Mary woke up early Saturday morning, just as the first rays of light crept up upon the horizon. It was officially the beginning of the holiday season. Usually, Mary would find herself dreading the holidays when all of her friends left Hogwarts for home and she was left behind. It had become apparent, after the first few years trying to go home, that remaining lonely at Hogwarts was a fate better than facing her mother and step-father.

This year though, Mary wouldn't be staying behind. Emmeline had invited her to spend the holidays in London, splitting her family's flat as they had during the summer. Her parents had to be in France for one of her father's matches and Emmeline had no desire to go travelling around to Quidditch tournaments during her time off.

Mary rose from her bed, the first of her roommates to wake, and quietly tiptoed about, changing into her clothes for the day. She had a good internal clock and had planned to wake up early, knowing that a particular someone liked to eat their breakfast before most of the castle rose. Usually, Mary would not plan her sleep schedule around another person's breakfast timeline but today she had a rather important concern she needed to be resolved before the Hogwarts Express left for London.

Mary had run into an old acquaintance the night before when leaving the library - Amos Diggory. The two had barely spoken since returning to Hogwarts and Mary hadn't expected that to change, except it had, briefly, when they'd got to catching up on their school year so far and somehow, Mary had allowed Amos to lean in and kiss her, the pair sitting on a bench located at the corner of a first-floor corridor, unusually frequented outside of class hours.

One thing had led to another, as it always did, and they'd made out for a bit, Mary even allowing him to put his hand up her shirt before they heard the echo of footsteps and agreed it was best they called it a night. Of course, not before Amos revealed to Mary a rather nasty rumour he'd overheard, spreading through the Hufflepuff common room.

"I heard that your friends are shagging," Amos announced, his tone etched with pride. He liked to be in on a secret Mary knew nothing about.

"Who?"

"Alice and Remus."

Mary could have raced down to the Hufflepuff Basement right then and throttled Leila for her behaviour.

"Where on Earth did you hear that?"

"It's been getting whispered about the common room the past day or two. Leila McAllister has been sulking about like a wounded puppy."

"Trust me, she's not as innocent as she seems," Mary grumbled. It was bad enough that both Remus and Alice were suffering from breakups and, though Mary was not entirely privy to the ins and outs of Remus and Leila's relationship, she knew for a fact Alice had never been in the middle.

Mary had been too scared to bring the rumour up with Alice when she'd returned that night. She'd who been petrified all week that something like this would happen and Mary wasn't keen on informing Alice quite yet that her worst nightmare might be true. Instead, Mary had gone to bed early and promised herself that she would wake up early and get the truth once and for all.

She entered the Great Hall bright and early, scanning the Hufflepuff table to find exactly the guy she was searching for, halfway down the bench. Mary slid silently onto it beside Reginald who jumped with fright.

"You almost gave me a heart attack."

"I need to ask you something," Mary had no time to waste. She wanted to make sure she got her questions in before too many people arrived.

"Oh boy." Reg put down his fork. "I think I might know what this is about…"

"It's true then?" Mary's face fell. "Leila and her friends have spread this rumour around?"

"Is it a rumour?" Reg asked, his voice hushed.

"Alice and Remus were never together, I swear it."

"I believe you." Mary was always baffled by how easily he did that - trusted her. Reg barely knew her, they'd only been talking a few months, and yet his trust seemed unwavering.

"It was Everett Jenkins," Mary told him, praying she wouldn't come to regret it, "not Remus."

"So why does Leila think otherwise?"

"Because Remus and Alice became friends recently and Leila is a jealous bitch." Mary couldn't help her spiteful words.

Reg's eyebrows rose but he said nothing about it. "Well, Leila is out for blood," he told her, "or at least her pack of friends are. They're the ones doing all the gossiping. Especially Trinity Danes."

"Is she the pink-haired one?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Merlin's beard," Mary said, rubbing at her forehead woefully. If all of Hufflepuff house knew already, how long until word spread?

"Perhaps the break from school will help?" Reg suggested optimistically.

Mary didn't know how much damage had already been done. The word seemed to have spread like wildfire and she was terrified that it was only a matter of hours before it reached Alice.

"Nothing you can do about it right now," Reg reminded her, drawing Mary out of her head and back into the present. "Why don't you have some breakfast now? It'll help."

Mary chuckled. "Food is not going to solve this problem."

"It won't make it any worse," Reg shrugged, filling Mary's plate with food before she could even protest.


Marlene was the last of her roommates to wake up. She hastily threw her curly hair into a ponytail and put on a sweater and jeans before rushing downstairs to make breakfast. In the Great Hall, she found Peter, Sirius, and Remus sat near the top of the Gryffindor table, nearest the door. She slid into the bench beside Remus, across from Peter and Sirius, and began filling her plate.

"Good morning." She didn't bother looking up at them as she piled on eggs, beans, and toast, her mouth-watering. "Everyone excited to go home today?" Still, there came no response. Finally, Marlene looked up, startled by the anxious expressions worn by all.

"Leila has spread a terrible rumour," Peter blurted out, always the first to crack.

"I've been called a wanker twice this morning," Remus confessed from beside her. "She's told all of Hufflepuff that I had an affair with Alice and the word is beginning to spread." Remus looked like he was going to be sick. Marlene felt for him, he had only been trying to protect himself, and Leila, when he'd ended that relationship, Alice had never been a factor.

"I can't let this go on."

"What're you going to do about it?" Marlene's stomach clenched. Whatever it was it couldn't be good.

"He thinks he's going to tell her!" Sirius jumped in, clearly disapproving.

"Really?" Marlene was shocked, especially after all Remus had done to avoid spilling his secret to Leila.

"It can't be any worse than this...and I...I can't put Alice through this. It's not fair."

"You could be making this ten times worse," Sirius stressed. Marlene knew he was only trying to protect his friend but she could see in Remus' eyes that his mind was made. He wouldn't let Leila continue to drag Alice through the mud. Marlene didn't think a break from Hogwarts had ever been better planned.

"Does Alice know yet?"

"I haven't seen her all morning…"

"If we can just keep her distracted for the day-" Marlene began to plan.

"What's the use?" Sirius grumbled pessimistically. "The word will spread either way and at some point, I'm sure Frank is going to lose it."

"Where the hell is James?" Marlene had expected a calm and happy morning. Classes were done for the time being, school-work was on pause and they could all get some much-needed rest.

"Probably off with Lily," Peter shrugged, "he's never around these days."

Truthfully, Marlene had been experiencing the same problem with her old friend. All week she'd been dying to talk to him about her date with Henry and perhaps even get some advice. Of course, James had no free time - not between Head Boy duties and snogging Lily. It appeared everyone was getting a little tired of it.

"There are Vance and McDonald," Sirius announced, looking down the table, towards the end of the hall. Mary and Emmeline were walking towards the doors, oblivious to the eyes watching them, when Marlene stuck out an arm to grab their attention.

"Finally you're awake!" Mary enthused, rushing to give Marlene a hug.

"Have you heard about this rumour?" Marlene spoke quietly in her friend's ear as they embraced.

"Yes," Mary told her. "Have you seen Alice?"

"She was gone when I woke up," Marlene shook her head as they drew apart. "What about Frank? Any eyes on him?"

"Oh…" Emmeline shifted nervously, "yeah, I'm pretty sure he knows."

"Why's that?"

"Because I was a few heads down the bench when Cecily Turner showed up and told Frank that she'd always thought he was too good for Alice." Emmeline couldn't say Cecily Turner's name without sneering, the pair were constantly going after the same guys.

"Remus, at the doors," Peter said, everyone, turning to see Leila entering the Great Hall, a girl with a ponytail of pink hair beside her. Leila strode towards the Hufflepuff table with her head held high, a few people whispering as she passed by them.

"I'm going to talk to her," Remus announced.

"That's a terrible idea!" Mary insisted, her face pale with panic.

"I have to do it and put an end to all of this for Alice's sake."

"Don't do it here!" Emmeline suggested as Remus stood up. "It's so... public."

"It'll be my only chance before everyone's swept up in going home."

Mary and Emmeline believed Remus was going to confront Leila, unaware of the secret he had to disclose. Marlene didn't know whether to support him or beg Remus to stay but she simply gave him a reassuring nod and watched, silently, as he crossed the hall to confess his deepest and darkest secret to Leila.


It wasn't a sense of courage that drew Remus to cross the hall and approach Leila in front of half the school, it was duty. His duty to Alice, as her friend, to protect her after all she'd confessed to him and the trust she had bestowed on him.

"Leila," Remus stood behind her, face as straight as he could manage when he felt ready to tremble with anxiety. "Might I have a word?"

She hadn't been expecting him, not by the look on her face when she turned around. Everyone was watching, half of Hufflepuff table fell silent, watching the interaction. Leila surprised him and nodded. Without a word, she followed Remus out of the hall and right, towards the first-floor corridors.

Remus knew of a rather wisely broom closet, half-empty, at the end of the corridor before you turned the corner. He stepped in first, using his wand to provide light. Leila entered behind him, somewhat hesitantly, and closed the door.

"What you did in Hogsmeade," Remus began, "was terrible."

"Look, my friends, they egged me on," Leila admitted. "I know that you're right, it wasn't fair or...mature…"

"No," Remus agreed.

"I'm hurt is all," she stressed. "Things were going great and then suddenly you ended it and you're with her all the time now-"

"We're mates!" Remus stressed, tired of having to explain his friendship. Even his own friends had questioned him, wondering whether he and Alice did anything more than talk. "Alice has absolutely nothing to do with why our relationship came to an end."

Remus held his wand up between them, the light illuminating Leila's face as she grimaced. "Why then?" she demanded. "I want the truth."

"I want you to stop spreading these rumours Leila, I'm begging you," Remus pressed on, "Alice doesn't deserve it."

"It's not me spreading it-"

"Well then make your mates stop."

"Fine," she agreed impatiently. Her dark eyebrows rose, arms crossed against her maroon sweater. Remus knew he would never forget her in this moment, right before the truth was revealed, before and after. Things would never be the same.

"Remus, I love you," Leila said, stepping closer to him, close enough she could touch him. "Whatever it is we can get through it." There were tears in her eyes as she looked up at him, pleading.

"The truth will change how you look at me," he told her, the colour draining from his face. "Forever."

"It won't," Leila promised, "it won't because I love you." It was hard not to melt when she said those words. No one had ever loved Remus. Sometimes, he doubted whether his parents truly did, burdened by his curse.

"When I was a child my father made a very terrible enemy," Remus had only relayed the story a few times and each was difficult. His throat closed up and he struggled along. "I was bitten, as a child…"

"You were…?" Leila drew back. "Bitten? Bitten by what?"

"I'm a werewolf." Remus' voice trembled as he said the words out loud, his whole body tensing up in fear. Leila stumbled back, eyes rounded like a deer in headlights.

"I don't understand I…"

"I'm the same person," Remus swore, "It's still me," he reached out for her but she drew away.

"You lied to me for months?" tears rolled down her cheeks. "I...I remember I…" she pressed a hand to her head as though trying to remember. Remus' stomach sank, Lily's memory charm had not been as powerful as they'd hoped after all. "I need to go," she said, looking up at him with bleary eyes.

"Leila, please-"

She slammed the door in his face and Remus lurched over, throwing up into the mop bucket.


Alice had taken up early morning running in the weeks since the abduction. In the past, she and Frank had gone on runs together, making loops of the Quidditch pitch or the Great Lake. This Saturday morning she woke up early, expecting to be the first awake (though Mary was missing from her bed) changed into her jogging gear and went for what was meant to be a one hour trot around the grounds. Instead, Alice had gone past Hagrid's hut, caught him outside, returning from the Forbidden Forest, and joined him for a cup of tea.

Hagrid had never been anything but kind to her and Alice had entered his hut once or twice before and enjoyed gnawing away at one of his rock cakes. This time she simply enjoyed a cup of tea but it turned out the giant was a wonderful source of information. The two of them got on talking about magical creatures for a while, Hagrid telling her all about some of his most interesting discoveries.

Alice wasn't sure what time it was as she made back for the castle. She had a rumbling stomach, her mind on the food laying out in the Great Hall right then...

She was moving along towards the castle, daydreaming about her breakfast, when she saw Frank, walking out from the courtyard in a hurry. She approached him - unaware of the reason behind his stomping away from the castle - in an attempt to try out the whole "being friendly" thing they were doing.

"Morning," she greeted him warmly. Frank looked up, glowered in her direction and continued to stomp on by.

"As if you don't know," she heard him muttering under his breath.

"Frank?"

He had plenty of reasons to hate her but the last time they'd spoken, it was Frank who had suggested they be friends.

"Can you at least tell me what's happened?"

He turned on her with fury in his eyes. "You've made a fool out of me," he said, pointing his finger at her chest. "I thought it was bad enough that you shagged Jenkins but to find out from a rumour chain that you and Remus are seeing one another…" there were tears forming in Frank's hazel eyes.

"Remus and I are friends," Alice insisted. "Nothing more. I told you everything."

"You expect me to trust you?" He looked down at her, disgust filling his face. "I'm a joke because of you. Everyone is talking about this."

"Well, it's not true!" Alice's voice grew shrill. "If you want to hate me for what I've done to you, fine, but don't believe a stupid rumour that Leila started because Remus broke up with her."

"The timing is a little convenient, Alice."

"I'm not interested in Remus!" Alice snapped, "in fact, I'm not into any bloke, no one, except…" she bit her lip to stop herself from saying the rest.

"If that were true we wouldn't be in this mess," Frank remarked, voice filled with bitterness, and he turned his back on her and continued to walk away. Alice let him. The days of running after Frank and making it all better were long gone. Alice turned back to face the castle, knowing that a storm awaited her inside.


James couldn't help the buzz of excitement which moved through him as he boarded the Hogwarts Express. He was the first to climb aboard car three, taking a compartment in the middle for the gang. The rest of the Marauders followed, as well as Lily and Marlene. They all struggled with their trunks, arranging them overhead, and stripping themselves of the layers needed to weather the cold temperatures outside.

James and Lily had slept in late and come down to the Great Hall to chaos. Peter and Sirius, still sitting at the Gryffindor table, informed them that Remus had gone to tell Leila the truth about himself all because she had spread a rumour around the castle that he and Alice were having a secret affair. The whole thing was rather difficult to wrap his head around in the first hour of consciousness.

When they'd all returned upstairs to pack up their trunks, Remus had reportedly been in the seventh year boys' dormitory, pale as a ghost. Sirius said he had looked practically ill and the whole way to the train station he'd barely said a word. No one quite knew how to handle that. Of course, a six-hour-long train ride could cause quite a few secrets to come out.

"Has anyone seen Alice?" Lily inquired anxiously. She'd been M.I.A. all morning it appeared.

"She returned to the room late and said she'd meet us," Marlene informed her.

"Where was she?"

"Apparently, out on a run. She looked a fright when she returned though, so I'd imagine she's heard."

"Can we talk about anything else?" Remus piped up, curled into the corner of the compartment, his forehead rested against the window.

"Sorry Remus," Lily apologized, cheeks going red. "I didn't mean to…"

"It's fine," he assured her. "I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling very well…"

"How did the talk go Moony?" Peter asked. He'd been the most anxious to find out all morning, though Remus had been too delicate to bother asking before.

"As you can probably tell, not very well," Remus glowered. He was wrapped up in his cloak, knees drawn into his chest. James could tell he'd be fast asleep soon, and he'd likely do his best to remain so for most of the rest of the journey.

Sirius kicked Peter in the ankle. "Forget about it," he jumped in, "we don't need to talk about her. Let's play a game or something."

The train began moving not long after that, Peter producing a stack of playing cards. James and Sirius agreed to partake as they made their way out of Hogsmeade. Eventually, Remus fell asleep, his eyes drooping shut, and the girls left to go find Alice, Mary and Emmeline. Once they were alone and certain Remus was asleep, the three remaining boys put away their game.

"How bad do you think it really was?" Sirius whispered, their heads all drawn close together.

"Is she going to tell people?" Peter asked, horror filling his face.

"Merlin, I hope not."

"He should have never told her," Sirius insisted for the hundredth time.

"But he has and now, we have no choice but to try and support him," James reminded him pointedly. "Hopefully, he'd have told us if there was damage control necessary."

"Hopefully but he's stubborn as a mule, that one," Sirius sighed. James glanced over his shoulder at Remus, still curled up tightly, his breaths even and long. He deserved better. Much better than a girl who would spread false rumours about him and run away because of a curse he had no control over.

"Let's just hope this break provides some much-needed pressure relief."

"Yeah, the last thing you want is for everything to explode on NewYear's Eve," Peter said, putting the fear out there. Sirius rolled his eyes and James frowned.

"I hadn't even thought about that…"


When Lily and Marlene found the girls in their compartment, Alice was wiping tears from her cheeks as Mary and Emmeline spoke to her, heads close.

"He hates me," she'd been saying when Marlene and Lily entered. "You should have seen the look on his face…"

"He doesn't hate you," Mary insisted, pulling a tissue from the pocket of her jeans. "Wounds are still fresh. He'll come to see reason."

It was difficult to see Alice, one of the sweetest people Lily knew, so broken. It didn't seem fair, especially when the nasty rumour being spread wasn't even true...at least, not entirely.

"Hey guys," Emmeline looked over her shoulder and greeted them with an awkward half-smile.

Alice looked up, bleary-eyed. "Good to see you," she sniffled. Her face was red and her eyes were swollen from all the crying. "Sorry, I'm such a mess. I know this must be annoying…dealing with me all the time."

"It's what we're here for," Marlene insisted, sliding onto the bench opposite the others.

"Al, I promise you, this is the worst bit," Lily insisted. "You've had a rough year and I know that when my dad passed, the year that followed I.. I struggled to feel like myself. The world began to crumble and suddenly, everything felt bland." Alice nodded, eyes filling with fresh tears. "It's going to get better," Lily promised, "even if it doesn't seem like it right now. This part will be a blip one day, the piece in time you do your best not to remember, but your life will go on and you will enjoy it again." It was the kind of speech Lily wished someone had given her when she'd been trapped in the rut of grief.

"Thanks, Lil," Alice sighed, leaning her head against the side of the compartment, wedging her cardigan between the wall and her head so that she could rest comfortably. After all the emotions of the morning, it didn't take long for Alice to fall asleep, Mary rubbing her back comfortingly as the rest of the girls spoke softly amongst themselves.

Lily couldn't help thinking Alice was doubly unlucky, to have her breakup with Frank take place so soon after her mother's murder. Even worse was the fact that now the entire train was whispering about her and girls in Hufflepuff uniforms had taken to making dirty looks as they passed the girls' compartment. Lily found the whole thing impossible to bear. At some point, Emmeline produced the flask of gin she'd smuggled onto the train.

"To take the edge off," she told them. The trolley came by and they purchased food and drink - Mary buying an orange pop that served well as a chase to follow a healthy gulp of alcohol. Lily didn't mind having the edge taken off, especially when she would be home in a mere few hours, back under the same roof as Petunia. Her sister would doubtlessly be miserable with Lily's return.

"Any plans to see Henry over the break?" Emmeline asked Marlene. Since the Hogsmeade trip last weekend it seemed Henry Fawley was all Marlene could talk about. How handsome he was, how lovely their date had been, best of all, the fact that he was supposedly an amazing kisser. Lily might have been annoyed if she didn't find her friend's excitement so cute. Marlene deserved to glow with happiness when she spoke about a special someone, it was what Lily wanted for her.

"Nothing set in stone," Marlene shrugged, trying to play it cool.

"Have you spoken since Hogsmeade?" Mary leaned in as she asked.

"He wrote on Monday to say he'd had a lovely time but...that's about it."

"Don't stress over it," Lily told her, "men are idiots when it comes to communication." The girls all nodded in agreement.

"Besides, it's better if you're not tied down to one man," Emmeline reassured her, "especially over the holidays. Meeting the family is awful and this way, your New Year's kiss will be a total surprise."

"He's just a boy," Marlene said, faking disinterest. "There are hundreds others out there like him."

Lily knew better than anyone how false that statement was. When you met the right person there was no one else. She hoped Marlene would one day come to see it too.


Alice exited the train station alone and apparated away down an empty alleyway behind it. She landed behind a small grocer on the corner of a suburban street in North Yorkshire, where her family's home was located.

It was an uphill climb, with a heavy trunk in tow, and when Alice reached the top of the hill - red-faced and panting - the street was as dark as if it were ten p.m rather than seven. She made down the road for her house, with the green picket fence and the yellow front door. Across the road, coming out of her home with a bag of garbage in tow, was Florence Everly; both neighbour and family friend.

"Oh, Alice!" she cried happily when she spotted the girl approaching. Florence Everly was a small, middle-aged woman with blonde hair she always curled in a tight perm. She closed the bin and wiped her hands off on the apron she had tied around her waist before giving Alice a hug.

"It's wonderful to see you."

"You too," Alice replied with a smile. Florence felt like one of the only remaining maternal figures in Alice's life with her mother now gone.

"How are you?"

"Oh, you know, I've been better. Thank you though, Mrs Everely, for looking after my dad."

"Oh please sweetheart," she leaned forward and swept aside Alice's hair with affection, "call me Florence."

"How is he?" Just from the way that Florence squirmed at the question Alice knew it was bad. She had asked her neighbour, before leaving for school in the fall, to check in on her father and make sure he was coping on his own.

"I've tried my best to clean up," Florence told Alice while wearing a frown, "but he doesn't like me messing about in there. I think that he'd like everything to remain untouched…" Florence did not make eye contact with Alice as she said the next part, "I think he wants it to remain exactly as it was before your mother left."

"Oh, dear."

"I've been keeping meals in the fridge for him and doing what I can but...well, I'm sure you know he's stubborn as a brick." Alice nodded, her stomach sinking. Things were almost worse than she'd expected. "Also...there's quite a few important notices you might want to get him to tend to. I've been collecting the mail and leaving it on the dining room table but it's untouched."

This was all Alice needed after a humiliating day, to return home and find her father's life in shambles. She did her best to put on a brave face as she and Florence said their goodbyes, heading into their respective homes.

The lights in the Griffith house were all out and Alice stepped inside to a musky smell, something which suggested unwashed clothing and rotting food. She flicked her wand to fill the sitting room with light. Alice stepped into it and saw her mother's slippers still next to the couch, her book on the coffee table from that morning and unmoved, covered in dust, reading glasses beside it. The place was a bloody mausoleum.

"Hello?" She called out "Dad?"

In the kitchen, Alice found the table - as Florence had promised - piled with unopened bills, notices, and cards. Sighing, she used her wand to fill the room with light, only then noticing the man at the other end of the table, his head buried in his arms as he snored.

There was a bottle of whiskey, a quarter of it left, beside him. Alice shouldn't have been surprised. Everything had indicated this, only it was easier to worry about it from afar. Seeing it face to face made Alice sick to her stomach.

After turning on the lights, she shook her father gently to wake him up. He looked at her, his eyes bloodshot, the bags beneath them heavy and dark.

"Alice?" He squinted. "What are you doing home?"

"It's the holidays," she reminded him, her throat drying up.

"Oh." He ran a hand through his hair - grey, unwashed, longer and more unruly than Alice had ever seen it.

"Have you even read the letters I've been sending you?" Alice couldn't help but feel hurt.

"Yes I, I'm just slow at replying is all."

"I almost died you know," Alice reminded him heatedly. He didn't care. Not that she was home nor that he could have lost his only child the same way he had lost his wife. Alice hated him for it.

"Please," her father said, placing a hand up to silence her. "My head is killing me."

"You're drunk."

"I'm not."

It was hard for Alice not to roll her eyes. Her life was a joke. When had that happened? When had it become a Monty Python sketch?

"I'm going to bed," her father finally announced, struggling to simply rise from his chair without stumbling and falling over. It was pathetic and yet Alice had no choice but to go over and help him.

"Come on," she said, losing any hope in a "normal" stay at home. "I'll help you."

She did just that, getting him out of his dirty clothes, which she was desperate to clean, and into the pinstripe pyjama set, he had discarded at the end of the bed. Only when he was lying under the covers, Alice rising to go, that he broke down.

"I'm so sorry Ali," he said to her. "I'm so sorry we failed you." He took her hand and held it tight. "It was never supposed to be like this." His hand was shaking. Alice felt like her chest was going to explode. "I never thought I'd have to do it without her." The pain on his face was like nothing she'd ever seen before and she only managed a nod before hurrying out of the room, her eyes filled with tears.