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Henrietta/Renley's PoV
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As soon as I woke up and realized what day it is, I grinned and shot out of bed. I yawned loudly, still tired but quickly waking up. I brushed through my lavender hair, brushed my teeth, and fixed up my appearance more with some makeup.
By the time I turned back to change clothes, my dormmates were still asleep. I tugged on a pair of warm black plants, along with a rather ugly (but adorable) gray Christmas sweater with holiday symbols on it. My fuzzy socks are the best part of the outfit, though. I didn't even bother with shoes, already running out of the dorm and towards the Marauders' dorm.
I snuck up the stairs to the boys dormitories, not even having to worry about getting caught because everyone was still asleep.I smiled softly when I quietly opened their dorm room and they were adorably sleeping. Remus was curled up with a book (he's such a nerd), James was on his stomach with an arm hanging off his bed, while Sirius was cuddling with his bed sheets.
I suddenly wish I had a camera to take pictures. But I don't feel like going back to my dorm to get one. I snickered quietly as I cast a silencing charm around the room, so that no one outside the dorm would hear us.
Then, I murmured, "Sonorus." My voice was amplified as I cleared my throat. Then, I abruptly started shouting, "WAKE UP YOU LOSERS!"
They all jumped, Remus crumpling up the pages of his book as he shot up. James rolled off the side of the bed, while Sirius fell off the bed as well, still cuddling with his bed sheets.
"UP, UP, UP!"
"Fuck off," James and Sirius muttered simultaneously.
"NOPE. C'MON, IT'S CHRISTMAS!" I laughed, yanking the bedsheets away from Sirius' grasp. He groaned in protest, shivering slightly. Then I yanked James' arm, pulling him into a sitting position. Remus was already sitting up, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE ALL THE WAYYYY!" I screeched, dancing terribly. "OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE IN A ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH, HEY!" All three of them groaned, covering their ears.
With an annoyed huff, I cast, "Quietus." It removed most of the volume from my voice, letting me speak normally again.
"C'moooon!" I whined. "It's Christmas! And I have presents!" When they didn't move, I grumbled and reached for Sirius first. I grabbed onto both wrists, pulling him up onto his feet using as much strength as I could. Luckily for me, he's too tired to pull away.
"M'tired," Sirius grumbled.
"Too bad!" I retorted. "Come on! Let me give you all presents to show my gratefulness to the love you have provided," I gasped out dramatically. Sirius began stepping back towards his bed, but I quickly pulled him back. "Come oooon!" I pouted. "I spent money on presents for a reason!"
"Good for you," Remus croaked out groggily. "But we're tired."
"Fine," I sighed loudly. "Guess I'll go tell Lily that James didn't get her anything."
"WHAT? NO!" James screeched. "Of course I got her something!"
"THEN GET UP AND GIVE IT TO HER!" I shrieked back, pointing to the door. "UP, UP, UP! YOU CAN LAY ON YOUR ASSES LATER."
James reluctantly stood up, stretching and then heading to get dressed. He raised an eyebrow at me, twirling his finger in a gesture to tell me to turn around. I huffed, then turned to focus on Sirius.
"C'mon!" I whined. "You're worse than a bear in hibernation."
"Roar," Sirius muttered dryly. He hopped back into his bed, sighing in relief as he snuggled into the covers again. "Ya know, you could always give me a kiss to wake me up," he teased.
"Sure."
He rolled over, leaning over to meet my lips, when I backed away and—
THUMP.
He fell off the bed, leaving me to smirk deviously. "You get nothing until you're up!" I declared.
"Ugh," he groaned. "For fuck's sake...."He slowly got to his feet, stretching just like James did, while yawning obnoxiously. He leaned forward to kiss me, but I quickly huffed.
"No! Morning breath!"
"BE RIGHT BACK!" Sirius screeched dramatically, racing to the bathroom. I snickered as he brushed his teeth wildly, then lazily brushed his hair.
"Okay, done!" he announced.
"Good job," I teased. We kissed just like we did a month ago, when our first kiss happened. The spark has never left, and I doubt it will anytime soon.
"HEY!" James suddenly screeched. "No PDA!"
"What even is PDA?" Sirius growled, turning to glare at James.
"Public displays of affection," he replied, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Duh!"
I smiled, turning to see Remus standing as well. He must've realized he would never go back to sleep at this rate.
"See? Remus got up without a bunch of work!" I chuckled. "Good job, Remus." The werewolf just wiped at his eyes, tiredly heading to the bathroom.
"Hurry it up, guys!" I called throughout the dorm and bathroom. "Everyone needs to be ready to go in five minutes."
"Or what?"
"I'll do something bad, fuck you very much," I growled back. They reluctantly got ready for the day. James was already dressed, but he had to (attempt) to fix his hair and brush his teeth. Remus was the quickest one to get dressed, ready to go second. Sirius was slow, and I get the feeling he was moving so slowly on purpose.
"Hurry up, you dork nugget!" I ordered through the bathroom door, where he was getting ready for the day. "YAY!" I cheered when they were all up and awake. "Let's gooooo!" I skipped down towards the stairs, quickly making my way down, and towards the common room. I led the way to a particular corner, where all our presents were placed. "Okay, where's Lily?" I huffed.
"Right here," came a groggy voice behind them. The redhead was dressed in a long sleeved fuzzy shirt with sweatpants. She messily tossed her hair up in a ponytail. But overall, she looked better than the boys.
"Yippee!" I cheered.
"Why are you so happy about this?" James groaned, plopping down on the floor. Lily took a seat beside him, shutting her eyes for a moment, before reopening them to make sure she didn't fall asleep. Remus sat as well, while Sirius and I took places beside each other.
"Because it's CHRISTMAS!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, but--"
"NO BUTS! Shut up and open your presents you losers," I interrupted with a little laugh.
James went first handing all of us our presents. He started with Remus. Remus opened James' present to see a thick sketchbook, along with three books the boy hopefully hadn't read before. "Thanks, Prongs," he grinned.
Sirius went next, ripping his present open with no patience. I snickered as he cheered like a child when he opened the box to see a broom cleaning kit. "It's purrrfect, Prongsie!" the raven-haired boy murmured, hugging the present close to his chest. I chuckled quietly, then turned as James handed a gift to me.
I opened a large box to find... another box. I quirked an eyebrow at James, who shrugged. Then I opened that box to find... another box. And another.
"How many fucking boxes are there?!" I growled, ripping open the fifth box. They were getting smaller and smaller. "Did you actually waste your time doing this?" James nodded happily with an excited grin.
Finally, I reached the last box. I huffed, finally opening it to see a... whistle? "A whistle?" I asked in bewilderment. He shrugged.
"Trust me, it'll be worth it soon." I narrowed my eyes. "Okay, Prongsie-Poo. Looks like I got myself a new hobby." I began playing the whistle annoyingly, making random sounds and pauses just for the fun of it.
"Dammit, James!" Sirius groaned. "Make it stoooop!"
I pouted, lowering the whistle. "Fine. I'll practice later." Then I turned as James handed his present to Lily. She opened it up slowly, exchanging looks with James as though she expected something bad to happen. He just grinned. Finally, Lily opened the present up to see... a leather leash and collar?
"What the fuck?" Sirius exclaimed. "James, that's kinky and all, but--"
"NO you pervert!" James growled. Turning back to Lily, who had her eyes narrowed, he murmured, "Lily, I would like you to meet your new companion...."
He reached under the stairs (when was there a hole under those?) and slid out a dog crate. Lily gasped loudly, hands flying up to her mouth. James grinned broadly, slowly opening the crate door to release the puppy.
We all cooed at the little thing. He was a light white, with his face patterned with brown spots with dark brown ears and the same shade around his muzzle. A white stripe went down from his forehead to his nose, while he had light brown back paws and slightly tinted brown front paws. His tail wagged happily as he yipped, sniffing James and then Lily.
"Oh my Merlin," Lily whispered. "He's mine?" she asked softly, petting the puppy and then meeting James' eyes.
"All yours," James confirmed with a toothy grin. "Well, unless you need me to puppy-sit."
"James, this is...." She gasped, then turned and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. I smiled, wiping away nonexistent tears while Sirius sniffled into Remus' shoulder.
The pair pulled away, then turned to the puppy. "Does he have a name?" Lily asked.
"Nope," James answered.
"What should I call him?" she gasped.
"Dunno, but we'll help with nicknames," Sirius smirked.
"No, no, no!" I intervened. "Definitely not." Sirius pouted, then turned back to take his turn at petting the soft-furred puppy.
"Okay, next!"
//
For the next hour, we exchanged gifts. Sirius got James a shirt that read "Cooler than this dork" with an arrow that pointed to the left. Then Sirius pulled out his own shirt, which read "Definitely not" with an arrow that pointed to the right. We had all laughed at that.
Then Sirius got Lily a sketchbook like Remus', but with another book on how to draw animals. For Remus, Sirius gave him a wand holster that went on his arm.
Lastly, Sirius turned to me and gifted myself with a ring. The moment I saw it, he laughed and spoke, "I'm not proposing or anything. Just thought a ring would be really nice." I chuckled in agreement, slipping it on.
It had Renley engraved on one spot, and was completely silver, except for a few blue spots lining the outside. Of course, that finally got him a kiss.
Then Lily went next. She got Sirius a bunch of hair products, which was pretty funny. Then she handed Remus a muggle pen and pencil, telling him if he ever wanted to write his own rough draft stories, then he could use a muggle pen or pencil since it wouldn't require messy ink. Lastly, Lily gave me a pair of awesome shoes, and gave James a huge package of cologne and body wash.
He had then asked, "Are you trying to tell me something?"
"Yeah, you stink," she retorted. They all laughed, then turned for more presents. Remus got Sirius and James a wand cleaner (because they never seemed to take care of their wands) and gave Lily an art kit. Am I the only one that didn't know Lily likes art?! Then, he gave me thick book that read, "Dangerous and Rare Creatures of the Wizarding World". When I asked him about it, he just smirked.
And then, it was my turn! I gave Lily an amazing necklace, if I do say so myself. Then I gifted James with a muggle Xbox, which he had laughed at and insisted they play it immediately. Then, Remus received a certain werewolf potion.
The moment he read the label on the vial, he looked so surprised and honored I was so happy. Remus yanked me into a hug, thanking me hundreds of times. I'm glad Wolfsbane was invented just recently. I may or may not have stolen some from Slughorn.
Lastly, I gave Sirius a diary. He had cocked an eyebrow, but then I smiled and pulled out my own diary. "We just have to write on the pages," I explained. "Wherever we are, it'll show up on our separate pages, and it's a whole lot faster than owling each other."
He grinned and kissed me again, then pulled away and nodded to James and Remus.
"Now, Renley," James began, smirking as he stood from the pile of torn up wrapping paper and presents. "We have one last surprise for you."
"Well now I'm scared," I muttered.
Lily chuckled but murmured, "I know what it is. Trust me, you'll like it."
I nodded suspiciously, following after the four of them as Sirius exclaimed, "Onward! We are off to your last gift!" The moment we were outside of Hogwarts, Sirius wrapped his hands around my eyes.
"Hey!" I growled.
"It's a surprise," he chuckled. "Don't worry, my dear Renley, I shall protect you at all costs."
"That doesn't reassure me at all," I joked as he steered me blindly towards some unknown place.
//
"Are we there yeeet?" I whined. I'm pretty sure we've been walking for ten minutes, and I had stumbled over rocks and tree roots several times. I figured we're in the Forbidden Forest, which doesn't sound very good.
"Actually, we're pretty close," Remus answered.'
"Okay, who wants to go to the 'present' first?" Sirius asked.
"I'll go," James volunteered. "Gotta make sure Renley doesn't figure out what it is too soon." I grumbled under my breath, but nonetheless kept still as I heard James fading footsteps. Lily hummed in a state of boredom, while Remus sighed quietly. Sirius seemed to be shifting behind me, as though worrying about something.
An abrupt whistle came from somewhere up ahead, causing me to jump in surprise. Sirius chuckled and explained, "That's our cue."
He carefully guided me towards whatever present I was getting, helping me avoid tree roots and rocks. After stumbling ten times, he finally seemed to get the hang of it. I paused when I heard the trickling noise of a small waterfall, and something that was making a very weird... crooning sound.
"Okay, Renley. We're going to start stepping down into this cove now," Sirius warned. I gulped nervously, but decided to trust him as he maneuvered me down a few boulders. I bit my lip anxiously, truly scared of what awaited me. These boys are crazy. What if I got hurt?
"Ready?" Sirius whispered into my ear.
"Yeah," I breathed shakily.
He dropped his hands from my eyes, my vision becoming clear once more instead of the blackness. I blinked quickly as I adjusted to the bright sunlight, and heard Lily stepping up beside me.
And then, my gaze landed on an animal I never expected to meet.
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