AN: You reviewers have inspired me. I can't help but keep writing what with your wonderful comments and suggestions. Thank you!

PS- I did try to write some from Sirius' POV but it didn't feel right with the story. So I think we'll stay the way we've been going.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary throughout the beginning of the feast, except perhaps that the group of Gryffindors seemed to be unusually quiet and their occasional bursts of laughter made a few people around them a little uneasy. The Headmaster had given his speech, the food had been served and a great excited chatter broke out amongst the students. The excitement of the upcoming break temporarily relieved the tension of OWLs and NEWTs that were coming up quickly. No one aside from Minerva noticed the rather glaring absence of Hagrid.

Lily, James, Harry, Sirius, and Remus shared a mischievous look as dessert appeared at the table and they didn't have to wait long before the first signs of their great endeavor appeared.

It came in the form of a small fourth year Ravenclaw who loudly exclaimed "What the hell?!" as the word naughty appeared on the forehead of the girl next to him. Suddenly words began slowly appearing on the faces of everyone in the hall.

Harry gave a goofy grin to Remus when the word naughty appeared on his friend's head, "Must have been skiving class, Rem." And the entire table laughed. As it turned out not even Lily was labeled as nice. There was a great chuckle from Dumbledore as naughty appeared on McGonagall's forehead. The entire Slytherian table was labeled naughty, while nearly all the Hufflepuffs were nice. The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors had a pretty even mix.

The group of Gryffindors were watching the door with great expectation when it suddenly burst open and admitted Hagrid and all his bulk dressed in red and white and carrying a large bag over his shoulder. Behind Hagrid a stream of house elves flowed in dressed in green and wearing pointy little shoes.

"HAPPY CHRISTMAS!" Hagrid boomed as he and the house elves began handing out small packages.

Those labeled nice received a miniature firework display as they opened their packages while anyone labeled naughty received a large lump of coal that once taken out of the package burst from the hands of whomever had touched it and began shouting the reason that person had been declared naughty, secrets burst out across the hall:

From the Ravenclaw table they heard:

"Cheated on Charms homework!"

"Stole a Chocolate Frog"

From the Slytherian tables came:

"Hexed a first year!"

"Hexed a fourth year!"

"Tried to kill Harry Pierson"

The four friends looked at each other and with broad grins picked up their own lumps of coal.

"Skipped class!" Harry and Remus laughed when their coal screamed the same thing.

"Planned a prank with James Potter and Sirius Black." Everybody laughed as half the Gryffindors stared at Lily in awe.

"Lied to Harry Pierson." The laughter amongst the group came to a sudden halt and Harry's eyes flew to Sirius who was now staring down at the table. Something cold settled in Harry's stomach and he felt his face flush. Remus put his hand on Harry's arm but Harry pulled away and stood up.

"Harry…" Lily stood to go after him but Remus shook his head and looked at Sirius hard.

"Harry asked me not to say anything to you, he told me not to lecture you." Remus began in a quiet rage. "But…bloody hell…Padfoot. You can't keep doing this. You don't understand what he's been through. And you're hurting him because you're selfish!"

James and Lily looked between Remus and Sirius confused and surprised. Sirius, however, was already on the defensive.

"Well you're pretty damn close with him. I wouldn't want to step on anyone's toes and interrupt young love!" Sirius spat at Remus.

"You're an idiot! You know it isn't like that with us! Anymore than it is with you and James! You're stupid and he's not going to deal with it much longer, so you'd better make up your damn mind. I'm tired of watching him get hurt because you're a prat who is afraid that he likes boys!" Remus hadn't intended to shout quite so loudly but his shouts were lost in the chaos of the Great Hall with the exception of Lily and James who were staring at Sirius with their jaws nearly hitting the table.

Sirius looked at Remus, "I guess I know where your loyalties lie."

Remus pounded his fist on the table in frustration, "I'm not even going to respond to that. But if you don't go after him right now Sirius, I swear to Merlin I will never speak to you again."

His words hung in the silence and after barely a minute Sirius stood and exited the great hall.

--------------------------------------

Harry sat on his bed staring out the window. These last few weeks had been so good, they had been comfortable. He and Sirius had joked and laughed and actually talked to each other. Sirius had broken it off with Lauren and things had been…normal. Sirius hadn't been moody and fighting with everyone who crossed his path. And Harry had thought, perhaps, if they became better friends…the rest would follow.

But Harry hated lies. And he didn't know or care what Sirius had lied about, all he knew is that he had trusted the boy and he had been lied to. He didn't turn when the door opened, he figured Remus would be coming a long to tell him to stop moping and get down there and enjoy their prank.

"Rem…I…" Harry turned finally and found not Remus but Sirius staring at him from the doorway.

They were silent for a long time. Neither moved. Finally, Sirius took a tentative step toward Harry. Their eyes locked and Sirius came closer. He made it to the bed and sat down next to Harry. The silence grew heavy and tense and a war was waging in Harry's mind. He wanted nothing more than to lean over and kiss Sirius, to feel the warmth of the other boy. But his rational mind told him he would only get hurt, that Sirius didn't really know what he wanted, and so he did nothing.

Sirius stared at him opening and closing his mouth, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't quite let it out.

"The night, when you had the bad dream. It didn't mean nothing." These words seemed to cost Sirius a great deal, but Harry couldn't muster any sympathy. He was tired of the games. Still Harry said nothing and didn't meet Sirius' eyes.

After a few more minutes of unbearable silence, Sirius grabbed Harry roughly and pulled him toward him. Harry reacted the only way his body would allow. When there lips met there was a spark that Harry could have sworn was visible. The sheer force of their passion seemed to erupt and spill out. Harry pulled Sirius closer and held him tight as he explored the boy's mouth with his tongue. Sirius pulled Harry's shirt roughly over his head and trailed kisses along his collar bone making Harry shiver. Harry pushed up the hem of Sirius' shirt and let out a little moan as his fingers came into contact with warm, soft skin. He flipped Sirius over and held him down to the bed. His pale green eyes clashed with cloudy grey and he leaned down and kissed him again. Pulling Sirius' shirt over his head he brought his mouth down and tasted the salty, sweetness of Sirius' skin. He admired the well toned muscle and the way Sirius sighed when he brought his mouth down and sucked lightly. Sirius was pushing his hips up to meet Harry's and both boys groaned as contact was made.

Harry's mind was a blur of heat and when Sirius unbuttoned Harry's jeans and slipped his hand inside Harry couldn't control the moan of pleasure.

"Stop." It was a horse whisper and Harry was surprised it was his own. Sirius pulled away and there was a look of hurt in his eyes.

Harry stood up and moved away from the bed. He was panting and he rubbed his hands across his face trying to clear his head.

"What?" Sirius said looking at Harry.

"I can't…I don't want to be your experiment. Your test." Harry's voice shook a little. "I want to love you and be with you….I don't just want to shag you, Sirius."

Sirius was silent.

"I just…you're so bloody confusing!" Harry shouted in frustration. "You punch me, you jump me in the bathroom, you crawl into my bed and then ignore me for days and then beat Snape to a bloody pulp and….now…you say this means something but all you have to give is sex…and it just isn't enough."

Sirius stood and moved toward Harry. He put his arms around his waist and when Harry turned his head away, Sirius laid gentle kisses on his neck.

"I don't know what I'm doing." Sirius' voice was muffled by Harry's skin.

Harry tried to push Sirius away and was finally able to remove himself from the other boy's hold.

"And you think I do? I don't know what the hell is going on."

"But…your tattoo…all the…I thought…" Sirius' face was contorted with confusion.

"Sirius. It was a joke. This," Harry motioned to his tattoo, "Is a memorial. And to be honest, I didn't know you well enough to tell you about it."

Sirius seemed to deflate. "I thought, I didn't know…I thought you'd think I wasn't good enough."

"So it was all for pride then?" Harry spat, he wasn't sure where the anger was coming from. It was as if all of the pain from Sirius' behavior had finally boiled to the surface.

"No…Harry…"

"What do you want?" Harry faced him point blank.

"I don't know."

"That's not good enough!." Harry shouted at him and he turned to go. Sirius caught his arm and pulled him roughly back to him and crushed their lips together. Harry pulled away and left the room slamming the door behind him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry was still panting and fuming when he came down the stairs into the common room. James, Lily and Remus sat around the fire. They looked up as Harry came into the room. Remus stood and went over to Harry pulling the boy into a hug, He tugged Harry over to the couch and he sat between Remus and Lily. Lily grabbed his right hand and Remus was gently rubbing his back. It wasn't until Lily raised her petite hand and wiped away a tear that Harry realized he was crying. Harry caught James' eyes when he looked up and saw there was both anger and confusion there.

Remus looked at James and nodded. "We're all right. Go on."

James got up and made his way to the dormitory.

"What happened Harry?" Lily asked quietly.

"He just wants to use me. He doesn't know what he wants." Harry sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands. "This is so stupid, I feel like a girl."

"Hey!" Lily smacked him and Harry laughed.

They sat sitting, staring at the fire as Lily held his hand and Remus rubbed circles on his back.

They heard several loud crashes from the direction of the dorm room and muffled shouting. Harry moved to stand.

"Don't Harry. James can handle him. He's seen him like this before." Remus said.

"So, you guys are getting a house then?" Lily asked smiling.

"Yeah. We'll be staying at the Leaky Cauldron while we look. Once we find it, you'll have to come stay with us. Maybe do Christmas with us or New Years." Harry said and Remus nodded with a big smile.

Another loud crash came and Remus stood up. "I'll be right back."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Harry had tried to get it out of Remus and James what had happened the night before with Sirius but they wouldn't tell him. Sirius had distanced himself from everyone but James and that morning Harry and Remus had caught him and some Hufflepuff 6th year snogging just outside the Great Hall. Harry had caught Sirius' eyes and if he had cared he would have seen the hint of shame in them as an apology.

Remus and Harry were sitting in the compartment alone when James and Lily got back from their rounds. Remus was reading a book and Harry was staring idly out the window.

"It'll be nice to get a break from all this." Lily said sitting down. James seemed to fall into the seat and laid down with his head on Lily's lap. Lily had begun absently stroking James' hair. The two of them had gotten so much closer since the beginning of the year but as far as Harry knew they weren't an official couple just yet.

Remus closed his book and looked at the two of them with a smile on his face. "So you guys will be coming over to the house for a bit then?"

"Of course!" Lily said excitedly. "You'll sound an owl as soon as you're ready? I would absolutely adore getting away from Petunia. She has gotten to be terribly unbearable."

"I'm there mates, but you're still coming to Christmas at my place?" James asked.

Remus nodded, "My parents are going on a holiday anyway."

James looked at Harry who had been silent. "What about you, you'll come right?"

"I don't know. I don't want to impose."

"Oh come off it Harry," Remus said, "You can't spend Christmas alone."

Harry just nodded and then stood up. "I've got to use the loo. I'll be back."

After Harry had left the others burst into action.

"We have got to do something about this. The two of them are positively miserable." Lily said.

"I don't know, Padfoot, seems to be having a good time of it." Remus said curtly.

"Aw, Moony. You know that's just the way he deals with things. And you saw him that night. He was a right mess. And then Harry wouldn't even look at him after…I mean come on." James said.

"I suppose," Remus offered, "So what's our plan?"

Lily smiled and gave them an outline of her plan.

Remus shook his head, "You are devious, Miss Evans."

----------------------------------------------------------

Harry and Remus said their goodbyes and promised to write Lily as soon as they were able to have guests. They gave James a hug and watched Sirius join him with a cold look back at Harry and Remus. Harry sighed. Things had gone so very wrong.

The boys made their way through Diaigon Alley and to the Leaky Cauldron. They had reserved a room for the whole week so they would have somewhere to stay while they looked for houses. They decided to spend the day in Diaigon Alley and get started on their hunt tomorrow.

Their first stop was Gringotts where Harry deposited the check he had gotten 20 years in the future and then they headed out for a day of Christmas Shopping.

The first stop was Flourish and Botts where Remus found a book titled Magic and Motorcycle Maintenance for Sirius, the boy had been going on about buying himself a Motorbike with the money his uncle had left him. Harry got a beautiful journal for Lily that never ran out of pages. From there they stopped at Quality Quidditch supplies and they split the cost of a miniature quidditch set for James. They stopped and got an ice cream before wandering the alley for a bit longer. Harry bought an Owl and named her Hedwig although this one was nearly black in color. They picked out an expensive bottle of Muggle wine for the Potters who Remus assured Harry would love it. It was near dinner when they arrived back at the Leaky Couldron and they ate quickly before practically falling into bed for the evening.

---------------------------------------------------------

They had seen four houses already and they only had one day left before they would be out of the Leaky Couldron. It seemed it was overbooked something to do with some sort of Ministry Christmas gathering that was going on. So the boys were determined that today was the day they would find their house.

Harry wasn't sure what exactly he was looking for except that it needed to have a cellar. They had spoken with a Goblin named Grunglu at Gringotts and he had agreed to help them with the purchase. They were walking now to the final suggestion Grunglu had given them. The approached the address and as they walked down the street the were suddenly surrounded by a number of townhouses. They looked carefully at the address and came to number 17 Mercer Terrace. The house on the outside looked very much the same as all of the others. They approached the door and unlocked the home with the key Grunglu had given them .

Grunglu had said that this house had belonged to wizards and that they had altered it in some magical ways but that it still housed a muggle kitchen and electricity.

They entered the foyer and were surprised at the natural light that seemed to strike every corner of the room. They turned their eyes to the ceiling to see that a bright blue sky with the sun peaking out from behind the clouds above them.

Remus whistled, "Wow. It's just like at Hogwarts." They walked through the rest of the house, which consisted of four bedrooms, and two bathrooms upstairs, a study that was fully stocked with muggle and magical books, a living room, the kitchen, and a dining room.

The house had a wonderful cozy feeling to it, and the fireplace in the living room was already hooked up to the floo. After walking around the house once more they finally came to a closet door that reminded Harry very much of his closet on Privet Drive. When he opened the closet he found that it led down to a staircase.

They followed the staircase down to a cellar. There was a heavy metal door at the bottom of the stairs that opened up into what Harry assumed was the wine cellar. They stood in the middle of the stone room and Harry turned to Remus.

"Well? What do you think?"

Remus smiled. "I think this is wonderful."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry had spent all morning filling out paperwork to purchase the house. And arranging to have spell casters come in and fortify the cellar with wards that were time set every full-moon and silencing charms. Harry didn't tell Remus but he had put Remus' name down as an owner as well and had gotten an extra copy of the deed to take with him.

Remus, meanwhile, had been out buy furniture and the necessities and transporting them to the house.

Harry had no idea about decorating so he left it all to Remus. On his way back from the bank he stopped at the grocery and got everything they would need for awhile.

When he arrived back at their home, he stepped in to find loud music blaring from the speakers and saw that Remus had already setup the living room. He smiled when he saw that the furniture and colors reminded him of the Gryffindor common room. He dusted himself off and walked into the kitchen and saw that a small table had been set up as well as some barstools on the far side of the counter. Harry unshrunk the groceries and began putting them away before heading upstairs. He found Remus in one of the guest rooms. The music was even louder in here and Remus was waving his wand wildly moving furniture around the room.

Harry watched with silent laughter, it looked as if he was conducting an orchestra. Finally, Remus paused and considered it for a moment.

"It looks fantastic, Rem!" Harry had to shout over the music and Remus was startled he spun around with his hand over his heart.

"Merlin, Harry scare a guy why don't you?"

Harry laughed as Remus turned down the record player. "How did you get all of this done so quickly?"

"Magic." Remus smiled. "I don't know how the muggles would do it, must take them ages."

Harry nodded as they made their way from the room.

"All that's left is the second guest room and a bit of cleaning in the study. I got some comfortable chairs for down there." Harry had never seen Remus look so happy, "I didn't spend all of the money you gave me for things. The rest of it I left in the jar in the kitchen."

"Sound good. I stopped by the store and picked up some things. What would you say to some dinner?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVIEW! PLEASE!