Grimmauld place was looking jollier than Harry had ever seen it; as soon as he had arrived, Remus and Sirius had excitedly pulled out a box of old Christmas decorations - the fairy lights levitated by themselves, little glowing pixies glowing in every room, frost made specially to decorate each window, snow falling perpetually atop the Christmas tree in the living room which was decorated in furls of red and gold tinsel. They had attempted to make gingerbread, but after their first attempt nearly burned down the kitchen, Kreacher had somewhat begrudgingly provided them with the baked gingerbread and icing to do as they pleased.

Through much encouragement from Harry, Sirius had been working on his manners towards the elf - and though Kreacher clearly still held a lot of disdain towards his new master, he wasn't nearly so hostile as he used to be. However, according to Remus, after the removal of the wall carrying Walburga Black's portrait, he had refused to speak directly to Sirius for weeks. Since his freedom, Sirius had seemingly taken up home renovation - skylights in the uppermost rooms of the house, an open plan for the kitchen and living room, the house was spacious and alight constantly. The wall carrying his mother's portrait had to be removed; he absolutely refused to live with her - after many weeks of attempting to unstick it from the wall, he gave in and got rid of the wall entirely. Now, in some rubbish dump somewhere out of sight, Walburga rests fitfully, often woken by the sounds of compacting and incinerating rubbish, surrounded by muggle artefacts, awaiting the day her portrait can finally be destroyed.

Most of the house had been redone by the time Harry had returned for Christmas, although, they had found a room they couldn't change - they couldn't get in. A large ominous door loomed at the end of the corridor on the second floor. Harry didn't know why he hadn't noticed it before, though he supposed they'd been preoccupied in the previous timeline. They'd tried everything - every key in the house - none fit the lock, trying to break the door down - it stood strong as steel, they couldn't get around it through a window or the wall - looking from the outside of the house, it didn't even look like that room should exist. There wasn't a wall they could break down to get in, or a window they could smash, it was like it barely existed.

Beyond that, the lead up to Christmas was happy and festive. The three of them took plenty of time to explore London's magical and muggle Christmas scenes. A wizarding winter market opened up nearby, selling magical mugs that kept your hot chocolate always hot and stars for Christmas trees that glowed all winter; there were mittens that were perpetually heated and boots with anti-slipping charms for the icy nights ahead. Though the magical world never failed to impress, Harry much preferred the muggle attractions. They visited a local theme park that had opened up for the holidays where Harry realised he'd never actually had an opportunity to ride a rollercoaster before, but looking at Sirius and Remus' faces as the ride got higher and higher he realised they hadn't either. Harry loved it, the little adrenaline rush from plummeting at such speeds from such a high place was exhilarating; his guardians seemed to have a greater preference for sitting down on the park benches looking a little sickly. Still, most of his time spent with them was fun.

Once or twice, Harry was awoken from the sound of screaming. The first time, he'd jumped out of bed, on high alert, but the screams quickly stopped after the sound of footsteps crossing the hall and low murmurs were heard from Sirius' room. Yes, Grimmauld Place was spacious and light, during the day time at least, but Sirius could not bear the dark. He was doing what he could to make this place his home; he wanted to take it back, a big 'screw you!' to his mother as he tore down and changed around the home she'd loved so much. But all his worst memories had been here. Over a decade in Azkaban of reliving them, it was hard when the sun went down to not feel like he was a child again, under the abhorrent reign of Walburga Black.

Harry had managed to break Kreacher's silent strike, asking why he cared so much for a portrait that just screamed obscenities at him so often. "The master is ungrateful. She wept when he left. She loved him."

"But she loved Regulus more." Kreacher didn't have a response to that.

Harry desperately wanted to comfort Sirius, but every time he looked to him, he didn't have the words. He'd spent years with the Dursley's undergoing mistreatment he'd never spoken aloud and then later again with the Weasleys; really he felt he should understand Sirius better than anyone, but it wasn't so easy to talk about. A lump would form in his throat when he heard Sirius' sadness, and he'd feel his heart pang when he would think to talk about the Dursleys. Talking about the past wasn't really done in Grimmauld Place; where Remus had been before coming to see Sirius, Sirius' experience in Azkaban, Harry's life pre-Hogwarts: they weren't fun stories to tell, so they simply didn't.

Until one late dark night, Harry found himself at Sirius' door. He'd been screaming again and Remus had again gone to comfort him. Harry knocked on the door and turned the handle.

Hermione's Christmas holidays had been going well. It had been nice to relax with her parents. Christmas was a holiday they took fairly lightly - yes it was time for family, but she'd never been too big on going out or having a big party. Since Hermione had been at a boarding school for two years, her parents had definitely focused the holidays around her; spending evenings watching movies together, cooking together, taking her shopping. It had been nice, peaceful, relaxing.

One evening, her mum and dad had been in a very good mood, and as Hermione jokingly pretended to gag at their lovey-dovey act around the dinner table, her mother had teasingly asked what she would do when Hermione finally got a boyfriend.

Hermione couldn't stop it, it was like a light switch, she just burst into tears. Embarrassed she'd ran into her room, not sure what had happened.

She hated this. She hated thinking about Ronald. She hated that he still had such a grip on her emotions. She hated how weak she felt. After gaining more friends and a little more confidence at Hogwarts, she was so much stronger than she was now - she was outspoken and happy and could stand up for herself. She felt like she could do that now too but it just took so much out of her. She couldn't believe she'd cried over such a small comment. She buried her face in her pillow; she wanted to talk to Harry but she also wanted to give him his space, let him enjoy his holidays with the people he cared so much about without her bringing down his mood so drastically.

She heard a knock at the door, "Mia?" Her mother's affectionate name for her, she always used it when trying to make her daughter feel better. The door opened and her mum walked in, sat on the bed and began stroking her hair.

"Sweetheart, you know you're still only young yet, you don't have to worry about boys liking you or getting into relationships, when you grow up people will realise how beautiful you are…" and her mother continued talking, trying to comfort a daughter she thought was insecure about not having a boyfriend yet.

"That's not it," Hermione sniffed, sitting up a little. She didn't know how she could talk to her parents about this. There was too much.

They sat in silence for a moment. Hermione's mother was never one to push, she always waited for Hermione to come forward with her feelings. Hermione appreciated that.

"I had a boyfriend."

"Oh?" Emma replied, clearly trying to hide her surprise.

"He was awful and mean to me and I hate seeing him at school and I never want to be in a relationship ever again," Hermione heard herself whine, feeling so much more childish than she wanted to.

"Why were you with him then?" Her mother pulled her in to cradle her.

"Because he was nice at first and made me feel special and like he actually cared about me." Hermione began to cry harder, there was so much she wanted to tell her mum but knew she never could.

"Like I said Mia, you don't have to worry about relationships for now. Maybe you'll change your mind, maybe you won't - thats ok. Maybe you'll find someone who treats you as wonderfully as you deserve to be treated, or maybe you'll fill your life with friendships instead of romance, that's ok too. You will be happy. This boy was an idiot. He didn't… hurt you did he?" Her mother hesitated before asking.

"No," Hermione didn't know if it was a lie or not, technically he hadn't even been in a relationship with her, she wasn't sure what the right thing to say was.

"Ok. But Hermione, you know, if Hogwarts ever gets too much for you, you can always come home, ok?"

"I know mum, thank you." She hadn't told her mum everything, and she knew her mum would tell her dad, but she felt better for it. Any little she could share with them felt like a weight off her shoulders. She would be ok, she knew it.

Ginny ran out of Dumbledore's office in tears. She didn't know what to do. She hadn't wanted to stay in Hogwarts for Christmas but her mum kept pushing for it. She thought that maybe Harry was going to stay too but now she couldn't even care. She'd lost the diary, she'd lost Tom and now Dumbledore was mad at her. She was glad no-one was getting hurt but she felt like such a failure. She didn't know what to do with herself. Her brothers barely paid her any attention, she didn't have anyone she could go to. She hated Hogwarts. She thought it would be incredible to go to school with Harry Potter, but he barely even noticed her. Her mother had told her it was ok, this wasn't the year to get his attention, this year was for focusing on other things, but it still upset her.

She sat in her dorm room alone - most of the other first years had gone home, and she wasn't that close with them anyways, they wouldn't understand how much she had to do this year. She stared out the window considering the term ahead. She was going to focus on feeling better. She had to. If she wasn't confident enough to handle herself, she'd never be able to handle Harry Potter. She was going to be fine, she told herself, she just needed to focus on her. She was going to be ok, she knew it.

—

Harry sat on the fur rug in Sirius' room, looking up at the two men trying and failing to hide the breakdown Sirius had been having. They'd sat in silence for a while, unsure of what to say.

"I asked for the biggest room because the Dursley's made me live in a cupboard. I hate small space. I'm not just selfish," Harry's laugh was hollow. Anger, worry, pity, rage flashed over his guardians faces. "I'm incredibly claustrophobic now. I hate small rooms and dust, can't stand it." They had noticed Harry's extreme cleaning behaviours, dusting and wiping down surfaces before Kreacher could even notice a speck. They hadn't thought he was selfish when he'd chosen his room, just over excited. "It sucks, but I'm ok now, because I have you guys." He smiled up at them. The silence was suffocating. What if they just thought he was making everything about him? Harry started mentally kicking himself.

"My mum sucked. Kreacher can say what he wants, she never showed me love. She was brutal. I finally got to leave home, spent a couple of years out of here and then got locked in Azkaban. Those damn dementors just made me feel like I was back here with her all over again but like a thousand times worse," Sirius paused, "The house still smells of her."

A pause.

"I literally lived as a wolf for a while," Remus sighed. "After the war, I really didn't know where to go so I just went into some woods, found a little hut, lived off what I could. Recently, I'd started working, taking on odd jobs and I don't know, trying to be normal? But I didn't let anyone know me for more than a couple of months, I couldn't have them find out. I didn't want to know anyone because then, they couldn't leave me."

Harry laughed, a lot. Like his stomach was hurting he was laughing that much. Like there were tears in his eyes, he was laughing that much. "We're all just a complete mess, aren't we?" Sirius let out a tentative laugh too. And then a louder one. And then Remus joined in.

The truth was, they all needed each other, and they all knew it but they were all scared. This was step one. The first step towards healing. They were going to be ok, they knew it.

Is this a really sad chapter? I can't tell. I wanted to go for comforting but let me know what you guys think! I know I normally wait a month between uploads, but I've finally had a little more time on my hands ~

As always, thank you for reading, please favourite, follow and review - you guys are the reason I write :)