Seven Christmases: Fourth Year

A/N: Eventual Remus/Sirius
Word Count: 1,900
oO0Oo
"I win," Peter said with a satisfied smile as he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. He and Remus had just finished their tenth game of chess with him winning every single one of them. The chess game had been a gift from James and as soon as Peter had seen it he begged for someone to play with him. And only Remus was the only one willing to let Peter crush him.

Around their third game, Remus had realized that James and Sirius had stopped watching. In fact, they weren't even in the room. At the time, he assumed that they had just gone to get something to eat but they still hadn't come back.

"I really need to stop playing this game with you," he said with a laugh as he leaned back too, and then looked around. Unlike previous years, there were actually some other Gryffindors that stayed behind and were socializing with each other.

Except for one red head.

Remus had seen Lily come down carrying a book during their fourth game. She had sat down on the couch by the fire and just started to read.

"How about another round?" Peter asked looking at Remus hopefully but he just shook his head.
"Why don't you get someone else to triumph over?" he asked back as he stood. "Plus, this chair is making my back sore."

Peter shrugged lightly then looked around for someone else to play with. While he searched, Remus left the table and walked over to Lily. "Mind if I join you?" he asked her with a smile.

She looked up from her book - it looked like Gone With the Wind - and smiled back. "Go ahead, Remus," she said marking her place with a finger as she closed her book. "How have you been? Did you get any good gifts?"

Remus smiled as he thought about the presents his friends had given him then nodded. "James got me some things from Zonkos'." He chuckled when he saw Lily roll her green eyes. "Peter replaced one of my quills that he broke and gave me a mimicking ornament. Sirius got me a miniature snowman made of chocolate and a hat with dog ears sewn on. What about you?"

Lily held up her book with a smile. "Alice got me this because she knew I was dying to read it again. And Severus sent me a lovely red flower but I'm not sure what kind it is. But in his letter he said to leave it in the dark until it bloomed something."

"Have you looked it up in a book?" Remus asked leaning back onto the soft couch with a silent, happy sigh.

Lily nodded as she leaned back too and looked at the crackling fire. "I haven't been able to find anything about it. But I'm sure Severus will explain it to me when he gets back."

"He probably will," Remus said with a small smile then looked at the fire too. "What are your plans for the rest of break?"

But before Lily could answer, someone did for her. "She's going on a date with me," James said hopping over the back of the couch and landed right between the other two students. Remus thought he heard something clink when his friend moved but left it alone. He'd question James and Sirius about where they went when Lily wasn't around.

"And when did I agree to that?" Lily asked lightly glaring at the black haired boy. "Because the last conversation we had, I believe I told you to leave me alone."

"But you didn't mean that," James said ignoring the glare and smiled at her.

"Oh, I meant it," she said standing up with her book now glaring a little more at James. "Now if you excuse me, I need to go find someone pleasant to talk with." Her face softened as she smiled to Remus then turned around without another word.

"You know you'll say yes one day, Lily-lips!" James called to her as she walked out of the portrait hole.
"You can't leave her be even on a holiday?" Remus asked, looking at one of his best friends exhaustedly. "Maybe if you gave her room to breathe, she might come around."

"But she loves all the attention," James said and stood up with a stretch. "Come on. Sirius is upstairs with your other present. Come on, Peter!" He hopped over the couch back again and Remus heard the clinking noise a little louder this time. He raced to the stairs excitedly.

"What's going on?" Peter asked hurrying over to Remus with his chess set close to his chest.

"I think they went to Hogsmeade," he answered and followed after his taller friend with Peter chasing after him. "Maybe they bought some Butterbeer."
oO0Oo
"What do you mean you got Firewhiskey?" Remus asked as he stared at the two boys who were holding up four bottles of the alcoholic drink. "Where? How? Why?"

"From Sluggy's room," Sirius answered first with a smile.

"We simply walked in and took some of his bottles," James answered second with a bit smile. "He left his door unlocked. And we just happened to find the bottles. Under his bed."

"You snuck into a professor's room and stole from him?" Remus asked and looked to the now closed door almost expecting Professor McGonagall to storm in and demand what they were doing. "And why did you do it?"

The two boys looked at each other and then to Remus and Peter with even bigger smiles. "Because it's fun!" they said in unison. Sirius handed one of his bottles to Remus while James gave one to Peter.

"What are we going to do with them?" Peter asked looking down at the Firewhiskey curiously.

"We're going to drink them, Pete," Sirius said with a roll of his grey eyes then uncorked the top.

Peter blushed lightly from embarrassment as he looked at the bottle. "I meant were we going to play a game," he mumbled as he walked over to his bed and sat at the foot of it.

"Oi! Let's play 'I've Never'!," James said excitedly then jumped onto Peter's bed right next to him. "I heard Lily explaining it to Alice."

"He was probably hiding behind the couch while they talked," Sirius whispered to Remus, which made him laugh the first time since they came up here.

James tried to protest but Sirius just ignored him and pulled Remus to his bed, which was right across from the Peter's. "I'll go first," he said after James reluctantly explained the rules. "I've never...been rejected by a girl."

James glared at him then took swig of the drink while Peter took one hesitantly. "Blimey," he said looking stunned. "It really does burn when it goes down." The blonde boy coughed as he nodded in agreement.

"Just go, James," Sirius said bouncing on the bed a little from excitement.

"I've never...kissed Bertha Jones," he said with an evil smirk.

Remus and Peter chuckled while Sirius glared at his friend then took a drink. Bertha Jones had tricked Sirius into kissing him in the begging of the year, saying that her friend wanted to meet him then tried to snog him as soon as they rounded the corner. He ran back to Gryffindor Tower almost in a panic.
"Peter's turn," Sirius said blinking a few times, most likely from the burning sensation.

"Um..." he said thinking if a new question. "I've never fallen off a broom into the lake from five feet in the air."

Sirius and James laughed while Remus playfully glared at his friend. "Am I never going to hear the end of that?" he asked then looked at the drink. He slowly took the top off and brought the opening to his mouth. His eyes closed just as the Firewhiskey poured into his mouth and down his throat, making it burn slightly.

"Your turn," James said after Remus was finished coughing. He looked up at his friends and smiled evilly.
oO0Oo
About an hour later, everyone's bottles were half gone and all four boys were drunk. "Whoz turn?" James asked from his spot on the floor. Somehow during the game, the four boys had moved down. James was laying on the ground with half his body under Remus' bed, Peter was casually leaning on his trunk (hoping it would help him stay upright), and Sirius had his head in Remus' lap while the other boy lightly stroked his hair.

"Pete's?" he asked and saw that the plump boy had actually dozed off and his bottle was on its side, spilling some of the contents onto the wooden floor. "Maaaaybe not..."
"I'll go!" Sirius said loudly as he lifted his bottle up into the air. "I'vvve never...kissed a boy."

James laughed but stopped when he saw Remus drink some of his Firewhiskey. "Who've you kissed?" he asked drunkenly and flipped over so he was laying on his stomach and looking at the other boy better.

Remus blushed lightly as he set his bottle down then shook his head. "I dunt kiss 'n tell." When he looked down at Sirius, he saw a hurt look on his face before he sat up. "Wus wrong?"

"Going to bed," he mumbled instead of answering and slowly stood up, then walked over to his bed and closed the curtains tight. Remus and James looked at each other confused and the brunet watched as the other boy stood up wobbly then walked over to the closed off Sirius.

"Happy Christmas," he said to Remus with a smile then slipped in to talk to Sirius.

Remus sat there for a few minutes until he slowly dozed off himself, wondering what had made Sirius so mad at him.
oO0Oo
He woke up a few hours later with a horrific headache. During his sleep he'd been lifted off the floor and set in his bed. 'I'll have to thank James and Sirius.' A fuzzy memory of Sirius looking hurt flashed through his head making the other boy sit up quickly. Which he instantly regretted when he got a massive head rush. "I need to find Sirius," he said to himself and slowly got out of his bed.
When he didn't find him asleep in his bed, Remus headed downstairs.

The other boy was sitting by the dwindling fire in the same spot Remus had been earlier when he was talking to Lily. While the boys had played their game and slept, it had gotten dark outside and it seemed like all the other students had gone to bed.

Remus quietly moved closer to Sirius and noticed that he wasn't just sitting there, he'd fallen asleep. He chuckled lightly as he ignored his headache and gently pushed his friend down onto the couch and transfigured one of the pillows into a blanket that just covered Sirius' body.

'When did he get so tall?' Remus thought to himself as he looked down at his friend. The way the diminishing light hit Sirius' face made him look even more handsome than usual.

He blinked a few times, 'When did I start thinking that Sirius was handsome?' He slowly stood up as he thought about that then shook his head. "Don't start that," he mumbled to himself then headed back upstairs to get back to sleep.