Title: Delicate Treasures
Author: Stardrops
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG 13 (For slash and occasional swearing, precautions only)
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter. I do, however, own the plot. I am very proud. But the rest belongs to our creative genius, J K Rowling.
Chapter Seven: New Year
"So...James." Sirius leaned back casually on his chair in the Gryffindor Common Room. The four boys, having stayed for the Christmas holidays, were part of a very small group of people staying at Hogwarts. James and Remus were playing Exploding Snap, and Sirius was watching. Peter was off on his own again. They hadn't actually seen him for more than a couple of hours at a time at extremely spaced out intervals.
"So...what, Sirius?" James replied.
"Had any run-ins with the beautiful Lily lately?" he asked.
James deflated. "No. I thought she might have at least come and said thank you for the flowers, and then I might have managed to charm her – but no. She's even staying here for the holidays and she hasn't spoken to me once since the last day of term when she told me to stop crowding her in the corridor and to get lost."
"And let me guess – you treasure that memory beyond all else?" Sirius teased.
James whacked him. "Shut up, you."
"Well – tonight is New Years Eve. Maybe you'll get a kiss from her to celebrate the New Year ahead. She's a kinda traditional person – right, Remus?"
Remus nodded. "Sure. Always think positive."
James considered this for a moment. "All right – yeah. I'll try and hang with her tonight. Are we going to set off fireworks outside again this year?"
"Don't see why not," Sirius agreed.
"Looking forward to tonight, then." At that moment, the pack exploded and James got a faceful of smoke. There ended their conversation about Lily Evans.
-----------------------------------
Dusk had settled. There was a slight pink, orange and yellow to the horizon, but the sun had mostly gone down. Seven o'clock – only five hours til the New Year came in. This was a time of year the Marauders loved – a chance to score kisses of random girls, an excuse to let of fireworks...the lot.
James was staring at his reflection in the mirror. "Is it just me, or does that look like a pimple to you?" he asked Sirius.
"Why are you even asking me that?" Sirius asked in disgust. "Like I want to look at it if it is."
James gave him an imploring look, and he relented. "Fine. Okay." He went over and had a look. "No, James, that is your imagination. You have never had a pimple in your life."
"Lucky bastard," slurred Peter from the opposite side of the room. They all ignored him.
"So – tonight is the night, then!" James said gleefully. "I will kiss the beautiful Lily if it is the last thing I do tonight."
"Isn't that the point? That the last thing you do of the year is give a kiss, and then it's the first thing you do of the next year?" Remus pointed out. James gave him an exasperated sigh.
"Yes, but that's not the point of what I'm telling you. It was just a figure of speech."
Sirius shook his head. "We all have the utmost faith in you, James."
James clapped him on the back. "Thanks, man."
----------------------------------------
Eleven o'clock rolled around, and the Marauders were assembled on the bank near the lake. James was setting up the fireworks they were going to light, and the other three milled about laughing and joking. The rest of the school were wandering down after a while as well.
Lily and her two friends were sitting about ten metres away from the Marauders, and so they decided to go crash the girls' party.
'Well, hello there ladies," Sirius said in his deepest, sexiest voice. This set Lily's friend off into giggles straight away, though Lily sat there staring pointedly at him.
"What do you want?" she said, completely unimpressed.
"Just to talk to you three fine ladies," he answered. Remus gave one of the girls a wink and she nearly fainted.
James joined them. "What are we talking about here?"
"Nothing much," Sirius said. "These girls are being surprisingly unwelcoming tonight."
"Oh. That's boring," replied James. "Don't suppose you three'd be interested in playing Spotlight, would you?"
After explaining the rules to the three girls, three Marauders ran in different directions. Peter had begged off the game, claiming to need to find his girlfriend.
Sirius watched Remus hide behind a bush and he himself hid behind a tree that gave him a good view of both the bush and the others running around. The night wasn't very dark, because the moonlight was shining down on them and the stars were incredibly bright as well. He saw Remus look up at the sky and was tempted with a sudden urge to go join his friend and confess his true feelings. He was just about to go and strike up a conversation when Lily came from behind him, tapped him on the shoulder and yelled, "I got Sirius!"
Sirius groaned inwardly, but obligingly turned and counted to twenty before running to find others. He purposely missed the section of bushes behind which he knew Remus was hiding, and managed to get James in the light of his wand.
Half an hour later, the girls and the three Marauders were still running around, much to the amusement of the teachers who thought they were childish but hilarious. Professor McGonagall called out the time to them at 11:55, when they stopped running around, breathless and still laughing amongst themselves. Lily was even smiling at James, which was a major development.
Peter and his girlfriend were standing back as James lit the firework's fuses. The countdown began, and all the teachers and students, from first year to seventh, chorused as they waited for the magically timed fireworks to begin going off. They were scheduled to go off at exactly midnight.
"Ten...nine...eight...seven..." the chorus went. Sirius was overcome with a sudden urge to take Remus's hand. "Six...five...four...three..." His heart wanted nothing more than to hold Remus in his arms and kiss him, but for some reason, he could not move. His body was frozen in fear at the thought. "Two...one...HAPPY NEW YEAR!" everyone yelled, hugging each other and laughing.
Sirius felt himself seeping with disappointment. He sneaked a glance at Remus who was standing, watching something over Sirius's shoulder. "Hey, look!" he whispered urgently. Sirius turned to look where he pointed, and felt a smile creep over his face. Lily and James were standing together, her arms around his neck and his hands on her waist – kissing.
"No way," Sirius said in disbelief. He began to laugh. "He actually did it. What a legend."
Remus smiled.
Oh well, Sirius thought. At least he'd not embarrassed himself in front of everyone. Imagine if he'd tried to kiss Remus and been rejected with everyone watching. And besides, who wanted their first kiss to be with all their friends, schoolmates and teachers watching? Ugh.
Sirius contented himself with watching the fireworks lighting up the sky. Resounding booms and whistles went off as the sparks exploded against the dark diamond sky. Dragons dipped around Catherine Wheels, arrows flew through circles of sparks and an entire display of birds flew into the night, leaving a trail of sparks behind them.
He looked over and saw Remus staring at the sky with a gentle smile lighting his facial features. He looked so beautiful in the coloured light, casting reflections onto his perfect face. Sirius had never been more infatuated than he was at that moment.
Remus seated himself on the grass, fireworks still exploding around them. "Well – another year started," he reminded Sirius. Sirius groaned and flopped down on the grass to join him. "Don't remind me. How depressing. As time goes forward, that means the workload at school gets heavier."
Remus shoved him playfully. "Have I ever told you that you complain a lot, and for no reason? You, James and me are the top three in the class, and we will be for the rest of the school year with no worries. I honestly don't know why you complain about the workload, you manage it quite well."
Sirius pretended to blush. "Aw, Moony, stop! You're embarrassing me."
Remus laughed and returned his gaze to the sky. The pair were silent for a moment before Remus spoke again. He gazed off into the night. "I wonder what it's like to be in love."
Sirius panicked inwardly. Oh god. He had to be really careful what he did or didn't say here, in case he spilled something he didn't intend to.
"It'd have to be someone really special if it was love. I mean, a silly teenage infatuation isn't the same thing as love. It has to be about something much deeper and more meaningful."
You have no idea, Sirius thought.
"In all those trashy romance novels Muggles read, it's supposed to be about something deeper. But they never tell you what that is. All they tell you is that the people see each other and it's love at first sight. But can you really fall in love at first sight?"
"Isn't that where the attraction starts, though?"
"Well, yeah, an attraction. Sure. But attraction is only the first step. I mean – if someone fell in love with me, they'd have to learn to accept everything about me. Including my monthly habit." Remus looked slightly depressed as he mentioned that. "I don't know anyone who would be willing to accept that. Having to put up with the prejudice of being the partner of someone who turns into a monster once a month."
"Moony, there are people out there who will still love you. I mean, your friends didn't abandon you when they found out, did they? We're still here for you. It's not that big a deal."
"Yeah, but if someone was willing to spend their entire life with me, imagine what that would mean for them."
"If someone was in love with you, that wouldn't matter to them." Trust me, Sirius added silently.
Remus sighed and leant back. "What is the most romantic thing you would ever do for someone?"
Sirius was taken aback. "Uh...well, I suppose marriage is pretty romantic when you think about it."
Remus looked at him. "Marriage?"
"Well – the declaration of wanting to spend your life with one person, to give yourself completely to someone with a promise to never be unfaithful? That's pretty romantic, I think."
"Yeah – when you look at it like that."
"Listen to us – crapping on like philosophical people. Let's go find Lily and James and see what they're up to." Sirius was eager to leave before he ended up giving away his biggest secret ever. Now would have been an ideal time to tell him, but something told him that now wasn't right for the both of them. There would come a time when he would be ready to tell, and Remus would be ready to listen.
----------------------------------------
TBC
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A/N: See? You didn't have to wait all that long...But I'm not sure if this chapter really worked. Review and tell me if you thought it did or didn't, I'd really appreciate knowing what you guys think. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed:
EvilPilgrim: Don't sound so excited. :P Kidding. Thanks for the review gal, love you lots!
Kittyminky: tell me about it! Wouldn't you love to switch places with him and have Sirius all to yourself?! Thanks! I'm really glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing!
AffectedMangoO: Here's the next chapter, nice and quickly put up just for you. Really hope you like it – review and tell me! :P Thanks for your review!
MelissaMoony: Stumbling blindly works if you get on good stories, doesn't it!!! How exactly do you stumble blindly though? I'm a lil confused...But I'm glad you stumbled on my story and I'm even more glad that you liked it! Please keep reading and reviewing, and keep me posted on how it's going!
TTF: I'm sorry! :P lol well, at least I know someone likes my story a lot!!! Thanks so much for your review, it made me giggle. Here's your new chapter – hope you still like what I'm writing!
Ickle Ronnie: Wow – thank you! I love being complimented! :D I hope it continues to get better, but fingers crossed that it doesn't get worse, anyway!!!
GrimyGrunhildaGrunt: Wow, your name was so hard to get the spelling right. :P Yeah, isn't James the cutest? I love making his character up – He's just so cute! Thank you so much for your review! Hope you continue to like it. And no, you didn't break anything...at least not anything I needed straight away. :P
Author: Stardrops
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG 13 (For slash and occasional swearing, precautions only)
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I don't own anything to do with Harry Potter. I do, however, own the plot. I am very proud. But the rest belongs to our creative genius, J K Rowling.
Chapter Seven: New Year
"So...James." Sirius leaned back casually on his chair in the Gryffindor Common Room. The four boys, having stayed for the Christmas holidays, were part of a very small group of people staying at Hogwarts. James and Remus were playing Exploding Snap, and Sirius was watching. Peter was off on his own again. They hadn't actually seen him for more than a couple of hours at a time at extremely spaced out intervals.
"So...what, Sirius?" James replied.
"Had any run-ins with the beautiful Lily lately?" he asked.
James deflated. "No. I thought she might have at least come and said thank you for the flowers, and then I might have managed to charm her – but no. She's even staying here for the holidays and she hasn't spoken to me once since the last day of term when she told me to stop crowding her in the corridor and to get lost."
"And let me guess – you treasure that memory beyond all else?" Sirius teased.
James whacked him. "Shut up, you."
"Well – tonight is New Years Eve. Maybe you'll get a kiss from her to celebrate the New Year ahead. She's a kinda traditional person – right, Remus?"
Remus nodded. "Sure. Always think positive."
James considered this for a moment. "All right – yeah. I'll try and hang with her tonight. Are we going to set off fireworks outside again this year?"
"Don't see why not," Sirius agreed.
"Looking forward to tonight, then." At that moment, the pack exploded and James got a faceful of smoke. There ended their conversation about Lily Evans.
-----------------------------------
Dusk had settled. There was a slight pink, orange and yellow to the horizon, but the sun had mostly gone down. Seven o'clock – only five hours til the New Year came in. This was a time of year the Marauders loved – a chance to score kisses of random girls, an excuse to let of fireworks...the lot.
James was staring at his reflection in the mirror. "Is it just me, or does that look like a pimple to you?" he asked Sirius.
"Why are you even asking me that?" Sirius asked in disgust. "Like I want to look at it if it is."
James gave him an imploring look, and he relented. "Fine. Okay." He went over and had a look. "No, James, that is your imagination. You have never had a pimple in your life."
"Lucky bastard," slurred Peter from the opposite side of the room. They all ignored him.
"So – tonight is the night, then!" James said gleefully. "I will kiss the beautiful Lily if it is the last thing I do tonight."
"Isn't that the point? That the last thing you do of the year is give a kiss, and then it's the first thing you do of the next year?" Remus pointed out. James gave him an exasperated sigh.
"Yes, but that's not the point of what I'm telling you. It was just a figure of speech."
Sirius shook his head. "We all have the utmost faith in you, James."
James clapped him on the back. "Thanks, man."
----------------------------------------
Eleven o'clock rolled around, and the Marauders were assembled on the bank near the lake. James was setting up the fireworks they were going to light, and the other three milled about laughing and joking. The rest of the school were wandering down after a while as well.
Lily and her two friends were sitting about ten metres away from the Marauders, and so they decided to go crash the girls' party.
'Well, hello there ladies," Sirius said in his deepest, sexiest voice. This set Lily's friend off into giggles straight away, though Lily sat there staring pointedly at him.
"What do you want?" she said, completely unimpressed.
"Just to talk to you three fine ladies," he answered. Remus gave one of the girls a wink and she nearly fainted.
James joined them. "What are we talking about here?"
"Nothing much," Sirius said. "These girls are being surprisingly unwelcoming tonight."
"Oh. That's boring," replied James. "Don't suppose you three'd be interested in playing Spotlight, would you?"
After explaining the rules to the three girls, three Marauders ran in different directions. Peter had begged off the game, claiming to need to find his girlfriend.
Sirius watched Remus hide behind a bush and he himself hid behind a tree that gave him a good view of both the bush and the others running around. The night wasn't very dark, because the moonlight was shining down on them and the stars were incredibly bright as well. He saw Remus look up at the sky and was tempted with a sudden urge to go join his friend and confess his true feelings. He was just about to go and strike up a conversation when Lily came from behind him, tapped him on the shoulder and yelled, "I got Sirius!"
Sirius groaned inwardly, but obligingly turned and counted to twenty before running to find others. He purposely missed the section of bushes behind which he knew Remus was hiding, and managed to get James in the light of his wand.
Half an hour later, the girls and the three Marauders were still running around, much to the amusement of the teachers who thought they were childish but hilarious. Professor McGonagall called out the time to them at 11:55, when they stopped running around, breathless and still laughing amongst themselves. Lily was even smiling at James, which was a major development.
Peter and his girlfriend were standing back as James lit the firework's fuses. The countdown began, and all the teachers and students, from first year to seventh, chorused as they waited for the magically timed fireworks to begin going off. They were scheduled to go off at exactly midnight.
"Ten...nine...eight...seven..." the chorus went. Sirius was overcome with a sudden urge to take Remus's hand. "Six...five...four...three..." His heart wanted nothing more than to hold Remus in his arms and kiss him, but for some reason, he could not move. His body was frozen in fear at the thought. "Two...one...HAPPY NEW YEAR!" everyone yelled, hugging each other and laughing.
Sirius felt himself seeping with disappointment. He sneaked a glance at Remus who was standing, watching something over Sirius's shoulder. "Hey, look!" he whispered urgently. Sirius turned to look where he pointed, and felt a smile creep over his face. Lily and James were standing together, her arms around his neck and his hands on her waist – kissing.
"No way," Sirius said in disbelief. He began to laugh. "He actually did it. What a legend."
Remus smiled.
Oh well, Sirius thought. At least he'd not embarrassed himself in front of everyone. Imagine if he'd tried to kiss Remus and been rejected with everyone watching. And besides, who wanted their first kiss to be with all their friends, schoolmates and teachers watching? Ugh.
Sirius contented himself with watching the fireworks lighting up the sky. Resounding booms and whistles went off as the sparks exploded against the dark diamond sky. Dragons dipped around Catherine Wheels, arrows flew through circles of sparks and an entire display of birds flew into the night, leaving a trail of sparks behind them.
He looked over and saw Remus staring at the sky with a gentle smile lighting his facial features. He looked so beautiful in the coloured light, casting reflections onto his perfect face. Sirius had never been more infatuated than he was at that moment.
Remus seated himself on the grass, fireworks still exploding around them. "Well – another year started," he reminded Sirius. Sirius groaned and flopped down on the grass to join him. "Don't remind me. How depressing. As time goes forward, that means the workload at school gets heavier."
Remus shoved him playfully. "Have I ever told you that you complain a lot, and for no reason? You, James and me are the top three in the class, and we will be for the rest of the school year with no worries. I honestly don't know why you complain about the workload, you manage it quite well."
Sirius pretended to blush. "Aw, Moony, stop! You're embarrassing me."
Remus laughed and returned his gaze to the sky. The pair were silent for a moment before Remus spoke again. He gazed off into the night. "I wonder what it's like to be in love."
Sirius panicked inwardly. Oh god. He had to be really careful what he did or didn't say here, in case he spilled something he didn't intend to.
"It'd have to be someone really special if it was love. I mean, a silly teenage infatuation isn't the same thing as love. It has to be about something much deeper and more meaningful."
You have no idea, Sirius thought.
"In all those trashy romance novels Muggles read, it's supposed to be about something deeper. But they never tell you what that is. All they tell you is that the people see each other and it's love at first sight. But can you really fall in love at first sight?"
"Isn't that where the attraction starts, though?"
"Well, yeah, an attraction. Sure. But attraction is only the first step. I mean – if someone fell in love with me, they'd have to learn to accept everything about me. Including my monthly habit." Remus looked slightly depressed as he mentioned that. "I don't know anyone who would be willing to accept that. Having to put up with the prejudice of being the partner of someone who turns into a monster once a month."
"Moony, there are people out there who will still love you. I mean, your friends didn't abandon you when they found out, did they? We're still here for you. It's not that big a deal."
"Yeah, but if someone was willing to spend their entire life with me, imagine what that would mean for them."
"If someone was in love with you, that wouldn't matter to them." Trust me, Sirius added silently.
Remus sighed and leant back. "What is the most romantic thing you would ever do for someone?"
Sirius was taken aback. "Uh...well, I suppose marriage is pretty romantic when you think about it."
Remus looked at him. "Marriage?"
"Well – the declaration of wanting to spend your life with one person, to give yourself completely to someone with a promise to never be unfaithful? That's pretty romantic, I think."
"Yeah – when you look at it like that."
"Listen to us – crapping on like philosophical people. Let's go find Lily and James and see what they're up to." Sirius was eager to leave before he ended up giving away his biggest secret ever. Now would have been an ideal time to tell him, but something told him that now wasn't right for the both of them. There would come a time when he would be ready to tell, and Remus would be ready to listen.
----------------------------------------
TBC
----------------------------------------
A/N: See? You didn't have to wait all that long...But I'm not sure if this chapter really worked. Review and tell me if you thought it did or didn't, I'd really appreciate knowing what you guys think. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed:
EvilPilgrim: Don't sound so excited. :P Kidding. Thanks for the review gal, love you lots!
Kittyminky: tell me about it! Wouldn't you love to switch places with him and have Sirius all to yourself?! Thanks! I'm really glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing!
AffectedMangoO: Here's the next chapter, nice and quickly put up just for you. Really hope you like it – review and tell me! :P Thanks for your review!
MelissaMoony: Stumbling blindly works if you get on good stories, doesn't it!!! How exactly do you stumble blindly though? I'm a lil confused...But I'm glad you stumbled on my story and I'm even more glad that you liked it! Please keep reading and reviewing, and keep me posted on how it's going!
TTF: I'm sorry! :P lol well, at least I know someone likes my story a lot!!! Thanks so much for your review, it made me giggle. Here's your new chapter – hope you still like what I'm writing!
Ickle Ronnie: Wow – thank you! I love being complimented! :D I hope it continues to get better, but fingers crossed that it doesn't get worse, anyway!!!
GrimyGrunhildaGrunt: Wow, your name was so hard to get the spelling right. :P Yeah, isn't James the cutest? I love making his character up – He's just so cute! Thank you so much for your review! Hope you continue to like it. And no, you didn't break anything...at least not anything I needed straight away. :P