~Jen's POV~

I swear, my conscience was one step away from jumping out of my head and dragging me back to my dorm room. Once there, it would probably tie me to my bed and refuse to let me leave for the rest of the holidays. As it was, it was giving me an awful headache with all of the yelling that it was doing.

I found Regulus in the library, reading a book about the history of the Ministry of Magic. I'd never known that he was such an avid reader, but I found it to be a very endearing trait. "Regulus."

He looked up from his book and smiled at me. "Hey, Jen."

My conscience finally stopped yelling, probably having decided that I wasn't going to listen, anyway. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

The surprise on his face made me want to laugh out loud. "Dumbledore approved a trip to Hogsmeade?"

"No," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Oh, so we're just going to sneak out of the castle and hope that no one sees us?"

Actually, we could have done that if I had chosen to use the invisibility Cloak that James had left behind for me. But, that wasn't the way that I wanted to go; it was far too cold outside for that. "No. I mean, really, I'm the sister of the infamous James Potter. You think I can't get us out of the castle and into Hogsmeade?"

He smiled and shut the book. "Alright, then. Let me go get changed first, though. It's cold outside."

I nodded. "You know the statue of the one-eyed witch?"

Confused, he nodded. "Yes, I know the one."

"Meet me there whenever you're ready."

"But how is that-" he sighed. "You know what? Never mind. I'll see you there."

I smiled and nodded before heading off. I was already dressed for the trip, wearing jeans, a nice red sweater, and a black jacket. My black hair was wavy, my makeup fairly neutral, and I had the map with me.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," I said as I approached the statue.

There were people in the castle, but no one was around where I stood. No where even close, actually.

And Regulus was on his way.

"Mischief managed," I told the map and all of the ink disappeared, turning it back into plain, unstained parchment.

Regulus appeared a few minutes later, dressed in jeans and a black hoodie. "Okay," he said. "I'm here. Work your magic."

I tapped the witch's hump with my wand and said, "Dissendium!"

At once, the statue's hump opened wide enough to admit people close to mine and Regulus' size. I smiled as I stepped back and gestured for Regulus to go first. "After you."

He was looking at me in astonishment. "How in the world did you manage to-"

"Can't tell you," I interrupted and winked at him. "It's a secret."

He shrugged and hoisted himself up into the hole headfirst, pushing himself forward. I followed behind, remembering the first time that James had shown me the tunnel. I hadn't believed him when he'd said that it would take me to Hogsmeade. But, it had, and that's how I'd ended up being the only second year student that got to go to Hogsmeade.

We slid down the stone slide and then landed on cold, damp earth. Both of us stood up and Regulus looked to me to lead the way.

"Lumos," I said and my wand lit up the narrow, low, earthy passageway.

Regulus did the same with his wand. "Where does this lead?"

"Right into the cellar of Honeydukes."

"You sure?" he asked.

"I've used it loads of times," I informed him as I began walking. He fell into step behind me. "James showed it to me second year."

"I feel honored to be privileged with this secret," he said sincerely.

I laughed. "You should."

The passage twisted and turned, kind of like the burrow of a giant rabbit, I liked to say. I had often joked that this was where Remus' "furry little problem" lived. Regulus stumbled a couple of times, but I was surefooted, seeing as how I had traveled this passageway in all sorts of conditions.

It took a while to reach our destination, but Regulus was very patient and once the passage began to rise, he said, "Are we getting close?"

"Very," I said as I sped up.

About ten minutes later, we came to the feet of the stone steps that rose out of sight. Careful not to make any noise, we climbed them. There were at least two hundred steps (Remus had counted them once before, but I had long since forgotten the result), but Regulus climbed them stoically.

Finally, we reached the trapdoor and I got us into Honeydukes.

"You," he laughed, "are amazing."

"Thanks," I said with a smile. Honeydukes was crowded with Christmas shoppers, so we weren't going to be noticed. "Let's buy some candy and then go somewhere that isn't so crowded."

"Deal," he said.

I got some creamy nougat, Ice Mice, and some jellybeans. Regulus got some chocolate and some Jelly Slugs, along with a few Sugar Quills. After we had paid, we left the store and found ourselves out on the cold street.

"Where to?" he asked me.

I grinned wickedly and pointed at the Three Broomsticks. "Let's see if we can get a table in there."

He nodded his agreement and we went inside.

The air was warm and the place was crowded, but we still managed to get a small table in a secluded corner. None of the regular workers were there (they had probably gone home over the holidays), so Regulus and I got away with ordering Firewhiskey.

Though he hadn't objected when I ordered it, after the woman was gone, he asked me, "What are we going to do with a whole bottle of Firewhiskey?"

I waved his concern away. "We'll have a couple of drinks, and then I'll give the rest to James or Sirius. They love that stuff."

He still looked unsure.

"Relax," I said with a laugh.

The woman returned with the bottle and two glasses and after I had paid her, she left.

I poured some for Regulus and then some for me. "Do you want to make the toast, or shall I?"

He still looked nervous; he was staring at the liquid in the glass as if it were pure, unadulterated sin. "I'm not so sure that we should be drinking this."

"You've never had Firewhiskey before?"

"I have…" he said and then looked at me. "But you-"

It was then that I realized that he was only concerned for me. He didn't think that I could handle it. And, of course, I had to prove him wrong. "Trust me, I've had Firewhiskey before." Just to make my point, I downed the shot. "See?" It burned on the way down, but my face gave nothing away.

He appeared slightly astonished, but downed his shot anyway.

"That's the spirit!" I cheered and poured us both another shot, which we both downed.

"I think that's enough," he said after the third shot.

I shrugged and just poured some for myself this time.

"Jen…" he sounded a little nervous.

I laughed as the colors of the room began to blur together. I'd never really had a very good tolerance of alcohol, even though I had tried to build it up before. James and Sirius were the ones with the tolerance for alcohol. Remus could handle some, like me, but not a lot. And Peter… well… Peter couldn't handle alcohol at all.

"Jen." Regulus was suddenly gripping my hand and yanking the bottle away from me. "Jen, stop."

Confused, head spinning, I reached for the bottle. "Give it back…"

"No," he said firmly.

My vision cleared just enough for me to see his face, his dark eyes, his high cheekbones and perfect hair. And his lips…

Suddenly, my lips were on his and I was kissing him.

Or trying to.

"Jen." He pulled away quickly, seeming utterly baffled. "Jen, no."

"You don't like me?" I asked, tears in my eyes. "Don't you think I'm pretty?"

"I…"

I tried to kiss him again but he gripped my wrist and firmly set me away. "No, Jen. You're drunk."

"No," I protested, even though I was wobbly on my feet. "I'm not."

"You are," he said softly and steered me so that I could sit down. "I'm going to go dump this and then I'll be back for you, okay? Don't move."

I'd only been trying to impress him. Turns out, it was useless. He didn't like me like that. He probably thought I was a silly, foolish girl.

As promised, Regulus came back and helped me to my feet. "Come on; let's get you back to the castle. Is there another passageway that we can take?"

With a slurred voice, I told him about the one in the Shrieking Shack and then we were off.