Disclaimer: If I was J. K. Rowling I probably wouldn't be broke and in debt to a ton of people. Guess I'm not her and last time I checked she was the only one who owned Harry Potter.

Authors Note: It has taken me way too long to get this written. I'm really really sorry. I know I've lost probably a majority of my readers, but with school and everything, it's just been ugh. Hope you guys can forgive me and now that it's summer I'm going to be updating a lot more. Now here's a little Christmas in June for you all.

Time Reveals All

Chapter 13

Slowly Harry felt himself returning to conscious. Yawning and stretching he opened his eyes. Looking out the window he noticed there was a fresh layer of snow on the ground. It looked like at least a foot. Mentally he sighed. He hated when it snowed because that meant Mandarb made them run around the school. The stares of the other students, especially the first and second years when they changed classes, was insufferable.

Quickly he stepped out of bed and onto the cold floors. Changing hastily he frowned. Why weren't the others getting up? It was normal to have to drag James and Sirius out of bed, but Remus was usually up. Heck James and Sirius were always up by now anyway. All of them had gotten used to waking up earlier now, having been doing it so much. For goodness sakes he had slept late. Why wasn't anyone up?

Suddenly Harry realized. He could have kicked himself. It was Christmas. Mandarb had given them this one-day off to enjoy. Spotting the piles of presents at the ends of his friend's beds he wondered how he hadn't noticed them before. It was Christmas and his friends were sleeping in, just like they deserved to. He, however, couldn't afford a day off. The Dark Lord didn't wait for anyone, and he had less than a year left before he would be forced to confront him. Besides, he was already dressed. He might as well go for a run. Outside. The exercise would warm him up and it would be a good experience to work in the snow.

Quietly he crept out of the dorm and down the stairs. He didn't want to wake anyone. They would probably insist that he stayed in and celebrated with them. Entering the common room he sat down in an armchair by the fire and began to lace up his shoes. At the sound of his name, though, he shot up instantly going into a defensive crouch despite the lack of weapons.

Spotting Lily at the foot of the stairs leading up to the girl's dorms he relaxed. She too had on jogging clothes and carried a pair of shoes in her hand. Idly Harry wondered what she was doing up before shaking his head in concentrating on what she was saying.

"-Should have known you'd be up. You probably thought you'd disappear for the day didn't you? Well your not. You're going to spend a relaxing day with us. We all deserve a break, you included. Especially you, because you work so hard. You and I will go for a run, but then you'll have to promise me that you will relax for the rest of the day. You hear?"

Harry considered his choices. If he left now she would no doubt hunt him down, and if he didn't promise she'd probably rouse the Marauders right away and not let him go for a jog at all. Better to promise. He could do with some rest.

"Alright Lily, I promise," he said in defeat.

"Good," she said, with a knowing smirk of satisfaction, "let me just put my shoes on and we'll go."

It was quite cold out, but as they started moving they warmed up quickly. Their chosen path was around the lake, where the snow wasn't quite as high. When they finished their jog and were heading back in Harry asked her, "How did you know I'd be up? And what were you doing up? I figured you'd be sleeping in like the rest of them."

Lily laughed, "I've never been a real late sleeper and with training I've just gotten used to getting up earlier."

Harry nodded his understanding. He'd never been a real late sleeper himself, the Dursleys had made sure of that. As they drew closer to Hogwarts they noticed someone standing at the top of the steps. As they drew closer they recognized the tall brown haired girl.

"Hello," Mandarb greeted, "Merry Christmas! Let me say I don't think I've ever been prouder of two pupils. Coming to work when you don't have to. I'm impressed. Come with me. When I saw you I decided to give you both gifts. Come with me and I'll show you." Turning she headed towards the forbidden forest and the two followed.

Thirty yard in Mandarb stopped them in a clearing and motioned for them to be quiet. Suddenly she let out a shrill whistle. The sound of galloping hooves penetrated the still forest. Into the clearing came three horses. Mandarb's own black came first, followed by a chestnut and a piebald. The black stopped by Mandarb while the chestnut walked up to Harry and the piebald to Lily. Harry reached out a hand to stroke the chestnuts sleek coat as the piebald nudged Lily asking for attention. Lily too began to pet the horse that stood before her.

"They are only half trained, but I'll help you with that. Don't worry. They will protect you and fight like they're two people. Harry you'll probably want to train yours for battle, but I wasn't sure what Lily wanted hers for. I brought them with me for some pleasure work in training, but I had to give them to someone eventually." Mandarb told them.

"You mean they're ours? We get to keep them, and train them!" Lily asked excitement lacing her voice.

"Of course! Did you think I just brought you here to look at them? Most certainly not! They belong to you now and will not answer to anyone else. You'll need to take good care of them. They are exceptional horses. I only pick the best to train. Merry Christmas." Mandarb replied.

"What are their names?" Harry asked, curious as to what name this beautiful animal answered to.

"Your chestnuts name is Cyndane, which means last chance, and Lily's is named Mahdi, or seeker," Mandarb said simply.

Lily smiled, "Mahdi," she tested, "Seeker. He has been well named. When you look in his eyes you almost think he is looking for something."

Harry, however, shuddered. Cyndane. Last chance. Cyndane was also well named. His last chance to defeat Voldemort was coming. His last chance to save the wizarding world was coming.

Mandarb noticed his mood and realized the cause. "She was named Cyndane due to the fact that if her mother failed to produce a healthy, strong foal, she would be put down. Her mother had excellent bloodlines, and was an amazing horse, but all her foals had been sickly and had died. All of them except Cyndane. You can change her name if you wish."

"No," he said, surprisingly vehemently. Calming himself he said, "no. Leave her name be. It is very fitting. By the way, what is your horse named?"

"Firebolt," Mandarb said grinning, "no hidden meaning, just strait out Firebolt."

Harry grinned too. Giving Cyndane a final pat he said, "We should probably return to the castle. The others will be up by now and wondering where we are."

The others nodded and they left the horses to trudge up to the castle.

"Where have you been?" Sirius' voice berated them as soon as they walked through the portrait hole.

"We went for a jog around the lake, and then Mandarb had something to show us," Lily replied. Mandarb had left them in the Entrance Hall saying she would see them later, and had disappeared down towards the dungeons.

"Well it's about time you got back! Come on. James made us wait to open presents. Now that you're here we can. Sit down," Sirius ordered.

Joining their friends in a circle of couches by the fire they divided up the presents. With an amused look on his face he watched his parents and their friends rip open their presents.

"…yes! Mum got me that prank kit…"

"…Advanced Arithmancy, just what I wanted!…"

"…The self updating Quidditch through the Ages! perfect…"

"…Werecats for Werewolves, hmm interesting…"

"…Advanced Charms for the Future Master! Brilliant…"

"…Broomstick servicing kit! Yes!…"

"…Oh my god mum and dad got me a Crup!…"

"…Look at these sweets!…"

After everyone had calmed down enough Harry ran up to his dorm and pulled a bag out from under his bed and brought it down.

"Ok, no here are the gifts from Mandarb, and the gifts from me," Slowly Harry passed two packages to each of them and motioned for them to unwrap them on by one. James went first. Soon, lying on his lap was a new broomstick, and two knives with a stag imprinted on each hilt and on the leather sheaths.

"The broom is from me. It's custom made. The knives are from Mandarb," Harry said, smiling when James nodded dumbly, unable to speak. Harry motioned for Sirius to go next.

Sirius also received knives, though his had a large shaggy dog on them. From Harry he received a map. Looking at it he let out a gasp. It was a map of Hogwarts. There were many secret passages he had never known existed, along with many he did. Shocked he looked up at Harry who smiled. "Yup that's a complete map of Hogwarts. You might want to add a couple of the passages to that other map of yours." Dumbstruck Sirius just nodded and folded it up again.

Remus' knives had a howling wolf and the paper he received from Harry made him frown. It was obviously potion instructions, but for what? Questioningly he looked at Harry who said, "It's called the Wolfsbane potion. It will help you keep your mind when you transform." Tears welled up in Remus' eyes as he stared at eh parchment.

"How…" he trailed off.

Harry just grinned, "That would be telling now wouldn't it?"

Remus nodded and whispered, "Thank you. Oh god thank you Harry!"

"Thank you Remus," said Harry. Remus looked at Harry for a moment, then nodded and motioned for the next person to unwrap theirs.

Lily did. Her knives had lilies of course, but she also got a beautiful crystal lily pendent from Harry.

"It's a protective amulet. It will block anything short of an unforgivable, and it might even lessen the effect of those," Harry explained.

Lily muttered her thanks and began examining the amulet. Only Mary was left and they watched as she unwrapped hers. The knives had a wand with stars coming out of it. Harry's present seemed quite plain though. It was a pair of journals, simply wrought with plain leather covers. It seemed plain, at least until Harry explained.

"Those journals are communication journals. Whatever is written in one can be read in the other. They never run out of pages and what has been written cannot be erased. Give one to someone else and until you take it back it cannot be stolen. They also can not be read except by you and the other person."

For a minute they all examined their gifts until Sirius realized something.

"Harry are you planning on opening your gifts any time soon?" he said with a grin.

Surprised he looked at his feet and noticed a small pile of presents he also noticed their was another package in the bag that had held Mandarb's presents. Failing to hide his surprise he nodded and unwrapped his knives, and nearly dropped them. Instead he stared at them as if they were deadly vipers. Imprinted on each of them was a lightning bolt. Putting them to the side nervously, he turned his attention to his other gifts. From Sirius, a basic prank kit. From Mary a quill and a never empty bottle of ink. From James a book on famous seeders and their tactics. From Lily a book on martial arts. From Remus a book on Animagus Transfiguration. At this he laughed.

Remus shot him a curious look.

"Sorry, it's just that Moody had been complaining that I need to get this book. He insists I read it , though I don't know why. He's already made me a competent animagus. Still Remus I thank you. I didn't have the left over money to go buy it and the library didn't have it. Thanks."

"You're welcome. What's your animagus form?" Remus asked, curious.

"A leopard. Not native, but still convenient when you want to sneak around, or climb something," Harry said.

"Why didn't you ever tell us?" Sirius asked.

"I was going to, but I just completed the transformation successfully a couple days ago. I wanted to solidify my ability," Harry told them.

"Will you show us?" Lily asked eagerly.

In response Harry stood up and focused on becoming his animagus form. Prowling around he took in each of their scents. He would be able to find each of them now just by their scent. Quickly, with the demonstration over, he changed back.

"You need a nickname," James said.

"What about Pads?" Remus suggested.

"No too much like Padfoot. We need something original. Something new," James told him.

"How about Freckles," Lily suggested.

"Hmm, Freckles, I like it. What do you say Harry?" James asked.

"Sounds good. Now I don't know about anyone else, but I'm hungry. Lets go get something to eat and enjoy our day off. After all it will be over before we know it," Harry said standing up.

A chorus of 'good idea,' and 'after you' answered him and he led the way out of the common room.

Authors Note: I know it's kind of short but please don't flame and tell me what you think by reviewing.