"JINGLE BELLS, MOLDY SMELLS, REMUS COOKED SOME EGGS... MARLENE'S PASSED OUT ON THE COUCH AND IT'S REEEGULUUUSS'S BIRTHDAY!"

Regulus jumped in surprise as Sirius came up behind him and shoved a package under his nose. He took it and looked up as his brother stepped up behind Remus, who was still cooking, so that their bodies pressed against one another, and he turned his head 'round the side of Remus's shoulder. Sirius's nose touched Remus's cheek. "Happy Christmas my Moony," he said, and he kissed Remus's jawbone. Remus shivered then lifted up a piece of bacon and put it in Sirius's mouth. 

"Happy Christmas." 

Sirius turned about, grinning around the bacon in his mouth, and looked at Regulus. "Happy Birthday you little bleeder."

"You remembered my birthday?" Regulus sounded surprised.

Sirius barked a laugh, "Of course I did. Mighty hard to forget when you share it with the Big Man in the Sky isn't it?" He threw himself into one of the chairs and stuck his legs up on the sink counter as he leaned back into the chair. "Don't be so surprised, little brother."

"Nobody ever remembers my birthday," Regulus muttered.

Remus turned around and put bacon on Regulus's plate and put a plate down in front of Sirius, who grabbed a second piece of bacon. Sirius drew his wand, but before he could accio it, Remus had put the jar of ketchup on the table in front of Sirius, who grinned. "You know me so well." He poured a large gob of it onto the eggs, and said, "I may not have celebrated it before since you were too busy being a fucking toerag to bother with, but I never forgot it."

Regulus looked at the present in his hands.

"Are you going to open the bleedin' thing? I spent good record money on that."

Regulus smiled, then tore open the wrapping and opened the box inside. It was a watch. Not a terribly impressive watch, the sort of like someone in the Black family might be used to, but it was a watch just the same. 

"It's digital," Sirius said. "Have a look. It says the time straight out rather than all those dials and knobs and what have yous."

Regulus was already fitting it onto his wrist. 

"Like James Bond," Remus pointed out.

"Yes! Just like James Bond. You're the coolest kid on the block," Sirius said.

Regulus smiled at it. "It's excellent. I shall wear it always. Thank you." 

"Of course. That's the traditional gift. The untraditional one you get later." 

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Sirius sat normal in his chair, then, and started wolfing down his meal as Remus finished cooking and sat, too, with his own plate, leaving the rest to stay warm for the others when they awoke. 

Regulus ate, too, checking the time every few bites. He looked rather like a businessman with somewhere to be the way he kept checking it, and his eyes would crinkle with a smile each time he turned his wrist to have a look at it. Sirius grinned and kicked Remus under the table to look at Regulus admiring the watch and Remus smiled and looked back down at his eggs.

Peter joined them a few minutes later. "Marlene's awake," he murmured, "And she's right foul." 

"Foul?" Sirius asked, then he grinned. "Not a morning person is she?"

"No, not a bit." Peter piled up a plate and set himself down beside Regulus at the table. He glanced at Regulus, and saw the wrapping paper on the table. "Are we opening presents already?" he asked.

"Only the one," Remus answered, "It's Regulus's birthday."

"Oh." Peter looked at Regulus, "Happy Birthday. What'd you get?"

"A watch," Regulus held up his arm to show Peter.

"Oh nice watch," Peter said and he looked at it, "Oh digital too! That's cool."

"Yeah it is," Regulus grinned. "My brother gave it to me." He said this last bit with pride and Peter smiled.

Sirius said, "Yeah so you lot remember that when your presents are crap it's because I had to spend all my hard earned money on this little prat..." He stood up, pirouetted around the back of Remus's chair and fluttered to the door of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Remus asked.

Sirius grinned. "I have very important business to take care of in the living room. Excuse me."

Remus shook his head.

"She's going to punch him if he acts the fool out there," Peter said. "Sincerely. The girl is foul." 

Remus muttered, "Well, if she bloodies him up at least the red will be festive." 

Regulus and Peter laughed.

In the living room, Sirius threw himself over the couch next to Marlene, who was sitting up sleepily, her hair an explosion of curls. "Good morning sunshine," he said as he landed and the whole couch jolted from the impact.

"Fuck off," Marlene said, holding her forehead in her palm.

Sirius lifted the empty tea cup still sitting on the coffee table. "Ickle headache darling?" He grinned knowingly.

Marlene looked at him and he laughed. Her make up had smeared something awful, her thick eyeliner running under one eye like a dark gash on her cheek something akin to the black stuff athletes sometimes wore while playing quidditch to keep the sun from reflecting into their eyes. Blue eyeshadow caked up on her eyelids and her mouth looked blurred for the lipstick that had smudged. "Marlene, you've never turned me on more than you do right now."

"Shut up Sirius!" He cackled and pulled her into a hug. She lay her head on his shoulder. "Oh why did I drink so much firewhiskey?" she moaned.

"That's what people like us do when we can't properly process our feelings," he answered matter of a factly. "We're idiots and we drink as much alcohol as we can to drown them out... Feels great, doesn't it?"

"Spiffing."

"Hey did you know it's Christmas?"

"Whoopee," Marlene said flatly.

"Remus made eggs."

"I hate eggs."

"There's bacon also."

"Bacon I like."

"Atta girl." 

"Just let me go clean off my face and try at fixing my hair a bit first, huh?"

"You know the blowout spell?"

"Of course I know the blowout spell, arsehole, I taught it to you, didn't I?" Marlene paused, then shook her head, "Gods, how did I not know you were gay when we were dating and you were asking me for tips on how to style your bloody hair?"

Sirius hushed her. "Shh, that lot in there thinks all this comes naturally."

"Oh so I'm just your dirty little secret."

"Indeed." Sirius kissed her cheek and got up, pulling Marlene with him. She was a bit wobbly on her legs. "You going to make it to the bathroom?"

"Like a champion," she muttered, and she tottered off to the hallway.

"If you want my body and you think I'm sexy, c'mon sugar tell me soooo... if you really need me just reach out and touch me, come on honey tell me soooo," Sirius sang as she walked and she turned about, gave him the finger with both her hands, and nearly tripped on the carpet before she turned back 'round and disappeared down the hallway.

Sirius snickered, then bent and collected a present from under the tree. He laughed to himself, imagining James and Lily searching everywhere in that big old house looking for their wrapped packages. He wondered how long they would look before they found that little broom closet that he reckoned James didn't even know existed - Sirius himself had magicked it in, after all, when James wasn't looking - and it gave him a right good chuckle picturing it. He carried the present he'd plucked from under the tree back to the kitchen with him and chucked it to Peter as he slid back 'round Remus and into his chair again. 

"Here you go, Wormtail, second gift of the morning goes to you."

"M-me?" Peter stammered, holding the little box. He looked excitedly from the package to Sirius. "Really?"

"Yes of course," Sirius said and he threw his feet back up on the sink counter, lounging back in the chair.

"Careful doing that," Remus said, "You're going to tip over and break your neck."

"And you'll have to fix me... It'll be brilliant." He simpered his voice, "Oh doctor, please put your hands on my body and fix me really good."

Regulus and Peter simultaneously said, "Stop!" 

Sirius grinned. 

Peter unwrapped the paper and found a box and in his box was a key to the flat. He looked up, twitching, and stared at Sirius and Remus with wide eyes.

"I know you said you've got a place, but any time you want to come by, you have the key and you don't have to ask, alright?" Remus said, explaining and answering the questions that were in Peter's eyes. "The couch pulls out into a bed and it's all yours. I'm working on figuring out the spell to add a third bedroom on, but it's right complicated... I reckon I'll have it worked out soon, though. It's similar to the magic with the snow globe - magical spaces and all - but I haven't done much more than make the hallway longer so far... but when I do succeed, it'll be yours to move into. If you'll have it."

Peter jumped up, knocking his chair back and ran 'round the table, wrapping his arms around Sirius and Remus both at the same time - knocking Sirius clear off his chair so that Peter's squeeze about his head was the only thing keeping him from falling directly to the floor, and Peter squealed excitedly. "Thank you so much, I just am so glad for this. You've no idea. I'm so glad you want me to stay."

"We've told you a thousand fucking times you're welcome Peter," Sirius said, guffawing and sliding out from Peter's grip. He dusted himself off.

"But my own key is so much better," Peter said, and he reached into his shirt where he kept his runes in a small bag against his chest and opened up the little satchel, slipping the key inside where it would be safe. "It means such a lot to me. You have no idea how much it means to me." He clutched the little pouch, smiling like an idiot.

Marlene came out into the kitchen, then, her hair done up like Farrah Fawcett and her face cleaned off, fresh eyeliner and shadow and lipstick applied so she was all done up as usual, and she threw her hair in a way that caught Regulus and Peter's attention quite a lot and made Sirius jealous of the golden locks that shimmered over her shoulders as she sat down and gracefully crossed her long legs. "I was promised bacon?"

Peter nearly fell over himself going to get it for her.

She looked at Regulus. "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks."

"You're seventeen, I see?" she nodded at the watch.

"Yeah," Regulus said and he held up his wrist. "My brother gave it to me!" 

Sirius smirked and looked at Remus, "He's going to be telling everyone that. Going to run up to vendors in the street, I reckon, showing off that watch. Look - my brother gave it to me!" 

Remus chuckled. 

"Probably he would to trot right up to Voldemort himself and shout out, look my brother gave it to me!"

"Don't say the ---" but before he could finish the sentence, he'd disappeared.