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Remus couldn't begin to understand how she did it.
How Sydney managed to always look so unfailingly brilliant, even in sleep when she had forfeited all control, was beyond him.
But her hair fell like a halo around her head and her skin was soft in the white of morning and the scar across her nose was tipped and smiling pink.
She would hate the way she was breathing through her mouth or clinging to his shirt, but to Remus she was brilliant.
He kissed her carefully on the forehead and her lips turned up into a smile.
"Good morning, my love," Remus said.
Sydney opened her eyes, which were so light in the post-snow glaze that they were nearly clear. She didn't speak for a moment, she merely shifted herself under Remus to see him better, as her smile thinned curiously.
"What?" Remus asked. "What are you analyzing now?"
"Nothing," Sydney answered quietly. "Merry Christmas."
Remus kissed her again, more excited now. He loved Christmas, it had been his favorite holiday since he was a kid. Other than when he was 7 and 14, when the moon was full, it was always his favorite day of the year. His parents always made pancakes in shapes of trees and gifts and one year James showed up as a stag with string lights hanging from his antlers.
"Ready to go down for presents?" Remus asked.
"No," Sydney groaned. She threw her arms around Remus's neck and dragged him downward so that his head slammed into the pillow. "Do we have to get up?"
Remus thought he could smell the pancakes (and his dad would have made them so they wouldn't be completely rubbish), and he really, really wanted to see if Lily had gotten him the refilling chocolate box like she promised.
But Sydney's hair had fallen dramatically over her face and she looked so small, smushed between Remus's pillow and the hood of his jumper, and the presents and the pancakes seemed insignificant in comparison.
"Okay," he said, pushing her hair aside in time to see her smile, eyes closed. She kissed the skin on Remus's shoulder and then tucked her head into the crook of his neck and she quickly fell back to sleep.
Sometimes when this happened, Sydney would sleep for another hour, maybe two. Remus hoped this wasn't one of those times. As much as he loved how her hand fit perfectly around his cheek and how her thumb moved back and forth so lightly against his skin, the pancakes were beginning to smell more and more distinct.
Luckily, this was a short time, and Sydney woke up within a half hour.
"Okay," she sighed, kissing him on the cheek. "We can go now."
Remus immediately scrambled over top of her and out of bed.
"Wait," he said, holding both hands out to freeze her in place. "Don't move."
