Hello everyone! I was going to wait until after Christmas to post another chapter, but then I thought, what could be even better for my readers than an extra long Sirius-filled chapter right before Christmas? So…MERRY CHRISTMAS!

If you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you have an incredibly awesome holiday season with your friends and family. YOU are the reason I keep posting on Fanfic, so make sure to give yourselves a massive pat on the back and a fist pump in the air for being the best audience I could hope for!

As always, make sure to send a review on your way out…it is the holiday season after all! If you're looking for something to read during the days I don't update, check out the completed Natalie Garcia series on my page!

Read and enjoy!

It was a gloriously clear night. The crescent moon that hovered overhead looked crisp and clean against the black cloth of the night sky, sprinkled with stars and constellations that were easy to see. The chill in the air was enough to keep my nerves on edge, in a pleasant sort of way.

And the smell- the mixture of grass, lake, and forest- was enough to turn the scene, if possible, into one of ethereal perfection.

I set my elbows on the cool brick, placing my chin in the palm of my hand as I staring out at the grounds, waiting. Footsteps behind me signified that he was here, he had decided to come.

"Haley?"

I slowly turned, dragging my gaze from the dark lake and the small waves that lapped against the rocks at the shore. A small smile pulled at my lips as I locked my bright, blue eyes with his grey ones.

"Sirius. I thought you'd never show up."

He took a few steps forward, quickly grabbing onto my hand and pulling it to his chest.

"For you, I could never forget."

He leaned forward, closing his eyes so his top lashes scraped the tips of his cheekbones. He was coming closer and closer…I didn't know why I wasn't stopping him…Why wasn't I stopping him?

"JAMES POTTER! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

I jumped in surprise, nearly smacking my head on one of the wooden posts that stood at the corner of my bed. To my right, Alice groaned in response, stuffing her head further into the pillow. I slowly sank my head back into the warmth of the bed.

It wasn't the first time James and Lily had woken up nearly the entire Gryffindor house with their fights and it certainly wasn't going to be the last. Most of the time it was more annoying than anything, but this time I was secretly glad for the interruption.

I was fairly certain dream-me was going to be kissed by dream-Sirius. I crinkled my nose and shook my head, trying to rid my mind of the thoughts. It wasn't gross by any means of the word; I was sure that kissing Sirius would be nothing less than enjoyable, but it was the fact that I had a DREAM about it.

Like I was a love-struck teenager. Merlin, a girl pulls one prank on a boy (my take on the joke got remarkably better and better with each passing day) and suddenly she's having dreams about him. I made a mental note to stay away from Sirius, not wanting to bring on anymore dream-Sirius and dream-me scenarios.

I heaved a sigh before ripping off the covers and rolling out of bed, being careful to let my feet get used to the cool temperature of the floorboards, before padding into the bathroom and shutting the door behind me. That effectively cut off the yelling that was still going on downstairs, no doubt from Lily more than James.

I quickly brushed my teeth and turned on the water in the shower, wanting to rinse off the grimy feeling from working in Greenhouse Three the day before. After I finished toweling off, I slowly pulled on my jeans and tight fitting gray shirt. I laced up my sneakers before grabbing my book bag and hoisting it over my shoulder.

"You cannot take Fanged Frisbees and dungbombs from first years to use for yourself!" Lily was still ranting as I skirted past them, keeping my head down so I wouldn't draw too much attention. "You are Head Boy now, only God knows why, so you need to start acting like it."

Sirius, much to my dismay his hair had been changed back, had casually thrown himself into an armchair closest to the fireplace, watching the one-sided fight with an amused expression on his face. Remus was holed in the corner, a couple of books spread onto the table in front of him. I couldn't help but notice that he looked tired, really tired. Large bags hung under his eyes and his pupils were glazed over as if he had tried to pull an all-nighter with the study materials that surrounded him.

In my haste to get across the common room, I nearly knocked into Peter Pettigrew, who had just climbed down the boy's staircase. He was rubbing the sleepiness from his face, trying to understand the argument in front of him.

"She totally wants you, mate," Sirius threw in toward James, who grinned down at Lily with a tooth-bearing smile.

Lily looked furious for a moment before she stuck her finger into James's chest. "No, no I absolutely do not 'want you.' You are a pest, an annoying pest, and I cannot wait until the day of graduation when I can finally get you out of my life." She spun on her heel before storming away, accidently knocking her shoulder into mine.

My book bag went sprawling onto the floor. Papers, books, ink pots, and quills scattered the maroon carpet. I sighed in frustration before bending down to stuff the supplies back into my bag. In her blind rage, Lily hadn't even noticed the mess she left behind.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," James said as he bent down next to me, gathering the loose parchment into a pile before handing it to me. I blushed crimson, muttering a thank you as I stood from my perch near the floor. "She…she really didn't see you, I promise."

I was surprised. I had recently thought that James continued to ask Lily out only to wind her up, but the way he stuck up for her made me think otherwise. Maybe he actually did have feelings for her.

"It's…it's okay," I muttered, not sure how to respond, "I know that she wouldn't have done it on purpose."

James smiled, pushing his round glasses up further on his nose. He stood back, surveying me for a moment. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, anxious under his scrutinizing gaze. "You're a girl," he finally said, pointing to me as if he had just figured it out for the first time.

I furrowed my brow. "Yeah, since birth."

Sirius let out a bark of laughter, but James ignored him. "You're a girl," he repeated, but this time he continued on, "What advice would you give to someone who has been trying to ask out the same person for six years and gets turned down every time?"

He awaited my answer, peering down at me with wide eyes. I softly shrugged, wrapping my arms across my chest self-consciously. "Well, erm, I don't know. I've never really-"

"But if you had to give someone advice," he pressed on, "if someone had a wand to your head and was forcing you to spew out something, what would you say?"

I shifted again, kicking at a fray in the carpet with the toe of my sneaker. "I would say to maybe- erm- leave her alone for awhile? Pretend to get over her? Maybe she'll warm up to you if you weren't-" I quickly stopped myself, not wanting to accuse James Potter of anything.

Evidently he understood what I meant as he furrowed his brow. "You don't think I stalk her do you?"

The timing couldn't have been more perfect as Sirius rolled off the armchair and grabbed onto the front of James's robes, dragging him toward the portrait hole. "If we don't go now, we won't get any breakfast. And I do not feel like hiking down to the kitchens only to wait for some eggs and toast. Coming Moony?"

Remus shook his head declining the invitation, his eyes narrowed as he quickly scanned through a chapter of Beginning Potions, Year One.

I sucked in a breath as Sirius breezed by me and out of the common room, not bothering to say anything. I couldn't help, but notice the awfully good smelling cologne he put on that morning. Or the way his black hair fell into his gray eyes. Or the way his jeans hung off his hips. Or-

I shook my head quickly. What the hell was wrong with me? I had absolutely no interest in Sirius Black five days ago, up until that stupid prank. The way his eyes lit up with laughter as he surveyed his purple hair in the mirror. He would never guess that it was me that did it. To be honest, he probably didn't care. He probably thought it was James or Remus trying to have a good laugh.

"What are the indications for the Sleeping Draught?"

I snapped out of my thoughts, turning my attention toward Remus Lupin, who was intently staring at me from across the room. "I…I'm sorry?" I apologized as I took a few steps closer to him. "I didn't get that."

"The indications for the Sleeping Draught?" Remus repeated as he sighed in frustration, tossing his quill onto the thick roll of parchment. "I've been going over this stupid book for two hours already and I can't find anything about the indications."

I set my book bag down onto the floor next to an empty seat before dropping myself into the wooden chair. I pulled over his notes and grazed over them, ignoring the fact that he was watching me. My palms were sweaty under his constant gaze, making me feel nervous and anxious.

"Well," I said slowly, pushing the notes back into his hand, "Probably the number one reason would be to treat insomnia or maybe if they were sick? Something along the lines of putting them to sleep." I shook my head while lightly shrugging my shoulders. "If I were to hazard a guess, that's what I would say."

He grinned widely back at me before hunching over to scribble down the answers on his parchment. He sighed, once again tossing his quill onto the parchment, this time splattering ink across the thick paper. "I'm trying to get a head start on studying for the NEWT exams," he explained, nodding toward the cluster of notes and book around him, "but it seems I've forgotten the basics of everything."

I giggled, gesturing toward my unusually unorganized bag, parchment and books haphazardly stuffed into it from when Lily rammed into me and knocked it all out. "I'm headed to the library to start studying as well. You can't start too early, that's my motto."

There was an awkward pause as Remus nodded his head slowly, obviously unsure of what to say. I huffed inwardly, wondering why my presence in general made everything this awkward. I stood from the seat and started to back out of the common room, ripping my bag off the floor.

"I, uh, I guess I'll just be going," I managed to stutter out as he shot me an odd look, his eyes flicking down to the floor around my feet. I glanced down, groaning in irritation as a quite a few rolls of parchment finally dislodged themselves from the edge of my bag and fluttered to the ground.

Remus jumped out of his chair and picked up a few pieces while I stuffed the rolls closest to my feet into the book bag, silently hoping that I didn't crumble my fifteen inch essay on Uses for Gillyweed that was due early next week. I took the rolls one by one from him until my bag was full and I quickly hitched the strap over my shoulder, holding out my hands in a refusing gesture.

"No, you keep that one. It's blank and I'm fairly certain that you'll need it more than I." I eyed the pile of mish-mashed subjects scattered over each other. "I'll see you around, Remus. Thanks for your help." I spun on my heel and flew from the room before something else could happen.

"Wait!" I heard Remus call from behind me, but I ignored him. "This parchment isn't blank-!"

The portrait swung shut behind him, effectively cutting off any noise from the common room. I sighed a breath of relief as I made my way toward the library, making sure to take the walk slowly so my rapidly beating heart would calm down by the time I got there.

…..

A few hours after dinner, I peeled away from Alice and Mary, who were on their way to study in our dormitory. After having spent eight hours in the library, I had no interest in immersing myself in school books until tomorrow. Wrapping myself up in a blanket with one of my favorite books in front of the fireplace seemed like a pretty good idea to me. Luckily, the majority of the Gryffindor members had gone to bed for the evening, save for the Marauders who were all gathered in a cluster around Remus in the back of the room, so I managed to find a comfortable seat.

Curling my legs underneath me, I summoned a blanket from my dorm and pulled the book I had been reading out of my bag.

"Is this a letter from a girl, Remus?" I heard one of the boys whoop in the corner. "Seems like pretty girly handwriting to me."

"No, it's not a note for me, James. She gave me a blank piece of parchment, which turned out to not be so blank. I just haven't had the chance to give it to her yet."

"Let me see this," another one of the boys said before the sound of parchment being torn from someone's hand echoed across the common room. My curiosity was peaked at that point, but I continued to pretend to read my book. "Is this…is this really what I think it is? Who is Haley Brams?"

My head shot up at the mention of my name, but I quickly hid behind my book, sliding further into the armchair once I noticed the four boys had gone quiet, most likely realizing that I was sitting in the same vicinity as them.

"Are you Haley Brams?"

I flicked my eyes away from my book, pretending that I hadn't heard their entire conversation from the start. Sirius Black was casually seated on the arm of the chair next to me, his gray eyes sprinkled with amusement. I sighed and shut my book, placing it neatly in my lap. "Yes, I am."

Sirius unrolled the parchment in his hand and raked his gaze over it one more time before shaking his head and turning the roll so I could read it. "Is this yours?"

My heart seemed to skip a few beats, my breathing went ragged. I was pretty sure that my face lost quite a few shades of color. "Where did you get that?" I leaned forward to try and snatch it from his hand, but he quickly moved it away.

"Evidently you gave it to Moony this morning," he retorted, flipping the roll once more so he could consult it again. "Is this really a list of things to do before graduation? No joking around at all?"

I didn't say anything, which Sirius took as the answer to his question.

"I finish half the things on this list in a single night." He scanned the parchment once more, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "You've never been to a Gryffindor party? What are you, a second year?"

I felt my face pink up a little bit as I tried to snatch it once more, but he quickly slid his body back into the cushion of the seat, so just his legs were draped across the arm of the chair. Now it was impossible for me to get the roll without getting out of my seat first.

"Oy, Padfoot, give it up," Remus called from the corner, "Just give it back to her already."

Sirius ignored his friend, instead fixing his intense stare onto me. I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, tearing my eyes away from his and trained them onto the maroon carpet.

"You've never done any of these things? Oh wait, one has been signed off. Number 27; hex a student when he or she is bullying someone." He let the parchment fall into his lap. "I'm curious, Haley Brams, as to what you did to that person."

I licked my lips, but refused to answer. How in the world was I going to tell him that the person I hexed was him? I kicked myself internally. Next time, I need to look at the rolls of parchment before handing them out to students. They could get into the wrong hands…like Sirius Black.

It seems as if Sirius was reading my mind, because his mouth fell open slightly as he flicked his eyes to the parchment (probably number 27) and then back to me then to the parchment once more. "That was you. In Transfiguration with the purple hair, that was you."

Once again, I didn't say anything, but I didn't have to. He took my silence as the answer to his question. "I should kiss you right now," he said before letting out a bark of laughter. I ripped my gaze from the carpet and stared at him incredulously.

"Excuse me?" Obviously I didn't hear him correctly. Who in the world would laugh at having their hair dyed purple in the middle of a lesson? Definitely not Severus Snape, that's for sure.

"That was genius, pure genius. Hey, Prongs," he called over his shoulder, sitting up a little so he could look at his friend over the back of the armchair. "Remember the purple hair incident from a couple days ago?" He paused to point in my direction. My face flushed once more at becoming the center of attention. "That was Haley!"

James let out a loud laugh, running a hand through his already messy, black hair. "We've been trying to figure out who it was for the past few days! How did you?"

Sirius, to my utter mortification, held up the roll of parchment for the rest of the Marauders to see. "Number 27, hex a student when he or she is bullying someone. She turned my hair purple, because I was messing with Snivellus!"

James roared with laughter once more, adding to the embarrassment on my part. Finally having enough, I ripped the blanket off my lap and stormed over to Sirius. He shoved the roll under his back, refusing to let me have it. I dug around his sides, trying to catch the parchment, but he had a firm grip on it. He let out another bark of laughter at my huff of frustration. I tucked a piece of my curly, blonde hair behind my ear before crossing my arms over my chest.

"Can I have it back, please?" I said, staring at Sirius intently. He rolled off the chair and stood up, closing the distance between myself and him. I had to look up to see his face, as the top of my head only came to the tip of his chin. His eyes were even more beautiful this close and I found that I had a hard time keeping calm once I breathed in his musky scent.

"I don't think so," he replied, a grin on his face, "Not yet anyways." He took a few steps back, unrolling the parchment in front of him. He grinned down at me before rolling up the parchment and sticking it into the back of his jeans. "Come with me, I have something to show you."

I tightened my arms around my chest, cocking an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me?"

"Come with me."

I opened and closed my mouth a few times before responding. "No, I don't think so."

Sirius flashed an amused look at me before crossing his own arms over his chest, reflecting my stance toward him. "And why not?"

"I-I could think of a multitude of-of reasons," I retorted, stumbling over my words at the sight of him. He set his face into a very interested expression, nodding his head a few times as if he were taking in the other side of a highly anticipated debate. "It's after hours, we could get in trouble. You could hang me from my underwear in the Great Hall or something as equally embarrassing for turning your hair purple. So no, I don't think I'll be following you anywhere." I sent him a curt nod, effectively ending my argument. Unfortunately, Sirius Black always had something to say.

"Luckily for you, sneaking out after hours and getting a detention are both things on your little list." He paused to pat the parchment that hung out of the back pocket of his jeans. "So you would really be killing two birds with one stone. Plus, I know that you're at least a little curious as to where I would be taking you."

He got me there. I had been incredibly curious. I didn't respond to his statement, so he smiled and gestured for me to follow him.

"Come on, Brams. It'll be worth your while."

I hesitated for a moment, rocking back and forth on my heels before lurching forward. My steps seemed to be slow, but I stood next to Sirius in record time. It felt as if I was having an out of body experience as I followed him out of the common room and into the dimly lit hallway.

"Where are we going anyways?" I whispered, though the words still echoed across the stone walls. I jumped at the unexpected noise and he let out a small laugh.

"You'll know soon enough. Keep your thestrals in line, will you?"

I shot him a glare, but continued to follow him down a narrow staircase. I walked directly behind him, as the walls were so narrow that it would have been impossible to walk side by side. I let out a sigh as we continued our descent. "So will this count as the 'be spontaneous' because I think sneaking out of the common room with you is bad enough-"

Sirius let out a small chuckle as he emerged into another dimly lit corridor, checking the surroundings quickly before gesturing for me to come out. The cool night breeze hit me as soon as I left the confines of the small stairway. He let the thick tapestry fall back into line, covering up the stairway completely.

"How did you know that was there?"

The boy shook his head, letting out a sigh as he turned to look down at me. "Do you ever stop talking?"

I sent him another glare as I gestured for him to keep going down the corridor. He grinned widely before skirting across the stone floor, stopping in front of a giant picture.

"I didn't leave the common room to 'ooo' and 'ahh' over a painted picture of a bowl of fruit. Seriously, what are we doing?"

"Just watch," Sirius smiled as he reached over and tickled the pear. It squirmed and giggled for a moment before transforming into a door handle. My jaw dropped as I took a few steps forward and Sirius looked back at me, laughing once again at my facial expression. "Yeah, I thought you would be rather impressed."

"So where does it lead?"

He put a tight hold on the handle and tugged, swinging the giant portrait forward. I had to sidestep it to keep from getting hit. He gestured for me to enter first, but I didn't have to go in very far to figure out where he had taken me. The kitchens, he brought me down to the kitchens.

I smiled brightly up at him, amazed at the army of house elves that stood in front of us, bustling around getting things ready for the next day.

"How did you find out where this was?" I asked in awe as I watched the house elves nearest me clean out dust pans.

"Just sneaking out late, exploring the castle."

"Can Miffy get yous anything?" A small house elf stopped in front of us. Her large eyes were wide. Her ears were bent in half, the tip nearly touching the top of her head. She was wearing a large pillowcase, which remained clean despite having just finished washing the full sink of dishes.

"Erm…hot chocolate?" I asked hesitantly, not sure if the house elf would make it or not. I glanced back at Sirius who muttered in agreement that he would like one as well. It didn't take long for Miffy to whip it up and in no time I was blowing on the hot beverage in an effort to cool it down.

"Thank you," I said quietly, my lips cautiously touching the side of the cup, as steam was still pouring off the liquid, "for bringing me down here."

He shrugged indifferently, taking a big sip of the hot chocolate as if the heat didn't bother him. "How could I let a fellow Gryffindor graduate without getting into any sort of mischief? That would be just plain rude in my book."

I couldn't help but let out a giggle as I took a small sip, enjoying the fluid running down my throat. He set his own cup down onto the nearest countertop, the noise echoing loudly across the large kitchen, before pulling out the roll of parchment from his back pocket.

"So, it doesn't matter who signs this, right? Just as long as it gets signed?" He pulled a quill out of his back pocket and quickly put a check mark and his signature next to 4- Sneak out of the common room after hours and get a snack from the kitchen. He held out the parchment and I took it softly. "Two down, twenty eight to go."

"That is probably the sweetest thing that anyone has ever done for me," I said as I tucked the parchment into my own pocket.

"And that, love, is incredibly sad."