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CHAPTER THIRTY SIX - 🍂 ୧ christmas. . .
& drawings ও🦌

AUGUST RIVERS, WITH ALL HIS FURY AND RAGE at the sight of his daughter in the arms of a boy which would make most fathers livid with rage, was unaware at the moment that his daughter and her boyfriend were just getting a little heated with one another as they were just outside of his view. However, when James and Autumn both realized that August was looking in their direction, they swiftly separated while acting as casually as possible so that they would not arouse suspicion.

"Merlin, that was close..." James muttered softly to himself as he watched her father retreat from the window, just before the front door was then opened by the very same man who was now giving both teens a rather menacing smile.

Autumn's father was undoubtedly livid, and his rage was made all the more intense by the sight of his daughter alone with James. He then proceeded to approach the pair, while they remained completely tensed and ready to run at any given moment, but at the same time, they tried to remain casual.

"Now you are being overly bold," August said, looking at James, who flinched in response to the deadly look.

August's eyes narrowed, his gaze bearing down on James like the cold wind of winter. In the corner of his eye, he could sense Autumn drawing closer. With a soft sigh, she tapped his arm.

"Dad," Autumn said as she walked to her dad and tapped him on the arm.

August stared at James for a moment longer before grabbing Autumn and bringing her back into the house. He attempted to close the door on James, but Autumn stopped her father.

"Dad, It wouldn't be nice to shut him out of his own house." was what she said.

August sighed and relented, allowing himself to be led inside by his daughter. It would appear that her father could still learn a few lessons in civility.

Her father's attempt to keep Autumn away from James failed. While he had been taken away by his wife and the other adults since the wizard's parents wanted to learn all about the muggle lifestyle, they hadn't taken away Autumn's stubbornness or defiance.

With a cheeky smile on her face, she made her way around her father and back outside towards the direction where James was standing.

August grumbled but gave in when he saw the two join the rest of the teens with them. He was fine with it as long as his daughter was nowhere near James alone.

With a sigh, he resigned himself to his daughter and James. As she joined the rest of the teens, he kept a watchful eye on her, making sure that she wasn't alone with James.

James sat next to Autumn and whispered," At least we got to kiss."

Autumn chuckled and playfully elbowed him," Well, hate to break it to you, Loverboy, but we might not get the chance again until we get back to school."

James let out a cry," I'll be so deprived of Autumn." She pitifully pat his head as he lowered in defeat.

...

As the days passed and the teens had been trying to think of how to assist Remus during Christmas, opportunities had presented themselves.

Lyall had been summoned for work due to the increasing presence of Boggarts, making it impossible for him to be home for the holiday. In addition, Hope had also been called in to work, providing an opportunity for the Marauders to assist Remus on the night of the full moon.

A few days before the holiday, the group had finally decided to let Lily in on the secret.

Lily had been a close friend to everyone for quite some time, so it only makes sense that they would want to keep her in the loop. After some discussion, they finally decided that she should know the truth behind Remus's condition.

When they all gathered Lily in James' room, as it was the only place where the adults wouldn't interrupt them, Autumn took it upon herself to lead the conversation.

"Lily, we need to tell you something important," she said in a soft tone, taking her hand.

Lily's eyes darted around the room, taking in each of her friends. She wasn't a fool, and she could tell that they had been keeping secrets from her, but she had chosen not to pry or question it.

After a moment's pause, she gave a small nod of her head.

"Ok, what is it?" she asked, her voice soft and sincere.

Raven cleared her throat and kneeled next to Lily, looking at her before she continued speaking. "It's something that I really hope won't change things."

The Marauders held their breath, the words coming out of Raven's mouth heavy with the weight of the secret they were about to reveal to their friend.

A period of prolonged silence fell over the group as they exchanged looks amongst themselves, before Lily finally spoke, her tone exasperated.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, please tell me before I die in this silence."

Lily's words cut through the silence like a hot knife on butter, and the Marauders and girls could not help but chuckle slightly at her exasperated tone.

Raven was the one who spoke up first.

"Well, before you actually die from the silence," she said with a small smile, "there's something you need to know about Remus."

Lily tilted her head before letting out a breath.

"You mean, the fact that he is a werewolf?" she asked, her demeanour shifting slightly as she spoke. It was like all of her suspicions had been confirmed in one sweep of the rug.

They all shared glances with each other, some of them shifting in their seats as their eyes fixed on Lily.

Remus let out a breath, but Sirius was the first to break the silence after Lily revealed the truth.

"Wait, hold on, you knew Lily??" he barked, a look of surprise on his expression as he stared at her. Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats, a tense atmosphere pervading the room as they waited to see what she said next.

Lily spoke carefully, her attention shifting to Remus.

"I mean, I wasn't so sure," she said. "I figured it out after you missed a lot of prefect meetings, and the scars also made sense." Remus shifted uncomfortably.

Peter spoke up next, his voice carrying with it an edge of uncertainty as if he weren't confident in the response he would get.

"And um..." he started, his voice slightly uncertain. "And you aren't bothered by it?"

Lily laughed, the sudden noise of amusement filling the room and easing the tension that had been building up for several minutes.

"Of course not, Pete," she said. "I know Remus for who he is and not for what he has to endure once a month."

Raven let the loudest relief and the others also visibly relaxed, their bodies slouching slightly as a weight settled from their shoulders. It was looking like the revelation would have a positive outcome after all.

"Oh, Lily I love you." Raven leaned close, whispering softly and then hugging Lily, who returned the gesture.

"The love is very much mutual, Raven," she whispered back. They were close, and she was glad that the secret was out in the air as she embraced her friend.

James and Sirius playfully pushed each other, happy about the good-natured reaction that their friend had shown.

Peter tilted his head, his next words drawing all of their attention. "So, uh, is it okay to also tell you that we are Animagi?"

Lily's voice was one of surprised incredulity as she processed what she had been told. The Marauders all froze, staring at Peter as they tried to comprehend how nonchalant he was in sharing the information.

Autumn stepped in, her tone shifting to one of light-hearted joking as she said, "It's only the guys," she explained casually. She added a teasing grin as she continued, "How about you try to guess their forms."

Lily snickered at the suggestion, her eyes flicking over to Sirius before she spoke up. "All I see is a dog when I look at Sirius.

Raven let out a snort, a look of amusement in her eyes as she watched Sirius being offended at how easily Lily had guessed what he was. But that amusement was quickly replaced with laughter as the other Marauders joined their voices with hers, laughing loudly at their friend.

Autumn struggled to retain her composure, her efforts to hold back her laughter ultimately coming to nothing. She was soon laughing alongside the others as she watched her friend being mocked by everyone else.

Lily found the other's Animagi forms more difficult to guess, but that night she grew closer to them all. As the night went on, they all bonded and shared in their newfound trust, forming a deeper friendship as the friends revealed some of their hidden sides to her.

AS CHRISTMAS AND THE HOLIDAY SEASON rolled around, everyone returned to their respective homes and families, spending time celebrating with those they held dear.

James, Sirius, and Peter all snuck out of their homes to help Remus with his transformation, but the girls were left to pray that the night would be uneventful.

Autumn in particular, was unable to be settled and found herself drawing without even realizing it. As she sat with her parents, watching their traditional Christmas film of the night, she was lost in her own world, her pencils dancing across the paper in an ethereal flow.

Her parents were so focused on the film, that neither noticed her lack of attention while she was lost in her world. But when the movie ended, they became aware of the piles of paper surrounding her.

"Hey sweetie, the movie's over," her mother's voice rang out as she leaned over to gently tap her on the shoulder.

It was her mother who was closest to her picked up one of the drawings—and it made her screech in surprise.

Autumn gasped as she saw the smudged charcoal on her hands, her gaze then travelling to the piles of paper that surrounded her, the realization of what she had been doing slowly settling on her.

"Oh, sweetie, you're drawing these again?" her father glanced at the drawing and shook his head, his expression one of slight disapproval.

Autumn's brows furrowed as she stared at the drawings, the images she had sketched out catching her eye. The faces in the drawings were all of people she had never seen before, each with dark and ominous expressions, the spells they wielded sending a shiver down her spine. While the drawings were dark and colourless, the feeling that she got from the images was one that made her stomach twist with dread.

"You said again? What do you mean?" Autumn turned the conversation, directing the attention towards her father and his words.

August's expression shifted, the corners of his eyes twitching with unease. He sucked in air through his teeth before lowering the drawing. Seeing the tension on his face, his wife left the room and returned several minutes later with a leather briefcase.

Aurelia took a moment before handing the briefcase over to Autumn. The teen took a moment before opening the case and her eyes grew wide as she looked at the drawing lying on top of the rest.

"No way," she whispered as she began to look through the drawings. "How can this be possible?"

Each of the drawings was the times she had met each of her friends—Raven from when they were kids back in grade school, and the rest of them during their time together at Hogwarts.

"You drew them a few days after we learned you were a witch." August sat down on the couch as he looked at the moving drawings, his expression shifting as he looked closely at the details.

"Wait so this was years ago?" Autumn asked, her eyes scanning the various drawings, which all had details that she had never noticed before," The one with Raven, makes sense because I already met her...but the rest?"

Aurelia sat down on the coffee table. "Yes, and we also inquired about it with, the Headmaster and he did seem awfully trivial when we asked him".

"You discussed this with Dumbledore?" Autumn's eyebrows rose. "What did he say?"

"He just said that it was very well drawn and that it was interesting." August sighed and shook his head, his hands lingering on the briefcase for a moment before he gathered the drawings and placed them inside.

"For now, let's not talk about this. Not on Christmas." His voice was firm and decisive, his gaze on her as he spoke, leaving no room for argument.

Autumn gave in to the firmness of her father's words and sucked in the air before letting it out. She watched her mum take the case away and felt the tension in her body ease a bit as she decided to not question anything further tonight.

She had drawn her friends before they ever met, and now she was beginning to realize just how odd this truly was. Her drawings were more than she had originally thought, that much was certain, but there was more that she needed to know to get a full understanding of just how different these drawings truly were.