The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part One

Happy Christmas Remus

The marching soldiers were really house elves in disguise and Peter showed the elves the kitchens of Fallengunder and there was a great cloud of excitement as they rushed to get started, working on preparing the first meal they would serve at the castle. James went over paperwork with Elva and Mr. Frek that showed them how the elves had expense accounts with the wizarding grocer in Godric's Hollow so that the pantry opened up to the grocer and they could put in orders by owl and the goods would be replenished and billed accordingly - she literally never had to think about meals again at Hogwarts - the elves would do it all seamlessly. Further, the dishes and clearing and setting would all be coordinated the same as Dumbledore had it set up with his elves. James was quite proud of the work he'd done researching it all, with Peter's help, and Elva was so thankful she nearly started to cry.

Mr. Frek meanwhile worked with Remus on a curriculum that could be submitted with the Ministry that would allow Fallengunder too officially list as a school, which would help with at least some of the expenses and the accedidation the students would receive with their diplomas being issued at the end of their time there.

Marlene and Emma had worked out a whole flock of owls being relocated to the castle, great snow-colored things that had strong wings that could fly to the mainland, and they'd even spoken to Flitwick at Hogwarts about starting an quill-pals club, where kids from Hogwarts and Fallengunder could be paired up to become friends who wrote one another letters. Marlene was chattering excitedly that she thought she might be able to talk her friend Meg Johnson into reaching out to the staff she still knew from Ilvermorny in America about extending the program further if it went well at Hogwarts as well.

James also had looked into a possibility of getting some of the sports programs that Hogwarts had extended, hoping that students interested could floo between the schools to compete in an inter-school league, but that had been put on hold for the time being since Hogwarts floos were being carefully watched and networked. Dumbledore said that he would reach out to Elva Greenwood himself on the topic at another time, when the conditions were more ripe for such a pairing, as he'd worded it.

But there was plenty more that the group did for the school right there in the castle - things like setting security spells and setting spells on mops and buckets, brooms and dust pans to do the cleaning about the castle themselves without the help of the staff.

Sirius was the kids' hero, though, for making sure that there were loads of fun spells that were set - things that would surprise them and make Fallengunder a load of fun like Hogwarts had always been. He set up secret passageways and made trick steps and set the staircases spinning. With the help of Remus, they set models of the solar system spinning in the ceiling of the Astronomy classroom. There were talking door knobs and even several suits of armor that stood guard here and there that would randomly break out in song or ask a passerby to stop and recite the alphabet for no reason.

"Going to drive them batty, you are," Remus said as Sirius magicked a clock in the entry way to crow like a rooster on school mornings.

"That's the fun of it," Sirius replied. Then, turning to Regulus who was tagging along behind him throughout the school he said, "Isn't that the fun of Hogwarts, little brother? All the unexpected things?"

"Yeah," Regulus said, who probably would've agreed with Sirius if he'd said the sky was lime green at that point, he was so enamoured with his big brother's secret talents that only truly shone when he was getting into mischief.

All in all, it was a romping success, James felt, when he joined Elva Greenwood on the stairs in the entry hall to say good night and to wish her and the students good luck and a Happy Christmas. Everything had gone so well, and the students and staff at the new school were truly excited about the improvements done on the castle. He felt like they'd honored Ned Veigler quite a lot.

"Thank you for everything," Elva said, tearing up. "It means so much to us that you've been so generous and so thoughtful. Everything you and your friends have done today is just so wonderful.  It is an honor to have such kind souls in our lives."

James flushed. "Well, my mates are the best there are, really." He smiled.

At the bottom of the stairs, the others were gathering up together - Sirius and Regulus, Frank and Alice, Emma and Marlene, Peter... Remus and Lily came out of the library, talking about the grand magic Remus had done in making the ceiling work, and Remus was telling her how he'd found the spell in a book and had been thinking of how he might use it, when suddenly --

"Remus!"

Remus stopped dead in his tracks, mid-sentence, and turned around so fast that his loafers squeaked on the floor. His eyes searched the room, his jaw dropped in shock at the sound of Ned Veigler's voice.

Everyone in the room had turned in fact.

The giant portrait at the top of the stairs was staring down at Remus Lupin, the eyes gleaming with pride and a smile on the painted Ned's face.

Remus's heart clenched.

Lily looked from the portrait to Remus and she reached out her hand and took his forearm gently in her hands.She made a funy face at first, but then closed her eyes as Remus stared up at the portrait, speechless.

Veigler's portrait smiled at Remus. "It's so good to see you!" The voice was excited, jovial, just as Ned's would be in life.

Lily gave Remus a little nudge and he stumbled to the steps, walking up them slowly.

Elva stared at it with tears in her eyes. James wondered if she was jealous, but when she turned to look at Remus, her face was radient with joy. "This is the first time he's spoken," she said, her voice breaking on every word.

Remus stood there before the painting, staring up at it. "Hullo, Ned."

Veigler's portrait reached down, pressing his palm to the canvas like a child against a window in a car. Remus stepped up to the painting and his hand shook as he held it out, too, pressing his palm against the place where the painting's was.

Veigler's kind eyes - so beautifully captured by whoever had done the painting - looked Remus right in the eyes.

"Happy Christmas, Remus."