Chapter Text
The morning of the 26th December 1976 saw a weak, grey morning light filter over the grounds and castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Overnight, a snow storm had raged so violently that many of the students who had stayed for the holiday commented that it felt more like Halloween than Christmas. For most, however, it had not dampened the Christmas spirit. The feast was still spectacular, presents were handed out and joyful carols were sung. Everyone enjoyed it.
Everyone except Remus Lupin.
It was Sirius who first noticed Remus's obvious pain and discomfort. At first it was just small things, like the shaking of Remus' hands as he did his school tie or the tremor in his voice as he spoke. But in the week leading up to the full moon, Sirius found himself watching with sad eyes as Remus limped his way around the school, struggling up staircases with sore muscles, pausing every so often to fight for breath. It hurt to listen to Remus's anguished whimpers as he slept, continuously bothered by pains shooting up his spine as the moon's rays got stronger and stronger. Worst of all was when splitting headaches prevented his mate from even joining in with pranks and festivities, leaving him curled up in his bed in the dormitory with the curtains shut and complete silence in a desperate effort for some peace. It was all Sirius could do to make it easier. Whether it was by carrying his mate up staircases or by brewing aconite tea whenever it was need, Sirius did all he could. God how he wanted to hold him, to curl around Remus when the world became too much for him and protect him from troubles. But he couldn't, and that hurt just as much as watching his Moony struggle.
It was James who noticed it next. For some time now, he had been secretly restocking Remus's aconite jar with fresh sprigs every month. Whenever Remus asked why it mysteriously never emptied, James simply just shrugged and blamed it on 'nargles' (as Xeno Lovegood always did). James knew he had more than enough galleons to afford the expensive plant and, knowing how much Remus struggled without it, was more than happy to supply it to his mate.
But when he realised that the full moon fell on Christmas Day...well it was safe to say that James was mortified. Therefore he tried extra hard to make it the best Christmas Remus could ask for. Every day in the holidays, he placed Honeydukes bars on Remus's bedside table before he woke up just for a little happiness after what he was sure was a horrible night's sleep. He ordered at least half a dozen jumpers from the owl catalogues to help keep his friend warm during the freezing winter months, knowing just how cold Remus could get. He even brought more presents for Remus than he did for anyone else (even Sirius!). But even all that couldn't lift his friend's spirits that he had to miss most of Christmas Day.
It was Lily who noticed it third when she and Remus scheduled a final revision session before the Christmas Eve celebrations that night. They had been studying in the library when, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Remus wince and pinch the bridge of his nose in discomfort. At first, she let it go and continued reading aloud the passage from the transfiguration text book. But after spotting it happen again a few times over the next hour, she finally pointed it out to him. As he usually did, Remus deflected the question, saying he was fine even when he clearly wasn't. "Rey," she had said. "You're clearly not well. Maybe you should go upstairs and rest for a while."
"I'm alright, Lily," he replied, barely meeting her eyes. "Besides, you said you needed my help on this essay."
"I'm not going to let you push yourself like this, Remus," Lily said softly. "The essay can wait. Right now, you need to rest." She had taken no argument, especially when another sharp pain sliced its way through Remus's mind so mercilessly that it almost brought tears to his eyes. After that, she packed up all their books and walked Remus slowly back to the common room where, upon seeing the pained state of his friend, Sirius and James immediately brought him up to the dormitory and tucked him into bed, taking it in turns to keep an eye on him.
It was Peter who (finally) noticed it last. It had been early morning on Christmas Day, maybe about three, when he awoke to the sound of urgent whispering. His bed was the closest to the bathroom the four boys shared so, when he peeled open his tired eyes, he noticed that the light was on with the door slightly ajar. The whispering seemed to be coming from there. Drawing back the covers, Peter crept towards the door and peered round it to investigate.
Sirius was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, his elbows balancing on his thighs as he leant forwards. Collapsed on his knees and hutching over the toilet was Remus, his hands clutching the bowl as he emptied the contents of his stomach violently. As Remus heaved, Sirius gently patted his back, biting his lip with worry.
"It's alright, mate," he was whispering softly. "It's alright. It'll be over soon..." It was then that the door squeaked and Peter jumped back with a slight squeal as Sirius's head snapped up. Their gazes locked and for a moment, the two boys stared at each other, one apparently angry while the other slightly scared. Finally, after a groan from Remus as another wave of nausea cramped his stomach, Sirius sighed and turned back to the werewolf. "Go get him a glass of water," he said to Peter, not even looking at him. Peter only nodded and ran off to obey the demand.
Remus had left for the Shrieking Shack before Prongs had even woken up. James was quite upset when he found out. "But he's going to miss all of Christmas!" he exclaimed. "He won't even get to open his presents..."
"I know, it sucks, mate," Sirius replied, rubbing his bloodshot eyes tiredly. He'd been up most of the night with Remus. "He wasn't well though. But we can have another Christmas for him tomorrow, yeah? It'll be great! Like two Christmases in a row!"
"Yeah, and we can make it better for him!" Peter piped up from his bed, trying to sound enthusiastic. "I'll talk to the house elves and see if they can make us a mini Christmas feast!" Both of the other boys readily agreed and spent the rest of the day, after opening their presents, planning their second 'Marauders (plus Lily) Christmas' for Remus. But it didn't stop them from worrying about their werewolf friend.
"Maybe we should go out to the Shack to give him his presents," Prongs suggested at lunch. "Maybe that will cheer him up a bit."
"Look, mate, usually I'd be up for the idea," Sirius said lowly. "I said the same thing to Moony this morning when I took him out to the Shack. But he told me no. He said he didn't want our Christmas to be ruined by his furry little problem."
"That's ridiculous!" James exclaimed.
"That's what I told him," Padfoot replied, shaking his head. "He wouldn't hear of it, though. Practically sent me away and told me to enjoy ourselves. I...I didn't want to argue with him...not when he's so ill. If we go out now...we'd just make him feel guilty. You know what he's like when he thinks things are his fault." James sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
"If only we could get this animagus thing down," he muttered. "We'd be much better at helping him out if we could."
"I know, mate," Sirius said, his grey eyes worried and distant. "I know."
And so that was why, on the grey morning of the 26th of December after the storm of the century, the Marauders all woke up at the crack of dawn and hurriedly bundled themselves up against the cold. They raced down to the Shrieking Shack to their friend, the thick layer of snow that covered the grounds crunching under their feet. Running through the tunnel under the Whomping Willow, they didn't even pause for breath in their haste to get to Remus and bring him back to the warmth of the castle for his own Christmas. Once they reached the trap door, Sirius quickly unlocked it with a murmured alohomora and all three boys clambered up with wide smiles in preparation to see Moony.
But there was no Remus to meet them. The only thing they found that even hinted their friend's presence was his wand and a pile of bloody rags once making a shirt. James crept forwards, picking the items up and turning them over. He looked up to Padfoot and Wormtail in fright.
"Bad moon."
The words were spoken by all three of the boys simultaneously and they immediately split up, searching high and low and almost tearing the Shack apart to find their missing mate. "Where the hell is he?" Sirius worried, clattering up the broken stairs to see if Moony had somehow managed to get up there. "Merlin what if he's really hurt himself?"
"We'll find him," James said from the landing, tucking Remus's wand in his pocket. "We just have to keep looking."
"Er...guys?" Peter called from the back-room downstairs. James and Sirius looked at each other before running to Peter, stopping dead in their tracks. The entire back wall of the room had been shattered, wood splinters thrown everywhere and leaving a huge, gaping hole in the Shack that could only be werewolf size. A sharp, cold wind screamed through the gap, making all the boys tug their robes and jumpers tighter around them.
"Merlin's beard..." James whispered in shock. "He's gone right through the wall..." Sirius, a determined look setting across his face, wasted no time. He clambered over the fallen wooden beams and ventured out of the Shack along the trail of destruction a very angry werewolf had left behind. James cursed but followed after him, pulling Peter along by his jumper sleeve.
They spoke no words as they followed the trail of wood splinters, specks of dried blood and clumps of fur across the grounds of Hogwarts. They passed the Quidditch Pitch, went around the Owlery and then arrived at Hagrid's Hut. It was then that Sirius stopped, staring at the edge of the treeline. "Sirius?" Prongs asked. But he didn't get a reply. Without even looking at him, Sirius plunged into the Forbidden Forest, calling out and screaming for their lost friend. It didn't take long for Wormtail and Prongs to join him.
"Remus!" Peter called, running between the trees. "Remus!"
"Rey!" Sirius shouted in panic, close behind James with Peter just behind them. "Please, Remus!"
"Answer us, Remus!" James yelled, almost close to begging. "Remus, please, answer us!"
Suddenly, there was the sound of a snapped twig and a pained whimper from the trees to the right of them. They whipped around and spotted him, holding onto the bark of a tree to keep himself upright with one hand while his other arm clutched his ribs. He was shirtless and shoeless, his skin pale and almost translucent. But that only made the ugly gashes that were clawed across his chest and arms look worse, the crimson colour of his blood stark against the whiteness of his skin. Every inch of his body was littered with bruises, including a huge black one that had spread over the small of his back, maybe caused by a falling wooden beam when the werewolf escaped from the Shrieking Shack. What made James freeze was the awful slash that cut across Remus's face, all the way from the bottom of his left cheek, across the bridge of his nose, under his eye and finally stopping at his right temple.
James swallowed hard at the sight of his friend, who was hardly recognisable under all the blood that covered him. He prayed that it wasn't all Remus's blood, then quickly prayed again that it wasn't someone else's. Turning into a werewolf every month was bad enough but if the werewolf ever hurt someone...James knew that it would destroy Remus completely.
Sirius was the closest and he rushed forwards to catch Remus as his knees gave way and he collapsed onto the forest floor.
"Remus..." Sirius whispered, wrapping his arms around the shivering body of the werewolf. "You're okay...you're okay, I've got you..."
It was like the flood gates had been opened. As the fear-filled haze of the transformation lifted from Remus's mind, a tide of emotion swept over him and suddenly, he couldn't take anymore. He cried out, sobbing on his knees, half with pain and half with terror. The night's memories were rushing back to him in an unstoppable wave of gnashing teeth, wicked claws and blood. And there was so much blood. Remus couldn't bear to think about it, to think about how his friends could actually care about such a monster. He fought against Sirius's grip, ignoring the pain that he definitely believed he deserved from his aching body. "What did I do?!" he sobbed, holding his blood coated hands in front of his face and staring at them. The hands of a monster, he knew. "What did I do?!"
"Remus," James started softly, crouching down in front of the werewolf with only the intention to comfort him but finding instead that Remus reared backwards violently away from him.
"Get away from me!" He screamed, trying to shake off Sirius. "Get away from me before I hurt you! Please, don't let me hurt you..." But Sirius held fast and strong, refusing to listen to the torrent of abuse that Remus aimed at himself.
It took at least fifteen minutes and the efforts of all three boys to calm Moony down. Peter sat crossed legged, his hand comfortingly against Remus's bare back. He hated the way he could feel every vertebrae of Remus's spine with no muscle or fat to protect it, and made a vow to himself to make sure Moony ate at every meal in the future. James crouched in front of Remus, both hands on his shoulders as he helped Sirius keep him from hurting himself even more. And Sirius just held him, whispering kind and soothing words in his ear in the hope that maybe he could drown out the detrimental thoughts that currently consumed Remus's mind.
Soon Remus had cried himself out and all that was left was complete and utter exhaustion that set deep into his body and mind. Sirius's grip loosened from around him and he just hugged Remus instead, pressing his limp and shaking form to his chest.
"We need to get him back to the castle," James said softly, breaking the silence that had settled over the forest. "He'll get hypothermia and those cuts need to be treated..." Sirius only nodded and so James crouched down, allowing Sirius to lift Remus onto James's back to carry him back to the castle.
Remus's exhaustion was painfully obvious as he slumped forwards, burying his face into James's shoulder and falling asleep instantly. Once again, Prongs swallowed hard, terrified at how light the werewolf was compared to himself. Slowly, the Marauders began to trope back to the castle with only the sound of Remus's quiet whimpers to accompany their thoughts.
They slipped in through the main doors, taking the Trophy Room passage back to Gryffindor Tower. Peter quietly muttered the password to the Fat Lady who for once didn't say a word to the boys, too shocked at Remus's condition to say anything as the Marauders trudge into an empty common room.
Almost empty.
Lily Evans too had woken up early in preparation for Remus's very own Christmas Day. The night before, she had made sure that all of Remus's presents were gathered at the foot of the Gryffindor common room's Christmas tree, ready for him once he had recovered enough from the full moon. She ran down the dormitory steps in the morning, expecting to find all four boys already there. But they weren't. At first, she thought perhaps they had slept in or maybe were late getting back from the Shrieking Shack. But the clock ticked on and hit nine with still no Marauders. She was about to go out and find them when they all stumbled in the portrait hole.
"Where have you been?" she asked, a slightly laugh to her voice. "I was getting worried..." She trailed off when she spotted Remus's dishevelled and broken form on James's back. "Oh god, Remus..."
"We're taking him upstairs," Sirius told her as James began to climb up to the boy's fifth year dormitory.
"I'll come with you," she said, determined to help her best friend. If Sirius wanted to argue, he didn't and allowed Lily to follow them up the stairs to their dorm. When they got there, James was just laying Remus on his bed while Peter was stumbling around trying to gather the medical supplies the Marauders kept just for situations like this.
"We need to bandage those cuts," Sirius said worriedly, reaching for a wad of bandages from Remus's bedside table drawer. Lily walked forwards, taking the bandages and shaking her head.
"No, we need to disinfect them first," she said, taking a bottle of purple wound-cleaning potion from Peter's bundle of medical supplies. James nodded in agreement and handed her a washcloth. Approaching the bed, Lily uncorked the potion and tipped a bit of it onto the cloth, beginning the clean the worst of the gashes.
"He's ice cold," she murmured, looking up at Sirius. Sirius didn't even need to be told. He immediately clambered up onto the bed and drew Remus into his arms once more, settling so the werewolf's back was against his chest and his head was resting on Sirius's shoulder, his face turned slightly so it was buried against Sirius's neck. Lily hoped that Sirius's body heat would be enough to keep Remus warm while they worked on his wounds.
Once Lily had cleaned the gruesome claw marks across Remus's chest, she moved onto his arms while James bandaged up a step behind her. "Peter?" Lily called, not looking up from her work. "Could you please pass me the bruise-healing paste? It should be the yellow bottle." Peter found it easily enough and gave it to Lily, pleased to be of some help. "Alright, Sirius, I need you to help me roll him over a bit. That bruise on his back looked nasty." Sirius nodded, shifting slightly to gently turn Remus over and hold him while Lily applied the thick, yellow paste generously across the blackened bruise that was the size of a piece of parchment.
Finally, Lily and James turned to the slash across Remus's face, glancing at each other nervously. "I can disinfect it," Lily said softly, "But we obviously can't bandage it."
"It's not bleeding heavily," James whispered in reply. "I think we'll just have to leave it."
"Is there any way we can stop it scarring?" Sirius asked. He knew what Remus was like when it came to his scars, the way he was so ashamed of them he did everything he could to hide them from sight. A scar like this on his face... Sirius didn't even want to think about the consequences.
Lily shook her head. "It's a wound caused by a magical creature," she said. "Not even Pomfrey could heal these scratches. They all have to heal naturally." Sirius bit his lip but said nothing. They'd have to deal with the fallout of the scar later on.
Once Lily had dabbed some more of the shining purple liquid across Remus's face, she and James then quickly washed the blood from his hands before Lily left the boys to change him into some comfortable and warm pyjamas.
"He needs to rest," James said. "No doubt he's exhausted." Peter nodded and they both turned towards the door.
"I think I'll stay with him," Sirius said suddenly from behind them. He was still sitting his Remus in his arms and was drawing the blankets up to cover them both. "He's still cold and...and I want to keep an eye on him. He shouldn't be alone when he wakes up." James nodded.
"Just send a patronus if you need anything," he said before grabbing onto Peter's arm and hauling him down to the common room.
Remus woke up just after lunch. By that time, Sirius had moved to an armchair pushed up to the side of the bed and sat there, watching Remus carefully with his hand to his mouth. When Remus slowly opened up his eyes, Sirius leant forwards immediately so his elbows were resting on the mattress.
"Hey," he said softly. "How are you feeling?" Remus groaned in reply, bring his hands up to his face. The minute he did, he suddenly remembered everything that had happened that morning and sat up quickly, letting out another pained groan as his stiff muscles screamed in protest.
"I-"
"It's okay, Remus," Sirius said quickly.
"No..." Remus whispered, shaking his head. "No, it's not. Nothing is okay." Sirius frowned, sitting up more on the edge of the chair.
"What do you mean?" he asked. When Remus didn't answer, Sirius pressed further. "Remus, come on, talk to me. Whatever it is, we can help you. All you have to do is tell us-"
"How can you even look at me?" Remus interrupted him, looking determinedly away from Sirius's gaze and fixing his stare on his charms textbook on the floor. "How can you even sit here and comfort me when you know what I am."
"Remus-"
"I'm a monster, Sirius," Remus said with no emotion in his voice. "I'm a horrible, selfish, scarred monster! I'm a monster that doesn't deserve friends or school or anything you guys give me. How can you tolerate me when you know what I become every month?!" Sirius sighed, running a hand through his hair. He had expected Remus might come out with rubbish like this when he woke up. It was clear that this had been on Moony's mind for a while, and the bad full moon had just triggered an explosion of self-hate.
"Look at me, Remus," Sirius said. "Please, just look at me." A minute later, Remus turned, his eyes blurry with tears that threatened to spill. "You, Remus John Lupin, are anything but a monster. Would a monster be patient enough to help the first years with their homework almost every night even though you have your O.W.Ls to study for? Would a monster be selfless enough to put aside his own problems, which let's be honest are far superior, to help James get a date with Lily Evans? Would a monster wake up at god knows what hour in the night just to sit and listen when I need someone to talk to about my evil family? Remus, how could you even think you are a monster when you do so much to help others?"
Remus sniffed, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his pyjamas and averting his gaze. "I think I hurt someone last night," he whispered.
"No," Sirius said, taking Remus's hands. "No, you didn't. I know you might think you did but I promise you didn't."
"How do you know that?" Remus asked.
"You are not capable of hurting someone, Remus Lupin," Sirius said. "No one with a heart as big and compassionate as yours could ever hurt anyone."
"Even as a werewolf?" Remus asked softly. "Even as an uncontrollable beast?"
"Do you really think the alarm wouldn't have been raised by now if a student or teacher was missing?" Sirius reasoned. "You didn't hurt anyone, Remus. At worst, maybe you caught a rabbit or a badger. But no human could have been hurt by you. You're too good for that."
"Don't," Remus said, his voice nothing more than a hoarse and broken whisper. "Please, don't say things like that." Sirius was confused and he furrowed his eyebrows to show it.
"Why not?" he questioned. Remus looked up at him.
"Because it only makes me love you more," he said softly. There was silence as both looked at each other.
"You...you really feel like that?" Sirius asked tentatively. "You really feel like that about me?" Remus was silent, but Sirius could see the answer swimming in his eyes. And all he felt was relief. Relief that he wasn't going mad and that what was between he and Remus was not all in his own head. Relief that maybe what he felt wasn't strange or wrong. Relief that there was a chance with Remus. A real, legitimate chance that they could be together. It was then that Sirius noticed just how close their lips were and his breath caught slightly. Remus slowly flicked up his nervous eyes to meet Sirius's, grass green meeting stormy grey. Sirius swallowed hard, deciding to take the leap.
"Chaque jour je t'aime davantage," he breathed. "Aujourd'hui je t'aime plus qu'hier mais demain je vais t'aimer plus qu'aujourd'hui."
"What does that mean?" Remus whispered. Sirius smiled softly.
"It means, 'Each day I love you more. Today I love you more than yesterday but tomorrow I will love you more than today.'" Remus's eyes widened, his lips parting in surprise. Sirius took that to his advantage, quickly leaning forwards and pressing his lips against Remus's. At first, Remus was too shocked to move. His brain, already overloaded with the trauma of last night, was struggling to keep up as Sirius's mouth move against his own. It was like a release of tension after months of wondering, of waiting, of brushes against hands and of secret longing looks.
Ever so slowly, Remus brought his hands - hands that were calloused with old scars and bruises – up into Sirius's hair, burying them. He could feel Sirius smile against his lips and he deepened the kiss, moving off his perch on the armchair and gently lowering Remus back onto the bed. His hands were braced either side of Remus's head, their bodies pressed together. It was all going so well until Sirius accidently brushed the cut on Remus's face, causing the other boy to wince.
"Oh, Merlin," Sirius said, leaping back up. "I'm sorry."
"It's...okay," Remus said breathlessly. "That was..."
"About time," Sirius said, grinning widely. "And bloody amazing at that." Remus rolled his eyes but was unable to keep the smile from his face. After a moment to allow each other to catch their breaths, Sirius brushed the hair from Remus's forehead.
"Look, the lads and I know you were upset to miss Christmas yesterday," he said, his voice soft and gentle as Remus's eyes turned sad again. "But we kind of arranged to have a second Christmas today, just for you. A Marauders Christmas, so to speak."
"You...did?" Remus asked, touched by the gesture. "You guys really did that for me?"
"Of course," Sirius smiled. "Wormtail, Prongs and Lily are downstairs. So if you're feeling up to it, do you want to wander down?" Tears sprang to Remus's eyes again but this time they were happy and he quickly wiped them away before they stung the fresh cut across his cheeks. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak in fear he might just start crying. Drawing one of Remus's arms around his shoulders, Sirius slowly pulled Moony up and supported him from the dormitory. They gently walked down the stairs, where Lily, James and Peter were all sat, spread out across the sofas.
"Rey!" James grinned, pushing himself up to make space for the injured werewolf. "Merry Christmas, mate!" Sirius set Moony up on the sofa, stacking pillows behind him for extra comfort then placed himself next to him, his arm flung over Rey's shoulders.
"Thanks, James," Remus said with a smile.
"How are you feeling, Remus?" Lily asked from the armchair by the fire. Remus gave her a weak smile.
"I'll live," he said. Both he and Sirius knew that he wasn't telling Lily the complete truth, but once Sirius squeezed his hand, he felt more relaxed.
"So," Sirius said, "Let the Marauder's Christmas begin!"
The rest of the day was spent by giving Remus all his presents. From Peter, he got an entire box of Honeydukes chocolate bars as well as packet of Bertie Botts. Remus thanked him and started already on one of the chocolate bars. James handed him his presents next, spreading out four parcels on the floor in front of the werewolf. Laughing at how excited James seemed to be, Remus opened up the wrapping paper to reveal half a dozen jumpers, a new stationary kit, a collection of books and even more chocolate.
"Awh Prongs," Remus whispered. "You didn't have to get all this for me."
"Hey," James said, his voice firm. "You deserve it, so shut up and enjoy it." Nothing more was said on the matter and Sirius helped Remus tug one of the jumpers on as a peace offering.
Lily handed him her present next. "It's kind of a joint present with Sirius," she said, grinning at the other boy. "You'll see why in a minute." Remus looked at her quizzically but unwrapped the sparkling blue paper to reveal a wonderful set of coloured pencils and a gorgeous box full of different colour ink pots, all with a matching colour quill to accompany them. They were beautiful, laid out in their box in colour order.
"Oh wow, Lily," he said. "These are...amazing. Thank you so much."
"Now hurry up and open mine so you can see what they're for," Sirius said eagerly. Remus rolled his eyes and smiled, taking the parcel that Sirius had shoved onto his lap. Carefully tearing open the paper, Remus gasped at the sight of Sirius's present.
It was a sketchbook. The cover looked like is was made of pure silver with delicately crafted birds, flowers and vines curling around the edges. In the bottom corner, there was a gathering of animals that slowly moved across the cover. The stag was carrying the rat on his head, the wolf running next to them while the dog played just ahead. In the middle was a photo of all of them, taken in the summer. There was James, laughing and playfully punching Peter in the arm. Lily sat next to him, shaking her head but nevertheless grinning at the boys. And then there was Sirius, smirking at Prongs with his arm around Remus who was just smiling up at him. Remus loved this photo. He had it in a frame back at the Shrieking Shack as a way to remind him, even in his darkest times, that he was not alone.
"Sirius..." Remus said softly, flicking through the sketch book and running a hand over the parchment. "It's...it's beautiful." He glanced up to meet Sirius's gaze which was kind and gentle. "Thank you. I love it."
"You're welcome," Sirius whispered.
"Is there...something going on between you two?" Lily suddenly asked, both she and Prongs smirking while Peter looked clueless. Remus turned bright red, turning away from Sirius burning cheeks. Sirius just laughed, shaking his head.
"Well, I suppose there is," he said. "If you're willing, Rey?" Remus's eyes widened. Did Sirius Black just ask him out?
"I-er-" he stammered. "Oh for Merlin's sake, yes!"
"Oi, Potter," Evans called. "You owe me ten galleons."
"Wait, what?" Remus asked. James grumbled, reaching into his pocket and tossing Lily his coin purse.
"She bet that you two would finally act on your feelings for each other in the Christmas Holidays," he said. "I bet by Valentines."
"You lost a bet to Lily Evans?!" Sirius all but screeched. "And a bet about me?! Prongs, I am utterly ashamed of you!"
"Yeah, yeah," James muttered, turning to Peter. "Hey Pete? Wanna go see if the house elves have our lunch ready?"
"Do not avoid me, James Charlus Potter!" Sirius shrieked, running after James and Peter as they scrambled out of the portrait hole to head to the kitchen. Remus and Lily just laughed, watching as the boys disappeared.
"Oh god, what have I done?" Remus joked. "I've unleashed the beast."
"Hey, he's your boyfriend," Lily laughed. My boyfriend, Remus thought. It had a nice ring to it. And so, despite the horrors that had occurred that morning, Remus Lupin knew that as long as he had his friends, as long as he had Sirius to pick him up when he fell down, then everything was going to be okay. He may think himself a monster, he may tear himself apart each month in the form of a werewolf, but he knew that his friends were there.
Always.