Wintery Revelations
“What are you doing home already?”
Sirius had just walked into the flat, his cloak slung over his shoulder. He had just returned from his day of training at the Auror Academy, where he had spent the majority of the time working on altering his appearance. One of the most important skills that an Auror had to learn was disguising himself. He had not been successful in the slightest and had ended up with lots of hair growing out of his ears instead of his head. He had stayed this way until Moody finally took it upon himself to correct the problem. Sirius kicked off his shoes as he stepped into the living room and discovered his roommate sitting on the couch, hunched over a newspaper, quill in hand.
Remus said nothing, an instant indication that he was not okay. Sirius gathered up his shoes and set them by the door, next to Remus’s. Walking further into the room, he asked, “Remus? Did you hear me?”
His roommate nodded jerkily as he scratched his chin with the quill, black ink staining the spot. His eyes were still focused on the paper he was reading. This behaviour made Sirius think for a terrible moment that something bad had happened; that Remus had opened up a copy of the Prophet and discovered someone they knew was dead. Sweet Merlin, what if it was James or Peter or Lily? But that wasn’t the Prophet, he saw with immense relief. It was a Muggle newspaper. “What’s up?” Sirius persisted. “Why aren’t you still at work?”
“I got fired,” Remus muttered almost inaudibly, turning the quill over between his fingers before circling something that Sirius now suspected was a Want Advertisement. It was then that he saw there were several other ads circled.
Sirius hated to admit that he wasn’t surprised. Mr. Foster had been fed up with his employee calling out sick so many times and always coming back to work with some odd injury. Sirius had a feeling the last Order mission had done his friend in. Remus had emerged from a fight with a Dark wizard in Knockturn Alley with two of his teeth cracked in half and hadn’t had a chance to repair the damage before he was due to help open the bookstore. The problem was fixed now; both his teeth were repaired, but obviously that wasn’t enough to save him from getting fired. “I’m sorry, mate.” Even if he was expecting it, Sirius was still sorry. Remus deserved the job more than anyone else and it wasn’t his fault he was always sick.
Remus shook his head dismissively as he continued to scan the paper. “Forget about it. I hated working there anyway.”
“But it was still a job,” Sirius reminded him quietly. Merlin knew he didn’t make any money at the Academy. He was relying on his inheritance to pay the rent.
“And I can always get another job.” Remus stood up and walked past Sirius into the kitchen, where he set the newspaper down on the counter. “James stopped by before; he wanted to know if we’d meet him at the Three Broomsticks later.”
“What for?”
“I don’t know. I assume to just hang out.” Resting his quill in an inkbottle, he turned back to Sirius. “I said we’d pick up Peter at his shop on the way over.”
Sirius’s eyes suddenly brightened. “Hey, why don’t you work at Peter’s place? He just opened it, he’ll need the help!”
“Yeah, and then when the full moon comes I leave him short an employee? I wouldn’t do that to him.”
“You had no problem doing it to Mr. Foster.”
“He was never my friend and, anyway, look at where that got me.” Unemployed, that’s where. He honestly wouldn’t mind working for Peter, but he didn’t want to do anything that would send Peter’s new business into an early grave. “Look, just let me figure this out for myself.”
Sirius had half a mind to go behind Remus’s back and talk to Peter about giving him a job, but he wouldn’t do it. If Remus wanted to figure this out for himself, then Sirius wasn’t going to get in his way.
Sirius and copious amounts of firewhiskey was a dangerous combination. They should have known back when they were thirteen and, their first time at the Three Broomsticks, Sirius asked for a firewhiskey rather than a butterbeer that it would be trouble. As a matter of fact, he hadn’t even drank that much, it was after the third glass when he started going a bit loopy. James, Remus and Peter, all of whom had drank less than he had, didn’t see anything wrong with their friend, other than him being slightly more cheerful than was normal. It was only when he started singing a song he had heard on the Muggle wireless about werewolves at the top of his lungs that they decided it would be best to get him out of the pub.
People were beginning to stare.
It took the combined effort of James and Remus to keep Sirius on his feet as they dragged him through Hogsmeade to find a place to Apparate. The whole time they pulled him through the High Street he continued to sing that song. It was even more difficult to Apparate when it seemed that Sirius didn’t want to hold onto either of them. Then they needed the assistance of Peter to disappear from the village. Sirius couldn’t slip out of the grips of three people. When they arrived on the appropriate street and found Sirius’s flat, they had to be careful not to wake Mrs. Sherman as they made their way to the upstairs apartment.
“Hurry up,” James hissed as Remus fumbled for his keys. Sirius had finally stopped singing, but it was only a matter of time before he started up again. Once inside, James instantly disappeared into the kitchen, looking for the appropriate potion ingredients to counteract Sirius’s drunkenness. Thank Merlin for his Healer training. He wasn’t working in a ward that was associated with anything like that, but he had learned a bit from watching Healers who did handle it.
“Oh, really, Padfoot?” he heard Peter mutter from the living room.
“What’s wrong, Wormtail?”
“Sirius thought it’d be fun to take a jaunt around the house as a dog,” came Remus’s exasperated voice. “Oh, Padfoot, not on the rug…”
James shook his head. This may very well be the last time they ever went to the Three Broomsticks. When he had nearly completed the potion there was a knock at the door and, glancing over his shoulder, he saw Peter go to answer it.
“Hi, Lily,” Peter greeted before Remus shouted from the living room, “No, don’t let her in yet!”
But it was too late. Sirius the dog had bounded over to the bewildered redhead. “When did you get a dog, Remus?”
“I didn’t,” he replied hastily, grabbing the fur on the back of Padfoot’s neck and pulling him away from James’s girlfriend. “He’s a horrible stray we found in the streets.” Before anyone could stop what happened, or even predict it happening, Sirius materialized, his hand furiously rubbing the back of his head. “Did you have to pull my hair so hard, Moony?” Even with too much firewhiskey in his system, he was able to detect the looks of horror on the three faces in the room.
“Sirius?” Lily breathed disbelievingly.
Remus swore under his breath. This was exactly why he didn’t want Peter to let her in. They never knew what Sirius would do when he was sober. With firewhiskey digesting in him, his behaviour would only become more unpredictable. James had come into the room, the completed potion in hand, though he nearly dropped it when he saw the horrified looks on his friends’ faces. “What’s going on?”
“Animagus?” Lily hissed, rounding furiously on James first and then on Sirius. “How are you an Animagus?” Suddenly a look of realisation dawned upon Lily’s face. “Padfoot! Sweet Merlin, that’s what that means! But then…” She stared at James and Peter, both of whom were glaring daggers at Sirius. It seemed that every time Sirius had too much firewhiskey something disastrous happened. First losing the Marauder’s Map and now this…
“Remind us to murder you later, Sirius,” Peter spat, sending his friend an angry glare. They were in for it now.
“Yes, we’re Animagi, Lily,” James said calmly, though the anger was evident behind his eyes. He hadn’t planned on telling Lily about this just yet and, when he told her, it certainly would have been in a different manner.
“But… for how long?”
“Fifth year.” James nodded towards the sofa. “You’d better sit down for this.” Lily didn’t hesitate; she was seated immediately, waiting rather impatiently for one of them to explain.
“Explain then,” she shot at them. “Why on earth did you become Animagi? You know that’s illegal don’t you?” She doubted they had gone through the trouble of registering themselves.
“Of course we do. We remember McGonagall said that.” James raised his hands as Lily shifted angrily in her seat. “Before you get mad, can you at least hear me out and understand why we did this?”
Lily nodded stiffly.
James hesitated for a moment, looking between Remus and Peter, both of whom were wearing looks that were telling him to just get this over with. It would be over quickly if James just got on with it. “Do you know how werewolves can hurt people, but not animals?”
“Of course I do, but…” Lily’s eyes widened in realisation as she looked at Remus and then at the others. Remus had told her a year ago that he was a werewolf, after he had fainted in the hallway from the effects of the full moon. Never had she thought of what those transformations truly must be like, how horrible and painful they must be. She knew it had to hurt, but she didn’t expect something would have to intervene. And werewolves were only a danger to humans. James, Peter and Sirius were all Animagi. “You became Animagi to help Remus?”
“You never saw him after transformations,” James told her seriously. “If you did, you probably would’ve done the same thing.”
Lily shook her head in reluctant amazement. She should have been furious with them for breaking the law in such a way. They could have permanently hurt themselves, or even killed themselves in the attempt to become Animagi. So why wasn’t she mad at them? Maybe it was because that had to be highest act of loyalty she had ever heard of.
Christmastime fell without the usual cheer and anticipation it usually did. December was as cold and wet as it had ever been; the breeding of the Dementors did nothing to improve the weather. The Death Eaters had been as vicious as ever. The Order had been sent to several spots where the Dark Mark had been shot, finding more horrors than any of them, even Moody, were prepared to witness. The worst of it was stumbling across a school bus that had been transporting students to the zoo that had been blown to bits by some particularly angry Death Eaters. No one talked at Headquarters that night, everyone’s minds filled with images of the ill-fated children on that bus.
James and Sirius had their training to deal with in addition to their Order work and they seemed to constantly be exhausted. James was only lucky in the aspect that his training was nearly complete. He would be a full-fledged Healer by February of the next year. Sirius, however, had years of Auror training ahead of him and was beginning to think that the war would be over by the time that ever happened. He had gotten a side job to help pay the rent in his flat and was working at Zonko’s on the days when he didn’t have training. It was only for a few days and the pay wasn’t good at all, but it was money and a job. He would take whatever he could get.
Remus had unknowingly applied for a job at Peter’s novelty store and gotten the position. Remus didn’t like relying on his friends for everything, had to admit that he enjoyed working at the shop. Peter was a good boss and knew what he was doing. Remus could attribute this to the fact that his father had worked in the Magical Menagerie. Peter must have heard a lot of shop talk when he was home for the holidays. He knew how to talk to prospective customers, work with those he had employed and it made him happy. That was something they had seen very little of lately. Peter never appeared happy anymore.
“Did I ever tell you what a wonderful landlady you are, Mrs. Sherman?” Sirius said happily one evening when the landlady appeared at the door with a tray of Christmas biscuits fresh out of the oven.
“Yesterday, I believe,” the woman said with a laugh. Sirius and Remus really were the nicest tenants she’d ever had in this flat.
“Well, I’m saying it again.” Sirius set the tray down on the kitchen counter.
“He has a point,” Remus piped up from the kitchen table, where he was currently reading through a letter from his parents. “Anyone else would’ve chucked him out by now.”
Sirius rolled his eyes at his roommate. “Very funny, Remus.”
“I need to get back downstairs. Floors don’t clean themselves. Enjoy the biscuits.” The woman disappeared down the steps and Sirius instantly helped himself to a biscuit shaped like a Christmas tree, complete with green sprinkles and tiny, colourful candies that acted as the ornaments.
“These are better than the House Elves’ biscuits!” Sirius commended joyfully, wiping some green sprinkles off the corner of his mouth before going for another.
“Save me some, will you?”
Sirius nodded, though he could very well eat the entire tray that night, but he knew that was a death wish. Finishing the biscuit, he held the tray out to Remus, who took a Santa-shaped biscuit. “So, holiday plans?” Sirius asked curiously.
“Not really. I’ll probably just stop by my parents’.”
“Mind if I come along? I had a dream about your mum’s Chocolate Frog cake last night.”
Remus laughed. His mother’s Chocolate Frog cake was, indeed, dream worthy. Then, with a smirk, he innocently asked, “What? You don’t want to go to the Black Family’s Christmas extravaganza?”
Sirius grimaced at the thought of his family’s annual Christmas party, something he had not attended since he was eleven and had no intention of ever going to again. Not unless he wanted to spend the whole night hiding out in his old room. He knew his friend was joking, just trying to get under his skin and so he played along. “Sure, I was going to spin by there on my flying motorcycle! Why don’t I bring my friend the werewolf along?”
“Oh sure, your parents would love that.” Remus set down his letter and looked up at Sirius. “Any chance they’d have my head join your House Elves’ heads?”
Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment. “I think so.” Sitting down at the table and eyeing the biscuits with longing eyes, he proposed, “We need to decorate this place!”
Remus looked around the kitchen; he didn’t see anything wrong with it. It was nice, hardly in need of decorating. “Err why?”
“For Christmas!” Sirius shook his head in amazement. “Honestly, weren’t you always the smart one?”
“I’m running on little more than caffeine right now, Sirius, I don’t feel like being the smart one.” Remus had been out doing patrols around Knockturn Alley until four in the morning the previous night and he hadn’t been able to sleep when he finally got home. It didn’t take Sirius long to realise that was why his friend would be unusually slow on the uptake.
“So go take a nap,” he suggested. Remus shook his head; now that he was awake he couldn’t go to sleep. Sirius shrugged it off, knowing better than to argue about it. “So what do you say? We get James, Lily and Peter over here and make this place festive?”
Within an hour James, Lily and Peter had arrived with whatever Christmas decorations they could scrounge up. Sirius had hurried out to the store around the corner to find whatever else he could. He absolutely insisted on stringing up dozens upon dozens of lights, so long as it didn’t become a fire hazard. Lily, who was slightly frightened of being forever tangled in the mass of lights, volunteered to make hot chocolate in the kitchen, something the boys needed no persuading in letting her do.
“Padfoot,” James began in a measured voice after twenty minutes of untangling balls of lights. They had been so neatly packed in their boxes and yet, the moment Sirius got his hands on them, they became one large mess.
“Prongs,” Sirius replied in the same way.
“How many strings of lights did you buy, exactly?” He must have opened fifteen boxes already. Sirius’s flat wasn’t that big. If he and Remus hoped to get around easily, without tangling themselves up in an endless mass of wires and toppling over every time they wanted to go out, they would need to cut back on the lights. He looked to Peter, who was battling with a ball of lights until Remus took them and began patiently untangling them. He had always been good at that. Peter remembered him volunteering to undo the knot in his shoelaces during their second year.
“Twenty?” Sirius replied questioningly. He wasn’t even sure how many he bought, but there were just so many different colours, he just had to see what they all looked like lit up at once.
“Twenty?” Remus gasped out as he fought with a box of ornaments that would not budge. “Padfoot, do you want the place to burn down?”
Sirius was thoughtful. “No…”
“Then hand over fifteen strings.” Remus held out his arms expectantly, waiting for Sirius to drop the bunch of lights into them.
Sirius instead burst out laughing. “Aww, you want a hug, Moony?”
Remus rolled his eyes; he should have been expecting that kind of response. He stood up. “I think I’ll go help Lily in the kitchen.”
“The lights, Padfoot?” James repeated. Sirius, grumbling mutinously, began collecting the strings of lights and returning them to their boxes. He supposed five strings was a good amount, they could put a few on the tree and string some around the living room. “So,” James began as he untangled the wires, “How are things at the shop, Peter?”
Peter, who was observing a shiny orb that had dancing Hippogriffs on it, looked up. “Great, business is doing really well. Who would’ve thought so many people loved novelties so much?”
“With Christmas so close, you must be doing even better,” Sirius chimed in before swearing as the entire string of lights went out. “Why does that happen? One goes out and then they all have to?”
“To annoy you?” James suggested with a cheeky grin, earning nothing but a shove in the shoulder from Sirius.
Several hours later, and by several hours it was two in the morning, they had finally finished decorating. Seeing as how they had started early in the day, Lily suggested that it was verging on ridiculous that it had taken so long and they should have just done it all by magic. Sirius, however, wanted the Muggle experience of decorating, which meant absolutely no magic and one when bulb went out in the lights, causing the rest to; he was going to find that bulb the Muggle way. But it had been fun, a day filled with no stress.
They hadn’t had a day like this in a long time.
Christmas Day involved visiting several different houses, lugging several presents around until they could be dropped off and eating more food than any of them thought was humanly possible. And this included Sirius and his unnaturally stable stomach. He had gone along with Remus to his parents’ house, where Mr. and Mrs. Lupin were planning on having a quiet holiday, though they were extremely pleased to see their son and his friend. Much to Sirius’s gratification, Anna Lupin had made her special Chocolate Frog cake and insisted on the two boys taking it home with them.
Neither Sirius nor Remus even bothered to do the traditional ‘oh no, that’s okay’ before jumping on the chance to have some home baked goods in the flat.
The Potters were also having a quiet holiday of their own, in which Lily joined them. Hannah and Charles loved their son’s girlfriend and showed this by treating her as if she was already their daughter-in-law and not just James’s girlfriend. Willie the House Elf had prepared a large meal for the family and was thrilled when Mr. Potter presented her with a pretty ornament of theirs that he’d known she’d had her eye on for years. The House Elf proudly hung it up in her bedroom off the kitchen.
Christmas at the Pettigrews, however, was not a cheerful time. This was the first holiday since the death of John Pettigrew and neither Peter nor his mother was very keen on celebrating. The two merely had a nice dinner together before Peter set out to join his friends on their way to Dorcas Meadows’ home, where the Order was congregating for the first time in a capacity that did not involve fighting Death Eaters. No, Dumbledore had thought it would be fun to have a Christmas party in an attempt to lift the Order’s spirits a bit.
Dorcas’s small home seemed cramped and full to bursting with people, especially with the more than noticeable appearance of Hagrid. The half-giant was standing happily by the fireplace with a mug of mulled mead in hand, chatting animatedly, not to mention slightly drunkenly, with Cardaroc Dearborn. Aberforth Dumbledore had broken himself away from a tray of treacle tart and made his way over to the boys and Lily, who were talking to Marlene McKinnon about an article they had all recently seen in the Daily Prophet.
Aberforth took the empty space between Remus and Peter and he abruptly turned to the former. “How are you feeling, kid?” he asked, knowing that the full moon had been two weeks earlier. There were very few things Aberforth Dumbledore regretted doing, but behaving nastily to one of his own comrades was on the list. Remus was a good fighter and a good person; he had proven that time and time again.
Remus was clearly taken by surprise. Aberforth had said barely ten words to him since the night the Order learned about his secret. “Okay,” he told the older man. He had felt like absolute rubbish the day leading up to the full moon and had opted out of an Order meeting because of it, something he normally would never do. But he was feeling better now. Aberforth nodded and continued on his way around the room.
It wasn’t long before someone got it into their head to take a picture of the group. Seeing as Remus was the one who always seemed to have his camera at the right moment, he set up the camera before squeezing himself in wherever he could as the others waited for the flash to go off, forever immortalizing the Order of the Phoenix. When the flash did go off, there was a group of smiling people, all grinning cheerfully at the camera, for the moment able to forget what it was they all had to go through. For the moment they could just be happy and enjoy the holidays.
They didn’t know just how quickly that smiling group would diminish.