“What do you mean you’ve never been skiing?”whispered Lily, frantically looking over her shoulder to make sure Madame Pince wasn’t looking at them.
“Lily. Darling. Light of my life. Do you really think their mother would honestly take them on holiday to the slopes? She would go on holiday to a lodge, by herself, mind you, just to sit and be waited on by uncomfortably young ski lodge workers,” Remus said, rolling his eyes.
Sirius had his shoulders scrunched up to his ears, sure that they were making fun of him and Regulus for not having gotten to grow up in a loving family that took vacations together. James looked over to his best friend, his smile dropping slightly at Sirius’ uncomfortable face, so he slung an arm around him and pulled him close.
“That settles it. The ski area Lily goes to isn’t horribly far from Potter manor, we can possibly convince my parents we need a few days up there during the hols. They usually go there when I’m still here, because usually I just want to lay about when I’m home, but I’m sure we’ll all be quick studies, a couple of fit blokes like us,” James said, looking up to catch Regulus’ eyes too from where he sat at the stable between Lily and Remus.
Remus perked up too. He would definitely need to remember to pack his board before heading to the Potters.
—
“Boys! We are leaving in five! Everyone get your jackets on and bring everything you’ve missed to the car,” Monty yelled, popping his head in through the front door, where outside the car was warmed up and ready with all the equipment on the roof.
“Can I drive,” yelled James from the living room, where he was looking for his second glove, sure he had it earlier. Spotting a finger from the glove sticking out from between to couch cushions, he grabbed it and ran into the foyer, skidding to a halt in font of his dad.
“Nice try, kiddo, but somehow you got all of the careful driving genes from all you boys, and you drive too slow for us to actually make it to the slopes today.”
Effie bopped her book on James’ head as she passed him, “maybe on the way back, baby, when we are all ready for a slow drive.”
James pouted a bit, but Regulus walked up next to him, also bopping his book on James’ head, before looping his arm through James’ and dragging him to the car.
For the last year, Monty and Effie had argued about putting an enlargement spell on their car, now that their brood was getting bigger, but Effie finally won the war, and simply went out to buy a bigger car, so now there were three rows, Regulus and James getting to the car first, and claiming the back seat, where James was sure to fall asleep as soon as they were on the road, while Regulus read leaning against him.
Remus, Sirius, and Peter all crowded into the middle row and Monty settled into the drivers seat.
A couple hours later had them pulling up into the check in line for the lodge, Monty calling out reminders of no magic, don’t take wands out anywhere.
Effie walked inside to check them in, leaving the boys to help unload all the bags and equipment from the car onto the waiting trolleys to bring up to the rooms, and Monty pulled the car away to park in the car park.
Once key cards were given out and safely tucked away, the boys all threw their bags into rooms and ran outside, eager to get some lessons into James, Regulus, and Sirius before the full day of skiing tomorrow.
The elevator dumped the boys back into the hotel lobby, and Regulus immediately took off running, yelling Lily’s name as he saw her standing near the fireplace in the lobby, James following hot on his heels.
Lily turned around, grin bright, and was tackled right to the floor in a three way hug. “Guys, its only been like three days since we saw each other on the train.”
Regulus, squished half on the floor, half on top of Lily, and completely underneath James, “Right, I need intervention from you. Make them all leave me alone, I haven’t had a moment of peace without you to shut them up.”
Lily just giggled from where she was and started swatting at James to let them up.
He bounded up, reaching down first to Regulus, then to Lily, and wrapped them both in his arms.
“Guys! Let’s go! I can’t wait to see what idiots these three fools make of themselves,” Remus called from where he was standing with Peter and Sirius by the doors to the slopes, Sirius holding skis and Remus and Peter holding their snowboards. All of them were already dressed in warm clothes and their boots.
“I resent that statement, Lupin! I would never look like a fool,” Regulus scoffed, assuming a posh accent even more than his normal one. “But I’m sure those two idiots will give you a laugh,” Gesturing to where James and Sirius were starting a playful shoving war, soon to end up with one of them in a snow pile.
Not long after the exited the lodge, on the way to the lifts, Regulus was proven right when Sirius ended face first in a snow pile, butt sticking up in the air, which Regulus kicked a snow clump right at, laughing at the muffle screech coming from his brother.
“Oh, you just declared war, Baby Black,” Sirius said with a mock glare.
“I would, but it is rude to harm the elderly.”
Another indignant screech, “We are literally only fourteen months apart, you take that back!”
Regulus just stuck his tongue out and ran towards the ski lift, pausing as he got there to put his ski’s on like Monty showed him, allowing the others to catch up.
They all lined up, got the passes scanned, and followed the attendants instructions on where to stand to get in the chairs. This time, they all travelled up to the smaller slope, where a lot of parents with small children were slowly going down.
Standing at the top, Lily and Remus went full professor mode, teaching them how to use the poles, how to slow down and speed up, change direction, etc. Then Remus made his way to the bottom of the slope, to wait for the others from the other end if they needed instructions to stop.
James went first, making it a bit down the hill before accidentally getting his skis crossed, slowing him down while he tried to fix it.
He heard the screaming a few second before he see’s Sirius flying past him, somehow faster than he should have been able to get in that short of a distance.
Remus was just at the bottom of the slope, sunglasses pushed up onto his forehead so he could pinch the bridge of his nose, just waiting until his idiot got close enough so he could hear any instructions over the sound of his own screaming.
By the time Sirius was slowed down and stopped at the bottom, James was also nearing the bottom, yet at a much slower speed.
Once stopped, he looked back up, Lily and Regulus giving a gentle wave, but Peter there next to him was doubled over, laughing so hard James could see from there how red his face was.
Remus reached out as James slowed to a stop, patting James on the head. “How was that for your first run? Ready to try again?”
“That was amazing! I’d definitely ready to go again now that I figured out how to uncross the skis.”
Turning around, they all faced the hill where Regulus had just started down, looking way more graceful than either of the boys had, slowly followed by Lily, who was gently serpentining from one side of him to the other while he took his time.
Gently gliding to a stop at the bottom, Regulus grinned up at Remus, who he stopped right in front of, and slid off to the side to stand next to James as the all looked up to Peter, waiting for him to take his turn.
Once he saw he had all their attention, he jumped to get his board facing down, posed a couple different ways, flexing his arms that they couldn’t see through his puffy jacket he was wearing, and hopping closer to the edge pushing himself to fly down the slope as fast as he could push the board.
Once at the bottom, instead of slowing, he just headed straight for their group, all of them, except for Remus, making flying leaps off to the side, before Peter just sat down on the ground, instead off actually stopping. He goof grinned up at Remus, now towering over him with his arms crossed. Remus huffed out, reaching down and pulling the boy up. Remus and Peter both took their back boot out of the clip, walking over with everyone else back to the lifts, wanting to stick with this slope for the rest of today so James, Reg, and Sirius could get used to it before trying the longer slopes.
They still had a few more hours of light left, but had been told to be back and ready for dinner by sunset, so once the sun was close to going down, they finished their last run, put all the equipment in the racks by the back door, and headed to the room to quickly wash up and change.
Catching back up after changing, they met Monty and Effie in the main dining room at the back of the ground floor, Monty told about how good the snow was on the harder hills, and Effie chatted with Regulus and Remus about the new book she brought with her and how she thought they’d like it, and could borrow it back to school if they don’t finish it during the holiday.
The next morning found James, Sirius, and Regulus slightly sore in ways they didn’t usually get while flying on brooms. But none of them were sore enough to not want to head back out.
They decided to start out on some longer hills that day, still making sure to be with Lily and Remus to start off with. Once they got a few runs in, they starting runs by themselves.
They quickly went back to being babysat by the others, when one run, Remus found James sliding down the mountain, skis accidentally crossed again, barely even making any progress down the hill. Remus slowed down to coach him through it.
The next run, Lily found Sirius partially stuck on a tree, because he and Regulus went down the run together, and Regulus decided to continue the war from the other day, deciding to push him into the shrubbery as they slowed down when changing direction.
Regulus was waiting for them, standing at the bottom of the hill, arms crossed, a pout on his face. “It wasn’t my fault. He started it. Before we went down the hill, he made a snowball and shoved it down the back of my hoodie.”
Lily just laughed, smacking Sirius on the back of the head, before going over to the back of Regulus, shaking out his jacket and hoodie, making sure there was no more snow down there, and then turning him around to kiss his cheek, Sirius making gagging noises behind them.
“Oh hush. If I have to be around you and Remus when you are at your most lovey, you don’t get to make fun of me for kissing one of my partners.”
Sirius gagged again, just for good measure, so Lily turned back to Regulus, pulling him down to her level by the zippered edge of his jacket, and kissed him soundly on the mouth. Sirius just continued fake gagging, so she just continued real kissing. She could play this game all day, and she knew neither boy would complain.
Finally they heard Sirius sliding off, huffing at not being the center of attention anymore, but then they heard James slide to a stop not far from them.
Lily pulled back, resting her cheek on Regulus’ collarbone, both turning to James, who was starting at them with stars in his eyes.
“My turn?” He asked hopefully.
Lily and Regulus turned to each other, then turned back to James and opened their arms, keeping one arm around each other. James hurriedly bounced over, managed to get his skis tangled up with theirs, and before anyone else could be kissed, all three of them were knocked over to the ground. Laughing, James managed to partially sit up and give both of his loves a smacking kiss on the head, before flopping back onto the ground satisfied for now.
Lily sat up, reaching across James, to smack Regulus on the head, “That’s for pushing your brother into the trees,” before laying back down. All of their skis were still jumbled together, so they just waited for Remus or Peter to finish the run and untangle them. Instead the next to finish was Monty, who seemed to have found some new friends and was boarding with a few new people.
His booming laugh could be heard echoing around the cleared area, while he untangled them while vaguely introducing them to the new people. Once they were all apart and standing again, Monty waived them off and reminded them to be back in for dinner later.
James and Regulus might be fit quidditch players, but Lily was definitely not, so she started flagging a bit after noon, and the boys were always easily manipulated into a nap, so they found Sirius, told him they were headed off for a nap if anyone looked for them, and headed into the boys room.
They all, except Regulus, shared a room anyway at Hogwarts, so they never minded sharing hotel rooms, so James and Regulus had one bed, Sirius and Remus had the other, and Peter was happy to have the pull out couch bed all to himself. They had a connecting room with Effie and Monty, and they were all close enough they just left the door open between the rooms, so as they walked in, they peeked into the adults room where Effie was sleeping on their bed, her own pile of wet clothes hanging over the chairs in the room, they shut the door a bit without closing it, so they didn’t wake her, and started removing all the layers of wet jackets and hoodies and snow pants. James went to lay out his jacket on Remus and Sirius’ bed so it could dry a bit before he put it back on later.
“No, put it somewhere else so you don’t get their bed wet,” Lily said, shaking her head.
James and Regulus shared a look, then gathered up all their wet clothes and started laying them out on the other bed so Remus and Sirius would def be getting a wet bed, making sure to shake them out flat, and wet side down. Lily just stood one hand on hip, the other rubbing at her forehead.
She didn’t even bother scolding them, knowing it was pointless, and they all crawled into the other bed, Lily in the middle because she got cold the easiest, and all settled in for a nap, James finally getting the kisses he messed up on, earlier on the slope.
—
The next day was their last full day, but they were also expecting Mary, Marlene, and Dorcas to be joining them late morning.
All three of them could aparate now, Regulus being the only one not 17 yet, his birthday was next month after they returned to school, so the girls all popped into the hotel room with all their equipment, ready to go. Sirius had given them each a hand mirror connected to his, so they could see the room that their were popping into.
Mary came in with a pair of what looked like earmuffs, around her neck, explaining to James, Regulus, and Sirius they were headphones, and showed them the tiny player they were connected to, so she could do the runs while listening to music. Sirius was most interested in it, asking her so many questions on where she got it and how she got the music on it. She told him she could come visit again before term started again, and they could go out shopping for one. James already knew he would have one before they returned to Hogwarts, and would find some way to keep the muggle electronic charged.
Monty popped his head in through the door, greeted the girls, and told them all the be safe, have fun, and don’t do anything he wouldn’t do.
Once he and Effie had left their room, Mary pulled out a tin and told them she brought something that Monty wouldn’t do, so they could all have fun on the slopes.
James just giggled, “Wrong, that is definitely something my dad would do. My parents get bored with no one in the house during the year!”
They all went their separate ways, at least the more experienced ones, occasionally breaking off to hide behind a bush with Mary’s tin, occasionally someone going back to the room for a nap, and by the time dinner came around, they were all starving. Monty took one look at them and started ordering extra appetizers and food. Parents are not fooled at all
They girls went back to their places after dinner, saying their goodbyes in the hotel room, and everyone else started packing up their bags, leaving the next day but still going to get a few runs in after breakfast.
Lily’s parents came and picked her up the next morning, not enough time for any more runs for her, so they sat around a bit after breakfast with some coffee with hot chocolate in it. Her parents rolled up, and Lily said her goodbyes, making Sirius gag some more before she went and hugged him, giving a kiss to his cheek and telling him to behave. He just gave her a wolffish grin and asked if she had ever had any luck asking him to behave before.
“Remusss. Please control him for me. You’re the only one he’ll listen to,” she said, hugging Remus as well.
Remus just gave her a look. “Why does it feel like you actually believe that sentence? He doesn’t listen to a bloody word I say.”
Sirius huffed, crossing his arms and pouting. “I’m not an actual child. I promise I won’t break any of my own bones,” He held up three fingers, like he saw in an American muggle movie about Boy Scouts.
Remus and Lily exchanged looks. “What about other peoples bones?”
“Nope, you are asking too much of me. I make no promise on other peoples bones,” Sirius said, a gleam in his eye.
Lily roller her eyes before moving on to give Peter a hug before running out the door to her parents car.
Next, Monty pulled up their car so the boys could help load everything from the room except their equipment, so they didn’t have to do it after.
Monty gave them a timer though, so Remus and Peter both headed towards the harder runs, leaving James, Regulus, and Sirius to do the medium hills, no wanting to chance a concussion for Lily to yell at them about later.
Sirius only landed in one tree, but this time, it was James who pushed him. Regulus had thrown a snowball at the back of James’ head from behind, then immediately pointed at Sirius that was the one who did it, so James pushed him into the tree. Regulus’ smug look was short lived when he was standing in line for the lift again, and Sirius pulled on the neck of his shirt under his hoodie and jacket, and shoved an enormous snowball down, then patted onto Regulus back to make sure to smush the snowball into his back.
At that point, Regulus decided he was done, he unclipped his equipment, and walked it through the lobby out the front door, putting it on the rack and exchanging his boots for the shoes that he had left out inside the door of the car. Then he walked back to the lobby doors, where Effie and Monty were sitting in the rocking chairs on the porch, and complained to Effie that his back was soaking wet from the snowball. She scooted over on her chair, making room for Regulus to squeeze in, and she put her hand under his jacket and hoodie, using a bit of wandless magic to dry his shirt off. He relaxed back into her, comfortable to sit out with them while waiting for the others to head in.
Not long, the time Monty wanted them in by, and one by one, the boys trooped through the doors, hauling equipment to the car.
“Still want to drive back home, or are you too tired,” Monty questions of James, who immediately perked up.
“Yes! I’ll drive! You and mum can relax,” James said, always the most eager after Monty and Effie taught them all to drive this past summer.
James climbed into the drivers seat, Effie wanted to sit with her husband in the back, so Regulus climbing into the passenger seat, holding the book Effie read on the way here, just like she was reading the book he read that day.
It took a bit longer than it normally would, James being a carefully slow driver still, but they all made it back a bit after lunchtime, Effie lining up the counter with sandwich ingredients and letting them make their own meals, before half of them went off to nap the past few days away, and the others sat together in the sitting room, taking turns trying to beat Effie in a game of chess, or reading.
Later that night after dinner, Regulus and James used the mirror they connected to a mirror Lily had, to say goodnight, all talking about how much fun they had and that they couldn’t wait to see her the following week for the New Year’s Eve party.
Regulus said goodnight to James, popping his head in his brothers room to say goodnight to him and Remus, who would be leaving tomorrow, and heading to his room. He was more excited than he should be to be able to sleep in his own bed without either a furnace disguised as an octopus, or a tiny gremlin who keeps putting her cold feet on his calves. But he loved them both, not that he would ever deny that.