The house was abuzz with Christmas cheer the following day. They had spent the morning decorating the dark and dreary Grimmauld Place with Christmas decorations, and Sirius had kept the cheer alive by singing Christmas carols at random. Hermione had arrived as well, having decided against going skiing with her parents.

Harry had stayed upstairs, no matter how many times Molly had tried to lure him down. Juliet felt slightly guilty for being happy that he had stayed up there, as it meant she had more of Sirius' attention. She was trying her best not to be so standoffish towards her father. It was easier now, with him in such a joyous mood and Harry out of the picture.

Remus came by around noon to take Juliet to Diagon Alley to shop for presents. The two of them had set out by fifteen after, and by one o'clock they were nearly done shopping.

"So, how have things at school been?" Remus questioned as they walked past Ollivanders.

A strong gust of wind blew flecks of snow over them, and Juliet wished she would have worn her cloak. She had dressed casually in jeans and a sweater, with George's parka thrown over it. She hadn't been able to find her own, and George was more than willing to offer his out.

"It's been alright," Juliet paused, chewing her lip. She wasn't sure how much she should say about Umbridge, or Theo. "Our new teacher has been quite the experience, I can tell you that."

Remus' mouth drew into a tight line. "Yes. That ghastly woman has made life difficult for me as well."

"Seems she likes to hold grudges, too," Juliet said lightly, holding the door to Madam Primpernelle's, a beauty shop. "Me being the daughter of the infamous Black, and my adoptive father being a werewolf, well, I feel she nearly fainted when she saw me in her class."

Remus let out a humorless laugh. "I'm sure you've given her the utmost respect."

"Course I have. I was raised by the most respectable man, wasn't I?"

She ducked away from Remus' swatting hand, heading over to the shelves of different colored potions and jars. Scanning over them, she picked a few for Ginny. The girl loved skincare, as was evident by her gleaming blemish free freckled skin, so she replenished a few of the ones she knew the ginger haired girl was low on. Plucking a dark amber colored perfume that proclaimed to be of a woodsy scent, she was done shopping for Ginny.

Remus looked more than happy when she rang up her purchases, and they left the store. He had looked out of place while they had been in there, and Juliet couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"Alright, now you've just got to get something for the twins, correct?" Remus asked her as they walked down the cobblestone pathway.

Juliet nodded, heading towards the Apothecary. She knew there were a few ingredients that were vital to the twin's joke shop plans, and she knew it would be the most worthwhile gift she could give the two.

She found what she needed inside rather quickly, and as she was walking back outside of the shop, she couldn't help but feel as though they needed something more.

"What's got you looking like you swallowed an acid pop?" Remus nudged her shoulder, taking a few bags from her.

"I dunno," she sighed heavily, watching the fog from her mouth swirl away from them. "I just feel like I should get them something more personal."

"Them, or just George?"

"My goodness, you too?!" Juliet stopped in her tracks, her hands on her hips. The multiple shopping bags she carried smacked against her thighs harshly, but she ignored the pain. "Why does everyone assume we like each other? George is my best friend, my absolute best friend, and he's outrageously gorgeous and funny and caring and kind, and he would much rather date Alicia Spinnet whose also gorgeous and kind and stupid Gryffindor rather than a Slytherin-"

"Woah, okay, okay," Remus cut her off, putting his hand up to halt her ranting. He looked sideswiped, as though he hadn't been expecting that reaction. "I didn't mean to upset you, I just thought that you and George were… heading in that direction. I've always liked him, you know, I think he's much better than the son of a Death Eater."

"My merlin, who told you?"

"I may have questioned Fred and promised him some more doxy venom if he would care to gossip with me."

"You are unbelievable."

The two of them resumed their walking, Juliet silently fuming. If Remus knew, then surely Sirius knew about Theo. They wouldn't understand! Sure, he did carry a bit of the usual pureblood prejudices, but he seemed to be seeing her point of view a bit better. He was kind, too, much more so than the other Slytherin boys.

But he wasn't George, the voice in her head pointed out.

She shook her head. Why would she think that? George was her best friend. That was that. Just like Fred. They were both her best friends. Nothing more to it.

So why did she keep thinking about how breathtakingly handsome he was?

"Look, you could give him that," Remus broke her out of her thoughts, pointing towards a street peddler, who was advertising picture frames. "Let's take a look."

The closer they got, the more they could hear what she was advertising. She claimed you could think of any memory, and she could extract it from your thoughts, and turn it into a picture. It seemed impossible, even with magic, but with Remus' encouragement she decided to try it.

"Alright love, what can I do for you?" the girl gave a wide smile, her teeth a light blue color.

"I'd like a picture of my best friend and I," Juliet paused, her face falling. "Although I suppose if it's my memory, I won't be in the picture."

"Well, I'm sure I could think of one for you," Remus spoke up, winking at the girl waiting eagerly. "How about I do one of both you and the twins, and one of you and George? That way Fred won't feel left out."

Juliet nodded, and she stood by and watched as the lady explained the process. All Remus had to do was think of a memory, and she would extract it from his mind and place it onto the picture film.

Once Remus confirmed he was ready, the woman pressed her wand to his temple and drew out a silvery strand that she quickly placed onto the four by six film.

Juliet let out a gasp of awe as the picture quickly focused into place. The three of them were at the Weasley's, Juliet and George sitting on the couch as Fred sprawled out over them. They were all laughing, jostling Fred around in an attempt to get him off them.

"That's amazing!" she exclaimed, beaming at the girl.

The girl wore a bright smile as she extracted the next silvery memory from Remus. As it focused into place on the film, Juliet felt her heart skip a beat as it focused into place.

This memory was from this summer at Grimmauld Place. They both sat on the floor, her head in George's lap as he lazily ran his fingers through her hair. He was looking down at her with that expression he wore at Kings Cross, while she read from a muggle book Remus had gotten her. She lowered the book slightly, and the two of them broke out in laughter.

Juliet felt her chest constrict, and her stomach dropped. Her conflicting feelings hit her like the knight bus, and she inhaled sharply.

She fucking liked George. A lot. A hell of a fucking lot.

"Do you like it?" the girl asked, a grin on her face.

"It's perfect," Remus nodded, taking out his pouch from Gringotts. "How much do I owe you?"

"Three Galleons and two Sickles," the girl replied brightly. "For an extra two Galleons, I can throw another one in for a discounted price."

Remus hesitated, before nodding and pulling out the coins. "Alright, sounds like a deal."

The girl took the coins, and placed them in her bag. She then waited for Remus to say he was ready, before she placed her wand to the tip of his temple once more, the silvery memory splashing onto the film before them.

This one was different, and it took Juliet a moment to place the scene and recognize the people there. Once she did, thoughts of George left and all she could do was stare.

A man with unruly black hair and glasses next to a gorgeous girl with stunning green eyes and dark red hair sat on the floor with a chunky baby who had a tuft of black hair, waving his fists around as he seemed to be babbling to the other baby next to him. This baby had soft brown hair, a girl, holding a snitch in her tiny fist as she smiled at the baby. Behind her, sat a handsome man with wavy black hair and a charming smile, a woman with long blonde hair resting her head on his shoulder with a smile on her face.

"Mum," Juliet said the word softly, her voice catching in her throat. "Is that Harry and his parents?"

Remus nodded, his eyes taking on a faraway look. "Any chance I could have another copy?"

"For twelve sickles, you certainly can."

A few minutes later, and they were on their way back to the Leaky Cauldron. Knots formed in Juliet's stomach as she realized she was that much closer to being back to Grimmauld Place, which wouldn't be a problem if she hadn't had the earth shattering realization that she liked her best friend of twelve years.

"How about we get a cup of Butterbeer before we head back, hm?"

Juliet nodded thankfully at Remus' suggestion, and the two of them sat at a table with a slightly sticky top. They had their bags underneath the table and between their legs, just in case any of the more questioning patrons thought of taking their gifts.

Remus ordered each of them a Butterbeer, and with a wink thrown her way, a cauldron cake and a pumpkin pastry. It was their tradition every year to do this after Christmas shopping, and she had been slightly worried that they may not have been able to do so with everything going on with the Order.

"I'm not needed anywhere until four, so we've still got an hour." Remus explained, waving his wand towards the table to rid it of its stickiness.

"Will you be by on Christmas eve or day at all?" asked Juliet, her chin in her hand as she awaited his response.

"I think I can swing it with Dumbledore to stop by Christmas day."

"What does he have you all doing, anyways?"

As soon as the question left her mouth, she could have kicked herself. She knew he probably wasn't allowed to discuss it with her, much less in the crowded Leaky Cauldron. The response from Remus shaking his head imperceptibly let her know it was a foolish question.

Their drinks arrived, and they spent the next half an hour munching on their treats and drinking their Butterbeer. As usual, they split the two treats between each other. It was their Christmas tradition. Remus inquired about how school was going, and hinted about the DA, and she told him both were going well. She let him know how great of a teacher Harry was, and how they had started getting along better.

"Juliet!"

Remus and Juliet both turned to see who had called her name, and her heart warmed as she saw Narcissa and Draco making their way over towards her. She stood up eagerly from the table, engulfing her aunt in a hug.

"Auntie Cissy, it's so good to see you!"

"I'm here too, y'know." Draco muttered at his mothers side, his fuzzy hat nearly covering his eyes.

Juliet rolled her eyes, and pulled out of her aunt's warm and good smelling embrace. She hugged Draco overly tightly, letting go to pinch his cheeks.

"Oh, my dearest Draco, how could I ever forget you!"

"Oh, bugger off." Draco grumbled, swatting her away.

"Draco, be nice to your cousin," Narcissa gently reprimanded, turning her attention back to Juliet with a warm smile. "Juliet, we missed you at our house over summer hols."

"Yes, it seemed you were dogging our invitations." Lucius appeared behind them, a cold look on his face as he eyed Remus who had come to stand next to Juliet.

"Molly needed her help over the summer," Remus responded coldly, his hand resting on Juliet's shoulder protectively. "Juliet was quite busy."

"I'm sure you all were." Lucius had a look in his eye Juliet didn't at all.

"Juliet, would you like to come over for Christmas eve?" Narcissa asked, giving her husband a harsh look from the corner of her eyes.

"I would-" Juliet began, but was cut off from Remus' quick reply.

"Actually, we're traveling for Christmas this year. Just needed to grab a few things before we left, but we are heading off later tonight."

"Where are you headed?" Lucius cocked his head, flexing his fingers on his cane. "Not too far, I would imagine. On your salary, or lack thereof."

Remus tightened his jaw, and Juliet quickly tried to diffuse the tension.

"I'll see if we're back by then, Auntie," Juliet tried to smile, but she thought it came off as more of a grimace. "I'll write to Draco if I am."

Narcissa nodded and smiled at her. Lucius cleared his throat, drawing her attention.

"Well, Juliet, our home is always welcome to you," a glint appeared in his eyes. "Especially if you find your… dog, prefers someone else over you."

"Let's go, Juliet." Remus had dropped all pretense of being polite, and gripped her hand harshly as he turned her around.

He quickly gathered their bags, keeping a painful grip on her arm. Juliet let herself be dragged away, flashing an apologetic look towards Draco and Narcissa. She knew Lucius was an ass, but she hated that Remus was making her leave without a goodbye.

"Let go of my arm," Juliet snapped once they were outside, yanking it out of his grip. "That hurt."

"Sorry," Remus replied distractedly, not sounding very apologetic at all. "We have to get a move on. I need to tell Dumbledore immediately about Malfoy."

Juliet rolled her eyes, and followed Remus to a more secluded area where he apparated them back to the front of Grimmauld Place. Once the place appeared, they entered quickly.

"Remus, Juliet, is that you?" Molly called from the kitchen, the smells of dinner and the sounds of Christmas carols floating through the house.

"It's us, Molly," Remus replied quickly, shifting the bags to Juliet. "I've got to send a message to Dumbledore right away, and then get off to…" his voice disappeared as he slipped further down the hall.

"What was that?" questioned Molly, entering the hallway to see Juliet standing with the weight of all the bags on her arms. "Oh, dear, would you like help? Fred, George, come help Jules!"

Juliet's face flushed as Fred and George bounded down the steps, he heart leaping to her throat when George stood in front of her.

"Ah, what have we got here?" Fred attempted to peer inside the bags.

"I don't think so, Weasley," Juliet snatched them away from him, handing over the ones with Ginny's, Harry's, Ron, and their parents presents. "You and your brother can carry these. I will make sure these ones are hidden far away from you lot."

"Oh, so now I'm the brother?" George joked, although she could see some genuine hurt showing underneath the joking manner.

"Course not, Georgie," replied Juliet, her voice uncharacteristically soft. "You're my best friend."

The two of them shared eye contact, brown meeting grey. The air seemed to grow heavier around the two, and Juliet could feel her confession threatening to claw its way out of her throat-

But then George looked away, clearing his throat, and Juliet flushed once more, embarrassed at herself. Why did she have to figure out she had feelings for him?

"Alright, Jules, make sure you have your presents wrapped," Remus reappeared, pulling his wand from his pocket. "I'll see you on Christmas."

He gave her a tight hug, and then left Grimmauld Place. She felt a bit empty, sad, about watching him go, but shrugged it off. He would be back.

The twins helped her carry the presents off to the small room with the Black family tree, and after casting them out and locking the door, she began wrapping her presents. The only one that wasn't one she was giving out, was the picture of her parents and Harry's with them as babies, from Remus to Harry. She wrapped it carefully, and set it aside.

Wrapping everything had taken nearly an hour. She was meticulous in her wrapping, and had to have everything be perfect. On the back of the picture with her and George, she had debated on what to write on it before finally deciding to simply write, 'to my best friend. love you. -Jules'.

She found herself staring at the other copy of the picture Harry was receiving, examining every picture. She didn't have many, or really any, pictures of her and her parents. She only had one lone picture of her mum, a few of her father, and none of them all together. Most of it had been lost along with her mum.

A knock broke her out of her thoughts, and she wiped tears as she looked up.

"Juliet? Can I come in?" Sirius' voice came through the thick wood.

She swished her wand to unlock the door in reply, and Sirius entered the room. He chuckled at the sight of the slight pile of presents next to her. It died down as he saw the picture in her hand, and he carefully sat next to her.

"Where did you get that?"

So, Juliet launched into an explanation of the girl who made memories into pictures. By the end of her explanation, Sirius looked thoroughly impressed.

"Not too bad of a price, either," Sirius rubbed his face, looking down at the picture. "When this whole mess is cleared up, I'll have to pay her a visit. I can think of a million memories I want to be tangible."

It was silent for a moment, as Sirius stared at the picture.

"I always think of how things would have been so different had I not gone after Peter that day," his voice was low, rough. "I would have never had to leave you, or Harry. I could have raised you both, protected you both… you both would have known so much love."

"Remus has given me plenty of love," Juliet replied defensively. His words rubbed her the wrong way. "But when you finally came back, you didn't show me any. You may have missed out on the first thirteen years of my life, but you could make up for it. Instead you're giving it all to Harry."

The admission made her breathless, and her words seemed to hang around them. She held her breath, expecting Sirius to retort angrily as he always did, but he didn't. Instead, he sagged his shoulders, slumping forward, and nodded.

"I know I haven't been the best father to you, Jules," he began earnestly. "I look at Harry and I see… I see James. My best friend, nearly my brother. Hell, he was my brother for all intents and purposes. I pushed him to use Peter as the secret keeper. If I hadn't done so, Harry would have had a father. I feel the only way to make it up to them is by doing my best to be the father figure I robbed him of."

This time, it was his admission that hung around them. On one hand, Juliet felt vindicated that he finally admitted to the favoritism, but on the other hand; she felt if he was able to be so insightful and see he was acting that way, he was able to not do so.

"I just want you to love me like you love him," her voice was just above a whisper. "I used to dream about you coming home and us being a family. But you never came back for me. It was Harry you came back for. Not me. It hurts."

"I saw Pettigrew in the paper," Sirius shook his head. "I knew if he was still alive, my chance for redemption was there. If I could just get hold of him, I could prove my innocence and take guardianship of Harry, and you. That gave me all I needed to break out. And then… Peter got away."

Juliet was silent again. He didn't leave for Harry, he left because he saw a way for him to put his life back together. Not only for Harry, but for her.

"I know I haven't been as good as showing care for you like I have been with Harry. It just feels so natural towards Harry, because of his dad. But I'm your dad. Literally. And I'm sorry I've made you feel like I didn't care about you."

Her eyes filled with tears. She felt vindicated, so vindicated, and relief at hearing these words come from his mouth made her happy.

"Your mother would have been right pissed, you know," Sirius nudged her shoulder, still looking down at the picture in her hands. "You turned out to have the Black looks through and through. She had hoped you would have been a spitting image of her. We had a bet going, before…" and his voice trailed off, lost in memories.

"Do you miss her?"

"I do. It's gotten easier, but… your mother was special. A really good friend."

"Remus always told me stories about her. And you, and James, and Peter. Lily seemed to be the only one of you with her head on straight. Sometimes, when I was younger, I would pretend my dolls were you guys. Like you were there with me."

Sirius wrapped an arm around her, hugging her tightly. "I'm here now. I'm sorry I wasn't before."

Her heart swelled as for the first time, she felt comforted by her father. Her blood father. Remus was her father in every sense of the word, but she had always craved Sirius' love and presence. Now, she had both.

Things were getting better.

hello all! thank you for the follows and favorites, and the reviews. as always, reviews would be appreciated!

-TheFlyingGraysons