Perking up, Harry marked his page and set the book aside, burning the note with a quick spell. Grabbing his presents for the three adults — at the very least he could send Snape off with the presents for Remus and Sirius — he stowed them in his bag and tugged on his shoes, swinging his invisibility cloak over his shoulders.
The hallways were full of people on the way down to the dungeons, but Harry was a pro at avoiding everyone by now, bobbing and weaving through the students without any of them noticing him. He made it to the empty corridor that held the portrait entrance to Snape's quarters, and knocked. The door opened just wide enough to admit Harry, and once he was inside he took off the invisibility cloak, turning to face the room at large. His jaw dropped, before a huge grin overtook his features. "Sirius!" His godfather was sat on Snape's sofa, and he got to his feet when Harry appeared, beaming. "Hey, pup! Merry Christmas!" Harry raced across the room and threw himself into the man's arms, a little embarrassed by how happy he was to see Sirius. Summer had been so long ago. Sirius kissed his hair, holding him tight. Suddenly, Harry pulled back.
"Is it safe?" he asked, brow furrowing in worry. "What if Dumbledore finds out?"
"Relax, cub," Remus said from the small kitchen area, where he was pouring a glass of wine. "Dumbledore still doesn't even know that I've been visiting all term; he isn't going to know Sirius is here. It's safe." Wine in hand, he walked over to wind an arm around Harry's shoulders, squeezing him affectionately. "Merry Christmas. I heard you had quite the quidditch match yesterday."
"Who told you?"
"I was decorating the steps of the Entrance Hall under Dumbledore's orders," Snape supplied. "There was a surprisingly good view of the grounds."
It made Harry smile all the wider to think that Snape had been watching him fly, and then told Remus about it.
"I can't believe you beat Viktor Krum!" Sirius enthused, ruffling Harry's hair. "Amazing, pup!"
Harry blushed, almost saying something about Viktor's insistence he go pro after graduation. It was too early to start making career choices — especially with the way his future was looking. Once there was no longer a Dark Lord out for his blood, or a headmaster trying to manipulate him, then maybe he could think about playing professional quidditch.
"So how have you been, Padfoot? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see you, you twit," Sirius replied with a roll of his eyes. "It's Christmas! Moony managed to persuade Severus to allow a minor Gryffindor invasion for the occasion." He wiggled his eyebrows, winking at the pair. "He has to stay and chaperone the ball tomorrow, and we figured you'd be busy, so we thought we'd celebrate a day early. Is that alright?"
There was a quiet pop, and Snape's small dining table was suddenly loaded down with food, Ceri stood beside it with a bright grin on her wrinkled face. "Master Harry, sir!" she greeted. "It is good to be seeings you well. You is gettings skinny again," she added, eyeing him over.
Harry supposed it was probably the stress of the tournament; he'd only forgotten to eat a few times in the last couple of months. "It's good to see you too, Ceri. Did you cook all this?" There was turkey and stuffing and vegetables, fluffy roast potatoes and a huge boat of gravy, even a plate stacked with pigs in blankets. The elf nodded happily. "Christmas dinner for masters and family," she announced. "Can I be getting anything else?"
"This all looks fantastic, Ceri," Sirius told her. "Thank you."
Ceri beamed once more, then disappeared, and Sirius nudged Harry towards the table. "Go on, pup. Tuck in! You can tell me all about your game yesterday."
The four of them sat at the table, and there was a minor amount of chaos as they all served themselves, passing dishes around and trying not to spill gravy on anyone. When they all had full plates, Sirius cleared his throat. "I won't get too sappy, or Snape might come out in a rash," he said teasingly, "but for a long time, I never thought I'd have this again. Christmas. Love. Family. Yes, even you, you greasy bat," he added, making Snape scowl. "There should be more people at this table, but the world can be cold at times. So I just wanted to thank all of you, for being the warmth in my life." Sirius swallowed a little thickly. Harry wondered how many glasses of wine he'd had already. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," they all murmured in response, even Snape, lifting their glasses to tap together in the centre of the table. Harry had been allowed a small glass of wine, and the taste was foreign; he must have made a face, as Remus chuckled opposite him.
"It takes some getting used to," he said, drinking from his own, much larger glass.
Harry was gently bullied into recounting the seekers' match as they ate, before conversation turned to other things, always managing to come back around to the Yule Ball. Every time Harry tried to ask about what the adults had been up to — any time he tried to get information about Voldemort and Pettigrew — he was gently brushed off and the subject was quickly changed. He appreciated that they didn't want to talk about such serious things at Christmas, but Harry was desperate for information. He hadn't had any more dreams that he could remember, but every now and then he woke up with his scar aching.
"Time for presents!" Sirius declared once they had thoroughly demolished the chocolate yule log cake Ceri brought in. He urged Harry over to the sofa, bounding after him. Remus and Snape followed at a more sedate pace, Remus looking thoroughly amused by Sirius' enthusiasm. Snape just looked resigned to it all, his shoulder gently pressing against Remus' once they sat down. With a wave of Remus' wand, a pile of wrapped gifts came floating over from a corner of the room, settling on the coffee table. Harry reached into his bag, adding the presents for the adults to the stack.
"Right, Harry first!" Sirius said, tossing a present Harry's way.
"No, let's all open them together," Harry insisted, not wanting all of them staring at him while he opened presents. His birthday had been bad enough! "Here, I got these for you guys." He distributed his presents, smiling shyly at Snape's look of surprise.
"You got me a Christmas present?" the Slytherin asked quietly, eyebrows rising. Harry nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on his hands in his lap as he shredded a scrap of wrapping paper. "I… thank you."
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