fatal love

Chapter 6

Remus' birthday fell on a Friday, which in Sirius' opinion was the second-best day of the week to have your birthday, after Saturday. Sirius was the first to wake, as usual, and crept out of bed to shake awake James and Peter eagerly. The three of them surrounded Remus' bed quietly and pulled back the curtains, to see Remus snoring away. He looked much younger when he was asleep, Sirius thought. He always seemed so much older, more mature, more knowledgeable, but watching him fast asleep, he looked like any other eleven - or twelve - year old boy.

James raised three fingers.

"Three..." he mouthed, "Two... One!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" They all shouted in unison, and Remus jumped up with a start.

"You bastards!" he laughed. "Do I not even get a lie in on my birthday?"

"No time for that, mate," grinned James. "We've already wasted eight hours, couldn't let a second more go to waste!"

"Besides," squeaked Peter, "you have to open your presents!"

"You guys got me presents?"

"Of course we did, Re," smiled Sirius. "Pete, you go first."

Peter handed Remus a large box that Remus opened carefully, to reveal a large assortment of chocolate.

"It's a mix of muggle and magic," said Peter. "I got my mum to send me the chocolate frogs, cauldron cakes and fudge flies, and Lily Evans got her parents to send these things called Snickers, and Cadbury's, so this is from her too."

"What's Evans getting you birthday presents for?" asked James.

"We're friends, we do our homework together," Remus said mildly. "Pete, you didn't have to go to all this trouble, thank you."

Pete went a bit red. "Was nothing really. Happy birthday Remus."

"Okay, me next!" said James. He plonked down a smaller box on the bed, with wrapping that Sirius highly suspected had been done by Mrs Potter. Remus slowly removed the tape, careful not to tear the paper, to reveal a small, square device with some sort of speaker on it.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's Alfred Bones' Magical Narration Device," said James. "You can tap any book with your wand, then tap the ear symbol there, and it will start reading the book out loud. I figured if you're gonna be in the Hospital Wing all the time, and we can't visit you, you can at least listen to your books while you get better."

Remus looked very touched. "James... this is amazing... but how much did this cost?"

James rolled his eyes. "None of your business, Lupin. Just say thank you."

"Thank you, James, really. This is.... I don't even know what to say. Thank you."

James smiled graciously. "You're welcome, I'm glad you like it. Okay, Sirius, you go."

Sirius was suddenly feeling quite nervous. He looked at Remus. "It's nothing special... not even a present really, but hopefully you'll like it."

"I'm sure I'll love it," laughed Remus.

"Okay... it's not wrapped, so you have to close your eyes."

Remus smiled and shut his eyes obediently, and Sirius pulled the record player out from under his bed, which had been returned to him last night. He placed it in front of Remus.

"Alright, open."

Remus opened his eyes. "My record player?"

"Try and play something."