From the playlist:

White Christmas 1947 Version - Bing Crosby, Ken Darby Singers

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee

Christmas Chimes - Bell Ringers of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Monastery

Schwanengesang, D.957: Der Doppelgänger - Franz Schubert, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Chapter 30 - Der Doppelgänger

Christmas Eve came as softly and suddenly as the snowfall that came along with it. According to Emmeline, there was almost nothing in this world more beautiful than Godric's Hollow in winter, blushing like a bride, draped in a garment of clean white.

She thought on this as she stepped out of the house to get a closer look at the snow while she waited for Remus to lace up his shoes. As the late afternoon began to evolve to evening, she delighted in how the warm glow of the street lamps made the white mounds on the ground sparkle all the more.

"I find it amusing that every time you look at snow, it's as if you're seeing it for the first time," Remus observed, having joined her outside. His words were visible in the foggy breath that left his mouth.

"That's because I am. It's never the same snow."

Remus peered at his watch, but ignored where the hands were pointing. The Christmas party could wait; because according to Emmeline, there was almost nothing more beautiful than Godric's Hollow in winter, but according to Remus, there was almost nothing more beautiful than watching her admire it.

The few moments of quiet were brought to an end by the sound of Emmeline's chattering teeth. Chuckling, Remus wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Marlene and Lily will be cross with me if we show up and you're frostbitten," he murmured against her cheek.

The snowflakes kissing the top of her head began to dampen her hair. "Just one more minute."

"You do know it'll be here when we come home, don't you?"

"Yes, but it might be different."

"Then we can look at it all over again when we get back," he promised.

With a nod of approval, Emmeline put her hand in his. They walked back into the house, closed the door, and disapparated.

…

The party was hosted by Elphias, who had room to spare at his ornate Georgian house in the countryside. When she and Remus apparated to the foyer, Emmeline had to resist the urge to dash outside and see the snow all over again.

The lights and recognizable holiday music invited the pair to let themselves in. Christmas Eve didn't warrant an interrogation at the doorway.

Inside merrymaking were most of the members of the Order, as well as some of their associated loved ones. Almost as soon as they arrived, Remus had to dodge a stampede of children chasing after a chocolate frog. "Right," he chuckled, removing Emmeline's coat. "I suspect those are the Bones children."

"Finally!" exclaimed Marlene, registering their arrival and approaching the entryway. She was dressed up rather like a Christmas tree, with an emerald lace-trim dress and red jewelry. "Nollaig Chridheil agus Bliadhna Mhath Ùr!"

"Well if we're showing off, Nadolig Llawen," Remus responded, hanging up their coats.

"Happy Christmas to you too?" Emmeline guessed with a perplexed and painfully Anglo-Saxon look. She supposed she could have whipped out her Italian, but-

"Aye! Very good!" Marlene gave them both a kiss on the cheek, then took Emmeline's arm and led them towards the rest of their cohort, eyeing her ruby dress. "Nice frock."

"I thought so too," Remus agreed. "When I saw it, I knew I had to wear the red jumper."

"Well you both look braw. I wish I could get Sirius to do the matching thing, but you know him. That would be 'too couple-y' for his liking."

Emmeline caught sight of a delicate gold chain with a single freshwater pearl hanging from Marlene's neck. "That's lovely," she said, pointing to the necklace. "I haven't seen you wear that before."

Marlene blushed pink and reached up to caress the little pearl. "Sirius just gave it to me for Christmas. Said he couldn't wait until tomorrow morning. Isn't it bonnie?"

"You know, despite the fact that he won't match with you, he has shaped up into a half decent…partner…lover…person."

"And you lot said I couldn't change him."

"Oi! Moony! Emmie!" Sirius hollered from the hallway leading to the dining room. He wore an eggplant-colored velvet bell-bottom suit and a black button-down which had far too many buttons undone. "Fancy an eggnog and brandy?"

"See what I mean?" Marlene muttered.

"I'll have one!" said Emmeline, trying not to laugh.

"Sans the brandy Padfoot, thanks," Remus replied, continuing after Marlene and Emmeline into a large parlor. Before he reached his friends, however, Remus was stopped by someone so low out of his line of sight that he nearly knocked them over.

"Just who I was looking for!" said Mundungus, who seemed to appear suddenly (as he often did), and was holding a cigarette out to Remus. "Lupin, no one at this confounded Christmas party will join me out back."

After a moment of battling with himself, Remus politely declined. "I'm sorry Mundungus, but I've actually quit."

"That's a cryin' shame," he shrugged, sticking the cigarette in his own mouth and trudging towards the back door.

Lily eyed Remus suspiciously as he approached. "Have you really quit, or are you just avoiding Dung?"

"I've not touched a cigarette in a month, on my honor."

Sirius rejoined the group with his eggnog in hand as he levitated four glasses into each of his friends' grasps. "If anybody was desperate for an eclair, you're out of luck - I think Mad-Eye may have eaten them all."

Emmeline furrowed her brow and lowered her eggnog from her mouth. "Sorry, who?"

"Alastor," Lily clarified, rolling her eyes and adjusting her blouse. "He's gotten himself a new eye, and these tossers started a nickname behind his back. I don't think it's very nice, and now the whole Order's caught on."

Marlene shrugged. "The eye does make him look even more mad than before…"

"Speaking of tossers, where is your husband?" asked Remus, who had not yet seen James or Peter. He meant this as a harmless jest, but Lily's smile faded, as did Sirius's.

"He's around here somewhere. He just came from seeing his parents. They're not doing too well, dragon pox is much worse when you're older…He wouldn't let me come with him," she explained, laying her hand over her not-yet-rounded belly.

Remus swiftly backpedaled. "I had no idea they were ill. I'm terribly sorry."

"Just try not to mention it when you see him, it's got him out-of-sorts."

"Of course."

"He was supposed to pick up Peter, but he showed up without him."

"Wouldn't be the first time Wormtail's backed out of a party, so I wouldn't worry about it," Sirius assured her.

"Vance!" Alastor appeared suddenly behind Emmeline, nearly causing her to spill her eggnog. When she spun around to look at him, she could not stop herself from ogling at the bulging glass eye now fixed into his socket.

"Mad-..."

She stopped herself before she could spew out his new nickname. Alastor cocked his head as the rest of her friends tensed up. "Mad-...Moody. Alastor. Hey…" she stuttered, trying to recover. "Happy Christmas, Alastor."

"...How many eggnogs have you had?"

"Oh, er...too many. What is it you wanted to tell me?"

Studying her face, Alastor got very close, and Emmeline's eyes spun around as they followed the glass eye, which moved independently from its counterpart.

Remus stepped toward them. "Moody, what are you-"

Without averting his gaze, Alastor's hand flew up in front of Remus's face, demanding silence. "How many classes did it take before you had your Patronus?"

Emmeline stared at him in disbelief. "…Do we really have to-"

"Answer me." Suddenly, his wand was pointed at her. Sirius held Remus back from lunging at Alastor as he grabbed Emmeline forcefully by the arm.

"Four! Four classes!" she squeaked.

After looking around to make sure he had not caused too big of a scene, he released her and stowed his wand back in his kilt.

Remus shook Sirius off and protectively grabbed Emmeline by the shoulders. "Merlin's sake Moody, it's Christmas Eve. What are you playing at?"

"...You five. Come with me." Before any of them could protest, Alastor had turned on on his heels and was stalking away. Sirius shrugged and followed after him, with the rest of the group trailing behind in utter confusion.

Alastor led them up the stairs and into a library. After checking to make sure no unwanted ears were around, he closed the door behind them.

"This isn't a caroling rehearsal, I take it?"

"Afraid not, McKinnon. It would appear there's an uninvited guest partaking in our festivities. Have any of you been asked any strange questions?"

Lily folded her arms. "You think we're being spied on? What makes you say that?"

"I'm fairly certain somebody tried to slip me Veritaserum in my scotch. I never water down a good whisky - turned away once, and the color was lighter."

Everyone shifted uncomfortably. Alastor was a very paranoid individual…then again, he wasn't often wrong.

"Did you drink it?"

"Do I look like a fool, Black?"

"Well I'm not going to perjure myself with that one."

Mad-Eye glared at him contemptuously.

"How can you be positive it was Veritaserum?" asked Remus. "It doesn't have a color or odor."

"I can't, of course. I might not have noticed, if I hadn't thought I caught a whiff of Polyjuice earlier - I thought I was imagining things. But I didnae take anybody in the Order to be aff their heid enough to sneak water into my whisky just tae piss me off." Alastor squinted his one good eye. Sirius and Marlene were right - he did look rather mad.

"I sure as hell wouldn't…" mumbled Emmeline.

"But there are protective enchantments on the house, aren't there?" Marlene asked.

"Protective spells can be bypassed if you know what you're looking for. I don't know who else had their drink spiked, but I already alerted Dumbledore. The Longbottoms and the Prewetts are keeping an eye out."

"Why didn't you stop the party to warn everyone?" asked Sirius.

"Because you can only catch an imposter if they think they're safe," he said, tapping his temple with his index finger. "Just be alert. If you see anything strange, let me know...where's your husband at, Potter?"

"I don't know, he's been sulking by himself all night."

As if an imaginary light bulb had turned on above their heads, Sirius and Remus looked up at each other. Even in his worst moods, James was not one to avoid his friends.

"...Has anybody else talked to Prongs tonight?" asked Sirius. Everyone but Lily shook their heads.

Remus turned to Lily. "Did you say you and James arrived separately?"

Her eyes darted between the two of them. "Yes, we-...I know what you're thinking, but he's just anxious about his parents."

That was enough of a lead for Alastor. "Then he won't mind answering some questions." He pushed past them and hobbled out the door in search of James.

The rest of the group trotted out after him.

"What if it's nothing and we upset him?" hissed Emmeline.

"What if it's not?" Sirius countered.

At the bottom of the stairs, Alastor turned back to them. "Split up. Find him."

And they did just that. Marlene went back upstairs to search while everyone else walked into separate rooms as nonchalantly as possible. Sirius headed for the kitchen, but stopped when he caught sight of James's frame out the back window - he was standing out in the backyard with Mundungus Fletcher.

James whipped around when he heard the door open behind him. That's when Sirius saw him holding a cigarette.

"Hey Prongs," he said, approaching as casually as he could, his feet crunching in the hardening snow.

"Sirius. Hi."

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Sirius feigned a shiver. "A bit cold out here, innit?"

"A bit."

"You cold, Dung?"

"Now that you mention it, I'm actually freezing down to my bones," Mundungus answered.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Sirius began, angling himself so he could see James's eyes. "How are your parents doing?"

"…They're good."

"Locomotor Mortis!"

James let out a cry as he fell face down in the snow with his legs suddenly stuck together. In the back doorway, Lily was brandishing her wand.

"Wrong answer," she spat.

Sirius jumped on top of James to hold him down. "Dung, grab his wand!" he barked as he struggled to keep James's wrists in his grasp.

Obeying, Mundungus snatched a wand out from James's pocket and staggered backwards, handing it to Lily.

"...This isn't James's wand," she breathed in horror.

By this time, the rest of the search party had located them, and other members of the Order were catching on to the fuss going on outside.

"Get him up," Alastor ordered, before plucking Mundungus' drink out of his hand. "What's everyone been calling me behind my back?"

"Mad-Eye Moody!" Mundungus blurted out, immediately covering his mouth. "…Why did I say that?!"

"Hmph," Alastor grumbled, studying the cocktail. "Veritaserum."

"What did he ask you?" Frank addressed Mundungus.

"He was wondering about some manky old goblin swords, I don't know! I don't stock 'em!"

Even with his legs locked, it took both Sirius and Remus to lift James off the icy ground since he was struggling against them. They dragged him back into the house behind Alastor, who motioned for him to be sat down in a chair in the parlor.

Lily's eyes poured over the features of the imposter as he passed her, searching for something she had missed. "If that's not James," she began, turning back to Emmeline, "where is my husband?"

With Sirius and Remus restraining him, Moody managed to force-feed the imposter the rest of Mundungus' cocktail. He coughed and cursed, but ultimately ingested the Veritaserum.

"What is your name?" Albus asked with that ever-alarming composure.

"M-...m-..." the imposter was struggling to hold his tongue. "Mulciber!" he finally sputtered out, remnants of the drink still dripping from the sides of his chin.

"Junior or senior?" Alastor questioned.

"Sm-..senior," he growled.

There was chatter among the Order. Somehow, a Death Eater had wandered into their party. Not only that, the elder Mulciber was one of Voldemort's first and most trusted followers.

In a panic, Lily bolted towards the front door, unsure of where she needed to go to find James.

"Lily, stop!" Marlene started after her with Emmeline at her heels, but they all froze when the door knob began to turn. They drew their wands.

In stepped James and Peter, in the midst of a casual conversation, ignorant to the fact that there had been a security breach. When James saw the girls pointing their wands at them, he halted. "Whatever it was, Padfoot did it."

"James!" Nearly crumbling from the relief, Lily lowered her wand and stepped towards him, but Mad-Eye grabbed her shoulder.

"Keep your wands up," he ordered. "What beverage is Pettigrew allergic to?"

"Pumpkin juice," the boys answered in unison, after which Lily leapt forward and embraced her real husband with zeal.

Though happy to see her, James remained perplexed. "What is it that we missed, exactly?"

"Someone mistook this for a costume party. Quite convincing," quipped Marlene, stepping aside so that James could see through to the parlor. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw his doppelgänger.

"...How'd that son of a bitch get a hold of my hair?!"