My sincerest apologies. I don't know what happened, but somehow the last couple of chapters were, well, wrong. Or at least incredibly incomplete. Now, there is a bit of more new reading at the end of the next chapter, but these two have had some serious re-vamping occur. Also, please accept my apologies for, well, not updating since September. Turns out third year almost killed me. SO, here, in time for the holidays (only just in time!) is some Christmas festivities (again) from the pups. Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!
They sat on the couch that afternoon looking at the tree, snuggling in each other's arms, drinking a bottle of wine between them. As the evening began to progress and the buzz from the wine faded, Sirius' stomach began to growl. After little debate, Sirius was pulling on his coat again, as Chinese Take Away was on the menu. As soon as Sirius had shut the door behind him, Remus was off the couch and into the spare bedroom where he had hidden Sirius' present in the closet – where Sirius would never look. Sirius never went into the spare bedroom if he could help it, anyway. He quickly wrapped the present, hoping that Sirius would take his time getting the food.
And Sirius was taking his time. He placed the order in at the Chinese place and then told them he would be back in half an hour for it. In that half hour he stopped in at the bookstore, and quickly perused the shelves before a young woman asked if he needed help finding something. He asked her if she knew who Remus was, and when she said that she did, he asked her what books he wanted, or seemed to want, or went starry-eyed over. The girl grinned and led her to the back of the store, telling him quietly that books weren't the only thing they sold, and handed him a Beatles record.
"You have a player, right?" she asked, and when Sirius shook his head, she gave him the name of the store across the street that sold the players. She rang him through and wished him a Happy Christmas, and asked to pass the greeting along to Remus.
It only took Sirius five minutes to buy the record player and arrange the gifts in such a manner that Remus would not be able to tell what was in the bags.
He picked up the food just as Remus placed the wrapped gift under the shabby tree, sending showers of needles floating to the ground as he brushed the branches.
Remus was sitting on the couch when Sirius came through the door and made a bee-line for their bedroom, food and all.
"What did you buy me?" Remus asked immediately, not bothering to stand up nor to hide the amusement in his voice.
"Nothing."
"Liar."
Remus could hear the other man in the room, making more noise than necessary, clanging around the metal clothes hangers as he hid the gift under the bed. Sirius had always hid their presents in Hogwarts under the bed, and Remus knew that there would be no difference this year.
Sirius came back into the living room after a moment carrying only the Chinese food. Remus grinned innocently at him as he sat down. As Remus, still with a slightly goofy smile on his face, reached for one of the containers of food, Sirius' eyes travelled back to the tree and settled on the solitary, bright red box under the branches.
The wrapping wasn't as shiny as the wrapping they had used while in Hogwarts where there were tubes of the stuff in empty broom cupboards which the Marauders had discovered in their first year. Remus had always had trouble making bows stay upright and curly, and it was clear that he had used magic to keep the ribbons in their proper place. But the present, while looking a little dull, held the childish wonder that made Sirius put the food on his lap on the ground at his feet so he could get a closer look at the present that he knew was for him and him alone.
Remus was quite proud of himself. He always hated knowing what was in a particular box when he received presents at Christmas (clothing boxes still sent him the shivers), just by looking at the shape, just by giving it a little shake. But this box – this box was bigger than the present, and it had so much stuffing in it that shaking it would be fruitless (as Sirius would discover). The box told nothing of what was inside. It was perfect for Sirius, who had crouched down in front of it and was looking at it through squinted eyes, as though it would help him see through the packaging.
"Don't tell me this is for Lily," he joked, and Remus laughed behind him.
"Lily left, so no, she won't be getting it."
"What is it?" Sirius breathed, and his voice held something that sounded a lot like awe to Remus.
"You'll just have to wait until Christmas," Remus said lightly.
"You're awful good, Moony."
"And don't try opening it with magic. But then," Remus caught himself, another amused smile on his lips, "you should know that by now."
Sirius almost scowled at the memory. It was their fifth year, and it was Christmas. The previous years, Sirius had discovered a way to unwrap the presents with magic, and then wrap them back up again once he caught a look of what he, or, in some cases, what other students, were getting for the holiday. So even though Remus' presents, which were never very exciting and usually consisted of a book, were boring even when surprised by it, were even more so when Sirius and James had peeked. The two boys would concoct an act in order to please Remus, with lines such as "oh, just what I wanted!" and "I love the ending!", but it didn't take Remus very long to catch on that they were cheating. So in their fifth year, Remus discovered a spell to keep prying eyes and wands from finding out what they were getting before Christmas. That year had humbled Sirius and James a great deal, since Remus shared the spell with many others and soon there weren't any presents that could be opened before Christmas morning. But Sirius kept trying, and Remus kept getting sneakier by the holiday. Eventually, every time Sirius got close to a present the gift itself would burst out into terrible Christmas carols. Remus stayed quiet, but Sirius and James had the mickey taken out of them by Peter constantly. From that Christmas on, James and Sirius kept their eyes on the prize but their hands in their pockets.
"You should eat your food before it gets cold," Remus said from the couch, where he had already started in on his. "The food will go bad, your present won't."
"Oh, so not Christmas pudding?" Sirius asked without missing a beat, sitting back on the couch and picking up his food.
Remus poked his with his chop sticks, and they both began to laugh into their take away.
---
Christmas Eve Day was ridiculously uneventful for the two men. Early in the morning Remus took out the turkey to thaw, which surprised Sirius when, still drowsy, he found it in the kitchen sink when he tried to fill up the kettle for tea.
He refused to go into the kitchen after that, leaving Remus to fetch tea and biscuits throughout the day. (Which, Sirius commented, he didn't mind in the slightest since both men were too lazy to put any clothes on, and he rather enjoyed the view coming and going. Which was also the main reason Remus would have to get tea so often as Sirius refused to drink cold tea.)
It turned out to be one of the days that, lying in Remus' four poster bed at Hogwarts with the curtains drawn, they had both fantasized about. Or, rather, Sirius had fantasized about and Remus thought would never happen, seeing as they would both work or there would be an Order meeting, or James or Lily or Peter would be stopping by.
For the entire day, Sirius took great pleasure in proving Remus wrong, and Remus took great pleasure in making Sirius very happy.
But sustenance was granted that evening when, as Sirius dozed on the couch, Remus went off in search of curry take away. No need, Remus figured, to make a big production of Christmas Eve dinner when it was Christmas dinner that made Christmas Christmassy. Sirius woke up before Remus got back, so that when Remus walked through the door, his arms full with take away, he found Sirius in front of the tree, his soon-to-be-received present in his hands, and was shaking it.
"You're lucky it isn't breakable," Remus smiled, setting the food on the coffee table.
Sirius turned to Remus, a glint in his eye. "You're lucky you aren't breakable, what with the plans I have for you tonight."
Remus shook his head, laughing and opening the take away boxes.
"Eat," he said simply.
As they finished their take away (or, rather, as Sirius waited quietly for Remus to finish his take away, his gaze lingering on the tree before he snuck glances at Remus, concentrated on the chop sticks that were giving him more difficulty than usual), a knock came at the door. Sirius shot Remus a confused look before silently getting off the couch and padding his way to the door. Remus picked up the empty food containers and was in the kitchen when Sirius opened the door.
"Oh," he heard Sirius say, "hi again."
"Hi again," a friendly familiar female voice replied, and Remus heard her step into the flat. "I hope I'm not interrupting," she said, "but I was hoping Remus was here."
"Not interrupting anything," Sirius said happily as Remus stepped out of the kitchen.
Remus' face broke into a wide grin as he embraced the girl in a hug.
"Jules!" he exclaimed, and the girl laughed, returning the hug whole-heartedly. "What are you doing here?" he asked, stepping back, but still with a smile on his face.
"I'm here to beg," she said seriously, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him, very reminiscent of Lily.
Remus shook his head, but the small grin didn't leave his face. "I'm sorry, but I can't come back. Colton made his views very clear about me."
"He doesn't know the whole you though, Remus," Jules argued, and Sirius watched on with an amused yet slightly confused glint in his eye.
"And he never will," Remus retorted. "I don't deserve to be treated that way, and I realize that I took the alleged wrong day off, but I can't help when I'm unwell, and I didn't –"
Jules shook her head, and it was her turn to grin knowingly as Remus stuttered to a halt.
"What?"
"Remus, clearly you and I have a done a very good job of hiding our secret, but really, I thought you would have paid more attention to the prefects that preceded yourself."
"You went to Hogwarts?" Sirius asked in a hushed voice, and Jules nodded, still smiling as she closed the door behind her, now that the conversation had turned more secret matters.
"Of course I did, Sirius Black," she grinned. "I kept on the down low, in case you were wondering why I never dated you."
Sirius laughed. "You must have kept a very low profile."
"Hard to get out when you stayed in the dungeons with your house."
"But how do you know about me?" Remus asked, ushering her to the couch in the living room.
"I was in sixth year when you were in first, and I noticed you go out to the Whomping Willow one night while I was on prefect duty. When I saw you carried into the hospital the next morning, it didn't take rocket science to discover what kind of condition you had," she explained. Before Remus could say anything, she added, "I didn't tell a soul. Not Dumbledore, not my diary. You were so young and I felt terrible that – well, I felt terrible, and then immensely guilty that I knew, so I've kept it a secret. I'll be taking it to my grave, don't you worry."
Remus sighed, leaning back. "And that's why you want me back at the shop."
"What?"
Remus looked guiltily at Sirius. "They fired me when I told them I was unavailable the night before last, for the full moon. I was going to find something else in the new year."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to worry," Remus replied, and added quite honestly, "and I didn't want your charity, even if it is Christmas."
"All the same," Jules interrupted, noticing keenly the concerned look on Sirius' face, "I really think that if you talk to Colton he'll give you the position back. I mean, Joshua, Marie, and Angela have all said that they won't be back in the new year. He'll have to give it back to you. And I'll make sure that I'm available for the full moons," she added quietly.
"You don't have to do that for me," Remus said. "And really, I don't –"
"Stop kidding yourself, Remus," Jules said quietly, and the Gryffindors could see the Slytherin in the girl. "Take the job, work it out with Colton. You won't get anything, and I want the shifts you won't be there, so don't even think for a second that I'm taking pity on you. I'm not, even though," she began, but shook her head. "I'm not taking pity on you, I just want my friend back in the shop and I know you enjoyed yourself."
Remus looked at her with a smile on his face. "I'll talk to him once the new year starts and he has three less employees and he'll be desperate for me."
"And for your knowledge of the dewy decimal system," Jules joked, standing up, and Sirius and Remus stood with her. "But, it's getting late and Santa still has to visit," she winked, starting towards the door.
"Have a happy holiday, Jules," Remus said, giving her one last hug.
"You both have a good time as well," she smirked, giving Sirius a hug as well.
"What is – if you don't mind my asking," Sirius said as they broke apart, "what is your last name?"
"Davenport," she grinned, opening the door, and Sirius laughed. "See you in the new year, Remus," she said, waving as she left the two men.
Remus closed the door behind her and looked at Sirius a confused look on his face.
"The Blacks despise the Davenports," Sirius grinned, answering Remus' unasked question. "The Davenports don't despise muggles, and they don't flaunt their money. They're brilliant." Sirius looked as though he had stumbled across free porn.
Remus laughed with him.
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