A/n: so, it wasn't too long on the update this time. And guess what! I've gotten over 50 reviews! I know in comparison to some stories this isn't a lot, but I've never gotten this many reviews for a story, so I'm excited! Ok, well, hope ya enjoy this chapter, there's a little fluff there at the end for the romance kiddies:)

Disclaimer: ya, I own nothing, cept my originals, and we all know who they are…

Scuffling was heard, hissed whispers of "hush" and "shut-up" were mixed in as well as three shadows met in the dark, dreadful dungeons. 

"Are all the preparations ready?"

            "Everything's good to go."

"We'll be able to carry out the plan as soon as she returns to the castle."

"Eight days left."

            "Excellent."

!

            Sirius Black had to be the funniest guy Gwynne had ever met. They had spent everyday together, and every day Gwynne grew to love him even more; if she didn't know any better, she might say he was beginning to be fond of her as well. At the current moment they were in the kitchen to satisfy Sirius's never-ending need for food.

            "I think I've got enough, so we can head back up to the common room," Sirius said his arms, and hers too, full of various snacks.

            "We only ate dinner two hours ago," Gwynne said on the way back to the Fat Lady's portrait. All through the castle you could see signs that Christmas Eve was here. Fur trees up in every corner, and the Great Hall entirely decked out in its Christmas wear. It was even going to be a white Christmas. All Gwynne could think was 'Beautiful, wonderful, glorious!'.

            "I know! Isn't it awful? They really should have a meal in between breakfast and dinner."

            "Yes, but then when would you sleep?" Gwynne asked logically calculating, "You couldn't have it too soon after dinner, because then hardly anyone would be hungry, so that knocks out eight, nine, and ten o'clock, but any later and everyone will be too tired to eat. We'd all become insomniacs."

            "Has anyone ever told you that you think things through way too much?" he asked her.

            "No actually. I've never had to think anyone's crazy ideas out for them before," Gwynne replied, silencing Sirius with her implied meaning, and then added as they had come to the entrance of the Gryffindor common room, "Lemnos."

            They set everything they had brought on the floor in front of the best of the squishy couches, pulled down all the pillows, and then sat down and began to eat. Sirius, however, must have had an idea because he suddenly jumped up, mumbled a few indistinct words between his mouthfuls of food and then ran up to his dormitory.

            Gwynne, utterly startled, could only sit and wait for his return. Slowly chewing her food, she began to wonder how her life had changed so quickly. All because of a conversation with Lily, for no apparent reason, she now had friends, and was even spending Christmas with the boy she had been in love with for the past five years. All because of one conversation? It was just too good to be true. But what exactly had brought that conversation on…? Her thoughts were interrupted by the stampede of elephants, by the name of Sirius, coming down the stairs.

            With him he had a bottle that looked suspiciously like it contained wine.

            "Sirius, what is that? And why do you have it?" Gwynne asked rather alarmed as she recognized the label. Alcohol always made her a little edgy (for example the bar incident), and for good reason, though that's to come later…

            "The best of wizarding wine, of course. And I have it to celebrate, it is Christmas Eve after all…"he said as he settled back down.

            "Do you really have to drink? Wouldn't it be better if you just stayed sober?" Gwynne asked. Sirius was right with one thing, it was Christmas Eve, and she'd be damned if another Christmas was ruined by something as trivial as alcohol.

            "Oh, come on, Gwynne. Celebrating is so much more fun when you get a little tipsy," Sirius said with a wink and mischievous grin.

            "Sirius, I don't drink, and I don't intend to. Alcohol is not something that I would want, for a damn celebration or otherwise," Gwynne stated. Rarely ever did she curse aloud, but when she did it meant she was either extremely nervous, or getting extremely mad.

            "Just a few glasses won't kill anybody… or get them all that drunk either," Sirius said. He could tell she was getting nervous and angry. He was getting a little frustrated himself, but it wasn't really the fact that she didn't want to drink; it was more because she didn't want him to either, and he was feeling rather guilty about wanting to in the first place. He couldn't understand two things: one, why she cared so much about the alcohol, and two, why her worry and fear was affecting him so much.

            "No, but it can make a person hate you." She stood and was heading toward her dormitory stairs when he stopped her with a pull on her arm. Sighing,

            "Fine, fine, if it means so much to you…I'll put it up and save it for something else, ok?"

            She nodded.

            "Well, let's sit back down then. What kind of Christmas Eve would it be if we spent it alone?"

!

            "Ok, I have a question. If you were dying at this very moment and had to see one last person, who would it be?" Gwynne asked. It was a few hours later, and they were enraptured with a game of Qs and As.

            "The best Healer St. Mungo's can offer, because then he and/or she would be able to cure me," Sirius said after a few minutes of thought, "Ok, my turn. If you were dying, by some incurable disease, and got to see one last person, who would it be?"

            "My mom," Gwynne said hesitantly.

            "No explanation?" he asked.

            "You didn't ask for one," she pointed out, "And it's my turn again. If you lost a bet and had to go out with either James's girlfriend, Elizabeth, or a first year, who would it be?"

            "Hands down the first year, because dating your best friend's girlfriend is even lower than robbing the cradle," he answered promptly, "Next question: If you lost a bet and had to go out with either Snape or Lily who would it be?"

            "EW! Both are gross, but you should always date your friends, so faced with Snape I think I would definitely turn lesbo," Gwynne said cringing at the mental images and sending them both into a fit of laughter, and after she recovered she answered his question with, "My turn again. If you were dared to go out with James or Remus who would it be?"

            "That's easy, I don't ever choose dare, always truth," he replied, which caused her to get annoyed at having to choose and him laugh at her irritation. After they calmed down he continued in a more subdued manner, "Ok, this is a serious question, if you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?"

            Gwynne immediately knew the answer, the question was, if she wanted to tell Sirius or not.

            "My dad's leaving," she said after a long pause. By the look of his face, she knew he hadn't expected that, but before he could ask her anything she went on, "Same question."

            Sirius did want to ask her about her answer, but he knew that if he wanted to know about it, he would have to wait for her to explain on her own accord, and not on his prompting. So he decided to answer the question.

            "I would have wanted to have been adopted by the Potters," he said, his face solemn. Not wanting a serious mood to settle over them, he brightened up and added, "But let's not get into that subject now. It's Christmas Eve! Tomorrow we get presents!"

            "Yes, presents," Gwynne said quietly. She and Sirius had been talking for another two or three hours when she decided to call it a night and headed to her dorm. Her thoughts returned to the earlier subject.

            Presents. They were like foreign things to her. The last present she had ever received had been the Christmas before she turned eight. She distinctly remembered her favorite gift that year: a small silver locket given to her by her parents, together. Inside was a picture of both of them. The toys and other things she received were wonderful as well, but that locket beat them all. Had she known what would happen, she would have never let it leave her neck.

            Things had been so happy then; like a fairy tale almost. Her parents loved each other and her. She was a single child, and though it was lonely, it was worth being the center of attention, especially at the age of seven. She had practically everything she could ever wish for.

            But then…

            "No! I will not remember. There is no point in reliving what you cannot change," Gwynne said aloud to herself with a small shake of her head as she entered her dorm.

            But it really was all Mother's fault…No. No, she was not going down those awful roads tonight. It was Christmas Eve; a time for happiness and togetherness…and family.

            And while she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, all she dreamt about were beer bottles, suitcases, and broken lockets.

!

            Remus paced around the room. It was a week until his monthly "illness", and once again his mother was bringing him all the supposed cures, half-cures, and anything else that would hopefully help his lycanthropy. Potions, herbs, elixirs, anything and everything were used during this week before the horrible night. Unfortunately this year it happened to fall on Christmas. All other festivities were put on hold.

            He really wanted to be able to enjoy Christmas, not only for himself, but for his mother as well. They were all each other had now, because his father had died in the same attack that had given him his…condition. She insisted, however, on helping him to hopefully discover a cure, so they could enjoy this time together. But it always ended the same: no cure, and a week later it was time for the transformation.

            "One day," she always promised, "there'll be a cure, and all of this will be over."

            If only he could believe it.

            At least it couldn't get any worse, right? The full moon could have fallen on Christmas day, and not half a week after it.

            What kind of Christmas would that be?

!

            "Lily! Get up now! It's time for presents!" James cried bursting into her room.

            Lily's eyes snapped open, and she popped out of bed.

            "Presents! Yay! Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" she said delightedly grabbing his hand and pulling him down to the Evans' massive den. Underneath the ten foot Christmas tree sat tons of colorfully wrapped boxes.

            James and Lily rushed down the stairs to the tree where Petunia was already waiting, and proceeded to unwrap presents. They all received the usual gifts; a few clothes, some books here and there, assortments of candy, and a small collection of little odds and ends that were all useful for about a month or two after the holiday. But then again, it was the thought that count.

            "I think that's all of mine," Lily said as she finished undoing presents and profusely thanking Petunia for the small, decorative notebook and fluffy pen.

            "No, wait. Have you forgotten that the one and only James Potter has yet to give you his present?" James announced grandly

            "Wait, I thought she had already gotten yours…" Petunia said looking around trying to find some still wrapped present under the enormous amount torn wrapping paper.

            "No, I made sure it would be the very last," James said standing and hunting around the wall behind the tree. "Aha! Here it is!"

            And coming from around the tree with a box in his hand he presented it to her.

            "I thought it might come in handy," he said mysteriously as she ripped the paper off the gift. Underneath was a long, rectangular box, the kind that jewelry comes in. Opening it, she gasped. Inside was a gold and emerald bracelet. The semi-precious stones were cut in the shape of four leaf clovers, and each one was set in gold, linked to the others by little gold links.

            "Oh, James, it's beautiful! What do you mean it might come in handy?" she asked the whole time a smile on her face. He smiled.

            "It's not just an ordinary bracelet. Once you put it on it's rather like radar. It sends out little signals when you're happy, or sad, or whatever, to all the people who care about you most. Usually your friends and family and such won't be able to feel those vibes, but when you're feeling especially scared, or realize you are in a lot of danger, it sends out a particularly…evident vibe. It'll feel kind of like a pricking at the heart for all of us wonderful people who care for you. I thought it might be helpful, so that we don't have to worry quite so much about you," he explained as best as he could with hand motions and everything.

            "Oh, thanks so much James! I absolutely love it, and it'll be nice not having to be continuously followed by you guys," she said giving him a hug. If only his answer could have been, "I love you, Lily, and this bracelet is a sign of our never ending love. What am I thinking? This is James, who has a girlfriend, and who is too much a guy to ever think of anything that romantic.

            "Alright, well now that all the gifts had been unwrapped let's clean up and get breakfast; I'm starving," Petunia said as Lily let go of James.

            "Ooh! Let's have fondu!"

!

            Jackie's vacation had been rather boring. The family reunion was…interesting to say the least. It was yet another reason why family was a pain in the ass 99.9% of the time. The .1% of the time it was helpful was always too hard to remember among all the annoying things family members put you through.

            Christmas was as it usually was at the Morrow house. The night before had been spent in drinking eggnog, playing childish board games (also known as bored games), and making a few finishing touches to the decorations. Then it was off to bed to wait for Santa Clause, according to Jackie's younger siblings.

Eleanor, Jackie's cousin that ticked a little on everyone's nerves, had been with them that year. Eleanor's parents found as many ways as possible to get away from that child. No one could understand it, she was pretty normal, but there was just something about her that made you want scream. Maybe it was her nasal voice…or slightly bossy manner…or…her snoring ability. You get the picture.

Eleanor had been particularly irritating this year because she had found out about make-up, and never ceased speaking of the stuff. Of course she was assigned to Jackie's room to sleep in, and to make poor Jackie's holiday even worse…she hadn't even got a letter from him, until Christmas morning that is.

But no, she wouldn't think about that too much, it made her remember what he had gotten her for Christmas. But…it was just so hard not to think about him!

            If she had been at Hogwarts things would have been a lot better. They would have gone off that morning to some empty classroom and exchanged gifts in a beautifully romantic way. (You may be asking…) What had he gotten her anyway? Any other girl would probably have melted at the sight of his gift to her, but Jackie was discovering she had a few…commitment issues. But he'd gotten her the ring…the ring…and a letter, spectacular letter, but the ring…

            No, it was best not to think about that, it only made her head ache.

            But why would he send her that? And ask her that?

            And why was it so hard for her to find the answer?

!

            When Gwynne got down to the common room on Christmas morning, Sirius was already there opening presents like a madman. She and he had agreed that night to bring their gifts down there so they could open them together.

            "I thought the point of our agreement was so that we could show each other what we got, and I quote 'Share this special and sacred time together.'" she said as she approached.

            "Well, I got tired of waiting. I've been here for an hour at least," he said looking up as she sat beside him and lay out her slight pile of gifts.

            "But, it's only seven," she said checking her watch.

            "I know, and to think, we've wasted so much time," he said regretfully. She shook her head with silent laughter and continued to watch him open his presents, look at them for a bit, and then toss them to his new pile of opened presents. It was while she was looking at him with her head tilted to one side, studying him, that he looked over to her and caught her eye.

            "What?" he asked a smirk playing on his lips.

            "Nothing, nothing," she said blushing slightly at being caught staring and turning to her own gift pile.

            She decided to open Lily's gift first. It was in a small box with simple wrapping paper. Carefully undoing it, she found a small, old jewelry box with a note attached.

Gwynne,

            Well, it's just you and Sirius for a whole winter holiday? All alone? If you're anything like I believe you to be, nothing will have happened…yet. I hope my gift makes this a morning you won't forget!

Love ya,

Lils

            An eyebrow quirked in confusion as to what the gift could be, and a smile forming on her lips at the contents of the note, Gwynne carefully opened the lid of the box. She blushed crimson when she saw what was inside.

            She was going to just close the box back, because there was no way she was going to do what Lily was insinuating in sending her this. However, she didn't get a chance, because Sirius, who had finished with his presents, had seen her blush and grabbed the box before she could react.

            "And what's this?" he said smiling as he opened the box, and then laughing when he saw what was inside. "Well, it is Christmas tradition…"

            "No, that's only if you're standing under it," she said trying to get the box back, "Lily just sent it as a joke. Sirius please give it back!"

            "Yes, that's true," he said in reply of the first statement and ignoring the other two. Picking up his wand that was on the coffee table, he mumbled a simple charm under his breath in the direction of the gift box. When he finished, the gift jumped out of the box of its own accord and hovered in the air above them.

            "Now it's Christmas tradition," he said softly, and before she could respond he pulled her into a kiss under the mistletoe.

A/n: TA DA!!!!! Well well? What do ya think? Coming in the next chapter will be, what the hell are they going to do to Lily…and why is Gwynne so freakin up tight about alcohol! So tune in next time!!!

Anyway, it's late, and a school night, so if I'm supposed to do thank yous this chap., I'm really sorry, but we'll be waiting for the big 1-0 for those!

Wow, is the next chappie really number 10? Ooh! I'm sooo excited.

Well, all you wonderful, magnificent, breathtaking, superb, fantastic, amazing, brilliant reviewers, I would greatly appreciate a little review from all of you! (Look, I'm a poet, though I did know it…lol)

Yes, I am a little hyper, but look at this note, tootles for now!

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