Saturday 25th December (The Potter's Guestroom-8:09AM)

It was dark outside when I woke, the cold frost biting at my toes as I snuggled further into my blankets. Noises were coming from down below, the odd 'hum' and 'ah' as well as a few clinks and clangs of things being moved around in the kitchen. Mrs Potter had been up for a while now, I'd first heard her pottering about around half an hour ago on the landing, quietly singing to herself. Now I assume, she is beginning breakfast and preparing last minute things for Christmas dinner.

Christmas...in the year 1977? It's going to be awful not seeing mum or dad, not hearing mum's laugh as she tries to keep dad from stealing food whilst she cooks, or not curling up with dad on the sofa in the evening and watching films till we're both fast asleep. It's just not going to be the same and the thought makes my eyes sting with tears. Oh how I miss them. Last night I had lit the tealight on my window sill, saying their names as I looked up to the stars, thinking of them. It wasn't long before Harry and Ron had entered my mind, along with the rest of the Weasleys, as well as McGonagall and Hagrid. I had watched that candle burn nearly all night, it was almost like if I turned away from it, it meant that I was forgetting them. It wasn't until the last ember went out that I had let sleep take me.

I throw the blankets off of myself and quickly pull on a plaid dungaree dress paired with a black woolen jumper and thick tights. After braiding my hair into a loose plait, I skipped down the stairs and found Mrs Potter in the kitchen. She was staring intensely at a cookbook, a muggle one too by the looks of it.

"Good morning." I chirped, stepping up to lean against a counter.

She turned around, smiling. "Oh, hello dear and merry Christmas."

"A merry Christmas to you too, do you happen to need help with anything?" I gestured to the book behind her. She looked conflicted for moment before finally bringing the book in front of me.

"Now this was supposed to be a surprise, Sirius had mentioned how much you loved these and I wanted to give them a shot." Looking down at the open page, I smiled brightly.

Chocolate Eclairs

My mouth watered at the thought. "Oh I adore them! My mother and I used to make them together sometimes so I could definitely help you."

"Ah splendid! We can make them for tomorrow when Peter and Remus make their annual appearance."

Mrs Potter turned back to cooking the mountains of breakfast food, but not before giving me the task of setting the table.

...

By the time Mr Potter, James and Sirius had made their way downstairs to breakfast, I was beginning to get excited for the day as Christmas had always been a favourite of mine.

Everyone ate well, the food disappearing within record speed and the festive spirit making us all talkative. It wasn't long before we moved onto presents and then suddenly it was early evening and we were all gathered in the living room.

I was sitting on a pillow by the fire, my fingers running down the spine of my new, first edition Tales of the Beetle the Bard book. It was my present from Sirius, along with a new quill and a ruby red jumper that had a gold snitch sewn onto it that whizzed around, changing positions constantly. My eyes strayed from the book to where a certain long-haired boy was sat, quietly sipping on mulled wine whilst he tactfully stacked books on top of a sleeping James.

We hadn't spoken about the kiss, it had just happened and then as soon as it'd started it was over. I wasn't sure on how I felt about it either, I mean I liked it but whether it was the right thing to do? That I am unsure of because I'm technically I'm with Eddie, we're in a relationship and I kissed Sirius. I cheated and I'm not that sort of person and I sort of hate myself for it.

Sirius looked up from his activity, catching my stare and smiling. He really does have a beautiful smile, one that makes my mind go blank for a few seconds.

"You alright 'Mione?" He asked, placing his cup down and sliding off of the sofa to come sit beside me. He was so close that I thought I could smell his cologne.

"Yeah, feeling a little bit sleepy though." I tilted my head to one side and smiled.

He patted his shoulder playfully and said, "Well there's a perfectly good shoulder right here."

I couldn't hide the smile that formed as I snuggled into his warm frame, my head resting upon his shoulder. A few seconds passed before I felt him readjust and wrap his arms around my waist, tightly securing me to him. I don't know how much time passed until my eyes stayed closed but I do know that in that moment I forgot about the rest of the world for a while.

...

I was awoken by the feeling of a hand stroking my hair, the touch was feather light but oh so soothing. My eyes peered open to find that at somepoint in our slumber we had laid down on the carpet with my head resting on Sirius' chest and our legs intertwined. His breathing was even and soft, almost lulling me back to sleep until I peered upwards to find that he was in fact awake. He was staring out of the darkened window, his face blank except the small smile on his lips.

"Hey, Creeper." I jumped, startled at his voice breaking the silence. His eyes flicked to me, his smile growing just the slightest.

"I'm not a creep." I said defensively, my eyebrows furrowed.

"Staring at people is creepy, you were staring at me, making you a creep."

"Staring at people is not creepy..." I turned my body so that I was lying on my stomach, with my arms folded on his chest and my chin placed on them. "And I wasn't staring at you anyway."

He smirked. "Righttt, you were just looking at me for at least 10 seconds straight."

"That doesn't mean I was staring, I just wanted to figure out why I was laying on top of an ogre." His face pinched and I knew I'd broken his cool facade.

"Ogre? Who are you calling an ogre?" He mocked anger, putting both hands to his heart. "Oh you've hurt me Hermione, I'm going to let everyone know how truly horrible you are."

"Oh shut up, you drama queen." I pressed my mouth into my arms to hide a giggle.

He wrapped his arms back around me whilst muttering. "Drama queen? I am NOT a drama queen."

"Oh you so are!" I said, laughing at him, to which he scowled.

Before I could stop him, Sirius dug his fingers into my waist and started an on slaught of tickling, his hands running all over my torso making me screech and jolt like I was on fire. "Stop! Stop! Sirius!!"

Just as quickly as he'd started, he stopped, pulling back to grin at me. I huffed a stray hair out of my face and glared at him. "You, Sirius Black, cannot take criticism." I poked my finger into his chest for a serious emphasis but the smile tugging at my lips gave me away.

"Of course I can." He grinned and I rolled my eyes before laying my head back on his chest.

A few moments passed before he spoke again. "Hermione?" He sounded serious.

I lifted my head and his face was deadpanned. "Yes?"

"Do you really think I'm a drama queen?"

"Oh for Merlin's sake." He erupted into laughter, his chest moving underneath me, vibrating. I shook my head, beginning to laugh too.

"Oi will you two get a room." A voice grumbled from above, it was only then that I realised James had still been asleep on the sofa.

"Sorry James." Sirius called, not even turning to look at him.

James rubbed his eyes. " What time is it?"

I glanced at the clock above the fireplace. "Ten minutes past nine."

"Oh bloody hell." He yawned and hung his head off of the sofa to peer at Sirius and I, his eyebrows raising.

I didn't know why until I remembered mine and Sirius' entangled limbs. I lifted my torso up quickly to create some distance between our bodies but in doing that, I had brought moved my legs to support myself and I was now effectively straddling him.

James began to laugh now, along with Sirius looking overly amused. My cheeks burned as I jumped up quickly, now standing.

"I'm..um going to bed, goodnight." I fumbled over the words and quickly exited the room. As I was climbing the stairs, I heard an eruption of laughter from the living room and my cheeks burned even further. I took those steps two at a time and quickly found myself falling onto my bed.

I couldn't help the growing feeling of giddiness that was spreading it's way through my body. I felt alive, like I was back in year 4 having my first crush again. Everything was so good that I couldn't help but feel like I was forgetting something...

Oh shit...Eddie.

...

Dun dun dunnnn

Yeah it's not really a surprise she keeps forgetting about Eddie when she's got Sirius snuggling up to her.

I was planning on getting this up for Christmas but life just got in the way, so a belated happy holidays everyone!

Questions for you guys: Do you want to see more of the Potter parents? Also where do you guys want this story to go? Obviously I've got my main plotline but I want you guys to throw a few ideas in to make it fun!

Love you guys!

Kaitlin :)