Sunday, December 18, 1977
A sliver of light peeked through an opening in the curtains, and Mary squeezed her eyes shut to block it out, but it was no use. Sighing, she slipped out of bed and wrapped a blanket around herself before padding across the floor to the bathroom. When she returned, she observed Sirius for a moment, smiling to herself at his habit of poking his feet out the side of the duvet and taking up most of the bed. There was something so comforting and familiar about returning to his bed, and she reached out and tugged the curtains shut before settling back against her pillow and falling asleep listening to the sound of Sirius's slow breathing. She awoke again a short time later to find the curtains letting light in again. Frowning, she attempted to shut them again, but before she could snap them shut, they were pulled aside to reveal James's cheerful face standing beside the bed and grinning down at them.
"Morning, Macdonald," he said, giving her an excited little wave. "Morning, Padfoot."
Sirius opened his eyes and scowled at James before pulling the blankets all the way over his head.
"It's too bloody early for that cheerful Prongs bullshit," he said, his voice muffled by the blankets.
"I told you not to wake them up," Lily said, coming to stand beside James. "I'm surprised he didn't threaten to hex you."
"It's not too late," Sirius said, sticking his hand out of the blanket to shoot James a rude hand gesture.
James ignored Sirius and leaned against the side of his bed. "I was too excited to wait," he said. "I wanted to congratulate you two, since you were a bit busy last night." He poked the Sirius-shaped lump under the duvet and added, "We brought you breakfast so you don't have to waste precious shagging time walking all the way to the Great Hall."
Sirius emerged from under the blankets and selected a piece of bacon from the plate of food James had set on his bedside table. As he chewed, his expression became slightly less surly.
"That was nice of you," he said, offering the plate to Mary.
"Breakfast was my idea," Lily said, a note of pride in her voice.
"Was lending Macdonald that dress also your idea?" Sirius asked through a mouthful of toast.
"No, that was my idea," Mary said, pouring herself a mug of coffee from the thermos James and Lily had brought. "Lily didn't actually think it was going to fit."
"Evans, you have no imagination," Sirius said, shaking his head in dismay.
"Is it safe to come in, or have you already started shagging again?" Remus asked, peeking his head in the door and chancing a tentative glance at Sirius's bed.
"It's relatively safe, although you may want to toss me a t-shirt or something, because I'm not wearing anything under here, and there's no chance of me getting that dress back on," Mary said with a rueful smile as Remus and Peter both stepped into the room. She gestured at the discarded heap of slinky red fabric by the foot of the bed, then pulled the blankets tighter around herself.
"Mary, you said you wouldn't rip it," Lily complained as she bent to examine the ruined dress.
Mary waved a hand dismissively. "Technically it was Black who ripped it. And I dunno why you're so fussed about it. You were never going to wear it, and I looked fantastic in it."
"Yeah you did," Sirius said with a smirk, handing over the t-shirt Remus had retrieved from his trunk.
"Did you tell them what happened after they left the party?" Peter asked, an eager grin on his face as he sat down on the edge of James's bed.
"I was getting there, Pete," James said, taking a seat beside him. "Right, so as you were running out, Stacy Tremblay started crying and kicked the drinks table out of anger, which wasn't productive at all because she hurt her foot and ended up knocking over several glasses."
"And guess who she ended up leaving with?" Lily cut in. "Just guess."
"I dunno," Sirius said, shrugging. "Jeffrey Broadmoor's dad?"
"What? No." Lily frowned and shook her head. "Bertie Botts!"
Sirius tilted his head to look at her. "Who?"
"Bertram Aubrey," James explained. "Keep up, Padfoot."
"Disgusting," Mary said, emerging from under the blankets after pulling the t-shirt over her head. "I always knew Tremblay had terrible taste." She glanced sideways at Sirius and grinned.
"Well that's bloody rude," Sirius said. "And to think I was going to offer you the last piece of bacon." He plucked the piece of bacon from the plate and ate half of it, looking at Mary and chewing with exaggerated enjoyment before turning his attention back to Lily and James. "Did Eddie Edgecombe cry and kick something, too?"
"No, he was a good sport about the whole thing. He even laughed when you stole the champagne bottle," Lily said.
"He spent the rest of the night talking to Kevin Broadmoor, actually. Anyway, he didn't seem upset at all. Sorry about that, Mary." he said, flashing her an apologetic smile.
Mary shrugged and took a piece of toast from the plate. "Don't be sorry. He's a decent person, and I don't want him to be upset."
"Yeah, it's not his fault he's mediocre at sex," Sirius added, grinning.
"I never said-" Mary began.
"You forgot to tell them the best part," Remus said, giving James a pointed look.
"Oh, right. So, Rosie Roberts and Seven and her date had all just gotten to the party about five minutes before you two caused your big scene and left," James said. He went to his trunk and returned with a Snitch, then began to release it and snatch it out of the air as he spoke. "And then you two ran out of there half-naked with a stolen bottle of champagne, laughing your heads off, and I swear Rosie Roberts looked at you and said, 'Those two have the right idea. I wish I had the gobstones to do that.'"
"What about the other bit?" Peter insisted.
Lily blushed, but James grinned and said, "Oh, yeah. Evans told me she loves me, so I decided the only way to say it back properly was to take the microphone from the band and tell the entire party."
"That's sweet, in a James Potter sort of way," Mary said, thinking of how difficult it had been for Sirius to say the same thing aloud just once, and marveling at the difference between the two friends.
"In a sentimental sod sort of way, you mean," Sirius said. "Merlin, I can't believe we missed that."
"Oh, and McGonagall wanted me to give you these," Lily said, pulling two pieces of parchment from her pocket and handing them to Mary and Sirius.
"I've got to do four nights of detention when I get back after the holidays," Mary said after scanning her note and tossing it aside.
"Well that's not fair," Sirius said, glowering down at his own parchment. "I've got to do five nights!"
Mary peered over his shoulder to read the note in his hand and giggled. "The disappointment and exasperation comes through a lot more in your note." Her voice took on a prim tone as she began to read. "'Professor Slughorn has just informed me about your reprehensible behavior at his party, and frankly I'm appalled and embarrassed but not surprised that you would conduct yourself in such a manner. Please report for detention, blah blah…" Mary skipped to the end, stifling her laughter as she read, "'...sincerely, Professor McGonagall. P.S. A bathroom? Really, Black? You've got to be kidding me.'"
Sirius grinned and draped an arm around Mary. "Sorry, Minnie. Not kidding." He flattened out the parchment and set it on his bedside table. "This is excellent. I think I'm going to frame this."
"She's not making you serve detention on Christmas, is she?" Peter asked, looking worried. His expression told Mary that he had not yet told all of his friends that he would be going home for Christmas. She looked over at him and gave him an encouraging smile, but she wasn't sure he had noticed.
"Nah, my last night is the 23rd," Sirius said. "Don't worry, you'll all be stuck with me for Christmas Eve and Christmas." He glanced sideways at Mary and his smile faltered as he added, "Well, except for Macdonald. But I was thinking maybe we could get drunk and send her a Howler like we did for Moony last summer? Just so, you know, she doesn't miss us too much."
"So are you two-" Lily began, narrowing her eyes as she watched the exchange between Mary and Sirius, but before she could finish her question, Peter spoke over her.
"I'm going home for Christmas," he blurted, his voice jarringly loud and wrong for the casual, easy tone of the conversation.
James stared at him, running a hand through his hair and letting the Snitch fly out of reach. "What?" he asked, frowning.
"I'm sorry, I meant to tell all of you ages ago, but there always seemed to be something more
important going on, so I kept putting it off…" He stared down at his lap and fiddled.
with his watch, unable to look anyone in the eye. "I want to stay, I just couldn't let my mum be alone for Christmas."
Nobody spoke for a moment, then James laughed and said, "It's all right, Pete, we understand.
Did you really think we'd be upset? Look, Moony doesn't mind, do you, Moony?" He glanced over at Remus, then tilted his head to the side and studied his friend's expression. "Hang on, Moony already knew, didn't he?"
"He only told me last night," Remus said, an apologetic smile on his face. "But obviously I don't mind. I didn't expect any of you to stay. And Wormtail has agreed to get Padfoot's Christmas present for me, so it all works out for everyone."
"Ooh, what's my Christmas present?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows at Remus. "Is it edible? Is it a second ukulele? It better not be a damn jumper."
Remus rolled his eyes. "It's none of those, and quit guessing. I'm not telling you."
Lily wrapped her arms around Peter and kissed him on the cheek. "You're a good person, Peter Penelope Pettigrew. We could never be mad at you."
"I wouldn't go that far. You've heard him snore, Evans," Sirius said, giving Peter a pointed look before his face softened. "Seriously, though, mate, we don't mind. If Moony isn't upset, why would we be? Except now who's going to beat me at chess, because we all know that's an essential part of Moony's recovery?"
"I think I can beat you," Lily offered.
James and Sirius exchanged a dubious look.
"Good luck with that, Evans," Sirius said, setting the empty plate down on his bedside table. "You're worse than I am. Anyway, you lot better clear out, and bring anything you need for the day, because the room is going to be unavailable unless you want to see us shagging. I mean it - no interruptions."
Mary giggled and rolled her eyes, but she didn't argue, partly because it was pointless to try to change Sirius's mind when he was in this sort of mood, but also because she had been waiting for them to leave for the past five minutes.
"Want me to get the door for you?" Sirius asked, beginning to rise from the bed.
"That's all right," James said, jumping up from his seat and gesturing for Sirius to sit back down. "I assume you're not wearing anything."
"You assumed correctly," Sirius said, grinning.
"All right, we'll leave, but be ready for fully-clothed activities by seven o'clock," James said, checking his watch. "That gives you plenty of time."
"What are the fully-clothed activities?" Mary asked. "Please tell me we're writing apology notes to Slughorn."
"I'm not doing that!" Sirius protested. "That was the most exciting Slughorn's Christmas party has ever been, probably. We did him a favor, honestly."
"We're not writing apology notes," James said, a touch of impatience in his voice. "We're getting drunk for Peter's birthday, since he won't be here for his actual birthday."
"Don't worry, I'm going to take him out and get him drunk on his actual birthday," Mary assured them, grinning.
"All right, I suppose I can put my clothes on for that," Sirius said with a shrug. "But only if you all clear out now."
Once they had all filed out and James had glanced back over his shoulder to wink at them, Sirius turned to Mary and tugged her shirt over her head.
"Merlin, I've missed you," he said, sitting back to admire her. The naked affection on his face surprised her, so she stopped attempting to contain her wild tangle of hair and looked back at him, feeling slightly self-conscious.
"Did you miss talking to me and spending time with me and falling asleep with me and all that other sentimental rubbish, or did you miss this?" She gestured at her exposed skin and smirked.
"Little bit of both," Sirius said, leaning in to brush her hair out of her face and kiss her.
"I've missed you too," she murmured before wrapping her arms around him and settling in to make up for lost time.
"I feel a bit bad for leaving Peter," Lily admitted as she strolled along the corridor beside James and Remus on the way to the prefects' secret Santa exchange.
"Nah, he's fine," James said as he thought about his secret Santa gift, already nestled under the tree. It was covered in silver and gold wrapping paper that flashed and sparkled in the light. As an added bonus, when shaken the box played "Jingle Bells." "You're fine, right Pete?"
He directed this comment to his pocket, where the two-way mirror had been activated so that Peter could listen to Snape's reaction when he opened his Christmas gift.
"I'm fine," said Peter's voice, issuing faintly from James's pocket. "It was a good idea, bringing the mirror."
When they reached the prefects' meeting room, the three of them filed in to join the prefects who had already arrived. The room had been decorated until there wasn't an inch of surface that wasn't covered in bows or garlands or fairy lights, and James took a moment to admire his handiwork. In the corner of the room, a Christmas tree stood, bearing baubles that bore the faces of every single prefect. Bertram Aubrey bent to examine one of the ornaments and pulled his hand away as if he had touched something disgusting.
"Potter, why does this ornament have your face on it?" he demanded.
"There's one for everyone, Bertalicious." James pointed at an ornament near the top of the tree. "Look, that one up there has your face on it. I figured everyone could take them home."
Aubrey raised his eyebrows, clearly wondering why anyone would want an ornament with their face on it, but he returned the ornament to the tree without comment.
"Right, if you followed my directions, all the gifts should be under the tree, labeled with the recipient's name. If you want to reveal yourself, feel free, or you can keep it a secret. Does someone want to go first?"
One by one the prefects opened their parcels, and almost everyone was delighted with the choice of gift. Stacy Tremblay was so thrilled with the book on goblin rebellions Lily had picked out that for a moment James thought she was going to hug her. Bertram Aubrey was the exception: he scowled and turned an accusatory glare on Remus when he tore open the giant box of Bertie Botts.
"Potter put you up to this, didn't he?" he muttered. "Because of the stupid bloody nickname he's given me."
Remus looked from James to Aubrey, eyes wide. "No, he didn't, I swear. I just thought you'd like these, and you said your favorite candy is licorice wands but they were all out!"
"Let's have the next person open a present," James said, stifling laughter.
As Donald Fawcett opened a new deck of Exploding Snap cards, James nudged Remus and whispered, "That was bloody hilarious."
"I honestly didn't mean anything by it," Remus insisted under his breath.
James grinned. "I know, that's partly why it's so funny." Soft laughter issued from James's pocket, and he added, "Shh, Wormtail. I know it's hilarious, but people are going to think I'm mad if my pocket starts giggling."
"I'm not giggling," Peter protested, but he fell silent as Lily proceeded to open a book on potions and a box of Bertie Botts.
"See, that's how a normal person reacts to getting a normal gift," Remus muttered as Lily beamed and thanked Fawley.
He cheered up when he opened his own gift, an assortment of Honeydukes chocolate bars. James was also pleased with his gift, a Ballycastle Bats poster from one of the sixth year Ravenclaw prefects. Finally, the only gift remaining under the tree was Snape's. He approached it with trepidation and picked it up gingerly as if afraid it might explode.
"What is it?" he demanded.
"You'll have to open it to find out, Sevadoodle," James said patiently. "Or you could give it a shake if you want to try guessing first."
Snape gave the parcel a gentle shake, and the tinny sound of "Jingle Bells" filled the room.
"That's a bit tacky," he said, wrinkling his nose in disgust and trying in vain to silence the package.
"Oh, I agree," James said, assuming an air of disapproval. "So tacky."
Snape raised his eyebrows, unaccustomed to hearing James agree with him, and began to unwrap the gift. When he reached into the box and pulled out the first pair of socks, his eyes widened in horror and he shoved them out of sight. James just had time to note that they were the unicorn socks Lily had chosen.
"Who gave me this?" Snape asked, a note of accusation in his voice as he glared around at everyone.
"Is there a name on it?" James asked, peering at the discarded wrapping paper to find the gift tag. "Hmmm… 'To Severus, from your secret Santa.' Sorry, mate. Looks like they wanted to remain anonymous." He raised his eyebrows and tried to peek into the box, but Snape snatched it out of view. "What did they get you?"
"Socks," Snape spat, his voice barely audible.
"That's a bit random," James said, frowning. "Unless... Did you write on the questionnaire that you wanted socks?"
Snape's scowl deepened. "Yes," he said, his face reddening.
"Well then, that sounds like a thoughtful gift to me," James said with a shrug. "So why are you making that 'I'd like to use Unforgiveables on all you tossers' face?"
"Because they're not the sort of socks I wear," Snape muttered, and James had to lean closer to make out his words.
"How do you know when you haven't even looked at them properly?" James said. "Everyone, don't you think he should show us his gift?"
There were various murmurs of assent, but Snape shook his head and tightened his grip on the box.
"I don't think-" he began, but before he could finish his sentence, James darted forward and snatched it out of his hand.
"It's part of the fun of secret Santa, Sevvy-wevvy," James said, grinning as he pulled out the first pair of socks. "What's wrong with these? Unicorns are very majestic creatures. I'd be proud to wear them on my feet." He held up the two pairs of Christmas socks, but Snape shook his head and glared down at the ground.
"I don't like snowmen," he muttered. "And I don't like dogs."
James raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What's an innocent snowman or a cute little dog ever done to you?" He pulled out the last pair of socks, the seemingly plain black pair, and Snape gave a grudging shrug.
"Those are all right, I suppose," he said. "But I'm not wearing the other ones."
"Well, hopefully you haven't offended your secret Santa by rejecting 75% of your gift," James said, giving a tiny, sanctimonious shake of his head. "But hang on to all of them anyway, in case you change your mind. I think you'd look lovely in those unicorn ones."
He pressed the box back into Snape's hands, grinning at his slightly shocked expression, and addressed the group.
"Make sure you eat the snacks I made for you. And by made, I mean I nicked them from the kitchens…"
Remus walked along the corridor beside Seven, his gift for her clutched in his hand. He had been looking forward to exchanging gifts with her since he had bought her presents in Hogsmeade, but now he felt a sudden stab of doubt. What if she doesn't like it? I should have put more thought into getting her a more original gift…
"I can't believe you still got me a gift after what you did for me, arranging that meeting with Rosie," she said, turning to him with a wide smile on her face.
Remus noticed she said 'Rosie' with a touch of self-consciousness, as though she was uncomfortable with being on first name terms with one of her Quidditch idols.
"Of course I got you a gift. You've got to have something to unwrap," Remus said, holding aside the tapestry for her and following her into the reading spot.
The cozy space was even more cramped than usual, and Remus smiled when he saw the tiny Christmas tree in the corner beside the pile of cushions.
"I thought it would make it more festive in here," she explained as she took a seat in the cushions in front of the tree and Remus sat down beside her. "Do you want your best present first or last?"
"Last," Remus said without hesitation. "You?"
"Same," she said, handing him a gift. "Want to open them at the same time?"
"Sure."
He handed her a box of roughly the same size and weight, then began to tear the wrapping paper from his own parcel. When they both pulled jumpers from the boxes, they looked at each other and laughed.
"Great minds think alike, I guess," Seven said
"But do you like it?" Remus asked, once again anxious over his gift choices. "I obviously love mine, but if it's not really your style…"
"Don't be silly, I love it," she said, pulling her shirt over her head and replacing it with the new jumper. "How do I look?"
Remus breathed a sigh of relief. "Adorable," he said as a smile spread across his face.
"Put yours on, too," she urged. "I want to see if it fits."
"I'm sure it will fit just fine," he said with an evasive smile. "I'll wear it tomorrow."
"Come on, Remus, try it on."
Before he had time to refuse again, she pulled her wand from her back pocket and turned out the lights, so the little room was dark except for the warm glow of the Christmas tree. For a moment, Remus stood frozen in the darkness, the jumper forgotten in his hands. He still hated her to see him without clothes, and she understood this although he had never discussed it. Turning out the lights was such a small gesture, yet he felt absurdly grateful. With a sigh of resignation and a renewed appreciation for Seven, he removed his cardigan and pulled on the jumper Seven had given him.
"All right, what do you think?" he asked, and she flicked the lights back on and grinned at him.
"It's perfect," she said, nodding in approval.
"Should we open the other part of the gift together as well?" he asked.
Seven nodded and handed him a heavier package that felt a lot like a book. When he handed her the package containing the illustrated book on Dark Creatures, she examined it and smiled.
"Do we both consider a book to be saving the best for last?" she asked, eyebrows raised.
"Open it and see," he said, waiting for her to begin unwrapping before he did the same.
When he tore the last bit of wrapping paper off to reveal the book, for a moment he was so busy admiring his gift that he forgot to watch for Seven's reaction. She had given him one of the most beautiful books he had ever seen, an illustrated copy of The Hobbit that she must have obtained from a muggle bookstore somehow. He turned the pages slowly, admiring the exquisite detail of the drawings and the built-in ribbon bookmark that would eliminate the need for any page-folding.
"This is the nicest book I've ever owned," Seven said, eyes wide with wonder as she unknowingly echoed Remus's own thoughts.
"You like it, then?" Remus asked. He tore his eyes from his own book to look up at her, and he felt his smile widen as he took in the pure joy on her face. "I was hoping you might let me read it someday. But if you don't want just anyone borrowing it, I understand."
"Of course you can borrow it." She shook her head in amusement. "You're not just anyone. You take better care of your books than anyone else in the school, probably."
Remus grinned and shook his head. "No, that's gotta be Madam Pince. I'm probably a close second, though."
His eyes returned to the book in his hand as he traced the raised gold letters on the front cover. He was already picturing it in a place of honor beside his other favorite books when Seven placed her hand on his arm and called his attention back to their current surroundings.
"Do you like it?" she asked, eying The Hobbit and tugging on the end of her braid. "It felt a bit silly, since you already own a copy, but it's just so pretty…"
She ran the end of the ribbon bookmark between her fingers, an uncertain smile on her lips.
"It's almost too pretty to read," Remus agreed. "But there's no way I'm not going to read it. Not that I don't love my old copy," he added hastily. "Because I do, especially now that it has all your margin notes. But I love this one for different reasons…" His voice trailed off as he tried to put his thoughts into words.
"I know what you mean," she said, grinning. "I have four different copies of my favorite book. You want different copies for different situations, and then it's always good to have at least one backup, just in case."
The passion and enthusiasm that lit up her face whenever she discussed books always made Remus feel an overwhelming urge to hug her, and also a slight sense of self-consciousness because he suspected he made a similar face when he discussed a book he enjoyed.
"I'm glad we agree on the important things," he said, nodding at the book now resting on the pillow beside him. "Although, do you reckon it's cute or embarrassing that we got each other almost identical Christmas gifts?"
She pretended to consider the matter. "Definitely cute," she said after a moment. "Books and warm jumpers are never embarrassing."
She moved closer to him, and the warmth of her body next to his made Remus all too aware of how much her absence would be felt over the next two weeks.
"I'm going to miss you," he said. "It won't be as fun reading this new Hobbit book by myself."
"I'll miss you too," she said, smiling in the shy, earnest way that always made Remus feel more at ease. "It won't be as fun reading my new book without you, either. But we do still have tonight."
Remus grinned, then followed her lead and stretched out on the pillows next to her. She draped a blanket over their legs and propped a few extra pillows behind their heads, then reached for both books.
"What do you think? I vote we have a look through my book first, then maybe read the first chapter of The Hobbit, just to get a look at a few of the illustrations?"
Remus nodded and snaked an arm around her so she could nestle in close to hold the book for both of them, then settled in to enjoy the cozy, festive atmosphere and the excitement of a new book and the warmth of the girl curled against him.
Sirius woke to the familiar feeling of Mary's hair tickling his face. The dormitory was dark except for the fairy lights James had put up, and Sirius almost let his eyes drift shut again, except a faint knocking sound jarred him into a more wakeful state.
"You two better be finished shagging," James called as he pushed open the door and stepped through into the dormitory.
Sirius didn't answer, but gently extricated himself from Mary so he could prop himself up in bed. They had put clothes on (well, more clothes than they previously had on, anyway), but had stretched out on the bed to wait for the rest of the group to return, where they had promptly fallen asleep. Now, sitting here watching Mary stirring beside him, he realized just how much he had needed days like today over the past month. There was something about those lazy days where they didn't leave the bedroom, spent shagging but also smoking and laughing and eating stolen bars of chocolate that always ended up smeared on the sheets and crumbled into the rug. Sometimes they would share a joint and listen to music, humming along and pointing out their favorite lyrics and planning their next stupid tattoos, and sometimes they would just lay there in each others' arms, too content to move. Sirius was surprised how relieved he felt to have something back that he hadn't even realized he was missing. Of course, he wasn't going to say any of this out loud, so instead he grinned and tossed Mary her shirt that had somehow ended up wedged under his pillow.
"Ugh, it's so stuffy in here," Lily complained, wrinkling her nose. "And dark. Have you two even left the bed this whole time?"
"We took a shower," Mary said. "And as Sirius describes it, he got up to forage for food."
"Does that mean find and steal my chocolate?" Remus asked, his eyes scanning Sirius's bed for telltale chocolate wrappers.
Sirius smirked and pulled a crumpled chocolate bar wrapper from underneath his pillow and tossed it in Remus's direction. "Well it certainly doesn't mean I went down to the Forbidden fucking Forest to pick berries. All right, is it drunk o'clock?"
The common room was almost empty, with most students making an early night of it to pack and rest up for the train ride in the morning. The lack of students combined with the Christmas decorations and crackling fire gave the room an even cozier atmosphere than usual, and Sirius felt warm and relaxed even before his first sip of firewhisky. He settled on the floor in front of Mary's chair and leaned back against her legs, and he let out a little sigh of satisfaction as her fingers began trailing their way through his hair.
"What game do you want to play,Wormtail?" James asked. "It's your birthday, so you get to pick."
Peter thought for a minute, then a wide smile spread across his face.
"Chess," he said. "Me against everyone else."
"That's not a drinking game," Mary protested.
"And it doesn't seem fair for us to form some big super team against just you," Lily added.
"You can make anything a drinking game," James said with a shrug. "I learned that from Padfoot."
"And we hardly qualify as a 'super team,'" Sirius added. "Pete is the only decent player out of any of us. I say, let's do it. If we capture one of Peter's pieces, he has to drink, but if he takes one of ours, we all have to drink."
"And I think you should drink if you argue with each other," Peter said, a mischievous note in his voice. "To, you know, promote teamwork."
"This isn't going to end well," Remus observed.
Remus was not wrong. By the end of the game, Peter had captured half their pieces, and Sirius and Lily had spent so much time shouting at each other that everyone had been forced to finish two full drinks. When Lily picked up a captured knight and chucked it at Sirius's head, Peter was laughing too hard to speak, and he held up a hand to signal the end of the game.
"I think this is my favorite way to play chess," Sirius said as he rubbed the sore spot on his arm where the chess piece had hit him. "Pete, what are we going to do without you for two weeks? What are you going to do without us to get you drunk on your birthday?"
"I'll get him drunk, don't you worry, Black," Mary said, leaning over to clink her glass against Peter's. "If he's not dancing on the bar by the end of the night, I haven't done my job."
Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Is that right, Macdonald?"
"Yeah, it is," she said, shoving his shoulder defiantly. "Lend Peter one of the mirrors if you don't believe me, and I'll prove it."
Sirius laughed at her comment, but as the conversation evolved into a discussion about which game to play next, the idea of lending Mary the mirror stuck in Sirius's mind. He turned the idea over and over as James expounded on the merits of Drunk Quidditch and Remus argued against it. While everyone was distracted watching James demonstrate the proper form for catching a Quaffle standing on the back of an armchair, Sirius tapped Mary's knee and turned around to face her.
"I liked your idea," he said, keeping his voice to a low murmur so the rest of the group wouldn't overhear.
"Which idea?" she asked as she tried to drain the last drops from the bottom of her glass.
"About the mirror." He had consumed the perfect amount of alcohol that mingled with the coziness of the evening and the exhilaration he still felt at being reunited with Mary, so he felt none of the nervous doubt he would have expected, only a comfortable self-assurance. "I'm going to give you one of the mirrors for when you're dying of boredom and want to talk to me."
Her face split into a brilliant smile at his words, and she looked as though she would have liked to throw her arms around him and kiss him. Instead, she attempted an air of vague indifference that did nothing to conceal her expression of pure joy.
"All right," she said, pushing her hair out of her face and holding her drink halfway between the table and her mouth, forgotten. "It'll be nice to be able to talk to you. When I'm bored, I mean."
He grinned. "Yeah, same. And you know…" He smirked and leaned closer. "We can use the mirror for more than just talking."
She shot a dubious glance at James. "Aren't they technically James's mirrors? I doubt he'd like them being used for.. That."
"Yeah, you're probably right, but I don't bloody care."
She laughed and twirled a strand of hair around her finger thoughtfully. "I've missed this," she said.
She didn't specify what 'this' meant, but she didn't have to.
"Me too," he said, turning back around to face the group and leaning his head back against her legs so she could play with his hair once again.
Someone finally made the decision to play Exploding Snap, but Sirius wasn't paying attention. As the conversation washed over him, he found himself contemplating the unconventional family that the six of them formed. He looked around and watched James try to pour everyone drinks with Lily sitting on his lap, while Peter dealt cards to everyone and nearly forgot to make a pile for himself, and Remus attempted to take a sip of his drink without removing his hand from under the blanket wrapped around his body. As he felt Mary tug the strands of his hair into a braid, he had an unexpected and undeniably sentimental thought: sitting in the common room surrounded by his best friends felt like home. It's all right that I'm not going home for Christmas, because I have this chair by the fire and these idiots. And let's go ahead and never say that out loud, because it's possibly the most sentimental load of rubbish in the history of sentimental rubbish.
He picked up his cards and raised his voice to address the group. "All right, I think everyone should keep in mind that it's Peter's birthday, so we should be aiming to get him as drunk as possible," he said.
"Oh, wait, before we play, Moony has something to show you," Peter said, nudging Remus and raising his eyebrows.
"Oh, no, now?" Remus asked with a sigh. "Yeah, all right…"
Before Sirius knew what was happening, Remus had the ukulele and was strumming what sounded like the beginning of "Jingle Bells." When the song should have continued on, Remus instead began back at the beginning, playing this several times before looking up at Sirius expectantly.
"Impressive," Sirius said, grinning. "Has Seven seen you do that? She'd probably rip your clothes off and shag you immediately if she saw how sexy you look holding that ukulele and playing that one chord."
"Sod you," Remus said, laughing in spite of himself and setting the ukulele down on the table.
"It's good though, isn't it?" Peter insisted. "It only took him an hour to learn that. And to be fair, we weren't even remotely sober."
"Imagine how well you would've done if you weren't drunk, then," Sirius said. "I bet you could've learned the whole song."
"Yeah, except I wouldn't be caught dead playing the ukulele sober," Remus said, then leaned to the side to avoid the pillow Sirius threw in his direction, spilling some of his drink onto the floor in the process. "But if I'm bored and drunk over the holiday, maybe I'll let you teach me the rest of the song."
"I'll teach you everything I know," Sirius said, reaching over to refill Remus's glass. "But not 'Jingle Bells,' because fuck 'Jingle Bells.' Anyway, let's start the game, because I have a perfect hand to fuck Peter over."
He threw down a card and flashed Peter a taunting grin, taking a sip of firewhisky to wash away the lingering sentimental feeling before settling into a night of drunken shenanigans with the friends who had become his family.
Author's note: Before anyone yells at me "IT CAN'T END THERE! I need a sequel!" don't worry, there will be a sequel that covers the second half of seventh year. It took me about eight months to write the first part, so it may take a while, but I'll get it done eventually. Thanks for reading!