The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part One

XXVI: December, 1993

It was late at night, or perhaps early in the morning, depending upon how one considers time to pass, when Remus Lupin awoke in his private quarters with a start.

He'd been having a terrible dream. In it, he was the portrait that hung over the door to Gryffindor Tower and it was him who was facing Sirius Black on Halloween night. It was him who Sirius screamed at to "open up!" and only him who stood between Sirius and his prey. It was him, Remus, that Sirius pulled a knife on and started slashing - slashing - slashing - slashing.. but the knife melted away into the sharp claws of the big, black, shaggy dog and the moonlight glinted off his yellowed teeth and the scratching tore right through the canvas until the dog's claws were scratching on wood of the door behind and Remus sat up, certain that he could hear the scratching with his actual ears.

The winter air came with a sudden vengeance, getting proper cold for December. Remus sat in bed, cold, his fireplace having gone out at some point during the night, and he could smell snow and pine. He climbed out of bed, shuffling to the fireplace, where he quickly lit the fire before turning to the window.

It was freezing and he could see the snow flakes falling through the dark. He pushed open the window, despite the cold, and drew a deep breath that bit at his nostrils and lungs. Despite the bitterness of the cold, the scent of snow and trees had always made him feel warm. Not in the way that many people associated it with Christmas but because it reminded him of the Potter wedding and the feeling of being near to friends for a joyous occasion. As he stood there in the window, his brain seemed to echo with music, as though played from a great distance off.

Do you wanna dance, under the moonlight?
Squeeze and kiss me all through the night?
Oh baby, do you wanna daaaaaance?

Remus held onto the window sill, watching his breath float away in little puffs of clouds. Far off, he could see similar puffs trailing over the trees of the forest - the smoke from the homes in Hogsmeade Village, he realized, and he watched it scoot away into the sky. Suddenly, a couple thestrals were breaking the canopy of trees and their skeletal forms wove around the smoke trails, seeming to dance around the warm air from the chimneys. He watched for a long time, thinking how sad and beautiful they were.

Finally, his face was too cold to keep looking out like that, and he pulled back, closing the window and deciding that he'd like a cup of tea before going back to bed. In the back of his head, he could still almost hear the scratching of the dog's claws on the wood and he was still feeling very unsettled.

The water was hot and steamed as he poured it into an old, chipped teacup. He set himself into a chair, which he magically moved as close to the fireplace as he dared put it. Sometimes when he got cold like this he wouldn't have minded setting himself on fire for the desire of some warmth, but he reckoned that Argus Filch would disapprove of it if he were to singe the furniture. He sipped his tea and reached for a book - an old paperback he had read probably a hundred thousand times.

Outside, the wind howled against the window and he thought to himself how dreadful it sounded, how cold, and how thankful he was that when it came time for the full moon he would not be having to stay out of doors in the bomb shelter at home or else in the Shrieking Shack, where the drafts were never quite kept out and the deeper into the werewolf's bones the cold sank the more violent and horrid his transformations became.

He lowered his book and looked at the window.

Remus got up and walked over, looking through the glass in the direction of the Shrieking Shack, and he shivered. It would be freezing cold out there... deathly cold... made all the worse by dementors roaming the streets of Hogsmeade.

He made up his mind before he even realized he was thinking of doing it.

He waved his wand and the extra blankets from his own bed were rolling up, stuffing themselves into a rucksack and he was tying off the top, slinging it over his shoulder as he tugged on two jumpers, his suit jacket and his overcoat and gloves. He stepped into the hallway with determination and began the trek.