AYO GANG!!! Whoa!!! Been a while, eh?! Can't tell you how much I've
missed writing to y'all and hearing from you as well!!! School's been
seriously driving me bonkers and I'm going mad w/ homework and exams.
Volleyball has finally ended for me and I'm seriously grief-stricken about
it. Basketball, however, has managed to swallow up any of the time I have
to dwell on my past, not so demanding, schedule (if it is possible at all
that it has gotten more demanding from its previous hellishness). Lucky
me! *grimace* Well, it's Thanksgiving break right now and I'm finally
getting back to what I love, which is writing to all of you!!!
While in a hurry to make the deadline I made for myself for your guy's sake (*grin*) I didn't exactly have enough time to address each and every one of you (*frown*). But believe me, NONE OF YOUR WONDERFUL REVIEWS HAVE BEEN OVERLOOKED!!! You people are awesome, and I find it amazing that I have received 29 different reviews from you people since my last update. ( five of which were from Sakura. Lmao. Luv u gurl. So sorry this took so long! :-\ ) Can't quite tell you when the next chapter will be out . . . but I'll do my best to make this one good enough to last you at least for a little while. And I'm telling you . . . the harassing really does get my ass moving!!! Thanks so much for sticking by me guys!!! I love each and every one of you!!!
-Sara (your one and only Sportzjunkie) If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough. -unknown
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"Joey! Hurry up and finish packing! We're going to completely miss breakfast!" Lily urged her best friend as she stood impatiently at the door of their dorm room. It was already the middle of December, and winter break was close enough to reach out and touch. School had just ended for the holidays the day before, and most of the Hogwarts students were rushing to get themselves ready for the trip back to Kings Cross train station later that day.
"Alright . . . I'm coming . . . but if I forget anything, I'm blaming you," she said with a laugh as she stuffed another pair of socks into her trunk.
"Well you can come up and finish packing after breakfast," she suggested. "Not like it matters anyways . . . Aren't you going home first, picking up all of your snow clothes, and *then* heading to your cabin in America?" Joey gave her a sheepish smile.
"Good point," she mumbled as the girls headed out the door and down towards the Gryffindor common room.
"So what're your complete plans for the holiday?" Lily asked Joey as they made their way down the stairs into the entry hall.
"Well, as you already know, I'm going home first and Sirius is going to his own house, as well. He's going to get the stuff he needs from there and then meet back at my house. We'll probably stay there for a few days before traveling to Lake Tahoe, and we'll spend the rest of the holiday there in America," Joey said all at once with a confident nod at the end to conclude the thought.
"So his parents won't care that he'll be away the entire holiday?" Lily asked with a tone of concern.
Joey looked slightly gloomy as she shook her head and spoke. "Well, you know Sirius' parents. They don't really care if he even exists. My family loves him to death, though, so it'll be good for him to spend the holidays around a bunch of people who will really treat him the way he deserves."
Lily nodded in agreement and the two girls entered the dining hall and quickly located their usual group.
"HEY HEY! It's our favorite girls!" James exclaimed as the girls took their places beside them. The two greeted their friends warmly and quickly began acquiring their plates full of food.
"Running a tad behind this morning?" Sirius inquired as he watched the girls try to wolf down some food before the dining hall was cleared out.
"It was all her!!!" Lily declared adamantly through a mouthful of food, and she seemed to try and confirm her accusation by pointing a finger at the guilty brunette sitting across from her.
"Yeah, yeah," Joey laughed between mouthfuls. "But at least we didn't miss breakfast."
"I think we would have if I didn't drag your butt away from packing one more of those ski jackets." Lily giggled to herself.
"Ski jackets?" Sirius reiterated. "So muggles actually have outfits for this sort of sport?"
"Yes they do," Joey said trying to hide the smile that was playing at her face from the sheer naivety of Sirius question. "Which reminds me . . ." Joey said more to herself than aloud, "We're gonna have to take you shopping."
Sirius suddenly let out an audible groaning sound. "Shopping?" he repeated with a noticeable amount of dread dripping off his words.
James let out a sarcastic gasp in mock of Sirius' reaction. "Not the 'S' word!" he laughed. Sirius gave him a playful kick under the table.
"Oh shut up, Prongs!" Sirius growled. "You're not the one who's gonna have to go barreling down a hill dressed up in some puff-ball fur coat, plowing down a bunch of muggle kids, and surely on the way to your doom in the shape of a very wide tree."
All of the friends at the table began cracking up with laughter as Sirius just sat there ranting on about how awkward the whole situation would be for him.
"Why am I guessing that my little tirade isn't sparking the wanted sympathy that I deserve?" Sirius questioned humorously.
Trying to wipe the tears out of his eyes, Remus looked over at Joey and said, "Just be sure to take a lot of pictures. It's a shame we won't be able to see Sirius in his moment of glory!"
Joey nodded in agreement. "Oh don't worry, Moony. There will sure to be a lot of film involved with my Mum planning on joining us." Sirius let out another audible groan as his head dropped into his hands. His friends continued to laugh and Joey just gave him a comforting rub on the back.
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It seemed like no time had passed before all of the Hogwarts students were filing onto the train at the Hogsmeade station. The friends took their usual cabin in the very back and managed to all squeeze together in the same cart. The group was fewer two people when Peter and Suzy decided that the compartment was too small for eight people. They wondered off muttering something about finding a compartment *alone.* Needless to say, the rest of the group had a unanimous vote to NOT discuss that situation any further . . . as it may have led to some nightmare-inducing thoughts.
The group DID, however, decide to discuss everyone's plans for the holidays. When Lily was requested of the topic, she gladly informed the group of her arrangements.
"Well I'm going home for the holidays. It'll be really good to see my family. . . well . . . maybe not Petunia OR her evil boyfriend Vernon . . . but it'll be really nice to see my parents." Joey could feel Sirius shift slightly next to her when the word *parents* was brought into the conversation. "And I'm pretty sure James will be coming to my house for new years," she finished as she looked over at the lovable guy she was addressing on her left.
James gave her his usual jokester grin and answered her inquiry with his usual teasing tenor. "Oh I don't know, Lils . . . my parents may not approve of me hanging out with such a trouble maker like yourself. . . it might be bad for my reputation, you know."
Lily's eyebrows shot up in what seemed to be an equally over-exaggerated expression. "Bad for *your* reputation, Mr. Prongs the marauder, well known as the worst trouble maker in the school, aside from your best friend and partner in crime, Mr. Pad foot?!" she said trying desperately to keep herself from laughing.
"Oh, shut up," he cooed with his usual endearing tone in his voice, leaning in towards Lily.
"No, you shut up," she giggled back.
"No you shut up," he repeated again as his lips moved even closer towards Lily's.
"How 'bout you both shut up!" Sirius interjected rather blatantly and good humouredly. Joey, Remus, and Laura each let out a snort of laughter. Sirius was always the one who had the nerve to say exactly what everyone else was thinking . . . and everyone else was *definitely* not in the mood to have to listen to the two love birds snogging for the rest of the trip.
Needless to say, James halted his advancements on Lily and the two instead just sat there making little "cutsie" faces at each other. Joey couldn't help but giggle inwardly as she recognized the puckered-up, squinty-eyed face James was making at his girlfriend. Lily really was turning James into a pansy, and it was rather entertaining to watch.
"So, Remus! Why don't you tell us what *your* plans for the vacation are!" Laura asked, trying to draw the attention away from the love-struck couple in the corner of the cabin.
"Well I was hoping that we could kinda do what Lily and James were doing. You know . . . spend Christmas with our families and then maybe get together during new years," he suggested hopefully.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun!" she agreed. "It'll be good to see my *parents* and *family* again." The two trigger words practically echoed around the cabin as Sirius shifted uncomfortably next to the window again. Joey could sense the tension, but she tried to slip her arm around his to make him feel better.
"And I so want you to meet my parents too!" he exclaimed without even realizing the twinge of pain he was causing the silvery-eyed boy sitting across from him. "You'll love my mom," Remus began happily. "I wrote to her and told her about you. Both of my parents are really excited to see you!"
It happened so fast that Remus and Laura didn't even realize what they had said even affected their friend. But never-the-less, Sirius' abrupt standing and departure from the cabin left them speechless, and his little muttering of 'being hungry' didn't exactly ease their confusion. Even Lily and James who were sitting by the exit of the cabin looked up from their little ogle-fest to see what was happening.
Joey was left sitting on one side of the compartment now, quite alone, and quite without Sirius. It was an awkward position for her to be in, and the apprehension was quite perceivable on her face.
"Okay . . ." Remus drawled out slowly. "I'm not quite sure what *that* was all about, but I'll go talk to him and try find out," he sighed as he began to stand up.
"No, Remus," Joey said fixedly as she took to her feet. "I think I better go. I'm pretty sure I know what this is all about." Remus nodded at her and sat back down.
"Do you think we should give him a second to cool down?" he suggested, a definite tone of concern for his good friend imbedded in his words.
"Maybe you're right," Joey sighed as she took her seat again. "We'll give him enough time to at least make his way down the train before I go after him. I don't want to make him feel suffocated." Everyone else in the cabin agreed. They sat in silence for about a minute, but to everyone in the compartment, it felt more like an hour. The pained expression on Joey's face was making everyone not only feel really bad for what happened, but really uncomfortable as well. There was so much tension in the room, and it was really getting to all of the confused friends. James decided he couldn't handle the discomfited interval.
"Well, you know . . ." James finally suggested, breaking the awkward silence, "he does walk fast. I bet he's already made it to the end of the train by now." Joey looked over at James and gave him a pleadingly thankful look.
"You know, I bet you're right, James," Lily stated confidently, doing her best to back up her boyfriend, in a desperate effort make her best friend feel better. "I'm sure Sirius has had enough time to think about whatever it is he needs to. He'd be glad to have the company." Remus and Laura just nodded in agreement, not quite sure what else to do.
A shy and thankful smile crept up the side of Joey's face. "Thanks guys," she practically whispered as she stood up and headed to leave the compartment. Flam, not wanting to be disturbed from his nap, swiftly flew off her shoulder and returned to the seat Joey had previously been occupying. It was such a relief that she could finally hunt down Sirius. As far as she was concerned, giving him all that time was more like giving him a head start than giving him time to cool down. Now she would have to go looking for him.
Joey took a step out into the train's long passageway. She heaved a sigh as she glanced all the way down to the far end of the train. It was an awfully long corridor with an awfully large number of doors on both sides. Sirius could be in any of the cabins. Thinking it wisest to make her way towards the far end of the train which was the location of the bathrooms, storage cabins, and the beginning of the food-cart lady's route, Joey took a breath and began her search.
Once she had reached the end of the train and came up along side of the food-cart lady, it took a matter of seconds for her to recognize the tall broad frame of the handsome brunette standing close by. Though Sirius wasn't facing her, Joey could have recognized his rich brown hair from the other side of the train. He hadn't seen her yet, and when he dropped a piece of the wrapper to his chocolate frog on the floor, Joey decided to have a little bit of fun with him.
Just as he bent down to pick up the piece of litter, Joey snuck over right behind him. In one swift movement, she drew her finger along the base of his back, just above the waist-line of his pants and then skirted back around the corner of the train and out of sight. Feeling the close contact of someone's finger with the rim of his boxer shorts, Sirius practically snapped back up to a standing position and whirled around to see who his prodder was. When he could find no one behind him besides the fat old lady with the food-cart, who just so happened to be giving him a very stomach- turning, suggestive smirk, his eyes practically bulged out of his head before hastily making his way back towards the train's passage way. No way did he want to take a stroll down that alley.
Watching all of this, Joey was laughing too hard to even care that Sirius was headed right for her hiding place. The big wet tears were rolling down her cheeks as he turned the corner and made his way out into the hallway. He wouldn't have seen her if it wasn't for the desperate whimpers, coming from around the corner, that caused him to turn around. Joey was practically keeled over in pain from the laughing spasms that had consumed her.
When Sirius saw his girlfriend in her right state, his quick brain made the connection in an instant, and he turned around to glance at the suggestive food-cart lady, who was now giving him a shy smile and a wave. The woman reminded him of a Madam Pince from the library, and the uncannily similar resemblance to a vulture made him wonder if the two women were related. The humor of the situation got to him as well as he stepped around the corner to be next to Joey and out of the food-cart lady's sight. The broad grin remained on his face as he gingerly poked Joey in the side of the ribs.
"Thought that was real funny, did ya?" he teased as she giggled and shied away from his prodding.
"Yup," she managed to choke out as the image of the food-cart lady smirking at Sirius popped back into her mind and laughter took over again. "I really loved how the food cart lady came on to you. That seriously just made my day."
Sirius grinned down at the shining jade-blue eyes in front of him, still wet from the tears that had wept out from the joyous laughter they had just lasted. "Must be my boyish good looks," he stated confidently. "Not to mention my charming smile," he continued as he flashed her a prize-worthy beam.
"Well it's certainly good to see you smiling again," Joey said sounding a little more somber. "You're gonna have to tell me what happened back there in the cabin with the others."
Sirius heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his now slightly disheveled hair. "I was hungry," he said casually, trying to hide the obvious lie.
"Yeah. And that would explain why you bought chocolate," Joey said with gentle sarcasm. "Come on Sirius. Tell me why you were squirming every time someone began talking about their parents."
Sirius' face scrunched up into what was obviously an uncomfortable grimace. He wouldn't look Joey in the eyes, and he instead focused his sight down the train passageway. Running another hand through his hair he barely glanced back at Joey before sighing and finally saying, "I think you already know why."
Joey couldn't help but frown up at him in a look of concern. Sirius' upset was really getting to her and she wasn't quite sure what to say. So she wrapped him in a hug and whispered, "I'm really sorry things are the way they are. But, like I said earlier, Sirius, you're loved by a lot of people, and that's what counts."
Sirius nodded at her to acknowledge the words of comfort. "It's just that I'm always alone on the holidays, you know?" he manage to say with a bit of difficulty. "It's going to be weird getting to spend Christmas with a family this year."
Joey had to keep from allowing her jaw to drop open. She hadn't exactly realized the severity of the situation until then. Sirius' parents had always wanted him to come home for the holidays for the sole purpose of watching the house while they went off to parties. For the majority of the time, Sirius spent it alone, and for the rest of the time he was getting ignored as his parents did their best to avoid him even when they were home.
"Well my family is beyond excited to have you, so I really hope you won't feel overwhelmed or anything like that," she laughed. "I know my mom can go a little crazy with all of this holiday cheer stuff." Sirius finally cracked another smile.
"No way. I'm really hoping she does go all out. It'll really make the Christmas special getting to spend it with you and your family, Joey. . . especially if your mom does go Christmas crazy."
"Actually . . . make that my *parents* who go Christmas crazy . . . not just my mom. You'll have to see it . . . it's almost pathetic," she laughed shaking her head affably.
"I can't wait," he said with genuine cheerfulness.
"Now are we ready to head back to our cabin?" she asked hopefully.
Sirius smiled at her tone. She sounded like she was talking to a five-year- old, but he nodded anyways and headed around the corner, just laughing to himself.
Joey followed him, but she could see him laughing inaudibly. It was more of the shoulder shake that gave him away. "What the heck is so funny?" she said rather exasperatedly. Sirius just shrugged a smiled at her.
"Oh nothing . . ." he said with obvious amusement in his eyes. He was really trying to get a rise out of her and she was about to let him.
"Excuse you, Mr. Padfoot, but are you laughing at me?"
"Perhaps I-" he was cut off by the sound of a door being swung open a little ways down the train hallway. They both looked and saw about five Slytherin sixth-year boys step out into the passageway. Sirius gave Joey a worried glance. There was sure to be trouble if they didn't get somewhere quickly.
Lucky for them, the Slytherins hadn't seen them yet, so when Joey grabbed Sirius by the arm and yanked him into one of the storage cabins with her, they were out of sight and unnoticed.
"*Now* finish your thought," Joey whispered between giggles. The whole situation was rather ridiculous.
"There's a trunk digging into my heel," Sirius whispered with obvious laughter in his voice. It was like Joey could hear his smile.
"Well then move, you big baby!" she spat out in a low, teasing voice.
"I can't . . . cause you're . . ." Sirius croaked out between stuggles and laughs, "and then there's this other bag thing . . . and then you're-"
SMACK!!!
The Slytherin sixth-years, just outside the storage cabin, stopped in their tracks. They glanced at one another and then back at the door of the storage cabin.
"Did you here that, mate?" one of them asked uncertainly to another.
"Yeah I did. What do you think that is?" the tall one inquired. Most of the boys shrugged and looked to the others for suggestions.
"CAT, perhaps?" one in the back suggested.
"That's a pretty big cat!" the first one said sardonically.
"Well how was I supposed to know! It could be anything in there!"
"Well someone needs to check!!!" the first one snapped at the one in the back.
The tallest one crept up to the door and turned the knob slowly.
Just on the other side of the door, Joey was now flat against it and Sirius was now in a compromising position pinning her to it.
"Sirius, why am I guessing that this was all just an elaborate plan to get me pinned down," Joey said with artificial disdain.
"What?! Never!" Sirius said rather exaggeratedly offended. He leaned his face in and just before his lips reached hers, whispered, "Well there was a trunk in my heel."
"Mhmmm . . . sure there was," she murmured as he caught her lips rather fervently. Just as the kiss deepened and became more intense, the door knob just next to Joey's hip began to turn.
In a frantic wave of panic, Joey felt Sirius shove her behind the door and out of sight just as he suddenly seemed to disappear in the darkness. She had no idea what was going on, but had complete faith that Sirius knew what to do. He *was* a marauder after all . . . those boys all knew had to think on their feet when about to be caught.
The tall Slytherin boy crept forward as he pushed the door open a jar. It creaked mildly as he pushed it open further and peaked in. It was so dark in the storage cabin compared to the rest of the train that they could see barely into the compartment at all. Barely audible and then more prominent was this low rumbling noise coming from somewhere that wasn't quite evident.
"Dude! Is that your stomach?" One of the Slytherins in the back asked the other next to him.
"No, mate . . . I thought it was yours!" Then all five of the boys looked at each other anxiously and then back into the cabin just as an enormous black dog came into view. The massive canine did not look happy, to say the least. It was growling and spitting, and looked like it was ready to kill.
The tallest boy let out a blood-curdling scream and slammed the door shut. All five boys went sprinting back to their train compartment, completely forgetting about the food-lady and her cart full of goodies.
"Well that was effective!" Joey laughed.
"Thought it would be," he said rather cockily as another smile played across his face in the darkness.
"Me with my dog-like boyfriend," she sighed with a laugh as she turned to the door to exit.
"And where, may I ask, do you think *you* are going?" he teased as he held the door shut with one hand and leaned in towards Joey.
"Back to our cabin of course," she said matter-of-factly, knowing quite well how she was driving him crazy. Sirius let out a deliberately strident puppy-dog whimper. "Oh don't you dare try that with me," she laughed as she managed to pull the door open a jar and allow a little light to flood into the dark compartment. Sirius was now giving her large round puppy dog eyes. "Well this is so unfair," she said with a tone of artificial frustration. "What's a girl to do with a boyfriend who's half dog?"
A low rumble of laughter echoed through Sirius chest as Joey planted a soft kiss on his bottom lip. She then whipped the door open when he was off his guard and went sprinting down to the other side of the train, Sirius in hot pursuit.
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The rest of the train ride went by quite uneventfully, and before anyone knew it, the thunderous brakes of the Hogwarts express were pulling the train to a stop in the King's Cross Train Station.
Most of the people in Joey's cabin were sound asleep, and even Sirius had drifted off on Joey's shoulder, Flam curled up in his lap, before the train reached its destination. This was all soon to change when Joey looked out the window and saw one of her favorite people waving back at her from the platform.
"JOSH!!!" she squealed at the top of her lungs causing a great hullabaloo in the train compartment. Flam's eyes shot open, and the bird began squawking at the top of his little birdie lungs.
"WHA- . . . What happened?! What?!!" Sirius jumped about a foot in the air to a standing position, and Remus and Laura sat up instantaneously. Lily's eyes snapped open, and it seemed like the only person in the cabin who remained asleep was James, who just buried his head into the cushion behind Lily's shoulder while mumbling something about wanting five more minutes.
Everyone in the cabin who had been woken up was trying to catch their breath and make their sporadic heartbeats return back to normal. Sirius let out a huge sigh of relief that the train wasn't on fire, and he collapsed back into his seat that he had previously been occupying during his slumber. Resting a hand on Flam's back, he was doing his best to calm down his poor, speckled friend.
"Would someone like to explain what the commotion's all about?" Remus asked sounding rather exasperated. Everyone in the compartment looked over at Joey who was still seated by the window, waving hysterically at someone standing out on the platform. She was completely oblivious to the uproar she had just caused her friends and pet.
"Uhhhhhhh . . . Joey?" Lily asked uncertainly. "What's up?"
Without even looking at her friends right state of shock they were still trying to get over, she stood up, grabbed her duffle bag and went running out of the compartment yelling, "We're here!!!"
Her friends soon followed suit, and Joey found herself sprinting across the 9 ¾ platform into her brother, Josh's arms. She was sprinting so hard that her 6'4'' brother practically swept her off her feet as she collided with him.
"Oh my God, is it good to see you!!!" she laughed as he spun her around.
"You too, Joey . . . You too!" he said while beaming down at her. His dirty blonde hair was shining nicely in the setting sunlight. "Man!!! Have you gotten taller?! I swear I don't recognize you! You used to be hella shrimpy!"
"Oh shut up!" she laughed. "And I've been packing on the muscle, too, with quidditch well underway.
"Yeah, I heard about that! Congrats to the beater!" he said with a grin. "Guess I'm gonna have to be nicer to you then? You might beat the shit out of me if I bully you too much!"
"Damn straight!" she laughed mimicking the offensive language. "Otherwise I might just get my bat out and hit you right in the-"
"SIRIUS!!!" Josh interrupted her mid sentence, giving her a knowing grin as he did so. "Been a while, tough guy!!!"
Sirius had just approached Joey and her brother, and the two boys were now exchanging a jovial "guy hug," where they awkwardly shook hands and kind of did a "half-embrace" that still looked manly.
"I'll say it's been a while!" he responded genially. "How's life at the ministry goin' for ya?"
"Pretty good, pretty good." Josh said with a nod. "It's also pretty good to be home for the holidays . . . take some time off all the work!"
"Definitely," Both Joey and Sirius chorused together.
"So you guys are . . ." Josh trailed off as his finger wagged between the two of them as if to ask if they were a couple or not.
"Indeed we are," Joey said with a smile as Sirius snaked an arm around her waist.
"So I assume you're treating her well?" Josh asked exaggeratedly serious while doing his best to suppress a grin.
"I sure hope so!" Sirius laughed as he gave Joey half a hug. "Though, we may have to hide all the bruises on her arms. I can be a little forceful at times."
"Yeah right, mate. If it's anyone we have to worry about, I'm guessing it's you. Joey sure can pack a punch." The three of them just laughed and Sirius planted a light kiss on the side of Joey's temple.
"Well should we go get your stuff?" he suggested. The three walked over to where the baggage was being released, and just as the gang had grabbed all their stuff, a man in a black suit approached them and addressed Sirius.
"Excuse me, Master Sirius," the man said formally. Sirius turned around to look at the person who spoke to him and his expression fell in an instant.
"Oh no," he sighed. "Why don't my parents just let me apparate home?!!" he growled to himself.
"As you know, sir, your family lives in a highly muggle populated area. The proposition for you to apparate would involve a great deal of work on your parents' part to make sure there would be no muggles around to see you," the man in the suit explained.
"But they go to the trouble to send a limousine?!" The man in the suit simply shrugged and made an effort to take one of Sirius' bags. Sirius allowed him to take it and took the handle of his trunk.
"The vehicle awaits you this way, Master Sirius," the man said as he headed off to the right of where they were standing.
"Lars . . . how many times do I have to tell you to NOT call me that?" Sirius let out a sigh. Joey tried desperately to hide the grin that was building to the surface of her lightly freckled face. It was almost ridiculous to hear her boyfriend being called that.
Quickly sobering herself, Joey put a hand on his arm. "Hey . . . hang in there," she whispered softly. "I doubt my parents care when you show up. We won't be leaving for Tahoe in at least a few days. So can I look forward to seeing you in like a day or two?"
"Try like tomorrow," Sirius said flatly. "I doubt I can stand my parents for longer than a few hours. I'll grab my stuff and apparate over to your house tomorrow afternoon probably."
"Well, if you want to try and get along with your parents for a little while, that's okay too, you know." A smile played up the side of Sirius' face. He leaned in so that his forehead was resting up against hers.
"But how can I stay away from your sweet smile for longer than a day?" he whispered so that he *thought* only she could hear.
"Smooth!" a deep voice interjected. The two looked over at Josh. "Oh, sorry!" he laughed uncomfortably.
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It wasn't long before Joey and Josh were on the car ride home. Flam got comfortable in the back seat while they took the time to catch up with one another.
"So I can see you and Sirius are getting along nicely," Josh said with obvious amusement in his voice. "We always knew you two would end up together." Joey just smiled and shook her head with amusement.
"I'm assuming that by the word 'we' you mean everyone else in the family as well?"
"Of course!" he said with a laugh. "Brian hasn't been able to shut up about how you guys are 'so meant for each other' and how *he's* known that since the two of you met back your first year." Joey just smiled to herself. Brian was definitely her favorite brother; but she would never let any of the others know, even if Brian was always telling everyone that.
"Well what's happening with you, then?" she asked trying to pull the attention away from herself. "How is-"
"Erin? She's doing quite well in fact," he stated proudly.
"And how's that going? Are you guys still dating?" Joey asked curiously.
"It's going quite well. And, no, we're not still dating." Joey gave him a skeptical look.
"And explain to me, brother, how that works. You're doing quite well together, but you're not still dating?" Just as Joey asked this question a huge, radiant smile flashed over her brother's face.
Joey remained with the puzzled look for a moment longer. When they stopped at a light, Josh turned to his sister and gave her an expectant look. "You don't mean . . ." Joey began. Her bother's eyebrows rose up on his forehead just as his sister trailed off. "Oh my God, Josh, Oh my God!!!" Joey flung out of her seat and threw her arms around her brother. "You mean I'm going to have a sister in-law?!!!" Josh just smiled against his sister's shoulder that was digging into his jaw from the tight hug.
"Well I'm glad you're happy about it!" he laughed as he tried his best to keep her arms from cutting off the circulation to his head. Joey pulled out of the hug and just beamed at him.
"Of course I'm happy about it. This is going to be the closest I will ever come to actually having a sister!" she exclaimed excitedly. ". . . and I'm happy for you, of course!" she added as an afterthought. Josh just gave her a sideways glance that showed his obvious amusement in what his sister seemed to find the best part about his proposal.
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It was a matter of moments before they pulled the car up into the drive way of the Atramentous residence. Since Joey's father was a muggle, her family lived in a muggle neighborhood with no magical neighbors except for a little old couple who lived around the corner from them. Since Joey's father was a well respected surgeon in London, they lived in a rather wealthy part of the city. Needless to say, the entire neighborhood found Joey's family, particularly her mother, to be rather eccentric.
In a blink of an eye, a small woman who was about in her early fifties came hurrying out of the house towards her tall slender, daughter. The mushroom bun on the top of the woman's head, delicately laced with grey hairs amongst brown, was bouncing around as the woman came scurrying over to wrap her daughter in a loving squeeze.
"Mumma!!!" Joey called as the slightly plump lady held her daughter close. "Boy, is it good to see you!"
"And it's good to see you too, sweet pea!!!" her mother cooed. "OH, let me look at you!" she sighed as she held her daughter out an arms length away from her. "Well it's no wonder you ended up with the cutest boy in the school! If even possible, you've gotten prettier since the last time I saw you!"
"It hasn't been *that* long, mumma," Joey mumbled trying to hide the blush.
"So how is Sirius doing, dear?" her mother inquired with an unmistakable twinkle in her eye.
"He's doing fine," Joey said, smiling awkwardly at the look her mother was giving her. "Well you'll be able to ask him yourself around tomorrow afternoon."
"Ooooooh! I just can't wait!" her mothered cried with merriment. She then walked over to the car and opened the door to the back seat. "You weren't gonna forget mommies little baby, now were you?" Joey's mother fussed out over Flam as he flew out of the car and landed on the top of her head. "Now let's go get you some treats!"
"Mumma . . ." Joey growled out with a tone of warning. "Not so many this time . . . I swear Flam gained like five pounds over just last summer alone!"
"Oh, hush," her mother protested. "He's a growing bird!"
Joey rolled her eyes. "Yeah growing *sideways* maybe," she mumbled under her breath before following her mother into the house.
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Joey's mother helped her to carry her things up to her room and to begin sorting through all of her stuff.
"So where's the rest of the family?" Joey asked curiously.
"Well your father had a kidney transplant this afternoon, so he won't be back until later. He's terribly sorry he couldn't be here to welcome you home though, sweet heart." Joey nodded in response. She was used to her father working all the time. It will be nice in few days when he will finally get to take a break and travel to the states with the whole family.
"And what about Brian and Sam?" she inquired.
"Well, Brian, as you know, is extremely busy with the order right now . . . particularly around the holidays when they're especially worried about any attacks. They still aren't sure who the leader of the group is, but rumors are flying that they are starting to call themselves 'deatheaters' . . . though, I'm not sure . . ." her mother trailed off with a genuine look of worry on her face. "I'm just glad that Brian is taking the time to spend the holidays with us. He works hard enough as it is and it'll be good for him to relax a little."
There was a long pause in the room as the two women continued to fold clothes and allow what had been said to sink in. Joey finally managed to make eye contact with her mother, and when she was about to inquire about her other brother, her mother got to it before she had the chance.
"I sent Sam to the store for some food for tonight," her mother said in a much more comfortable tone. "He should be back soon. I know he wanted to go with Josh to pick you up, but that just wasn't how the agenda worked out."
"So how's work going for you, mum?" Joey asked on a change of subject.
"Well, you know life at the ministry around the holidays . . . rather hectic and frustrating. I'm not sure if Josh told you much about how it is for him, but I know I've certainly been wanting to rip my hair out. Both of us have been too tired to even talk about it with each other. Specially now since he and Erin have been staying with us for the past week thanks to the holidays . . . we just get home and want to relax and forget about our stressful days. But your brother's and my last day was yesterday, so we've already have had a little taste of the relaxation yet to come." Joey smiled at her mother as she carefully tucked another sweater into her drawer.
"So where is Erin now?"
"Oh, her last day is tomorrow. She works at the ministry as well, but her department is a few floors above your brother and myself." Joey nodded.
"So she will be here for dinner tonight, as well?"
"Most definitely. But it won't be until tomorrow night that we will have the entire gang here for dinner, including your sweet heart, Sirius." The twinkle came back in Joey's mother's eyes and Joey couldn't help but to suppress the laughter that was aching to be released.
All the sudden Joey heard the front door open and a few male voices echoing up the stairs into her room.
"Well that sounds like Sam and your father!" he mother said happily. "I wonder what your father is doing home so soon."
The two women rushed around the corner, down the stairs and over to the front door.
"There she is! How's my Joey kangaroo?!" her father asked as her pushed a few strands of his flaxen blond hair out of his eyes.
"Hey, papa," Joey giggled at the ridiculous nickname her father had called her since she was little. "What are you doing home so early?"
"Well, Papa's surgery went quite well today. I managed to get one of the interns to help me with the initial cut and with the stitching at the end. I was quite impressed with his work . . . may turn out to be not a complete waste of my time after all."
Joey smiled at her father's manner. She knew how he secretly loved to teach the interns new stuff. That's why everyone in the family would just roll their eyes every time he would complain about the number of interns he would get stuck with, even though he would purposely sign up for extra ones each year. Her father's nature was that he absolutely had a passion for teaching people things. Even as a five-year-old, Joey already had known how to stitch up a wound, perform CPR, and prescribe medicine for most common illnesses.
"And how are you, Sam?" Joey asked cheerfully.
"Quite well, actually," he answered happily, running a hand through his extremely disheveled blond hair, which closely resembled his father's. "My internship as a medi-wizard is going quite well, and thanks to dad's help, I've been able to do all of the old-school stuff as well as the magic- involved healing."
"OLD school?!" Joey's father repeated incredulously. "I think not that it is old school."
"Think what you will Pops, but *I* think it's old school." Joey just shook her head and laughed. The two generations of doctors in the family were certain to be butting heads the whole time about methods of doing things.
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As the night drew on, Erin finally showed up just before dinner was served, and the family sat down to the meal, missing just one person. In fact, even when the family was bidding each other good night, Brian still hadn't show up at the house.
"Don't worry, dear," Joey's father was trying to relax his wife, "I'm sure our son is fine. The meeting probably just ran a tad late, is all." Mrs. Atramentous did not look comforted in the least. But, needless to say, she put on a happy face, bid everyone good night and headed off to bed with her husband.
Joey sat up reading as the rest of the house went quiet and dark, and it wasn't even until around 12:30 that the front door finally creaked open, and the familiar footsteps of her brother's dragon hide boots came tip toeing into the entry way.
Since Joey and her brother's room were connected by two doors leading into a shared bathroom, she waited for him to sneak up into his room before she strolled across the cold tile of the bathroom floor, into her brother's room.
Brian had just pulled on his favorite pair of jammie pants as Joey snuck up behind him and kicked him rather sharply on the butt.
"Ouch! What the-" Brian turned around with a look of annoyance on his face. When he realized who it was who had kicked him, however, his expression altered to pleasant surprise near immediately. "Joey! Damn it's good to see you, girl! How's my favorite sister?!!"
Joey flung her arms around her 6'2'', extremely well fit brother. He wasn't as quite as tall as Josh, but he had about the equal amount of muscle mass, and all three of the boys in the Atramentous family had fairly defined bodies. It was Brian who had the dark brown hair like Joey's, and he kept it longer than the other boys, as well, allowing the chocolate locks to flow back and curl just at the nape of his neck.
"So your meeting ran a little late, huh?" she questioned
"Yeah, I'll say it did!" he laughed contemptuously. "I was about to ask someone if I missed the memo saying that we were all supposed to pack our sleeping bags and nap sacks since it seemed like people were planning on staying all through the night. It was then that the order leader told us we could go and that not much more could be done so early in the morning, anyways."
"Well I'll get more out of you later," she said with a grin, "right now I'll give you some room to breathe so you can head off to sleep." Brian gave her an appreciative smile and let out a powerful yawn. "Thanks Joe," he said with a tone of genuine appreciation. ". . . sleep well."
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It was the next afternoon when the door bell rang and Joey's entire family, excluding herself and Josh, practically went sprinting to the door. Joey's mom was the one who opened the door for Sirius, and she nearly yanked him into the congenial atmosphere of the Atramentous home once she realized it was him.
"SIRIUS!!!" the entire family practically chorused together and began talking to him all at once as they all barely allowed him to take his time to get settled down. Sirius looked overwhelmed with joy to be around so many people who really wanted to appreciate his company.
Joey's mom even had the nerve to cup his jaw with both of her bare hands, and scrunch his face up. "You are such a cutie!" she said rather confidently as she forced him to bend over so that she could plant a motherly kiss right on his forehead. "You've gotten even handsomer since the last time I saw you. Joey is an extremely lucky girl."
Sirius was blushing a nice shape of pink right about now, and Joey couldn't help but giggle at her adorable boyfriend. She really was lucky to have a guy like him.
"Sirius, my boy!!!" Joey's father bellowed happily. "Good to have you here, son! We're a lucky bunch of folks to have you join us for the holidays!!!"
"Thank you so much for having me, Mr. and Mrs. Atramentous," Sirius said politely.
"Oh, please," Joey's mother said in a slightly discomfited tone, "call us Betty and Paul. You know us too well to be calling us such formal names. And besides . . . ," she added as an after thought, "'Mrs. Atramentous makes me sound so ancient!" Sirius smiled at the woman's request and nodded in understanding.
Sirius made sure to greet everyone of Joey's brothers, and it was especially Brian that he had the most to catch up with. The two boys and Joey climbed up to Brian's room and left his stuff on the floor. Brian was going to give his bed up to Sirius for the next couple of nights, and he and Sam were going to double up in the room down the hall. Joey found this quite pleasant. No doubt there would be a few midnight excursions to bother her boyfriend in the middle of the night.
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After Sirius had settled in somewhat, Joey decided to get some alone time with him by taking him to a muggle mall. She finally got to drive the convertible that her father bought for her and her brothers to share a few years ago. Sam was the one who used it the most to get back and forth from the internship at the wizard hospital a few miles away from their home. Joey rarely got to drive it, seeing how she was always at Hogwarts most of the year.
Joey was happy now to say the least. She was driving an adorable car with a hot guy in the passenger seat, and they were on their way to go shopping for some fun ski clothes that Sirius was sure to despise, but look really good in. What more could she want?
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YIKES!!! WAS THAT A BAD PLACE TO LEAVE OFF OR WHAT?!!! Winter break barely started . . . I know, I know. But I had to introduce Joey's family and tell you all a little bit about each of them. Besides . . . this chapter was getting rather lengthy considering the fact that all that really happened was the train ride home and the introduction of the family. But there's seriously some pretty fun parts still to come . . . Sirius shopping around a bunch of muggles, some midnight visits to his room *wink wink* (YES THIS IS STILL PG13 . . . DON'T EXPECT ANYTHING TO DRASTIC PPL!!! LMAO) and of course Sirius skiing and Christmas. We'll just have to see where the winter vacation leads us!!! I hope to update again ASAP! Keep harassing me ppl! And please be so kind as to leave a review!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
~Sara = ]
While in a hurry to make the deadline I made for myself for your guy's sake (*grin*) I didn't exactly have enough time to address each and every one of you (*frown*). But believe me, NONE OF YOUR WONDERFUL REVIEWS HAVE BEEN OVERLOOKED!!! You people are awesome, and I find it amazing that I have received 29 different reviews from you people since my last update. ( five of which were from Sakura. Lmao. Luv u gurl. So sorry this took so long! :-\ ) Can't quite tell you when the next chapter will be out . . . but I'll do my best to make this one good enough to last you at least for a little while. And I'm telling you . . . the harassing really does get my ass moving!!! Thanks so much for sticking by me guys!!! I love each and every one of you!!!
-Sara (your one and only Sportzjunkie) If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough. -unknown
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"Joey! Hurry up and finish packing! We're going to completely miss breakfast!" Lily urged her best friend as she stood impatiently at the door of their dorm room. It was already the middle of December, and winter break was close enough to reach out and touch. School had just ended for the holidays the day before, and most of the Hogwarts students were rushing to get themselves ready for the trip back to Kings Cross train station later that day.
"Alright . . . I'm coming . . . but if I forget anything, I'm blaming you," she said with a laugh as she stuffed another pair of socks into her trunk.
"Well you can come up and finish packing after breakfast," she suggested. "Not like it matters anyways . . . Aren't you going home first, picking up all of your snow clothes, and *then* heading to your cabin in America?" Joey gave her a sheepish smile.
"Good point," she mumbled as the girls headed out the door and down towards the Gryffindor common room.
"So what're your complete plans for the holiday?" Lily asked Joey as they made their way down the stairs into the entry hall.
"Well, as you already know, I'm going home first and Sirius is going to his own house, as well. He's going to get the stuff he needs from there and then meet back at my house. We'll probably stay there for a few days before traveling to Lake Tahoe, and we'll spend the rest of the holiday there in America," Joey said all at once with a confident nod at the end to conclude the thought.
"So his parents won't care that he'll be away the entire holiday?" Lily asked with a tone of concern.
Joey looked slightly gloomy as she shook her head and spoke. "Well, you know Sirius' parents. They don't really care if he even exists. My family loves him to death, though, so it'll be good for him to spend the holidays around a bunch of people who will really treat him the way he deserves."
Lily nodded in agreement and the two girls entered the dining hall and quickly located their usual group.
"HEY HEY! It's our favorite girls!" James exclaimed as the girls took their places beside them. The two greeted their friends warmly and quickly began acquiring their plates full of food.
"Running a tad behind this morning?" Sirius inquired as he watched the girls try to wolf down some food before the dining hall was cleared out.
"It was all her!!!" Lily declared adamantly through a mouthful of food, and she seemed to try and confirm her accusation by pointing a finger at the guilty brunette sitting across from her.
"Yeah, yeah," Joey laughed between mouthfuls. "But at least we didn't miss breakfast."
"I think we would have if I didn't drag your butt away from packing one more of those ski jackets." Lily giggled to herself.
"Ski jackets?" Sirius reiterated. "So muggles actually have outfits for this sort of sport?"
"Yes they do," Joey said trying to hide the smile that was playing at her face from the sheer naivety of Sirius question. "Which reminds me . . ." Joey said more to herself than aloud, "We're gonna have to take you shopping."
Sirius suddenly let out an audible groaning sound. "Shopping?" he repeated with a noticeable amount of dread dripping off his words.
James let out a sarcastic gasp in mock of Sirius' reaction. "Not the 'S' word!" he laughed. Sirius gave him a playful kick under the table.
"Oh shut up, Prongs!" Sirius growled. "You're not the one who's gonna have to go barreling down a hill dressed up in some puff-ball fur coat, plowing down a bunch of muggle kids, and surely on the way to your doom in the shape of a very wide tree."
All of the friends at the table began cracking up with laughter as Sirius just sat there ranting on about how awkward the whole situation would be for him.
"Why am I guessing that my little tirade isn't sparking the wanted sympathy that I deserve?" Sirius questioned humorously.
Trying to wipe the tears out of his eyes, Remus looked over at Joey and said, "Just be sure to take a lot of pictures. It's a shame we won't be able to see Sirius in his moment of glory!"
Joey nodded in agreement. "Oh don't worry, Moony. There will sure to be a lot of film involved with my Mum planning on joining us." Sirius let out another audible groan as his head dropped into his hands. His friends continued to laugh and Joey just gave him a comforting rub on the back.
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It seemed like no time had passed before all of the Hogwarts students were filing onto the train at the Hogsmeade station. The friends took their usual cabin in the very back and managed to all squeeze together in the same cart. The group was fewer two people when Peter and Suzy decided that the compartment was too small for eight people. They wondered off muttering something about finding a compartment *alone.* Needless to say, the rest of the group had a unanimous vote to NOT discuss that situation any further . . . as it may have led to some nightmare-inducing thoughts.
The group DID, however, decide to discuss everyone's plans for the holidays. When Lily was requested of the topic, she gladly informed the group of her arrangements.
"Well I'm going home for the holidays. It'll be really good to see my family. . . well . . . maybe not Petunia OR her evil boyfriend Vernon . . . but it'll be really nice to see my parents." Joey could feel Sirius shift slightly next to her when the word *parents* was brought into the conversation. "And I'm pretty sure James will be coming to my house for new years," she finished as she looked over at the lovable guy she was addressing on her left.
James gave her his usual jokester grin and answered her inquiry with his usual teasing tenor. "Oh I don't know, Lils . . . my parents may not approve of me hanging out with such a trouble maker like yourself. . . it might be bad for my reputation, you know."
Lily's eyebrows shot up in what seemed to be an equally over-exaggerated expression. "Bad for *your* reputation, Mr. Prongs the marauder, well known as the worst trouble maker in the school, aside from your best friend and partner in crime, Mr. Pad foot?!" she said trying desperately to keep herself from laughing.
"Oh, shut up," he cooed with his usual endearing tone in his voice, leaning in towards Lily.
"No, you shut up," she giggled back.
"No you shut up," he repeated again as his lips moved even closer towards Lily's.
"How 'bout you both shut up!" Sirius interjected rather blatantly and good humouredly. Joey, Remus, and Laura each let out a snort of laughter. Sirius was always the one who had the nerve to say exactly what everyone else was thinking . . . and everyone else was *definitely* not in the mood to have to listen to the two love birds snogging for the rest of the trip.
Needless to say, James halted his advancements on Lily and the two instead just sat there making little "cutsie" faces at each other. Joey couldn't help but giggle inwardly as she recognized the puckered-up, squinty-eyed face James was making at his girlfriend. Lily really was turning James into a pansy, and it was rather entertaining to watch.
"So, Remus! Why don't you tell us what *your* plans for the vacation are!" Laura asked, trying to draw the attention away from the love-struck couple in the corner of the cabin.
"Well I was hoping that we could kinda do what Lily and James were doing. You know . . . spend Christmas with our families and then maybe get together during new years," he suggested hopefully.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun!" she agreed. "It'll be good to see my *parents* and *family* again." The two trigger words practically echoed around the cabin as Sirius shifted uncomfortably next to the window again. Joey could sense the tension, but she tried to slip her arm around his to make him feel better.
"And I so want you to meet my parents too!" he exclaimed without even realizing the twinge of pain he was causing the silvery-eyed boy sitting across from him. "You'll love my mom," Remus began happily. "I wrote to her and told her about you. Both of my parents are really excited to see you!"
It happened so fast that Remus and Laura didn't even realize what they had said even affected their friend. But never-the-less, Sirius' abrupt standing and departure from the cabin left them speechless, and his little muttering of 'being hungry' didn't exactly ease their confusion. Even Lily and James who were sitting by the exit of the cabin looked up from their little ogle-fest to see what was happening.
Joey was left sitting on one side of the compartment now, quite alone, and quite without Sirius. It was an awkward position for her to be in, and the apprehension was quite perceivable on her face.
"Okay . . ." Remus drawled out slowly. "I'm not quite sure what *that* was all about, but I'll go talk to him and try find out," he sighed as he began to stand up.
"No, Remus," Joey said fixedly as she took to her feet. "I think I better go. I'm pretty sure I know what this is all about." Remus nodded at her and sat back down.
"Do you think we should give him a second to cool down?" he suggested, a definite tone of concern for his good friend imbedded in his words.
"Maybe you're right," Joey sighed as she took her seat again. "We'll give him enough time to at least make his way down the train before I go after him. I don't want to make him feel suffocated." Everyone else in the cabin agreed. They sat in silence for about a minute, but to everyone in the compartment, it felt more like an hour. The pained expression on Joey's face was making everyone not only feel really bad for what happened, but really uncomfortable as well. There was so much tension in the room, and it was really getting to all of the confused friends. James decided he couldn't handle the discomfited interval.
"Well, you know . . ." James finally suggested, breaking the awkward silence, "he does walk fast. I bet he's already made it to the end of the train by now." Joey looked over at James and gave him a pleadingly thankful look.
"You know, I bet you're right, James," Lily stated confidently, doing her best to back up her boyfriend, in a desperate effort make her best friend feel better. "I'm sure Sirius has had enough time to think about whatever it is he needs to. He'd be glad to have the company." Remus and Laura just nodded in agreement, not quite sure what else to do.
A shy and thankful smile crept up the side of Joey's face. "Thanks guys," she practically whispered as she stood up and headed to leave the compartment. Flam, not wanting to be disturbed from his nap, swiftly flew off her shoulder and returned to the seat Joey had previously been occupying. It was such a relief that she could finally hunt down Sirius. As far as she was concerned, giving him all that time was more like giving him a head start than giving him time to cool down. Now she would have to go looking for him.
Joey took a step out into the train's long passageway. She heaved a sigh as she glanced all the way down to the far end of the train. It was an awfully long corridor with an awfully large number of doors on both sides. Sirius could be in any of the cabins. Thinking it wisest to make her way towards the far end of the train which was the location of the bathrooms, storage cabins, and the beginning of the food-cart lady's route, Joey took a breath and began her search.
Once she had reached the end of the train and came up along side of the food-cart lady, it took a matter of seconds for her to recognize the tall broad frame of the handsome brunette standing close by. Though Sirius wasn't facing her, Joey could have recognized his rich brown hair from the other side of the train. He hadn't seen her yet, and when he dropped a piece of the wrapper to his chocolate frog on the floor, Joey decided to have a little bit of fun with him.
Just as he bent down to pick up the piece of litter, Joey snuck over right behind him. In one swift movement, she drew her finger along the base of his back, just above the waist-line of his pants and then skirted back around the corner of the train and out of sight. Feeling the close contact of someone's finger with the rim of his boxer shorts, Sirius practically snapped back up to a standing position and whirled around to see who his prodder was. When he could find no one behind him besides the fat old lady with the food-cart, who just so happened to be giving him a very stomach- turning, suggestive smirk, his eyes practically bulged out of his head before hastily making his way back towards the train's passage way. No way did he want to take a stroll down that alley.
Watching all of this, Joey was laughing too hard to even care that Sirius was headed right for her hiding place. The big wet tears were rolling down her cheeks as he turned the corner and made his way out into the hallway. He wouldn't have seen her if it wasn't for the desperate whimpers, coming from around the corner, that caused him to turn around. Joey was practically keeled over in pain from the laughing spasms that had consumed her.
When Sirius saw his girlfriend in her right state, his quick brain made the connection in an instant, and he turned around to glance at the suggestive food-cart lady, who was now giving him a shy smile and a wave. The woman reminded him of a Madam Pince from the library, and the uncannily similar resemblance to a vulture made him wonder if the two women were related. The humor of the situation got to him as well as he stepped around the corner to be next to Joey and out of the food-cart lady's sight. The broad grin remained on his face as he gingerly poked Joey in the side of the ribs.
"Thought that was real funny, did ya?" he teased as she giggled and shied away from his prodding.
"Yup," she managed to choke out as the image of the food-cart lady smirking at Sirius popped back into her mind and laughter took over again. "I really loved how the food cart lady came on to you. That seriously just made my day."
Sirius grinned down at the shining jade-blue eyes in front of him, still wet from the tears that had wept out from the joyous laughter they had just lasted. "Must be my boyish good looks," he stated confidently. "Not to mention my charming smile," he continued as he flashed her a prize-worthy beam.
"Well it's certainly good to see you smiling again," Joey said sounding a little more somber. "You're gonna have to tell me what happened back there in the cabin with the others."
Sirius heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his now slightly disheveled hair. "I was hungry," he said casually, trying to hide the obvious lie.
"Yeah. And that would explain why you bought chocolate," Joey said with gentle sarcasm. "Come on Sirius. Tell me why you were squirming every time someone began talking about their parents."
Sirius' face scrunched up into what was obviously an uncomfortable grimace. He wouldn't look Joey in the eyes, and he instead focused his sight down the train passageway. Running another hand through his hair he barely glanced back at Joey before sighing and finally saying, "I think you already know why."
Joey couldn't help but frown up at him in a look of concern. Sirius' upset was really getting to her and she wasn't quite sure what to say. So she wrapped him in a hug and whispered, "I'm really sorry things are the way they are. But, like I said earlier, Sirius, you're loved by a lot of people, and that's what counts."
Sirius nodded at her to acknowledge the words of comfort. "It's just that I'm always alone on the holidays, you know?" he manage to say with a bit of difficulty. "It's going to be weird getting to spend Christmas with a family this year."
Joey had to keep from allowing her jaw to drop open. She hadn't exactly realized the severity of the situation until then. Sirius' parents had always wanted him to come home for the holidays for the sole purpose of watching the house while they went off to parties. For the majority of the time, Sirius spent it alone, and for the rest of the time he was getting ignored as his parents did their best to avoid him even when they were home.
"Well my family is beyond excited to have you, so I really hope you won't feel overwhelmed or anything like that," she laughed. "I know my mom can go a little crazy with all of this holiday cheer stuff." Sirius finally cracked another smile.
"No way. I'm really hoping she does go all out. It'll really make the Christmas special getting to spend it with you and your family, Joey. . . especially if your mom does go Christmas crazy."
"Actually . . . make that my *parents* who go Christmas crazy . . . not just my mom. You'll have to see it . . . it's almost pathetic," she laughed shaking her head affably.
"I can't wait," he said with genuine cheerfulness.
"Now are we ready to head back to our cabin?" she asked hopefully.
Sirius smiled at her tone. She sounded like she was talking to a five-year- old, but he nodded anyways and headed around the corner, just laughing to himself.
Joey followed him, but she could see him laughing inaudibly. It was more of the shoulder shake that gave him away. "What the heck is so funny?" she said rather exasperatedly. Sirius just shrugged a smiled at her.
"Oh nothing . . ." he said with obvious amusement in his eyes. He was really trying to get a rise out of her and she was about to let him.
"Excuse you, Mr. Padfoot, but are you laughing at me?"
"Perhaps I-" he was cut off by the sound of a door being swung open a little ways down the train hallway. They both looked and saw about five Slytherin sixth-year boys step out into the passageway. Sirius gave Joey a worried glance. There was sure to be trouble if they didn't get somewhere quickly.
Lucky for them, the Slytherins hadn't seen them yet, so when Joey grabbed Sirius by the arm and yanked him into one of the storage cabins with her, they were out of sight and unnoticed.
"*Now* finish your thought," Joey whispered between giggles. The whole situation was rather ridiculous.
"There's a trunk digging into my heel," Sirius whispered with obvious laughter in his voice. It was like Joey could hear his smile.
"Well then move, you big baby!" she spat out in a low, teasing voice.
"I can't . . . cause you're . . ." Sirius croaked out between stuggles and laughs, "and then there's this other bag thing . . . and then you're-"
SMACK!!!
The Slytherin sixth-years, just outside the storage cabin, stopped in their tracks. They glanced at one another and then back at the door of the storage cabin.
"Did you here that, mate?" one of them asked uncertainly to another.
"Yeah I did. What do you think that is?" the tall one inquired. Most of the boys shrugged and looked to the others for suggestions.
"CAT, perhaps?" one in the back suggested.
"That's a pretty big cat!" the first one said sardonically.
"Well how was I supposed to know! It could be anything in there!"
"Well someone needs to check!!!" the first one snapped at the one in the back.
The tallest one crept up to the door and turned the knob slowly.
Just on the other side of the door, Joey was now flat against it and Sirius was now in a compromising position pinning her to it.
"Sirius, why am I guessing that this was all just an elaborate plan to get me pinned down," Joey said with artificial disdain.
"What?! Never!" Sirius said rather exaggeratedly offended. He leaned his face in and just before his lips reached hers, whispered, "Well there was a trunk in my heel."
"Mhmmm . . . sure there was," she murmured as he caught her lips rather fervently. Just as the kiss deepened and became more intense, the door knob just next to Joey's hip began to turn.
In a frantic wave of panic, Joey felt Sirius shove her behind the door and out of sight just as he suddenly seemed to disappear in the darkness. She had no idea what was going on, but had complete faith that Sirius knew what to do. He *was* a marauder after all . . . those boys all knew had to think on their feet when about to be caught.
The tall Slytherin boy crept forward as he pushed the door open a jar. It creaked mildly as he pushed it open further and peaked in. It was so dark in the storage cabin compared to the rest of the train that they could see barely into the compartment at all. Barely audible and then more prominent was this low rumbling noise coming from somewhere that wasn't quite evident.
"Dude! Is that your stomach?" One of the Slytherins in the back asked the other next to him.
"No, mate . . . I thought it was yours!" Then all five of the boys looked at each other anxiously and then back into the cabin just as an enormous black dog came into view. The massive canine did not look happy, to say the least. It was growling and spitting, and looked like it was ready to kill.
The tallest boy let out a blood-curdling scream and slammed the door shut. All five boys went sprinting back to their train compartment, completely forgetting about the food-lady and her cart full of goodies.
"Well that was effective!" Joey laughed.
"Thought it would be," he said rather cockily as another smile played across his face in the darkness.
"Me with my dog-like boyfriend," she sighed with a laugh as she turned to the door to exit.
"And where, may I ask, do you think *you* are going?" he teased as he held the door shut with one hand and leaned in towards Joey.
"Back to our cabin of course," she said matter-of-factly, knowing quite well how she was driving him crazy. Sirius let out a deliberately strident puppy-dog whimper. "Oh don't you dare try that with me," she laughed as she managed to pull the door open a jar and allow a little light to flood into the dark compartment. Sirius was now giving her large round puppy dog eyes. "Well this is so unfair," she said with a tone of artificial frustration. "What's a girl to do with a boyfriend who's half dog?"
A low rumble of laughter echoed through Sirius chest as Joey planted a soft kiss on his bottom lip. She then whipped the door open when he was off his guard and went sprinting down to the other side of the train, Sirius in hot pursuit.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The rest of the train ride went by quite uneventfully, and before anyone knew it, the thunderous brakes of the Hogwarts express were pulling the train to a stop in the King's Cross Train Station.
Most of the people in Joey's cabin were sound asleep, and even Sirius had drifted off on Joey's shoulder, Flam curled up in his lap, before the train reached its destination. This was all soon to change when Joey looked out the window and saw one of her favorite people waving back at her from the platform.
"JOSH!!!" she squealed at the top of her lungs causing a great hullabaloo in the train compartment. Flam's eyes shot open, and the bird began squawking at the top of his little birdie lungs.
"WHA- . . . What happened?! What?!!" Sirius jumped about a foot in the air to a standing position, and Remus and Laura sat up instantaneously. Lily's eyes snapped open, and it seemed like the only person in the cabin who remained asleep was James, who just buried his head into the cushion behind Lily's shoulder while mumbling something about wanting five more minutes.
Everyone in the cabin who had been woken up was trying to catch their breath and make their sporadic heartbeats return back to normal. Sirius let out a huge sigh of relief that the train wasn't on fire, and he collapsed back into his seat that he had previously been occupying during his slumber. Resting a hand on Flam's back, he was doing his best to calm down his poor, speckled friend.
"Would someone like to explain what the commotion's all about?" Remus asked sounding rather exasperated. Everyone in the compartment looked over at Joey who was still seated by the window, waving hysterically at someone standing out on the platform. She was completely oblivious to the uproar she had just caused her friends and pet.
"Uhhhhhhh . . . Joey?" Lily asked uncertainly. "What's up?"
Without even looking at her friends right state of shock they were still trying to get over, she stood up, grabbed her duffle bag and went running out of the compartment yelling, "We're here!!!"
Her friends soon followed suit, and Joey found herself sprinting across the 9 ¾ platform into her brother, Josh's arms. She was sprinting so hard that her 6'4'' brother practically swept her off her feet as she collided with him.
"Oh my God, is it good to see you!!!" she laughed as he spun her around.
"You too, Joey . . . You too!" he said while beaming down at her. His dirty blonde hair was shining nicely in the setting sunlight. "Man!!! Have you gotten taller?! I swear I don't recognize you! You used to be hella shrimpy!"
"Oh shut up!" she laughed. "And I've been packing on the muscle, too, with quidditch well underway.
"Yeah, I heard about that! Congrats to the beater!" he said with a grin. "Guess I'm gonna have to be nicer to you then? You might beat the shit out of me if I bully you too much!"
"Damn straight!" she laughed mimicking the offensive language. "Otherwise I might just get my bat out and hit you right in the-"
"SIRIUS!!!" Josh interrupted her mid sentence, giving her a knowing grin as he did so. "Been a while, tough guy!!!"
Sirius had just approached Joey and her brother, and the two boys were now exchanging a jovial "guy hug," where they awkwardly shook hands and kind of did a "half-embrace" that still looked manly.
"I'll say it's been a while!" he responded genially. "How's life at the ministry goin' for ya?"
"Pretty good, pretty good." Josh said with a nod. "It's also pretty good to be home for the holidays . . . take some time off all the work!"
"Definitely," Both Joey and Sirius chorused together.
"So you guys are . . ." Josh trailed off as his finger wagged between the two of them as if to ask if they were a couple or not.
"Indeed we are," Joey said with a smile as Sirius snaked an arm around her waist.
"So I assume you're treating her well?" Josh asked exaggeratedly serious while doing his best to suppress a grin.
"I sure hope so!" Sirius laughed as he gave Joey half a hug. "Though, we may have to hide all the bruises on her arms. I can be a little forceful at times."
"Yeah right, mate. If it's anyone we have to worry about, I'm guessing it's you. Joey sure can pack a punch." The three of them just laughed and Sirius planted a light kiss on the side of Joey's temple.
"Well should we go get your stuff?" he suggested. The three walked over to where the baggage was being released, and just as the gang had grabbed all their stuff, a man in a black suit approached them and addressed Sirius.
"Excuse me, Master Sirius," the man said formally. Sirius turned around to look at the person who spoke to him and his expression fell in an instant.
"Oh no," he sighed. "Why don't my parents just let me apparate home?!!" he growled to himself.
"As you know, sir, your family lives in a highly muggle populated area. The proposition for you to apparate would involve a great deal of work on your parents' part to make sure there would be no muggles around to see you," the man in the suit explained.
"But they go to the trouble to send a limousine?!" The man in the suit simply shrugged and made an effort to take one of Sirius' bags. Sirius allowed him to take it and took the handle of his trunk.
"The vehicle awaits you this way, Master Sirius," the man said as he headed off to the right of where they were standing.
"Lars . . . how many times do I have to tell you to NOT call me that?" Sirius let out a sigh. Joey tried desperately to hide the grin that was building to the surface of her lightly freckled face. It was almost ridiculous to hear her boyfriend being called that.
Quickly sobering herself, Joey put a hand on his arm. "Hey . . . hang in there," she whispered softly. "I doubt my parents care when you show up. We won't be leaving for Tahoe in at least a few days. So can I look forward to seeing you in like a day or two?"
"Try like tomorrow," Sirius said flatly. "I doubt I can stand my parents for longer than a few hours. I'll grab my stuff and apparate over to your house tomorrow afternoon probably."
"Well, if you want to try and get along with your parents for a little while, that's okay too, you know." A smile played up the side of Sirius' face. He leaned in so that his forehead was resting up against hers.
"But how can I stay away from your sweet smile for longer than a day?" he whispered so that he *thought* only she could hear.
"Smooth!" a deep voice interjected. The two looked over at Josh. "Oh, sorry!" he laughed uncomfortably.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It wasn't long before Joey and Josh were on the car ride home. Flam got comfortable in the back seat while they took the time to catch up with one another.
"So I can see you and Sirius are getting along nicely," Josh said with obvious amusement in his voice. "We always knew you two would end up together." Joey just smiled and shook her head with amusement.
"I'm assuming that by the word 'we' you mean everyone else in the family as well?"
"Of course!" he said with a laugh. "Brian hasn't been able to shut up about how you guys are 'so meant for each other' and how *he's* known that since the two of you met back your first year." Joey just smiled to herself. Brian was definitely her favorite brother; but she would never let any of the others know, even if Brian was always telling everyone that.
"Well what's happening with you, then?" she asked trying to pull the attention away from herself. "How is-"
"Erin? She's doing quite well in fact," he stated proudly.
"And how's that going? Are you guys still dating?" Joey asked curiously.
"It's going quite well. And, no, we're not still dating." Joey gave him a skeptical look.
"And explain to me, brother, how that works. You're doing quite well together, but you're not still dating?" Just as Joey asked this question a huge, radiant smile flashed over her brother's face.
Joey remained with the puzzled look for a moment longer. When they stopped at a light, Josh turned to his sister and gave her an expectant look. "You don't mean . . ." Joey began. Her bother's eyebrows rose up on his forehead just as his sister trailed off. "Oh my God, Josh, Oh my God!!!" Joey flung out of her seat and threw her arms around her brother. "You mean I'm going to have a sister in-law?!!!" Josh just smiled against his sister's shoulder that was digging into his jaw from the tight hug.
"Well I'm glad you're happy about it!" he laughed as he tried his best to keep her arms from cutting off the circulation to his head. Joey pulled out of the hug and just beamed at him.
"Of course I'm happy about it. This is going to be the closest I will ever come to actually having a sister!" she exclaimed excitedly. ". . . and I'm happy for you, of course!" she added as an afterthought. Josh just gave her a sideways glance that showed his obvious amusement in what his sister seemed to find the best part about his proposal.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was a matter of moments before they pulled the car up into the drive way of the Atramentous residence. Since Joey's father was a muggle, her family lived in a muggle neighborhood with no magical neighbors except for a little old couple who lived around the corner from them. Since Joey's father was a well respected surgeon in London, they lived in a rather wealthy part of the city. Needless to say, the entire neighborhood found Joey's family, particularly her mother, to be rather eccentric.
In a blink of an eye, a small woman who was about in her early fifties came hurrying out of the house towards her tall slender, daughter. The mushroom bun on the top of the woman's head, delicately laced with grey hairs amongst brown, was bouncing around as the woman came scurrying over to wrap her daughter in a loving squeeze.
"Mumma!!!" Joey called as the slightly plump lady held her daughter close. "Boy, is it good to see you!"
"And it's good to see you too, sweet pea!!!" her mother cooed. "OH, let me look at you!" she sighed as she held her daughter out an arms length away from her. "Well it's no wonder you ended up with the cutest boy in the school! If even possible, you've gotten prettier since the last time I saw you!"
"It hasn't been *that* long, mumma," Joey mumbled trying to hide the blush.
"So how is Sirius doing, dear?" her mother inquired with an unmistakable twinkle in her eye.
"He's doing fine," Joey said, smiling awkwardly at the look her mother was giving her. "Well you'll be able to ask him yourself around tomorrow afternoon."
"Ooooooh! I just can't wait!" her mothered cried with merriment. She then walked over to the car and opened the door to the back seat. "You weren't gonna forget mommies little baby, now were you?" Joey's mother fussed out over Flam as he flew out of the car and landed on the top of her head. "Now let's go get you some treats!"
"Mumma . . ." Joey growled out with a tone of warning. "Not so many this time . . . I swear Flam gained like five pounds over just last summer alone!"
"Oh, hush," her mother protested. "He's a growing bird!"
Joey rolled her eyes. "Yeah growing *sideways* maybe," she mumbled under her breath before following her mother into the house.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joey's mother helped her to carry her things up to her room and to begin sorting through all of her stuff.
"So where's the rest of the family?" Joey asked curiously.
"Well your father had a kidney transplant this afternoon, so he won't be back until later. He's terribly sorry he couldn't be here to welcome you home though, sweet heart." Joey nodded in response. She was used to her father working all the time. It will be nice in few days when he will finally get to take a break and travel to the states with the whole family.
"And what about Brian and Sam?" she inquired.
"Well, Brian, as you know, is extremely busy with the order right now . . . particularly around the holidays when they're especially worried about any attacks. They still aren't sure who the leader of the group is, but rumors are flying that they are starting to call themselves 'deatheaters' . . . though, I'm not sure . . ." her mother trailed off with a genuine look of worry on her face. "I'm just glad that Brian is taking the time to spend the holidays with us. He works hard enough as it is and it'll be good for him to relax a little."
There was a long pause in the room as the two women continued to fold clothes and allow what had been said to sink in. Joey finally managed to make eye contact with her mother, and when she was about to inquire about her other brother, her mother got to it before she had the chance.
"I sent Sam to the store for some food for tonight," her mother said in a much more comfortable tone. "He should be back soon. I know he wanted to go with Josh to pick you up, but that just wasn't how the agenda worked out."
"So how's work going for you, mum?" Joey asked on a change of subject.
"Well, you know life at the ministry around the holidays . . . rather hectic and frustrating. I'm not sure if Josh told you much about how it is for him, but I know I've certainly been wanting to rip my hair out. Both of us have been too tired to even talk about it with each other. Specially now since he and Erin have been staying with us for the past week thanks to the holidays . . . we just get home and want to relax and forget about our stressful days. But your brother's and my last day was yesterday, so we've already have had a little taste of the relaxation yet to come." Joey smiled at her mother as she carefully tucked another sweater into her drawer.
"So where is Erin now?"
"Oh, her last day is tomorrow. She works at the ministry as well, but her department is a few floors above your brother and myself." Joey nodded.
"So she will be here for dinner tonight, as well?"
"Most definitely. But it won't be until tomorrow night that we will have the entire gang here for dinner, including your sweet heart, Sirius." The twinkle came back in Joey's mother's eyes and Joey couldn't help but to suppress the laughter that was aching to be released.
All the sudden Joey heard the front door open and a few male voices echoing up the stairs into her room.
"Well that sounds like Sam and your father!" he mother said happily. "I wonder what your father is doing home so soon."
The two women rushed around the corner, down the stairs and over to the front door.
"There she is! How's my Joey kangaroo?!" her father asked as her pushed a few strands of his flaxen blond hair out of his eyes.
"Hey, papa," Joey giggled at the ridiculous nickname her father had called her since she was little. "What are you doing home so early?"
"Well, Papa's surgery went quite well today. I managed to get one of the interns to help me with the initial cut and with the stitching at the end. I was quite impressed with his work . . . may turn out to be not a complete waste of my time after all."
Joey smiled at her father's manner. She knew how he secretly loved to teach the interns new stuff. That's why everyone in the family would just roll their eyes every time he would complain about the number of interns he would get stuck with, even though he would purposely sign up for extra ones each year. Her father's nature was that he absolutely had a passion for teaching people things. Even as a five-year-old, Joey already had known how to stitch up a wound, perform CPR, and prescribe medicine for most common illnesses.
"And how are you, Sam?" Joey asked cheerfully.
"Quite well, actually," he answered happily, running a hand through his extremely disheveled blond hair, which closely resembled his father's. "My internship as a medi-wizard is going quite well, and thanks to dad's help, I've been able to do all of the old-school stuff as well as the magic- involved healing."
"OLD school?!" Joey's father repeated incredulously. "I think not that it is old school."
"Think what you will Pops, but *I* think it's old school." Joey just shook her head and laughed. The two generations of doctors in the family were certain to be butting heads the whole time about methods of doing things.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As the night drew on, Erin finally showed up just before dinner was served, and the family sat down to the meal, missing just one person. In fact, even when the family was bidding each other good night, Brian still hadn't show up at the house.
"Don't worry, dear," Joey's father was trying to relax his wife, "I'm sure our son is fine. The meeting probably just ran a tad late, is all." Mrs. Atramentous did not look comforted in the least. But, needless to say, she put on a happy face, bid everyone good night and headed off to bed with her husband.
Joey sat up reading as the rest of the house went quiet and dark, and it wasn't even until around 12:30 that the front door finally creaked open, and the familiar footsteps of her brother's dragon hide boots came tip toeing into the entry way.
Since Joey and her brother's room were connected by two doors leading into a shared bathroom, she waited for him to sneak up into his room before she strolled across the cold tile of the bathroom floor, into her brother's room.
Brian had just pulled on his favorite pair of jammie pants as Joey snuck up behind him and kicked him rather sharply on the butt.
"Ouch! What the-" Brian turned around with a look of annoyance on his face. When he realized who it was who had kicked him, however, his expression altered to pleasant surprise near immediately. "Joey! Damn it's good to see you, girl! How's my favorite sister?!!"
Joey flung her arms around her 6'2'', extremely well fit brother. He wasn't as quite as tall as Josh, but he had about the equal amount of muscle mass, and all three of the boys in the Atramentous family had fairly defined bodies. It was Brian who had the dark brown hair like Joey's, and he kept it longer than the other boys, as well, allowing the chocolate locks to flow back and curl just at the nape of his neck.
"So your meeting ran a little late, huh?" she questioned
"Yeah, I'll say it did!" he laughed contemptuously. "I was about to ask someone if I missed the memo saying that we were all supposed to pack our sleeping bags and nap sacks since it seemed like people were planning on staying all through the night. It was then that the order leader told us we could go and that not much more could be done so early in the morning, anyways."
"Well I'll get more out of you later," she said with a grin, "right now I'll give you some room to breathe so you can head off to sleep." Brian gave her an appreciative smile and let out a powerful yawn. "Thanks Joe," he said with a tone of genuine appreciation. ". . . sleep well."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was the next afternoon when the door bell rang and Joey's entire family, excluding herself and Josh, practically went sprinting to the door. Joey's mom was the one who opened the door for Sirius, and she nearly yanked him into the congenial atmosphere of the Atramentous home once she realized it was him.
"SIRIUS!!!" the entire family practically chorused together and began talking to him all at once as they all barely allowed him to take his time to get settled down. Sirius looked overwhelmed with joy to be around so many people who really wanted to appreciate his company.
Joey's mom even had the nerve to cup his jaw with both of her bare hands, and scrunch his face up. "You are such a cutie!" she said rather confidently as she forced him to bend over so that she could plant a motherly kiss right on his forehead. "You've gotten even handsomer since the last time I saw you. Joey is an extremely lucky girl."
Sirius was blushing a nice shape of pink right about now, and Joey couldn't help but giggle at her adorable boyfriend. She really was lucky to have a guy like him.
"Sirius, my boy!!!" Joey's father bellowed happily. "Good to have you here, son! We're a lucky bunch of folks to have you join us for the holidays!!!"
"Thank you so much for having me, Mr. and Mrs. Atramentous," Sirius said politely.
"Oh, please," Joey's mother said in a slightly discomfited tone, "call us Betty and Paul. You know us too well to be calling us such formal names. And besides . . . ," she added as an after thought, "'Mrs. Atramentous makes me sound so ancient!" Sirius smiled at the woman's request and nodded in understanding.
Sirius made sure to greet everyone of Joey's brothers, and it was especially Brian that he had the most to catch up with. The two boys and Joey climbed up to Brian's room and left his stuff on the floor. Brian was going to give his bed up to Sirius for the next couple of nights, and he and Sam were going to double up in the room down the hall. Joey found this quite pleasant. No doubt there would be a few midnight excursions to bother her boyfriend in the middle of the night.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After Sirius had settled in somewhat, Joey decided to get some alone time with him by taking him to a muggle mall. She finally got to drive the convertible that her father bought for her and her brothers to share a few years ago. Sam was the one who used it the most to get back and forth from the internship at the wizard hospital a few miles away from their home. Joey rarely got to drive it, seeing how she was always at Hogwarts most of the year.
Joey was happy now to say the least. She was driving an adorable car with a hot guy in the passenger seat, and they were on their way to go shopping for some fun ski clothes that Sirius was sure to despise, but look really good in. What more could she want?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
YIKES!!! WAS THAT A BAD PLACE TO LEAVE OFF OR WHAT?!!! Winter break barely started . . . I know, I know. But I had to introduce Joey's family and tell you all a little bit about each of them. Besides . . . this chapter was getting rather lengthy considering the fact that all that really happened was the train ride home and the introduction of the family. But there's seriously some pretty fun parts still to come . . . Sirius shopping around a bunch of muggles, some midnight visits to his room *wink wink* (YES THIS IS STILL PG13 . . . DON'T EXPECT ANYTHING TO DRASTIC PPL!!! LMAO) and of course Sirius skiing and Christmas. We'll just have to see where the winter vacation leads us!!! I hope to update again ASAP! Keep harassing me ppl! And please be so kind as to leave a review!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
~Sara = ]