LbN: Written for BadMum. Prompt was: The Marauders get creative filling Harry's Christmas stocking. Happy reading.

It was a snowing a bit by the time Lily got home. James had volunteered to put up the tree while she had a bit of a break that afternoon. She'd had tea with Bathilda, and picked up a couple of things for Christmas - she knew the rest of the guys would be by, and all she wanted this year was to have at least a few of her chocolate biscuits left….

"James? How did the tree setup go?" she asked, wandering into the living room. She laughed when she saw what was taking place.

Harry, in nothing but a diaper and a Santa hat, was having the time of his life sitting in one of the ornament boxes. James was making the box zoom around the room, grinning as his son laughed.

"Went splendidly! Did you have a good afternoon?" he asked when she sat down next to him.

"I did. Bathilda says hello. When is Sirius getting here?"

"Peter'll be here in an hour, and Sirius should be in around seven. He said he would have made it sooner, but he's picking up a few more things for Harry."

"James did you tell him not to spoil our child?" Lily shot, giving her husband the stink eye.

He smiled and said, "I told him that you said not to spoil our child."

Lily groaned. If the way Sirius had paced the waiting room during her nine-hour delivery was any indication, this was going to be an over-the-top Christmas indeed.

They spent the rest of the afternoon lounging about the house, sending Harry for rides in his makeshift Christmas sleigh, and trying to keep him out of the cookie batter.

When Peter arrived, Harry squealed and held his arms up. James laughed when Peter jumped back.

"Don't look so afraid!" he said, picking Harry up and holding him out. "He doesn't bite. Er...actually, yes he does. But it's mostly gums, so it doesn't hurt much."

"N-no, I don't want to drop him or...break him or anything," Peter said, backing away a bit. "But I brought him a present," he added brightly. He tapped his bag, and a present came zooming out of it and into Harry's stocking. It was clearly a teddy bear, badly wrapped in red and gold paper. "I don't know what babies like, so I just got him the fluffiest thing I could find."

"I'm sure he'll think it's grand. Let's go bother Lily - she's trying to bake tree shaped cookies the Muggle way."

"Again?" Peter asked. "After the fiasco last year?"

"Call it a Christmas tradition," James told him with a sly grin.

Sirius arrived that evening just as they were setting the table for dinner. He bounded into the house with a huge sack and yelled, "Ha ha ha!"

"It's ho ho ho," Lily called from the dining room. "Drop your stuff and come eat."

"Oi, what's this in Harry's stocking?" Sirius asked as he peeked into the dining room. He waved the poorly wrapped bear at them. "A bear, Wormtail?"

"What makes you think it was me?" Peter asked, defensively.

"Lily and James use blue paper with silver ribbon. Plus, I'm sure they do a better job at wrapping. Putting it under the tree."

"Hey! I got here first!"

"I'm his godfather, and my present's better."

"How do you know?"

"Alright, gents! Battle it out after we eat," James said, loading up Harry's high chair tray with spaghetti.

They made idle chat for a bit. Sirius had been traveling in Greece for about a week, and was excited to tell them about his mini-adventure. When pudding had been eaten and James and Peter were taking care of dishes, Lily pulled Sirius aside.

"Have you heard from him?" she asked.

Sirius shook his head. "It was just the full moon yesterday," he said. "Sometimes Moony needs a break, you know that. He needs to recover, but I'm sure he won't miss Christmas."

"It's just that...we didn't hear from him all last month…" Lily said, glancing out the window as though hoping to see Remus coming up the drive.

"I talked to him around the fifteenth. He was doing okay."

"I hope he still is."

Sirius hugged her for a moment. "He's not here by tomorrow night, I'll go check his normal haunts."

Lily nodded. "Let's go make sure James and Peter aren't trying to feed Harry any more chocolate."

"We aren't," Peter said, wandering into the living room. James was right behind him, carrying Harry. "Though he did try to eat the soap. I can't believe you took my bear out of his stocking," he pouted.

"A fluffy Quidditch broom is much better!"

"Speaking of Quidditch, the Singapore match is about to start," James said, checking his watch.

"Everyone take a seat then," Lily said. "I've been waiting three months for this one."

The next day took a very interesting turn. The Potters didn't have time to dwell on their missing friend, because the two that were present were engaged in the weirdest competition Lily had ever witnessed. Even worse than the Honeydukes Cockroach Cluster battle….

By ten that morning, Harry's stocking was at least ten times the normal size, and stuffed with Sirius's stuffie broomstick, Peter's stuffie bear, plus a mini Quidditch outfit that Peter ran out to get before breakfast. This aroused Sirius's competitive nature, so he Disapparated around 9:30 and came back with an oversized airplane that Harry could ride around in. The wings and propellers were sticking out of the top of the stocking, and it the whole stocking was swaying gently.

"This cannot continue," Lily told James. "We don't have room in the nursery."

James watched as Sirius danced with Harry in the living room. Peter was sitting on the couch, singing along to the Christmas tune on the radio. James pulled Lily into a hug. "Let them get it out of their system. Christmas comes but once a year. Besides - we can shrink everything down."

They joined the other two in the living room. Peter budged up and gave them room to sit down. And then he jumped up.

"I've got it!" he yelped. "I'll be right back."

"No more presents!" Lily yelled after him as he dashed out.

It only took ten minutes for Peter to return. He ran back in, tapped the stocking so that it grew again, and loaded it down with squishy musical blocks. Sirius watched, clearly annoyed, and then he gave Harry back to Lily.

"No," she said. "Absolutely not, Sirius! Don't you get him one more -" she broke off when he Disapparated. She swatted James, who was doubled over laughing. "Some help you are."

"Think of it this way," James said. "We can dial it back next Christmas. Wormtail - only one gift next Christmas, you hear me?"

Peter smirked. "Tell Sirius one, so I can do two at the last minute."

"Will this madness ever end?" Lily asked.

"Never," James said with a maniacal grin. "When we're old and grey, and Harry's a tall strapping Quidditch star, he'll come home for Christmas, gorgeous lady on his arm, and the Marauders will be still be flinging presents at him. Of course, it will be less fluffy bunnies, and more magical condoms -"

"James!"

"I'm just saying...though Wormy will probably asking for tips."

"I'm not that hopeless!" Peter protested, tossing one of the tree baubles at James's head.

"I desperately need female friends," Lily lamented.

Sirius took a lot longer, and by the time he got back it was after lunch. He got the Santa call right this time though. "Ho ho ho!"

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is," Lily said.

"Just like Uncle Sirius," Sirius said, setting Harry on the seat of the baby motorcycle. "Listen...while I was out, I checked Remus's flat."

"Let me guess," James sighed. "He's not there."

"Talked to the landlady. Your last transfer went through for six months' rent, but she says she hasn't seen Remus since last month."

"Let's go look," James said.

Sirius passed Harry back to Lily as Peter and James got their coats. He tapped the stocking to make it large enough to hold the motorcycle, the result being that the stocking was now roughly Peter's size, and was resting on the ground.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," James said.

Lily paced the living room. She'd had dinner alone, after a message from James saying they still hadn't found Remus. It was around seven, and she'd just put Harry to bed. She remembered a particularly bad full moon during sixth year. Remus had been in the hospital wing for a full week, and she'd had to bandage Sirius and James up herself. She jumped, hearing the door open.

Peter rushed in. "We found him," he panted.

Lily and Peter stood in the hall as James and Sirius carried Remus in. It looked like their friend was only half-conscious.

Lily summoned the first aid kit and sent it zooming upstairs after the three of them. "Where was he?"

"It looked like it used to be a werewolf den," Peter said as they followed the men upstairs. "But it doesn't make sense - he usually stays away from those places. Says they're just as likely to kill you on sight as allow you in."

"So something must've changed. He and James built the safe room in his flat - there's no need for him to leave."

James and Sirius had already cleaned Remus up, and were bandaging him when Lily and Peter got there.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Sirius asked softly. "Why would you stay in that place?"

"Little girl...moved in next flat…" Remus whispered.

The assembled group all sighed when the realization hit them. Remus had always been hyper-vigilant about his location during the full moon. He hated the thought of hurting someone, and never fully trusted the safe room that he and James had set up. A family with children moving in? No wonder the landlady hadn't seen Remus since the month before. That would be two full moons of trying to make sure he didn't hurt a child.

Harry began to cry in the other room.

"Remus is bleeding," Lily said. "I need to stay with him."

"Peter, go hold Harry," James said, trying to help Sirius fix some broken bones.

"What? Why me? I can -"

"You got lowest marks in that term of Enchanted First Aid," Sirius snapped. "I don't think Remus wants a pumpkin growing where his nose once was. Go get Harry!"

Peter squeezed Remus's hand once and scurried from the room.

Lily healed as many cuts as she could find. "Remus, how do you feel?"

"Who got top marks in Defense and Charms? How fast can you learn the Killing Curse? I want it to be quick."

"Don't say that, mate," Sirius said.

"Thank you," Remus whispered as they wrapped him in three blankets.

"Just rest, Moony," James told him, tapping the blankets so they would stay warm.

Peter came back in, holding Harry at arm's length. "I...er...think he needs his nappy changed."

"I'll do it," James said. "Let's let Moony sleep."

Lily couldn't sleep. The manner of Remus's arrival had taken some of the cheer out of the air. She got up and pulled on a jumper. As she walked downstairs, she passed Remus's room and noticed that he was no longer in bed. There was a small sound coming from the living room, and when she got there she realized that it was Remus.

The younger man was standing in front of Harry's stocking and trying to stifle his laughter. "What on earth?" he asked when he spotted Lily.

"Sirius and Peter got a little carried away," she explained.

"A little? I was looking to put Harry's present in his stocking, but I'm frightened for the structural integrity of this wall…." He had a small, unwrapped box in his hands. "It's a bit unimpressive, next to the motorcycle."

"I'm sure he'll love it, Remus," Lily said. "You didn't need to get him anything."

"Of course I did. It's his first Christmas. Here…." He took a small, slightly dented ornament out of the box. It was a simple gold bauble with Harry James Potter etched on it. He put it on the tree, and yawned.

"Back to bed with you," Lily said. "And Remus? Out of all this?" she said, indicating the overstuffed stocking. "Yours is my favorite."

He gave her a weak grin, and hugged her. "Happy Christmas, Lil. I promise I'll try not to make next year's so depressing."

"It'll only be depressing if you miss it, Moony."