warnings: Slash. And fluff XD
winter interlude.
by elissa echo
Sirius Black likes winter, loves ice, and adores shoving fistfuls of freshly fallen snow down the back of James Potter's coat.
"Oi! Black!" James shouts, twisting about to avoid the snow quickly melting on his back. "Get your arse back here this instant!" he yells, and takes off after Sirius.
Sirius has no intention of allowing James to catch him, and he sprints through the snow, feet sinking several inches each step and kicking up a whirlwind of powder behind him. His laugh, free and clear, rings over the grounds—until it is cut off by an abrupt mmph as he trips and falls face first into the snow.
Snow, Sirius figures out quickly, is much less pleasant when you're lying face-down and your face is ten seconds away from freezing. He's just pulling himself up when James tackles him back to the ground, flipping him over and shoving a handful of snow into Sirius's mouth.
"Eat it," he says, fingers pressing the cold cold cold snow into his mouth.
"James!" Lily's voice cuts across the field. "You're supposed to be setting an example!" she berates as she comes closer.
Sirius sits up, one of James's legs draped over his hips. "And you're a redhead," he scolds, wagging an accusatory finger at her. "Aren't you supposed to be more fun?"
Lily shoots a glance around. When she's sure there are no teachers lurking about, she smiles, lips curving slowly, bends down, balls up two handfuls of snow, and in one quick motion, chucks the snowball straight at Sirius's head. She grins in delight when it splatters on the side of his head. "How's that for fun?"
Slowly, Sirius reaches an arm up to pat the side of his head, shaking out the snow. "Oh, Evans," says Sirius, "that was a mistake. You. Are. Dead."
Lily shrieks as Sirius bolts up, toppling James over into the snow, and darts after her, bending down and grabbing handfuls of snow as he does so.
Sirius chases Lily across the grounds, pelting her back with snow, until they are nearly back to the doors of the school and he decides he's had enough. James, he thinks, is far more interesting and far more deserving of his attention.
"That wife of yours," Sirius says, slightly out of breath from sprinting back to where he had left James lying in the snow, "she's something." Sirius sits down next to James and for the first time in a while, notices how cold it is outside.
"Not wife."
"Oh?" Sirius arches an eyebrow. "'James! You're supposed to be setting an example!'" says Sirius in a high falsetto, batting his eyelashes. "She's got you tethered, James, old boy. Only a matter of time before she's setting a curfew for you."
James, shooting a sideways glance at Sirius, seems to take only a moment of thought before twisting around and pushing Sirius to the ground, throwing his left leg over Sirius's hip to pin him down. The snow is melting against Sirius's back and it's so cold.
But the brief kiss James brushes across his lips when he's sure no one else is watching is enough to compensate and more than enough for Sirius to continue harping on about the dangers of married life for the rest of the year.
19 January, 2005