Note: So, I checked my e-mail today and was VERY excited. I thought that no one was reading my story, but as it turns out, I know at least two people are, because two people are watching it! ^^ So, I've been trying to keep up a steady schedule with my updates, and I hope that anyone else reading is enjoying this too. And don't be afraid to review!
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me!
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Christmas morning dawned cold and snowy, though the Gryffindors couldn't say that they minded. This had been the snowiest winter they'd all seen and they were enjoying it very thoroughly. The boys were downstairs first, dragging bits of wrapping paper down the stairs with them into the common room. The girls, arrived a bit later after opening their presents and oohing and aahing over the gifts they all got.
"Took you long enough!" Sirius complained, getting up and glaring at the four girls as they filed down the stairs.
"Really, Black, we are not at your beck and call," Lily scolded, hands on her hips.
When James heard her voice, his hand immediately jumped to his hair, ruffling it more than it already was. He'd picked up the unfortunate habit sometime early on in the year, deciding it might impress Lily if he looked as though he'd always just gotten off his broom. Hestia and Dorcas had tried to convince him that this didn't work, and even went so far as to say it had the opposite effect, though James took no heed.
"Well, we have peace offerings," said Dorcas, trying to diffuse the tension a bit. She smiled at the boys and tossed nearly identical packages into all of their laps.
They quickly tore open the wrappings and exclaimed in joy over their gifts. Dorcas had just given each of them some candy, not really sure what else she could have bought for them. On one of the Hogsmeade trips, she'd gone to Honeydukes and bought them each some chocolate, sugar quills, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and a few ice mice. Hestia, knowing they enjoyed Zonko's had bought them trick wands and nose-biting tea cups as well as a bit of invisible ink.
"Oy, thanks, you two!"
"Yeah, thanks,Dorc and Hes!"
"Thank you."
"Thanks!"
At the chorus of thank yous, the girls both laughed and hugged the boys. Lily and Mary had sat down and were talking among themselves. Lily, as a rule, didn't really like any of the Marauders. She didn't mind Remus too much, and Peter wasn't bad either, though she could hardly stand James and Sirius. Mary usually stood by Lily, though, and so she wasn't part of the group much either. The boys gave them presents as well, mostly candy, though Remus thoughtfully opted to get them scarves. The girls hugged the boys once more, thanking them.
"So, is anyone else hungry, or is it just me?" Sirius asked, patting his rumbling stomach.
Hestia rolled her eyes but grabbed Sirius's arm, marching him out of the common room. Peter followed them, and then Lily and Mary. James followed Lily until it was just Remus and Dorcas left. Dorcas looked up at Remus and flashed him a smile.
"Be my escort to brunch?" she asked.
"Of course," he said politely, offering his arm. She laughed and took it, the two of them walking out of the portrait hole together. Inwardly, Remus was beaming.
Up ahead, Dorcas couldn't help but shake her head as James walked alongside Mary and Lily, clearly trying to ask the redhead out once more. Dorcas could hear Lily saying something very angrily to him, but James just persisted. And even further ahead, Hestia still had Sirius by the arm and they were laughing about something. Peter was with them too, laughing, albeit a bit more nervously, as if he weren't sure he should be.
"You know, I'm really glad I have all of them…even if they are a bit mental at times," Remus said, smiling fondly at his friends.
Dorcas looked over at him, surprised at his honesty. Boys weren't usually so…open. "I know what you mean," she answered, after a pause.
"Oh, and thanks for the chocolate. It's my favorite," he said, giving Dorcas a tired smile.
She found her cheeks turning pink and looked away, shrugging. "I guess it was a lucky guess then," she said.
In fact, it was not a lucky guess. She and Hestia had been in Honeydukes when the boys had come in. But, not wanting to be given away, the two girls had ducked behind a display of acid pops, watching as the boys perused the chocolate. She'd noticed Remus lingering in front of a certain kind of chocolate, but then he shook his head and left with the other boys. Dorcas had been hoping that he'd like it.
"Remus?" she asked.
He looked over at her, raising his eyebrows. "Yeah?" he answered her.
"Do you think you could help me a bit with my arithmancy homework later?" she inquired, tilting her head to the side a bit.
At her question he seemed to perk up, and he gave her a nod. "I'd be happy to," he answered her with a smile.
Dorcas grinned back and they reached the Great Hall. It was mostly empty, as to be expected. Though, what was most shocking was that instead of the 4 long house tables and the staff table, there was just one table. The professors sat, clustered near the front, two seventh year Slytherins sat at the end, apparently too wrapped up in each other to notice anyone else. Severus Snape sat by himself also close to the end, but far enough away from the older couple, and there were no Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws to speak of. The Gryffindors all looked at one another and shrugged.
James took a seat next to Professor Dumbledore, and Sirius across from him, next to McGonagall. Hestia joined Sirius and Peter sat on her other side, while Dorcas sat next to James and Remus took a seat next to her. Lily left to sit with Severus, who instantly brightened up when he saw her. James shot a look of pure loathing at the Slytherin, but then tried his hardest to ignore them. Mary hovered awkwardly for a moment before tentatively taking the available seat next to Peter.
"Ah, students," Dumbledore began, standing up and looking at them all. "Seeing as there are so few of us at the castle this holiday season, I thought it would be best to forego the usual house tables in favor of one that would allow us all to sit together."
He then smiled. "That being said, tuck in."
Sirius and James laughed heartily, and quickly did just that. Hestia rolled her eyes, but dug in as well. The others followed suit, piling breakfasts onto their plates. Remus turned to Dorcas, giving her half a grin and lifting his goblet of juice. She gave him a questioning look, but raised hers as well.
"Happy Christmas, Dorcas," he said, clinking the goblets together.
She laughed. "Happy Christmas to you too, Remus."
The rest of the brunch passed in good spirits. Professor McGonagall even seemed to have loosened up, but only very slightly and she had to admonish Sirius halfway through for eating far too much food. Professor Slughorn told them all some fairly funny though slightly off-beat stories that the boys appreciated, causing McGonagall to give him a withering look.
Dorcas and Remus talked amongst themselves throughout brunch. Of course they had talked before, but it seemed as if today were their first conversation alone, and they both quite enjoyed themselves. Remus was inwardly glowing when he was able to make Dorcas laugh and the two found they were able to talk quite easily about pretty much anything and everything.
The meal concluded and everyone went their separate ways for the time being. Lily and Severus went off alone, and Remus had to convince James not to follow. Instead, Sirius was intent on taking his mind off of her and he suggested they go back to the common room to play a game of Exploding Snap. James agreed reluctantly and Peter decided he'd watch, having nothing better to do. Hestia and Mary were intent on trying out Mary's complete magical make-up kit and Dorcas convinced Remus to go outside with her a bit. After they had each retrieved their jackets and gloves and put on some boots, they met back in the common room. Dorcas also wore the scarf Remus had bought her for Christmas, he noticed.
"Ready then?" the small, half-Japanese girl asked brightly.
"Sure," he said, putting his hands into his pockets.
They left the common room together, chatting amicably about their Transfiguration assignment due after the holidays. It wasn't long before they were outdoors and in the thickly falling snow.
"Come on! Let's go to the lake!" Dorcas shouted happily, running through the knee-deep snow as best as she could.
Remus couldn't help but chuckle at the trouble she had making her way down the sloping lawns and to the lake. Whereas Remus was tall, Dorcas was still a tiny little thing, and at the moment, she was all but dragging herself through the snow, just to reach the frozen lake. Eventually they got there though, and Dorcas turned to Remus, her cheeks very red from the cold.
"Think we can ice skate?" she asked him.
Of course neither of them had brought ice skates, but it was still equally fun just to slide around on the ice. Dorcas tentatively put a foot on the frozen surface, kicking away the snow that had accumulated there.
"Is that a good idea?" Remus asked, looking around worriedly.
"Oh come on, you know it's completely frozen! Besides it's not like we'll get anywhere near the middle of the lake," she said matter-of-factly.
Remus had to concede and he, too, stepped onto the ice, getting a feel for it. Though, not a moment later, he slipped and fell hard on his bottom. Dorcas stared for a moment before breaking out in peals of laughter. She laughed so hard that she fell too, and then Remus joined in.
"What a pair we make, hm? Can't even stand on the ice for five minutes," Dorcas said.
They helped one another up and then Dorcas moved back slightly, taking a bit of a running start so that she could slide across the ice past Remus. She skidded to a halt and turned around to face her friend.
"You try! It's fun!" she encouraged.
"I think I'll end up making a fool of myself," Remus said, shaking his head. Nevertheless, he mimicked Dorcas's movements from earlier and skidded past her, though toward the end, he lost his balance and fell back.
Dorcas caught him under the arms, but ended up slipping too, laughing as they fell again.
"Merlin, Remus, you're heavy!" she joked.
He blushed and quickly got up, realizing he'd pinned her beneath him. He then reached out a gloved hand to Dorcas, which she took, and he pulled her up into a standing position.
"Well, thank you, kind sir," Dorcas said, smiling.
"You're welcome, m'lady," Remus returned, grinning.
"Think we've had enough of the ice?" Dorcas asked him, rubbing her sore bottom.
"Yeah, I think we should stop while we can still walk," the tall boy remarked, grinning.
He helped her off the ice and they decided to venture a bit closer to the castle, just in case the snow got any worse than it already was. Once they were close enough, Dorcas stopped and fall backwards into the snow, startling Remus. He rushed over to help, but then realized that she was waving her arms and legs back and forth, making a snow angel. He shook his head at himself.
"Well, are you just going to watch, or are you going to make one?" Dorcas asked, remaining on the ground.
"Fine, fine," he said, falling backwards next to Dorcas, waving his arms and legs as well. They lay in silence for a moment.
"It's really peaceful out here," Remus finally said.
"Yeah, I love the snow. It makes everything so quiet and pretty. It's just really beautiful," she said, sighing and looking up at the gray-white sky.
"It is beautiful," Remus agreed, though his eyes were on the girl next to him.
After a few moments, they could feel the snow soaking through their clothes, so they decided it might be better to go inside and warm up now. They walked back to the common room together, and once they were on the Seventh floor, Dorcas playfully jumped onto Remus's back. He grinned and carried her the rest of the way, through the portrait hole and into the common room. Letting her down, they both went their separate ways for the time being. Peter watched, silently from his post on sofa near James and Sirius's Exploding Snap game. After a moment, he got up and followed his friend to the boys' dorms.
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Note: So, there you go! Hope you all liked it! Please review!