Gingerbread men, candy canes, mistletoe; the whole castle reeked of Christmas and it made Sirius Black sick to his stomach. He strolled along the corridor, glaring at the boughs of holly and trying to tune out the enchanted harps as they played 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'. Everything about Christmas made the raven haired seventh year want to scream. The songs, and presents, and the cheer which in his opinion was completely false and seasonal. There wasn't anything about this holiday to be excited about. It certainly had nothing to do with family togetherness.
Christmas in the most noble and ancient house of Black hadn't been a time Sirius looked forward to after a certain period. Christmas had been tolerable at best until Sirius had begun to mature and develop his own opinions and personality. His parents hadn't liked it one bit and preferred their youngest son who didn't stray from the sidewalk.
Sirius shook the memories from his head and looked up at the portrait before him. "Peppermint drops," he said moodily to the fat lady, and she swung aside without commentary. He walked through the hole and the portrait swung back into place. The room was empty, save Lily and James snogging on the couch. "Urgh." He grunted, rolling his eyes. He didn't normally mind, but at the particular moment it made him sick.
His grunt of disapproval had no effect on the lovebirds, so Sirius continued on to the boys' dormitories. He closed the door quietly behind him. Peters curtains were closed, and Sirius could hear him snoring beyond them. Remus was laid out on his bed, reading and mindlessly eating Gingerbread men.
"Hey Remus," Sirius sighed, pulling off his cloak and letting it fall to the floor, kicking off his wet shoes at the heels. The blonde boy looked up from his book, then marked his page and closed it.
"Hey Padfoot. Where've you been?" He asked, chewing on a cookie, his jaw moving in a concentrated fashion.
Sirius couldn't help but smile at his friend. "I was outside. Just felt like a walk. It's quite snowy out there and there is still more coming down."
Remus nodded, taking another thoughtful bite of his cookie. Sirius rumpled his hair, walking over towards his bed. As much as Sirius disliked Christmas, he did actually enjoy the seasonal foods.
"Can I get one of those, Moony?" He asked, pausing in front of his friends bed. Remus nodded immediately, offering the box.
"Have as many as you'd like, mate." He said simply. Sirius deftly selected a cookie off the top and began chewing, sitting on the foot of Remus' bed. He sighed, chewing slowly on the ginger's foot. Remus watched him quietly for a few minutes.
"Are you doing okay? I know you don't necessarily take pleasure in celebrating Christmas." He spoke up finally, finishing his cookie without selecting another.
Sirius shrugged, not taking another bite of his cookie yet. "It beats spending it the way I did growing up. I guess Christmas isn't so bad, just the way it went for me was bad. Memories catch me every year." He said slowly, gazing into nothing particular on the floor.
Remus nodded, trying to understand. Christmas hadn't been too big at his home. They were lucky if they could afford a tree, and the gifts were small and few. But that was okay with Remus. His family was close.
"I can't say I understand, but I can try to imagine." He responded finally, chewing on his lower lip. Remus didn't know what would comfort his friend, which deeply bothered Remus.
Sirius nodded, saying nothing. "I don't know what I can say to make it better, Sirius."
The dark haired boy shook his head, hair falling into his piercing grey eyes. "There really isn't anything, Moony. If there was I'm sure you'd have said it already."
Remus reached out, wrapping his arms around his best friend. "I'm sorry." He said quietly, patting Sirius' shoulder.
Sirius shook his head, "don't be sorry for anything. None of it's your fault, and you've always tried to make Christmas nice for me."
For years now they'd been close like this. Comfortable with their friendship and unafraid of expressing their care for one another. But sometimes, such as now, Sirius couldn't help but feel there was more to it than friendship.
"I have a gift for you, if you'd like it. You can have it now, or wait until the morning." Remus said tentatively. Every year he tried to give Sirius a gift, and every year Sirius refused.
Sirius gave a heaving sigh, trying to appreciate his friend's generosity. "You know what, Remus? I think I would like that gift." He admitted, sitting up and looking at Moony.
"Really!?" Exclaimed Remus, getting up immediately and prancing over to the tree by the window in their dorm, picking up the small package. It wasn't wrapped too nicely, that wasn't a skill of Remus', but that didn't matter to Sirius. "It isn't much, sorry." He said a little sheepishly, handing the parcel to Padfoot.
He shook his head, taking it gingerly into his large hands. "That doesn't matter to me," he said, and set the gift in his lap, gently unwrapping it. As Sirius predicted, it was a book.
"They're muggle fairy tales. Some of them are a bit silly, but… I thought maybe…" He shrugged, unable to finish his sentence. He didn't know what he thought. "My favorite starts on page forty."
Sirius flicked to page forty to read the title- he'd read the story later. "'Beauty and the Beast'. What's it about?" He asked, looking up at Remus.
"You'll have to read and see." He responded, feeling just a little nervous.
Sirius rolled his eyes, "oh, naturally. Well, thank you anyway. It's very nice." He stood up, hugging Remus. There was a faint longing to give him more than the friendly hug, but Sirius repressed it.
Remus closed his eyes, savoring the hug he knew wouldn't last long enough. "Well," he said slowly, "I'm going to bed, Sirius. I'm wiped out." He said, and climbed into bed, drawing his curtains.
"Yeah, night Moony. Happy Christmas." Sirius said quietly, going back to his own bed. Maybe he'd read that story now.
"Happy Christmas, Paddy." Came a yawn from beyond the curtain. Sirius settled into his bed without changing and began to read.
Remus awoke very early on Christmas morning, hearing a small click. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. It wasn't even light in their dormitory, meaning it couldn't be after seven. Indeed it was not; his clock read 5.07am. Who would be up this early in their dorm? The click was not the same as that of the bathroom door. No, someone had gone down to the common room.
He slowly got out of his bed and peeked out from his curtains. One bed stood with it's curtains open. Sirius Black's bed, which gave Remus' stomach a surge of excitement. He quickly hauled himself off his bed and tip toed to the door, turning the knob all the way and pulling the door open. He slipped past it and closed it behind him, tentatively stepping down the stairs. He heard Sirius' voice.
"It's been a long, cold, lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun, here comes the sun and I say-"
"It's all right." Remus finished the line, making himself visible as he rounded the corner of the staircase. Sirius looked up, slightly alarmed for a fraction of a second.
"Oh, good morning." He said, smiling once he realized who had intruded upon his morning time. The book was on his lap.
"Yeah," Remus responded, making his way over to the couch, sitting himself at the opposite end of the couch Sirius was on. "How much did you read?"
"I read the whole thing. I just finished the last page a few minutes ago. I read all night. I haven't slept." He confessed, faint color coming to his cheeks.
Remus grinned, "so you liked it then?"
"Yeah, I did. I do, they're really great. I think I know why you like Beauty and the Beast so much." Sirius responded, setting the book on the coffee table in front of the couch and standing up, walking over to the window.
"Yeah?" Remus parroted his best friend's first word.
Sirius nodded, giving him a dimpled grin. Remus felt like melting but kept his composure. "It's a lovely story about first impressions sometimes being incorrect, and how love can triumph over any adversity."
Remus nodded, "yeah… yeah, that's why." Only half true.
Sirius looked out the window at the snow covering the ground, and the fresh Christmas snow falling. "I wish it were so simple for you, Remus." He said a bit sadly.
Remus walked over to Sirius, sitting on the table across from Sirius who was now perched on the window ledge. He quirked an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Well, the kiss. Sure, it was hard for Beast to find love, but then as soon as the right bird came along and loved him, all they needed was a kiss to set him free." Sirius explained, pushing some hair behind his ear. It fell out immediately back into his beautiful eyes.
Remus swallowed hard, "yes, I often have thought of that myself. It'd be nice to test the theory. Albeit, it would never work." He said slowly, gazing at the snow falling out the window.
Sirius looked at him sincerely. He glanced up at the mistletoe about their heads. "Remus?"
He looked up to see Sirius point up. Remus was shocked at what his eyes found up there. He looked back to Sirius' nervous expression. "Are you asking to… You want?"
"I am, and yes I do." Sirius said sheepishly, looking at the other boy through his thick eyelashes.
Both boys slowly began inclining their bodies toward the other, until Sirius' hands fell on Remus' waist and Remus' hands came to steady himself on Sirius' shoulders. They looked each other, pausing. Remus could feel Sirius' breath on him, and it was driving him crazy.
Without further ado, they closed the gap between their lips. It was all either of them could do to keep from gasping with ecstasy. It felt so right.
It was difficult to break the kiss, but they managed the will to do it anyway. "Still a werewolf?" Sirius said, breaking the silence as well.
Remus nodded, unsure if he was supposed to smile or frown or otherwise. "Yeah, I think so."
Sirius sighed, shrugging. "Well, we tried. Maybe we should try again?"
Remus smiled, and before he could react Sirius' lips were against his again. This time they were more firmly attached to his. They continued to exchange quick kisses for several minutes before Remus felt Sirius' tongue against his lips, and they obliged all too quickly, permitting entrance. Neither of them could measure the time they took just exploring each others mouths before they finally broke once more.
"Happy Christmas, Moony." Sirius blurted stupidly, for lack of something else coming to mind.
"Happy Christmas, Padfoot."