Not a Monster (Marauder fanfic)

12- Christmas Cheer

In the week before Christmas break, Remus joined, a sad looking Sara, in the Great Hall for breakfast. He sat down beside her on the bench, and looked down at the crumpled letter, in Sara's fist.
"Are you alright?" He asked, as he began to butter a piece of toast.
Sara didn't answer, she just stared down at her porridge, miserably.
"Is it your mum?" Whispered Remus.
Sara looked around the table, for anyone who might be eavesdropping, but no one was paying them any attention. And the other Marauders were no where in sight.
"Where's..."
"The others? Terrorizing some Slytherins in our year, I think. So we don't have to worry about being interuppted" said Remus, finishing Sara's sentence, and shoving the piece of toast into his mouth.
"Good"
"Is your mum O.K?"
"Yeah, she's in perfect health... But she lost control, the other day".

Remus frowned.
"What do you mean?".
"Well, according to Tabitha, who's the only other witch in our villiage, my mother burned down our entire shed. There's nothing left... Not that there was mucg in there to begin with" Sara answered.
"Was anyone hurt?"
"No. Luckily Tabitha arrived there pretty quickly, and was able to put the fire out, before any muggles got involved. There's also a shield around our land, stopping her from going down to the town, and being spotted... She's never hurt anyone"
"Except you"
"Only because I am the only person, stupid enough to get close to her, when she loses control"
"Have the Ministry found out about this?"
"No. Luckily the whole inncident happened quickly. And Tabitha would never rat out my mother. So hopefully the Ministry of Magic never find out about this".

Remus rested his hand on Sara's shoulder, and squeezed it, reassuringly.
"It must be hard for you to be here, instead of being at home" he said softly.
"Yeah, it's not easy" admitted Sara.
"Have you decided if you are going to stay here for Christmas yet, or go home?"
"Not yet... Part of me wants to go home, and spend time with my mother, while she still remembers who I am... And the other half of me, the selfish part, wants to have a good, happy Christmas, for the first time, in years"
"That's not selfish. It's normal of you to want to have an enjoyable Christmas"
"I don't really remember the Christmasses we had when I was younger. But from what I can remember, they were happy... At the moment, in my house, Christmas is no different than any other day. I mean, it's not as if my mother can go out shopping, and get me presents and decorations"
"If you go home, will you spend the whole day with Tabitha, or your mother?"
"Probably Tabitha"
"Then why don't you stay here, until Christmas Eve, then go home via Floo Powder, for a few days, and then come back the day after? You don't have to spend all of the holiday, at home".

"That, is a good idea. I'll have to check with Madam Puddifoot, that that's O.K. But it should be fine" said Sara smiling.
"I'm glad you like my suggestion" replied Remus.
"I still can't believe I'm gonna have to live without you guys, for over 2 weeks"
"Ha. What will you do without us?"
"Where is Sirius going? Has he make up his mind yet?"
"I think he is going to spent half of his holiday at home, and the other half with the Potters"
"I pity James's parents. Sirius and James are going to get up to so much trouble"
"I agree. Their Christmas is going to be a loud one"
"Unlike mine... My Christmasses are always, quiet affairs"
"Mine too".

"How did we end up with those two mainiacs?" Quizzed Sara, smiling.
Remus laughed.
"I've no idea... But I'm glad we did. I don't know what I'd do without them. Or you".
"Right back at you Remus. You are the best friend I've ever had. And I'm so glad we ended up in Gryffindor together"
"Thanks. Although it's not saying much, since you never had any friends before coming here".
Sara hit Remus repeatedly, with her Transfiguration text book, and he laughed.
"O.K O.K truce" he said raising his hands in surrender.
Sara placed the book into her bag, and sighed.
"You're forgiven, I suppose".
"Thanks".
"Come on, we'd better find the others, and stop them doing something they'll regret. Without us telling them to stop, they often take things to far"
"I agree... I think they are out by the Black Lake"
"Great. Of course they're not inside, on a cold, snowy day like this. Well, we'd better get going".
Remus nodded, as he picked up his bag, and followed Sara out of the hall.

Sara did go home on Christmas Eve, and for the first time in her life, she found presents at the end of her bed, from her friends, the next morning.
The postman didn't ever come to her house, as the only letters she had ever recieved were from the Ministry, or Hogwarts, and they came by owl. So she wasn't used to post.
Even though Sara had given her friends her address, she hadn't really expected them to send her anything. And was brought to tears, by their generosity.
Remus had bought her a flame proof book on Lycanthropy, and a packet of Bertie Bots every flavour beans.
Peter had sent her a large box of sweets, including the biggest chocolate frog, Sara had ever seen.
Sirius had given her an expensive looking necklace, which shocked Sara, as she had had no idea, that Sirius had such good taste in jewelry.
And James had bought her a set of quills, with flames on the side of each one, representing her surname, Burne.

But the gifts did not stop there.
She recieved; a diary from her Head of House McGonagall, sweets from the groundskeeper Hagrid, and rather strangely, a set of multi-coloured socks from Dumbledore.
And those weren't the only presents she recieved from Hogwarts staff. She had been given a book on basic healing spells, from Madam Pomfrey. Which would really help her and Remus, if they ever ended up hurting themselves, again.
Madam Puddifoot had also joined in with the gift giving, sending her a small china tea cup. Even though Sara didn't drink tea, she found the present touching, none the less.
Sara also got a small selection of sweets from all of her room mates, except Lily. But this didn't bother her, as she hadn't sent Lily anything either.
Although she had been dissappointed that Tabitha had only sent her a card, at first. But inside she found out, that Tabitha was intending on giving her present to Sara, in person.

Sara had had the best Christmas in her life, and was glad that she had gone home for the week. As Hogwarts wouldn't have been the same, without any of her friends, anyway.
Her Christmas dinner may not have been as grand, as the one at Hogwarts. But Sara and Tabitha had a wonderful meal, along with their pets Nat and Whiskers.
And at the end of the meal, Tabitha gave Sara, a beautiful red cloak, representing Sara's house, Gryffindor, instead of her own house, Ravenclaw.
Even though Sara had intended to return to school, the day after Boxing Day, she ended up staying longer. This meant that she could return to Hogwarts on the train, with the rest of the Marauders.
And her train ride back to school, was very different, to the one in September.
There was a lot more talking this time. As well as a bunch of explosions and mini fireworks...