Chapter two!
In spite of himself, Remus could not stop thinking about the secret identity of his mystery Santa. He had already compiled a long list of suspects along with possible alibis they might have had. He felt a little bit like Mad-Eye. Really, he was getting ahead of himself. All Remus had to go on was a tiny scrap of paper with four lines on it. Not nearly enough to justify donning the inspector's cap and beginning interrogations.
He sat on the dusty old couch in the dusty old library of Grimmauld Place, twirling the note absent mindedly between his finger tips and staring at the fire. He heard someone come in, but didn't turn around. Remus felt the couch sag slightly as Sirius plopped down next to him.
"Okay, so you're the resident expert on books" Sirius said as he shoved a thin, bright hardcover under Remus's nose. "Is this an appropriate gift?"
"'Pick up Charms for the Worldly Wizard, French Edition'? Who is this meant for?" Remus questioned.
"Bill Weasley. I got him for secret Santa"
"But why would Bill need… Oooh…" The edges of Remus's mouth twitched up into a grin as the realization hit him, "For his 'English studies student' down at Gringotts? Oh, he'll love it"
"Haha, yes" Sirius took the book back and vanished it to some hiding place, "watcha got there?"
Sirius reached over and snatched the slip of paper from Remus's fingers.
"ooh, intrigue" He says as he reads the note, "So where's your list then?"
"What?"
"You're list of suspects. I've know you since you were eleven. You love this kind of mystery stuff. I know you have a list of suspects."
"Fair enough. So far Hestia is at the top of the list. Secret Santa was her idea so she would have the sort of Christmas enthusiam required for this kind of comitment." Remus said.
"Could be, could be, but no." Sirius shook his head. "I think its Snivillus"
"Its not Snape"
"How do you know?"
"The handwriting is clearly female"
"No its not!" Sirius said. "Come on, Snape would do this kind of thing just to mess with you."
"No" Remus's eyes narrowed, "You would do this kind of thing just to mess with me."
"No"
"Its you, isn't it?"
"No! You just said yourself that its clearly a girl!"
"Yeah, but your handwriting's pretty effeminate"
"No it is not!" Sirius protested, "And besides, I just told you who I have! Why would I spend money on a gift for Bill if I had you? I'm crafty, but not that crafty"
"Good point" Remus stood up to leave. "I'll let it play out a little longer before I begin making serious accusations."
"That had better be 'serious' as in 'carried out in effort' and not 'Sirius' as in my name" Sirius chased after his friend. "Moony, its not me. Moony!"
