When Remus woke on the last day before the Christmas holidays, he didn't expect anything special to happen. He got ready for the school day much as he had every other day. Bleary-eyed and dazed from sleep, he went into the bathroom, relieved himself and then jumped into the hot shower that was a pleasant relief from the cold that had seeped into the castle.

It was when Remus had gotten out of the shower and was toweling dry his hair and the saw it; the horror of red and green magically charmed above his head. He quickly pulled on his school pants and socks, threw his shirt around his shoulders and ran back to the dorm. James, Sirius and Peter were just now getting up, each in a different stage of dressing themselves.

"Wow Moony, you're really getting in the Christmas spirit, aren't you?" asked Peter, the first to see Remus standing by the door. James and Sirius looked up and burst into laughter.

"Never knew you to be so outgoing, mate. Good luck!" James said with a wink.

Remus glared at him and Peter, then at Sirius, who had yet to comment on the mistletoe that was merrily floating above Remus' head. Remus advanced on Sirius much as an animal stalking his prey would. Sirius jumped over his bed, leaving it as a barrier between himself and Remus.

"You did this, didn't you?" Remus asked dangerously. The corners of Sirius' mouth twitched some as he tried to hide a smile. The mutt always was horribly at lying to Remus.

"I don't know what you're on about, mate. Haven't you always had that thing above your head?" he asked innocently, his voice filled with badly suppressed laughter. Remus' glared increased.

"I will get you back for this, believe me," he promised. He backed away and, after one final glare that made Sirius really start laughing (because honestly, how scary is a half-dressed man with mistletoe floating above his head?), he finished getting ready for school.

"You'd best watch your back, Padfoot," James said with a sympathetic pat on the back. "A revengeful Moony is not a safe one."

Sirius only laughed.

And Sirius continued to laugh the rest of the day as Remus found that once someone was close enough to him they couldn't back away. If they tired, the mistletoe would begin singing Jingle Bells loudly and out of tune, drawing more attention to Remus and the other victim until they kissed.

At breakfast Remus tried to grab a piece of toast and dart away quickly, but as he turned around he ran straight into Lily Evans and was forced to kiss her. Sirius, Peter and James were carful not to get too close to Remus (though at one point Snape tripped James, who fell on Remus and was pinned by magic onto the other boy until they kissed; the situation known as The Unmentionable Mistletoe Incident of '76 from that day forward).

By dinner, Remus reflected on the day and supposed that it could have been much worse. True, he did have to kiss McGonagall after she came to scold Peter and tripped over Remus' bag. And yes, Peter had pushed Remus into Snape, bringing about The Greasy Mistletoe Incident of '76. But, apparently, there were girls (and that one odd Ravenclaw guy who was constantly teased) who found Remus quite kissable and 'accidentally' bumped into him in the halls. One girl had even pinned Remus against a wall and snogged him until Sirius coughed awkwardly and said that they would be late for Transfiguration.

Yes, the day could have been a lot worse. Remus was currently sitting in the dormitory he shared with the other Marauders, hoping to avoid any other confrontations that day.

"How long will this-this thing stay above my head?" Remus asked Sirius.

"Oh, I don't know for sure," Sirius with the air of one who knew more than he was sharing.

Remus narrowed his eyes. "Explain yourself,"

"Yes Sirius," James said cheerily, "Do share mate."

Sirius simply smiled, shrugged and continued sorting his Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans; he didn't like the grape ones.

Remus glared, "Fine, continue to make a fool out of me–I don't care one bit," he said, obviously caring very much so.

And why shouldn't he care? He had worked for six, almost seven years to build himself a delicate reputation at Hogwarts. He was sure that people knew who he was, just by a name, but not so much that they actually began paying attention to him and began wondering where he went every month. And in one lovely, action-packed day Sirius had ruined it–everybody knew who Remus was now.

"Oh come now Moony, don't be like that," Sirius said.

"Let him alone Sirius–not everyone would enjoy a day of kissing people," Peter said.

"Actually, only Remus wouldn't enjoy that," James added thoughtfully.

Remus sighed heavily, perhaps even acting, not that his friends realized it. Slowly he stood as they continued their jokes and walked over to where Sirius sat on the floor, sorting jellybeans. He sat next to Sirius, picked up a jellybean and popped it into his mouth. The other boys fell silent.

"Is that a challenge, Sir Moony?" Sirius asked.

"Why yes," he said with a playful grin, "I believe it is."

As Remus predicted, it wasn't long until Sirius tackled him, wrestling with him untilSirius hadRemus on his back in the pile of candy.

"Hah!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "I win!"

"Are you sure about that?" Remus asked. Sirius' eyes narrowed and then grew wide when he remembered that the mistletoe above Remus' head hadn't disappeared yet.

"You-you sneaky little–"

"Revenge is horrible, isn't it?" Remus said with a smirk. He pulled Sirius' head down to kiss him without giving Sirius a chance to comment.

Remus had only meant to kiss Sirius for a moment, but he soon realized that he was enjoying himself and that Sirius had him securely pinned against the floor. James was making noises of disgust that Remus clearly heard, but Sirius' quick tongue was a much more pressing matter than the comfort of one Messr. Prongs. Remus wasn't quite sure when they pulled apart, but when they did he opened his eyes to see Sirius smiling broadly, if not a bit nervously, above him. Sirius had one leg on each side of Remus' body and was resting on his elbows so that he could look down at Remus.

"Ugh, I'm leaving," James muttered, suppressing a shudder as he left.

"I'll go talk to him," Peter said tiredly. He paused by the door. "Oh, Sirius?" Sirius looked up at Peter. "Good job!" he winked and followed James out into the Common Room.

And awkward silence followed, as Sirius was still atop Remus in the middle of their room after snogging him senseless. Sirius coughed and looked at a spot by Remus' ear.

"So... your mistletoe is gone now..."

Remus' eyes narrowed slightly, "You planned this, didn't you? With Wormtail's help,"

"You always were the smart one," Sirius mumbled. He sighed and looked Remus in the eye. "You're not mad, are you?"

Remus smiled and said, "Not at all... I got Christmas early this year."

Merry Christmas!

:-:silver-sunn101:-: