Hello Fam :)

Happy Reading...

James woke up with a huge grin on his face. It was Christmas. He swept his eyes across the room, saw all the curtains were drawn close, and jumped to the washroom for a quick shower.

Christmas meant family for the Potters and even though his parents wrote to keep in touch with him all throughout the year, he expected a letter on Christmas too since it was the first time he was away from them on this day.

After getting ready, he searched through his gifts at the end of his bedpost but there wasn't anything from his parents. Maybe they would get delivered during breakfast. He was about to open his friends' presents when he noticed Sirius was awake, and staring at the ceiling, a blank look on his face.

James groaned. Of course, how could he forget? Even though Sirius didn't get along with his family ever since he was sorted into Gryffindor, this year before the start of the term when his mother approved you-know-who's methods, he disagreed quite loudly. It didn't go well with his family and he came back to Hogwarts with marks of a handprint on his cheek and a busted lip. She didn't raise her hand at his friend, the Blacks never raised hands on their children just the wands, and James had healed him on the train before they met the others. Sirius grinned all through the narration. He was proud.

Right now, seeing the blank look on his face, James felt like cursing the Blacks. He abandoned the gifts and jumped on Sirius's bed, startling him, before putting the silencing charm around his bed. He ignored his friend's raised eyebrow and cupped his face, forcing him to look in his eye. "Sirius, you know, right, you are the most precious person to me?"

"No, I thought that place is reserved for a certain redhead", said Sirius.

James ignored him. He knew Sirius always turned everything into a joke especially when he doesn't want to talk about what was bothering him. "I consider you the most important person in my life."

"After your parents and again a certain redhead, yes."

James controlled his urge to roll his eyes or smack him on his head. Sirius was hurt. It's the hurt that's talking. Not the boy himself. "Your presence in my life means a lot to me and I think highly about your opinions and your choices in life."

Here Sirius pouted. "Yet you take advice only from Moony and never from me when there's a life-threatening situation."

James huffed, throwing his arms in the air. "Because I want to live and not die in those situations which is the ultimate result of almost all your decisions."

"I object", he protested.

James rolled his eyes. "I am trying to be serious here."

Sirius grinned. "But you are James. How can you be Si-ri-us?"

"Just listen to me or else I will put a silencing charm on you too."

Sirius barked a laugh and zipped his mouth dramatically.

"Padfoot, there are so many that love you. The whole Hogwarts, excluding the snakes, and a few others here and there. Those who hate you are just a handful and everyone hates them somehow. So let's ignore them and concentrate on who loves you, okay?"

"Yeah, I know all this. After all, who could resist the charm of Sirius Black, right? But anyway, why all this now?"

James gaped at him. "What do you mean by why all this? Aren't you missing your family? The reason behind this gloom on your face?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "James, I don't have enough memories with my family that I will go and 'miss' them. I am actually thinking about Lily-bean."

"Evans?"

"Yeah, wait a second", he said and sprung down, almost falling off.

James's hand hovered beside him to grab him if he does. Sirius picked out a letter and handed it over. It was a muggle one. Who would be writing a muggle letter to Sirius? When the boy asked him to read, the frown on his face only got deeper as he went to the last. "What the freaking hell?", he muttered.

"Exactly. How dare this Petunia send a hate letter to our sweet Lily on Christmas of all days?"

"Is this the reason why Evans didn't go home?", James muttered to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Where did you get this letter from?"

Sirius shrugged. "Common room. I think the house-elves missed it with the gifts. I thought I would have some fun but now I am not planning to return it again."

"But what if Evans knows about this? She would hex us into oblivion."

"But it's better if she thinks the letter is lost instead of reading this."

James sighed. He didn't want to hurt her too but he knew better than to keep her letter. "Padfoot, this is Hogwarts. Letters don't go missing here and Evans is smart enough to find this. She isn't a prefect for nothing. Give it to me. I will handle her."

Sirius raised his eyebrow. "Am I missing something? Where did you get the guts to go to her voluntarily? Weren't you avoiding her since yesterday and giving longing looks when she wasn't looking at you?"

James snorted. "As if you don't know. She came to talk to me after you 'panicked' in front of her. I don't think that's coincidental."

Sirius jumped on his bed, clapping excitedly. "So, that worked? Did you confess your ages-old love for her?"

"Why are you so eager to see me dead?", said James, glaring at his best friend. He groaned on seeing the smirk on his face. "No, don't answer that. Well, we are trying to be friends."

"All hail Padfoot."

Why is he excited this early in the morning?

They were startled to find Remus. He might have woken up and seen them talking behind the silencing charm. Seeing him, Sirius grinned and jumped on him, throwing all his limbs to wrap him like an octopus. "Merry Christmas, Moony", he yelled.

Remus winced, before putting a hand to stabilize the boy. "Merry Christmas, Padfoot. Merry Christmas, Prongs."

James grinned and clapped his back before shaking his head in disbelief at the hyperactive kid who was yet to climb off Moony. He took the letter and slipped off the room before Sirius could stop him, faintly hearing his yell to stop.

XXX

James found Lily sitting in front of the fireplace, reading a book. "Merry Christmas?", he said, sitting beside her.

"You have a doubt it's Christmas, Potter?", she teased. "Merry Christmas and good morning."

He stopped his urge to grin like a loon and behave like a friend he promised he would be the previous day. "Are you busy?"

"No, just passing the time."

"Okay", said James and took a deep breath. "Evans, you know, right, that you are special even if people call you names or try to hurt you? They are nothing compared to you."

Lily sighed. "What are you up to, Potter?", she asked, warily.

He didn't blame her. He was the reason to get that sort of a reaction out of her. Ignoring that, he forwarded the letter to her and saw her eyes widen in recognition.

"What's this doing with you?"

James raised his hands. "Before you blame me, it's Sirius. He found it here in the common room lying around and thought to have fun but after reading it, he didn't want to give it to you. He couldn't believe someone could write something like this to you."

Lily snatched the letter and read it, before folding it and putting it inside her pocket. "Okay. Thank you. But don't try to read my letters again."

"I promise. But are you okay?"

"This is not new for me."

The casual way she said that had hurt him. Family wasn't supposed to hate each other unless you are Blacks and they were on a whole different level of mad. "Is this why you didn't go home for Christmas?"

"What?", she asked and chuckled. "No, are you kidding me? I have lived in the same house as this girl since I was born. Why would I avoid going home just for her? But this year it's a bit intolerable as she invited her boyfriend to meet our parents."

James frowned. "And you think it's just coincidence that the said meeting is during the Christmas holidays when you have the chance to meet your parents for months." If he wasn't wrong, the said girl was Lily's sister.

"Listen, I know it isn't coincidental but sometimes it's nothing we can do about it. They are what they are", she said with a shrug. "Anyways, I might go home for the Easter holidays. I haven't decided yet though."

"And you know that whatever she has written there is just some waste of parchment?"

Lily smiled at him, a genuine smile. "Potter, she doesn't affect me the way she thinks she does. Anyway-"

She was caught midsentence when a silk pouch came flying and landed straight on her lap. She narrowed her eyes at James.

"Not my fault. I don't know. It has your name on it. Open it. You might find some hint", said James.

She opened it to find the Hogsmead's finest chocolate and a moment later Sirius Black appeared in front of her with a huge grin on his face. "Merry Christmas, My Lady", he said, half bowing and half sitting down on the coffee table in front of them.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Sirius. And what exactly are these for?"

"Did the prefect lock her brains in her dorm today?", he said, grinning widely. "Of course, these are Christmas presents. I am sorry, I don't know what you like so, considering you are pretty much similar to Remus, I thought of getting these for you as well. The boy is obsessed with chocolates." Sirius bit his lip hesitantly before adding as an afterthought. "You can return it if you don't like it."

James bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from grinning at the rare adorable sight of his friend being nervous. The Blacks were all about profits and business and hence it didn't surprise him that Sirius didn't understand the concept of giving gifts to people on Christmas. Sure, the marauders exchanged gifts every year but apparently, Sirius only sent them because he knew the others would send him and he didn't want to come as ungrateful. When he decided he wouldn't go home for Christmas, the last Hogsmeade trip was decided for buying Christmas gifts. When James went overboard buying to everyone he could think of, Sirius confusedly asked him why was he buying to people he hardly talk to throughout the year. James excitedly told him about Christmas and when Sirius still didn't understand the excitement, he threw his hands around his friend and pulled him into a long hug, confusing him further. He then sat Sirius down and explained that exchanging gifts to people he loved was a way of telling them that they matter and he was thinking about them. He told that Christmas was about family, not specifically blood-related and it has nothing to do with business or extravagant parties. Once he was done, Sirius thought for a while and at the end of their trip, asked if he could buy gifts for anyone he felt like and only grinned when James said yes.

Now that Sirius had decided Lily mattered to him, the confused frown on the redhead only made him nervous. James wanted to wrap his hands around his brother but sat still, letting the two sort this by himself.

Lily looked at James and when he shrugged with a smile, she reached out for Sirius's hand hesitantly. "Stop being...nervous?", she started. "It's so new and uneasy to see you like this."

True because Sirius was always jumping around with too much energy or strutted through the school like the pureblood he was brought up to be. His being nervous and hesitant or showing vulnerability was reserved for only special people and one of the few was James. Now it seems, Lily has been added to that list. She dropped her hand and chuckled nervously, looking at the silk pouch. When James couldn't hold himself any further, he burst out laughing, making the other two stare at him in confusion.

"Do you have any idea how adorable the two of you are?", he said and stood up from his place to sit beside Sirius and pulled him in a half-hug. He rubbed his hand up and down on his arm when some of the tension bled out of his shoulders, relaxing him even further. "Lily, Sirius bought you a Christmas present and couldn't figure out himself about how to give it to you without the fear of getting hexed. So, he took the Gryffindor way and threw it at you. Right, Sirius?"

"I didn't mean to throw it though", he mumbled and James squeezed his neck.

"But I can't accept it", muttered Lily.

"Why?"

"Because I didn't get any gift for you", said the girl.

Both the marauders looked at each other and finally, the grin returned to Sirius's face. He stood up and sat beside Lily, throwing an arm around her. "I didn't give it in return of something, Lily-bean. Even if we don't get along too well, we all love you. We respect you. I haven't even given it a thought. When I was buying these for Remus during the last Hogsmeade trip, it reminded me of you and I just bought them for you. We can be friends if you really want to give gift me something in return. I will treasure it."

James gaped at him listening to the familiar line while Lily narrowed her gaze at Sirius first followed by James. "Did you both practice the damn line before asking me?}

"What?", asked Sirius.

"I swear, I didn't even know about it", explained James, frantically. "I thought you two were already friends. Hell, I didn't even know he bought a gift for you during last Hogsmeade." He threw an accusing glare towards Sirius because the boy didn't even bother to tell him.

"Prongs, I didn't", said Sirius in a fake whisper. "I sneaked out to Hogsmeade yesterday to buy some for Remus and rummaged my brain to check if I did miss anyone else and she came into my mind. She's a prefect, I can't tell all these in front of her."

Lily rolled her eyes at him. "And you exactly are confessing it when I am sitting just beside you."

Sirius gaped at her. "Shh...Lily-bean, you are not supposed to hear that."

Lily smacked his hand before chuckling. "If I don't know better about you two, I would have thought you have planned it all along but I guess, the whole Hogwarts doesn't call you brothers for no reason. Sirius, it would be an honor to be your friend. It should be me who is supposed to treasure it but I don't think I quite deserve it", she said and sighed sadly. "It's okay. I am okay with all of Snape's ordeal. I have seen this coming. Just because we fell apart-"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "And do you really think, I care about that slimy git?", he asked. At Lily's questioned frown, he shrugged. "I only pretended to respect him in front of you just for your sake and now if he falls down to hurt you, I wouldn't even spare an air I breathe. Whether you like it or not."

The sincerity in his voice might have caught him Lily off-guard as she looked at James. But James knew his brother better than anyone. Sirius is overprotective of those he loved and he knew how much he had started to care about the redhead prefect.

Sirius might have realized the hostility in his tone and tried to do the damage control, with a grin. "Now, coming to the more serious part. Why I wanted to do all this is, Lily-bean, there is no reason but I can come up with a really hypothetical one."

"I bet that would be insane", muttered James.

Lily winced. "That bad?"

"Are you still asking me this after realizing he predicted to name himself as the godfather for your hypothetical unborn child?", said James.

Lily looked horrified and shook her head in a heart-breaking understanding. Sirius glared at the pair of them. "Next time when you try to turn against me, just bother to cast a silencing charm instead of pretending me to be invisible", he said, glaring some more before dropping the act. "Anyways, Lily-bean do you have any uncle of yours or aunt or some cousin who are too mean or possibly don't love you much?"

Lily was confused but still gave it a thought. "My aunt. She is fond of my sister and believes everything my sister feeds her off. Why?"

"Just a minute", said Sirius, conjured a hat out of thin air and placed it on top of him. He took Lily's hands in his and spoke in a rather girlish voice. "Hello, darling. Merry Christmas. Stop staring at me like that. Someone hit me on my head and I couldn't form two meaningful coherent sentences since then. As you have decided to stay so far from me, I had to rely upon your freakish sister all the time. Never knew she was a living example of speaking shit. Take care of yourself, darling. Your uncle said hi.

By the end of it, James and Lily were doubling over laughter. "What was that for?", asked Lily, controlling herself for a moment.

"Just to remind you that they are touched on the head. Hope you like it", asked Sirius.

Lily bit her lip. "If you want to improve it a bit, my uncle died a few years ago. So, he possibly couldn't say hi to me."

Sirius nodded seriously. "Am I taking this too far if I am wishing he should have taken a divorce so that he could have rested in peace?"

James stiffened. It was taking far. "Sirius", he warned.

But he was surprised when Lily just burst out laughing. "I wished at some point too when he was alive. Though she was much better then."

Sirius shuddered visibly. "I can't even imagine what she's like now."

Before Lily could reply, Remus flopped down on the couch beside Sirius, throwing his arms in the air. "I give up." He huffed exasperatedly and crossed his arms, gaining the attention of all the three sitting there.

Sirius poked his arm. "Umm...Moony, are you okay?"

"This is the last time I am trying to wake Peter up. I have been trying for the past one hour and he doesn't even budge", said Remus, still huffing.

"But you always say this and end up trying to wake him up because you don't want him to miss his classes?", pointed out James.

Lily winced, Sirius slapped his forehead and Remus glared at James.

James bit his lip seeing their reaction. "I suppose that's a bad thing to say now."

Sirius fought his urge to snort and decided to help James who was still under Remus's meanest glare. He shifted his arm from Lily's shoulder to Remus and shuddered dramatically as he found at the receiving end of the said glare. "Moony, it's a holiday. Let him sleep. We can grab some sandwiches for him so that he can eat whenever he decides to wake up, yeah? Forcing him out of his bed on a holiday will be too much for him, right?

"I guess you are right", muttered Remus after a moment.

"So, let's go for breakfast?"

Remus nodded his head and looked at James, who was looking at him skeptically and was preparing himself to be yelled at again. He sighed heavily. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's not your fault."

"But Remus, you didn't yell at him?", said Lily.

James smirked at her. "That's the point, Evans. Moony's 'The Look' is as good as his yell."

As Lily nodded in understanding, the marauders burst out laughing. Just to compensate for his previous 'The Look', Remus held out his hand for James. "My dear fellow marauder, let's grab some feast from the great hall and satisfy our food hormones."

James clapped his hand once. " so knew that you were the fun one in disguise and not one Sirius Black as he loves to claim." He grabbed Remus's arm and they walked off ignoring the pout of one Sirius Black.

Lily nodded her head in disbelief and pulled Sirius from the couch. "What if you aren't the fun one? You surely are the one that brightens up anyone's day. Thank you for brightening up my Christmas day. Sirius Black, I love you so much", she said and wrapped her hands around the neck of a surprised Sirius and pulled him into a hug.

Remus and James turned just in time to hear Lily's confession. Amused, Remus quirked an eyebrow at James who he expected to burst out in jealousy but was looking at the pair of them with fond smiles. "I see you are okay with Lily's confession?"

"What?", his eyes finally tearing

"I expected some reckless frustration but you have this cute smile on your face?"

James turned back to see the pair of them. Sirius had his hand around Lily's neck and she was explaining to him something animatedly. He didn't miss the wide smile on Sirius's face. "They are so adorable. I hadn't realized before but they are too cute. And didn't you see how easily she brought a smile on his face? The boy deserves to be happy, Moony."

Remus frowned at that. "What if Lily-"

James cut him off midspeech. "I know for a reason, Sirius would never hurt me intentionally. But if Lily finds her happiness in someone else, even if it's not me or Sirius, that's where she is supposed to be."

Remus gaped at him in shock as James realized what he uttered. "What the hell was that?"

"It would be difficult, Moony, but that's what I am supposed to do right?", said James. That's what his mother had said before the start of the term. To try to be a friend and not try to hold the girl tightly in his hands. Freedom would decide if the person wanted to be in his life or not.

Remus noticed a small whine in his voice. He chuckled at his practiced line and pulled him closer. "Yes, it would be difficult. But Marauders are together in every difficult phase of life, right?"

James grinned at him. Life won't be easy but he knew he could pass on if he had his friends beside him. Taking one last glance at his brother and his crush for the past five years, James sighed before walking towards the great hall. They sat beside each other with Lily and Sirius opposite to them as they talked and laughed while eating. Uncharacteristically, Sirius was the calmer one but with a content smile on his face. During the breakfast, the owl post had arrived and James recognized his parents' owl. He got all excited, ignored his food, and eagerly opened it up to find a letter written by his mom, keeping the gifts aside and reading it aloud.

Hey Love,

Merry Christmas. Hope you are having fun with the boys. Your father is asking if you have finally managed to find a girlfriend for yourself. But, don't you think I know you better?

The boys chuckled at James's expense.

Anyways, coming to our celebrations, it's incomplete without you. I know you will give the ball as an excuse but young man, even with all the work here, we still miss the energy of our house. I hope to see my boys around Easter this year. And I won't entertain any excuses. Your dad was planning some sort of 'home party', whatever that means. And he wishes to see Remus and Peter at home. You can invite any of your other friends too. It's just a simple party and I will make sure this doesn't include any of his Auror friends so that we can keep it only till family and a few close ones. Write soon. Have loads of fun and a bit of study too. We love you loads.

Your Mom.

James's laughed at the letter. His mother can never leave a chance to tease his dad and he loved them for whoever they are. In his happiness, he almost missed the faltering of Sirius's smile when he realized the letter didn't contain his name but Remus and Peter's, and his content smile faded away. Beside him, Lily was frowning too. James reread the letter because it's not like his mother to miss the boy she started loving as her second son to invite for their Easter celebrations. And then it was there at the backside of the letter. A postscript note. "Hey, there's a P.S at the backside", yelled James, drawing everyone's attention.

P.S - Tell the pouting kid probably sitting beside you to stop assuming things. His name isn't specifically mentioned because just like you he too doesn't have any option to choose. I expect both my kids to come here. Each word mentioned in the letter is for both my sons. I love you, little one. Can't wait to see you two creating havoc in our home. Put your brains to work and how about some brilliant pranks to pull up on your dad?

Sirius glanced at James with moist eyes, biting his lip. James blinked his eyes at the boy, mentally thanking his mom to make the boy smile when he had a chance to remember his not-so-loving family. He tried to convey silently that Sirius was his family even to his parents and from the watery smile he managed, his message was understood.

XXX

After their breakfast, they all sat down peacefully and did some of their homework. Yeah, it was Christmas but they had plans for the rest of the day and since Lily wanted to do homework, it was a nice excuse to spend some more time with the redhead. Nope, it was not James's idea however the others might claim. Two hours later, Lily left for her room, saying she was done and she needed to write a reply back to her parents. As if he was waiting for this exact moment, Sirius stood up and stretched his limbs.

"I am planning to wish the giant squid a merry Christmas", he announced. "Anyone who would love to join me?"

Remus groaned seeing the excitement on his face, making James chuckle. Sirius and excitement could be hazardous to someone, if not everyone. "No, thanks. I would rather read my book than participate in this entertaining conversation of yours."

Sirius looked expectantly at Peter but he too grimaced. "You know I won't complete my homework if I didn't do it now?"

Sirius huffed, crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow at James.

"Umm...I...", started James, but Sirius was already pulling him up, by his collar, throwing a fierce glare in his direction.

"Just like me, Jamsie boy, you don't have any option. So, stop with your excuses and walk."

He dragged James without listening to his protests until they reached the black lake.

"I really don't want to wish the giant squid anything in this cold weather, Sirius", he whined.

Sirius rolled his eyes and muttered a warming charm on their cloaks. "Solved? I need to talk to you."

James noticed the seriousness in his tone, no pun intended. "Hey, is that why you didn't force them? Is it serious?"

Sirius shrugged. "Depends."

James nodded. "Go ahead, Padfoot." He gave him one of his charming smiles, hoping it would allow his best friend to calm down a bit as he now realized how restless the other boy was looking.

Sirius waited for a moment before throwing the question headfirst. "Whatever Lily said in the morning, you aren't thinking about that, right?"

"What?", he asked but then he realized the exact moment his best friend was talking about. He hoped his face wasn't giving away anything but when Sirius groaned in frustration, he understood he had failed miserably.

He had put his hands on either side of his shoulders, forcing him to look into his eyes. "Prongs, you were right. You gave me a family. Marauders, we are brothers. But Lily, something has connected me with her during the past few days and I was trying to be good to her. That's why I bought a gift for her. That's the reason I wanted to see her smile so badly in the morning. After that letter today, it felt like she was facing the same sibling issue as mine. Reggie hates me. It's like a connection. We could be siblings ignoring our actual idiotic ones. I would protect her, okay."

James studied the boy concernedly. Christmas was a time for family and he was happy his best friend found his family in Lily Evans and he was happy for Sirius's happiness. The boy deserved every happiness in the world. To make sure he conveys his unsaid words, James pulled him into a hug and muttered a quiet sorry. When he broke the hug, James ruffled his hair. "Hey, but you know, Reggie doesn't seem as bad as Lily's sister. At least, he doesn't write a hate letter to you on Christmas."

Sirius waved his hand. "What the hell are you talking, James. We are purebloods. We don't do muggle things like writing a hate letter. He just ignores me", he said. For someone who doesn't know any better, they would think Sirius doesn't care about his brother but James had known him for the better part of his life. And he could always find the hidden longing whenever Reggie is mentioned. Sirius loved him. His care was visible when Reggie was carefully excluded in every prank they planned on the Slytherins, on the snide remarks Sirius would pass on with underneath of teasing and the way he sat on the edge of his seat every time Reggie is on the Quidditch pitch.

"And you thought I am sneaking around with your crush, James boy?", teased Sirius, bringing him out of his thoughts.

James glanced at his feet. "I am sorry, padfoot. I just wanted to see you happy. And her."

Sirius threw an arm around him. "I promise, prongs. You are going to get married to our redhead."

James sighed as they walked towards the castle. "I am not thinking about marriage and I wasn't really the best person to her. I don't want to force her again."

"We aren't really forcing her but I know you really love her. She will somehow become a part of your life, prongs. I have this instinct."

James raised his eyebrow. "Don't you think nowadays you are interested a lot more in divination?"

"I am just looking out for you, brother", he said, with a wink.

James shook his head in disbelief. They had bigger things to plan for.  

So there is a glimpse of Sirius's love for Regulus. As of now, they ignore each other at school and Sirius tries to look out for him secretly. Lily is special for Sirius too because James and he are a package deal. 

A/N: I am bad at pranks. Could anyone give me any ideas to prank the Slytherins? Because the next one could be the Christmas prank and Sirius trying to show love to people around him. A spoiler. :P