REM3SIRI
Chapter One Christmas At Last December 11
It's the dead of winter, and snow is swirling around Hogwarts in a freezing gale. From my window on the seventh floor I could see everything- Hagrid's, the Quidditch field, and especially the courtyard - that's where all the girls hung out. As the days got colder and colder, we seventh years were confined to the castle and most inner reaches of the grounds. After this storm, we might even be snowed in. It was pretty, I had to admit, but outside, five minutes and you'd have icicles hanging off of every appendage. And I mean every appendage.
This was when the Marauders were especially tight-knit, as everyone had decided to stay at the castle for the Christmas holidays. James and Lily spent a lot of time together, so that left Sirius and Peter. Usually it was Sirius and I, whereas Peter would often leave and coerce with some friends from Hufflepuff. Sirius and James often joked about the Hat putting ol' Pete in the wrong house- Hufflepuff was his style, as he was very oppurtunistic and grovelly. Secretly, I had to agree.
Today, it's actually just Sirius and I in the dormitory. We were sick of running through the halls searching for Old Snivelly, whom Sirius had charmed somehow to walk backwards and sing Christmas carols for us. It was thoroughly amusing, but the halls were extremely cold that time of day, and we had earlier arranged to meet with James and Lily later, so that we could brave a walk to Hagrid's.
Sirius and I made our way down the staircases very easily as nearly half the students were gone for the holiday. We waited by the larger-than-life statue of Ptolemy, whose wanker was hanging out in plain view as usual. James and Lily were visibly late, and soon it would be a little late to go on a foray into the frozen grounds. Sirius and I sat down on Ptolemy's pedestal, and he began telling a story how he and James had once figured out how to engorge Ptolemy's you-know-what. Though I had found the story amusing, I glanced up and down the hall nervously, looking for James and Lily.
"I wonder where James and Lily have gotten to?" I muttered absentmindedly, plowing caramel-colored locks out of my eyes. "Sure hope Filch hasn't gotten to James, they have a long-standing grudge, as everyone bloody well knows." I blinked, looking into Sirius' face. Unusually, he was smiling in the way I had often hoped a girl would smile at me.
"They've probably lost themselves in the Room of Requirement, going at it," laughed Sirius, eyes smiling appropriately. "He's been bragging about it for some time now." He smirked, standing up to brush his robes.
"Perhaps I ought to go look, you know. Don't want Filch to find them first." I stood up as well, dodging Ptolemy's wanker as I straightened. Sirius laughed as my head swiped the thing. He patted my head and looked down the hall one more time.
"I'm guessing James is out with his girlfriend, so... want to go back to the common room? I don't mind spending time with you." He smiled in that oh-so-beautiful way that made my body tingle. I nodded, and he led the way up the corridors.
I found myself looking out the window once again at the spiraling snow, wondering what happened to it as it reached the ground. Sirius amused himself by looking at a stack of naked witches, normally hidden in the space between his matress and bedstead in the dormitory. I myself thought wistfully of that smile he'd given me earlier, the one that made me hotter than the fires of Asphodel. I knew I wasn't gay; I liked Lily once, and a Ravenclaw named Jeanne Morlan earlier in the year. I just admired Sirius, that was all. But I felt like I couldn't get enough of him.
Across the room, Sirius sighed. He plopped the stack of moving photos into his bag and glanced at me. "I'm bored, Rem. We could go exploring, but there's really no place in this castle I haven't seen." Silently I agreed. But then a spark went off in my head.
"Wrong again, Siri. Prefects' Bath? You've never been there, have you?" I stretched and tottered off the windowsill. "The portrait grows a bit lax during the holidays, it lets you bring in friends and such." I looked at Sirius' face, which was contemplating all I said.
"Where else do we have to go?" Sirius murred, standing up. "I'd love a bath, seeing as the one I have access to is about as mildewy as my mum's backside." He laughed and strode over to the door.
"Of course. But remember... this is our little secret." I smiled and winked, letting the door swing open. I walked down the halls, drafts setting goosebumps into my skin. We stepped lightly down the dungeon steps, stopping only so that Sirius could stick out a foot to trip Snivelly down in our path. Ah, the holidays. What everyone looked for.
We neared the east end of the hall, dominated only by the tall portrait of the pine forest that hid the Prefects' Bath. I could smell a faint hint of PineScrub, from somewhere I didn't know. Turning to face the massive thing, I muttered, "Tallow and wax." Instantly, the thing swung open, betraying a sweet mixture of smells. "After you," I said, gesturing to Sirius. He swaggered into the cavernous hall, and I after him. Ah, a bath on a cold day. How therapeutic.