The Wolf and the Raven

Ch 45 - Christmas Visitors

A/N: This is literally nothing but Christmas fluff, but it took me forever to write...anyway, I hope you love Hope Lupin as much as I do 🥰

The prophecy was relegated to the back of their minds once again. Creative energies freed, the five Gryffindor friends went to work on a prank that James had been devising over the past few weeks. He called it: Deck the Halls (vetoing Sirius' idea of Jingle My Balls).

Branwen was the first in action. She used her Herbology expertise and privileged place in Sprout's class to sneak out clippings of mistletoe and Flitterbloom. It took a number of spells, but she got them grafted together, creating an entirely new form of vegetation.

Then it was James and Sirius' turn to experiment on the hybrid. They gave it the power to creep through the castle, seeking out pairs of people. Once it picked its victims, the vines of the Flitterbloom would twine around them, trapping them until they kissed, per the tradition of the mistletoe. Peter contributed by cheering them on and acting as a distraction when the Flitterbloom got out of hand.

When the other boys were finished, Remus charmed it with a defence mechanism for the victims. If either party said "no" or "stop" the plant's tentacles would retract and retreat.

It was one of their greatest successes.

The chaos began when Fabian Prewett and Narcissa Black happened to be leaving the Great Hall at the same time. He swept her off her feet (literally) and pushed a wet, dramatic kiss to her cheek. Narcissa screamed that she would be writing to her fiancée and that he would have a few choice hexes for the Gryffindor. Still, her suppressed smile and the blush on her pale face were difficult to disguise.

Dozens of amusing kisses continued across the campus. Several of the first and second years started a game to see who could get the most kisses, Hufflepuff Aaron MacMillan quickly rising to the top. Emmeline and Branwen teased their room-mate Alice when Frank Longbottom kissed her a little longer than necessary in the portrait hole door. James thought he would pass out from excitement when he "accidentally" found himself under the bloom with Lily. But she simply said "no" and the plant was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Sirius let his despondent friend cry on his shoulder.

Snogging-related traffic jams had classes all over the castle running several minutes behind schedule. Twice, all the Ravenclaw students were late to classes when Wade Fawcett and Estelle Winter blocked their way out of the Tower. A seventh year Hufflepuff swore he was tardy to Transfiguration because he couldn't get past Madam Pince snogging Filch in the Restricted Section of the library. Tarquin McTavish and Electra Zabini set the record when they snogged for five minutes straight in the entrance to the Potions classroom before Slughorn could pry them apart.

The antics only died down when the holidays started and most of the students left for home on the Hogwarts Express.



The friends had written to their parents at the beginning of the month to let them know that they would be staying over for the holidays. The full moon was only three days after Christmas, and this would mark the starting point for their Animagus process once more.

James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Branwen were the only ones left in Gryffindor Tower. Branwen spent Christmas Eve in the boys' dorm, rather than sleep alone in hers. They all fought over who would get to be the most chivalrous and give up his bed for her until she ended the argument by kicking her brother out. He grumbled and elbowed Sirius as he crawled into his friend's bed.

Branwen was the first to wake on Christmas morning. For several minutes, she remained snuggled beneath the blankets, drinking in the room around her. She was happy to be a part of Gryffindor for many reasons, but she especially loved the red and gold décor which lent a feeling of warmth no matter the time of year. Holly and mistletoe (the unmodified version) dotted the room with cheery spots of green. The only sounds were Remus' soft snores and the logs crackling on the hearth. Together they formed a quiet morning melody.

She lifted herself onto her elbow to see if any of her friends were close to waking. Remus, of course, was still breathing noisily. The Christmas tree was closest to his bed and its rainbow of lights set his face aglow like a stained-glass saint. Nearby, Peter stirred slightly and let out a small whimper. James and Sirius were playing an unconscious tug-of-war over their shared blanket.

It appeared she was going to be the only up for quite a while. She slid from the bed and shuffled into her slippers and dressing gown before fixing a cup of tea. Then she crept downstairs, intending to bask in the glow of the enormous tree in the Common Room.

When she saw what was waiting though, her cup clattered to the ground.

"James! Sirius! Remus! Peter! Get up, get up, get up!" She threw pillows in each of their faces as she ran around the room yelling.

"Branwen!" Remus rolled out of bed and straight on to the floor. "What's wrong? Is everything all right?"

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong! Everything's wonderful!" She twirled around and planted a kiss on his scarred cheek. "Now come on and get your lazy arses downstairs!"

The rest of the boys grumbled as they shuffled out of bed. By the time they made it into the Common Room, Peter had his slippers on opposite feet, Sirius' dressing gown was dragging from one arm, and James' glasses were drooping over the point of his nose. They all froze to a stop when they saw what was waiting for them beside the tree.

"Mummy!"

"Dad!"

"Mum, Dad!"

Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, Lyall and Hope Lupin, and Paula Pettigrew opened their arms to gather their children in a tangled pile of hugs and kisses.

Sirius was the only one who stood back. He slid his robe on properly and tugged at the sash, then became very interested in the bricks that made up the fireplace hearth. Euphemia cleared her throat. "Young man," Sirius' head jerked up, "if you don't come over here and give me a hug right this instance, I'll just be taking those presents back to Quality Quid –"

Before she could finish her sentence, Sirius ran and leaped into her waiting arms. The others in the room pretended not to notice when the boy's broad shoulders began to shake, his face buried in the old woman's bosom.

"Not that we're not glad to see you," James leaned on his father's knee, "but what are you doing here?"

"We waited a lot of years for you and your sister to come along, young man. Having you out of the house for ten months at a time is getting hard on your mother and me," Fleamont chuckled.

"We miss you too, Dad," Branwen sat on her father's lap and threw her arms around his neck. "And we're so happy you're here – all of you!"

Remus was squeezed on a sofa between his parents, lipstick kisses peppering his cheeks. Lyall and Hope looked far healthier than the last time Branwen had seen them. No doubt having their semi-handicapped child out of the house for most of the year gave them a chance to rest. Lyall's clothes fit him a little better, toned muscles filling them out. Hope had a sparkle in her brown eyes and her blond hair shone in the firelight. She kept a tight hand on her son though, as if afraid he would vanish the moment she let go.

Peter and Paula sat nervously beside each other. Neither of them seemed inclined to physical expressions of their affection. Paula's eyes kept flitting around the room, as though expecting the ghosts and poltergeist her son had written about to come bursting through the walls at any moment.

"All right, now," Fleamont stood, depositing Branwen onto the sofa beside her mother. He reached behind the sofa and picked up an enormous bag. Dozens of presents tumbled out when he tipped it over. He grinned, "Present time! Dig in!"

The gifts from the Potters were as extravagant as always. They gave Remus a handsome set of diaries with his name engraved on the leather binding. Peter received a gold-and-platinum display case to house his most rare and valuable Chocolate Frog cards. Sirius unwrapped a brand new Nimbus 1001; the tag attached read Love, Mum and Dad Potter.

The presents from the other parents were mostly home-made but no less heartfelt: treacle tarts from Paula, hand-whittled chess pieces from Lyall.

During the present opening mayhem, Fleamont and Lyall had gotten up to reminisce over the many banners in the room lauding Gryffindor's successes, so Hope and Paula joined Euphemia on the larger sofa.

"Did the Blacks really send nothing for Sirius?" Paula looked quite alarmed.

"Oh, they did," Euphemia reached into her robes and pulled out a book. It was a slim, orange-coloured volume called Charm Your Own Cheese. A note on the front read: Sirius, maybe your magic won't be a total waste. W.I.B.

Paula gasped and Hope tutted, "It's a shame the way they treat that boy."

"It is," Euphemia sighed. "Fleamont and I have spoken many times about adoption, but there's just no way Walburga would consider letting one of her boys out of her grasp, even if he is nothing but a disappointment to her. But, at least we can do this...." she pulled out her wand and tapped the book. It transformed into a plate of cheese.

"Oh!" Branwen caught the attention of the mothers when she squealed. "Look, Mum!" She was wearing her present from Hope, a floppy red sun-hat that been embroidered with bright yellow sunflowers. She affected the dramatic pout of a fashion model. "How do I look?"

"Perfect." Remus blushed as soon as the word was out of his mouth and suddenly became exceedingly preoccupied with tearing at scraps of wrapping paper. "I mean, it's from my mum, so, she did a good job, you know, with the hat...."

Branwen giggled, then turned to Hope. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Lupin. I absolutely love it."

"You're welcome, darling." Hope cradled her tea cup in her hand and her eyes stung with unshed tears. Her voice was thick with emotion when she turned to the women beside her. "Euphemia, Paula, I can't thank you enough for how wonderful your children are.

"I'm sure they've told you, Remus is often....ill. He has been since he was very young. Lyall and I thought he might not ever be able to go away to school. When he did get here, we weren't sure if he would be able to make friends; he'd been so isolated all his life.

"But now....well, it's like I have my baby boy back...."

Euphemia placed a hand on the younger woman's arm. "I'm glad my children have been a help for Remus, but I must tell you, he's had a positive impact on James and Branwen as well. When we were on holiday in the States, Branwen couldn't wait to write and tell him about everything she saw. I swear, we spent more on international postage than on the tickets there."

"Oh, I'm so sorry it cost you so much!" Hope gasped.

Euphemia patted her hand. "No, I'm sorry, dear. I didn't mean it like that. It was a delight seeing her so excited about having a friend outside of her brother. I worry about her sometimes; she's never really had any female friends, you see. But now I realise that as long as she's happy, I'm happy too."

"You know...." Hope eyed her boy and leaned in closer to Euphemia, "Remus will absolutely murder me if he finds out I told you, but he keeps those photographs she sent on the wall by his bed."

Euphemia laughed with a knowing look, "Does he now?"

At the sound of a loud bang, the women turned back to watch the children.

Peter had just popped a Wizard Cracker and his face was stained with soot. The contents had turned out to be a coil of ribbons that sprang out, latched onto the nearest object, and wrapped it up like a present. The nearest object just happened to be Remus' face. Sirius and James doubled over in laughter. Branwen left the ribbons around his face, but parted them near his cheek and placed a kiss on his warm skin. One of the ribbons reached out and tickled Branwen on the nose and she sneezed. Now they were all laughing, clutching at their sides and rolling on the floor.

Hope's heart fluttered. For the first time in years, she she felt true to her name, hopeful. From the day he was bitten, the Lupins knew their son would need care for the rest of his life. But now she wondered if it might just be possible for him to forge a normal life outside of their home. That just maybe he could have a home for himself one day, surrounded by friends and maybe even a wife....



"Well, we should be going now dears," Euphemia bent to kiss each of them on their heads as the evening drew to a close.

"I would hope this goes without saying, but I'm expecting all of you," Fleamont smirked pointedly at James and Sirius, "to stay out of trouble."

"I promise, Dad," James held a hand over his heart.

His father held back a disapproving smirk.

"Well," James' hand dropped, "I'll think about it."



Three nights later, just after Remus slipped up into the Shack the four remaining friends placed their Mandrake leaves in their mouths, sealing them with a sticking charm. "Merlin," Branwen sighed, "please let this be it."