By the time Christmas Day came about, Harry woke up feeling almost entirely like his usual self. Sirius, true to his marauder form, woke him up by instigating a pillow fight. It was hardly as aggressive as some of his previous attacks on Harry, probably due to the fact that the teenager was still recovering. This meant, however, that Harry could protect himself quite easily by curling up under the covers.

Until, that is, Sirius charmed them to fall to the floor, leaving Harry defenseless.

He attempted to protect himself by curling up in a ball. Sirius eyed him with a rather wicked grin before approaching Harry with his hands dangling menacingly.

"I'm still recovering, Sirius!" he protested as his guardian's hands tickled his sides. "You can't harm a sick person!"

Sirius paused, saw Harry holding back a smirk, and then resumed his attack with a vengeance.

Well, for about five seconds, anyway.

"All right, I suppose you've had enough," he relented.

Then, he pulled a grinning Harry into his arms and gave him a soft kiss on top of his head. After summoning the three blankets, Sirius tucked them around his godson with extra care. Harry, sighing contentedly, nestled against his godfather and closed his eyes. He did consider using this as opportunity to try and tickle Sirius, or attack him with a pillow, but was too comfortable to give this any real contemplation.

"How are you feeling, pup?" Sirius asked after a moment, speaking quietly, holding him closer. "Warm again, I hope?"

Harry opened his eyes, touched by the concern in Sirius' face. "Yeah, I feel a lot better. Pretty much back to myself," Harry answered, happy to be able to share this good news.

Sirius smiled, then began to run a hand over Harry's head. "I was worried for a bit. You seemed so out of sorts," Sirius confessed. "I almost had him come over the day after, but he had said he'd return in three days, and you didn't have a high fever...I really didn't know what to do."

Harry nodded, remembering those days. "The worst of it was not being able to get warm," he recalled. "D'you think it was because of the horcrux coming out? And the dark magic?"

Sirius shrugged as he continued to run a hand through Harry's hair. "I don't know. As I mentioned, Remus and I scoured our library for information. Not something you'd find in Flourish and Blotts, or even some of the stores in Knockturn Alley. What we learned was that the dark witches and wizards who resort to such insidious measures as creating horcruxes always use a physical object to contain that piece of their soul," Sirius began, "and while Voldemort no doubt intended to create a horcrux on that night, he had no intent of leaving you alive, and carrying that piece of him in you. You, pup, are rather one of a kind. The only wizard to have survived the Killing Curse, and the only one to have been made into a horcrux-or your scar, at any rate. There's no darkness in you, the way Voldemort was filled with it. In short," Sirius concluded, with a shrug, "we have no way of knowing."

"Well, so long as the horcrux and all that are gone, I can't complain," Harry decided. "Now, all that's left is to kill that snake and Voldemort."

"Yes, only the two hardest remain," Sirius answered, chuckling a bit darkly. "I suspect that we'll need all the Aurors we can get for them. At this point, we've done all we can, and may have to ask Dumbledore for his help. That is, if he can't see through your glamour when you return to school. But," he added, rather briskly, "let's not let that spoil Christmas, shall we? And I see that Hedwig has left you quite a lot of presents this year."

Harry cocked his head at Sirius. "I don't suppose most of them are from you, are they?"

Sirius tousled his hair. "Now, now, Chosen One, you have quite a lot of admirers. Including those who would have tried to slip you a love potion, had you not gone with Luna to Slughorn's holiday party."

"That reminds me," Harry added, reluctantly vacating Sirius's arms, "I've got something for you. Well, two things, actually."

Shortly after the visit to Hogsmeade, it had occurred to Harry that while his godfather had given him gifts for three consecutive years, he'd never purchased something for Sirius. He should have, really. It wasn't as though he had any loss of money. The problem, as he realized, was not knowing what to buy him. His freedom would have been the obvious answer, or at least a disguise that would let him leave Grimmauld Place without detection, but no amount of money could have bought the first, and surely if the second one existed, Sirius would have utilized it. As a result, for the third Christmas in a row, Harry had not purchased anything for Sirius, and Sirius hadn't even seemed to notice.

Perhaps, he didn't expect anything this year, and he certainly had his freedom back, but Harry was determined to get him a gift. He'd corralled Ron and Hermione the following day, and explained his predicament.

It had been Hermione who have come up with two nearly perfect gift ideas for Sirius. Both were, as muggles called them, "gag gifts," that were intended more for humor than practical use.

"Being a prankster, he'd love a good book on practical jokes," she explained, with more enthusiasm than Harry or Ron would have expected coming from her about such a topic. "You know, putting toothpaste on a toilet seat, switching up salt and sugar, letting a water bucket fall on you when you enter a room, that sort of thing. Of course, purely muggle pranks, as he's no doubt an expert on wizarding ones."

"Toothpaste on a toilet seat?" Ron had echoed. "Wouldn't anyone see that before they sat down?"

"Not everyone examines a toilet very closely before using it, Ron," Hermione had retorted, rolling her eyes. "You don't expect to see it there, do you?"

"I suppose not," Ron allowed. Grinning, he added, "Good thing we don't usually sit down to go, eh, Harry?"

Harry chuckled, and at Hermione's look of disgust, he added, "You brought up the idea, Hermione!"

Snickering a bit, Hermione relented. "Anyway, Sirius likely wouldn't use any of these, and certainly not on you, Harry, but he'd enjoy reading about them."

Harry nodded, liking the idea. "And the second gift idea? Is it also a book?"

"Yes, and it's the kind of gift that would only be considered humorous if you gave it to a witch or wizard, because a muggle would view it quite seriously," Hermione began. "There are numerous books on self defense, like what to do if you're attacked in an alley. How to fight and escape your attacker, and other tricks to use. We have our wands, so we don't need to know that sort of thing, but Sirius might find muggle tips interesting."

Harry considered this. He preferred the book on pranking, but he didn't think he could go wrong with two books. Sirius had purchased him an entire set the previous Christmas, after all.

"That's great, Hermione, really great. The only thing is, since they're muggle books, how can I go about buying them?" he wondered.

"I'll owl Mum and Dad and have them order them for you. You can pay me in wizarding money, and I'll send it on to them, or exchange it and then send it onto them the next time we're in Gringgots," Hermione explained. "I usually order my gifts through wizarding catalogues, so they will be quite interested to know why I'm getting muggle ones. Of course," she added, "I'm simply the go-between, here."

Harry thanked Hermione, and the books arrived at the beginning of December. Careful not to damage the spines-muggle books weren't made nearly as well as wizarding ones-he read through them before wrapping them up to give to Sirius. He thought that Hermione had chosen really well. Sirius wouldn't be able to use half the stuff in the self-defense book, but he would find it interesting. The muggle practical jokes were great, too, and he just hoped that Sirius wouldn't use any on him.

No, Harry was fairly certain that he was safe. Certain members of the Order, on the other hand...

Harry grinned at the thought.

Now, on Christmas Day, Harry had nearly forgotten about his purchases for Sirius. All the homework and studying, in addition to his horcrux removal operation. He was very glad that he remembered, now, and nearly jumped out of Sirius's bed in order to retrieve them.

Sirius laughed. "They're not going to explode, are they?" he teased, following Harry out of the room.

Harry made a good natured face. "No."

He went to his room-which he used mostly to store some of his clothes and his schoolbooks-and opened the last drawer in the dresser to retrieve the wrapped parcel containing the two books. He handed the gift to Sirius, who looked surprised, but rather pleased.

"You didn't have to get me anything, Harry," he said, and Harry thought he sounded a bit choked up.

Harry shrugged. "Well, I hadn't before, and I wanted to, this year."

Sirius pulled Harry into a hug. "I don't even have to open them to let you know how much I appreciate the thought, pup."

"You will, though?" Harry pressed.

Sirius chuckled. "Yes, of course. But let's go downstairs and open our other gifts together, shall we? And," he added, glancing at Harry in his pajamas, "perhaps put on a dressing gown? It tends to be rather chilly in the morning."

Harry knew this was the case, but he also recognized that Sirius was still worried because of how cold he'd been on the days following the surgery. Nodding, Harry reached into his closet to retrieve a spare dressing down. Once appropriately clothed, they headed downstairs.

Sirius immediately discarded one parcel from Kreacher, throwing it into the fireplace, and warned Harry to do the same.

"Last year, he sent me maggots. I don't want to know what it would be this year," he advised, so Harry followed in his footsteps.

Harry's presents included the usual Weasley sweater from Mrs. Weasley, this one containing a golden Snitch on it, a very large box of new products from the Weasley twins, a book of hexes from Hermione, and a new quill from Ron. Then, of course, there were the myriad of gifts from Sirius, including one that he brought out at the last moment.

"Tonks has been taking care of her during the last week, because we couldn't risk you finding out," Sirius explained, holding out a black and white kitten, "but she dropped him over last night. If you like, you can take him back to school, or we can keep him here. That is, if you like him. I wasn't sure how you felt about cats..."

Sirius trailed off as Harry picked up the tiny kitten, who was mewing very loudly.

Harry hadn't been disappointed when Hagrid had bought him Hedwig, of course, and he loved his owl for her loyalty as much as her companionship and usefulness at very able to deliver letters to his friends. All the same, when he looked at this kitten, he could suddenly understand why Hermione had remained so loyal to Crookshanks during their third year, even when all evidence seemed to point to the cat being a rat killer.

"He's brilliant," Harry murmured, holding the kitten close to him. "Does he have a name?"

Sirius placed an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Tonks has been calling him Mewy because that's the sound he makes most often, but I reckon we can come up with a proper name for him. Unless you have any ideas?"

Harry shook his head, still studying the kitten as he tried to climb up his dressing gown and curl up around his neck.

"That tickles!" he laughed, but the kitten simply purred as he curled up around his neck. "I suppose he likes me."

Sirius gave him a squeeze. "He's got good taste."

Carefully, so as not to disturb the kitten, Harry and Sirius opened the rest of their presents. Sirius saved Harry's for last, and let out a loud chortle that nearly woke the sleeping kitten.

"Blimey, Harry, these are brilliant!" he nearly roared, pulling him into a hug. "I can't wait to start reading them, and using them. Not on you, of course!" he added, rather protectively.

They settled down on the couch, and Harry leaned up against Sirius. "I'm glad you like them. I asked Ron and Hermione for ideas, and Hermione came up with the ideas for the books."

Sirius laughed. "She would. Still, these look fantastic. Thank you-not that you needed to buy me anything," he added, firmly.

"Too late. I'll be buying you something every year for the rest of your life," Harry answered, just as firmly.

"Well, if you insist," Sirius replied, putting his arms around Harry.

"How long you think this kitten is going to use my shoulders as his bed?" Harry wondered, a moment later.

"Until he wakes up and gets hungry," Sirius replied, almost matter of factly.

"Then, I should stay here and stay still until that happens?"

"Basically." Sirius took hold of Harry's feet and began to massage them slowly. "If you lie down slowly, I reckon you can avoid waking him."

Harry took Sirius's advice, and the purrs around his neck told him he had done well enough.

When he woke up, the kitten had moved to his chest, and it struck Harry how much he looked like he was wearing a tuxedo. He still didn't know what to call him, and decided to enlist Sirius's help on the matter. It really was his favorite present this year, and if he continued to be this affectionate, he'd enjoy sleeping next to the kitten when classes began. The purrs, too, were rather soothing.

Once the kitten decided to wake up and follow Harry around, he decided to change from his pajamas into a pair of casual robes. Sirius, he found upon emerging, had also dressed, and was busy putting the finishing touches on their Christmas lunch.

"Will it be just us, or is Remus coming over as well?" Harry asked, taking a seat.

"He'll be here within a quarter hour. He sent word that the Weasleys invited him. I think they wanted him to spend the day there, but he compromised by staying for tea," Sirius explained. "I wasn't sure how you'd be feeling, so I thought you'd like to enjoy yourself but have a rather quiet holiday. If you're up to it, we can go to the Weasleys for New Year's."

Harry nodded, taking a bite of the chicken Sirius passed his way. After swallowing, he said, "I'm sort of glad it will be a quiet holiday. Usually, Christmas at Hogwarts is loads of fun, but always rather eventful. Fourth year, especially."

"With the Yule Ball? I remember that being the main event of the holiday," Sirius observed, taking a seat next to Harry.

"Lots of people had loads of fun, but Ron and Hermione got into a big fight afterwards. He'd only asked her last minute, and she had agreed to go with Krum. Meantime, Parvati and her sister, Padma, went with us, and neither had a very good time," Harry summarized. "Plus, Parvati and I had to dance in front of the whole school."

"I understand the concept of the Yule Ball for celebrating the Triwizard Tournament, but I rather think it should have been held after the second task," Sirius began, "but I can understand why you'd feel awkward, being the youngest and being forced to dance in front of the school."

"Forced is right," Harry agreed. "I told McGonagall I didn't dance, but she wouldn't accept that as an excuse. Probably would have dragged me out there, even had I lost the bones in both of my legs."

"Probably," Sirius chuckled. "She was always one for tradition. Still is, really."

"Did you have dances back when you were in school?" Harry wondered.

"Oh yes, but not until our seventh year. Your dad went with your mum, and I went with Marlene. Your dad fancied himself a good dancer, and perhaps he was, but your mum kept saying that he nearly broke her feet. Personally, I think it was the shoes she was wearing that night. They still had a good time. James was in heaven for days afterwards, since they had only started going out the month before," Sirius recalled.

"Who did Remus go with?" Harry asked.

"I don't remember her name, but it was a girl who had a crush on him since their fifth year. Remus knew, and he rather fancied her, but didn't want to have a relationship with any girl because of his lycanthropy," Sirius explained. "It doesn't necessarily pass from parent to child, but it can, and Remus didn't want any child of his to have to suffer through that. Especially as a baby."

Harry shuddered. "But he went with the girl who fancied him?"

"Yes, and they had a lovely time, but he made some excuse not to see her again." Sirius let out a deep breath. "She was heartbroken, but that's Remus for you. Always worrying about others before himself."

Harry could understand exactly what Sirius meant, given the lack of communication between them after he had left Hogwarts. It hadn't been his fault, really, that he'd failed to take his potion. And Snape could have easily brought it along, which would have rendered him harmless and likely resulted in Wormtail being trapped and Sirius being declared innocent.

Snape, in fact, might have been able to prevent the rise of Voldemort to power.

No doubt seeing Harry's sour look, Sirius acted Harry what was wrong, and he told him.

Sirius sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right. Then again, we don't know what would have happened. Say, why didn't you use a time turner again, to go back after freeing me?"

Harry stared blankly. "Er, what?"

"Yeah, since you knew what you were doing. You could have captured the rat the third time around, right?"

Sirius's tone was curious, certainly not accusatory.

"But we had to be back in the hospital wing..."

"I suppose." Sirius shrugged. "I've never played with time travel, but I always thought the not being seen rule only applied when you didn't know what was going on. Hermione Granger must have seen herself in the hallways when she took those extra classes, right? And she knew that she had a time-turner, so it didn't bother her. Anyone else who saw her twice likely thought they were imagining things."

Harry was starting to see what Sirius meant. "You're right. If we had gone back a third time, our second selves would have understood that something had gone wrong, and far from thinking we'd gone insane because there was another copy of us, we would have wanted to help, in order to prevent a fourth time travel self."

"Precisely."

Harry closed his eyes, just briefly. "Wish we'd thought of it back then."

"Dumbledore did just tell you to save myself and Buckbeak. Next time, pup, you'll save the entire wizarding world," Sirius teased, ruffling his hair.

"Pretty sure they're all destroyed from our encounter at the Ministry," Harry reminded him.

"Don't be so sure that they won't make more. I'd warrant that's a job of an Unspeakable," Sirius guessed. "'Course, with you on track for becoming an Auror, you might find out. I always got the sense that Moody knows more than he lets on."

"Lets on about what?" Remus asked, coming through the fireplace.

"What Unspeakables do," Harry summarized. "Happy Christmas, Remus."

Remus smiled at him. "Happy Christmas, Harry. How are you feeling?"

"Almost back to normal," he said, with a grin. The kitten jumped on his lap and mewed at Remus, who gave the kitten a pat on the head.

"I thought you were joking when you said you were going to get Harry a kitten," Remus mused, sitting down next to Harry.

Sirius came over with a plate full of food for each of them, and floated another to his spot. "Why would you think that?"

Remus shrugged, then glanced at Harry. "I suppose they're less work than dogs."

"Especially with a castle of house elves. Harry won't need to worry about feeding him or changing the litter box. Although," he added, "I expect you covered Vanishing last year, for your OWLs?"

Harry nodded, having taken a large bite of food, then swallowed. "Yeah, we covered that last year. The animals, not the, you know..."

"That's far easier than the animals themselves," Sirius chuckled. "Smellier, though, which might be why it's not covered on the exams."

"More practical to Vanish their waste, when you think about it," Remus mused, now taking a bite of food.

"Can we change the subject?" Harry asked, grinning.

"Surely. What are you planning to name him?" Sirius responded, with a smile.

"No idea, do you have any suggestions?" Harry fed a piece of turkey to the kitten, who examined it carefully before nibbling at it.

"I'm not the best with names," Sirius admitted. "When your dad asked me what we should call you, I said 'James Jr.'"

"James is my middle name, though," Harry reasoned, "so you sort of got your way on that."

"I think James would have been happy naming a son after himself, but knew that Lily would never allow it." Remus fed the kitten a bit more of the turkey, who accepted it more quickly this time. "Lily wouldn't have wanted to name you after herself, had you been a girl."

"You might have been Harriet, then," Sirius offered. "Which isn't as bad as some other ones I've heard, but certainly rather plain and old-fashioned."

"Yeah, I fancy Harry over Harriet," Harry said, with a laugh. "So, no suggestions for the cat, then?"

"How'd you decide on Hedwig for your owl?" Remus asked.

"Found it when I was reading 'A History of Magic,'" Harry explained. "Liked the sound of it."

"You could check there and see if any other names strike you, pup," Sirius offered. "As long as he has a name at some point...Kitty isn't particularly original."

"Yeah, I'll check my copy," Harry agreed. "Thanks again for him, Sirius. He's really sweet."

"You're most welcome, pup."

The following day, Harry learned as they ate, Snape would come by to check on Harry again.

"Again?" Harry asked, rather startled. "Did I look that bad when he saw me last?"

"You still weren't entirely yourself," Sirius answered, mildly. "And that was after the worst of it was over."

"Couldn't we just send him an owl, letting him know I'm all right? I doubt that he really wants to come back here," Harry protested, rather half-heartedly.

Sirius pulled him up close to him on the couch, summoning an extra blanket. "Since when does he ever listen to me?" Sirius pointed out, reasonably.

Harry could make no objection to that, and simply nodded, nestling himself against Sirius. All of the food, plus the fire, was making him sleepy.

"Get some rest, pup. We'll have a light meal later, mostly desserts, and perhaps play some games," Sirius offered, stretching out next to Harry. Keeping one arm around him, he began to run his fingers down the side of his head.

"With treacle tart?" Harry asked, hopefully.

"Lots of it," Sirius promised, pulling the blankets around them more snugly.

He yawned. "Stay with me?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Sirius promised, still running his hands through Harry's hair.

The kitten, Sirius noticed, had crawled unto the couch, and planted himself on top of Harry's feet.

Up next: More Christmas festivities. Also, I welcome any name suggestions for Harry's kitten!