Christmas was an eventful occasion in the Gryffindor boys' dormitory. As he had for the past five years, on December 25th of 1976 Sirius Black took it upon himself to ensure that his roommates were suitably in the Christmas spirit.
"Merry Christmas boys!" He shouted gleefully, scattering shreds of a torn up old Charms assignment around the room like confetti.
James groaned and rolled over, Remus did nothing to acknowledge his friend's exasperating cheer. Peter, however, vocalised his frustration.
"What bloody time is it?" He said, lifting his head only so he could properly glare at Sirius.
"A quarter to six," Sirius announced cheerfully. "Of course, I was going to wake you fifteen minutes ago, but then I remembered Remus' request for a sleep in this year. Of course, that was your Christmas present, so I'm afraid I haven't gotten you anything else this year, Moony. I hope it was worth it."
Remus muttered an unintelligible response.
"That's the spirit! Now, get up. As per our little tradition, we each take turns opening all of our presents. And, once again, I'm opening mine first, as I'm the only one who cared enough to wake you all."
"Sirius," James said, sitting up and reaching for his glasses. "You're seventeen years old."
"Astute observation Prongs! If you could be a dear and stop showing off your brilliant brainpower for ten seconds and actually get out of bed, that would be simply marvellous."
"Don't you think seventeen's a little too old to be getting this excited about Christmas?"
Sirius held his hand to his heart. "Prongs! How dare you!"
"Here he goes," muttered Remus to Peter, who snorted in response.
"Have you forgotten what this holiday means to us Marauders? When we were all innocent little first years, do you remember why I persuaded you all to stay in Hogwarts for the holidays?"
"Because there was less supervision around over the Christmas holidays and you were convinced that we could find the Chamber of Secrets if we were left alone for long enough?" Asked James.
"Precisely." Sirius smirked. "And you know what lads? We failed. We failed catastrophically. But the point is, that was when we became a gang. That was when named ourselves the Marauders. That was when we discovered our first secret passage and snuck into Hogsmeade two years before anyone else in this year had ever been. And from then on, we decided, as friends- nay, as a family- to always spend our Christmases together. And that's why this holiday will always hold such a dear place in my heart."
"Fair enough," said Remus. "But why do you have to get us up so bloody early?"
"So we can open all of our presents and still have time to go and steal some mistletoe from the Great Hall. I think I have a real shot with Kathy Lu this year. Excellent," he added, "you're all out of bed. That means I can finally start opening my Christmas presents."
"You do realise that we could all open our presents at the same time, yes?" Peter asked.
"Tradition, Peter, tradition."
They all had a fairly good haul. Sirius received Honeydukes chocolate from Peter, a box of Zonko's goodies from Remus, several Playboy and motorbike enthusiast magazines from James- "Merlin, I love Muggle publications"- and a homemade chocolate cake from Mrs Potter. As well as getting his own chocolate cake, James mainly got given Quidditch supplies and things from Zonko's, while Peter's pile of gifts consisted almost entirely of the edible. Finally, Remus had almost opened his last present, which, despite what had been said earlier, was from Sirius.
"A Muggle book on werewolves," he said, grinning. "Brilliant. Thanks mate."
"No problem," said Sirius. "Did you know that if a werewolf comes into contact with silver he will shatter into ten thousand pieces? Page 32. Also, you can't age, so I hope you enjoy looking like a scrawny sixteen year old git forever."
"You lot want to go downstairs and get breakfast?" Suggested Peter, ignoring the book that was chucked at Sirius' head.
"Hold on," said James. "Moony's still got one left."
Sure enough, a small, strangely shaped, wrapped package was sitting at the foot of Remus' bed.
"Oh, that." Remus said quickly. "That's nothing. I mean, I know what that is. I mean, I'll open it later."
"What are you on about?" Asked Sirius.
"I'll open it this afternoon. You know, savouring it and all that. I agree with Peter, we should go to the Hall."
"Nonsense!" Sirius declared. "No man shall leave this room until each and every present has been opened. Christmas rule."
"What is that rule? That's a stupid rule. Let's just go eat," Remus said hastily, making for the door, but being blocked by a scowling Sirius.
"Well, I'm starving," James declared, "so if you don't mind Remus-."
Ignoring his friend's protests, he unwrapped the present in a single tear. Out of the shiny red wrapping paper and onto the floor poured a thousand small, circular, chocolates.
"What in Merlin's name are these?" James demanded.
"Hold on," Peter said. "I know these. These are Smarties. They're Muggle sweets; my Dad eats them sometimes."
"Who's sending you Muggle sweets?" James demanded.
"I think the more important question is, what sort of a Muggle would make chocolate into such an inconvenience? These'll take fucking days to properly clean up."
"Actually, Padfoot, generally they come in a proper packet and aren't just-."
James waved Peter's corrections off. "Who're they from?"
"Er." Remus said. "No idea! Isn't that strange? Who would send me that? Mental if you ask me. Now, about breakfast-."
"There's a card," pointed out Sirius.
James picked it up at read out loud:
Remus,
I told you I'd do it. You're lucky I'm good at charms, or they all would have melted by now. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!
Lily.
"Lily…" James trailed off thoughtfully.
"Oh Christ," Sirius muttered, staring daggers at a sheepish looking Lupin.
"Not…Lily Evans!?" James exclaimed, so loudly that Peter, who was standing next to him, winced.
"Um, well. Yeah."
"Merlin's beard, Moony, when did you start getting Christmas presents from Lily Evans?"
"We've been Prefects together for over a year, James. You knew we were mates."
"No, I knew you talked." James said excitedly. "I knew she was civil to you, but I never knew you were mates. Why'd you never tell me you were mates with Lily Evans?"
"Because, Prongs, I knew you'd act exactly like this!" Remus exploded. "You'd finally stopped asking her out every second week after The Snape Incident- something which she found bloody annoying anyway- and I knew you'd only see this as another way to get her to go out with you!"
James didn't seem to notice Lupin's anger. "This is perfect, Moony. You can be my man on the inside. You can talk me up to her, and you can find out what she thinks of me. Also, you can find out stuff that I'm doing wrong. Stuff like her not liking it when I kept asking her out, that's the kind of stuff I really need to know."
"Really? Couldn't have figured that one out on your own?" Peter muttered, making Sirius snicker.
"For God's sake, no. I am not jeopardising this friendship just so Lily will go out with your sorry arse, something which I'm not convinced will ever happen."
"Please Moony?" James begged. "I've changed since last year, you know I have. I know I was a bit of an idiot then-"
"A bit?"
"- I shouldn't have bothered her all the time, and I suppose I shouldn't have attacked Snivellus quite as much as I did. I know that now. You all know I've changed, can't you just help me prove it to her?"
There was a long pause.
"C'mon mate," Sirius said. "Help a brother out. Besides, he'll never let this go until you agree."
"Fine." Remus fumed. "I'll ask her about you once- once- to see if her opinions on you have changed."
"And you'll chuck in a few nice things about me?" James pressed.
"Only if I think the nice things are true."
"Moony," James grinned. "You're the best. Have I ever told you that you're the best?"
"Not as often as I deserve."
James laughed and clapped him on the back. And together, the Marauders departed from their bedroom, three of them exasperated, one of them hopeful.
"By the way, Remus," said James conversationally, "what were the Smarties all about?"
"Well, I s'pose we sort of have this inside joke-"
"You have inside jokes with Lily Evans!?"