Disclaimer: I (sadly) do not own any of these characters or places. *cries* ;_;

Lily slumped on the table, idly watching the snow whirl softly past the library window.

"I give up," she moaned, "Come on Tuney, you're the Ravenclaw—you think of something!"

Petunia frowned across the table at her and folded her arms with a huff as Sev and Frank joined them.

"It's not my fault that all your ideas are hopeless," she said snappishly.

Lily pressed her cheek against the cool wood and tried to remember why hexing her sister was a bad idea. "Well then," she ground out, "why don't you come up with something?"

Frank coughed gently and looked as if he regretted it at the twin glares he received.

"Um…what's going on?" he asked cautiously.

"We're trying to think of a magical present we can give Mum and Dad for Christmas," Lily said wretchedly.

"Something muggles can actually use," Tuney specified, completely unnecessarily in Lily's opinion.

"Aren't you cutting it a bit fine?" Severus demanded incredulously. "You're leaving tomorrow!"

"I know!" Lily wailed, burying her face in her arms. "We didn't think it would be this hard!" Glancing up, she saw even Petunia looked dejected.

Frank didn't seem too sympathetic and Lily really couldn't blame him. It was their own fault for putting it off and assuming any magical item would do—and forgetting that their pooled resources didn't amount for very much.

Severus was biting his lip and the look in his eyes had Lily sitting up.

"Sev?" she asked excitedly, "have you thought of something?"

Severus worried his lip a bit more.

"I might have," he replied slowly. It would be a wrench to part with the only decent thing he owned but…he couldn't stand to see Lily looking so distraught. Or Petunia.

"Would a Wizard's chess set work?" he asked, unsure of what answer he wanted. "It's got its own magic so even muggles can use it."

"Wizard's chess! That's a brilliant idea—Sev, you're a genius!" Lily cried, lunging over to hug him.

A cloud of red hair and the scent of strawberries overwhelmed him for a moment before she pulled back looking so relieved and grateful that Severus had trouble remembering why he hadn't suggested it sooner.

"That's…we can't—I mean, are you sure?" Tuney stammered.

Severus shrugged. "It's just something I got in a cracker last Christmas," he said nonchalantly. "I might end up with another one this year anyway." He doubted he'd be that lucky but the radiant smiles from Lily and Tuney took the sting out of it.

Tuney glanced at her watch and did a double take. "Lily, we have to pack!"

"I'll give the chess set to Frank and he can bring it by later," Severus said, with a questioning look at his friend who promptly nodded in agreement.

"Have you packed already Frank?" Lily asked, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

"No need," he replied evenly. "I'm staying at Hogwarts this year."

"What? Why?" Tuney demanded anxiously.

"My mother's on the Auror team tracking that Voldemort character," he explained. "She didn't want me to go back to an empty house."

"What about your Dad?" Lily asked curiously, "Is he an Auror too?"

"He was," Frank said simply. "He was killed in action when I was three."

There was a horribly awkward silence for a moment where no-one knew what to say. Severus felt like he should sympathize but he knew he couldn't offer any true empathy. If his father died he'd probably throw a party.

"I'm so—"

"God, Frank—"

Lily and Tuney stumbled over each other in a rush to apologize but Frank waved them off with only a hint of melancholy. "It's fine," he assured them, "you didn't know. I can barely remember him anyway. I'll bring the chess set to the common room later."

After the girls left, Severus regarded Frank carefully. He didn't seem overcome with emotion or appear to be fighting back tears. He wondered if he should risk broaching the subject. Thankfully, Frank decided for him.

"That was nice of you," he remarked, "giving up your stuff like that."

Severus shrugged in reply. "It's just stuff," he dismissed. He tilted his head slightly and gave Frank a piercing stare. "I'm sure your mother will be fine," he declared firmly.

Frank's eyes widened before a small smile spread across his face. "I know," he said quietly.

Remus waved his friends off and tried not to feel jealous that they got to go home for Christmas. He'd told them his parents had won a cruise and were travelling. Better than having them look a little too closely at the lunar calendar and noticing that the full moon fell during the holidays. The Headmaster had thought that it would be safer for him to stay at school and transform in a more secure environment.

Remus had agreed because he didn't want to listen to his mother cry. His father always tried to remain stoic for his sake, but Remus could smell the salt of his silent tears when he had to witness his only son's agony. He knew his parents loved him but his pain hurt them and if he could spare them that…

There were more students than usual staying at Hogwarts this year. Especially muggleborns. Voldemort was growing stronger by the day and more brutal with it. Terror was sweeping the Wizarding world and it seemed the Aurors were helpless to stem the tide. Apparently his Death Eaters were leaving his symbol over their kills now. A monstrous skull and snake combo. Remus could understand why some parents wanted their children to stay safely behind the wards of Hogwarts.

As the last carriage vanished around the bend carrying his friends away for the next two weeks, Remus slowly made his way back inside the castle. He'd noticed on the list that both Frank and Severus were staying as well. He was sure they wouldn't want him tagging along all the time but with luck the weeks wouldn't be as interminable as he'd feared.

Staying at Hogwarts felt wrong to Frank. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the magnificent decorations or the piles of amazing food; on the contrary, the Christmas cheer was so overwhelming that he couldn't help but be distracted from his near-constant worry. But in quiet moments he felt the fear creep back in.

He missed his mother.

It was a bit embarrassing for a strapping boy of twelve to admit; much less a Gryffindor, but that didn't make it any less true. He wanted to be at home with uncle Algie and his mother just like every year. Christmas had always been a time for family in the Longbottom household. Frank didn't know how Severus could bear always staying at Hogwarts instead of going home for the holidays. If he missed his parents, he never let it show.

Remus however, was like Frank in that he couldn't hide that trace of sadness. He covered it well with smiles and jokes but misery recognized misery and even a spectacular Hogwarts Christmas couldn't stop them from missing their families.

This left a deeply discomforted Severus as the only available candidate to try and cheer them up. He really wasn't very good at it, but he tried. Eventually in a fit of frustration he snarled at Remus and demanded to know if the vaunted Marauders—he impressively made the name sound like a dirty word—had discovered anything remotely interesting on their self-appointed mission to examine every nook and cranny of the castle.

From the way Remus' face lit up, apparently they had.

Augusta Longbottom was exhausted.

She and Alastor had led their team into numerous skirmishes against petty crooks and criminals with 'airs' before. Each and every one had been nasty, corrupt and usually extremely violent, but she could honestly say that none of them had been evil. But what Voldemort was doing; lighting up scenes of slaughter with that repulsive Dark Mark, leaving 'presents' of Aurors tortured to the brink of death and well into insanity on the Ministry steps, sending his Death Eaters out to kill, maim and torture innocents for no other crime than existing…

She'd seen true evil once before. Even as a child she'd recognized it—Grindlewald may have been insane but he'd taken cruelty to new heights. And it seemed as if Voldemort was determined to surpass him. She shuddered at the thought. Everyone knew the situation was rapidly spiraling out of control, even if no-one wanted to admit it. Voldemort was growing bolder with every atrocity the Aurors failed to prevent.

Augusta didn't think the Wizarding world was ready for another war so soon after Grindlewald. Unfortunately, she was fairly sure that was exactly what Voldemort was counting on.

Which, in typical Longbottom stubbornness, only made her more resolved to see him rotting in Azkaban.

oOoOoOo

"Constant vigilance!" Alastor barked in her ear and Augusta didn't even try to stop her reflexive hex. Her partner simply spun to the side, letting it fly harmlessly past him before facing her wintery stare.

"Don't treat me like a raw recruit, Moody," she warned, her already thin patience dangerously close to snapping.

"Just checking," he replied gruffly, ignoring the weary grins that lit the faces of their team. The surviving members of their team. Of the twenty that left the Ministry, only fourteen were coming back. Auror numbers had been falling with every Death Eater raid or ambush they faced. It didn't help that the 'presents' left at the Ministry, apart from simply lowering morale, had also made most of her colleagues determined not to be captured alive.

"You looked like you were walking around in a daze," he accused softly. "I knew you should have taken that Pepper-up!"

Her hand lifted briefly to the side of her head, just below her hat. The wound had been completely healed of course but the blood still looked horrific. "It was only a scratch," she said dismissively. "There were others who needed it more."

She gave him a significant look and his brown eyes narrowed. The blood splattered across his face didn't exactly hide the fact that a chunk of his nose was now missing.

"Who brings a knife to a duel?" he grumped, gingerly poking his face. "It's not just stupid, it's barbaric!"

"Constant vigilance," Augusta responded drily.

The laughter that broke out behind them was rapidly choked off when Alastor gave them a Look over his shoulder. Still the atmosphere had lightened somewhat as she made her way over to where two of her men were crouched over a battered shoe. One of them had a striped purple stocking on his otherwise bare foot.

"Progress," she demanded.

The Auror missing a shoe looked up. "We're about ready, Commander," he reported smartly. "The portkey should bring us to the atrium. We'll be back at Headquarters in no time."

"Excellent Stibbons," she said crisply. "All right everyone, gather around!"

As the rest of the team converged, Alastor took her elbow. "I don't like this," he muttered furtively. "We should just Apparate."

Augusta gave a pointed look towards the men and women currently trading barbs about Stibbons' fashion sense—or lack thereof. Several were swaying slightly, either from blood loss or residual curse damage.

"No-one is in a condition to Apparate right now," she retorted quietly, "not even us."

She raised an incredulous brow at Moody's automatic protest and he scowled.

"Splinching ourselves would be like rolling out the welcome mat for any lucky Death Eater and you know it," she said with a tone of finality as she moved to join the others.

Alastor muttered a few epithets under his breath but followed grudgingly. The mere thought of being defenseless against an enemy was enough to forestall his instinctive paranoia. It was far better to take the direct route home. With a portkey they'd be in the heart of the Ministry within seconds.

"Ready?"

At the host of tired nods, Augusta raised her wand. Everyone grabbed a piece of the shoe as she intoned, "Portus!"

A/N: Please review and share your thoughts! ^_^