"Lily… Hi. What're you doing here?" James shuddered with his current situation: chased by an army of monster behind him, and trying to bluff to his crush in front of him.

"I'm staying on the grounds because my parents said I have to start making more friends this year."

"Ironic." Sirius muttered, only to have James elbow him in the stomach. "What gives?"

James turned around to the others and whispered. "Look for anything on Krampus, I'll make sure she gets out of her safely. Go." The others scampered off and James took Evans by the arm.

"Well, you know, you really should be getting back to the dormitory. Who knows what's happening out there in the halls? Snowball fights indoors, house elves using brooms as weapons, giant monsters attacking- anything. Well, see you later." He rambled on before looking above him to see a bit of mistletoe hanging above their heads.

"Um, Evans, not to bother you or anything, but…" He pointed above, and Evans looked up to see the mistletoe.

"…Fine." She muttered, and pulled him by his tie for a slow sensual kiss. As she pulled away and walked off, James stood frozen in shock and awe of what just happened.

"See you later… Wow… What was I doing? ... Oh right, monster on the loose." He realized he was still on mission and quickly ran towards the shelves, trying to find his colleagues. He found Peter first, who was flipping through a standard monsters guide.

"Nothing so far. Sirius and Remus are three rows in that way." Peter replied, and James went to the others. Sirius was on one side and Remus on another, both scouring the shelves for any answers. "Anything?"

"Herbology, Guide to Advanced Spells, What's in the Afterlife…" Remus read off titles.

"Got it! "Alpen Legends and Folklore." This is it!" Sirius yelled out as he flipped through the pages, a grim expression falling on his face. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no!"

"What? What does it say?" James shouted.

"How screwed are we?" Peter asked, just arriving to the others.

"Does it say he's immortal? Can we NOT kill him?" Remus barked out.

"I don't know!" Sirius blurted out, turning the book so the others could see its pages. "It's all in German!" At that, the others stared at him angrily. "… What?"

"Sirius, you do realize Moony reads German, don't you?" James responded, at which Remus grabbed the book and started to flip through the pages.

"Let's see. Nope, nope, nope. Ah, here we go. Krampus, the spirit of evil during the yule season, yada yada yada… Um, can be trapped in an idol or vessel of his counterpart Saint Nicholas indefinitely. The statue!"

"Okay, so we just have to find another statue. Problem solved, right?" Sirius asked.

"However…" Remus continued reading.

"Nope." James replied.

"However, if freed from the vessel or idol, Krampus can only be destroyed by a symbol of the holiday season by more than one opponent. Okay then. So, what exactly would be a "symbol of the season"? Because I'm pretty sure we can't just stab him in the eye with a candy cane. Also, we don't know if these people celebrated the holidays the same way as us." Remus explained.

"Hang on. The Alpines were full of pagan traditions, right?" Sirius asked, gaining a lot of confused looks from the others. "I pay attention in class… sometimes. Anyway, a pagan tradition that survived into modern day, and the holiday season is bringing an evergreen tree indoors."

"… A Christmas tree. We can stop him a Christmas tree! … But how, exactly?" James pondered.

Peter took out his pocket knife. "I got an idea. Let's get to the Great Hall. We need the big tree." They all took off down the library hall, and ran out to the Great Hall. They got to the staircase, and proceeded down, only to stop midway, seeing Krampus on the level above them.

"Nobody move… Maybe he won't see us." At that, Krampus turned and pointed at the Marauders.

"Children… You… are… mine."

"He saw us. Time to run." Remus quipped, and they took off down the stairs and towards the Great Hall. Krampus stampeded after them, and James saw something out the window.

"MOONY!" James caught Remus and grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him to face Krampus and pointed at Remus in the face. "Stay right there."

"You mean facing the bloodthirsty, terrifying, gaining-on-us MONSTER?" Remus shouted.

"Did you forget Remus?… You're a monster too… on occasion. Bombarda Maxima!" James pointed his wand and blew the wall to pieces, revealing a full moon's light in the gaping hole.

"Oh, Prongs, you-"

"Just keep him occupied! We'll come get you, we promise." He shouted as he ran off, leaving Remus in the hallway, transforming into his cursed body. As the others got to the Great Hall and started to seal the doors, they heard a werewolf's howl and a monstrous growl.

"Good luck, Moony." And with that, they closed the doors