After over a couple of hours of rather intense play, Remus won the game of Monopoly, with Harry in a rather close second place, effectively cleaning out Sirius.

"I call a rematch before you go back," Sirius insisted, his arms still around Harry. Ever since Harry's admission that his cousin had engaged his friends in trying to beat him up, his godfather had kept at least one arm around his shoulders. Usually, the second as well, but he needed a free arm for playing Monopoly. Harry hadn't minded the extra attention in the slightest. Now, Sirius ran a hand through the teenager's hair, affectionately. "If I had known you two would buy everything you lay your eyes on..."

"Those are the rules of the game, Sirius," Remus remarked, rather dryly, as he flicked his wand and all the parts went back to the box in perfect order.

"Who plays by the rules all the time? Takes all the fun out of life, right pup?" Sirius chuckled.

"Pretty much," Harry agreed. Chuckling, he added, "Y'know, Dumbledore actually said my dismissal of the rules was a Slytherin trait."

"Well, that's an idiotic remark if I ever heard one. We Gryffindors should hold claim to that trait," Sirius scoffed, and Remus smiled. "You don't worry about a few rules when lives are in danger!" He paused, then added, as though checking what he had just said with the stories Harry had told him over the months, "Now, that was after you had saved Ginny in the Chamber?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, that's right."

"Rather odd thing for the headmaster to say," Remus remarked. "Was it in the context of a larger conversation, Harry?"

"It was. After I'd told him about the Chamber and Tom Riddle, I had asked him if he thought that the Sorting Hat had made a mistake when he assigned me to Gryffindor. The hat had told me I would have done well in Slytherin," Harry recalled.

"The hat doesn't believe it makes mistakes, although I believe it was wrong in the case of Wormtail," Sirius noted, face souring.

"At any rate, Dumbledore might have been better off to tell you that you wouldn't have turned evil just by being sorted there," Remus reassured him, and Sirius nodded his agreement, "although you likely would have turned to other houses sooner to make friends. Well, Theodore Nott was a decent sort when I taught, and I didn't dislike Blaise Zabini..."

"Moony doesn't dislike anyone," Sirius retorted in a stage whisper. "But he is right, in essence. I reckon I still would have rebelled had I ended up there, just like Andromeda. It's a darker house, but you can find friends everywhere. Not entirely Death Eaters."

"Speaking of eating, who's hungry?" Remus asked, with a chuckle.

Sirius groaned. "Terrible pun. However, I am hungry enough to overlook it. How about you, pup?"

Harry, to his surprise, was rather hungry again, so he nodded.

"This means you'll have to let go of me long enough to eat," he pointed out.

"We all must make sacrifices," Sirius said, heavily a dramatic sigh, "but I will make it up with a back or foot massage. Hell, both if you like, it being Christmas."

"It's not exactly fair that I am always the one receiving them from you," Harry mused, as Remus floated several plates of food over to them.

"After the last few days you've had? It's fair, trust me," Sirius insisted, smiling kindly at Harry. "But..if you want to give me a foot massage before the end of the holidays, I won't protest too much."

Harry grinned.

"He's also trying to get your mind away from the impending pillow fight," Remus warned. "Soften you up so we don't pelt him with pillows too badly."

Sirius chuckled, then sent a pillow in Remus's direction, hitting him lightly over the head. "You've discovered my evil plan."

Remus took a bite of his food, ignoring the pillow. "After knowing you since we were eleven? It's not exactly difficult to know what you're planning, Padfoot."

Sirius chuckled, and Harry grinned again at their banter.

After eating the light supper, and before dessert, they did have the promised pillow fight, which was the most fun Harry had had the whole day. Watching Sirius's face as he dodged Remus's near perpetual assault with pillows sent tears of laughter down his face. He did his best to help, but thought that Remus could easily win without him.

No wonder Sirius hadn't wanted a pillow fight without his friend on his side. Harry wouldn't stand a chance against Sirius and Remus.

"Well, I am beat!" Sirius laughed, flopping back on the couch. "Fun, though."

"Especially for us!" Harry grinned, settling himself next to Sirius, feeling only slightly winded.

Sirius snorted and tousled his hair. "Remus, come on up. Plenty of room!" Sirius playfully ordered.

The werewolf complied, and took a seat next to Sirius, placing him in the middle. He wrapped an arm around each of them, then stretched himself out.

"Mmm. My two favorite people in the world," he said, sighing happily.

"Even if we spent the last half hour attacking you with pillows?" Harry teased.

Sirius chuckled, nodding. "Remus actually went fairly easy on me. He only used the ones there. Didn't multiply any."

"Really? That's brilliant!" Harry grinned.

"I try to go easy on those with lesser abilities," Remus answered, modestly.

"Very good of you, Moony," Sirius snorted. "Of course, you realize that your other way of fighting wouldn't have lasted in a fight half as long."

"That's only part of the reason why," Remus lightly protested, lifting his legs up against the end of the couch turned bed, and resting himself against Sirius.

Sirius nodded, placing an arm around Remus, then pulled Harry a bit closer with his other, motioning him to put his head on his lap.

"You look like you need to relax," Sirius noted, studying Harry. At Harry's shrug, he added, "I'll stroke your hair and massage your neck, if you like."

"Ask him for a scalp massage," Remus suggested, closing his eyes. "Those are his specialty."

"Don't you need shampoo for that?" Harry asked, looking up.

"That helps, but your hair is clean enough, isn't it?"

"Yeah, washed it this morning."

"Well, then, you should be all right," Sirius answered for his friend, and carefully pressed his fingers into Harry's scalp.

He began, first, to knead, and then to alternate between scratching and kneading. Harry felt his eyes close on their own accord.

"Mmm."

"Told you," Remus returned. Playfully, he chided Remus, "You've been holding out on him."

"Hardly. Kid only lets me massage his back or feet every other time I see him, if that," Sirius sighed.

"You stroke my hair a bunch," Harry murmured, softly, smiling as Sirius scratched at an itch he hadn't realized he had.

"Because you're my pup," Sirius explained, with affection. "That's part of my job. So's the other stuff, but especially the hair part. I've been doing it ever since you had hair."

"Even when I was a baby?"

"Yeah, and you loved it. Oh, and you loved it when I gave you baths. I think it was because I would give good scalp scratching then, too. Your mum's term," he explained. "You had this particular gurgling sound you'd make...and there was some drooling..."

"Sirius!" Harry covered his face with his hands, but didn't move his head away from his godfather.

"Well, of course, you drooled," Sirius remarked, with a chuckle. "You were a baby. Only ones that didn't were Severus Snape, maybe my brother, and Draco Malfoy. It was beneath them," Sirius explained, turning the scratching into kneading once more. "There's no need to feel embarrassed about that."

"Padfoot, you forgot one very important person in your life," Remus said, seriously.

"Who?"

"Dumbledore. He never drooled," Remus reminded Sirius.

"You're right, I completely forgot about him. So, there you are, Harry. You may be the Boy Who Lived and the Chosen One, but you drooled when I gave you a bath," Sirius finished, grinning widely.

Harry groaned. "You'll keep this between us? If I start seeing someone and bring them here..."

"Then, I will bring out the embarrassing pictures, but leave the drooling stories for the wedding toast," Sirius promised.

Harry closed his eyes again, and not from enjoyment. Although, the scalp massage certainly was making him tired..."You're dreadful."

"I could do the reverse?" Sirius offered. "Show all of your embarrassing baby pictures when I make your wedding toast, and tell your betrothed all about how you drooled in the bathtub."

"No! I don't know! Both are awful!"

But Harry was laughing, and shaking so much that Sirius had to reposition his head.

"He's a funny one, your godfather," Remus remarked, dryly.

"Like you're an old stick in the mud," Sirius retorted, gently scratching the part line of Harry's scalp.

"Padfoot, I would hardly threaten to humiliate Harry by telling stories of his drooling to a perspective girlfriend," Remus pointed out.

"He'd just do it," Sirius whispered, eliciting more laughter from Harry.

"Well...perhaps I might," Remus allowed.

Sirius continued to scratch Harry's head, and Harry was sure he was grinning.

"Did you humiliate Dad like this in front of Mum?" Harry asked, a moment later.

"Merlin, no! He would have hexed us within an inch of our lives!" Sirius snorted.

"Less than that," put in Remus.

"But we certainly wanted to," Sirius added, chuckling. "A shame your dad was such a good dueler, really..."

This started them on some stories about the early days of when Harry's dad and mum were dating, and Sirius promised to show him memories of these before the holiday was over.

Sirius floated in various desserts when it was all finished. Harry, who had been nearly asleep, woke up when he saw the assortment of treats, and immediately helped himself to a piece of treacle tart. Sirius promptly added another slice to his plate, as well as a large scoop of ice cream.

"You need the nourishment, pup," he insisted, as he added ice cream to his own plate, which already contained an assortment of small pieces of pies and tarts.

"Yes, and no arguments," Remus added, with a smile.

"Is this like when you used to go to Honeydukes and would buy Remus half the store?" Harry said, taking a bite of tart.

"That, and you didn't get your necessary intake of sweets when you were recovering from the surgery. Oh, and it's Christmas." With that, he pushed the large tray of desserts closer to Harry.

"Not that you should eat more than you want to," Remus told interjected.

"Yes, no need to make yourself sick." Sirius looked aghast at the very idea.

Harry crossed his legs, placing the plate on top of them, and leaned back on the couch.

"I rather fancy having Christmas dinner and dessert like this, instead of at a table," he noted.

"It's far more comfortable this way. It would also kill my deceased parents from shock, which has a nice benefit." Sirius grinned.

"The Thursday before you arrived, Sirius ate a muggle packaged dinner on his parents' fanciest china," Remus volunteered. "Looked like the cat swallowed the canary, he did."

Harry nearly choked. "Where'd you get one of those?"

"There's a charming muggle shopping center a few minutes away by car," Sirius explained. "I Apparated into an empty ally, of course. Bought loads of stuff my parents would never let us eat."

"Empty ally?"

"Don't worry, I made sure no one was there the last time I traveled. Set up detection charms," Sirius reassured Harry. "I had changed over a few hundred galleons for various muggle currencies, just in case we ever need them."

"That's really clever," Harry said, admiringly.

Sirius just shrugged, having taken a large bite of ice cream. "I didn't expect the horcruxes to be so easy to track down. Don't think I will change the money back. It's not like I don't have plenty more, and it doesn't hurt to have it handy."

"I look forward to seeing Dumbledore's reaction when you tell him they're all gone, save Nagini," Remus mused.

"He might know when Harry shows up next term. Even with a glamour, I rather think he won't be fooled," Sirius said.

"Think he'll be angry?" Harry asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Really, the sod should have begun his search as soon as you gave him the diary. Tracked down anyone who taught Voldemort who was still living, and I do include Slughorn. Would have been better to destroy them before he got a body back. Kill him fully and all."

"You had just escaped," Remus noted.

"Oh, if it wasn't one thing, it would have been another. The Tournament, Umbridge...no, he should have begun earlier. Especially with one under his thumb the entire time." Sirius took a couple of deep breaths, then looked at his plate. "How did I finish all that already?"

Harry floated the plate of pies over to Sirius, who grinned and helped himself to seconds.

"You'll make yourself sick if you continue at that rate," Remus warned.

Sirius nodded. "Better slow down. Say, anyone up for another game?"

Harry and Remus were, so after some consideration, they settled on Scrabble.

"Of course, we have to make spells count as words," Harry pointed out.

"Fair enough. No names, as they're proper nouns," Remus added, and the others nodded in agreement.

This turned out to be more difficult than they had expected. Spells were generally long, and until halfway through the game, the only ones they could manage with the seven letter allotment were "lumos" from Sirius and "nox" from Harry. The latter was a rather good one, as the "x" was worth not the usual eight points, but twenty-four, as it landed on a triple letter score.

"Only way you could have done better would have been on a triple word, and that would just be six more points," Remus noted, scribbling down the number "24" next to Harry's name.

"Be a real shame if I lost by six, then," Harry laughed.

Everyone was playing seriously, but certainly not competitively. Rather like wizard Chess, really. The fun was in the playing, and spending time with Sirius and Remus.

They had decided that if a spell was two words, either word could count, so Remus shortly afterwards tried to use the "x" to include "expecto" but realized that since "OT" was not a real word, he couldn't do it.

"There's still the blank pieces, if you have them," Harry reminded him, but Remus shook his head.

"I haven't."

"I have both of them." Sirius grinned. "Saving them for something good."

"To try to form a seven letter word?" Harry guessed.

"That's the plan."

In the end, Sirius won the game, with Harry coming in second place. Although it wasn't very late, Harry was starting to feel tired, and noticed Remus looking rather pale.

"What do you say we end the festivities for tonight, pup, and I can either give you a back or foot massage after you get changed?" Sirius suggested, just as Harry yawned.

"You don't need to..."

Sirius pulled Harry into his arms. "Please?"

Laughing a little, Harry relented. "All right, I'll take a back one."

They walked upstairs-Remus went to change for bed downstairs.

Holding him closer, Sirius nodded. "I'll set Moony up in the bed next to ours, and we should be ready at the same time."

Harry was about to ask, but then he remembered. Yesterday had been the full moon. How, then, had Remus even managed to come over, much less be well enough to participate?

Understanding Harry's confusion, Sirius waited until they had reached the top before explaining.

"I have been slowly altering one of the ingredients in the potion to increase the pain killing capacity. The potion by itself doesn't deaden pain because it would render the awareness part useless. Moony would end up in moderate pain and without his mental faculties. But Snape and I have been working on ways to make small changes that result in a building up in the body of a separate chemical that reacts to inhibit pain, while keeping Moony's human mind," Sirius explained.

Two thoughts came to Harry at once. "He's not in pain anymore? And Snape's been helping?"

Sirius chuckled. "Snape has been helping for, as he calls it, the research. He says it will help many if it works, and if it helps Moony, that's a necessary evil." They both snorted at this. "As for current pain, it's about a third what it was, according to Remus. Which is still far too high in my mind, as I intend to make it entirely painless, but I suppose that going from scalding flames to mere burns must feel like an immense relief to him." Sirius sighed. "I expect that with some rest and additional pain relief draughts, which he had been taking throughout the day, he will be himself by tomorrow evening."

"He still hurt then, today," Harry observed, feeling guilty.

Sirius held him by the shoulders again. "It meant a great deal to be with you today, and he would hate for you to feel bad about it."

Slowly, Harry nodded.

"And once you're sound asleep, my werewolf brother will receive the same treatment, even if he protests. Along with ample pain killing draughts," Sirius added. "He'll be fine."

Harry nodded once more, and Sirius gently steered him in the direction of the bathroom, following him.

Once Harry had nearly fallen asleep, he could hear Sirius walk over to Remus, who was groaning and stretching himself out.

"Still hurts something awful?"

"It's not so bad. Might have overdone it with the pillows."

"You nearly drowned me in them!" Snort. "But we had a great time."

Laughter.

"We did."

Harry thought he could hear more talking, but by now, he was half asleep, until Sirius returned some time later, gently holding him close.

"How's Remus?"

"Much better. Sleeping like a little cub." Sirius lightly tickled Harry's ribs. "Unlike a certain pup..."

Harry reddened, just a bit. "I was waiting up for you."

"Well, in that case, I suppose I can forgive you."

He held Harry tighter, and he felt his eyes close, his breathing begin to slow down.

It had been the best Christmas of his life. Without question.

Next up: Sirius reads the riot act to Scrimgeour, and Harry finds out that not everyone had a nice Christmas when he talks to Ron. Also, Snape wants to talk.