“this is bullshit.”

remus cursed as he tried to untangle the mess of christmas lights in the box in front of him, his scottish accent showing more with the angry words. it seemed no matter how hard he pulled and tugged they kept getting tangled.

of course he would never ask for help. not in a million years. he was stubborn and prideful and had been doing everything alone for as long as he could remember. from the muggle boy’s home he’d been placed in to trying to survive as a werewolf at hogwarts, he was a good as a loner, save for the marauders. and you, of course.

christmas was usually a time of quiet, when most of the other students went home and allowed him the castle in peace. but this year a good amount of deatheater kids had decided to stay behind, terrorizing other students. he knew it was because their parents were out helping voldemort, but the school refused to boot them.

unfortunately, james had already planned a vacation with his parents and sirius was confined to grimmauld place under the threat of shaving all his hair off again, leaving the two of you to find a place to stay for winter break.

you’d rented a shitty apartment and had gotten decorations along with a tree.

the very tree remus stood in front of, glaring at the tangled lights like they were his enemy. he’d donned a simple white button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off the scars and freckles on his arms.

when you stepped forward to help him he shot you a warning look, practically growling out, “the tree will be jus’ fine without lights.”

he knew he was being snappy and grumpy, but he couldn’t help himself. you had agreed to house him knowing it was near a full moon. it always made him sore and tired and irritated.