"We should throw a party." Sirius said as he lay sprawled across one of the chairs in the Gryffindor common room, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. Meanwhile, Peter and James scribbled away at their transfiguration homework. McGonagall had managed to assign them even more homework since Tuesday, which James and Peter were trying to get a head start on, Sirius choosing to take the "do it the night before" route.

"Did you guys hear me?"

"Yeah, we heard you Pads, but we're actually trying to get this stuff done." James replied, absentmindedly chewing on the end of his quill. "And put that out. At this rate I might as well be smoking a pack a day alongside you."

Sirius rolled his eyes, but obliged James and his aggressive health habits, putting the cigarette out with his wand.

"Mate, we've only been back a week. We have an entire term to get behind on homework. Only one more day to make the greatest welcome back bash this castle has ever seen."

James glanced from his homework back to Sirius.

"Oh, come on Prongs. You know I need you to finish this." Peter said, but James was lost.

"Alright, what did you have in mind?" He asked, Sirius whooping with joy.

The group of them laughed and talked, eventually convincing Peter to set aside his homework for the night. They even ended up getting some valuable input from Marlene who had been listening and suggested that they open the party up by bringing in all of the houses, besides Slytherin of course. The idea of cramming even more people into the normally already crowded common room appealed to the boys greatly and so they vowed to spread the word the next morning at breakfast in the Great Hall. The only thing that could have made the night more enjoyable was if Remus was by their side throwing out his own suggestions, as well as scolding Sirius when he tried to push the idea too far. Instead, they ended up with Peter half-heartedly trying to convince the boys that broomstick firework chasing was not a safe activity conducive to not getting caught within five minutes of the party starting. Oddly enough, Sirius missed Remus scolding him, and while on the outside he was playing the rebel part, his brain was running a mile a minute thinking about the boy he'd come to care so much about recovering in the hospital wing yet again from his mysterious affliction. He was embarrassed looking back at how long it had taken him to work out exactly why one of his best friends was disappearing every month.

It was early in their second year. Remus had been an odd kid for most of the first, always shirking around personal questions and disappearing at least once a month, bringing back thinly veiled excuses of visiting his sick mother or having to attend a family event. Sirius was making his way up to the dormitory, trying to find James to show him a catalogue which Regulus had sent him in secret with a number of the newest Zonko products displayed inside.

Sirius burst into the room, pausing immediately with the shock of seeing not James, but Remus, in nothing but the boxer shorts he wore under his robes. He had been changing, evidently, and Sirius' eyes involuntarily glanced over Remus' bare back. It looked as if he'd been lashed by a whip, all across his back and even down his legs and arms.

"What are you doing back?!" Remus shouted immediately grabbing his curtain and trying to cover himself.

"I was just…"

"I thought you were at dinner." Remus said, more quietly now.

"I wasn't hungry. James left right before me I didn't realize you were…I'll leave you to it, go back down to the common room." Sirius said, quickly backing out of the room, confused by the horrified expression that had come across Remus' face.

One question burned in Sirius' mind from that night on. Who had given Remus those scars and how was he going to stop them?

After a night full of planning the first major interhouse party of the school year the boys had no interest in attending classes the next day. However, they had Defense Against the Dark Arts after lunch, and so did Remus, so they felt that they owed it to him to make sure they got good notes once again. The problem was, they had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins. Sirius hated having classes with Slytherin, more so than most of the other Gryffindors, for obvious reasons. They entered the class, shocked to see a new Professor at its head. He hadn't been in the Great Hall at the start of term feast, and they weren't prepared to walk in and find anyone but dusty old Professor Bulstrode who had taught the subject for the past forty years.

"Where's Professor Bulstrode?" Sirius asked.

"That is none of your concern. I am Professor Carraway, and I will be teaching this class for the remainder of the school year."

"But is Professor Bulstrode alright?" Marlene asked next.

"Yeah, she's not dead, is she?" Peter asked.

Professor Carraway looked rather annoyed at the constant questioning but decided to at least vaguely throw them a bone.

"I can tell you that she is perfectly alive. And that anything beyond that is really none of your business. Now, we are here today to begin your lessons in Defense Against the Dark Arts at the NEWT level."

And that was the end of the conversation, Professor Bulstrode was gone. The group mostly shrugged it off, happy to have another Ravenclaw professor to break up the Slytherin monotony, but Sirius couldn't help but wonder what had happened. If Bulstrode had just retired, Dumbledore would have said something. But obviously that wasn't the case. Even if she was alive, that didn't mean she was ok. There were plenty of fates worse than death in Sirius' mind.

"Padfoot." James threw a crumpled-up piece of parchment at the back of Sirius' head breaking him out of his trance.

"Yeah, what is it Prongs?"

"I figured we could go visit Moony after class. Tell him about the party and all."

Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, sounds good."

James continued scribbling diligent notes while Sirius daydreamed, having lost all motivation for listening to this new professor, not that he had paid Bulstrode much more mind. He was so lost in thought, and James so lost in his notetaking, that neither of them noticed Severus Snape shooting them each looks that could kill the entire lesson. It took him less than a minute to stride across the room once Carraway had finally called class to an end. James was packing up his books when Snape rammed into his desk rather hard, knocking his ink bottle over and spilling ink all over his thoroughly taken notes.

"Oi!" James shouted, immediately reaching for his wand to start blotting the ink out of the paper to try and save what he'd written for Remus.

But Snape hardly gave him a chance, leaning onto James' desk and speaking in a voice laced with venom: "I want my book back Potter."

"I really can't keep track of all the books that fall into my possession Snivellus." James made to gather the rest of his things, standing up with his papers clutched in his hand, but Snape stood in front of him, blocking his path.

"I'm not leaving until you give it back, even if I have to take it." He threatened, wand already out and ready.

James rolled his eyes, holding up his own wand lazily.

"Alright, go on and try to take something that I don't have." James said.

Snape shook with rage, but quickly realized that James would never have been so foolish to have brought the book with him around the school. He lowered his wand, not able to come up with a sufficient reason to attack, before changing his mind.

He sent a spell James' way once again without saying an incantation, but this time James managed to shout: "Protego!", blocking the spell before it arrived.

"So close Snivelly." He said, laughing.

"Expelliarmus!" Snape struck again while James was boasting, grabbing his wand from the air as it flew out of his hand.

"See how well you get along without a wand Potter." Snape said, holding James' wand in his hand, a bit of shock overtaking his face.

"Oh, come on Snivelly, give me my wand back. We both know you're not going to do anything."

Snape paused for a moment again, seeming to be considering his options. James' smug smile made his blood boil, and the way he raised his eyebrow as if he already knew what Snape was going to do made Snape want to scorch his eyebrow off. He begrudgingly dropped the wand on the floor, kicking it in James' direction.

"That's more like it." James said smugly moving to pick up his wand.

Snape's eyes grew wide with hatred at James Potter, his know-it-all tone, his stupid messy hair, his glasses slipping down his nose as he reached for his perfectly polished wand. Without a second thought he spoke the first spell since their initial encounter on the train, aiming for maximum power this time.

"Confringo!"

The spell hit the wand, blasting James back right as he had been about to grab it.

"What the hell?!" James shouted, pulling himself up off the floor and running to his now broken wand pieces, picking them up. One of the ends nearly crumbled in his hands, having been thoroughly battered by Snape's spell.

"Keep the book Potter. I'll write a new one. Good luck conjuring up a new wand."

Snape then stalked off, seeming extremely satisfied with himself. James ran his hands through his hair before groaning in frustration, well-aware that a broken wand meant having to reach out to his father and a trip to Diagon Alley for a new one. He'd chipped and smudged his wand a lot over the years, but seeing it broken in half like a common stick was…unsettling. He knew that he could get another one, but…he couldn't help looking down at the broken bits of his wand and feeling tears coming to his eyes.

"Prongs, are you coming?" Sirius called out from the hall.

He wiped his eyes under his glasses and plastered on his signature smile, shoving the wand pieces into his bag along with the still wet parchment.

"Yeah. Coming Pads." He said, heading out.

Remus was still in his hospital bed when his friends came to visit him once again.

"Hey Moony, we brought you something."

He raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting it to be anything all that pleasant. Sirius plopped a piece of parchment on Remus' lap; it was flashing in big red and gold letters "Welcome Back Party in the Gryffindor Common Room TONIGHT. Password is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. Invite only, meet by the tallest tower on the right, bring a Gryffindor friend, or NO ENTRY."

"Wow you really love your capital letters don't you Padfoot?"

"Shut up, you'll be there right Moony?" Sirius said hopefully.

"Not tonight Padfoot, I'm still not feeling quite right." Remus said, still looking thoroughly drained from his latest transformation.

"Come on Moony you've got to be there! It's the welcome back party. There are a few Hufflepuff girls coming who are pretty easy on the eyes." Sirius said again.

"I'm really not up to it Pads. I'll catch you at the next one." Remus said.

Sirius was just about to protest once again, but James put a hand up telling him to drop it.

"Alright Moony, just rest up ok?" He said.

Sirius made an affronted noise. "Prongs, you're not going to just let him?"

"There will be other parties. Let him rest." James said, once again telling Sirius with his eyes to drop it. He gestured for his two friends to follow him to the Great Hall for dinner.

"Feel better Remus." Peter said before following his friends.

They walked towards the Great Hall, James and Sirius back to arguing rambunctiously about how much firewhiskey they should buy, while Peter was lost in thought about their friend in the hospital wing. This wouldn't be the first time Remus had missed out on a major event because of his affliction. At first the three boys hadn't taken much notice to the pattern. A missed class here, a trip home there, but soon enough Remus' excuses had gotten sloppier, and by second year when the same thing kept up, they had begun to grow suspicious.

It was a few days after Sirius had walked in on Remus getting changed, a few days since Sirius had seen the full body scars which Remus gave himself every full moon, unbeknownst to them at the time. Remus had gone to visit his mother again. It had become a routine for the last year, but the last few months his friends had become more and more suspicious. His mother might be sick, but her vague illness, followed by Remus' secretive nature surrounding the frequency of his visits, continued to not add up. Sirius approached James and Peter in the common room, once again one member short.

"I need to talk to you both." He said, an unusually grave expression on his face.

"What about?" James lay on the bed upside down reading a book about Quidditch.
"I'm worried about Remus, I walked in on him changing the other day." He said.

"Yeah, what about it, Sirius? Did you like what you saw?" James chuckled, Peter joining in before a glare from Sirius shut him up.

"Shut up James. Look, you know the scars on his face?" Sirius said.

"Yeah." James replied, finally sitting up to give Sirius some more attention.

"Well, it's not just his face. He has them all over. Some of them are deep, and bright pink like they're fresh."

"So, what do you think?" James was fully listening now, book closed and eyes on Sirius' concerned expression.

"Well, if someone's hurting one of our best friends then I want to do something about it." Sirius answered, a furious glare in his dark eyes.

Peter gulped at that, glancing between the two boys to try and figure out what their plan was and how he could have the smallest part of it.

"I don't think that's what's causing them." James said, thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"I mean, the only scars that really last are curse scars, right? We learned that the other day in defense against the dark arts. Remus wouldn't hurt a fly, why would some seventh year be slashing him up like that?"

Sirius paused, stumped by James' astute observation.

"There's got to be something going on." Sirius said, flopping down on the bed, and running his hands through his hair which he had allowed to grow out again over the past few months, having been forced to get it sheared off the minute he had returned home after first year. James looked at the time, past midnight.

"And I think I know how we're gonna find out." He whipped out his father's invisibility cloak, which the others had still not fully gotten used to seeing, still in awe at how flawless the thing was. "Come on, everyone underneath."

The group wrapped themselves underneath the cloak, making their way slowly towards the library, and so the restricted section.

"Ok, curse scars, curse scars, ahhh Magical Maladies and their Afflictions." James spoke up, grabbing a book off the shelf.

The boys spent twenty minutes or so perusing the different books in the restricted sections about the more dangerous cursed injuries, but none of them seemed to match up with Remus' affliction. It was at that moment that James glanced out the window, and saw something, the moon was full.

"Have you guys noticed he's always gone on the full moon?"

"Is he?" Sirius asked, looking up from his book towards the window, while James seemed to be processing this information.

"Yeah, remember astronomy last month we were studying star patterns and Professor Sinistra pointed out that the moon was full? Remus was sick then." James said again.

"And when we snuck out the month before that to explore the forest." Sirius replied, remembering that it had been easy to see the path by the light of the moon. "He was visiting his mother again."

"Let me check something." James said.

He made his way towards the defense against the dark arts section, and grabbed a book flipping through it. Sirius looked over his shoulder.

Peter was behind as usual. "So, he's always gone on the full moon, so what?"

"Peter, what happens on the full moon?"

"The tides change?"

Sirius and James sighed, before James pointed to a section of the book they were reading.

"Remus is a werewolf?!"

The two hushed Peter loudly.

"Just go and announce it to the whole school why don't you, plus the fact that we're in the restricted section after hours." Sirius scolded, shoving Peter, prompting a muttered "Sorry" from Peter.

"My father told me about werewolves. People don't like them, same with muggleborns." James said, ignoring the fight between his two friends.

"My family talks about werewolves, says they're half-breeds." Sirius said, earning a slight scowl from James.

"Sirius," He scolded.

"Not saying I believe it." Sirius put his hands up in self-defense.

"Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" James said, looking between his two friends. Peter was looking between them as well, but he just looked confused.

Looking back, even for Peter, that was a dull moment. He didn't have much knowledge of werewolves, other than the fact that he was sure he was scared of them. But Remus was the least scary of the three boys he had befriended, so there was no way he could prove dangerous, even if he did turn into a hairy beast once a month. And now, here he was, sixteen years old and running around with that very friend to keep him company during his transformations. A lot had changed.

After dinner James and Sirius wasted no time making their way to Hogsmeade village, while they assigned Peter to go to the kitchens and get snacks. He had been more than happy to stay safely in the castle, avoiding more trouble in the process. They stood at the back entrance of the Three Broomsticks, loading cases of butterbeer and a few bottles of firewhiskey into their bags which they had been magically enlarged. James had told Sirius about his wand dilemma after visiting Remus, not wanting to be lectured by Remus on top of everything else. He still hadn't told Peter yet. Having his wand broken, especially by Snivellus, was, quite honestly, humiliating. If it had been broken in some duel like his father's first wand had been in his seventh year, or even been taken from him while his guard was down, he would at least be able to mourn his perfect mahogany weapon properly. But his guard was up, or at least it should have been, he was reaching for it. He had been so stupid to let the wand out of his possession, to taunt Snape, giving him plenty of time to make up his mind about what he was going to do before James could fight back. He thought of the dragon heartstring core and wondered if he would receive a heartstring from the same dragon in his new wand, or even receive a new type of core altogether. It was silly to get this upset over a wand, but a wizard's wand was more than just a tool. It was like an extension of oneself, something that every wizard received, a rite of passage. And James wondered if he would ever be able to move on with another after so many years of mischief making with his trusty original.

"So, when's your dad taking you to get a new wand?" Sirius asked as he grabbed another case to shove in his bag, breaking James out of his thoughts.

"He can't go until next week. I'm stuck with the school wand until Wednesday." James replied, suspecting that his father might have done this on purpose so that he might learn a little lesson about being more careful with his things.

"McGonogall's going to have a field day with that." Sirius laughed.

"Yeah, I know. Not like I can tell her what happened, that'll spread like wildfire. I could have broken it on my own right?" James asked.

"Yeah of course." Sirius said.

They finished loading the drinks into their bags when a familiar hourglass figured bartender came out of the back.

"Thanks, Rosmerta." Sirius said, sending her a wink.

"Of course. You boys know enough not to say it was me who got these for you?"

James made a gesture of zipping his lips.

They made their way back to Gryffindor tower through the One-Eyed Witch passageway once again. There was a line of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and even a couple of Slytherins, leading all the way down the staircase, and it was quite a miracle that such a large group of students hadn't been caught yet. But then again James and Sirius hadn't been able to hear the group until they turned the corner, suggesting that someone had had the forethought to cast a Muffliato charm at least, and most likely a couple more silencing charms as well.

"Well, this is quite the turnout" Sirius said to James who smiled.

They snuck their way through the crowd, hearing a lot of protests before people turned to see who was shoving past their carefully earned place in line. There was no sound coming from the common room, which was once again, surprising. Their house had really gone all out on helping them with the secrecy. Sirius turned to the gathered crowd and shouted.

"Alright, who's ready to celebrate?!"

The group cheered and Sirius and James reveled in the noise.

"Abduco Adamo" Sirius said.

The Fat Lady gave him a stern look.

"Now boys, I can appreciate a good post-quidditch match party, but really."

"Oh, come on Miss. You used to be fun." James said with a little pout.

"We're just trying to encourage a little interhouse unity, isn't that right?" Sirius asked loudly to cheers once again.

At that moment the crowd began to complain and shout as Peter Pettigrew snuck through arms full of food from the kitchens. James and Sirius looked at The Fat Lady with puppydog eyes, Peter just adding to the pathetic nature of their request.

"Password?" The Fat Lady asked Peter with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh…um…" He searched his brain.

James leaned down and whispered something in his ear.

"Right. Abduco Adamo." Peter said with a grin.

"Yeah, whatever." The Fat Lady swung forward, and the students cheered loudly once again.

They made their way in one by one, Sirius, James and Peter going first receiving a warm welcome from the students of their own house immediately. Peter glowed at being included in the pats on the back and cheers, immediately deflating when Sirius grabbed him by the collar and put him on security duty for the interhouse people coming in.

"Oh, Padfoot why do I always have to?"

"You're the most intimidating of all of us Wormy," Sirius said with a grin, a bottle of butterbeer already in hand.

"How do I even know who to let in?" He whined again.

"Come on Wormy you know the drill. If they're too young to flirt at the door or they're wearing green we send them on their way. You'll work it out."

He gave Peter a slap on the shoulder before joining the throng of Gryffindors already dancing to the loud music of one of the most recent wizarding rock bands, The Screaming Banshees, blasting through a magically modified radio that some seventh years had charmed to tune into the wizard stations even while at Hogwarts. The party was in full swing, Sirius flirting with far too many girls, and Peter staring across the room longingly at a fifth year Hufflepuff with a head full of gorgeous brown curls. James was laughing with a group of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who he didn't get to see much. Despite his love for his current group of friends, he enjoyed meeting new people. Remus and Peter weren't like that, and even Sirius was content to stay where he was at. James could see why after everything the three of them had been through. James had always had everything handed to him, but his friends hadn't had that privilege. They had suffered, with Remus taking the brunt of that suffering in so many ways. James would never forget when they had first told him they'd discovered his secret, the fear in his eyes.

Remus had finally returned to the dormitory after about a week's absence. The boys immediately dropped whatever they were doing to look to him when he walked in. He looked between them; nerves were evident on his face.

"Remus, can we talk to you?" James took the lead, as usual.

"Yeah, what is it?" Remus replied, seeming to know where they are going with this conversation, but hoping that he was wrong.

"Well…it's just…not that we care or anything but…" Peter, as usual, stuttered through the conversation.

"Oh, just get to it Peter, are you a werewolf?" Sirius, blunt as usual, got right to the point.

This seemed to have been a mistake as Remus' face went white with fear.

"I…don't know what you mean…I…" He didn't know how to respond, or what to say, the fear in his eyes giving him away despite his slight attempt at a lie.

"Remus, it's not like we care or anything. We just want to know. You disappear once a month at the full moon, and always look sick around that time as well. And then there's…your scars." James spoke up this time, trying to appease his friend.

Remus didn't seem to have heard the first part of his sentence, seeming resigned as he glanced at the boys who had become his first friends in the world and asked the question he was sure would end it all: "Are you guys going to get me kicked out?"

"Why the hell would we do that? We just found out our best friend's a werewolf." Sirius answered looking completely thrown by this prospect.

"Well, that would be why." Remus replied, thinking it was obvious.

"Remus, you're looking at this the wrong way. It's incredible!" James said, Remus seemed lost as to what could be so incredible about his being a werewolf.

"You turn into a great bloody monster once a month why wouldn't we want you around?" Sirius replied this time.

"You should know why more than anyone. I'm dangerous, that's what everyone says." Remus said, flopping back on his bed, and rubbing what seemed like tears from his eyes. "That's what everyone knows. I don't know why Dumbledore even let me in here in the first place. It was never going to work."

"What are you on about? You're the best in our year. And besides all the jams you've gotten us out of already, we'd be idiots to let you go."

"Exactly. You know too much." Sirius said trying to lighten the mood, but Remus wasn't laughing.

"Come on Remus, so what if you run around eating squirrels once a month? You're not hurting anyone, right?" James seemed to know the answer already, but Remus replied with one anyway.

"No, of course not. Dumbledore and I worked that out." He said.

"Then no harm done, and you've got some pretty brilliant stories to boot." James said, his signature grin plastered across his face.

"It's not like any of us are normal, are we? I'm a blood traitor for crying out loud, a quarter of this school wishes I was kicked out." Sirius said.

"My entire family's traitors to our whole kind. We got kicked out of the Sacred twenty-eight. Father still logs it as his greatest accomplishment to date." James spoke up this time, noting the relief that filled Remus' eyes with each passing second that he knew he was going to remain at Hogwarts.
"And Pete over there, well, just look at the poor bloke. He'd forget his head if it weren't attached to his shoulders, and he's a mama's boy, bloody terrible at most spells…" Sirius began listing off Peter's many blunders, but James mercifully cut him off.

"Alright, that's enough Sirius. The point is we're just a gang of freaks, aren't we? Why should you be any different? All that matters is we've got each other, right?" James said with a smile.

"Ok, right." Remus said, head still spinning with the idea that he hadn't been kicked out.

"Good man. Now, what are the chances of you taking a bite out of Snivellus?" Sirius said to great laughter from James and a stern look from Remus.

"Moony, you're back!" Sirius shouted drunkenly as Remus made his way into the dormitory. He had grown tired of lying around the hospital wing and figured that he might as well make an appearance to please his friends. Besides, he had missed enough because of something that he couldn't control. James laughed pulling Remus into a hug, before jumping back into the throng of drunk, sweaty teenagers.

"Yeah, I'm back. You're certainly perky Padfoot."

"It's a party! Come on, have a drink. It'll throw a smile on that ugly mug of yours." He laughed and Remus blushed, trying to hide behind his bangs once again.

"Not tonight Pads." He said, moving towards the stairs to the dormitory.

Sirius gave him a thumbs down scoffing before turning back to flirting with Marlene and Alice. Remus looked across the room and noticed Peter actually holding his own with those Hufflepuff girls Sirius mentioned. They were quite beautiful.

Remus then walked by Lily who was sitting in a corner, flirting with a Ravenclaw boy who Remus was fairly sure was named George Fisher. Remus wore a quiet smile at the thought of how angry James was going to be in the morning.

"Hey Evans check this out!" James shouted from above them.

Remus looked up, laughing loudly at the sight of James doing his best to balance on his broom, as he flew above the group as if on a surfboard. He quickly lost any balance he might have had, falling to the floor, but quickly stood up without injury to loud cheers from the group once again. Lily hadn't paid him even a passing glance, still engrossed in her conversation with that Ravenclaw boy, and perhaps pretending just a little that James' obnoxious plea for attention hadn't registered in her mind at all.

Remus quickly moved towards the stairs, sneaking past the group without incident, an expert at this point in keeping a low profile. He moved towards his bed, thinking back on those four long years ago when he had sat there for what he imagined would be the last time. Had he been paired with any other boys maybe he would have. If he had been sorted into Ravenclaw like he'd first imagined, or even into Hufflepuff, maybe those boys would have reacted differently to the news. But he was a Gryffindor, and he was paired with maybe the only three individuals in Hogwarts who could possibly understand his affliction, besides Lily of course. Not a moment of hesitation on their part, he was one of them, and that was the end of the discussion.

He flopped down on his far more comfortable four poster bed, closing his eyes as he felt a hint of a chill in the air blowing in through the window, which the boys tended to leave open as long as they could for the fresh air and sunlight that streamed through. Fall was coming in to replace summer, to transform the trees and the sky until the world was a picture of red and gold, just like Gryffindor. Maybe he was biased, but Remus had a soft spot in his heart for fall. Ignoring the colors Remus was fascinated by the transformation that took place between summer and winter. Life transitioning to death, preparing for a time of great slumber. He sometimes wished that he could just go to sleep like a bear or a squirrel, enter a world of hibernation where he could finally be free of the monster, just for a little bit. But then again, maybe the monster was a part of him that he couldn't ignore. Maybe it was something bigger than him, something that could somehow bring a brightness to the lives of those carefree boys downstairs. If that was the case, then he would gladly skip his hibernation, and remain alive for the crispness of the winter air once it dawned, and aware of that late spring transformation of melting snow and opening flowers. The transformation from something dark and dreary to something beautiful. Maybe that was the path of the monster within him, a dead winter just waiting to find its spring.