Though Remus had insisted they go, all three of the other Marauders signed up to stay for Christmas. It was their last year, they said, and they wanted to spend it with each other. He tried to tell them that he'd be spending Christmas in the Hospital Wing this year, but they wouldn't listen. In fact, that was why they'd decided to stay in the first place. When Lily found out what they were doing, she'd signed up to stay, too. "Anything to get away from Petunia and her new fiancée," she said, wrinkling her nose at the thought of spending Christmas with Petunia and her beau, Vernon Dursley.

Sirius had just hung the last bit of tinsel when Remus walked into the Shrieking Shack. "Merlin," he breathed. "Did you do all this?"

"Happy Christmas, Moons," Sirius grinned. He pointed above Remus. "I do believe you're standing under mistletoe."

Remus looked up and frowned. "I'm not."

"Oh, my mistake. I must just really want to kiss you."

Remus laughed and allowed Sirius to give him a quick kiss. "Thank you. For this."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You don't have to thank me, Moony. This is what boyfriends do."

"Ah. I'll be sure to decorate your hiding place next time you turn into a bloody werewolf."

Sirius rolled his eyes and snuck in one last kiss before James and Peter joined them in the shack.

XXX

They'd been to almost every part of the forrest by now, except the part with the giant spiders, which honestly Sirius had tried to get into as a dog, and they'd still tried to eat him alive. After that, Remus and even James made him promise to steer clear.

Thus, the Marauders devoted most of their time to their favorite haunts, where the trees were spread out enough that they could run freely. They sometimes journeyed to the edge of Hogsmede, where James and Sirius walked on either side of Remus to keep him in check. That night, they made their way to a clearing to roll around in the snow, James' antlers covered with Christmas lights Sirius had put on ("Gotta be festive, Prongs. It's Christmas!") before transforming himself.

Sirius had emerged from a rather large pile of snow when he heard it – low growling, the kind Moony made when he found another creature traipsing along in his forrest. But it wasn't coming from Remus. Two other werewolves emerged from the bushes along the clearing, staring down Padfoot and Prongs.

Before Sirius could move, Remus was in front of him, making the same low growl and baring his teeth. Sirius bared his teeth as well and made to move beside Remus, but Remus kept cutting him off, sending him a clear message: Go. Run. I'll fight them.

Quickly, Sirius leapt to Remus' other side, along with James, who still had Christmas lights hanging off his antlers. Maybe Moony would be angry with them later, but Sirius wasn't about to let him do this alone.

The werewolves lunged and so did the Marauders, minus Peter – where was he now? –Sirius with his jaws snapping and James antlers first. Together, they tackled one of the wolves, but he was too strong, even for the two of them. He took a swipe at James and barely missed, and suddenly Moony was on them, too, pushing them away and taking on both of the other wolves at once, although he'd already seriously injured the first.

Sirius lunged back into the fight, taking the first wolf from behind and clamping his jaws on his neck. The wolf gave a sharp whine and tried to throw Padfoot off his back, but Padfoot had already leapt off. From the other side, Prongs knocked him over with a hard shove from his hooves. The wolf snarled and lunged again and Prongs, but Moony flew in from out of nowhere, the other werewolf dead on the ground.

Bleeding from the snout and from the side, Remus pinned the second werewolf to the ground and went for the throat. With one last whine, the wolf twitched and was still.

Remus staggered forward suddenly and turned to James and Sirius. Sirius saw now that the wound on his side was a bite, one that would surely be worse once Remus became human again. The scratches on his face were pretty deep, and Sirius saw now that he'd hurt his right leg, too, the same leg he'd broken in their third year. He hoped, at least, that the blood on Remus' muzzle was from the dead wolves.

Peter emerged from the trees and hopped onto James' antlers as James went to Remus' right side, the one that wasn't bleeding, and let Remus lean against him. Sirius stood by his right and together they started walking. Prongs turned to start back the way they came, but Sirius let out a quiet bark and turned the other way, toward Hogwarts. James followed, the message received. It was almost dawn, and they wanted to get Remus as close as they could to the castle before the sun came up.

They'd reached the edge of the forrest when Remus gave a tell-tale shutter that Sirius knew meant he was transforming. His bones twisted back into shape and his whole body shrank until he was human again, and Remus promptly collapsed face-first into the snow.

Peter leapt off James' head and ran toward the castle. Sirius became human again as well with a small pop. "Remus!" He turned Remus over onto his back. Sirius been right about his injuries – they all looked much worse now, but especially the one on his side …

"S-Sirius," Remus gasped, his eyes unfocused. "I'm cold."

"S'ok," he said. "You're okay. Wormy's getting help." On Remus' left now, James had taken off his cloak and was using it to try to stem the blood. He couldn't fix the wounds with magic, Sirius knew. Not werewolf bites. The Christmas lights Sirius had strung on James' antlers twinkled where they'd fallen in the snow.

James looked up and Remus and gave him a watery smile. "You saved us all, Re."

Remus tried to smile back, but it quickly turned into a grimace. His blood seeped into the snow on the ground. "I – can't –"

"Shh, don't talk," Sirius said, grasping Remus' hand. "Just focus on me. Focus on my voice, okay?" Remus nodded, his eyes screwed up tight, and Sirius said, "Remember our first full moon together? You were so worried we'd all be scared, and maybe Wormtail was, a little, but it was so great, Moony. We were so free, and we got to see so much, explore the grounds. We got to be together, yeah? I didn't like seeing you in p-pain, of course, but after, and just, you're so free when you're a w-wolf, y'know that? And playful. I didn't expect that, but y-you're kind of just like a great big dog. We got together soon after that. Two of the h-happiest nights of my life, Moons. All because of you. Always because of you."

Sirius glanced up when he heard footsteps approaching, large and loud. Hagrid ran over from the direction of the castle, Peter puffing behind him, and said, "Let me take 'im to the Hospital Wing."

James and Sirius stood aside for Hagrid, who scooped Remus up in his arms and ran back toward the castle, the boys right behind him. In the brief moment he'd been swept up in Hagrid's arms, Remus had lost consciousness, the whites of his eyes barely visible from under their lids. They ran into the Hospital Wing almost a minute after Hagrid had made it. Professor McGonagall, already in her robes at this early hour, turned to the three of them. "Hagrid, get them outside," she said, before disappearing behind the curtain surrounding a bed at the end of the room.

"Yeh heard her," Hagrid said quietly. "He'll be okay. I'm sure of it."

It wasn't until the three of them followed Hagrid outside, missing one of their own, that Sirius wiped his face and realized he'd been crying.

XXX

It was mere minutes that McGonagall left them outside the hospital wing, but to Sirius, it felt like hours. She stood before them pale, her lips twitching. "Please, tell me what happened."

Peter stepped forward. "We wanted to surprise Remus, for Christmas," he said. "We were going to wait outside the Shrieking Shack and all go in together to Madam Pomfrey and get breakfast, but he came out of the woods." Peter paused for a breath and said, "He said there were werewolves in the forrest and then he collapsed."

James' eyes had widened slightly as Peter's tale, but McGonagall was too focused on Peter to notice.

"Will he be okay?" Sirius asked, his voice trembling slightly.

McGonagall's lips twitched down again. "We don't know," she said. "We've called in healers from St. Mungo's. They're here now, with Remus. But he's a fighter. If anyone can …" She swallowed and said, "We'll let the three of you know as soon as there's news." With that, she turned around and went back inside the room where Remus might have been dying.

XXX

"James!"

All three of them turned as Lily came at them. They were all sitting outside of the hospital wing, Sirius in the middle with James' arm around him, waiting for news. "I saw Hagrid at breakfast, he told me … Remus … What happened?"

James stood – he was still covered in Remus' blood, Sirius realized, and so was Sirius – and went to her. In a barely a whisper, he said, "Werewolves in the forrest. Remus, he saved us. And –" James took a shuttering breath and Lily embraced him, burying her head in his shoulder. "Now, he's …" James sobbed and took another breath. "They don't know, Lily."

Lily rested her head on James' shoulder and motioned behind his back to Sirius and Peter. Together, the two of them stood and joined them.

XXX

It was just after three o'clock when Peter's stomach rumbled. Loudly.

"You all should eat something," Lily said. "You haven't eaten breakfast –"

"M'not hungry," Sirius muttered.

"No, she's right," James said. "I'll get us something from the kitchens and come right back, okay?" Sirius and Peter nodded. "Pete, come with me?"

Peter nodded again and stood. James gave Lily a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving with Peter.

Lily took Sirius' hand as their friends turned the corner. "He will be okay," Lily said. "He – he has to be."

Sirius glanced up at Lily, her green eyes brimming with tears, and he finally broke down, shaking and sobbing on Lily's shoulder. She held him hard, whispering, "It's going to be okay. It has to be." Even after James and Peter returned with the food, none of them ate much.

XXX

It had been dark for a few hours when McGonagall finally came outside. "He'll live," she said.

Sirius, having stood up immediately (knocking a dozing Peter to the side), slumped back against the wall and put his hands over his face. James stood as well and put an arm around him. "Can we see him?" James asked.

McGonagall nodded and opened the door. "His dad just left," she said, leading them inside. "He'll be back tomorrow."

Madam Pomfrey had been covering Remus with a blanket when they walked in, but Sirius managed to catch a glimpse of Remus' torso and the bandage wrapped around most of it. A thick orange paste covered the bridge of Remus' nose and sloped onto both cheeks where he would surely have another scar. His right leg lay straighter than his left, and Sirius knew that under the blanket and maroon pajama pants it must be wrapped in bandages, too.

Sirius sat on Remus' right and intertwined their fingers. Peter and Lily sat on the other side, while James stood behind Sirius.

"I'll give you an hour," Madam Pomfrey said. "And then you all go back to your dorm and rest."

James and Lily nodded. Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall turned and walked into their office. As soon as they closed the door, James whipped out his wand and whispered "Muffliato."

"Do you think they found the werewolves from last night yet?" Peter asked as soon as Lily turned back to them.

"Probably," James said, taking a seat on the bed behind Sirius. "What's left of them."

"Unless someone else found them first," Lily said. "Maybe they weren't the only ones on the ground last night."

Peter shuttered. "How could there be more of them?"

"They're hunting," Lily said. "They must've forgotten it's Christmas, or maybe last night was supposed to be practice, to see if they could get on the grounds. They must be recruiting."

Sirius held Remus' hand tighter. James put a hand on Sirius' shoulder and said, "We'll stop them." When no one said anything, James repeated, "We have to stop them."

After an hour had passed, Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall came back into the Hospital Wing. "Time's up, and it's almost midnight," Madam Pomfrey said. "I want all of you to get some rest.

James, Lily, and Peter stood up, but Sirius said, "Can I stay? In the next bed, so I don't move him too much."

"Mr. Black –"

"I just want to be here. If he wakes up."

Madam Pomfrey glanced at McGonagall, who nodded. "Alright," she said. "Just this once."

The others bade Sirius goodnight and left. Madam Pomfrey offered him pajamas to match Remus' and he changed into them gratefully. He fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

XXX

For a moment, Sirius couldn't place what had woken him. Was James snoring in the next bed in their dorm? Was Euphemia calling him down to breakfast at the Potters'? It took a second for him to realize that he was in the hospital wing, and he'd woken because Remus was moving in the next bed.

He jumped out from under the blankets and went to Remus' side.

"Sirius?" Remus whispered. He winced and his hand went to his side.

"You're alright, Love. You're in the hospital wing, but you're alright."

Sirius watched it all come back. "The werewolves …" Remus' eyes widened. "James and Peter? Are they okay?"

"They're fine," Sirius said, brushing Remus' hair back from his forehead. "I think James got a single scratch. They're all in the dorm."

Remus grimaced and said, "Can I have some water?"

Sirius nodded and filled a cup from the pitcher beside Remus. With Sirius' help, he took a few slow sips with shaking hands.

"Thanks."

"You saved our lives, Moons."

"Mmm." Remus was already slipping away from him, back into dreams. Sirius slipped in beside him – although he knew he'd hear it from Madam Pomfrey in the morning – and put an arm around Remus' shoulders. In his sleep, Remus sighed and burrowed his head in Sirius' shoulder. That was how Lily found them in the morning, the other boys still asleep in the Gryffindor common room: Remus' head turned to Sirius, Sirius' arm around Remus, and both of them completely in love.