A/N: I apologize in advanced if the ending sucks.

Chapter eighteen All I want for Christmas..

The carriage lurched forward as it began to move but everyone just sat and stared at Peter.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked confused.

"I'm talking about Sarah. You know Sarah White," Peter replied annoyed. "She doesn't like me. She likes you. She wanted me to put in a good word for her so you would like her."

"But, you know I would never take your girl-"

Peter laughed bitterly, "That's a lie! You said earlier in the year that she was a 'fine choice.' Anyway she's not my girl. She doesn't want to be. She wants to be your girl, so why don't you take her like you know you want to."

Before Sirius could reply, Lily said, "You two should be ashamed of yourselves, talking about Sarah like she's an object someone can own and not a human being." Peter hung his head at her glare but Sirius just glared back and looked out of the window.

The carriage was filled with a subdued silence the whole ride. When they pulled up to Hogsmaede station everyone got out, except Peter who just sat there. Sirius stuck his head in. "C'mon, Wormtail. I won't take her if you don't want me to." After a silence Peter said, "But I do. If I can't have her, I want her to be happy at least." Sirius nodded and walked away with Peter following suit.

As the Hogwarts express pulled up to platform 9 ¾ the students started to file out and, dragging their trunks and other belongings, go towards the barrier. Right before the Marauders and Lily got in the queue to go through the barrier three at a time and into the muggle world, James pulled Lily aside.

"So, I guess this is goodbye until after Christmas," he said putting down his trunk and holding her hands.

"I guess," Lily said sadly.

James pulled Lily into a hug and then kissed her on the lips.

"I'm going to miss you so much," James said pulling her into another hug.

"James!" Sirius called from the queue. "Stop being gross and get over here!" Sighing, James picked his trunk back up and walked, with Lily, over to where the others were standing. As they moved slowly along in the queue Remus said loud enough so only they could hear, "I'm just happy the full moon already passed. If not I'd probably be spending this Christmas alone with my family."

"You know Remus, you're kind of like a girl," Sirius commented.

"Oh really," Remus asked raising an eyebrow, "how?"

"Well, something bad happens to you once a month and something bad happens to girls once a month." Without warning Lily slapped him on the backside of his head. "Ow!" he exclaimed. "What cha' do that for?"

"Because you're an idiot," she stated simply. By now they were first in line so Sirius, Remus and Peter went through the barrier first and, when the conductor gave the signal, Lily and James followed

Stepping into the muggle world, Lily and James moved quickly away from the barrier so they wouldn't block it. Looking around Lily spotted her parents and sister, Petunia, almost immediately. She turned and looked into the sad hazel eyes of James.

"Oi! Prongs! Over here!" Sirius shouted from halfway across the platform where he was waiting with Remus, Peter and Remus' parents. Looking back at Lily he gave her one more hug and whispered in her ear, "I love you," before walking away.

The ride to Remus' house was long and uncomfortable since they were crammed in the back seat of the car. When the car finally pulled up to the white house with the mail box that read 'Lupin', James noted that, like always, you couldn't tell that the Lupin family was any different then any other family on the block, let alone that their seventeen year old son was a were-wolf. One thing that made the Lupin household look so normal could be the fact the Remus' mother, Regina Lupin, was a muggle. After Remus was bitten by a were-wolf when he was little, Regina had very little tolerance for the magic world and she almost didn't let Remus go to Hogwarts when he got his letter. It wasn't the only fact that he was a were-wolf that made her not want him to go either. She was frightened that, since he would be so far away, bad things would happen to him and the next time she would see him would be in a coffin. But with help from his father, who had persuaded her that with Dumbledore at Hogwarts no harm would come to Remus, she reluctantly let him go.

Stepping out of the car, James looked at the house with admiration. There was no heavy smell of magic like at his house nor was it ancient and creepy like Sirius'. He had never been to Peters house so he couldn't compare it to Remus', and out of all he liked Remus' house the best. It had such a homey feeling to it. Grabbing their trunks, the four boys trudged up to the house and through the front door. Upon entering the living room, James looked around and found everything was the same except that there were new pictures in the frames and some new little knick-knacks.

Suddenly there was a loud scream and a hyper ten-year-old girl darted into the room and plowed Sirius over.

"Sirius! Sirius! Sirius!" She shouted.

"Hey Sissy," Sirius said trying to keep his balance, what with carrying his heavy trunk and having someone clinging onto his waist, it was pretty difficult.

"Come play dolls with me Sirius!" Sissy said backing away and looking up at him.

"Now Sissy, let Sirius get settled in first," Mrs. Lupin said. "Anyway, wouldn't you like to play with Remus? He is your older brother after all."

Sissy sighed. "Meaning I can play with him whenever. But I only see Sirius once in a blue moon."

Sirius then imitated the howling of a wolf, which got a glare from Mrs. Lupin.

"Now Sissy, you heard your mother," Mr. Lupin interjected.

Sissy sighed again, "Alright, alright." She looked at Sirius and said, "Come and get me when you're 'settled in'. I have this new doll I wanna show you! She has long blonde hair that goes down to her waist and- ah-ah."

"Duck!" Remus said loud enough so his parents wouldn't hear him but they too seemed to be taking cover.

"Ah- ah- ah- CHOO!"

Sirius, James and Peter were taken by surprise when a vase very close to where they were standing exploded, that they jumped.

"Ah-choo!"

The open door behind them slammed shut. Not wasting any more time Sirius, Peter and James joined Remus on the floor.

"Ah-choo!"

A new knick-knack fell to the floor right next to James' head and shattered. The room was quiet for a minute. "S'cuse me," Sissy said and it showed as a sign that they could stand up. After everyone was up and dusted off Remus said, "We'll go put out stuff upstairs now." And he led the way upstairs and to his room.

Once the door was closed Sirius asked, "What the hell was that? A small earthquake?"

Remus shook his head. "Nah, it was just Sissy. Her ability to perform magic is increasing so fast that even the smallest bit knocks things over."

"That's pretty advanced for a half blood her age," James said.

"What's wrong with half bloods?" Remus asked sounding offended.

"Nothing! Nothing, I was just saying-"

"Yeah, well don't"

"Geeze, Remus," Sirius said. "What's your problem? James didn't mean anything by it. He just misworded it. What he should've said is it's advanced for all underaged wizards."

"Yeah, that is what I meant."

Remus didn't say anything but he just started unpacking, so they took his silence as an understanding.

Hours later the Lupins, James, Sirius and Peter crowded around the dinner table. The table groaned under bowls and bowls of Mrs. Lupin's finest cooking. There was complete silence as everyone ate through the bowls of mashed potatoes, chicken, carrots, beans and rolls.

"Dinner was delicious, honey," Mr. Lupin said, placing his knife, fork and napkin down on his empty pate.

"Yeah, Mrs. Lupin. You really went overboard," Peter said but blushed when he heard snickers from Sirius, which he was trying to stifle.

"Why thank-you Peter," Mrs. Lupin replied with a smile.

"May we be excused?" Remus asked quickly while his mom was still in a good mood. Looking at all four boys, each in turn, she sighed and said, "If you're sure you're done. I don't want anyone coming down for any midnight snacks and making more dirty dishes."

"We're sure," Remus said and with that they stood up, said thank-you and left the room.

"Can I be excuse too mommy?" they heard Sissy ask.

"Finish your carrots first."

"But mom-"

"No 'buts', Sissy."

When they were in Remus' room and the door was closed Sirius said, "Look at me. I'm Peter and I'm a suck-up!"

"Shut-up Sirius!" Peter said angrily.

"Oh Mrs. Lupin, your cooking's the greatest! I love it!"

"I did not say that!" Peter said, starting to shout over the laughter of James and Remus.

"I wish I lived here. It's better than my rat hole. Oh, Mrs. Lupin, I love you! Please have my children!" Peter's face went brick red, Remus and James stopped mid laugh and Remus went as pale as he did before the full moon.

"Sirius, your Slytherin heritage is showing," James said in a singsong voice.

"What! Where?"

"Yeah, that was really disgusting Padfoot," Remus commented.

"Yeah, I know, but it's my job to be disgusting," Sirius began to sort through his trunk. Pulling out a magazine Sirius stood up and looked around at the other three. "Do you guys mind? I wanna get something done."

"Gross Sirius! Not in my room!" Remus yelled.

"Well then where else am I gonna do it at? And it's not like you don't do it in here!"

"Yes, but like I said, it's my room!"

"Fine! Fine!" Sirius said and he left the room. Shortly after he came back.

"Wow, that was fast," James said.

"No, I was gonna see if Remus had any objections for me using his bathroom," Sirius said irritable.

"No, I do not. Go ahead and use it for all I care," Remus said waving a hand at him. Before Sirius walked out the door again, James asked, "Hey Sirius, why do you need to go and do that anyway? It's not like you've been around any girls lately." James' eyes grew wide jokingly, "Unless you're the one who has the crush on Remus' mum! Or perhaps Sissy?"

"You know what, shut-up!" Sirius yelled.

"Oh! You were told!" Peter exclaimed.

Sirius gave James a look at walked from the room slamming the door behind him. Remus ran to the closed door, opened it and shouted after Sirius, "Lock the door!" Shutting the door again, he leaned against it. Shaking his head he said, "You guys are all disgusting."

"Yeah, but you know you love us." James said flopping onto his cot.

Staring up at the ceiling his mind began to wander. He realized this was the first time since he left that he was thinking about Lily and about Hogwarts. James sighed.

"You miss her don't you?" Remus asked sitting down on his bed and looking at James.

"I never noticed how weird it was without her. I mean all summer we hung out like everyday but now-," He sighed again.

"Well you never know James, you may be seeing her sooner than you think," Remus said with a wink.

"Yeah, the break will go fast enough," James said, not catching on to what Remus meant. There was a knock at the door and Mrs. Lupin opened it.

"I'm going to bed early tonight so keep it down boys, okay?"

"Yeah mum, we will," Remus replied.

She was just about to walk out when she stopped. "Where's Sirius?" she asked suspiciously.

"Bathroom," Remus replied automatically.

"Oh, all right," she said, not sounding fully reassured, and left.

The days before Christmas flew by in a flash of holiday colors and the next thing James knew it was Christmas morning. He woke up very early that morning to find a stack of presents at the foot of his cot. Throwing his pillow at Sirius' head to wake him up he said loudly, "Wake up you guys! Presents!" Jolting up Sirius fell out of his cot.

"And you had to throw your pillow at me," He grumbled. Remus and Peter got up slowly and James was already half way done unwrapping his presents when they started unwrapping theirs while Sirius had fallen back to sleep on the floor. James was unwrapping his last present, which was a new set of Gobstones from Sirius, when the doorbell rang. Sirius jolted up again yelling, "I didn't do it!"

"Guilty conscience there, Sirius?" James asked.

"No, I was- oh! Presents!" And he jumped back onto his cot and began ripping his present open. Remus got up and put his slippers on.

"Where are you going Moony?" Sirius asked as he observed what seemed to be a shrunken head in a jar of green water, apparently sent by his little brother Regulus, with great disgust. Then he muttered, "Remember to throw this out the window when we're on the train back."

"Well the door bell did ring. I'm going to go answer it."

"And I'm sure whoever is at the door will love those boxers you're wearing as much as I do," said Sirius jokingly. Remus glowed red and grabbed his robe on the way out of the door. A few minutes passed by with only the sound of ripping wrapping paper from Sirius. Then the sound of Remus' feet announced his return. He stuck his head through the doorway and said, "James, you may have noticed that there was no present from me in that pile."

James looked down at his own present and shook his head, "No, I really didn't notice."

"Well there isn't, but that's because your present is downstairs right now."

"Alright! Moony pulled through and got you a hooker!" Sirius said throwing James' pillow back at him.

"Is your mind always in the gutter?" James questioned him.

"As if you have to ask Jamesie," Sirius replied with a cute smile.

"C'mon James!" Remus said impatiently and James got up, put his robe and slippers on and followed Remus downstairs.

Reaching the landing at the bottom of the stairs James peered over Remus' head and there standing in the doorway was-

"Lily?" James asked in shock disbelief.

"James!" Lily said and she ran over to him and gave him a hug.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"Well, both my and Remus' parents agreed that I could come here on Christmas and spend the rest of the holiday with you guys."

"Hey, what is she doing here?" Sirius asked as he and Peter came downstairs. "Where's your hooker?"

"Hooker?" Lily asked curiously looking at James.

"Hey, what do you expect? It's Sirius," Lily nodded and James looked at her more closely. He touched her soft cheek and looked into her bright green eyes. Then his eyes wandered up to the top of her head.

"Uh, Lils?" he asked. "What's the white stuff in your hair?"

"Huh?" Lily asked and she touched the top of her hair, "Oh yeah! It's snowing out."

"SNOW!" the four boys shouted happily and in mere minutes they had run upstairs, gotten dressed and were running out the door. James grabbed Lily by the arm and drug her outside with him and tackled her onto the snow covered ground.

They spent the whole day outside in the snow, only coming in for dinner. After dinner they all sat on the couch and drank hot cocoa. Mrs. Lupin came into the living room with blankets and a pillow.

"You'll be sleeping on the couch okay Lily?"

"Thanks, Mrs. Lupin," Lily replied

Smiling, Mrs. Lupin left the blankets and pillow next to her and walked out of the room.

"I don't understand why you can't just sleep with us," James said.

"Well I'm surprised my parents let her spend the night at all," Remus said. "They're very strict about the whole girlfriend spending the night thing." When James looked at him curiously Remus simply said, "They don't want babies being made in my room. Come to think about it I don't want babies being made in my room either." And they all laughed at Remus' truthful comment.

The last day of vacation was New Year's Eve. That night Remus' parents went out to a party so the Marauders and Lily had to stay and watch Sissy.

"It's not as if we were going out anywhere anyway," Remus said an hour after his parents left.

"It's no big deal Remus," Lily said. "Your sister's no trouble."

"Yeah Remus," James agreed.

"That's what you think," Sirius said coming into the room all dressed up and wearing makeup.

"Oh Sirius! You look so pretty!" Lily mocked him.

"Shut-up!"

"No really Sirius. Pink is a good look for you."

"I said shut-up!"

Just then Sissy ran into the room.

"Sirius! I'm not done! I want to do your hair!"

"Give Sirius a break Sissy," Remus told her. "Go play outside or something."

When Sissy ran from the room Lily said, "Remus it's like ten at night."

"Don't worry there's loads of lights on outside and the backyard is fenced off from the woods for obvious reasons."

Lily sighed,"Okay, if you're sure."

Two hours later, just before midnight Lily said, "We should get to bed real soon since we have to get up early tomorrow."

"You mean today," James corrected her.

"Oh whatever." Looking around Lily asked, "Is Sissy still outside?"

"I didn't see her come in," Remus said.

"Her coat's on the hanger by the door."

"But she can't be inside, or she'd be bugging me," Sirius pointed out.

"Oh shit!" Remus said jumping up and running to the back door, the others in hot pursuit. Throwing open the door they saw Sissy building a snowman family without her winter coast, gloves, hat or boots on.

"Sissy!" Remus said running out to her. "What are you doing?"

"Building a snowman family, Remus! Look, its mommy and daddy and you and I'm almost finished-"

"You're not supposed to be out in the snow without your snow stuff on!"

Picking her up, he carried her inside and up into her room.

"Get changed into your pajamas and I'll be right back." Walking to the hallway closet he got some more blankets. When he got back to her room she had put her pajamas on and started playing with her dolls. "Sissy, no," Remus said sternly. "You're going to bed right now." Sadly, Sissy put her dolls down and got into bed. Remus then put more blankets on top of her. "Now get a good nights rest and don't tell mum that you were outside without your coat and stuff on. She'll go ballistic." He kissed her on the forehead and said, "Night Sissy."

"Night, Remus." And she closed her eyes.

Walking to the bedroom door and turning off the light, Remus looked at Sissy one more time before he walked out of the room closing the door behind him. Out in the hall stood the others and in complete silence they all went to bed.