Disclaimer: I don't own the HP character(s), places and themes that will appear in this story; you all know that, because I certainly don't have any money from this! I'm actually the Don Carleone of babysitting in suburban Minnesota, that's where I gets me moola. But that's a whole 'nother story in itself, so on with the one at hand.

Chapter 4

Christmas on the Hill

"Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant…"

            A house in a suburb outside of London was packed with people, all singing in a rather haphazard fashion. The house itself was very small with an almost grubby exterior to it. Inside, however, it was very warm and snug. The parlor where the guests sat was probably better suited to less people; a few were seated on the floor around a great piano.

            "Oh come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem…"

            This was a few weeks after the full moon, which mattered very much to the residents of the house, of course. That December London had experienced almost no snow, it had simply rained continuously, turning the streets wet and slippery and what little snow there was to ugly, dirty, brown slush.

            "Come and behold Him, born the king of angels…"

            The woman playing the piano was a hard-looking one, she was very thin and wiry and her face had an almost jutting effect to it. One could argue that the only feature on her that contained any elegance at all was the way that her long fingers glided over the piano keys. Two men sat on the floor next to the bench she sat on. One looked like a younger male version of the woman, and the other was a man with graying brown hair and an exhausted face. He did, however, look very happy, and when a small middle-aged woman handed him a tray of drinks he took out his wand and used it to pass them around to everyone.

            There were various other people in the parlor. They looked, all in all, very shabby, perhaps in not the best of health.

            Finally, the song ended and the woman on the piano played a little flourish, as if for punctuation. After that the host appeared to be making a toast to a deceased compatriot of all of them. They raised their glasses and drank.

            Several hours later, it was very dark by then, the people left the house one by one until the only guests left were the sister and brother and the other man. While the brother and sister were in the dining room arguing over the turkey wishbone, the host, a thick older man, sidled up to the other man, who had remained silent, watching the two siblings arguing.

            "Remus," said the host, "I didn't want to ask in front of the others, but you did say at dinner last week you were going to go to the Ministry. What did they say about Adams?"

            The other man gave a sigh that made him appear even more exhausted. "They assume that there was just a simple malfunction with the potion."

            "Then they don't think…"

            "They see no evidence of foul play."

            "But the potion…that doesn't make sense, we didn't get sick at all from it, just poor Adams."

            "Yes, I did try and point that out to them, but they didn't seem to think anything otherwise. Bit tight-lipped about the whole thing, really."

            "No surprise. You've been all right? Nothing to fishy's come your way?"

            "No…" he replied, thinking about that strange voice he'd heard in that dream…a dream, of course, that's what it was. Just a dream.

            "But listen, Maylor, I wanted to talk to you. Surely you must agree that this was no accident."

            The older man gave the younger a very shrewd look, but nodded.

            "Well, then, Maylor, are you any good at potion brewing? Because I was always utter rubbish at it."

            Another  pause. "Remus, you wouldn't remember the werewolf bill, would you?"

            "I try not to."

            "Well, you'll remember it specifically states that the werewolves must get the Wolfsbane from the Ministry. They think it's, what was it now, unsafe if we get it anywhere else. They want to ensure it's going to work."

            "Yes, but surely you agree that we shouldn't just sit around waiting for one of us to get poisoned again."

            "I also think that we shouldn't have to all end up in Azkaban! Remus, if we don't show up you know that's what they'll do, that Umbridge woman is completely and utterly crazy." He pounded his thick fist on the table for emphasis.

            "At least we agree on one thing, then. Listen, I believe I have an idea that'll keep us out of Azkaban and Death's untimely clutches."

            "How's that?"

            "We'll just brew some ourselves and then when we go to the Ministry we'll just dump out the stuff they give us. That way, we'll have our, um, fix, as Alan likes to call it, and none of us will end up on the floor like old Adams."

            Maylor looked thoughtful. "We've good timing then, if I remember correctly Wolfsbane takes a week to brew, if you can get the ingredients."

            "That will pose challenge, won't it? But you'll do it?"

            Maylor grave expression gave away slightly to something of a smirk. "I suppose."

            "Excellent," replied the younger man, sounding satisfied. "I'll go to the Apothecary tomorrow, get everything you need, all right?"

            Another look of concern materialized on Maylor's face. "Remus, I don't mean to bring this up, but as the ingredients are so rare, they're very, well, very expensive."

            "I'll manage," said Lupin, a clipped finality in his tone. At that moment, as though perfectly timed, Aurelia called to him.

            "Remus, shall we leave? It's getting late."

            Nodding, he went into the front hall, grabbing his Muggle coat. Maylor followed him. "I shall contact you when I have all the ingredients."

            Maylor nodded, grabbing Aurelia and Alan's coats for them. "Yes. I'll get it prepared. You're sure you'll be all right?"

            "We'll manage," Aurelia told him.

            "Or die trying," said Alan, winking.

            "Oh stop it, Alan, nobody's going to die," Aurelia told him.

            Maylor's wife had joined the other four in the front hall. "Trying what? What are you going to do?"

            Lupin grinned. "Happy Christmas, eh?" His two companions said the same and they Apparated home.

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There was a stone cave that sat in a rocky mountain, sheltered from the wind and rain that often hit the face. This cave had been sheltered not only from the elements but from the passage of time itself, for it contained memories and people of a very distant time when strange things had taken over the land that, things that had been driven out eventually, replaced by new customs and people, but something had kept this particular roomy cavity in the mountain untouched. What exactly it was few knew, for the residents of the village on the base of the mountain, simple Muggles, most of them, had a superstitious fear of the mountain.

            "The Folk on the Hill, they kidnap the wee ones for supper!" espoused an old granny to several small children from her front porch, who cowered in response. Though the mountain itself was fairly sizable, they villagers called it, simply, the Hill. Whether this was true no one really knew, for not many people ventured up there anymore.

            Thankfully.

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"You know what I would do if I had money?" asked Aurelia that night, sitting on Remus's bed.

            "Hmm?" he asked, peeking his head out of the bathroom where'd he had been brushing his teeth.

            "Get a piano. I learned it ages ago, I'd forgotten how much I like it."

            "Who taught you?"

            "My father, surprisingly. He was quite a musician."

            "Your father? He was a Muggle, wasn't he?"

            "Mhm. We lived on a farm. I really liked it there, I lived there with my father after my mother died, well, me and Alan did, then we moved here to London after he died. Met you and all that." There was a silence. "What about you?"

            Lupin disappeared briefly to spit in the sink, and then came to sit next to her. "My parents both died a few years after I left Hogwarts."

            Her eyes widened. "You never told me that."

            He shrugged. "You never asked. Anyway, I spent the years after I graduated with my friends. I've told you about that, of course. About the Order and everything." After that he had basically wandered nearly all over the globe, to Asia, Russia, the Americas, Africa, not coming back to London until four years before that. Oftentimes he grew restless, he wanted to travel more, but he unfortunately had exhausted his funds so his travelling ability was limited. He never regretted it, however. He preferred not having the money his parents had left him now after having traveled to having it but being stuck in Britain. Here everything was so damn monotonous, even with Aurelia here, that he often itched to get up and leave, maybe take her with him, though he had never traveled with company before, he wondered if he'd enjoy it.

            Now, however, he had to stay here, thanks to Dolores Umbridge. Thanks to a bunch of close-minded idiots like her who could wield power over somebody like some almighty scepter. And now one of the bastards wanted to hurt them.

            He had pounded his pillow angrily many times that night before he went to sleep. He really hated going to sleep angry. He never slept well afterwards.

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He dreamed that night that he was sitting by a fire. The fire shown like a single pinprick of light in an expanse of darkness, and he stared at it fiercely, for he was afraid if that he looked away he would never find it again and would be lost in that sea of blackness. Someone was whispering in his ear, but he could not hear what it was, and he did not recognize who it was.

            At one point, he was sure it had said, "Merry Christmas."

Another Author's Note: This is kind of an odd way to end a chapter, I was going for the mystique factor, I guess. Plan to have more happen in the next chapter. And the week after next is spring break, so I plan to get a few chapters done. Please review!