A/N: Okay so I know I haven't updated since Christmas, but I have a good reason: I had school. Anyway, I got a new computer, transferred everything off of my POS old one and onto my shiny new one :D so now I'm going to try and update more frequently. This chapter hasn't been beta'd yet so if you see any errors let me know. I just wanted to get this out to you before I forgot about it. So without further ado:

Chapter Twenty-Five

It took awhile to teach James, Sirius, and Peter how to play football, but eventually they got it. At first it was just difficult to play in the snow, but Sirius used a nifty little spell to melt all the snow in the space they were playing. They also didn't have a football so they used an old Quaffle of James' and they marked the goals with long sticks which they shoved into the ground.

The teams were uneven until Remus declared that he'd rather watch so it ended up being three to a side. Rain, Lily, and Peter were on one team, and Dustin, James, and Sirius were on the other. Rain played keeper, as did Sirius, and since Peter was terrible and James kept forgetting that he wasn't supposed to pick up the ball, the game was fairly evenly matched.

After about an hour of this, Mrs. Potter called them all in to meet the guests. Luckily, Remus had been keeping score, otherwise there might have been some bickering over who won. Rain's team won by three points and Lily was enjoying holding it over James' head.

"For someone who thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, don't you think it's a bit pathetic that two girls and Pettigrew beat you at a sport?" Lily said teasingly. "No offense, Pettigrew."

"None taken," he replied.

"So you beat me at a sport I never played before, big deal," James said rolling his eyes nonchalantly, but Rain could tell it was eating him alive.

They went back to the entry hall to greet the guests. James commentated to the others about who the guests were and how they knew the Potter family as they walked in.

"That's Arthur Weasley and his wife Molly," he said to Rain, Dustin, and Lily, who didn't already know this. "Those are their kids, I think William is four now, and Charlie is two. Arthur works at the Ministry with my dad, they're pretty good friends from what I understand. Those two are Molly's brothers, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, they're Aurors. That's my Uncle Charlus, he's my dad's brother, and that's my Aunt Dorea, his wife, she's a Black, you know, makes me and Padfoot related. That's their son, Zane, my cousin, he's a squib, but he's great. He'd be about twenty-four now... I don't know what he does. There's Augusta Longbottom, Frank's mother, you know him; he's Head Boy at Hogwarts. And that's—"

"Andy!" Sirius interrupted, running to give his cousin a hug.

"Andromeda Tonks," James finished.

"Sirius!" Andromeda greeted happily. "It's good to see you again, how are things?"

"Same as usual, but it's fine," he replied. "Where's Ted and Dora?"

"Well, Dora was being difficult today—she's only a year old after all—so Ted decided to stay home with her, but I couldn't resist seeing my favourite family member. That reminds me," she pulled a small parcel out of the sleeve of her robes, and handed it to him. "Happy Christmas."

"Thanks!" he said happily, opening the parcel.

Inside was a simple silver ring with a roaring lion design around the band.

"I saw your bedroom at Grimmauld Place, you seem to like lions," she said with a wink. "I saw it and thought you'd like it."

"It's great, Andy, thanks!" he put it on and gave his cousin another hug. "Oh, these are my friends," he said turning to the other Marauders, Lily, and Dustin. "You've met James, that's Remus, Peter, and Rain. This is Rain's brother, Dustin, and this is Lily Evans."

"The one James is so hot on?" Andromeda asked.

Lily glared at James at this.

"Yep, he asks her out every other day," Peter offered helpfully as he tried to dodge a punch in the arm from James and tripped over Dustin's foot in the process.

Andromeda smiled at the two friends' antics, then directed her attention to Rain.

"I think I've heard about you," she said.

"From Regulus?" Rain asked.

"No, from my sister, Narcissa," she looked confused. "Why would I hear about you from Regulus?"

"I...er...I tutor him in Charms," Rain shuffled awkwardly, then changed the subject. "Why would Narcissa talk about me? She hates me."

"Well, that's precisely why she talks about you. I hear you are something of a scandal in the Slytherin house, being Muggleborn and all, and on the house team no less," she winked at Rain conspiratorially.

Rain was in awe; Andromeda was Narcissa's sister? Surely they weren't related, they were two opposing sides of the same argument.

Sirius grinned at the expression on his friend's face. "Andy's my favourite cousin," he said to her then turned to his cousin and directed his next words at her. "Rain's the best Keeper I've ever seen, Malfoy had to put her on the team or risk looking like a total prat."

"Really?" Andromeda said with surprise. "I had wondered how you managed to get on the team despite your upbringing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rain asked hotly.

"Calm down, I'm not insulting you," Andromeda said holding up her hands. "I was just referring to the fact that not a whole lot of Slytherins would want a Muggleborn on the team regardless of how good they are. The fact that you got a Malfoy to put you on the house team is just as astounding."

"Well I suppose I had help; see, none of the Chasers could find fault in my Keeping style, and Regulus put in a good word for me."

"Regulus stuck his neck out for a Muggleborn?" Andromeda looked doubtful. "Are you and I thinking of the same Regulus, here? The Regulus I know would sooner spit on a Muggleborn than help one, or receive help from one; you said you were tutoring him in Charms?"

Rain nodded slightly. Regulus must have changed a lot, she mused. He was a much different person from what Andromeda was describing.

"Regulus has changed," Sirius said in defence of his brother. Then he grinned wickedly at Rain. "He fancies Talon—er—Rain, and she fancies him back!"

After saying this, he jumped swiftly out of the way to avoid a punch in the arm from Rain, who turned scarlet and hollered his name in indignation.

"Padfoot, you twit!" she raged while still trying to land a blow on him, which was difficult considering he kept dancing out of the way.

"You fancy Regulus?" Andromeda asked, and odd note of pride in her voice. "And he fancies you back?"

Rain stopped trying to hurt Sirius and turned to Andromeda with wide, pleading eyes. "Please don't tell Narcissa! Actually, don't tell any of your family! It's a secret, if any other Slytherins found out Regulus Black was dating a Muggleborn—"

"You're dating?" came four simultaneous cries from James, Sirius, Peter, and Dustin. Remus and Lily just rolled their eyes and scoffed.

"Wasn't it a bit obvious?" Remus asked. He turned to Rain. "He asked you on the train, didn't he? That's why he wanted to talk to you?"

Rain nodded quietly.

Andromeda smiled softly. "Don't worry, Rain, your secret's safe with me. I went through something similar when I was younger and I fell for Ted. My mother found out and raged at me for a full two hours before deciding it must just be a faze and refused to talk to me until I 'came to my senses'. When I married him, Aunt Walburga burned me off the tapestry of our family tree. But I got over it."

Rain just stared at the woman before her with deep respect.

After that, conversation lightened up and James and Sirius cracked a few jokes, before the conversation turned full circle and they were talking about Rain and Regulus again.

"You should have seen her face when he kissed her under the mistletoe!" James recounted the incident while laughing. "She turned as red as my Quidditch robes and started mumbling nonsense."

"I did not!" Rain protested.

"You did too," Sirius countered. "We had to drag you out of there before you made a total fool of yourself."

"We were a bit late in that department, though," James said smirking. "She looked a total fool already."

Rain aimed a punch at James who anticipated the move and dodged it expertly. The whole time, Andromeda was laughing and Dustin was trying hard to hide the fact that he was doing the same.

Soon enough, it was time to eat and everyone crowded into the very large dining room set up especially for this occasion. Part way through the meal, people started popping wizard crackers. Dustin was the first to try one to very amusing results.

"Hey, Dustin," James had said holding out a cracker. "Wanna pull a cracker?"

"Sure!"

Dustin took hold of the other end and pulled. The bang that resulted was like a blast from a cannon and startled him so much that he cried out and fell to the floor. The looks on Mrs. Evans, Tammy, and John's faces were almost as amusing and even Rain was a little surprised.

The Marauders all started laughing as Dustin finally pulled himself up, having become entangled in his Christmas robes which had turned fluorescent pink in his surprise. He quickly righted them and sat back in his seat.

"What was that?" he asked looking shell-shocked.

"That, mate," said Sirius, "was a wizard cracker."

"Have you never seen a cracker before, Dustin?" Andromeda asked, confused at his reaction.

"Not a wizard cracker, just the little ones that make a small pop and give you flimsy paper hats."

"Right you're Muggleborn too, I suppose," she said thoughtfully.

"Um, no," Dustin shook his head. "I'm just Muggle."

He said this while putting on the hat that fell out of the cracker, which was a velvet star-and-moon clad wizard's hat. Rain thought it looked an awful lot like the hat Mickey Mouse wore once and fought to contain her giggles at how funny her brother looked in his robes and hat. He also received from the cracker a brand new wizards chess set.

Later, when pudding came, Dustin could hardly contain his excitement over the flaming puddings. They were personal sized and Mrs. Potter levitated one in front of each guest.

"I've never had a desert that was on fire before," he commented and, after waiting for the flames to go out, dug into it with enthusiasm and almost broke a tooth on a Sickle he found embedded in it.

Rain and the other Marauders laughed themselves hoarse at his look of surprise.

"What's this Sickle doing in my desert?" he asked.

"It's a British thing," Rain explained. "In the Muggle world they put a six pence piece in it. It's supposed to represent good fortune."

"I think you're spending too much time around Moony and Evans," Sirius said to Rain with a grin. "You sound like you swallowed a textbook."

"Just because I read more than just Witch Weekly," Rain retorted, sticking out her tongue.

"Since when is being intelligent a bad thing, Black?" Lily asked coolly.

"Nothing's wrong with it," he said, still grinning. "But when you spend all your free time reading…"

"I spend all my free time riding my broomstick through inclement weather, thank you very much," Rain scowled. "I swear Malfoy thinks the most important thing in the world is our next match against Ravenclaw."

"I think he's just trying to get you to quit the team," Lily suggested.

"Probably, but it's not going to work."

"Maybe he'll leave you alone when you help Slytherin win the next match," Dustin offered.

"Yeah and maybe grindylows will fly," James snorted.

"Grindylows?" Dustin was confused.

"Sort of like a water gremlin," Rain explained.

"So they don't fly?"

"Nope."

"I see."

The conversations continued until well after every one was finished eating and it was almost midnight when everyone started out the door to their own homes. Remus left with his parents through the Floo soon followed by Lily and her mother. Peter left with his mother via Side-Along-Apparition and soon it was time for Rain and her family to leave.

"See you when we get back to Hogwarts," Rain said hugging James and Sirius goodbye.

"Yeah, we'll send Night along after you so you don't have to take her through the Floo," James offered.

"Yeah, she wouldn't like that, believe me," Sirius snickered.

"And I'll send Toby along to help her carry your broomstick," James added.

"Thanks, Prongs," Rain said, hugging him again before joining her family at the fireplace, where her parents were preparing to brave the Floo once again.

At home, Rain and Dustin couldn't sleep and for an hour past midnight, Rain taught her brother how to direct his chess pieces, which he said made it way more fun than Muggle chess.

A/N: A special thank you to all of you who patiently waited for this chapter, hopefully I didn't lose too many readers in my long time between updates. Anyway, I would love to find my email PLASTERED with reviews when I look tomorrow ;) I'm past the 100 mark, lets go for 200 :D. R&R!