Every Piece of Me. (Marauders Era)

Haley

By the time we are driving back to James' house, we are all wet and exhausted, thanks to James. He's the one who would knock us over or push us out of his way. I got one too many bruises on my hips and ribs to not feel the sting when he would make us laugh.
My head is on Sirius' shoulder the whole car ride and he's asleep with his head resting on top of mine.
Once we get home, I wake up Sirius, and James guides him upstairs, me following them up the stairs and into his room. James starts a warm shower for him and then leaves. I stay and try to get Sirius to not fall asleep, which is more difficult than it sounds. I eventually had to poke him every few seconds because he would start to fade, and Mrs. Potter has a bit of a problem when it comes to wasting water.
By the time I leave, he is still half awake but the shower will wake him up. I go to my own bedroom and start the shower before I peel off my wet clothes, which takes forever; but it feels nice to be warm again.
I hurry into a dry outfit and go to Sirius' room, where I knock on the door to make sure he's awake. The shower is off and he says to come in, which I do precariously. I close the door and walk farther in before I feel someone grab me from behind. I squeal and try to get away from Sirius, who's closet is right by the door. He's laughing and I try to give him a playful glare, it doesn't work. Soon enough, I'm practically rolling on the floor laughing and he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder.
He walks out right as we are all called to dinner, and I try to get him to set me down as I lightly bang my fists on his back. Sydney, Remus, and James all walk out of their own rooms and laugh at my failed attempts as they race down the stairs. We make it down to the kitchen and Mrs. Potter makes Sirius put me down. I giggle when I'm dropped and Sirius grabs ahold of my waist before I can fall. Mr. Potter comes in mid-meal and greets us all with smiles. We finish dinner with more conversation and laughs and are sent to bed immediately following.
****
Around midnight, I sneak into Sirius' room. I couldn't fall asleep and I decided to be "wonderful" and wake him up so we can talk. When I make it in, I see him up, wrapping gifts by candlelight. I sneak up quietly behind him and wrap my arms around his neck, leaning over the back of the chair to give him a kiss on the cheek. He grins and pecks me on the lips, "Couldn't sleep either?"
I shake my head and lean up against the desk, "Need help wrapping?" He nods desperately, "I only have your gifts wrapped. And that's because they came wrapped."
We share a laugh and I grab a scarf from his pile, "Hmm. Cousin?" He nods and I place it in a little box before wrapping it and adding a bow to it. I was lucky enough to have been buying my gifts since summer, so all of my buying and wrapping was done three weeks ago.
We continue wrapping for another hour before we finally finish, with a giant stack on the floor by the foot of his bed. He collapses on his bed and I curl up in the desk chair. He pulls himself up to a sitting position and stares at me for a few seconds before he stands up and grabs my hands. He pulls me up to my feet and I groan, I was finally comfortable.
He laughs and tickles my sides, "We leave tomorrow for Remus'. You need to sleep. His house is a bit noisy." I try to pull myself away from Sirius because the tickling works and I don't want him to know but I let out a little squeal as he gets the funny spot on my back. I push him away and try to glare at him for a minute before I give up and I walk the few feet to where he's leaning up against his footboard.
I fake pout and wrap my arms around his shoulder, "Can you walk me to my room? It's too dark to walk alone." He rolls his eyes, nodding, before picking me up bridal style and taking me back to my room. I giggle as he struggles to open my door, before he finally drops me on my bed. I give him a quick kiss-and a thank you- and then pull the covers over me, turning away from him. I grin to myself when he slides under the covers, wrapping his arms around my waist. He kisses the crook of my neck before dozing off.
I roll my eyes and try to get comfortable, but I don't want to get used to him sleeping next to me. I slide out of his steady grip and slip out into the hallway quickly. I run quietly to his room and slide under the covers, getting comfortable immediately.
His smell seems like home to me, and here, it's everywhere. I pull the covers tighter around me as I doze off.
****
I wake up to James poking me, "Sirius, wake up. I need to ask you something." I turn over and pull the covers from over my face, "James. It's me, Haley."
He falls off the bed in surprise and I bust up laughing. I remember that I'm in Sir's room then and I tell James, "He fell asleep in my room. You can wake him up if you want."
He sits on the edge of the bed, "Well. I thought about asking you or Sirius for advice. But I didn't want to wake you up because you already have a hard time sleeping. I guess I could ask you instead. How should I impress a girl?" I think, long and hard, about how I fell for Sirius. He gave me one rose a day for a month, and always was kind. He just had an air that intrigued me. I fell for him before I knew it. "James, just be kind and not smothering. Do a few simple features here and there. A girl will fall in love with a real person. You can't be cocky without reason, you need to not act selfish. You need to be interested in what she loves." He nods and thanks me. "What'd you get Sir, by the way?" I shake my head with a small smile, "You'll see soon. Now go to bed, we can get a few more hours before we leave. And I'm bloody exhausted." He says goodnight and I fall back onto the pillows, slowly drifting off to sleep.
*****
Sirius hands me the last bag of gifts and I place it in the trunk of the car on top Sydney's luggage. He closes the trunk quickly after and then slings his arm around my shoulders.
I touch my French braids to make sure they're in place and then slide in the car next to Sydney. We have an hour drive ahead of us and then will be having  a nicer dinner with James and Remus' parents. I settle in my seat and wrap my arm around Sirius', ready for the car ride.