Authors Note- Thank you so much, all of you who reviewed! I am constantly blown away by how many thoughtful reviews I've received for this story. You guys rock! Now, as you can see, I've managed to get this seventh chapter finished- quite rapidly, actually. Can't make any promises for the next chapter, though. Now for review replies-
NightSpear-Thanks! I'm glad to see that people think I've done Lily right- I was a bit worried about that. Romulus is mean, yes, but I have more for him to do later (boo, hiss)- you haven't seen the last of him. Anghenfil- actually, Remus wasn't lying, it actually does mean "freak"- or "monster." He just translated it the kindest way, as he said.
Kady Rilla Wholi- thanks so much for the review! As to writing a prequel- I think you'll find eventually it's not necessary. This story will be covering in some depth what happened to Remus, how he was bitten, but not for a while yet. It is all planned out, it'll just take me a while to get there.
This Parrot has ceased to be- I'm still trying to work out exactly how and when Lily's relationship with the Marauders changes. It will be changing to fit canon, to be sure, but the details area bit fuzzy still.
Disclaimer- James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily and all other characters from the books belong to JK Rowling; I'm just borrowing them, not claiming them. The original characters, however, belong to me. Please don't sue me, because I'm very broke.
One final note- Today's Welsh Word of the Day is Nadolig, which means Christmas. Doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? No? Well, that's fine then- on with the fic!
Chapter 7- Nadolig
Sirius was extremely glad to see the approach of the Christmas break. He was looking forward to meeting the Lupins, and the prospect of spending Christmas somewhere other than his own home was extremely attractive to him. So it was with great pleasure that Sirius packed the belongings he would be bringing with him on the morning of December 18th; Remus, James and Peter were packing as well, each preparing to visit his own family for the break. Remus was extremely excited to be going home; Sirius thought he had never seen his friend look so happy. Peter was also glad to be going home, and James had been anticipating this visit for a very long time.
Sirius knew somewhat how they all felt, because even though he did not mis his own family one bit, he did miss the Potters. They had become almost a second set of parents to him over the years, with Sirius spending about as much time at their house as at his own. When he had first come to Hogwarts, Sirius had been surprised to find how much he missed them. It had been much harder for all of the others, of course, having their own parents to miss. Remus had been the most homesick of any of them; a good thing then, maybe, that his mum got sick so much. At least it had given him a chance to go home to visit several times, which must have made it easier for him.
Sirius finished packing only a few minutes before it was time to leave, and the four proceeded to the entrance hall together, their possessions in tow. It was not much longer before they were boarding the Hogwarts Express, bound for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters again, where their parents would be meeting them. It was very interesting, Sirius thought as the train began to move along. They were seated in the last compartment of the train again, the same compartment they had shared on the ride to Hogwarts less than four months ago. Sirius couldn't believe that he had only met Peter and Remus then; it seemed now that they had known each other forever. Peter had grown an inch or two since then, and learned a great deal about the magical world. Remus had opened up incredibly, becoming a fantastic friend; he was weird, certainly, but that was one of the reasons Sirius liked him. James was the same James he had always been, and it was great having him there at Hogwarts; it would have been far more frightening to Sirius if he hadn't had his best friend with him.
The boys passed a few hours playing Exploding Snap and eating junk food off of the snack cart. After James managed to create an explosion large enough to incinerate his eyebrows, the game was abandoned in favor of conversation.
"I love Christmas." Peter said, still munching on sweets. James and Remus nodded agreement; Sirius shrugged.
"Christmas was never very pleasant in my house."
"That's why you always came to my house, of course!" James said, shoving Sirius lightly; Sirius returned the gesture.
"I remember when I was two," Peter said, smiling reminiscently. "I knocked down the Christmas tree right on top of myself - I didn't get hurt, but I was frightened! Mum thought I must have been killed, and she started screaming. That was the wildest Christmas I've ever had."
Sirius and James were both looking at Peter with interest.
"Whoa, that's so weird!" James said. "You remember stuff that happened when you were two?"
"Is that some kind of Muggle ability?" Sirius asked.
"What do you mean?" Remus queried.
"Well, I sure don't remember being two. I don't remember anything from before I was about five, and I just wondered if that's something Muggles - and Muggleborn wizards, of course- can do." Sirius explained. James nodded in agreement.
"Neither of you remembers anything from before you were five?" Remus asked sharply, staring intently at them.
"Nope." James said. "Do you, Rem?" Remus nodded tightly, without another word. Peter still looked interested.
"That's really strange, guys, that you can't remember. Everybody else I know remembers stuff from when they were really little, just like I do. I wonder why you two don't?" James and Sirius just shrugged, now somewhat disturbed by the idea that there might be something the matter with their memories. The last half hour of the journey passed without much more conversation, and they were all glad when the Hogwarts Express finally began to slow to a halt at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The four boys gathered their belongings and left the train hurriedly, looking for their parents. Peter saw his mum and dad first, and with hurried good-byes and wishes for happy holidays, he was gone, swallowed up in the crowd.
"There you are, James!" A man's voice sounded behind them, and James and Sirius spun around to see Mr. Potter smiling at them. He was very similar in looks to his son; his eyes were blue instead of hazel, and he did not wear glasses, but in all other respects, he was identical to James. He grabbed both boys in a brief bear hug, then released them, ruffling their hair.
"Hi Dad!" James looked thrilled to see his father, as Sirius was. Sirius looked for Remus, eager to introduce him to Mr. Potter, but Remus had disappeared.
"We'd better get going, James. Your mum insisted that I get you home right away- we've guests coming very shortly, you know. Sirius, we're looking forward to having you visit after Christmas- and I'm very sorry you couldn't come right away."
"No, that's quite all right, Mr. Potter." Sirius told him. "I'm looking forward to seeing you again soon! Happy Christmas, both of you!"
"Happy Christmas, Sirius!" Both of the Potters smiled and waved at Sirius briefly before turning and heading quickly for the exit. Sirius looked around, and finally caught sight of Remus, only a few feet away. They had been separated by the crowd, and now Remus caught sight of Sirius and hurried over to join him.
"Where's James? I saw Peter leave already." Remus looked around.
"James just left with his dad- they were in a bit of a hurry." Sirius told him. They spent a few minutes in silence, waiting for Remus' parents to appear. Finally, Remus broke into a huge grin as he apparently caught sight of his parents.
"There they are!" He pointed, but Sirius couldn't tell who he was indicating; that was all right, though, because Remus was already gone, running toward the Lupins at full speed. Sirius saw him stop before a pleasant-looking couple and fling his arms around both of them. They hugged him back, looking very happy. After a minute, they all headed back toward Sirius, who had stood waiting by the luggage, not wanting to intrude. Sirius studied them quickly as they approached; Remus' father was quite tall, with the same light-brown hair and warm smile that Remus possessed. Remus' mother was a bit on the short side, with reddish-brown hair and kind-looking eyes. They each had an arm around Remus' shoulders, and all three looked quite happy.
"Sirius, these are my parents. Mam, Da- Sirius Black."
"I'm pleased to meet you." Sirius said, extending his hand to Mr. and Mrs. Lupin in turn. They both smiled at him as they shook his hand.
"We're very glad you'll be spending Christmas with us, Sirius." Mrs. Lupin said.
"Thank you very much for allowing me to stay." Sirius said earnestly; he was very grateful to the Lupins for having him, because he had not relished the idea of staying at Hogwarts alone until the Potters could take him in. Besides, this gave him the perfect opportunity to try to figure out what was going on with Remus.
The four made their way out of the crowd, carrying Sirius' and Remus' luggage. They were going to Floo to the Lupin residence, as they apparently lived in the middle of nowhere in Wales; Sirius was glad of this, because Floo was fast, and he was quite tired of traveling by this point. It was indeed very fast, and they had arrived safely at the Lupin's house within only a few moments. Remus looked around, a smile growing on his face.
"Everything still looks exactly the same!" Remus said, obviously quite pleased. "Come on, Sirius, let's take our stuff upstairs."
The Lupin's house was quite small, but cozy and comfortable. The air smelled of fresh gingerbread, and there was a warm fire flickering in the fireplace. Sirius saw with a quick glance out the window that the house seemed to be surrounded by trees covered lightly with fresh snow; it looked like a painting. He followed Remus up the stairs and into a small bedroom, obviously Remus'. Remus tossed his belongings onto the end of the bed and flopped down next to them with a smile. Sirius saw there was a second bed against the wall behind him, and he copied Remus' actions, and the two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a minute.
"So, what d'you want to do?" Remus asked. Sirius thought briefly.
"Are there any cool things in the forest you've got outside?" He asked hopefully. Remus laughed and shook his head.
"Not much interesting there, but we can go out and have a look, if you like." They jumped up and pulled on warm cloaks before heading outside. It was very lovely outside, if a bit cold, and the boys spent a few minutes tossing snowballs at each other. Sirius noticed a small shed a short distance from the house.
"What's that?" Sirius asked, as he began walking toward it.
"Um, that's our shed." Remus' voice was somewhat hesitant, though Sirius didn't know why. As he approached the little shed, he noticed that it looked rather dilapidated. The door hung awkwardly on one hinge, and looked as though it had been clawed at by an animal; in fact, Sirius noted, there were bite marks on the wood as well. The door had a great number of chains and locks on it, and a great metal bar obviously intended to keep the door entirely secure. He stepped inside the shed; it was very dark and small, with no windows.
"Do you have a dog? Is that what made those marks?" Sirius asked eagerly. He was very fond of dogs, although his parents refused to allow him to own any; he had to be content playing with the Potter's dogs.
"No, we don't. Um, that is- we used to, and now we don't, but yeah, that's- that's what made the shed look like this." Remus was definitely uncomfortable; he stood outside the shed at a short distance, looking unwilling to enter. Actually, he looked quite miserable, and rather small in his large cloak. Just then, Mr. Lupin came out of the house and walked over to join the boys.
"Ah, there you two are!" Mr. Lupin said cheerfully. "I wanted to tell you to wash up, as we'll be eating in a few minutes." He glanced at the shed, and then looked closer. "Hmm. We'll be needing to fix that door up, won't we? Maybe we can take care of that tomorrow." Remus nodded silently, and Mr. Lupin reached out a hand to ruffle his hair fondly. The three began to walk back toward the house, Remus' father going ahead of the boys. He had reached the house by the time Sirius and Remus were halfway there. Sirius suddenly reached down and grabbed a large handful of snow; packing it quickly into a ball, he threw it at Remus, hitting the side of his head. Remus yelped, and turned to glare at Sirius. Within seconds, though, he had retaliated with a snowball of his own, and the two were embroiled in a massive snowball fight. Finally, they ended up wrestling in the snow, rolling around and mock-fighting like puppies, both laughing.
Remus' parents had both come to the door at the sounds of the fight, and as they stopped wrestling, Sirius saw them staring at Remus as though they had never seen him before. Mrs. Lupin appeared ready to burst into tears for some reason, and Mr. Lupin was smiling proudly. Remus turned and grinned at them, and his mother gave a wide smile in return.
Sirius decided not to even try to decipher the reasons behind their strange reactions. Lupins, he thought to himself, were a strange breed, and it was no good trying to understand them. Take Remus, for example- as weird as they came, and obviously hiding some secrets, but a great friend none the less. Weird is good, Sirius proclaimed silently as he followed Remus inside to wash up.
That night as he lay awake, Sirius contemplated Remus' family. It seemed quite obvious now that, whatever they had suspected before, Remus' parents were not mistreating him in any way. He obviously was very close to them, and they loved him in return. Sirius tried to stifle a pang of jealousy; James and Remus both had wonderful, loving families, and his family was the exact opposite. At that moment, he would have given just about anything to trade lives with Remus Lupin.
The next few days were incredible. Sirius and Remus did help Mr. Lupin repair the shed door, although Remus didn't look happy about it. They spent some time in the kitchen with Mrs. Lupin, making Christmas cookies the Muggle way. Sirius had never done that before, and was astonished to discover how much fun it was. He and Remus somehow managed to cover every surface of the kitchen in flour, due to a large scale accident that was entirely Sirius' fault. Mrs. Lupin just laughed and cleaned up the mess magically; the cookies turned out delicious. The boys also spent several hours every day in the woods outside Remus' home, wandering and exploring. It was very peaceful out there, and Sirius found it fascinating.
On December 24th, Sirius realized that he would be leaving to stay with the Potters in only a few more days; unexpectedly, he was not entirely pleased by this fact. He usually loved visiting with the entire Potter family, but he had enjoyed such a nice time with the Lupins, he would be quite sorry to leave. The boys went to bed rather late that night, and Remus fell asleep immediately, but Sirius lay awake, thinking. This was, in fact, the perfect opportunity for him to talk to Remus' parents about his friend. There were plenty of things about Remus that worried Sirius; if anyone knew what was going on with him, it would be his parents. Sirius got up quietly and tiptoed from the room, careful not to wake Remus. He could see a light still on downstairs, and could hear quiet voices, so he knew the Lupins were still awake. He walked downstairs, and entered the cozy living room where Remus' parents sat.
"Um? Uncle Nicholas? Aunt Mabyn? Can I talk to you?" It had seemed a bit strange at first to address Remus' parents in that manner, but they had insisted, and by now it was quite comfortable; they did seem like family to Sirius now.
"Sirius? Why are you up? Of course you can talk to us!" Nicholas Lupin said, smiling at him. Sirius took a seat in a comfortable armchair, and looked soberly at the Lupins.
"I wanted to talk to you about Remus, and since he's sleeping now, I thought this would be a good time."
"Oh?" Mabyn said curiously. "What about him?"
"Well, actually, James and me are a bit worried about him- and Peter is too, of course. And Lily." Sirius knew he wasn't making much sense, but he didn't particularly care. "I mean, he gets sick all the time. And when he comes to visit you when you get sick, Aunt Mabyn, he comes back looking all exhausted and ill. And then he seems to keep getting hurt- he's come back with bruises and cuts several times now. And he won't tell us why, and, well, we've all been worried." Sirius finished a bit lamely. Nicholas and Mabyn looked at each other silently before turning back to him.
"Sirius, it's very touching that you're so concerned about Remus- you're a very good friend. In this situation, though, I'm afraid we really can't tell you any more than what Remus has told you. This is his business, and it's not our place to tell you if he won't." Nicholas spoke softly, looking a bit sad.
"But something is wrong!" Sirius cried. "I know there's something wrong, and I want to help him! Look, you don't understand- he keeps getting these terrible nightmares. And the mirror- he saw something in the mirror that made him cry! And the professors- some of them treat him really weird! Something's not right, and you can't ask me not to try to help him!" He was a bit desperate now.
"Sirius." Mabyn said quietly, moving forward and taking hold of his hands; he had been gesticulating wildly with them as he spoke. "Would it make you feel any better to tell you that we know what's going on with Remus? We know what's wrong, and I promise you, he will be all right. He's had a hard time, but he will be fine." Mabyn sounded rather like she was reassuring herself as well as Sirius; he noticed that there were tears in her eyes as she spoke. Nicholas placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled at Sirius.
"With friends like you and James- and Peter, did you say? - he will be fine. We're not asking you not to help him, we just cannot tell you any more than what Remus has shared with you- it's not our place." Sirius sat back, disappointed, but somewhat relieved. If Remus' parents knew what was going on and weren't worried, it must mean that it wasn't too bad. Maybe Remus had a weird disease or something- but it was useless to speculate. He nodded slowly, and Mabyn released his hands and sat back. She looked at her husband for a moment, and a silent conversation obviously took place between them before she turned back to him and spoke again.
"Sirius, may we ask you a favor?" She sounded quite serious, and he nodded silently. "Do you know what we do, Sirius?"
"You're both Aurors, aren't you?"
"Yes." Mr. Lupin responded. "We're currently working with Professor Dumbledore on a special project; I can't go into details, but suffice it to say, it's quite dangerous. There is a strong chance that we may be killed in the course of this work." His face was solemn.
"Killed?" Sirius asked weakly. It was one thing to contemplate a noble death in the line of duty, fighting for Good. It was quite another to hear someone calmly state that they were most likely going to die.
"Yes." Mrs. Lupin responded, a bit sadly. "Remus knows this already."
"But why? I mean, why not do something less risky?" Sirius blurted out. He was rather surprised at himself; his only explanation for the outburst was the fact that he had become so fond of the Lupins in the short time he had known them; they did seem like family now, and Sirius hated to think of them dead. And besides, what would that do to Remus?
"Sirius, there are things worth fighting and dying for. There are evil people who cannot be allowed to do whatever they wish; if it requires some dying to keep all from being subjugated, that is a price that must be paid. We are willing to die if we must." Nicholas told him, still in calm, quiet tones.
"What we wanted to ask you was, if we should die, will you try to look out for Remus?" Mabyn said, a bit anxiously. "You are a good friend to him; he looks up to you. If something should happen to us, he will need a friend, more than ever."
"Of course." Sirius said, for once in his life completely serious. " I promise. But I certainly hope you don't die!"
Nicholas laughed. "So do we, Sirius."
Sirius stood up, feeling that there was nothing much more to be said. To his surprise, Mabyn and Nicholas stood as well, and Mabyn reached out to embrace him. His own mother hadn't hugged him ever, not that he could remember, and he was more than a bit surprised. Nicholas also reached out and ruffled his hair, the way he often did Remus'. Sirius was shocked to find himself fighting back tears; after a moment, Mabyn released him, and he bade the Lupins a quiet goodnight before heading back upstairs. He fell asleep quickly, feeling completely at home.
The next morning, Sirius woke to see that fresh snow had fallen the night before, and the ground and trees around the Lupin's house were freshly covered. As the thought popped into his brain that it was Christmas, Remus woke up, uncurling himself from his usual sleeping position- tightly curled up in a ball, rather like the way a puppy sleeps. Remus yawned and rubbed his eyes, then smiled at Sirius.
"Happy Christmas, Sirius!"
"Happy Christmas!" Sirius replied with a grin.
It was indeed a happy Christmas, one of the best Sirius had ever had. He was shocked and very pleased when he received gifts not only from Remus, but also from Mr. and Mrs. Lupin. He was embarrassed that he had nothing to give them, but Mabyn just laughed and hugged him again when he tried to say so.
"Sirius, dear, don't be ridiculous." She told him in a mock-scolding voice.
After a long day and a fantastic meal, Sirius found himself in bed again, now quite reluctant to leave the Lupin household at all. Of course, James and his family were expecting him, so he had to go, but he would very much have liked to stay longer with the kind family.
The morning broke bright and clear the next day, and Sirius got ready to leave right away; the Potters were expecting him fairly early. He had received a very early owl from James saying as much, and asking him to invite Remus to come to Potter Manor for New Years Eve, as there was going to be a party, and Peter was coming, and Sirius would be there of course, so he ought to be sure to tell Remus, and expressing James' wishes for a very Happy Christmas. Being that it was James' owl, it would of course have been late. Sirius ate breakfast with the Lupins, then went to Floo away. Before he left, he hugged all of the Lupins, even Remus, who was embarrassed and seemed rather shocked, but returned the gesture.
"You'll have to come visit some time this summer, Sirius!" Nicholas said, and Mabyn and Remus nodded agreement.
"Oh, right, that reminds me, Remus- James owled me this morning to say he was having a party at his house on New Years Eve, and to invite you to come. So, I guess I'll see you then?" But Remus had gone weird again- he shook his head, looking miserable.
"Sorry, Sirius- give James my regrets, please- I can't come."
"Why not?" Sirius asked, greatly disappointed. It wouldn't be the same without all four of them!
"I- there's something I have to do that night, and I can't get out of it. Sorry." Remus looked sadder still, and his father moved to put his hand on Remus' small shoulder. "I'll see you back at Hogwarts on the third, then. Have a good time at the Potters!"
Sirius waved goodbye to all the Lupins, then grabbed a pinch of Floo powder from the jar by the hearth and threw it into the merrily blazing flames, turning them bright green.
"Potter Manor!" Sirius shouted, and stepped into the fire. Traveling by Floo was very disorienting, but Sirius enjoyed it; it was great fun, actually! He arrived at the Potter's home without any difficulty, and was promptly set upon by James, who was going stir-crazy without him.
"Sirius! I'm glad to see you, mate- I was about to go insane! It's dull as dirt here when you're not here, you know that, and my parents haven't been any fun at all. They're really worried about some stuff, actually, and they've both been busy with Ministry business since I got back. I'm looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts, to tell you the truth. How was your Christmas?"
"Very fun!" Sirius told him. "Remus' parents are great. What're your parents so wrapped up in, then?"
"Well," James said as they walked from the room, "Apparently there's some nasty business going on with a Dark Wizard who's setting himself up to be a second Grindlewald or something, and he's gaining quite a bit of power. Nobody really knows who he is, but I know Dumbledore's worried about the whole situation, and that must mean something. The Ministry's doing it's best to keep this all quiet, to avoid frightening people, but people have been killed, Sirius! That shouldn't be hushed up- people should know."
"I wonder if that's got anything to do with what Remus' parents are working on?" Sirius wondered. " They just said it's really dangerous, and a secret. James, did you know that Remus' parents are probably going to die?"
"What?" James asked in shock.
"Yeah, that was my reaction too. They told me there's a strong chance they'll get killed. Remus knew that already- he never said anything about it, did he?"
"No. But he wouldn't, would he? That's Remus for you. D'you know, though, I asked my parents about the Lupins- 'cause I wondered, because my dad's an Auror, and he never mentioned the Lupins. Turns out, my parents and the Lupins used to be great friends- they even lived near my mum and dad, years and years ago. But then dad said that something happened- he didn't say what, but he looked sad- and that the Lupins moved away very fast, and that they haven't heard a word from them since. Mum just said 'so sad- such a shame', but she wouldn't tell me what she meant. Dad didn't even know the Lupins were back in the field until I told him what Remus and that Caradoc Dearborn said about it; he figures they must be working on some top-secret thing." James finally stopped talking, a bit out of breath.
"Guess that just goes to prove the old saying- everyone knows everyone in the wizarding world. I do wonder what happened, though, that made the Lupins go away so fast. D'you when this happened?" Sirius queried after a moment of reflection.
"Nope. Mum and dad didn't say, just that it was years ago."
"Oh, I almost forgot, but Remus says he's sorry, but he can't come on New Year's Eve." Sirius said after a few moments of silence, as neither boy really knew what to say.
"Oh." James said, disappointed. "That's a shame. We should start getting things ready for the party, though, now that you mention it!"
"I thought you said your parents had already planned everything."
"Yes, they have. But what good is a dull, boring party planned by adults, hmm? No Dungbombs or snowballs or enchanted ducklings or hexed food? Sirius, I'm surprised at you! Your standards are slipping, mate!" James shook his head in dismay, and Sirius laughed, an evil grin blossoming on his face.
"You're absolutely right, James. We cannot allow this oversight to go uncorrected! To mischief!" The grin that grew on James' face was identical to Sirius'- all adults who saw ought to have been warned that the Magical Mischief Makers were about to have some fun!