"Remus, did you finish cleaning your room?" Mrs. Lupin chided.
"Mum, they're fifteen, just like me. They've got messy rooms too." Remus groaned.
"Just because they do doesn't mean my son will look like a slob." Mrs. Lupin replied. "Now, upstairs with you, go clean."
"Mum, really-"
"If all your friends jumped off London Bridge, would you do so too?" Mrs. Lupin crossed her arms as Annie came flying slowly down the stairs on a purple broomstick.
"I finished." Annie said with a smirk.
"Off the broom in the house, Annie." Mrs. Lupin turned to her daughter.
"Mum, I was going slow-"
"Off." Annie frowned and slid off the front of the broom, putting it in the holder near the back door. "Now, Annie, go help your brother clean."
"Do I have to?" Annie wrinkled her nose, but straightened it out as Mrs. Lupin gave her a look saying "Go-clean-now-or-be-forced-to-stay-in-your- room-till-New-Year's".
"C'mon, Anne." Remus nodded to her, leading the way upstairs to his room.
"Too bad Mum wouldn't let me learn those quick-cleaning spells." She sighed.
"She let me." Remus smirked, taking out his wand and making a pile of clothes fly to the chest of drawers. Annie scowled.
"She just thinks I'll spend too much time with my wand." She objected.
"Being a witch isn't just about spells, Annie." Remus said. "You've got to know Potions and History of Magic and stuff."
"History of Magic is awful." Annie groaned. "I wish Professor Binns would just shrivel up and die."
"Don't say that, you never know what'll happen." He grinned.
"When will they be here?" She asked, peering out of the window as he shoved a stack of magazines under his bed. (A/N: Hehehe.)
"Sometime soon." He replied as a large rumbling filled the air. "That sounds like Sirius and his mum now."
As if on cue, Remus and Annie heard their mom yell up the stairs, "Kids! The Blacks are here!"
Downstairs, Remus ran to the door in time to see Sirius jumping off his huge motorbike. Mrs. Lupin was standing at the door.
"Oh Helen, how can you ride on that monstrous thing?"
Mrs. Black laughed, patting Sirius on the shoulder. "Well, Sirius here loves the thing, and who am I to deny him his one passion?"
Annie burst past her brother and mother to get outside. "Can I have a go, Sirius?"
"Annie!" her mother chided. Mrs. Black laughed.
"Annie, honey, everytime I drop Sirius off, you get a ride!" Annie sighed. "Oh sweet, you know I would, but today I have things to do." She gave Annie a huge bear hug, and she laughed.
Remus grabbed Sirius' bag as he said goodbye to his mom, then dragged him inside.
"Annie and your mom get along so well," Remus remarked quietly. Sirius nodded. "And she loves your baby sister Aurelia," he pressed. (AN: I had to! lol) Sirius looked up at him.
"Yeah..." he said, a strange sparkle in his eye. "So.how's Isis?"
"She's good." Remus replied. "In Egypt with her grandmother."
"You two are pretty serious now, aren't you?" Sirius asked, getting a hairbrush out of his bag and running it through his long, black mane.
"Kinda." He nodded. "She's really serious, I'm just.I don't know."
"You don't know?" Sirius raised his eyebrows.
"Better lay out your dress robes if you want the house elf to press them." Remus said quickly. "We've got that Christmas Eve party tonight."
"Ok, ok." Sirius smiled at his change of subject.
"Remus, Sirius! James is here!" Mrs. Black called up the stairs. The two boys glanced at each other before hurrying down to the living room where James and Mrs. Potter were brushing soot off each others shoulders.
"James, old man!" Sirius cried, slapping his friend's back.
"Sirius, dear, how are you?" Mrs. Potter hugged the boy. "Still riding that junky bike?"
"He still is, Mum." James grinned.
"Won't you stay for some tea, Stella?" Mrs. Lupin offered.
"No, thank you, Violet, my mother's coming to the house tomorrow, and I need to finish cleaning." Mrs. Potter kissed her son's cheek and Apparated back.
"Ah, finally! My mother's been going fanatical about Grandma coming tomorrow. It's a wonder I got out alive! So, the girls are late, aren't they?"
Sirius nodded. "Typical."
"Hey, Peter's not here yet either!" Remus stated, trying to save his friend.
"Yes, well, like we said..." Sirius said, winking. James laughed.
"What's so funny?" a voice asked from the doorway. The boys jumped and turned around to see Lily and Rhia standing in the doorway with Mrs. Lupin behind them, smiling.
"My mom just dropped us off; she didn't want me flying halfway across the country on the back of Rhia's broomstick," Lily explained.
"It's not like I'm a horrible flyer or anything! I'm on the house team, aren't I?" Rhia shot back playfully, flopping down on a couch.
"Exactly. I taught her everything I know! She's the second best player on the team!" James said suggestively. Lily laughed before kissing him on the cheek.
"That, love, is precisely why my mother's scared. All those Seeker dives you do, it's horrifying!"
Remus' eyes lit up. "Hey, we should play a game tomorrow or something. James and Annie as seekers, Sirius and Rhia beaters, and Peter and I can be chasers."
"Oh, leave me out of it. Quidditch frightens me," Lily said nervously. James put his arm around her.
"Well Lily, let's go up to our room and get your mind off of Quidditch. We have a ball to prepare for, don't we?"
Peter arrived an hour late, as usual, and the rest of that afternoon was spent in a flurry of excitement, the girls dressing in Annie's room and the boys dawdling and finally getting ready in Remus's room.
"Aren't you done yet?" Remus shouted up the stairs after he and the rest of the Marauders had finished and assembled in the living room.
"Girls take longer!" Annie retorted.
"Why?" Peter said as he played with his stack of Wizard Cards.
"Make-up and junk like that." James answered, sitting next to him on the sofa and toying with the edge of his navy dress robes.
"It's not junk." Lily said, coming down the stairs, clad in green robes that matched her emerald eyes.
"Junk? I didn't say junk." James quickly corrected himself.
"What are you two fussing about?" asked Rhia as she too came down the stairs, her honey-coloured robes sparkling as they trailed down the stairs, Annie trying her hardest not to trip on them while holding up the hem of her own elegant black robes.
"Nothing at all." Remus said, standing up and rolling his eyes. "Come on, Mum and Dad have the broom ready."
"Oh, I hate riding that rickety old thing." Annie mumbled. "It's much too big."
"It only seats fifteen." Rhia interjected. "Ours seats thirty."
"Thirty?" Peter's eyes widened as they went into the yard where Mr. and Mrs. Lupin waited.
"Are you all ready to go?" Mr. Lupin said, watching them carefully clamber onto the massive family broom.
"Yes, Father." Remus called to him.
"Hold on then, everyone." Mrs. Lupin ordered as her husband leaned back.
"Push off!" he cried. Everyone did so and the broom was in the air, soaring slightly below the clouds, the air whipping at their faces and robes until they landed in front of a giant, lit gazebo where the ball was being held.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Lily whispered to James. He smiled and nodded. Lily always did take pretty things to heart.
"Peter, take Annie in, won't you?" Remus leaned close to his friend. "I'm not sure I want Sirius taking in my baby sister."
"Of course not." Peter smiled a bit, holding out his arm to Annie. She meekly took it, a bit disappointed that her brother had to look out for her so.
"You go have fun." Mrs. Lupin said, waving them off as Mr. Lupin swept her onto the dance floor. They assembled near a window, talking quietly as they watched the other guests.
"He's staring at that girl." Annie said quietly to Rhia.
"He's not." Rhia replied.
"Look, he doesn't take his eyes off her." She sighed.
"Oh, Annie.I know how you feel." Rhia muttered softly. "I'll try and fix it, alright?"
"Will you?" Annie's gray eyes lit up.
"Of course." Rhia smiled and walked to where Sirius was standing. She gently nudged his side, getting his attention.
"Hey, Rhia." He said, tearing his eyes away from the girl on the dance floor.
"Who were you staring at this time?" she asked with a smirk.
"I wasn't staring." He retorted.
"You were ogling." James interrupted as Lily went to talk with Annie.
"I do not ogle." Sirius stressed.
"Say what you will." Rhia rolled her eyes and tad and walked away.
"And if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black." Sirius muttered. "Why, her and Remus-"
"Shhh." James ordered, a finger to his lips. "They're not to know, you know that. And it is true."
"It is not!" Sirius cried.
"Is so." James smiled. "You could not hold a girl for anything."
"I could." He straightened, daring James to challenge him.
"Fine then." James said, a mischievous glare in his eye. "You have to stay with one girl for the rest of the year."
"You're on." Sirius replied, shaking his friend's hand. "What girl?"
"Annie Lupin."
"Annie... Annie? Little Annie?" Sirius gaped.
"She's not so little anymore, you know," James grinned.
"Yes, but.we've known her since she was nine!" Sirius cried, looking over his shoulder at her. She was a skinny, flat-chested, gawky young thing with big, gray eyes and wild curls.
"And now she's fourteen." James replied. "Come on, just until the end of term. You already agreed."
"What's in it for me?" Sirius asked, folding his arms.
"I'll buy you that new servicing kit for your bike." James said a bit nervously.
"Really?" Sirius's eyes grew wide. They only sold that in Knockturn Alley.
"Yeah." James nodded. "But if you don't go through with it, you have to denounce girls for a year."
"A year?" Sirius's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Alright, four months." James gave in. Sirius smiled.
"Prongs, my friend, you are on."
* * *
"Annie, you haven't danced with anyone tonight! Why don't you go find someone on the dance floor and have a little fun?" Rhia asked later that night. Lily and James had monopolized a corner of the room, and had been there for at least an hour dancing. Annie and Rhia had stayed by their table.
"You know, Rhia, you haven't danced yet either."
"That's not true! Sirius and I danced twice!"
Annie sighed. "Oh, he doesn't count for you, and you know it. Why don't you go find Remus?" Annie suggested, her eyes twinkling.
"Oh, heavens no. He won't dance with me... he's too busy thinking about Isis."
Annie turned to Rhia. "Rhiannon, you know how I feel about Remus and Isis. She's one of my dearest friends, and I think she is a wonderful person." Rhia's eyes dropped a little. "But if I had to choose who I'd want as my future sister-in-law, I'd have to say that I love you, Rhia. You're so much better for Remus... for a few reasons." Rhia looked up at Annie to see the younger girl smiling broadly.
"Alright. So maybe I'll dance with Remus later. But I think, first, we should find you a partner!"
They discussed it a bit more before Sirius came up and tapped Rhia on the shoulder. "Oh Sirius, what now? Surely you don't want to dance with me more, I think my feet will fall off with the way you dance!" Sirius laughed.
"No no, Rhi, I actually wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind me stealing Annie away from you for a bit. I would just love to dance with her." Sirius asked charmingly. Annie gasped. He held out a hand for her. "What do you say?"
Annie took Sirius' hand delicately and followed him onto the floor. Rhia smiled to herself, but whirled around when there was another tap on her shoulder. She caught herself from gasping just in time; it was Remus.
"What is Sirius doing?' he asked suspiciously.
"Dancing... we haven't danced all night, I'm sure he could tell. He's just doing her a favor."
"You haven't danced" Remus repeated, watching his sister out of the corner of his eye.
"Well, a few with Sirius, but 'he doesn't count', as Annie said." Rhia leaned back against the wall. "But its okay."
"Well, no its not! Come on, lets dance." He held out a hand.
"Oh, really, you don't need to.." Rhia shook her head.
"You haven't danced all evening. You're dancing now." Remus said with a smile, grabbing her hand and pulling her out onto the floor. Rhia had to suppress a gasp as he placed a hand on her waist and held her close. She put a slightly shaking hand on his shoulder, moving slowly about the dance floor.
"Thanks." She mumbled, not sure of what to say, her head and heart in a tizzy.
"For what?" he asked.
"For asking me to dance." She smiled. He smiled back at her before looking over her shoulder at Sirius and Annie dancing together. "What are you so worried about?"
"I don't know.it's Sirius." He sighed a bit. "You can never trust him with girls."
"It's only a dance, he's just being courteous." Rhia interjected.
"You never know." Remus said, lifting his eyebrows.
Meanwhile, with Sirius and Annie.
"Sirius, this really isn't necessary!" Annie stuttered for the fourth time.
"Oh Annie, if you don't shut it and dance, I'll shut it for you," Sirius mocked, smiling. She managed a small smile back. They danced a bit more in silence, all the while Annie's insides melting.
Sirius took a deep breath. It was now or never. "You look really pretty tonight, Annie. Real. beautiful." He was surprised at how sincere his words sounded.
Annie caught her breath. "Why. thank you!"
"Any time." He twirled her around, trying to think of something to say. Nothing came. Really, why is this so hard? Probably because if Remus finds out, I'm a dead man.
"Listen, Annie." he started. She looked up, smiling, a bit out of breath from the dancing. (AN: Yeah, THAT'S it. lol) Come on Padfoot, think! "Maybe sometime before we go back to Hogwarts, you'd like to take a walk with me through town?"
Annie blushed slightly. "Um, sure. why? Do you need me to help you shop for Rhia?"
"Well, you know. not exactly. I meant it as, sort of, more like." Steady Sirius! ".a date."
Annie's eyes popped open, but she kept dancing. "A date? With. with me?" she squeaked.
"Well, sure. I don't know if you've noticed, Annie, but you're not so little anymore."
Annie laughed, her face slowly turning pink. "I suppose."
"What are you two laughing about?" Rhia asked, she and Remus walking towards them.
"Nothing much." Sirius said with a secret grin to Annie.
"Oh?" Remus raised his eyebrows. "Annie, would you like to dance?"
"No, that's alright." Annie shook her blonde curls. "I-"
"But you must." Remus said with a forced tone.
"Alright." Annie nodded, her brow furrowed. Remus took her hand and led her onto the dance floor.
"What were you two talking about?" Rhia asked Sirius.
"Nothing, I told you." He said. "Now, if you'll excuse me." His hazel eyes flashed and he grinned, stepping towards the door. Rhia threw back her shoulders and followed him outside into the gardens.
"Sirius, you'll tell me if I have to strangle it out of you!" Rhia cried, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around.
"Really, it's no big deal, Rhia!" He cried. "Just mind your own business!"
"Why won't you tell me?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. "What's the big secret?"
"The big secret," Sirius muttered, "is that Remus would have my head if he found out."
"So?" She raised her eyebrows.
"So you'll tell him!" he retorted. "That's why I won't tell you!"
"You'll tell." Rhia said tauntingly. "You'll tell or I'll tell your Mum about the time you bewitched the next door Muggles' laundry. Remember, you made it fly? Now, who was involved? The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, Memory Erasers, half of the Ministry-"
"Blackmail!" Sirius cried. She nodded. "You wouldn't."
"Don't underestimate me." She murmured.
"Fine." He squinted his eyes. "I'm going to date Annie."
"Annie?!" Rhia repeated. "But she's just a child."
"She's fourteen." He replied.
"But.why?" Rhia asked.
"It.James." Sirius confessed. "James dared me to."
"James did WHAT?" Rhia cried, stopping directly in front of Sirius so he couldn't move. "And you ACCEPTED?"
"Rhia, quiet! You'll bring everyone out here, and then I'll be in for it."
"Oh, will you!" she mocked.
"Rhia, please. I could get a bike kit out of this!"
"Sirius, Annie is my friend, and if you do this you will kill the poor girl's spirits! Do you know how much she idolizes you? What will happen when you toss her aside like all the other girls?"
"Really Rhia, you act as if you're jealous."
"Sirius Malachi Black!"
"Whoa, I was joking..."
Rhiannon plopped down on a nearby bench. "Sir... I'm sorry for yelling. But you can't do this to Annie!" She paused, then chuckled. "You're right - Remus would have your head if he found out."
"If?"
"Oh Sirius, of course I'm not telling Remus - I would like to keep him civil as well, you know. But you have to swear you will do everything in your power not to hurt her!"
Sirius looked Rhia straight in her eyes. "Rhia, I would never hurt Annie." And he meant it.
Inside the manor, Remus was dancing slowly with his little sister, questioning her carefully.
"And what did he ask you?" he asked, wrinkling his brow.
"If I would like to go to the village with him." She replied, blushing a bit and smiling at the ground.
"For what?" Remus said, concerned.
"Just.to go out." Annie lied. "That's all."
"Go out like a date?" Remus raised his eyebrows.
"I don't know." She replied, shrugging her shoulders and stepping on his foot.
"Ow!" he cried.
"Sorry." She murmured. "Anyways, he just wants to go to the village, it's not a big deal."
"But it could get to be a big deal." Remus warned her. "And then you'll get your heart broken."
"I won't get my heart broken." She insisted, trying to sound sensible and failing utterly.
"You will." Remus replied. "You'll fall good and hard."
"Stop that!" Annie cried. "You don't know that."
"But I know him and I know you." Remus said.
"Remus, please." Annie said. "Just let it go, it's not going to be anything big like that."
"Alright." Remus sighed.
"Remus, Annie." Mrs. Lupin tapped Remus on the shoulder.
"Yes, Mum?" Remus replied.
"Time to go home." She said. "Go gather your friends." She leaned forward and added in a low whisper, "And remember, there's a full moon tomorrow."
"Yes, Mum." Remus nodded.
"Mum, they're fifteen, just like me. They've got messy rooms too." Remus groaned.
"Just because they do doesn't mean my son will look like a slob." Mrs. Lupin replied. "Now, upstairs with you, go clean."
"Mum, really-"
"If all your friends jumped off London Bridge, would you do so too?" Mrs. Lupin crossed her arms as Annie came flying slowly down the stairs on a purple broomstick.
"I finished." Annie said with a smirk.
"Off the broom in the house, Annie." Mrs. Lupin turned to her daughter.
"Mum, I was going slow-"
"Off." Annie frowned and slid off the front of the broom, putting it in the holder near the back door. "Now, Annie, go help your brother clean."
"Do I have to?" Annie wrinkled her nose, but straightened it out as Mrs. Lupin gave her a look saying "Go-clean-now-or-be-forced-to-stay-in-your- room-till-New-Year's".
"C'mon, Anne." Remus nodded to her, leading the way upstairs to his room.
"Too bad Mum wouldn't let me learn those quick-cleaning spells." She sighed.
"She let me." Remus smirked, taking out his wand and making a pile of clothes fly to the chest of drawers. Annie scowled.
"She just thinks I'll spend too much time with my wand." She objected.
"Being a witch isn't just about spells, Annie." Remus said. "You've got to know Potions and History of Magic and stuff."
"History of Magic is awful." Annie groaned. "I wish Professor Binns would just shrivel up and die."
"Don't say that, you never know what'll happen." He grinned.
"When will they be here?" She asked, peering out of the window as he shoved a stack of magazines under his bed. (A/N: Hehehe.)
"Sometime soon." He replied as a large rumbling filled the air. "That sounds like Sirius and his mum now."
As if on cue, Remus and Annie heard their mom yell up the stairs, "Kids! The Blacks are here!"
Downstairs, Remus ran to the door in time to see Sirius jumping off his huge motorbike. Mrs. Lupin was standing at the door.
"Oh Helen, how can you ride on that monstrous thing?"
Mrs. Black laughed, patting Sirius on the shoulder. "Well, Sirius here loves the thing, and who am I to deny him his one passion?"
Annie burst past her brother and mother to get outside. "Can I have a go, Sirius?"
"Annie!" her mother chided. Mrs. Black laughed.
"Annie, honey, everytime I drop Sirius off, you get a ride!" Annie sighed. "Oh sweet, you know I would, but today I have things to do." She gave Annie a huge bear hug, and she laughed.
Remus grabbed Sirius' bag as he said goodbye to his mom, then dragged him inside.
"Annie and your mom get along so well," Remus remarked quietly. Sirius nodded. "And she loves your baby sister Aurelia," he pressed. (AN: I had to! lol) Sirius looked up at him.
"Yeah..." he said, a strange sparkle in his eye. "So.how's Isis?"
"She's good." Remus replied. "In Egypt with her grandmother."
"You two are pretty serious now, aren't you?" Sirius asked, getting a hairbrush out of his bag and running it through his long, black mane.
"Kinda." He nodded. "She's really serious, I'm just.I don't know."
"You don't know?" Sirius raised his eyebrows.
"Better lay out your dress robes if you want the house elf to press them." Remus said quickly. "We've got that Christmas Eve party tonight."
"Ok, ok." Sirius smiled at his change of subject.
"Remus, Sirius! James is here!" Mrs. Black called up the stairs. The two boys glanced at each other before hurrying down to the living room where James and Mrs. Potter were brushing soot off each others shoulders.
"James, old man!" Sirius cried, slapping his friend's back.
"Sirius, dear, how are you?" Mrs. Potter hugged the boy. "Still riding that junky bike?"
"He still is, Mum." James grinned.
"Won't you stay for some tea, Stella?" Mrs. Lupin offered.
"No, thank you, Violet, my mother's coming to the house tomorrow, and I need to finish cleaning." Mrs. Potter kissed her son's cheek and Apparated back.
"Ah, finally! My mother's been going fanatical about Grandma coming tomorrow. It's a wonder I got out alive! So, the girls are late, aren't they?"
Sirius nodded. "Typical."
"Hey, Peter's not here yet either!" Remus stated, trying to save his friend.
"Yes, well, like we said..." Sirius said, winking. James laughed.
"What's so funny?" a voice asked from the doorway. The boys jumped and turned around to see Lily and Rhia standing in the doorway with Mrs. Lupin behind them, smiling.
"My mom just dropped us off; she didn't want me flying halfway across the country on the back of Rhia's broomstick," Lily explained.
"It's not like I'm a horrible flyer or anything! I'm on the house team, aren't I?" Rhia shot back playfully, flopping down on a couch.
"Exactly. I taught her everything I know! She's the second best player on the team!" James said suggestively. Lily laughed before kissing him on the cheek.
"That, love, is precisely why my mother's scared. All those Seeker dives you do, it's horrifying!"
Remus' eyes lit up. "Hey, we should play a game tomorrow or something. James and Annie as seekers, Sirius and Rhia beaters, and Peter and I can be chasers."
"Oh, leave me out of it. Quidditch frightens me," Lily said nervously. James put his arm around her.
"Well Lily, let's go up to our room and get your mind off of Quidditch. We have a ball to prepare for, don't we?"
Peter arrived an hour late, as usual, and the rest of that afternoon was spent in a flurry of excitement, the girls dressing in Annie's room and the boys dawdling and finally getting ready in Remus's room.
"Aren't you done yet?" Remus shouted up the stairs after he and the rest of the Marauders had finished and assembled in the living room.
"Girls take longer!" Annie retorted.
"Why?" Peter said as he played with his stack of Wizard Cards.
"Make-up and junk like that." James answered, sitting next to him on the sofa and toying with the edge of his navy dress robes.
"It's not junk." Lily said, coming down the stairs, clad in green robes that matched her emerald eyes.
"Junk? I didn't say junk." James quickly corrected himself.
"What are you two fussing about?" asked Rhia as she too came down the stairs, her honey-coloured robes sparkling as they trailed down the stairs, Annie trying her hardest not to trip on them while holding up the hem of her own elegant black robes.
"Nothing at all." Remus said, standing up and rolling his eyes. "Come on, Mum and Dad have the broom ready."
"Oh, I hate riding that rickety old thing." Annie mumbled. "It's much too big."
"It only seats fifteen." Rhia interjected. "Ours seats thirty."
"Thirty?" Peter's eyes widened as they went into the yard where Mr. and Mrs. Lupin waited.
"Are you all ready to go?" Mr. Lupin said, watching them carefully clamber onto the massive family broom.
"Yes, Father." Remus called to him.
"Hold on then, everyone." Mrs. Lupin ordered as her husband leaned back.
"Push off!" he cried. Everyone did so and the broom was in the air, soaring slightly below the clouds, the air whipping at their faces and robes until they landed in front of a giant, lit gazebo where the ball was being held.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Lily whispered to James. He smiled and nodded. Lily always did take pretty things to heart.
"Peter, take Annie in, won't you?" Remus leaned close to his friend. "I'm not sure I want Sirius taking in my baby sister."
"Of course not." Peter smiled a bit, holding out his arm to Annie. She meekly took it, a bit disappointed that her brother had to look out for her so.
"You go have fun." Mrs. Lupin said, waving them off as Mr. Lupin swept her onto the dance floor. They assembled near a window, talking quietly as they watched the other guests.
"He's staring at that girl." Annie said quietly to Rhia.
"He's not." Rhia replied.
"Look, he doesn't take his eyes off her." She sighed.
"Oh, Annie.I know how you feel." Rhia muttered softly. "I'll try and fix it, alright?"
"Will you?" Annie's gray eyes lit up.
"Of course." Rhia smiled and walked to where Sirius was standing. She gently nudged his side, getting his attention.
"Hey, Rhia." He said, tearing his eyes away from the girl on the dance floor.
"Who were you staring at this time?" she asked with a smirk.
"I wasn't staring." He retorted.
"You were ogling." James interrupted as Lily went to talk with Annie.
"I do not ogle." Sirius stressed.
"Say what you will." Rhia rolled her eyes and tad and walked away.
"And if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black." Sirius muttered. "Why, her and Remus-"
"Shhh." James ordered, a finger to his lips. "They're not to know, you know that. And it is true."
"It is not!" Sirius cried.
"Is so." James smiled. "You could not hold a girl for anything."
"I could." He straightened, daring James to challenge him.
"Fine then." James said, a mischievous glare in his eye. "You have to stay with one girl for the rest of the year."
"You're on." Sirius replied, shaking his friend's hand. "What girl?"
"Annie Lupin."
"Annie... Annie? Little Annie?" Sirius gaped.
"She's not so little anymore, you know," James grinned.
"Yes, but.we've known her since she was nine!" Sirius cried, looking over his shoulder at her. She was a skinny, flat-chested, gawky young thing with big, gray eyes and wild curls.
"And now she's fourteen." James replied. "Come on, just until the end of term. You already agreed."
"What's in it for me?" Sirius asked, folding his arms.
"I'll buy you that new servicing kit for your bike." James said a bit nervously.
"Really?" Sirius's eyes grew wide. They only sold that in Knockturn Alley.
"Yeah." James nodded. "But if you don't go through with it, you have to denounce girls for a year."
"A year?" Sirius's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Alright, four months." James gave in. Sirius smiled.
"Prongs, my friend, you are on."
* * *
"Annie, you haven't danced with anyone tonight! Why don't you go find someone on the dance floor and have a little fun?" Rhia asked later that night. Lily and James had monopolized a corner of the room, and had been there for at least an hour dancing. Annie and Rhia had stayed by their table.
"You know, Rhia, you haven't danced yet either."
"That's not true! Sirius and I danced twice!"
Annie sighed. "Oh, he doesn't count for you, and you know it. Why don't you go find Remus?" Annie suggested, her eyes twinkling.
"Oh, heavens no. He won't dance with me... he's too busy thinking about Isis."
Annie turned to Rhia. "Rhiannon, you know how I feel about Remus and Isis. She's one of my dearest friends, and I think she is a wonderful person." Rhia's eyes dropped a little. "But if I had to choose who I'd want as my future sister-in-law, I'd have to say that I love you, Rhia. You're so much better for Remus... for a few reasons." Rhia looked up at Annie to see the younger girl smiling broadly.
"Alright. So maybe I'll dance with Remus later. But I think, first, we should find you a partner!"
They discussed it a bit more before Sirius came up and tapped Rhia on the shoulder. "Oh Sirius, what now? Surely you don't want to dance with me more, I think my feet will fall off with the way you dance!" Sirius laughed.
"No no, Rhi, I actually wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind me stealing Annie away from you for a bit. I would just love to dance with her." Sirius asked charmingly. Annie gasped. He held out a hand for her. "What do you say?"
Annie took Sirius' hand delicately and followed him onto the floor. Rhia smiled to herself, but whirled around when there was another tap on her shoulder. She caught herself from gasping just in time; it was Remus.
"What is Sirius doing?' he asked suspiciously.
"Dancing... we haven't danced all night, I'm sure he could tell. He's just doing her a favor."
"You haven't danced" Remus repeated, watching his sister out of the corner of his eye.
"Well, a few with Sirius, but 'he doesn't count', as Annie said." Rhia leaned back against the wall. "But its okay."
"Well, no its not! Come on, lets dance." He held out a hand.
"Oh, really, you don't need to.." Rhia shook her head.
"You haven't danced all evening. You're dancing now." Remus said with a smile, grabbing her hand and pulling her out onto the floor. Rhia had to suppress a gasp as he placed a hand on her waist and held her close. She put a slightly shaking hand on his shoulder, moving slowly about the dance floor.
"Thanks." She mumbled, not sure of what to say, her head and heart in a tizzy.
"For what?" he asked.
"For asking me to dance." She smiled. He smiled back at her before looking over her shoulder at Sirius and Annie dancing together. "What are you so worried about?"
"I don't know.it's Sirius." He sighed a bit. "You can never trust him with girls."
"It's only a dance, he's just being courteous." Rhia interjected.
"You never know." Remus said, lifting his eyebrows.
Meanwhile, with Sirius and Annie.
"Sirius, this really isn't necessary!" Annie stuttered for the fourth time.
"Oh Annie, if you don't shut it and dance, I'll shut it for you," Sirius mocked, smiling. She managed a small smile back. They danced a bit more in silence, all the while Annie's insides melting.
Sirius took a deep breath. It was now or never. "You look really pretty tonight, Annie. Real. beautiful." He was surprised at how sincere his words sounded.
Annie caught her breath. "Why. thank you!"
"Any time." He twirled her around, trying to think of something to say. Nothing came. Really, why is this so hard? Probably because if Remus finds out, I'm a dead man.
"Listen, Annie." he started. She looked up, smiling, a bit out of breath from the dancing. (AN: Yeah, THAT'S it. lol) Come on Padfoot, think! "Maybe sometime before we go back to Hogwarts, you'd like to take a walk with me through town?"
Annie blushed slightly. "Um, sure. why? Do you need me to help you shop for Rhia?"
"Well, you know. not exactly. I meant it as, sort of, more like." Steady Sirius! ".a date."
Annie's eyes popped open, but she kept dancing. "A date? With. with me?" she squeaked.
"Well, sure. I don't know if you've noticed, Annie, but you're not so little anymore."
Annie laughed, her face slowly turning pink. "I suppose."
"What are you two laughing about?" Rhia asked, she and Remus walking towards them.
"Nothing much." Sirius said with a secret grin to Annie.
"Oh?" Remus raised his eyebrows. "Annie, would you like to dance?"
"No, that's alright." Annie shook her blonde curls. "I-"
"But you must." Remus said with a forced tone.
"Alright." Annie nodded, her brow furrowed. Remus took her hand and led her onto the dance floor.
"What were you two talking about?" Rhia asked Sirius.
"Nothing, I told you." He said. "Now, if you'll excuse me." His hazel eyes flashed and he grinned, stepping towards the door. Rhia threw back her shoulders and followed him outside into the gardens.
"Sirius, you'll tell me if I have to strangle it out of you!" Rhia cried, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around.
"Really, it's no big deal, Rhia!" He cried. "Just mind your own business!"
"Why won't you tell me?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. "What's the big secret?"
"The big secret," Sirius muttered, "is that Remus would have my head if he found out."
"So?" She raised her eyebrows.
"So you'll tell him!" he retorted. "That's why I won't tell you!"
"You'll tell." Rhia said tauntingly. "You'll tell or I'll tell your Mum about the time you bewitched the next door Muggles' laundry. Remember, you made it fly? Now, who was involved? The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, Memory Erasers, half of the Ministry-"
"Blackmail!" Sirius cried. She nodded. "You wouldn't."
"Don't underestimate me." She murmured.
"Fine." He squinted his eyes. "I'm going to date Annie."
"Annie?!" Rhia repeated. "But she's just a child."
"She's fourteen." He replied.
"But.why?" Rhia asked.
"It.James." Sirius confessed. "James dared me to."
"James did WHAT?" Rhia cried, stopping directly in front of Sirius so he couldn't move. "And you ACCEPTED?"
"Rhia, quiet! You'll bring everyone out here, and then I'll be in for it."
"Oh, will you!" she mocked.
"Rhia, please. I could get a bike kit out of this!"
"Sirius, Annie is my friend, and if you do this you will kill the poor girl's spirits! Do you know how much she idolizes you? What will happen when you toss her aside like all the other girls?"
"Really Rhia, you act as if you're jealous."
"Sirius Malachi Black!"
"Whoa, I was joking..."
Rhiannon plopped down on a nearby bench. "Sir... I'm sorry for yelling. But you can't do this to Annie!" She paused, then chuckled. "You're right - Remus would have your head if he found out."
"If?"
"Oh Sirius, of course I'm not telling Remus - I would like to keep him civil as well, you know. But you have to swear you will do everything in your power not to hurt her!"
Sirius looked Rhia straight in her eyes. "Rhia, I would never hurt Annie." And he meant it.
Inside the manor, Remus was dancing slowly with his little sister, questioning her carefully.
"And what did he ask you?" he asked, wrinkling his brow.
"If I would like to go to the village with him." She replied, blushing a bit and smiling at the ground.
"For what?" Remus said, concerned.
"Just.to go out." Annie lied. "That's all."
"Go out like a date?" Remus raised his eyebrows.
"I don't know." She replied, shrugging her shoulders and stepping on his foot.
"Ow!" he cried.
"Sorry." She murmured. "Anyways, he just wants to go to the village, it's not a big deal."
"But it could get to be a big deal." Remus warned her. "And then you'll get your heart broken."
"I won't get my heart broken." She insisted, trying to sound sensible and failing utterly.
"You will." Remus replied. "You'll fall good and hard."
"Stop that!" Annie cried. "You don't know that."
"But I know him and I know you." Remus said.
"Remus, please." Annie said. "Just let it go, it's not going to be anything big like that."
"Alright." Remus sighed.
"Remus, Annie." Mrs. Lupin tapped Remus on the shoulder.
"Yes, Mum?" Remus replied.
"Time to go home." She said. "Go gather your friends." She leaned forward and added in a low whisper, "And remember, there's a full moon tomorrow."
"Yes, Mum." Remus nodded.