"Where does this go, dad?" Harry asked, holding one of the magical ornaments up for his godfather to see.

Sirius smiled warmly at Harry, then turned to place some ornaments on the upper branches. "It can go wherever you want to put it, puppy. This is your tree after all."

Harry beamed and picked what he thought was a good branch for the ornament. It was a small, silver sphere that spun around its own axis and cast a beautiful sparkling light. Sirius had picked out multiple of these, as well as other magical ornaments for Harry. He knew the boy had never gotten a proper Christmas, so he wanted to do everything he could to give him one this year.

"Alright, pup," Sirius said once all the ornaments had been arranged. "Only one thing left. You get to put the star on top of the tree."

Harry looked up at his godfather with pure giddiness and reached his small hands over to hold onto the star. Sirius smiled at his little boy again before picking the child up around his waist and lifting him to place the star on top. Harry giggled with joy as he put the magical star in place, watching as it, like the other ornaments, began to twirl from its perch at the top of the tree. "Daddy!" Harry squealed excitedly, peering down at the tree they had spent the afternoon working on. "You're so tall! I can almost touch the ceiling from here."

To Harry's surprise and delight, Sirius tossed him gently up into the air at this; however, instead of coming down, Harry floated to the ceiling, then fell swiftly back into his godfather's waiting arms. Sirius chuckled as he cradled the boy, relieved to see the accidental magic. It hadn't shown up much since Harry had arrived to live with him, and Sirius had been worried that the Dursley's had squashed the magic out of his child.

Harry looked up at his godfather with wide, slightly frightened eyes. He knew his dad wouldn't hurt him, but this was the first time anything "strange" had happened around Sirius. Of course, he knew magic was real and his godfather could do it, but he couldn't help but to think back to the Dursley's punishments whenever he made weird things happen. The word freak was resounding in his ear, and he felt his bottom lip start to quiver as he waited for his godfather's reaction. He searched his dad's expression for any sign of anger or disappointment, but instead saw him grinning down at him, his face a mixture of pride and love.

"Good job, puppy. You wanna float again?" Sirius asked, noticing and choosing to ignore the frightened look on Harry's face. He wanted to show his boy that the accidental magic was normal and a good thing - there could potentially be drastic consequences if Harry didn't recognize this.

"You'll let me?" Harry asked, surprised but beginning to grin back at his godfather.

"Of course," Sirius said, lifting Harry up and tossing the boy in the air again. This time, Harry was giggling as he floated up to the ceiling, then back down into his godfather's arms.

Once Harry had landed again, Sirius pulled him into a warm embrace. "I'm so proud of you," the man said gently in the child's ear, and Harry felt a familiar warmth creep into his chest as he snuggled closer.

"I love you," Harry declared confidently, feeling his eyes droop shut as the man continued to hold him.

"I love you too, Snitchy." Sirius said with a small smile. "You need to stay awake for a little longer though - Father Christmas is coming tonight and he needs you to put out some cookies for him."

Harry's smile faltered a little and he reluctantly opened his eyes to look up at his godfather. "He's never left me presents before," Harry whispered sadly.

"I don't think he could find you," Sirius said, feeling a burning hatred towards the Dursley's rise in his chest. "Your aunt and uncle kept you hidden under that staircase - I didn't even know to look there when I came to get you. It was wrong to lock you up in there all the time, you know that, right?"

Harry faltered, but nodded nonetheless when Sirius didn't continue. Sirius nodded back at the boy, then smiled again. "Father Christmas will find you here though, I promise. He won't be happy if we forget to put the cookies out, so we better get to that before your bath and bedtime story."

Harry's smile was soon back as they began to make the Christmas cookies; Sirius let him eat a little bit of the batter as they prepared them, then played with him while the cookies baked.

Sirius had been chasing the boy around the living room when the timer went off; Harry, who was almost exhausted from the long day, shot up and ran to the kitchen. One thing he had learned since moving in with his godfather was that the man was almost as good of a cook as their house elf was - definitely much better than Aunt Petunia had been, and he allowed Harry to eat much more than she ever had.

"Woah!" Sirius said as he chased the boy into the kitchen, barking laughter. Harry looked longingly up at the oven, but knew better than to try and open it himself.

Sirius smiled at the boy's antics. "Don't worry, puppy, you'll get a cookie too. We've got to let them cool so we can frost them, though."

Harry nodded and watched as Sirius took the baking sheet out of the oven and placed it on the counter top. "Now we wait. Why don't we go ahead and get your bath out of the way while they cool?" Sirius suggested, leading Harry up the stairs.

Once the boy had bathed himself and put on his snitch pajamas, he bounded back down the stairs and into the living room, where his godfather was looking through a magazine.

"Ready," Harry announced, climbing into his godfather's lap and snuggling up to him affectionately. Sirius kissed the child's forehead and then carried him back into the kitchen, where he set him down on a stool in front of the counter. The two set to work frosting the cookies, Sirius occasionally tickling Harry when there was a lull in conversation.

Harry made cookies of all shapes and sizes: he decorated a few like the fairies in their garden, one like the golden snitch he adored, and one like Father Christmas himself. Sirius set these on a plate and placed it on the table by the Christmas tree. He led Harry back into the kitchen and handed him a decently sized cookie that had been decorated as a racing broom. "Here's the cookie I promised you. Listen, don't tell Moony I gave you sweets so late at night, alright? He'll have my tail for it."

Harry giggled at the thought of Remus chasing Sirius in his animagus form, but nodded anyway. "Okay, dad. What time is Uncle Moony coming over?"

"He'll be here first thing in the morning to watch you open the presents from Father Christmas, then the Weasley's will join us later for Christmas dinner. Now, I think it's time for bed, don't you?" Sirius said gently, smiling at Harry's sleepy expression.

"But I'm not tired!" Harry attempted to weakly argue, but before he could get the words out, he felt his godfather reach down and lift him.

"Father Christmas won't come if you're awake, puppy. Don't worry, I'll wake you first thing in the morning." Sirius said soothingly, rubbing the child's back as he carried him upstairs to his bedroom. By the time Sirius had tucked him in, Harry was fast asleep, dreaming of a Christmas tree with a present underneath it just for him.

"Harry… Harry…" A gentle voice broke into Harry's dreams, and he blearily opened his eyes. Moony was standing over him, smiling gently. "Happy Christmas, kiddo."

Harry beamed up at the man and hugged him immediately; it was a moment later, once Harry was really awake, that he noticed the absence of his godfather. "Uncle Moony?" The boy questioned softly.

"Yes, Harry?" Remus said, pulling back from the child.

"Where's dad?"

"Ah, the old dog's still sleeping. I figured you would like the honor of waking your godfather up on Christmas morning. Am I correct?"

Harry nodded brightly and followed Remus out of his bedroom, still clad in his footy pajamas. They walked silently into Sirius's bedroom, and Remus signaled for Harry to be quiet. "Go jump on him, kiddo."

Harry smiled and then silently trotted across the soft carpet to the side of his godfather's bed. He took a step back and prepared to pounce, shooting Remus a sideways glance for confirmation. At Remus's thumbs up, Harry jumped - only to be caught by an amused Sirius, who had turned just in time to wrap his arms around the boy.

Remus and Sirius both chuckled at Harry's indignation, and Sirius sat up slowly in bed, still holding the boy. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of Harry's head, then murmured a "happy Christmas" to the child.

"How did you know?" Harry asked, looking up at his godfather.

"I know everything," Sirius said with a smirk. "You want to know what else I know?"

"What?"

"I know that there's a pile of presents downstairs waiting for you." Sirius replied, loosening his grip on the child so Harry could run to the tree.

Sirius's smirk turned into a frown when Harry didn't leave his arms. "Don't you want to go look at your presents?"

"What if there isn't a present?" Harry asked nervously. "He's never left me one before."

"He never left you one because he couldn't find you, puppy. I told Father Christmas myself that you were here and that you were very excited. I'm positive that you'll have at least one present from him, if not more. Then, of course, Uncle Moony and I bought you some stuff too. You'd better get on down there or we'll be opening presents all morning." Sirius said, patting Harry on the back and making to stand up as well.

Harry grinned up at him and jumped off the bed, following both of the men downstairs. He stopped and stared when they reached the den, his mouth hanging open in awe. The Christmas tree was even more beautiful than it had appeared the night before, and now it had almost twenty presents underneath it. The silver and gold wrapping paper matched the ornaments Sirius had picked out for the tree, and the entire thing glistened in the center of the room, beckoning Harry to come closer.

Harry felt his godfather nudge his shoulder. "Go on, puppy, let's see what Father Christmas brought you."

Harry blushed a deep crimson and looked down at his feet. "You guys can open your presents first."

Sirius chuckled and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder before leading him closer to the tree. "I have no desire to see what color trousers Remus bought me this year, though I'm sure they'll be very practical. I think we all want to see what you're getting."

Finally accepting it, Harry reached for a small box on top of the pile of presents and sat down in front of the tree. Sirius and Remus followed suit, each sitting on one side of the boy and watching him intently. Gently, so as not to rip the paper, Harry attempted to remove the tape that was binding it.

"Oi, Harry, you're supposed to rip it off," Sirius said gently, grabbing one end of the box and tugging on the decorative paper. "That's half the fun. Go on, now."

Harry nervously followed his godfather's instructions, ripping off the wrapping paper in bits, though he felt slightly bad about it - it was beautiful and he was sure it took Father Christmas a long time to wrap it.

Once the wrapping paper had finally been removed, Harry had a small black box with the initials, "J.P." engraved on the front of it. Reverently, Harry removed the lid, and gasped at the contents of the tiny box.

Inside was a beautiful golden snitch, which immediately flew out of its box and buzzed around Harry's head until the boy reached out and grabbed it.

"That's a real snitch, pup, like the one in the quidditch stores. That one's special though, you know why?" Sirius asked, helping Harry place the object back in its box.

Harry shook his head and looked up into Sirius's grey eyes, interested. Sirius smiled at the child as he placed the lid back on the box. "It was your dad's - he carried it with him everywhere. I figured he'd want you to have it so I asked Father Christmas if he could bring it here."

Harry beamed up at his godfather and lunged forward to hug the man. "Thank you!" He exclaimed, feeling Sirius pull him into his lap.

"Don't thank me yet," Sirius said with a bark-like laugh. "There's still at least ten more presents under here with your name on it, you better get to it."

Without hesitation, Harry continued to open his presents, resting his back against his godfather's chest as he did so. Once he had opened everything, Harry had a new Weasley sweater, plenty of wizarding candy, a new set of figurine dragons, a wizard's chess set, some quidditch supplies, a few picture books, and a large, stuffed black dog - he could barely contain his gratitude.

Sirius chuckled as he pulled the boy close again. "There's still one more thing, although it's not really a present you'll want to play with. I've got some papers here." He reached behind the tree and pulled out a small folder with the ministry's logo printed on the front. Remus stood quietly and exited the room to go check on breakfast - he knew that this was going to be a private moment for Sirius and Harry, and didn't want to disturb them.

Harry looked up at the man with big, confused, green eyes. Once Sirius was sure he had the boy's undivided attention, he continued. "I know you've always wanted a family, mate. We're family now, but I want to be sure that no one can change that. If you'll agree, I want to adopt you… but only if you want me to. If you don't, it won't change a thing between us, I'll always love you and take care of you."

Harry stared up at the man for a few more moments, his thoughts clouded. "Like… be my real dad?"

"Legally, yes. I would never hope to replace James for you, Harry. I just want to make sure if anything ever happened, you wouldn't be taken away from me. You already are like a son to me, so the papers are more of a formality." Sirius explained, searching the young face for any sign of confusion or distaste.

Harry began to grin as he grasped what his godfather was saying to him. "You really want to be my daddy?"

Sirius smiled gently at the child. "More than anything, pup."

Harry squealed a "yes!" before wrapping his arms around Sirius's neck. Sirius hugged the boy back with one hand while simultaneously signing the papers with the other, preparing to have them sent off to the ministry to be finalized.

Once the two separated, Sirius led a beaming Harry into the dining room for a Christmas breakfast of pancakes and pumpkin pasties with Remus. The rest of the day passed on quickly, with a visit from the Weasley's being one of the highlights.

Harry was still smiling when he went to sleep that night, happier than he could ever remember being in his life. It was hard to believe that less than a year ago he had been sleeping in a cupboard at his Aunt and Uncle's house - now Sirius had made it so Harry would always live with him, and to Harry, that was the greatest Christmas present the man could have ever given him.

A/N: Sorry it's been so long, guys! I got out of school at the start of May and have been taking a break from writing, but I'll try and get back into it! Also, my other story (You Raise Me Up) has not been completed yet, but I do plan to finish it! Stay tuned for that. Read and review please! :)