minnow // sirius black

six

6 : Christmas Thing

Lily had pressed for answers for weeks after I told her, as I succumbed to sleep, that Sirius had kissed me. I refused to answer, telling her I had no idea what she was talking about.

I refused to answer until Christmas.

I had begged Mum and Dad to let me stay over the break, as Lily, Remus and Sirius weren't going home for Christmas, but James wanted to go home to decorate the outside of the house for the holidays. Mum finally relented (after very little persuading, truthfully) as long as I promised to come home for the last two days, so I could tell her all about the boy I wouldn't shut up about in my letters.

I had a wicked blush on my face as I wrote my letter of agreement. I promised to tell her all about Sirius, without telling her it was Sirius.

So I stayed with my friends as James went home to spend time with Mum and Dad. Part of me wanted him to get some time with them, alone, as they spent most of their time trying to keep me healthy.

But I was finally healthy for a consistent time, so Mum and Dad were relaxing, and I wanted James to relax with them.

And on Christmas morning, I decided that the details of my first kiss could be Lily's last Christmas present from me.

Our entire class had gone to Hogsmeade the weekend before break, but for anyone still at Hogwarts, Hogsmeade was free game if you had an escort. Lily and I went down several times with Professor McGonagall, mainly because I wanted to walk.

It was strange, how healthy I had felt, how often I wanted to do activities. I was always exploring he castle, the grounds, or Hogsmeade. I was rarely in the Common Room. Part of me knew it was to avoid another kiss like the first one with Sirius, because Merlin only knows if my heart could've handled it.

Lily made the decision to wake me up at a ridiculous time on Christmas morning, even thought she knew I wasn't a morning person. I didn't even realize what time it was until I looked out the bedroom window and noticed that the sky was black. It was barely 5 in the morning.

"What makes you think I'm not going to be grumpy the entire time?" I asked, scowling at her.

"Because it's Christmas, and you love Christmas. Besides, Sirius is already awake."

"Sirius Black, the boy who waits to wake up for breakfast until ten minutes before it ends, is awake before five am?" I was flabbergasted, but suddenly less tired.

"Yup! He actually woke me up. Came up here, shook me awake, and told me to wake you," Lily smirked. "He tried not to stare at you, but..."

She elongated the 'but', and I raised an eyebrow, my face turning bright red as I realized what I had worn to bed.

"You wore your beige tank top to bed, and didn't actually keep covered all night."

"Lily!"

"He couldn't take his eyes off you," She teased. "Your waist was just barely visible, and he was practically drooling. He even said you looked so beautiful while you slept."

"Now I know you're just making stuff up!"

"I'm not! I swear on Biscuit!"

I gasped loudly, my hand flying to my chest, feigning offense.

"How dare you!"

She just smiled like a child, and then grabbed my arm and dragged me out of bed. She threw one of my night robes - the soft midnight blue one - at me, but didn't give me a chance to put it on before she was dragging me down the stairs.