AN: sorry for the delay. . . I've been making daily trips to the hospital, and couldn't find much time to update.

Hope you like the chapter!

~~~

The door was unlocked.

Rebecca stepped into the empty flat, thoroughly exhausted. She reached her hand into her pocket, her eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness. Out of instinct, she went for her wand to light it.

She groaned and hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. She still had no wand.

Giving up on light, she felt for the couch in front of her, and dropped down. She didn't intend on sleeping there, but now that she was already down, she didn't feel like getting up.

Honestly, she didn't really care.

She covered her face with a pillow in an attempt to rid herself of the pounding headache. She'd been walking through Diagon Alley with Remus for an hour, which would have been nice if it wasn't spent reliving the entire past month.

Her head was throbbing with pain and stress. She'd told him everything. . .

Everything except one small detail.

She'd looked up into his face filled with a mixture of worry, pity and anger - that firm look in his eyes that wouldn't soften no matter what she said.

She didn't have the heart to make him feel any more pain than he was already enduring. On the other hand, he would find out sooner or later, and it would be better if it were sooner.

~~~~~~~~~~

However, the next few weeks kept her busy enough to push away any thoughts of telling Remus what she hadn't told him before. She'd explained her story some umpteen times - she couldn't say no when everyone was just as genuinely concerned as the one before them.

Along with other news, Rebecca had heard something about Lucius getting married to Narcissa Black. Clearly, he had signed the divorce papers Rebecca gave him.

As Christmas drew nearer, it became even more suicidal to travel to London - what with all the crazed muggle shoppers everywhere. It was just as packed in Diagon Alley, but not as bad in Hogsmeade, seeing as how it was a bit more secluded.

Luckily, the full moon didn't fall on Christmas or Christmas Eve, but the night before.

Sirius, Peter and James all showed up at Remus's around six. Since they no longer had the Shrieking Shack, they would be using the woods behind his house.

The only thing that bothered Remus (the others were, of course, unaware of this) was that these were the woods where he'd been bitten as a little boy.

"What did you tell Lily?" Peter asked James. Lily knew about Remus suffering from lycanthrope, but she had no clue that James, Peter and Sirius accompanied him every month.

James shrugged. "Said I had work for the Order."

Remus laughed, "Well, at least you're at the right place for that."

"Of course," Sirius said quietly, "we warned the members not to stop by headquarters tonight." He eyed Remus darkly.

Remus frowned. He must have imagined the look Sirius gave him because the next instant, it was gone.

"Well," said Remus after a moment. "We should probably go in before the moon rises. Get some cover so no one sees me."

The other three nodded and plunged into the trees after him.

They couldn't hear anything except the snapping of twigs under their feet and the distant hooting of wild owls who were just beginning to awaken.

They had walked a far distance before they heard Peter cry out in pain. James, Sirius and Remus turned around and saw that Peter was clutching his arm as if it were bleeding.

They stopped and gave him a questioning look. "Clipped by a branch," he muttered, hiding his arm from view. Pushing it aside, they continued deeper into the woods.

Remus's gaze traveled upwards, and his eyes met the glow of the rising moon, filtering through the trees. An odd shiver passed through his body, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

The next time he looked down beside him, he saw not Sirius and James - but Padfoot and Prongs.

He figured Wormtail was hiding in the bushes, like he always did when Remus transformed. But before he could think any further, the moon rose to a clearing in the branches - hitting him full blast.

He stalled in mid-step, and the Marauders backed away as he began to transform. It was quick, but excruciatingly painful. He tentatively opened his eyes when he felt himself lower to all fours, and found himself staring down at his own paws.

Fury and raw hunger overpowered his common sense, as it always did. A giant shaggy black dog growled at him, baring its teeth menacingly. Overcome with rage and the instinct to defend himself, he growled back.

A stag emerged from behind a thick oak tree, and snorted loudly. It was much taller than the wolf, and definitely had an advantage over him. However, neither of the two animals attacked.

His anger was ebbing away, corroded by the silence. He looked to both animals, whom he slowly began to recognize as his friends.

He hung his head to show that he'd surrendered, and he heard Prongs exhale loudly.

He waited for Wormtail to emerge from where he was hiding, but it never happened. Mentally shrugging, he figured he was somewhere around here. . .

~~~~~~~~~~

Peter apparated to the usual cave. He tried to refrain from looking at the sky - the face of the full moon would only remind him of who he'd left behind.

His arm was still throbbing, but at least now he could let go of it.

He heard hushed voices ahead, and before long, the voices became more distinguishable - forming words.

"I am aware of that, Lucius." Peter recognized this voice as his master's.

"My lord, it would not get in the way of our progress."

"As a faithful servant, you will not question your master's decision. I will have her taken care of."

"But - my lord,"

"Crucio!"

Peter turned away, but didn't dare cover his ears. The screaming and wailing pierced him like daggers. A man as distinguished as Lucius Malfoy, writhing on the ground in a fetal position was more than he could bear to watch.

Finally, when the screaming stopped, Voldemort spoke again. "Rebecca Waters is of no matter now. We have more important people to watch out for, and to get rid of." He turned to Peter, and smiled. He was, of course, talking about the Order.

"You're late," Severus Snape hissed in his ear, but Peter didn't do so much as glance at him. He was afraid that the moment he looked away from his master - the moment he turned his back - he would suffer the same curse as Malfoy.

"Whatever information I can provide, I'm willing to," Peter said.

Voldemort remained expressionless, and didn't answer. He only stood still, his eyes fixed on Peter. Peter made to look away, aware that Voldemort was raiding his thoughts, but it was too late, the dark Lord was smirking.

"James Potter," he said, and Peter blanched. "I take it you know him well?"

Peter, unaware of what to do, shook his head.

"Don't lie to me," Voldemort replied lazily.

Peter nodded his head. "Yes," he heard himself say.

"It has been incredibly difficult to track him down," Voldemort said, giving Peter a sidelong glance.

Peter lowered his eyes to the ground, and told the closest thing to the truth he could think of. "Well, he moves around a lot. I couldn't tell you where he was unless I was with him."

"That can be arranged," the Dark Lord replied, clearly satisfied. Peter's breath was heavy with regret and hatred towards himself. He was slowly - ever so gradually - killing his own friends.

~~~~~~~~~~

Remus, Peter, Rebecca, and Sirius spent Christmas Day at James and Lily's house. They could all tell that James was trying his hardest to enjoy it, but couldn't help but notice the dead look in his eyes every time he looked around the room.

It was his first Christmas without his family, and everything - the stairs, the portraits, the furniture, even right down to every last doorknob - reminded him of them.

Rebecca was overcome with an inexplicable joy when she opened her present from Remus; a wand.

Sirius had acquired a number of gifts including a leather jacket, a multitude of anonymous love letters undoubtedly from girls who'd known him from school, and some Zonko's products.

James had gotten a book called, "Pranks for Dummies" (this had earned Sirius a harsh glare) and another one called, "How to Annoy People and Get Away With It".

Peter felt guilty for accepting gifts from people he would eventually hand over, but didn't complain. He opened the one from Sirius - it was an unbreakable pocketknife that never went dull.

Finally, they came down to the last present, which was from Rebecca to Lily. When she opened it, she gasped, and everyone - except for James and Rebecca - looked absolutely befuddled.

Lily was holding up light blue baby's pajamas. James was laughing softly, and Lily was looking incredulously at Rebecca.

"How did you know?" she asked.

Rebecca shrugged, smiling. "I have my ways."

"Know what?" Remus asked, staring avidly at the small clothes.

Lily was still looking at Rebecca, but a small bit of understanding was creeping into her face. "That I'm having a baby."

"You are?" Sirius asked James, his eyes wide with excitement.

James shook his head. "No, she is."

Lily was frowning. "But they're blue."

James frowned as well. "Hey, I like blue."

Lily shook her head in exasperation. "No, I mean what if it's a girl?"

"It won't be," Rebecca answered confidently.

Lily started catching on, everyone knew Rebecca was a Seer, and her face became flushed with excitement. "When's he due?" she asked breathlessly, getting carried away with herself.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Lily, I'm not that receptive."

"Between a month and two years," Sirius offered thoughtfully.

"Thank you, Padfoot," James replied sarcastically.

Lily laughed quietly, and shook her head.

"What?" James asked her curiously.

"Oh, it's just you've been using those stupid names since, what, our fifth year?" Lily said.

Rebecca nodded, turning to Remus. "Yeah, that's what I'd like to know."

"Know what?" Peter replied, his voice cracking slightly.

Lily rolled her eyes at them. "What your names mean, of course."

There was a long pause while the four of them exchanged uneasy glances.

"Well," Sirius began. "Moony's pretty obvious. Remus being what he is." Remus shot him a warning look, and James gave him a good kick.

"So they do mean something!" Lily said triumphantly.

James was shaking his head nervously. "No, the other names just - " he looked to Sirius for help. "Sounded cool," he finished.

Lily seemed slightly put out by this, but Rebecca didn't buy it. Maybe it was her gift of Sight, or that she just couldn't help being skeptical - she somehow knew they were hiding something.

*I was a Ravenclaw,* she told herself. *I can figure this out.*

"So," Peter began nervously - breaking the silence that had settled. "Have any plans for today? Eh, James?"

James's face fell even more. He looked intently at his friend and asked, "Why?"

"James and I were going into Hogsmeade for lunch," Lily said, giving James a nudge in the arm. "Weren't we, James?"

James snapped out of his trance. "Yeah," he replied distantly, his brow furrowed. He couldn't help notice that Peter was sweating - despite the fact that it was snowing outside and the window was open.

AN: Wow. This chapter is dark, dark, dark. *grumbles* it's a full moon and I'm kinda hyper. But, unfortunately this isn't really a story off of sugar- highs. Gosh dang it!

Oh well. Hope you like! Oh, and about the chapter title, I know it's weird, but I was suddenly obsessed with symbolism, so. . . yeah.

Merry Christmas, and GO SEE RETURN OF THE KING!