Dreary dreary dreary. What a perfectly dreary blustery day, to be inside curled up next to a warm fire. Thick grey clouds hung ominously in the sky, as if saying ‘stay inside, it might snow today.’ Remus flipped through the pages of a muggle mystery, which he had already figured out the ending three chapters in, but the writer had a flair for words, so Remus kept at it.
Sirius was proudly smoking a thick cigar that he had nicked off of one of his professors and Peter was goggling at him in awe. “You’ll get in trouble,” he whimpered, as if it was a fabulous idea.
Sirius looked at the cigar lovingly and licked the residue from his lips. “Oh this is well worth the lines,” he retorted smugly. He passed his token to James, who eagerly inhaled and nearly threw-up. The upturned wrinkled noses of Lily and her friends, as they passed by, caused James’ whole face to redden. He passed the cigar back to Sirius, who offered it to Remus.
“I’m trying to quit,” Remus said tonelessly. He glanced at Peter, who looked like he would wet himself with joy if Sirius offered him a toke. But Sirius didn’t, and Peter was left to be ashamed at himself for his foolishness. Sirius sighed, and impressed a few second years by making smoke rings.
It was then that James turned all of his attention to Remus. “So….”
“So…what?” Remus asked, flipping the corner of his page down, and closing the book.
“How’s the whole Evans thing working out?” James retorted, gritting his teeth. Sirius leaned in with mock interest.
“She thinks you’re a pillow biter, that one,” Remus said, trying not to laugh.
Sirius on the other hand threw back his shaggy head with a big bark-like laugh. “Never thought Prongs would be a regular poof! Sure explains a lot though, doesn’t it Wormy?” he asked with another laugh, nudging Peter on the shoulder. Peter let out a feeble laugh, and busied himself with his self-shuffling card deck. James’ ears went pink and he pushed Remus roughly. “Come on now. What she really say?”
“Whatever she said, Moony wasn’t listening. I saw the getup she wore on their last session,” Sirius said snidely.
“So did I,” interjected Peter. “I’ve never seen a greater set of paps.” His comment received a quick flogging from Sirius and James, and an angry look from Remus. Sirius gave him a good thump on the head before explaining. “We don’t use derogatory comments towards women whose company we hope to enjoy,” he sneered viscously. Peter cowered and scooted closer to Remus, who was happily indulging in another chapter of his book.
Remus was quite pleased with himself, actually. He had gone all the way from October to the day before Christmas Holiday, without cracking from the supposed guilt. He had gotten quite good at making excuses, almost as good as the others, and his grades hadn’t faulted from the stress of leading a double, or in his case, triple life.
Whenever guilt did plague him, it always chose to come about during the full moon, and he hadn’t had to worry too much, as his Hyde was too selfish for his Jekyll. “Don’t hit, Pavlov,” he said to Sirius, because he knew the reference to something smart would aggravate him. “Your dog had learned its lesson.”
Sirius was about to retort back and say something both stupid and hurtful, but James quickly changed the subject. “So, what are you lot going to do on holiday?”
“Sleep,” Sirius yawned, tapping his cigar ashes to the floor.
“My mum and I are going to go skiing. Just to see what the big deal is about,” Peter said quickly, nursing his wounds.
“I myself am going to enjoy the company of Sirius, once the holiday is in full swing,” James answered his own question. “What about it moony? Ready for another Christmas at the Potters?”
“I think I’ll stick here this round,” Remus yawned. The truth was that he and Lily would be the only ones in their house staying behind. Both gave their families the excuse of wanting to study extra hard for their N.E.W.T.s. He suspected that James already knew of Lily’s plans and was sure to find the answer in the next half second. “Great,” James said, “Perfect for you to catch Evans up with everything that would make me a good lover.”
Bingo. “Sure,” Remus shrugged. He dog-eared his page and said with another broad yawn, “I’m turning in for the night. Have a good holiday.”
Remus was having a wonderful dream. He was sitting in a garden full of pink and yellow roses. The grass was green and soft, and he rested his head against a rather smooth rock. The lazy sunbeams made him feel sleepy and he closed his eyes. When he opened them, there was a giant blue butterfly resting on his nose. “They’re all gone,” it said in Lily’s silky voice. Then it beat its wings and flew up into the sky, disappearing in the sunlight. Remus sat up and stretched his hands out to it. “Don’t leave,” he said.
“Why would I? Wake up silly, you nearly smacked me in the face.” Remus slowly opened his eyes, and Lily’s face swam into view. She was sitting on the side of his bed, her hand resting on his chest.
Remus sat up with a yawn. “Sorry,” he grumbled and went to the washroom to clean up.
“Don’t shave!” Lily called after him. “I like the scruffy look.” Remus had to laugh, as he hated it, but would do nearly anything for Lily at this point. So, he cleaned the cream from his face and walked back into the room. “Scruffy like this?” he asked. She nodded and pulled him towards her, kissing his neck.
“It smells good,” she yawned. He lay back down onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her waist when she fell next to him. They didn’t wake up until the late afternoon sung hung low in the sky. Remus yawned and rolled over and kissed Lily. “Yuck, morning breath,” she moaned and pushed him away.
“You want some breakfast?” Remus asked, pulling on his trousers. Lily nodded and he gave her a swift kiss before heading down to the kitchens, tickling the pear in the portrait and nipping some food for them to much on throughout the day. “What’s your favorite colour?” Lily asked him, nibbling on some cheese. Remus shrugged, and sliced an apple. He didn’t have one at all, didn’t even really think about colours. “Red,” he said, eying Lily’s lips.
“Liar,” she laughed. “Mine’s green.”
“I never would have guessed,” Remus said. He cut a slice of apple for himself and put a bit of cheese on top. Lily sighed and put her bare feet on his lap. “Eww, no…” Remus said, pushing Lily’s feet away. “Nothing personal. I just don’t like feet.”
She laughed at him and curled her feet back under her chin. “Aright, Mr. Clean, let’s go for a walk.” She scampered out of the dormitory before he had a chance to protest. With a small laugh, Remus pulled on an extra sweater and his cloak. Moments later they were kissing in the common room, mussing up clothing and Lily’s freshly painted face.
They held hands in the corridors, not worried about who would see them or what they would say. After all, there was hardly a soul left, save for the teachers and they never gossiped with students around. Lily skipped outside into a fresh pile of snow raised her arms to the sky. “I love snow!” she shouted to the heavens. She twirled in her spot and slipped. Remus caught her in his arms and laughed. “You would go crazy if I wasn’t here to keep you grounded.”
“So would you,” Lily said sternly releasing herself from his grasp. “You are so uptight, sometimes! I can hardly stand it.” She huffed and trotted away from him. Remus trailed after her. He grabbed her elbow and spun her around. “What in God’s name?” he asked, not able to get any other words out.
“Oh honestly. It drives me mad that you can’t have any fun.” She cried, twisting her arm away. “I feel so dirty when I’m next to you, Remus!”
“I can’t help that!” Remus shouted back. “It’s your own fault for not keeping tidy.”
“I do keep tidy!” Lily screamed, pushing him roughly.
“Then why do I make you feel dirty?” Remus asked, bewildered.
“Because you are too clean! You are too quiet! You are too sensible! And you are too boring!”
“Be reasonable now, Lily. You’re not making sense!” Remus cried. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little, as if it would help. Lily looked angrier than ever. “Get your hands off me! Don’t you ever use that word around me again.”
“Which one?” Remus said with a small laugh. This was ridiculous. They were arguing over sense and sensibility. Lily wanted a fight for the sake of it, not because she had anything backing it up.
“Reasonable…sense,” she pouted.
“You can only chose one,” he laughed again.
“Don’t laugh at me,” Lily said, her face turning a deep shade of red. She bent low and quickly made a snowball. Remus hadn’t stopped laughing, and in fact, he was laughing harder than ever. The laughter hurt his lungs because it was so frightfully cold outside, but he couldn’t stop. Lily spun on the spot and threw the ball in his face. It caught him off guard and it stung like hell. “So you want to play rough?” he asked, and tossed a snowball back in her face.
They threw snowballs for an hour before students from the other houses came out and joined them. By the time the war was over, everyone was breathing heavily and sopping wet; the sun had long since disappeared.
Remus trudged inside, the weight of his wet trousers weighing him down, his arm around Lily’s shoulders. She put her arm around his waist, and they carried each other up the steps to Gryffindor Tower.
They pulled off their clothes and hung them, dripping, over the fireplace mantle. Lily smiled when she took a good long look at their hanging stockings. “Do you think St. Nick will put something in them on Christmas?”
“Probably an Orange and some chewing gum,” Remus said, shivering. He had never been in front of a girl in only his underwear, nor had he seen a girl in hers. So his shivering was more out of nerves than anything, but he went to get a blanket anyway, and returned promptly.
Lily had put on a record. Electronics never worked on school grounds, but each common room had an enchanted record player so that the students could enjoy music while they studied. “Ella Fitzgerald,” Lily said showing the jacket. “A muggle friend of mine brought a bunch to school this year. I find it sexy.”
Remus listened to the sweet crooning of Fitzgerald and nodded. “Very romantic,” he said, opening his arms for Lily to retreat to. They snuggled by the fire in silence. The flames danced and licked the thick blackening logs, and Remus kissed Lily’s cheek. Lily turned and he kissed her lips. He kissed her nose. He kissed her neck. She laid down and he kissed her throat bowl, but stopped when her hands slipped his boxers down around his ankles. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she whispered, a little unnerved.
“It’ll change us forever.”
“I know,” she muttered. Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his blistered lips. “I know.”