Firewhiskey and Tattoos

A/N [show-me-your-tardis]

Plot – The Marauders get a little drunk over Christmas break, and realise it's their last Christmas at Hogwarts. They can hardly crack a smile. That is, until Sirius suggests they do a little something to remember their time at Hogwarts.

This fic has probably been written a thousand times over, but I love the idea of it so much. And I do love my marauder one-shots. So here we go, enjoy!

"Stop hogging the bottle!" James snapped, snatching the bottle from Sirius's lips and downing the last few drops. Sirius stretched across the floor, resting his head in Remus's lap.

The Marauders were in their dorm room, with the heater on full blast. Heating charms covered all the windows and the door, but a chill still crept through the room. Not that any of them noticed, of course. A mixture of firewhiskey in their bellies and blankets over their shoulders, meant none of them felt the Christmas Eve weather.

Remus was sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the bottom of his bed, a red fluffy blanket wrapped around his shoulders like a cape. His hair was messed up and ruffled. He roamed his hands absentmindedly through Sirius's hair as the four of them fell into comfortable silence.

It was their last Christmas at Hogwarts before they graduated and left forever, Remus felt hollow whenever he thought about leaving this dorm. This dorm which had brought these four together in the most unusual way. Would they still remain friends after they graduated?

Everyone said they would, but you could never know for certain. Maybe they'd drift apart... Maybe Sirius and him wouldn't make it as a couple, and of course, James would be on Sirius's side, and then Peter would follow James. Remus would end up with no friends... He shuddered. A small voice in his head, that sounded a lot like Sirius, told him he was worrying far too much, but it was hard to believe it.

Sirius let his eyes drift close as his boyfriend shivered against the wind. Remus's fingertips trailed over his scalp or twisted parts of his hair gently. He could easily fall asleep here. He had never been so content. He opened one eye and peered at Remus above him. He seemed to be deep in thought about something, he looked sad.

"You're so pretty." Sirius whispered looking up at Remus, his words blurring together slightly.

Sirius glanced over at James and Peter. James was staring blankly at the label on the bottle of empty firewhiskey, mirroring Remus's sad expression. Peter was tracing small circles on the floor, looking ready to cry. Sirius sat up quickly, making everyone in the room jump.

"WHY ARE YOU ALL SO MISERABLE!" He shouted, his loud voice slicing through the silence.

"It's our last Christmas here." Peter whispered, pulling his blanket tighter around his neck.

"So?" Sirius asked, confused as to why that saddened everyone so much.

"So, we'll never spend another Christmas in this dorm. Maybe even..." James trailed off.

"Our last Christmas together." Remus finished for him, resting his head against Sirius's shoulder sadly.

Sirius didn't have a reply. He looked between James and Peter, as they both returned to their mournful expressions. Sirius had had enough. He stood up, forcing Remus to move away from him.

"Get up. All of you." Sirius said. When no one moved he added, "NOW!"

Remus was the first to stand up, followed by Peter. James finally stood up reluctantly when everyone stared at him, leaving the firewhiskey bottle and his blanket (an early Christmas present off Lily) on the floor. Sirius glanced at the clock on the wall, 10:30pm. They could probably make it in time.

"Okay," He said, clapping his hands together once. All three of his friends recognised that gesture as his "prank gesture". He was planning something. Everyone perked up slightly, "We can probably still make it in time, we'll just have to run. We can't risk any run ins with Filch or McGonagall so we'll take the map."

He continued, pacing a few steps as his plan came together in his head, "We can't fit under the cloak altogether anymore, so we'll take the darker routes, maybe nox a few candles as we go. We should be there before midnight when they close."

"When who closes?" James asked.

Sirius went on as though James hadn't even spoken, "We'll get to the witch... Ah... But then we run into a problem, how will we get out of Honeydukes?"

James, Peter and Remus all shared confused glances as Sirius carried on speaking, more to himself now than anyone else, "Oh wait, duh, we're wizards. Okay it should work, let's go."

Grabbing his jacket, he set off towards the dorm room door, but stopped short when no one followed him. He turned around and looked at everyone expectantly. Still no one moved.

"Come on, for Merlin's sakes! We don't have time for this." He opened the dorm room door and distantly, James, Peter, and Remus heard his footsteps down the stairs.

They shared one final look of apprehension and followed, feeling that familiar mixture of fear and excitement they felt, whenever they went along with Sirius's hair-brained schemes.

So that's how the Marauders found themselves in the cellar of Honeydukes at around 11pm on Christmas Eve. Sirius searched for Remus's hand in the dark and found it, entwining their fingers. He lead the three of his friends up the stairs and into the front of the shop. The smell of sugar and syrup hit all of their noses almost as soon as they stepped over the threshold.

"Are you going to tell us where we're going?" James asked, still walking with a slight limp from their run-in with Filch.

"You'll see." Sirius said, smirking over his shoulder at James.

"I hate you." James muttered, resisting the urge to take a chocolate frog as they passed.

They stopped at the door and Remus unlocked it with his wand. Before Sirius opened the door, he slung his jacket on and zipped it up to his chin. He grabbed Remus's hand once again and the two of them stepped out into the snow, followed by James and finally, by Peter.

Snow fell heavily all around them and almost instantly their noses and ears turned pink. Snowflakes landed in their hair and on their eyelashes as they crunched their way to wherever Sirius was leading them. The wind picked up the further they went into Hogsmeade, and Remus felt like his fingers would drop off if they didn't get out of the cold soon. The firewhiskey that had warmed them in the dorm room had worn off, and now they were all sobering up.

Finally, after almost fifteen minutes of walking, Sirius held out his hand to stop them. Remus looked up through the gently falling snow and saw they stood in front of a shop. A neon sign, glowing pink against the black sky, told them they were at "Tatiana Pate's Tattoo and Piercing Parlour". A smaller green sign read "Open Until Midnight Everyday".

No one said anything, they just wondered fearfully why Sirius had brought them here.

James was the first to speak, "If you've brought me here to watch you get your nipple pierced or something, you've got another thing coming."

Sirius dropped Remus's hand and turned to face the group. Remus stuffed his hand into his jacket pocket and waited, apprehensively. He was scared of what Sirius was about to say. Nothing good could come from Sirius, firewhiskey and a tattoo parlour. Sirius's shoulder length black hair was now dotted with snow and Remus wanted so badly to run his hands through it.

"So you're wondering why I brought you here." Sirius stated the obvious, "It's to get a tattoo."

"What?" Peter asked, speaking for the first time in a long time, sounding scared.

"Think about it." Sirius beamed, gesturing widely at the shop behind him, "You're all scared we're gonna drift apart or whatever, but if we do this, even if we do drift apart we'll always have this memory."

"And a permanent mark on our skin..." Remus pointed out, "I think I have enough scars for a lifetime."

"Moony, it won't be a scar, it'll be a memory." Sirius said, like he was talking to a five year old.

"I already have memories." James said, "I don't need a bloody needle stabbing into me to remember them!"

Sirius shook his head slowly, like he was explaining something as simple as 2+2 and no one was getting it. He ran a hand through his hair. "Think about it." He said again, "They can be anything you want. Anything to remember our time at Hogwarts together."

He appealed to Moony, giving him those puppy dog eyes he did so well, "You could get the phases of the moon. A tattoo that will tell you when the full moon is..."

"I already know when the full moon is." Remus pointed out, "I feel it when I wake up."

"Okay yeah..." Sirius said, realising his point fell short, "Then you could get a cute dog. Maybe, I don't know, a big black shaggy dog, that you lurve so much."

Remus smiled, "And don't tell me, you're going to get a werewolf?"

"I don't know what I want yet. I just know I want a tattoo to remember our time here. Who knows what could happen in the future! There may come a time when we no longer see each other. Or when we're all too busy with our own families and own lives, to remember the time we hung Snape from the Astro tower. Or the time we turned the fourth floor into a swimming pool."

Sirius's friends smiled as they remembered their biggest pranks. James pushed his glasses up his nose, "Or the time we threw Connor Loking into the Lake because he said all Werewolves should be put down."

"When we convinced Megan Huntley that the Quidditch match was fancy dress." Peter chimed in.

"When you let me stay at yours over summer so I didn't have to go home." Sirius said to James, feeling more grateful than he could possibly express.

"When you all became animagi for me." Remus whispered, smiling at the ground, the pink neon sign made the snow sparkle beneath them.

"When you kissed me for the first time." Sirius said, walking over to Remus and entwining their fingers together.

The four of them fell into silence, each remembering their favourite memory together. Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius's waist and Sirius enveloped him in his arms. He kissed the top of Remus's head. A smile played on everyone's lips.

"Fine!" James finally said, breaking the silence, "I'm in."

"Yes!" Sirius said, jumping away from Remus and wrapping his arms around James.

"Alright, get off me, you soppy git." James protested, laughing.

"I'm in too." Remus said, sighing like he wasn't happy about it. But secretly, he thought it was the greatest idea he'd ever heard. Sirius smiled and ruffled Remus's hair, sending snowflakes flying to the ground.

Everyone turned to look at Peter. He didn't look at them. The smile fell from Sirius's face.

"Pete?" He asked.

"I just... I just don't like the idea of being marked for life." Peter whispered, his voice just audible now the wind had stopped.

"We're not going to make you do anything you don't want to." James shrugged, patting Peter on the shoulder.

"Yeah, no worries." Sirius said, waving his hand dismissively. After a beat, he added, "Besides, I don't they tattoo chickens."

James and Remus sniggered. Peter turned pink, "I'm not a chicken."

"We know you're not." James said, placing a comforting hand on Peter's shoulder, "Padfoot's just trying to ruffle your feathers."

Sirius guffawed, and Remus coughed to hide his laughter, as Peter flushed a dark crimson.

"Aw, come on, Peter." Sirius begged, a spark in his eye, "Just come in and see. You know, wing it."

"It's okay if you don't get a tattoo, you'll be the good egg." James said.

"No ignore him, a little bird told me Jessica in Herbology thinks tattoos are sexy." Sirius added.

"Alright, alright." Remus said, holding up his hands in surrender, "Stop pecking his head."

"Fuck you guys." Peter snapped, storming off.

"Whoa, Wormy! Don't fly off the rails." James shouted after him.

When they were sure Peter wasn't going to come back, the three of them stepped into the tattoo parlour. The witch, presumbaly Tatiana, sat inside had bright pink hair, that slowly changed to blue as she explained the process of tattooing.

Remus was the last to finish, having changed his mind seven times in total about which tattoo to get. There were so many options, all of them appealing to him in one way or another. In the end though, he felt like he'd made the right choice. He left the room and sat on one of the white plastic chairs next to Sirius. His arm tingled and ached slightly where he'd gotten his tattoo. As Tatiana had explained though, unlike muggle tattooing, wizard tattooing was almost painless... She had been right about the almost.

James leaned around Sirius and offered him a bottle of firewhiskey.

"Where did you get this?" Remus asked, holding the bottle tentatively.

"Went out to buy it while you took all night to be tattooed!" James said, laughing.

Remus smiled and sipped from the bottle, feeling the burning liquid travel down his throat and warm his stomach. He'd grown to love the taste of firewhiskey over the years. When he'd first tasted it, he'd spat it out in disgust only to be laughed at by Sirius and Peter, and scolded by James for "wasting good alcohol".

"Aren't you going to ask about my tattoo?" Sirius asked impatiently when Remus handed the bottle back over.

"Show me then." Remus said, rolling his eyes at Sirius.

Sirius slipped off his jacket and offered his arm out to Remus. Starting halfway up his forearm and ending just before the crook of his elbow, were four tattoed stickmen, standing in a line. All four stickmen were identical.

Sirius pointed to the first stickman, "It's you." He said softly.

"It's a stickman." Remus pointed out.

"And you're an idiot." Sirius said, rolling his eyes, "It's like the one I told you to get, it changes with the phases of the moon. On the day of a full moon, this stickman will become a werewolf."

"Sirius." Remus whispered, awestruck.

"And a dog, a stag and a rat, will appear next to him." Sirius added, pointing to each of the remaining stickmen in turn. He added, "So no matter what, The Marauders will always be together."

"James was right, you are a soppy git." Remus whispered, but he was grinning from ear to ear.

Sirius put his jacket back on and Remus rolled up his own sleeve. In a line down his own forearm, spanning from the crook of his elbow right to his wrist, were four tattoos. The first was a moon, currently at waxing crescent, followed by a rat, then a pawprint and finally a pair of antlers. Remus pointed to each one, "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs."

"Who's the soppy git now?" Sirius laughed.

Remus grinned and Sirius planted a kiss on his cheek, right over one of his silvery white scars. Then he said, "Oi, Prongsy, show Remus your tattoo."

James did as he was told. Like Sirius and Remus, he had four tattoos spanning down his forearm. Remus couldn't help but smirk, great minds...

Four sets of footprints were on his arm. Beneath each pair was a name – James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew – and a location – Hogsmeade under the first three and Gryffindor Tower under the fourth.

"It's based on the map." James explained, pointlessly, they all recognised the footprints, "Now I'll always know where you are."

"Creepy." Sirius whispered, but he was still grinning as they all started walking back to Hogwarts.

"Moony, wake up. Moony. Oh Moony." Sirius sung gently, as Remus stirred awake.

"What?" Remus asked, sounding pained. His tattoo itched uncomfortably and now he was awake, he was sure he'd never get back to sleep.

When they'd gotten back to the dorm, they spent a few more hours up with Peter telling him about their tattoos, drinking their new bottle of firewhiskey and ranking their top ten pranks. By the time they all went to bed it had been ten past four in the morning. Now it was Merlin knows what time and Remus was awake once again. He was going to kill Sirius.

"Wake up, I have something to show you." Sirius whispered.

Remus scrunched his eyes up tighter, "Sirius, I swear to Merlin, if I open my eyes and you're not wearing pants again, I will bloody kill you!"

"I promise I'm wearing pants." Sirius said, his smirk evident in his voice.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Remus asked, having been fooled by this promise several times in the past.

"I promise I'm not crossing my fingers. All my juicy bits-"

"Sirius." Remus interrupted disgustedly.

"-Are safely hidden away." Sirius continued as though Remus hadn't spoken.

Remus hesitated. He thought of five different curses he could use on Sirius if his pants were off, and finally opened his eyes. Luckily, Sirius was fully covered by his pajamas. When Remus opened his eyes, he smiled widely and sat down on the bed, forcing Remus to shuffle over.

He pulled out his wand and aimed it at his forearm, "Lumos." He whispered, the tip of his wand casting light onto his tattoo.

Remus leaned closer, crinkling his eyes against the light. He inspected Sirius's tattoo and saw the first two stickmen, representing him and Sirius, were holding hands. Tiny drawn lovehearts were appearing and disappearing around them.

Remus looked at Sirius with a less than amused expression, "That's what you wanted to show me?"

"Yes."

"Well it's wrong, because right now I don't love you. That stickman," He pointed to his stickman, "Should be cursing this stickman into oblivion, right now."

"Oh somebody's a grumpy werewolf tonight, aren't they?" Sirius laughed.

Remus flopped back down onto his bed, "You have five minutes to go to sleep before I turn you into a jellyfish."

"Okay fine." Sirius said. He stood up and Remus was about to sigh with relief, but stopped, when Sirius pulled on Remus's covers and wiggled under.

"What are you doing?" Remus asked, as Sirius wiggled closer and wrapped both his arms and around Remus. Pressing his lips to Remus's bare shoulder, once. Remus could smell the strawberry scented soap that Sirius used and he couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Cuddling." Sirius explained.

"Sirius-"

"Shh! Moony." Sirius interrupted, "You'll wake up James and Peter. Now go to sleep, before I turn you into a jellyfish."

Remus sighed, but he couldn't deny how comfy he felt. He turned to face Sirius and snuggled into his shoulder, their legs in a tangle under the covers. Sirius traced small patterns along Remus's back and Remus felt his eyes droop.

He was on the edge of sleep, when Sirius said, "Oh and Moony..."

"What?" Remus asked, frustrated.

"Merry Christmas."

"Tosser."