They only managed two hours of sleep since James kept waking up and bothering each of them. They eventually decided to wait the night out and catch some sleep after breakfast. Eventually they drifted down to the hall and found to be the first ones there. Despite their protesting stomachs James had them fasting so they could stay in the hall longer. He gave in when the toast popped up and said that they should eat one at a time.
"Yes because one of us eating isn't odd at all," the sarcasm dripped out of Sirius' mouth.
"Well sitting here long after we've all eaten is even more suspicious so shut up," James snapped back.
"Can I go first at least," Peter whined earning death glares from the rest of the table.
"Sirius can eat first since there's nothing but toast," James announced earning Sirius' good graces back.
"Thank you," He smirked before piling his plate high with bread.
Ten uncomfortable minutes passed where Remus contemplated turning as cannibalistic as his canine counterpart if the meat- or Sirius- didn't hurry up. It didn't help matters that Sirius drew out his treasured breakfast with exaggerated moans complete with licking his fingers. He almost wept with joy when the first students began entering the hall followed by bacon and sausages littering the table. Remus employed his most sincere puppy dog eyes to James after that. James broke within seconds and let Remus enjoy his breakfast along with Sirius. Before any arguments happened Remus fed Peter on the sly.
It was almost an hour since they had arrived. Peter told them they should have waited longer since it was a Saturday. Most students wouldn't be up until noon. James didn't listen to the complaints and responded that the teachers and prefects should be up early since they had other jobs to do on weekends. Peter was about to respond but Sirius' whacked him upside the head and shushed. They all followed his line of sight to see Slughorn and the prefect enter the hall. They were talking jovially before they broke off to take their respective seats.
James had started jumping in his seat again. Anticipation was building and he sent Peter twice to look out the hall to see if Dolohov and Carrow were coming yet. He came back with a negative before ignoring James' earlier rule and digging into his meal. Ten minutes and Remus thinking of ways to drown James in the lake they entered the hall.
One minute they were walking in and the next two shrieks met Remus' ears. He turned to see the water charm that they had done the night before rain heavily onto Slughorn and the Prefect. Students squealed with shock before realising that it wasn't happening to them and either laughed or got back to their meal. Slughorn had buried himself under the table to escape the onslaught of water whilst the prefect kept moaning about his hair and looked for something to try and shade it from the rain. The two first years seemed frozen as they watched the prefect turn to them and they quickly ran out of the hall.
The spell Remus had chosen for the shield went off as soon as the wands were out of range and it seemed that the prefect had noticed this as well since he stalked off in a fit of rage after them. Slughorn called for someone to get Flitwick who arrived followed by the retrieved boys.
A confrontation was inevitable when the rain started up again. Flitwick managed to find the source of their prank and have it sorted out after five minutes of torrential rain. By the end of the fiasco their robes were soaking and the four boys couldn't laugh hard enough.
"I knew they weren't sorry professor. They have no respect for authority, it's just like the trunk incident all over again," The prefect complained.
"Indeed," Slughorn narrowed his eyes onto the two cowering boys.
Dolohov's eyes averted when Carrow tried to plea their innocence "We swear, we don't even know how to do something like this.
"It is quite remarkable spellwork for first years," Flitwick observed.
"But not impossible for them to do," Slughorn added.
Dolohov caught them laughing at their table "You!" He shouted "It was them professor! They did it! We had nothing to do with it! Ask Snape, we were in our beds all night! They're the ones that have been learning magic not on the curriculum!" He argued and Slughorn beckoned the four boys over.
Remus reigned in his smirk and knew the others were wearing sombre expressions thinking they had been found out.
"Well boys? Did you have a hand in this? After all I do remember a certain horn hex being cast just last week," Slughorn asked. He seemed more certain that they had done it than Carrow and Dolohov and despite it having been him, Remus felt annoyed. He had been given enough evidence and still he would choose his own house and pathetic Slug Club over upsetting one of his own.
"It wasn't us sir," Remus replied. "In fact you can check my wand. I swear I haven't used charms like that," He lied and handed his wand over with the others doing the same.
Sirius gave him a friendly nudge when he figured out why they had to go to all that trouble for a simple prank. Slughorn tested the wands and came up negative. He handed them back with an apology for James and Sirius but none for Remus and Peter then turned to the other two boys with his hand outstretched. They handed their wands over willingly and Remus had to, once again, repress a satisfied smirk when their wands revealed the spells Remus and Sirius had cast the night before.
"It wasn't us," Carrow argued hollowly being lead away by the prefect and Slughorn in shock at what his wand had revealed.
As soon as they rounded the corner the four boys burst into laughing again. "Did you see their faces?" James squawked pointing towards where they had just left.
"Lucius was all like, ahh my hair!" Sirius mocked reaching for his own black locks in imitation.
"And the look on those two's faces! Hah!" James held his stomach from laughing so much "Brilliant work Remus. I actually had my doubts but that was genius."
They spent the rest of the day reliving their victory over the Slytherins. Having commandeered a chair in the common room Remus lay curled up whilst the other three sprawled out on the floor in merriment.
It seemed that what was later dubbed as 'the first prank' had been a dam. This dam had broken and Remus couldn't tell if it was his fault or whether it had faulty wood to begin with. Whatever had been presented as Sirius and James in their first two weeks was nothing compared to what happened when that dam broke. They had lost all boundaries, no longer did they fear punishment or feel hesitant when sneaking out. Remus almost missed the first two weeks.
After the first prank there was the second, which essentially was James and Sirius casting the raining charm on anyone wearing green or annoyed them. This happened for a week and they both got detentions for it. The teachers had figured out that they were behind the first prank as well, although whether they suspected Remus and Peter helping was beyond his knowledge. Nevertheless they didn't get punished for it because the punishment had already been doled out. Instead Slughorn targeted them for every misdeed they did. Sure some of it was them such as the Halloween prank where they placed polyjuice potion in random people's drinks making them all into Dumbledore. But they even got blamed for things that they had nothing to do with. Such as the fact that they had found a muggle born witch lying unconscious at the bottom of the stairwell, Slughorn had taken one look and given them both a detention. Unjustified in Remus' opinion since he knew it was the self righteous pure-bloods in his own house that were behind it.
Needless to say the months leading to December were filled with James and Sirius. But that was when things got weird. Two weeks until the Christmas holidays and not a single prank had been made. Remus would sit at night and wonder what was keeping him up before realising that it was the silence in the room. For the past three months he had heard nothing but whispered conversations or celebratory shouts emerging from the space between the beds. But as soon as December hit, nothing. Instead there was the sound of Sirius tossing and turning in his bed.
"Are you going home for Christmas?" Remus asked over breakfast.
Sirius glanced up from his dismembered toast "Afraid so. What about you?"
"I'm staying," Remus replied thinking about the pale moon that would almost be full on Christmas day.
"You'll be the only one then. James and Peter are going home too. Apparently there's nothing like a Potter Christmas according to James," Sirius spoke in a falsetto making Remus laugh.
"Sounds dreadful," He joked.
"What does?" James asked sitting down next to Sirius.
"You mate," Sirius quipped pulling James into a headlock. He squirmed and complained about his beautiful hair and tried to right it when Sirius let him go.
"James, I'm going to save you the trouble now. It's not worth it. I don't think it ever will be salvageable," Remus spoke pointing to James' nest on his head.
James pouted before giving up "Remus is staying for Christmas," Sirius told him.
"Aw! Wish I was," he whined.
"But you said-"
"I know but dad says that Hogwarts is so cool at Christmas. It's too late now though," He stropped "You should have told me sooner Remus."
"Sorry," He smirked "Look on the bright-side though, this way you can both have time apart to plan individual pranks. When you come back together there'll be enough material to last until easter," he consoled and watched as their faces got that scheming look.
"He's right you know," Peter announced sliding onto the bench next to Remus "And Remus can look up more spells for our duelling club without us distracting him."
The rest of the conversation left them excited about when they met back up again after Christmas. It seemed rather odd to Remus that they hadn't even broke up yet and he was yearning for them back.
That night he couldn't get to sleep again and thanked Merlin (an expression he had picked up from James) that it was a Saturday tomorrow or today depending on the time. Sirius was once again tossing in his bed. Remus listened to the repetitive motions in his mind having timed them for the past two hours. First Sirius would turn on his side then shove the blanket down to his feet before turning onto his back. He then pushed the quilt off the bed entirely before deciding to pick it back up after two minutes of rolling in his bed.
By the third hour Remus had decided to do something about it. James and Peter's curtains were drawn as he made his way over to the closed bed nearest the door.
Sirius looked alarmed when he stepped through his curtains and climbed onto the bed with him but didn't say anything. Remus picked up Sirius's quilt from the floor and pulled it over both of them before turning on his side and trying to get to sleep again.
"I'm okay," Sirius whispered.
"Hmm," Remus hummed in response knowing that it was useless to get someone to talk about something if they didn't want to. It would be hypocritical for him to ask Sirius to open up when he was no better.
"Really I am. You didn't need to do this," Sirius pressed.
"Yes I did. Your tossing was keeping me awake," Remus murmured into Sirius' pillow.
"Oh. Sorry."
"Go to sleep," Was all he said before drifting off himself.
He woke to a hand running lightly across his stomach. It was a pleasant sensation which kept him relaxed in half consciousness. He remembered the night before when he had climbed into bed with Sirius in the hopes that it would get him to stop wriggling and figured that it must be him.
He opened his eyes and took in the dark curtains devoid of any light at this part of the room. The red was still maroon sinking into black the further it went into the corners. Sirius was lying perched on one arm staring at something on Remus' stomach. He knew he should be doing something but couldn't think what or why.
"Morning," he mumbled instead causing Sirius' head to snap up and the hand to still on his exposed stomach.
"Hey," Sirius squeaked trying to remove his hand and pull down Remus' shirt as he did.
He glanced down and saw jagged marks criss crossing across his abdomen and bolted away from Sirius. Accidentally knocking on James' bed and waking the boy from his sleep. Sirius looked scared before he got up and reached for Remus.
He flinched which made Sirius' face fall but didn't deter him in his quest to get to Remus. He hauled Remus up by his arms and pulled him into the bathroom making sure to lock the door behind him.
"I'm sorry, so sorry," He apologised to Remus and tried to get him from bolting "I swear I didn't mean to see them. Your shirt was pulled up and they were just there! I promise that it wasn't on purpose," He pleaded.
Remus paced. Sirius had saw them, he couldn't let him know. So what was there to do? "I believe you," He said waving away Sirius' apologies.
There was another silence on the room like the one in the dorm before Remus bolted. "Who did those to you?" Sirius whispered with his eyes full of concern.
"I doesn't matter," he snapped wishing the boy would give him some time to think.
"Remus someone hurt you! One would be an accident but there was tonnes. I saw them on your arms as well," Remus glared for another privacy stolen from him. Sirius had looked further then. He caught the heated look Remus sent him "I just wanted to know how many more you had. If it was just in one place. Remus, you can tell me anything you know that right?"
"What's that meant to mean?" he asked horrified.
"It means that whoever did that to you or whatever happened... you can tell me. I won't judge you, I want to help," Sirius comforted and tried to move forward and embrace Remus.
He pulled back sharply "Really? Well what about you?" He asked trying to change the conversation to him. "Last night you wouldn't tell me what was wrong. And I know there's something Sirius, there's been no pranks this month and you've been restless for almost a week now."
"That's not fair!" Sirius argued "We're talking about you! My problems don't come into this."
"So there is something?" Remus deflected.
"Stop changing it to me! I'm not the one with scars all over him!" he backed away until his back hit the tiled wall. Sirius could see that he had said something wrong. "Rem- Remus I didn't mean that... What I'm trying to say is-" He stuttered not knowing how to right his wrong.
"Please stop," Remus muttered "Stop. Just leave it. Don't ask anymore. Please?"
"But..." Sirius sat on the floor and put his head in his hands. Remus walked past him to the door.
James and Peter were standing on the other side with their ears to the wall trying to listen in. "You can go in now. I'm going to go back to bed for a while," he told them before drawing his curtains except the one that faced the window. The sun was shining in his bed, reminding him that his scars didn't mean anything yet.
Sirius didn't approach Remus about his scars again that month. It seemed that whatever problem he was having outweighed the curiosity over Remus' scars. There was only one week left before Christmas and while the other students were euphoric about seeing their families again Sirius just seemed to be getting more miserable.
"I'm going to the library, do you want to come?" Remus asked him. Sirius looked up gratefully and extracted his arm from James in their half hearted wresting match.
They had been spending more time together since Sirius had discovered his scars. It amused Remus a little that Sirius thought he would get another one if Remus was let out of his sight for a couple of minutes. He wondered how he would react if he knew that only some of them were from other things or people when he tripped or banged into something when he was younger.
"I'm looking up defensive spells. After all the hexes we've learnt I thought it about time that we learnt some," He explained picking up a couple of books and shoving them onto Sirius' waiting arms.
"That's nice," Sirius replied distantly.
They found a table near the back of the library that hid between two shelves. It was out of Pince's sight so they could talk all they liked. Remus started searching in the books he picked up. He avoided looking at the pages on werewolves despite his curiosity telling him to take a look.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Sirius asked suddenly.
"No, I'm an only child," Remus answered after a pause. "What about you?"
"Little brother. He'll be coming here in a couple of years." Was all he said about him.
"That'll be nice," he smiled.
Sirius snorted before picking up one of the books Remus had chosen. He didn't press the subject and got back to his reading when it was apparent that Sirius wasn't going to indulge any more information. He found an interesting spell that could deflect dementors and wrote down the patronus charm before checking the side effects and how to actually perform the spell.
"What are your parents like?" Came another question.
"Nice," he said "They do their best... It isn't always easy. My mother's a muggle and she isn't used to all this magic. Dad doesn't really use all that much in the house so coming here was kind of a shock," he explained. Sirius' interest had been piqued at the mention of muggles but he seemed reluctant to ask about them.
Instead he went for the safer option of Remus' father "So what does your dad do?"
"We live on a farm. Mum and Dad both get up early and tend to the animals and the vegetables when needed. It's tiring but they enjoy it."
"So he doesn't use magic to help on the farm?" Sirius asked shocked.
"No. Mum calls it cheating so Dad reluctantly put his wand away and did things the muggle way," He cheered and enjoyed the confused faces that Sirius made.
"Why did he give up his wand to go work on a farm?" As if the concept was new to him.
"He didn't always work there. We actually moved onto the farm when I was eight. Dad worked in the ministry until I was six and after that we spent two years travelling before settling down on the farm. Besides even if he did work at the ministry still, Mum would have him hang up his wand as soon as he came home. He would do it too, he really loves my mum," Remus sighed and wished he was going home for Christmas.
"So why are you staying here? If I had parents like that I would go home straight away," Sirius observed.
Remus shrugged "I just want to stay here more," He said thinking about the other darker times. When he would be left in the barn or the cellar until noon because of the weather. Or even because his parents hadn't the stomach to check whether he was still alive until they had tended to the animals. The things that would actually make them money, wouldn't try and kill them if it had a chance.
Sirius didn't know that though and just hummed before moving the conversation onto the betting pool the boys had on James' Christmas presents. Remus had that they would get him some latest pranking gear whilst Sirius was adamant about a broom.
"The boys obsessed!" He whispered in shock. Remus grinned and shoved at Sirius playfully.
"So are you."
"True," He agreed.
Remus called it a day after two hours spent in the library. Sirius' spirits seemed lifted for the moment but that always happened when he had something to distract him. James soon had him in another wrestling match not long after they stepped into the common room so Remus left them to play gobstones with Peter.
Sirius was tossing in his bed again that night. Remus once again made his way over to Sirius' bed. Just like that first night he seemed surprised that Remus had came over to him and probably even more after what happened the last time.
"Move over," Remus nudged and climbed in next to him. "You're keeping me up again."
"Sorry," he whispered like the first night.
It was on the last three days of term that Remus got some pieces of the puzzle revealed. He wished that he hadn't though.
They were walking back to the common room alone from the great hall. James and Peter were both stuck in detention, it seemed that since Sirius had given up pranking James decided to take on an apprentice. They were nearing the first staircase that would put them on the track to the Gryffindor portrait when a spell hit Sirius straight in the back.
He doubled over and Remus crouched down to check that he was alright before turning to their attackers. Lucius the prefect they had drowned and some other Slytherins were haughtily making their way down the corridor towards them.
Sirius moaned getting Remus' attention again. He tried hauling Sirius to his feet but he had been hit with a full body bind leaving movement very hard. He was just about to try and pick Sirius up when he found himself staring at the end of a wand.
"Leave him half-blood and go back to your common room," Lucius sneered tapping Remus on the face with his wand.
He didn't and scowled back at him "Just because you have no sense of loyalty," he snapped before drawing his own out.
He expected the disarming spell and countered with a jelly legs jinx before trying to move Sirius again. That was when he felt his own body go numb with another full body bind. One of Lucius' lackeys had hit him whilst the blonde recovered from his wobbly legs.
They quickly countered Lucius' jinx before doing what they were ordered and picking Sirius up. Naturally Remus was left there. Alone, just like the first week he was here, and he couldn't help feeling mad again at those stupid pure-bloods.
He was stuck there for ten minutes wondering what kind of torture they had in store for Sirius. He couldn't guess why they were angry at him though since James and Sirius hadn't actually attacked anyone from Slytherin after the first prank. It seemed that the green snakes were the one house that were protected from Sirius and James' cruelty if you didn't include Snape.
His legs and arms relaxed as a familiar voice reached his static head. He turned into those silver eyes and checked mercilessly for any spell or injury that Sirius could have on him. He looked same as he always was if not a bit frightened and looking more worried about Remus than himself.
"I'm fine!" he reassured brushing Sirius' questioning hands away "What about you. You're the one they hauled off."
"I'm fine," Sirius repeated "They just wanted a talk. Lucius didn't expect a fight so he was a bit angrier than usual but that's all."
He wasn't telling Remus everything but he seemed okay. He knew he had no right to ask those questions anyway. Not if he wasn't able to give up his own secrets. So it seemed that a pact had been made in those two moments between them. Sirius didn't indulge Remus on the way back to the tower about what happened just as Remus didn't about his scars last week.
They split off into their respective inner group within the four boys as soon as James and Peter got back from detention. Remus was glad to have someone to break the silence with and happily joined Peter in a game of exploding snap. He kept looking over to where James and Sirius were talking on James' bed but made sure to do so when he knew they were busy with each other. They were laughing so Remus could only assume that he hadn't told James what had happened.
A bang caught his ear and he turned laughing at Peter when one of his eyebrows and his fringe singed its way back into his skin. Two chuckles sounded behind him as he led the poor boy to the bathroom to clean up.
"Don't worry it'll grow back," He laughed.
"But my good looks will be gone!" Peter wailed melodramatically reminding Remus more of James than himself.
"What looks. We're first years, no girl will be looking until at least third. You're safe," He consoled going back to his trunk to try and find a hair growing spell.
"But they'll remember. Not to mention laugh when I go out there now," He kept checking his bald eyebrow in the mirror.
"Well, I have good news then."
"You know a spell that'll grow it back?" He asked eagerly.
"There's one here. But there's bad news too Peter so don't look too excited," He warned.
"What could be bad about a hair growing spell?"
"Apart from the fact I haven't cast one before?" He replied sceptically "Well there's also the possibility that it could grow and keep growing until you have a mountain man mane of hair. The way I see it is that we'll have to go see Pomphrey if you want an easy fix," he told Peter trying to keep himself from laughing at the boys heartbroken expression. No one liked going to the hospital wing.
"I say use the spell!" James called from his bed "Better yet, give me it! We can test it on Peter and use it on Snape tomorrow," He cackled.
Remus sighed before turning back to Peter "You're choice Pete. Quick fix or three days of humiliation before we break up for Christmas."
"Oh Merlin Christmas! I'd forgotten about that!" And lamented all the way to the hospital wing how his parents would keep photos of his baldness for years.
Pomphrey was able to reverse the baldness within seconds since this wasn't the first exploding snap incident she had witnessed. Remus had to reassure Peter on the way back up to the common room that hardly anyone saw him but it didn't do to quell the boys nerves as he walked past the older students in front of the fire.
"Aw!" James moaned when they returned "I wanted to get a picture," He stomped and put his camera back in his trunk.
"How long have you had a camera?" Remus asked thinking back on the past four months. Not once had he seen or heard of any camera.
"Ages. Mum gave it to me so I could take pictures of all the friends I've made," he explained falling on his back on his bed.
"So how come we haven't had ours taken?" Sirius asked from the bathroom.
"Well I thought about it but you lot aren't exactly photogenic at the best of times," He knew it was a joke and watched in amusement as Sirius abandoned brushing his teeth in favour of jumping onto James.
"Not photogenic? How dare you Potter. I'll have you know that the Black's take nothing but exceptional photos," He chided whilst smushing James' laughing face in a pillow.
"Fine it's the other two ugly mugs that'll ruin it," he laughed trying to push Sirius off. He didn't need to though since Sirius had stopped and sat frozen on James. "Sirius?" James had noticed the lack of response too.
"Take that back James," He said lowly "Now."
"I was having a laugh Sirius what's gotten into you?" James defended not knowing what he had done.
"Apologise James," he growled back.
"What for?" he asked.
Sirius pushed himself off and stalked over to his bed, glaring as he went. He spent the rest of the night giving death glares to James and wouldn't explain why he was angry. Remus guessed that maybe something James had said triggered what Lucius had said earlier. It would make sense for the older boy to make Sirius' unhappy- he sure made Remus. But it didn't connect with what James had actually said.
Remus made another trip to Sirius' bed that night. It was beginning to become a habit. The boy was kicking harshly at the blankets when Remus climbed in and folded himself up small when he settled down next to Sirius.
"James didn't mean it. He was just joking," he whispered.
"Maybe," Sirius replied casting his sad eyes on Remus "Still doesn't make it right what he said."
"What did he say? I don't understand what offended you."
"When he made that comment, you know, about how you're not photogenic," Sirius said and glanced down to Remus' covered stomach. He pulled his shirt down a little more when it became apparent what had Sirius so riled up.
"He doesn't know so you don't have to defend me," He snapped.
"I know, but still..." He trailed.
They lay in silence for a while drifting in the dark haze that the room descended upon them. Remus pulled the blanket up higher to escape the chill of the room. No heating and the fire out meant that it was freezing outside of the blankets.
"I don't want to go home," Sirius muttered making Remus snap his eyes open.
"Then don't," He answered simply.
"It's not as easy as that," he pouted.
"Sirius no one can force you home for Christmas. Just say that you want to spend your first Christmas here, apparently it's great," He tried smiling for Sirius but received nothing but a lost look in return.
"I know. Mum would never let me though. No doubt this year she wants to try and reform me. Make sure that Gryffindor hasn't tainted my outlook on the world. Merlin knows what she'll do when Lucius tells her I've made friends with half-bloods." he shivered violently.
"What does Lucius have to do with this?" Remus reluctantly asked. He didn't want to press more than Sirius was willing to give.
"He's her little spy. Everything I've done in school he reports back to her. He's trying to get in her good books you see since she's the one with the power in the family. Used to be my aunt since she's older but mum married a better bloke so she's the matriarch now. He's probably hoping that she'll let him join the bloodlines again."
"Again?" Remus wasn't new to the wizarding world. He had heard of pure-bloods marrying within the bloodlines but he never thought that he would encounter people willing to do so. It was always something that was told and never shown to him.
"I think he's my second cousin. I'm not sure," Sirius said distractedly "But no doubt he'll tell her all about you."
"Don't go home," Remus begged. Something about Sirius' gaze told him that it wasn't just a telling off he would be getting when he got home.
"Have to," he shivered again and Remus saw his eyes welling up.
"We'll think of something when you get back," was the only comfort Remus could think to give.
The last two days were filled with half hearted classes with teachers who were looking forward to the break from lessons as much as the students. McGonagall had them transfiguring baubles from leaves that had fallen to the ground. She hung the successful ones happily from the door to the classroom before shooing them off to their potions lesson. Slughorn seemed to be in good spirits too since he had them reading for both lessons that were left. He mentioned that the work they didn't get done in the classroom would be for homework but didn't dissuade them fully from their discussions.
Sirius and James were taking the lack of work in their stride. James kept charming snow balls to appear and splatter random students as they walked the corridors and whilst Sirius wasn't himself he still smiled whenever one of them hit their target.
Soon the last day had come. Remus watched amused at the foot of his bed as Peter tried to stuff all his things into his trunk.
"I don't know why it isn't going in!" He exclaimed with a push to the top "It all fit when I came here so why not now," A shirt fell out the side.
Remus only laughed and turned to watch the other two. James kept secretly spelling Peter's stuff to grow bigger which was the reason it wasn't fitting in his trunk. Sirius on the other hand had kept his curtains shut all morning. Remus was pretty sure he was crying ten minutes ago but hadn't went to check in case James or Peter saw him. It was bad enough one person knowing without the whole dorm.
"I hope you don't get up to much mischief without us Rem," James called coming to lounge next to him.
"Without you? Perish the thought," He mocked.
"Ooh he's getting cocky." Remus shoved him off his bed. "Sirius," James called knocking on his bedpost "The train will be leaving soon. Are you going to come out?"
"Leave him James," Remus warned "He wants a couple of minutes more sleep before facing you two on the train," he lightened.
"Seriously though Rem, you were a nice boy at the beginning of the year. What happened?" James joked "What happened to him?"
"You did," He replied and shrunk all of Peter's things at once making the poor boy collapse and fall off his trunk. They both burst into laughter at the sight.
Peter only moaned that he should have thought of that before students started sounding beyond their door.
"That'll be your escort," Remus told them getting up and moving Sirius' curtains aside "Are you hiding or going home?" he asked quietly.
Sirius was curled in a ball at the top of the bed staring straight at him "Home."
"You're a true Gryffindor," Remus told him and handed Sirius his trunk.
They all shook hands with Remus before making their way to the train in Hogsmeade. The room was so quiet and big without the other three in that Remus didn't know what to do with himself until tea in the great hall.
Even that was disconcerting. The only other first years he knew to stay were Lily and the surly Snape boy. She was just as nice as when Remus first met her and he knew she was excellent at magic. First in potions and charms, not to mention she had gained access to Slughorns slug club in a matter of weeks. It seemed that Slughorn really had the eye for greatness if his judge of Lily was anything to go by.
"What made you stay then?" She asked curiously as he piled his plate high.
"I wanted to," he shrugged "What about you?"
She grimaced a bit "My sister's a bit sore that I came here and she didn't so I thought it better to giver her more time to adjust. Not to mention that Severus is here. He actually asked if I would stay and I couldn't say no," he glanced at where the Snape boy was glaring daggers at him.
"I suppose," he agreed turning back to face her.
"Don't give me that look. It's not like the company you keep is much better," She snapped before moving down a couple of seats.
Remus couldn't think what he had done to offend her so he turned back to his food in the hopes that she would cool down as the days progressed. He didn't want to lonely for the whole Christmas.
The dorm was empty and Remus had nothing to do. He had finished his homework on the first day of the holidays and even read ahead in all of his subjects. He had looked up as many spells as he could think of and practised them in a routine that meant once he was finished there was nothing else to do. Then there was the fact that Lily refused to look at him. She spent all her time with Snape. They went for walks on the ground and even built a snowman which Remus is guilty of confessing he may have knocked down when they were in the castle. Cruel, he knows but the opportunity to do something was just staring him smugly in the face.
The ghosts had long grown tired of him. Nearly Headless Nick had passed him off to three older students and would conveniently vanish whenever Remus was near. The Bloody Baron took Nick's tactic of vanishing so Remus didn't even try and approach him.
He was actually contemplating lying in the snow for an hour before taking a bath when opportunity in the name of Peeves presented itself. Remus had heard all about the poltergeist, he was notorious throughout Hogwarts for making people's lives a misery. He hadn't actually met the ghost until something hit the back of his head. Hard.
He felt the back and came away with egg shells and yolk dripping between his fingers and a chuckling translucent figure hovering near the castle ceiling. He was threateningly holding a bowl of eggs that pretty soon became like bombs for Remus to avoid. He dove beneath one of the benches and watched as yolk smashed before his eyes.
"HEY!" A croaky voice shouted. No longer did the poltergeist laugh and when Remus came out from his hiding place he saw that the bowl of eggs had been abandoned near Remus' feet and the ghost was gone. "You there," He felt a grip on his arm and turned to face the caretaker Filch "Just what do you think you're doing? You think just because you're a first year that you can get away with stunts like this?" he gestured to the mess around him.
"It wasn't me," Remus defended when he found his voice "It was Peeves. He was the one dropping them on me."
"Oh yes, I've heard that excuse before. Right come with me," Filch growled picking up the bowl and dragging Remus towards McGonagalls office.
He knocked sternly and soon McGonagall was glaring at the pair of them. "What seems to be the problem?"
"I found this one egging the castle," Filch explained tugging Remus into McGonagalls sight.
"Is this true?"
"Got these off him," he handed the bowl with the eggs inside.
"It wasn't me professor. Peeves was there and he was throwing them at me. I got hit," He showed the drying egg in his hair to her.
McGonagall sent Filch away with a reprimand when he tried to install Remus' guilt further. She then told Remus to be more careful before sending him on his way with a heavy sigh. He didn't return to the common room and instead tried to tail Filch to his domain. They had been lucky so far in all their sneaking that the caretaker hadn't caught them. But James had said he had been close to catching them on more than one occasion.
Remus followed him down the twists of the hallways to a small office near the front entrance. A cat stalked out and rubbed itself along Filch's legs before setting down outside the office. He was shocked to see how close it was to the Slytherin's secret passageway and knew that they were going to have to be more careful when the term began again. He gazed at the office again before slowly backing away when the cat caught his eye.
Once again he as back to being bored. Christmas wasn't much fun with no one around and Remus was itching for something to do. He tried setting a chess board in front of Lily who played with him but didn't engage in any conversation he tried to make.
Eventually he did lie in the snow for half an hour but didn't go back in when he couldn't feel his toes. Instead he took in the other snowmen that had been erected on the Hogwarts grounds and decided to add his own to the lot.
It took him a few tries to get the location right but he eventually settled for outside of the Gryffindor tower. That way he could look at it from out of his window. He then set to work piling the snow for the bottom half. He was never satisfied though since he wanted to be able to spot it in the dark and figured a small one couldn't penetrate the night like a big one could. So the ball of snow began to steadily get bigger and bigger until it was twice the size of Remus. He stopped and put a sticking charm on the bottom half so it wouldn't move while Remus went around to the front to get more snow.
Five hours and two numb thumbs later Remus had made a snowman that stretched up to the Gryffindor common room. He had to enlarge the buttons he found for the eyes and mouth and figured that it could do without a nose. Satisfied with his work he went inside to see if he could spot it from his window. There was a crowd in the common room looking out the window when he came in.
"Oh cool, can you see it?" He asked squeezing his way through.
"See it? It's bloody massive!" A blonde boy said.
"That is definitely going to creep me out tonight," A girl giggled to her friend.
Remus could see the smiling face of his snowman staring in through the window. It was hard not to since it took up the whole scene. He raced up to his own dorm but was sad to report that only a distorted view could be seen from there.
It seemed that the snowman was good for one thing as Lily broke her silence that night to exclaim "Why would you make something that big?"
"Why not?" Remus replied "I had nothing to do and I wanted to see if I could spot it from my window. I probably should have moved it back a bit," He mumbled.
"You are so weird," she sighed before asking if he wanted to play chess with her.
Lily only spent the evenings in the common room and since Remus was sure that his presence wasn't welcome anywhere near Snape he kept clear when Lily invited him over to play with them. The snowman became the source for many spooky stories told in the common room at night. Remus would listen to them fondly and agree that in the firelight he did have an ominous look about him.
The days passed quicker after that until it was Christmas day. Excited footsteps running down the stairs woke him up and he soon joined them when he remembered what day it was. Five presents were waiting for him along with an assortment of letters.
The first one was from his parents sending their love. They also added a warning as if Remus forgot what time of the month it almost was. They had given him a new cloak along with a huge basket of chocolate that he liked. James had indeed gotten a broom for his present but apparently that wasn't the best one he got, he wouldn't go into detail but said that their next term would be nothing if not brilliant. More chocolate was found to be from the other three boys and Sirius wrote a cheerful letter about how things weren't that bad back home. He would have to wait until Sirius returned to judge whether that was true or not and turned to read about Peter's holidays with his parents. He made a whole paragraph about how glad he was to have his hair grown back since many pictures had been taken since his arrival. When Remus was chewing on some wizarding sweets and watching Lily open her presents he had to admit that going to Hogwarts was one of the best decisions of his life.
"That's nice," he commented referring to the new necklace Lily had gotten. He had been making similar remarks about the rest of her presents.
"I know, I didn't think Dad was listening when I told him I wanted it," she squealed before telling Remus to put it on her. He hissed when his skin touched the chain and pulled his hand back abruptly.
"Are you okay?" she asked worried trying to pull his hand to her.
"Fine," he grumbled before looking at the discarded necklace "What's that made of?"
"Er silver I think, why?"
"I'm allergic. It makes me come up in welts," He complained putting his hand in his mouth.
"Oh God I am so sorry," she apologised "I know what it's like. I'm allergic to dogs. One smell and I start sneezing," she ran upstairs to get a wet cloth for Remus' raised skin. He pressed it to his hand sighing in relief "Still silver is a weird thing to be allergic to."
"Not really. I know someone who's allergic to gold," he lied "and iron. Some metals just don't agree with people. Like soap," he continued knowing he got Lily from suspecting anything off.
"True."
The Christmas feast was something to behold. There was enough food to feed the entire school and since there was only a handful of students staying Remus' plate was overflowing. He didn't know how he made room for the chocolate cake but he did and even brought some up to the dorm to have later. By the end of the night both Remus and Lily were lying around the common room like barrels, too full to move and rolling to get from A to B.
Boxing day was just as bad since there was more food to be had and Remus stocked up heavily. His nerves were frittering again and he managed to work off the Christmas fat he was sure to have gained by rolling and running in the snow like a madman after eating.
He didn't know how much time had passed until McGonagall called him in and told him to make his way to the shack. He sighed but did as he was told, kicking snow as he went to starve off the need to run.
He made sure no one was around as he poked the knot in the tree and complained to himself the whole time he was in the tunnel about how Santa never gave him what he wanted for Christmas.
"I mean is a cure or something to make it easier too much to ask?" he lamented "It's not like I'm asking you to make me king, just work some of your magic to make my life easier. Or maybe you are and that's what I'm getting next year. If so, it had better be good." He pointed to no one and stowed his clothes away and resumed his pacing. "Or maybe that was meant to be my gift this year. Was I on the naughty list? Because those boys deserved it and you know it."
He would have continued had his legs not given way and his throat ripped in a feral scream. He felt his jaw snapping and his eyes pulling in on themselves. He shouldn't touch them, his hands would be claws and sure enough there was no energy left to pull himself up to a more comfortable position. He folded in on himself and screamed again before giving into that small space in the back of his mind that he waited in until morning.
He stayed in the hospital wing for two days before he was released back into the school. Keeping to the strict instructions laid down by Madame Pomphrey Remus did little more than lounge in the common room for the remainder of the holidays. His leg was severely torn at the ligaments meaning that he was to keep off it until he could move without it hurting. Needless to say Remus was very bored.
Never was he more happy to hear that the students would be returning in less than an hour. He tidied up the mess that had strewn from his side of the room to the rest of the dorm and waited bouncing on his bed in excitement for his friends to return.
James naturally made a scene when he came up. Loud and happy he pranced into the room with his arms laden with gifts he refused to let the house elves carry up and proceeded to hover the rest of the way over to Remus. He showed off either side before doing a catwalk twirl and setting it down.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"Magnificent," Remus complimented making James beam more "But highly impractical. What are you going to use it for Quidditch try-outs are next year." The beam turned into a pout.
"Well that's not the only thing I got but we're gonna have to wait until the others decide to get themselves UP HERE!" he shouted the last bit.
Peter came panting up the stairs with his trunk looking more heavy than it had when he left. He nodded a hello before catching his breath on his bed. Sirius was scowling when he came in and glared at Peter. He wasn't back for a day and already he had fought with the boy. Upon appearance he didn't look hurt but Remus wouldn't be sure until he had shed his robe.
"How was your Christmas?" Sirius asked sitting beside Remus. He cast a worried glance at him when Remus winced at his leg.
"Boring. I built a ten foot snowman that's been creeping people out. Got in trouble from Filch who by the way I know where his office is. I also got egged by Peeves destroyed a snowman and got ignored for the first week," He rambled and faced Sirius "How was yours."
The boy burst out laughing followed by James "That monstrosity downstairs is yours?" James cackled.
"I can't believe you class that as boring. You sound like you've had a brilliant time. I'm definitely staying next year!" Sirius decided.
"Same," James agreed followed by Peter.
"It wasn't all that exciting. I would have preferred it if you lot were here," he confessed.
"Aw. Remmy missed us," Sirius cooed and hugged him to his chest.
"Ge'off," He pushed and winced the same as Sirius when his leg was moved too quickly.
They both pulled matching concerned expressions on each other. It seemed Remus wasn't the only one to have hurt himself over Christmas.