Tales of Mischief and Magic: A Collection of Marauders Oneshots

Prongs the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Here's the first oneshot- I hope you enjoy! 
Also, some of you might remember when I wrote this a while ago :)

"Prongs! Padfoot! Wake up!" shouted Peter Pettigrew early on Christmas Day, chucking a pillow playfully at Sirius's head as he spoke. "Look- presents!"

Awaking from a good night's sleep, Sirius Black leapt out of bed and turned to the large pile of presents that had been delivered to the foot of his bed overnight. A few feet away sat Remus Lupin, grinning at him from behind his own equally large pile of gifts.

"Merry Christmas, Padfoot," said Remus, unwrapping a lumpy parcel covered in shiny red wrapping paper.

"Merry Christmas, Moony," responded Sirius, grabbing the gift at the top of his mountain of presents and eagerly yanking back the paper to see what he had gotten.

Above them, James Potter stretched and let out a huge yawn. "Morning already?" His gaze fell on his three best friends, who sat grinning up at him from the carpet. "Oh blimey, presents!"

"What d'you think we've been doing this whole time, Prongs?" asked Peter, smirking, as James crawled out of his four-poster and rumpled up his already extremely messy hair.

"Thanks for the chocolate, Prongs!" said Remus, who had just unwrapped a large box stuffed to the brim with Honeyduke's best chocolate. "These look delicious."

"Any chocolate's delicious to you, isn't it?" said Sirius, grinning. "Shame dogs can't eat it. Learned that the hard way, I did."

"No problem, Moony," answered James, tugging on a handmade red-and-gold Christmas jumper that his mum had knitted. To his right, Peter had stuffed his mouth so full of Chocolate Frogs that his cheeks bulged, and to his left, Sirius unwrapped a jumper almost identical to James's and pulled it over his head.

"Last Christmas at Hogwarts, can you believe it?" asked Remus from across the room. "Blimey, I'll miss this place."

"So will I," said Sirius. "All the memories. This was where I accidentally set off our entire stock of fireworks in fourth year, remember? You can still see the scorch marks on the ceiling... And here's where we carved our initials back when we first got here. We were such scrawny gits back then, remember, Prongs?"

James chortled. "As if I could ever forget."

When the four Marauders had finished unwrapping their presents, Sirius turned to James with a smirk on his face and a maniacal glint in his eyes. Uh-oh. Remus knew that look. 

It was the same look he had when he had suggested that they become Animagi for the full moon. It was the same look he had when they had filled the Slytherin common room with fireworks in the middle of the night. And it was the same look he had when he and James had charmed all the staircases in Hogwarts to turn into slippery slides the moment you stepped on them.

It was this look that told Remus something interesting was about to happen, whether it was playful, funny or outright dangerous.

"So, Prongs, what say we give this place a bit a festive cheer?" Sirius said.

"'A bit of festive cheer?'" repeated Peter. "What, haven't we already got the twelve gigantic Christmas trees in the Great Hall and the mistletoe and holly everywhere you look?"

"What're you thinking, Padfoot?" asked Remus warily. Across from him, James leaned forward, grinning.

"I'll put it this way: Ever heard of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?"

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows

Sirius and Peter entered the Great Hall for breakfast, singing at the top of their lungs. Remus entered a few feet behind them, shaking his head, while James led the way.

But it was not the same James Potter that had sat in the Marauders' dormitory unwrapping his presents with his friends earlier that morning. No, this James Potter was a majestic stag, his snout charmed bright red and shiny, with several Christmas ornaments hanging from his large antlers.

"Look, it's Rudolph!" a muggle-born Gryffindor said to his confused friend as they passed by. A table away, a group of young Hufflepuffs sang along with Sirius and Peter.

All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say
"Rudolph, with your nose so bright
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Prongs pranced playfully around the Great Hall, approaching the younger students to make them laugh, while the professors watched with amused expressions. In the middle of the staff table, Dumbledore was standing up, merrily conducting the song with his wand. The few Slytherins that had chosen to stay over Christmas break were watching the reindeer with distasteful looks on their faces.

Then how the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
You'll go down in history"

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows

As the song ended, Sirius, Peter and James all bowed to loud applause from the other students (the latter sort of bent his knees awkwardly and craned his neck towards the floor). Remus and Lily, who had been eating breakfast together while the other Marauders did their thing, watched the whole scene while seated at the Gryffindor table.

"They certainly have a flair for performing and making people laugh, don't they?" said Lily, applauding along with everyone else.

"Especially James," Remus agreed, smiling. "You're going to have to marry him, you know."

Lily didn't answer at first, for she was lost in thought... Memories of James, making her laugh, grinning at her, rumpling his messy hair, filled her mind... Dreams of their Patronuses, his stag and her doe... together... always.

Lily fingered the beautiful necklace James had gifted her that year for Christmas and smiled. "I know."

So what did you think? Feedback/constructive criticism would be appreciated!

-CHT