Tripping Down the Aisle
Chapter Nine: Walking Out
-----
Monday, 24 December
Six months
---
The screams were echoing in his head again, ringing in his ears and overpowering his efforts at rational thoughts. He was back at the stadium, returning to the scene of the crime.
James sat paralyzed in his seat, gripping his wand but not making any movement to raise it, as a hoarde of Death Eaters descended upon the stadium on brooms. Which James thought ironic, because he and Sirius had always joked (because that was how they dealt with things they couldn't change--they made humor out of it) that the real reason that people became Death Eaters was not because of their undying support of Voldemort and his ideals, but because they never could make their Quidditch team. It wasn't the time, but in his head, James found himself making a joke: 'This is probably the only time these people will ever be on a professional Quidditch field'.
"Fuck, Potter!" Prewett was shouting as he pushed James onto the cold cement floor of the stands to duck a spell. "You call yourself an Auror?!"
James mentally shook himself and returned his attention back to the situation at hand. Moody always said that if he had one fault, it was that in potentially dangerous circumstances he let his mind wander out of sheer nervousness. Moody said that his mind refused to concentrate on what was going on and purposely set itself on other things.
Moody had also said that this could get him killed.
Moody was probably right.
James shakily raised his wand and peeked over the seat in front of him, unable to focus still. "What should we do?" he asked Prewett, who was sitting up uncertainly next to him as people yelled and ducked spells around them.
Prewett's green eyes were intently studying the Death Eaters on brooms. "What should we do?" he repeated violently, incredulously. It appeared to James that Prewett was becoming more and more agressive as time went on. He didn't seem to be so much of a pansy anymore. It also seemed that he, James, was annoying him. "We fight, you prat."
The whole stadium was trembling with the force of the spells. James found himself being forcibly shaken, and tried to pull away from the person's grip...
"James," Lily's voice was saying softly, "James, you're dreaming again."
His eyes opened, and Lily was leaning over him, her hair brushing his shoulder. She was holding a glass of water and looking very tired.
It took him a few moments to remember where he was, to regain his bearings. "Sorry," he said breathlessly, pushing his hair out of his eyes and noting with dismay that it was wet with sweat. "Sorry," he repeated for lack of anything better to say as he tried to remove the images of the Death Eaters, their cowardly faces covered with black hoods, flying toward him.
"Don't be stupid," she replied briskly, handing him the glass of water and leaning against the headboard, half-heartedly tugging at his hair. "It's not your fault."
He gulped down a few sips of water and kicked off the blankets that were twisted around him, which made it very difficult for him to move. "What time is it?" James asked in a vain attempt to distract himself again.
"A little after two," Lily told him, adjusting her pillows and settling back on them, pulling James's discarded blankets around her. "Are you okay?" she added softly.
James shrugged absently, polishing off the water and setting the glass down on his bedside table, eyes lingering on the dim light coming from the lamp next to him. "I guess," he replied uncomfortably. "I mean, I'm not exactly...." He struggled for a good word, "...chipper, or...or anything." He closed his eyes and rubbed them. "I'm sorry I woke you up, though."
"Stop apologizing, you prat," Lily said, putting one hand under her pillows and moving closer to him, putting her other hand on his chest. "If it were me yelling in my sleep, you'd do the same thing."
"Yeah," he mumbled.
Lily looked up at him, her eyes meeting his. Sighing, she removed her hand from his chest and reached for his left hand, intertwining her fingers with his. "I feel guilty," she announced, moving her thumb along the side of his hand, "because I told you to go to the stupid Quidditch game. I guilt- tripped you into doing something you didn't want to do, and look where it got you..." She bit her lip. "Fighting Death Eaters."
He hadn't considered this before and she'd never mentioned it. But then, they didn't talk about what had happened at the Quidditch pitch much. Lily was content with what she learned at the Order meetings, for the most part. "'S'not your fault," he muttered gruffly.
"Is," she corrected. "And I hate what it's doing to you. And the fact that I caused it...it's not great."
She was embarrassing him a little. He hated admitting when something was bothering him, especially to his girlfriend. Twisting and turning and yelling in his sleep because of a nightmare...at the age of twenty. It was almost like having to wake your mother at four in the morning and tell her that you needed a change of sheets because you wet the bed when you were ten years old. Not that he had done that or anything. "It's nothing, really," James lied, concentrating intently on the slight sparkle coming from the diamond on her hand in his. With his finger, he turned the ring around so that the stone poked at his palm.
"Don't tell me it's nothing," she said forcefully. "I hate it when you lie to me." Softening her voice considerably, she added, "I don't think any less of you because of it, if that's what you're worried about. Anyone who lived through something like that would feel the same way...if it were me, James, I wouldn't be able to do anything for months, much less sleep. I would be a nervous wreck."
He said nothing, still focusing on her hand in his. He wished she would keep talking; Lily's voice was very familiar and somehow soothing. But maybe that was just because her voice was not that of a Death Eater's.
"I love you, d'you know that?" Lily said quietly, wearily.
He knew, but never tired of hearing it. "Yeah."
"Good," she said, resting her chin on his shoulder and looking up at him. "Think you could tell me about it?"
James always got very quiet when she inquired as to what happened down at the Quidditch pitch. She never asked more than once, something he was glad for. Living through it a million times in his nightmares was more than enough. "Not yet," he mumbled, closing his eyes and seeing Gideon Prewett pull out his wand next to him, swearing in between hexes...
Lily accepted this. "Think you can sleep?"
No use lying. "I don't know. Probably not."
"Want to go watch the telly?"
"Nothing on."
"That's true," she agreed. "Want to eat?"
"We don't have any food," James pointed out.
"Also true."
****
"I love Christmas," Sirius declared, leaning back against the wall, practically sitting underneath James and Lily's little Christmas tree. He looked up at the tree, batting at a shiny red bauble hanging on one of the lower branches, much like a cat would.
"That wouldn't be because of the pile of presents under there with your name on them, would it?" James asked.
"Why, James, do you know nothing of Sirius?" Remus said, pretending to be shocked from where he sat on the arm of the sofa eating a bowl of popcorn that was supposed to have been used to make strings for the tree before the five of them lost interest in that activity. "He's in it purely for the festiveness, for the joy of giving."
"And all that other stuff," Peter added from the fireplace, where he was prodding at the flames absently with his wand, turning them different colors purely because he wanted to.
"Nah," Sirius said, lifting the red ornament from its branch and examining his reflection in it. He grinned toothily at his face in the ornament as he smoothed his hair and said, "I'm in it for the presents."
Lily smiled at him over her glass of wine. "Well, at least you're honest," she commented, downing the last of her drink and rising from her seat on the sofa. Stretching, she announced, "I need more wine. Anyone want to help me polish off the bottle we've got in the kitchen?"
"Me!" Sirius said loudly from his position on the floor. "I wouldn't want to break the tradition of The Drunken Christmas Concert."
Lily smirked as she went into the kitchen to fill her wine glass and to get one for Sirius.
"What's on the set list this year?" James inquired, glancing over at Peter, who was currently making a fireworks display in the fireplace. "Careful, Wormtail; Lily'll spaz if you burn the carpet."
"Yeah, because it's not like we could easily take burns out of the carpet with a spell or anything like that," Peter muttered sarcastically, putting a shield charm over the fireplace so as to protect the bland beige carpeting from stray sparks. James didn't hear him.
"You know, Prongs," Sirius said, replacing the ornament on the tree and sitting up, "I couldn't tell you what beautiful music you will be hearing from me tonight. Once the delightful sensation of alcohol takes over," he sighed dramatically, "one never knows what will come."
****
What came was a very loud rendition of something that may or may not have been "Deck the Halls", sung in a high-pitched falsetto that threatened to break windows and burst eardrums.
"Deck the...challs...with bingers of...dolly," Sirius sang softly, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, his wineglass lying empty and tipped over on the coffee table in front of him. Sirius grabbed his ankles and started to rock back and forth, repeatedly mumbling, "Fa log log log bog, bog ba, ba, da."
"Please," Lily said, turning to her boyfriend, "please get out the Sobering Solution. It was funny at first, but after an hour and a half, I'm ready to punch him in the jaw."
James grinned. "I think this concert has quite a bit more steam left in it, Lily."
"Oh, please," Lily said exasperatedly. "You know you're just as annoyed as I am by it; you just like making me mad."
"It always amazes me how smart you are, love," James replied cheekily, still positively beaming.
Lily glared. "Do it."
"Or you'll...?"
Her eyes sparked. "Withhold sex."
Both Remus and Peter gasped theatrically.
"Oh, Lily, don't be cruel," Peter said, closing his eyes and moving his head away from her as if it pained him to look at her.
"Please don't take from James the only thing he has ever loved that is not Quidditch," Remus added, his voice breathily dramatic.
Lily rolled her eyes. "There is more to James than sex and Quidditch," she said defensively.
"Yeah," James seconded awkwardly, his voice clearly saying that he didn't think that there was more to him. "There's more to me than sex and Quidditch."
"Like?" Peter asked, quirking an eyebrow.
Lily tossed her hair. "James has a lovely singing voice," she said.
"Something that's actually important, Lily," Peter drawled.
She narrowed her eyes in a very sarcastic way at him. Peter wasn't sure people actually could convey sarcasm with a look, but it sure looked sarcastic, the way Lily was looking at him. "He's smart," she said. "If I recall, he got higher marks than you in school, Peter."
"'Cause he and Sirius copied off each other," Remus spoke up. "Sirius would do half, and James would do half."
"I know that," Lily said. "But he could've done all of it if he wanted to. He's just lazy."
"Too lazy do anything but have sex and play Quidditch," Peter said, nodding.
"He's well-read," Lily pointed out, unfazed.
"Lily, the only books he's ever read more than once are the 'Kama Sutra' and 'Quidditch Through the Ages'."
"That's not true," James piped up. "I read that 'Death Be Not Proud' thing twice. At least."
Lily bit her lip. "Well, love, that was because you cried so much through the first time that you couldn't actually concentrate on it," she said gently.
James flushed. "It's a sad book!" he said defensively as Peter snickered.
"See, he's sensitive," Lily said enthusiastically. "And he's funny, and he's charming, he's strong, he makes a good ice-cream sundae, he's thoughtful, and..."
"You ran out of things, didn't you?" Peter smirked.
She blushed, something she didn't do very often, especially around them. "No," she protested. "I didn't. The rest of them...involve sex and Quidditch, that's all."
As Peter and Remus guffawed (Sirius joined in, simply to laugh) James shot her a look. "Those are all of my good attributes that don't involve sex and Quidditch?" he asked. "That's it?"
"Well, at least you have good attributes that involve sex and Quidditch," Lily said slyly.
James stared at her for a moment or so, then threw his arm around her. "See, this is why I'm marrying you," he declared.
****
"So, Moony," Sirius said casually (he had practically been force-fed Sobering Solution an hour before) as he shook the brightly wrapped parcel addressed to him in Remus's handwriting, "does this box contain a book?"
They had moved on to present opening, and Sirius had taken on the role of Santa, as he often did. He kneeled in front of the tree, sorting through the pile of gifts and separating them into groups--the James group, the Lily group, the Peter group, and the Remus group. And, naturally, the Sirius group. Of course, Sirius tended to take gifts that looked sizely and put them in the Sirius group, whether or not they belonged there. As such, Remus was sitting on an ottoman close by, supervising the Passing of the Gifts as he forced down egg nog, which he did not really like, but drank anyway because it was Festive. James was sitting on the sofa, and Lily had lazily draped her legs over his lap. She had her elbow on the armrest and was holding her head up with her hand. It was a little after ten, and as they had both been up since two, both James and Lily were feeling a tad sleepy. Peter sat crosslegged on the floor, back against the sofa, and was playing with his stocking.
Remus smiled a little. "You're a hard person to shop for, Sirius. You have the attention span of a gnat, only less focused--you can't decide what you want."
Sirius blinked. "I meant a different kind of book, but if you got me a book, I'll just open yours last..." He set Remus's parcel aside and looked pointedly at its giver.
"What are you talking about, Sirius?" Remus asked calmly.
"I was hoping you got me a book of Girl Techniques, like the one you made James write."
Lily turned to James, who looked puzzled. "Book of Girl Techniques, love?"
"I got nothing," James told her. "Sirius, are you sure you aren't hoarding wine?"
"You don't know what I'm talking about?" Sirius demanded impatiently.
Peter snickered. "Well, no one ever does," he pointed out. He stretched out the opening of the stocking and jammed it over his head.
Sirius glared. "Who died and made you Chief Comedian?"
"I think the question is 'Who got drunk and made you Chief Comedian?', actually," Peter corrected.
Remus scratched his nose and said, "All right, break it up. We don't need a repeat of last year."
Grudgingly, Sirius and Peter muttered apologies at each other. Last year's Christmas Extravaganza involved Peter being snarky, much like he was being now, and Sirius getting violent because he felt that the Sobering Solution James had had to give him robbed him of his ability to snark back. To make a long story short, St. Mungo's was short three beds that night.
"Anyway, Sirius," Lily said, "you were babbling?"
Sirius drew himself up impressively and said, "The stupid stalker journal thing? James's security blanket? You gave it to him because you said he needed to observe Subject--er, Lily, Lily," he amended quickly, when Lily's eyes flashed in his direction. "I know your name is Lily."
"What does my...er...research have to do with you, Padfoot?" James asked carefully.
Sirius straightened again. "As you may or may not know, Prongs, I have recently suffered a rejection at the hand of Miss Hestia Jones."
Lily made the connection and sat up straighter, too. "No, Sirius," she said sharply.
"Why not?" Sirius asked, looking mildly hurt.
"Because the woman is still grieving the death of her sister!" Lily exclaimed. "She sits at home waiting for information about the person who killed her; she probably cries herself to sleep at night....And you want to take her out for ice cream," she added flatly.
"Not necessarily for ice cream. If she doesn't feel like ice cream, we don't have to have--"
"Missing the point ever so slightly!" Lily said, talking over him. "The last thing Hestia Jones needs is for you to sleep with her and then abandon her."
Everyone in the room instantly knew she had gone too far. Including Lily.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I'm so, so sorry, Sirius, I...I didn't mean it like that--"
Sirius shook his head and stood up. "No, no. Why would you feel sorry? That's what everyone thinks of me. I'm Sirius Black, I don't do long term relationships. Need a quickie in the bathroom? I'm your guy. But not for anything else."
"No," Lily said enthusiastically. "You're wonderful, Sirius! I just really don't think that--"
"Really, Lily," Sirius interrupted her, walking out into the front hallway as he spoke. When he returned, he was fastening his cloak with clumsy hands, "I think you've said quite enough." He finished putting on the cloak and shot a glance at his best friend. "I'll see you later."
He Apparated without another word.
****
A/N: So this was an interesting switch of characters, wasn't it? Snarky!Peter, Fluffy!Lily, and Serious!James and Sirius.
Next chapter: Hestia, Adeline-the-Wedding-Planner, and Gideon return. Possibly Regulus as well, I haven't decided. Also, there's a flashback and Remus meets his Subject.
Till then...
Chapter Nine: Walking Out
-----
Monday, 24 December
Six months
---
The screams were echoing in his head again, ringing in his ears and overpowering his efforts at rational thoughts. He was back at the stadium, returning to the scene of the crime.
James sat paralyzed in his seat, gripping his wand but not making any movement to raise it, as a hoarde of Death Eaters descended upon the stadium on brooms. Which James thought ironic, because he and Sirius had always joked (because that was how they dealt with things they couldn't change--they made humor out of it) that the real reason that people became Death Eaters was not because of their undying support of Voldemort and his ideals, but because they never could make their Quidditch team. It wasn't the time, but in his head, James found himself making a joke: 'This is probably the only time these people will ever be on a professional Quidditch field'.
"Fuck, Potter!" Prewett was shouting as he pushed James onto the cold cement floor of the stands to duck a spell. "You call yourself an Auror?!"
James mentally shook himself and returned his attention back to the situation at hand. Moody always said that if he had one fault, it was that in potentially dangerous circumstances he let his mind wander out of sheer nervousness. Moody said that his mind refused to concentrate on what was going on and purposely set itself on other things.
Moody had also said that this could get him killed.
Moody was probably right.
James shakily raised his wand and peeked over the seat in front of him, unable to focus still. "What should we do?" he asked Prewett, who was sitting up uncertainly next to him as people yelled and ducked spells around them.
Prewett's green eyes were intently studying the Death Eaters on brooms. "What should we do?" he repeated violently, incredulously. It appeared to James that Prewett was becoming more and more agressive as time went on. He didn't seem to be so much of a pansy anymore. It also seemed that he, James, was annoying him. "We fight, you prat."
The whole stadium was trembling with the force of the spells. James found himself being forcibly shaken, and tried to pull away from the person's grip...
"James," Lily's voice was saying softly, "James, you're dreaming again."
His eyes opened, and Lily was leaning over him, her hair brushing his shoulder. She was holding a glass of water and looking very tired.
It took him a few moments to remember where he was, to regain his bearings. "Sorry," he said breathlessly, pushing his hair out of his eyes and noting with dismay that it was wet with sweat. "Sorry," he repeated for lack of anything better to say as he tried to remove the images of the Death Eaters, their cowardly faces covered with black hoods, flying toward him.
"Don't be stupid," she replied briskly, handing him the glass of water and leaning against the headboard, half-heartedly tugging at his hair. "It's not your fault."
He gulped down a few sips of water and kicked off the blankets that were twisted around him, which made it very difficult for him to move. "What time is it?" James asked in a vain attempt to distract himself again.
"A little after two," Lily told him, adjusting her pillows and settling back on them, pulling James's discarded blankets around her. "Are you okay?" she added softly.
James shrugged absently, polishing off the water and setting the glass down on his bedside table, eyes lingering on the dim light coming from the lamp next to him. "I guess," he replied uncomfortably. "I mean, I'm not exactly...." He struggled for a good word, "...chipper, or...or anything." He closed his eyes and rubbed them. "I'm sorry I woke you up, though."
"Stop apologizing, you prat," Lily said, putting one hand under her pillows and moving closer to him, putting her other hand on his chest. "If it were me yelling in my sleep, you'd do the same thing."
"Yeah," he mumbled.
Lily looked up at him, her eyes meeting his. Sighing, she removed her hand from his chest and reached for his left hand, intertwining her fingers with his. "I feel guilty," she announced, moving her thumb along the side of his hand, "because I told you to go to the stupid Quidditch game. I guilt- tripped you into doing something you didn't want to do, and look where it got you..." She bit her lip. "Fighting Death Eaters."
He hadn't considered this before and she'd never mentioned it. But then, they didn't talk about what had happened at the Quidditch pitch much. Lily was content with what she learned at the Order meetings, for the most part. "'S'not your fault," he muttered gruffly.
"Is," she corrected. "And I hate what it's doing to you. And the fact that I caused it...it's not great."
She was embarrassing him a little. He hated admitting when something was bothering him, especially to his girlfriend. Twisting and turning and yelling in his sleep because of a nightmare...at the age of twenty. It was almost like having to wake your mother at four in the morning and tell her that you needed a change of sheets because you wet the bed when you were ten years old. Not that he had done that or anything. "It's nothing, really," James lied, concentrating intently on the slight sparkle coming from the diamond on her hand in his. With his finger, he turned the ring around so that the stone poked at his palm.
"Don't tell me it's nothing," she said forcefully. "I hate it when you lie to me." Softening her voice considerably, she added, "I don't think any less of you because of it, if that's what you're worried about. Anyone who lived through something like that would feel the same way...if it were me, James, I wouldn't be able to do anything for months, much less sleep. I would be a nervous wreck."
He said nothing, still focusing on her hand in his. He wished she would keep talking; Lily's voice was very familiar and somehow soothing. But maybe that was just because her voice was not that of a Death Eater's.
"I love you, d'you know that?" Lily said quietly, wearily.
He knew, but never tired of hearing it. "Yeah."
"Good," she said, resting her chin on his shoulder and looking up at him. "Think you could tell me about it?"
James always got very quiet when she inquired as to what happened down at the Quidditch pitch. She never asked more than once, something he was glad for. Living through it a million times in his nightmares was more than enough. "Not yet," he mumbled, closing his eyes and seeing Gideon Prewett pull out his wand next to him, swearing in between hexes...
Lily accepted this. "Think you can sleep?"
No use lying. "I don't know. Probably not."
"Want to go watch the telly?"
"Nothing on."
"That's true," she agreed. "Want to eat?"
"We don't have any food," James pointed out.
"Also true."
****
"I love Christmas," Sirius declared, leaning back against the wall, practically sitting underneath James and Lily's little Christmas tree. He looked up at the tree, batting at a shiny red bauble hanging on one of the lower branches, much like a cat would.
"That wouldn't be because of the pile of presents under there with your name on them, would it?" James asked.
"Why, James, do you know nothing of Sirius?" Remus said, pretending to be shocked from where he sat on the arm of the sofa eating a bowl of popcorn that was supposed to have been used to make strings for the tree before the five of them lost interest in that activity. "He's in it purely for the festiveness, for the joy of giving."
"And all that other stuff," Peter added from the fireplace, where he was prodding at the flames absently with his wand, turning them different colors purely because he wanted to.
"Nah," Sirius said, lifting the red ornament from its branch and examining his reflection in it. He grinned toothily at his face in the ornament as he smoothed his hair and said, "I'm in it for the presents."
Lily smiled at him over her glass of wine. "Well, at least you're honest," she commented, downing the last of her drink and rising from her seat on the sofa. Stretching, she announced, "I need more wine. Anyone want to help me polish off the bottle we've got in the kitchen?"
"Me!" Sirius said loudly from his position on the floor. "I wouldn't want to break the tradition of The Drunken Christmas Concert."
Lily smirked as she went into the kitchen to fill her wine glass and to get one for Sirius.
"What's on the set list this year?" James inquired, glancing over at Peter, who was currently making a fireworks display in the fireplace. "Careful, Wormtail; Lily'll spaz if you burn the carpet."
"Yeah, because it's not like we could easily take burns out of the carpet with a spell or anything like that," Peter muttered sarcastically, putting a shield charm over the fireplace so as to protect the bland beige carpeting from stray sparks. James didn't hear him.
"You know, Prongs," Sirius said, replacing the ornament on the tree and sitting up, "I couldn't tell you what beautiful music you will be hearing from me tonight. Once the delightful sensation of alcohol takes over," he sighed dramatically, "one never knows what will come."
****
What came was a very loud rendition of something that may or may not have been "Deck the Halls", sung in a high-pitched falsetto that threatened to break windows and burst eardrums.
"Deck the...challs...with bingers of...dolly," Sirius sang softly, sitting cross-legged on the sofa, his wineglass lying empty and tipped over on the coffee table in front of him. Sirius grabbed his ankles and started to rock back and forth, repeatedly mumbling, "Fa log log log bog, bog ba, ba, da."
"Please," Lily said, turning to her boyfriend, "please get out the Sobering Solution. It was funny at first, but after an hour and a half, I'm ready to punch him in the jaw."
James grinned. "I think this concert has quite a bit more steam left in it, Lily."
"Oh, please," Lily said exasperatedly. "You know you're just as annoyed as I am by it; you just like making me mad."
"It always amazes me how smart you are, love," James replied cheekily, still positively beaming.
Lily glared. "Do it."
"Or you'll...?"
Her eyes sparked. "Withhold sex."
Both Remus and Peter gasped theatrically.
"Oh, Lily, don't be cruel," Peter said, closing his eyes and moving his head away from her as if it pained him to look at her.
"Please don't take from James the only thing he has ever loved that is not Quidditch," Remus added, his voice breathily dramatic.
Lily rolled her eyes. "There is more to James than sex and Quidditch," she said defensively.
"Yeah," James seconded awkwardly, his voice clearly saying that he didn't think that there was more to him. "There's more to me than sex and Quidditch."
"Like?" Peter asked, quirking an eyebrow.
Lily tossed her hair. "James has a lovely singing voice," she said.
"Something that's actually important, Lily," Peter drawled.
She narrowed her eyes in a very sarcastic way at him. Peter wasn't sure people actually could convey sarcasm with a look, but it sure looked sarcastic, the way Lily was looking at him. "He's smart," she said. "If I recall, he got higher marks than you in school, Peter."
"'Cause he and Sirius copied off each other," Remus spoke up. "Sirius would do half, and James would do half."
"I know that," Lily said. "But he could've done all of it if he wanted to. He's just lazy."
"Too lazy do anything but have sex and play Quidditch," Peter said, nodding.
"He's well-read," Lily pointed out, unfazed.
"Lily, the only books he's ever read more than once are the 'Kama Sutra' and 'Quidditch Through the Ages'."
"That's not true," James piped up. "I read that 'Death Be Not Proud' thing twice. At least."
Lily bit her lip. "Well, love, that was because you cried so much through the first time that you couldn't actually concentrate on it," she said gently.
James flushed. "It's a sad book!" he said defensively as Peter snickered.
"See, he's sensitive," Lily said enthusiastically. "And he's funny, and he's charming, he's strong, he makes a good ice-cream sundae, he's thoughtful, and..."
"You ran out of things, didn't you?" Peter smirked.
She blushed, something she didn't do very often, especially around them. "No," she protested. "I didn't. The rest of them...involve sex and Quidditch, that's all."
As Peter and Remus guffawed (Sirius joined in, simply to laugh) James shot her a look. "Those are all of my good attributes that don't involve sex and Quidditch?" he asked. "That's it?"
"Well, at least you have good attributes that involve sex and Quidditch," Lily said slyly.
James stared at her for a moment or so, then threw his arm around her. "See, this is why I'm marrying you," he declared.
****
"So, Moony," Sirius said casually (he had practically been force-fed Sobering Solution an hour before) as he shook the brightly wrapped parcel addressed to him in Remus's handwriting, "does this box contain a book?"
They had moved on to present opening, and Sirius had taken on the role of Santa, as he often did. He kneeled in front of the tree, sorting through the pile of gifts and separating them into groups--the James group, the Lily group, the Peter group, and the Remus group. And, naturally, the Sirius group. Of course, Sirius tended to take gifts that looked sizely and put them in the Sirius group, whether or not they belonged there. As such, Remus was sitting on an ottoman close by, supervising the Passing of the Gifts as he forced down egg nog, which he did not really like, but drank anyway because it was Festive. James was sitting on the sofa, and Lily had lazily draped her legs over his lap. She had her elbow on the armrest and was holding her head up with her hand. It was a little after ten, and as they had both been up since two, both James and Lily were feeling a tad sleepy. Peter sat crosslegged on the floor, back against the sofa, and was playing with his stocking.
Remus smiled a little. "You're a hard person to shop for, Sirius. You have the attention span of a gnat, only less focused--you can't decide what you want."
Sirius blinked. "I meant a different kind of book, but if you got me a book, I'll just open yours last..." He set Remus's parcel aside and looked pointedly at its giver.
"What are you talking about, Sirius?" Remus asked calmly.
"I was hoping you got me a book of Girl Techniques, like the one you made James write."
Lily turned to James, who looked puzzled. "Book of Girl Techniques, love?"
"I got nothing," James told her. "Sirius, are you sure you aren't hoarding wine?"
"You don't know what I'm talking about?" Sirius demanded impatiently.
Peter snickered. "Well, no one ever does," he pointed out. He stretched out the opening of the stocking and jammed it over his head.
Sirius glared. "Who died and made you Chief Comedian?"
"I think the question is 'Who got drunk and made you Chief Comedian?', actually," Peter corrected.
Remus scratched his nose and said, "All right, break it up. We don't need a repeat of last year."
Grudgingly, Sirius and Peter muttered apologies at each other. Last year's Christmas Extravaganza involved Peter being snarky, much like he was being now, and Sirius getting violent because he felt that the Sobering Solution James had had to give him robbed him of his ability to snark back. To make a long story short, St. Mungo's was short three beds that night.
"Anyway, Sirius," Lily said, "you were babbling?"
Sirius drew himself up impressively and said, "The stupid stalker journal thing? James's security blanket? You gave it to him because you said he needed to observe Subject--er, Lily, Lily," he amended quickly, when Lily's eyes flashed in his direction. "I know your name is Lily."
"What does my...er...research have to do with you, Padfoot?" James asked carefully.
Sirius straightened again. "As you may or may not know, Prongs, I have recently suffered a rejection at the hand of Miss Hestia Jones."
Lily made the connection and sat up straighter, too. "No, Sirius," she said sharply.
"Why not?" Sirius asked, looking mildly hurt.
"Because the woman is still grieving the death of her sister!" Lily exclaimed. "She sits at home waiting for information about the person who killed her; she probably cries herself to sleep at night....And you want to take her out for ice cream," she added flatly.
"Not necessarily for ice cream. If she doesn't feel like ice cream, we don't have to have--"
"Missing the point ever so slightly!" Lily said, talking over him. "The last thing Hestia Jones needs is for you to sleep with her and then abandon her."
Everyone in the room instantly knew she had gone too far. Including Lily.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I'm so, so sorry, Sirius, I...I didn't mean it like that--"
Sirius shook his head and stood up. "No, no. Why would you feel sorry? That's what everyone thinks of me. I'm Sirius Black, I don't do long term relationships. Need a quickie in the bathroom? I'm your guy. But not for anything else."
"No," Lily said enthusiastically. "You're wonderful, Sirius! I just really don't think that--"
"Really, Lily," Sirius interrupted her, walking out into the front hallway as he spoke. When he returned, he was fastening his cloak with clumsy hands, "I think you've said quite enough." He finished putting on the cloak and shot a glance at his best friend. "I'll see you later."
He Apparated without another word.
****
A/N: So this was an interesting switch of characters, wasn't it? Snarky!Peter, Fluffy!Lily, and Serious!James and Sirius.
Next chapter: Hestia, Adeline-the-Wedding-Planner, and Gideon return. Possibly Regulus as well, I haven't decided. Also, there's a flashback and Remus meets his Subject.
Till then...