Author's note: Another chapter! Thanks to all who reviewed recently:

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Queen of Duct tape - HAHAHAH even though i would've loved to hear what you'd written in your ridiculously long review...the one you just left me had me cracking up! truly random and brilliant me thinks...anyway as i really didnt wanna suffer your wrath...i updated...well actually i got your review just after i was about to update so i thought i'd better mention you...anyway THANKS and pls review again!
Voldemort, Apartments and Letters

"Ah…Christmas in a place where people like you…what else could I ask for?" Sirius said settling on to the conjured-up bed in James' room. James lay back on his own bed and stayed silent for a moment taking in the warmth of his room. He sleepily spoke to Sirius,"Who said people here like you?" with a slight smile on his face.

Sirius chucked a pillow at his friend half-heartedly and stretched out. However their relaxation was suddenly interrupted by a smooth woman's voice calling from downstairs.

"Boys! If you think I'm going to let you waste a beautiful day like this sleeping upstairs, you are entirely wrong! Get down here this instant!" James' mother called. James rolled his eyes and tried putting a pillow over his head; however Sirius was up and straightening his clothes in an instant. After smacking James over the head, he dragged him downstairs to go meet Mrs. Potter in the kitchen.

Number 6 at Godric's Hollowallowed heaps of sunshine into the whole house, maintaining the most cheerful atmosphere in the entire village, so much unlike Number 12 Grimmauld Place where the Black Family lived. Mrs Potter was bustling about the kitchen hurriedly fixing lunch when the two boys trooped downstairs. James hugged his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek before plopping down next to Sirius who sat at the table smirking.

"Oh Mrs Potter…that wouldn't be your delicious roast chicken you're cooking is it?" he asked charmingly drawing a smile from the woman's face.

"Yes Mr Black, and just for that you get a little extra gravy!" The plumpish, motherly woman pinched Sirius' cheeks and smoothened his hair before returning to the stove. Sirius grinned and shook his head so that his trademark lock of hair fell back into his eyes.

"Mum, is Dad coming home for lunch?" James inquired grabbing two apples off the counter and tossing one to Sirius before taking a huge bite from his own.

Mrs Potter immediately grabbed the apples from the two bewildered boys' hands and answered, "Yes he is, Mr Malkippins let him have the afternoon off after the week he's had! And don't you dare ruin your appetites!"

As if on queue, Mr. Potter arrived in the kitchen with a loud 'POP' and ruffled James' hair before kissing his wife swiftly. He then turned to Sirius.

"Ah Sirius! Good to see you m'boy…ready to be stuffed full by my lovely wife here?"

Sirius nodded and laughed as Mr Potter received a loud thunk from his wife's ladle connecting with his head.

"Ahhh Margaret! It was only a joke."

Mrs Potter pouted and handed the plates to James who reluctantly set the table. He then whined to his parents, "Sirius isn't doing anything!"

"That's cos I'm their favourite son, Jamesie" Sirius retorted with a smirk.

"Don't be silly James! Come on Sirius pet, please pour the juice." James' mum handed him a jug and affectionately cupped his chin.

Once the family was all settled into their lunch, Sirius spoke to Mr Potter.

"So how's work at the Ministry sir?"

Mr Potter worked as an Auror at the Ministry of Magic and often let the boys in on the newest scandals. However now he frowned.

"Well the murders are getting more and more frequent lately. If we could only pinpoint them to one person! But there seems to be no pattern at all, other than we have reason to believe they are all working for an extremely powerful Dark Wizard."

"Oh yeh! Me and Padfoot were reading something about those guys in the Daily Prophet. Call themselves "Death Eaters" or something…who the hell is this bloke anyway?"

"He calls himself Lord Voldemort. The Death Eaters are his inner circle. Absolute treachery this is! You won't believe the amount of casualties we've been having at St.Mungo's recently!" Mrs Potter filled them in shuddering. She was an extremely gifted Healer, which perhaps further added to her sense of motherliness.

"I reckon my cousin Bella's in league with this Voldemort guy. I wouldn't be surprised if Regulus joined up too. Nasty little brute" Sirius muttered darkly.

"It's sad really, the whole concept of some blood being better than others is rather pathetic! I'm ashamed to say that other old Wizarding families like us are arrogant enough to believe they are superior to muggle-borns or half-bloods," Mr Potter stated angrily.

"So this Voldemort chap thinks there should only be purebloods in the Wizarding world? What codswallop! We'd have to perform incest eventually if that was gonna happen!" James let out a sharp annoyed laugh, thinking of Lily. She was a muggle-born.

"Yeah, my whole family calls me a blood traitor, simply cos I talk to muggle-borns. I reckon they're convinced the Blacks should've been royalty! They're ashamed of me just cos I'm friends with people, who like me, don't give a shit about someone's background!" Sirius was seething now as he stabbed the peas on his plate. Remus wasn't a pureblood, nor Ivana. He didn't see why they shouldn't be considered equals.

"Sirius! Mind your language young man. But yes, you're right. People should never be big-headed enough to believe they're superior, simply because of their background…Now please, let's change the subject - just saying that wizard's name gives me the chills" Mrs Potter exclaimed ending the conversation.

"So what are you boys going to do today then?" Mr Potter asked vaguely.

"Looking for a flat" Sirius replied slowly.

"A FLAT? WHY?" Mrs Potter suddenly looked up horror-striken.

"Don't worry Mrs P. Jamesie is staying, I just think I shouldn't be imposing on you anymore. This summer I think I should move into a place of my own."

"I tried telling him you guys didn't mind" James offered quickly whilst his mother shot him an upset glare.

"Sweetheart, you're like a second son…please won't you stay with us… Come on Freddy, tell him!"

Mr Potter remained quiet for a while. He then cleared his throat.

"I don't want you to leave Sirius, but if this is what you feel you must do, then you should. Just know there will always be a place for you at this table."

Sirius smiled and thanked him. Then turning to a very distressed woman he said,

"Mrs P, I swear I'll visit all the time! I just…- you've been so good to me, I just can't possibly keep crowding you all…"

"Oh Sirius…promise me you'll come back any time you can! I don't think I could bear thinking of you alone in a flat, watching it get messier and messier and…"

"Mum! Relax; Sirius knows how to clean…"

"But…oh alright then dear, will you need a lift into London?" she said sniffling as she straightened the collar on Sirius' black shirt.

"No thanks ma'am we'll apparate" Sirius said smiling at her.

"Splendid! Now Margaret, you have to get back to work, as do I, so let's leave these boys to their fun…Tally ho lads!" Mr Potter laughed as he tipped his hat to them and disappeared back to work.

Mrs Potter wiped her eyes hurriedly and waved her wand to clean up the mess on the table. "Do take care boys…" she said as she too apparated to work.

"Now, let's go find me a flat Prongs…"


Sirius shook the extremely short man's hand warmly. He had an enormous grin on his face as he handed over a good part of the inheritance money he'd received from his favourite uncle. As the landlord left, Sirius stood in the centre of the bare little flat and beamed at James who was trying not to smile back.

"It's like a bachelor's pad mate! You can come round anytime – it''ll be brilliant!" Sirius said excitedly.

James couldn't fight the contagious grin which was now on his face too. "Ah damn you Padfoot. I meant to be proper angry at you if you found a place and you're making me smile!"

"S'alright Prongs! You'll have me around til the summer anyway. And after that! D'you honestly believe you could get rid of me that easy?" Sirius grabbed his friend and messed up his hair.

"Oh I wish!" James laughed jokingly.

After making some arrangements with the landlord about the maintenance of Sirius' flat, the two friends apparated to The Leaky Cauldron to meet up with Remus.


It was late on Christmas day at the Chaterjee mansion when Lily apparated into Diya's bedroom. Looking up from the pile of presents Diya smiled and asked innocently,

"Security that bad eh?"

Lily laughed. "Your house elf let me in after about 10 questions about you to prove I was your friend. I heard Ivana pop behind me so I reckon she's going through it now too. So how was your Christmas?"

"Oh not bad, mum and dad were at the bank in the morning while I opened my presents but we had dinner togther…now I think theyre having some 'alone-time'." Diya made a face but smiled. Her parents were always working as they owned huge amounts of shares in Gringotts.

"Oh yeah I saw them downstairs quite snugly."

CRACK!

Ivana looked quite dishevelled as she sat on the floor by Diya's bed and looked at her two friends.

"Diya…your house elf is a nutter! I got one question wrong and I had to answer another twenty!"

The girls laughed and began to talk about their holidays. The conversation slowly turned to presents and Lily and Ivana asked Diya what Remus gave her.

"Oh…just this" she said rather distractedly showing them a bottle of perfume.

"Everything alright with him?" Ivana questioned as she frowned at the disinterest on Diya's face.

"Oh no, no….we've just well, run out of things to say in our letters I think…but really it's nothing!" she insisted as she noted the concern on the two girls' faces. "Really! Remus and I are doing fine….what's more important…how are you and Sirius Iv?"

Ivana received a nudge and a wink from Diya whilst Lily carried a knowing smile.

"Oh shut it guys! Honestly, we're just friends! I used to think I might like him, but I think we're better off this way…we're really close you know?" she assured them shaking her head.

"Oh come on Ivvy! Are you telling me you don't blush every time Sirius smiles at you?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face.

"NO! Ok yeh sometimes I do…but seriously Sirius' smile is just nice…that's all! I swear…anyway have you seen the way he ruffles my hair at every possible moment? I'm like his little sister or something!"

"Maybe he's shy…" Diya suggested thoughtfully

"Sirius? Sirius Black? Shy? Umm…you must be joshing! Really guys, I'm completely fine being friends with him!" Ivana seemed completely serious as she said this so the girls accepted this as the truth. The conversation then however turned to Lily.

"What about you Lils…anything new happen with James?" Ivana looked concerned as she spoke softly.

Lily's grin faded and she answered, "Oh no…he's probably too busy with Steph or something…"

Diya shook her head. "No, no….Remus told me he dumped her the day before we left school!"

Lily's face brightened a little. But almost instantly fell. "And he hasn't even written to me…oh no guys…he's really over me! I blew my chance didn't i?"

It was Ivana's turn to shake her head. "No, no! I bet he's just trying to not push anything cos he doesn't know you like him. I think you should tell him…"

Lily thought about this for a moment. "Well d'you think I should send him an Owl or something?" she suggested hopefully.

Diya squealed at this and ran for a piece of scented parchment. "Here…say something that'll suggest you like him!"

Lily bit her lip and smiled as she began to write. Her two friends peeked over her shoulder and giggled at what she was writing.


"Aghh I'm so full I think I'm going to burst!" Remus exclaimed holding his stomach.

"Me too!" James agreed.

"What are you amateurs talking about?" Sirius asked between mouthfuls of more turkey.

The two other boys sent him disgusted looks before being distracted by a large barn owl flying through James' window.

"Isn't that Lily's owl?" Remus asked looking at James.

He was tearing off the seal of the note now curiously, after giving the owl a dish of water. He eagerly began to read.

Dear James,

How was your Christmas? I hope it was good! Anyway I just wanted to write and tell you how much I've missed you lately. I can't stop thinking about you. Please write back and let me know how've you been eh?

Yours,

Lily xxxx

"Wow Prongs…that's a lotta kisses," Sirius pointed out reading over his shoulder.

"Erm…wow James, this is really good news isn't it? Remus said uncertainly shooting a look at him.

James was frowning.

"What the hell is this supposed to mean!" He exclaimed frustrated. "She's so bloody confusing this bird….I mean one day she's telling me she really doesn't like me and doesn't feel anything for me…and the next minute…she 'can't stop thinking about me?' What am I meant to think?" James exploded angrily, thoroughly confused. He put his head in his hands roughly.

"Girls…" Sirius mumbled furiously.

"Well she did break up with Wood…maybe she realised she made a mistake..." Remus put in fairly.

"Who does she think Prongs is though man? Some big push-over? Does she really believe he has no pride whatsoever? Bloody unfair that is," Sirius argued seizing the letter to examine it.

"He's right Moony….I have some pride you know! I mean, she's just going to use me as a re-bound or something….It's well unfair. I'm going to write back!" He hurriedly grabbed a piece of parchment and scribbled something down heatedly.

Lily,

I had a good Christmas. I'm sure you did too. Look let's cut to the chase. Not to be rude or anything…but exactly what d'you think you're playing at? Just so you know…rather than randomly getting my hopes up every once in a while, I'd much prefer you just leave me alone. I don't think that my heart can take much more of this game you insist on playing.

- James

"Nice one Prongs!"

"Um….Prongs….it's a tiny bit harsh…maybe if you were politer or something…" Remus started

"NO Moony! NO….I've had it with Evans and her indecisiveness!" James cut in before tying the letter to the Owl and sending it back to Lily.

"Um…ok mate, just don't blame me if you're regretting it later…" Remus said shaking his head slightly.

"He won't regret it. Indecisive girls need to be put in their place!" Sirius stated loyally.


Although James was truly pissed off at that moment, later on that night as he listened to Remus and Sirius breathe softly in their sleep, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. Quietly he reached over to the bin by his bed and fished out Lily's crumpled up letter. Reading the words, "I can't stop thinking about you..." again by the light of the single candle, he couldn't help but wish he hadn't acted on impulse. As he slipped the note under his pillow and tried to drift off to sleep, he thought sadly,

"I'd give anything to just turn back time and change what I wrote."


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