Inspirational Music: None. Yes, I'm boring.
Chapter Dedication: My reviewers!
As Remus checked his watch for perhaps the third time, Lily sighed as she looked down towards the yawning Harry that sat on her lap. It was Christmas morning, and Sirius was now officially two hours late for their celebration. It didn't help that Harry kept attempting to walk over to the presents and tear the wrapping paper off. He still had gift fever since his birthday in July, and obviously presents are not a thing a child will forget early.
"Come on, Sirius, where are you?" Lily murmured, looking towards the door. Both of them knew that he had been on a date before the previous night, his first in over two months. Even so, they knew he had more respect for himself and women to go too far. While many others may think he was a 'man of action', only those close to him know he hadn't exactly given much of his attention to girls until his seventh year had come around and James and Lily started spending more time around each other. Since then, he would go on a few dates, but still he had never had any intentions of settling down quite yet. He still wanted to have fun in life.
That is, until James had passed away. Since then, he had discussed settling down with someone on many occasions with Remus, and talked about him doing the same thing. After all, in order to get into a normal life and trying to be there for Lily, they should try and have a family of their own so that when they were away, maybe their wives could. And a wife could understand and help a hurting woman more than they could, although Lily insisted on many occasions that she loved their company more than ever.
"He's probably drunk too much, and has woken up to a pounding headache. Maybe trying to ride his motorcycle here backwards or something," Remus laughed lightly, imagining Sirius trying to steer the wrong end of the vehicle. "Either that or he's after Peter, since they haven't found him yet. I doubt it, though. Besides, I can hear the motor now," he commented, the familiar engine sounds reaching his sensitive ears. "And he's going faster than usual."
Lily frowned, because unlike Remus she had no idea as to what was going on. Frowning, Remus shook his head. "That means he's trying to impress someone," he sighed, rolling his eyes. No way…the idiot could not have brought someone with him!
But Remus' worst fears proved to be true as he heard Sirius' laughter followed by a feminine giggle as the engine cut off and footsteps became evident up the walkway. "Did you tell him he could invite someone?" he whispered, looking at Lily curiously. She shrugged her shoulders, a frown on her face as she had to pick Harry away from the presents once more.
"Not that I recall…"
She didn't have a chance to recall it, either, as Sirius burst through the door, a Santa hat on his head as he entered with an armload of presents. Behind him followed a woman possibly two years younger than Lily, looking uncomfortably between everyone else there, seeing as she had no idea who they were.
"Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!" Sirius declared, holding the presents high before setting them under the Christmas tree with glee. "How's little Harry doing on his second Christmas?" he asked, bounding over towards the boy and tossing him into the air before catching him easily. He laughed as the boy giggled, and gave him a bear hug. "You're definitely going to like what Uncle Sirius got you, yes sir!"
"Uh, Sirius?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow and looking towards the lone woman in the room. "I'm not trying to be rude, or anything, but who is this?" he questioned, indicating who he was talking about.
Still grinning, Sirius turned towards Remus with raised eyebrows. "Huh? Oh! Everyone, this is Emily," he stated, setting Harry down once more and ruffling his hair before walking over towards her. "Don't you guys remember? She was a year below us…Emily Thomas! I thought she hung out with you a bit, Lily. I ran into her this morning and I thought it would be great for her to come back. Sort of an odd reunion."
Their eyes now showing their recognition, Lily jumped up excitedly. "Emily? Is it really you? Gosh, it's been three years, I can't believe I hardly recognized you!"
"When I saw Sirius, I at first thought he was a muggle. I mean, he was decked out so much for Christmas, I couldn't believe it. I thought he was Father Christmas himself," she teased him lightly before looking at Lily with wide eyes. "So how have you been? It's been such a long time, I was beginning to think I'd be stuck without seeing anyone at the end of my years."
"Well, I'm glad Sirius brought you along, no matter how unexpected it was!" Lily grinned enthusiastically to the other girl. "So, have you gotten a family together yet?" she asked curiously. "A husband, any kids?"
"Well, I'd be lying if I said yes. It's not like I've never thought about it or anything, it's just that I haven't found the right guy yet, but I see that you have a son. I'm so sorry about what…er…what happened with James," she said in a small voice, looking away. She had known it would be a bad idea to bring it up, especially on Christmas, but she had never had an opportunity to say anything about it.
Nodding softly, Lily gave a weak smile as she noted how quiet the room had gotten. "Thank you, Emily," she whispered before clearing her throat, looking around the room in determination to get back to normal. She was just happy that Emily hadn't brought up her skin, for the veins still showed through with a bright luminance of blue. "So, are we going to get to the gifts? I'm sorry I didn't know that you were coming, Emily, or I would have gotten you something together…"
"Oh no, it's quite alright," Emily protested, holding a hand up. "I'm just glad Sirius invited me along without your permission," she grinned as Sirius stuck his tongue out at her. "What? What was I supposed to say? You know it's true."
"But you didn't have to bring it up," he pointed out, crossing his hands before nodding at Lily's suggestion. "Alright, let's go. Harry gets to open mine first. What I got him will bat everyone else's gifts straight out of the Quidditch field!"
"You're just dreaming, there is no way he's going to be able to pass up my gift!" Remus declared, grabbing his box for Harry.
"Give me that," Sirius demanded, nipping it away from his friend and shaking it around. "What did you get him, a History book?"
"Oh please," Remus grabbed the box away, setting it back down towards Harry's stack. "You know Herbology is so much better of a read."
As all three adults in the room turned to him with raised eyebrows, he held up his hands in defense. "Kidding, kidding! You'll just have to wait and see."
While Harry attacked his stack, giggling at the toy broomstick he received from Sirius and shaking the sneakoscope from Remus around, they all jumped as it suddenly went off.
"What? I paid for that broom!" Sirius declared, pointing at the present he had gotten before looking at the raised eyebrows he was receiving. "What? I seriously did…" he muttered, trailing off before grinning as it stopped. "Haha! Told you my gift was better, Remus. Atleast mine doesn't malfunction!" he laughed before stretching out. "So, where's my stuff?" he asked, waiting expectantly, as if he thought they were going to pile all of them on his lap.
"Oh please, Padfoot. The only way your gift is better than mine is if I can knock you across the head with it," he declared before clearing his throat. "You can read get your own."
"Liar, what would you know? I can't read. That's why I didn't pass notes in school," Sirius joked, sticking his tongue out. "Remember that time when you and James were passing notes and you fell out of your seat? I thought Professor McGonagall was going to kill you!"
Sighing, Remus shook his head. "That was you, Sirius. You were always passing notes."
Glaring daggers at Remus, his eyes squinting to mere slits, Sirius wrinkled his nose. "You lie…"
To Be Continued...
A/N: Yes, I know, abrupt ending. Most will be like that, though. If anyone wants more comedy, just ask…I'm open to any suggestions, review and let me know!