A Marauder New Year

A/N: Remus/Sirius and James/Lily
Word Count: 1,179
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"Where are they now?"

Remus looked up from his book to find Lily staring at the portrait hole. He knew who she was referring to but didn't think she'd pay attention to anything he had to say. It wasn't that she was ignoring him. No, she was just worried that her boyfriend, the Head Boy, was doing something irresponsible.
Remus couldn't help but chuckle at that very thought.

James had been a foolish boy who would hex anyone in the vicinity in he so chose to. But now, now he was a foolish boy who thought before he hexed anyone in the vicinity. And, if Remus thought about it, that made a big difference.

But he couldn't help but wonder what was keeping the two boys. He closed the book in his lap and sat up a little straighter to also look at the portrait hole. "Maybe they caught someone in a cupboard and James is reprimanding them."

Lily finally turned away to arch her eyebrow at him, looking slightly amused. "You're saying that they found some students snogging in a cupboard and James is going to chastise them?"

They stared at each other a moment before they both burst into fits of laughter. "Oi! What's so funny?" Remus and Lily stopped laughing and looked over toward the voice. Standing just inside the portrait hole was Sirius holding a bowl that had green grapes and four Butterbeers tucked carefully under his arms.

"Just telling Lily what you look like in your pants," Remus joked and smirked lightly when he saw the irritated - but playful - look on his boyfriend's face. "What've you got there?"

Sirius looked down at the things in his arms and smiled brightly. "Our New Year's traditions!"

Lily and Remus exchanged looks before skimming over the objects in his arms. "Umm…What-"

"Got them!" James called hurrying through the portrait hole but stopped when he saw everyone in the room staring at him. And, even though it was only three people, he still hid something behind his back.
Lily crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at James. "What've you got?"

James smiled sheepishly at her, "Nothing, Lily. Don't worry."

Remus set the book he'd been holding on the seat beside him and got up. "Sirius, what did you mean by 'New Year's Traditions'?" He noticed that the black haired boy was having problems trying to keep everything in his arms so he took the bowl.

"Prongs and I were thinking-" He glared at Lily when she scoffed at that but kept going "-That we needed a tradition since this'll be our last year."

"So we did a little research and found some Muggle traditions and wanted to try them!" James finished with a broad smile.

Remus and Lily both looked down at the grapes that were now in the werewolf's hands. "But…what do these have to do with New Years?" Lily plucked one grape off of the stem and popped it into her mouth, smiling at the tart taste.

"Don't you read?" Sirius asked, setting the Butterbeers down to take the grapes away from the other two before they were all eaten. "It's a Spanish New Years tradition, Moony. You're supposed to eat 12 grapes at midnight. And if you do, you'll be lucky all year!"

"And what about the Butterbeer?" Lily asked, pointing to the bottles on the floor. "How is that a tradition? Don't you do that every year?"

Now James spoke, still smiling big. "Exactly! It's a Marauder tradition. And seeing as you're an honorary Marauder, you get a bottle, too!"

"When did Evans become a Marauder?" Sirius stage whispered and laughed when Lily slapped his upper arm. "Oi! You hit like a girl!"

"I am a girl!" Lily said in faux anger.

Sirius' eyes went wide like he was in shock. "Are you really? But you look like a bloke." Lily glared at him and that was the only warning he got before she started to chase him around the common room.

Remus walked over to James as they watched, laughing when Sirius was almost caught a few times. "So, what've you got?" Remus whispered, trying to see what James was hiding behind his back. The other boy turned slightly so Remus could see that he was holding a Muggle firework. "Where did you get that?" he asked alarmed.

"Nicked it from Filch," James whispered back proudly. "We're going to light it at midnight. Put on a show for all the left-behinders."

Before Remus could tell James why that was a bad idea, Sirius ran behind him and used him as a shield. "Save me, Moony!" he laughed, ducking just in time before a pillow hit him square in the face.

Lily was smiling with another pillow raised above her head. "Move, Remus. So I can pummel him good."

"You know," Remus said conversationally. "You used to act like this with James. And you know what they say about girls picking on the boys they like."

Instantly, Lily dropped the pillow with a stunned look. "Oh, you bugger," she said, quickly realizing what had just happened.

Remus was glad that almost all the animosity between her and Sirius was gone - they even acted like siblings every once and a while. The clock that Sirius had transfigured earlier that day started to chime and everyone looked over to see that it was exactly midnight.

"Happy New Year!" James said, grabbing the Butterbeers and handing them out to everyone. Remus and Sirius each took a swig of the drink but Lily set hers down and pulled James into a heated kiss. When she pulled away, she smiled smugly at the pleasantly stunned look on his face. "What was-"

"That…" she said wrapping her arms around James' neck lightly. "Is another Muggle tradition."

Sirius looked at Remus mere seconds before kissing him deeply. "I like Muggle traditions," he said against his lips and smiled more when Remus wrapped his arms around his waist and made a noise in agreement.

Just then, a loud explosive noise came from one of the windows. Sirius and Remus both looked over to see James standing there covered in soot and his wand pointing at his empty hand. "Potter!" Lily screamed, but in alarm. She hurried over to him, making sure everything was alright.

The other two Marauders hurried over but were distracted by the firework up in the sky. "Bloody hell…" Sirius muttered, staring up at the multicolored explosion.

"Ain't it great?" James asked proudly and was promptly hit in the arm by Lily. She started to scold him about using charmed fireworks indoors.

Remus tried to ignore them as he stepped closer to Sirius, smiling more when their hands were intertwined. "Happy New Year," he said, leaning in closer to kiss him once again.

"Happy New Year," Sirius replied, and, while James and Lily squabbled like a married couple, dragged Remus upstairs to really celebrate the New Year.
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Inside the seventh year boys' dormitory, Remus could be heard asking "Sirius…why're your pants red?"