Again, I apologise for the wait in updating. Writers block can be an evil, evil thing.

Thank you to: wavey avey, MarsMoonStar, Inuyasha-lover601, shiroiryu144, padfoot-dreamer, Moongirl, sa-chan5, Courtney, DeadAngel, Sirius' Secret Lover, Suga hi and Acacia Jules.

Don't worry, I'll still be continuing with this fic, I just ask you to be patient while my brain tries to sort out the plot. I know exactly where I want it to go, but getting there's proving to be more difficult than I thought. Stupid brain.

*

Harry woke up the next morning to find his arm tingling. The reason for this was because Sirius had it trapped underneath his body, and was showing no signs of moving for a while. Harry carefully eased his arm out from under Sirius' body, trying not to wake the older man, muttering oaths under his breath. He located his bathrobe and made his way to the bathroom.

"Morning, Harry!" Ron yawned at him from the opposite door.

"Morning," Harry muttered back, rubbing his eyes.

"If you want the bathroom you're in for a bit of a wait, mate. I've been sat out here for ages waiting for Hermione to finish." Harry nodded and sat himself on the floor next to Ron. They sat in companionable silence and listened to the sound of rushing water from the bathroom.

The door to Lupin's room opened and an extremely tousle-haired Tonks stumbled out, stopping short when she noticed the two boys on the floor.

"Oh! I didn't think anyone would be awake . . ." she exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth. Harry grinned at her.

"When did you sneak back in? Sirius said he saw you leave."

"I, er, forgot my wand . . ." Ron sniggered. Tonks glared at him. "I don't see that it's any of your business anyway, I'm a grown woman and what I do in my own time is up to me . . ."

"So are werewolves better than Slytherins then?" asked Harry. Ron bellowed with laughter.

"Who have you had in Slytherin then?" Ron demanded.  

"None of your business, young man!"

"What's going on here?" Sirius stumbled out of Harry's room, idly scratching the back of his head. His face split into a grin as he noticed Tonks. "Oh, hello. Finally got your claws into your wolfman then? So what was he like?"

"I don't have to take this abuse! I'm going down to get some breakfast."

"Good idea. I'll help." Sirius took Tonks' arm and led her downstairs. Harry turned to face Ron, still laughing, but the laughter died in his throat as he caught sight of the odd look on Ron's face.

"You, er, spent the night together, did you?" asked Ron in a forcibly casual voice.

"Yeah, we did."

"Right."  Harry sighed at his friend's tone of voice.

"What do you mean, 'right'?"

"I didn't mean anything," Ron protested, staring at his fingernails.

"We are allowed to, you know."

"I know. I didn't say anything."

"Look, I know you don't agree with our relationship but you've got to accept the fact that I love him."

"I know, mate, I know. It's just a bit weird, you know. I mean, you really liked Cho, and then suddenly I find you're with Sirius."

"Of course it's weird, since when have I ever done anything normal?" Harry grinned at Ron and stood up as Hermione came out of the bathroom. "Bathroom's free. All right, Hermione?"

"What's happened here?" Hermione demanded, gazing from Harry to Ron.

"Nothing," muttered Ron, grabbing a towel and darting into the bathroom. Hermione turned to Harry and raised her eyebrows.

"He's just a bit surprised that me and Sirius spent the night together."

"What, already? That's a bit sudden, isn't it?" Harry shrugged. "Well, what was it like?"

"Amazing," grinned Harry. They made their way down to the kitchen. Tonks was sat at the kitchen table holding her face in her hands and Sirius was leaning back in his chair looking smug.

"Tonks! What are you doing here?" demanded Hermione.

"Don't you start!" moaned Tonks. "I've already had the third degree from that damned nosey cousin of mine!"

"She snuck back here last night while we were all in bed tried to sneak off undetected this morning," explained Sirius, grinning.

"Hermione, you're a sensible person, can I talk to you in the other room?" asked Tonks, ushering Hermione out in front of her and whacking Sirius on the back of the head as she passed.

"Oi! What have I done to deserve that? I'm only looking out for you!" Sirius laughed as Tonks made an obscene gesture in his direction before closing the door. "All right, Harry?"

"Yeah." Harry allowed himself to be pulled down onto Sirius' lap.

"Liar. What's up?"

"Ron's still being a bit funny about, you know. You and me."

"Ah, give him time, he'll come round." Sirius ruffled Harry's hair and rested his chin on the top of Harry's head. "All he needs to do is shag Hermione Granger, that'll calm him down a bit."

"Excuse me?" demanded Hermione, reappearing with Tonks, who looked a lot less flustered now and calmly helped herself to some toast. "I have no desire to shag anybody right now, thank you very much!"

"Ah come off it, Hermione. You're hot for Weasley and you know it."

"I am not! Harry, can't you shut him up somehow?"

"I'm sure he could but it's not an act we generally perform in public."

"And even that's not guaranteed to shut him up in any case."

"Too much information!" protested Tonks, clamping her hands firmly over her ears.

"And unless I'm much mistaken not too long ago Harry threw a fork at Sirius for making inappropriate comments at breakfast," commented Remus lightly, wandering into the room and throwing a cloak around his shoulders. He and Tonks grinned at each other and blushed.

"Moony! Nice to see you up at last, although from what I gather you were up for most of the night."

"I wasn't the only one, obviously." Remus grabbed himself a stack of toast from the pile on the table. "I have to shoot off, I'm late as it is. I'll be back around lunchtime, all right? See you." Tonks followed him out and returned moments later with her grin threatening to slice her head in half.

"So you two are definitely an item then?" asked Harry.

"Yep!" Tonks popped a piece of toast in her mouth and beamed at the room.

"Well come on, give us the details! Was he better than your Slytherin lover?"

"I'll give you my details if you give me yours," countered Tonks with a wink, popping another piece of toast in her mouth.

*

All too soon it was time to go back to Hogwarts. Harry and Sirius clung to each other at the door while Tonks impatiently honked the horn of the car she had acquired for the drive to London – Sirius having been warned against accompanying Harry to Platform Nine and Three Quarters by Dumbledore. Whatever Dumbledore had said to him had obviously scared him enough to stay put at the village, but he was compensating for that by taking his time over saying goodbye.

"You take care of yourself, you hear?" whispered Sirius, stroking Harry's cheek lightly.

"And you," Harry managed to force out between the lump that had formed in his throat. He swallowed painfully.

"Hey don't be like that. The weeks will fly by and it'll be Christmas before you know it. In fact," Sirius added, putting on a mock-injured expression, "you'll probably be having so much fun with Quidditch and similar that you'll forget all about me."

"I'll never forget about you," declared Harry. "Okay, so maybe I might be concentrating on Quidditch especially when we play Slytherin a bit more, but I promise to give you at least five minutes thought each day."

"Five minutes? Is that all I warrant?" demanded Sirius, pouting. Harry laughed.

"Of course. Have you forgotten what an all-consuming event the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match is?"

"Harold James Potter! Will you please say your sodding goodbyes, we're going to miss the train!" yelled Tonks, honking the car horn so hard she almost broke it. Harry laughed and kissed Sirius.

"I'm going to miss you," he mumbled into Sirius' shoulder.

"I know. I'm going to miss you too," muttered Sirius. "But we'd best get you off, or Tonks is going to murder us!" He kissed Harry one more time and ushered him into the car. "I'll see you soon, love."

"'Bye."

"At last! Damn hormonal teenagers, and Sirius is just as bad," muttered Tonks, putting the car into gear and driving off. Harry twisted in his seat and watched Sirius until the house disappeared from view, and sighed as he slumped back down.

It was going to be a long wait 'til Christmas.