Omnia Mors Perimit

Why has he given in to Molly's pleas, eh? He couldn't account for it! Yes, admittedly, spending Christmas with the Weasleys is much more pleasant than his usual holiday tradition - trying to ignore the loneliness without feeling too sorry for himself, getting wasted and not leave his bed if he can possibly avoid it.

But this isn't about pleasure. Last year, they were all together in Sirius' house, and Remus finds it somehow wrong to celebrate as if the last year hadn't taken place. No, that isn't really true, is it, no one pretends to have forgotten Sirius. And from a rational point of view, it is good that they have come together to celebrate, despite the war, despite all the terror and destruction. Nonetheless, he feels plain miserable, and he'd much rather go home and hide himself than be here.

This is no good. Some crappy crooner's singing corny love songs, Molly is going down memory lane, while Bill and his pretty fiancée are snuggling in a corner. Merlin's beard, if only he could think of a good excuse to escape all this. He shouldn't have come in the first place, he only agreed after Molly has threatened to be seriously angry if he didn't show up. Admittedly, that hasn't been the only reason. A part of him has somehow hoped to - oh well -

You charmed my heart right out of me, the awful singer now purrs. Oh for heaven's sake! There's only one person in the entire room enjoying the music, but since Molly has invited them all and tried so hard to make them all feel at ease, he thinks she's entitled to indulge herself a bit. If only these weren't all love songs, he would put up with pretty much everything, but hearing nothing but hollow common places about the bliss or soreness of romance is too much for him. They want to hear about a broken heart? He could write books about this!

He looks around, finding Harry and Arthur talking quietly and agitatedly. He tries to concentrate on their conversation rather than listening to the song, and hears somewhat amazed that Harry is once again dwelling on his favourite topics - Snape and the Malfoy boy. - So Severus has truly made the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy? That can't be true, can it? No one right in their minds ever makes that particular vow, least in times like these. Does Dumbledore know about this?

On a second thought - he probably does. He's closer to Severus than anybody else in the Order, and unlike Harry here, he fully trusts his most valuable source from Voldemort's inner circle. But what the heck has Severus thought? If anything, Narcissa Malfoy can't be trusted! She might not be a Death Eater herself, but her husband is, and since pretty much the only thing that Remus knows about her is how great her attachment to Lucius is, he thinks her capable of anything. How has she lured Severus in, who's after all very shrewd?

But maybe Harry's just mistaken. Eavesdropping often conveys more false information than valid ones... Arthur is sceptical, too. "Has it occurred to you, Harry, that Snape was simply pretending -"

"Pretending to offer help, so that he could find out what Malfoy's up to? Yeah, I thought you'd say that. But how do we know?"

"It isn't our business to know," Remus hears himself speaking, but turns away again. "It's Dumbledore's business. Dumbledore trusts Severus, and that ought to be good enough for all of us."

He's speaking of himself there, isn't he? Remus sneers bitterly, staring into the fire. If it wasn't for Dumbledore's trust in him, a good person like Molly wouldn't invite a werewolf round her house in a thousand years!

"But... Just say - just say Dumbledore's wrong about Snape -"

"People have said it many times! It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's judgement. I do, therefore I trust Severus."

"But Dumbledore can make mistakes! He says it himself. And you - do you honestly like Snape?!"

"I neither like nor dislike Severus. - No, Harry, I am speaking the truth. We shall never be bosom friends, perhaps; after all that happened between James, Sirius and Severus, there is too much bitterness there. But I do not forget that during the year I taught at Hogwarts, Severus made the Wolfsbane Potion for me every month, made it perfectly, so that I did not have to suffer as I usually do at the full moon."

"But he accidentally -" Harry gestures with his fingers, "let it slip that you're a werewolf, so you had to leave!"

Harry rants on some more, Remus can't persuade him. Luckily, they change the topic, even though Harry's chosen subject hits a sore spot with him, too - his mission with the werewolves, oh well. He mentions Greyback - he's thought a lot about Greyback lately, even more than anyhow... Greyback is the child of such an unfortunate relationship like Nymphadora wants with him - and look what's come out of it! The hate, the bitterness, the vindictiveness! And if it hadn't been for his good father - his father was a very good man - and Dumbledore's unwavering faith, Remus might be exactly like that now...

"But you are normal! You've just got a - a problem," Harry cries warmly, and in this moment, he is the spit and image of his dad James. Speaking of unwavering faith - without James, Lily and Sirius then, Remus might just have turned to the wrong side still; it's been his friends who taught him the meaning of friendship, and warmth, and that people can like him despite his monstrosity -

"Sometimes you remind me a lot of James," he says, laughing. "He called it my 'furry little problem' in company. Many people were under the impression that I owned a badly behaved rabbit!"

"Have you ever heard of someone called the Half-Blood Prince?"

"The Half-Blood what?"

"Prince," Harry says with emphasis.

"There are no wizarding princes." He smirks, thinking that Sirius did consider himself a little prince back then, didn't he? It's like the typical feature of that family, and although Sirius was one of the kindest people that Remus has ever met - he had a fair share of his family's hauteur, too. "Is that a title you're thinking of adopting? I should have thought being the Chosen One would be enough!"

"It's nothing to do with me!" Harry continues, and between the lines, Remus can see that he's thinking of his dad. "James was a pureblood, Harry, and I promise you, he never asked us to call him 'prince'."

"And it wasn't Sirius? Or you?"

"Definitely not."

He can see the boy's disappointment. God, look at him; he's so desperate to have something from his father, he'd be content believing that some battered old Potions book belonged to James, only to cling to something. Yes, Remus understands this. He's kept a shabby old Whimbourne Wesps T-shirt that Nymphadora's once left in his flat, only because it belonged to her, only because it still faintly smells like her.

Then they all go to bed; Molly and Bill's fiancée have a bit of a quarrel. Look at her, too! There's Molly, with the ready-made perfect daughter-in-law - Fleur's gorgeous, and clever, and disregarding some minor bad habits, also a very friendly person - but Molly despises her still. Now imagine what good Andromeda Tonks is saying behind closed doors, about her daughter going out with a werewolf! The actual Christmas Morning doesn't get any better either.

"You are as bad as zat Tonks. She is always knocking -"

"I invited dear Tonks to come along today. But she wouldn't come. Have you spoken to her lately, Remus?" Molly snarls poignantly.

She doesn't truly want to discuss this now, does she?! "No," he replies with ostentatious calmness, "I haven't been in contact with anybody very much. But Tonks has got her own family to go to, hasn't she?"

Molly makes a little growl and narrows her eyes. "Maybe. I got the impression she was planning to spend Christmas alone, actually!"

That remark hits home - just what Molly's had in mind! Remus bites his lip, exchanging an angry glance with his host. She's alone? At Christmas? What about her parents? What about - Harry interrupts that fatuous train of thought.

"Tonks' Patronus has changed its form. Snape said so, anyway. I didn't know that could happen. Why would your Patronus change?" Harry asks eagerly. Remus considers himself lucky to have a big chunk of turkey in his mouth that allows him to delay his answer for a moment.

"Sometimes... A great shock - an emotional upheaval..." In a way, this is wishful thinking - he wishes that Nymphadora has come over him and begun anew with someone else, someone better. The same thought makes him feel sick though, dreading to see her with another man.

"It looked big, and it had four legs" Harry goes on, but luckily, he doesn't notice that Remus is choking on a bit of pastry with that mention. "Hey - it couldn't be...?"

Before he could say anything, Molly has cried out, giving the impression of getting a heart attack, and exclaims that her third oldest, Percy, is about to come home. Remus finds that shady, to say the least, but he couldn't be more grateful for just anything to change the subject of Nymphadora. They all stare, because Percy isn't alone - he is coming with Rufus Scrimgeour - now what the hell is that supposed to mean -

Molly is out of herself, pressing her child to her mighty bosom. It would seem that she's the only one not noticing that Percy clearly wants to be elsewhere, judging his stiff pose. Scrimgeour seizes the chance and coaxes Harry out, into the garden. That bastard, he -

"It's fine," Harry says, shooting Remus a soothing look. "Fine."