Golden Boy

It's very cold when Sirius shuffles into the kitchen on Wednesday morning, blanket draped around himself and still shivering.

“It's fucking freezing,” he says instead of goodmorning, “Are the heaters broken or something?” 

“I think so,” says James glumly, for once looking deeply unhappy to be awake, although that might have something to do with the amount of layers he’s wearing. Sirius is mildly surprised he can even move. There's something comforting about knowing that someone else is suffering more than he is though, so he doesn't say anything about it. “I emailed the landlord but I think we’re just gonna have to set up some heating spells.” Both Sirius and Peter, sat at the table under his usual mound of blankets, wince. Heating spells are notoriously tricky and likely to set your house on fire but James looks like he would take being set on fire over the current chill in the air. 

Sirius makes himself tea, in part purely to have something warm to hold, before complaining about the lack of food in the kitchen as he's forced once more to have cereal for breakfast.

“It's so sweet,” he moans because the cereal Peter and James buy always is, “I know you've had exams but it's been too long since you fed me properly Jamie - what would Effie say if she saw the abuse I'm enduring right now?”

“Abuse?” drawls Peter, “That's cereal.”

“It's neglect,” Sirius hisses at him. 

“We’ll do a shop up,” James soothes him, his teeth audibly chattering, “I'll make soup and toasties.” Pacified, Sirius settles down to focus on eating his cereal as fast as possible so it doesn't get soggy. “We’re all going out today anyways, so we can stop on the way back,” he adds as Remus comes stumbling in, tripping slightly over the partition in between the sitting room and kitchen but catching himself with a hand on the wall. 

“What?” Peter frowns from beneath his pile of blankets, “Out? All of us?” 

“Yes,” says James firmly in his non negotiable, dad-voice, his eyes flickering briefly to Remus who is staring into the empty fridge like he can will a decent breakfast to appear in front of him, “All of us. We're going to buy a Christmas tree.” At that Remus closes the fridge to give him a startled look, clearly not expecting to be included in their plans. 

“Are you sure you can survive outside?” Sirius asks with a dubious look at James’ layers and both Remus and Peter snort. Pleased by the reaction, he goes back to shovelling his cereal down. 

“Yes,” says James with a sniff, “It's not going to be any cooler outside than in here anyways - and I'm not letting you lot let Christmas pass without a tree. Plus it’ll be fun! And perfect bonding time!”

“Isn't it a little early for a tree?” Remus asks, his voice morning-deep and slightly scratchy. He flicks on the kettle and Sirius watches with interest as he looks through their mug collection. 

“No,” says James, “It’s December - plus the weather is supposed to be bad tomorrow and maybe the rest of the week so we’re better off going today since I know you wouldn't get one without me.”

“We wouldn't want to get one without you,” Sirius tells him and James answers with a pleased smile. Remus choses the ‘I heart tits’ followed by a picture of a blue tit (the bird) mug that Peter gave Sirius after he came out.

 “The place I found is doing a deal today too, so it's perfect.” 

“How far away is this place?” Peter asks suspiciously and James sighs.

“It's an hour away BUT -” he continues over Peter’s protests, “It's way cheaper than the place nearby. C’mon Pete, it’ll be fun, I'll drive and you two can get to know Remus better and - Sirius, you know you can just eat cereal without milk, right? No need to -”

“It’s not the same,” Sirius protests, a small dribble of milk coming out of his mouth, “Doesn't taste as good.” But before James can answer him Remus sets his mug on the table and sits on the bad chair, immediately tumbling to the floor with a shout and a groan. 

After Remus has been picked off the floor and breakfast has been eaten and cleaned up, they separate to get dressed in their rooms before meeting back up by the front door. There isn't actually space for them all in the hallway so, as the last one to make it, Sirius stands on the stairs as they all watch James brace himself for the cold. He's put on a hat, scarf, gloves and coat but Sirius doesn't think he’s removed a single layer since breakfast. Remus is in another jumper that somehow manages to be just as ugly as yesterday’s one, though it's thankfully mostly hidden by his jacket. 

“Ok,” James says, “Ok, everyone ready? Everyone has everything they need?” A chorus of ‘yeah’ answers him and he sighs before opening the door. Sirius and Peter jostle each other and race to make the passenger seat. They end up arguing over it so much that a pale James interrupts them by physically shoving Remus into it instead. Sirius sulks in the backseat as he watches Remus carefully put in his seatbelt while James frantically turns the heating up. He's taken off his jacket so his jumper is out in all it's ugly glory. 

The car is the Potter’s old one, from when James was a kid - at which point it was already second hand - and is cramped, bright red and has a tendency to stop and start. James loves her with his entire soul and calls her Harry, a name he insists is gender-neutral. Sirius can admit that she comes handy, even though they don't use her much, for errands like bigger grocery shops or if they want to get out of Hogwarts for a day. 

She stalls and makes a deeply alarming sound the moment James tries to get her going. Remus immediately looks like he’s deeply regretting having ever known any of them and his hands grip onto his seat tightly. Sirius sniggers.

“You’ll be fine,” he assures him, “She just needs a minute to wake up.” James hums in agreement, gently tapping Harry’s wheel and murmuring something gently to the car.

“She?” repeats Remus with a look in James’ direction.

“Yeah,” says Sirius, “She’s called Harry.” Harry starts. Stops. And starts again. Remus’ knuckles go white. 

They stop for snacks but otherwise go straight to the tree farm that James has planned, getting only minimally lost when they realise that both James and Remus are terrible at directions and Peter has to navigate from the back. Apart from their rocky start, Harry behaves and Remus’s shoulders loosen and he stops holding onto his seat for dear life. Sirius is pretty sure he would cry if Sirius were the one driving. James insists on playing Christmas songs the whole way.

It's only midday by the time they arrive and they're among a few families wandering through the trees but it's honestly pretty quiet.

“Alright,” says James, motioning them into a huddle, his face serious, “What’s our game plan?” 

“Find a tree?” Peter suggests, “And buy it?”

“Or are you suggesting we try make a run for it with a tree?” Sirius asks, grinning and James rolls his eyes at them both, though his mask cracks and he's smiling. 

“I meant what kind of tree are we looking for?” At the silence and blank looks he gets he continues, “Bushy? Or thin? How tall? Wh-”

“Bushy?” Peter repeats and he and Sirius dissolve into giggles while Remus smirks. James gives them all disappointed looks. “How tall even is the sitting room?” he asks once they've controlled themselves and James blinks slowly.

“Oh. I forgot to check.”

“We can guess?” Sirius suggests uncertainty.

“It's a little taller than me,” says Remus and blushes when they all turn to look at him critically.

“That’ll have to do,” says James cheerfully and he claps his hands. “Alright - gameplan. Trees are in rows in order of height. We skip the first few because we don't want a mini tree. Then we go through together line by line until they get too tall.” They all nod. 

“We should probably get a skinnier one,” Peter adds, “A - ahem - bushier one would take up too much space.” Sirius sniggers but they all nod again before heading towards the trees, pausing while James gets a ribbon to tie on the tree once they find the one.

“Do we get to cut it down?” Remus asks and James nods enthusiastically.

“Yeah! But they only give you the saw when you've found the tree.” 

The smaller trees are cute but James insists that they aren't ‘enough’ for the Pettigrew-Lupin-Sirius Christmas. Sirius reaches his hand out to brush them as he passes by.

“You're enough for me,” he whispers to the trees and Remus sends him a warm smile. He looks away, feeling himself blush. 

When they reach trees James deems an acceptable height, making Remus pose beside them to be sure, actually choosing one is more difficult but also more fun than Sirius anticipated. They all get into the mood and end up in several heated debates over which tree each of them prefer, with even Remus joining in. He wanders away from where James and Peter have each chosen a favourite tree and are fervently arguing which one is better while Remus looks between them amused, but refusing to choose one or the other, up the path a little. 

He's staring at a tree when Remus finds him. It's cold and his breath crystallizes in front of his face. He should have worn more layers and he's shivering a little, buried into his leather jacket that is shockingly actually zipped closed for once. The tree he’s looking at is skinny and lopsided and slightly awarkward looking. Remus comes to a stop beside him to observe it, his gaze careful and thoughtful. 

“It’s got personality,” Sirius says and Remus hums in agreement, reaching out to shake one of the branches as if to shake the tree’s hand. 

“It does. And it's the right height.” It is. It's only a tiny bit taller than Remus.

“If we turned it right it wouldn't look so lopsided. The lopsided part could face the wall.”

Remus frowns at that but nods. They stand looking at the tree for longer than Sirius would really like to be still in the cold. He's considering going to fetch James when the man himself comes up to them. 

“Guys! Come help me convince Peter that his tree’s rubbish,” he waves his arms enthusiastically, the cold flushing even his darker skin a bright pink. Remus shakes his head.

“I think we should get this tree,” he says, gesturing to Sirius’s tree. 

“What?” says James, his eyes landing on the tree itself. Sirius feels defensive all of a sudden.

“So do I,” he hurries to add, “It's a good height, here - look, Remus, stand beside it.” The boy in question obliges and Sirius waves between him and the tree. “See?” 

James frowns a little, glancing between him and the tree, his face getting that look it does when he’s really looking at Sirius and, probably, psychoanalysing him. Peter joins them before he can say anything and groans.

“Really? That one? It’s lopsided Sirius.” 

“We can turn it around,” says Remus determinedly and Sirius smiles at him delightedly. 

“It’s two versus one,” he says, turning to Peter and James, still grinning, “We’re getting this one.”

“It’s two versus two,” Peter argues, “There are four of us.”

“Yeah,” says Sirius, “But you both are on different teams so each of your trees only has one person on their team.”

“That doesn't even make sense-”

“I’m ok with this tree,” interrupts James, still looking searchingly at Sirius, as if he understands that Sirius is already attached to this wonky tree and is just trying to understand why. Peter throws his hands in the air in defeat but is otherwise agreeable as James hands Sirius the ribbon to tie to the tree. He ties it carefully in a bow on the branch Remus shook. 

They're selling hot chocolates at the shop, so Sirius buys them all a cup while James pays and gets a saw and Peter and Remus go through their Christmas decorations. 

“Do you guys own any decorations? Because I don't," Remus asks and Sirius and Peter exchange a glance and a shrug. 

“I don't think so,” says Sirius, taking a grateful sip of his hot chocolate and feeling its warmth slide all the way to his stomach. “I'm pretty sure James was planning on buying new ones.” 

“Yeah,” agrees Peter, “Me and James both went home last Christmas so we didn't buy any then.” Remus nods and looks at Sirius.

“And you?”

“I went home too,” he says and looks away.

“We should buy some here,” says Peter quickly, pulling Remus’ attention away from Sirius. “I like these snowflakes - and we should get fairy lights. Yellow, white, or coloured?”

“Definitely yellow,” says James, coming back with a saw and trailed by a teenage employee at the same time that Remus says,

“Rainbow.” 

“Right,” says Peter.

“We can,” James clears his throat and glances at the teenager behind him who looks very bored and definitely isn't listening, leaning forward, “We can just enchant those at home though.” Peter nods in agreement. 

“I'm gonna buy some baubles while you guys cut the tree down then,” he says gesturing towards the saw in James’ hand, his eyes going to the wall of baubles beside them, barely waiting for their agreement before he leaves. 

Sirius follows James out, nudging him to hand him his cup of hot chocolate and his best mates face lights up.

“Oh! Thanks!” 

“No problem,” he shrugs, “You ever cut down a tree before?” 

“No,” James admits, “I'm excited though, at home it's always my dad.” 

This becomes very obvious when it takes both Remus and James on their knees on the frosty ground to cut the tree while Sirius watches with great amusement and the teenage employee stares off into the distance like she’s pretending she isn't even here. When it does at last fall, it falls directly onto Remus. 

Sirius also lets them struggle to carry the tree to the car themselves where Peter is waiting, arms folded with a massive bag of baubles, while he carries their hot chocolates. This is when the real struggle begins. Sirius hasn't really thought of how they were going to transport the tree all the way back to Hogwarts and apparently neither had any of the boys except for very vaguely James, who has brought some rope. Tying a whole tree to the roof of a car, Sirius learns, is not as easy as it looks. In fact, it is very very difficult. And requires all four of them struggling for longer than anyone else in the car park seems to. 

When they finally get into the car, none of them seem very sure of themselves but no one says anything. Harry stops and starts rather violently, the moment James tries to pull out. Remus puts his face into his hands.

They get twenty minutes, by which time they've all relaxed a bit, before everything goes wrong. They're going up a bit of a hill and Harry stalls. And stalls again, with much more force, sending them all lurching in their seats and the tree falls off the roof.

The tree falls off the roof. 

Crashes down, sideways, onto and off the windscreen and both James and Sirius scream. It tumbles down and then rolls down the hill. The full way down. To the bottom of the hill. 

Tying a bedraggled, slightly crushed, tree onto the roof of a car at a slant is even harder. Sirius has to stand behind the car and hold onto the tree truck to stop it from sliding off while Remus James and Peter seem to be at war with the tree itself as they attempt to tie it down, all of them swimming in pine needles. 

The second time they get in the car is notably more tense. James drives as slowly as he can, quietly begging Harry to be good and not stall the entire time and Remus isn't the only one gripping onto his seat tensely. The drive is silent. They do not play Christmas music. Sirius has never been more grateful to see their front door.