Harry gave Sirius a confused look. "An...indoor snowball fight?"
Sirius chuckled. "Don't tell me you've never had one of those before! Moony, what are they teaching these kids?"
"They learn the agumenti charm in their sixth year, isn't that right?" Remus asked, glancing at Harry, who nodded. "It's a bit tricky to alter it so your wand produces frozen water instead of real water. I'm hardly surprised that indoor snowball fights aren't common."
"Pshaw! Even with the Weasley twins?" Sirius challenged, but he was smiling. "Well, Harry, are you up for one? Me and you, against Remus. Have to get revenge for winning the pillow fight."
Harry nodded, smiling. "How does it work? An indoor one, that is."
"Pretty much the same as an outdoor one, except a lot messier," Remus laughed. "We can teach you the revised agumenti charm. And, yes, Padfoot, I accept the terms of your challenge."
"Brilliant! Harry, what do you say?"
"As long as I can learn the new charm," he answered, a little doubtfully.
Even though Harry knew it would be fun, he really didn't want to disappoint Sirius by having a hard time with it. Sure, he could manage the nonverbal agumenti charm, but it had taken him and Ron over two hours of practice. Even Hermione had needed an hour to perfect it-to her great annoyance.
Sirius must have seen the conflict on his godson's face, because he gently placed his hands on Harry's shoulders. Harry was still a good few inches shorter than Sirius, and had to look up to look him in the eye. Sirius' were filled with understanding.
"I'll walk you through it," he promised, his voice soft. Playfully, he added, "I need all the help I can get to defeat Moony, so we won't start until you can do it in your sleep."
"No pressure," Remus laughed, standing next to Harry. "Padfoot's right, though. The agumenti charm is the hard part."
Harry had to smile. "All right. Show me what to say and do?"
As it turned out, he'd been worried over nothing. Instead of saying (or thinking) "Agumenti!" he had to say "Nixmenti!" and think of snow. After a few successful attempts at conjuring large clumps of snow, then standard balls of snow, he attempted it nonverbally-and to his surprise, managed on his second attempt.
After a quarter hour, he was able to conjure snow and snowballs at a fairly respectable rate, and Sirius said that they would be worthy opponents against Remus.
"He plays dirty," Sirius warned.
"He plays dirty!" Remus shot back, with a laugh.
"I learn from the best," Sirius chuckled. "James was an expert. Pelted us with them when we slept in too late."
"I'd love to see a memory of that!" Harry laughed.
"After we destroy Moony, I promise," Sirius agreed, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulder. "Shall we begin?"
The fight was intense, at least on the part of the Marauders. Maybe it was because Harry had only recently returned to his healthy self, or perhaps they realized he had far less practice, but Harry noted that for every five or so snowballs Remus sent in Sirius' direction, he got pelted with one. They were rather large ones, almost half the size of his head, although softer than the ones that real snow would produce.
They also rarely pelted either in the face. The back of the head, sure, but the face seemed to be almost off-limits. Well, until Harry accidentally hit Remus square on the nose with one, which got a chortle from Sirius as he shouted, "This is war!"
Sirius, then, got a real hit in the face, or nearly. He deflected it with his wand so it rebounded on Moony at the last minute.
It was a great deal messier than the pillow fight, and shorter, ending when Sirius nearly broke his leg upon slipping on the floor. Moony almost broke his neck trying to pull him up, and even though they Vanished the water and were physically intact, everyone decided they'd had enough.
They were also chilled to the bone, even after using the heating charm on their robes.
"I believe this calls for extra blankets and some cuddling," Sirius declared, softly, pulling Harry and Remus onto the couch with him on either side.
Harry was only too happy to comply. "That was loads of fun, but this is great, too."
Sirius chuckled as he wrapped an oversized blanket around the three of them, then added a couple more.
"Admit defeat, Moony?" he teased, lightly shoving Remus.
"For now," he allowed, resting against Sirius.
"I do believe it's time for a rest," Sirius said, speaking gently yet rather firmly to both of them.
"We're not as young as we once were," Remus allowed, eliciting a snort from Sirius.
"Speak for yourself!"
Harry closed his eyes as Sirius wrapped both arms around him. Even he was rather tired, although he'd received less sleep than usual because of Snape's earlier visit.
That felt like ages ago...
A/N: Yes, that's a short chapter. Probably, my shortest yet. Next one will be longer, I promise.
Next up: Time to return to Hogwarts!
