Kids?
"What'd Remus do?" Sirius asked James casually once Lily had reached a significant distance away.
James watched as the werewolf walked to stand beside Lyra, still watching Peter.
"You do not want to know."
Peter's P.O.V.
"Okay, next event," Lily announced to the group she had just entered, causing everyone in the room to look at her. Lily rubbed the bridge of her nose, and once again summoned the clipboard with a wave of her wand.
"I can't believe I'm about to say this," She muttered to herself. Mica and Lyra exchanged a delighted glance. This could only be more childish fun if motherly Lily didn't want to play it.
...I think I should be scared...
"The next game is a game for twelve-year-olds... Well, you can play it when your older, it just takes on a more... Well, let's just say we are playing it twelve year old way," Lily informed them.
"Oh no!" Mica exclaimed, her delighted look turning to horror as she figured out what game Lily was talking about. All four boys, even Lyra, were watching the duo with interested confusion.
"What game is it?" Sirius asked, intrigued. Mica flinched, staring off into the distance with a horrified expression. James breathed a silent laugh at her, and poked her in the side to bring her out of her revire.
"Spin the bottle," Lily replied, looking furiously annoyed they were going to play. She angrily made a slash on the clipboard, and with a jerk of her wand, it once again disappeared.
Oh, well, that doesn't sound too bad!
"Ooo!" Lyra breathed, eyes wide. "Is that the one game with the-" Lyra began to ask.
"Yes!" Mica and Lily cut her off simultaneously. The boys were watching the trio with clearly approaching terrified expressions.
"Why do you guys not like this game?" James asked, fear clear in his voice.
"Well, it's not that we don't like the game-" Lily started.
"We just have a few bad memories from it." Mica finished, shuddering.
Flashback!..Yay!
It was the summer between fourth and fifth year, and Lily had been invited to one of her muggle friends birthday parties. She hadn't talked to the girl for any significant period of time since they were eleven, so she decided it was a good idea to bring a friend. Her only choice was Mica. Obviously. Bringing Lyra into a muggle setting was not a good idea. Last summer, they went to the muggle zoo. Lyra asked where all the hippogriffs were. Very loudly. In the most crowded exhibit in the entire zoo. Bad memories. Bad.
"Time to play spin the bottle!" Matt, one of the guys at the party announced shortly after the party started. Everyone had just been eating off of the snack table and talking in clusters up until now. None of the girls complained; every guy there was extremely good looking.
About twenty minutes into the game, four couples had significantly snogged, and one duo was still at it; it was Lily's turn. She spun the bottle, hoping it would land on the guy across from her who looked like a cross beetween James and Remus. She watched in wide eyed excitement as it spun...
It landed on...Mica?!
The two friends stared at each other. The party goers seemed to be waiting for their reactions.
"O-k-ay... Time to re-spin," Lily awkwardly laughed, picking up the coke bottle they were using. Before she could twirl it again, the birthday girl snatched it from her hand.
"No!" The girl screamed. "It's the rules! You have to do it!"
"Uh-uh-um..." Lily stammered, giving Mica a 'help me' look.
"Yeah, no offense, Lils, but I'm not kissing you!" Mica offered, hoping the two of them refusing would be good enough. Clearly, the other guests at the party also thought they shouldn't break the rules, if their frenzied and maniac reactions were any indication. Before long, Mica and Lily were being attacked.
"You have to kiss her! The bottle never lies!" The birthday girl's best friend yelled, pointing toward the duo. They stared at the mass of teenagers in horror as the group began congregating around them, an insane glint in their eyes.
"Well, looks like what professor said about mob mentality is true," Mica commented dryly.
"Ha-ha, very funny," Lily snapped. Lily shuddered as she and Mica backed up towards the front door.
"I knew this chick was crazy when we were eleven! Why did I agree to come to this?" Lily asked rhetorically, sending a glare her friends way as she opened her mouth to make a no doubt biting remark.
"Why didn't you let me bring my wand?" Mica hissed as the mob who hadn't even been playing the game also started to close in.
"Time to go!" Lily announced, grabbing Mica by the wrist as they spun quickly and fled from the house.
A week later, they found out it wasn't the girls birthday, and what they had attended was some weird cult ceramony. The girl was put in a psych ward, and was supposedly sane again by the beginning of their seventh year.
End flashback.
Lily also shuddered remembering the incident. Lyra watched her friends with a pitying expression, and the boys continued to stare.
"That was some crazy stuff," Lyra commented, knowing what had happened. The boys once again shot each other confused and/or terrified expressions.
"Does anyone want to clue us in on what spin the bottle is, and what exactly happened as to why you don't like it?" Remus asked, confused. The Marauders watched the girls expectantly.
"No!" Both girls answered at once. Lyra giggled.
What the hell happened?! The Sirens are scared of a memory...
"Spin the bottle is where you sit in a circle, and one person spins a bottle, and whoever it lands on, you have to kiss," Lyra answered, trying not to look at Remus. Remus slowly turned pink at recieving that particular answer.
"Aww!" Mica cooed, seeing Lyra's blush at thinking about kissing Remy.
Why did she say 'aww'? ...Wait! Kissing?! I can't kiss one of them!
Lily spotted the repulsed look on Peter's face. No one else seemed to.
"Why do you look disgusted?" Lily asked him, eyebrow raised.
"I'm not kissing one of you!" He exclaimed.
All three girls scoffed. Sirius and James shook their heads. He was going to get Avadaed.
"And why not?!" Lyra demanded, hands on hips.
Merlin! What's the number one rule? 'Don't piss off powerful witches'!
"Because, I can't kiss you, you're like my sister; I can't kiss Lily, because James would castrate me; and Mica would punch me in the face!" He explained, with nods of agreement in appropriate places from James, Mica, and Lyra.
"Yeah, okay, fair enough," Lily agreed, letting him sit this game out. Peter sighed in relief, making his way over to the couch; close enough to hear the game, but not close enough to participate.
"Sit!" Lily commanded the rest of the group. They easily complied.
"Here," Lily offered, handing James the bottle. He stared at it blankly.
"Am I going first?" He asked.
"Yup," She answered, motioning lazily for him to spin. Lyra and Remus were shooting shy looks at each other, Sirius was practically bouncing in anticipation, and Mica was warily watching the bottle as if it were about to suddenly come to life and swallow her whole.
"Gosh, Lils! I didn't know you wanted me to kiss you so much!" James joked. Sirius was becoming impatient. Before he could open his mouth to complain, Lily opened hers.
"Spin, Potter!" She bantered, glaring.
James sat the bottle down, and spun it with a showy flick.
Everyone watched it in anticipation.
I hope it lands on Mica! Seeing him try to kiss her would be really entertaining.
The bottle began to slow down. It passed Remus; then passed Mica; it slowed down, and barely made it past Lyra. Everyone stared wide eyed at who it had landed on.
Well, this is a bit awkward... I wonder what's going to happen...
The bottle was pointing straight at Sirius. Mica watched the scene in horror.
"Go ahead, spin again," Lily commanded, rolling her eyes when no one said anything.
"What!?" Sirius asked incredulously. "Why would James not want to kiss me?" He asked. "I am perfectly kissable!" He was starting to rant.
Uh-oh..This can not be good!
"Uh, Sirius! You know that's not what I meant!" Lily assured, rolling her eyes again.
"Sure!" Sirius shot back, upset.
He is never ganna get over this.
"Kiss me! Kiss me! Kiss me! Kiss me!" Sirius screamed, annoying everyone in the room.
The girls started yelling at him to shut up, and that he was being ridiculous.
Fed up with the noise, James grabbed Sirius by the shirt, and kissed him full on the lips.
Well... That was anti-climatic...
Remus rolled his eyes. Mica, Lyra, and Lily just stared at them in shock.
Why are they freaking out? I mean, come on! It's James and Sirius! Nothing is out of bounds for them.
James and Sirius acted as if snogging your best friend was an everyday occurrence.
"My eyes!" Lyra screamed after a second. Remus twitched towards her, as if the yell had been one of pain he'd already be by her side.
"What?" Sirius asked, completely unfazed. Lyra flinched away from him.
"'Eww! You burned my eyes!" She shrieked at him. Peter rolled his eyes at her antics.
"How?" Sirius asked, thoroughly confused. Lily's eyebrow had begun to twitch.
"When you kissed-Gah! I can't even say it!" Lyra shuddered.
"Oh come on! It's Jamsie! He is my best friend! It's no big deal!" Sirius explained, laughing. Lyra glared at him in disbelief, arms crossed and disturbed pout on her lips.
"We will never talk of this again!" Lily commanded, finally getting over the shock. Mica, however, was still staring at where the two had been.
They broke Mica! That's not good...
"Okay, Since it landed on Sirius, he has to spin next!" Lily announced, practically hitting the boy in the face as she shoved the bottle at him.
Mica blinked, shook her head, and was back to normal.
Why did that bring her out of her shock?
Sirius grabbed the bottle, and spun it with a devilish grin. Remus and James stared at Mica, waiting for her reaction.
Why do they look like they want it to land on her? Probably just so Sirius will get punched if he tries to kiss her!
Peter was lost in thought, but quickly came back to reality when he heard an eerily familiar gasp.
Why is Lyra gasping? What did someone do to my little Ly?!
Peter looked up.
The bottle was pointing straight at her.
Sirius and Lyra! That's so wrong!
Total silence filled the room. It was abruptly broken by a rather...loud...shriek. "NO!" Lyra screamed seconds after her ear splitting shriek, finger pointed accusingly at Sirius as if he had chosen her on purpose. Though, knowing Sirius, he might have. Lyra scurried back as Sirius stood up, and took a step towards her.
He sent her a stern look-or Sirius' attempt at a stern look. It looked more like her was trying to giver her one of those really fake smiles. The ones people gave you when one of those 'oh, no, the really poisonous snake on your back isn't going to bite you' moments happen. Lyra leaped too her feet at this look.
Sirius took another step towards her, their friends watching in fascinated horror as Lyra took an answering step back. "Come on, Ly, it can't be that bad," Sirius berated, his voice almost a whine. Lyra glared, though she still wore the 'caught-in-a-prank' look. Sirius took another step, but before he could try and convince Lyra one kiss wasn't going to kill her, she shrieked even louder than the first time, and bolted for the sitting room across the hall.
Her friends sat in stunned silence for a moment, before Sirius ran into the other room with a loud, "You will kiss me!" Remus followed to make sure neither did anything drastic, as did Lily, and the other three followed for their own amusement. Who would pass up the chance to see little Ly beat up Hogwarts sexiest? No one, thats who.
They entered the room to find Lyra atop of a very tall bookcase, wand pointed at Sirius chest, and Sirius with his hands up in the 'I-mean-you-no-harm' pose.
"Ly-" Lily began when she noticed her friends crouched position atop the bookcase almost twice as tall as she was (how she even got up there was a mystery; especially so quickly), but was stopped by a hiss. Lyra actually hissed at her. Like some sort of cornered feline.
"I am not kissing that!" Lyra almost spat, looking very much the part of the crazy pureblood she was.
"Lyra Iris!" Lily berated, hands on hips, "You don't have to kiss him, but get you arse off of my book case!" Lyra seemed to contemplate this, and Sirius lips turned up in a mischievous grin. He immediately stopped when Lyra sharply glared at him.
"No!" She fought, "He'll kiss me as soon as I do!" Mica and James were valiantly holding in their laughter by this point, though their faces were turning a lovely red color. Remus and Peter, on the other hand, were watching Lyra like a pair of hawks, should she fall or something of the sort.
"He wont! I won't let him," Lily placated her anxious friend. Lyra watched Sirius cautiously.
"Make him leave!" She demanded, pointing her finger at Sirius. Lily rubbed the bridge of her nose in exasperation, but waved towards Mica.
Mica smirked, walked up to Sirius in a purposeful manner, and grabbed his ear. Firmly. Between her index finger and thumb.
"Someone been a bad boy," She teased, dragging him out of the room, laughing manically over his loud protests.
"She's insane," James muttered, as Lily instructed Lyra on the 'proper' way to descend her bookcase.
Lyra's eyes grew increasing wider as she listened her her friend. "I don't want too!" Lyra suddenly cried. Everyone stared at her as her eyes welled up.
"Aww! Ly, don't cry! What's wrong?" Lily asked in her 'motherly voice'. Remus and Peter watched with anxious expressions, and James seemed to have tuned out as he stared at Lily.
"It's too high," She sniffed. Lily's eyebrow twitched as Peter and Remus turned to mush under the blonds tears.
"How did you get up there in the first place?" Lily asked through gritted teeth. Lyra's eyes drifted towards the shoe mark on one of the bookshelves. Lily's eyebrow twitched again.
"Uh...The faeries?" Lyra tried with a nervous giggle. Lily glared. Seeing she was getting no help from the redhead, Lyra turned her head toward the boys.
"Remy..." Lyra stressed the boy's name, wearing her 'adorably-large-eyes-of-doom', "I need help." She whimpered. The pile of mush grew bigger.
"You're too old to go in," The girl at the counter told them firmly, eyeing Sirius.
Hey, maybe Sirius is good for something after all!
"What do you mean 'too old'?" Lily asked, clearly pissed this girl was screwing up her perfect party.
"I mean," She snapped, "This club is only for children ages ten to thirteen," She glared at Lily. "But then again, maybe that can get in," She spat, indicating Lyra.
Remus, James, Lily, and Mica all gasped. Peter, Remus, and Mica also visibly bristled. Lyra looked like she torn between whether to cry or cuss the girl out. Sirius just looked bored.
How is he not pissed?!
The girl seemed to take Sirius' indifference as a good sign and winked at him. Mica's back stiffened, and her already fisted hands clenched tighter.
Wow, Mica looks like she is about to go crazy on this chick!
"Are you sure we can't go in?" Sirius asked, leaning on the counter casually. "I mean, I really didn't want to go to a regular club, and be surrounded by all those slutty girls," He explained, rolling his eyes."You know what I mean?" He asked, eyeing her. "If the girls looked like you, I wouldn't have a problem," He finished lightly, chuckling softly.
"You can go in if you don't say I let you, and if you take me to diner tomorrow," The girl conceded, smiling flirtatiously. Mica's arm raised slightly, and Lily put a hand on her forearm to hold her back.
"Deal!" Sirius agreed, winking and dragging the rest of the group through the door, so no one punched the girl. Even Remus looked close, and he would never hit a girl.
I can't believe he is going to take her to dinner! Even I didn't think Sirius was that low!
"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Mica screamed when they were through the door. Lily crossed her arms over her chest threateningly, and Lyra had since burrowed into Remus' side as Peter rubbed her back.
Uh-oh! Mad Mica! Scary!
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked. "I got us in, didn't I?" He pointed out. Even James looked upset with his best friend, though his expression was on of disappointment, not fury.
"That bitch insulted Lyra! And was rude to Lils!" Mica shrieked, glaring at him, and looking very threatening.
"Yeah?" Sirius asked, not seeing where she was going with this. Lily's gaze was attempting to burn a hole through his forehead as her friend chastened him.
"She deserves to be decked! Not taken out to dinner!" Mica yelled, turning back toward the front desk with every intention to give the girl what she deserved.
"Yes, she does," Sirius agreed, grabbing Mica's arm as her face relaxed slightly. "And that is exactly why she is going to get stood up tomorrow at dinner," Sirius explained his actions.
Wow! Sirius does have part of that evil-Slytherin-pure-blood thing in him...
Mica's faced dropped.
Wait, why is she not happy? Mica loves causing pain!
"Sirius! Not even she deserves that!" Mica berated Sirius sternly. Lyra and Lily nodded in agreement.
"You can't stand her up!" She continued to instruct him. "You can dump her publicly, and tell her how horrid she is, but you can't stand her up!"
Sirius just rolled his eyes, clearly not going to listen to her.
"She is mean, and did a mean thing to me, but no girl should ever be stood up! It's the worst thing you could ever possibly do!" Lyra told him, hands on hips after extracting herself from her two comforts. "If you do, I will be forced to take away your birthday cupcake for three whole years!" Lyra threatened sternly.
Everyone gasped, eyes wide in horror.
Not the birthday cupcake! Lyra makes the best cupcakes in the entire wizarding world! Even the Slytherins look forward to their birthdays so they can get a Lyra cupcake!
"Okay, okay! I won't, I promise! Please don't take away my cupcake!" Sirius begged, dropping to his knees. He grabbed the bottom of her shirt and watched her with an adorably earnest and pleading expression plastered on his face.
"Okay, I wont!" Lyra agreed cheerfully. The group breathed a collective sigh of relief as Lyra rocked on her toes happily.
She turned around and saw a giant blow-up obstacle course. Her eyes widened in excitement.
"Ooo! Can we go do that?" She asked, pointing.
Sirius turned around, and seeing the obstacle course, looked at Lyra. She grinned at each other, and ran towards it. The rest of the group followed, running slightly in an attempt to catch up with their two children.
"That was fun!" James announced in the parking lot of the teen club a couple of hours later. Remus, Peter, and Lily nodded in agreement. Mica sent a peace sign the boys way.
"Yeah!" Lyra cheered, skipping happily over the white lines lining the pavement.
I can't believe she beat us all, like, thirty times in that obstacle course!
"Can I give you my gift now? Can I give you my gift now? Can I give you my gift now?" Sirius resumed asking, just like he had been for the past half hour.
"Shut up!" The girls all turned and screamed at once.
"If you really want to, you can," James sighed as Sirius clapped happily like a male Lyra. "I mean, I was really wanting to get them all after cake at the end of this, like they do in muggle movies, but if you must..." He trailed off, holding out his hand expectantly.
"No! You have to wait!" Sirius exclaimed, looking stricken that he had almost messed up James' perfect birthday.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Lily exploded. "That's all we had to say to get you to shut up?" She screeched.
Wow, she looks like she is about to have an aneurysm. My friends are really dramatic... Oh, well! It makes life interesting.
"So, what are we doing now?" James asked, trying to calm her down.
Lily beamed.
Should I be more or less scared, now that she is smiling, then when she didn't want to play that kissing game?
"Laser tag at celebration station!" Lily announced, smiling wider (if that was possible).
"Yes!" Mica and Lyra cheered, clapping hands.
This can't possibly be painless in any way...
"Is that the place with the three stories?" Mica asked, crossing her fingers.
"Yes!" Lily answered, simmering with pleasure.
"Yay!" Lyra squealed. The boys watched the exchange in confusion.
Well, I guess it can't be that bad if Lyra likes it...
"What is laser tag?" James asked, eyebrows raised.
"It's an awesome game where you shoot at each other in this giant arena thing!" Lyra excitedly explained. Remus and Peter looked alarmed.
"Wait! You shoot?" Peter screamed. "Like guns?" He asked, looking terrified. Lily rolled her eyes as James and Sirius did their weird handshake they had created way back before Hogwarts.
"They are laser guns," Mica explained. "They shoot beams of red light that this vest your wearing picks up."
"Oh," Peter breathed, trying to rap his mind around muggle technology.
"You will understand when we get there," Lily assured him.
She instructed everybody to grab onto their neighbor (Note to self: Telling James and Sirius to clasp each other=bad idea) when they got to the ally and apparated them all to celebration station.
Peter held his gun, and looked around the dark arena. His friends could be anywhere in the three-story glowing red room. Anywhere! He heard Mica's laugh echo around him.
They had been playing for a while, and he was sure the game was going to end soon. He had learned early on it was easier just to hide instead of trying to shoot.
Sirius came darting past him with Mica close in tow. He heard Lyra scream. The beeping of a vest being hit assaulted his senses from the left.
"James! I am going to kill you!" Lily yelled, obviously the one having been hit.
All of the sudden, his vest lit up and began beeping. He was being shot at. He quickly darted his head around, trying to dodge the light that was pointing straight at him.
"Ly!" Peter exclaimed, spotting the silent and deadly girl. She giggled in response, waving cheekily. He sighed in defeat. He raised his gun to retaliate, but the beeping suddenly stopped, and all of the lights abruptly switched on.
"Please exit through the door to the left of the main structure. Place your equipment on the corresponding shelf, and pick up your score cards on the way out. Thank you for playing, and we hope you had a good time!" A cheerfully fake voice instructed over the speaker system.
The group did as the voice told, and were soon standing in the front of the building, discussing their scores.
"Yes! I beat you!" Mica bragged, sticking her tongue out at Sirius. He glared at her, pointedly looking at anything but her. She continued to smile brightly.
"I can't believe Lyra beat us all at this too!" James complained, looking at his score card. Everyone made noised of agreement.
"That's what happens when everyone assumes I'm innocent, and is afraid to shoot me!" Lyra brightly countered, winking at Remus. He blushed a dashing shade of red.
She drives him crazy! I wonder if she does it on purpose...
"Cake time?" Sirius asked, rocking back and forth on the soles of his shoes.
"Ooo! Is it chocolate?" Mica asked, hopping excitedly in place.
"Yay! Sugar!" Lyra added, also jumping.
People were starting to stop and stare at the teenagers. The rest of the teenagers watched the trio fondly.
"Yeah, let's go!" Lily conceded, laughing and once again apparating her friends back to her house.
"Is it chocolate?" Mica asked again when they were in the kitchen. James rolled his eyes at his friends apparent lack of care for what he wanted at his birthday party.
"Mica, how well do I know you?" Lily asked her as she set the table.
"Better than anyone, except maybe Lyra," She answered a little confused.
"Exactly," Lily began, "And I knew you were going to be here, so why would I not get chocolate?" Lily asked her friend.
"Umm..." Mica mumbled.
"It's common sense," Sirius teased as he attempted to steal icing off the cake Lily now held.
All three sirens looked at each other, and burst out laughing laughing.
"What?" Peter asked, confused.
"Nothing," Lyra answered, shaking her head.
"Inside joke," Mica supplied when he still looked confused.
"I love how my birthday cake flavor is decided on whether Mica is going to be there, and has nothing to do with me," James commented with a mocking pout, as his cinnamon brown eyes sparkled.
"That's what you get for being friends with us!" Lily informed him jokingly, also laughing.
"Here," Lyly said absent mindedly, handing Lyra the lighter and candles. Her eyes grew wide.
This can't end well..
"Here, Ly, let me do that," Peter commanded kindly, taking them from her.
"B-b-but?" She whined, looking at him with big, slightly misty eyes.
"Can you go get James' present for me?" He asked her, attempting to avert disaster as only he could.
"Sure!" She conceded happily, forgetting she was upset. She turned and skipped happily to the stairs, disappearing up them to get the gift.
"Wow, she is like a giant ball of sunshine and happiness!" Remus commented, smiling.
"No wonder she always wears bright yellow," Sirius observed. James and Peter laughed in agreement.
"She's such a Hufflepuff!" James exclaimed.
Lily and Mica shared an amused glance before bursting out into hysterical laughter. The boys watched them with confused expressions.
"Lyra, a Hufflepuff!" Lily gasped between bouts of laughter, clutching her stomach. The confusion grew.
"She would eat the Hufflepuffs for breakfast!" Mica managed to get out, now clutching the table for support.
"Are you serious? She is such a Hufflepuff!" Sirius countered in a disbelieving voice.
"Ah huh, sure, 'cause were not her best friends or anything, and you know better than us," Mica bit out sarcastically between giggles. Lily clutched her friends shoulders for support.
"That was a good one," Lily sighed, wiping her streaming eyes and picking the cake up from where she had deposited it on the kitchen table as she and her friend laughed. The boys continued to stare at them as if they were insane.
Lily sat the homemade chocolate cake on the counter, finally deeming in a safe time to put down. Everyone in the room-except Mica-looked slightly confused.
"I didn't use magic so I couldn't use the icing charm, I had to do it myself," Lily explained. Mica and Sirius eyed in hungrily. Peter and Remus seemed to understand this was sweet, and James positively melted.
"You handmade me a cake?" James asked, obviously touched.
"Yes," Lily answered, looking down, embarrassed. An awkward silence descended over the room.
"Found it!" Lyra screamed from upstairs, causing everyone to jump, breaking the still.
Soon after, she came running into the kitchen, holding a stack of wrapped presents. Remus and Peter rushed to take them from her. Soon, she was left with only one.
"Here, open mine first!" Lyra instructed, handing him a cupcake. Everyone watched it hungrily.
"It isn't wrapped," James commented mischievously. The rest watched him in disbelief that he dared to complain about Lyra's cupcakes.
"There is a wrapper on the bottom of it, stupid," Lyra scoffed.
"Oh," James laughed lightly, taking off the 'wrapping', and proceeding to eat it while everyone in the room glared jealously, trying not to drool.
"Mmm," James hummed in pleasure, content when he was done.
"That was torture," Sirius whined, and everyone but Lyra (who probably got to eat the rest of the entire batch), agreed.
"Here! Open mine!" Sirius commanded, pointing to a giant box in the corner of the room. Everyone stared at it, confused. It was big enough to fit a person...And bright pink. With a striped bow. It was actually...cute.
What the bloody hell could be in that?
"Sirius, I told you not to get me a pony!" James berated, smirking at his friend.
"Pony!" Lyra clapped happily as the rest of the group sent Sirius amazed glances.
Okay…Well. A pony could be in that. Actually, I think a whole horse could fit in there.
"Jamsie, I didn't get you a pony," Sirius told him with a fond head shake as if he should have known.
James rolled his eyes, and started un-wrapping the huge box.
When all the paper was off, the seven friends stood looking at a brown cardboard box. "Well open it," Sirius commanded impatiently after a moment.
James stuck his hand into the box, and pulled out…
What the-? Another box?
James growled when he saw the slightly smaller, also wrapped, box. "Sirius, how many boxes are there?" He asked in a dangerous voice, trying to stay calm.
"I don't remember," Sirius replied, snickering.
Everyone else moaned, figuring out what they were talking about. It was going to be a long night.
James shook his head, and unwrapped the second box. Inside of that one, was yet another box. James unwrapped this one too.
Twelve boxes later, James was down to a box the size of shoebox. He opened it, expecting to find yet another box. Instead, inside was an envelope. James looked at Sirius skeptically, expecting the envelope to explode. Just like his present had the year before.
James slowly opened the envelope. He quickly looked up at Sirius when he realized what was in it. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!" James screamed, excited. He stared at Sirius. "Are these legit?" He asked, eyes wide as he stared at them in awe.
"What are they?" Lily screamed, becoming annoyed. The rest of their friends were craning necks and leaning on neighbors as they attempted to see what was so special about the papers James now held.
"He got me quidditch tickets to the Wilbourne Wasps and Appleby Arrows match!" James screamed, jumping up and hugging his best friend. Sirius happily returned the hug, looking very smug.
Lily and Remus just still looked a tad confused, while Peter and Lyra gasped in envy.
"No way!" Mica screeched.
"Yeah," Sirius sighed happily, beaming.
"How the bloody hell did you get tickets?" Lyra asked, enviously eyeing them.
"Being a Black does have certain privileges," Sirius reminded his fellow pureblood, smiling smugly. Mica glared at the offending pieces of paper, pouting.
"How come I can't get tickets?!" Lyra demanded, annoyed that being a pureblood wasn't giving her perks.
Sirius laughed. "Because your family doesn't have any influence in England," He reminded her. She snorted in angered agreement.
"Stupid parents had to move here from America when I was born," Lyra mumbled, pouting.
"I'm sure they have lots of influence in the states," Remus comforted her.
"Yeah, lot of bloody good that does me," Lyra snapped. Lily whistled.
"If you were still in America, you wouldn't know me," Remus reminded her.
Lyra gasped. "No!" She screamed, flinging herself at Remus and fiercely hugging him. Remus just chuckled, but hugged her back as his cheeks turned slightly pink.
"When is the match?" Lily asked, ignoring the mushy couple, hoping her plans for the next day weren't ruined.
"Day after tomorrow," James answered, anticipation in his voice.
"Cool," Lily replied as she silently cheered. Mica watched her friend with a knowing look. Peter had gone over to the pile of gifts, and distributed them as they all talked.
"Thanks, Pete," Remus thanked, offering his gift to James with a simple, "Here." James looked down at the rectangular package.
Hmm..I wonder if that could be a book?…What else would it be? It's from Remus.
James slowly unwrapped the book. The title read 'Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms'.
"Umm..Thanks Remus," James thanked, spark gone from his eyes as he obviously tired not to look disappointed. Sirius looked indignantly at his friend, and the rest of the group sent him strange looks.
Remus laughed, waved his wand, and the book transformed. The title now read: 'Beating the Bludgers - A Study of Defensive Strategies in Quidditch.'
"Whoa! Thanks, Remus," James repeated, but this time meaning it; his expression now delighted as he sat the book on the table.
"My turn," Mica announced, trying not to laugh.
James grabbed the last present. It was slightly lopsided. Obviously not wrapped with magic. He smiled at Mica before unwrapping the gift. "Huh?" He asked, seeing the photo album. He cracked it open and laughed, embarrassed, when he peeked inside.
"Oh, no," He groaned, still laughing lightly. Mica just kissed him on the cheek in a rare display of affection in response.
"Oh, what is it?" Lyra asked, hands clasped in anticipation.
"A photo album filled with embarrassing pictures I got from his mom," Mica answered, smiling evilly.
General P.O.V.
Everyone but Lily rushed forward to look. James sat the book on the table, and quickly got out of the way. He glanced around, and went to stand against the wall by Lily.
"They're like animals," James commented, laughing, as the Siren and Marauder watched their friends.
"Yeah," Lily agreed, chuckling.
"Hey, James, come here for a sec," She suddenly commanded, dragging him into the next room. Mica and Peter were the only two who noticed, and they just shared a confused glance.
"Hey, what's going on?" James asked, concerned. She fidgeted slightly before replying.
"Nothing, I just wanted to give you your present," She explained, twisting her wand in her hands nervously.
"Okay," James agreed, now confused. She twisted the wand once more, before raising it, and giving it a decisive flick. In her left hand, she now held an envelope.
"Here," Lily offered, handing him the sealed envelope. "Don't open it until you get home, and don't tell anyone what's in it," She instructed nervously.
"Okay," James immediately agreed, now watching the package a little nervously.
"We should get back in there," Lily supplied after a few moments, leading the way by dashing off into the kitchen. James eyed the curious envelope once more, slipping it into his pocket before following the red-head into the kitchen.
"Cake time," Lily announced, walking in. Sirius, Mica, and Lyra immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at her. How had they forgotten about the cake?
Lyra shoved James into a seat at the table, Peter retrieved the lighter and candles from where he had stored them, and Lily sat the cake in front of James on the table. Mica handed her the lighter she received from Peter, Lyra placed the candles, and together they lit all seventeen candles.
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear James! Happy birthday to you!" The six sang to their beaming friend, and James blew out his candles with a delighted smiling puff of air.
"Yay!" Lyra cheered among the clapping.