Three days into the holiday I woke up next to Sirius's warm body and smiled. His naked chest was pressed against my bare skin, it had been so long since we had shared a bed that I had forgotten how wonderful it was to wake up next to him. I watched him sleep for a few minutes and stroked his hair carefully. He was so handsome as he slept, and he didn't feel me brushing his hair, or rubbing his skin. I leaned over him and kissed his lips ever so softly and as I pulled away I felt his breath on my neck. He smiled and his eyes opened, greeting me with the dark sweetness.

"I hope you weren't planning on stopping that," he said wrapping his arm around me and holding my body tight against his. He kissed my lips deeply and I felt my body melt against him as memories of last night burned into my flesh. I loved the feelings he sent through my body. We continued to kiss, softly and purely, only wanting each other. I relaxed my head in the crook of his neck, running my hand up and down his torso and wrapping my leg over his thighs. He kissed my hands and whispered that he loved me.

"I love you too," I said against his skin. His hand squeezed mine and we both stared at each other with smiling eyes. "What did you want to do today?"

"Lay in bed and keep having sex," he said with a devilish grin.

"Of course you want to do that," I said pulling away and standing up next to the bed. I found my pajamas and began to put them on.

"No," he moaned grabbing my hand. "It's colder now."

I laughed and snatched the covers in my hands, then yanked them off the bed. Sirius yelped and jumped after the blankets. "How cold is it now? Oh—pretty cold!" I joked.

"It's not that cold," Sirius said grabbing me tightly and pulling me against him. He pressed his body against mine and smirked. "See?"

I laughed. "Yes, I can feel it."

"Good," he leaned down and kissed me deeply, then his lips traveled over my neck and shoulders. "See what you do to me?"

For a second I paused. Gabriel had said that to me once. I kissed Sirius and then pulled away, finishing getting dressed. "Come on, lets have breakfast and go outside. It's so beautiful out."

"And cold," Sirius said giving in and picking up the blankets. He threw them back on his bed and began to get dressed.

"I'll see you in a few minutes," I said leaving the dorm. I headed for mine to get dressed for the day as my thoughts wandered back to what Sirius had said and Gabriel. I hope Sirius didn't see me flinch when he said that. I instantly thought of Gabriel and a new rise of lust took my body. The way Gabriel's husky voice had said those words to me, as he held me against him in a similar, and yet more aggressive way, then Sirius.

When I entered my dormitory I stopped at once at the sight of a trunk at the end of my bed. The trunk was on top of the new trunk the school had gotten for me to replace the one I lost in the fire. It was a black trunk, with silver trim. I approached it very slowly; unsure of what it was or who it was from. There was a card on top, I picked it up and opened the envelope. The note was short.

I'm taking great risk in sending this to you, but I thought it appropriate considering that everything I had bought you before was destroyed in the fire. Dumbledore told me about it. Be safe, Cadence. Happy Christmas.

The note was not signed, but I knew it was from Gabriel. I frowned slightly and put the note down on the bed and lifted the latches on the trunk, almost afraid to see what he replaced for me. I knew it would be clothes, but when I opened the trunk I wasn't expecting so many clothes. The trunk was filled all the way to the brim with dark clothing, undergarments, and shoes. I slammed it shut and leaned against it. That bastard, buying me more clothes that he knew I'd love. I smiled and shook my head then opened the trunk again to look through all of the new clothes.

There were four pairs of pants, two blue jeans, one black, and one forest green. There was a black leather coat, brown poncho, crimson shawl, an emerald green cloak, and a black cloak. Five new pairs of boots, in different styles: two pairs were black heeled boots with buttons up the sides, one of the pairs went up to the ankle, the other to the knee; then there was a pair of black heeled boots that tied up the shin; a pair of flat brown leather boots, and also a pair of black combat looking boots. Gabriel had picked out four new corsets for me, which I was thankful for—I loved wearing the bodices. There were too many shirts and tops to mention, and the undergarments were all sexy, dark colors, and what Gabriel wanted to see on me, no doubt.

I was thankful for the clothing, simply because Gabriel knew my style better then the school did. I had been wearing plan colored sweaters, jeans, and long sleeve shirts. I even took to wearing some of Sirius's shirts just because they were more comfortable then the clothing the school had bought me. Lily didn't have to worry about it because her parents sent her knew clothes. I had some clothes hidden in the vault at Gringotts, but not a lot, and I didn't want to call attention to the vault by withdrawing my clothes.

I changed into a pair of jeans, new black long sleeve top, put a crimson bodice on over it and then the long black cloak. I looked at myself in the mirror and pulled my black school shoes on then left the room. Sirius looked at me with raised eyebrows as I descended the stairs.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked looking me up and down.

"I ordered them a few weeks ago," I lied as he touched my hips and stood in front of me.

"I like them," he smiled. "Did you order anything else?"

"Just enough to keep me out of your shirts."

"You look good in my shirts," he said.

"I look better in these clothes," I whispered taking his hand as we made to leave the common room.

"I like you in my shirts," he shook his head, disagreeing with me. "Although, it will be nice to be able to wear them again."

I laughed and wrapped my arm around his waist. "I suppose I can still wear your shirts sometimes."

Sirius smiled and kissed my forehead.

The rest of our holiday was relaxed and peaceful, just as the first day had been. It was perfect to spend everyday with Sirius, we were able to reconnect to the status of our relationship over the last summer. In the midst of training with Gabriel, coming back to school, having my identity released to the Wizarding world, we had both forgotten what it was like to just be with each other. It was a glorious, taken for granted thing, and there were no words to describe how I felt over that week. The only thing I can write is that I never remember feeling that way again.

As Sirius and I sat in front of the fire, in a heap of blankets and pillows, later Christmas evening, he held me close and told me that we had been tested so much, and he was sure now we could over come anything.

"Do you really think so?" I whispered.

He looked at me with surprised eyes. "Of course, we love each other, what else is there?"

"My Father," I said darkly looking into the flames of the burning fire before us.

"No," Sirius shook his head. "He cannot divide us." Sirius moved and looked me in the face, holding my cheeks and studying me with deep dark eyes. The star I had captured for him shined on its silver chain around his neck. He kissed my hands and looked me squarely in the eye.

"He's tried," he whispered stroking my hair behind my ear. "He's tried and he can't. I know you're strong enough to never give into him—and he knows that."

I nodded. "I know. Sirius, that is exactly what I fear. I fear he'll come after you, or Lily, James or Remus. Even Peter."

"He would never go after Peter," Sirius shook his head. "He's too weak."

"Exactly," I whispered. "Sirius I fear that I will lose you to him—not that you will join—that he will murder you. I will lose you to the fight."

Sirius forced a smile and took my hands. "No matter what happens, I will always be with you. You know I'd have it no other way, I'd rather go down in a fight, a fight for you and all that is good, then anything else. I would die for you Cadence."

"That's what I'm afraid of," I whispered.

"Well don't be," he said holding me. "It's nothing we have to worry about now."

"You don't realize how close the war is," I said pulling out of his arms. "Everyone keeps telling me not to worry about it, but if I don't then who will? Sirius in six months we're going to be done with school, and we're going to enter a world that my Father is destroying. The world we will be left with when we leave Hogwarts is caught in battle and we will have to choose a side and fight."

"We've already chosen a side," said Sirius sternly.

"Gabriel has founded the Order of the Phoenix," I whispered. "He has formed the group that I have been urging Dumbledore to create. They are working to collect followers and fight against Death Eaters and my Father. They're protecting the Ministry from it's self. It's only a matter of time before Voldemort has completely infiltrated the Ministry, and I'm sure only a matter of time before the Minister is blackmailed out of her position or murdered."

"I'm sure she won't go down with out a fight," Sirius said.

"Sirius, when we're done with school I'm going to enter the Auror program, and I'm going to fight with the Order to stop my Father," I said sternly. "That is what I want."

"I understand that, and it's one of the reasons I love you so much," he said. "You have fight in you that I've never seen before—and you make me want to fight to be a better man, for you. But, Cadence, you can't go risking your life all over the place because they'll be coming after you. As soon as we're done with school we won't have the protection of these walls. We're going to have to be very careful—and you'll have to be very careful as an Auror. You'll be targeted by the Ministry as much as your Father."

I nodded my head in understanding.

"Do you really think the Minister will be able to hire you as an Auror because of who you are?" asked Sirius. "She had to fire Gabriel."

"I like to think that somehow the people will come around and realize I'm fighting for them," I whispered.

"You're optimistic," he said.

"I have to be," I said leaning into his arms. I looked down at my hands where the new promise ring Sirius had gotten me glimmered. It was silver, with engraved vines on the band. A flower bloomed on the top from the vines and shined with a small sapphire.

"Happy Christmas," I whispered to him.

"It won't be the last," he said kissing me gently. I smiled against his lips and rested my body against his chest.

I admired his optimism, because I certainly wasn't that optimistic about next Christmas, for all we knew we wouldn't be around for next Christmas. I scolded myself for thinking such things. I had to stay positive, that way I had something to fight for.

Despite staying at Hogwarts over the holiday, I was dreading the beginning of term that was right around the corner as the New Year rang in. The first week of January people began to return from their homes and Christmas holidays, eager to spend the last few days of break with their friends and enjoy the pleasant snowy weather before term started. I didn't want classes to start up again, simply because it meant that life would get chaotic again and Sirius and I might lose our way again.

We reconnected in such a way over the holiday that part of me was sure that we wouldn't break apart again, but the other part of me knew that if Gabriel came back he'd be the pickaxe that shattered us. It was very simple when I broke it down: to keep Sirius and I a happy, on track couple, I couldn't ever see Gabriel again. And as simple as that sounded, it really wasn't because Gabriel was my friend and I cared about him greatly. That was the issue…I cared about him greatly…so, if I wanted to stay happy with Sirius, whom I loved, I'd either have to stay away from Gabriel or completely control any emotions for him. Shutting him out of my life would be easier, even though it would hurt more.

The second to last day of holiday I spent most of the day in my dormitory organizing my new clothes and cleaning up the room for when Lily arrived that evening. While cleaning everything I thought of Gabriel a lot, despite trying to focus on other things. It was the most I had thought of Gabriel since my talk with Dumbledore when I meet Moody. I didn't think of Gabriel at all while with Sirius, except for that one day when he said "See what you do to me". I wouldn't admit it before anyone, or out loud, but I missed Gabriel. He really knew how to push me in all the right ways to get me to commit to training and being the best—maybe him leaving was just another way to push me, to make me do this on my own, because in the end that may very well be all that I would have: myself.

I realized with regret that I hadn't practiced or trained the whole holiday. Two weeks was a long time to go with out practicing my powers or exercising. The thought made me cringe. I threw the rest of the clothes that I hadn't folded or put away yet into my new trunk and slammed it shut. I looked around the dormitory and my eyes fell on the dummy Lily had made for me. I glared at it and it burst into flames, the flames disappeared suddenly, sucked into the center of the dummy and there was a massive explosion. I covered my face and dived behind my bed as pieces of wood and cotton went flying everywhere.

"Wow," said a voice.

I sat up from behind the bed and looked across the room, which was completely destroyed from the explosion, to the door. Lily Evans stood in the door with her bags and trunk, looking surprised. There was a gigantic scorch mark on the floor where the mannequin stood, and on the wall behind it. I jumped up to my feet.

"Lily!" I said surprised.

"Having some anger management problems?" she questioned with a smile as she walked into the room. I waved my hand and the mannequin put itself back together, my bed moved back to it's original spot on the floor (it had blown about a foot from the wave of the explosion). The room cleaned up nicely with a snap of my fingers. I was slightly disappointed to see that both of my trunks had knocked over and opened on the floor. The morning's work of cleaning was destroyed with one explosion, which I hadn't intended to be so massive.

"I guess I don't have as much control as I hoped," I whispered beginning to pick up my clothes and shove them in the trunk that Gabriel got me.

"Have you been practicing?"

"No," I shook my head. "I haven't at all over holiday."

"Well that's probably the problem," Lily said putting her trunk at the foot of her bed. She threw her bags on top of it then sat on the mattress. "So, if you weren't practicing all holiday, what were you doing?"

"Sirius and I spent time together," I said. She nodded her head and smiled at me.

"I see."

"How was your trip here?" I asked.

"Fine," she whispered. "I sat with James, Remus and Peter." I looked at her with raised eyebrows and before I could ask her why she didn't sit with her other friends she answered me. "No one wants to be around me anymore, Cadence. You're all I have left."

I frowned and sat next to her. "I'm sorry, Lily. If you don't want to be my friend I understand why. I'm like the plague."

"No," she said quickly taking my hand. "Cadence, through all of it I've realized you're my true friends. I don't want to be close to people like that, who are going to turn their back on me because they don't like who I hang out with."

"It's not that they don't like me, Lily," I said. "It's because they think I'm a Death Eater."

"Well, you're not," she said. "And it's not like they're trying to save me from becoming a Death Eater, they're leaving me. They want nothing to do with me."

I nodded understanding her point.

"We all have to choose sides," I whispered.

"Well it's not my fault that they're too stupid to realize we're on the same side as them," she said smartly.

I laughed and nodded.

"So, if you weren't trying to blow the doll up, what were you trying to do?" she asked looking over her shoulder at the dummy standing in its corner.

"Destroy it," I said. "Just not by explosion."

She nodded her head slowly.

"Do you think if I can destroy things like this that my Father can too?" I whispered.

"Probably," she nodded and I could see the fear in her eyes.

"Then why use the Killing Curse?"

She looked at me with studying eyes and thought deeply about what I had said. "You're right," she nodded. "So maybe you are more powerful then him."

"Maybe," I whispered.

"Any word from Gabriel?"

"Not directly," I said. "Before holiday started I spoke to Dumbledore about him. He's formed the Order of the Phoenix."

"That organization you wanted to start last summer?"

I nodded. "He's recruiting and fighting against Death Eaters right under the Ministry's nose. I want to join."

"I do too," Lily said nodding her head.

"Dumbledore won't let us until we're of age," I whispered.

"That's okay," Lily said smartly. "We have to focus on school right now. NEWTS are only in six months. We have a lot of work to do."

I nodded my head, only half agreeing with what she was saying. NEWTS weren't my biggest concern at all. I couldn't stop thinking about my Father and what he was doing to the world outside of Hogwarts. I read the paper everyday and it always brought news of more destruction and death—I only wanted school to be done that way I could get out and fight. I needed to fight.