The 6 Days of Winter [Podfics] 2022

Hope's Family

Hope hates to admit it, but she doesn’t particularly enjoy seeing her sisters on Christmas. Joy and Faith can be... tiring. They always want to be better than each other, and better than Hope, a desire Hope never shared. Perhaps it’s because she’s the youngest, and never had the experience of having all the attention to herself, and then suddenly having to share it with two others, like Joy, or being the middle sister and never feeling quite special enough, like Faith.

Joy and Faith have always thought money and status was what would make them better, another thing Hope never shared, and her sisters have both married rich. They act derogatory about the fact that Hope’s Lyall is just a forest ranger, which is what they’ve been told, of course not knowing that when he patrols the woods, it’s usually to track down and capture illegally kept dragons that have escaped. Hope doesn’t know if Lyall was really asked to work on Christmas Day, or if he offered himself to avoid having to go to her sister’s Christmas party. She wouldn’t blame him.

“Hope, how lovely to see you!” Faith comes gliding towards her, wearing an elegant gown and excessive jewellery, making Hope feel severely underdressed in her plain skirt and blouse. “I’d like you to meet Isabel, my Connor’s new girlfriend.” She gestures towards a pretty blonde in a tight dress and lots of makeup, standing next to Faith’s son who’s wearing a business suit and a bored expression.

The blonde smiles and extends her hand, palm down. Hope blinks in confusion, thinking for a moment Isabel is expecting her to kiss her hand. Then she realises she’s showing off the ring on her finger.

“Oh,” Hope says. “That’s... lovely.”

“Connor gave it to me for Christmas last night,” Isabel says. “Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s a sapphire. As a Christmas gift, it’ll do. Of course, it needs to be a diamond when we get engaged.”

Hope smiles at Connor, but her nephew has taken his phone out of his pocket and hardly seems to notice. “You best be saving up then,” she says jokingly.

Faith squeezes her son’s arm. “Connor actually just made partner in the firm.”

Hope opens her mouth to congratulate him, but she’s interrupted by Carmen, her sister Joy’s daughter. “The ring matters, of course,” she says. “But not as much as the setting, like when my Derek rented out a private lounge at that exclusive restaurant for his proposal.”

Derek, wearing a posh cashmere sweater, steps up next to his wife with a smug smile.

“No doubt that my son will come up with something great when the time comes,” Faith says, while Isabel and Carmen give each other icy smiles. “Even with how busy he’s going to be now that he’s made a promotion.”

“I’m sure he will,” Joy says. “After all, Derek managed while he was well on his way towards becoming vice president.”

“So, Hope,” Faith says, with a deceptively light voice. “How’s Remus?”

“He’s well,” Hope replies.

“Really?” Joy says. “Is he still at his... ‘special’ school? I’ll reckon he’ll be moving back in with you and your husband after, as someone like him won’t be able to find a job anytime soon?”

“No, he actually graduated, and he’s now-” Hope begins, but she’s interrupted by Faith.

“Remus is her son,” Faith whispers to Isabel. Or well, whispers... She pretends to whispers, but it’s the kind of whisper that can be heard all across the room. “But he’s not quite right. He had to be send away to a school for ‘special’ people.”

Isabel clasps a hand over her mouth. “How tragic! It must be so hard dealing with that!”

“Not at all!” Hope quickly says. “Remus has always been a blessing.”

“When did you first find out something was wrong with him?” Isabel asks.

Hope opens her mouth to tell her that’s not true, and in any case not the way to phrase it, but she’s interrupted by Faith. “Oh, I knew the boy was off from the start! Weird, quiet, and sickly.”

“Oh my, I feel so sorry for you!” Isabel exclaims.

“Please,” Hope says. “You really don’t need to feel sorry at all.”

“She can’t help it,” Faith smiles. “Isabel is just such an emphatic person.”

Isabel waves her hand. “Oh, really, I just find it so sad that so many people are so less fortunate than I am!”

“I’m so sorry we’re late!” A voice suddenly sounds. Everyone looks up, and their jaws drop.

Remus has entered the room, and is hurrying towards them, his hair messy and wearing a cosy jumper. But his arrival isn’t what’s got people staring wide-eyed. No, all attention is fixed on the gorgeous man following him.

Now, Hope has seen Sirius in what they call ‘dress robes’, but apparently the man knows how to look impeccable in Muggle clothes as well. He’s wearing a fitted dress shirt that shows off his board shoulders with the top buttons undone, his long, dark hair is tied into a bun with a few strands falling elegantly over his face, creating a captivating contrast with the brightness of his eyes.

“Hi, mum.” Both boys give Hope a kiss on her cheek. Remus gives everyone a small wave, and Sirius gives everyone in the room his most dazzling smile, which in Sirius’ case is saying a lot, and he nods his head in everyone’s direction, which looks like some sort of bow that would’ve been awkward on anyone else, but Sirius, with his effortless elegance, makes it look graceful.

Joy and Faith are speechless, just gazing at the young man with flushed cheeks. Carmen is openly staring, which her husband probably would’ve minded, had he not been too busy checking Sirius out himself. Isabel’s mouth is hanging open as she’s also staring at Sirius, Connor giving both her and Sirius an annoyed glare.

“I take full responsibility for our tardiness,” Sirius says apologetically. “There was an emergency at the hospital, and they needed me.”

Joy is the first one to find her voice. “You’re... You’re a doctor?”

Sirius glances at Remus. Hope knows that Sirius doesn’t use the word ‘doctor’. He calls himself a Healer, but it’s rather similar, save the use of magic, of course. “Yes,” Remus says quickly. “Sorry, I don’t think you’ve all been introduced. This is Sirius, my boyfriend.”

“Are you really?” Faith raises her eyebrows sceptically.

“No, I’m not,” Sirius replies, but before Faith can look too smug, he wraps an arm around Remus’ waist and pulls him close against his side. “I’m his fiancé,” he says proudly.

“Oh,” Faith says faintly. “Hope didn’t tell us Remus had gotten engaged.”

Hope wants to say she would have, if her sisters would’ve actually cared enough to listen, but it’s Remus who answers first.

“We’ve gotten engaged in the summer,” Remus beams. “He proposed to me while we were staying at a castle in France.”

“A castle in France?!” Isabel exclaims, her hand flying up to her mouth.

“Now that’s romantic,” Carmen sighs, with an accusatory glance in her husband’s direction.

“It wasn’t as exorbitant as it sounds!” Remus says quickly. “It didn’t cost us any money or anything. Sirius’ family owns the castle.”

He means to downplay it, but it only succeeds in impressing everyone more.

“Your family owns a castle in France?” Connor asks, baffled.

“Several,” Sirius shrugs. “I guess being nobility also has some perks.”

“Nobility?” Isabel steps forward, twirling her hair around her finger and betting her eyelashes, while Connor grits his teeth.

Joy and Faith are speechless, and Hope can’t suppress a brief smug smile. When she notices Sirius can’t either, it hits her:

Sirius Black knows exactly what he’s doing.

While Remus is oblivious and just came for the obligatory visit to his aunts at Christmas, Sirius came with one goal and one goal only: to impress.

Sirius has heard stories about the way Hope’s sisters talk about Remus, and while Remus never seems to care much about them always putting him down, it really angers both Hope and Sirius. Sirius must’ve decided that, if Remus isn’t going to show his aunts just how accomplished he actually is, then Sirius will do it for him. And Sirius has assumed correctly that having a drop-dead gorgeous, rich and successful doctor on his arm is definitely a good step in that direction.

Hope chuckles softly. Her family won’t know what hit them when every ounce of that famous Sirius Black Charm is unleashed on them.

“I can tell you,” Sirius says. “While a castle is very romantic indeed for the occasional getaway, I much prefer our condo in London or our house on the countryside.”

“We’ve lived together in the condo in the city centre of London for a while,” Remus clarifies. “But we recently bought the house on the countryside to have more space for the dogs to run around.”

“We both love the buzz and excitement of downtown London, though,” Sirius says. “So we decided to keep the condo as well.”

“Real-estate right in the middle of London as an extra?” Derek asks incredulously.

“I thought it was a bit much as well,” Remus agrees. “But Sirius bought it from his uncle’s inheritance...”

“Only a small part of the inheritance at that,” Sirius adds.

“So it’s his choice,” Remus continues. “And I suppose he can always sell it if he ever really needs money.”

Sirius laughs. “Not that that’s very likely to happen, now that they’ve asked me to run the entire department.”

“Oh, wow,” Isabel sighs dreamily.

“I suppose some people don’t mind living off of someone else’s pocket,” Joy says coolly, whilst looking at Remus.

Sirius grins and pulls Remus tighter against him. “I certainly won’t mind letting Remus spoil me once he finally accepts that professor position he’s been offered three times.”

People stare, unable to match the ‘not quite right’ boy they were talking about to the young man standing in front of them who’s been offered a prestigious job multiple times and has a handsome, adoring fiancé on his arm.

Remus blushes and looks down at his feet. “I just want to gain more experience in the field before I start teaching.”

“Of course love,” Sirius kisses his cheek. “No pressure. I want you to do what makes you happy, and I’ll support you no matter what, you know that. I just don’t want you to reject the offer because you think you’re not good enough, because you are magnificent at what you do.”

Remus looks at Sirius like he hung the moon (well, maybe not the moon in Remus’ case, as he’s never been particularly fond of that), and Sirius stares back just as full of love and affection.

“You’re very lucky,” Faith says. “It’s almost too good to be true, for you to be with a man like this.”

She’s looking at Remus, clearly addressing Remus. Hope knows it, Sirius knows it, everyone knows it. However, Sirius decides to play dumb.

“I know, right?” Sirius answers the question instead. “I’ve been smitten with him since we were fifteen! Honestly, everyone knew, and since Remus never addressed it, I assumed it was because he didn’t feel the same. After school, I thought I could handle being roommates with him despite my unrequited crush. After all, I had managed being dorm mates with him for seven years.” Sirius laughs. “Well, I didn’t even last a week! All it took for me was waking up to the sight of Remus in an oversized jumper making pancakes while loudly singing along to the radio. I blurted out all my feelings right there and then. It was the happiest moment of my life when Remus said he was in love with me too. Until he agreed to be my husband.”

“I had no idea!” Remus exclaims. “I was truly shocked when Sirius just suddenly poured out his heart. I never thought I’d have a chance! I mean, look at him. He’s way too good for me. I still find it hard to believe, to be honest.”

“Hard to believe indeed,” Faith says.

“Right?” Sirius says, turning his head to Faith. All the love and affection have disappeared, and his expression has become ice-cold. “How can it be that someone as smart, accomplished, kind, and simply wonderful as Remus could’ve gotten the idea that he’s somehow less than others.”

Faith’s face turns red and she stares at the floor.

“Eh,” Joy breaks the silence that follows. “Maybe we should all go sit down at the dinner table?”

Everyone walks to the dining room, Connor grabbing Isabel’s arm and dragging her as far away from Sirius as possible.

Hope walks up next to Sirius and squeezes his hand. “Thank you,” she whispers.

Sirius smiles at her. “No problem. They’re my two greatest skills, after all. Dealing with rich, entitled family members, and gushing about Remus.”