Hey everyone,

so thanks to ebonbon, canterwoodgames, SkyeSociopath, hellobyebye, and Jannice Sace for their reviews of the last chapter.

Chapter 42:

The first few weeks of December brought even more rain and wind. The students were no longer spending their time in the grounds, choosing the warmth of the common room instead. The teachers were giving out more homework than ever before. The second years were still being expected to take the extracurricular classes and so their timetables were ridiculously busy. The marauders and their friends sat in Professor Flitwick's classroom. They were supposed to be practicing their incendio charms but most of the class weren't paying attention, choosing to discuss the upcoming holiday instead. James and Sirius packed away their books quickly at the end of the lesson and made their way out of the classroom. James accidentally bumped into Snape in the corridor, "watch where you're walking Potter!"

"Why don't you watch where you're walking, Snape?" James sighed.

"Just get out of my way," Snape said, trying to barge past him.

"I don't think I will," James countered.

Snape pulled out his wand and began to open his mouth. James was quicker and quickly hexed the Slytherin boy. "Mr Potter! What are you doing hexing Mr Snape in the corridor?" Professor McGonagall asked as she rounded the corner. "Detention, Mr Potter and twenty points from Gryffindor."

"Ah but professor," James began.

"Don't professor me," McGonagall tutted before walking away.

The students worked hard to keep on top of their homework in the hope that when the snow arrived they'd have the time to play in it. They kept glancing out their windows every chance they got in the vain hope that it may just be snowing a tiny bit. James had gotten into several small brawls with the Slytherins resulting in a hefty number of detentions. One afternoon, the marauders ended up in a full blown duel in the middle of the corridor with the Slytherin second years. The marauders had won the duel but had paid heavily for the victory in detentions.

A week towards the end of term the weather changed. There was a massive snow storm during the night and the next morning – which just so happened to be a Saturday – the marauders woke to the sight of beautiful fresh snow. The weekend was spent building snow men and having snowball fights. Even Lily had managed to enjoy herself with the marauders. The boys had built an igloo and the girls had made it into a sort of den. The Gryffindors had ended up playing truth or dare in the igloo. Much to Lily's disdain she had been dared to kiss James, "no bloody way!"

"You have to Lils," Marlene laughed, "it's a dare!"

"Fine," Lily huffed. She leant over and kissed the arrogant boy. It was ridiculously brief but James' quick smirk made her feel sick. "EWWW! Next time I'm choosing truth."

The morning after the game of truth or dare the Gryffindors made their way down to breakfast. James quickly began buttering his toast. An owl landed in front of him, presenting him with a copy of the morning's paper. James read the headline aloud; "Knights of Walpurgis Stand Up For Blood Purity."

"What are the knights of Walpurgis?" Marlene asked.

"Not sure," James answered scanning the paper, "listen to this; the knights of Walpurgis are a group of pure-blood wizards, lobbying against muggle-born inclusion in the magical world. They have made several demands; first that muggle-borns be removed from office at the ministry, second that muggle-borns be removed from Hogwarts and third that marriage between muggles and wizards be banned. They have made it clear that if their demands are not met then they will act – with the best intentions of the magical community at their heart. They believe that it is in the magical community's best interests to maintain blood-purity."

"You've got to be joking!" Mary frowned.

"It was to be expected," Remus nodded.

"We've seen it coming for months now," James agreed.

"Well the ministry won't agree! Dumbledore won't allow it!" Lily interjected.

"He might not have a choice," James frowned. "This would explain why dad's spending so much time with Alcaraz."

Sirius nodded, "trying to encourage him to do the right thing – not the easy thing."

"Do you think it's the death eaters?" Alice asked.

"Almost certainly," James nodded.

Several days passed and no news came of what the ministry planned to do about the knights of Walpurgis and their demands. The entire school seemed slightly on edge as they waited for some news from the ministry – but nothing came. One cold afternoon Sirius and James sat in their dorm room chatting, "Why can't we tell him we know?"

"Because he should have the chance to tell us for himself," James replied.

"He's never going to tell us," Sirius spluttered, "who in their right mind would tell their friends that they're a werewolf?"

"I don't know," James frowned. "But it's only fair to let him tell us."

Remus had been walking up the stairs as his two best friends discussed his lycanthropy. He stopped at the door before making his way back down the stairs and out of the Gryffindor common room, exhaling sharply when he made it to an empty classroom. They know! Shit!

Remus sat on the floor with his arms around his knees for several hours, panicking that his friends would disown him now that they knew his secret. He didn't realise the time until Peter walked into the classroom. "Where have you been Rem? We've been looking all over for you."

"I-I I've been here." Remus replied.

Peter sat down beside Remus on the floor, "Oh ok."

"How long have you all known?"

"Known what?" Peter asked, confused.

"That I'm a werewolf. Don't act dumb Peter!"

"You're a werewolf?" There was honest confusion in his eyes.

"You didn't know?"

"Nope! No idea…"

"Oh… the other two know. I don't know how but they know…"

Peter smiled, "I wouldn't worry about it. We're brothers remember. We can't break the code! I solemnly swear that the marauders are brothers and that will never change. I solemnly swear to never abandon a fellow marauder. I solemnly swear to accept each marauder regardless of their faults. You can trust us. In fact you have to; I solemnly swear to trust the marauders with my life."

Remus nodded sadly, "thanks Pete."

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Next Chapter - Christmas...