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It was not Sirius’ fault. Even if anyone was at fault, it was definitely James. Or Peter. But not Sirius.
See, Sirius had a plan. Actually, he had lots of plans, but for the sake of this story, only one plan is worth explaining.
Last summer, he took everything he owned and left his family home, while his mom was yelling at him about never returning.
Since Sirius knew his mom would go crazy about it, he took a few books from the ancient library. It was ancient because it was a collection of books combined with Black’s years of
After he went to live with James and his family, he checked the books he took. They were mostly useless, things Sirius could find in Hogwarts library.
But there was one book which was absolutely priceless. It was a first edition book on the history of herbology. Sirius felt an unexplainable glee at this. His mother would be furious that such a rare book was missing from the Black library.
On the other hand, he could use this book with a personal problem. It wasn’t exactly a problem, but Sirius was infuriated with Remus for years and he knew he would appreciate a gift like this (and if this gift would cause him to also appreciate Sirius, win-win, right?)
But unfortunately, nothing went according to the plan.
*
Sirius thought himself as a smooth guy. Everyone at Hogwarts also agreed with him. They all knew he was a flirty guy who had no problem charming his target.
Except for one guy, of course. Remus. One of Sirius best friends, and one of the smartest people at school, but he was blind when it came to romance. Or maybe he was only blind when it came to Sirius.
But Sirius was determined. This was their last year at Hogwarts, and even though he knew they would still be friends after graduation, he decided to be open about his feelings.
Since it was their last year, they collectively decided to spend Christmas at Hogwarts, together. And Sirius prepared all of their gifts. All the gifts were under a Christmas tree in their room.
Except Sirius’ gift for Remus. He actually wrote a nice note for him, basically asking whether he would like to go to Hogsmeade on New Year’s eve (just the two of them).
He left the package for Remus on his bed and left to go to dinner. Remus would probably find it after he returned to the room from the library. He was studying even during the break, the nerd.
Remus joined them for dinner in the Great Hall after they were halfway into their dinner. He did not mention anything to Sirius, but Sirius did not let himself worry about it, maybe he wanted to talk alone.
After dinner, James left to meet with Lily Merlin knows where and Peter left to - actually Sirius didn’t even hear him because he was busy listening to Remus talk about the book he was reading.
After they left, Remus looked around and realized they were alone. And Sirius knew he couldn’t wait anymore.
“So. Did you like my gift?”
Remus gave him a half smile. “Sure. It was certainly funny.”
Sirius felt like he was drowning. This was definitely not the answer he was expecting.
“What?”
“Why do you look surprised? I think you should have expected this reaction.”
“Thank, Moony, really.” He got up from the table because he did not want to seem sad in front of him.
Remus had apparently other plans, because he held Sirius’ arm to prevent him from leaving. “Sirius, I don’t get it. You actually expected me to be happy that you got me underwear which sings christmas songs at me?”
Oh Merlin. “Oh Merlin.”
“What?”
“That gift was for James. I mixed them because they have the same package.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Um. I should go. And take your gift from under the tree.”
“Hey, wait. What did you get me? You kinda look like it was an important thing.”
“Yeah, well, it was a book. Thought you would appreciate it.”
“I definitely would appreciate it. But it seems like you are hung up on something else.”
Sirius did not feel like he had the power to explain everything to him. “Come on. I’ll show you.”
*
On New Year’s Eve, James stopped them on the way out.
“Since you were so thoughtful with my gift, I decided to get you another one.”
And he gave Sirius a mug that said Mrs. Lupin. Remus laughed at him but Sirius didn’t really care.
It was worth it.