Hi everyone, I'm really sorry, I'm very late with this chapter! To make up for it I'm going to try and post two more chapters this week (no promises though :P) Enjoy the chapter and please review :)


Norah spent her afternoon roaming around the deserted hallways. Most people were up in their dorms packing for the Christmas holidays but she had been so excited (and nervous, mostly nervous) that she had done all her packing between two and three in the morning. She wasn't going home, oh, no, she wouldn't have been excited for that! She had been invited over by Meghan, her best friend to spend Christmas with her family. All the while she was delighted, she loved spending time Meghan, the most adorable person she'd ever met by far (although she was probably tied with Tommy), but at the same time, she didn't like leaving Tommy alone at Hogwarts. Norah often forgot that he wasn't a toddler anymore and she had spent half her life protecting him that she couldn't help but smother him from time to time. At least for now, he didn't seem to mind all that much.

As Norah decided it was about time for her to try and find her brother and bid him farewell (he would be leaving the Hufflepuff Basement at any moment now to join his friends in the Courtyard) she was distracted by the sound of arguing. Curiosity took the better of her and she found herself against the wall listening to what was going on. It was none other than Sirius and another voice she didn't seem to recognize.

"I told you, you can do what you want but I'm not going." Sirius said calmly though from his tone we could hear he was losing patience.

"But, you can't just not come!" the voice sounded younger.

"Watch me!"

"Sirius, what do you want me to tell mother and father when I arrive at King's Cross and you're not there?" Ah, so the other voice was his brother.

"Tell them I wish them a merry Christmas and I hope they choke on their Christmas pudding."

"Sirius…"

"Come on, Reg, we both know they don't want me there, and I'd rather go on a date with Moaning Myrtle than spend an afternoon with those two." And with that Norah heard footsteps, but it was only a couple seconds before he reached her that she realized they were footsteps in her direction. He walked past her only raising his eyebrow in that disdainful way she loathed so much. He was walking away, but she couldn't stop herself from calling out.

"Why aren't you spending Christmas with your family?" He turned his head, not stopping and frowned.

"What, does your boring little existence not suffice you anymore that you have to eavesdrop on other people?"

"I just thought you would want to spend Christmas with your family, I mean your brother-." He froze and turned to look at her.

"And, I just think you ought to keep your big nose out of other people's business. Who do you think you are? Seriously, Mary frickin' Poppins?"

"How do you even know who Mary Poppins is?" He just rolled his eyes and stormed off.


It took some time for Sirius to calm down after this encounter. More and more she was starting to get on his nerves.

"Mrs Know-it-All, has a solution for everything" he was muttering under his breath as he crashed into one of the chairs of the now empty common room, "Oh, be nicer to your parents, stop acting like a prick. Because I'm the prick? Ugh, she's so… frustrating!"

Sirius kicked of his shoes; they went flying across the room. He put his feet on the coffee table and was almost disappointed when no snooty prefect came to tell him off.


Tommy had never spent Christmas on his own, but somehow, he didn't seem to mind. Norah was always taking care of him and some time away would probably do her good. Plus this meant he could eat whatever he wanted and not get lectured about it. It was only the first evening after the Hogwarts Express had gone back to London and he already felt like he'd gained twenty kilos. He was eating dinner with all the other students who had stayed. There was him and two other Hufflepuffs, three Ravenclaw girls who kept on giggling and whispering in each other's ears, a quiet, pale Slytherin boy and another boy from Gryffindor. No one really seemed to know one another (besides the three girls) and the table was quite silent. Everyone was busy eating desert and Tommy was joyfully gobbling down choux-a-la-crème after choux-a-la-crème until alas, there was no more. He looked at the empty platter and before he even had time to be disappointed the boy from Gryffindor, who was sat face to him, offered him the two he had saved on his plate.

"Oh, no, I'm okay, I've had loads already." Tommy turned down, but the boy had already put them on his plate. "Well, thanks!" Tommy said delightedly.

"No problem," the boy flashed him a smile, to which the three girls all squealed to, "I'm Sirius, by the way."

"I'm Tom," He reached out his hand, "Tom Callahan." Sirius raised an eyebrow and it was with a slight smile that he shook hands with Norah Callahan's little brother.


Norah had been greeted by Meghan's parents like their own daughter, hugs and kisses and all. They really were kind people and Norah immediately saw where Meghan had got her warmth from, no wonder they had all been sorted in Hufflepuff. Meghan's father worked at the Ministry and her mother was a nurse at St Mungo's. The latter was also an incredible cook, she would've given the house elves at Hogwarts a run for their money (not that they earned any). Norah felt almost like part of the family when they sat around the luscious food. All of them talked and laughed together and Norah was more than glad she had accepted the invitation. Soon the conversation turned to her.

"So Norah, what about your parents, what do they do for a living?" Meghan more than noticeably kicked her father under the table.

"Um, well, my mother passed away when I was young and my father is… unemployed." Norah answered, trying to be casual.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure she was a wonderful person." Norah gave a half-hearted smile.

"Yeah, she was…" A couple seconds of silence followed and then Meghan tried to change the subject.

"So, mom, how has work been lately?"

"Very good, very good." She was obviously lying.

"What's wrong? An annoying patient?" asked Meghan.

"More like an insufferable family!" her father announced.

"It isn't that bad." Her mother tried to be positive.

"Not that bad? A bunch of blood obsessed, discriminating, obnoxious, spoiled brats!"

"Ok, maybe it is that bad."

"Who's the patient?" Meghan asked eagerly.

"Oh, I don't think it's anyone you know. They are part of one of those high-placed pure-blood families. You know, the Malfoys, the Blacks…"

"The Blacks?" Norah asked.

"Yes, the Blacks, they are one of the most powerful wizarding families in Great Britain. Horrid people really. Aren't some of their children with you at Hogwarts. The Slytherin dorms are probably teeming with them."

"There's Sirius Black, right Norah? But isn't he in Gryffindor with you?" Norah answered with a nod.

"Oh, poor child, his parents must be furious…"


Sirius had taken it upon him to take Tom under his wing in the art of mischief. They spent days, pranking the other students and teachers spending Christmas at Hogwarts. Although Tom sometimes felt bad about embarrassing some of his fellow classmates it was still some of the best fun he ever had. On some afternoons the pair would sit by the frozen lake and plan out their next attack, Sirius would tell Tom stories of things James, Remus, Peter and him had done in the past, and they would always end up laughing.

"This one time, we added ingredients to this girl's cauldron and the potion literally ended up eating the cauldron. It was hilarious!"

"Oh yeah! My sister told me about that." Sirius saw this as an opportunity to learn stuff about Norah he could possibly use against her later.

"Where is Norah anyways? I mean, why did she go home and not you?"

"Oh, she didn't go home, she was invited to a friend's house for the holidays." Hmm, two things he had learned; first, Norah had friends, supposedly and second, she was a big fat hypocrite.

"Why did you guys not go home?" Sirius immediately saw that the question had made Tom uncomfortable.

"Oh, no reason, we just… like it better here. Our father is, um, let's just say… less than welcoming." Sirius knew he wasn't going to get much more out of Tom, but he still tried.

"What about your mother?"

"Dead." Tom said simply, looking across the Lake.


Norah almost cried as she said goodbye to Meghan's parents, but she still was really happy at the thought of going back to Hogwarts. It was weird, really, what kind of school has students who want to come back after the holiday? She smiled to herself as the train arrived in Hogsmead. The school was once again swarming with students, all chatting vigorously to one another, telling their friends of their holidays and new gifts. Norah found her bed again and the familiar smell of the Gryffindor common room. But, with that smell came all the rest. James and Sirius were back too. However, somehow, she didn't feel the same about him. Maybe he wasn't the twat she thought he was.


Sirius was a bit sad to see his peace disrupted as all the Gryffindors filled the common room, and that was counting those snooty prefects. Then again, his friends were back too and Sirius couldn't wait to tell them about the time Tom and him set Slughorn's minced pies on fire. He caught a glimpse of Norah and couldn't halo but wonder if he'd been wring about her. Maybe she wasn't the priss he thought she was.


Then both of them made eye contact. He couldn't help but sneer and she rolled her eyes, obviously irritated.

"Nevermind…" they both thought.


Hope you enjoyed. Please review and if you have any suggestion, I'd be happy to hear them.