The weather was dreadful at Hogwarts so that the castle was soon buried under a thick layer of snow as time progressed and it made things quiet and dull about the castle. Most everyone was bundled in thick layers of jumpers and scarves everywhere they went, and the House Elves had their hands full off laundry to be dried each night as students played at tossing snow balls about each other in the courtyards between classes, their uniforms sopping wet so that even a good drying spell still left them feeling damp and soggy. Sirius invented a spell that allowed a snowball to keep from melting indoors until he'd thrown it and the result was an unending barrage of snow balls being chucked about the halls at the younger students by laughing Marauders - James, Sirius, and Peter, to be exact. Remus stood by, looking rather disapproving but not quite daring to insert his opinion against their entertainment, despite Lily Evans giving him the evil eye from down the hall several times. Any attempt he made to speak out would've been wholly ignored anyway.
True to Frank's dread, the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match ended in terrific defeat, and much to his frustration, even following the terrible loss, James still refused to play, claiming to have forgotten what a joy it was to simply watch a match rather than participate in one.
"C'mon, Potter," Frank pleaded. "See, look her. I've had your quidditch robes freshly pressed."
"I've told you, Longbottom,I'm quite retired from Quidditch," James refused, shaking his head.
"Must you be so stubborn?" Lily inquired, "The team really needs you, Potter."
"Sorry Evans," he replied with a shrug. "I'm simply far too busy."
Which was, of course, absolutely untrue, as none of the teachers were requiring James to turn in any assignments.
"You always complain about everyone treating you with pity," Sirius said one night, "But I tell you what, I could do with a bit of that sort of pity thrown my way! If Flitwick thinks for even a moment that he's getting that blasted Charms paper, he's mad as a hatter."
Soon it was Valentine's Day and there were paper hearts and candies being carried all over the castle by industrious house elves, with bags of the things slung about their necks. At lunch, an elf caught James's robe sleeve and tugged to present him with a large paper heart, glowing with glittering words that read Doe-n't pretend you doe-n't love me Prongs! Below the words was a drawing of a deer with big painted-red lips and long lashes that puckered and blinked seductively at him. He promptly turned about and threw a clump of potatoes at Sirius's laughing head, but Sirius ducked it, laughing so hard he fell off the bench and the food caught Lily Evans instead.
Remus was rather glad that what he got from Sirius was a chocolate frog and an invitation to go and make out in the Trophy Room Passageway later on.
The most surprising thing that happened on Valentines Day was not the card sent to James by a mysterious doe - rather, it was that Peter Pettigrew received three Valentines from three different girls. He turned red as could be when a house elf messenger stopped him in the hallway between lunch and their afternoon classes to perform a singing telegram sent to him by a Hufflepuff fifth year, who blushed and waved from where she stood, half-hidden behind a suit of armor. "Th-thank you," Peter stammered to her, embarrassed but pleased because even James hadn't gotten so many Valentines this year, and it felt rather nice to be noticed.
Sirius clapped him on the back. "Way to go, Wormy!" he said.
James's Valentines were mostly from first, second, and third years with unlikely crushes (and a couple more from the Doe, via Sirius), but he did receive one that came during Defense Against the Dark Arts that had no signature, just a little note, typed like with a muggle typewriter, that said To the Bravest Gryffindor. It was a funny, lacey white heart, the simple note the only mark upon it.
"That must've taken hours to do," Remus commented.
"Hours? Simple conjuring spell," Sirius said, waving it off.
Remus shook his head, "It's hand cut. Look." He pointed to a point where it was imperfect. "Even if they used a wand, it was traced out by hand. That's a good deal of work and thought gone into that, that is."
Sirius glanced over his shoulder and saw Lily Evans staring down at her textbook with determination. "Oi, Evans, you seen Potter's Valentine?"
"It's lovely," she said without even looking up.
Sirius said, "You reckon it was hand cut or done by magic?"
"I don't know, Sirius," she said in a short tone. "Why the bloody hell would I know?"
"Dunno," he said, grinning, "Thought you might have some opinion on it, I suppose."
"Well I don't," Lily said. "Other than this whole entire holiday's a waste." And she collected her book and left the classroom.
At dinner, Minerva McGonagall was seen sporting a flower pinned to her cloak by her brooch that the Marauders had given her some time ago. Her face blushed when Elphinstone Urquart insisted that Horace Slughorn move down a spot so he could sit next to her.
"Good for Minnie," Sirius said, seeing the flush on her cheeks. "Perhaps Professor Urquart will distract her enough she'll forget about the meters and meters of parchment she's assigned us."
"I'd rather not think about Minnie... being distracted," James said, making a face. "Bloody hell Sirius. Min doesn't do that."
Sirius's devilish grin glowed bright. "Well, I'm glad she's happy at any rate. She's positively glowing."
But other than all of that, February was fairly quiet, and so March rolled into place and even colder winds came, accompanied by terrible rain that left thick sheets of ice on top of the layers of snow that covered the grounds. The Marauders added extra layers on the ice in the courtyard by the Green Houses and hand themselves a marvelous time skating about on the slicks of their shoes, Sirius attempting to do some of the fancy moves Remus told him about Olympic skaters doing on Muggle telly. He continuously fell and nearly broke his own neck, skidding across the ice on his arse in loops until he hit a wall or a tree to stop him going any further. More than once he'd bowled Peter right over, even as Peter skated with his new girlfriend -- the Hufflepuff girl who had sent him the singing telegram at Valentine's Day, who was a cousin of Maryrose Jenkin's, named Wendy.
It was Sirius who remembered Remus's birthday, and Peter that knicked him a cake, James who ordered him a gift by owl. On 10 March, a brand new Wizard Chess set arrived with lovely carved wood pieces and a bottle of polish to keep them looking new. "Wow!" Remus exclaimed when he opened it and he held the pieces in his palm, staring at them in disbelief because it was probably the nicest thing that he'd ever owned in his entire life, and he felt that he would treasure them until he the day he died.
At lunch on Remus's birthday, something peculiar happened.
He received an owl from outside the castle - a package, rather - that had not been sent by the Marauders. It was wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string and when Remus unraveled it, he found in the middle a handsome, brass lunascope with a thick glass dome and tiny, intricate notches and numbers on a band that crisscrossed over the lens. Remus stared at it, set in the undone teal-blue wrapping paper.
Sirius looked at the instrument, then up at Remus. "Whoa, that's nice," he commented.
Peter's neck craned to look over the edge of the wrap. "Who sent you that?" he asked, enviously.
James, too, had a peek.
"Dunno," Remus replied.
"Doesn't it say it on the package?" James suggested.
But it didn't. There was no marking whatsoever on the package - not even the recipient name.
"You should turn that in to Dumbledore or Professor Urquart," Lily suggested, looking over Peter's shoulder, "You don't know who it's from."
"Yeah," Remus said, staring down at the scope in his hands, "I think I'll show it to Professor Urquart later." He wrapped it back up in it's paper and stuffed it into his bag.
"Just whatever you do, don't use it," Lily advised, "You never know what sort of spells might be on it."
"I'm sure it's harmless," Sirius said. Then, because Lily and Remus both looked at him with the same expression, he added, "I'm not saying to play with the bloody thing, not until you know for sure! Jeepers, you lot."
"You know," said Peter, "I'll bet it was Mr. Scamander who's sent it!"
"Ahoy. That's probably exactly it!" Sirius cried, nodding eagerly, "Good one, Pete!"
Peter flushed.
But it was not Mr. Scamander who sent it, as Remus learned not so much later, when he and the others were making their way to the Care of Magical Creatures stables and Professor Kettleburn was out, having fared poorly against a grindylow (which, rumors had it about Hogwarts, would be costing him his left arm from the elbow down). Teaching in his stead was Mr. Scamander.
"Mr. Scamander!" Remus greeted him with a wide smile.
"R-Remus, hullo," Newt replied smiling awkwardly and petting Remus at arm's length, which was as close as Mr. Scamander naturally came to giving a hug. "Happy Bir-birthday."
"Thank you, sir!" Remus beamed.
"Oh - oh m-my, you've c-come of age, haven't you?" Newt asked, and his face turned a bit apologetic.
Remus was just about to reach into his rucksack to get the lunascope when Newt spoke again.
"H-Here, Remus, m-my boy."
Remus looked up to find Mr. Scamander had pushed up his blue coat's sleeve to uncover his wrist, where he wore an old, weathered wrist watch. He undid the strap and held the watch out, "Y-your wrist, Remus."
"Sir, I couldn't possibly, I-"
"Your wrist, Remus," Newt insisted.
James's jaw was dropped and he punched Sirius's arm, as though getting his attention, but Sirius was already looking and wave James's hand away.
Remus, flushed, held out his arm and Newt Scamander carefully applied the wrist watch, fastening the leather band and sliding the holders in place before setting the watch upright and giving Remus's arm a pat. "M-my father told me, a good deal of time ago, when I turned sixteen, that the reason that we r-receive watches f-for our coming of- of age is that it is th-the time when we start to realize that -that we first b-begin to realize just h-how short our time on this earth is and h-h-how precious is it to take adva-vantage of every mom-mm-ment we've g-got. And s-so we get a timepiece, to track the - the moments." He stared at the watch on Remus's arm and then smiled at Remus warmly. "Th-there you are, R-Remus. Ap-app-reciate each and ev-every one."
Remus nodded solemnly, "Yes, sir."
And Newt smiled, then beckoned the lot of them inside the stables, saying. "N-now on to class!"
The moment Newt had disappeared inside, Remus held out his arm for James, Sirius, and Peter to admire the watch. It was old and the glass face was scratched by some beast or another, but it was all the better for it, and Remus ran his fingers over the soft leather in appreciation all throughout class, staring in awe at Mr. Scamander's tales as he spoke about the beasts he had encountered.
Remus forgot entirely about the lunascope.
That night, they snuck out to the ice-cold Shrieking Shack, put up heating charms about their little room, and watched a series of films they'd knicked from the Muggle Studies classroom, and for the rest of the week all four of them were walking about introducing themselves to everyone.
"Black, Sirius Black."
"Potter, James Potter."
"Really," Lily said in exasperation, rolling her eyes to Frank and Alice one afternoon as James and Sirius introduced themselves to every student that walked by.