The rest of the week, the four Marauders looked tired, but happy. The stress on all of them was higher than usual because of their ridiculous work load, but with help from Lily and Remus, they all managed to finish everything and hand it in on time.

The four friends had been looking forward to Christmas, and were trying to finish their homework before break.

"Are any of you staying at Hogwarts?" asked Sirius suddenly, looking up from his Dream Diary. James shook his head.

"Nah, mum wants me home for the holidays." Peter also shook his head.

"My parents are taking me to France on vacation." He squeaked. "We've been planning this for months." Sirius looked hopefully to Remus who looked slightly guilty.

"Sorry, Sirius." He said quietly. "I told my parents I would be home." Sirius nodded, but looked downcast.

"That's ok. I was just wondering because I'm not allowed home again for Christmas. Mum sent me a letter saying I better not bother." He tilted back in his chair, looking blankly into the fire.

"Must be nice…to have a family who actually wants you home, who appreciates you for who you are." He said bitterly. "I hate being a Black." The other three looked at each other. For a while, no one spoke.

"You could stay with me." Remus said from behind his book. Sirius looked up.

"What?"

Remus looked thoughtful.

"Well, my house is always pretty quiet anyway. And I'm sure my parents won't mind if I write them tonight. My mum's a Muggle so you won't have to deal with any pureblood nonsense." Sirius was beaming.

"Remus…really?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah. They've always wanted to meet you anyway." Now he was grinning as well. "James, you could come too if your parents will let you."

James punched the air.

"I can't! But we should get together over vacation! We could meet Peter in Diagon Alley next week and then spend the rest of the time here!"

"Great!" said Sirius. "Thanks guys. I know I bring my problems on you a lot."

"No more than me." Said Remus shortly. "I've never forced you to not come with me for full moons. I have to repay you somehow."

But Remus' next words were drowned out by Sirius jumping onto him yet again. Remus braced himself but fell to the floor as Sirius hugged him and wrestled with him dog-like.

"You have to be the best friend ever, Moony, I swear!" Remus would have replied, but the air had been squeezed out of his lungs and he shoved Sirius off of him.

"It's no problem." He gasped brushing himself off. "Just one more week of school and we're out of here."

The rest of the week was dedicated to pranking Slytherins and messing around. Even Remus and Lily had given it a rest.

So far, Sirius had managed to give Bellatrix a rain cloud that followed her around all day, raining on her books, but whenever she looked up, the cloud would go away.

Peter, despite his pathetic transfiguration work, had turned Mulciber's ears into pineapples while he was in the bathroom. Mulciber didn't quite know what happened, and walked around Hogwarts stupidly all day, wondering what everyone was staring at.

James had put a tripping jinx on every doorway that Snape could have walked through so he was covered in bruises all day. Lily was most displeased with this.

And once again, with Remus' excellent charm work, Lucious Malfoy said "I like ponies and rainbows!" every fifteen minutes without any ability to stop it. Teachers were looking oddly at him all afternoon.

Now the five of them sat in front of the fire, packing their trunks. Well…except for Remus who had everything packed and was saying a very long good-bye to Jane Swinton. How she got into the common room, no one knew, and no one asked.

"Look at him, the big hypocrite." Sneered James, as he piled underwear into his trunk. "He's a prefect for God's sake. Shouldn't he show a little…er…dignity?" Lily waved her wand, and her bathrobe flew into her trunk and it shut.

"Oh let him be, James." She laughed. "It's Christmas, and I've always said Remus has a romantic side."

"Yeah, just add that to the werewolf side, and you have Beauty and the Beast." Laughed Sirius. "I can't wait to see his house. His mum's a Muggle! I wonder if she drives a…a….car!" He said this as though it was positively the most exciting thing he could think of.

"You've never ridden in a car before, Sirius?' asked Lily curiously.

"No!" said Sirius. "I'm really anxious! Maybe she has a blender and a microplate and stuff."

"It's called a microwave, Sirius." Said Lily laughing again. "You have a lot to learn. I wonder how it must be for Remus growing up with one parent a wizard and one a Muggle. It must be quite interesting."

"Why do you think he takes Muggle Studies if he knows everything about Muggles?"

"Well, I expect it must be fascinating from a wizard's point of view." Said Lily thoughtfully.

Remus came running up the stairs. His face was flushed and his hair looked casually messy.

"Said your good-byes have you?" asked Sirius smirking.

"What? Oh yes…I suppose." Said Remus looking embarrassed. "She's going to Dijon for Christmas. Are you all packed, Sirius?"

"Yeah I am." Said Sirius. "How was your snog?" To his surprise, Remus did not go pink. Instead he pushed his hair out of his eyes; much like Sirius did, and answered casually,

"Quite satisfactory, actually." and left the dormitory to retrieve his owl from the Owlery. Sirius looked as though he had been slapped in the face.

Lily burst out laughing, and left the room gasping,

"The….look…..on….your…face!" When she left, Sirius threw his socks at James.

The next morning, everyone was in a rush to get out of the castle. Very few Gryffindors were actually staying. Many of the Slytherins were, however.

James was taking the Hogwarts express along with Peter, but Remus said they would be traveling by Floo powder. Professor McGonagall had allowed the two of them to go from her office.

"Have a good Christmas, boys." She said with a smile. "Your luggage will be along shortly. I'll send it for you."

"Thanks, Professor." Said Remus smiling. He stepped into the fire and clasped the golden clasp on his robes. Throwing a handful of glittering black powder, he said very clearly,

"NUMBER 8 FLORIAN WAY!" And he disappeared in a roar of green flames. Sirius followed suit.

They were spinning. Sirius could feel his hair whipping in the cold air and his feet touching nothing. It was that horrible sensation of falling, but not knowing where to land. He clenched his teeth, afraid to open his mouth, and waited until his feet slammed into gloriously solid ground. Actually, stone.

He was standing in a fire place, Remus was in front of him brushing soot off his robes and coughing. The fireplace was deep and Sirius looked past Remus into the room.

The kitchen of Remus' house was small and circular, but very clean. A large rectangular table sat in the center with three chairs around it. The walls were a periwinkle blue and everything else was stainless steel. There were Muggle appliances sitting around on shelves.

It was warm and welcoming, unlike Grimmauld Place. A woman jumped by the oven. Remus' mother turned quickly around looking frightened, but her face relaxed when she saw her son.

"Remus!" she said happily, smiling. "I'm so glad you're home. Your father wasn't sure how we were getting you here today, I'm afraid. But I see you've made do." She stepped forward and hugged her son. Remus hugged her back.

Sirius noticed that she was extremely small. She hardly came up to Remus' nose, and she had a small slender body. She was just pretty, delicately pretty, like a flower in spring. Her eyes were large and brown and soft with long lashes. Her light brown hair was kept up in a shiny clip on top of her head. She did not wear robes, but khacki dress pants and a light blue sweater. Remus was like her in mannerism, and they had the same hair color. She was quiet and soft spoken, and had a charming sweetness about her. She seemed like a person you could trust. Sirius was immediately jealous that his mother couldn't be like this.

Her eyes fell on Sirius.

"Ah, and this must be your friend, Sirius Black?"

"Yes." Answered Remus. "He's one of my best friends."

Mrs. Lupin's face blanched slightly, as though she was afraid, but her smile returned.

"And you live in a wizarding family, yes?"

"Um…yes. My family is as pureblooded as you can get. They didn't even want me in Gryffindor."

"Oh, well that's disappointing." She said. "You probably know, but I'm a Muggle. Not a drop of magic, and I can't say that I mind. I like doing things the practical way. Magic frightens me to an extent."

"So how do you…" Sirius began.

"What, dear?"

"How do you cook and clean and stuff if you don't have magic?"

Remus grinned broadly.

"Muggles have things to help them do it, Sirius. Hey mum, when will Dad be home?"

"He should be here in an hour. He had to leave early for the Ministry."

"Oh yeah!" said Sirius. "Your dad works for Curse Breakers."

"Yep." Said Remus. "Come on. I'll show you my room." Remus led Sirius through the living room which was also very clean and quaint, much like a cottage. Up a small staircase, they pulled their trunks and owls, and soon they were in a hallway.

They reached a door and Remus pushed it open.

This room was much different than the rest of the house. It was messy. Clothes and shoes, and books lay haphazardly all over the room including lunar charts, and old homework papers. The bed was made neatly, but at least seven books lay with various bookmarks at the end. The walls were covered in posters of the wizarding band THE WEIRD SISTERS. A record player lay in the corner.

"Sorry it's such a mess." Said Remus, kicking some stuff out of the way. "I obviously didn't have much time. When I'm home, I spend most of my time in here, or outside with dad." He set his owl on the floor.

"Nah, it's fine!" said Sirius. "Your mom's really nice."

"Yeah.' Remus sighed. "Sometimes I think she'd be better off somewhere else."

"Why would you think that?" asked Sirius sitting on the bed. Remus leaned against the wall.

"Well…she's a Muggle. She doesn't really understand magic. Dad is usually gone, and they've both been lying about me."

"What do you mean, lying?"

Remus laughed bitterly.

"I don't think my father would have a job if his associates knew his son was a werewolf. Mum is just sort of upset about the whole thing. She's a Muggle Doctor at Charing Hospital. She runs her own practice so she knows how to handle it when…when I transform. But she can't tell anyone where I go all the time. Her Muggle friends are convinced I go to some private Muggle boarding school."

"She's a hell of a lot better than my mom." Said Sirius. "My mom chased me around with a pig's eye last Christmas telling me it would make me more intelligent. Your mom seems to like you."

"Yeah." Said Remus. "I know she does. It's just not easy for her. I think she'd just prefer a normal son, you know? Anyway, sorry, we don't have a house elf."

"That's fine!" said Sirius. "What's all that clanking?" He looked up at the ceiling above them.

"Oh that's the ghoul." Said Remus laughing. "He throws junk around in the attic when things get too quiet. Wait 'til you meet my dad though." He said. "Mum's a lot less timid when he's around, and he's lots of fun. Always has an interesting story."

Sirius and Remus were cleaning the room up when there was a loud crack from downstairs. Remus grinned.

"Dad's home." And soon after, Mrs. Lupin called them downstairs for dinner.

The two boys jumped down the stairs and saw Mrs. Lupin standing in the kitchen, a delicious smell of ham and potatoes wafting out of the oven. A tall man was standing at the fireplace, removing a long black traveling cloak.

This was obviously Remus' father. He was very tall and thin, much like Remus was, and he had the same cool grey eyes. His hair was deep chestnut with small strands of grey. This was a man of power. You could see it in his eyes.

He was wearing robes of deep purple with gold clasps and a black turtleneck. Sirius thought he looked a bit like a Muggle movie star. He looked in surprise at the two boys.

"Good Lord! That's right! I had forgotten you got back today, Remus! Excellent!" He embraced his son.

"John Lupin." He said smiling, shaking hands with Sirius. "You must be Sirius Black. Yes, yes, Remus has told us all about you. Welcome, welcome."

Sirius beamed and shook hands with John Lupin. He felt very welcome here and was flattered that Remus talked about him with his parents.

Mrs. Lupin was carrying dishes of food to the table. John sprang to his feet and said,

"No, no Charlotte. Let me. It will be faster." He waved his wand and the dishes soared across and landed on the table, not spilling a drop. Charlotte rolled her eyes and gave her husband a playful swat with her dish towel.

"Stop that." She said laughing. They all sat down and began to eat. Mrs. Lupin was an excellent cook.

"So, had a good term, boys?" asked John.

"Yeah, not bad." Said Remus. "Work load's bigger though. This past week was insane." John and his wife exchanged worried looks.

"But you've been keeping up, right? Not slacking, I hope." Sirius was sure John meant to sound subtle, but it came out rather forced. Remus stared at his plate and said,

"Yes, Dad. I'm doing fine."

John still looked a little uneasy. Sirius piped up.

"Actually, Sir, Remus is top in everything, along with Lily Evans." Remus beamed at Sirius across the table and John's face relaxed.

"Excellent." He said simply. Then he looked at Sirius. "Are you by any chance related to Andromeda Tonks?" Sirius nodded.

"Yes. She's my cousin." He said "Why, do you know her?"

"Oh yes, Andromeda is a friend of mine and Charlotte's. She's a very talented witch."

"Yes. She is." Said Sirius. "I don't suppose you know any other people in my family, Sir."

"No. I don't think so. Well…" John played with his fork. "Black is a very common name. I take it you're pure blood?"

"Yes." Sirius looked almost ashamed. "I am." John just nodded. He glanced at his son.

"Remus, have you been learning about using defensive spells this term? I just remember when I was at Hogwarts and they weren't too keen on teaching us."

"Oh, yeah." Said Remus. "We're learning loads. It's great."

Something was still not right. The conversation was too normal. Charlotte was not saying anything, and John was staring at his son intently, as though he might explode suddenly. Then it hit him. Remus' parents were worried about something, and Sirius finally knew what it was.

"Um, Mr. and Mrs. Lupin?" Both pairs of eyes snapped to Sirius. "Er…I know Remus is a werewolf." Charlotte paled. John however looked happy. He relaxed.

"Well that's a relief." He said happily. "I was thinking we would have to…well you understand of course…" he gave a nervous laugh. "But since you know…there's not much point in lying is there?" Sirius smiled.

"It's really ok, Sir. I don't have a problem with it at all." Remus was not looking at him.

There was an awkward silence.

"Well that's good." Said John and they continued eating. The conversation went to Quidditch and the World Cup. Charlotte even knew what this was and had her own opinions about who should win.

"Well England has to win this year." She said vehemently. "Wizarding sports are good for showing patriotism." Sirius laughed.

"Yes I suppose they are."

"Well, I'm putting my money on Ireland." Said Remus speaking for the first time.

"I quite agree, son." Said John. "Ireland will win no matter what. England may be good, but she doesn't have the stamina to get through to the World Cup. What do you think, Sirius?"

"Oh, I don't know. I'll be surprised if Bulgaria didn't scrape its way up." John nodded thoughtfully.

"So how's work, Dad?" asked Remus, taking his plate to the sink.

"Oh, it's interesting as ever, I'm afraid." He said looking tired. "Today, Old Josiah Strong was trying to break into an Egyptian tomb. Unfortunately there was a genetic spell on the tomb itself." He shuddered.

"What's that mean?" asked Remus looking curious.

"Well, it messes with your DNA. He had three heads by the time we got to him. He's in Saint Mungo's right now. Hopefully he'll make a full recovery." Sirius sat with his mouth hanging open. John stared into space for a while and then looked at the two boys again.

"You boys had better go out and get rid of those damn fairies in the peach trees. They're eating your mom's peaches." He winked. "She won't be happy if they've laid eggs."

Remus laughed. Then he and Sirius made their way out the back door.

The night was dark, and the crescent moon shone prettily on the pond in the back yard. The peach trees were near the garden shed and sure enough, Sirius could see tiny lights flitting around in the leaves amid the ripe fruit.

"I don't suppose we're allowed to use magic in a Muggle neighborhood?" asked Sirius.

"Nope." Said Remus. "Muggle kids live next door. We don't want them to get scared.

"Then how do we-"began Sirius.

"You have to take the fishing net and hurl them into the pond. It doesn't hurt them and they won't drown, but they hate water so hopefully they'll stay away next time." Remus swiped at the lights. Three fairies got caught in the net and landed with a plop in the pond. They screamed with rage and Sirius laughed.

Within minutes they were both having fun throwing the fairies into the pond and watching them shake their tiny fists before flying off into the dark bushes again.

It was nearly midnight when they finished. Sirius yawned and took the net back to the shed. When he opened it, he was not expecting to see what was there.

The shed was ripped to shreds. Everything lay haphazardly and something that looked like blood was splattered on the walls. This was where Remus transformed. Sirius knew it. He closed the door and walked back towards the house feeling sick.

The next week passed quickly. Sirius and Remus had fun taunting the ghoul in the attic and messing around with random Muggle objects that had been bewitched. Mr. Lupin put an invisibility charm around the back yard so they could play one on one Quidditch.

Christmas was a quiet but warm affair. Sirius and Remus both received books from Lily. From James, Sirius got a pair of dragon hide Quidditch gloves and Remus got a book called, "The Thoroughly Bizarre Tales of Pilo, the Dragon Breeder." Peter had sent them both boxes of Zonko's products. From his parents, Remus received a set of elaborate star models made of gold. They moved with the Earth and showed phases of the moon as the Earth turned.

From his own home, Sirius got a message asking where he was and whether he ever wanted to see his family again because he was well on his way to being disowned. Sirius shredded the letter. His spirits were lifted however, when he opened Remus' gift. It was a book, lavishly published in velvet and was entitled, Witch Weekly's Best Looking Witches From 1645 To the Present. Every page had a different beautiful witch.

Before long, it was time to meet the others in Diagon Alley.

Mr. Lupin took the two boys in their Muggle Cadillac, much to Sirius' delight. He had never been in a car, and was fascinated with the automatic windows. Remus just laughed and let him fiddle with the buttons. They reached Diagon Alley at nine forty-five, and Mr. Lupin let them out saying he'd meet them at four.

Remus and Sirius walked through the streets which were beautifully decorated with snow and holly. Colored lights blinked nicely in the shop windows. They found James, Peter, and surprisingly, Lily Evans in the Leaky Cauldron. Lily was sitting very near James. They were sipping butterbeer and the waved enthusiastically when they saw Sirius and Remus.

"Hey!" cried James, and he pulled up two chairs. "We looked everywhere for you guys! You said we'd meet at nine!"

"We got caught in traffic." Said Sirius as though this was positively the most exciting thing in the world. Lily laughed.

"Well, did you have a good Christmas?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"Yeah. Thanks for the book" Said Remus. "It was nice. How was yours? I thought you were skiing."

"Well," said Lily thoughtfully. "I went for a while, but then Mum and Dad decided to come back. We got completely snowed in, and they let me come to Diagon Alley."

They spent the day in Diagon Alley, looking in the shops and buying extra school supplies. Lily bought a new quill which was made of a peacock's feather. James and Sirius put their gold together and bought the highest quality broomstick servicing kit, since both of them were on the Quidditch team. Remus bought himself a new gold telescope because Sirius broke his, and a thick book called,

A Transfiguration Anthology which Sirius laughed at the whole time they walked up the high street. "Who would spend money on that?" By the time they went up to the Leaky Cauldron again to get warm, their faces were cold and raw, but happiness was painted on every one of their faces.

They pulled up chairs yet again in the pub and ordered hot chocolate. As they drank and talked, the door opened and Jane Swinton and a few of her pretty Ravenclaw friends came in, their scarves pulled tightly around their necks. James seemed to be on the verge of drooling. Lily looked displeased.

Jane looked even more radiant than usual with her cheeks pink, and her robes a bit of a mess and snow in her hair.

Remus slid down in his chair, but James grabbed him by his robes and dragged him up again. Jane and her friends sat at the table across from them. James looked at Remus with a devilish smile, and mouthed

"Say something." Remus shook his head violently. James couldn't understand it. Remus wasn't shy about snogging Jane at Hogwarts. Why would he be freaked out about simply talking to her in public?

"Why?" James mouthed again. Remus leaned forward across the table to talk to James.

"Her friends don't…er…exactly know about…you know."

"So what, Remus? Why would they care?"

"They think I'm a freak." He hissed. "I'm a geek, remember? A bookworm with very little social contact! I'm a werewolf, for God's sake!"

James laughed loudly.

"Is that what you're worried about? Well, Jane doesn't know you're a werewolf, and neither do her friends. You've got to get some confidence, mate. Now say something."

Remus remained silent. James rolled his eyes and stood up.

"OY, SWINTON!" Jane looked up from her giggling friends and looked at James with a frown. He did look like a bit of an idiot, standing up with his hair all messy and that stupid grin on his face.

"What, Potter?" she asked. Apparently, she was still a little bit sore after the Quidditch defeat from September. James was enjoying the attention. He swayed for a minute and then said,

"WELL…ER….YOUR BOYFRIEND IS HERE, BUT HE'S TOO SCARED TO TALK TO YOU 'CAUSE HE THINKS YOU THINK HE'S A FREAK, AND IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU SAID HI 'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT GOOD PEOPLE DO AND I THINK YOU'RE A GOOD PERSON SWINTON." Remus had his head buried deep in his arms, sliding further and further down into his chair.

Jane's giggly friends exploded into gales of laughter. Jane's expression, however, softened. She looked at her friends with disgust.

"Shut up, you guys." She said quietly and walked over to the marauder's table. Remus' head was still tucked in his arms. The small amount of forehead that was visible was red.

Jane took a seat next to him.

"Hey guys." She said, pushing a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. She looked around at all of them who took the cue to act normally.

"Hey, Jane." They chorused. "Have a good Christmas?"

"It was very nice." She said brightly. "I spent a lot of it with my grandmother because my parents are in the Ukraine. We didn't end up going to Dijon after all. But we had a great time. She lives in this huge old house that's full of magical stuff." She took a sip of her hot cocoa. The others just looked at her. James raised his eyebrows at her. She seemed to take the hint.

"Hey Remus," she started, picking up her purse and getting to her feet. "You want to go to Flourish and Blotts? I have to get a new copy of Defense Theory, and The Anatomy of a Curse. They got burned by that stupid krup a few weeks ago."

"No, I think I'll just stay here." He said, not looking up.

"Oh, come on." Said Jane grabbing his arm. "Let's go, and she dragged him to his feet." Remus shot a look of pure venom at James who grinned and waved.

At four o'clock, Lily's mother and father came to pick her up. Sirius again, got to admire every inch of the small sedan. Lily couldn't stop laughing for a long time.

Remus' mother came to get him and Sirius in the Cadillac, and she was looking very nervous. Remus and Jane had come back five minutes before and were exchanging good-byes when everyone left.

On Monday, the second of January, Sirius and Remus took the Floo powder back to Hogwarts.

Lupin's father had them both up at the crack of dawn and they came down to a nice cooked breakfast by Remus' mother. She was still in her dressing gown. They ate with their eyes half opened before they were whisked upstairs to pack any last minute items.

"Do you both have your trunks?" Mr. Lupin asked tensely. He was straightening his robes as he had to be at the Ministry by eight. The boys nodded and John Lupin took out a list, and peered at it over his spectacles.

"Owls?"

"Yes."

"Books, parchment, broomstick?"

"Yes."

"Wands?"

"Got them, dad." Said Remus, closing the lock on his owl, Elphaba's cage. Mr. Lupin looked relieved.

Before they left, Charlotte Lupin gave them both tight hugs. Remus had to stoop so she could kiss his cheek and the top of his head. Sirius stepped forward hopefully, and she kissed his cheek too.

John Lupin hugged his son, and shook Sirius' hand.

"Have a good term, boys. Don't get into too much trouble. And good luck with apparating."

The boys called their thanks and disappeared into the fire.

They came out in Professor McGonagall's office fireplace. She jumped when they arrived, but did not look up.

"Try not to get too much ash on the carpet, boys." She muttered.

"No, Professor." They said in unison, and made their way up to Gryffindor Tower where the others were waiting.