A/N: I don't own the rights to any of these characters, settings or anything to do with Wizarding World. This is a work of fiction based on
the universe created by J.K Rowling.

CHAPTER FOUR – REMUS
Christmas, 1976

It was late morning when Remus awoke, familiar arms wrapped around him. Remus tilted his head up and smiled. Sirius was still asleep, breathing gently, his arms wrapped around Remus and his hair across his cheek. Remus lifted his hand off Sirius' chest and brushed his hair back from his face; he traced his hand along Sirius' jawline and across his chin before leaning in to kiss him softly. Sirius opened his eyes and chuckled.

"Merry Christmas Rem." Sirius whispered.

"Merry Christmas Sirius." Remus replied and kissed him again.

A loud snore from across the room broke them apart and Remus laughed. Sirius sat up, pushed the curtain back slightly and flicked his wand at his trunk. A present wrapped in blue and gold soared over and rested in Sirius' lap.

"Go on, open it." Sirius said, handing the present to Remus.

Remus pulled the card off the present and opened it to find an over the top cliché For My Boyfriend at Christmas card. Remus cocked an eyebrow at Sirius who winked in return. Remus opened the card to read the message and a warmth spread through his body.

My Remus,

May this be the first of many Christmases together.

I honestly don't know how you put up with me!

But I hope you always do.

Love,

Sirius

Beaming at the card and Sirius' use of that word, Remus opened the present to find Sirius' favourite Rolling Stones shirt.

"Because you seem to love it so much..." Sirius said.

Remus blushed a deep red, "It's because it smells like you."

"Creep." Sirius teased.

Remus lifted the shirt and found a leather journal and a framed photo underneath. It was a photo of Sirius and Remus. Remus was laughing, looking at the camera and Sirius was beaming up at Remus like there was no one else in the world. Remus ran his hand over the photo and turned to Sirius, who was watching him quietly.

"I love it." He whispered and kissed Sirius before leaning over him to get Sirius' present from his bedside table.

Sirius' face lit up, he had always been the one who was excited the most at Christmas. Remus had always loved that about him. Remus handed him the scarlet wrapped present and watched as Sirius ripped open the card.

"Oh very funny!" Sirius chuckled.

"Seemed appropriate!" Remus replied laughing, "And to be fair the resemblance is uncanny!"

Remus had been sure to get a dog themed Christmas card for Sirius, he'd struck gold with a dog in an ugly Christmas sweater. Sirius chuckled to himself and fell quiet as he read the inside. Remus' stomach squirmed, inside the card he had thanked Sirius for helping Remus understand and love who he really was. He'd written that he loved him and this was the best Christmas yet. Sirius closed the card and kissed Remus.

"Open the present." Remus urged and Sirius tore off the wrapping paper before beaming up at Remus.

"Amazing!" Sirius said, flicking through the books of sheet music, a bright smile across his face.

"There's more." Remus whispered, his stomach squirming.

Sirius put down the sheet music, "More?"

"I don't want us to be a secret anymore..." Remus paused, taking Sirius' hand in his, "I don't mean we have to hang up a sign or run around telling everyone or anything. Just, don't go out of our way to keep it a secret anymore..."

"So, I should cancel the big coming out party then?" Sirius replied.

Remus laughed, "Alright, alright. But we should at least tell the boys. Everyone else can figure it out on their own."

Sirius ran his hand down Remus's face softly, his breath coming out in low stammers, "Rem..."

"You alright?" Remus clutched Sirius' hand tighter, his stomach churning.

"Rem, I love you." Sirius whispered, "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Sirius. More than I ever thought was possible."

Remus pulled Sirius to him and kissed him hard, falling back onto the bed. Remus' hands tangled in Sirius' hair as Sirius broke away and began to kiss down along his neck. Remus gasped and began to tug off Sirius' shirt when he heard a cough a few beds along.

"Can I stop pretending to be asleep now?" James called out.

Sirius groaned and Remus sighed. Sirius knelt up on the bed and yanked the curtain back. James was sitting cross legged on his bed wearing his Santa hat, a pile of Christmas presents in front of him.

"Poor timing Prongs." Sirius huffed and threw a pillow at James, "Just the worst."

"Look I'm all for you two having a rough and tumble, so to speak, but it's Christmas and I want to open my presents now." James said and picked up a present.

"How long have you known?" Remus asked, sitting up.

"Known what? Known that you two were lovey-eyed for each or when you actually got your act together?" James responded, unwrapping an assortment of records.

"So, a long time then?" Sirius said and walked over the pile of presents at the end of his own bed.

"I figured you guys would work it out eventually, so I stayed out of it." James said and opened a box of homemade mince pies, "Frankly, I think this place could use a little gaying up."

"You're camp enough for all of us James." Remus said and began opening all the curtains in the dormitory to let the morning light in.

"I'm honoured you would think so highly of me, Moony." James said and winked at Remus.

Remus laughed and began inspecting his own pile of presents. Sirius had started a Christmas tradition with them in the fourth year: themed presents. The theme this year was "ugly Christmas sweaters". Remus had drawn out James' name and watched on with amusement as James unwrapped the sweater. It was bright red and green with a large snowman protruding outwards from the centre and snowflakes knitted on the back of the sweater.

"It's hideous!" James cried and looked up at Remus, "I love it!"

"You're very welcome." Remus laughed and opened his, from Peter. "Well, that's a lot to take in."

The sweater was red and had several dancing Snowmen and Christmas Trees knitted on the front of the sweater along with stars, snowflakes and candy canes. Remus held it up and Sirius and James fell about laughing. Sirius ripped open his sweater; it was pink with Santa, reindeer and an assortment of presents decorated across the front and "HO HO HO" along the bottom.

"You got me a lady's sweater?" Sirius asked.

James laughed, "There's no rule saying it had to be a man's sweater!"

"I wish Peter was here to see this", Remus mused and continued opening his presents.

"I'm sure he's gutted he's not here and stuck in Spain with his family." Sirius responded, stuffing a mince pie in his mouth.

"Yeah, the jammy bastard!" James said and ripped open another present.

Remus watched James and Sirius open the rest of their presents and felt a deep appreciation for them. James' parents had gone to France for Christmas and invited the two of them, both of them had flat out refused insisting the Potter's have a romantic Christmas getaway. Remus knew they had only done this because he had to stay behind this year; Remus' parents had gone away with some friends for Christmas this year. He was happy to stay at Hogwarts, he was going to use the time to get ahead with some of his schoolwork. Now he had Sirius and James with him and Christmas suddenly became that little bit better for him.

Once they had finished unwrapping all their presents they lounged around in the Common Room eating an assortment of mince pies, chocolate and fudge. James sat in the armchair closest to the fire animatedly proposing a snowball fight for the day. Sirius sat in the armchair opposite James and Remus took a seat on the floor, leaning against Sirius' knees.

Remus thought back to all the times he had been ridiculed and abandoned for being a werewolf, as if everything else about him was repulsive as well. The first time he realized the way he felt about Sirius was not the same way he felt about James and Peter, he had cried. He hid from everyone in the room of requirement and cried. Remus had never had feelings for another boy before, he'd even found himself interested in girls here and there. But there was something different about Sirius, he felt safe with Sirius. For months he tried to ignore his feelings, he was desperate to not have another reason for people to hate him. It was exhausting. Remus still felt afraid displaying his relationship so openly. What would the other students think? What would his parents think? Remus was grateful to have friends who loved him no matter what, without them he didn't think he would have the courage he needed to accept himself like this.

"You alright Rem?" Sirius whispered, sliding on the floor next to him.

Remus took Sirius' hand in his, "Yeah, I'm alright."

"I've got a feeling we're about to engage in some sort of epic snowball battle..." Sirius whispered and Remus looked up at James who was now demonstrating his ability to dodge snowballs.

"I might sit this one out and leave you two to it" Remus replied, looking back at Sirius.

Sirius looked at Remus searchingly, "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, I promise. I'd actually like to spend some time reading the book my parents sent me."

"Such a bookworm."

"You love it."

Sirius laughed and kissed Remus softly, "I love everything about you."

"Are you two ready?" James asked and Sirius got to his feet.

"Rem's going to sit this one out, so it's just you and me Prongs." Sirius said and cocked an eyebrow, "Do you think you can handle that?"

"You're on!" James laughed, pulling on his coat and gloves.

Sirius pulled Remus to his feet, "See you in a bit."

"Have fun!" Remus replied.

Sirius pulled Remus to him and kissed him goodbye. Remus watched the two of them leave the Common Room already stirring each other up when he heard a voice behind him.

"Seems like you two have finally got your act together then?"

Remus whirled around to see Lily coming down the stairs from the girls dormitories. She was clutching a book to her chest, her long red hair loose and gently framing her face. Lily sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to her. Remus sat down next to Lily and smiled at her.

"I didn't know you were spending Christmas here this year?" Remus asked and Lily shrugged.

"Petunia was refusing to go home if I was going to be there too..." Lily said and rolled her eyes, "I didn't want to deal with that drama so I stayed here. Told Mum and Dad that Marlene and Alice were staying too so they wouldn't worry."

"So, Petunia gets a family Christmas and you're alone?" Remus frowned.

"I won't fight with her, Remus, especially at Christmas..." Lily's voice trailed off and she stared at the fire. "How come you're here?"

"My parents have gone away with friends so here I am." Remus replied and slouched into the couch.

"At least your boyfriend was kind enough to stay with you..." Lily said and cocked an eyebrow, "You've kept that quiet"

"It started a few months ago."

"Oh Remus, it started years ago. You two have always had a thing for each other."

Lily wriggled her eyebrows at him and Remus laughed. He looked down at his hands folded in his lap. Lily reached out and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"I was afraid, Lil." Remus whispered.

"That's why you kept it secret?" Lily asked, "Remus, I think it's wonderful that you're together."

"Yeah but not everyone is going to feel that way, are they?"

"Sod 'em. The people who love you most know who you are and we love who that is."

"We talked this morning and we're not going to keep it a secret anymore."

"It's going to be okay Remus, I promise."

Remus rested his head on Lily's shoulder and she kissed the top of his head. Remus was grateful for Lily, they had bonded on the nights they spent on Prefect duty together and she had grown to become a dear friend for Remus. He had never spoken to Lily about Sirius, it was just an unspoken thing between them, Remus knew he had her support and it had always mattered a great deal to him.

"Have you got any plans after the feast tonight?" Remus asked.

"I was just going to curl up here and read." Lily replied, shaking her head.

"Well, James snuck in a bottle of firewhiskey, we're planning to drink it and be merry!" Remus said and lifted his head off Lily's shoulder, "Want to join us?"

"Drinking... With James?" Lily said and raised her eyebrows.

"What if I make sure he is on his best behaviour? It is Christmas after all, you've got to spend it with people."

"If he tries anything I'm out."

"He won't, I promise."

"Then I'll be there."

Remus spent the rest of the afternoon with Lily in the Common Room; they played Wizarding Chess and Exploding Snap on and off before curling up in opposite armchairs reading. When James and Sirius returned, dripping wet, from their Snowball Battle Lily was fast asleep. James' face lit up when he saw her so Remus followed him and Sirius upstairs to get ready for the feast.

"Evans is here for Christmas! This is the best present yet!" James said as he kicked the dormitory door open.

"Look about that..." Remus began and Sirius strode past him peeling off his shirt.

"What? Did she say something?" James asked.

"I invited her to drink firewhiskey with us tonight but she'll only come if you're on your best behaviour James!" Remus replied and walked around to his bed picking up his ugly sweater.

"Is this a Prefect thing?" James huffed and pulled on his ugly sweater.

"No James, it's a respect thing." Remus yanked on his sweater and leant against his bedpost, "Promise me you won't say or do anything that is going to make her feel uncomfortable?"

"You're asking a lot, Rem!" Sirius chimed in smirking at Remus, still shirtless and drying his hair with a towel.

"Look, Lily hasn't responded to your advances yet and there's a reason for that. Why don't you try another tactic and just be respectful. Show her you can be a decent bloke." Remus implored.

James stared at the snitch he had just retrieved from his bedside table and frowned before putting it back in the drawer, "Respectful... I can be respectful."

Sirius laughed and hugged Remus from behind, now wearing his ugly sweater too. "This should be good."

Remus twisted his head round and kissed Sirius, "Let's go eat, I'm starving."

The boys headed downstairs and found Lily standing by the portrait door; she was wearing an emerald green dress and black stockings, her hair wrapped into a bun. James let out a breath and steadied himself before approaching her.

"Merry Christmas Evans." James said smiling,

"Merry Christmas James." She replied, eyeing him carefully before looking past him to Remus and Sirius, "Thought we could all go down to the feast together?"

Remus smiled and tugged Sirius along. The four of them walked down to the feast and took their seats together. Remus and Sirius sat opposite James and Lily, Remus noticed the way James kept looking over at Lily. James was completely enamoured by her presence. There were a handful of other students at the feast but no other Gryffindors. The food appeared before them and everyone began to eat. Remus raised his glass and toasted with Sirius, James and Lily; he looked up at the table and caught Dumbledore's twinkling eyes and raised his glass to the Headmaster.

"So, Evans." James said and took a swig of pumpkin juice, "Have you had a nice Christmas so far?"

"It's been nice, a little lonely but Remus and I had a lovely time this afternoon." Lily replied, "Who won the so-called epic snowball battle?"

"I annihilated James." Sirius said, "Poor bugger didn't stand a chance!"

"Is annihilated really the word we want to use?" James argued.

"'I'm sorry, but did you or did you not beg for mercy?" Sirius teased and James laughed.

"Sounds like it was quite the battle then." Lily said as she returned to her food.

"Round two will be even more brutal." James said.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Why's that? Are you going to cry this time?"

Lily snorted and James looked at Sirius outraged, "Oh Padfoot, you're in for a treat."

Remus laughed at the exchange and caught James' eye smiling at him. James winked and continued eating. Soon after the plates had cleared themselves the table became decorated with Christmas puddings and mince pies. The four of them pulled Christmas crackers together and were in fits of laughter while exchanging terrible jokes. By the time the desserts were cleared Remus had his arm around Sirius who was leaning against him, his hand resting on Remus' thigh. Remus didn't even care when a younger Slytherin boy shot him a dirty look, he was the happiest he had been in a long time.

"So, Remus said something about firewhiskey?" Lily said and James smirked.

"I think it's about time we get stuck into that, lads?" James said and Sirius sat upright again, nodding.

Back in the Common Room the four of them were sprawled on the floor in front of the fireplace drinking and laughing.

"So you two live together now don't you?" Lily asked James and gestured at Sirius.

"We sure do! I finally had enough and left the House of Black last summer." Sirius responded and poured himself another drink.

"Have your family tried to get you to come back at all?" Lily asked and kicked off her shoes.

"I got a letter from Regulus a few months ago, wasn't a particularly nice letter mind you." Sirius said and took a swig of his drink, "I don't expect to hear from them now, I imagine I've been blasted off the Family Tree."

"I'm sorry Sirius…" Lily said.

Sirius shook his head chuckling. "Don't be sorry Lil, the boys are more my family than that lot ever were."

Remus pulled Sirius to him and kissed him, "You're much better off."

"I'll say!" Sirius agreed and pulled Remus back to him, kissing him again.

James wolf whistled and Remus chuckled, pulling back to rest against the couch again, his hand entwined with Sirius'. Lily smiled warmly at Remus and grabbed the bottle to pour herself another drink.

"I've got to say James, I prefer this side of you." Lily said and smiled at him.

James chuckled and raised his glass to hers, "Let's toast to our newfound friendship then."

Lily raised her glass to his and took a big swig of firewhiskey before leaning back against the armchair James was also resting against.

"We should do this more often", Remus suggested, "Not necessarily the drinking but hanging out together. It's been fun."

"It has been..." Lily mused, "Thank you, all of you. This was going to be an awful Christmas and it's turned into one of the best yet."

James smiled at Lily, "I'm glad. No one should be alone at Christmas Evans."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Lily cleared her throat and looked back over at Remus and Sirius. Remus finished his goblet and nuzzled his head into Sirius' neck gently biting him.

"You two alright over there?" James asked.

"Don't be jealous, James." Sirius responded and winked.

Lily giggled and pinched James, "I've got a feeling you'll be better off sleeping on the couch tonight!"

"Lily!" Remus cried, blushing a deep red.

"What, you think we don't know what you two get up to?" Lily teased.

"I share a dormitory with you for Merlin's sake." James said and drained his goblet.

"Yes but... But we don't do that when you're there." Remus argued.

"So you admit to shagging then?" Lily teased and Remus looked at Sirius helplessly who was laughing.

"Rem, it's no secret." Sirius said, "I'm your boyfriend, what else would we be doing when we go to bed early?"

James and Lily fell against one another laughing and Remus stood up.

"Aw Moony, we're just teasing." James said.

"I know." Remus replied smiling and turned to Sirius stretching out his hand, "Shall we go to bed early tonight then?"

"You don't need to ask me twice." Sirius replied and took Remus' hand climbing to his feet.

"Goodnight you two... Behave!" Remus said.

Lily and James wolf whistled and started laughing again. Remus shook his head as Sirius tugged him along the Common Room to the stairs. Lily and James' laughter began to disappear as they climbed the stairs. Sirius stopped suddenly and pressed Remus against the wall, kissing him hard. The two of them became tangled and Remus felt Sirius' hands everywhere.

Sirius broke away and tugged on Remus' shirt, "Come on..."

Remus looked down and realised he had left his sweater downstairs, "I'll be right back, I forgot my sweater."

"Get it in the morning." Sirius whispered, pressing back against him.

"I won't be a minute." Remus said leaning in to kiss Sirius before slipping under his arm and down a few steps.

"You fucking tease." Sirius groaned following him.

They raced back down the stairs towards the Common Room. As they neared the landing step Remus felt Sirius grab his shirt stopping him and his hand sliding over Remus' mouth. Remus frowned and looked back at Sirius who was looking straight ahead into the Common Room. Remus followed his eyes and saw it; Lily and James entwined in front of the fireplace kissing. Remus gasped in to Sirius' hand and they backed up a few steps as James let Lily's hair loose from her bun and they slid down to the carpet still kissing.

"Well I'll be damned." Sirius whispered.

Remus shook his head in disbelief, "It's a Christmas miracle."

"Forget the jumper?" Sirius suggested and Remus nodded.

"Sod the jumper!" Remus replied.

Sirius grabbed Remus' hand and they began climbing the stairs to the dormitory again. Remus looked back over his shoulder and saw James peeling off his sweater and leaning back down to Lily. Remus and Sirius disappeared around the staircase and up into their dormitory, yanking off each other's clothes as they barged through the door slamming it behind them. Remus couldn't think of a better way to finish off Christmas than this and with James distracted they had all the time in the world.