Disclaimer: Not mine, I'm just playing around with them for a bit.

A/N: Sorry I didn't say anything in the last one. I was a little busy when I wrote it and uploaded it. ^^; I was trying to think of what I could do for Christmas this year and how to get back into the groove of writing more fics! I hope you all like the stories 'cause I enjoyed writing them.

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The fire crackled quietly as Remus slowly walked down to the empty common room. Just like last year, it had snowed outside on Christmas Eve and he wanted to see it before the remaining students wrecked its perfection. So, as soon as he'd seen the pile of whiteness sitting on the window sill, he snuck out of bed and quickly got dressed. Now, he was standing in the middle of the room pulling his gloves over his frail hands and making sure he was fully covered. He didn't want to go back to the Hospital Wing so soon.

Just as he was about to walk out the portrait hole he heard someone hurrying down the stairs in what sounded like oversized boots. "Wait up!" Sirius called as he turned around. The other boy was still wearing his light blue pajama bottoms but was wearing his thick, black coat and his Gryffindor scarf was tied tightly around his neck. "I wanna come!"

"Will you be warm enough?" Remus asked looking at what his friend was wearing.

Sirius nodded quickly and pulled his coat closer. "Don't worry about me," he said with a big smile then walked through the hole gracefully. Remus shook his head lightly, he just knew that Sirius was going to get sick and end up being a big baby while he laid around in his bed during the remainder of the break. But he really wanted to see the snow and didn't want to try and convince his friend to stay inside.

He followed after Sirius thinking that the other boy would continue walking down. But to his surprise, and embarrassment, Sirius was waiting for him just outside so he had bumped into him. "Sorry," he said but Sirius just shrugged.

"Just be glad you're not Snivellus," he joked as he pulled out his wand and pointed it at Remus' hair. He muttered something under his breath and his smile grew even bigger as his eyes widened with entertainment.

Remus sighed and reached to touch his hair. He could feel a pair of tall, skinny rabbit ears protruding from the top of his head and playfully glared at Sirius. "Just wait," he threatened and went to grab for his own wand. But before his even touched it, Sirius was sprinting down the hallway laughing loudly.

The two boys made it down to the front entrance in record time, throwing good-natured hexes at each other along the way. Sirius' hair was bright pink and resembled a flamingo while his bunny nose was a dark green color. Remus' rabbit ears had been joined by hair that was red and yellow while his clothing was completely yellow and puce colored plaid. "Where did you learn the rabbit ears?" he asked when he had finally regained his breath as the two of them stood, leaning against the wall by the double doors.

"It's a sec-" Sirius started to say with his smile but then fell silent and looked at his friend intently; which gave Remus a bad feeling. "A secret."

"Oh," he said looking away from that intense look and pushed open one of the heavy doors. Just like in a book, the snow was untouched and seemed to glitter from the sun when it was hit just right. The trees were almost entirely white; the part of the trunk that could be seen was the only color. "Brilliant," he whispered with a small smile and was vaguely aware of Sirius slowly joining him at his side.

They looked out at the snow in silence until: "I'll tell you my secret if you tell me yours."

Remus blinked a few times, trying really hard to get his mind to work out what Sirius had just suggested. Then it clicked. 'He can't mean what I think he means…'

"Wh-what do you mean?" he stammered and tried to hide the fear in his voice. By the middle of their first year, the other Marauders (as James and Sirius had claimed the four of them) seemed to have become suspicious about his constantly ailing mother. "I don't have a secret."

"Really?" Sirius asked now looking at him fully but it, and the question, was ignored.

"I think James and Peter might be up," Remus said turning around quickly and almost slipped on some ice that he hadn't seen before. He was caught swiftly by Sirius and he gave him a small, thankful smile. "Let's go see our presents, alright?"

"Sure," Sirius said in an uncharacteristic seriousness. But then the goofy smile was back and a snowball hit the back of Remus' head, making his rabbit ears twitch from the cold. "Last one back to the common room has to eat one of Pete's socks!"

And in a blink of an eye, Sirius was gone, running back to Gryffindor Tower. Remus sighed and followed him at a much slower rate, savoring what might be his last day at Hogwarts.

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The common room was still empty when Remus cautiously stepped through the portrait hole. Where were the other boys? Getting Dumbledore and demanding he be thrown out of school? Waiting up in the dorm to confront him directly? Or maybe Sirius wasn't referring to what Remus thought and there was nothing to panic about.

'And the Giant Squid dances ballet.'

Sirius had always been bright about things when he set his mind to them. And Remus knew that he'd had been giving him strange looks whenever he mentioned his sick mom around the full moons.

It seemed like forever to walk from the portrait hole to the top of the stairs right outside the dorm. The door was closed and some loud voices could be heard, but Remus couldn't understand what they were talking about (the door effectively muffled the words).

He inhaled deeply as he turned the doorknob and slowly pushed the door open. Three pairs of eyes were on him instantly and he hoped for a second that it was at his plaid clothes instead of him. "Hey, Remus," James said with a big smile and walked over to him while Peter crawled onto his bed quickly and Sirius leaned on one of his bed posts with his arms crossed. "What's with the ears?"

Remus blinked again, remembering what Sirius had done to him and blushed from embarrassment when he saw that the other boy was back to normal. "Sirius and I hexed each other," he said just as said boy changed him back. "What were you guys talking about?" he asked hesitantly. He really wanted to run out of the dorm before they confronted him about his lycanthropy.

"Nothing mu-" James started to say still smiling but was caught off by Sirius.

The black haired boy walked over to the two of them and started to strip Remus of his warm clothing. The scarf was tossed over his shoulder while he mumbled about overheating and the coat soon joined it. Remus heard James sigh then the door behind him closed, effectively locking him in the round room.

"We know what you are," Sirius said bluntly when Remus was standing in his jeans, sweater, and boots.

"I-I don't know what y-you mean," Remus stammered again and felt his heart clench at the thought of his own friends running him out of the school.

It almost seemed like Sirius hadn't heard what he had stuttered because he was now glaring at him. "Do you think we're stupid? That we wouldn't be able to figure it out?"

"N-no," Remus said quietly and looked down at his extremely interesting boots now. "I just didn't want to leave Hogwarts yet…"

"L-leave Hogwarts?" he heard Peter squeak and he chanced a brief look at the still plump boy. He was hugging one of his pillows and watched the scene from his bed with a worried look.

"I was hoping that I could hide what I was for a few more years," Remus continued to say and mentally cursed himself when he felt his eyes start to water and closed them to stop from crying. "I just wanted to pretend to be normal. Please don't make me leave." He hugged himself as he suppressed more tears.

"What are you talking about?" James asked with a scared tone making Remus look up at him with a confused look. Was he wrong about what he thought they were thinking? "Why would we make you leave?"

"B-because I'm a monster?" he answered hating himself for saying it aloud.

Sirius went back to glaring at him then lightly pushed him in the chest. "You are not a monster. Alright?" When Remus didn't answer he pushed him again, just a little harder this time. "Alright?"

"B-but I'm a were…" Remus trailed off, not wanting to finish what he was saying. He just wished that he could make this day start at the very beginning, before this conversation even started.

"A werewolf?" Sirius and James said at the same time, earning a brief small smile from each other (most likely because they were thinking the same thing).

"That doesn't make you a monster," Sirius said looking back at Remus with a serious face and folded his arms across his chest again. "A monster is what's under Pete's bed."

"Hey!" Peter squeaked again glaring at Sirius lightly then looked at the floor by his bed.

James and Sirius laughed as they watched him but Remus was looking at them. "You really don't care that I'm a…" He trailed off, waiting for an answer. When none came he thought that maybe they'd changed their mind.

"You're a what?" Sirius asked obviously pretending to feign stupidity. "You have to finish your sentences or we'll never know what you're trying to say."

"You know what I'm trying to say," Remus said lightly glaring at Sirius who just smiled back.

"Do we?" James asked and started to stroke his bare chin, almost like he had a beard. "Well…we know you're a Gryffindor, our best friend, pants at Potions, and a brilliant prankster." He looked over at Sirius, "What else do you know Remus is?"

"He's a chocoholic," Peter suggested making James and Sirius laugh loudly and Remus smiled lightly.

"Oh!" Sirius said with a big smile and looked at the young werewolf. "And he's really excited to see what we got him for Christmas. Right?"

Remus looked between his three friends. His three best friends. "I think I already got my present," he said then tackled James and Sirius in a hug and squeezed them the best he could. "You guys really don't care?"

"Would we be hugging you if we did?" Sirius asked back and squeezed him tightly.

"And you're not afraid of me?" Remus asked again still hugging his friends. He was the happiest he had ever been, and that's included when he found out he would be able to go to Hogwarts.

James chuckled and pulled back. "Pete was scared when we first figured it out."

"Was not!" the blonde boy said throwing the pillow he'd been holding earlier right at the tall black haired boy, successfully hitting his back.

Sirius laughed as he leaned on Remus heavily, almost like he was trying to push him down to the ground. The brunette looked over all three boys with a fond smile and laughed as James and Peter started to playfully fight about whether or not he'd been afraid.

'Best Christmas ever.'

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More to come soon!