Setting: Christmas, Gryffindor tower.
Disclaimer: If I were a published author, what would I do? ....... Probably not post a Christmas story in March.
It was Christmas eve and the tower was silent, it seemed as if there was nothing moving anywhere; the world was waiting for the dawn to arrive. Yet there was one person who was awake and restless at the midnight hour. Remus lay staring up at the roof of his hangings listening to the steady breathing of the two boys who had stayed behind for the holidays. He had been trying to get to sleep for hours yet each time it seemed as if he was about to drift off something woke him up.
Sighing he resigned himself to wakefulness, slipping silently out of bed he wrapped a robe around his thin form and, grabbing the book from his stand, made his way out of the dormitory. Careful not to wake the others he softly closed the door behind him and went to settle down in his favourite chair by the still flickering fire. There was just enough light to see by if he sat close to the red hot coals and soon he was completely engrossed in the tale spread out before him.
Sirius's eyes snapped open, his ears pricked for the sound which had woken him but he heard nothing. Turning over he snuggled down under the downy quilt, as he did his eyes lit on the bed next to him: Remus's. It was empty. Sirius blinked, as if the motion would reveal the other boy to be there, but his bed was empty. Remus had gone for a midnight wander, on Christmas eve of all nights!
Grumbling under his breath Sirius got up and went in hunt of his friend, determined to drag him back to the dorm by force if necessary. He was a little less concerned with waking up the remaining occupant of the room, but nonetheless James didn't stir as he was left alone with his snores.
Still mumbling to himself about idiot werewolves Sirius went down the stairs into the common room, he was so occupied with his thoughts he nearly missed Remus's curled form in the chair. The boy had grown a little over the past year but he was still shorter than Sirius and a lot thinner; in the night air even with the fire he was shivering a little, yet he didn't seem to notice so involved was he in his book. Sirius shook his head, he would never understand how Remus could shut out all other distractions, even to the point of missing meals, when he was reading.
Sneaking up on the boy Sirius slipped into the chair with him, still Remus didn't notice his presence simply shifting slightly to make room for the other boy.
'Remus?' murmured Sirius into his ear, 'Oh, Remus?'
Without taking his eyes from the passage he was perusing Remus turning his head a touch, 'Hmmm?'
'Merry Christmas,' said Sirius, having noted the time on the giant cloak above the fireplace.
'Christmas,' echoed the reader, and as if that word was a summoning spell he shook off his daze and looked Sirius full in the face. 'What are you doing here Padfoot?'
'I came looking for you, but I found a bookworm instead,' sighed the questioned, 'What are you doing here?'
'I couldn't sleep,' Remus smiled, 'so I thought I'd...' he lifted the book indicating his plan.
'What's it about?' asked Sirius, reluctant to move and get cold; he was comfortable curled up in the chair with his friend. Remus looked a little surprised, Sirius had never taken an interest in his addiction before, but rather than waste the opportunity he quickly filled him in on the plot of the fiction he had picked up from the Library. 'And here I was thinking that you only read textbooks,' Sirius whispered.
Remus merely smiled again saying, 'No. I rather enjoy a good tale from time to time.'
Lifting the book out of Remus's hand Sirius opened it randomly, his eyes scanning a few lines before lifting to meet the amber ones of Remus. 'I think we might need something,' he intoned.
'What?' asked Remus surprised and a little confused.
'Chocolate.'
'Chocolate?' inquired Remus, 'Why do we need chocolate?'
'Because,' said Sirius, as if it were obvious, 'If I'm going to read this over your shoulder all night I'm going to need sustenance, and at this time of night that can only be chocolate.'
'Hmm. If you're planning on staying here we might need a few blankets as well.' Remus mentioned, the cold of the night on his exposed limbs in comparison to those tucked snuggly next to Sirius reminding him of the temperature, as well as the fact that werewolves could stand it better than humans.
'I don't suppose you, in your planning ways, thought to bring your wand with you. Cause I ain't getting up.' said Sirius, burrowing his head into Remus's shoulder.
Another smile graced the werewolf's face as he pulled his wand out of a hidden pocket. A few swift flicks and blankets covered the boys, chocolate within easy reach even a small pitcher of juice to wet parched throats. And so the two boys, curled up in the one chair under a pile of blankets, read Remus's book and ate chocolate as Christmas night passed unnoticed.
When James woke up in the morning it was to an empty dormitory. Confused and sleepy he wandered downstairs to find his best friends still curled up in the chair, both of them fast asleep.
A/N: This could have taken place the Christmas of seventh year after "Flaming Bras", but meh.
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