The Family That Lived

¹⁸|ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜱᴍᴀʟʟ ʙᴏx

"Should I let him?"

"Yes"

________________ᴄʜʀɪꜱᴛᴍᴀꜱ________________

All the days this month were grey and cold except today when the sun showed up. Ray of lights found their way to the snowed-in ground through tiny gaps amongst the clouds.

Harry woke up to a carnival of spice smells surrounding the house. He stepped down and was greeted by an unfiltered sound of laughter from the group of people sitting near the fireplace. For a while, he stared into the spluttering yellow and orange darts of fire.

"Oy Potter! how long do you sleep for?", asked Draco. He was sitting on the sofa holding a mug matching the one in the hands of all others. The boy was dressed in a dark green sweater, a little too long for him. Harry suspected that it belonged to Sirius.

"It's Christmas! Leave me alone", the green-eyed boy defended himself.

"You always sleep in for that long. Everyday is Christmas for you boy?" Asked Remus chuckling. He was sitting on the long couch on the end that was not occupied by Draco. Sirius had his head on Remus' chest and was lying down halfway.

"No fair Moony, no fair", Harry said heading towards the kitchen. Through the door, he yelled, "What are you guys doing?"

"Nothing prongslet, enjoying the Christmas spirit", Sirius shouted back. Harry poured himself some hot chocolate and took a seat next to the ground in the middle of the seats where his parents sat.

They were all in comfortable silence. Remus was reading and Sirius was staring at his boyfriend. "You're cute", he mumbled.

"I could beat the shit out of you", Remus responded without hesitation and without raising his head from the book. In response, he heard a faint giggly "I know." Then Sirius closed his eyes.

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Most of the day went away this way. In the evening they had decided to not invite The Weasleys because Harry suspected that they would have a problem with Draco. Draco nervously offered to go away for the evening so that everybody could have the standard and traditional party. Only to hear a collective no, while Draco would not admit it, he was relieved.

So by the evening, there was Alastor, Minevera, Albus, the Weasley twins, Sirius, Remus, Hagrid, and some other wizards who were not bothered by the newest addition to their celebrations.

Hermione could not join them because she was visiting her relatives in America during the entire break.

Fred and George were in a corner, talking and idolizing The Marauders as James and Sirius shared numerous stories with them. They snuck out easily as they had recently turned 17 breaking the magic tracker charm.

The evening was as warm and loving as it gets. Draco was fascinated by the cheer. It was obvious that in his house nobody celebrated Christmas as a major holiday. The house would stay poorly lit, rooms not being used would remain dusty, no elves would be given gifts.

Everything was different here. Lily would put up lights everywhere three weeks prior to the holiday. Every house would be cleaned as Lily and James will both help Dobby with it. Dobby had chosen to live with the Potters since he was freed from the Malfoys.

He welcomed Draco by jumping up and down the first time he set foot in the household. The elf was given his own room but he refused and settled for a small space near the kitchen. Accordingly, Lily converted the pantry into a small place to live.

The Christmas tree was set up in the middle of the house for a week but they decorated it today. Lily would boss around the Marauders. Draco and Harry just steered away and decorated small gingerbread houses.

Then he gave in one sock of his just like everybody else did and put it in a box that was wrapped neatly and addressed to Dobby. The elf loved socks as much as he loved his freedom because it was a reminder that 'Dobby is a free elf'. Since he joined the Potter household, he would beam with joy when he would get a sock.

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It was time for presents, as expected Dobby was jumping up and down the stairs. Lily rushed after him making sure that the small self-destructive creature doesn't hurt himself.

Almost everybody left at this point, it was past midnight, and only Minevera, Albus and the twins aside from the family were left. Remus was ecstatically beaming at the chocolates and books he got. Finally, he tried to open a small box that his boyfriend got him.

"Padfoot what is this? I can't open it." Sirius approached Remus and started opening the box which seemed to untie at his touch almost effortlessly. "I mean what could you possibly fit in such a small box? Is it a prank? Oh, Merlin! I know something weird is goin-"

He was cut off his rant when he saw Sirius bent down on one knee, opening the small box that had a ring inside. "It's definitely not a prank Moony."

Remus widened his eyes "you can't be serious."

He stared at the ring before him matte black on the top but with forest tree engravings that showed the silver underneath. The forest was symbolic, it was for the forbidden forest. The place where Remus always knew that he would be safe because of the people around him.

"Well I am love, in more than one way", the man replied.

Every word seemed less to describe Remus' happiness right now. His blood was rushing up to his face, his smile uncontrollably getting bigger as he grew more aware of the situation.

"It's been a year, a year since we had our first kiss but it has been years since I have been in love with you and decades since I have known you. I love how you can keep me grounded, I love that whenever I think of anything about the future I see you standing right next to me and holding my hand. Call me selfish but Moony, I cannot imagine growing old with anybody else and I don't want to. So marry me. Please."

It is true that Sirius had been rehearsing this speech for months but he never settled on anything. He knew that at the moment the right words would come to him and they did.

The 'please' in the end came out reluctantly. Sirius could not imagine what would happen if Remus said no.

Remus' knees gave out and he bent down in front of Sirius. "If you're selfish then I am too because I know that for all my life I want only you. I want you to be there when I wake up and when I go to sleep. We have faced tragedies and troubles and the only thing keeping me sane is you. But with me comes another side of me, a monstrous creature, a murdering uncontrollable side of me. I cannot do that to you Sirius, I am a monster."

Everybody had cleared out of the room. Lily had to drag Harry and James as they would not stop crying.

"Married or not, I took the responsibility of being there for you when we met when we all became animagus to support you. Moony, you're the light of my life. When everybody waits for the sun to rise, I wait for you to wake up so that I can see your eyes. You are kind, generous and one of the most giving person I have met. Your love knows no bounds. That is who you are and that is who I want to marry."

Remus hugged the man he loved and cried into his shoulder and said "My love for you knows no bounds, my love for you is something that is a part of who I am. So, I will marry you only if you promise me chocolates."

"Of course love, of course", cried Sirius as he slipped the ring into Moony's finger. With a wave of Remus' wand, there was an identical ring on Sirius' finger too.

Remus looked up into those black eyes and asked "forever?"

"Forever", Sirius nodded in agreement.