DISCLAIMER: This story is in no way associated with, or makes any claim to, Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or any other fandom/celebrity/anything else you may recognise. It all belongs to their respective owners. No money is being made from this story which is purely written for entertainment.
TIMELINE: Part 1 in Roads Travelled. Post BTVS season 2, and during the Marauders last year at Hogwarts.
31 October
"Remember what I said – just because I know this will probably turn into a disaster with all the Marauders here while we're trying to work, doesn't mean we have to make it easy for them. Keep an eye on every movement and don't let them out of your sight! If you see them hex something, holler, and I'll kick them out," Lily hissed in Buffy's ear as they entered the Great Hall. "James too – I don't care that he's the Head Boy. If he tries something, he is so out of here."
Halloween had reached Hogwarts at last, which meant it was time for the Prefects to decorate the Great Hall in an appropriate fashion before the feast which would take place later that evening. Unfortunately, Sirius had not forgotten Lily's promise to him that he and Peter could help out, which was why Lily brought Buffy with her, even though she wasn't a Prefect either, as back-up.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yes, Lily," she said dutifully. Lily had been warning her about the very large possibility that the Marauders would take advantage of the preparations and make their own arrangements in the form of preparation for a prank, the entire walk here.
"Hi, Lily!" James said brightly, waving down at them from the ceiling, where he was bobbing slightly in the air: Sirius was standing beneath him, a wand pointed at his friend, in order to keep him floating.
"I hope you don't mind we began early," James said. "We just want to make sure everything is absolutely perfect!" He waved his wand at several extremely realistic looking bats he'd just conjured up, which all began to fly around the hall in formatted patterns, occasionally emitting screeching noises.
Lily forced herself to smile. "That's…excellent, James. I'm so glad you're taking this seriously!" Inwardly, she was seething. Whatever the Marauders had planned…well, they'd probably already done it. "Remember...keep an eye on them," she mumbled through gritted teeth to Buffy, still smiling stiffly at James, though her left eye was twitching suspiciously.
"I take everything Siriusly!" Sirius joked, flicking his wand at James, who soared away to another place which hadn't been covered yet.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Lily mumbled, walking over to a table where Peter and Remus were carving out pumpkins. "Hi. How's everything going?"
"Everything's going great," Remus enthused. "This is actually quite fun!" He let his wand travel in a small triangular pattern over the pumpkin where he imagined the nose to be, mumbling a spell under his breath. There was a tiny flash of light, and the triangular pattern he'd been making disintegrated into nothing, leaving a hole in the perfect form of a nose.
"Oh, you have to teach me that spell!" Buffy exclaimed, pulling out her wand. "It's so much handier than using a knife and far less messy!"
"Sure!" Remus grinned. "It's easy…"
Peter rolled his eyes at Lily, wiping his brow slightly. "You want to help? While Remus is having fun 'decorating' I'm doing all the hard work of actually hollowing the pumpkins out. And, I can't just do a vanishing spell on it, because the house-elves want it for their cooking, so I have to do it all by hand." He held up his spoon, and gestured towards several bowls already filled with pumpkin-flesh standing on the table.
Lily laughed, shaking her head. "No, thanks. I'll go check and see how the other Prefects are doing. But have fun!"
"Yeah, like that's going to happen…" Peter grimaced, returning to what he'd labelled 'slave-labour.'
Grinning, Lily made her way over to Mandy, who was creating spider web in the corners. "Do you need any help?"
"Oh, do I ever!" Mandy said sounding relieved. "You're good at charms right? Could you do something to make the web stand out a little bit more, and make it a bit more realistic? As it is now, it just looks like a lot of grey thread hanging together."
"No problem," Lily said, pulling out her wand and frowning in concentration. "How about…this?" She waved her wand at the spider-web Mandy has just finished working on, and it immediately started to turn more silvery-white in appearance, even seemingly transparent in places. Small glistening drops looking like morning dew appeared on it, casting white reflections on the walls and the floor.
"That's excellent!" Mandy grinned, hugging Lily. "It was just the effect I wanted!"
"Hello, girls," Sirius said. "Can I help you with anything?" He grinned widely at Mandy, who glared, still rather angry at Sirius for the stunt he pulled at Honeydukes.
"No, thank you," she said coolly. "Lily and I have everything under control here. Don't we, Lily?" She gave the redhead a mix between a pointed and pleading glare.
"Yes, everything is going smoothly," Lily cut in. "Weren't you helping James with the bats?"
"Oh, we finished that ages ago," Sirius said.
"Then you can help Peter with the pumpkins."
"I sent James over to do that," Sirius said, to Lily's surprise. "I'd rather help you." He waggled his eyebrows in Mandy's direction.
"You know what?" Mandy said, hurriedly straightening up from the web she'd been working on. "Since it looks like Lily can make the spider webs turn out way better looking than I'll ever manage, I'll head over to the fifth-year Prefects. They seem to need some help with the actual spiders. Even if they are plastic." She hurried off.
"What's up with her?" Sirius asked and scratched his head, a confused look on his face.
Lily smirked at him, waving her wand at another web. "Well," she said, sounding amused, "it could be the fact that you acted like she was your date - not to mention property - yesterday, even though you assured her you were only going as friends."
"She can't still be mad about that, can she?" Sirius exclaimed as he made 'dew' appear on yet another web. "It was just in good fun!"
"Some people don't always agree with what you consider good fun," Lily pointed out. "If I were you, I'd grovel. A lot."
"She kneed me in the groin, isn't that enough?" Sirius exclaimed.
Lily sniggered. "She did?" She sounded delighted, green eyes sparkling with badly held back glee.
Sirius glared. "It's not funny," he grumbled. "What if there's permanent damage?"
Lily burst out laughing. "Just apologise," she said when she'd finally calmed down. "But let her cool down first. And when you beg for forgiveness, look like you actually mean it. Now come on," she said. "These webs won't finish themselves, you know."
"I'm sorry about the way I acted yesterday." Sirius gave Mandy a solemn look, walking up to her quietly after they finished, when everyone was heading back to their respective common rooms to get ready for the feast.
Mandy sighed. "Apology accepted. But…don't let it happen again. We're just friends, remember?"
"Unfortunately," Sirius muttered. "Look, Mandy, when we first agreed to be friends…I thought that was only to see whether we…clicked or not. And we do click, don't we?"
"Yes, Sirius," Mandy said tiredly. "We…click." She grimaced.
"So – now that we're friends," Sirius hurriedly added. "Why can't we move to the next level? We're friends, we're attracted to each other, and we both want to be more than buddies!"
"No, Sirius," Mandy let out a frustrated groan. "You want to be more than 'buddies,' alright! Not me! I'm happy with the way things are right now!"
"But you're not denying you're attracted to me," Sirius pointed out smugly. Mandy glared. "Aww, don't be like that!" Sirius pouted. "You said I could ask you out again after we'd been friends for awhile. So, here I am, asking!"
"It wasn't that long ago we first met, Sirius, and the short time since then is hardly enough to build a relationship on!" Mandy protested. "And what if we break up? What then? I'm pretty sure that will end our friendship, which, coincidentally, has been more about you flirting, while pretending you're not."
Sirius pulled his fingers through his hair tiredly. "But don't you get it? I don't want to be just friends, Mandy!"
"And I don't want to be your girlfriend," Mandy repeated, crossing her arms.
"Well, then I guess we have a problem," Sirius snapped, spinning around on his heel. "You know what?" he called over his shoulder as he stalked away, "you're a tease, Mandy Walker! You made me get my hopes up about having an actual relationship with someone who cares, but you were just taking advantage, because you never had any intention to let this go further than friendship to begin with!"
Mandy was left standing in the corridor, gawking at his theatrics. "I meant every word!"
"Yeah?" Sirius challenged, stomping back towards her with raised eyebrows.
"Yes!" Mandy rubbed her eyes, sighing. "Alright. Let me see if I can put this in a way you'll understand. I have...severe abandonment issues," she finished, inwardly wincing at her choice of words.
Sirius blinked; confused at the sudden turn the conversation was taking. "You have what now?"
"Abandonment issues," Mandy repeated. "Which means, I don't easily commit to people, or rather, relationships, because of stuff that have happened to me in the past. You are not my problem – I am my problem."
Sirius held up a hand, cringing. "Okay, enough. Don't give me the 'it's not you, it's me-speech.' You don't need to sooth my ego – I've given that speech enough times to know that's just a way to turn someone down gently, when you never really mean it."
"I mean it," Mandy said quietly. "Will you let me explain?"
Sirius gave her a long searching look. "Fine," he muttered.
"Alright, from what I know about you, you understand all about family issues," Mandy began. "Well, I have them too. Not in the same way, but they're there. My mother and father started out as friends, and then best friends, then boyfriend/girlfriend, and finally, husband and wife. They had my sister, and then they had me, and everything was…sunshine and roses. For a while."
She looked down at the floor.
"Then they lost their friendship, and then their relationship. And, when I turned eleven and I got my Hogwarts letter, well…I guess that was the final straw. Their marriage was over too. They filed for divorce; dad moved to France and what used to be our summer home with some tart from Paris, several years younger, whom he'd had been having an affair with for God knows how long." Mandy laughed humourlessly. "It sounds so clichéd but it's unfortunately the way it is."
"Mum…well, let's just say the bottle became her best friend. My sister, Kelly, she was sixteen at the time, practically took over responsibility for me, mum, the house and everything else. It was only when I began my fourth year that she moved to America, and I don't blame her. I stay with her every summer; the winters I spend at Hogwarts, so I never see my mother anymore, and I'm kind of grateful for that. So…do you understand?" Mandy finished gently. "Severe abandonment issues. It's not that I don't want a relationship, I do. But I'm scared. And I need more time."
Sirius took a deep breath. "Alright. I understand. I'll stop pushing. But…consider the whole me-asking-you-out-thing an open offer. Let me know when you're ready."
"You mean you're going to wait?" Mandy sounded incredulous. "You realise it may be ages before I'm ready, and you'll wait? There's more fish in the sea, Sirius, fish with far fewer issues than me!"
"Well," Sirius put his hands around his neck, smirking slightly as he walked away, backwards, not taking his eyes off of her. "Maybe I don't want just any fish," he said cocking his head, grey eyes twinkling with amusement. "I can be patient, you know. And, as cheesy as it sounds, some things are worth waiting for." And turning around, he walked away, whistling a little tune as he went, leaving Mandy standing in the corridor feeling confused, but, at the same time, strangely happy.
"Relax, Lily," Buffy drawled, putting yet another piece of pumpkin pie on her plate. "Enjoy the food! It's really yummy!"
Lily glared. "I just know they're up to something," she hissed, eyes narrowed at James and Sirius who sat a few seats down. The feast was in full swing, and everything looked perfect: The decorations were beautiful – thanks to her and the Prefects' hard work, and, as much as she loathed saying it, the Marauders had had a large hand in it too. The food looked delicious, and everyone was seemingly having a good time.
"You're far too tense, Lily," Remus said from his seat beside Buffy. "What makes you think we're up to anything?"
"It's Halloween," Lily muttered. "That's reason enough."
Buffy sniggered, putting a piece of chocolate in Remus' mouth. His eyes closed in bliss. "I love Halloween," he exclaimed with a deep sigh of satisfaction as it melted on his tongue.
Buffy grinned, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Just enjoy what's left of the evening, Lily," she advised sensibly. "If 'the Marauders' are up to something, I doubt you can do anything to stop them. Take advantage of the peace while it lasts."
Several minutes passed by, and Lily slowly let her guard drop a bit. James, Sirius and Peter were all busy with gulping down as much food they could eat, as was Remus, though he had time to fool around with a high-spirited Buffy between bites as well. Maybe nothing would happen this year?
The second that thought crossed her mind, someone by the Ravenclaw table let out a scream, followed by most of the students from the house of learning. Only moments after, shrieks and gasps came from Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Gryffindor as well.
Lily closed her eyes in defeat. She should have known better than get her hopes up. Opening her eyes, she looked down at her plate, and jumped up from her seat with a yell of frightened disgust. The food had been transfigured in what looked like eyeballs, worms that were actually wiggling, and pieces of bone from which strings of flesh still hung.
Five seconds later, she realised it had only been an illusion of some kind, as the food flickered, and returned to normal. Hesitantly, she sat back down to murmured whispers coming from the rest of the Hall.
"Didn't it look tasty, Evans?" Sirius called, chortling wildly.
"Hilarious," Lily said dryly, glaring slightly. Thinking the prank was over, she grabbed her fork to return to her food. That's when a cold gust of wind travelled through the Hall, making her feel chilled to the bone.
As she looked up, Lily noticed all the House-banners had been transformed into flags: Gryffindor's was proudly showing off a carved out pumpkin, on which the face changed expression every few seconds; Hufflepuff's flag had turned black and now sprouted long, hairy legs, all of them twitching; Ravenclaw's looked like a blood splattered sheet from which red drops were dripping, dissolving into the air just a few inches from the students' heads; and Slytherin's flag displayed two giant skeletons dancing polka.
The sound of a loud fanfare reached the students' ears and the many pumpkin heads in the hall started to flicker and glow like large golden light bulbs. The reflections coming from the 'dew' on the spider webs grew larger and brighter, illuminating the hall, and the cloth on the tables suddenly disappeared; under it you could see moving pictures play out different scenes from famous horror movies and fairytales: There was Dracula, Little Red riding Hood, Frankenstein, Cinderella and many, many more.
Suddenly, candy fell from the ceiling, being dropped down from the bats soaring above them, and there was a large tumult as everyone scrambled to catch it.
Above the Head Table, the banner on which the school motto was usually displayed had changed, so it instead showed a large stag, a black dog looking suspiciously like a Grim, and a wolf. The two canines seemed to howl at the moon, while the stag looked as though it was keeping watch over them all. If you looked closely, and paid attention to detail, you could even see a rat scurry around on the stag's antlers.
Fireworks in red, gold, green, silver, blue, bronze, black and yellow, exploded in the air, forming the sentence: 'WITH THE FOLLOWING SPARKLING WORDS OF WISDOM, MESSRS. MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT AND PRONGS PROUDLY CONCLUDES THEIR HALLOWEEN PRANK OF THE YEAR.'
There was a short pause, and then the words reshaped themselves into a new message.
'MR PADFOOT WOULD LIKE TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAKE LOVE; NOT WAR!'
'MR PRONGS AGREES WITH MR PADFOOT BUT WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ADD THAT LILY EVANS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE MULTIVERSE.'
'MR WORMTAIL THINKS MR PRONGS AND MR PADFOOT ARE BOTH INSANE, BUT INTELLIGENCE IS OVERRATED AND MADNESS IS THE SIGN OF A TRUE GENIUS.'
'MR MOONY WISHES YOU ALL A HAPPY HALLOWEEN, AND IMPLORES YOU TO NOT EAT THE BAT-CANDY UNLESS YOU WANT TO SPEND THE NEXT TWO HOURS AS GIANT FLOATING BLACK MAMMALS.'
The message dissolved into thin air, and applause, wolf-whistles and cat-calls rang out in appreciation for the Marauders' latest joke. That is, until the last message sank in for those who had, in fact, already had a taste of the candy and did not hold this latest development in high esteem.
Lily was sitting in her seat, beetred in the face, glaring at James, who just grinned charmingly, only to lose his smile as McGonagall came stalking over to them.
"Hi, Professor McG," Sirius said, waving cheerily.
"Mr Black." She was doing her best to look stern, but was failing miserably. "Mr Potter, Mr Lupin and Mr Pettigrew. While I do not approve of pranks, I have to say that this time, it was far more mature and entertaining than your usual stunts, and a lot less harmful and humiliating, though I obviously did not enjoy the disgusting illusion on my food."
Four jaws dropped.
"Well," James mused out loud, once he'd recovered from the shock. "It was rather stylish and classy overall, don't you agree?"
"I do," Professor McGonagall said. "To a point, I suppose."
"Good enough to avoid punishment?" Sirius asked brightly.
"No," Professor McGonagall said. Sirius' face fell. "Forty points from Gryffindor…and twenty points to Gryffindor, for imaginative and creative spell work." And with a smile, she returned to the Head Table, leaving four bewildered students behind, wondering what had just happened.
"Hey, Lily," James said, after waking himself up from his stupor, waving with a piece of bat-candy. "Do you want to come along for some flying?"
Lily gave him an incredulous look. "You actually think I'm going to turn myself into a bat on purpose?"
"Why not?" James said. "It could be fun!"
"No way!" Lily said, crossing her arms. "Forget it!"
James shrugged. "Suit yourself. Sirius, you're going, right?"
"Of course!" Sirius exclaimed. "I'm a creature of the night! Not to mention, flying without a broom! Bloody brilliant, if I may say so!" He swallowed a piece of the bat candy and stood up, heading over to the Ravenclaw table, presumably to ask Mandy to come along.
Remus and Buffy grinned at each other, and, as one, took a piece of candy each, swallowing it and heading out of the Great Hall, hand in hand. They were followed by Peter, Sirius – who, it, seemed, had managed to convince Mandy with no trouble, James, and several other students, who had all taken the candy - some voluntarily, even when knowing the side effects, and some, who had taken it before 'Moony's message' was revealed and now had to deal with the consequences, whether they wanted to or not.
For several seconds, Lily sat completely still, watching a scene at the table which showed Snow White taking a bite from the cursed apple. Making up her mind, she grabbed a piece of candy and stood, practically running to catch up with her friends. "Hey, wait up!"
Buffy and Remus stumbled into an empty common room, laughing uproariously, there candy having worn off. "That was a blast!" Buffy exclaimed, grinning like an idiot and sinking down on the sofa by the fire. "I don't think I've had that much in ages! Did you see Lily's face as she transformed? Classic!"
Remus grinned back. "Yeah, it was quite fun."
"Hey, I was wondering," Buffy said thoughtfully, "when you become a werewolf, how does that feel? Is it anything like what this felt like?"
Remus smile slipped of his face, his expression darkening. Buffy immediately regretted asking. "No," Remus mumbled. "Nothing like this. I think this was more in the lines of what an Animagus transformation would feel like, except forced, of course."
An awkward silence fell between them, only to be broken every few seconds as more and more Gryffindors returned from their 'bat-adventure.'
"Hey, guys!" James exclaimed, an arm around Lily's shoulders. While the Head Girl looked slightly flushed, it didn't seem like she minded James' closeness. In fact, Buffy noted with a raise of an eyebrow, the redhead looked rather pleased. "Aren't you going to head off to bed?"
"Yeah, soon," Buffy answered, casting a quick glance at the boy beside her, who was staring morosely into the fire. "I'll be up in a few minutes."
"Alright," Lily said, shrugging away James' arm – looking rather disappointed – and headed towards the stairs. "Goodnight, James," she said with a smile. "I had…fun."
James let out a sigh of bliss, grinning like an idiot and squealing like a girl the minute Lily disappeared into her dormitory. "I'm making progress!" He exclaimed, messing up his hair and turning to Sirius and Peter who had both just entered through the portrait whole. "I swear, before the end of the year, Lily will be mine!"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah…" He headed up the boy's staircase, followed by Peter, and James, still rambling:
"…She was smiling at me! And she said she had fun! We did have fun, didn't we? And even as a bat, she was the cutest girl there - "
Buffy let out a snort as the door to the boys' dormitory swung close, shutting out the sounds of James' rant. "Oh, boy. How long do you think he'll keep going?"
"Knowing Prongs," Remus said absently, still staring into the fire, "he'll be going at it all night. Thank Merlin for silencing charms."
There was a few seconds of more silence, before Remus spoke up again. "Becoming Moony," he said softly, so quietly that even Buffy with her supreme hearing had trouble catching it, "is painful. And that's an understatement."
"You don't have to – " Buffy began only to be interrupted by Remus holding up a hand.
"No. You asked," he said. "And…I think I want you to know." Looking down at his feet, he spoke up again. "It's like…millions of sharp needles piercing your skin everywhere at once. And that's just when you begin to feel the change. After that…it's so…agonising. I can't even describe it. It's…mind-blowing. You can't think, or move, or talk, or even cry. You just…I just…scream. A lot." He laughed mirthlessly.
"The change only takes a few seconds, but it feels like forever. It's torture. Bones breaking, reshaping and reattaching themselves…Muscles changing, skin being stretched to infinity and beyond…your senses becoming sharper; a sudden thirst for blood…and then…nothing. I'm not there anymore. All that's left is the wolf."
He looked up, staring Buffy straight in the eyes. "That second…right before I become…something else…is perfectly clear. Right after that…feral and crazed need for flesh - that's the only moment during the entire transformation that I'm completely aware of everything. And every month – the only thought slipping through my mind each time that happens, is fear. I'm terrified, and I'm begging whoever's out there, that when I wake up - when I return to myself; I won't have killed – or worse – bitten - anyone."
Buffy didn't know what to say. She'd had no idea. Had she even really wanted to know what it was like? When Oz transformed, back in Sunnydale, it had seemed nothing like what Remus had just described. Oz didn't even scream, and the entire change seemed…smooth. Maybe it was different here? So many other things were.
Shuddering, she leaned her forehead against Remus'. "I'm sorry," she whispered, not knowing what else to do. What could you do? Nothing she said would change what Remus went through every month. It was a miracle he wasn't insane. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close. Remus returned her embrace, burying his face in her hair, inhaling her scent. It was calming.
"We should probably head off to bed," he muttered, pulling away from Buffy's hug reluctantly.
"Yeah," Buffy agreed, squeezing his hand and standing up, heading for the girls' staircase.
"I love you," Remus suddenly blurted out, as Buffy reached the top of the stairs. Ducking her head shyly, she turned to look at Remus, still sitting by the fire, smiling, biting her lip and blushing slightly. She wasn't ready to say it back. Not yet…they'd only been together for less than a week…but maybe sooner than she'd thought she would. Remus was smiling back, eyes gentle, seemingly understanding without words. "I just wanted you to know," he mumbled softly. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Buffy echoed.
2 November
The Gryffindor common room had been filled with colourful banners, balloons, swirling streamers and balls of light in red and gold were bopping in the air. A table had been expanded beneath the window, and on it were several bowls of candy, bottles of Butterbeer and Firewhisky, and in the middle a huge cake on which you could read in black icing (with a taste of liquorice); 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIRIUS! 18 YEARS TODAY!'
The birthday boy in question was sitting in the middle of the floor, surrounded by several funny wrapped presents, wearing a red and gold party hat, grinning at the gift he'd just opened from James.
"Dungbombs! Thanks, mate! I used up my last one not too long ago!"
"It's stronger than usual," James informed him. "Zonko's have been experimenting and these are prototypes they threw away. It corrodes on its surroundings if you use enough of it, so they couldn't get permission to sell it because it was deemed too dangerous."
"Wicked!" Sirius exclaimed, a gleam in his eyes as he hugged the package of dungbombs towards his chest as though it was the most precious thing in the world. "How ever did you get them?"
James smiled (in what he hoped was a mysterious way, but the truth is, it only looked smug). "I have my ways."
Lily rolled her eyes, knowing that, as Head Girl, she should confiscate those – and, as Head Boy, James really shouldn't have brought them to Hogwarts at all. And since they were illegal to sell he probably wasn't allowed to be in possession of them in the first place. But it was Sirius' birthday…and, as reckless as the Marauders tended to be, she didn't think they'd put anyone in danger. So, she sighed and decided to pretend she hadn't seen them.
"Open my present next," Remus said, perhaps sensing Lily's dilemma.
"A book, Moony?" Sirius asked, voice filled with humour as he unwrapped the gift. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Not just any book. I think you'll actually enjoy this one," Remus stated, smirking slightly.
"1001 tricks even the most moronic dog can learn," Sirius read. "Wow, thanks, Moony," he said dryly. "I feel so loved."
The others sniggered, except Mandy, who simply looked confused. "I don't get it. Do you have dog, Sirius?"
"Ah, no, not exactly," Sirius said. "It's an inside joke of sorts."
"Oh." Mandy bit her lip. It wasn't the first time she felt a bit like an outsider – the Marauders had known each other forever, and Lily and Buffy both seemed to fit in without any trouble. For Mandy, it was slightly harder to connect – at least with the guys. Maybe it was because she was a year younger, or maybe because she was a Ravenclaw. But then again, she hadn't hung out with them very long.
"Next present!" Sirius exclaimed. "Buffy, darling, do you have something for me?"
Buffy threw him a present wrapped in last week's Daily Prophet. "I didn't have any wrapping paper. Sorry."
"It's fine! It's the inside that counts," he winked at her, tearing apart the paper and holding up a large black t-shirt. On the front you could read 'I'm a bad role-model and an insatiable dog in bed…' in large golden letters. "Thanks!" Sirius grinned happily. The Marauders, Lily, Mandy and Buffy all sniggered and Sirius stared at them in bewilderment. "What?"
"Look at the back," Buffy prompted, still sniggering.
Shrugging, Sirius turned the t-shirt around and mock-scowled at his friends as he read what it said: '…for the sake of the world, have me neutered.' "Oh, ha, ha. You're hilarious." He sniffed. "I think I need something kind after this. Wormtail, hand yours over!"
Peter gave him a badly wrapped present. "I didn't know what to get you," he said sheepishly, shrugging. "Hope you're not too disappointed."
"It's fine," Sirius said as he held up the package of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans. "You can never have too much of Bertie." To emphasise his point, he took an entire hand full of beans and threw it into his mouth, and immediately turned green as the many different – not to mention strange - flavours overwhelmed his taste buds. "Water!" He managed to choke out as he fanned himself with his hand, his eyes tearing up.
"You're such an idiot," Remus muttered, opening a Butterbeer and giving it to the black-haired birthday child, who gulped it down gratefully.
"But a sexy one," Sirius, who had now recovered, added while winking at Mandy who snorted and gave him her present.
"Here. I didn't know what to get you either, but I hope you like it anyway."
Tearing into the paper like a child on Christmas, Sirius grinned widely, as he saw what was inside. "A leather jacket! Wicked cool!" He exclaimed, holding up the jacket, in worn out black leather. "I've always wanted one of these…" He stroked the fabric carefully, eyes shining. "If it wasn't for the fact that you'd hit me, I'd kiss you!" He told Mandy, whose lips twitched in amusement.
"Aren't those very expensive?" Buffy wondered, remembering she'd seen one while she'd been shopping with Willow in Sunnydale, and had left the mall in distress and inner torment because she didn't have enough money.
"Sort of," Mandy said. "But I found that one on second-hand. It was an impulse buy of mine, and not at all my style. And it's way too large for me, though I suppose I could have shrunk it if I really wanted to use it. But it's just been gathering dust at the bottom at my trunk. I thought Sirius might appreciate it more."
"You've got that right!" Sirius exclaimed, still grinning. "Well, I think I only have one left…Lily-kins, give me my present!"
"I've asked you not to call me that!" Lily exclaimed. "If it happens again, I'll hex you."
"Alright, alright," Sirius said, grabbing the gift from the redhead. He smirked. "Lily-kins."
Lily's eyes shot lightning and she made a motion to grab her wand, only to find it wasn't there. Looking around in anger, her eyes fell on Buffy, who held it almost teasingly, out of her reach.
"I'll give it to you when you calm down," she said. Lily lunged towards her, but Buffy, with her Slayer reflexes and strength, easily managed to hold her off, and Lily had to find herself defeated. Crossing her arms and pouting, she sat back down, regarding Sirius who was staring at Lily's gift in confusion.
"Eh…what is this?" He held up a colourful cube, seemingly put together from several small ones.
"It's a Magic Cube," Lily explained. "It's a mechanical Muggle puzzle of sorts."
"Muggle?" Sirius looked confused. "If it's Muggle, how can it be magical?"
"It's just a name, Sirius," Mandy said. "I have one of those – they're an excellent way to pass time, but very frustrating. I've managed to solve it once – though it was only through pure luck."
"Through pure luck?" Lily looked surprised. "You mean you haven't figured out the basic algorithms that solves it yet? It's actually very simple…"
"Really?" Mandy looked interested. "You'll have to show me."
"Hello?" Sirius waved a hand in front of their faces. "The confused birthday child here, trying to make contact! What are you talking about?" He gave the Magic Cube a look of distrust. "I'm failing to see what's so great about this…"
"Well, see all the smaller cubes and all the colours?" Buffy said, grabbing the cube and demonstrating, mixing the different colours. "By twisting and rotating them in different directions, you're supposed to put them together so that, for example, all green coloured cubes are on one side of the cube, all white on the other and so on, until all sides are covered in different colours like it was from the beginning."
Sirius blinked. "Oh." He shrugged arrogantly. "Well, it can't be that hard!" He grabbed the cube from Buffy and started to twist. His frown deepened. And deepened. And deepened some more as he glared at the cube. "I think it's damaged or something," he pouted and shook it.
Mandy sniggered. "I told you it was frustrating."
Now when all the presents had been opened, the rest of the Gryffindors joined in the actual party. The cake was eaten (and thrown), balloons were popped and music played on the highest volume on the Wizarding Wireless. Firewhisky and Butterbeer were gulped down in heaps until early in the morning hours (though they had quite a scare when McGonagall appeared in the room a few minutes before midnight and everyone had quite the trouble hiding the alcohol and their states of inebriation) when most of the guests finally succumbed to sleep.
Published: 02/06 -09
Edited: 30/08 -13
