A/N: Part Two of the Christmas Chronicles as I "sleep" waiting for Santa and watching Dralion! (I LOVE Cirque du Soleil) Please read Year One, if I don't decide to make this chaptered out, it explains a few things.
Christmas Chronicles: Year Two—In Which the Marauders Visit the North Pole
It was Christmas holidays in their second year, and again, the four Gryffindor boys Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were all staying at Hogwarts for the second year in a row, the first in which they all became friends in pranking, and established themselves as the Marauders.
"Are we going to do the same thing we did last year?" Remus asked the other boys after coming back from lunch on Christmas Eve and they were alone in the Common Room.
"Yes," Sirius began, "it's an official tradition, as of…last year."
"Remember Malfoy's gift-backs?" James said with a laugh. "I found a spell to make this ring that his father gave him eat away at his skin. And remember the blonding hair potion, his hair was changing shades of purple and pink for weeks before he realised that it was what was making his hair change colours."
"I broke his broom," Peter said, "and I can't remember what else."
"Oh, what was it?" Sirius said to himself. "I can't remember either, but I turned his gift box of perfumes and soaps and crap like that into urine. And I made his box of chocolate frogs try to eat him instead!"
"That was great," James said, "tried to open one in the Great Hall, had him running through the halls for hours until one of the professors took pity on him and uncharmed the frog."
"I just filled his new clothes with moths, and a hat he got with lice," Remus said, finally putting his book down.
"Anyway, back to business," Sirius said once they had all finished laughing, "we're going to do it again tonight, everything, except this time we're not going to get caught."
"We haven't gotten caught since James's father sent him that nifty cloak," Remus pointed out.
"Yes, I know, but it happened last time, it could happen again," Sirius said.
"Well, at least we didn't get in trouble," James pointed out, "and we got our nifty name though being caught."
"Right you are James," Sirius began, "but, we needn't a nifty name, now do we? And we don't want to risk getting in trouble again, do we?"
"Very true," James answered.
They made it through dinner acting perfectly normal, and even into bed in their dormitories. At midnight, the four of them sat up simultaneously, as they had set their watches to each other's. James got his cloak and they piled under it, on their way down to the dungeons.
They made it down the stair cases and to the dungeons with no difficulty, even if they hadn't the cloak. They found the right brick, tapped it three times, and were dashing down the staircases. Peter suddenly stopped.
"Hey, look. It's a painting, I can't tell of what though," Peter exclaimed.
"Shush! We'll come back this way, and we can look at it, I don't ever remember a painting being here," Sirius told him.
"To work now," James whispered as they approached the Second Year Dormitories, "same jobs. Sirius, Remus, and I will transfigure the drapes to coal, and Peter you look out."
The four boys nodded and went to work. It took relatively no time, and they were up the stairs to snatch some of Malfoy's gifts to "improve".
As Sirius promised to Peter, they took the secret passageway back and stopped to look at the painting.
"Lumos!" James whispered. In the painting, snow was falling freely, and they could make out a large house, leading up to the door was what looked like oversized candy canes."
"They just look like you could eat them," Peter said, grabbing at one of the candy canes. All of a sudden, Peter shrunk and appeared in the painting. He looked around frantically in the painting.
"Brilliant," James whispered, "I'm going next," he said, jumping into the painting. Sirius grabbed Remus's wrist and followed.
"Where are we?" Peter asked.
"The north pole, dummy," James said, pointing at a sign that read 'The North Pole'.
"Oooh," Peter answered stupidly. "It's cold," he complained, "can't we go inside, it has to be warm!"
"I don't see any harm," Sirius answered.
"Sirius," Remus began, "you wouldn't see any harm in riding a rampaging hippogriff right into the Minister of Magic.
"James would help me!" Sirius protested, "it's an interesting idea, anyway."
James laughed and led the way up to the old house and knocked on the door.
"Hello?" a small voice greeted them. The four boys looked down to see a small elf. "Shouldn't you boys be in bed, asleep? Waiting for Santa?"
"Erm, that's the thing," James began, "you see, we were…putting out milk and cookies for Santa, and we saw this really pretty painting, and Peter here," he said, gesturing to the plump boy with light brown hair, "had to stupidly touch it, and we got sent here."
"Oh, right. You'd be Hogwarts boys, wouldn't you?" the elf asked. The four boys nodded. "Come in, then. Mr. Claus should be restocking any time now. He'll get you back home safely."
"I thought there was no such thing as Santa?" Sirius whispered to James.
"Very interesting point," the elf answered. "A long while a go, there was a boy, Nyassus Malfoy, and he was never good, always cruel and malicious, ever since the day he was born. Well, of course, he got coal, like all bad boys did at that time. So his father began taking the coal out, and replacing them with large and elaborate gifts. One night, the boy caught his father, the word was spread, and soon parents were expected leave the presents. So now, Santa delivers only those families who truly believe, and those not fortunate enough to have a real Christmas."
"Who are these boys?" asked a jolly voice from behind them. Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter turned around to see Santa Claus standing there.
It wasn't the regular department store-pillow-stuffed, fake-bearded man dressed up, it was the genuine Santa, with rosy red cheeks, plump and smiling.
"I'm Sirius Black," Sirius said, "and this is James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew," he continued pointed to each of them in turn.
"Well, what can I do for you boys?"
"You can take us home, er, to Hogwarts, please, sir," James answered a bit quickly.
"Hogwarts, tell me boys, what year are you in?"
"Second," answered four voices.
And House?
"Gryffindor," they answered.
"Right then, if you'll help me pack up my sleigh, we can get you back to school," Santa answered.
"Thank you," they all said together.
And they packed up the sleigh, and helped Santa deliver presents to people all over Europe before coming down the fireplace in Gryffindor Tower, though they all had to creep back down to the dungeons to get the Invisibility cloak.
They, as always made it down there uncaught. They wrapped the cloak around them and ran back up the stairs to the ground floor, and found the stair cases again, however running up the first flight, they ran into something—er, someone. It was Dumbledore! The boys ran around them, and heard him chuckle softly.
"They were all breathing hard and laughing when they collapsed on the Common Room floor sprawled in different directions."
"That is the last time we're getting caught!" James exclaimed once he could breathe without laughing.
"I agree with you wholeheartedly." Sirius nodded.
"But how?" Remus asked.
"Maybe, some sort of map," James began, "and we can charm it so that it shows where everyone in the castle is. It'll have all of Hogwarts on it."
"And it shall be called," Sirius began dramatically standing up, "The Marauders Map."
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY, I HOPE EVERYBODY HAD A GOOD CHRISTMAS!