"Shut up, he's coming." Sirius clamps his hand over my mouth, stopping me halfway through my rant about Lucius Malfoy's hair as he peers around the corner.
It's Christmas Eve now, and I'm completely healed save for the occasional headache and aching joints. Sirius and I press our backs against the wall as Filch trudges through the corridor, oblivious to the trap we set out for him.
Soon, just as planned, his foot makes contact with a trip wire, and Sirius and I grin as multiple fire crackers set off around him, sending him yelling out in shock as his cat, Mrs Norris, scurries away in fear. I act quick, pointing my wand up at the ceiling of the corridor and muttering a spell under my breath. The bucket of gravy that we got from the kitchen turns upside down, the contents completely emptying over Filch's head.
Sirius and I cackle as the man before us swears loudly, looking around for the student responsible for this.
"Run," Sirius mutters in my ear, and we both turn on our heels and race down the hall, snickering as we do so. He grabs my hand, Filch yelling behind us, and drags me to go faster, racing down staircases and only stopping once we're certain we're in the clear, at which point we double over in a mix of laughter and try to catch our breath.
For the last four days, Sirius and I have gotten to know each other a lot better. We already were close, but we never actually knew one another that well.
We've also spent our break so far pranking anyone in sight. We started off with the other Gryffindors that are staying for Christmas, a first year girl named Mariah, and two fourth year boys who think they're the shit (they quite literally said so). The former actually cried, so Sirius and I had to spend the following half hour comforting her, but the latter was a blast to ridicule. We locked them out of the common room, getting the password changed by telling McGonagall that a Slytherin found out. She gave us a new one and made the mistake of letting us be the ones to tell the others of it, which is why Gardner and Hocks ended up sleeping in the corridor three nights back.
After we pranked everyone in our house, we had to move onto the others. We pranked all the Hufflepuffs in one day by telling the House Elves that their furniture was infested with lice, leaving them with a bare common room and a frustrated prefect. After that, we pranked half the Ravenclaws at breakfast by putting hair colouring in their drinks, and then half at dinner by putting itching powder in their mashed potatoes. For Slytherin's we went all out, sneaking into their common room at night after I snagged the password from an idiot first year whilst wearing my old robes. We had spent all night learning the Sticking Curse, and cast it on their floor so that they were stuck on it when they woke up until somehow word got out, though not until well past lunch time. Even if we woke up exhausted today after the all nighter, it was completely worth it, though McGonagall is getting a little suspicious.
"Brilliant!" Sirius wheezes, and I grin. We make eye contact, knowing smiles on our faces as we imitate Gardner and Hocks.
"We're the shit." We say in unison and laugh, starting to walk again as the cold air travels through the windows and nips at my face.
"I'm exhausted," I yawn as we make our way to the common room, the adrenaline from pranking wearing off to reveal how tired we really are from pulling an all nighter. I follow Sirius up to his room, where we've spent a lot of time playing Gobstones, Chess, or Exploding Snap in the last couple of days. We can't go to my dorm room because the staircase turns into a slide if boys try to go up it. I tried to trick Sirius into trying, but of course he already knew about it. He's probably tried a million times with Marlene.
I plop down on Sirius's bed, which smells like him and never ceases to remind me of the incident with the love potion. I've decided that it must've been some coincidence, and I must just really like tobacco and vanilla. The cigarettes part makes sense, but the vanilla? I've never had an inkling for baking or anything like that, so it just doesn't add up to me.
I immediately crawl under the covers, which are messily strewn across the mattress, and Sirius laughs at me. He himself lies down, though not getting under the sheets and just leaning back with his arms behind his head as we both close our eyes.
***
I try to roll over in the bed, but something restrains me from doing so, making me groan and squint in the sudden light. The arm around me tugs me closer, and I glance behind my shoulder to see Sirius, fast asleep and hugging me against his side unconsciously. I feel butterflies in my stomach at the sight, but I push them away quickly, remembering my promise as I pluck his arm off of me carefully. As much as I'd love to stay in his warm embrace, I have to be sensible. I take a moment to watch his relaxed expression as he snoozes on, all the different emotions that are usually etched on his features completely vanished to reveal an unguarded face.
I smile as he drools slightly onto his pillow, his soft snores blowing the same strand of hair up and down in front of his nose.
After admiring his current state, I quickly get to work, digging around James's stuff until I find the perfect thing. Shaving cream. I grin, bringing the bottle over to Sirius and spraying a clump into his hand before discarding the bottle and grabbing a quill from his bedside table. I use the feathered end to tickle his nose, making him scrunch up his face in his sleep before he smacks his hand to his face to itch it, only to have the shaving cream squish all over him. He abruptly wakes up, frowning at his hand as he sits up in confusion.
"What the hell?" He asks before he sees me laughing at my handiwork. A small smile comes over his features before an evil glint settles in his eyes.
"You'd better run, Milton," he says in a low growl, his voice husky from sleep as he quickly leaps over the bed and grabs the bottle from the covers. I act fact and head for the door, but I'm not quick enough, and soon his arm hooks around my waist. He tackles me onto James's bed, and in one swift moment he has me pinned down, his knees on my arms as he straddles me and my eyes wide while he grins. I watch as he shakes the bottle of shaving cream before he starts to spray it all over my face. I squeal and squirm as he massages it into my hair, but my writhing is no use.
"Stop! Stop it!" I shout while he laughs, pushing my arm away as I break it free and continuing to cover me in the substance. I use my legs to wrap around his neck and yank him down and off of me, but he just grabs my arms and pulls me with him until I've landed on his chest, my hands on either side of his neck as my shaving cream infested hair hangs over my head. He grins mischievously before tackling me and rolling over so he's above me again, leaving me to roll my eyes.
"Come on, Milton." He shakes his head, a wide grin still on his features as he leans his head closer to my ear and lets his gaze flutter down to mine, "You know I'm always on top."
My mouth falls open at his words, and he laughs at my reaction as I push him off of me in protest to his statement.
"You are so full of yourself," I say, although there's still a small smile on my face as I stand up off of the bed. He just grabs my arm again and tugs me back, making me fall next to him on James's now messy covers. His arm rests behind my head as I roll my eyes, looking up at his face before my gaze looks past him and at the window. I immediately sit up, a grin becoming my features.
"Sirius." I nudge him, and he hums in response, his eyes closed, "Look."
He opens his eyes and looks at me before following my gaze to the window and sitting up as well as he sees the snow coming down heavily.
"No way," he says as I stand up and look outside to see a foot already gathered on the grounds. I turn to him in excitement.
"We're getting everyone and having a snowball fight," I say, and he looks at me quizzically.
"Everyone?" He frowns, and I nod.
"Everyone."
***
"Do I have to?"
"Yes." I tug the Ravenclaw, a sixth year named Benjy Fenwick who also happens to be one of Marlene's exes, out of his common room, where the other six of that house are waiting with the nine Hufflepuffs, the seven Slytherins, and the four Gryffindors. Although a lot of kids were reluctant, we eventually got everyone to agree to a mass snowball fight, even if Sirius is still shaking his head at my idea.
"I cannot believe you've managed to get everyone involved in this," he mutters to me as we lead the group to the grounds, my excitement untamed as I grin uncontrollably.
"I have a way with words," I shrug, and he snorts.
"You dragged that kid by the leg down a flight of stairs."
I just shrug, and he chuckles at me, shaking his head again as we finally get outside, and I yell at everyone to gather round. I'm also surprised that I managed to convince them all, and even if some of the Slytherins and Ravenclaws looked unwilling at first, now that they see the snow, I can see in their eyes that they're into it.
"Okay!" I shout as the snow comes down, "It's gonna be Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors against Slytherins and Ravenclaws! You'll have thirty minutes to make a base and gather ammo, and then the war starts! If you're hit, you're out. If you catch a snowball, whoever threw it is out. If you manage to touch the other team's base without getting hit, one of your teammates who got hit out may return to play and you get a free walk back. No magic allowed! Last team standing wins!"
"Are you sure you should be participating in this?" A sixth year Hufflepuff girl asks, frowning in concern as she eyes me, "You were hit by the Cruciatus Curse a couple of days ago."
I roll my eyes, "I'm fine. If I start writhing in pain on the ground, then you can worry, but that won't happen."
They all sort themselves into the teams, and I grin as they all begin chattering in excitement. We split off into our respected groups, and soon we're all rushing to make a wall of snow and gather as many snowballs as we can in the time provided. I work with Sirius on our ammo as the Hufflepuffs rapidly make the wall, the land between the two bases just over thirty feet long.
"Okay!" I call as half an hour passes, "Time's up! Everyone to their positions! Game is on in three . . . two . . . one!"
We're immediately met with rapid fire, and the war begins hard and heavy. I duck behind the base as Sirius begins nailing snowballs across, masterfully dodging the ones that come his way. Gardner and Hocks spend their time showing off by not bothering to hide behind the base and just doing pathetic somersaults to dodge the snowballs. It works for them, though, so I guess it's not a problem. The first girl to get out is Mariah, the first year Gryffindor. She looks utterly distraught, and my heart pains for her.
"I'm going," I say to Sirius, and he tugs on my arm.
"You can't. You'll get hit. It's a suicide mission."
"Look at her face, Sirius," I say, and we both turn to see Mariah, sitting off to the side with her toque pulled over her dark curls and her rosy cheeks sitting under her brown eyes. She's staring at the ground with a frown on her face, and Sirius sighs.
"Fine." He turns back to me, putting two hands on my shoulders, "Be careful."
"I will, soldier." I salut him, and he returns it, handing me a bunch of ammo and nudging me out.
Snowballs begin flying right towards me, and I duck and dodge to avoid them, throwing mine back. I hit a Slytherin boy in the face, and he groans in anger before slumping off to the side. I have no time to bask in glory, however, as more balls are coming my way. Somehow, I manage to jump over a few, much to everyone's surprise, even my own. I'm almost at the base and now have to practically crawl and roll to avoid being hit, the Ravenclaws yelling at each other to get me. As I'm lying on the ground, a girl throws a ball directly at me, and I catch it in my hand. She gapes and then scoffs, marching off the field as I press one hand against the front of their base.
The fire stops, and they all start getting mad at one another for not being able to hit me. I just stand up and grin, running over to Mariah as her sad face turns into a happy smile. I whoop and cheer along with my team, grabbing her and throwing her over my shoulder as we run back to base.
"No freaking way," Hocks says, patting me on the back as I put Mariah down and instruct her to stay behind the walls. Sirius lifts me into a bone crushing hug, both of us laughing. Our embrace is cut short as the rapid fire begins again, the war continuing as if it had never stopped.
The game gets more intense as the minutes pass by, and we're all shocked when a few teachers come out to watch, including Flitwick and Sprout. They cheer on their respected sides, and we laugh as they really get into it. The numbers start to dwindle down as people sacrifice themselves to get their teammates back, and I'm not sure how long we've been out here. I'm surprised when I look up from where I'm stationed crouched behind the wall to see practically every teacher outside watching, all dressed warmly.
"Look at that," Sirius says, grinning as McGonagall claps after Gardner pelts a Slytherin in the face.
"Who would've thought," I say, laughing as Slughorn boos.
I think we're all most surprised, however, when Dumbledore comes out and stands next to McGonagall, smiling at the scene.
We continue on, now with a large crowd as the students who are out are screaming at their teams. The snow has slowed to a drizzle, but we go just as hard, and soon the teams are down to four each when Mariah gets out for the second time. She doesn't seem as upset, smiling and wishing us luck as she waddles off. It's just me, Sirius, a Hufflepuff named Dedalus, and Hocks. On their side, they've got two Ravenclaws and two Slytherins, none of us daring to try and get to the other base and free our teammates.
The crowd is on edge as I press my back to the base, cringing as Hocks gets hit and swears loudly. Sirius luckily hits one of the Ravenclaws, but that victory doesn't last long when Dedalus's throw gets caught by a Slytherin.
"You guys are done for!" Someone from their side yells as Sirius joins me behind the base, "Best to just give up now!"
I look at him, and then at the crowd. Dumbledore is muttering something to McGonagall as she watches me and Sirius carefully. I nod to her, and she smiles with tight lips as I turn back to Sirius.
"All right, so here's the plan."
Two minutes later, and Sirius and I are stationed on either end of the base, completely hidden from the other team. There are two on each side now, as I caught another snowball from a Slytherin adjacent. I smile to myself as I stuff my hat onto the wall of snow only for it to get immediately knocked down.
"She's hit! Get Black!" The Slytherin yells, and both of them jump over the wall to rush Sirius, who steps out in time to catch one snowball from the Ravenclaw, who I recognize as Benjy, the boy I dragged out of his dorm, only to be hit by the Slytherin.
"We win!" He shouts, but before anyone can react, I come out of my hiding spot and pelt him.
"No you don't."
He stares in shock at me and my wide smirk, everyone frozen in slight confusion as they realize I didn't in fact get hit minutes ago.
"But . . . I got you," The Slytherin says helplessly, and I smile.
"No, actually." I pick up the snowball, which still has my hat strapped to it, "You got this guy. We call him Geoffrey."
There's silence again, before the Hufflepuff that had been worried about me playing earlier laughs.
"We won!"
I just stand there, a grin on my face, and in a second, the Gryffindors and Hufflepuff explode into cheers as they flood into the snowy grass, Sirius tackling me in a hug as everyone is shocked in realization at what I'd done.
I laugh, lifting Mariah onto my and Sirius's shoulders as she giggles. The teachers applaud, Dumbledore smiling as McGonagall cheers, unable to hold in her happiness as she hugs Sprout. It's as if we just played the deciding Quidditch match, and yet all it really was was a snowball fight. I force everyone to line up and shake hands, and in the end, they're all happy, joking around and talking about the especially impressive plays throughout the game.
We make our way inside after chatting for about ten minutes, the sun close to setting as it begins to snow again. Once the celebration dies down, everyone realizes how cold, wet, hungry, and tired they are, and they head to their respected common rooms to dry off before dinner. Soon it's just me and Sirius, and after I wave at Benjy, the last Ravenclaw kid, I turn back to see him smiling down at me.
"You're incredible," he says, and I cock my head up at him.
"How do you reckon?"
"You just got every kid to come out and have a snowball fight," he says as if I'm stupid for not knowing, "And the teachers came out to watch. And we won."
I laugh, shaking my head and pulling my toque tighter over my ears as he slings his arm around my shoulders. I bend down and pick up a bunch of fresh snow, spraying it into his face.
"Still incredible?" I ask, a sly grin gracing my mouth as his falls open. He tackles me to the ground as I giggle, and we lie down next to each other, just staring at the snow falling and sighing in content. My head rests on his arm, and I don't care about the butterflies, I just stay next to him, enjoying his company.