Sirius was not in a happy mood. Once Remus had told him where he'd really been, Sirius spluttered and gaped, struggling to get any words out. Eventually, he stormed off to bed. Peter stood looking awkwardly at the stairs to the dorm, before turning to James and Remus and joining them by the fire.

"So what's this club?" he asked, fixing his gaze on Remus.

"It's for the top five per cent of every year," Remus explained. "We swap ideas and talk about stuff. After Christmas, there's going to be a meeting every two weeks. And if I'm stuck on anything, I can ask them about it."

James scoffed. "Like our Remus will ever be stuck on anything."

"So why is Sirius not happy about it?" Peter asked, frowning as he glanced from one boy to the other. "I mean…it sounds like the perfect thing for Remus."

"Exactly," James said. "It's a good thing for our furry friend. Sirius will see that, eventually."

The conversation turned to other things, and slowly those around them started heading for bed. The three boys went up, excitedly chatting about Christmas and looking forward to the following morning. James was eager to get to sleep, just so he could wake up and open his presents. Peter was looking forward to the food. They climbed into their respective beds and called out goodnights to each other.

Remus listened as their snores began, and waited before reaching into his nightstand and pulling out the small, wrapped present.

To Sirius.

He turned it over in his hand, hoping that, in the spirit of Christmas, Sirius would come around sooner rather than later.

X X X

The snow was piled high outside the castle when the students woke Christmas morning. The house elves had ensured the presents that had arrived were at the beds of their recipients, and all across the castle, excited teenagers ripped open the wrapping and marvelled at what they had received.

Remus grinned at the collection of books his parents had sent him. It was a series, the stories of one Auror's fight against the darkness. He made a mental note to lend it to James when he had finished. Marcus Galois had sent him a letter, telling him there was a surprise waiting in the Owlery for him.

Judging from how your last letter was delivered, I didn't think you had one yet. And Gabrielle has checked with Professor Dumbledore. He doesn't have a name yet, but will respond to whatever you call him.

Remus grinned to himself, before opening up his next present. A box of Chocolate Frogs, from Peter. He grinned to himself, as he heard the curtains on the other beds being yanked apart.

"Christmas!" James yelled, glancing up and down. "Remus! You're awake! You open my present yet?"

He picked up the last but one present, wondering what James would have got him. James climbed off his bed and walked over to him, as Peter opened his curtains and stared out, blinking and yawning.

"I hope it's okay. I just figured you had nothing to do when you were…" He gestured to the window, as Remus tore of the packaging. He found himself laughing, holding the plush, fluffy wolf in his hand. "Squeeze it!" James said with a grin. Remus did so, and it squeaked. "It's been reinforced by magic. I mentioned to Mum and Dad you had a pet dog and they found this is Diagon Alley." Remus glanced up, watching as James ran a hand through his hair. "You won't be able to tear it apart."

Remus got to his knees, leaning forward and hugging James tightly, glad the other boys in the dorm had gone home for Christmas.

"It's great. Thanks."

The last present was from Sirius. Remus held it in his hands before opening it, smiling at the all too familiar feel and weight of a book. James returned to his bed, opening the rest of his presents, as Remus tore off the wrapping and stared at the book.

Howling At The Moon: The True Lives of Werewolves.

He flicked open the book. All of it contained the accounts from different werewolves, all written anonymously and edited by an author renowned in the wizarding world for his insights into dark creatures. He glanced at, eyeing Sirius' bed. From behind the closed curtains, he could hear Sirius opening his own presents.

Finally, they were done. Sirius emerged, holding the small box that had contained Remus' present. Remus glanced up and met his eyes.

"Thanks," Sirius said, holding up the box. "It's great, Remus."

Remus had managed, with a little help from his parents and their mail order catalogues, to find pendants for all of them. Sirius' had the constellation he was named after on it. James' had a Quidditch broom, and Peter's contained a small Gryffindor lion, bravery written underneath it.

"These are awesome," James said, holding his pendent up before putting it on. "Thanks, Remus."

"No problem."

They sat around, admiring each other's presents. James had received a new pair of Quidditch gloves from his parents, packets of Every Flavour Beans from Peter, and a Wizarding Chess board, complete with pieces, from Sirius. Peter's parents had got him some books, Sirius had given him a pair of Exploding Snap cards, and from James, he got an album from some Muggle band called The Beatles.

"Wow! Thanks, James."

"No worries."

"How did you…"

"You mentioned them before," he explained. "A while back. I had to ask Evans about it." He shrugged, though the others could see how much he had hated asking Lily for help with something.

Sirius had been given a copy of his family tree by his parents, with remember who you are written at the bottom of the parchment. He ripped it up, throwing it out the window. From Peter, he had a box of Chocolate Frogs, and suggested that he and Remus sort out the cards and swap any that needed swapping, as soon as possible. James had given him a book of simple Muggle pranks.

The four boys happily headed to the Common Room, both Remus and Sirius munching on a frog each. The Common Room was empty, but from various corners of the tower they could hear laughter. They grabbed the seats by the fireplace, James setting up his chess board. Remus joined him for a game, while Sirius and Peter began playing Exploding Snap.

"Do you think there's some way we can charm these?" James asked, lightly touching the pendent hanging from his neck. "I mean, so we can use them to keep in touch."

"Maybe," Remus muttered, staring at the board as James made his first move. "I've heard of spells to do that sort of thing, but it might be a little too advanced at the moment."

"Nothing is too advanced for you," Sirius said, before crying, "Snap!" and slamming his hand down onto the table.

"We could make our pranks bigger," James mused. "If we could keep in touch across the tower."

"I'll look into it," Remus promised. "When I have time. I'd prefer to focus on the map, for the time being."

James nodded eagerly. "Yeah. Getting that done first sounds like a good idea."

"Maybe you should ask your new friends," Sirius muttered, seconds before the cards on the table exploded, making him and Peter jump.

Remus glanced at James, who just shrugged. He decided to ignore the comment. If it helped work out whatever anger Sirius had towards Remus, it was fine.

People drifted into the Common Room, with none of the usual sleepiness they carried most mornings. Instead, everyone was grinning, looking happy as they settled into the chairs and began talking, waiting for breakfast. A few headed to the Great Hall early, eager to see friends from other houses and wish them a Merry Christmas. Lily and Alice bounded into the Common Room, Alice laughing at something.

Peter, Sirius and James couldn't hide their surprise as the two girls headed towards them. Remus, on the other hand, stood, smiling and wishing them both a happy Christmas. Lily hugged him, before taking something from her pocket and holding it out to him.

"Here, Happy Christmas."

"Thanks." He reached into his own pocket with a grin, passing her something. Alice hung back, watching as Lily and Remus unwrapped their presents and gushed with thanks and oh, you shouldn't have.

Lily had given Remus a pair of cufflinks. Lions. In return, Remus had given her a simple necklace, the chain thin and silver, with a small owl on the end. The owl fluttered as Lily lifted the necklace up, and she giggled.

"It doesn't do it often," Remus explained. "It reacts to your body temperature. It'll get used to your normal temperature once you put it on. It's useful for seeing when it raises."

Lily grinned and hugged him.

"Where's my present, Evans?" James asked, sitting up straight and grinning at her. She rolled her eyes.

"Now why would I get you a present, Potter?"

"Why would you get Remus one?"

"Because he's my friend," she snapped, before turning and walking to the other side of the Common Room, as far away from James as she could get. Alice smiled, shrugged and turned, following her friend.

Remus sat back down, lifting the cufflinks out of the box and holding them in the palm of his hand.

"Remus," Peter said, frowning. "You don't have a pendent."

Sirius and James stared at Peter, questioning looks on their faces.

"Well," he continued. "If we're going to use them to keep in touch, how will Remus do it?"

"Sometimes, Peter," James said. "You are a genius." He turned to Remus. "Well?"

"We'll think of something, I'm sure."

X X X

Most students headed outside after breakfast. Some engaged in snowball fights, laughing and cursing as they leapt through the snow, some forming small teams and building snow walls to protect themselves from attack. Others built snowmen, some of the girls made snow angels.

Less than half the school had stayed behind, and house divides along with year differences were forgotten in the snow. James ducked, avoiding a snowball thrown by a Ravenclaw, and found himself diving behind a wall, joining a Slytherin fourth year, panting, with snow dripping through his hair.

They glanced at each other, a silent moment of understanding passing between them, before both began forming snowballs. From the other side of the wall, they could hear squeaks and squeals. Once they had a few number of snowballs each, they grabbed them and rose, throwing them hard at the students they could see.

One of James' hit Lily Evans, currently building a snowman with a few of the other girls. He held his hands up to hide his laughter as she whirled around, eyes flashing as they locked on him.

"I'll get you for that, Potter!"

She was smiling as she grabbed a handful of snow and patted it together quickly, before lobbing it at him.

For some reason, he couldn't move. He was just staring at Lily, hardly able to believe that smile was being directed at him. And it was a nice smile, full of warmth, nothing like the cold looks he was used to getting from her.

The snowball hit, smacking him right in the middle of his face. He stepped back and slipped on an icy patch, going down hard.

"James!" Lily screeched, and the shouts around her stopped suddenly. James blinked, wiped the snow from his face and found himself staring up at a crowd. Sirius was on one side, Lily standing beside Remus on the other. They all stared down at him.

He grinned, and Lily visibly relaxed as Sirius and Remus held out their hands to help him up.

"Good shot, Evans," he said, shrugging off the snow on his shoulders. "You know, for a girl."

The relief in her face disappeared, replaced quickly by the anger he was all too used to. She glared at him, and he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. It was normal, and normal was good.

"Should have thrown it harder," she said, before turning and stamping her way back to Alice. Remus glanced at him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." He ran a hand through his hair, feeling how wet it was. "I'm…" Before he could finish the sentence, a snowball splattered against Sirius' back.

The game was back on.

The students continued to play until it was lunchtime, when they trudged into the hall, all of them receiving angry glares from Filch, the caretaker. Lines of melted snow followed them into the Great Hall, laughter echoing off the walls as they sat down to eat.

The teachers ate while talking to each other, eyes flickering towards the students every so often to ensure they were behaving themselves. McGonagall was looking better every day. The pale look she had carried was gone, and she seemed to be putting on a bit of weight. She smiled at Professor Harpo as the two spoke.

Dumbledore was leaning towards Professor Slughorn, nodding his head slowly at whatever the potions master was saying. Every so often, they would both pause, looking serious for a few seconds before continuing.

Despite the air of joy hanging around the Great Hall, despite the smiles on the faces of the professors, there was still a tension hanging over their table. Remus could feel it, as keenly as he could smell the turkey and potatoes and vegetables. As keenly as he could hear the echoes and whispers bouncing around the halls.

The wolf side of his senses were building, as they approached the full moon. It would hit a few days after the New Year, just before classes started back. For that, he was glad. At least he wouldn't miss anything.

He hadn't mentioned it to his friends, but his parents had wanted him home for Christmas. They had wanted to have him home, and they seemed more eager about it than they had last year.

Something was going on outside the castle walls, something was building, and only a few, it seemed, were aware of it. He and his fellow students were oblivious, for the most part, but the wolf knew. The wolf could feel it. And the fact that it seemed to be trying to scream something at him as the days raced towards the moon worried Remus.

X X X

The festive cheer was still heavy in the air the following morning. The students knew they could look forward to cold meat sandwiches, stew and bubble and squeak. They had the whole day to relish in their new presents, to relax, before they had to focus on homework ready for the term to start in January.

Like Christmas Day itself, many of the students bundled themselves up and headed outside. But the unity of the day before was gone. Ravenclaws headed to the iced over lake to sit on its shore, the Hufflepuffs headed for the space around the greenhouses to build snowmen and the Slytherins stomped around in small groups, throwing glares and sneers at the Muggle-born students.

Some of the Gryffindors got another snowball fight going, but even within the houses there wasn't the same sense of togetherness. Instead, after only a couple of hits, many of the Gryffindors walked away, the joy gone for now.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter headed to the Quidditch Pitch, when it was clear the snowball fight was falling apart. Remus and Peter sat in the stands, Remus reading over some books as he tried to find out more about animagus, while Peter watched Sirius and James head to the skies, awe painted on his face.

"I wish I could fly like they do."

"I don't," Remus replied, shuddering. "Wolves weren't meant to fly."

Peter glanced at him. "Remus?"

"Yeah?"

"How much control do you have, over the wolf?" His voice was quiet, almost as if he was scared of asking.

"During the full moon, or the rest of the time?" he muttered, perhaps a little too darkly. Peter frowned.

"The rest of the time?"

With a sigh, Remus closed his book and put it on the seat beside him. "There's nothing to be scared of, Peter."

"I'm not scared," he replied. "Just…interested."

"It's like…" He tried to think of something to link it to, something that would help his friend understand. His mind came up blank. "The wolf is like a constant presence, at the back of my head. It's almost always there. I didn't notice it before, because I've been used to it for so long, but talking to Mr Galois…he's explained things to me, told me how the wolf can change you."

A look of pity crossed Peter's face.

"Not hugely. But I don't know how different I might have been if I hadn't been attacked."

Peter nodded, slow and carefully, as if to emphasise that he understood.

"But it gives me better senses, and a keener instinct." He grinned. "Apparently, I can hear things you probably can't. But I've been so used to hearing owls and birds far off that I've grown used to it."

"That's cool." Peter smiled back.

"When the moon isn't full, I can control it." He shrugged. "But…"

"You get more tense closer to the moon," Peter said. "I've noticed, Remus. You get…more restless. And you snap more."

Remus blinked at him. "Do I?"

"Yeah. Last year, we just thought it was because you had to go home to see your sick grandmother. We thought you were upset. But it's the wolf, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's the wolf."

"So, when you change…"

"I can't control it," he explained. "Otherwise, I'd take you three with me. But truth is, I have no idea if I'd be able to stop hurting you or not."

Peter nodded again, thinking it over. He glanced at the sky. "Do you think James' animagus will be a bird?"

Remus laughed, turning his gaze to stare at the two flyers. "Mammals are much more common."

"Oh. In that case, I'd like to be…" He thought it over for a moment. "A lion would be amazing, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah. That would be cool."

"Hey, Remus?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are there only werewolves?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, why aren't there, like, were-lions? Or were-bears or leopards or…or…or a were-dog!"

Remus laughed. "I have no idea, Peter."

They settled back in their seats, watching James and Sirius in the sky, as Remus pondered over Peter's question. It was an interesting though, and he made a mental note to look into it when he had the chance.