First of three of the christmas series. Takes place when the teens are sent back to Grimmauld after Arthur Weasley is bitten but takes place before UAWE starts.

Harry slumped into his seat at the dining table with a huff. Ever since he'd had that dream about Mr. Weasley being bitten and the subsequent flight to Grimmauld Place he'd not had a moment of peace. Ron, Ginny and even the twins had been following him constantly. It was as if they expected him to turn into Voldemort at any minute. So persistent were they that he hadn't been able to spend any alone time with his godfather.

Noticing the foul mood Harry was in Sirius kicked him lightly under the table causing the teen to look up. Using the hand signals they had perfected over the summer he let the kid know they were going to meet up in their secret room once Ron was asleep.

Harry smiled for the first time in days causing Ron to give him a suspicious look. He quickly wiped the expression off his face and began counting down the hours.

The rest of the evening went agonizing slow. Numerous games of exploding snap and chess did nothing to make the time pass. Harry had even resorted to homework, working on his potions essay much to Ron's displeasure.

Finally Mrs. Weasley shooed them to bed. He quickly got ready for bed taking the opportunity to put his indivisibility cloak under his pillow while Ron was in the bathroom.

The good thing about Ron, Harry considered a few minutes later, was that he alway fell asleep quickly. He laid there impatiently for another fifteen minutes just to be safe before sliding out of bed and arranging the blankets so Mrs. Weasley wouldn't notice the bed was empty when she peaked in.

Throwing the cloak over himself he made his way silently to the hidden study Sirius had shown him over the summer.

"Harry?" Sirius asked when the door opened and closed on its own.

"No its the ghost that haunts this house," came the disembodied voice.

"Cheeky brat, off with the cloak. I hate talking to myself." The man instructed grinning when his godson was finally revealed. "I missed you kid." He said pulling the unresisting teen into a hug.

"I missed you too Sirius." Harry said holding on tight.

They finally broke apart and settled on the couch where Sirius gave his godson a concerned look. "How are you doing?"

Harry knew he was asking about the events of a few days ago and for a moment he thought about lying but knew the man was genuinely concerned. "I still feel like I'm going to attack everyone but it's getting better." He admitted. "Ron and the other's aren't helping though."

Sirius rubbed a hand over the dark hair. "They don't understand what happened anymore than you and they're worried about you."

Harry shrugged. "I know but I wish they'd calm down. They're suffocating me."

Sirius nodded sympathetically. "I'll talk to them tomorrow but if it's on Molly or Dumbledore's orders it probably won't help." They were quiet for a moment. "So how was the school term?"

Harry groaned leaning over so that he was resting against the man's shoulder. "Horrible. Umbridge is a complete bitch. I'm not apologizing for calling her that either."

"Wasn't going to make you." Sirius assured him. "It sounds like she deserves it." He debated whether he should push the subject and bring the kid down even more or if he should get to his planned activities when Harry spotted the boxes in the corner.

"What's that?" He asked peering over curiously.

Sirius grinned excitedly. "Well Molly set up their family tree downstairs so I thought we'd set ours up here."

Harry's eyes widened. "You have a Christmas tree?"

In answer Sirius took out his wand and levitated a moderate sized fir out of the corner. "All it needs are some lights and some decorations and we'll be all set." He noticed the teen's expression had fallen. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know how to decorate a Christmas tree. I've never done it before." Harry admitted in a miserable voice.

"You certainly know how to destroy one." His godfather said wrapping an arm around the thin shoulders. Harry looked up eagerly knowing he was about to get a story about one of his parents.

"You were five old your first Christmas. Lily wa determined that it would be memorable so she went all out on the decorating. The living room was dominated by this huge tree. James decided that you had to be the one to place every ornament on the tree yourself."

Harry laughed at that. "I couldn't even walk." He pointed out.

Sirius shook his head in amusement. "That didn't stop him. He wrapped his hand around yours and lifted you up to hang the ornament. But he didn't notice that your other hand had grabbed ahold of the tree and almost pulled it over. It happened three times before he gave up. But it didn't stop there." He continued over Harry's laughter. "He tried just holding you but your little legs kept kicking and knocking the ones already on there off."

"Did he ever get finished?" Harry asked eagerly.

Sirius started laughing again. "He did but it didn't last. The cat ended up destroying it later that night."

"Brilliant. What was mum doing during this?" Harry asked once he had caught his breath.

"Taking pictures and laughing her arse off. Same thing she does every time James does something foolish." His godfather answered. "Speaking of looking foolish I haven't decorated one of those in years so I figure we're in the same boat."

Harry thought about it for a moment before agreeing. "Where do we start?"

Sirius shrugged. "I guess we just start opening these and hanging them," he reasoned levitating one of the boxes over.

Harry looked back at the six remaining boxes. "Where did you get all this stuff? Was it yours from before?"

His godfather barked out a laugh. "No the only christmas decoration I had in my flat was mistletoe." He waggled his eyebrows causing the teen to laugh. "I spend most of the holidays at your parents. This stuff though I found up in the attic. Over a hundred years worth of Christmas decorations."

Harry eyed the open box in front of them. The thing was packed tight with ornaments. "Which ones do we use?"

Sirius gave him a wide eyed innocent look. "You don't think we can fit all of them on the tree?"

The teen snorted before realizing the man was earnest. "But won't that look silly?"

"So?" Sirius shrugged. "We're silly and it's our tree."

But really, even this one?" Harry asked holding up a snake shaped ornament.

"Every single one," He insisted as a big grin crossed his face. "Do you want me to hold you up so you can put it on the tree?" He teased.

Harry stuck his tongue out at him. "I think I can manage." He got up and circled the tree hiding the snake at the very back.

For the next two hours the pair decorated their tree accompanied by lots of laughter and stories. At one point Sirius made a trip downstairs coming back with hot chocolate and biscuits.

Finally Harry opened up the last box. "What are these?" He asked holding up the miniature lighted candles.

Sirius's eyes lit up. "I was wondering where those were." He pointed to the sharp ends of the candle holder. "You put them along the trunk of the three so it glows from the inside."

Harry looked at the tiny flames. "How does the tree keep from catching on fire?" He asked curiously.

"Magic silly." Sirius teased ruffling his hair. "Come on let's put them him."

"Shouldn't we have started with them?" Harry asked looking at the heavily decorated tree. He was sure if they touched it at all it would tip over on its side.

Sirius seemed to share his thoughts. "We'll just have to be really careful. I'll hold it up from this side while you stick your skinny arms in there."

It took them half an hour to finish. Afterwards they flopped down on to finish the biscuits.

Thanks Sirius." Harry mumbled from where he was laying face down the the couch. His eyes were fixed on the brightly lit tree. "Tonight made this the best Christmas ever."

"For me too pup. Me too." Sirius agreed carding a hand through the dark hair as he watched the flickering lights. "You should get to bed. You need to get at least some sleep tonight."

"Just a little while longer." The teen pleaded. "I don't want it to end."