/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝐭𝐞𝐧

𝟏,𝟎𝟒𝟐 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬

The snow fell softly outside the windows of Artemis and Sirius's house, but inside it couldn't feel cozier. Despite Artemis's protests that there was no point, Sirius had insisted on putting up a Christmas tree and any decorations he could find in the boxes in the attic. It was Christmas Eve, after all, and Sirius was nothing if not festive during this time of year. It was, he claimed, the only way to stave off the inevitable seasonal depression of winter.

Artemis refilled her glass of wine as Sirius tended to the fire in the grate, humming along to the old Elvis Christmas record Mary had given them years ago. "How many people are going to stick to the no gift rule, d'you reckon?" he called over his shoulder, straightening up and fixing the tinsel on the mantle.

"Nobody," Artemis said with a dry smile. "Have you met our friends?"

"Ah, we didn't stick to it either, love," said Sirius, crossing the room to check on the cookies in the oven. "It was a stupid rule anyhow."

Artemis chuckled and poured him a glass of wine too. He took it in one hand, and swept her into his arms with the other, waltzing her around the kitchen as if they were at one of their family's Christmas balls. Artemis balanced her glass and let Sirius spin her around and around until she felt dizzy. "Sirius!" she said at last, stumbling into his chest.

He laughed and pulled her in close, reaching behind him for the Santa hat on the counter. In one motion, he settled it on top of her head. "Ha- gotcha."

"I'm not wearing the hat at the party," she said, failing to sound cross. "It's too big anyhow."

She peered up at him under the brim, her eyes sparkling. Sirius stuck his lower lip out and gently fixed the hat so it fit a little better. "Come on, it's festive! And it looks so cute."

"Get me a little drunker and we'll see."

"Scrooge."

She stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, then opened one of the kitchen drawers and pulled out rolling paper. "While you're baking the cookies, I'm going to bake in a different way."

Sirius tossed her his lighter, then slipped on oven mitts and pulled the cookies from the oven. "I love muggle baking," he said, gazing down at his handiwork proudly. "Why don't more wizards make things without magic?"

"They could've been done an hour quicker with magic," said Artemis, flicking her wand so her joint rolled and lit itself. "But I s'pose when you grow up with magic, making your own cookie dough is a bit like magic."

"Yeah, share that," he said, plucking the joint from her fingers. "We should make Christmas Eve parties here a tradition."

Artemis grinned up at him, then turned to look around at their living room, all decorated for the holidays. Things in the wizarding world were bad, but for the moment, in her little house with Sirius, with Elvis crooning carols in the background, everything felt okay. "Yeah," she said, standing up and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Yeah, let's do that."

"And we'll get new Christmas sweaters for each one," Sirius added, straightening the blue sweater with moving snowmen Artemis had bought him at a shop in Hogsmeade.

She chuckled. "Yeah, we'll see about that part."

There was a knock on the door and Artemis crossed the room to fling it open, only to be engulfed in hugs from both Lily and Marlene at once.

"Art!" said Lily, swinging her friend around and planting a kiss on the top of her head. "I haven't seen you in for-fucking-ever!"

Marlene ruffled Artemis's hair. "Maybe if you weren't always so busy with auror training-"

"Auror training is important!" James boomed, coming in the door after the girls.

Artemis grinned and hugged him. "Nice sweater, Potter," she said, turning to show Sirius James's sweater, which had a cartoon photo of Merlin on it and said "Jingle Bell Rock."

Lily caught Artemis's eye and grimaced. "It's his new favorite- he's worn it four times in the last week."

"I'm in the Christmas spirit!" said James.

"Nothing wrong with that," said Sirius, pouring wine for Lily, Marlene, and James.

Marlene took her glass and raised her eyebrows at him. "Got anything else?"

"In the drawer," said Sirius.

Marlene went off to roll her own joint as James produced a backpack full of wrapped presents. Artemis gave his shoulder a loving punch. "We said no gifts!"

"Oh, come off it, it's Christmas!" said James.

Artemis chuckled and took the bag from him. She and Lily headed to the Christmas tree to spread the gifts out underneath. Sirius turned up the volume on the record player and Blue Christmas rang through the speakers. James set his glass down and shook his shoulders a little, dancing to the beat.

Marlene joined Artemis and Lily in the living room as the boys danced together in the kitchen, their socks sliding on the tile floor until both of them had dissolved into laughter. Lily and Artemis settled back onto the couch with Marlene. "All these years, and they're still kids," Lily murmured looking over her shoulder at Sirius spinning James, a broad smile covering his face.

There was another knock on the door, and this time, the visitor didn't wait for anyone to open it. Peter and Mary burst through, laughing and shaking snowflakes from their hair. Peter was carrying a bag of gifts, and Mary, a contained pitcher of something white.

"Hey!" Sirius roared when they walked in, enveloping Mary in a tight hug. "What's that?" He pointed to the pitcher.

"Spiked eggnog!" said Peter, wringing James's hand.

Mary set the pitcher on the counter and poured herself a cup. "Very spiked eggnog."

"That's what I like to hear," said James, pouring himself a glass and joining the girls in the living room.

They spent the next hour drinking and passing joints around, the fire crackling heartily and the Christmas records playing in the background. Sirius leaned back on the cushions and wrapped an arm around Artemis's shoulders. He was at that sweet spot of sobriety, where everything felt just blurry enough. Artemis laid her head on his chest, resting her legs on Marlene's lap.

"We should make this an annual thing," said James.

"That's what I said!" cried Sirius, high fiving James. "Every year, from now on. I don't care if you lot start having kids or whatever, just keep Christmas Eve open."

Lily raised her eyebrows at him. "Are you not planning on 'having kids or whatever?"

"We're not exactly interested in 'kids or whatever," said Artemis patting Sirius's chest knowingly. "We're more invested in throwing parties for our friends."

Mary nodded. "Respectable."

The wind outside blew harder than ever, almost loud enough to cover the knock on the door. Sirius and Artemis exchanged a worried look. "Who d'you think that is?" Sirius asked softly.

"I'll get it," said Artemis, standing up and double checking that her wand was still in her pocket.

Sirius watched her carefully as she crossed the room, checked who it was through the window, then flung the door open in excitement.

"Moony!" she cried, dragging Remus inside and holding on to him so tightly, he made a choking noise after a few seconds.

"Bloody hell, Blake, are you trying to kill me?" he said, but hugged her back just as tightly.

She pushed him away and held him at arms' length. "I thought you were supposed to be back weeks ago! Where the hell have you been?"

The others had joined them in the kitchen, pulling Remus seven different ways to hug him. "You look terrible, Remus," said Lily. "Haven't you been eating?"

"Yes, Lily," said Remus, "But I'll take some of whatever you lot have been drinking."

Sirius tipped his head back laughing and poured Remus a glass of spiked eggnog. Marlene was messing with Remus's hair, which had grown out to his shoulders in the last few weeks. "Sleeping?" she said, raising her eyebrows at him. "You haven't been sleeping, have you?"

"Oh, stop it," said Remus. "Stop worrying about me, it's Christmas! I didn't bring any gifts- but I got some mushrooms from a nice werewolf in Dorset that I think you lot might be interested in."

Mary planted a kiss on Remus's cheek. "We love you, Moony."

"Now, come on," he said, wrapping one arm around Mary's shoulders and letting Sirius settle a Santa hat on his head. "Fill me in on everything I missed."

As the night grew later, the conversation veered further and further away from sanity. As James recounted to Remus the events of a comic book he was reading in graphic detail, Sirius got Artemis, Peter, Marlene, and Lily up to dance to the music again. Mary sat back and watched them, giggling at her friends stumbling over one another, their movements uncoordinated, their smiles brighter than she'd seen them in a long time.

It was nearly morning when the phone rang. Everyone fell silent in an instant, looking to each other in confusion. "Is that-" said Remus.

"The muggle phone?" Marlene finished, shooting a concerned look to Sirius and Artemis. "Do you two use that?"

Artemis shook her head. "No, it just... came with the house."

"I'll get it," said James, crossing the room to the phone. "I love muggle phones."

He picked the phone up from the holster and held it to his ear, grinning broadly. "Hello? Black-Blake residence-"

They all watched as his smile dimmed, then faded altogether. James turned towards the wall, speaking in a low voice to the person on the other end. A few long minutes later, he hung up, then slowly turned back to the group. "It's my parents," he said softly, his voice deadly sobering. "They're dying."

~

The Potter's house was darkened almost completely when the eight friends apparated into the backyard, save a single window on the second story. "My parents' room," James muttered, leading the way to the door without hesitation.

Sirius's eyes travelled to the spot where he'd crashed his motorbike so many winters ago, the hole in the picket fence never fully repaired. Artemis gazed down the hill behind the house, towards the pond where she, Sirius, and James had spent so many summer days swimming.

Everyone trooped up the stairs to the Potter's bedroom. Artemis lingered by the spare room where she used to live during the school holidays. Sirius noticed her staring vacantly at the door, and gently pulled her up the stairs with the rest of their friends. Everyone had sobered up considerably, leaving an apprehensive air between them. James paused outside of his parents' room, then pushed open the door and led his friends inside.

The Potters laid side by side in bed, looking almost peaceful. They were awake, but barely so. James hurried to his mother's side. "Mum, I got a call from a healer- she said-"

"I told her to call you, love," his mother interrupted in a hardly audible voice. "She was our caretaker while we were sick. And now... well, I believe we've both reached the end of our journey."

James's eyes were wide. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick? Mum, I didn't even know, I-"

"We didn't want to worry you, James," croaked Mr. Potter. "You've got so much going on, the war, everything- We thought it was best to do it this way."

James's eyes had filled with tears at the sound of his father's voice. "This way? But-"

"This way we can say goodbye, and leave in peace," said Mrs. Potter. "We did the best we could, but we realized we wouldn't make it through the night and we wanted to say our last goodbyes. We had our healer make us a potion, so we'll go in peace in about an hour."

James looked mutinous, but there was nothing he could do. "Mum- why-" His voice cracked and he shook his head, leaning into Lily's shoulder. She put a comforting hand on his back, her own eyes glistening.

Mrs. Potter gave the group an adoring smile. "This is the best way, I promise. With the war coming, you're all going to see so much loss- I wanted this one to be the least painful."

Nobody knew what to do. Mary let out a loud sniffle and buried her face in her hands. Artemis leaned forward and took one of Mrs. Potter's hands. "If this is goodbye, then- thank you," she said softly. "For being better parents than mine ever were, and for never giving up on me."

Mrs. Potter pulled her closer and kissed her cheek. "You were the daughter I always wanted, Artemis."

Artemis moved over to take Mr. Potter's hand as Sirius bent his head low and exchanged a few words with Mrs. Potter. Artemis knelt beside Mr. Potter. "You're a great dad," she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "You're- You-"

"I know, Artemis," said Mr. Potter, patting her hand gently. No words could sum up just how Artemis felt in the moment. He gave her his gentle smile, his eyes dim, but full of love. "You're a great witch. Fix this world, Blake. I know you can do it."

Artemis couldn't speak. The lump in her throat was too painful. She wiped furiously at her eyes and nodded, stepping back to let the others say their goodbyes. Once everyone had hugged and kissed and spoken to the Potters, they all exchanged long looks. "We'll leave you three alone," Lily said at last. "James, we'll wait in the living room."

"Okay," said James, not looking away from his parents.

Together, the seven of them went down to the living room and sat in a jumble, nobody speaking. Sirius set his hand on Artemis's leg, staring out the window at the yard where the two of them and James used to play quidditch together. Artemis remembered countless days in that house, cooking with Mrs. Potter, fighting with Sirius, drinking when the Potters went out of town.

An hour later, James stumbled down the stairs and leaned against the back of the couch, unable to hold himself up for any longer. "They're gone," he said in a choked voice. "They're gone."

Lily was on her feet in a second, letting James collapse his full weight on her shoulders. The rest of his friends got up too, wrapping James and Lily in a huddle of arms, everyone crying. The Christmas spirit that had filled them all just hours before was gone, replaced by the sinking feeling that nothing would be the same again... again.