ᴅᴀᴛᴇ ғᴏʀ ғᴀᴋᴇ → ᴊᴀᴍᴇs ᴘᴏᴛᴛᴇʀ

↳ 53: MERRY CHRISTMAS

THE MARAUDERS HIKED BACK DOWN the trail to the Potter Manor. It was Christmas morning and as the four didn't get to spend their Christmases together last year, they decided to get together for this time around.

         It was almost lunch time before they even got back to the foot of the mountain and poor Peter was the one far behind. His face was red and he was definitely out of breath. "Can we —" he paused to exhale, "— slow down —" another one, "— a bit?"

         "Well, Wormtail, instead of spending the past break on writing letters back and forth and none stop with this anonymous person, you could've invested your time getting fit, you know?" Sirius commented with a smirk, though he was already walking back to Peter to grab him.

         "Yeah, you never revealed this little pen pal of yours," James followed in and walked to Peter as well. He took his bag to lighten up the poor boy's luggage. "Do you have a secret girlfriend you're not telling us about?"

         "I don't," Peter answered rather a little too harshly, as if being reminded of the person he was writing letters to irritated him. But he looked so out of breath that the three didn't catch his tone. "And who's idea was it to go hiking in a freezing weather like today?"

          James, Sirius, and Remus looked at each other in thought. Then, all three shrugged, completely forgetting who even suggested the activity. This only made Peter roll his eyes.

        "How do you all feel about NEWT's coming up?" Remu s opens up as they continued walking again. "'Cause I know One feeling confident," he smirked cheekily and both James and Sirius gave him the middle finger. The sandy haired boy rose his hands up in defense. "Not my fault I've been preparing for the past seven years."

         "Lily's been owling me almost everyday to remind me to at least read one book a day," James rolls his eyes. "I mean, I love talking to her but I honestly don't want to spend my last days of freedom studying."

         "Tell me about it," Sirius backs him up, rolling his eyes. "Freya owled me yesterday morning to go memorize a bunch of spells. She's rarely a study freak but I guess NEWT's is getting to her."

         "It's getting into everyone," Remus spoke. "I mean, it does determine our future. We fail at it, we fail to get the job we want." He yawned and then rubbed his stomach. "Godric, I hope your mum already cooked those steaks because I am famished." The full moon was approaching and Remus' appetite for meat always increases this time around.

         "I second that, I am damn starving," Sirius chimed in.

         "And I can't wait for the presents," James grinned and the other three nodded in agreement. Then, they hurried back to the Potter Manor.

         They plopped their bags and coats on the floor the moment they entered, groaning as the weight finally decreased from their shoulders. All four stretched, moaning in slight pain when their backs cracked. "I oddly feel satisfied." James said.

         "Never can go wrong with hiking," Sirius added.

         They finished up their stretches and quickly headed to the dining room where they expected a table full of food. But they were met with Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, both on the very end.

         Fleamont was sat on the chair, his head was down, and his hand on his forehead. Euphemia stood next to him and held his shoulders. A newspaper was the only thing present and their grim faces.

         It didn't take a genius to figure out that something was wrong. "Mum? Dad?" both looked up at the sound of James' voice. They looked alarmed, afraid, and sorry for some reason. James' eyebrows scrunched. "What's going on?"