"Another dog collar? Really?" Sirius shot Sloan a look, who chuckled, scratching the crook of his neck, "Hey. The tag is gold plated. I had to go out of my way to find some muggles who sold them. And the name's in cursive."

"As practical of a gift this is, I still feel that you're mocking me with it." he set the gift wrappings aside, before enveloping Sloan in a hug, "But thanks, mate. I appreciate it."

"Believe me Sirius, it's only a little bit of mocking."

Their Christmas dinner was not ruined completely by Jane and Florence's emotional scene, as both mother and daughter came back to the dinner table after a brief moment of just holding each other tight. After all the food was devoured, Remus suggested that they opened the gifts. Everyone seemed to agree on the fact that present-opening could not wait for morning.

Sloan picked up another box from under the tree, "Fred, I have one for you, too."

A skeptical look dawned on the redhead's face, pointing to himself, "Me?"

Florence, who was snuggled comfortably against his chest, chuckled, "Love, I don't think anyone else in this house is named Fred, apart from you."

"I know, it's just...surreal that Sloan would even think of getting me something." He mumbled as he received the gift from the raven-haired man, "Wow. Thanks"

"Don't thank me just yet. Open it."

He gave the box a slight shake, feeling as if there was something small and heavy inside "...there's something that's going to explode in my face, isn't there?"

Florence scooted away from him cautiously.

Sloan snorted, "That would have been a great idea, but no. Florence would attack me if I did that to you. Don't be paranoid, mate, and just open it."

He unfurled the ribbon carefully, before opening the flaps. He goggled momentarily, before picking up something that looked like a miniature figure of a store front, Fred—or George— animated in to a toy-like figure. He stared at it. "What's this supposed to be?"

"Well, that's a gift for you and George, actually. Molly told me you two wanted to open a joke shop one day. I know someone who did exterior designing, so I called in a favor. Just...maybe an idea of what you'd want your future store to look like."

George scooted over to his twin brother very quickly, staring at the figure as if he was going to burst out in to tears any second. Florence, meanwhile, already had hints of tears in her eyes, "Sloan...that's very sweet of you"

"This is wicked," George breathed out, his eyes wide and glossy, "Thanks so much, Sloan. Really."

"This is one of the best gifts we've received in our life so far." Fred added.

"And see," Sloan pulled out his wand, tapping the figure gently. The Weasley moved it's hand to reach for his top hat, pulling it up to reveal a rabbit. With another motion, he brought his har back down, lifted it up, and the rabbit had vanished.

"I-I, we can't thank you enough, mate. This is brilliant..."

"I think I want to cry." George sniffled, Florence quickly patting his shoulder, "You go on ahead and do that. No one will judge you."

"And all you came up for me is a gold-plated tag and a collar for my animagus alter-ego." Sirius mumbled, Jane elbowing him, "Don't be ungrateful."

"Er...we didn't really get you anything, Sloan." Fred said, sharing a look with his twin brother, who looked just as guilty about it. "This is very awkward. We really didn't think you'd get us anything."

"Just... don't give up on your aspirations. You two will get there. that's enough of a thank you for me."

There was a short applause as the twins got up to give Sloan a hug,

The gift exchanges went on for a few more hours, many thanks and gleeful laughter echoing through the whole house. Everyone had received their jumpers from Molly, along with poorly knitted mittens from Tonks, who had been taking lessons from the redhead woman. Unable to attend the Christmas dinner, as she was at home for the holidays, she had slipped handwritten notes in every pair of her colorful yarn creations.

Sirius gave them the gift of song, whipping out an old guitar that he had tucked in the closet in his room. With a couple minutes of tuning and repairing, it was in great shape, and played as if it were new. Many people had been surprised with how pleasant his singing voice was, as they were quietly listening in pure looks of awe as he belted out Christmas song after Christmas song.

Soon the sun started peeking from the horizon, which was a sign for them to head to bed with the promise of continued festivities for the morning.

                                              ————

Julien had apparated back into London only to find the whole house still asleep by the time he walked in to Grimmauld Place. Sloan was passed out on the couch, clutching a present that had Julien's name on the tag. He smiled at the peaceful sight of his father, due the fact that it was a rare occurrence. He mostly spent his waking days frowning slightly, and some instances, he had a full on scowl.

He grabbed a knitted blanket off of the floor, draping it over his father. Julien was startled by a loud crash that came from the kitchen, making him rush over, his wand gripped tightly in his hands.

What were the chances of getting an intruder?

"Sorry, sorry!" a voice said almost frantically, now crouched down, trying to clean off what looked like pancake batter from the frying pan sprawled out on the floor. Julien sighed heavily, "Florence. You scared me."

"Jules!" she smiled up gleefully, moving to give him a hug, only to stop herself immediately, "I'd offer you a soul-crushing hug, but that shirt looks like it's from an expensive Parisian couture line and I don't want to ruin it with my sticky hands."

He chuckled, grabbing a dishrag from the counter to help her out, "This is not Parisian couture. I've had this for three years now."

"Huh. Doesn't look like it, though."

He picked up the frying pan, setting it down in to the sink, "So how was Christmas Dinner? I assume it went well, considering everyone is still asleep which means it lasted long...?"

"It was...well...the first half was emotional..." she got up from her crouching position to wash her hands, "I finally told my mum about the Auror thing."

Julien goggled at her, "So that was the emotional part?"

"Yeah. Pretty much. But she took it better than I thought she would. She just stormed out and cried about how she was worried about my safety."

"That's the expected reaction, though." Julien said, "How did you think she was going to react?"

"I dunno. Worst case scenario is that she'd disown me. Or chuck me out in to the streets and command Sirius or Remus or anyone to not come to my aid."

"That's extreme." Julien laughed, "I don't really think your mum is that dramatic."

"That's because you've only known her for awhile. Wait a few more years, then you'll see it."

Florence rummaged around the cupboards in search of more flour, Julien taking it upon himself to put the kettle on and fix them both cups of tea. He sat patiently, waiting for the kettle to boil while thinking dreadfully about how he had two hours of training to attend to even during Christmas day.

"So..." he said out of the blue, wanting to keep up casual conversation with his cousin, "Why are you up when everyone else is asleep?"

"The twins were snoring too loud. You can't really sleep when one's snoring only mere centimeters away from your ear and the other one's equally as loud from the bed on the other side of the bloody room."

"You have a room, you know." Julien chuckled, "With how often you've been sleeping at their room, I'm surprised Sirius hasn't shrieked every time."

"I have a feeling that my mum talked to him about that." Florence smiled, whisking the batter together, "She gives Sirius this side-eye look whenever Fred's not a foot away from me..."

"Sounds exactly like Alanna's father. One time we went to Marseille and this muggle boy was staring when the breeze picked her skirt up a bit. Boy, did he want to give that bloke a piece of his mind. It must be a paternal instinct. " Julien recalled with a smile, "Ofcourse, Sirius isn't your dad, but he's definitely a father figure for you."

"He is," she agreed, looking down at the bowl for a split second, a small smile appearing on her face as a realization dawned upon her, "You know? This year turned out pretty good for me. I got to spend more time with Sirius, Remus and the Weasleys. I got to meet Sloan, and discover that we're related. I never thought I had anymore family apart from my mum."

"Awww, Flo, are you being sentimental?"

"Shut up. It's the holidays, and rarely say this so you might as well put it to heart, Jules. Thank you for being in my life. It's best present you can ever give to me, just, being here, being the brother that I've never had or dreamed of having."

"I'm grateful for you too, Florence. And I felt exactly the way you did. Now atleast we know we have each other to lean on."

They shared a brief, heartfelt hug, the two laughing as they pulled away, "Holidays really do get to you very much, huh?"

"I just felt like I've never told you how much you mean to me. And after all, the Holidays are giving thanks for the wonderful things in life."

"They are." he said, before he heard the distinct whistling sound of the kettle, signaling that their hot water was ready, "Chamomile or Green?"

"Green, please and thank you.... Do you want chocolate chips on your pancakes or blueberries?"

"Blueberries...please and thank you..."

/////
a.n: IM TERRIBLY SORRY FOR THIS FILLER CHAPTER AFTER DECADES AND DECADES OF NOT UPDATING. I swear, I'm drowning in school work. I'll make up for it during the next few chapters... PROMISE! Love u ❤️

-Denise