for asking questions. Maybe this was one of those times when he wasn't meant to ask.
Sirius opened his mouth and the closed it again. "I had to go away…I didn't want to, but I had to. Understand Harry, if I could have I would have taken you straight after your mum and dad…" His voice trailed off, almost as if he couldn't handle saying that they died. But they had, Harry thought bitterly. They'd died and left him alone, leaving him to enjoy three years of the Dursleys. Lucky him.
Sirius leaned forward, apparently waiting for a hug. Harry grinned. Sirius gave good hugs, as hugs go. He had big arms that held Harry close and the feeling of being held close would be one he would never forget. His head fit perfectly in the gap between Sirius' head and shoulders and it reminded Harry of something. Like a memory of a memory, something that he couldn't quite remember, but knew that it was there, eluding him. Harry ran forward and Sirius wrapped his arms around him, picking him up and resting him on his hip. Harry rested his head on Sirius' shoulder and smiled contently. Sirius did this every day, but it still made Harry giddy with happiness every time. Today was already the best day ever and they hadn't even got to the presents yet.
OoOoOo
"I think we should open the presents from the Weasleys first, and then we'll listen to the minister's speech. Then we can open the rest" Sirius announced, already holding the three neatly wrapped presents that Mrs Weasley had given them last night. Harry nodded and took the present with shaking hands. He was slightly nervous about what it might contain, it was his first proper present after all, unless you counted the pencil that the Dursleys gave him for his birthday. But he didn't think Mrs Weasley would do that. besides, it looked a lot bigger than a pencil. Out fell a jumper. A red jumper with a lion on the front. Harry grinned and looked up.
"You got a jumper too? If you come here, I can help you put it on" Remus asked, smiling broadly as Harry stumbled towards him. Remus helped him pull the jumper on, just in time to see Sirius get stuck in his. He was stood up and he nearly tripped into the Christmas tree as he fought to pull it over his head.
"Oh yes, very funny" Sirius said waspishly, mock glaring at Harry and Remus, who were both laughing at him. He looked rather ruffled after his fight with the jumper, and Harry thought it prudent to stop laughing immediately. A large black dog was on the front of his jumper. Harry had to admit, it did look quite cool. "It's 11 o'clock, where's the wireless?"
"Sirius, why do you want to listen to the minister? I thought you hated the ministry?"
"I don't hate them. Besides, you should always know what your enemies are doing"
"You spent far too much time with Moody. You're starting to sound like him"
"As long as I don't start to look like him then I'm good"
Harry didn't really understand what they were saying, but he smiled slightly when the two men sniggered and turned to him. "What is the min'stry?" Harry asked quietly. He still wasn't sure about asking questions, but both Sirius and Remus had told him that it was OK, but it still didn't feel quite right.
"The ministry is responsible for keeping wizards safe and hidden from Muggles. They're also the ones that made Sirius go away" Remus explained calmly, pointing Sirius towards the wireless.
Harry's response was cut off when a posh sounding voice began to issue from the wireless. It sounded like the person was actually in the room. Sirius and Remus both sat down, looking at the wireless seriously. Harry guessed that was what you were meant to do, so he copied them.
"Four years ago, I took this office in times of war. The wizarding world is only now beginning to regain its footing. We are only now beginning to right the wrongs that were committed. (Sirius and Remus shared a dark look) While some of the wounds of the war will never be healed, we hope to rectify what we can. Like a phoenix from the ashes, the wizarding world is emerging from the horrors of war, I think, as a stronger nation. But, we must not forget the lessons that the war taught us. We may now be in an era of peace, but that may not always be the case. I urge people to remember that which was lost, in an effort to ensure that it does not happen again.
But most importantly, to all Wizards, Witches and other residents of the Wizarding World, I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year"
The broadcast from the minister ended. Harry was at a loss what to say. He'd barely understood a word she'd said, but he'd noticed the grim expressions on both Remus and Sirius' face. He guessed that she'd been talking about something bad, but he didn't have the faintest clue what it was.
Remus chuckled lightly, "I stand corrected, she sounds far more like Moody than you do"
"Told you so. They did go to school together though. Anyway, enough of the prats at the ministry…Presents!" Sirius exclaimed, moving towards the three large socks in the corner. He handed Harry the biggest and gestured for him to begin opening. The sock was huge, and yet presents were bursting out of the top. Harry was stunned, between the presents he had in his hands and the ones under the tree, he had more that even Dudley got last year. Harry grinned shyly at the two men who were both watching him and then pulled out the first small stocking present.
OoOoOo
By the time Harry had opened all of the presents that Sirius and Remus had got him, it was nearly dark. Not only had he got presents, but he'd got two sets of presents. He had been allowed to open the first set ('stocking' presents) after the Ministers speech and then they'd had lunch. He'd felt like his stomach was going to explode, but he was still able to open the other presents. He was stunned really. There were so many of them.
Ten miniature dragons were curled up in front of him, one for each breed of dragon apparently. Professor Dumbledore had sent him a mini phoenix (like his cats), someone called Hagrid had sent him a hippogriff and Alex (who apparently Sirius had a date with) had sent him a griffin. Sirius had also bought him a dog, wolf and a stag, which he had told Harry were called Padfoot, Moony and Prongs respectively. There was a magical puzzle next to him, which apparently changed what it showed randomly. There were also three flying horses, a kneazle (which Harry thought looked like a cat) and a unicorn. Obviously, Harry hadn't known the names of any of them, but Remus and Sirius had very quickly filled him in. Jethro was curled up next to him, obviously sleepy after being given some of the leftover scraps of turkey and Harry could honestly say that he'd never been this happy before.
"So Harry, what do you think of your presents? Do you like them?" Sirius asked nervously. Harry smiled; there was no need for him to ask really. Of course Harry liked his presents, they were amazing! Harry jumped to his feet and threw himself at Sirius, happiness coursing through his entire body.
"Of course I like them! Thank you" Harry said, barely managing to control the large grin on his face. Sirius grinned back broadly.
"I told you he would Padfoot" Remus' voice spoke from where he was slumped in his armchair, apparently having eaten too much.
"I was just checking' Sirius stated plainly, only moving to stick his tongue out at Remus. Harry smiled again. Today was the best Christmas ever, and hopefully he would have many more with the two men.
AN: I really hope you enjoy this chapter, I had great fun writing it – apart from the speech, which was really hard to write. Before anybody asks, I got the idea from the Queen. In Britain, every year she does a short speech about random stuff ;)
I've decided what to do. I'm going to finish this story after chapter 25 and move straight onto the books. The story will be called "Fight or Flight: The last years of peace". It should be up within the week, so please look out for it. Please leave a review?