In the middle of a muggy night in early August, Abigail Mae Potter woke up covered in sweat, tangled up in her sheets. Abby had been tossing turning, and having trouble sleeping the entire night. She had finally decided that it was taking too much effort. She padded out of her bedroom and down the hallway, heading towards the kitchen for some water. As she walked down the upstairs hallway at Potter Manor, portraits of Abby's relatives waved at her. She could hear the peaceful snoring of both her parents and her twin brother, James drifting out from under their bedroom doors.

Once she had descended the stairs, she suddenly heard an odd tapping noise coming from the front of the house. Remembering the headlines about Death Eaters and You-Know-Who that had been recently featured in The Daily Prophet, Abby drew out her wand and cautiously walked in the direction of the noise.

"Lumos!" Abby whispered, grateful that she was finally old enough to use magic outside of school, quickly lighting her wand in order to lead her towards the front door. The tapping continued, and she considered the dangers that may be lurking behind the door. She nearly backed away as she entertained thoughts of vampires, werewolves and Death Eaters in her mind, but the bravery that had placed her into Gryffindor six years ago prevailed; she continued towards the door. With her wand at the ready and a shaking hand, she twisted open the knob and slowly opened the door.

Standing on the doorstep was none other than Sirius Black, Hogwarts' heartthrob, Marauder and best friend of Abby's twin brother, James. However, on that night, Sirius was almost unrecognizable. His soft grey eyes were hard and red; he had obviously been crying.

"Abby," Sirius croaked, "I've had enough."

"Oh, Sirius," Abby sighed as she pulled him into a hug, "Whatever it is, I'm sure that we can fix it... or at least find a solution for it."

"I'm not so sure, Abby, I don't think I'll ever be able to go back there. They've already blasted me off of the Black family tapestry."

Sirius was obviously referring to his parent's house, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. The legendary Black family was one of the oldest and most powerful pureblood wizarding families still around. Sirius was the first of the Black legacy to ever be placed into a house besides Slytherin, excepting only his cousin Andromeda, who was in Ravenclaw. This had caused an unbearable tension between his parents and himself. As a result, Sirius spent most of his holidays and time away from school at the Potter's estate.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Abby gently questioned.

Sirius looked pensive, most likely recalling the events of the earlier hours of the night. He grimaced, "Actually, do you think I could just sleep now?"

Abby nodded slowly, searching Sirius' face for the right thing to say. Finally she just patted his shoulder in hopes of comforting him, "Just stay in the spare room tonight, and we can sort everything out in the morning."

Sirius nodded sleepily, "Sounds good to me."

Abby studied her brother's best friend. It was hard to believe that the same flirty playboy that romanced many of Hogwarts' most beautiful females was standing, dripping wet, in the middle of her living room. Sirius looked deflated, very likely a result of extreme verbal abuse. Abby had never seen Sirius look so serious before, except maybe when planning a prank with the rest of the Marauders. His handsome, chiseled features appeared somber, and before she realized what she was doing, Abby had pulled Sirius into a quick, tight hug.

When Sirius finally opened his eyes the next morning, he was surprised to find himself in the Potter's spare room. He was just trying to remember if he had consumed copious amounts of Firewhiskey the night before and passed out. This would explain his lack of memory of the events that occurred the night before. Then, a wave of realization washed over him. A smirk played at his lips as he remembered the embraces with Abby, but then when he recalled the way that she had so kindly comforted him, he felt dirty for thinking of her the same way as every other girl. If there was one thing that Abby wasn't, it was the same as everyone else.

As Sirius sauntered into the Potter's kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Abby looked up and nearly choked on her porridge. Sirius looked at her quizzically, one eyebrow raised.

"Merlin, Sirius! If you walk around like that at Hogwarts, you'll cause over ninety percent of the girls to have a coronary!" Abby exclaimed.

Sirius looked down at his bare chest, shrugged, and turned to get a bowl of porridge. Ignoring Abby's blushing; Sirius asked conversationally, "So, have you had a word with your parents yet?"

Abby nodded, still flushed pink from the sight of his abs, "I spoke to Mum and Dad before they went off to work," she explained, "Of course, Dad's delighted that you're here, he loves having yet another... er..." Abby glanced pointedly at his bare torso, "... man around the house. As for Mum, she's quite pleased that you've come early; James has been driving her batty."

"Ahh, good ol' Prongs!" Sirius grinned fondly, "Where is the old chap anyway?"

"The lazy prat is still asleep, of course," Abby rolled her eyes, exasperated, "If you're looking for my blessing to wake him up, you've got it."

Sirius' eyes lit up, a mischievous grin spreading across his face, "This'll be a laugh," he insured. "Follow behind me, but stay quiet!"

Abby wondered what on earth he could have planned already, but her instincts told her to trust him, seeing as James had no idea that Sirius had arrived at their house the night before.

As Sirius crept into James's room, with Abby following closely behind, James was fast asleep and completely vulnerable to Sirius' attack. Sirius walked over to the side of James's bed, leaned over to James and whispered (in what he must have thought Lily's voice sounded like), "James, it's me, Lily."

The corners of James's mouth curled upwards in a pleasant grin before he murmured, "Lily..." in his sleep. Abby stifled a giggle. Sirius moved closer to him, whispering in a falsetto, "Kiss me, James!"

James's grin grew and before Sirius could move away, James puckered up and kissed "Lily." Sirius yelped and leapt away from his friend's bed, waking James from his slumber. James' eyes widened in shock as he saw Sirius, and then even more when he realized it wasn't really Lily he had just kissed.

"Bloody hell, Padfoot!" James exclaimed, while Abby observed in peals of laughter, "How did you get here? When did you get here? And why, in the name of Merlin, are you trying to snog me?"

Abby giggled as she watched the two Marauders bicker together.

Grinning, she leaned against the wall and thought to herself, This is going to be an entertaining summer holiday!