Chapter 20- To Be Jolly

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Sirius stood looking out the window of his dorm, watching grey clouds gather. Soon it would snow. He glanced down at his watch and smiled. Even sooner, the carriages would roll toward the train station. His smile widened in anticipation.

Finally, it was time for him to leave the room that had become a virtual prison. Since Surly hexed him, Sirius left his dorm only to attend classes…and sneak out to see Rosmerta. Flighty brought meals on a tray, and his only company beside his mates had been Lily and Dorcas. The one time Jane visited, she left crying.

Sirius' eyes flew to the calendar whose days were marked off with large 'X's.' Had it really been less than a week since he had offended a jealous house elf? Time passed so slowly cooped up like a dog in a pen.

He lifted the hood of his cloak and held the material tightly at his throat, ensuring his head was fully covered. After checking his watch once more, Sirius left the room and hurried downstairs.

"Good Gryffindors rejoice, with heart and soul and voice…Give ye heed to what I say, Sirius Black is leaving today!"

"Thank you for the inspiring carol," said Sirius, hurrying down the corridor. "Happy Christmas!"

"Merry, merry, merry, Christmas!" the Fat Lady trilled.

Sirius had deliberately waited until the last minute to leave the tower. He expected the crowd to have dispersed, with only a few stragglers remaining.

Cheerful at the prospect of an unimpeded route to the carriages, he quickly descended the main staircase and jogged down the corridor to the entry. Before he took a step inside, a piping little voice said, "Sirius! We waited for you…please ride with us to the station!"

Cindy, a tow-headed Gryffindor first year, was staring up at him.

"Please?" five of her little friends chorused.

Sirius hardened his heart against pleading eyes and trembling lips. "Sorry, girls, I've already made plans. Happy Christmas."

The sorrowful Happy Christmases he received made him feel like Scrooge, but Sirius walked on. He stopped dead in his tracks to hear a voice outside ask, "D'you think he knew we'd be waitin' and snuck out a different door?"

Damn! That was Jugson, one of the Slytherin Beaters. Was the entire Quidditch team waiting to jeer at him…or worse? Tear off his cloak and humiliate him in front of the whole school? Sirius whirled around and rushed back to the girls.

"What are you doing?" Cindy asked, watching him crouch down and begin duck walking behind the small group.

"Hiding, until I can make a break for it," Sirius whispered. "Be a Christmas Angel and pretend I'm not here."

Cindy smiled. "Will you sit with us on the train…just for a few minutes?"

They were at the doorway now. All the girls turned to look at him. "Stop doing that!" he said. "I'll come, but only if you get me past that lot waiting outside."

Six eleven year olds nodded determinedly. They moved in a tight group out the doors and down the steps.

"You there, have you seen Black?" a boy's voice demanded.

Cindy pointed. "He's in the bushes over there!"

When the Slytherins ran to check, Sirius lurched to his feet and bolted for his mates' carriage. They had chosen the one at the head of the line, which had seemed such a brilliant idea at the time. Now, with spluttered curses and angry footsteps behind him, Sirius changed his mind. It was barmy.

Students hung out of carriage windows, craning their necks to see what was happening. Some laughed, some shouted for him to run faster, and some invited him to ride with them. Sirius ran full out, grinning when he heard a girl say, "They're falling back! They're giving up!"

Slytherins were used to ambushing their victims in dark corridors, not sprinting. Sirius, thanks to his long and illustrious career of managing mischief, had learnt to leg it upon many an occasion.

Sirius was laughing in triumph when he climbed into the first carriage.

"You sound like a ghoul…and you look like one too," said James with a grin.

Beneath his hood, Sirius snickered. "As long as I don't smell like one."

Peter had been hanging out the window. He fell back onto the bench and said, "I told them you'd make it."

"We never doubted," said Remus with a smile.

"Ah, but did you bet on it?" asked Sirius.

"A galleon," Remus admitted.

"I wagered five on you," said James.

Peter boasted, "I bet twenty!"

"Twenty?" Sirius repeated in a dangerous tone. "We only had fifteen when we pooled our funds."

Peter shrank back against the seat. "B…but you said to always bet on Black!"

"I also told you to never bet more than you can afford to lose, worm-brain," said Sirius.

James said, "I would've given you the galleons, if you'd needed it."

Sirius realised how harsh he had sounded and made a conscious effort to relax. It was not his mates' fault his mother compared him to ancestors whose foolish gambles depleted the family fortunes.

"You are as reckless as the worst of them," he could still hear her say.

"Thanks," he told James, before turning to Peter. "Next time, remember what I said, but this time…I think we should spend the extra galleons on sweets for everyone."

Peter's round face lit up. "Brilliant! The girls are coming round for tea." His expression grew anxious. "You will be…normal…by then, won't you?"

"So Flighty says," Sirius answered. "Once we get a certain distance from Hogsmeade, the spell breaks."

"Ace," said James. "I've tried to be a good sport, but the situation was wearing on my nerves."

"On your nerves?" Sirius said, throwing off his cloak. Black hair spilled like a waterfall over his shoulders and cascaded down his chest. "I'm the one with Rapunzel hair, as your girlfriend so cleverly named it- that grows back instantly when you cut or charm it away! I've endured constant heckling and hounding, become a prisoner in my dorm just because Surly wanted to make me more ugly and hairy. My nerves aren't worn- they're shot!"

"Lily is clever, isn't she?" James said with a dreamy smile.

Remus said, "Think what would have happened if Flighty hadn't thrown a protection spell at the same time as Surly's hex. You would've had a beard as long as your hair."

"Something more for girls to beg me to let them brush and braid," Sirius said darkly. "At least I was spared that!"

"Jane never cried because I told her to leave my hair alone," Peter said, almost resentfully.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I told her to leave it the bloody hell alone, mate, and believe me, if you told her to keep her hands off you, she'd cry!"

"Really?" Peter sat up straight and puffed his chest out.

The other three boys exchanged amused glances.

"You haven't enjoyed the attention…not even a little?" Remus asked curiously.

Sirius looked at his mate and lied like a dog. "Not one bit." He turned his gaze to the window and listened to the others chat about holiday plans, while his memory took him back to the day of the hex…

"I can't go to Hogsmeade like this! I'll be a laughingstock!" Sirius said, leaning a shoulder against the window and staring out broodingly.

"Lily could braid it for you," James said.

"So Slytherins can pull it all day? No thank you."

"Dorcas thinks if you tied it back, it wouldn't be that much longer than the Headmaster's hair," said Remus.

"Dumbledore's what? A hundred years older than me? My hair doesn't look like some wizard hairstyle, it looks like…"

"Rapunzel's?" Peter suggested. He blanched at the furious expression on Sirius' face. "I didn't make that up, it was Evans. She said that, and now everybody's calling you Rapunzel."

Sirius used every curse word he could think of to express his feelings.

"That last part, in goblin- is that even anatomically possible?" said James.

"It's the thought that counts," Remus said, in a fatherly tone that made even Sirius smile wryly.

"Go on. I'll get a run in later tonight, and hope not to frighten rabbits with the sight of an animate fur ball," Sirius said.

"Will your coat be fluffy or shaggy, do you think?" asked Peter.

"I don't give a toss. Get out of here!"

After curfew, when other Gryffindors were in their dorms if not their beds, Sirius borrowed James invisibility cloak to sneak out for a run. He headed straight to the Broomsticks and knocked on the kitchen door. Rosmerta opened it immediately.

"Are you all right? I…heard…about the hex," she said.

Sirius kept his cloak hood up. "Then you understand why I didn't come into Hogsmeade today."

"Of course, but Sirius…won't you let me see?"

"Might as well give you a laugh too," he said, removing his cloak.

She put her hands up to her face, but Sirius could see the laughter in bright blue eyes. He scowled. Rosmerta lowered her hands to reveal her smile. "It is funny, to see you with all that hair." She took a step closer. "May I touch it?"

"At least you asked. A pack of firsties cornered me in the common room this morning. I barely escaped having ribbons braided into it!"

Rosmerta giggled at his disgruntled tone. "I can't blame them," she said, sliding her fingers through black hair that now ended at his waist. "It's beautiful." She raised a handful of his hair and brushed the tips across her lips. "And sexy," she sighed.

If he were a dog, his ears would have perked up. "Sexy?" he said, watching her rub strands against her cheek.

She nodded, lifting his hair to watch it fall. "Very sexy."

He started to grin. "Want to snog a bloke called Rapunzel?"

Rosmerta took his hand and led him toward the stairs. "Sirius, Sirius, let down your hair."

-

"Do you want us to form a guard around you, or do you want to make a dash for the train?" James asked, jolting Sirius out of a particularly heated memory. He became aware that the carriage had stopped. They had reached Hogsmeade station.

Before Sirius could answer, the door was yanked open. Several small faces peered into the carriage. "You're coming with us, aren't you?" asked Cindy, the ringleader of the little gang.

"They…erm…helped me out. I'm going to sit with them for awhile," Sirius told his friends, who were grinning like utter fools.

"Have fun," James said.

"Be gentle with him, ladies," said Remus.

The girls giggled. Peter frowned. "Why don't you mind these firsties when you wouldn't let Jane touch your hair?"

"They want to play with it, not molest it," Sirius said, fastening his cloak. He pulled the hood up and allowed himself to be ushered onto the train and into a compartment. He told the girls, "Here are the rules. No ribbons, no bows, no feathers, no beads, no curling, crimping, or cutting- agreed?"

"Agreed," said Cindy, patting the bench beside her with one hand and lifting a brush in the other.

-

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Rosmerta stood concealed in the bushes, watching Thestrals pull Hogwarts carriages past the crossroads. She waved when one of the skeletal creatures looked her way.

You got it bad, the little voice in the back of her mind gloated.

She could not argue. Instead of having a lie in, she had jumped out of bed, eager to go rambling. Not over the hills or alongside a burn, but toward the route Sirius would take leaving school. Once she reached the crossroads, instead of moving on, Rosmerta had stopped to 'stretch.'

I should be flexible as an elastic band by now, Rosmerta thought, laughing softly. Her heart, too, got a workout, leaping and racing when she caught a glimpse of Sirius' face in the first carriage's window.

Even when the last carriage rolled out of sight, she remained beside the road, staring off remembering the way Sirius had looked stretched out on her bed, framed by a curtain of silky black hair. She had assured him he looked even more masculine, but he had shaken his head.

-

"I still can't wait for the spell to be broken."

"I hope you don't mind if I enjoy it while it lasts," Rosmerta said, using the ends of Sirius' hair to tickle his bare abdomen.

"Take off your blouse and I'll do that to you," said Sirius. He grinned. "I promise to behave. I might look, but I won't touch…except with my hair." He saw her hesitation and said, "C'mon, don't you want a belly snog?"

"A WHAT?"

His fingers slipped beneath the hem of her blouse to circle her belly button. "Belly to belly, mouth to mouth, perfectly aligned. What do you say?"

She began to undo buttons.

-

The sound of a motorbike startled Rosmerta from the memory of Sirius' mouth and skin pressed to hers. Hagrid roared by, screeched to a halt, and then rolled back to her. "Mornin' Rosmerta! After pullin' carriages, the herd'll want to stretch their wings. Yeh want to come along?"

"Sure!" she said, hopping onto the bike magically expanded to fit its giant rider. Rosmerta held onto the back of Hagrid's shaggy coat and said over the engine noise, "I don't have to worry about burning myself on the muffler!"

Hagrid looked down to see her feet dangling and gave a booming laugh.

"You sound like Father Christmas!" Rosmerta said, giggling.

"Ho-ho-ho!" Hagrid responded. "Hang on!"

The ride was not the thrill it had been with Sirius, but it was still fun, feeling the cold wind whoosh past her face as they sped down the road. At the station, she helped Hagrid lead the Thestrals into the carriage house, to store the carriages until the students' return. After Hagrid un-harnessed each thestral, she petted the long, smooth noses, marvelling at the beauty of the black scales.

"Are dragon scales this iridescent?" Rosmerta asked.

Hagrid gave a rumbling chuckle. "They kin blind yeh if the sun strikes 'em right." He smiled reminiscently. "Hungarian Horntails is the closest in looks to thestrals. Yellow eyes, tho'."

"White eyes with black scales are much more striking," Rosmerta told the thestral she was petting. It made a snorting sound and nudged her hand.

"Young Tenebrae likes yeh. Remembers yeh feedin' her."

"Tenebrae? That's a lovely name."

"Means darkness." Hagrid ran a loving hand down the thestral's bony spine. "If she has a foal, it'll be Tenebris…from the darkness."

"That's so poetic!" Rosmerta exclaimed.

Hagrid gave rumble of laughter. "Jus' a play on words. Let's be off."

Rosmerta was glad she had dressed in layers and performed a warming charm. The icy wind whipped her hair back, and if she had been taller, Hagrid's would have lashed her in the face.

The ride was exhilarating. Hagrid yelled directions and cautions at her before they left the ground that she pretended not to have heard before. In the air, following the thestrals as they circled the Forbidden Forest, Rosmerta thought the day could not get any better.

Then it began to snow.

By the time Hagrid pulled to a stop in front of the Broomsticks, a rapidly deepening blanket of snow covered the ground. A little girl dressed in red from head to toe ran down the pavement toward them, calling, "Auntie Rosmerta, Auntie Rosmerta! The boys are saying their troop will build a better snowman than our troop. You have to come help us!"

"Looks like yeh have important work to do," said Hagrid.

Rosmerta smiled and asked Natalie, "Are your mum and Hamish helping?"

"No! They're judging!"

It was hard not to laugh at the look of disgust on the girl's face. Rosmerta said, "Hagrid and I will come help judge, and then I'll serve everyone warm butterbeer. How does that sound?"

"Brilliant!" Natalie exclaimed, before rushing back toward the common.

Rosmerta saw the look on Hagrid's face and said, "Don't tell me you've got to get back, Rubeus Hagrid. You're officially on holiday, my friend. Come play in the snow."

Hagrid smiled and got off the bike.

-

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"Bye Sirius! Happy Christmas Sirius! We love you Sirius!" James said laughingly, after a group of young girls whirled past them like snowflakes on the King's Cross platform.

"He's the heartthrob of first years," Lily added, giggling.

"No one said 'I love you'," Sirius protested.

"They said it with their eyes." Remus grinned.

The group burst into laughter that faded when Dorcas said, "Isn't that your mum and dad, Lily?"

Mr. and Mrs. Evans were conspicuously Muggle, from their clothing to their stiff and nervous manner.

"Why're they lookin' round like that? Do they think somebody's going to turn them into toads?" asked Peter.

Sirius saw Lily's embarrassment and snapped, "I'll turn you into a toad if you don't shut up."

"I'll help you with your luggage," James said to Lily.

"Thank you. I want them to meet you," she said with a shaky smile.

"Yeah? Ace. I want them to meet me too," said James. He made a face and said, "I mean…"

"I know what you meant," Lily said with a wide smile.

Sirius watched them walk away, hoping the parents would not be too dismayed to meet their daughter's wizard boyfriend. Beside him, Remus said, "Look, the father's shaking James' hand. That's a good sign."

"Bloke's probably happy not to be a toad," said Peter.

Sirius thwacked his idiot friend on the ear. "If it wasn't Christmas…"

"Now, now, let's have goodwill toward all men," Remus said, in his friar voice.

Dorcas spoke up. "There's my family, I'd better go." She hesitated for a moment, before kissing Remus on the cheek. "Happy Christmas," she said.

Sirius looked from the girl walking away to the boy watching her go. "Moony, why didn't you offer to help Dorcas with her luggage?"

"I'm not ready to meet her parents," Remus muttered.

"When will you be ready? Day of the wedding?" Sirius shot back.

"We're not that serious, so leave off, will you?"

"Fine. Is that your mum over there chatting with Mrs. Pettigrew? May I wish her a Happy Christmas or are you not that serious about your friends, either?" Sirius said sarcastically.

Remus began to walk. "There are worse afflictions than long hair," he said conversationally.

"Really? What are they?" Peter asked.

Sirius gave a bark of laughter. "Cynophobia…fear of dogs."

Remus said, "I was thinking of Caligynephobia…fear of beautiful women."

Sirius halted abruptly. "Don't even joke about that, mate."

"Then there's philemaphobia…fear of kissing."

"All right! I won't mention Dorcas again!"

Remus said quietly, "Thank you."

"Is there a fear of rats?" asked Peter. I could have a jolly good time with that one. First person to nick my sweets from Father Christmas would…" he became aware of his friends' stares and laughed nervously. "I was kidding."

"Sure you were," Sirius said. He waited until after Remus and his mother left to wink at Peter and say, "Musophobia."

Sirius was still chuckling over Peter's ear-to-ear grin when he re-joined James at the end of the platform. They were the only ones left.

"My parents lose track of time. They don't mean to be late," James said.

Sirius shook his head. "I don't mind waiting." He started to smile when he saw the pair approaching. "They're worth waiting for."

"Yeah," James said, "They are." He stood and hurried forward.

Sirius watched the elderly couple greet their beloved son. Only once had his mother held him close like that.

When he was four, he strayed from Walburga's side when they were shopping in Diagon Alley. He had been in a shop down the street, playing with wizard chess pieces, when his mother's shouts had registered. When he wandered outside, his mother had snatched him up and held him so tightly, Sirius could barely breathe- and did not care. It was not until she set him down that he noticed how set her face was.

"You will learn to mind me, Sirius."

"Sirius!" Mrs. Potter called. "Where is my second son?" She leaned heavily on a cane, but her smile was mischievously girlish. "James owled that my black sheep had Rapunzel hair. Yours is much too short. You can't be Sirius."

Sirius took her hand and brought it to his lips. "A woman who loves puns is a pearl above price."

She kissed him on one cheek and patted him with gloved fingers on the other. "Handsome and charming…you are Sirius, after all."

"I am seriously famished," Mr. Potter interjected, coming forward to shake Sirius' hand. "I do not believe I have eaten all day. Have I, my dear?" he asked his wife.

"You skipped afternoon tea," she said, "avoiding my ladies' group."

"What cause are you championing now?" James asked. He grinned at Sirius, who smiled, remembering his joke that he was the most worthy cause Mrs. Potter had ever supported.

"The Society for the Preservation and Acceptance of Muggles."

"S.P.A.M…what kind of name is SPAM? It will never catch on," Mr. Potter said sceptically.

"Do not argue in front of the children," Mrs. Potter scolded, walking past her husband at a brisk pace that belied her age and use of the cane. "You play with your toy trains in the attics, and I will make a difference in the world," she tossed over her shoulder.

"Model Railway, Madam!" Mr. Potter retorted. "King's Cross and its environs, circa 1920, complete down to the Caledonian road and its station!" He glanced at the boys and winked. "Hold out for strong-willed women, lads."

Sirius said in an undertone to James as they followed the Potters, "Have you not told them about Lily?"

James whispered back, "I wanted to do it in person." He laughed shortly. "I'd better tell them tonight."

"Why?"

"Because I invited Lily's family over for dinner."

Sirius asked with a sense of foreboding, "When?"

James said, "Tomorrow."

-

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A/N: Anybody else hearing Little Orphan Annie sing in his or her head? LOL. Hate the song, actually, but good for me 'tomorrow' is actually a week away, since I don't have the chapter written. :D Sirius has had a 'hard knock life', heh, but he'll receive lots of TLC to make up for it. My apologies to those who looked forward to a Pirate Romance Novel dream-sequence- it didn't fit this week, so Sirius the swashbuckler will have to wait. The readers who were kind enough not to make me wait for a review last week were…...♥ 40/16 ♥ alix33 ♥ An Aspiring Author ♥ arb princess ♥ Carnivalgirl ♥ comettail ♥ cupcakeswirl ♥ ElspethBates ♥ Femme Draconis ♥ FNP ♥ Freja Lercke-Falkenborg ♥ GraceRichie ♥ ishandtwofourths ♥ Machiavelli Jr ♥ MollyCoddles ♥ Moonlight ♥ potteronpotluvhim ♥ ronandhermy ♥ Shadow-of the- Night35 ♥ Sivaroobini Lupin-Black ♥ Slipknot-3113 ♥ Sophia Loren ♥ sunny9847 ♥ and ♥ Watch Out for Yellow Moon ♥