I dedicate this chapter to my Siamese cat Buffy – who is currently cuddled against me and demanding attention.
Disclaimer: I own only the plot, Noel, and death threats to Sirius.
Hermione frowned down at Remus as she sat atop his stomach as he frowned sleepily up at her, as if he wasn't supposed to be asleep in his bed.
"What?" he whispered to her.
"You're not Fred," she leaned a little closer to him, her hands placed on his chest to feel his heart beating, "Or George."
"No," he snorted a little, rolling his eyes, "I'm not. Hermione, what are you doing up here?"
Instead of answering she got off of him and picked away the curtain, slipping down to the ground and looking around. Finally finding the sleeping form of George – or Fred, whichever – she grinned and tiptoed to his bed, pushing back the curtains and jumping in on top of him. He gave a startled yelp, bolting up and looking at her as if she was insane.
"Shh, Freddie, it's me," she whispered as Remus pushed the curtain back all the way, lying on his stomach and watching as he hugged his pillow.
"Oh," he whispered back before grinning evilly over at George, who was still asleep. She grinned back and nodded and they crawled out of his bed and pulled back the curtains on George's. They both leaned closer to him and did something to their mouths that Remus couldn't see, but a minute later George shot up with a loud yell, causing everybody else to wake up and look around sleepily.
"Why?" he asked them, standing on top of his bed as Hermione grinned up at him, getting up and kneeling on it, "Why, why, why? That's so gross!" He then brought his shoulders up and started rubbing his ears with them, groaning, "Elllggh! Not nice!"
"Morning George!" they chorused, grinning at him as he jumped down and went over to the bathroom to rinse out his ears.
"What's going on?" Sirius asked, his head sticking out the foot of his bed as he yawned, his hair a big, black mass resembling a tumbleweed. Hermione jumped over to his bed and bounced on her toes.
"Wake up, Sirius!" she grinned, "We've got a surprise!"
"What is it?" James asked, putting on his glasses and arching an eyebrow at her as Frank's sleepy head finally peeked through to see the commotion.
"Why don't I get a girl jumping on my bed in the morning?" he pouted.
"I'm sorry, Frank," Hermione stopped bouncing, "Open up and I'll jump in."
"'Kay, just five more minutes," he flopped back into his sheets.
"No, Frank, c'mon!" she did jump over to his bed, shaking it a little as she tried to find her balance, "The surprise is for you, too!"
"It's Sundaaaaaaay!" he whined, "I have to go home to my mother tomorrow! Go away!"
"Fine," she hopped down, walking towards the door, "Don't get presents."
"Did somebody say - ?" he popped up again as James finally hopped out of his own bed.
"Presents?" James and Sirius finished for him together as George finally came out of the bathroom.
"Yeah, I have to go and get the girls up though," she said, smiling at them, "Don't get dressed…unless, you know, you need pants. Then please get dressed." She disappeared through the door.
Five minutes later the boys were waiting in the empty Common Room, expecting to see the girls walk down the stairs just as sleepy as them, only Hermione rushed past them, Lily hot on her heels.
"I'm going to kill you!" she vowed as they ran out the portrait.
"Only if you can catch me!" Hermione laughed as Alice and Marlene followed, running after them.
"C'mon, what are you waiting for?" Marlene yelled at them, getting them into motion.
They were confused as to why Hermione ran in a giant circle not twice, but three times, still with Lily vowing to kill her. Fred and George were watching as calmly as they could, leaning against the wall, and Alice and Marlene were trying to calm Lily down as they passed by. Sirius, James, Peter and Frank didn't know whether to laugh or help, but Remus was sitting down on the ground and watching as if everybody around him were insane.
On Hermione's fourth run, Remus finally asked, "What are you doing?"
"It won't work! She keeps distracting me!" Hermione said before stopping and whirling around to Lily, "Look, Lily, I'm sorry, I was just messing with you."
"So was I," she huffed, crossing her arms over her soft blue t-shirt, "Thought we were just going for a jog."
James let out a loud laugh, "While you were vowing to kill her?"
"What?" she blinked as Hermione ran off unnoticed, "Don't you do that in the morning while you're running after your friend?"
"HA!" Hermione jumped down as a door materialized, grinning madly with Fred and George as they ushered them all in the room.
The room was relatively small, just large enough for the group with some room left over. A large decorated Christmas tree was in the corner, presents gathered underneath it, a fireplace warming everything and everyone. In front of it was a couch big enough to fit four people – seven if they squished in together – two big chairs on either side of it that could easily hold two people each.
"What is this?" Marlene asked.
Hermione, Fred and George grinned.
"Well, since this is our first and last Christmas together, and not all of you are going to be here, we decided to pull this together," George answered.
"We brought all the presents here – and didn't peek once," Fred said proudly.
"Well? What do you say?" Hermione smiled, looking around at them. They all stared at her before glancing at each other, then over at Fred and George.
"You open yours first!" Sirius and James exclaimed, reaching forward and picking her up between them, dropping her onto the middle of the couch. They propelled themselves over the back of the couch and plopped down next to her as Lily brought forward a large powder blue box tied loosely with a pink ribbon.
"What is it?" she asked, staring at it.
"Open it to find out!" Remus laughed. Fred and George sat down in one chair, Alice and Frank in the other as Peter sat down in front of the fire and Remus sat down next to Sirius, leaving Lily next to James while Marlene was on Present Patrol. Hermione tugged the ribbon away and picked up the lid, only to drop it and have her hands fly to her mouth to cover the gasp.
"Why are you freaked out?" George asked, looking at her worriedly, "Do you not like it?"
"Her," Lily and Marlene corrected as the lid slid off and a fluffy gray striped calico kitten head popped up, looking at Hermione with big blue eyes.
"Mew?" the cat questioned, looking around at them all.
"We all chipped in to get her," Remus informed her with a smile.
"Dogs are better though," Sirius muttered, making the teenager next to him grin and elbow him lightly.
"She's adorable!" Hermione said, picking the kitten up and cradling her against her chest, "She's so soft and cute and I love her! And all of you! You're all brilliant!"
"What's her name?" Peter asked.
Hermione suddenly got silent, staring at the cat as if she would demand what her name should be. The cat, in turn, looked as if she was going to kill herself as she tried to get a red and green striped ribbon off from around her neck. Lily cleared her throat.
"May I suggest a rather mushy name?"
"Yes, Lady Lily, you may," she said, turning to her and looking past James' back.
"Noel," she grinned, "Like the Christmas song?"
"Noel the Ribbon Slayer!" Sirius grinned, picking up the cat and holding it for all to see.
"Give me back Noel!" Hermione said, shooting up and gently plucking the kitten from his grasp, cradling her once more.
"Aww – Noel and Hades!" Marlene cooed, "I love it! Maybe we'll be in-laws!"
"I will protest it adamantly," she said truthfully, "Your cat tried to off me!"
"And me!" Remus said as he leaned back into a cushion, grinning at them.
"Hades?" Marlene looked horrified, "My Hades?"
"Mar, he's tried to kill every one of us here at least once," Frank told her, "I think he's tried to off James six times."
"Eight times," he corrected, "And he looks at me like he's plotting my death a lot."
Noel purred, a loud rumbling noise coming from such a tiny body. This startled many before they realized the cause and laughed, Hermione hugging the cat closer to her.
Hermione sat curled against the couch, Noel resting on her stomach as she read, nuzzling her arm once she stopped petting her to resume its previous task. James, Peter, Marlene, Frank, Alice and Lily had all decided to go home for Christmas holiday, leaving Hermione, Sirius, Fred, George and Remus the only seventh years in Gryffindor Tower. Fred and George were busy catching up on their homework, finally listening to Hermione when she said that they would then have more time to do other things if they didn't have homework. And Sirius had said something about visiting Hufflepuff house.
"Morning," Remus said as he sat down next to Hermione's toes.
She glanced up at him and smiled, "Good morning."
"Still like Noel?" he asked, reaching forward to pet the cat behind the ears. Noel arched up and purred louder.
"Of course," Hermione smiled, reaching her hand to pet underneath her chin, "How could I not?"
"I dunno – she's cute," he grinned as Noel stood up and arched her back, purring even louder. Hermione smiled as her new cat made her way over to him, rubbing her head against him before jumping down and heading up to the girls' dorms for some more snooze time.
"So what all did you get for Christmas?" she asked.
"I got three books from James, my mum, and Peter – so original, huh?" he grinned though, "But my mum and dad both sent me a watch – my birthday's in March, and there's no holidays for me to go home to, so they thought…oh, and Lily, Marlene and Alice all got me money, which is good because at least I can pick something out…and Sirius got me chocolate." He pulled out a bar, unwrapped it for the first time and broke off a piece, holding it out to her, "Want some?"
"Sure," she grinned, taking it and popping it in her mouth as he grinned wider.
"And I especially liked your gift," he ran a hand through his hair as he watched her, although his grin got a little more mischievous, "They were all alive."
"I know," she said gleefully before he snorted and shook his head at her, breaking off another piece and popping it in his mouth, "Just so you can look back on the moment when you realize that I'm a great friend by sending you live chocolate frogs."
He hummed before smirking at her, their gazes locking. He dropped the smirk and frowned at her a little, only the edges of his mouth turned down. She quickly lost the page she was on in her book as she sat up, getting a little closer to him as she set the book aside.
"Remus?" she asked as she watched his eyes, which were trained on – believe it or not – her lips, and she was – believe it or not – trying very hard not to do the same to him.
"Mmhmm?" he asked, leaning a little bit forward.
She did the same, although frowning a little, "Does this feel…weird?"
"Very," he muttered.
"Alright…figure it out once it's done?" her voice dropped to a whisper as his eyes closed and his nose brushed against hers. She fought to remember how to breathe as her own eyes closed and his lips brushed against hers. Her skin tingled and she wanted to squeak, but instead of running away and melting into a wall, she wanted to lean into him even more.
"Sounds like a plan," he murmured, his voice lower than she'd ever heard it as his lips brushed against hers again. She could've groaned before she reached forward and finally pressed their lips together, her hand winding up to bury itself in his hair, his finding a place on her chin to tilt her up to him.
Marauders are, apparently, always spectacular kissers. Sirius was, of course, the tail-chaser, and James had actually pinned Lily against a wall and kissed her in their sixth year. Peter had had a girlfriend in second year, who moved away to Beauxbatons and was never heard from again. This is why you never knew and are therefore shocked to hear this now.
Remus was definitely a spectacular kisser. He leaned into her, wanting to be closer as his tongue traced her lower lip. Her heart pounded in her chest and she let her lips part.
It was slow, and careful, but there were still – somethings that didn't have names and probably never would because she doubted that anybody but Remus could get the somethings to do whatever it was that made her senses pop.
She tasted like chocolate and peppermint. And sparks. Whenever his lips and tongue touched hers, he tasted sparks. Not sparks like in a fire, but just…what sparks would taste like if they could taste like something other than fire. Happy, and bright and noticeable.
They pulled away for breath, opening their eyes and leaping backwards with matching expressions of horror, eyes wide and mouths open. They sat there for several minutes – a first year had walked in, seen them, and edged back the way they had gone, and they'd never noticed.
"What just happened?" Hermione finally asked after an eternity.
Remus just shrugged, looking around as if there'd be an explanation. And there actually was. He finally growled out "Sirius" as he lunged for the chocolate. She groaned and leaned over the armrest, pinching the bridge of her nose.
And guess who decided to walk in at that moment?
"Hey guys, what's up?" Sirius said happily as he walked in, stopping when he saw Hermione standing up and glaring at him, getting her wand out as she did. "Err…what is up?"
"Sirius," Hermione said, as calm as she could be, "If you don't run in the next three seconds, I'm going to catch you and have to vent it out all on you and not on running."
Sirius's eyes widened before he took off, Hermione following closely behind with a growl. Remus followed.
He found them, Sirius pressed against a wall with Hermione's wand at his throat, glaring at him all the while. Sirius looked scared and confused.
"Sirius Black, that was a low dirty trick you pulled – "
"Holy crap, you're mad but girls are supposed to be hot when they're mad – "
" – Invading personal space and privacy and – "
" – but you're not, you're jut scary – "
" – misuse of chocolate!" She huffed, glaring him into silence, "One more trick on me like that and I'll aim much lower than your throat!" She turned on her heel and walked towards the way they'd came, stopping at Remus and looking anxiously up at him. "Never speak of it?" she settled.
"Agreed," he nodded.
"It won't…change us being friends, right?" she winced.
He smiled at her, "Like I'd let that happen."
She grinned before walking away with a wave. Remus watched her go before turning to Sirius, who was still against the wall and was now covering her next targeted location with his hands.
"What the bloody hell was all that about?" Sirius demanded, "What did I do?"
"Err," Remus winced, "I honestly thought you'd be gone for Christmas. I got some chocolate and I said you sent it. I thought I'd be able to calm her down over the holiday, but you're here and it…did not…end well…for you, I mean."
"What are you talking about?" he frowned and put his hands on his hips.
Remus suddenly grinned, a glint in his eyes, "Oh…just that I spiked some chocolate and did an experiment with Hermione is all."
Sirius's face took on the glee that only a prankster could get, "You didn't."
Remus grinned wider in response.
"How was it?" Sirius asked.
He snorted, "Padfoot, you should know I never kiss and tell."
"That means it was good," he smirked before frowning, "Now what?"
"Err," Remus winced, "Haven't gotten that far yet."
"But…?" Sirius prompted.
Remus stared at him for a minute before finally answering, "There's something there, Padfoot. Something, I don't know what, but it's there."
"So you fess up to it then?" he frowned, "Or am I going to have you and James being difficult?"
"I…I guess I do. But if you breathe a word of this to James or Peter or anybody, I'll kill you at the next full moon."
"Oh heavens no," he shook his head, "But if Hermione starts writing death threats to me, I'm afraid I'm going to have to rat you out."
Remus chuckled as they headed down the corridor, "Dually noted."
So…yeah, it's an off-day for me. Night. Whatever. This probably isn't up to snuff anyway, and I'm terrible at kissing descriptions. But…just…yeah. This is…this chapter. Yeeeaaaaaah.
Review and tell me what you think of it – honestly. Please. Please. Constructive criticism. Pleeeeeaaaaase.