Wild || Sirius Black ✓

20

Something heavy jumped onto me. Grumbling incoherent curses, I opened my eyes. Sitting on top of me was a large, shaggy black dog. Barking happily, he licked my face excitedly.

"Get off, Snuffles," I mumbled, weakly attempting to push him away.

Turning back into his regular form, Sirius gave me a fake horrified look.

"First of all," he began, "my name is not Snuffles. Second of all, it's Christmas morning and your LAZY BUM NEEDS TO GET OUT OF BED!"

Not bothering to wait for an answer, Sirius threw me over his shoulder and carried me down to where James and Remus were waiting by the fire in the common room. Dropping me onto the floor, I noticed that they already had all of the presents sorted into piles.

"I'm here. Your lives just got better," I said through a yawn, grabbing a present off of the top of the pile. "Merry Christmas, boys."

"Merry Christmas, Laura," they replied in unision.

As Sirius sat down next to me, he grabbed one of his presents before saying, "Open on the count of three?"

The three of us nodded.

"One....Two....Three!"

****

Heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast with the others, I thought over everything I had gotten.

Mum and Dad had gotten me an autographed copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Remus had gotten me a stuffed animal of a white wolf. James had gotten me a ton of Zonko's products. From Sirius, I had received a beautiful golden necklace with the word Princess on it (picture above) and a charm bracelet that held a small, golden lion. Peter had given me a bunch of candy. Lily had gotten me the latest Beatles album and a bunch of sparkly writing utensils that muggle call pens.

Reaching the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, I spotted George sitting by himself. Gently nudging Remus, I pointed it out. Without me having to say anything, Remus walked over and sat in front of the kid. Sitting next to George, James sat next to Remus and Sirius sat next to me. Both of them had a confused look on their faces bit, nevertheless, didn't question anything. I had yet to tell them about my "newly adopted" kid that had been taken under my wing.

Upon seeing me, George's face split into a wide grin. Pouring myself some coffee, I smiled back.

"Merry Christmas, George."

"Merry Christmas, Laura." After a moments hesitation, he added, "and Laura's friends."

The boys mumbled back something that could possibly pass for the words "Merry Christmas" through their mouthfuls of food.

"So," I started casually, taking a bite of my waffle. "Did you enjoy your presents?"

"I loved them," George answered, nearly bouncing up and down in his excitement. "Thank you!"

Laughing, I said, "I'm glad you like them. As much as I would love to help you try out your broom later, I have to go to Slughorn's office. But maybe James would be willing to help you."

James's head snapped up when he heard his name. Narrowing his eyes at me, I gave him a pleading look. After all the "stalking" I had done to learn more about Lily for him, he owed me one.

"Would you, James?" George asked.

I could sense James's stubborn resolve weakening as he looked at the eager kid.

"Of course, kiddo," he said, leaning across the table to ruffle George's hair.

When George finished eating, he ran off to do Merlin knows what.

Glancing around to make sure no one was within earshot, Sirius said in a hushed whisper, "So I had an idea."

"That's dangerous."

"Shut it, Moony," he snapped. Looking at James and I, Sirius continued, "Since Remus has a nickname for his furry little problem, as James refers to it, we each need one for our animagus forms."

"That's actually a really good idea," I told him.

"Always the tone of surprise."

****

Slipping my necklace and charm bracelet on, I took one last look in the mirror. Unintentionally, I was wearing a large amount of house pride (not that there is anything wrong with that). I had on a short sleeved, knee length red dress and golden flats. My hair, as usual, was left down and messy. Spritzing a bit of perfume on, I left the bathroom.

"Finally!" Remus exclaimed as I joined him and Sirius in the common room.

James was out on the quidditch pitch with George at the moment.

Smirking, I kissed Sirius's cheek and bid him goodbye before grabbing Slughorn's present, linking arms with Remus, and exiting through the portrait hole.

Together, we made our way over to Slughorn's office. I had already made it very clear to Remus that if this turned out completely horrendous, his night would not have a pretty ending.

Entering his office, I instantly regretted my decision to come. In the center of the room was a round table. Seated at the table was Slughorn, three Ravenclaws, and Severus. The remaining two seats, I assumed, were for Remus and I. If Regulus hadn't went home to be adored by his parents, I'm sure he would have been there as well. Plates filled with food were in front of each seat.

Catching sight of us in the doorway, Slughorn boomed, "Miss Potter! Mr. Lupin! I was beginning to worry about you two. Please," he waved us over, "come join us."

Walking over, Remus took a seat while I handed Slughorn his present.

"Merry Christmas, Professor," I said, smiling sweetly.

"Merry Christmas, Laura," he replied, gently taking the present from my hands.

Sitting down between Remus and a fourth year Ravenclaw, I watched as he opened the present.

"Why thank you, Laura and Remus," Slughorn exclaimed, holding up a box of candied pineapple. Opening the present seemed to have brought up some rather unpleasant memories but he quickly covered it up with a smile. "But I must ask, how did you know these were my favorite?"

Shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly, Remus said, "You always have a box on your desk. I just assumed that you enjoyed it."

"Very bright boy, you are," Slughorn complimented. "Now that everyone is here," he gestured grandly to the food in front of us, "let's eat!"

Everyone dug in immediately. As much as I hated having to come, I had to admit that the food was quite good.

"So where did the bright Lily Evans go this holiday break?" Slughorn asked.

I knew she would be brought up eventually. After all, she is his favorite Gryffindor. I swallowed my food before answering.

"She went home to spend some time with her parents and sister."

Seeing as to how this answer wasn't very exciting, Slughorn turned his attention to another student.

"So, Severus-"

Turning to face Remus, I tuned Slughorn out. We began to whisper back and forth to each other about Sirius's idea for all of us having a nickname that matched our animagus.