Santa James
Time is a funny thing. One moment you're playing Dance Dance Revolution with your best mates on a lunch break, then you blink and suddenly you have a son, 3 grandchildren and the most handsome husband on the planet.
At least, that's how it sometimes felt to Sirius. It didn't help that Lily and James had recently renovated their hallway, hanging a long photo shelf along the largest wall on the side by their bedroom, and adding photo after photo of memories from the whole family to the ones already hanging up on the other side. He couldn't even use the bathroom in their home anymore without being practically assaulted by the memories.
He stopped to look when a picture from Teddy's adoption day caught his eye on the edge, and he had to blink away the tears in his eyes.
Next to it was a picture of Riley and Kylie on all fours with Snuffles and Eap, barking and howling in central park. He remembered that day. It had started raining right after the picture was taken, and he laughed at how small they were at 4 years old, and how big Snuffles seemed in comparison. There were so many pictures there on those walls that he hadn't seen in years, and even a few he was sure he had never seen at all. He spent time letting his mind wander as he looked at each one.
Remus standing with Harry and Neville as they earned their red belts in karate. James and Lily on their wedding day, and next to it, the matching one they took just a few years ago during their vow renewal.
Harry, Teddy and Kylie in their Hogwarts soccer uniforms with their arms wrapped around each others shoulders, flushed with victory after the national win. Emmeline playing doctor with Riley in the backyard with the real equipment she brought home from work. Lily and Remus standing in front of the cruise ship before they boarded for vacation together the summer after they both got their masters degrees. Effie and Monty posed with James, Sirius, and Regulus in full New Years Eve photobooth attire, laughing as they blew paper trumpets, blissfully unaware that it would be their last photo together before Monty passed.
Dorcas and James the day they applied for the FBI next to one of them on their first day, partnered up like the gods intended. The whole lot of them at Pride. Harry beaming next to Frank and James as they stuck their heads out of his newly built treehouse window.
There were pictures of the kids throwing popcorn and playing in the mud. Pictures of blanket forts and game nights, proms and graduations, bowling and parties and days in between. Every image bringing back a memory that connected to a thousand other memories, and Sirius's heart swooned as he thought about how absolutely wonderful his life was.
"Hey Pads" James said as he came down the hall. "Can you tell the kids that I had to take a shower if any of them ask? I need to change into my Santa suit."
Sirius smiled fondly at his brother and raised his eyebrows
"Won't be too hard to convince them you needed one" he gestured to the brown mess covering James's shirt. "What the hell happened down there?"
"I mentioned to Moony that I was going to do Santa soon and needed a distraction. So he said 'just say you're in the shower'" James explained. "But then I commented that it was weird to shower in the middle of a party for no reason."
"And so he threw pudding at you, didn't he?" Sirius laughed.
"Yes. He threw pudding at me like a goddamned hero."
"I love that man..."
"Yea yea" James laughed and shoved Sirius lightly in the direction of the stairs. "Tell the the grands?"
"Sure thing, Santa."
-
James's favorite part of the year was dressing up like Santa. A few of the older grandkids had started to put together that James was never in the room when he came, however, and since he was against the kids thinking he was on the naughty list, they had to get creative with their excuses in the last few years. He was fully committed to the roll, and even tried to find a way to safely drop down the chimney before Lily said no.
It actually was less of a no than it was a "James Potter don't you dare even step near that chimney or I will cut you so deep even Em won't be able to sew you up!"
So he shimmied down a latter from their bedroom window to the back yard and walked around the house to come in the door, claiming that the Santa magic that allowed him to come down the chimney without breaking his neck only worked on Christmas Eve.
"Did you see Prongs?" Remus asked Sirius as he joined him on the couch next to the tree downstairs, the mischievous grin on his face making him look easily 30 years younger.
"Oh yea" Sirius Laughed. "Pudding. Nice one." He leaned in for a kiss, smiling before they pulled apart when little Rosey asked "Where is uncle Jamie?"
"Uncle Jamie is in the shower" Sirius answered as he bent down to give her a tickle. "Because someone viciously attacked him with pudding." He glanced at Remus with a sly smile.
"It was Uncle Moony!" Ivan shouted, pointed his finger at Remus as he jumped up and down excitedly.
"It sure was" Remus nodded casually. "And I regret nothing."
Their laughter was broken up when a loud "Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!" echoed through the house, and the front door burst open hard enough to make Lily cringe a little.
"Santa is here!" Regulus called into the kitchen to gather the stragglers. Several squeals followed, and soon a stampede of children joined them, lead by Al and Dorcas, each carrying a toddler on their shoulders.
Peter promptly sat right in James's lap, making him grunt in a distinctly un-santa-like way with the force of it.
"I want... hmmmm...." he tapped his chin with his finger in thought. "A new car!"
"I don't think a car will fit in my sleigh" James said pointedly, giving Pete a look that displayed clear annoyance despite the smile on his face.
"Santa can fit anything on the sleigh!" Ivan put in helpfully. "Because of magic!"
Pete turned to Santa-James with a wide grin and nodded. "Exactly. Santa Magic."
"I'll see what I can do" James laughed, all but shoving him off his lap. "Who's next?"
A dozen tiny hands raced up high into the air, and echoes of "me!" rang off of the walls.
James's smile was as big as it could get, and Sirius wondered if his beard might fall off like it had the first time he put on the suit.
"Papa" Falon said sleepily to get Sirius's attention as she crawled into his lap with outstretched arms.
She wrapped her toddler arms as far around his neck as they would go, and he could feel her twirling a strand of his hair as she hummed herself to sleep in less than a minute. He looked across the room at his family and felt the joy swell up, threatening to overwhelm him for the second time that day.
Regulus was grinning widely and playing referee for Olivia and Oliver as they smacked each other with pillows, laughing so hard they could hardly breathe. Ivan was negotiating his wishes with Santa-James as well as any lawyer, making several of the adults laugh as well. Dorcas and Marlene were teaching a few of the older kids to play thumb war while they waited, and Emmeline was locked in an intense staring contest with Harry that had both of their eyes watering while several of the kids clapped and tried to make them blink.
Lily and Benjy disappeared into the kitchen to finish cooking, taking JJ and Mia with them since they had deemed themselves "too old to believe in Santa" two years prior during a break from their first year at Hogwarts. Frank was popping up from behind the couch and making faces for baby Theo's amusement while Al answered question after question Lola threw at them about the North Pole.
Remus was grinning as he watched Harper jump from Hannah's arms and into Santa-James's lap, making him grunt again. When he looked back, their eyes met, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Love you" Sirius mouthed wordlessly over the head of the child draped across his chest.
"Love you too" Remus mouthed back, placing a gentle kiss on the shoulder Falon wasn't currently drooling on.
He smiled and closed his eyes, trying to decide whether he should allow himself to doze off there on the couch for a few minutes before they were called to have dinner. He checked his watch, then let his head rest lazily on the wall behind him as he closed his eyes.
Yes, time is a funny thing. But spent well, it can lead to a really great life. Just like this one.