Unofficial Portkey Archive

Title: "the right one"

Rating: PG

Words: 591

Theme/Prompt: #05 - Christmas tree

Warnings/AN: post-ootp au, in which Sirius still lives

Summary: "It has to be the right one." In which Harry struggles to be the perfect husband and Sirius is Sirius.

Disclaimer: The Usual.

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"You don't understand, Sirius. It's our first Christmas together as a married couple and I want it to be perfect."

Sirius arched his eyebrow at his godson as the young man perused the trees around them, looking for the right one. "I understand, Harry. I was there when your parents married, when Moony married, and when you married, remember? And I'm married myself, so yes; I understand the need for the first Christmas to be prefect."

Harry huffed and continued inspecting the trees, moving into the next row.

"What I don't get is this need you have of getting The Right Tree. What is the right tree anyway? All these trees are perfect if you ask me."

Harry sent him an angry glance, then blushed and averted his eyes.

Sirius grinned at him. "Something you wish to tell me, Pronglet?"

With a sigh, Harry replied. "You're right, and I think the same as you. To me, all these tree are perfect, but…" From his pocket, Harry pulled out a golden medallion, and handed it over to Sirius. "Hermione enchanted this medallion to get warm whenever one gets close to the right tree."

Sirius passed the medallion from one hand to the other, not seeing anything special but knowing Hermione enough to assume it worked perfectly. He noted, with no small amount of surprise, that the medallion was cool, not cold as one would expect metals to be, but pleasantly cool.

"No luck so far, then?" he asked.

Harry shook his head dejectedly. "So, we have to keep looking."

Shrugging his shoulders, Sirius handed the medallion back and kept following Harry around the rows and rows of trees, wishing he had taken up Moony's offer to stay behind with the females of their family, but really, maybe this was for the best; you never know what could happen to you in a house full of toddlers and a very pregnant and very volatile Hermione.

It was after three hours and two stores later that Sirius realized what The Right Tree was to Hermione.

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Harry was confused… and scared.

Ever since finding the right tree, Sirius had been looking from the tree to his face and laughing raucously. It was a kind of laugh that reminded him of Sirius post-Azkaban… or worse, Padfoot. Shaking the uneasy feeling, Harry contented himself knowing that he found the tree Hermione wanted.

The laugher receded once they arrived at the new Potter Home, but not the amused grin of his godfather's face. Again, pushing his uneasy feelings aside, Harry stepped in levitating the tree and deposited it in front of his wife for approval.

Sirius started chuckling.

"Well?"

Hermione waddled-no, walked; Hermione walked over him and inspected the tree with a critical eye, until she turned to him. At first Harry though something was wrong and he had messed it up, but the way Hermione was looking at him reminded him of…

"Did he pass the test, Hermione?"

…of the way she looked at the tree!

"What?" he asked defensively.

Sirius, Moony and the rest of their family grinned amusedly.

Hermione nodded once and pecked his lips. "Yes, he passed. And, Harry, the tree's perfect."

He was relieved to see her smile, letting out a big sigh. "You positive?"

Hermione nodded and pecked his lips once more, looking deep into his eyes.

Just then, Padfoot stepped into the picture. "Of course she is, Pronglet. After all, the tree matches your eyes."

Later, Harry would be hard pressed to reverse the Hex that turned Padfoot into Prancer.

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End.

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Still aiming for New Years' Eve…

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