When I’d reached the lamppost that we’d all departed from, I found Remus already there.

“Hey,” I said, wrapping my jacket a little tighter around me. “How long have you been here for?”

He shrugged. “About thirty minutes. I have… well… a lot less money than you and James… so I didn’t have so many stores to pick from.”

He looked at the ground sadly and I was saved from saying anything when James jogged up. “Hey, sorry I’m late. Ready to go, then?”

I nodded and we Disapparated, then arrived shortly at Hogsmeade.

“Let’s go get a butterbeer,” I suggested, since my teeth were now chattering dangerously.

We entered The Three Broomsticks and saw a few familiar faces. We decided that the best idea was to grab a table quickly and try to avoid any awkward questions.

“Hey, I’ll go get the drinks, on me,” James winked and approached the bar.

“You know you don’t have to get me anything fancy,” I said softly. “As long as you care about what you got me then I’ll be happy.”

He nodded and looked out the window, and then I realized that there were much more problems than Christmas presents in Remus’ mind.

“She turned me down, you know?” he asked suddenly, out of the blue.

“What? Who?”

“Marie,” he replied glumly. “For Sirius. I almost told her about… my problem… I bet she would’ve been so scared of me.”

“It’s not a problem.” I said, ducking down a little bit so he’d look at me. “It’s who you are, and to be able to be the guy that you are today, and not be like every other dangerous werewolf… Remus, it’s amazing. And the fact that Marie turned down such an amazing guy like you proves what an idiot she is. I mean… Sirius… he’s never going to be committed with anyone. Marie knows that she’s just setting herself up to be hurt.”

He rested his chin on his hand. “Then why not pick me?”

“I know Marie really well so have you considered that maybe, just maybe, she’s scared?”

He bit his lip and our conversation came to a close as James set the drinks down on our table.