Chapter 2: Preparations
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"Pads, Pads, Pads…" sighed James while Sirius gently protested the latters steering him away from Lily and Remus. "Calm down! You're acting like we're taking away your favorite teddy-bear here..". Peter chuckled in the background, and Sirius shot him a venomous glance.
"I dunno what you're talking about Prongs. I mean, I know Lily's all hot and bothered about ME, but.." Sirius was cut off by James pushing him into a drift of snow.
"Dog!"
After a short rolling around in the snow, ending with both stag and dog getting ice-cold snow pushed down the front of their sweaters, they agreed on a truce. Sirius was pretty happy with the way he had wriggled out of that situation. Lily was a sure way to distract James whatever he was doing. And Sirius did have a way of saying just the right thing to twist a conversation he didn't like where was going. Had James and Peter really been talking about what he thought they did? How did they know?! He barely knew it himself…and certainly didn't understand any of it. And yet.. James had always been his best friend, and the one in the gang he felt closest to. So why was he more and more often finding himself thinking about..….him?
Without Sirius taking notice, the others had suddenly stopped outside a richly lit and Christmas-decorated shop. It looked like a jeweller or something, with lots of strange looking medallions, bracelets and watches on display in the window. In the centre display were two lockets with a big sign next to it, boasting it to be "The Lates And Greatest Must-Have Gift for YOUR beloved – Simply insert pictures, and with a pre-added spell it will alert you of any naughty advances made towards YOUR sweetheart! The perfect Christmas gift – for you both!"
Sirius chuckled. Some guys were just so…insecure, weren't they? He'd never quite had that problem himself, he mused, and followed the others inside.
"So, we're out getting something for Lily I suppose? How 'bout this?" Sirius flourished an expensive looking ring in James' face. "Tie the knot before she realizes she got the bad end of the deal, eh?" James merely gave him a serene smile. He wasn't going to let that smooth-talker joke his way out of this too.
"No, actually, we thought we might help you find something. I noticed before that you haven't gotten something for Moony yet?" Sirius' eyes fluttered a bit, but then he laughed.
"Ah...but my dear, demented friend. In case you haven't noticed, Moony's a guy..I don't think jewellery is on his list?" But Peter and James just smiled, took him by the arms, and led him further into the store.
"Just you relax Padfoot. Something tells me we've got a better idea what's on Moonys list than you do."
A couple of blocks away, Lily and Remus were wandering arm in arm down the main street of Hogsmeade. It was still snowing pretty heavily, but the aforementioned storm hadn't kicked in. Remus loved the snow. It was the one thing above all else that really gave him that warm, Christmassy feeling. It made him want to snuggle down before the fireplace with a blanket and a hot cup of cocoa, and just lie there daydreaming about…well, just daydreaming. Lily squeezed his hand, as if she knew what was going on in his head. "Romantic isn't it?" she asked, looking up at him with a smile in her eyes.
Remus smiled back, unconsciously straightening his glasses.
"Yeah…It must be really nice for you and James now, finally celebrating your first Christmas not being enemies?". Lily giggled.
"Mmm…Christmas is a good time for new beginnings. How about you Rem, anyone special caught your attention lately? I see you around girls all the time, but you never talk about anyone special. And a cute guy like you, I bet there's lots of people wondering how you're still single!"
Remus laughed. "Cute? I dunno…I never seem to attract the attention of the ones I…" he stopped himself. "Anyway, are we going shopping or what?" Lily took his hand giggling, but walked on in silence.
A couple of minutes' trudging through the snow later, and Remus found himself in Gladrags Wizardwear. It contained about a trillion girls, all milling about laughing and chatting about which shirt would make their boyfriends look cuter on Christmas day. "Lil? Sure you don't want me to wait outside while you get whatever you're getting for Prongs?" Remus felt a bit out of place. ¨
"What? No, this isn't for James, I thought we might get something nice for Sirius! I mean, you haven't gotten anything for him yet have you?" Lily put on her most innocent look, while Remus felt a blush starting up his cheeks.
"Ah..right. Okay. Sure. Um.."
"Don't worry, I've got it all under control!" Lily chirped, and dragged Remus over to a shelf. "Now.. how do we feel about tank tops? No? How about one for you then?"
Half an hour later the two of them were sitting on the floor of a dressing room, Remus in the process of unbuttoning a crisp blue shirt and Lily absentmindedly sorting through the discarded clothes on the floor around them. "So" she stated, "you really do like him. I knew I wasn't imagining things!". Remus sighed, and leaned on the wall between theirs and the next cubicle.
"Is it really that obvious? I just feel like such a tosser! God.. It's not like it's just anyone either, it's him! Dreamboat of the whole bloody school..!"
Lily gave him a sympathetic smile. "I know how you feel, James isn't exactly John Doe either..".
"Yeah" mused Remus, "but you've always known he liked you, haven't you. I just...Well, I think people might be a little more shocked if….oh, I don't know, I'm tired of all these secrets!" He slid down on his back, irritated. "I wish there was some way I could just get it off my chest!"
Suddenly Lily had a mischievous smile, making her look quite alike her aforementioned boyfriend. "I think we can find a way to fix that..". And with that, she stood up, gathered the clothes in her hands and marched out of the dressing room. "Come on Rem! Let's buy that stuff we agreed on and get out of here. I'm dying for a butterbeer! And the guys are waiting…."
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