Christmas was only a day away. Patricia and Kathryn sat in their beds, wrapping the presents for their men. They stuffed the gifts into their trunks and scurried downstairs. Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were already in their usual places. Pat sat down in the chair away from Peter. Sirius walked to her and massaged her shoulders, causing small noises to escape her lips. Kathryn sat at Remus's feet and poked his knee. Lily finally came downstairs. She glanced at James and blushed. Pat looked at her, knowing what was going on. "Hey Lily, while you're up, can you grab me a butter beer?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." She walked to the side table of the room and came back, handing her friend a butter beer. Pat winked at her. "I think I'm gonna go to the library." Lily stated. She walked out of the portrait, leaving almost everyone confused.

"Hey James," Pat called. "Why don't you go with Lily? She'll probably want someone to study with." James looked at her, confused.

"But she won't…"

"Just do it you wuss." Pat taunted. He got up, still completely confused, and followed the instruction. Everyone looked at Pat, who smiled mischievously.

"Lily likes James, a lot. She just won't admit it." Pat grinned smugly. Everyone just smiled and nodded, brushing it off. Pat sipped her butter beer happily.

"Hey Lily…" James said, unsurely.

"Oh… Hey James… What are you doing here?"

"I… uh… just thought you could help me study. My grades are slipping so I… could use some… tutoring or something…" Lily stared at him in disbelief. James Potter never asked for help.

"Are you sure?" James flashed his usual grin.

"Totally." He pulled out the chair next to her and sat.

"Told ya." Pat grinned wildly. Everyone stared into the library in disbelief.

"Well I'll be darned." Remus commented.

"It's about time." Said Sirius, matching his girlfriend's grin. They moved off, leaving the couple to be, alone. Sirius's hand slid into Patricia's, gently tickling her palm. Tomorrow, he would unveil the surprise.

The night wind whistled wildly blowing innocent flurries. Youko came in from the storm and slept in the common room. The fire billowed then relaxed then billowed again, like a breathing man. Patricia laid in her bed, listening to Sixpence none the richer "Just too far gone to be saved." Christmas always made her lonely. Yeah she had a man, but he was in the other room. She finally got up and grabbed a few sleeping pills from her case and took them. After a half hour, she was sound asleep.

Around 10 in the morning, Pat felt someone staring down at her. She opened her eyes slowly and looked straight into the face of Kathryn. "Sirius is downstairs acting like me. He's severely impatient." Pat grinned.

"Is he happily irate too?" Kat laughed.

"Happily irate at Peter." They laughed hard. Pat finally decided to move. She grabbed her robe and put it on, welcoming its warmth. They finally made their way downstairs. Sirius was sitting on the bottom step and he jumped up as soon as he saw her. He scooped pat up before her foot touched the second to last step, and carried her over to her favorite chair. She smiled and handed him a package. Just then Laudrisa came in with an envelope in her beak. She dropped the note in her owner's lap and flew off. Pat looked at the note then opened it.

Dear Miss. Kirkman,

We have found you a home. A distant cousin of yours lives along Depaith Boulevard. I have personally visited the house and watched it. The people are great and they have expressed immense interest in your arrival. You won't be too far from London so you'll be attending school here. We have already moved all of your belongings to this address. I feel you will be very happy here. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Your new guardians will meet you at the platform after this year is over.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore.

She grinned madly. "THEY'VE FOUND ME A PLACE TO LIVE!" everyone crowed around her. Sirius took the letter.

"Depaith Boulevard? That's just one street over from me!" Pat looked at him in surprise.

"I've never seen where you live." Sirius paused.

"Uhhhhh…. You don't want to see where I live…. They don't approve of good people…." Everyone looked at him suspiciously. "My family is evil… literally… I don't wanna talk about it." Everyone just shrugged it off.

"Anyways, MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Pat shouted. Sirius stuck his tongue out at her.

"No HAPPY CHRISTMAS." Pat raised her eyebrow. Everyone laughed. Sirius went to grab the butter beers. "Hey Patricia, can you help me here?" Pat got up and walked to the edge of the room. Sirius grinned and pointed up. Above them, hung a branch of mistletoe. "You know the tradition." He stated, smiling. Pat factiously kissed his cheek. "No, not there." Sirius cupped her chin with his hands and kissed her softly. "There" he whispered. Pat blushed wildly and grabbed a few butter beers, bringing them to the rest of the group.

"Alright Sirius, you punk, open your present." He smiled and tore at the wrapping paper.

"OOOO A BOX! IT'S JUST WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED!" Pat smacked him over the head with a pillow from her chair. He laughed and opened the box. "Oh cool." He held the necklace up for everyone too see.

"And it doesn't look girly." Pat teased. He grinned and put it around his neck. It glowed a soft blue.

"Where did you get this?" He glanced up at Pat, the blue light causing his eyes and face to shine.

"Some mysterious vendor." Pat said, shrugging. Next came Kathryn's gift to Remus.

"WOAH! THIS THING WILL SMOOTH MY TRANSFORMATION! Thanks Kathryn!" Pat looked at her blushing friend.

"I think he hates it."

"NO I LOVE IT! THIS IS SOOOO COOL!" Everyone laughed. Lily had given James a new watch; James gave her a book on an expedition in Australia. She grinned and hugged him, then broke away abruptly with a huge blush on her face, after she noticed what she was doing. Remus had given Kathryn a diamond cross necklace with her birthstone in the middle. Sirius Held up a small package for Pat. She opened it slowly, enjoying making him squirm with anticipated excitement. Finally she opened it and gasped. Inside was a gold ring with a diamond shaped ruby in the middle. She looked into his eyes, hers shining.

"Oh Sirius, it's gorgeous. You must have spent, dude did you spend too much money on me?" Sirius laughed.

"You're the only girl I know who hates when guys spend money on them." He slid the ring onto her left ring finger, and kissed the back of her hand. "Pat, promise me, if we haven't strayed from each other in 5 years, we'll marry." She tensed up. Watching her made his heart fall. Her eyes left his, and looked down. She swallowed hard before looking back into his eyes, tears at the corners of hers.

"Are you serious?" He smiled uncertainly.

"Completely, I love you." She smiled slowly, tears escaping their cage.

"I love you too." She hugged him close. "And I promise."

(On the count of three, ready? One… two… three… AWWWWW!)