White Lies // Drarry

Bonus: Wonder

Hogwarts, Remus knew, was a lonely place to be in during Christmas vacation. Without the noise, cheerful chatter of students and the bustle of activity, Hogwarts transformed from a magical place of wonder into an old castle that was just way too big and spacious.

He had spent his holidays as a student alone in this castle. Decades later, the thought that he was still going to spend it in pretty much the same fashion made something in him ache.

He wondered how everything ended up like this. His immediate family was all gone, he was the only one left of the Marauders, and he was hopelessly in love with someone who was also hopelessly in love with someone who had been dead for eighteen years.

As a teenager, he had hopes that what they said about werewolves growing old alone was false. Now, he was actually starting to believe it.

Harry was the only thing that made him feel like he still had purpose in this world. He was going to take care of Harry for as long as there was breath in him. For James, for Lily, for Sirius.

It was the 24th of December. He had a quarter of an hour left until the clock rings twelve and the world rejoices for Christmas Day. He had to finish fixing his papers in his office by then and Floo to Grimmauld to welcome the 25th with the Weasleys, Harry, and Draco.

It had taken quite a bit of persuasion to convince Harry that he was part of the Weasley family now and was required (as Ginny had said, using Molly's words in her letters) to be present in all family events, gatherings and celebrations. Convincing Draco of the same, of course, proved to be harder. He still felt guilty about his father's crimes against the Weasleys, as well as the Dark Mark on his arm.

During the train ride towards Platform 9 ¾, as he sat beside Harry and across from Ron, he had tried to stammer his way out of spending the holidays with the Weasleys, despite having no one to spend it with in the Manor, but Ron merely rolled his eyes and said, "Mum has required you to attend all family events, gatherings, and celebrations. You're not going to get back to Hogwarts alive if you cross Mum."

Draco shut up because yes, he was pretty sure he really wasn't going to get back to Hogwarts alive if he crossed Molly Weasley, because Ron Weasley was actually welcoming him into his family, and also because Harry had thrown his arms around his waist, buried his face in his shoulder and was laughing unrepentantly.

Of course, Ron did have the time of his life snickering at the thought of Draco Malfoy being a Weasley, but upon their arrival at the station, when Molly Weasley fussed over Draco's weight upon his arrival and Arthur Weasley patted his shoulder like he had done Ron's, no one was laughing. All of them were grinning though. (Except for Draco, who was blushing like a newborn baby.)

Draco Malfoy was good for Harry, Remus supposed. They made a good pair. He was almost jealous.

He smiled to himself. Jealous of eighteen-year-old boys loving each other.

It was a testament to how sad he had lived his life.

He looked at his watch and inwardly cursed when he saw that he only had ten minutes left until midnight. He glanced at his desk, still littered with columns of papers and wondered if he could come back here tomorrow instead.

"Are you actually working on the eve of Christmas?"

A voice by the doorway shook him from his thoughts. He thought that Snape had left for Grimmauld Place hours ago.

Convincing Snape to join them for Christmas was surprisingly easy, but also not considering they had Draco on their side. Remus had been happy to hear the news of Snape's approval and at the thought of spending Christmas together, even though he had taken to subtly avoiding the man ever since Snape had admitted hiding the true form of Patronus from him.