Regulus blinks awake at his door loudly creaking open, rolling over to see Sirius poking his head into the room.
“Good morning Reg!” He chirps, walking into the room and shutting the door behind himself. He’s still in his silk pajamas, the kind their mother makes them wear. Regulus doesn’t wear his, though, he hates how they feel so he always changes after she goes to bed. Regulus sits up as his brother comes over to sit at the foot of his bed, smiling at him, “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas,” Regulus slowly mimics, a smile spreading across his face.
“I got you a gift but Andy told me to give it to you after the party,” He tells him, “She’s coming soon too, Mum said.”
“Andy’s coming?” Regulus asks, tilting his head to the side a bit to emphasize what he just said was a question. Even if his talking is getting better, or at least that’s what Andromeda says, he still doesn’t know how to make words sound like questions.
“Mhm, and Mum said she’s bringing us home too! I think Mum is staying late this year like Dad does,” Sirius excitedly says, “That’s good, right?”
“Yeah,” Regulus nods, “Good.”
“Very good, we’ll get the house alone,” Sirius points out, “But we have to go to the party first.”
Regulus pouts at the observation, not feeling up to going to the party today. They go every year for every holiday, and he hates it every time.
“Yeah, I know, I don’t want to too,” Sirius sympathizes, “But it’s ok, hopefully it’ll go fast this time.”
“Not fast,” Regulus shakes his head.
“Maybe it will!” Sirius tries to argue, although it doesn’t have a lot of power behind it. Their conversation is cut off by the clicking of heels coming down the hallway, both of them going dead quiet. They knock on the door before opening it, though, so it’s expected that Andromeda pokes her head in. Both Sirius and Regulus light up, rushing to get out of bed and go over to their cousin. She pushes the door open all the way, letting Sirius and Regulus both give her a hug. She’s already dressed up to go.
“Hey boys, hi,” She chuckles, putting an arm around both of them the best she can with how tall she is. Regulus steps back when Sirius does, looking over as his brother speaks.
“Merry Christmas Andy!” He tells her, Regulus looking up at his cousin and repeating after his brother.
“Merry Christmas Andy,” He repeats, a little slower and less confident than his brother.
“Hey, don’t repeat after me, I said it first!” Sirius immediately crosses his arms, Andromeda tapping him on the shoulder.
“Sirius, stop, he wasn’t trying to copy you,” She softly scolds, “But Merry Christmas to you both too.”
The moment is ruined by their mother’s shrill voice booming up the stairs, “Are they getting ready? We need to leave soon!”
“They are,” Andromeda yells back, looking down at Sirius, “Can you go get ready to leave, sweetheart, so I can help your brother? If you need any help I’ll be in here.”
“I can do it, I’m eight!” Sirius tells her, rushing off into his room. She just shrugs and steps into Regulus’ room a bit more, shutting the door behind herself.
“Alright, are you ready to get dressed?” She asks him, Regulus’ eyes widening as he violently shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Reg, but you have to, come on.”
She heads towards his closet, pulling out the first layer of his dress outfit. Regulus, however, runs the other way, clamoring onto his bed and sitting back against the wall, as far away as he can get.
“Reg,” She sighs when she looks back to see him, “I know you don’t want to but the quicker you get dressed the quicker it’ll be over.”
“No,” He shakes his head.
“Regulus sweetheart, come over here so you can get dressed,” Andromeda asks him again. In his little 6-year-old mind getting dressed is his worst enemy right now because that means he has to go downstairs with his parents to the party. He hates parties, there are so many people and they all want to talk to him and he has to know all the answers and his mother always gets mad when he can’t say anything even though it’s not his fault. He won’t let Andromeda get him dressed, because if he gets dressed then he has to go.
“No!” He squeaks back, “No party.”
“Yes party, come on,” She demands, a little less understanding this time, “Reg, you know what’s going to happen if you don’t get dressed.”
“No,” He starts to cry, shoulders folding as he lets out a sob.
“I know, it sucks, but you have to get dressed, I’ll help you out, it’ll be ok. The sooner you get dressed the sooner it’ll end,” She tries to convince him, but Regulus remains unmoving, he just crosses his arms and keeps crying. Andromeda hangs back up the shirt she’s holding and goes over to the other side of the room, sitting down next to Regulus and pulling him into a hug. He pulls away immediately, her hug feeling like somebody is squishing him. He rubs his wrists together in some effort to get out all the loose tension the hug caused.
“Alright, alright, I won’t give you a hug,” She concedes, putting her hands up in surrender, “What can I do to help you?”
He shakes his head because he knows exactly what would help, but he can’t find the words to tell her. It’s getting lost somewhere in his brain and he’s powerless to say anything.
Andromeda sighs, Regulus hearing her mumble, “Aunt Walburga is going to kill me.” She shakes her head and tries again, “Would letting you do it yourself help?”
He shakes his head, sloppily wiping his eyes and trying to stop himself from crying.
“Ok, what about if we get dressed on your bed?”
He shakes his head again, Andromeda taking a moment to think of something else.
“Ok, what if I go downstairs and tell your mum I need a pin for your jacket so you have a couple of minutes to calm down?” She asks, Regulus nodding this time. “Alright, I’ll be right back then, ok?” She smiles at him, getting up and heading out the door. Regulus just sits on the bed and cries, trying to take big breaths like Andromeda has taught him to calm himself down. It works alright, and by the time Andromeda comes back upstairs he’s ready to get dressed.
She opens the door and slips inside quickly, walking over and putting the pin down on his desk before looking at him and asking, “Are you ready to get dressed now?”
Regulus gives her the smallest nod, “Mhm.”
She smiles back at him, “Good, come on, I’ll help.”
Regulus gets up and follows her over to the other side of the room, undressing from his pajamas and redressing in his nice clothes. Andromeda does have to help him get on the jacket and all the little extra pieces the outfit has, but he does it by himself for the most part.
When she finishes, she smiles at him. “You look very handsome.”
Regulus gives her a small smile in response, staying quiet a minute before his face lights up when he realizes he has something for her. “Wait! I-I-I have to give you something,” He tells her, Andromeda raising her eyebrows at the sudden realization he had.
“Give me something? Do you want to wait until after?” She asks.
“No, now. I-I want to give it now,” He maintains.
Andromeda nods, “Ok, you can give it to me now, what is it?”
Regulus goes over to his desk and opens the cabinet on the side, digging in the back for the paper he hid after his other card got taken away and ripped up. He finds it quickly, turning around and handing it to Andromeda, who is crouching behind him. She smiles at it, opening it up and reading what he wrote inside. He’s really proud of that card, he spent a lot of time writing out the note inside, saying the nice things he wishes his voice could.
“Aww, I love it, thank you so much sweetheart,” She smiles at him, “It’s beautiful, and the writing is so good. Did Sirius help or did you do it yourself?”
“Myself,” He smiles proudly, “I-I had one for Sirius b-b-but Mum tore it up.”
“Oh,” Her smile fades a moment before she suggests, “Maybe when we get home I can distract him so you can make another one for him, how does that sound?”
Regulus excitedly nods, “Yeah, good.”
“Alright, we’ll do that then,” She gets up and looks around the room a moment before setting the card under a book on top of his desk. “When we come back you can give that to me, ok? I just don’t want your mum to see it.”
Regulus nods, taking the hand Andromeda extends out to him and letting her guide him out of his room, over to his brother’s. He comes out when Andromeda opens the door, all dressed up like Regulus is. He’s not nearly as happy as before, and Regulus doesn’t blame him. He certainly isn’t either. Andromeda doesn’t keep walking, though, crouching down in front of the two of them and quietly telling them.
“Remember boys, you stick together, right?” She asks, both of them nodding. “And if anything happens or anyone weird comes up to you and no one else is there you come find me, ok?”
“We will, Andy,” Sirius promises her, “I’ll stay with Regulus the whole time.”
“Good, that’s all I ask,” She smiles, standing back up and starting down the hallway again, both boys walking right behind her.
Regulus isn’t happy about going, but there’s nothing much he can do. After all, this is what everyone does on Christmas, it’s just a tradition.
Or, at least that’s what he’s told.
***
Regulus is rudely awoken by his door flinging open and James running into his room, yelling, “Merry Christmas Reg!”
Regulus blinks up at him, definitely not awake enough to even process what planet he’s on. He sits up after a minute, looking up at the clock to see it’s 8:30 in the morning.
“Merry Christmas James,” Regulus replies, “Is there a reason you’re up here so early?”
“Well, it’s Christmas! Getting up early and bothering everyone else is part of the fun,” James tells him, walking over and sitting down at the foot of Regulus’ bed.
Regulus just stares at him, completely and utterly confused by everything going on right now. “Is breakfast ready?”
“No, we don’t have breakfast until late on Christmas morning,” James tells him, “Mum makes these special crêpes that are green and red and festive, they’re so good.”
“Ok,” Regulus hesitantly answers, “Are we going somewhere?”
“James,” Sirius says from the doorway, both of them jumping when they suddenly hear his voice. “Not all of us are used to good Christmases, you know.”
James’ expression saddens a bit, looking back at Regulus before turning to Sirius and responding, “Aw, now I’m sad.”
“Well, there’s no use being sad now, if those days are really behind us,” Sirius reasons.
“I guess you have a point, yeah,” James shrugs, standing up and extending a hand to Regulus, “Well come on, Reg, let’s show you what a Potter Christmas looks like!”
Regulus can’t even form a coherent thought, just staring at James trying to make sense of what the hell he’s talking about.
“I think you’re going to short circuit Reg,” Sirius jokes, looking back when someone starts to come up the stairs.
“James, did you wake Regulus up?” Mrs. Potter asks as Sirius steps out of the way so she can get into his room. He shrugs, Mrs. Potter shaking her head but smiling, “Goodness, it’s still early, let him sleep in a bit.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just excited!” James replies, bouncing on the balls of his feet. His mother chuckles and gives him a kiss on the cheek before patting his shoulder.
“Give Regulus a couple of minutes to wake up, go annoy your father,” She urges him, James groaning but laughing it off and walking out the door, heading downstairs. Sirius walks back off into his room instead of following James. Mrs. Potter turns back to Regulus smiling at him, “Merry Christmas, dear, I’m sorry James woke you up so early.”
“Merry Christmas, and it’s fine, I don’t mind it,” He yawns, “Just a little confusing.”
“Christmas is James’ favorite holiday if you can’t tell,” She remarks, smiling, “I’m going to make sure James hasn’t torn up any gifts before you get down there, you’re welcome to take your time waking up. Come downstairs whenever you’re ready.”
“Mhm,” He nods, feeling a little awkward at the mention of gifts. He’s sure after all the stuff he got on his birthday that those are just for James and maybe Sirius. It’s not necessarily saddening to him, he grew up for most of his life never getting gifts ever. But it is awkward.
She doesn’t press for anything further, just turning and heading back out of the room, shutting the door behind herself. Regulus sits there for a moment, playing over and over in his head how this morning is going to go. He almost wishes that they would just skip to breakfast and then he can leave while anything Christmas-like happens, but that’s not how they do it here apparently. It would be rude for Regulus to change that in not his house. So, he’ll just have to suck it up.
He only sits there a minute before the door opens to show Sirius on the other side, smiling at Regulus.
“Are you ready to go downstairs?” He asks, “James has been bouncing off the wall since 6 this morning, I’m sure he’s losing his patience a bit.”
“He’ll live, but yeah, I’m ready,” Regulus replies. He swings his legs out of bed and gets up, wobbling on his feet a moment. He barely ate before seeing James’ family yesterday and he hasn’t eaten since then so the world comes in and out of focus when he stands up. Sirius starts into the room, but Regulus holds his hand up, “I’m fine.”
“Yeah right you are,” Sirius sarcastically replies. Regulus regains his balance, though, Sirius relaxing when he starts to walk towards the door. He follows after Sirius downstairs, seeing Mr. Potter sitting at the table with James next to him, who is talking so fast Regulus can’t even begin to understand him. Mr. Potter is smiling and nodding along, though. James looks over and lights up when Regulus comes down the stairs.
“Reg! Sirius!” He exclaims, “Hi!”
“Hi James,” Sirius greets, James jumping up from the table.
“Are we ready?” He asks, looking from person to person before settling on looking at his mum behind him.
“We’re ready if you kids are,” Mr. Potter says as he gets up, setting down his newspaper and walking into the living room, Mrs. Potter following after him. James enthusiastically nods, beaming at Regulus and Sirius.
“Are you guys ready?” James asks, Regulus and Sirius sharing a mutual look of complete confusion before Sirius looks back and shrugs.
“I think if I said no you’d explode,” He pokes.
“I think I would too,” James laughs, gesturing for them to follow. Sirius follows first, Regulus behind him. James is 10 steps ahead of them, already around the corner by the time Regulus lays his eyes on the tree. He just stops and stares, almost in shock, eyes widening in shock at everything that seemingly appeared there. Under it is coated in gifts, wrapped in three different kinds of wrapping paper. One is red, which James is already sitting at, one is gold, and one is green. Three piles, three of them, which means Regulus got Christmas presents. He fails at fighting off the smile at the thought, looking over as his brother wraps an arm around his shoulder.
He leans over and whispers to him, “This is a ‘we made it’ moment, isn’t it?”
“Mhm,” Regulus hums, looking at James looking up at them from the ground, seemingly confused as to what the two of them are doing standing up.
“Go sit boys,” Mrs. Potter urges them, “Let me get a picture of you three before you open anything.”
Sirius keeps an arm around Regulus, sitting down in front of the golden pile of gifts with his name on the card at the front. Regulus is between Sirius and James since his pile of gifts is in the middle. It’s still wild of him to think that. His pile of gifts on Christmas.
Mrs. Potter pulls out the camera from the sleeve it was sitting in on the couch next to her. crouching in front of the three of them and holding it up. Sirius and James each wrap an arm around Regulus, Regulus smiling with all of the joy this morning has given him. Mrs. Potter takes the picture of the three of them, standing up and smiling when she finishes.
“Alright, now you can open your gifts up,” She tells them, retaking her seat on the couch next to Mr. Potter, who wraps an arm around her shoulder.
Regulus turns back to what’s in front of him, completely paralyzed by the selection of gifts in front of him. He looks over to his brother first, waiting to see what he does before following after him when he goes to open something.
The three of them end up falling into a pretty good rhythm, just each doing their own thing and opening things up, Regulus taking the cue from James that he doesn’t have to thank them after every single gift. He gets everything he could have possibly wanted, from some new sweaters to piano books to some candies he likes to a new blanket to a couple of books to some new candles to some more comfortable pajamas so he doesn’t have to wear the same two pairs of pajamas or Sirius’ old clothes over and over. Every moment of it is amazing, and he feels no pressure to overreact to every gift. He can just open and appreciate everything in quiet.
Finally, when the three of them have opened their gifts and Mr. and Mrs. Potter opened theirs from one another, along with a beautiful new painting of the garden out front of the house that Sirius gave them. He said it’s a gift technically to everyone, but the two of them specifically. They love it, of course, but the hugs only last a moment considering James is practically vibrating out of his skin to try out the new snitch and Quidditch gloves his parents got him.
Sirius turns back after giving Mr. Potter a hug, laughing at James. “You want to go outside, don’t you?”
“More than anything,” James smiles back at him, Sirius laughing again and dramatically sighing.
“Fine, just let me get dressed in something a little warmer than this and I’ll come with you,” Sirius concedes, starting to head upstairs. James gets up and catches up to him, the two of them going upstairs, leaving just Regulus downstairs.
“Do you want to go out with them too, dear?” Mrs. Potter asks, “I know James will enjoy the company.”
“No, it’s alright,” He says, hesitating a moment before continuing, “Thank you so much for- for all of this. You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Nonsense, I said it before and I’ll say it again, all of our boys get presents, you included,” Mrs. Potter emphasizes, “Your brother has told me horrible stories of what Christmas normally looks like for you two, you deserve a normal Christmas morning.”
“Yeah, this- this was never a thing we did as kids,” Regulus tells her, “We got very few gifts and they were never for holidays, just heirlooms and things like that.”
Mrs. Potter nods, her expression saddening the smallest bit, “I will never believe the way the two of you used to be treated, it will never not be appalling to me. But that doesn’t matter anymore, you’re here now.”
“Mhm,” He nods, losing the words to fully thank them for such an amazing morning. He really doesn’t get the chance to respond when Sirius and James come back down the stairs, grabbing their coats off the rack before James rushes to the back door, urging Sirius along.
“I’m moving James, I’m moving,” Sirius placates him, laughing as he catches up to him at the door. He turns back and looks at Regulus, “You’re welcome to join us whenever you want, Reg.”
“Yeah!” James chimes in, “Although I’m sure you want to use those new piano books first.”
“Mhm, I do,” Regulus affirms, “Maybe later, after breakfast.”
“No, actually, do not come out here before breakfast,” Sirius suddenly puts his foot down, Regulus knowing exactly why. “If you pass out I swear-”
“Sirius,” Regulus groans, Mrs. Potter getting up from the couch.
“I think that’s my cue to start on breakfast, then?” She playfully asks, leaning down to give Regulus a kiss on the head as Sirius and James head outside. Regulus just looks back at the collection of gifts in front of him, savoring that feeling a bit.
It’s not the physical gifts that are making him so happy, it’s that someone cared enough to get them for him. It’s the love that comes from the thought. It didn’t matter if he hated every one, they went out of their way to get him something.
And he thinks he might start to really like Christmas.
***
Regulus is shaken awake by a pair of small hands on his shoulders, Regulus taking a minute to gain his bearings a bit. It takes him a moment to realize the little face hanging over him is Nymphadora’s, and he’s at Andromeda’s house. Right, the death eater threat, the one that has Cynthia staying with her parents and Regulus with the Tonks’ for Christmas. Of course, it’s the first Christmas without Mr. and Mrs. Potter this happens, where Sirius, James, and Regulus are all really not doing great. It only happened a couple of months ago, it’s still a really fresh wound.
Of course, someone doesn’t seem to care about that at all.
“Reg, Reg!” Nymphadora excitedly says, “Reg! Wake up!”
“What? What’s up?” He asks, moving back against the back of Andromeda’s couch a bit more so he’s sitting up. Her hair is bright red, her fists excitedly shaking back and forth in front of her. He can also make out that she’s wearing the biggest smile on her face, even without his glasses.
“It’s Christmas!” She bounces up on her toes, “It’s Christmas! Santa brought presents under the tree!”
Regulus looks over at the tree, although he knows the pile of gifts that are going to be there. “Oh, wow, that’s lots of gifts too.”
“Yeah!” She excitedly nods, Regulus looking up as her parents come down the hallway.
“Dora, did you wake Reg up?” Andromeda asks, smiling.
“Yes, I want to open presents,” She tells her mother, “He has to watch too!”
Andromeda chuckles, “Alright, well you’re going to have to wait a little more for Mum and Dad to make some coffee.”
“I have to wait more?” She whines.
“It’ll be quick, we promise,” Ted says as he slips into the kitchen, Andromeda following after him.
Nymphadora turns back to Regulus, “Are you excited for Christmas?”
“I’m very excited, are you excited?” He playfully replies, eliciting a giggle from Nymphadora.
“Yes I’m excited!” She jumps up and down, “I got lots of gifts, and that means I was good.”
“It does, it does mean you were good,” Regulus nods, a small smile on his face. He’s not filled with very much joy right now, but he’s going to try his best to keep up the strongest front he can. “What do you hope is there?”
“I hope, I hope my cars are there, and the scooter, and the dollhouse set,” She continues to rattle things off, Regulus just nodding along until she finishes.
“Well, that looks like a lot of presents, so I think Santa got you all that stuff and maybe some more,” Regulus points out, Nymphadora flapping her hands in front of her and jumping up and down.
“Yeah!” She exclaims, suddenly launching at Regulus to give him a hug. He’s stunned for only a moment before he laughs it off, returning her excited tight squeeze. Andromeda leans against the archway to the kitchen, sipping on her coffee and fondly staring at her daughter and Regulus.
Once she swallows the sip she took, she mouths, “Watch this.” Ted walks up behind her as she says out loud, “Alright Dora, Dad and I are ready.”
“You are?!” She pulls out of the hug just as quickly as she entered it, rushing over to sit on the ground. Regulus puts the blanket off to the side and moves so his legs are hanging off the couch, grabbing his glasses off the coffee table so he can see everything. Andromeda comes over and sits next to him. Ted comes out of the room right after her, handing Regulus a hot cup of something.
“I know you don’t drink coffee so I made you tea instead,” He tells him as he sits down on the other side of Andromeda.
“Thank you,” Regulus replies, blowing on it before taking a small sip. It warms him up, turning back to watch Nymphadora look around at her gifts put into 3 separate piles. There’s two on the right side, a decent number in the middle, and a huge box paired with a handful of smaller ones on the left. Andromeda explained that Santa knows Nymphadora likes when things stay consistent and go together, so he sorts all her gifts into piles, which he leaves Mum a note telling her which one is which.
“Alright Dora, so this year Santa said that the first pile all is a set that goes together, the second one are little toys, and the third one are for stuff outside,” Andromeda tells her extremely convincingly, “I think you should start with the big one first, right?”
“Yeah, the big one goes first,” She affirms, starting to tear the wrapping paper off. She bounces up and down on her knees excitedly when it reveals the dollhouse she wanted, starting to open up the smaller ones next to it as well. She tells her parents every gift she opens and how it goes in the house, setting it all aside carefully right next to the box with the dollhouse.
She continues to tear through gifts and Regulus zones out a bit, mindlessly sipping on his tea as he tries his best to enjoy this nice morning. Andromeda didn’t have to let Regulus stay with her, but she did, and he refuses to be a downer on her Christmas.
When she finally gets to the end, where she got everything she wanted, she looks expectantly at the three adults. “Is that everything?”
“Well that’s all that Santa left, but Uncle Sam is coming over with gifts later today and so is Grandma and Grandpa,” She explains, looking over at Regulus to give him the cue he can give her his gift now.
“I have a gift for you, Dora,” Regulus tells her, setting down his tea and getting up, walking over to the tree and pulling it out from behind it. He hands her the wrapped gift, stepping back as she unwraps it. It’s one of those big art sets for kids, one she saw one time when they went out that she said she wanted. Regulus, knowing anything else Nymphadora had ever said had been already bought by Andromeda, took advantage of that, and immediately claimed that as his gift.
She excitedly looks up at him when she opens it, “The drawing kit!”
“Mhm,” He affirms, completely expecting when Nymphadora runs over and gives him a hug. He rubs the top of her head, happy he hit home with that gift.
“What do you say, Dora?” Andromeda chimes in from the couch.
Nymphadora steps back and looks up at Regulus, “Thank you Reg!”
“You’re welcome, Dora,” Regulus smiles back at her, Nymphadora looking back at her gifts, clearly scanning her options as to what she should do first. Regulus catches Andromeda and Ted whispering to one another on the couch before Ted stands up.
“Hey Dora, how about we go outside and see how good you are on your scooter?” He suggests, “If you bring your chalk we can make a track.”
“Yeah! I want to do that,” She affirms, bending down and picking up the chalk before turning to Regulus and going to hand it to him to have him come with her, but she’s stopped by her mum.
“Let Reg stay in here and finish his tea, you go with Dad and get your scooter skills all good and we’ll come out and see them when you’re ready,” Andromeda proposes, Nymphadora staring for a minute before nodding.
“Ok, I’ll make a cool track to ride too!” She says, her father coming up to grab the scooter box as Nymphadora carries the chalk. They descend down the stairs, staying on the landing as Nymphadora puts on her coat and hat before going outside to their driveway. Once the door shuts, Andromeda pats the spot beside her. Regulus gets the hint, walking over and taking a seat next to her.
“How are you this morning, Reg?” She carefully asks, “You look tired.”
“Mm, I didn’t sleep great last night,” He shrugs, “Just a bad couple of days, I think.”
“Mhm, it makes sense, I’m sorry Dora woke you up at the crack of dawn,” She apologizes, although Regulus shakes his head.
“It’s fine, it’s your house,” He reminds her, “No need to work around me.”
“Don’t worry about that, don’t worry about that at all. This is just as much your holiday as it is ours,” Andromeda assures him, “We’re glad to have you, even if the circumstances aren’t great.”
Regulus nods a moment before looking down at the cup in his hand, “Thank you,” He quietly says, looking up at her before continuing, “Thank you for letting me stay.”
“Of course, Reg, it’s really no bother at all. Dora is so excited you’re here, as are Ted and I,” Andromeda puts a hand on his shoulder, something that’s a little bit of a sensitive touch right now. He doesn’t stop her, though. “It’s alright if you need some time alone, some time to just feel things. You’re always welcome to hide out in our room, we’re never in there during the day anyway. Don’t feel like if you’re here you can’t be anything but happy.”
Regulus nods again, not mustering the words to say anything this time. He’s just drained, he’s just completely drained of everything he should be feeling right now.
Andromeda drops her hand, grabbing Regulus’ cup and putting it on the table before drawing him into a hug. She whispers to him, “Merry Christmas, Reg.”
“Merry Christmas, Andy,” He quietly replies back, sitting back after a moment to see her smiling.
“Oh, I almost forgot, I have a-”
“Reg! Reg!” Nymphadora’s voice cuts into what Andromeda was going to say, both of them looking over as she comes scurrying up the stairs and around the corner to look at the two of them sitting on the couch. “Reg! You should come see me ride on the scooter! I’m going to race!”
“Do you want Reg and me or just Reg?” Andromeda asks.
“Just Reg,” Nymphadora replies, still smiling from ear to ear. Andromeda just chuckling.
She turns to Regulus and whispers, “Painfully honest as always.” Regulus laughs in response, getting up from the couch and walking over to Nymphadora.
“Let me get dressed first, I’ll be right out,” He tells her, ruffling her hair before she goes running back down the stairs and outside.
“Reg,” Andromeda calls his attention over before he walks down the hallway, “I’ll give you what I have later, then.”
“Mhm,” He nods, “Just call me in if anyone calls for me, I know Cynthia will at some point.”
“I will, no worries,” She assures him, looking back to the tree, “I, on the other hand, will be cleaning up this mess of wrapping paper over here.”
Regulus laughs, “Have fun with that, I have a scooter race to referee.”
***
Regulus wakes up wrapped in his fiancée’s arms, tucked right under her chin with his face buried in her chest. He sits back a bit when he wakes up, smiling when he also sees her awake.
“Good morning Reggie,” She leans in to rest her forehead against his, “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” He replies, leaning in for a kiss that lingers a moment. When he pulls back he asks, “What time is it?”
“10,” She tells him.
“10?” He looks at her completely confused, “Since when do we sleep in late?”
“Since today,” She chuckles, cheekily smiling at him, “I had to weigh waking you up and getting a nice morning or letting you sleep and having to go right over to James’. I chose the second option because I know you went to bed late last night.”
“That’s your fault, wasn’t it?” He playfully challenges, Cynthia just shrugging.
“Well, now you’re reaping the repercussions of it,” She stretches one of her arms up, “We’re supposed to be over there in an hour.”
“Now we need to get going because Sirius is absolutely not going to beat me,” Regulus tells her, pulling him up into sitting up, Cynthia follows suit, both of them getting up and starting to get ready. Regulus takes the bathroom first while Cynthia gets dressed, brushing his teeth and making his hair look less like a mess. He realizes then that he doesn’t have his glasses on, so he has no idea what his hair actually looks like. He just gives up, figuring it’s only close family he’s seeing. He goes back into his room and starts to get dressed, Cynthia heading out of the room and into the bathroom.
She comes back pretty quickly, eyeing him a moment before demanding, “Hold your arms up.”
“Huh?” He questions, “What the hell do you mean?”
“Hold your arms up,” She tells him again, Regulus just agreeing. She catches him off guard when she pulls off the sweater he just put on.
“What the hell are you-” He’s cut off when Cynthia tosses something at him, Regulus looking down to see a sweater in his hands. He holds it out in front of him, seeing it covered in various green Christmas designs, raindeers and snowflakes and such. “What is this?” He asks, looking over at her confused. She’s just in a red sweater, nothing too festive.
“A sweater,” She states as if it’s obvious, “For you to wear.”
“Where did it come from?” He questions, “What was wrong with my sweater?”
“Our dresser, stop asking so many questions and just put it on,” She brushes him off, “It’s festive, and you’re not wearing a brown sweater to Christmas morning.”
“Alright, sure, whatever you say,” He shrugs, putting on that sweater instead. It’s very comfortable, so he’s not mad about having to wear it. He goes over and grabs his glasses off of the nightstand and puts them on, looking over at Cynthia to see if she’s all done. She’s just putting in her second earring when he does.
“Are you ready?” She asks as her hands return to her sides.
“Mhm, I am,” He nods, the two of them walking out of their bedroom and Regulus going over to give Turtle, who is sitting on the back of the couch, a quick scratch on the head and a ‘Merry Christmas’ before grabbing the bag of gifts off of the couch and going over to put on his shoes. The two of them go into the hallway and Cynthia grabs his hand first, Regulus letting her apparate them to in front of James and Lily’s house. They only get halfway up to the door before someone yells from behind them.
“How the hell are you still here before me?” Sirius chimes in, Regulus turning around to quip back but stopping when he sees Sirius wearing a Christmas sweater identical to his for all but the color, his being gold. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sirius looks over at Remus, who is trying not to laugh, as is Cynthia next to Regulus.
“How about we just go inside,” Cynthia urges them, grabbing Regulus’ hand and guiding him up to the door. She knocks on it, stepping out of the way so they get to watch when James, wearing once again a nearly identical sweater to Regulus and Sirius, his being red instead, opens the door. Lily is behind him, giggling to herself. James is not as mad about it, staring in shock a moment before smiling and laughing at them.
“Oh my God,” Sirius marvels, “What the fuck did you guys do?”
“Hey! Watch your language,” James scolds, “There are little ears around.”
“Speaking of,” Sirius says, slipping by Regulus and Cynthia to go into the house, the other three of them following him inside. Cynthia goes right over to give Lily a hug, narrowly avoiding as Harry comes bounding over from where he was at the base of the tree, throwing his arms around Sirius.
“Uncle Sirius!” He cheers, looking up at Sirius and smiling, “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas kid,” Sirius ruffles his hair, Harry giggling. He lets go of Sirius and goes around to give everyone else who showed up hugs, wishing them each a Merry Christmas as well. As he does, everyone gives their greetings to James and Lily. He looks around at everyone a moment before he walks over to Regulus.
“Up please,” He politely asks, Regulus handing the bag he was holding to Cynthia and picking up Harry. That’s when it seems to catch Harry’s attention, looking over at it and pointing, “Are there gifts for me?”
“There are two in there for you,” Regulus holds up two fingers, “The rest are for Mum and Dad and Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus.”
“Oh, ok,” Harry replies, looking over at Sirius, “Do you have any?”
“Remus has the gifts we brought, we got three for you,” Sirius tells him, playfully eying Regulus, who rolls his eyes.
“This competition is going to compound and you’re going to end up spoiling him,” James laughs.
“That’s the goal,” Sirius points out, going to say something else but being cut off by Harry.
“Daddy Daddy,” He says, Regulus turning a bit so he can see his dad.
“What’s up buddy?” James replies.
“Why are you and Uncle Sirius and Uncle Reg dressed the same?” He questions, causing Cynthia, Lily, and Remus, who are all standing next to one another, to crack up.
“That’s a good question,” James looks back at his wife, who just smiles and shrugs. Harry looks over at the three of them laughing and just starts laughing too, although Regulus is sure he has no idea why he’s doing that.
Regulus decides to move on from this stupid topic of the sweaters, turning to James and asking, “Did you get everything on the list?”
“I did! Of course I did, I’m so excited to have Christmas breakfast again,” James excitedly responds.
“Wait, what are we doing?” Sirius questions, “No one ever told me about having Christmas breakfast.”
“Oh, you didn’t tell him?” Regulus asks James.
“No, I assumed you did.”
“I assumed you did,” Regulus turns back to Sirius telling him, “We’re having the breakfast Mrs. Potter used to make, the crêpes, I dug up the recipe last month.”
“Oh damn, well I’m glad I didn’t eat anything then,” Sirius smiles, staring at the two of them for a minute before shaking his head, “I can’t believe we’re all wearing the same sweater.”
“Hey, they’re not the same,” Lily counters, “They’re different colors.”
“Which one of you orchestrated this?” Sirius questions.
“Lily,” Remus and Cynthia both accuse, Lily laughing.
“Yeah, it was me,” She admits, “And it was so beautifully executed.”
“Beautiful is an interesting word to use to describe it,” Sirius says, walking over and sitting down on the couch, picking up the remote and changing the channel on the TV.
Regulus looks over at Harry, still in his arms, “Do you want to cook with me, bud?”
“Yeah! I want to help!” Harry nods, bouncing in his arms.
“Alright, come on,” Regulus smiles, heading into the kitchen and grabbing the recipe card off the counter, looking at it and starting to take stuff out, still holding Harry. It takes him a little longer, but Regulus doesn’t mind, as Harry asks what everything is as Regulus takes it out. Regulus looks over when he sees Lily dragging something over, Regulus seeing Harry’s big wooden step stool.
“Down down, let me down,” Harry tells Regulus, who lets him down on the ground, Harry rushes over to stand next to Regulus on his stool so he can see the counter. Harry beams over at him, Regulus savoring that adorable face excited to help him out. Regulus starts to combine the ingredients in front of him, letting Harry pour in some of the easier stuff himself. He seems content watching too, though, so it doesn’t matter too much.
Regulus hears Christmas music go on behind him, looking back to see James turning on the radio on the table. This catches Harry’s attention, who gets down and runs over to his father.
“Not this one!” He tells him, clicking off on the radio, “Play the other one!”
“It’s the radio, buddy, we don’t pick what it plays. It’ll play something different when this song ends,” James tells him turning back on the radio. Harry turns it back off, giggling as he looks up at his father. James just laughs and turns it back on, moving it to put it up on the shelf away from Harry.
“No, give it back Daddy,” Harry whines, defiantly crossing his arms, “No!”
“We can’t play with that, it’ll break,” James calmly tells him, “Why don’t you show Uncle Sirius or Uncle Remus the new train you got? I think they want to see it.”
“We do, show us, we want to see it,” Remus affirms, Harry jumping to grab both their hands and bring them to his train set up on the floor. Regulus just turns back and continues whisking the batter he’s making, searching for two bowls to separate the batter into so he can dye it.
Cynthia walks up beside him just as he starts to separate the batter in half. He glances over at her, smiling, “Hi.”
“Hi,” She replies, “What’re you doing?”
“Separating the batter, so one will be green and one will be red,” He answers.
“Oh, Harry is going to love that,” She comments.
“James was thrilled when I told him I found it, this breakfast was the cornerstone of our Christmas mornings,” Regulus tells her, Cynthia wrapping her arms around his waist, perching her chin on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry if you wanted to spend this morning with just the two of us, I’m kind of regretting not waking you up,” She admits.
“It’s fine,” He quickly assures her, “I don’t mind at all, I’m excited to be here. We’ll have our moment tonight, we already planned that.”
“I guess, yeah, I just felt bad if I jumped getting ready on you, you just woke up,” She points out.
“Really, Thia, I haven’t even thought about it. I’m glad to spend my morning with everyone here, I kind of missed spending holiday mornings with James and Sirius,”
“Good, good,” She sighs, “I don’t know, I just got worried seeing you over here alone.”
“Mhm, it’s fine, I’m just over here because I’m cooking,” He affirms, “You don’t have to stay over here if you don’t want to, I know you were talking to Lily.”
“Eh, we weren’t talking about much,” She holds him a little bit closer, “I’m just going to hover over your shoulder.”
“That’s perfectly fine with me,” He smiles as he dyes the two batters in different colors. The atmosphere of the room is absolutely perfect, so relaxed but still excited. The Christmas music plays in the background as Harry giggles away while he plays with his Uncles. He really wasn’t lying, there’s nowhere else he would rather be on Christmas morning than right here, Cynthia’s arms wrapped around him, the laughing of his family in the background.
Regulus has seen his fair share of horrible holidays, but it was all worth it to get to this moment right here.
Surrounded by more cheer than he could ever need.