A/N: This little idea stuck in my head and I loved it. It just seemed so fitting for Snape and Sirius. Enjoy!
Prompt: (dialogue) "I don't mind fruitcake. It's the only thing during Christmas that I'm not tempted to eat."
Fruitcake
"We got a gift today." Marlene said it as though this were a common, everyday occurrence. She had been expecting this gift. Lily had told her it was coming, so she would be better prepared for the reaction Sirius was sure to have.
"A bit early for Christmas gifts, isn't it?" Sirius draped his coat over the back of the chair and sat down across from her at the table. "Who's it from?"
"There's a card with it. Read it for yourself."
Marlene watched his face as he read it, his expression changing from interest to puzzlement to disgust. She put her hand over her mouth so he wouldn't see the amused grin that she couldn't hold back.
"Why is that greasy-haired, sniveling little-"
"You obviously didn't read the card." Marlene interrupted the string of names that she could almost recite from memory. "The war is over. We're not at Hogwarts anymore. Can't you let him make amends?"
Sirius dropped the card on the table as though it were something dirty. "Oh sure, do it at Christmas when everyone's supposed to be nice and full of joy." He sighed. "I'll only do it if James does."
"You can think for yourself, you know. You don't need to follow James's lead with everything." It seemed unreal to her that even though they didn't see each other every day, James and Sirius still had such a close connection. There was very little that one would do without the other. They even tended to think alike.
"What's the gift?" Sirius asked, ignoring her. He tore open the package and revealed a brick of...
"Fruitcake?" Sirius poked at it. "It's fruitcake. Fruitcake, of all the things he could send me!"
"I don't mind fruitcake. It's the only thing during Christmas that I'm not tempted to eat." Marlene wasn't hiding her smile anymore. "At least he was nice enough to send something," she pointed out.
"I see you over there, getting amusement out of this." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the fruitcake as though it were the most offensive object ever. "This is what you send someone when you don't like them. It's hate disguised as making amends."
"Nobody said he had to be completely nice right from the start. There are quite a few years of hatred between you. Give him time." She laughed. "Besides, you could just re-gift it back to him."
Sirius stood and put his coat back on. "I'll be back, Mar."
"Where are you going? You just got home."
"I'm going to buy the biggest lump of fruitcake I can find, to show Snivellus - I mean, Severus - just how much I appreciate his gesture." Marlene hadn't seen a smile so mischievous on his face in quite a long time. Without another word, he was back outside.
"That went well," Marlene said to the empty room.