The sleigh moved swiftly through the feet of snow. Its gentle rushing, scraping sound was, however, masked by the jingle of the dozens of sleigh bells. The horse's footsteps were silent in the snow, and led the way before the rails on either side of the sleigh joined in marking the formerly untouched snow.

Snow fell continuously, dusting then covering Remus and Bill where they sat huddled in the open sleigh. Several thick woolen blankets were piled up on top of them, and both wore multiple layers of clothing to keep as warm as possible. Their faces from noses to foreheads were the only parts visible amongst the hats, scarves, mittens, cloaks and blankets. But that much was enough to show that Bill was asleep with his head on Remus' shoulder. Remus' arm was wrapped around Bill's shoulders, holding him as close as was humanly possible.

He felt just as sleepy as Bill did, and the gentle jingling of the bells along with the bouncing of the sleigh over the snowdrifts was not helping at all. It was the sort of chilly out where they constantly felt on the verge of shivering. Their cheeks and noses were bright red from the cold, though Bill's had been that way before they had left, as well.

They hit an especially large bump, which made the bells jingle even more loudly and which shook the sleigh when it settled back down again in the snow. Bill stirred, sniffled, and sat up straight. "Don't worry. We're nearly there," Remus told him, squeezing tightly in a hug.

Bill shivered and looked around. The sun had just been setting when he'd gone to sleep, though it had seemed later as they'd been in the shady woods. But now it was clearly late for he could barely see his hand in front of his face for the darkness and the snow. Bill breathed out heavily through his mouth and nodded in understanding. He was eager to get out of the cold and would have apparated had he the energy. As it was, staying awake was something of a chore.

"You can go back to sleep," said Remus soothingly. His hand, in a mitten, reached up and stroked Bill's cheek. Then Remus tugged the blankets higher up, almost to their necks. Beneath the blankets, Bill snuggled closer to Remus.

He was about to close his eyes when his breath caught. Familiar with that sound by now, Remus brought out a handkerchief. The hand-off was somewhat clumsy, due to Bill's sleepiness and the sneeze building and seizing him, and also due to Remus' mittens and Bill's gloves. But the handkerchief, and both pairs of hands along with it, made it to Bill's face in time to catch the sneezes. "hihhhShahhhh! hehhhChooo!" His nose was rubbed as dry as possible afterwards, as the cold air would have stung him terribly otherwise. As it was, he was still sniffly afterwards and unable to fall back to sleep despite drifting off for a few seconds three or four times.

Remus rubbed Bill's shoulder and upper arm through their layers of clothing, soothing him enough to get him to at least close his eyes while they rode. "Almost there," Remus repeated softly. Bill snuggled against him, wrapping an arm around his middle.

True enough, not twenty minutes later, the sleigh was pulling up to a small cabin in the middle of the dense woods. "Looks smaller than it is on the inside," said Remus a bit self-consciously.

His teeth chattering too hard to talk, Bill tried to give Remus a reassuring smile as they slowly drove into the side barn. The barn was big enough for the sleigh on one side and a sizeable horse stall on the other. Magic kept it warm and kept the water in the horse trough from freezing over. Remus unhooked the horse, brushed him down a little, then threw a blanket over his back. The horse nuzzled him repeatedly until he set out a bucket of oats and held out an apple on the flat of his palm. The horse whinnied and ate eagerly. Bill and Remus both patted his muzzle in appreciation. Remus made sure there was enough fresh hay and water, then took Bill's gloved hand and headed out of the barn and into the cabin. They carried with them their bags that had been piled in the back of the carriage.

The cabin was not quite as warm as the barn, but there was a large, empty fireplace and a couch full of pillows and blankets. Remus led a stiff and shivering Bill straight over to the couch. With Remus' help, Bill stripped down to nothing, leaving the snow-damp clothes on the floor. Remus wrapped blankets around Bill then piled wood in the fireplace. He aimed his wand at it and flames leapt up to begin eating at the kindling and logs.

"hehChooo! Hah-hahShooo! hahhhShuhh!" Bill caught all three sneezes in his hand and shivered.

Remus returned to the couch to take care of him, wiping his hand dry, wiping his nose as well. Then Remus snuggled up against Bill beneath the blankets. "Blessings," he said softly. "Any better now?"

Bill shrugged. "Can't get the sound of those bells out of my head," Bill said with a chuckle. "But I'm warmer." He sniffled hard. "So, this is your cabin, is it?" He looked around. The cabin consisted of one large room, with a counter indicating where the kitchen area begun and a bed indicating the sleeping area. Apart from an almost vacant space in front of the front door, and a door that supposedly led to a bathroom, the only other thing in the cabin was the sitting area with its couch and fireplace.

Bill's breath caught again. "hehhh... hehh-CHIHH! H'Shoo!" This time he wiped his own nose with the handkerchief. He felt Remus hug him tightly in reassurance, and Bill shook his head. "I'm so sorry about this, Rem. I thought for sure I had outgrown these seasonal head colds. And even when I felt a cold coming on this morning, I really did not think it would be this bad."

"Seasonal head colds?" Remus asked curiously.

Nodding, "All throughout my childhood I'd come down sick just prior to Christmas. After I moved to Egypt I thought I had outgrown this. But it seems they're back again now that I'm back in England for the long term. I... I..." His face fell. "hehhh-hehhShooo! ehhhShuhhh!" He shivered and rubbed at his nose.

Remus popped up to a cup of tea, and returned to find Bill blowing his nose. Remus slipped beneath the blankets again, shrugging nonchalantly when Bill offered an apology. "Drink and get warmer. Then we'll snuggle up in bed together."

"I'm not so great a snuggle partner, I'm afraid. All I seem to be able to do is sniffle and sneeze." He rubbed the handkerchief beneath his nose, looking guilty.

"See, that's where you're wrong. That makes you the perfect snuggle partner," Remus said kindly. "Gives me all sorts of excuses to stay close to you and help warm you." He kissed Bill's cheek with all the gentleness he possessed. "Now, drink your tea while I dig out pajamas to put in front of the fire so they're all nice and warm when you're finished."

Bill drank and sniffled and drank again as he watched Remus bustling around to make things perfect. The only problem with perfect was how it had the potential to go bad. "hehhhShooo! Ehhh-ehhh-HEHShooo!"

"Blessings!" Remus called cheerfully from the other side of the cabin. "Do you need another hanky while I'm over here?" And before Bill had a chance to answer, Remus was at his side, leaning over the back of the couch with another handkerchief. Bill took it gratefully and blew his nose.

Bill watched as Remus slid back beneath the blankets and snuggled up to him. Everything outside the blanket, including Remus and his clothes, were cold at first, but quickly warmed significantly against Bill. Bill looked past Remus to a partly frosted-over window. He could just make out the large flakes falling steadily and the darkness beyond which made it impossible to see any of the wood. Suddenly feeling very cut off and snowed in, Bill asked uncertainly, "Wonder when it will stop, or even slow?"

Remus shook his head. "Not tonight, I'm sure. It's really coming down out there." He looked from the window back to Bill, and the steaming mug in hand that was not steaming as much now. Bill got the signal and turned his attention to the tea to take his mind off the snow. It had been easy to think of the cabin while they'd been traveling through the snow... but now that they were inside, the snow was all Bill could think about.

He tried his best to drink the tea, but it was soothing and made him feel drowsy. The gentle crackling of the fire and Remus snuggling beside him did not help him wake, either. The only thing that was even remotely keeping him awake was the fullness of his nose and he ache in his head. His eyes longed to close, though he wanted nothing more than to enjoy his first night of his holiday getaway with Remus. "ehhhh... ehhhShooo!" He sneezed, with accompanying shivers and sniffles. His eyes were slow to open afterwards.

"I'm so sorry," Bill said finally, handing the half-drunk cup to Remus with what little sense he had left. "I do like the tea, or however much of it I can taste, but I think I had better lie down. I'm just feeling too rotten."

"Of course," Remus said, understanding at once. Quickly, he retrieved the pajamas from the hearth and then collected Bill. He guided the man over to the bed, an arm wrapped around his middle to hold him steady. Then he sat Bill down and helped him change. Bill's eyes closed as Remus pulled the flannel plaid pajama top over his head. But as Remus continued to dress him, Bill found he could not open his eyes back up again.

Nearly nodding off even as Remus moved his body about, Bill finally found himself being eased onto his side. Thick, heavy blankets were piled on top of him, one by one, and then they filled with warmth as Remus joined him in bed, sliding right up against Bill's back and hugging him tightly from behind.

"Sorry about... my cold..." Bill whispered, practically unsure of what he was saying, he was so tired.

"It is all right," Remus whispered back as he breathed warmly against Bill's neck. "Tomorrow I'll whip up a cold potion and we can talk about if we want to stay as long as we had planned. If you have to feel this miserable, you'd probably prefer doing so in your own bed instead of this unfamiliar cabin in the middle of nowhere."

Bill shook his head weakly. "Want to stay here... with you... no matter what..." He broke off, yawning heavily, then coughing.

Smiling, Remus dragged his fingers through Bill's hair, pulling out the hair tie and combing out the snags and tangles. "We will talk tomorrow when you've had some rest." He leaned forward, craning his neck, and kissed the corner of Bill's mouth, which was as close to lips as he could get.

"Remus..." Bill whispered with what sounded like all the energy he had left.

"Shhh," Remus hushed him, shaking his head. Then he smiled. "It's all right. Don't worry. I used to catch cold fairly easy when I was young, as well. Especially in the wintertime. I think there's something in this wolfsbane potion I now take that helps with that. Anyway, I remember one night when Sirius came home from babysitting baby Harry... Bill?"

Bill replied with a stuffy, snufffly snore. Remus smiled again and kissed the back of Bill's head. "Never mind, Love. Just sleep."

Remus woke the next morning to a cold bed. Worried something might be wrong, he opened his eyes at once and looked about. Still in his pajamas, Bill knelt on the far side of the bed. He had his arms crossed upon the windowsill and was looking out of the frosty window with a rather dreamy look upon his face. Remus cleared his throat and sat up. "Bill?"

Bill glanced over his shoulder, smiling. "Morning. Look, it stopped snowing overnight. It's gorgeous out. Come see the snow." He reached a hand out to Remus.

Feeling a bit sleepy still, Remus yawned, then crawled out from under the covers and over to Bill. He took the man's hand and then knelt beside him, looking out as well.

Snow covered everything as far as the eye could see. Every branch on every tree had at least a dusting, if not more that the wind had been unable to disturb. Feet of untouched snow covered the ground, with gentle waves and gradual slopes. Everything was bright white, and the sun glistened off it with a soft, welcoming glow. "It's a gorgeous sight," Remus whispered, squeezing Bill's hand.

Bill's hand shook a little, and his face fell with the need to sneeze. "ehhhh-ehhhShuhhhh! ehhhShooo! HehShooo!" Bill raised his other hand and rubbed at his nose with the back of it. "Really wanted our first holiday getaway together to be special."

"It is- it will be," Remus insisted. He felt Bill's forehead and cheeks for fever, but there didn't seem to be one. "Assuming you want to stay. The snow's deep and thick out there, but with a few spells we might be able to get through."

Bill shook his head. "Want to stay. Want to get to know this part of you. I had a look around while you were sleeping, you know." Remus looked curious but also wanted to pull Bill away from the window and back under the covers. He did not make a move to do so, however. "Want to know the stories behind those pictures on the mantle. Want to know about the last times you were here. And I want to make new memories, happy memories, of this place with you."

Now far from the subject of the brilliant snowfall, Remus pulled Bill back down on the bed and pulled the blankets up over him. "Let's start with a little breakfast in bed, then." Bill nodded enthusiastically. Remus administered a soft kiss against Bill's cool lips. He felt Bill's lips twitch a moment later, and Remus pulled back, immediately reaching for a handkerchief even before his familiar build-up breaths could begin.

Stuffing the hanky into Bill's hand, he then directed it up to Bill's face in time. "huhhhSMPHHhhhhhh!" Bill sneezed, snapping forward. "Hobe we... oh..." He blew his nose briefly, and cleared his throat. "Sorry. Hope we brought enough handkerchiefs."

Remus chuckled. "I know some good cleaning spells. Don't you worry about that." He wrapped his arms around Bill's shoulders in a hug and kissed Bill again in reassurance. "In fact, don't you worry about anything." He pulled back and tucked the blankets around Bill more tightly. And Bill smiled, feeling as though Remus were still hugging him.