Author's note: CW for homophobic slurs

X

Remus woke up Monday to heavy sleet slamming against the castle windows. It was a very cold, dreary sort of day, made even colder in the dungeons since they weren't working on any potions. Remus huddled at his desk, alternating taking notes and sticking his hands under his armpits to keep them warm. Sirius kept hissing in his ear to conjure up some bluebell flames and when Slughorn called him out for talking in class, Sirius asked why they couldn't at least light the fires to keep themselves warm.

"It's as cold as Salazar's balls," Sirius said, which of course got him in deep trouble, and after class Remus asked him why the hell he used a curse word against Slytherin to the Head of Slytherin. Sirius muttered that he hadn't been thinking and rubbed his forehead, complaining about a headache.

"Oh shut it," he snapped before Remus could say anything.

"Look, if there's something you can do for your headaches, why don't you do it?" Pete asked.

"Because I don't want to, and I don't need to," Sirius grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm fine taking headache medicine."

James turned to Remus. "What's the big secret? He hasn't even told me. What does he need to do to stop his headaches?"

"Remy, if you tell I swear I'll—I'll—" Sirius stopped and everyone waited for him to finish. "I'll do something."

"Terrifying," Remus sniffled. "I won't tell. Yet. But really, it's not a big deal—"

"It is for me. Anyway, if it's this cold now I hate to think of what January's going to be."

"It is strangely cold," Peter agreed, shivering. "It's not even snowing out, it's only sleet."

They headed to History class which was usually slightly warmer than Potions, except this time it felt just as cold. Binns, being a ghost, was blissfully unaware and kept lecturing while everyone shivered in their seats and Remus was tempted to conjure up some bluebell flames since he doubted Binns would notice anyway.

"Christ!" Lily exclaimed as they left, blowing into her hands. "Something's going on."

"I guess some days are just like this," Alice said glumly, arms wrapped around herself. "Come on, let's go get more layers on."

It was a free period for the Gryffindors and every single one of them ended up in their dorms, adding more clothes. Remus yanked on Sirius's jumper underneath his uniform's jumper, doing his best to pretend it wasn't weird or strange he was wearing it for a third day in a row.

At least Defense wasn't too bad since Charlemagne put warming spells on all the chairs before they sat down and when James asked, he allowed Remus to conjure up the flames for everyone. Remus blushed as he deposited little blue flames on the corner of each desk, hating all the attention on him. It was worse when he reached Jha's desk and Jha looked up at him with a smile that sent an uncomfortable shiver all down his spine. When did his Jha's eyes become so… intense? UGH was this going to start happening more often?

"Thank you," Jha said, signing quickly before putting his hands over the flames.

"W-w-welcome," Remus managed to squeak out, quickly scurrying to the next desk.

"That was very kind of you, Remus," Charlemagne said when he finished. "Ten points to Gryffindor for helping everyone out. Now, last time we learned about werewolves and I wish to go over a few more things about them with you before we move on."

Remus focused on the blue flames dancing in front of him, hardly hearing what Charlemagne was saying. Soon the topic switched from werewolves to strong physical shielding spells. He started to take notes for that when the door flung open. It was Flitwick, looking a little panicked.

"Erm, Sylvain, emergency teacher meeting in the teacher's lounge," he squeaked out and everyone in class sat up a bit straighter. "Everyone else is to go to the Great Hall where they are building up some lovely fires."

Charlemagne frowned. "Thank you, I shall be there in a moment. I am sorry class," he added after Flitwick ran off. "We shall learn another day." He waved his wand and the flames on all the desks diminished into nothing. Remus had a sneaking suspicion that Charlemagne could have conjured up all the flames himself and just let Remus do it for some reason. "Please go to the Great Hall in a… hmmm… ordered fashion. Thank you." He opened the door and stood there to make sure everyone left before he followed his class to the Great Hall, making sure they got there safely.

The Great Hall was slowly filling up with students, and sure enough all the fireplaces were roaring with enormous fires. Those plus the bodies everywhere made the room a lot warmer than the rest of the castle.

"I wonder what's going on," James said as the Marauders found a seat by themselves, though they were sitting very close together to keep warm.

A Ravenclaw leaned across the aisle and said, "I heard there's an attack on the school."

Remus's eyes went huge and he looked around for someone in charge but none of the teachers were there. There was the Head Boy and Girl, the Prefects, and Hagrid who looked a little nervous as he paroled around the edges of the room. Why was Hagrid looking nervous?

"Attack?" James laughed. "Who would attack Hogwarts?"

"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" whimpered Peter. "What if it's true?"

Remus could hear other people whispering about it, too. It was being sent around the room, and the smell of panic and fear began clogging up his nostrils.

"Petey, come on," snickered Sirius, elbowing him. "It's not true."

"Yes it is," the Ravenclaw complained. "I heard the Prefects talking."

Remus drew his hands inside his two jumpers for comfort and hunkered down. It isn't true, he told himself as he tried to get his knee to stop jiggling. Nearby some fifth years were discussing defensive strategies, and a first year looked on the verge of tears. Then someone screamed, causing Peter and Remus both to jump nearly out of their skins; the Ravenclaw girl was shaking hard while the girl next to her was demanding to know who was attacking the school.

"This is ridiculous." James got up. "I'm going to ask Hagrid." He ran off to where Hagrid was and Remus watched the two of them talking.

Hagrid immediately looked across the room. "Everyone!" he bellowed. "There is nothin' dangerous goin' on. No attacks or anythin' like that. Don't yeh be startin' any rumors, gettin' people panicked o'er nothin'. There's jus' somethun wrong with the weather."

That made the panic worse since it seemed everyone thought Hagrid was lying or else theorizing the weather was the attack on the school, though James looked rather smug as he returned to his seat. "See?" He plopped down, sticking his nose in the air. "Nothing to worry about."

"I think that made things worse," Remus said as the buzz grew louder and more frightened. He covered his ears with the loose fabric hanging from his hands and squeezed his eyes shut, wishing he had brought his earplugs. Hagrid tried to get everyone to calm down and finally gave a loud whistle that pierced the air and shut everyone up.

"I don' know where yeh got ter thinkin' that sumthin' bad was goin' on but there is nothin'! All the teachers are doin' is figgurin' out why it's so cold in the castle, tha's all."

Then the Head Girl piped up with, "I can vouch for what he's saying. That's what I was told."

"A likely story," someone muttered, but at least everyone was quieter now and Remus could lower his hands.

"Why do you look so panicked?" James asked Peter who indeed looked on the verge of passing out. "You heard him."

"What if it's our fault?" he whispered.

"What if what is our fault?"

Peter gave a squeak. "The c-cold! We've been practicing freezing spells! What if we did something wrong?"

James and Sirius both laughed while Remus tried to hide a smile. "I highly doubt it," he promised Peter. "We'd know. I would know, if I did anything like that."

After a few uneasy moments, James pulled a deck of cards out of his satchel and they began playing a couple rounds of Sphinx to pass the time. On their third round, the doors to the Great Hall opened and Dumbledore came in, followed by McGonagall. Everyone went completely silent, staring at their Headmaster. Before Dumbledore could speak, Hagrid went over and whispered in his ear.

"There is nothing to worry about," Dumbledore said, his voice soothing. "I can assure you nobody has attacked Hogwarts. The only thing wrong is the fact that the school and the surrounding area is a lot colder than it should be. The staff and I are looking into this matter. Now, due to the temperature outside, Herbology and Astronomy are canceled for the time being and of course all Care of Magical Creatures lessons will be indoors, and all students are to remain inside. Please bundle up as much as you like or need to, and there is no need to worry about the uniforms until further notice. The imperative thing is to stay warm. If anyone is having trouble with the cold, please report to Madame Pomfrey. For now… lunch shall be served early." He clapped his hands and pots of hot, steaming soup appeared across the tables along with freshly baked bread and other warm, hot foods.

Remus filled up a bowl with potato soup then stared at the ceiling. "Maybe Shake It Up isn't a good idea after this."

"What do you mean?"

He pointed and the others looked up to see that the ceiling looked like it was freezing over.

"I told you it's our fault!" Peter practically wailed. "It's like what—"

James clamped a hand over his mouth. "Don't say things like that out loud, stupid! Someone might believe you! It wouldn't surprise me if people tried to blame us anyway."

"We did not do this," Remus said, debating whether or not to gulp the soup down immediately. It would hurt but only for a moment. His werewolf ability would heal the burns pretty quickly. After making sure nobody was watching he slurped some, wincing at the brief flash of pain. The heat felt good going down into his stomach.

"Did you just burn your tongue?" James asked.

Remus looked up, another spoon paused right at his lips. "Erm. No?" He ate the soup, flinching again.

"You are, you're burning your tongue!"

"Shh! All right, fine, yes I am, it's cold and the soup is hot and I want that heat."

"Doesn't it hurt?" Pete asked.

Remus shrugged, wincing at another spoonful. "Only for a second or two. I'm fine, see?" He stuck his tongue out to show them he was all right and then returned to eating. His friends gave him strange looks and he tried to ignore them, but blew on the soup to cool it down; he didn't want to seem too abnormal. Even to them.

They had a very long break since after lunch was supposed to be Herbology. After eating they went to the tower and huddled as close to the fireplace as they could get, watching the windows which were icing over. Something was definitely going on, and after Care of Magical Creatures they found out. They had returned to the Gryffindor tower since they didn't have anymore classes except for Remus, and one of the sixth years was fiddling with a radio.

"Hey everyone, listen to this," she said, and turned the radio up.

It was a news report about a witch in Hogsmeade who had been messing around with weather magic; not just small areas but attempting to turn the entire area into a 'sunny, tropical holiday' because she was already tired of the cold and her boss wouldn't let her time time off work to go anywhere. It had the opposite effect and now a huge, freezing effect was slowly rippling away from Hogsmeade, getting weaker as it went south.

"Anyone in the Hogsmeade area is recommended to stay inside with as many warming spells as you can get," the reporter said rather gravely. "If anyone is having trouble staying warm please contact the Ministry of Magic as quick as you can. Do not venture outside for any reason. The Committee on Experimental Charms has said temperatures should return to normal by morning. I repeat: anyone in the immediate Hogsmeade area stay inside and stay warm."

"I told you it wasn't us!" James exclaimed loudly.

"Who said it was you?" asked a seventh year.

James paused. "Erm. Oh right, nobody did. I—I guess I'm just used to being the one everyone points a finger to. Why are you looking at me like that? You heard the man, it was some witch in town, not me."

"Yes but you did seem very defensive when nobody even accused you," replied the boy.

James put his hands on his hips, getting rather huffy. "As I said, I'm used to being accused. It was a… a… a…"

"Knee jerk reaction?" Remus suggested.

James snapped his fingers. "Yeah, that."

"It looks really bad out there," a second year said from where she was pressed against a window. "Everything is so white, that's all I see. White. Snow and ice."

"How come the Ministry isn't doing something about it?" squeaked out a terrified looking first year.

"If they tried to mess with the weather it might make it worse," Remus said without thinking, and once again too many eyes were on him, just like in Defense earlier. He blushed and slumped down, tugging the neck of the jumpers up over his chin.

"Loopy's right," said Perseus Magpie who was sitting right next to the fireplace.

Athena Magpie, sitting next to him, smacked his chest. "Don't call him that!"

"Tampering with the weather is what got us this freeze, attempting to fix it could make it worse or perhaps go the opposite way and give us a heatwave," the older Magpie continued. "And that would be very suspicious for Muggles."

"I don't see why we have to suffer because some idiot wanted a holiday," grumbled the sixth year who had been messing with the radio.

Remus ended up borrowing James's fanciest, warmest wool cloak before going to Ancient Runes. He, Lily, Magpie, McNab, and Twycross went together in a tight-knit group, staying as close together as they could. Magpie was right against Remus and he kept casting despairing looks at Lily who only cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I have told Percy to stop calling you that," she said in an apologetic tone. "I'm sorry my brother is so thick."

"Er, it's okay."

"I'm so cold. My hands are so cold." She rubbed them together, glancing at Remus out of the side of her eyes. "I forgot to put gloves on."

Lily made a snorting, coughing sort of sound and pounded at her chest, muttering an apology. Remus grit his teeth, wanting to ignore what Magpie said but not able to. "You c-can borrow mine." He took them off and handed them to her, feeling Lily's eyes burning into his soul.

Magpie blushed. "Thank you, but what about your hands?"

"I'll b-be fine…"

"I know!" She handed one back. "We can each wear one and then hold hands with the ones that aren't, to keep them warm."

"Oh Merlin," McNab said loudly. "You're really getting desperate now, aren't you?"

Magpie froze in place, eyes huge with horror except for a little wavering as tears began forming. Remus wanted to shrink and shrivel until he disappeared, knowing he was going as red as Magpie. Why did McNab have to say anything?!

"Here." Magpie shoved the gloves back at Remus and then took off, running down the hall as fast as she could, cloak streaming behind her.

"Do us all a favor and ask her out already," McNab told Remus.

"I—I'm not—I'm—I-I-I'm—I'm n-not—I'm-I-I'm—"

McNab gave him a look. "You do know she fancies you, right? How can you not know?"

Remus swallowed, wanting to die. Wishing he was already dead. Then Lily stepped forward. "Oh, leave him alone."

"I thought you two weren't a thing?" McNab asked.

"What?! Oh, Christ, we aren't! But leave him alone anyway."

McNab rolled her eyes. "Come on, Matilda." She and Twycross walked off, heading quickly down the corridor.

Remus buried his face in his hands. "Don't," he moaned.

"I—"

"Please don't."

Lily gave him a gentle nudge. "No, I will. I told you so."

He dropped his hands, staring at the gloves miserably. "What was I supposed to do? I—I couldn't simply let her hands be cold, that would be rude—"

"Not the gloves, Remus!" Lily shook her head. "This isn't about the gloves, this is about everything else and the fact you haven't made it clear you aren't interested in her!"

"How am I supposed to tell her?!" he demanded back. "Go up to her and say so?"

Lily shrugged. "Maybe. What?" she asked when he frowned. "Perhaps it would be better."

"It would hurt her."

"Maybe it's better to do a quick hurt than to drag it out." He began walking again, pulling his gloves on as he muttered to himself. "What was that?"

"I said oh what a tangled web we weave," he grumbled, yanking the second glove on.

Lily folded her arms. "Say the rest of the quote. Or shall I? When first you practice to deceive. Stop deceiving her and the web might not be so tangled anymore."

An angry shudder went through his body. "I'm not deceiving her!" Why did it fall on him to 'fix' this? He hadn't done anything. He was an unwilling participant in the whole situation.

He and Lily were still annoyed with one another when they reached Ancient Runes and a tiny part of him was worried she was genuinely mad at him. Not my fault, not my fault, he repeated as he tried to pay attention to what Codde was saying. What do I even do to fix this? he then wondered, glancing over towards Magpie. She wasn't crying anymore however there were tear stains on her face. After class she was the first one out, shoes pounding the stone as she ran out.

"Is something going on?" Aegis asked after he and Remus left, and Lily walked past them without a word.

"Lily's annoyed at me," Remus mumbled, wrapping James's cloak tighter around him. "I don't know what to do."

"What happened? If it is all right to ask."

They began walking to the Great Hall, practically shoulder to shoulder. "It's a situation I don't know how to… deal with," he admitted, rubbing his forehead. "I'm not good with people." He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Aegis everything, and felt it might be a little mean towards Magpie to lay out her feelings like that. "I need to tell someone something and I—I just don't know how, not without… causing more issues."

Aegis hummed at that. "I am not sure I can be of any help without knowing more about what is going on, and it sounds as if you do not wish me to know. Which is fine," he quickly added.

"It involves someone else and I don't want to talk about their… what they… about…" He trailed off, wondering how best to explain.

But Aegis simply nodded. "I understand. It is not only your story to talk about, it is also theirs, and that is something to be kept private."

"Exactly."

"I understand," he said again. "It is fine. I am sorry I cannot be any help though."

"It's all right." Remus looked down at his feet, watching the shoelaces flail with each step. "If you knew what you had to say would hurt someone but also not telling them would hurt them too, in a different way… what would you do?"

His friend shrugged. "I suppose it would depend on which hurt is worse for them."

Remus didn't respond to that, only thought about things as they continued walking. Surely Magpie would get over the crush, wouldn't she? Then he remembered how long he had pined after Professor Prewett, and really the only reason he had stopped was because Prewett was no longer part of his life. He and Magpie would be seeing each other almost every day for the next four and a half years! A crush wouldn't last that long though, it would fade… sooner or later… right?

"What happened?" Peter asked as soon as Remus joined them for supper.

"When? What?"

"Cassie told me Magpie is locked up in a bathroom, crying," Sirius said. "Rumor has it that it is because of you."

Remus grit his teeth, anger rising up inside of him. "I did nothing! If anything it is McNab's fault."

"So what happened?" James inquired, and Remus reluctantly told them about the gloves and hand-holding, and what McNab said. All three of them bust up laughing, James smacking the table repeatedly.

"You gave her your gloves?" Sirius asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"How romantic," snickered Peter.

"No!" Remus hunched over, glaring at the food on his plate. "It wasn't—I—how was I—wouldn't you have done the same?"

"Yes," Sirius and Peter chorused.

"No," James said and they looked at him. "What? If a girl is stupid enough to forget her gloves when we can see our breath, that's her problem not mine."

"See?" Remus told Sirius and Peter, ignoring James now. "At least you agree I did the right thing."

"Stupid, but right," Sirius said. "Besides, James, she probably didn't really forget them. I bet she had them in her pocket and only pretended, to try to hold Remy's hand. It's what I would do."

"What, lie about your gloves to hold Remy's hand?" James joked, making Remus squirm inside. They all knew Sirius meant to hold a girl's hand, but of course James had to go and make it sillier. And Sirius would go with it too, he knew.

Sure enough, Sirius grinned. "Yes. Remy, I forgot my gloves. Hold my hand."

Why, why, why, why?! "Hold your own hands, you daft ogre."

During supper, Dumbledore made an announcement basically highlighting what had been said over the radio program earlier. He explained that extra blankets were being provided for the rooms, and the heaters were as strong as they could be. He added that the Ministry was certain that by the next day things would be back to normal.

When the Marauders returned to the Gryffindor tower, they opted to go to their dorm since it was far too crowded around the fireplace. They wrapped blankets around themselves and sat around the heater, James and Sirius excitedly discussing what sort of spell could have done all this.

"One that will get the witch in a lot of trouble," Remus reminded them, tightening the blanket.

"She should have said it was an accident," said James, pushing his glasses back up. "Not said she wanted a holiday, that is duuuuumb! I'd've said it was an accident."

"I hope all the animals are okay," muttered Peter, staring at the heater. "The owls, too. Cause the owlery is open? I wonder how they're doing with this sudden cold. I'm glad Cocoa is with my parents right now."

"I'm sure the staff has put plenty of warming spells on the owlery and did other things to keep the owls safe," Sirius replied.

"I wonder if Magpie ever left the bathroom," James mused, smirking at Remus. "I bet she's still crying in there—"

"Don't," he groaned, pulling the blanket up over his head. "I don't—fine, if you lot are so smart you can help me. How do I tell her I'm not interested?"

"You're not?" Pete asked, surprised. "I dunno, she's cute. I mean, not as cute as—" He stopped quickly, going red. James and Sirius glanced at him. "Tanaka," Pete mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. James and Sirius nodded, though Remus suspected that's not who Peter was going to say.

"I—I can't be," he said slowly when the three faced him again, expecting a response from him now. He glanced at the door to make sure the other two wouldn't burst in at any second. "I can't risk seeing anyone." James and Peter looked confused. "My—my condition?" He had assumed Sirius would have told them about their conversation ages ago but… maybe not.

"Why does that mean you can't?" James asked.

Remus flopped over, too tired and miserable to go over this again.

"Remus thinks it wouldn't be fair to the girl," Sirius said with a shrug.

Peter tilted his head. "Why wouldn't it be fair?"

"We just went over this in Charlemagne's class!" Remus wrapped the blanket fully around him, curling up in the knitted darkness. "People hate werewolves. Most people would turn me in, if they knew. I couldn't have anything… long term, and I don't want to deal with the heartbreak of seeing some girl for a little while then having to break up before she figures out what I am! It isn't fair to her and it isn't fair to me!"

There was silence for so long that he wriggled about until he could poke his head out to see what they were doing.

"You're never going to date?" Pete asked, looking rather taken aback. "Ever?!"

"No." He sat back up. "I can't. It's too risky. Unless I happen to find a girl who—who doesn't mind werewolves at all but I know that before I tell her—"

"We don't mind werewolves," James said.

Remus rolled his eyes at him. "Are you a girl?"

James shrugged. "As far as I know I'm not, but if that ever changes I'll let you know."

Remus just sighed. "In any case, as I have said multiple times… most people wouldn't react the way you three have, and so the chances of finding a girl who—who likes me despite that and who I like as well? It's… not going to happen. And even if it does, I cannot take the risk at the moment. Not while I'm in school. Maybe—maybe one day, but not now."

Sirius was staring intently at Remus for far too long then suddenly he stood up. "I'll be right back." He left the dorm room but didn't go to the lavatory and instead disappeared down the hall towards the stairs.

James and Peter kept harassing Remus about it until he wrapped himself back up in the blanket and declared himself to be a flobberworm and would blast them with mucus spells if they bothered him again. Except of course James did, and Remus shot a sticky slime spell at him.

"This is my warmest blanket!" James complained, peeling it away.

"You asked for it," Remus said from within the comfort of his own blanket.

A few minutes later Sirius returned. "Remus? Hey, Remy?"

"He's a flobberworm," Peter explained.

Remus peered out of the tiny opening. "What?"

Sirius knelt down, smiling proudly. "Magpie is taken care of."

It took a few slow heartbeats for those words to sink in then he shot upright, throwing his blanket off and gaping at Sirius. "Wh—what?!" He grabbed him by the shoulders. "What did you say to her?!"

"Nothing, I didn't say anything to her," Sirius said, tossing his hair back. "Why is James all slimy?"

James pointed at Remus who shook his head. "Don't change the subject, what did you do? What do you mean she's 'taken care of'? You didn't hex her, did you?"

"Not that kind of taken care of," he replied, adjusting his legs until he was cross-legged. "I talked to Nettle." Magpie's best friend. Remus let Sirius go and sat back, feeling ill. "Stop moaning. Look, you weren't ever going to deal with it, were you? You were just going to hide your head and hope it all worked out."

Remus tried not to look guilty. "Erm, no, I—"

"Don't lie," Sirius said. "That's exactly how you deal with situations like that, except when you run away from them. Either you hide or you run away."

He felt red creeping onto his face. "I—"

"Anyway," Sirius continued, "I talked to Nettle. I told her that you hadn't realized Magpie had any feelings for you until what McNab said. I said you were really upset and embarrassed, but you also didn't want to upset or embarrass Magpie. I said you weren't sure what to do but that you were anxious about it because you didn't want to go with anyone right now because of school and your health, but you also didn't want to hurt Magpie's feelings. I also added that you were really tired most of the time, and that it didn't seem like you had the time for a girlfriend anytime soon anyway."

Remus just stared open-mouthed at Sirius.

Sirius shrugged. "She'll tell Magpie. Annnnd that's that."

"Oh." Remus closed his mouth and swallowed, feeling like an utter coward. "I—I should have…"

"It's all right." Sirius punched his arm lightly. "It's over with, hopefully. Unless Magpie decides you need someone to take care of you and gets worse… Joking!" he added when panic flooded Remus's face.

"Hopefully joking," muttered James.

"Thank you," he said, realizing he hadn't yet. "Er, th—thank you, that—"

"It's nothing."

Remus didn't say much as they played card games to pass the time, feeling rather worthless and dumb. At least he could tell Lily it was taken care of, but he had the feeling she was going to get mad that Remus hadn't done it himself. He should have, but even just thinking about it made him feel crawly and awful. He wondered how Magpie was going to feel when Nettle told her.

I'm a coward, he thought miserably, letting himself lose the round so he wouldn't have to focus on the cards. Maybe this will make her hate me. She'll think I am pathetic for being unable to face her myself.

Spinnet and David came into the room, joining the Marauders around the heater and actually joining them in the card games. Perhaps it was too cold for Spinnet to be too argumentative. The evening passed rather nice, except for the temperature, and when it got late enough to go to bed Remus almost forgot just how cold it was.

Right, he thought, staring at his pajamas. He only had a couple pairs, all of them rather old. Two for cold weather, two for warm weather. He took all four pairs of bottoms and the two warm weather tops, and then a jumper as well. He added several pairs of socks onto the pile before going into the very icy bathroom. He shivered as he got changed, trying not to linger. A hot shower would feel good but he didn't want to be wet. At least his choice of clothing helped as he returned to the dorm room. Everyone else was wearing loads of layers too. Remus tried not to laugh at David who was wearing so many layers it was difficult for him to move.

After saying goodnight to his friends, Remus climbed into bed and wrapped himself up in a few blankets. He still felt a little chilly but it would be bearable at least. Mostly. He tossed and turned for a moment then got out of bed, intending to get another blanket but they were all taken. Sighing, he returned to bed, resigning himself to being chilly… until James started complaining very loudly about the cold.

"There's nothing we can do, Potter," Spinnet grumbled. "Stop whining."

"There is, actually, something we can do!" James said. "Well, not you. You're not invited."

Remus peeked out of his curtains, watching as James dragged his mattress of his bed and onto the floor. "Sirius, Remy, Petey, come on, let's sleep together." He began dumping his blankets onto the mattress as Remus debated whether or not to join them. Finally he began sliding out of bed. "It'll be warmer."

"Merlin, what are—" Spinnet poked his head out, watching with disgust as the four Marauders piled onto James's mattress. Having the mattress on the floor made it feel less intimate, though even if it were on a proper bed he'd still consider it. It was too cold not to. "Bunch of poofs."

Remus tried not to wince, somehow managing to keep his expression neutral as he climbed onto the mattress. His heart pounded at the word, feeling like Spinnet could see into him. See the truth. That word again… only this time used against all four of them. He felt guilty for feeling better than it was used for them all because it was more evident that Spinnet was using it to be mean instead of… somehow knowing…

"Definitely not invited now," James said, making a rude gesture at Spinnet. "We'll be warm and you can freeze your tiny little bollocks off."

Remus snuggled between James and Peter, already feeling cozy, comfy, and warm. They were lined up on the sideways mattress and Remus pulled his legs up to curl up, while the others had the blanket tucked under their feet.

"This is nicer," Peter said, head partially buried into Remus's shoulder. He stiffened slightly for a second or two until his body relaxed, slowly getting used to the feel of his friend's head there. "So much warmer."

"Loads," Sirius agreed from the other side of James. "We should sleep like this every night."

"Fairies," Spinnet called.

"Oh, go eat something poisonous, you arse!" James snarled.

I wouldn't mind sleeping like this every night, Remus thought, already half-asleep from the group nest.

Then to ruin it, Spinnet added, "Loopy better not have a nightmare and wake us all up."

"Bugger OFF, Spinnet!" James shouted. "Or I'll curse your tongue to taste nothing but the bitterness you spew out!"

Spinnet kept muttering to himself but whatever he said was lost into the abyss as Remus fell asleep soon after.