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James hated Christmas. It felt like blasphemy to say after years of it being his favourite holiday, but this year it just couldn’t be helped. The reason for his sudden change of heart was one Sirius Black, as was to be expected with any great decision James made in his life. The problem was that for the first time in their four year friendship, James had come to realise that he was a little bit in love with his best friend, which was just great. As if Sirius’ ego needed another boost.
It wasn’t enough that the whole damn school had to be in love with him, but now James was as well?!
The injustice of it all.
Usually around Christmas time, James could be found trailing Lily in an attempt to try and catch her under the mistletoe, but he’d never been successful. She was too quick, but last time he’d nearly managed it. However, Sirius had barged into him and knocked him out of the way. Sirius had apologised for his clumsiness, and Lily had disappeared around the corner before James could chase after her, leaving James and Sirius stuck under the festive plant.
And that was where it all began.
The kiss had been chaste, a bid for freedom from the magical plant more than anything else. It wasn’t meant to be life-changing or magical, just a quick peck between friends and then they’d move on with their day. Sirius would continue complaining about all the birds who tried to snog him around Christmas, and James would continue his flirtations with Lily.
That was not what happened.
Instead, James fixated on the moment, the scratch of stubble against his chin, the softness of Sirius’ lips, the tickle of his long black hair on James’ cheeks. He imagined what it might have been like if they were lovers instead of friends, would Sirius have deepened the kiss? Would James have let him? Yes. Absolutely. There would be no more rants in the common room about mistletoe or love potions. Sirius would sit with his head in James’ lap, their fingers intertwined as they smiled brightly at each other.
They could be together.
The realisation had hit James like a herd of hippogriffs, and now he was stuck with a crush that he didn’t know what to do with. Flirting with Lily was easy. He’d been doing it since he was eleven and too young to care about rejection. Flirting with Sirius was impossible. Everything he tried with Lily, James already did with Sirius as friends… minus the kissing and the dates. But even then they sort of did have dates. Wormtail and Moony both knew to leave the pair of them alone every so often. They would get grumpy if they didn’t get any quality time together.
Fucking Merlin.
It was like they were already dating, and James didn’t know how to move forward from that. All he knew is that everyone kept flirting with his Sirius, and he did not like it one bit. So he’d decided that he hated Christmas until he could fix this mess.
If he could fix this mess.
“Bloody hell, Prongs,” Sirius grumbled as he vaulted through the portrait, his scarlet robes billowing behind him. “Jessica Vane almost caught me earlier. I swear between Valentines and Christmas, I’m running out of time. The harpies are going to chain me down one of these days. Damn holidays get worse every year.”
James just glared at his friend, well not really at Sirius. His rage was directed at those who were trying to steal Sirius from him, but they weren’t here and Sirius was. “Can’t you just tell them to fuck off?”
“Woah there, Jamie. That’s a bit violent, even for you, not to mention a bit hypocritical. Isn’t this exactly what you keep doing with Evans?”
James flinched. Yes. It was true, but he’d not bothered her since the beginning of the month, since his kiss with Sirius, and the school holidays were almost upon them. “Kept. Past tense.”
“Is the great James Potter finally admitting defeat?”
“Shut it, Pads.”
“Merlin, you’re in a mood today,” Sirius teased before flopping down onto the sofa and into James’ lap, his hair fanning out over James’ legs. “What’s got your wand in a knot?”
“Bloody Jessica Vane. No. All of them. Why is it that the girls of Hogwarts all lose their collective mind over Christmas?”
“Some boys too,” added Sirius as he smirked up at James, silver eyes sparkling.
“It’s stupid. You’re too good for any of them.”
There was a beat of silence as Sirius peered up at him, his eyes narrowed and calculating. “Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“And who? My dearest Prongs, would you deem good enough for me? Or am I doomed to be a spinster whilst you marry Evans?”
“I’m not marrying Evans,” James snapped. “And you’re not going to be a spinster. You have me.”
“Ah, so a bachelor pad?”
Urgh. James groaned. Why was Sirius being so impossible? All the teasing and the laughter usually had James in a good mood, but today it just angered him. His jaw clenched and Sirius was pushed to the floor. Before he could listen to Sirius’ protest, James had fled the room. He marched up the stairs to the dorms and pulled the curtains of his four poster bed shut behind him.
The next day started off just about the same. His bad mood had not faded overnight, and on the journey from the common room to the Great Hall, Sirius had ducked out of the way of no less than three bunches of mistletoe. To make matters worse, Lily decided to corner James after breakfast in the courtyard.
“Out with it, Potter,” she said, one hand on her hip and her eyes gleaming emerald. “Not that I don’t welcome the break, but what changed your mind?”
James just grunted, but his eyes flashed to Sirius before he could stop them, and Lily Evans wasn’t known as the brightest witch of her age for no reason.
“Oh, I see.” She clapped him on the shoulder. “Well, good luck, Potter, and remind me to send Black a thank you note.”
“Shut it,” grumbled James, his cheeks aflame. “Oh for the love of!”
In the few minutes that James had been separated from his best friend, the harpies had descended. Sirius was rolling his eyes and smirking at his suitors, but it was clear they were being kept at a distance.
Only James couldn’t help but remember Sirius’ words from the day before. It was only a matter of time before Sirius chose one, or was chained down in his own words, and that just wouldn’t do.
“Would you all just piss off?!” James roared as he approached the centre of the courtyard. “He’s not interested. He’ll never be interested. Get over him!”
Silver eyes flashed up, one perfectly sculpted brow raising at him.
James didn’t think. There wasn’t time. He took Sirius’ face in his hands, and crashed their lips together. Sirius wasted no time in kissing him back with the same fierce passion, the pair of them lost in each other until they heard Remus and Peter whistling at them. James reluctantly pulled back, his fingers trailing from Sirius’ cheek to rest at the nape of his neck.
“Mine,” he whispered as he pressed their foreheads together.
Sirius chuckled, his breath warm against James’ skin. “I always have been, you idiot. Nice of you to catch up.”
“Mine,” James repeated, pouting at his friend.
“Yours,” agreed Sirius before capturing James’ lips in another kiss.
Mistletoe had sprung up around them, and for the first time that year, James didn’t care. Perhaps Christmas wasn’t so bad after all.