Christmas Gifts

Title: Christmas Gifts
Author: Lirren
Disclaimer: No, I don\'t own any of the Marauders. Wish I did though.
They\'re property of J.K. Rowling.
Spoilers: Absolutely none.
Rating: G
Summary: Remus has a secret admirer.
Pairing: Sirius/Remus
Author\'s notes: This was really a hard one for me to write because I
don\'t like Sirius at all, but I hope I delivered for whoever made the
request. I certainly did my very best. Also, the ending totally
sucks, but I just couldn\'t figure out how to end it better.
Request: #22 Remus/Sirius (delivered) Shameless fluffy romance
(delivered).


~~~
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…


Remus Lupin sat at the breakfast table sleepily playing with his
porridge and vaguely listening to James and Sirius discussing
Christmas shopping. He knew there wouldn\'t be much shopping for him
this year, same as every other year, with his finances. But he knew
the gifts he did get for his friends would be doubly appreciated
because of the effort he took in getting them. He already had James\'
and Peter\'s, but was struggling with what to get for Sirius.

Sirius. Remus sighed heavily, and looked over at his friend through
his eyelashes, something he\'d taken to doing more and more often when
he could be sure Sirius wouldn\'t see him. At some point over the last
few months the friendship he felt for Sirius had become something
much more, something much stronger, and Remus wasn\'t quite sure what
to do about it. There was no question about telling anyone. He\'d
never risk the friendship he had by admitting his attraction. Still,
it was nice to dream.

\"Mail\'s here,\" Sirius\' deep voice drew him out of his reverie and
back to contemplation of his porridge. He never got mail, so he was
completely unprepared for the beautiful owl that landed in front of
him, neatly sidestepping his bowl.

\"What\'s this?\" Remus frowned at the unfamiliar owl. He reached down
and took the note from the bird\'s proffered leg and read
aloud. \"Merry Christmas, Remuy nay name is Gyris, and now I belong to
you.\"

\"Who\'s it from?\" questioned James, peering over Remus\' shoulder at
the note.

\"There\'s no name, except for the owl\'s. Who would send me an owl?\"
Remus eyed the delicate bird.

\"Well, you could always write a thank you note and tie it to the
owl\'s leg and tell him to go back to the person who sent him. Then
follow him. That would tell you,\" James offered.

\"Good idea,\" Sirius broke in, \"but do it later. We\'re going to be
late to class.\"

James grinned at Sirius, \"You? Worried about being late to class,
Padfoot? Now there\'s a change.\"

While Sirius and James teased each other, Remus sent the owl to the
owlery with a small treat and watched as she flew out the window
again.

~~~
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…


Breakfast found Remus still wondering who would have sent him an owl.
It hadn\'t been his parents, he knew. They would never have been able
to afford such an expensive and beautiful bird. James had teased him
about a secret admirer, even going so far as to tell him to ask Snape
if he had sent it. That had sent Peter into a fit of giggles, while
Sirius just growled and tackled James to the floor. Remus had sat by,
amused, as the two wrestled and rolled before the fire while Lily
scolded them both soundly for being such children.

Now, by the light of a new day, he was again pondering the gift.

\"Mail\'s here,\" James said. \"Oooh, and here comes your new owl, Remus.
Wonder what you\'ll get today!\"

Indeed, Gyris flew directly to Remus and lightly dropped a package
neatly to the side of his plate before flying back out. Remus reached
for the parcel and looked for a note of any kind. Nothing. Blank
brown paper was unrelieved by any writing.

\"Well, open it!\" Lily encouraged.

Remus grinned at her impatience and unwrapped the bundle. Inside was
a picture of all of them. Lily was sitting under a tree, trying to
read, while James kept grabbing the book from her hands and snatching
a kiss. Peter was frantically scribbling something on a piece of
parchment with a worried frown on his face. Sirius was lying on his
back, hands beneath his head and a soft smile on his face. And Remus?
Remus was sitting next to Peter obviously telling him what to write,
but his eyes were on Sirius. The picture was framed in a dark brown
wood with a dove at each upper corner inlaid with pearl.

\"Wow,\" breathed Lily. \"That\'s beautiful. And what a great picture.\"

Remus smiled softly in agreement. It was an excellent picture of his
friends, and a very attractive pose for Sirius.

\"Now I\'m really curious,\" Peter spoke up. \"Who\'d have a picture of
the five of us? When was that taken? I don\'t even remember that day.\"

\"I do,\" James broke in. \"It was right before that essay in History of
Magic was due, and you hadn\'t finished it.\"

\"Oh! I remember that day,\" said Lily. \"But I don\'t remember anyone
else around us taking pictures. Do you?\" Four heads shook.

Sirius shrugged. \"Oh, well. Just another mystery to add to the pile.\"
He grinned at Remus and wiggled his eyebrows. \"Maybe your secret
admirer has been watching for a while. Must be True Love.\"

They all laughed together.

~~~
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…


Remus was somewhat disappointed when mail came the next day with
nothing for him. He\'d been enjoying his mystery friend\'s gifts and
had really looked forward to breakfast. It wasn\'t until mid-day when
he went back to the dorm to retrieve his charms homework that he
found the package on his bed. Gaily wrapped in red and gold paper, it
sat sedately on his pillow. A small note was attached that
read \"Happy Christmas, Remus. I\'ll see you soon.\"

Remus tore the shiny paper and removed the gift. It was a beautiful
snow globe, with a wolf sitting in the center watching three eagles
flying around above it, dancing with the falling snow.

Remus felt his heart begin to pound. Did someone else know about his
being a werewolf? He couldn\'t imagine that any of the Marauders had
told. And despite his worries, Snape had never said anything either,
as far as Remus knew. So who would be sending him a gift of a wolf?
Now Remus was starting to be somewhat concerned about who his
mysterious admirer was.

~~~
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…


The next morning was once again mail-free for Remus. He\'d been to
check on Gyris, and found her happily settling into her new
accommodations. He hadn\'t told any of his nds nds about the snow
globe, since he was still somewhat worried about the implications.

It was Saturday, and a Hogsmeade weekend. He had promised James to
help shop for a Christmas present for Lily, so after breakfast he
found himself being dragged from store to store in the little village
while Sirius found himself talked into shopping with Lily. Remus
grinned to himself. It was no wonder James was completely wrapped
around the tiny girl\'s finger. Even Sirius couldn\'t deny her anything
she wanted.

They walked from shop to shop, James finding something wrong with
every suggestion Remus made. It was finally getting into the
afternoon when they made their way into a small, dark trinket shop.
James was busy studying the jewelry, but a carving on the wall caught
Remus\' eye.

The wood was a light tan, with the carving stained a deeper nut
color. It showed two wolves, one large and one smaller, running at
full speed under a full moon. The carving didn\'t move. It was simply
a flash of an instant in time. Remus studied the image closely. If
you looked at it right, the larger wolf could almost look like
Padfoot. He smiled softly. He\'d finally found his gift for Sirius.

As they headed back to Hogwarts, Remus was surprised to see Gyris
suddenly drop down onto his shoulder. She had a small leather pouch
attached to her leg, which she held out obligingly.

Inside the pouch Remus found four golden tie pins in the shape of
birds along with another note, this one in rhyme.

When one is in trouble, you\'ll hear my call.
Just rub my wings, I connect one to all.
From four into one, and one into four
The friendship\'s a bond that lasts ever-more.

\"Rotten poetry, if you ask me,\" snickered James.

Remus rolled his eyes but went back to studying the birds.

\"This admirer of yours has a bird fetish. Think about it. First
Gyris. Then doves on the picture frame, now this. Hey! Maybe it\'s
Fawkes!\" James laughed when Remus shoved him.

\"Let\'s get back. I\'d like to get a closer look at these,\" Remus said.

Back in Griffindor Tower, Remus pulled out the birds to show Sirius,
Lily and Peter.

\"Interesting that there are four of them, just like there are four of
you,\" Lily commented. \"I wonder if that\'s significant.\"

Remus lightly rubbed the wings of the pin he was holding. Immediately
the other three birds started singing, almost causing Peter to drop
the one he was holding.

\"Wow!\" Sirius exclaimed. \"So that\'s what it means. But I wonder how
you tell which of us is in trouble.\"

\"Look!\" said James. \"Look at your bird. This one has an `R\' glowing
on the side.\"

Peter and Sirius looked at the birds in their hands and, sure enough,
a curly scripted `R\' was glowing on the side of both.

\"Try rubbing yours James,\" Sirius said.

James rubbed the pin in his hand, and the other three birds began
singing, and a curly scripted `J\' appeared on the side.

\"That\'s an amazing gift, Remus. Someone is obviously interested in
keeping you and your friends out of trouble.\" Lily looked at James
rather pointedly.

\"I told you it was Fawkes!\" James laughed.

~~~
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…


Sunday morning breakfast found all five of the friends
enthusiastically discussing the possible identity of Remus\' admirer.
Remus had finally told the others about the snow globe, which set off
a whole new set of curiosity.

\"Maybe Dumbledore sent them,\" Peter said.

\"But why?\" James queried. \"Why suddenly send a random student a bunch
of really expensive gifts like that? I mean, he hasn\'t been sending
gifts to any of the rest of us.\"

\"Unless you\'re holding out on us Peter,\" Sirius laughed. \"You been
getting any gifts from strangers?\"

Peter blushed and frowned. \"Of course not.\"

Just then the owls poured in the windows. Sure enough Gyris was with
them headed straight for Remus. She landed lightly and held out her
leg which had four small scrolls attached, each held closed by a tiny
golden ring that was numbered. Remus pulled them off and opened the
number \"1\" scroll.

Meet me tonight.

\"Woo! Finally get to meet the mystery person!\" James shouted. Lily
smacked the back of his head and told him to settle down.

Remus took the second scroll and opened it.

Astronomy Tower

\"Oh, that\'s original,\" Peter scoffed. Sirius frowned at him.

The third scroll was opened.

Midnight

\"Oh, it\'s so romantic, Remus!\" Lily cooed.

James snorted. \"Yeah, right. It\'ll probably be Snape waiting to hex
him.\"

He finally came to the last scroll.

Come alone.

\"No way. You\'re not going alone,\" James stated emphatically. \"What if
it is Snape?\"

\"If it is, and I get in trouble, I\'ll simply use one of the birds,\"
Remus said calmly. \"And I am going alone James. I want to know who
this is.\"

~~~

Midnight. What in Merlin\'s name was he doing creeping around the
castle at midnight? Remus was thankful that James had decided to let
him use the invisibility cloak. They decided that way Remus could get
to the tower and make sure it was safe before revealing himself.

It had seemed a perfectly reasonable idea in the bright light of day.
But in the deep darkness of night, Remus was starting to regret not
allowing one of his friends to accompany him. He climbed the endless
stairs to the astronomy tower and stopped for a moment at the top to
catch his breath before slowing peering around the partially opened
door.

The room inside was lit with a cheerfully burning fire, but no one
else seemed to be there. Remus breathed a sigh of relief and walked
further into the room. It was at that moment that he felt the
presence of another person and turned around frowning as he pulled
off the cloak.

\"Sirius, I told you no one was coming with me. What are you doing
here?\"

Sirius took a deep breath, then moved closer.

\"Well, Moony, I had to give you the last part of your gift.\"

Emotions flashed across Remus\' face, first confusion, then disbelief,
then astonishment as he saw the blush creeping up into his friend\'s
cheeks. \"It was you? All of it?\"

Sirius looked at the floor, then looked up again and moving
closer. \"Yes. It was me.\" He reached up and brushed his fingers
lightly against Remus\' cheek.

Remussed sed his eyes and leaned into the caress then looked up into
Sirius\' eyes. He could see the hesitation and nervousness in them.
Slowly he moved forward and brushed his lips against Sirius. He heard
a small choked noise and wasn\'t sure if it was from him or from
Sirius, but immediately he felt Sirius\' arms wrap around him as the
kiss deepened. Tongues danced as Remus tangled his fingers in Sirius\'
hair and he felt a warm glow inside when Sirius moaned into his
mouth.

The kiss ended, but they remained in each other\'s arms.

Sirius smiled hugged him closer. \"There\'s still one thing left,
Moony.\"

\"What?\"

\"One part of your present.\" Sirius leaned back a bit and reached into
his pocket, pulling out a small box. He handed it to Remus who opened
it to find a beautiful ring. Etched across the gold were a wolf and a
dog, running and seeming to chase each other around the band. \"I love
you, Remus.\"

Remus looked up with shining eyes and kissed Sirius deeply. \"I love
you too, Sirius. Happy Christmas.\"