Sirius
It was a typical winter night at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – cold, snowy and windy. The air felt a bit strained, as if it was waiting for… well, Sirius didn’t know what.
In the Gryffindor common room, life carried on as usual. The Marauders, and the more recent additions of Mary, Marlene, Lily, and tonight, Christopher, had claimed several of the more comfortable chairs and couches around the blazing fireplace, chatting about the big end of year prank that they had been planning. Except for Remus. The wanker was revising for his NEWTS, as it seemed he was doing all the time these days.
“Oi- Remu. Budge up.” Sirius called, unable to help himself.
“Sirius, for the last bloody time, if you must call me a nickname, it’s ‘Moony’.” Remus replied exasperatedly. He did move though, just enough so that it would be comfortable for Sirius to curl up against him.
“Wanker.” Sirius thought. He loved it though. He loved everything about Moony; his scratchy voice (no doubt from too many late nights with cigarettes), his endless knowledge, but most of all, his scars. Sirius knew that Remus tended to feel self conscious about them, so he didn’t bring it up, just in case, but oh bloody fuck, are his scars beautiful. If he could, he would spend a whole day just lying around, smoking, and tracing Moony’s scars.
“Padfoot!” James yelped, tearing Sirius’ eyes away from Remus’s lanky body. “Where’d you come from?!”
Sirius chuckled, grinning. “Just got away from Filch. Dung bombs went off without a hitch though.”
Lily looked stricken, “I told you! No more pranks until the one at the end of the year!”
Sirius groaned, “Come on Evans. It was just a few dung bombs in the dungeons.”
Lily shook her head, but the smile tugging at the corners of her lips betrayed her.
“Have you got any more ideas for the Big One?” Christopher asked tentatively, unsure if he should interrupt them.
“Nope!” Sirius chirped.
“Right, then I reckon it’s time for bed.” Christopher said, before removing his blanket and standing up, “Night all.”
“Night Chris.” Remus said, followed by a chorus of “Night” from the others.
“I should probably be getting to bed too.” Remus yawned; the full moon; and by extension, Christmas; was only three days away. “Lots to do in the morning.”
“Righto. I’ll be going with you then.” Sirius told him, rising from his seat so that Moony could stand. Remus grabbed his book, Life Among Shadows: Navigating the Dark Side of Magic by Aurelius Thorne.
On the way up to the dorm, Sirius began to chatter, “Whatcha readin’ Moony?”
Remus hid the book, “Nothing interesting. Just something for Defense.”
Sirius turned, “You’re not. I saw the title. Something about dark magic.”
Remus sighed, “Yeah… You’re right. I… Well… Y’know your scars? On the back of your ankles?” he asked.
“Well yeah, obviously.” Sirius replied, a little defensive, his temper beginning to rise. “My mum did them to me, with the Lacero curse, but you already knew that.”
“Exactly. And, I was thinking, with it being so close to the moon and all, maybe I could try and make them go away. I know how much you hate them.” Remus bit his lip.
Sirius widened his eyes in shock, and then ran up to Moony – his Moony – and tackled him in a bear hug, muttering a mantra of, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“Merlins Beard,” Remus hummed, “I haven’t even done anything yet-” Sirius abruptly shut him up with a kiss.
After the two boys undressed, took a shower, got back into pajamas, brushed their teeth, and climbed into the warm bed, it was almost midnight, and they were both knackered, and didn’t want to do anything other than snuggle up to each other and fall asleep, but, unfortunately, fate had other plans.
“What the-” Remus muttered, his ears perking.
“Moony? What is it?” Sirius asked, sitting up slightly.
“Somebody—no, two somebodies—are coming up, and they’ve been drinking...” Remus sniffed the air. “Is that Witches Brew?”
“Mary’s the only one in this whole tower who’ll drink Witches Brew sober.” Sirius said.
“Yeah, I know that, but these people smell like they’ve had a bit of Firewhiskey too.” Remus replied.
“Can you tell who it is?” Sirius whispered.
“Not quite,” Remus said, still listening intently.
Just then, the door burst open, and James and Lily tumbled into the room.
“Bloody hell, Prongs!” Sirius shouted, exasperated, and obviously done with dealing with the overly touchy couple.
Lily whipped her head up, “Whoops!” She slurred, “We’ll just…” they stumbled to James’s bed, making sure to close the curtains, but forgetting the silencing charm.
“Oh for fucks sake.” Remus groaned, “Silencio.” He said, pointing his wand at the offending bed, which was now shaking ever so slightly.
“Where the fuck did they get the whiskey?” Sirius grumbled, still irritated. “Also, why didn’t I get any?”