#*mwpp

James: For their personalities!

Remus: Desperation?

“goddamnit prongs, burning everything!” “yes, thank you padfoot”

If there was anything more stressful about Aurors showing up on the Potters’ doorstep, it was being banished from the room and being left to stand outside under the Invisibility Cloak with James as they talked to Peter. Their ears strained to listen, Remus finding it difficult to quiet the anxiety that screamed in his mind to hear the words being said but he knew his hearing was better than James’ so he had to try. “They’re arresting him,” he whispered when the words stopped being nonsensical sounds and turned into equally nonsensical phrases with a meaning, even if not one that Remus understood. “What the fuck? They mentioned the Dark Mark, what--” He held his breath as there was movement within the room and he gripped James’ wrist as the door opened and the Aurors led Peter out.

Only when they were alone again did he find it safe to turn to James and, still unable to talk in anything above a whisper, he urged, “We need to do something. Padfoot. Where’s Padfoot?” It hadn’t felt like it mattered that morning. Remus had woken in such a good mood, feeling perfectly well-rested after the early night he managed to get while the others went to Mary’s birthday party and fully recovered from the Full Moon and delightfully happy about how good the holidays were. Now, he was terrified and they needed to be together to work this out.

When he rolled over in his bed, slowly coming out of sleep, he became very aware of the smell of cigarette smoke and sex and Walden Macnair clinging to his bed sheets. His pyjama top had never made it onto his body and the charms from the night before had faded, showing his scars in all their glory, as well as fresh scratch marks. He fought a smirk as he replayed the moments in his mind and mentally berated himself for not feeling more guilty for letting the suspected Death Eater into his dorm.

The sounds of his dormmates already moving around reminded him today was the day they would all be returning home for the holidays, Peter going with James and Sirius to Potter mansion. Remus was staying at Hogwarts, just as had been arranged with his parents. He would have to leave the dorm for a while later, maybe go for a walk around the grounds while he gave the house-elves time to go in and change the beds but he was quite happy with the idea of spending the rest of the holidays in the comfort of his bed with his personal library of books. Ignoring Christmas Day, of course. Which reminded him that he should sort his friends’ presents out before they finished their holiday packing and went down for a final breakfast before the train.

He pulled his curtains open and looked at James. “You look rough!” he said said, deliberately pitching his voice a little louder and cheerier than usual. “Take my presents for you three with you, will you?” he crawled to the end of the bed so that he could open his trunk and fish out the gifts.

There was a difference between him knowing Sirius going to the Yule Ball with Bertha had really been the fault of James and Marlene, and finding it within himself to act maturely about the matter to Sirius himself. A few days had passed since the ball, now, the first mostly taken with hangovers Remus was blessed to not have to deal with and the journey from Scotland to Burton-on-Trent. The following days had been them enjoying time as a group, something that had felt harder to come by in recent months with all the distractions of Hogwarts.

Preparations for the party that evening were in full flow and Remus was happy to try and avoid being dragged into helping. He retreated to a smaller sitting room (what ridiculous sort of house had multiple sitting rooms anyway) and let out a breath of relief to find it empty of decorating and all people other than Sirius. The thought of another party was enough to drive away his bitterness over the last one. He slumped into the seat next to him and pulled a face. “How is it we’re already having to go through another party? Who even has parties this close to Christmas Day?” Rich people was the answer and he already knew it but he still pulled a face at Sirius to show the irritable mood a soon approaching Full Moon would always cause.

Remus lay on his stomach on his bed, an open pack of chocolate buttons next to his elbow and two teacups in front of him. One was formerly a Zonko’s nose-biting teacup and the other a regular one pinched from the Great Hall. Both had been heavily enchanted as Remus mindlessly experimented on them. He honestly had little idea what he was trying to do but he had finished lessons for the day and didn’t want to spend his Friday afternoon doing work. He was tired of the Quidditch talk of the rest of the castle and practising charms was an easy way for him to ward away boredom.

“We need a Hogsmeade weekend,” he declared, looking up at Sirius. “Things are so fucking weird right now.” Yes, there were the Aurors and then the tragic ending to Ludo’s party, but there was something else which Remus couldn’t quite put his finger on. Something about the atmosphere had changed recently and he didn’t think it was just because of the Quidditch loss at the weekend. It was one of those feelings he preferred not to voice, because it was one of those gut feelings that he was sure boiled down to wolf senses. A Hogsmeade weekend could be just the thing they needed to relax a bit.

“And I need to go shopping,” he added, poking his wand towards the former-nose-biting teacup, which squirmed away. He had been using refilling charms on his ink and it was starting to look more grey than black when he used it. He was always happy to pick up some more of his favourite Honeydukes chocolate if he had enough spare cash and of course there was also— “Pads, what do you want for your birthday?” With another prod, the teacup jumped right off his bed and smashed on the floor. Remus sighed. “Reparo.” The shards of ceramic flew back into place and the cup wobbled on the floor.

At some point, it had become habit that whenever they had homework that involved reading, Remus would read it out loud. He sat on Peter’s bed, A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration open on his lap as he went through the chapter on conjuring complex objects, made of multiple materials. “...Common errors with complex Conjuration are: conjuring only a frame of the object, rather than the whole; conjuring the object in only one material, such as a chair with wooden cushions; and failing to conjure the object to the correct scale. To master this, the caster must focus on the space they wish the object to fill and fully visualise the object.” He paused for a break, both because it was good to have some time to process the information and because his throat felt a little scratchy. The Transfiguration NEWT students had mastered some simple Conjurations already, such as the glass Remus made appear in his hand, and the water which flowed from his wand into it. “You still with me?” he checked, giving Peter a nudge. “She’ll make us do an essay on this next week.”