Disclaimer: The usual.
Thanks: To my amazing beta, Lola, who did a wonderful job on this story!
Dedicated to Louise
Because I've always wanted to dedicate something to someone,
and because these are her favourite characters,
even though I don't think she'll like the story.
A New Year to Remember
1970 – Sirius
New Year's Eve was always a big affair in the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black- bigger, at any rate, that Christmas, which was generally pushed to the side, a meagre event with a few meaningless presents to show off their wealth and a forced family dinner.
The New Year on the other hand… The whole family had somehow found a way to squash itself into the confines of number 12 Grimmauld Place without alerting the muggle neighbours or causing the house to burst at its seams. There was a rich buffet table kept filled by the house elves, luxurious decorations arranged to Walburga Black's definition of tastefulness, and the general fake social merriment that accompanied the pureblood society wherever it travelled.
Of course, with such an accumulation of people, it was only a matter of time before one of the younger attendees gave into the lure of getting that small revenge on their parents and relatives for the hardships they knew were to come in the New Year. There would be a prank pulled, no contest about that, the only question now was what the prank would be, and who would execute it.
No surprise that all of the children in attendance operated on a general "pick on the youngest" system.
"Regulus, please," Sirius whined, appealing to his younger brother with the most desperate and helpless look he could conjure up.
Nine-year-old Regulus Black couldn't help but hesitate at that look, but he soon steeled his resolve. "Sirius, you're going to get me in trouble. No, actually you're going to get us both in trouble!"
"No one will know it was us," Sirius promised persuasively. "Besides, all you have to do is run over to the table, empty this into the punch bowl-" here he held up a suspicious looking bottle which, on closer glance, turned out to be a bottle of Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey, taken from his father's secret stash- "and then give me back the empty bottle and we scraper," Sirius finished innocently.
"What'll it do?" Regulus inquired suspiciously, remembering one incident in which he had been privy to the effect one such bottle had had on his father in the absence of his mother (Sirius, of course, had also seen this incident, and indeed it was this that had given him the motivation for his prank- a good way to get revenge on all the adults he knew before they had even done anything to him).
"Nothing bad," Sirius replied quickly. "It'll just… uh, just…-" he scrambled for a convincing lie, "-just make them all happier."
"Well, okay then," Regulus consented reluctantly, having found nothing more at fault with what they were doing.
He plucked the bottle from his brother's fingers and, still shooting it the occasional suspicious glance as if it might be persuaded to reveal the true nature of Sirius' plan to him, hurried around the outskirts of the enlarged drawing room towards the buffet table.
An hour later the party had become a lot looser, and their mother had found the empty bottle of Ogden's Finest stashed behind the sofa, put two and two together, and banned Sirius to his room for the remainder of the evening.
He missed the countdown to the New Year, so he did his own countdown using the annoying, too loud grandfather clock that stood on the landing outside his bedroom and ran three minutes slow.
Regulus managed to sneak away from their mother's ever-watchful eyes just in time to join him, and they substituted water in plastic cups for champagne and heralded in their own New Year.
Happy New Year. I hope this year I can finally be free.
Sirius missed the New Year that year and it brought only bad luck; how could he know that it would not be the last New Year that he would miss in his life?
1970 – Remus
The full moon was only a few days away, and Remus was already feeling pathetically weak for it, but his parents were determined that they would celebrate the New Year together; properly.
Dinner was a quiet affair. Remus' father prepared a roast for the three of them, and his mother made one of her delicious fruitcakes that she only treated them to on special occasions, so despite his lack of appetite Remus forced himself to eat everything they served him just to keep his parents happy.
After dinner, they adjourned to the living room and switched off the lights, lighting their remaining Christmas candles. Then they tuned into the radio to listen to the news of the celebrations in other countries around the world.
"… And we have Lyssa here, live from Paris, where they have just welcomed in the New Year. Tell us about it Lyssa."
"Thank you, John. Well folks, I'm standing here at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and I must say that the atmosphere is just superb. And the lighting. Wow, you should see this…"
And then, finally, the voices on the radio faded out and the countdown began.
"Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven…"
Remus' parents exchanged loving glances and kissed each other joyously, before gathering Remus into their protective embrace.
"Six… Five… Four… Three…"
Remus shut his eyes and found himself wondering absentmindedly what he was going to wish for.
"Two… One… Happy New Year, everybody!"
I wish… I wish I could finally make friends… Real friends.
And Remus, wrapped up warm and snug in a blanket, clinked his glass against his parents' glasses then lifted it to his lips.
Maybe this would be his lucky year. Maybe his wish would finally come true.
Maybe it would.
1980 – Sirius and Remus
Surrounded by all of their friends- their Hogwarts year, the Order of the Phoenix, and some other neutral parties, friends of friends and friends of friends of yet more friends- Remus and Sirius were almost certain that they couldn't be happier. Or, at least, Remus was positive he couldn't be happier. He wasn't so sure about Sirius, but then it was his goal to fix that tonight.
The atmosphere was light and airy. Everyone was laughing (perhaps more than was warranted, but during a war any excuse to laugh was welcomed with open arms), talking, dancing and just generally enjoying themselves.
Everyone was suffering (though whether "suffering" was really the right sentiment is debatable) from a slight overdose of alcohol, and the party, at least the younger half of the party, was slowly creeping into territory that would be considered inappropriate on any other night but tonight, when finally everyone gathered into the marquis to count in the New Year.
The ex-Marauders (a name which Lily had come up with shortly after she first started going out with James) quickly staked out their territory right at the front of the marquis by the stage, and the four plus Lily and a few other school friends gathered together, each clutching a flute of champagne.
The countdown began, and everyone huddled together, their voices rising in a shout. "Ten… Nine… Eight…" The screams drowned out any and every other sound that could possible be trying to make itself heard that night. "Two… One… Happy New Year!"
Hugs were exchanged all around and people cheered, wishing well and hoping that this year might, finally, bring a positive outcome to the war.
Experiencing the buzz of the small amount of alcohol he had consumed and suddenly feeling inexplicably reckless, Remus threw his arms around Sirius' neck and pulled their bodies flush together.
Caught in the spur of the moment, Sirius responded in kind and pressed his full, soft lips to Remus' in a surprisingly passionate kiss.
Click! The sound of a camera shutter woke them from their trance, and they sprung apart with looks reminiscent of that of a child caught red-handed in the cookie jar, to face James smirking and holding the camera loosely, mockingly in his had.
They exchanged a glance.
"You grab him and I tickle him?" Remus asked with a grin.
"My thoughts exactly," Sirius replied with a devious smirk.
The two turned back to their friend, who was eyeing them warily as if wondering whether or not to run; or indeed, as the case be, whether to run away or run to Lily.
"Oh, James," the two youths said threateningly, and Remus even went so far as to hold out his hands as if to tickle him. James squeaked and made up his mind fast about where to run to.
"Lily!" His voice was unnaturally high as he turned to his wife- and became higher when he discovered her absence. "Oh… Oh, no!"
He turned and ran, and Sirius and Remus followed fast on his tail.
To a Happy New Year together and hopefully many more like this to come.
1990 – Sirius
Azkaban was a desolate place, a place where every day started the same way, continued the same way, and, surprise, surprise, ended the same way in a never ending pattern of nothingness. And sure enough, this day started as usual, with a haggard-looking man stomping along and slamming a tray of food through the bars of each cell, and Bellatrix screaming loudly from a few cells down.
It continued the same way as a normal day, with the dementors swirling around and breathing their horrible spell over everyone.
And it was all set to end the same way, until the crazy from the next cell- who dedicated his days to counting down the days until he died (estimated at the age of eighty; personally Sirius was hoping that it would be sooner- his counting was annoying), and counting the bricks of his cell when he nothing better to do, which was all the time- suddenly cried out-
"It's New Year's Eve!"
Everyone in the block started at the sudden exclamation, and the over seer who had been delivering dinner turned to glare at the crazy.
"Oh, hush, you," he snapped irritably, the dementors clearly getting to his mood.
But Sirius had had an idea, and now he turned to the overseer, clasping his hands around the bars of his cell in a desperate manner. "Time?" he croaked out, his voice hoarse from neglect.
The overseer rolled his eyes then proclaimed, "Nine-thirty-five; about time for me to be going home, I should think." He slapped down the remaining bowls of badly made broth and stalked off in the direction of the apparating point.
"Crazy," Sirius choked out, then, remembering himself, "Daniels… count… count down the time until midnight…"
The crazy- Daniels- looked thoughtful and bemused in his insane kind of way for a moment, before agreeing with a strange grunt that didn't really mean anything, and starting to count.
"Two hours, twenty-five minutes… One second… Two seconds… Three minutes…"
The time crawled by, and Daniels counted every second, until finally they reached the last minute, then the last ten seconds, and by unanimous, unspoken consent everyone joined in on the count down.
"Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five…" Even Bellatrix was counting. "Four… Three… Two… One."
The silence was empty and oppressive when they finished (three minutes late, though they didn't know that), until finally Sirius braved the silence and raised his hand in a mock toast. "Happy Knew Year, everyone."
Several people started to laugh hysterically, including Daniels and Bellatrix, and eventually even Sirius had joined in, laughing insanely, and crying at the same time, waving his hand around, still cupped as though holding and invisible flute of champagne.
Happy New Year, Remus.
1990 – Remus
It is a sad, sad thing when one must resign himself to spending New Year's Eve alone, and Remus had to do just that.
In his lonesome apartment, which he rented alone, lived in alone, across the sea, across land, across several hundred miles, Remus was having a similar day to Sirius. Of course, he was not trapped in his own personal hell, forced to relive his nightmares over and over again by soul-sucking dementors, however the pattern, the monotony, the simple predictability of his days was exactly the same.
New Year's Eve was no exception, and Remus found himself religiously following his routine. He got out of bed as normal, ate breakfast as normal, and even started to prepare for work as normal, until he remembered that today was a holiday.
Having nothing else to do, and strictly forbidding himself from even thinking about thinking about his friends or family at a time like this (it would only be worse now), he went back to bed and spent the next few hour reading a muggle book.
And then, as evening approached, tradition came knocking and forced him to set aside his book and march to the kitchen to prepare a solitary half a roast for himself, and a meagre fruitcake that was not as good as his mother's.
He ate in the living room in front of the television, purposely breaking one of the rules that his mother had drilled into his head from young in order to dissipate the monotony.
Finally, he made and uncharacteristic decision to leave his dirty dishes for the next day, and settled in the living room with a glass of sparkling water- he didn't have to money to buy even half decent champagne, to wait for the countdown.
It began, and Remus instinctively moved his lips in time to the numbers, allowing his mind to drift- finally- to the matter of his friends.
"Two… One… Happy New Year!"
When the countdown ended and the fireworks started on television, Remus raised his glass of water in a salute, before downing it in one gulp and wishing it were something stronger. Something strong enough to make him forget that somehow, he was the only Marauder left.
Happy New Year guys. Come back to me soon.
2000 – Remus and Sirius
Remus, Sirius, James and Lily sat together, peering down at the floor.
Well, not quite. Where one might expect to see a floor, instead the four friends were seeing… another dimension. To be exact, on this fine December evening- the last one in December to be precise- they were watching Harry Potter and his gathering of friends and family preparing to count in the New Year.
Harry and Ron were stood in the kitchen, pouring champagne into glasses- or sparkling water for the children, because most of the were a little young for alcohol- and chatting lightly. Meanwhile, Hermione and Ginny were lounging in the living room with their assorted children, entertaining themselves with watching the New Year's celebrations on the other side of the world on television whilst they waited for their husbands.
Harry and Ron entered the room, each bearing a tray of drinks, and they set them on the glass coffee table. Everyone gathered around, each clambering to get a glass, and then, finally, everyone was seated, holding a glass, and watching the television with expectant eyes.
"Ten… Nine… Eight…" As with every year, the living automatically cast their mind to the dead; those whom they had lost during the war, and also before and after. Those loved ones that they would never see again, those loved ones whom they were bound to remember.
Those loved ones who were watching over them from heaven.
"Seven… Six… Five…" Unable to help themselves, Sirius, Remus, James and Lily joined in the age-old tradition of counting in the New Year.
"Four… Three… Two…"
Around the world, people embraced, rejoicing as one year came to an end and the next one began.
"One… Happy New Year, everyone!"
And up in heaven, Remus and Sirius turned to one another and embraced, finally together forever, and able to enjoy many more New Years, as many as they could ever want, together.
Happy New Year. Here's to the living. To the dead. To us. Love you.
Love you too.
.FIN.
Notes: Eek, and after a really long break in which I have been able to write nothing, I hacked out my longest piece yet. Hope you all enjoyed it.
Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Notes 2: Wow, this took a long time to upload. The edit/preview function was being subborn, and so was I. ;)