Christmas really has come early! We're at around the halfway mark of the story with this chapter and what better way to celebrate that than with a chapter set at Christmas! I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

The high that Leo felt immediately after Professor Slughorn's Christmas Party was very quickly tamed when the following morning he and Harry were forced to watch everybody else depart the school on the carriages first thing, waiting until noon before they were allowed into Professor McGonagall's office.

Leo was the first one to step through the fireplace and arrive at Grimmauld Place, and before the 16-year-old had even had a moment to take in his new surroundings he was enveloped in a bone crushing hug from his Mother. Smiling at the contact, Leo made sure to shift the pair of them to the left slightly so that Harry's arrival a few seconds later didn't knock them all over.

"I missed you too mum." Leo chuckled, gently releasing Mary from his grasp. She looked older, Leo realised, the stresses of the war had given her eyes a couple more age lines while he could tell her hair was lightening too. Despite that, she looked as happy as Leo could remember, her eyes beaming up at him as she took him in.

"Look at you." She said eventually, reaching up to caress his cheek gently. "You've grown again."

Leo barked out a laugh. "That tends to happen." He rolled his eyes at her, earning a gentle slap on the cheek from Mary at the cheek.

Closer to the doorway stood Sirius, having just embraced Harry. "Leo." He smiled warmly, opening his arms. Leo grinned back and walked towards him, hugging Sirius firmly in greeting. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to be back." Leo admitted, looking around at the old townhouse and actually feeling a sense of belonging there, a fact that surprised him as Mary ushered them all into the hallway.

"Come on, away from the fireplace." She instructed. "Go and put your trunks away and be back down here in 5 minutes for dinner."

Rushing up the stairs to his room Leo did exactly that, spending a bit more time than he was allowed by looking at the picture Sirius had gifted him on his last birthday before rushing back down to see that his meal had been plated up and Mary was glaring at him, though Leo just grinned cheekily before settling down in his seat. The teenagers both rushed it, eager to find out anything they could about the Order, and when they were all finished it was Harry that brought up the conversation that Leo had been waiting for. "So, what's been happening?"

Mary rolled her eyes as Sirius turned to her with a big grin. "I told you they'd ask." He chuckled, holding his hand out.

"And I told you, they're still young." Mary said scoldingly, though she reached into her purse and pulled out a sickle and handed it to him. "Harry dear, we'll tell you what we can but you must realise that some things are classified…"

"I do." Harry sighed, clearly frustrated at the answer. "But we all know that it will come down to me, I think I deserve to be kept in the loop."

"And you will be." Sirius nodded firmly. "But ultimately, since the summer Voldemort has been quiet. His followers have been terrorising muggle towns as before but news of him has been lacking. Remus has gone underground to touch base with the Werewolves, Malfoy Manor has been raided quietly and nothing came of that…"

"He's still up to something, Malfoy that is." Harry stated quickly. "I overheard him with Snape at the Christmas Party, he's been avoiding Snape, he's even perfected Occlumency to keep Snape out of his mind and he's definitely up to something. He has a task, one that Snape made the Unbreakable Vow to help him with. I knew it, and nobody believed me."

Mary frowned at that revelation, looking nervously towards Sirius. "I'm sure Professor Snape was just pretending to help so he could gather information."

Sirius scoffed. "Even Snape isn't that good of an actor." He retorted childishly, though he too frowned after a moment of thought and turned back to Harry. "But you're sure he said the Unbreakable Vow?"

"One hundred percent." Harry stated bluntly. "'I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow.' That's what he said."

"Sirius, Severus has had to act convincingly enough to fool some of the darkest witches and wizards that his closeness to Dumbledore over the past 15 years has been a cover, if he was a terrible actor then he would have been killed immediately after Voldemort returned." Mary sighed, and Leo surmised that she was too used to the old rivalry between Sirius and Snape. "You're letting your personal feelings cloud your judgement again." She then turned to Harry, ensuring him that his fears wouldn't be forgotten. "We will bring this up at the next meeting, I promise."

That seemed to placate Harry for the time being as he nodded and stood up, pausing slightly before asking. "Can I go?"

Sirius nodded his assent. "Go and unpack mate, we'll see you later."

Harry left the room then and Leo went to follow, wanting to try and send out Cosmo with a letter to Fay to let her know how to contact him this holiday when Mary moved over to the door and shut it behind Harry. "Am I in trouble?" Leo asked, an eyebrow raised questioningly. "I swear, I've been nothing but good this term…"

Sirius snorted in amusement. "No you're not in trouble, just sit down. We want to talk to you about something."

Leo frowned as he did just that, waiting for Mary to stand beside Sirius, nervously wondering what they were going to say. Mary took a breath and began. "Obviously you know that Sirius and I had a relationship in our last year at Hogwarts, one that continued after we graduated and led to you being born." She explained, and Leo immediately began to feel like the conversation he was about to listen to was going to be an awkward one about his parents' relationship. "When the Order was reformed and we were… forced back into one another's company for lack of a better term, it was a struggle. I held a lot of resentment while Sirius…"

"I was a mess, I'll admit it." Sirius shrugged. "Azkaban isn't exactly a spa…"

Mary glared down at him, ignoring the comment as she continued. "Well, now that all of our secrets are out in the open we've actually stopped fighting as much."

"Given that most of our arguments in the first place were over you." Sirius input bluntly.

Mary glared at him again. "Not helpful, Sirius." She scolded before turning back to Leo. "But yes, and since the Ministry after… after Mulciber, we've grown closer once more." The name of that man sent a scowl to Leo's face at the thought of what he and Avery had forced her to do.

"I'm with you." Sirius said to him noticing the scowl, unusually solemn as he placed a protective hand on Mary's arm. "But on the topic of us not arguing… it's taken a lot of talking, and listening, to work through the emotions of the attack at school as well as what happened in the summer, but… provided you are ok with it of course, we want to give our own relationship another go."

Leo looked between them, noticing Mary had both of her hands gently atop Sirius' shoulder. They certainly looked closer than he had seen them be in the summer and he could see the happiness in Mary's eyes. They rarely spoke about what happened at school, with Leo now an age where he could completely understand why it was difficult to speak about to him, and he was surprised to think that his initial reaction was one of relief, relief that Mary finally had someone that would finally put her first completely. Perhaps it was his ongoing… something… with Hermione that had made Leo feel more mature when it came to relationships, but the smile on his face was genuine. Looking at his Mother and watching her eyes light up at his look, he asked. "You're truly happy?"

"Truly. Despite hating him for what he did, abandoning us like that. I never stopped loving Sirius, not even all these years later, it was always him." She smiled down at Leo's Father with a sickeningly sweet grin, before realising herself and clearing her throat, looking back at Leo. "But while this is what I want, you come first, always. If you're uncomfortable with this…" She trailed off, not knowing what to add and just staring at him hopefully.

Leo stood up and rounded the table quickly, hugging his mum tightly. "I just want you happy." He whispered into her ear before taking a step back and speaking louder so that Sirius could hear too. "If that includes Sirius then of course I'm ok with it. What son wouldn't want to see his parents get back together?"

Mary's face lit up in elation and she leant up on her tiptoes to kiss Leo firmly on the cheek. "I love you." She told him firmly. "You mean the world to me… and now, perhaps, we can finally be a proper family, as we should have been all those years ago."

"Just don't go being too intimate when I'm here." Leo teased the pair of them quickly, giving them both pointed looks. "Some things I really don't need to know about…"

He earned a slap on the arm for that. "Cheeky git." She scolded, her accent thick as shook her head. "But honestly, thank you." She waved her wand and summoned some boxes towards her, floating around the kitchen almost as if a great weight had been lifted. "Right boys, I'll be back soon, I just need to pop over to The Burrow to see Molly. Bill is working today so she will need a hand at the station. Don't burn the place down while I'm gone."

"Can you wait a moment?" Leo asked quickly, realising an opportunity. "I wanted to write to Fay and Anna, to let them know how they can contact me; you could give it to them on the platform instead of me risking Cosmo."

"Aye, hurry up then." She nodded, counting out all of the boxes, allowing Leo to run back to his room to quickly scribble out a pair of notes, a smile on his face as he thought of just how happy his Mother was and hoping that this Christmas would be one to remember.

With their relationship now well and truly out in the open, Mary and Sirius had become more reminiscent of a couple that Leo would expect in his year at Hogwarts than a pair of 37-year-old adults with a teenage son. It seemed like wherever he turned they were tucked away in a corner either giggling away at something or snogging, and Leo knew for a fact that what had been his Mum's room in the summer hadn't been slept in for weeks. The thought almost made him gag as he was peeling sprouts and he almost cut himself as his knife slipped.

"Not a fan?" Harry asked, nodding down to the sprouts with a grin.

Shaking his head, Leo then pointed the knife behind him where Mary and Sirius were curled up sat at the table, reading the Daily Prophet together. "It's just… weird. All I've ever known is mum on her own, looking after me or my Granda' and never having any time for, dating or whatever it is adults call it. It's like she's gone back to being a teenager... they're just as bad as Ron and Lavender."

Harry laughed at that, though he seemed to cringe at the comparison. "It is weird, even for me. You missed most of their screaming matches last year. Fred and George were about to start taking bets on who would murder the other first."

Leo had experienced enough of them at one another's throats to know exactly what Harry meant. "My money would be on Mum." He joked, laughing with Harry aloud.

Unfortunately for the teenagers, that caught Mary's attention. "Sprout peeling shouldn'y be that much fun, boys." She stated, her accent thicker than usual. "Less laughing, more peeling please."

"Why are we even doing this now?" Leo complained towards the sink. "Christmas is two days away..."

A whizzing sound came from behind him, and Leo had to duck to avoid the incoming yoghurt that was aiming directly for his head, splashing against the window in front of him. "You try cooking for 12 bloody people with no preparation!" His mum scolded, quickly waving her wand to vanish the mess that she had made. "You'll wish you'd peeled the sprouts early then!"

"I had to do this on Christmas morning for Aunt Petunia." Harry told Leo with a shrug. "This is preferable."

"Christmas morning?" Leo asked, shocked at the thought. Harry simply shrugged like it was no big deal. "The only thing we ever made on Christmas morning were pancakes."

"Which won't be happening this year unless you get all of that pile done!" Mary called back at them, and Leo got back to work immediately with renewed vigour. "Aye, I thought so."

"Pancakes?" Harry asked quietly as the Gryffindor pair got back to their task of peeling.

"It's a tradition." Leo explained fondly. "My Nan and Grandad used to do it for Mum when she was a wee girl. First they just made the pancakes, but as Mum got older they made a habit out of trying to get the most Christmassy shapes possible. We couldn't be overly creative last year because of everything that was going on, but this year…"

"This year we're making up for it!" Sirius called out excitedly. "I've got some thoughts…"

"No." Mary scolded. "Not again… this was nice and innocent until you showed up our first year after leaving school." Mary said, and Leo could hear the eye roll that he knew she was pulling. "What was it you made again…"

"If you don't believe Reindeers need to go when they're working for that long, then somebody needs to restart school and learn some geography." Sirius stated bluntly. The rest of the room's occupants all groaned at the same time. "What?"

Mary shook her head amusedly. "Mam was horrified." She cried, though the laughter in her voice said a lot.

"Of course she didn't! Gracey found it hilarious!" Sirius pouted.

"Just stick to the basic trees this year, love." Mary muttered, patting his arm, and Leo couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face.

"Are you doing that this year?" Harry asked.

Grinning, Leo nodded again. "Best get thinking now, Potter. I've had my idea locked in for weeks." He looked around at his shoulder to see his parents still laughing along at Sirius' reindeer dropping pancake. "I do see now why she spent so much time focusing on us though." He muttered so that the adults couldn't hear.

Harry seemed to agree. "When you find that one person, nobody else even comes close." He said. "Seeing Mary and Sirius… it makes me think of my parents. I hear so often about how in love they were, and how great they were, but I sometimes wish I could experience it, you know? You're lucky, Leo, you get to witness it."

With a smile on his face as he watched Sirius stop laughing to kiss Mary, Leo knew exactly what he meant. Seeing the happiness that had once made him possible was enough to bring a bit of light into an increasingly darkening world.

Mary was collectively voted as having the best pancake with an intricately curated effort of Santa telling off a naughty puppy, a design that caused Sirius to pout while the two teenagers laughed their heads off before they all settled down to their Christmas Breakfast, closely followed by half an hour where the four in Grimmauld Place shared their gifts to one another, with Leo receiving a book called Stubborn as Spavin: The Secrets to Longevity in the Office from Harry, and what seemed like an entire new wardrobe of clothing from his Mother, with numerous shirts, jumpers, jeans in a large bundle. The most surprising gift however, came from Sirius, who while grinning, left the room to bring it in.

"Is that…" Leo trailed away as the very obvious shape was obvious despite all the wrappings. It was placed in his lap and Leo wasted no time in tearing it open to reveal a broomstick. "You didn't…"

"This might be a Comet 290 but it isn't just a luxury." Sirius said seriously. "With everything going on, who knows when you'll need a quick getaway. You'll learn to Apparate soon sure, but a broom is always handy."

Leo pushed it to one side to hug his Dad tightly. "Thank you." He whispered.

The peace and quiet didn't last long into the afternoon however, as the rest of the guests turned up to Grimmauld Place to celebrate the holiday. The Weasley's, Remus and Tonks all found themselves in the London townhouse, where Leo found himself initially sat down with Tonks as the older Auror sullenly explained the latest goings on inside the Ministry, though the Gryffindor did keep glancing over towards Harry who was deep in conversation with Ron, presumably speaking about his Draco Malfoy theories again, and worryingly, Ron seemed to be in full agreement with whatever was being said.

They were summoned through to lunch at around 2 o'clock, to which Leo was sat with his classmates at the table, with Harry filling him in on Ron's input on the Unbreakable Vow. "If Snape doesn't do what he's promised… he'll die!" Harry whispered, though Leo couldn't tell if it was excitement at the knowledge or the prospect in his voice.

"Then why would he actually make it? Especially if he's on our side." Leo asked, confused. "It's more likely that he's trying to manipulate Malfoy into sharing whatever he is up to."

"So you admit he's up to something." Harry remarked smugly, and despite Leo's protests, it seemed that the conversation had been shut down completely, with Harry moving on instead to probing Ron about the present the red-head had received from Lavender, a really gaudy gold chain with the words My Sweetheart hanging off of it.

Once dinner had been eaten and the entire household could barely move, they moved up to the drawing room and Leo ended up as close to Fleur Delacour as he had ever been in his life as the Frenchwoman was doing her utmost to not scowl at the song playing on the radio that Mrs Weasley looked grief stricken listening too, yet wouldn't turn it off either. To try and ignore the awkwardness of both that and Mary and Sirius, Leo opened up his gift from Hermione to distract himself, engrossing his mind in what looked like an ancient book about the formation of the Wizengamot by Cuthbert Gamp. He had reached the 6th chapter as the clock struck 6 o'clock when he needed to use the toilet, though on his way back from that he found himself accosted by Harry once again.

"Alright?" Leo asked, trying to move around him to get back to his seat, though Harry blocked his way. "What is it?"

"That book you were reading, it's from Hermione isn't it?" Harry asked, a stern tone coming out which took Leo by surprise.

Frowning, he nodded. "It was." He stated shortly, wondering where this conversation was going.

"Is anything going on with the two of you?" Harry pushed. "I remember her looking for this… it took a while to track down."

The unspoken statement was also that it wasn't cheap, something that made Leo feel bad as he thought about it, looking back down at the old cover. "We're friends Harry." He said after a long pause, not thinking that explaining that he thought they were on the way to something more, perhaps, was the best way to end this conversation quickly. "We enjoyed the party together sure, but we haven't spoken any more about it since."

Harry looked unimpressed, moving closer so he could speak more quietly. "Just… don't mess her around. We all know how close you are with Fay; and I don't want Hermione getting hurt."

Leo scoffed, and gently shoved Harry away. "Give over, Harry." He said coldly. "Fay and I aren't like that at all, we're just friends and have been since our first trip to Hogwarts. Something I thought you could understand, unless there's something you want to tell me about your own feelings for Hermione?" He raised an eyebrow accusingly, enjoying the scowl on Harry's face. "No, I thought not."

The Boy-Who-Lived looked disbelieving, but nodded all the same. "Fair enough. If you're sure." He shrugged. "I just don't want her getting hurt." He repeated.

"She's more likely to get hurt knowing you've put on this act." Leo muttered, but there was no reaction as a loud, tinny screeching sounded from the drawing room. Both Gryffindor boys whipped their wands out in an instant, sprinting towards the drawing room ready for any incoming danger only for Mrs Weasley to flee the room in tears closely followed by Ginny, while everybody gathered around a small crystal ball.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"Someone's tripped the wards at The Burrow." Fred explained, before letting out a cheer as he beat George in a game of Exploding Snap.

Harry's hand immediately went to his wand. "Who?" He asked darkly.

"Scrimgeour." Bill was the one to answer, inspecting his own wand. "He's been trying for days to arrange a meeting with you, Harry. It looks like he wouldn't take silence as an answer."

Ron moved over towards the other 6th years. "Percy was with him." He whispered. "He didn't bother coming to the funeral, but Mum keeps a version of our clock on her at all times. She got really excited when it pointed to Home for him, but given he's with Scrimgeour… it's set her off." He shifted awkwardly. "I better…" He nodded towards the door.

"Go." Harry agreed as he moved aside, letting Ron run after his mother and sister before looking over to Sirius. "Why does he want me?"

"He wants your endorsement of his regime." Tonks muttered. "He's spoken to us all at the Ministry that are considered by him as being close to you, asking us about this whole Chosen One thing and what happened in the summer. Dumbledore has been keeping him away while you are at school, so he must have thought he could try his luck when you are away…"

Leo gulped, looking around the room at all the worried, adult faces, and he knew that the jovial and celebratory Christmas vibes allowing them to somewhat forget about the troubles outside of Grimmauld Place had just been killed completely.

Reviews:

SkepticPrinceArthur: Leo will never really be 100% on board with Harry, he's spent too long being jealous of him and there's still going to be instances where they clash. It's definitely confirmation bias but they are still teenagers… they don't always think things all the way through! I do want to find a way to bring Barry in properly, I have some fun moments in my head from before this story with him included but, without being too spoilery, it's difficult. Having Harry and Ginny be together and a true team is one of my favourite things about this AU if I'm honest, she's fantastic to write for.

Pope-HNDRXX: Firstly, thank you for reading the story and for your numerous reviews. They have been interesting, though it seems like you've stumbled across the point I'm trying to make while viewing that negatively, which tells me that this may not be your story, which is definitely fine! Things aren't for everyone after all. A lot of what I could say here would end up being very spoilery so I'm welcome to talk about that on my discord server if you like, but for here and the benefit of others Leo is very much a side character to start with. Years 1-5 he is on the periphery, focusing pretty much on his schoolwork and avoiding Harry sized shenanigans with his friends while being jealous of the attention he receives. That shifts when he learns who he is, but that doesn't automatically make him one of the gang. It's a slow process as he finds his way through being thrust into this new world of the Order, while simultaneously dealing with these growing relationships and feelings. I promise you, he will grow, as of this very moment I'm writing Chapter 40/57 (total may grow by 1 or 2 depending on what happens) and already the Leo here feels different to the one I'm writing now, so don't worry about that, it will happen, this is just a long fic and main characters don't stay stagnant all the way through.