AH! I'VE STARTED SCHOOL ALREADY! AH! THIS IS SICK AND WRONG!

Oh...and I don't own Harry Potter...AGH! SCHOOL! DAMN YOU!

Oh, and my sincerest apologies for the confusion of last chapter. I didn't realize until much, MUCH later that my little "I'm separating this page with those number signs" thing isn't "accepted" by anymore...sooo, I'm now going to use my foolproof "-A/R-" thing to tell you when there's a change in narration, page, etc. Enjoy!

Now I'm staring out my window and I'm thinking, wow, it's a full moon tonight (Aug. 30, 2004), and I can't help but feel sorry for Remus and Aya. But then I think, holy crap, I'm crazy cuz these people don't even exist...

I'm too attached to characters, huh? I told you, I'M INSANE. Ask Sydnie...she has a first-hand account...

-A/R-

Ch. 22: And a Merry Christmas to You

-A/R-

"Aya..."

"Mm?"

"Wake up..."

"Mm-mm..."

"Come on."

Aya tried to roll over and away from the voice when she felt lips against hers. A melting feeling erupted in her stomach, making her smile and wrap her arms around whoever it was next to her. She giggled as she played her own passionate part in the kiss, pushing herself closer.

Her task completed, she opened her eyes to come face to face with a rather tousled-looking Remus, his eyes wide with shock. "Wow...I didn't expect that," he whispered, a reckless grin forming on his face in spite of the blush on his cheeks. His eyes sparkled.

Her face hot with embarrassment, she shrank back. "I'm sorry! I didn't...know what...came over me, just then," she stammered, biting her lip.

"Uh...do it again. That was really cool," he said quietly as he tried to hide his smile. Man, talk about awesome passion there!

Aya quickly pulled the covers over her head in embarrassment. "I'm telling you, it was an accident," she said in a muffled voice.

"Accident, smackcident," he replied, going under the covers. He grinned and grabbed her hand, the sheets rolling around like the sea.

"Oh, stop it," she replied before she burst into giggles.

"You're kinda cute when you giggle and blush like that," he said with a warm smile as he moved in for another kiss.

"HEY, MERRY CHRISTMAS, GUYS! TIME TO WAKE UP!"

"HOLY SHIT!" Remus yelled as Aya screamed, both jumping up in the bed, taking the sheets and blankets with them before they toppled off the bed and onto the floor.

Thomas was rolling on the floor with laughter, grabbing his sides. "That was hilarious! I can't believe it!"

"THOMAS!" Remus screamed. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Remus pushed himself up before he came back down to the floor face-first, his feet still caught in the blankets. Thomas squealed with laughter.

"Clumsy foot, Clumsy foot!" Thomas sang.

Disentangling himself, Remus leapt to his feet, roaring, "YOU ARE SO DEAD!!"

Thomas tore out of the room, Remus right behind him. "MUM! MUM! REMUS IS TRYING TO KILL ME!"

Aya sighed.

-A/R-

"You...locked him in the closet?"

Aya glared at Remus reproachfully, her arms wrapped protectively around Thomas, who stood in front of her.

Remus shrugged. "He deserved it!"

"Did not!" Thomas retorted, pulling away from Aya to come face to face with his brother, despite the fact Remus stood a head taller.

"Did too!" Remus yelled.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"NOT!"

"TOO!"

"QUIET!"

Aya, having gained silence, marched over to Remus, grabbed his hand, and dragged him out of the kitchen.

"H-Hey!" Remus cried. "You...you can't do this! Let go!"

Liz shook her head as she leaned against the doorway. "That boy will never learn, will he?"

-A/R-

"Still didn't need to be hit on the head," Remus was mumbling to himself as he sat with his arms crossed on the couch, staring the Christmas tree down as if daring it to exist. "What's next? Getting sent to the corner?"

"Most likely," Aya said, not looking up from her book. "And you better behave."

Remus groaned and stuck out his tongue.

"Oh, quit acting so childish," Aya said with a sigh as she closed her book. "Honestly, you're so intelligent, yet you can be so ridiculously idiotic sometimes."

"Well....you...you act so....grown-up all the time!" Remus stuttered.

Aya only stared him down before she burst out laughing. "Was that a comeback? Seriously, was it?"

"Oh, shut it!" Remus growled. "Hey, stop laughing!"

Aya fell back on the couch, clutching her side in laughter. Agitated, he moved over to her, grabbed a pillow, and whacked her soundly on the head.

"Hey....!"

"Ha," Remus said with a grin. "Revenge! Revenge!"

She tossed another pillow from the couch at him, catching him off guard, then tackled him, giggling all the while. "That hurt!"

"STOP MESSING AROUND IN THERE!" Liz yelled from the kitchen. "YOUR FATHER IS TRYING TO SLEEP, SO BE QUIET, WOULD YOU?! NO SCREAMING!"

"Yes, Mum..."

-A/R-

Despite Liz's attempts to keep Aya and Remus quiet, Isaac did, in fact, awaken. Five minutes later found all of them sitting round the Christmas tree, excluding Thomas, who found it necessary to jump up and down a few times in anticipation...then circle around and around the couch...the jumping up and down.

Liz sighed. Honestly, it's a wonder he hasn't acted up or gnawed on wood or something. It's probably because Remus is home...and Aya's helping a lot, too.

"Presents, presents, presents!" Thomas squealed.

Remus made to say something rather nasty to him, when a long look from Aya made him think twice about his priorities. He chose silence over embarrassment and bit his tongue.

"Here, Squirt," Remus said after a while, handing Thomas a medium-sized package. "Open this one first...it's from me."

Eyes sparkling, Thomas ripped the package apart with frenzied energy, then yelled with delight. "Wow! An army of Medieval Knights! Look! It's even got a King Arthur figure with Excalibur!"

Thomas held aloft the prized figure as it moved around on his palm, drawing its miniature sword.

"Well, don't let Thomas have all the fun," Isaac said from the couch. "Go on, open some presents up!"

Both Remus and Thomas, with determination in their eyes, tore into the presents with an inhuman frenzy as wrapping and ribbon flew into the air along with exclamations of surprise and glee. Aya shook her head. Boys will be boys...

"MUM, MUM! Look what Aya got me!" Thomas squealed, lugging the stuffed dragon out from under the tree.

"Oh, God," Liz moaned. "I just hope...that thing doesn't breathe fire or fly or whatever...right, Aya?" She looked pleadingly at the girl, who shrugged apologetically. "Just...go open up your presents, Aya..."

"Dad, Mum, open these up!" Thomas yelled as he ran to the couch, his arms full of presents, his dragon in tow.

Aya gazed at the top of the Christmas tree, watching how the star at the top reflected what was happening in the room. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see it was snowing outside through the window. She smiled. So this is what Christmas is like...

"Open this one up," Remus said, placing a package in her unsuspecting hands. She blushed as she took it. "Go on." Remus fidgeted slightly as he twisted his fingers in his lap, staring intently at the floor.

Curious, she slowly tore off the wrapping, then gasped when she saw what was inside.

"I know how much you like reading, so I thought you might like writing a few stories yourself," Remus said, his blush deepening.

It was a beautiful red leather book filled with blank pages for endless possibilities, complete with a lock and key. A quill pen lay on top of it, and as Aya took it, she giggled when she saw what was written on the cover in gold writing.

"'A Elbereth, Gilthoniel!' " Aya whispered as she read it. "'Silivren penna miriel. O menel aglar elenath. Gilthoniel! A! Elbereth!' "

"We still remember, we who dwell in this far land beneath the trees, the starlight on the western seas."

Remus bit his lip in embarrassment. "I was hoping you would like it," he whispered.

Glancing quickly at Liz, who was a little preoccupied in avoiding a dragon that was staring her down, Aya gave him a long kiss, then giggled. "I love it!" she whispered in his ear. Drawing back, she searched in the pile of presents for a long package and handed it to him. "Here, open this one."

His embarrassment fading, he opened the package with anticipation, then smiled when he saw the content of the present. "Excellent!" he cried as he took it out. "This...this is amazing!"

A carved, wooden flute case stared back at him; carved on the top were the words "It is both the instrument and the instrument's bearer that make the music. The greatest comes from the heart, the soul, and the mind."

"Incredible..." he breathed, holding it to his chest so he could give her a kiss.

"REMUS!"

He flinched, chiding himself inwardly for having not checked to see if his mother was still preoccupied.

-A/R-

The sun, already beginning to set, glinted off the freshly fallen snow as it crunched pleasantly under their feet, making the only sound under the trees at the moment. Their breath coming in mist, they walked hand in hand back to the house.

Summoning up the courage, Remus stopped. "Listen, Aya," he said, kicking at the ground. "I've got another present for you..."

She turned to him, a blush forming on her face. In embarrassment, she shifted the hand-made scarf Liz had sewn for her. "Oh, you didn't have to..." she began.

He shook his head. "Well, the thing is...you're gonna have to forgive me, but I kinda...snooped around in your stuff...well, only your jacket pocket. I didn't mean to, but I had to find something first!"

As if he suddenly remembered what he was supposed to do, he fumbled in his pocket, tongue between his teeth. "Come on, where is it," he murmured. "Oh, here it is!"

Quickly he drew something out from his pocket, his gloved hand cupped tightly around it.

"What is it?" she whispered, her blush deepening.

"Um...close your eyes first," he said quickly.

"Oh...okay," she whispered, closing her eyes. Softly, she felt him remove her scarf, then fumble around with something, swearing under his breath.

"Damn, hang on, I need to take my gloves off. Don't peek!" he said. Then his warm fingers were gliding across the back of her neck, causing her to tremble again as before. "Okay, you can open your eyes."

She looked around, then touched whatever it was around her neck. Her fingers in contact with it, she gasped, and stared down at it. "My...mum's necklace!" she whispered, her eyes wide. She looked up at him, her eyes shining. "You fixed it!"

"Well, I tried to," he said, his hand behind his head as his blush deepened. "The thing is, I never learned any of those repairing spells, so I tried to fix the chain manually, but I just...broke it again...so I decided to get you the gold chain instead...I hope it's alright and-"

He never finished as she hugged him, kissing him with the same passion as she had done earlier.

-A/R-

Okay, so I'm gone for a billion years, and I update a short chapter...I'm sorry! Please forgive me!! If you do, will you review? (Hey, that rhymes!). Besides, school is getting hard! I'm a Junior in High School...this is so sad...so expect me to only review on weekends...I'm REALLY sorry....maybe a few weekdays.....