If one would normally classify James as an insufferable morning person, John wasn't entirely sure what to call him now that it was Christmas morning. John hadn't been planning on waking himself until at least ten in the morning. James had other plans. James thought it was perfectly reasonable to wake up at four on Christmas morning. John groaned and covered his head with his duvet. He wasn't the only one to do so, as James was trying to get Sirius out of bed. Sirius sighed an excessively dramatic sigh as he sat up.

"Blimey, mate. The presents are still gonna be there in a few hours."

"But- but it's Christmas!" James insisted. "Christmas, Sirius!"

"And I got a dusty old book about pure-blood history." Sirius rolled his eyes, collapsing back on his bed. "Big whoop."

"Wh- aw, come on! John, back me up!"

"I don't really celebrate Christmas." John said, forcing himself to sit up as he rubbed his eyes. James seemed to take this as a personal attack, and he clutched where his heart would be.

"Don't celebrate Christmas? But the presents, and the tree, and the decorations, and family!"

"My family can bugger off. I'd be happier without them anyways." Sirius grumbled.

"Aw, come on. We're your family, right John?"

"Er, sure?" John blinked, elegantly falling off the bed as he failed to stand properly.

"Get up, little brother. There are presents to be had!" James pulled John to his feet against his will before going over to Sirius, smiling at him with eyes that seemed too large for his face.

"I mean, I guess it might be fun…" Sirius couldn't help but smile a little bashfully, his cheeks colouring. He seemed strangely hopeful, and John wondered how bad his family was.

"Y'know, I don't think I should be the little brother when I'm taller than both of you." John huffed, ruining any sentimental moment that could have happened.

"Oh yeah? When's your birthday?" James challenged.

"... July twelfth…" He mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said July twelfth, alright?" John huffed, looking away as he dug a jumper out of his trunk and pulled it over his head, trying to hide his red face.

"I was born on March twenty-seventh!" James laughed triumphantly.

"You two are like babies. I was born November third." Sirius crossed his arms, feeling cocky. "Of '59." He added, and James deflated.

"Well that just means you're an old man." John countered. Sirius nearly fell over.

"Oi!" He righted himself, then pointed an accusing finger at him. "Respect your elders!"

John only rolled his eyes before letting out a large yawn. He found himself wishing he could go back to sleep. It was an effort to keep his eyes open, and he wondered if he'd even gotten anything. Allie always used to get him both Hanukkah gifts as well as Christmas gifts, despite her not being particularly religious herself. She would tell him she just liked giving people gifts, and John accepted that. Now that he was at Hogwarts, however, he didn't expect to receive gifts. How would Allie even get them to him? And with his parents not celebrating the holiday either, there really wasn't anyone to give him gifts.

That was why he was surprised to find a sizeable pile of gifts at the end of his bed. It was nothing compared to James's gifts, but it was larger than Sirius's pile. Sirius seemed surprised by the number of gifts he'd received nonetheless, his eyes practically sparkling. He picked up the most boring of the bunch, wrapped in Slytherin colours and decidedly book-shaped, before tossing it away somewhere. It landed with a heavy thud as Sirius sorted through his more interesting gifts. Most of them were from James, though Remus and Peter had also contributed. John suddenly felt guilty for not getting him anything.

"I can't believe it." Sirius grinned. "I've got real presents!" He tore the very shiny Gryffindor wrapping from one of his gifts, laughing loudly upon seeing a brand new copy of Quidditch Through the Ages.

"Peter asked me what to get you. I told him it was the only book I've ever seen you read willingly." James snickered, and Sirius was already on his next gift.

"And Remus got me chocolate!" It was only a simple bar, but Sirius was so giddy at receiving gifts that he didn't care. "It's muggle chocolate!"

"Did he leave you a note or anything?" John asked.

"Er, let me check." Sirius looked more carefully, realizing Peter also probably gave him a note. He didn't bother reading that one out loud though. "'Dear Sirius, I hope your holidays are going well and you haven't murdered James. Signed, Remus.'"

"Why would you murder me?"

"I dunno, maybe for waking us up at four in the morning? The sun hasn't even risen yet." John huffed.

"Man, I love this stuff." Sirius said, with a mouth full of chocolate. "And I'm gonna hang the wrapper in my room, tell my mum it's muggle chocolate. She'll blow a gasket."

"You're making me feel bad for not getting you anything." John pouted.

"Well, I didn't get you lot anything either. My parents haven't given me any money since I got sorted into Gryffindor." Sirius shrugged.

"Blimey, am I the only one of us who bought gifts?"

"Well, I don't even celebrate Christmas." John pointed out.

He picked up one of his presents as James and Sirius continued to chat. It was lumpy, and wrapped with newspaper. He assumed it was from Allie, and had to wonder how in the world she managed to get her presents to him. John spotted a comic, and took care not to damage the paper. He found himself missing some parts of muggle life as he realized this was the first time he'd seen Rupert Bear since going to Hogwarts. Then he remembered all the dresses he was forced to wear in primary school, and he was glad to be away from that.

John put the newspaper aside, then saw his present was a tee shirt. It had the Beatles printed on it, and John smiled. He looked at the rest of his gifts and realized there were eight left from Allie, and suddenly wondered if he was supposed to open them in a specific order. They were all wrapped with newspaper, as Allie never bothered buying wrapping paper when there were free alternatives lying about. It was easy to set those aside and John noticed one of them had a card taped to it, made of simple construction paper. The paper was orange.

Heya John!

I miss you bunches, everything is soooo boring around here without you. Remember when we used to get all those acorns and throw them at bullies? That was so fun, I miss that. But next year I'll be going to a super fun boarding school and I'll get to tell you all kinds of super fun stories! I wanted to send you your presents sooner but mum didn't let me. I also wanted to write to you sooner but mum also didn't let me do that either! How rude. I hope you're having fun though!

Love, Allie

John smiled at the letter. It was sort of all over the place, but then, so was Allie. There were several parts where she'd scribbled out her mistakes, and John found it endearing. He missed her, though he tried not to think of her too often as he'd rather avoid homesickness. James would get homesick towards the beginning of the year, though that had died down. Sirius never got homesick, though this was understandable as he'd told the others he hated his family. Peter only missed his mother, and Remus never commented on the subject. John shook himself, looking over at James and Sirius.

He'd never seen Sirius look so ecstatic about something. The older boy never got particularly excited about grades. There was something to be said of his joy for pranks, but that couldn't compare to the grin he had on his face now. Sirius was happy with every gift he received, barring the book he'd thrown away from his parents. It brought a smile to John's face, and he resolved to properly get him a late present. Maybe he could find the kitchens? It was an elusive room none of them had been able to locate yet. Perhaps he was being too ambitious. He'd think of something eventually, so he decided not to strain his brain just then.

Not even James showing off his many gifts could put a damper on Sirius's spirit, and John couldn't help smiling. He let himself be pulled into the conversation as the three of them opened their gifts, migrating to the centre of the room. It was nearly six in the morning by the time they finished, and John let out a not-so-subtle yawn. He got to his feet for the briefest of moments before collapsing onto his bed. Waking up at four in the morning had done him no favors, and the little energy he'd had was spent.

"John's got the right idea, mate."

"Sirius, don't leave me!" There was the audible sound of a certain someone falling onto his bed, and James sighed with more emotion than was necessary. "It's only six…" James grumbled, sitting on his own bed.

"And you woke us up at four. I'm tired, Jamesie." Sirius already seemed half asleep.

"Well you're just- you're just an old… old man." James's yawn took over his entire face.

"Go to sleep, you big baby." John said.

James was unable to protest, as the warm sheets seemed very welcoming. The exhaustion of his room-mates was contagious. Next year though. Next year they'd better be ready. First-years may not be allowed brooms, but Merlin knows James Potter would drag everyone out to play Christmas Quidditch. It was like normal quidditch, but with confusing and nonsensical rules. Oddly enough, his parents had never wanted to play it with him…

John, of course, was not thinking about why James's seventy-year-old parents didn't want to play strange quidditch with him. He was sleeping. The rest of the holidays would pass without much event, though the Christmas and New Year's feasts were spectacular. When Remus and Peter returned to school on January 5th with the rest of the students, they were greeted by James and Sirius bragging about the exciting holidays spent at Hogwarts. John was then outed for not celebrating Christmas. Peter looked at him with shock, though Remus didn't seem to care. John thought he looked a little tired.

"You two have got to stay next year!" Sirius insisted, wide smile on his face. "You really don't know what you missed out on!"

"I wish I could have stayed…" Peter whined, shoulders slumped as he sat in one of the comfortable armchairs by the fire in the Gryffindor common room.

"Well there's no reason you can't next time, right? If you ask your mum right now I bet you she'd say yes." James told him, ruffling his hair. Peter looked like he was unsure whether to appreciate or detest the hair-ruffling.

"Hmm…" Remus looked down at his feet, fiddling with his frayed sleeve. "I… may be able to stay next year…" He said hesitantly. "Hold on."

"Well, I know I'll definitely be staying again." John smiled, filling the space as Remus searched for something in his trunk.

"I'm never going home for the holidays. I wish I could stay here during the summer, too." Sirius sighed.

"I think I probably shouldn't stay for Christmas third year." James commented. "My folks miss me."

"I can stay next year." Remus said, putting something back in his trunk. John wondered what he'd been checking.

The rest of the day was filled aimlessly. On one hand, John wanted to find Herbie and Lily, but on the other hand he had no way of finding his Slytherin friend and he was unsure if Lily would be in her dorm room or not. He enjoyed his time spent with the other boys, and loved how easy it was to spend time with them. It was so different from the way he struggled back home, though he knew that was because back home he was a girl. Not wanting to think of that, he focused on the conversation the others were having of using library books as transportation devices. They were a fun bunch. He hoped they never found out about him. It was a foolish hope, but he hoped it nonetheless.

Word Count: 2,094

Hey, I'm really really sorry this took so long to write, and that it's short, and that it's not that well organized. I just had a really tough couple of weeks because I ran out of testosterone so my depression spiked, but I got 8 weeks worth of it today and I did my shot, so hopefully I'll be able to write more!

I'm still having story-specific motivation issues with this one, not many of you have sent in OCs, and I can't do DADA classes because I didn't come up with any teachers and none of you sent any in, but oh well!

I have thought of a Part 1.5 of this story, so to speak. This is a 3 part fic, yes, but the 1.5 would be from a different character's point of view and would allow me to keep up with OCs that would otherwise be left behind in part 2! I don't wanna spoil things here in the Author's Note but if you want to know more details I'd be more than happy to talk about it with you through PM!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it's really a mess;; I really really would appreciate any reviews because validation will keep me motivated to write more, and I hope to see you next time! Bye, I love you guys!