Christmas . . .
Wait.
Christmas?
Oh yeah. Christmas.
Nothing to be too excited about, Remus thought miserably when he first woke up. Christmas was never really exciting anyway.
And to make it worse, he was spending Christmas in a whole new environment with a whole lot of different people.
He was in his first year at Hogwarts. And it was Christmas Day.
Like before, nothing to be too excited about, although his friends were overexcited about it.
Friends?
Oh yeah. Them. James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew.
And he was Remus Lupin, the boy who seemed to be in the middle of it all. Truthfully, he was sitting on the sidelines, watching from a distance.
His friends. Were they really his friends? It appeared so. But was it a true friendship?
And why was he questioning such a thing on Christmas Day? Wasn't Christmas supposed to be merry?
Remus reluctantly dragged himself out of bed and changed. He saw that his dorm mates were still asleep. Shouldn't they be up by now? It must be very early in the morning, he thought. To confirm his beliefs, he looked out the window and saw a grey sky - the midnight blue only barely tainted by the rising sun.
He shrugged and trudged down to the common room, giving the decorations, lights, presents, and Christmas tree barely a glance. Christmas - a secular holiday on December 25 when people traditionally exchange presents and greetings. He didn't care, though. He never really cared. Back home, Christmas wasn't enjoyable. He was always left out because of - well - his lycanthropy.
His family was down right scared of him. He only remained in their custody because they feared he would run wild and kill everyone in sight and the blame would be on them. They knew what to do with him, at least. Lock him up on a full moon. Tend to his wounds the next day. That was all they needed to do. That was all they really cared to do.
Typical response to a bloodthirsty monster, he supposed.
He sat up on the windowsill, drawing his legs to his chest, and stared blankly out the glass. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window. He didn't notice the three pairs of eyes staring at him from behind. Until -
"Happy Christmas, Remmie!" three voices shouted at once.
Startled, Remus nearly tumbled from his perch on the sill, but managed to catch himself at the last minute. Eyes now wide-open, he turned his head to look at his friends.
James, Peter, and Sirius were standing only four feet away, grinning as wide as a grin could get. Sirius tramped over to him and literally picked him up and took him over to the Christmas tree.
Remus looked at them quizzically.
Still grinning widely, they searched around the tree until finding three neatly wrapped presents.
"For you," James said, setting his present in front of Remus.
"M - me?!" Remus stammered in a small squeak.
"Yes, you, silly." In an instant two other presents were before him.
Sirius nudged him. "Well, go on. Open them!" he said encouragingly.
Remus shook his head frantically. "B - but I didn't get you guys presents!" he admitted. "I don't deserve presents . . ."
"It doesn't matter if you got us anything or not," Peter said softly. "Your friendship is enough for us."
He felt tears burning his eyes. Friendship? Their friendship was real?!
Yes. It was.
It didn't take another second for those tears to spill over and Remus sat there weeping, clinging to his friends in happiness and relief.
With his friends' arms around him, hugging him like a friend, embracing him like a brother, he knew that this would be his first real Christmas - the first real Christmas he would spend with his friends, the people who loved him.
Wait.
Christmas?
Oh yeah. Christmas.
Nothing to be too excited about, Remus thought miserably when he first woke up. Christmas was never really exciting anyway.
And to make it worse, he was spending Christmas in a whole new environment with a whole lot of different people.
He was in his first year at Hogwarts. And it was Christmas Day.
Like before, nothing to be too excited about, although his friends were overexcited about it.
Friends?
Oh yeah. Them. James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew.
And he was Remus Lupin, the boy who seemed to be in the middle of it all. Truthfully, he was sitting on the sidelines, watching from a distance.
His friends. Were they really his friends? It appeared so. But was it a true friendship?
And why was he questioning such a thing on Christmas Day? Wasn't Christmas supposed to be merry?
Remus reluctantly dragged himself out of bed and changed. He saw that his dorm mates were still asleep. Shouldn't they be up by now? It must be very early in the morning, he thought. To confirm his beliefs, he looked out the window and saw a grey sky - the midnight blue only barely tainted by the rising sun.
He shrugged and trudged down to the common room, giving the decorations, lights, presents, and Christmas tree barely a glance. Christmas - a secular holiday on December 25 when people traditionally exchange presents and greetings. He didn't care, though. He never really cared. Back home, Christmas wasn't enjoyable. He was always left out because of - well - his lycanthropy.
His family was down right scared of him. He only remained in their custody because they feared he would run wild and kill everyone in sight and the blame would be on them. They knew what to do with him, at least. Lock him up on a full moon. Tend to his wounds the next day. That was all they needed to do. That was all they really cared to do.
Typical response to a bloodthirsty monster, he supposed.
He sat up on the windowsill, drawing his legs to his chest, and stared blankly out the glass. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window. He didn't notice the three pairs of eyes staring at him from behind. Until -
"Happy Christmas, Remmie!" three voices shouted at once.
Startled, Remus nearly tumbled from his perch on the sill, but managed to catch himself at the last minute. Eyes now wide-open, he turned his head to look at his friends.
James, Peter, and Sirius were standing only four feet away, grinning as wide as a grin could get. Sirius tramped over to him and literally picked him up and took him over to the Christmas tree.
Remus looked at them quizzically.
Still grinning widely, they searched around the tree until finding three neatly wrapped presents.
"For you," James said, setting his present in front of Remus.
"M - me?!" Remus stammered in a small squeak.
"Yes, you, silly." In an instant two other presents were before him.
Sirius nudged him. "Well, go on. Open them!" he said encouragingly.
Remus shook his head frantically. "B - but I didn't get you guys presents!" he admitted. "I don't deserve presents . . ."
"It doesn't matter if you got us anything or not," Peter said softly. "Your friendship is enough for us."
He felt tears burning his eyes. Friendship? Their friendship was real?!
Yes. It was.
It didn't take another second for those tears to spill over and Remus sat there weeping, clinging to his friends in happiness and relief.
With his friends' arms around him, hugging him like a friend, embracing him like a brother, he knew that this would be his first real Christmas - the first real Christmas he would spend with his friends, the people who loved him.