Aevumiter

35: Christmas

All four of them spent the afternoon napping. Once they'd recovered some from the restlessness of the night before, they got to tidying up the house before Molly Weasley would arrive the following morning. 

The front door opened, and Molly bustled in. "Good morning! Merry Christmas!" 

"Merry Christmas!" Came a chorus of replies. Molly followed the voices to the drawing room.

Remus was sitting on one side of a couch, a book of protective charms and wards in hand. Sirius was using his lap as a pillow while he read a Quidditch Weekly, one leg tossed haphazardly over the back of the couch and the other draped off the front and onto the floor.

Harry was sitting on an armchair, with Draco sitting on the floor in front of him. Draco had been trying to master shifting forms without a wand. Harry was watching the magic and helping guide him along, as well as notice when something was about to go wrong and preventing incidents.

"It looks like you all have been busy. The place looks much nicer." Molly praised them.

"Oh. Listen." Sirius grinned. 

Molly frowned. "What am I supposed to be hearing?"

"What are you not hearing?" Sirius hinted.

Harry could practically see the gears turning in her head. Molly suddenly turned and looked down the hallway. "No... She's gone! How did you manage that?"

"Harry killed her." Sirius beamed with pride. 

Molly blinked. She looked at Harry. He shrugged awkwardly.

"Harry is very good at destroying things." Draco said with a smirk. 

That did not seem to surprise Molly Weasley. "Well. What other miracles have happened?"

"We've got this room cleaned and presentable," Remus said while gesturing to the drawing room. "Two of the bedrooms are empty of everything and warded for Draco and I's transformations. All the cursed items are now in Walburga's old room."

Molly gaped. "All the cursed-?"

"Don't forget all the house elf heads are stored in the attic." Draco added.

Molly looked out into the hallway. "So they are..."

"I think we're ready for the Christmas decorations." Sirius said. 

Molly nodded. "Would you boys like to help?"

The answer to that question was a yes from all of them. Sirius and Harry were chaos, stringing garlands wherever they could manage. Remus watched with contentment, placing decorations here and there. Draco's eye twitched and he had to refrain from straightening and organizing everything. 

Remus stepped over to Draco, and carefully handed him a small bag of mistletoe sprigs. "Here. Go be sneaky and strategic." Draco couldn't hide the delight in his eyes, and he smirked. Now this was something decidedly fun. 

While they were decorating, Molly was getting a head start on the cooking preparations. It wasn't long before the whole house was smelling of gingerbread and cookies and brownies. The chocolate ones weren't safe around Remus and Draco especially. Remus, who loved chocolate, and Draco who loved baked sweets in general.

While Molly shoo'd the two of them out of the kitchen, Sirius and Harry snuck a few of the treats while her back was turned. The two dramatically presented the sweets to their respective lovers, much to Remus' and Draco's amusement.

Molly let the thieves get away with their crimes, and simply made more to compensate. It was a good excuse to bake more, after all. She was glad to see that Draco was looking like an actual youth, and not some pristine prince. It did surprise her, just a little, how well the four of those boys got along. It reminded her of a family.