small_gifts | Fic: Attachment to Tinsel For: lyraeinne (Reply)

Title: Attachment to Tinsel
Author: solidbaby
Written For: lyraeinne
Rating: Shamefully G
Prompt: Tinsel
Summary: In Gryffindor, there's always been a tradition of Seventh Years decorating the tree.
Notes:

cinnamon_sakakidid an amazing beta job on this. I hope that my pictures aren't too eye-scalding

Draping the Gryffindor-coloured tinsel around his neck, Sirius posed as he assumed a male model would whilst dangling tinsel around his body. The lion on his magical t-shirt prowled menacingly from side to side, lifting his head in a majestic, but silent, roar every now and again.

‘Hurry up!’ Sirius shouted through his pout, looking moodily into the mid-distance to show off his profile.

Remus paused to smile, camera in hand, as he watched the batshit insane man in front of him. The shiny tinsel had distracted Sirius while the Seventh Years had tried to decorate the tree in the centre of the Gryffindor Common Room. James and Peter hurried around behind Sirius, attempting to charm the Muggle lights to glow without the aid of electricity.

‘Moony! My mouth is going numb and the tinsel is getting itchy. Hurry up!’

Remus pressed the button and the camera made all the whirring sounds that showed that it was working.

‘Oi, you lazy arses, help us with these bloody lights.’

Peter glared at Remus and Sirius, daring them to say no. The tradition of the Seventh Years decorating the tree wouldn’t work nearly as well if a quarter of them were too busy faffing about taking pictures of each other.

Remus picked up baubles decorated with sickeningly sweet scenes of Wizarding Christmas delights and placed it roughly on the tree. James tutted, muttering something about no artistic sense of composition, and placed the bauble an inch to the left on yet another green branch. He smiled roguishly at Lily who tried to stifle her smile and stretched to reach a high branch. Seeing his moment to prove his artistic soul, Remus snapped again, catching the warmth in James’s gaze.

‘Avast, you’ll never capture my tinsel!’ Sirius jumped about, refusing to give Penny Wilson, a pretty brunette witch, his piece of tinsel, still wrapped tightly around his neck.

‘But, the tree!’

‘The tree what?’

‘It won’t look finished! That bit of tinsel was going to go on the third quadrant of the lower six branches!’

‘The where? You’re all going insane over this tree. No, don’t cry. Please, don’t cry! Eurgh! Come on Moony-moons; let’s go get Wilson her tinsel.’

‘Oh, you can ask Severus, he was telling me that he had found a new spell to conjure tinsel.’ Lily said from somewhere under a pile of lights.

‘Snivels, huh?’ Sirius tossed the idea around in his head. Ask for help from his worst enemy, barring those in his own family, or relinquish his new, fashionable tinsel.

‘Away we go!’

Sirius unhooked the tinsel from his neck and tossed it behind Remus’s neck. He pulled lightly, and Remus followed dumbly through the portrait hole and seven flights of stairs to the dungeons.

Reaching a candle-lit corridor, Sirius took a moment to look back at Remus and smile when they both knocked into a solid, black shape with a Slytherin tie.

‘Black, Lupin.’ Snape said warily, eyeing the two Gryffindors on the floor. ‘Nice t-shirt.’ he said with an amused glance at the roaring lion on Sirius’s chest. Remus was surprised to see that his lip remained uncurled and his stare without scorn.

‘Tinsel, Snape, now.’

Sirius always did have the nicest manners.

‘I hardly think that I should give you anything while you are on the floor, on Slytherin turf, and asking for ridiculous things that I do not possess.’

‘Please, Severus, Lily said that you had a spell for tinsel and there are a few angry Seventh Years upstairs…’ Remus trailed off at the thought of Penny and the rest of the Seventh Years if they returned without the promised tinsel.

Snape’s scowl seemed to soften slightly at the two boys on the floor. ‘Mention this to no one. Clarus ligamen.’

A string of green and silver tinsel shot out from the point of Snape’s wand, landing in a graceful swirl in Remus’s lap. Seeing yet another moment to capture something truly rare, Remus pushed his camera button again, catching Snape’s quirked eyebrow and slightly amused glance.

‘Lupin! Nobody is to see that.’ Snape started to point his wand between Remus’s eyes when Sirius sprung into action, pulling them both away and up the stairs, a second strand of tinsel now around his neck.

Once they had safely put two or three floors between themselves and Snape, Remus and Sirius started to laugh. They walked at a slightly slower pace up to Gryffindor Tower, saying ‘Crackers’ at a festively dressed Fat Lady.

‘Let’s deliver the tinsel.’ Sirius said, dangerously close to Remus’s ear.

Turning slightly, Remus grinned at Sirius, looking directly into his eyes.

‘Okay,’ He whispered, not really knowing why he was speaking quite so quietly.

Sirius grinned back and Remus (knowing that in such a situation he was supposed to be thinking about Sirius’s lips or something) couldn’t help but think how stupid he looked with the tinsel still around his neck.

‘Oh for Merlin’s sake. Help with the tree!’ Peter came over to the two of them still standing by the portrait hole and dragged Sirius away with him. Using a quick Colour-Changing charm, he turned the green and silver tinsel into the warm colours of Gryffindor.

Calling the others over, Peter carefully placed the last piece of tinsel onto the tree, making sure that he didn’t disrupt the magically blinking lights or the baubles. Remus marvelled at the look on Peter’s face. He never normally took so much time over most things. Raising his camera for what he vowed would be the last time that day (unless he wanted to annoy more camera-shy people), Remus took a picture of Peter, arm outstretched, gazing at the tree almost lovingly.

‘Lupin. Give me the camera. Now.’ Ordinarily, Remus wouldn’t have obeyed Peter, but the slightly dangerous quality in his voice made Remus give the camera over very quickly. ‘Thank you.’ Peter said, almost sweetly.

A slow clap attracted Remus’s attention. Looking to his left, Remus saw Sirius wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.

‘It’s beautiful. Just beautiful.’ He sniffed mockingly. ‘But what do we do with it now? Sing carols around it? Conjure presents for orphans?’

‘Umm…’ It took a few moments for the other Seventh Years to actually think about what he’d said.

‘No ideas? Huzzah.’

Hooking Remus around the neck with the tinsel for a second time that day, Sirius dragged Remus over into a corner of a room as Peter laughed with Penny Wilson over some chess-related joke. He took a picture of her with Remus’s camera as she laughed. Peter must have commented on something sickeningly sweet like how pretty she was or how her laugh sounded like tiny birds ringing silver bells as Penny kissed Peter on the cheek - without even checking for mistletoe first. The dopey grin on Peter’s face told Remus more than he needed to know.

‘What’s wrong Loony-Moony?’

‘Ever the charmer, Pads.’ Remus commented dryly, now looking at all the paired off couples in the Common Room.

‘What, you want a snog on the cheek too? Like that bird just did to Peter?’

‘No, I jus-’

As Sirius leaned forward, Remus saw that James had noticed the quiet conversation in a dark corner of the Common Room. He reached for Remus’s camera and snapped as Sirius pressed his lips to Remus’s cheek. Close to the mouth, a promise of more.

Maybe.