The other marauders and I didn't say goodbye to each other when we climbed off the Hogwarts Express at Platform nine and three-quarters, because we were all going to meet at the Potters' the very next day to go visit Andromeda, Ted, and Nymphadora.

"Alright, ten at my place tomorrow," said James. "See you guys then."

"Ugh, we're really going to get up before ten in the Holidays?" Sirius groaned.

"It's your cousin we're going to see," said Peter.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I suppose... anyway, see you guys tomorrow."

"See you," I said, then found my way to my parents.

"Are you spending the night at the Potters', or what time will you be back?"

"I'll be back before dinner," I said. It was the next morning, and my dad was just about to take me to Godric's Hollow. "One of James's parents will apparate me back."

"Alright, that sounds good," said Dad, gripping my hand and spinning on the spot. Within seconds, we were at Godric's Hollow, just in front of the Potters' house. "Alright, Remus, see you later."

"Bye, Dad, thank you," I said, then knocked on the door.

Sirius opened it and threw his arms around me.

"Sirius... my dad is still here," I said, looking back to my dad, but luckily, he was walking away, his back to us.

"Sorry... it's been a long time since I've seen you!" said Sirius.

"It's been less than twenty-four hours," I said, but I'd felt his absence as well. Ever since the last full moon, Sirius and I had been sleeping in the same bed. Not having sex (which I think both of us secretly wanted to do), but in our pyjamas, keeping each other warm, holding hands, breathing in each other. Last night had felt empty without him by my side.

"Remus! It's lovely to see you!" Euphemia said, coming down the staircase and hugging me.

"It's great to see you too," I said.

"James and Peter are upstairs, get yourselves ready and we'll leave in about ten minutes, OK?" said Euphemia, and I nodded as Sirius led me upstairs.

When Sirius came into James's room, it was an abomination. Clothes were scattered everywhere, the bed was unmade, and there was rubbish everywhere.

"Woah... what's with all this?" I asked.

"I forgot to clean my room at the end of summer," said James, bending down and scooping up a pile of clothes. "Mum says we're not leaving the house until I clean it up."

"We can help you," I said.

"No, I can help you," said Sirius, drawing his wand. "I'm seventeen. This is no longer going to get me expelled."

With one wave of Sirius's wand, the entire room cleaned itself up. James's jaw dropped.

"Padfoot, thank you so much for being born earlier than the rest of us!" James cried.

"Oh, it's nothing," said Sirius, grinning. "But come on, let's go now."

Sirius was able to tell Fleamont Andromeda's address, and he apparated us there.

"Yeah, this is it... I think," said Sirius as we came in front of the house.

"You think?" said James.

"No, I'm like, ninety percent sure this is it," said Sirius. "I haven't been here since last Easter, don't judge me..."

He walked to the door and knocked on it. A young man with blond hair opened it and smiled widely when he saw Sirius.

"Hey, boys," he said. "Come in, come in... it's a bit of a disastrous morning... we baked muffins for you guys, but Dora wanted one and we told her to wait, and she had a bit of a tantrum..."

The man, who I remembered as Ted, led us into the house. "Sorry about the mess... but at least Dora calmed down a while ago."

Nymphadora looked very different from when I saw her before. Last time, she was just short of four months old, so she had to be held by her parents the whole time, and I remember being fascinated by her constantly changing hair.

Now, her hair was pale pink and fell to her shoulders. She was sitting at the table, on top of a few cushions to get her high enough to have her head above the table. When she saw us, she gasped, and jumped off her seat to run over to Sirius and hug his legs, shouting, "SIRIRIRIRIRIRI!"

"Hey, Dora!" Sirius cried, picking her up. "Wow, you've gotten so big!"

"Mummy, muffins!?" Dora cried, looking over to Andromeda, who looked like she really needed a break.

"Yeah, in a minute... hey Sirius," she said, as Sirius put Dora down so Andromeda could hug him. She smiled at James, Peter, and I. "Hey, boys! It's great to see you guys. Feel free to have some muffins... oh, Ted, I put them on the top shelf so Dora couldn't get to them... would you mind getting them down? And please don't let Dora have more than one. We don't want a repeat of her birthday."

"What happened on her birthday?" Sirius asked, pulling away from Andromeda, who rolled her eyes.

"Ted left the sugary food unattended, and Dora and her friends from playgroup went crazy," she said. "So sugar high. If I hadn't been puking my guts out upstairs, Ted would not have been in charge of a bunch of toddlers."

"Yeah, yeah, alright, are you going to give Sirius his gift now?" Ted asked, removing the wrapper from a muffin, and handing it to Nymphadora.

"Yes, come on, it's in the garage," said Nymphadora, leading us all out of the dining room and to the garage. There was something large in wrapping paper, and I could tell from the shape that it was some sort of bike.

And sure enough, when Sirius unwrapped the gift, his face split into a large smile at the sight of the motorbike.

"Thank you," he said, as Andromeda gave him a hug.

"Happy late birthday and early Christmas," she said.

We spent the rest of the day taking turns on Sirius's new motorbike. Ted, when Andromeda had gone to the bathroom, even let Nymphadora have a go, and she almost crashed the bike and her hair turned bright red as Ted pulled her off the bike.

At four in the afternoon, Andromeda was about to take us back to the Potters', when Sirius said, "Wait. How are we going to apparate the motorbike back?"

"Easy," said Andromeda, drawing her wand and pointing it at the bike. "Reducio. Just make it bigger again when you're back home."

"Alright, thanks Andie," said Sirius, and she took his hand and James's hand. Peter gripped James's other hand, and I took Sirius's, smiling at him as I did.

"Wait!" Ted cried out just before Andromeda spun on the spot. "Dora wants to say goodbye. Again."

"Bye Siriririririri!" Dora cried, running over to us and hugging Sirius, then proceeding to hug me, James, and Peter. "Bye Remy! Bye Jamie! By Pete-Pete!"

She'd created nicknames for all of us. I thought it was really cute.

"Bye Mummy!" Nymphadora cried, hugging her mother.

"I'll be back in a minute," Andromeda said, laughing.

"See you, boys," said Ted, taking Dora's hand and leading her away. "It was great seeing you all. I hope you all have a great Christmas!"

"You too," the marauders all said together, then Andromeda apparated us back to Godric's Hollow.

"I'll see you guys later," Andromeda said warmly, then walked us to the door.

"I can't believe she grew up in the same house as Bellatrix Lestrange," Peter said once we were inside the Potters' place. "She's so nice."

"I know, it doesn't make sense," said Sirius. "But I know I'm not complaining. It's good to have a nice family member. To not be the only black sheep."

A few days later, I was getting ready to meet Lily for Petunia's engagement party, and Mum was fussing over some wrinkles in my shirt.

"Mum, it's fine, anyone who's not my mother is not going to notice it," I said.

"No, it's not fine..." she said. "Lyall, can you fix this? Wave your wand around and smooth it out or... I don't know..."

"Mum, I'm going to be late..." I said, as my dad pointed his wand at my shirt and all the wrinkles disappeared.

"Alright, let's go," said Dad. "Wait... where is this party?"

"At my friend's house," I said.

"Yes, I know, but I've never taken you to this house... I don't know where it is or what it looks like," said Dad.

I went to my room and grabbed the piece of parchment that Lily had given to me on the last day of term, where she'd written down her address and telephone number. I told my dad the address and he just shrugged.

"It's near Galway," I said.

"Wait, she lives in Ireland!?" Dad cried. "God, now I definitely don't know where it is. Try calling her and ask her to send a picture of her house."

My dad found me a muggle coin, and I walked out of the apartment room and down the stairs to the apartment telephone box, then dialled Lily's number.

On the third ring, a man answered the phone. "Hello, this is Gregory Evans."

"Hi, um... this is Remus... Lily's friend, would I be able to speak with her?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course... Lily! Your friend's on the phone!" the man cried out.

I waited for a beat, and then I heard the sound of the phone being passed on, and then, "Hey, Remus."

"Hey," I said. "My dad doesn't know where your house is... would you be able to send a photo of it?"

"I would, but I'm a muggle-born, remember? I'd have to use the muggle post office, and that would take days to send to you," said Lily. She paused. "OK, this is really embarrassing, but Potter has a photo of my house. I think."

"What!?" I cried. "Why?"

"I'll explain when you get to mine, just send an owl to Potter and ask him to send it to you and come here. Everyone's arriving and I'm lonely."

"OK," I said, hanging up, then coming back up the stairs to write a letter to James.

Hey James, apparently you have a photo of Lily's house? Would you mind sending it to me?

-Remus

I got a response about five minutes later.

Hi Moony, James is practicing Quidditch at the moment. Why would he have a photo of Evans' house? Also, why do you need it? Anyway, I'll ask him about it.

From Sirius (P.S I love you, hope your parents don't see this letter)

I smiled, then wrote a quick note back.

I'm keeping her company at her sister's engagement party and need to apparate there. Please ask him because I'm running late, and I love you too.

-Remus

A minute later there was a response, this time from James, with a photo attached. The photo was moving of Lily in front of her house.

Please send this photo back when you're done.

From James

I showed the photo to my dad, and he nodded, then side-on apparated me to the house.

"Thanks, Dad," I said, and he smiled and then apparated back. I knocked on the door, and a thin, blonde girl answered the door with a smile on her face, but then her expression turned sour when she saw me.

"Lily, your friend is here!" she cried out, and Lily came running to the door.

"Thank, god," said Lily

"Sorry I'm so late," I said. "But, one question: why does James have a photo of you in front of your house?"