When Black Met Blue (Marauder Fanfic)

chapter 35 *Edited*

"Merry Christmas!’ Sirius bellowed.

‘Merry Christmas,’ James mumbled. Sirius pouted at the unenthusiastic tone.. He glanced at the window and then blinked. ‘Merlin, Padfoot! What’s the time? It’s still dark outside!’

‘Five-oh-three,’ Sirius said, bouncing onto James’ bed. 

‘I wish Moony and Pete had stayed. It’s our last Christmas at Hogwarts,’ James said, shoving Sirius off. ‘More importantly, I could have made Moony deal with you and gone back to sleep.’

‘Well, Moony isn’t here,’ Sirius said, popping up beside James’ bed. ‘So you’re stuck with me.’ That said, he morphed and launched himself back up and onto James, barking wildly. James smacked him with a pillow.

‘Please, go back to sleep for another hour. It can be my Christmas present.’

‘Nope,’ Sirius said, changing forms. His full weight landed on James’ chest. ‘Oops, sorry, Prongs.’ He rolled off so that James could breathe again.

‘Please, Padfoot,’ James begged. ‘Go bother someone else.’

‘No one else is here. They’ve all gone home.’ That much was true. Parents wanted their children home after all the Death Eater activity in the area.

‘Orla,’ James said. ‘Go bother Orla.’

Sirius’ eyes lit up. Without another sound, he leapt off James, hid Orla’s present in the bathroom and tore out of the dormitory, wand in hand. James slumped back onto his pillows with a groan. Exactly three and a half minutes later, Sirius came in, Orla fast asleep in his arms and an odd bulge in his pyjama pocket which turned out to be Orla’s presents, shrunk to the size of fingernails.

‘Damn it, Padfoot,’ James said, pushing his blankets back. ‘What did you do?’

‘Nothing,’ he replied, depositing Orla on Remus’ bed. Sirius quailed under James’ glare as he was enlarging presents. ‘All right. I may have Stunned her. She’s fine!’ he added quickly. ‘Completely fine. I just didn’t want her waking up before she got here.’

James stumbled over to Remus’ bed. ‘Enervate,’ he said, sitting down next to her. 

‘Orrrrrrrlllllllllllaaaaaaaaaa!" Sirius yelled. James sighed, massaging his temples. Orla's red eyes opened and she glanced around, amused. ‘Merry Christmas!’

‘Merry Christmas, Sirius,’ she said, sharing a look with James. ‘Dare I ask how I got here?’

‘You were kidnapped,’ Sirius said kissing her, ‘by your charming boyfriend.’

‘I see,’ Orla said with a laugh. ‘And how long have I been your prisoner?’

‘Two minutes,’ Sirius replied shrugging. ‘I wish you’d slept longer – I was going to wrap you in tinsel and put you at the end of my bed.’

‘You- you what?’ Orla said, dissolving into laughter.

‘It would have been a pretty good present,’ Sirius said, grinning. Lily smacked him.

‘Speaking of presents...’ Sirius said, barely able to contain himself.

‘How old is he again?’ Orla asked.

‘Age doesn’t matter in the slightest – it’s all about maturity. Padfoot has none.’

‘Shut up, Prongs. Open your presents.’ Sirius jumped back onto his bed pulled his pile toward him. ‘All together for the first one?’ James and Orla nodded. James picked up a present with Peter’s shaky handwriting on it. ‘Open!’ Sirius cried, tearing paper off. James grinned; Peter had sent him a biography written by an ex-Auror, and a large box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. ‘Thank you, Jamie!’ Sirius shouted. James had given him a Beater’s bat, charmed to tell him how many hits he made per game and a box of dog biscuits; the latter was an ongoing joke between them, but Sirius was actually quite fond of the flavour, though he’d never buy them for himself. Sirius laughed waving the magazine clipping – the one he had told Peter to take from the St Mungo’s waiting room. Sirius nodded and James laughed again, having opened another present. ‘Oh, Moony,’ he said. ‘Look, Prongs!’ He waved a flea collar, a pair of Beater’s gloves at James, who’d already seen them; he and Remus had coordinated gifts. Remus had also bought Sirius a book entitled “Muggle Vehicles for Magical Folk”.