AN: IMPORTANT: The fancast for Sirius in this story is BEN BARNES, the 37-year-old actor.

The icy wind nipped at my nose uncomfortably as I walked down the snowy street, my basket clutched to my side, as if it were going to provide me with some warm.

I stopped right in front of the house next to mine, number 12. It gave off a very creepy vibe, that's the reason why I'd left it for last. It seemed abandoned, but I wouldn't know unless I checked.

So I gathered my guts and slowly stepped up to the door and knocked gently. I could hear some shuffling inside but no one answered. I knocked again.

I exhaled sharply. Alright, if no one was going to answer I should leave, my leg was starting to hurt anyway.

Right then the old dusty knob on the door started to turn. My heart sped up. I tried to tell myself there was nothing to be scared of when the door finally opened just a crack, and I could make out a tall figure standing there.

It took me a few seconds to react, I tried my best to keep a friendly smile. "Uh hi! I'm Tessa, I'm your next door neighbour. I've baked some Christmas biscuits for the whole neighborhood, and I just wanted to offer you some and wish you a happy Christmas."

The figure said nothing, but slowly opened the door just a crack more. I could kind of see their face now, although it was obscured by the lack of lighting in the house. It was a man, with a sharp jawline, a beard and brown hair, and that was about as far as I could tell.

I had no idea what I was supposed to do now, why wasn't he saying anything? I looked down. "Um I know this is kind of odd, but I'm sort of in-between jobs right now and I have a lot of time in my hands and I really love Christmas. I promise they're at least kind of good." I took the last brown bag with the Christmas tree painted on it and offered it to him.

There were a few tentative seconds where I just stood there with my arm outstretched, starting to want the earth to swallow me, but then the man slowly took the bag from my hand and whispered a "thanks."

I exhaled and nodded. I took a few steps back. "Right, I should be going then. See you."

I hoped my fast pace didn't make it look like I was trying to get away as fast as I could, but I was trying to get away as fast as I could.

So, that was fucking creepy.

It wasn't until today that I had started getting back into normal after Christmas celebrations. Christmas at my mother's house had always been an extravagant affair, which I loved. I'd slept over there the past two days, so today had been all about putting things back in order.

I blasted Queen through my stereo and laid down on my mat to stretch a little. My recent surgery might've stopped me from full on work outs and skating for the time being, but the doctor had said I could start on the little things like stretching and some light exercise.

I held my good leg up to to touch my nose. Huh. Not to bad for a near thirty-year-old retired ice dancer.

I heard some loud banging noises from next door but I tried to dismiss it.

I finished my exercises and headed over to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

Another loud bang coming from next door startled me and made me spill some water on the floor. Ugh.

I carefully stepped around the puddle to grab the mop from between the fridge and the oven. But it'd gotten stuck. Fuck.

My doctor would probably scold me for this but I pulled the fridge out of its little hole and reached behind it for the mop, when I noticed something on the wall.

It was a square, it reminded me of the garbage chute in my old apartment building, definitely big enough to fit one person through. I did not recall seeing that when I'd remodeled last year. But I could've just missed it, it was well camouflaged in the wall.

I climbed over the stove, to take a better look. It came up to my hips, and it looked like it could be a door, but there was no handle. I reached over to the counter on my right and grabbed a knife.

I jammed the knife into the tiny slot atop of the square in an attempt to open it. It took a few minutes but eventually the piece of drywall slammed off, hit me on the chest and fell down onto the ground.

I was kind of expecting it, but the mysterious square was a secret passage. Oh my god. This was one of the reasons I wanted to live in an old house filled with secrets in the first place.

Without even stopping to give thought to where I could possibly be heading to, I climbed through the square, I could barely just fit in on my hands and knees. It was about a metre and a half before I hit something.

The darkness inside was starting to freak me out a little so I frantically pushed at the barrier at the end, and it slammed open pretty easy.

It seemed like I had crossed over to number 12. The place looked as old and drab as I'd imagined, and in no condition to be inhabited. I'd arrived in the dining room, it seemed like it had once been used by a really fancy family about fifty years ago and then was just left like that.

And just a few metres behind the dining table, in the kitchen stood the inhabitant of the house, staring at me in shock.

I blushed as I climbed out of the trapdoor, which seemed to be hidden behind a painting on this side. "I am so sorry, I had no idea this was here, I just got curious, I'll go back now, I swear I won't open it again, in fact, I'll have it permanently shut." I rambled.

"It's fine." He said in a low voice.

I let out a breath I'd been holding. Now that I looked at him in the light, I realised that the man was in fact very handsome, though he looked a bit shabby and sleep deprived, it sort of worked for him. He seemed to be in his late thirties I would say, but maybe the tired look added a few years.

"I didn't know that was there either." He continued, not quite looking at me.

I glanced behind him to see a pot sizzling dangerously on the stove. "Uh, I think your food is burning."

He turned back to the pot with a start. He turned it off to try to salvage whatever he was making.

I walked past the dining table and approached the kitchen gingerly.

The man sighed in frustration as he stirred the contents of the pot hopelessly. His rice had turned out more like a paste.

"Is it edible?" I asked.

He seemed startled at my sudden nearness. He shook his head. "I'm really not good at this cooking thing."

Right in that moment, his gut gave a massive growl. I would've laughed, but I didn't think I was on that level with him yet.

This place might have given me the creeps, and this man might seem slightly hobo-ish, but the kicked puppy face he was making at the moment and his growling gut made me forget about the eerie-ness of the situation for a moment.

"I can help you cook if you'd like."

"Huh?" He looked at me as if searching for something in my expression.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, I like cooking, I wouldn't say I'm very good at it, but there's a few dishes that never fail me."

He deliberated for a few seconds before nodding.

"Alright, so, I gave you my name the other day, Tessa, and I think it's only fair I know yours too."

"Um, Alphard."

"Oh that's a cool name." I turned to the cupboard he had open already. There was barely anything in it. I looked around the kitchen. "Where's your fridge?"

"I don't have one."

I tried to keep the shock off my face. "Alright, I think I should go get a few things from my place, you don't have enough stuff to make a decent meal."

"You don't have to."

"It's fine, honestly, plus I should get you something ready to eat while we wait, you're hungry."

Alphard stood near me devouring a peach as I cooked the pasta in a pot.

We'd been silent nearly the whole time, it was slightly awkward, but he didn't seem like the small talk kind of guy.

I finished the spaghetti, and started plating it. His plates were really fancy, although old. "I'm using canned tomato sauce for now, because I haven't quite got the hang of making it myself yet, and I don't want to ruin this for you."

He nodded once. "It's fine." He stared at the plate. "Aren't you going to have some?"

"Oh, I didn't even think about it."

"Well, you made enough to feed an army." Was this man teasing me?

I felt a blush creep up my cheek. "I thought you could save some for tomorrow, and I'm also not very good with proportions yet."

Without another word I served another plate of pasta for myself.

We both sat down to eat facing each other at the end of the table, leaving a good six seats unoccupied.

He started eating slowly. "This is good."

I smiled. "Thanks."

Soon enough, he started almost wolfing down his food. I would've asked when was the last time he ate, but it'd probably be impolite. I settled on, "how long have you been living here?"

He swallowed hard and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I don't actually live here. This is my parents' house, but I moved out when I was sixteen. Then they both died, so now I own the place. I was in London and I needed a place to stay, so."

I think that's the first time he spoke more than two words to me.

I nibbled at my food. "Why don't you sell? Sentimental value?"

He scoffed. "Oh no, my parents were horrible people, I have horrible memories of this place. I guess it's just seemed like too much of a hassle to sell. I mean, cleaning it out would take ages."

I nodded in understanding.

He changed the subject quickly. "How long have you been living next door?"

"Uh about a year and a half. I really like old houses, but I did remodel before moving in, so it'd give off more of a rustic vibe than old."

Sirius nodded.

I hummed to myself as I took a few more bites of my food. "So how long are you staying?"

He stared down at his nearly empty plate. "Not sure, a week or two I guess."

"Hm."

We finished our food in silence. Then I helped him clean up in silence.

As I gathered the stuff I'd brought over from my place, I tore the label off the jar of tomato sauce and jotted down my number on it.

I handed the piece of paper to Alphard. "This is my number, in case you need anything while you're here. I'm home most of the time these days, I had surgery not too long ago so I'm supposed to be on bed rest most of the time, but I like to spend some time learning to cook and such."

Alphard took the paper and nodded. "Okay, thanks, for the meal."

I nodded and climbed back into the secret passage.