Christmas with the Potter's was exactly as anyone would anticipate; it was perfect. The days leading up to the twenty-fifth consisted of Euphemia and Regulus baking hundreds of different cakes, pastries, biscuits, dishes, custards, creams, every sweet treat imaginable. Regulus spent a lot of the time, when he wasn't cooking, in the library. Fleamont had told him of an extension they'd had done and the two spent hours discussing which books should go in this new section, Fleamont swore he'd show the area to Regulus after Christmas. The rest of Regulus spare time was dedicated to Sirius, James and Remus. Remus was fantastic company, Regulus found. He, unlike Sirius, enjoyed sitting quietly and reading whilst it rained and the two boys would often sit silently under the huge windows in the Library and read. Sirius seemed determined to banish any unpleasant Christmas memories Regulus had and replace them with entirely new ones. They rode their brooms around the vast gardens, they listened to Muggle music, they ventured into the town and created stories for every stranger that passed them.
"He's definitely just been stood up at dinner by the person he thought would be his true love." Sirius had whispered and pointed slightly to a man across the street, as they trudged home from town, through the thick snow. The man in question had a pristine black suit on and a bunch of flowers in his hand, he was muttering to himself, as though reciting a monologue. Sirius would exclaim a statement along those lines, during this new game, and then dive into his reasonings and analysis. Regulus would usually just laugh along and agree but with that particular man he couldn't agree.
"Not a chance! He's definitely on his way to propose to his girlfriend of 8 years and she will say yes, because they're in love and its Christmas." Regulus smiled at the scene he'd imagined in his mind.
"Godric Reg! You've become such a romantic optimist since you started your affair with your secret, and totally not imaginary, girlfriend" Sirius nudged Regulus as he teased. Regulus huffed out a laugh and kicked snow at Sirius. He thought about how true Sirius had been, he was more optimistic since being with James. He still felt a twist of shame when Sirius talked about him having a 'girlfriend', but he knew he meant no harm by it and wouldn't care either way. People would always have certain expectations of him, and he would have to live with that fact.
On Christmas Eve, the Potter's, Sirius, Regulus and Remus all sat together in the garden. All of them were wearing thick winter coats, scarves, hats and gloves, charmed with warming spells. Embarrassingly, and apparently by pure coincidence, the only spare scarf for Regulus was a Gryffindor one that was red and gold and covered in golden lions. Regulus sighed as he wrapped it around his neck and headed out into the snow. The other five were already outside, chatting happily, when he joined them. Euphemia walked to him and wrapped her arm around him, hugging him tightly to her side. He smiled happily at her and rested his chin on her head. It was a sweet moment until Euphemia produced a handful of snow from behind her back and swiftly dropped it on Regulus's head. Euphemia laughed and backed away quickly, readying another snowball. Sirius was laughing too hard to notice Remus pick up a pile of snow and launch it towards his head, hitting him square in the face. This started a very large, very aggressive, family snowball fight that lasted for hours.
In the end, the group were left soaked through, faces red with the cold and with happiness. Euphemia and Fleamont were making snow angels and Sirius and Remus were holding hands and looking at the stars. James and Regulus were sat together, not far apart but not close enough, looking at the constellations. They sat in silence, Regulus breathed deeply, drinking in feeling of the cold air in his lungs. He looked over at James, his nose was red, and his cheeks had a similar rosy hue, his hair was spattered with snowflakes and he wore a content smile as he looked around at his parents and friends. He met Regulus's eye. Regulus's world stopped, as it always did when James looked at him that way, no one else mattered, they were the only two people on earth. He smiled back at him, the most genuine smile, the one that made James's stomach flip every time he saw it.
BANG! A bright, green firework exploded in the distance, followed by hundreds of other fireworks. The sky was alive with colour. It was midnight. Regulus's eyes flicked back to James who was still looking only at him.
"Merry Christmas James!" Regulus said, softly.
"Merry Christmas Reg" James got to his feet, brushing off as many snowflakes as possible, and held a hand out to help Regulus up. Once they were both up they were engulfed in hugs from the whole family. Fleamont gently ruffled Regulus's hair before doing the same to Sirius, Remus and James. Euphemia cupped Regulus's face in her warm hands and planted motherly kisses on his forehead and cheeks. When she did this to James he would squirm away and protest, but Regulus would never do that. He would never turn down a display of maternal affection, not from a proper mother. Remus was hugging everyone in turn, but he hesitated when he reached Regulus. Remus looked at his feet awkwardly and wished him a Merry Christmas, unsure how comfortable Regulus was with physical affection. Regulus returned the wishes and stepped towards the other boy, wrapping his arms around him, he felt Remus sigh with relief. James gave Regulus the same hug that he had given everyone else, but out of everyone's view his hand was rested slightly lower on Regulus's back and he breathed in the smell of his hair. Pulling away, James ruffled Regulus's hair, much more aggressively than Fleamont had and earned himself an elbow in the ribs. Sirius wrapped a strong arm around Regulus's shoulders, conjured five cups of hot chocolate, and cleared his throat loudly to gather everyone's attention.
"Merry Christmas to the people I love most in the world!" Sirius announced. Euphemia was crying instantly, and everyone else nodded, sharing his feelings. "Without each of you, I would not be here. I love you all dearly. My Family!" He raised his cup and the others all tapped theirs against it. Regulus looked around at everyone, finally understanding that this is what a family should be, and that they were all his family now. As he glanced at Euphemia, Fleamont, Remus, Sirius and James he knew that his family was perfect, and he would protect all of them with his life. Most importantly, he knew they would do the same.
Christmas Day with the Potter's was not a casual event. The day was planned out, down to the minute. As was tradition, the Potter's were hosting a Christmas Party, in the evening, with all of their friends and extended family. James had invited Peter, Marlene, Lily and Mary months ago, knowing they would all want to attend. Contrary to many other aspects of The Potter's lifestyle, it was to be an incredibly lavish event and the parties were often talked about for years after. With all the food prepared, and the rooms decorated, the family were free to spend the rest of the day together.
The day began, as was the same in many other households, with breakfast and presents. Regulus had never had a family Christmas. Christmases in Grimmauld Place consisted of being awoken at the crack of dawn, forced to sing hymns at church, and attending the dinner with every member of the Black family. Every other moment was spent in his room with Sirius, and then eventually, by himself. At the Potter's, solitude was not something that occurred on most days, let alone Christmas. Regulus was awoken by James, Sirius and Remus all piling on to his bed. They all cheered at him and he wriggled under the weight of all of the teenagers. Regulus ended up rolling off the side of the bed to escape, landing with a thud on the floor.
"Morning Reg!" The three boys chorused.
"Morning tossers!" Regulus flicked his middle finger at them all before getting up from the floor. "I suppose you're going to stay and watch me get dressed." He glared at the boys, James face flickered with the faintest smirk, making Regulus's stomach tighten. The three of them left Regulus to get ready, he dressed quickly, pulling on a green sweatshirt and dark jeans.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs he was swept into Euphemia's arms, embracing him in a warm hug. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly, she smelled like Christmas, like cinnamon, apple, peppermint and gingerbread. She smiled brightly at him as she led him towards the kitchen for breakfast. There was a Christmas tree in every room, each one was decorated differently but they complimented each room perfectly. The tree in the kitchen was beautiful, decorated with gingerbread men, candy canes and oranges, it sat in the corner of the room. The table was piled with food, there were crackers and card games to play too. Regulus sat beside Sirius, who had already filled his plate with an unnecessary amount of sweets and pastries. They all chatted happily as they ate, reminiscing on what had been a very eventful year. They ate until they physically couldn't eat anything else, Regulus had seen Remus scoff at least five pain au chocolats and he was certain that James had eaten almost the whole plate of sausage rolls. Together, they all waddled into the living room to open presents.
The living room was Regulus's second favourite room in the house, after the library, because it was truly spectacular. The room itself was the size of the Gryffindor Common Room, it had a large window that opened out into the front garden, it had doors that led in from three other rooms too. It was truly the heart of the house. The place where the family resided most of the time, where they chatted, bonded, laughed and grew together. The room was covered in gold, red and green tinsel, strung across the ceiling, twirled around the chandelier, pinned to the curtains, it was everywhere. Fleamont had charmed the ceiling and it was snowing lightly across the whole room. The snow wasn't wet or cold, but rested, as snowflakes did, in their hair and on their clothes. The room smelt of cinnamon and Regulus grew to love the smell. A scent that would, from that day on, be associated with Christmas and Euphemia Potter. In the corner of the room was another large, intricately decorated tree, with a golden star on top. Beneath the tree, was a mountain of wrapped gifts.
Regulus took a seat on the sofa, next to Remus who seemed as amazed and bewildered as he did. Euphemia and Fleamont sat in their matching armchairs and Sirius and James sat on the floor, edging towards the pile of presents like excited children. Euphemia gave James a small nod and a smile, he turned and began to rifle through the presents, checking tags. He handed Sirius gift after gift; he then placed another pile of gifts at Remus's feet. Regulus noticed Remus open his mouth and then close it before smiling and thanking everyone, he seemed as though he hadn't been expecting anything. James had started to collect his own pile, occasionally handing parcels to his parents. James scooped up the final lot of presents and moved to place them on Regulus's lap. As he took his hands away, his fingers brushed against Regulus's, making him flinch slightly. James gave Regulus a questioning look, but he just smiled and thanked him, returning his eyes to the gifts in his lap.
The next hour was spent going from person to person opening gifts, until everyone was surrounded by jumpers, posters, games, new brooms and every other gift a wizard could wish for. Regulus still had one present left to open, he stared down at the tag. 'Merry Christmas Reg, Love James' was scrawled in messy handwriting, almost illegible. Regulus had to stop himself from tracing over the letters with his fingers. James sat in front of him, on the floor, smiling at him excited. James had gifted Remus the perfect cardigan, charmed with a warming spell to ensure he was always cosy when he wore it. He'd gifted Sirius a new broom and a pocket-watch, a family heirloom. Regulus felt nervous as he unwrapped the gift, he wasn't sure what to expect. He pulled off the paper and held the device up before him. It was a camera. A magical camera, that produced moving photos. Regulus had never owned a camera, there was nothing worth taking photos before he'd left home. Before James. He stared at James, his eyes full of love and gratitude.
"I thought, maybe you'd want to capture the moment whenever you like." James said, almost shyly.
"It's incredible. Thank you so much!" Regulus gushed. Fleamont then cleared his throat and stood up from his chair.
"Regulus, we have one more gift for you. Would you follow me please?" Fleamont shot Regulus a reassuring smile and began to walk out of the room. Regulus would have stayed and protested how he had received so much already, but Fleamont was already disappearing out of sight, so he jumped up and dashed to follow him. Fleamont walked Regulus into the library.
"As you know, we've had an extension built on to the library. It's currently a very large, empty space, waiting to be filled with books." Fleamont spoke. Regulus was becoming increasingly confused and intrigued. "Well, I should probably just show you." With that he pushed open the newly installed double doors and revealed the new room. It was almost as large as the rest of the library, with two floors and room for hundreds of books. There was also a large ornate desk, like Fleamont's. Regulus looked around the empty room in awe, brushing his fingers over the empty skeleton of the new library. His eyes were then drawn to an odd piece of square fabric in the middle of the wall beside the door.
"Pull it off." Fleamont gestured to the fabric. Regulus reached for it, feeling the soft fabric against his fingers. He gently pulled the fabric off of the wall, revealing a plaque. It read:
Regulus Arcturus Black's Library
This Library and all of its contents belong to Regulus Arcturus Black
Regulus's mouth fell open as he tried to comprehend what was happening. His eyes were filled with tears as he looked back at Fleamont.
"This space is yours; you can fill it however you like; with whichever books you want. It is yours Regulus!" Fleamont's voice was kind and filled the empty room. Regulus was speechless. He walked across and wrapped his arms around Fleamont, hugging him tightly, crying grateful tears. Fleamont hugged Regulus back tightly.
"Merry Christmas, son" His voice broke slightly as he felt Regulus begin to cry harder into his shoulder. The two held their embrace for some time before finally letting the other go. Regulus could only whisper his thanks as he continued to gaze around the room, his room.
Regulus quickly decided that this was one of the best days of his life, he could only think of one other real contender for the top place, it involved a Golden Snitch and a boy with perpetually messy hair. After hours of more food, games, a walk through the gardens and some last-minute preparation, the guests were due to arrive. Sirius, James, Remus and Regulus played a game of exploding snaps in the drawing room, all of them in their best dress robes. There was suddenly a loud clatter of broken glass from the entrance hall. It startled all of them, before they instinctively followed the sound of chaos to find the first guests arriving. As they rounded a corner, they found Peter, who was an impressive shade of red, desperately trying to sweep up the pieces of an antique vase. It seemed that he'd managed to elbow it off of it's perch as he entered. The whole group laughed at the display before them and Sirius, being the only one of age, waved his wand at the shards of porcelain and the vase was formed again and placed back on its perch.
"I've added a sticking charm this time, that way Petey can fling his elbows around without worrying anymore" Sirius joked as he wrapped his arm around Peter's neck, holding him in a friendly chokehold. Peter finally laughed and his face began to return to a normal colour. Regulus and the Marauders decided they should probably join the rest of the party, as they had been catching up for quite a while. They entered the living room together, gazing around, astonished at the sheer number of wizards and witches in one room. Regulus surveyed the room, realising for the first time that many of these guests would know of him, and they would certainly know of his parents. His hands suddenly felt very sweaty and he could feel his throat tightening slightly, he then felt a hand on the small of his back, gently nudging him forward.
"It's going to be okay, don't worry." James whispered to him. Regulus kept his head straight but nodded, took a deep breath and stepped further into the room.
They group were quickly joined by Lily, Mary and Marlene. They all looked incredible. Lily was wearing a long, satin, emerald coloured dress that complimented her eyes and hair perfectly. Regulus's jaw nearly dropped when he saw that Marlene was wearing not only a dress, but makeup too. Regulus had only ever seen Marlene in oversized Quidditch jerseys or sweats, but she looked so beautiful either way. Her dress was Gryffindor colours, red and gold, long sleeved and knee length. She, like Lily, had somehow managed to make their eyelashes twice as long and dark and her lips were painted red. Mary had her hair in intricate, tight braids that flowed into curls. She wore a floor-length, gold dress that hugged every curve of her body, she was flawless. Regulus used his new camera to take a photo of the girls together. He'd decided to be the designated photographer of the night.
The boys were all beside themselves at the effort the girls had put in and the girls were relishing in the compliments they were receiving. The school friends stuck together like glue for most of the night. Occasionally James would be pulled away to speak with a family friend or a colleague of his parents. Regulus tried to watch him subtly, every day James did something that truly amazed him. He watched the way he was so polite to everyone, so confident in himself and his words. Regulus secretly snapped a photo of James as he engaged in a conversation with an older man that Regulus did not recognise. James eyes crinkled as he smiled and he ran a hand through his hair as he spoke, looking effortlessly perfect. He quickly slipped the photo in his pocket, rather than the case he'd been using for the other photos of the night.
"Reggie!" A strangely familiar voice rang out from behind Regulus and the group. They all whipped around to find the source of the voice; Regulus cringed inwardly at anyone but Sirius using that nickname. His annoyance melted away instantly when he realised who had spoken to him. His eyes took in every inch of the woman before him. Her high cheekbones, porcelain skin, her chocolate brown hair, and her warm hazel eyes.
"Andie" Regulus breathed, scared he might collapse if he didn't get to her as quickly as possible. Sirius had appeared beside them almost instantly and engulfed them both in a hug. Sirius could sense an awkwardness in the group behind him and broke apart, turning back to his friends.
"Everyone this is our cousin Andromeda! The coolest person alive." Sirius smiled proudly as he introduced her, something he would never do for any other member of the Black family besides her and Regulus. The rest of the group introduced themselves and they all spoke for a while about Andromeda's daughter, Nymphadora and about everyone's excitement to get back to Hogwarts. Andromeda spied the camera in Regulus's hand and asked to take a photo of the whole group together. They squeezed together, shouting "cheese" and smiling. Lily, as was in her nature, offered to take a photo of Regulus, Andromeda and Sirius. They all agreed eagerly and held each other closely, for the first family photo Regulus had taken in years. Andromeda then asked to speak to Regulus privately. The two of them walked to the Library and into Regulus's section.
"This seems like a pretty perfect place to live. The Potter's must really love you; I mean, how could they not?" She twirled around the room as she spoke. Regulus just laughed with her, trying not to burst with happiness at finally seeing Andromeda again. "Much better than coming to live with me. Dora's being a little monster lately, keeps morphing into a dog and trying to bite Ted when he tries to bathe her."
"I wanted to come and live with you so badly. I just couldn't. Not with everything that happened with Mother and Father. I was scared of what they might do to you and Ted. I would've given anything to live with you, with family." Regulus's voice and expression were suddenly sad, he stared at his hands to avoid Andromeda's eyes. She crossed over to him and cupped his face in her hands, she was shorter than him and easily met his eye again.
"The Potter's are more your family than Walburga and Orion ever were. I've been in regular contact with Euphemia for many years and I was overjoyed when she said you'd ended up here. They love you Regulus. Sirius adores you. He wrote to me every week for the two years you were apart. He was heartbroken, he was angry at himself, he was terrified for you. He thought about you every second of the day, so did I. We are your family and so are the Potter's. I mean look at all of this." She gestured to the room. "When did you ever receive something so thoughtful in the Black household? My point is, dear boy, that you're safe now. You have a family. You can come and see me whenever you like, you and Sirius are always welcome, as are your friends."
"I've missed you so much Andie. I'm so glad you're okay." Regulus smiled at her.
"I'm proud of you Regulus, you've been through more than most and you've ended up a good man." As she spoke the clock in the Library chimed, Andromeda glanced at it and then back at Regulus, still holding his face lightly in her hands. "I'd better get going, Dora's likely to have fallen asleep by now. I'll see you very soon Reggie!" She kissed his forehead gently and hugged him tightly, once more.
"See you soon" He muttered into her hair before she left. He stood alone in the library for a long time after she left. It had felt so good to have her back, even just for an evening, that her absence was painful now. He walked over to the large window, facing the garden and leaned his forehead against the glass. He watched a small cloud of condensation appear on the glass with every breath he took, he drew patterns in it and then breathed over them, making them disappear.
"There you are!" James voice echoed through the empty, dark library as he skipped over to Regulus. "Are you okay?" He placed a comforting hand on Regulus's back. Regulus melted into his touch, feeling better instantly. He looked into James's eyes and smiled genuinely as he nodded.
"I have a gift for you!" Regulus whispered. He looked around the room, checking the door was closed and they were definitely alone. He then pulled, what looked like a small bunch of leaves out of his pocket. He held it above his head, between him and James. James looked up at it for a moment, confused, and then looked back at Regulus with a smirk.
"Mistletoe?" James asked. Regulus nodded again. James placed his hand on the back of Regulus's neck and pulled him closer. Regulus pressed his lips against James's, kissing him softly.
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