Christmas With The Potters

Not Just For Christmas

The first of the Potter's guests on Christmas day was Neville. He was greeted by Harry, who took his coat and the large bag of presents he was carrying.

"Happy Christmas, Harry. How is everything?"

"Chaotic as usual," admitted Harry as he handed Neville's coat to the coat stand, which took it obligingly. "You're the first to arrive, how about a drink?"

"Just a small brandy thanks." While Harry went to get his drink, Neville saw Sirius gently pushing Arthur on his Rocking Dragon. "Hello, Sirius."

"Hey, Uncle Neville. Arthur, say hello."

"Who dat?" asked Arthur as he pointed at Neville, who laughed heartily.

"My name's Neville, nice to meet you, Arthur," said Neville. He offered his hand to Arthur, who patted it in a 'high five'. Harry returned with Neville's drink.

"Cheers, Harry. It seems you have a very cheeky grandson here." Arthur let out a raspberry as he resumed rocking. Harry was about to say something when the fire turned green again. Ron and Hermione emerged together, loaded with even more presents.

"Ron! Hermione! Happy Christmas!" exclaimed Harry as he went to hug Hermione and help with the presents, taking their drink orders at the same time. Sirius picked Arthur up and carried him over to his aunt and uncle. Recognising them, Arthur held his arms out to them.

"Hermy! Won!" he squeaked as he pawed at Hermione's coat playfully. She took him in her arms and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Now who has been teaching him to refer to me as 'Hermy' I wonder?" she asked, throwing an accusing look at her husband. The nickname 'Hermy' still annoyed even after all those years.

"Don't look at me!" exclaimed Ron as he took Arthur. "I think Auntie Hermy's getting very grumpy, don't you, Arthur?" Arthur's reply was to grab hold of Ron's moustache and pull ...very hard. He only giggled more when Ron cried out in pain. Harry came back through with Ron and Hermione's drinks and was able to rescue Ron from the torturous toddler.

"You'll have to get used to that sooner or later, Ron. Donald and Sandra's baby is due soon, isn't it?" asked Harry. Arthur was a little annoyed at losing a truly amusing form of entertainment.

"Two months from now in fact," Hermione informed him. Ron and Hermione's eldest son had gotten married three years ago and now he and his wife Sandra were expecting their first child. Hermione went through to help in the kitchen, dragging Ron with her (naturally) and sent Michael through to the living room. He insisted he didn't mind staying but Hermione threatened to dock thirty points from Gryffindor if he didn't go and enjoy himself. He joined Sirius in keeping Arthur happy, which was easy as Arthur had tons of new toys to play with. Kneeling down on the floor next to Sirius, smiling at the happy little child made Michael think about what it would be like to be a parent himself. Although he knew that he and Sirius were too young to start seriously considering it, he wondered who would carry it if they did decide to have children. There was a potion that allowed men to have children, but he was still unsure of who would actually do it. He put it out of his mind for now, it was something to consider at a much later date. Little did Michael know that Sirius was thinking of the exact same thing.

After a little while Donald and his wife Sandra knocked on the front door. They had driven in Ron's flying car seeing as Sandra was heavily pregnant. After greeting everyone in the kitchen, they made their way through to the living room. Sirius had seen Sandra a few times before, but that had been quite a while ago. She was very tall and pretty and she still had her long blonde hair. She was a very kind woman, the few times Sirius had talked to her he got the impression that she was a good listener. Donald was still the spitting image of his father minus the moustache. Sirius had always looked up to Donald and in Sirius' opinion; these two were perfect for each other. The biggest change in Sandra since Sirius had last seen her was that she was, quite understandably, a lot bigger. Donald walked straight up to Sirius and shook his hand.

"Look how big you've gotten!" Donald exclaimed. "Any bigger and you'll have to duck to get through the doors."

"Oh leave him alone Donald. How are you, Sirius?" asked Sandra. Her friendly smile told Sirius he could trust them with the truth. He pulled Michael closer so that he could meet them properly.

"I'm fine thank you. Mike, this is my cousin Donald and his lovely wife Sandra. Donald, Sandra, this is Michael ...my boyfriend." He expected some degree of shock, but Donald and Sandra didn't even raise an eyebrow.

"It's nice to meet you, Michael," said Donald as he shook his hand. Sirius' concerns were unfounded after all. He buried them away so that he could truly enjoy himself. He didn't know it yet, but he had been premature to let his guard down. The next guests to arrive out of the fireplace were Remus and Hagrid, who had to literally get down on his hands and knees in order to get out of the fireplace.

"Loopy!" cried Arthur gleefully, announcing the headmaster's arrival. Arthur stared in amazement at Hagrid. The little guy was going to get a crick in his neck if he wasn't careful. Hagrid smiled down at the little boy.

"Hello down there, yeh little tyke," he said as he scooped him up in his arms. Arthur was small enough to sit quite comfortably on Hagrid's hand, let alone his arms. He poked playfully at Hagrid's beard, utterly fascinated by it.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Arthur," said Remus from beside Hagrid. "You might get lost in there." Once again Harry was rushed off his feet so that he could offer his boss a drink. Looking around, Michael was beginning to feel like he was stuck in the middle of some kind of teacher's meeting. There was the headmaster, his Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, the Herbology teacher, his Care of Magical Creatures teacher and the Transfiguration teacher all in the same house. No matter how awkward he felt, a quick glance from Sirius put him at ease again.

Everything was going fine for Sirius and Michael until the next guests arrived, Sirius' other cousins Henry and Jonathan. They stepped out from the fireplace into an already crowded room. Henry was the one carrying their presents, Jonathan, who had always been the more irresponsible twin, simply strolled in.

"Hey, Uncle Harry, how's everything going?" asked Jonathan casually.

"See for yourself," muttered Harry. "Oh careful there, Henry! Here, let me give you a hand with those." Harry took some of the bags from Henry, who was struggling to hold onto them all.

"Thank you, Uncle Harry, at least someone offered to give me a hand." Henry gave his brother a dangerous look but Jonathan didn't notice. He had however, noticed Donald and Sandra.

"Hey bro, whoa, you've certainly been busy since I last saw you!" he said as he motioned towards Sandra's rounded stomach.

"Yeah ...that's great, Jonathan," said Donald as politely as he could manage. Whereas Henry had actually matured since their youth, Jonathan was still as obnoxious and crude as ever. To make matters worse, he was about as subtle as a broom crash. He wandered over to Sirius and Michael and ruffled Sirius' hair annoyingly. Despite Sirius' recent growth spurt, Jonathan was still sufficiently taller than him to do that kind of thing.

"Hey, Midget, how's the N.E.W.T.S. going?" Without waiting for a reply, he turned to look at Michael. "This is one of your little friends from school isn't it?" After hanging up his coat, Henry joined them just in time for Sirius to make his colossal mistake.

"Actually, Michael is a bit more than a friend ...he's my boyfriend. We've been seeing each other for a while now." Henry barely reacted, the same as Donald and Sandra. Jonathan, however, scoffed loudly.

"Ha ha, very funny, Midget. Trying to pull one over on us by pretending to have a boyfriend. Well, you're good I'll give you that, but not that good."

"I'm serious," stated Sirius in a tone that left no room for jokes. The smile on Henry's face faded slightly.

"So you mean that ...you're really a puff?" Sirius and Michael were surprised that anyone could ask such a stupid and insensitive question. The anger began to boil up inside Sirius, he had never really liked Jonathan much and this looked as if it was going to be the final straw. It was Michael who quickly thought of a reason for them to leave.

"Oh damn, Sirius, do you remember where we put our presents for this afternoon? I think I left them upstairs. Lets go see if we can find them." As Michael pulled Sirius out of the room, he could have sworn that he heard Henry say something about being 'insatiable'.

Once they were upstairs in their bedroom, Sirius slammed the door violently behind him. He kicked at the drawer with great aggression, the likes of which Michael had never seen in Sirius before. His rage finally let out and he crashed down onto the bed. Looking into Sirius' eyes, Michael saw frustration and resentment that had been brewing for many years. Michael's gaze wilted Sirius' fury and he was finally able to calm down.

"Sorry, Mike ...I don't know why I'm so angry ..."

"I think I know why. You opened up your feelings to your cousin and he acted like a jerk. Am I close?" Sirius laughed weakly.

"I suppose I should have expected it from Jonathan, he's always been a git. I was stupid to tell him, maybe I shouldn't have told any of my family..."

"Don't say that, I like your family. Your parents, your aunt and uncle already knew and everyone else would have found out eventually anyway. Besides, I want to meet all your family and I want you to meet mine. Believe me, there are some of them that will be a bit surprised about us to say the least."

"I don't know how you do it, but you can always make me feel better." Sirius reached up to softly take hold of the bottom of Michael's jumper then pulled him down onto the bed. They initiated a consoling kiss, as it deepened, Sirius felt steadily better. Unable to stop himself, Michael allowed his hand to slip under Sirius' jumper and run up his torso. Sirius struggled with his urge to undo Michael's belt and caress his backside. Finally he won. There was too great a chance of them being walked in on. "Mike ...we'd better be getting back or we'll be missed." Michael smiled as he carefully picked himself up off of Sirius.

"Yeah ...I know, but I bet you're feeling a bit better now, aren't you?" Sirius couldn't resist one more kiss before they went back downstairs, remembering the presents of course. They set their presents down under the stairs, out of the way. When they entered the living room, the first people they ran into were Henry and Jonathan. Sirius was prepared for more puerile jokes and crude suggestions but instead Jonathan appeared subdued.

"Listen ...Sirius, I'm sorry about what I said, it was well out of order. If I'd known before I came then I ...well, what I'm trying to say is can you and Mike accept my apology?" He spoke with sincerity, which for Jonathan was incredibly rare. Sirius was convinced.

"Don't worry about it, I mean how could you have known?"

"Besides, bro," said Henry. "You've always been a jerk, why change the habit of a lifetime?" The four of them laughed and pretended nothing had happened. Unbeknownst to Sirius and Michael, Henry had told Jonathan that if he didn't buck up his ideas and apologise he would get their mother involved. This had swayed Jonathan in an instant. The fireplace flashed green again as Ginny's parents stepped out. Mrs. Weasley was keen to see Sirius after so long.

"Hello, my treasure!" she said as she hugged him half to death and kissed his cheek in that way that only grandmothers can get away with.

"Hi ...Grandma," choked Sirius using as little breath as possible. As she finally released him she noticed Michael standing sheepishly beside Sirius.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" she asked while smiling broadly. Mr. Weasley joined them after hanging up their coats.

"Grandma, Granddad, this is Michael ...he's kind of more than a friend, actually he's a lot more than a friend ..." Molly placed her hand lovingly on his cheek. Her hand felt surprisingly warm against his skin.

"Say no more dear, I understand." She winked at him then noticed out of the corner of her eye what her husband was looking at. "Must you stare at Harry and Ginny's ...oh what's it called ...TV every time we come? Honestly, Arthur!"

"Me Arthur!" stated an indignant little voice from somewhere near the floor. While Molly was showering attention on her great-grandson, Fred, George, Bill and Charlie made their arrival. Even though there was one more person to arrive, dinner was ready so everyone was called to the magically expanded dining room table. Sirius and Michael sat next to each other, with Lily on Sirius' left. She had to sit next to Arthur in his highchair, mostly to stop him launching his dinner at anyone in range. Harry and Ginny sat at the head of the rectangular table. Once everyone was settled in, Harry rose with his wand at the ready.

"I won't keep you long, I know we're all eager to start this wonderful meal that Ginny, Lily and Michael have been working so hard on."

"Don't forget, I helped too!" complained Ron jokingly.

"Burning yourself with a frying pan isn't 'helping'," said Hermione in her usual 'matter of fact' tone. Harry allowed everyone's laughs to die down before he continued.

"It's nice to see everyone together after so long. In a way this is a very special Christmas, we have little Arthur seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child, we're expecting a new arrival soon and we welcome Michael Wood for the first time. Well, now I've gone on too long, so tuck in and merry Christmas!" With a quick wave of his wand, the food was instantly transported from the kitchen to the table. Just as everyone was tucking in, the fireplace turned green again and Percy practically tumbled into the living room. His sudden stop caused his glasses to fly from his face. He vainly searched the floor with his hands until he felt what was unmistakably a foot. The owner of said foot handed him his glasses. After putting them back on, Percy looked up to see the face of his beloved sister.

"Sorry I'm late, Ginny, I got a call from the Chinese Minister and of course they don't celebrate Christmas over there as such and I am the Minister of Magic so I could hardly ..."

"Minister of Magic or not, you shouldn't have to work on Christmas day. Now come in and have some dinner." Percy had realised long ago that no matter how much power he had as Minister of Magic, he was no match for his little sister. As he took his place next to Charlie, Arthur gave him a proper greeting.

"Perky!" he exclaimed through a mouthful of turkey. Percy sighed as he helped himself to vegetables. Being called 'Perky' by a two year old was better than a bunch of sycophants calling him 'Minister' all day. The meal was enjoyed by everyone and was bested only by dessert, which consisted of a choice between Christmas pudding, ice cream and spotted dick. Gifts were exchanged later that afternoon with Arthur at the centre of attention again. The number of new toys he got from his grandparents and uncles was almost immeasurable. Sirius, being the soft thing he was, had saved up some extra money and had bought presents for all his relatives, even Jonathan.

As the sun set wearily from all the excitement of Christmas day, so did everyone else. Arthur was naturally the first one to conk out. Lily decided it was time that she and her son went home. A quick flick of Ginny's wand transported all Arthur and Lily's gifts to their home ahead of them. She said her goodbyes then stepped into the fireplace with her unconscious son in her arms. Normally Arthur would have kicked up a fuss about travelling by Floo Powder but as he was fast asleep it wasn't going to be a problem. Hagrid was the next to leave. Over the course of the afternoon, he had had more than his share of eggnog.

"Don' wurry bout the fireplace, I'll jusht dishapparate!" he said as he quite literally hauled himself from his chair. Since becoming an experienced teacher, Hagrid had learned to Apparate, something that he had been denied for a long time.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Hagrid, considering how much you've had?" asked Ginny.

"Remember where you ended up last time you drank and disapparated?" added Harry.

"Honeshly, ya' end up in the Minishter of Magicsh bathroom once an' no one letsh yer forget it!"

"Especially not me," sighed Percy. With a cheery wave and a drunken smile, Hagrid disapparated with an especially loud bang. Over the course of the next hour everyone left one by one, each thanking Harry and Ginny for their wonderful hospitality. Soon it was just the four of them left, father, mother, son and boyfriend. They took one look at the table, all the wrapping paper and empty glasses and couldn't even find the energy to clear it up with magic. It would still be there on Boxing Day. The unanimous decision was bed and now. For Sirius and Michael, it was something they had been looking forward to since the earlier incident. Harry could see this for himself, but found he was no longer uncomfortable about it. After all, the rest of the family didn't have a problem with it, so it felt stupid for him to feel awkward about it. When they were sure that Harry and Ginny were asleep, Sirius was able to give Michael his real Christmas present. Michael took great joy in unwrapping it, and it's fair to say that he didn't want to know if Sirius had kept the receipt or not. When they were finished, Sirius lay beside Michael with his leg still resting halfway on his love's thigh.

"Mike, do you think we'll ever grow apart? I mean ...as we get older, do you think there might be others?" The sudden question didn't affect Michael at all. He just ran his hand down Sirius' back and pulled him into a soft kiss. He spoke softly before they both inevitably fell asleep.

"Not likely pal, I'm for life ...not just for Christmas."