The 6 Days of Winter [Podfics] 2022

Let There Be Light - A Collection of Short Stories about Hanukkah

Written by Sliebman10
Read by BurningAurora

Story 1: Light

It had taken Sirius a long time to let this light into his life. The years of darkness were behind him though, and he was at a point in his life where he could embrace the light. He took the three menorahs out of the cabinet and moved his polishing cloth over them carefully.

The first was an ornate silver menorah that Andromeda had given him and Remus for their wedding. It was shaped like a tree and every time Sirius looked at it, he felt like it somehow represented his and Remus’s journey together. It was mostly smooth, but the branches had some unexpected twists and turns carved into the metal. This menorah had the place of honor in the middle of the counter, central as it was to their family and the holiday.

Harry’s menorah came next. Harry had come to them in the wake of tragedy, but they had picked up the pieces and were raising the little boy as their own. With James and Lily gone, they adopted him and found joy in becoming a family of three. His menorah was much like him; colorful and fun. The candle holders were shaped as different pieces of sports equipment and his name was emblazoned on the base. It had been his first Hanukkah gift when he’d come to live with Sirius and Remus, and Harry always delighted in picking out just the right candles to put into it as the holiday progressed.

Teddy’s was last, shaped like a train. It had taken Sirius a while to find it when last Hanukkah, Teddy announced he wanted a train menorah with wheels that moved. Teddy had been theirs from the start, having him as they did with their friend that acted as a surrogate. And while Harry had been unsure about being a big brother at first, he’d accepted the role and thrived in it.

Poking his head into the kitchen, Remus caught sight of Sirius and they smiled softly at each other. Remus came over and drew him close, dropping a kiss on top of his head. “Are we almost ready?” I don’t know how much longer I can hold the boys off.”

“Yes, of course. They can come in.” With that, both little boys barreled into the kitchen. “Which candles do you want, Teddy? You can pick two.” Sirius said, offering the box to his younger son. Teddy thoughtfully pointed to a red and a yellow candle which Sirius shook out of the box. Remus put the candles into the train menorah and Sirius glanced at Harry. “How about you?”

“I’ll take a blue and a green," Harry said, thoughtfully. Sirius handed the candles to Harry, who carefully put them into his. He then offered the box to Remus, and he pulled out a white and a purple candle.

Teddy bounced on the balls of his feet and Remus put a hand on his shoulder, reminding him to be calm. “Teddy, you can’t do that near the candles,” Harry said. Teddy looked up at Harry and his body stilled.

Sirius lit the match and they all said the three blessings together as the light filled their kitchen. He reached around the boys’ backs and found Remus’s hand, which he threaded his fingers through for a quiet moment.

All too soon, the boys were bounding into the living room and Remus was bringing out some brightly wrapped boxes. He sat down on the sofa and Sirius reached for him, pulling him almost into his lap. “Happy Hanukkah, darling,” he said, kissing Remus briefly, while the boys were occupied.

“Happy Hanukkah,” Remus said, laying his head on Sirius's shoulder for a moment. “I love you.”

Sirius felt warmth flood through his chest at these words. They were always the best present. "I love you too."

Story 2: The Best Latkes

Fwip. Fwip. Fwip .

There was something satisfying about the repetitive movement of peeling the mountain of potatoes on the counter. Sirius’s mind wandered as he prepared to make latkes from Andromeda’s recipe. It had taken some convincing to get her to share it, but it was worth it in the end. Andromeda used similar ratios to the recipes he saw online, but the spices were modified and that somehow made all the difference.

He remembered his and Remus’s first Hanukkah together. While they were in college, before sons and jobs and real responsibility. Before Remus had even converted.

Fifteen years earlier

“Be careful! You’re going to peel your hand,” Sirius laughed, taking the potato out of Remus’s hand.

“That peeler has it in for me,” Remus groused as he watched Sirius make quick work of it. “Why are we doing this again?”

“Because it’s your first Hanukkah. We have to celebrate it right,” Sirius said. Remus still looked skeptical and Sirius kissed his cheek. “Trust me, it’s worth it.”

A couple hours later, there was a small pile of latkes on the table along with sour cream and applesauce. Remus had to admit, they smelled good.

“Sour cream and applesauce? Those go together?”

“You’d be surprised,” smiled Sirius. “But usually people choose one or the other. But I like both.” Sirius dipped his finger into the sour cream and offered it to Remus, who licked it off and gave him a suggestive smile.

“If you actually want to eat, you might want to save that for later,” Remus said, kissing him.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Sirius said, with a wink. He put three latkes on a plate and handed it to Remus.

Remus cut a piece off and tasted it. “That is so fucking good,” he exclaimed.

“It’s my cousin’s recipe. I’ll tell her you approve.”

“Can the boys help?” Remus asked, pulling Sirius back to the present.

“Sure. Let me get these in the food processor and I’ll set up the stool,” Sirius said, fitting the grating attachment to their food processor. This was so much easier than when they grated them by hand.

Harry and Teddy came running in.

“Who’s putting in the next potato?” Sirius asked.

“Me!” the boys exclaimed. Sirius waited as they clamored onto the stool and he made sure they took turns putting the potatoes in. Next came squeezing out the water and then stirring in the rest of the ingredients. The boys lost interest when Sirius put the latkes in the frying pan and Remus ushered them out of the kitchen so Sirius could concentrate.

When they sat down to dinner, the pile of latkes was as fragrant as ever and Sirius had made some guacamole to try on top of the latkes, having heard somewhere that people liked that. And it also made sense since guacamole was something that four year old Teddy would reliably eat.

Remus took a bite and whispered to Sirius, “Still so fucking good.”

Story 3: Gifts

It was easy to buy gifts for the boys. Toys, books, games, even clothes were acceptable. But buying gifts for your longtime partner, with the appropriate gravitas and thoughtfulness was sometimes another thing, Remus thought as he looked through yet another website before closing the browser. He knew some couples didn’t buy each other gifts, but he always enjoyed getting things for Sirius. And Sirius liked buying things for him.

It was just harder when you were a grown up. You didn’t want things in the same way. And if you did, a lot of times, you just bought it yourself.

Remus was thinking this after yet another night of them falling into bed, exhausted, without much conversation. It seemed that most of the time they spent together lately was spent asleep. They’d always sworn they wouldn’t be those parents who didn’t make time for each other, that let their relationship come second to parenting, but sometimes life was like that.

But it made Remus chafe a little to think about the last time they truly spent time together. He wondered what to do about it.

The idea came to him as they were cleaning up from dinner the next night. “Molly and Arthur are going away the weekend before Christmas so they were asking if Ron could come over,” Sirius said.

“Sure. That’s fine,” Remus said, checking the calendar.

Then the idea came to him.

After the boys were asleep, Remus did some covert research and found the gift he wanted to give Sirius for Hanukkah.

On the last night, he gave Sirius a brochure from a bed and breakfast he’d found. “We’re going away this weekend. My mom is coming to stay with the boys.”

Sirius’s eyes grew round and he grinned. “It’s been a while.”

They drove to the bed and breakfast in the snow. It was dark and the road was narrow. Sirius even turned the radio down so Remus could concentrate on driving. That almost never happened.

They arrived at their destination, which looked like an enchanted gingerbread house, covered in snow and icicles as it was. They parked the car and bundled up, getting the heavy key from the person at the desk.

The room was small but cozy, with the bed in the middle, covered in quilts that reminded Sirius of the quilts Remus’s mother gave them. It was a little cold in their room, so they huddled under the blankets on the bed, after they put down their bags and shed their snowy outerwear.

Sirius pulled Remus close and kissed him deeply. Remus responded readily and they lay on the bed kissing for a long time.

“Have I been neglecting you?” Sirius asked, gazing into Remus’s amber eyes.

“No more than I’ve been neglecting you,” Remus responded, running his hand through Sirius’s hair. “We get consumed by work and by the kids…it happens.”

“I don’t want that to happen to us,” Sirius said, softly. “I love you. I hope you know that.”

“I do know that. And I love you, too,” Remus said, kissing him again. He rolled them over so he was grinning down at Sirius and kissing his neck. Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus’s back so their bodies slotted together. Remus moved his hips purposefully, eliciting a satisfying moan and moved his hands down Sirius’s body until they found what they were looking for. He could feel Sirius melt in his hands as he expertly worked him over.

Later, they were sated and sleepy as snow continued to fall thickly outside. “Thank you for the gift, Remus. We have to do this more often.”

“I think I’m going to need you to define ‘this’.” Remus said, dropping soft kisses along his jaw.

“Go away together…make time for each other.”

“You’re right, we do,” Remus said, as he fell asleep.