Chapter 2
In a warmly lit parlour draped in holly and boughs, soft music twinkling from elsewhere in the house.
A comfortable silence had all but descended when suddenly, sharply with noise it was rended.
A knock at the door, at this hour? But who! Mr and Mrs Potter hadn’t a clue.
They upped from their sofas, warm cocoa put down and wandered in curiosity to locate the sound.
When their door they did open, what a surprise to be found! Two brothers, pale and nervous upon their doorstep they found.
“Come in!” Declared Euphemia, bundling them up.
Fleamont did chortle and woke James up.
Into the night all three chatted away, after harrowing tale told, Effie insisted they stay.
So when Christmas did come to gloomy Grimmauld place, the morning light glaring harshly in Walburga’s face. Sirius and Regulus were nowhere to be found, they lay miles away, tucked in, safe and sound.
~
Regulus woke feeling oddly weightless, despite being shrouded in several layers of soft and downy blanket. He sat up slightly disoriented and realised, in slowly returning layers, why he felt so comfortable, and so warm and so… safe.
“Oh shit” he said aloud, and it didn't echo ominously around him like in his bedroom at home. No, not home, Grimmauld place. It had never really felt like home, but now it felt even less so. He could never go back, fugitives from his own childhood house. Regulus’ musings were interrupted when he heard a commotion outside his door and he glanced over, focusing on the scuffling and muffled words, when no-one came in he got up and walked towards the sound. He was almost certain one of the voices behind the warm wood door belonged to Sirius, so he wrenched the door open.
“-Oi! I said gerroff me you brute or I swear I’ll bald you-” James Potter yelped. He appeared to be in a tight headlock under Sirius’ left arm. Though he wasn’t completely at Regulus’ brother’s mercy as he was holding captive a fist of Sirius’ wild hair, keeping it at a threatening distance from his skull while trying to wriggle free.
Sirius was gainfully ignoring his precarious hairdo situation in favour of raising his free hand in a fist in the air, moments away from knocking firmly on what would have been the door, but was now Regulus’ forehead.
“Good morning.” Regulus remarked politely, stepping slightly to the side to evade a potential knock should it go ahead. James appeared to have gone slack jawed in Sirius’ hold.
“Reggie! Sirius beamed, apparently forgetting James altogether and throwing both of his arms around his brother’s neck. The result of this was unfortunately that James, who had indeed gone completely limp at the door opening, collapsed. Unfortunately, his hand was still entwined in Sirius’ hair resulting in him yanking Sirius down alongside him. Even more unfortunately, for Regulus at least, was that he found himself still tightly embraced by Sirius as the pair fell, meaning he fell alongside them as an attachment joining the first two boys in a large heap on the threshold of Regulus’ room.
Chaos ensued as the brothers tried to untangle themselves and then James but finally they all stood awkwardly and a little rumbled in the passage way, breathing just a little more heavily than before.
Sirius was the first to recover, “Reggie, this is James, my best mate, James this is Reggie, my little brother”
Regulus rolled his eyes at the diminutive “just brother will do Sirius, You’re barely a year older. Besides, James and I have met, we play Quidditch against each other, remember?” Regulus extended a hand all the same and gave James a nervous smile.
Up close James Potter was actually rather nice to look at. He had artfully messy hair and a strong physique, his brown cheeks were flushed from exertion and his glasses sat skew on his nose. He had kind eyes, but his smirk was all mischief and Regulus felt himself inordinately drawn to it.
James shook his hand firmly and Regulus felt heat sweep across his cheeks at the close contact. He hoped his blush would be covered adequately by his own flush from the clamber, the last thing he needed was their host suspecting he had a crush.
“It’s a pleasure to formally meet you James”
“The pleasure is all mine I’m sure” James replied coyly, winking roguishly as he did so. Regulus was sure that this time his blush was completely and utterly betraying. Thankfully Sirius punched James in the arm relieving him of trying to find a reply to a wink.
“Oi, leave off my brother you twat, C'mon your mum called us downstairs” Sirius complained.
“Sorry Reggie,” James apologised earnestly, and Regulus felt his heart skip a beat at hearing the nickname in James’ mouth “I wanted to let you sleep more but your brother insisted-”
“Because otherwise he’d miss all the fun!” Sirius said, sounding outraged.
“But he looked so peaceful, Pads.” James whined back.
“You were watching me sleep?” Regulus interjected, feeling better about his third blush of the morning when James turned a more violent shade of ruby than he would have thought possible under his golden complexion in response to this comment. The brilliant colour was obviously rare because it caused Sirius to cackle heartily at his friend as James jumped to defend his actions.
“NO! I mean, not like that, er, not that I wouldn't want to - um- but like not in a creepy- er- what I mean is-” his various attempts at justifying himself were interspersed with Sirius’ laughter. Which gradually spiraled from out of control to completely unhinged as James’ declarations got further and further into psychopathic territory. James paused to take a fortifying breath.
“We just wanted to see if you were up and Sirius suggested we-” James tried once more but mercifully Sirius, who had recovered from his laughing fit long enough to take pity on his poor friend before he incriminated himself further, interjected.
“Relax Reggie, we just made a small portion of the wall transparent and you were passed out, sleeping like a baby, looking very peaceful as James here so eloquently surmised.”
Sirius pated James on the back and grinned at his brother. James just winced in Regulus’ general direction, while avoiding any eye contact. Regulus frowned between them.
“Right… and so, remind me why you decided to knock on my door? If I looked so…”
“Peaceful!” James yelped desperately.
“...Right, peaceful” Regulus repeated slowly, thinking longingly about the warm bed he had left to investigate the noises at his door only minutes ago.
“Because it’s Christmas you dolt! And Mrs P is baking cookies! C’mon!” Sirius crowed gleefully.
Without further ado they began to usher him down the corridor and it was only through sheer force of will that Regulus managed to persuade Sirius to let him return to his room to get dressed before following them down the staircase and into the large kitchen they had passed last night.
In the morning light it looked much less intimidating. It was warm and welcoming and smelled enticingly of vanilla and sugar and something that was so distinctly Christmas it made Regulus’ chest ache.
“Good morning Regulus!” a cheery Mrs Potter smiled sweetly at Regulus “and merry Christmas!” Regulus smiled back shyly, he wasn't really sure how to respond to adults when they were so openly nice to him. Everything about their hostess was nice though. Euphemia Potter had the kind of smile that not only lit up a room but burrowed into your very soul and made you smile back, full of the same hope and joy that she had shone your way. It reminded him of the way James smiled. This stray thought made Regulus blush furiously again and he looked around frantically for something to distract himself with.
His eyes landed on Mrs Potter’s hands, her fingers were flour dusted and she appeared to have something caramel coloured stuck to the grooves of her nail beds. Apparently undeterred by the sticky powdery mess of her hands that would have given Walburga a stroke she held a rolling pin firmly between them, pressing down onto a slab of the caramel coloured stuff spread on the counter and carefully laid under a sheet of baking paper. Regulus strongly suspected that the lump being flattened was the source of the Christmassy smell.
“Its gingerbread dough dear” Mrs Potter said gently, seeming to answer the question echoing in Regulus’ mind.
“It smells like Christmas.” Regulus heard himself replying, voice slightly awed and before he had time to feel embarrassed by his outburst he caught James and Sirius gazing at the dough with the same dreamy expression and let himself off the hook. Clearly he wasn't the only one entranced by the scent of everything holly and jolly.
Mrs Potter smiled serenely at them all, unaffected by their ogling.
“Hmm, I suppose it does.” She replied, her tone thoughtful “Why don't you boys get the cutters out and flour that surface over there so we can start baking them?”
James leapt into action fist and Regulus tried his best not to admire his forearms as he pushed up the sleeves of his soft knitted jumper and began sprinkling flour across the clean surface of the counter. Unfortunately, Sirius definitely did notice him trying not to notice and cackled gleefully at Regulus’ blush. He was distracted only by the doorbell ringing and then again by the stinging hex Regulus took the opportunity to send at his brother’s arse when he turned away.
Which was how Sirius ended up rubbing his behind tragically and pouting when Remus Lupin walked into the kitchen looking distressed and holding a crumpled letter in one hand.
Remus’ arrival had two interesting and immediate effects. The first, was that Sirius’ hands wrenched off his rear end so fast it looked as though they had been electrocuted by his own buttocks as he stammered “M-moony” rather breathlessly.
The second (which might also have been a side effect of the first reaction) was that Sirius turned a blotchy shade of beet red that gave Regulus the distinct impression he was no longer at risk of being teased about his tiny crush on James Potter. Mostly because it seemed like Sirius had an enormous crush on one Remus Lupin.
Regulus took the opportunity to hex Sirius again and cackle madly.
Sirius barely had time to glare at him before he was being embraced by Remus and his full focus, as well as his brilliant blush, were turned away.
“What are you doing here Moony?'' Sirius murmured into the taller boys’ curls, an expression of such fondness on his face Regulus had to look away, lest he die of secondhand embarrassment or worse, throw up.
He still heard Remus when he replied though, voice low and full of concern.
“James owled me, you ran away from home Sirius! And you didn't even tell me!” Remus emphasised the last sentence by physically shoving Sirius away and his brother instantly looked deeply wounded at the scolding.
“Sorry Moons,” Sirius winced. “If it helps I didn't write to James either. I just sort of… left” He sounded genuinely apologetic, Or at the very least far more remorseful than Regulus had ever seen him with their parents. Something about his trodden-on dog expression made Regulus want to take pity on him and take some of Remus’ now rather irate attention off his groveling brother.
“I’m pretty sure he wouldn't have even asked me to come with if I hadn't gone in to check on his wounds” Regulus quelled, aiming for snarky satire. He instead received three very anxious sets of eyes turned on himself and then Sirius.
“Wounds?” Remus said faintly, voice rising an octave and looking distinctly shocked. James had gone a rather milky shade of yellow and Mrs Potter was wiping her hands on her apron with a concerned frown.
“When you arrived last night you didn't mention anything about being hurt darling. Fleamont or I could have taken a look. You know I used to be a healer. Come, show me where you’re injured.” Mrs Potter had picked up her wand and was advancing on Sirius with a gentle, determined expression while Sirius stood frozen like a deer in a spotlight.
Regulus, sensing by the rising panic in Sirius’ eyes that he might have accidentally let slip more than he should have, jumped in to try and prevent a full medical examination over the biscuit dough.
“Errr, no no, there are no wounds, it’s fine really. Kreacher heals them up right after the lashings are done so it’s all fine now. It always is, I just wanted to make sure because sometimes the new skin is a little tender you know?” Regulus smiled in what he hoped was a comforting manner.
The horrified looks he received in return didn't fill him with confidence that his reassurances had been successful so he tried again. “Err, Kreacher is our house elf, sorry, was our house elf, he erm, he’s very good at healing since he gets so much practice when-” Regulus was cut off by Sirius turning around and clamping a hand over his mouth violently to prevent any further errors of revelation.
Regulus was secretly rather relieved to be spared travelling the rest of what was evidently destined to be a downward spiral and looked gratefully at his brother, who’s eyes were still rather wide and panicked. Sirius scowled back at him and released his mouth before shooting what Regulus read as a silent instruction not to speak again. He snapped his mouth shut dutifully as Sirius turned around.
“Regulus doesn't mean wounds, I erm, had a little fall that’s all, couple of grazes is all, you know me, massive klutz.” Sirius laughed awkwardly. Regulus frowned, he wasn't sure this was any more effective than his strategy had been, they’d all watched Sirius be more graceful and annoying dexterous than anyone else they knew so the klutz line was a stretch. Sensing the same resistance Sirius tried again.
“That’s why I got the, er, verbal lashings so to speak. For not looking where i was going. But Kreacher sorted me right out, like Reggie said. All fine here, see?” He gestured widely to his entire, remarkably graceful and athletic self as though to indicate a now healthy klutz and the entire room stared back in what remained distinct skepticism.
It was Mrs Potter who eventually rescued the boys.
“Right,” she said firmly, a determined gleam in her eyes “Well, if you’re sure you’re not hurt now love, that’s all fine then. Let's not dwell on it with all your lovely friends here, but Sirius darling after dinner tonight you and your brother will need to tell Fleamont and I all about this stumble.” she paused significantly and looked at them both “As well as any other falls you might have had in the past so that we can sort out your more… permanent accommodations with us. Is that clear?” her tone brokered no room for negotiation so they both nodded solemnly. Mrs Potter smiled at them kindly.
“Good. Now we have a new guest welcome I see! Remus was it?” Remus smiled sheepishly and also nodded “ Lovely to have you dear. We were just about to make some Gingerbread biscuits! Are you joining us for the day darling? Shall I set you a place for lunch?”
“Erm, no thank you Mrs Potter, I just came to see..” Remus’ eyes darted back to Sirius before reluctantly sliding back over to Mrs Potter’s smiling face. “Anyway my mums expecting me back for lunch.” He seemed to hesitate in a moment of indecisiveness “Um, I guess I could maybe stay just for the morning though? and help bake? If you don’t mind that is…” Remus’ cheeks became the third person’s that morning to darken into a rosy shade as he waited for his reply.
“Of course I don’t mind! The more the merrier as they say. We’d love to have you help Remus.” she gave him a knowing smile. “Why don't you help Sirius get the icing mixed dear. James and Regulus are about to start cutting the dough out.” Regulus wasn’t sure if she had separated him and his brother on purpose or if she was just taking pity on Sirius’ hopeless longing face by tasking him to work with Remus but he was relieved at the new direction the day was taking either way.
At least he could put off having to explain the abuse of their parents until that evening, and by the way Mrs Potter had phrased it, they wouldn’t have to do so in front of James and Remus at all. Maybe not all adults were cruel after all.
“You okay?” James whispered quietly. They stood shoulder to shoulder rolling out the fat circles of dough and Regulus found the warmth where their elbows kept brushing comforting. When he glanced back at James he looked genuinely concerned and Regulus couldn’t help but want to reassure him.
“Yeah fine, I…” he wasn’t sure what to say “ I’m sorry, I didn't mean to make things weird” He could feel his ears burning again at James’ proximity but James didn’t seem to notice, or if he did he didn’t care.
“S’okay,” James replied quietly “Sirius doesn't talk about them much. I always suspected they were- I guess I just never thought it was so…” James swallowed and the unspoken ‘bad’ hung between them before he took a deep breath and added with vehemence “I’m really glad you’re here. Both of you.”
Regulus smiled genuinely then “Me too” he said.
The rosy flush returned to James’ cheeks and made Regulus smile even harder, his ears burning a similar colour as they turned back to their dough grinning down at it like a pair of idiots. James’ arm stayed warm and strong next to him and Regulus let himself get lost in the soothing monotony of the rolling process.
~
When Regulus next looked up it was to see a clearly deranged Sirius levitating icing sugar, eggs and half lemons in a chaotic ring above his head. Remus appeared to be trying with middling success to negotiate with him on the wisdom of this approach while Sirius gleefully tried to crack the eggs midair over an also floating bowl. Remus kept getting closer to Sirius during his negotiations which only seemed to affect Sirius’ concentration because the ingredients kept dropping sharply before he noticed and caught them again. Eventually Remus put a hand on Sirius’ arm causing Sirius to completely lose focus. Fortunately, Lupin had better reflexes than one might expect of the lanky 16 year old because before everything clattered to the floor he somehow managed to catch the bowl, along with the eggs in it (though the splat noise that followed suggested they weren't as whole as when they started).
It was impressive but it wasn't perfect.
As if in slow motion the powdered sugar fell past the lip of the bowl and landed with a dull thump on the counter. It warped slightly and then as if a spell had been cast it burst open, sugar flying in every direction and creating a fog of white sugary air. Regulus began to cough as the sugar floated all around them, aware of the thump of the lemons as they hit the floor and rolled every which way, obscured from sight by the sweet cloud of mayhem Sirius had released on them all. James began to cough as Remus made a sound that Regulus was pretty sure could be categorised as the audible version of an eye roll and he felt a wash of magic coming from his direction. Following the tingle of Remus’ magic the dust suddenly settled revealing the tall curly haired boy, sugar coated and standing over Regulus’ brother with his wand raised. Remus was glowering at an equally powdery Sirius who was shaking icing out of his hair and laughing sheepishly. Regulus turned to look for Mrs Potter’s reaction but she must have left the room because the only person next to him was James Potter. His entire face was paper white and his glasses were completely obscured. Regulus laughed and without thinking reached over to remove them revealing a gaping sugary James with two perfect circles of golden skin around his eyes, untouched by the explosion.
“You look a bit like a golden panda” Regulus laughed again, flicking his wand to clean the spectacles before returning them to James’ nose.
“Why golden?” James asked quietly, pushing his glasses up his nose and smearing the icing along it as he did.
Regulus felt his cheeks flush and was grateful for the coating of sugar concealing them “erm, because of your skin, it's a sort of golden caramel colour.”
James’ ears, which were slightly less floury in colour than the rest of him, looked like they were turning a little pink as he smiled shyly back at Regulus.
“Oh, is um, is that a good thing?” he asked, running a hand through his powdery hair and sending more sugar into the air in little clouds.
Regulus laughed and grabbed his wrist to stop him coating them in even more mess, trying to ignore the way his pulse jumped when he touched James.
“Yes it’s a good thing you dolt. Now stop that you’re making it worse” Regulus let his hand drop but didn’t move away or let go of James’ wrist.
“Oops, sorry” James said, grinning and not looking at all sorry. He tugged his wrist free and then used both hands to rumple his hair right over Regulus’ face.
“Oy!” Regulus yelped, making to smack him away but James artfully dodged before smiling sweetly through their new personal mini fog of sugar, it felt like it was just the two of them in the world.
“I didn't mean to-” James went to shake more sugar out of his head mischievously but was cut off by a sudden sneeze, which he sent directly into Regulus’ face. Sirius immediately began laughing again reminding Regulus that they weren't actually alone. Fortunately that reminder was watered down by the fact that he was almost fully focused on trying to get the sugary sneeze out of his eyes. He groped blindly for his wand as James’ warm sunny magic washed over him again and again with cleaning spells and something that stung a little like a disinfectant charm, apologising profusely as he went.
Eventually, once he could see again, Regulus shot a glare at Sirius to stop his guffawing only to find that Sirius had already been silenced by Remus’ scowl. His brother had returned obediently to removing the egg shells from the bowl by hand while Remus stood over him glowering, Sirius’ wand clutched alongside his own in one hand. Regulus smiled, his brother might just have met his match in Remus Lupin.
Regulus turned his attention back to James.
“-I’m just so very very very sorry Reggie i didn't-” James was repeating for probably the 7th time
“James!” Grabbing at his wand hand in an attempt to snap James out of his spiral as Regulus prepared to recast the cleaning magic for the 4th time. Regulus’ skin was starting to tingle from all the magic.
“I’m fine okay, it's not your fault James, if my idiot brother hadn't been trying to show off none of this would have happened. Now can you direct some of that cleaning magic onto the counter? I think I might spontaneously combust if you cast another hygiene charm on me.” James grimaced but immediately turned his attention to the counter and began cleaning up.
Miraculously, by the time Mrs Potter returned a few minutes later, there was no evidence of the incident. Though Regulus felt himself almost holding his breath before she smiled at James and Regulus before walking over to where Remus was watching Sirius closely as he sifted the recently re-collected powdered sugar into the bowl that now contained eggshell free eggs. Regulus turned his attention back to James who was still looking a bit mortified.
“So, what now?” Regulus ventured after clearing his throat awkwardly. James stared at him blankly so he gestured to the flat circles of dough.
“Oh!” James exclaimed, seeming to remember the task at hand “Now we cut the shapes out! Like this.” He scooped up a small metal outline of a Christmas tree and pressed it into their smooth layer of dough. He repeated the process until his disc of dough was full of tiny tree pressings. He then carefully peeled the tree shapes away from the rest of the dough and placed them gently onto the waiting oven tray, already lined with a clean sheet of baking paper. James glanced up at Regulus when he was done “Grab any of the shapes you like, we have to get all the dough cut out so mum can bake them. By the time we finish there will be plenty of all the shapes we have here so go nuts.”
They worked in companionable silence. Regulus produced reindeer who more often than not had all 4 legs and candy canes, while James made some gingerbread men with questionably proportioned limbs, occasional partial decapitations and more very perfect trees. Regulus thought perhaps the triangle shape of the tree was cheating. Reindeer legs were much harder to remove from the counter and then separate midair.
When Mrs Potter whisked the first tray of cookies away to bake she tutted at the wobbly shapes and gently advised that maybe the dough was a little too thin so the boys rolled the next batch thicker and kept going.
Soon the room was full of cinnamon brown crisp looking cookies, warm and wafting a deliciously spiced gingery aroma throughout the kitchen. James and Regulus had settled into each other’s sides, cutting and chatting companionably at a decent pace and Regulus found that when there was no eye contact involved it wasn't that hard to talk to the slightly older boy.
They both liked Quidditch and charms and James was surprisingly insightful about potions. He also seemed to find Regulus’ snarky commentary genuinely funny and Regulus found himself chasing those laughs like they were golden. The next thirty minutes passed in a haze of stolen biscuits barely cooled and sticky fingers from moulding dough and when Regulus next looked up it was to be greeted by a beaming Sirius, plonking 5 bowls of brightly coloured icing onto the counter in front of him.
Remus was also smiling, a smaller secret smile that seemed to be more directed at Sirius’ joy than the bowls of colour before them. Looking around Regulus realised that they had somehow managed to cut and bake at least 60 cookies and they were laid out before them on cooling racks like a small army of wonky stick people, reindeer and candy canes surrounded by some perfectly geometric trees.
“Excellent well done boys” Mrs Potter proclaimed, admiring their goods “Now it’s decorating time! Watch closely.” She cast a cooling charm across all the biscuits and the heat in the room noticeably dropped. Then she proceeded to cast a charm that Regulus had never seen before. The incantation was “praetexo saccharon” and after Mrs Potter had uttered the words her wand immediately began syphoning thick cords of the red icing out of its bowl until a perfect blob of it hovered above her wand. Then, a small twist dropped down and created a narrow stream from the blob to the tip of her wand. It poured the icing out like a small funnel as she expertly traced neat, even stripes of the sticky substance across a row of candy canes. Mrs Potter then returned the remaining red icing to the bowl and proceeded to scoop up some of the white icing and add lines to her candy cane biscuits until they looked like a perfect row of sugary delights (if a little wonky, but that was a substrate issue, Mrs Potter's icing was immaculate).
It took the boys three or four tries to get the piping spell correct (and one minor splatter incident that Mrs Potter did witness) but then they were off and having a ball. James was the best at it, getting his green and white candy canes almost as straight as Mrs Potters’, though Remus was a close second, working carefully and slowly to achieve perfect blobs and lines that were even in thickness.
Sirius approached the task as he did everything, with much more enthusiasm than caution, and a sense of audacious taste that Regulus worried would send even calm and mild mannered Mrs Potter spiraling. Regulus, though trying his best, was fairly clumsy at the icing process. His Christmas trees were alright, but his gingerbread people, though all dressed respectably in collared shirts and ties or bow ties, had very wonky faces and a sometimes suspicious number of eyes. He supposed it was better than Sirius’ all of whom were wearing racy underwear, or had obscene appendages drawn on them with the artistic grace of a toddler. Regulus tried to take heart that while his faces were also equally wonky he wasn't drawing pubic hair on any biscuits either.
When they had finished, the last of the sugar licked clean from their rainbow stained fingertips )and several cookies pilfered for ‘taste testing purposes’) Mrs Potter ushered them all out into the sitting room. She then proceeded to bring them a plate of their freshly decorated biscuits along with steaming mugs of peppermint hot chocolate with candy canes hooked over the lip, melting rapidly in the chocolatey warmth. Regulus took one sip of the warm drink and felt heat spread throughout his surprisingly aching limbs. The peppermint had the added effect of making him feel both cool and hot at the same time. After their cups were half empty though it became apparent that being a runaway took its toll as all of their eyes began to droop, (though possibly spending an hour putting his back into using the rolling pin was a contributing factor). Regardless of why, as they downed the remainder of the coco and ate more cookies than they had room for, Regulus felt himself fill up with a sense of comfort and safety he wasn't sure he’d ever felt before. He forgot all about any aches and pains or familial strains and completely relaxed into the buzzing cosiness of what was easily the best Christmas morning Regulus could ever remember having. There was an element of home and safety all around them, and a spark of something sweet that could one day be love and for right now it was just perfect. When he caught Sirius’ eye across the bowl of their crooked gingerbread creations, he couldn't help but smile ear to ear.
His brother returned the grin immediately and Regulus thought that maybe, just maybe, Christmases could be like this every year. If they stuck together, it felt like there was nothing the Black brothers couldn’t do.
~
And so Christmas’ frosty morning waxed into a snowy noon and this waned again until night did fall,
A day full of laughter and fun, celebrated until the yawns did come, then into their blankets they slowly did crawl.
Two boys who had not one eve past, run helter skelter with fear in their hearts,
Were now tucked up tight in beds of their own, stomachs full of food made with love and home grown.
“Sirius” Regulus whispered, his voice echoing down the hall “Thank you for taking me with you…”
To which his brother replied “Not at all. Together forever, remember? It’s me and you.”
“You’re” right” said Regulus, and “I love you”
~
Several rooms down, at the end of the Hall
Effie and Fleamont Potter lay curled in a ball
“Two more children dear, what do you say?”
Fleamont smiled at his wife “Of course they can stay”.
And so the Potter household grew by two more that night,
and to all in the house it simply felt right.
~
Merry Christmas to yours, those you love and yourself.
May your day be filled with ginger spiced cookies and firewhiskey laced cocoa from the topmost shelf.