Sirius Black paced rapidly back and forth in the Gryffindor dormitory. "Bloody full moon!" he muttered angrily to himself, "Especially on bloody Christmas Eve!" He was of course, thinking of Remus Lupin lying weak, and possibly unconscious in the school infirmary. The timing for the moon this month had been just awful, bad enough for it to fall over the holidays, but to land on Christmas Eve was just so unfair.

He couldn't keep his mind off of poor Moony. With James and Peter gone home for the winter break, Moony had absolutely forbade Sirius from being present for the transformation. The wolf was too dangerous and unpredictable for Padfoot to manage alone without Prongs for back up. Although Sirius knew deep down that he was right, he had argued with him about it for hours. The transformation had been a bad one for Remus. Without the others for distraction, and to let him out of the shack, the wolf had taken out it's frustration by, gnawing, scratching and biting itself.

Sirius had been awake most of the night worrying about Remus, and he was waiting at the infirmary to see Remus at dawn when Madame Pomfrey had brought him back from the shack. She had tried to send him away but Sirius had pleaded just to be able to see him for a moment. He used every ounce of his charm to try to persuade her, but in the end it was the worry and sadness in his eyes that made her relent. "Just five minutes Mr Black, and don't you dare wake him! Then you need to get out of my hair and promise not to come back until at least lunchtime!"

Sirius agreed and gratefully made his way to Remus' bed in the infirmary. He gasped at what he saw. Remus looked so fragile, so weak that Sirius' heart just ached. He seemed to be unconscious, or sleeping, he couldn't tell which, and he was covered with cuts and bruises. Sirius could also see several bulky bandages visible through Remus' pajamas. He sat in the chair by the bedside and just watched his breathing. He wanted to touch him, stroke him, just for a minute, but he couldn't find an uninjured spot. He finally ran his fingers gently through Remus' honey colored hair, pushing the strands back from his face. He was just sitting and staring at Remus when Madame Pomfrey made her way back in and sent him away.

Now he was waiting ever so impatiently to go back to the infirmary and bring Moony back so they could have their Christmas. All of his presents sat unopened, waiting with Moony's. Owl's had come from both James and Peter, but the notes remained unopened, waiting for Remus' return. After what seemed like days of waiting, Sirius looked at the ancient grandfather clock in the common room and noticed the time was 11:55. He ran all the way to the infirmary, nearly trampling a group of first year Hufflepuffs and nearly giving Professor McGonagall a heart attack, when he almost collided with her coming round a corner. Feeling in a benevolent mood, and knowing his destination, she merely smiled after him shaking her head.

He arrived at the infirmary doors quite out of breath at 11:58. Madame Pomfrey looked up from her desk as he arrived. "Ah, Mr Black, right on time I see. But I'm afraid Mr Lupin will need to remain in the infirmary for the day...."

Panic appeared on Sirius' handsome features, "Is he all right? What happened?"

"Now Mr Black, don't worry," She patted his arm reassuringly, "He'll be fine. He just seems to have acquired a terrible cold on top of his other injuries and since he can't take any Pepper Up, it's best that he remains here to recover."

"But.....it's Christmas! He can't spend all of Christmas here!"

"This is the best place for him to be. You can spend some time visiting, and come have supper with him if you like..."

"But Madame Pomfrey, please you have to understand, Remus just loves Christmas. He'll miss it all if he's here. Isn't there any way he can come back at least to the dormitory. His presents are all there, even if he just opens them in bed, it'll be better than being in hospital for Christmas." She eyed him warily as he continued. "Please, I'll take care of him, I promise. I'll be sure he rests, I'll do whatever you say, just please let Remus out for Christmas."

As much as she wanted to ignore him, the boy's arguments swayed her. She had been caring for Remus Lupin for years, and she knew that he truly did love Christmas, and how disappointed he had been that the full moon had fallen on Christmas Eve. And she also knew that he truly did love Sirius Black. They had seemed an odd match at first, and it had taken her a long time to trust the Black boy, but she knew that he really wanted Remus to be happy. It was against her better judgement, but she decided this once, for Christmas only to give in.

"All right Mr Black, because it's Christmas, and I know we both want Mr Lupin to have as happy a Christmas as he possibly can, I will let him out. Later this afternoon" She added as Sirius whooped with joy. "But you must follow my instructions exactly and I am holding YOU responsible to make sure he rests and stays in bed!"

"Oh yes, Madame Pomfrey, thank you so much! Anything you say, I'll follow all of your instructions exactly!"

She found that she couldn't help but smile at the young man, he was almost dancing around the infirmary. "He's sleeping now, so we will let him continue to rest. At four o'clock this afternoon, and absolutely no earlier, you may return and escort Mr Lupin back to the dormitory. But he absolutely must rest! Is that understood?"

"Yes, Madame Pomfrey, thank you so much!" Sirius suddenly threw his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. "I've got to go get everything ready! I'll be back at 4 o'clock." The usually stern matron, grinned after the boy now almost skipping down the hallway.

Sirius hurried back to the dormitory to make everything just perfect for Remus. He spent hours on the "perfect" holiday decorations. He then moved on to Remus' bed, changing the sheets to the soft flannel ones he had bought him for Christmas, and brought his quilt over to add to Remus' own. He placed a stack of handkerchiefs on the bedside table and headed down to the kitchens to see what the house elves had to offer his friend.

At exactly four o'clock he returned to the infirmary. Before letting him into see Remus, Madame Pomfrey gave him strict instructions and several potions to administer to Remus. She also promised to check in on Remus a few hour later.

Sirius nearly ran to Remus' bed at the end of the ward. "Moony," he called, "I'm here to pick you up for Christmas!" His excitement faded a bit once he got a good look at his friend. The nurse had healed all of the superficial injuries and now his skin looked almost ghostly pale, except for the dark circles under his eyes, and red chapped lips and nose

. He was sitting on the bed, handkerchief raised to his face. He glanced up at Sirius, his face registering a smile for a moment before the sneezes struck. "ETCHOOOOOO!!!! Hehchooooo!!!! Ehh....ehhhh..... ehchooooooooo!!!! Hetchhhhhhh!!!" By the time he looked back up at Sirius had already made it to the bed and taken a seat beside him..

"How are you feeling Moony?" Sirius asked with concern in his voice.

Remus just shrugged his shoulders, and blew his nose wetly. Sirius put an arm gingerly around his shoulders, not exactly sure of the extent of his injuries and kissed him softly on the cheek.

Remus pulled away slightly, gently, "Careful Pads, you don't want to get sick."

"Pfffffttt! Black's don't get sick! And besides I've been waiting to touch you all day!" Sirius pouted playfully at Remus. "But really Moony, how are you?"

"Pretty miserable," he reluctantly admitted. "I'm not so sure it's a good idea for me to go back to the dorm with you......"

"Why not Moony? What's wrong?" Sirius grew more worried.

"No, it's okay, I'm fine. I'm just feeling pretty rotten and I'm not very good company like this...."

"Sirius' smile returned, "Oh Moony, don't be a git. As long as you're there, you're good company for me. Now let's go!"

The two slowly made their way up to Gryffindor Tower. After about half the long walk, Remus decided he should've stayed in hospital, but didn't have the heart to tell Sirius. He'd had to stop every few minutes to sneeze or blow his nose. The most embarrassing time being when Sirius thought he had stopped under the mistletoe for a quick kiss, when actually he had been oblivious to the plant and had stopped for another forceful bout of sneezing. He hadn't even noticed Sirius moving in for a kiss as he fumbled in his pocket for a handkerchief, he had only just managed to pull away before sneezing all over Sirius' face. Though to his credit, Remus thought, Sirius didn't seem at all concerned about his near miss.

Once they had finally made it to the Gryffindor common room, Sirius had insisted that Remus sit by the fire and rest for a few moments. By then, the sneezing and sniffling were becoming more and more frequent and all Remus wanted was to get to his bed, but his arguments fell upon deaf ears.

Once Sirius felt that he had rested long enough, he gently pulled Remus along to the dormitory. He opened the door and Remus gasped at the sight before him. The room was decorated with fresh pine garland and wreaths hung throughout. There was even a large fully decorated Christmas tree beside his bed, beneath which sat all of their presents, including two bouncing boxes that kept annoyingly shouting, "Open me first!", clearly from James, Remus thought. The hangings of his bed were strung with softly twinkling lights and the rest of the room was lit by floating candles.

"Of Sirius," Remus' eyes filled with tears, "This is so beautiful!"

"It's all for you Moony. Now come on to bed, I have a sworn oath to uphold."

Remus allowed himself to be led towards the bed and climbed in to toasty sheets, on which a warming spell clearly had been cast, as Sirius pulled back the quilts. Sirius positioned him comfortably with pillows and quickly handed him a handkerchief as he noted Remus fighting against a sneeze. Remus smiled gratefully at Sirius, who seemed to be anticipating his every need and brought the handkerchief up to his face. "Heh... Echoooo!!! Etchooooo!!!!! HehCHOOOO!!!" He blew his nose thoroughly and looked up to find Sirius offering him a large mug. He groaned inwardly at the thought of more tea, . Madame Pomfrey had been forcing it on him all day, but there was no way he would complain about anything to Sirius that night.

He accepted the mug and took a small sip, a smile spreading across his face once he tasted the hot chocolate inside. "Oh Padfoot, you have thought of everything haven't you!" His voice was hoarse and the tears returned to his eyes. This was true love he realized, what Sirius had done for him. He had taken a day, that had the makings of being the worst Christmas in his life and completely turned it around. He couldn't find the words to thank him.

Sirius saw the tears and grew concerned, in all the years he had known Remus he had rarely seen him cry, "What's wrong Moony? Are you feeling worse? Should I get Madame Pomfrey?"

Remus shook his head, trying to collect himself and find the right words. "It's.... it's this..." he gestured to the room, "All of this, it's just so perfect..... noone has ever done anything like this for me before. You.... you gave up your whole Christmas to make this for me..." He blew his nose self consciously, hoping Sirius would think it was due to his cold.

"Oh Moony," Sirius climbed into the bed and put his arms around Remus. "Don't be silly, I didn't give up anything. You are the only part of my Christmas that mattered, and now that you're back here with me, it's perfect." They stayed that way, cuddled up into bed for hours with Remus napping off and on until he finally felt strong enough to open his presents and eat some of the treats Sirius had procured from the kitchens.

It was late at night when Poppy Pomfrey made her way up to Gryffindor Tower to check on them, accompanied by the Gryffindor head of house. They came upon the boys cuddled up asleep in Remus' bed, Sirius with his arm draped protectively across Remus' chest, a fresh handkerchief held at the ready in his hand. After recovering from her surprise at the state of the room, the nurse silently examined Remus and checked him for fever. Both women left the dormitory wiping tears from their eyes and with a new respect for Sirius Black.