A/N: I apologize that things are moving kind of slowly right now…but I promise, once we get into OotP timing, things will pick up (we're almost there!) I just hate jumping years…I like to try avoiding it when I can…so think of this as a sort of transitioning chapter, er something…lol

Chapter 46: Breakfast at Moony's

Remus groaned as he opened his eyes, and quickly shut them again upon being blinded by the morning sunlight that poured through the window of his room. He curled his legs up to his chest and pulled the covers over his head… Unemployment did not do him good… At one time being quite the morning person, Remus had now become slightly lazy and grown quite accustomed to sleeping in…

He had had a strange dream last night…He had been back at the bistro in Hogsmeade with Dominique...she had been crying...but she had been wiping her eyes with leaves of lettuce instead of tissue. He couldn't remember why she was crying…something to do with Severus Snape…she was mad at him…and at Sirius…but why she was upset with them completely escaped Remus's memory. Suddenly the remembrance of Dominique and Sirius forced Remus to sit up in his bed… They were still here, in his home. 'Probably still in bed…' Remus thought to himself as he got up… They had been fairly bashful with each other the night before, but if he knew them both, he was confident that the shyness had melted away within minutes…

As Remus tied his robe at his waist and headed out of his room, he saw that the guest room's door was slightly ajar. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should attempt to get them up, but thought better of it and continued on his way to the kitchen. As he entered the kitchen, Remus stopped short as he took in the sight. The table was already set for three, and a plate stacked with toast, as well as a pitcher of orange juice was already on the table. Remus blinked a few times as he turned his attention to Sirius and Dominique, who were standing over the stove, frying eggs and talking pleasantly to each other about the lovely summer weather that had graced the southern counties during the past week.

"Er"—

"Morning!" Sirius and Dominique said in a cheerful unison to their friend.

Remus smiled tiredly. "Good morning…I take it you two slept well then?"

Sirius grinned as he brought the pan of eggs to the table. "You bet…yourself?"

"Oh…yea…like a log…" Remus replied as he took a seat next to Dominique at the table. "You guys didn't have to make breakfast"—

"Well," Dominique cut in as she began to butter a slice of toast, "we woke up a couple of hours ago…and we didn't have the heart to wake you up. Well, I didn't anyway…" she added, throwing a glance at Sirius, who in return only grinned.

"I thought it'd be fun to stick your hand in a bowl of warm water…to see if that thing was true…" Sirius said.

"What thing?" Remus asked.

Sirius laughed. "You know…it's some muggle prank I think…dipping a person's hand in a bowl of warm water while they're asleep…it's supposed to make the person pee…"

Remus rolled his eyes, but laughed. "You'd think you'd mature a little in thirteen years…"

Just then, a snowy white owl flew in through the open window, dropping a letter onto the table.

"Wow…" Dominique murmured as stared at the beautiful owl in awe.

"That's Harry's owl, I think…" Remus said, picking the letter up and opening it. "Er…Sirius, it's for you…"

"Really?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. He took the letter from Remus and began to read it.

"Everything alright with him?" Dominique asked. Sirius grinned and nodded, though he didn't look up from his letter.

"He's got the Dursleys terrified…" Sirius said. "I guess he forgot to tell his aunt and uncle that I'm innocent…"

Sirius continued to read his letter, and almost immediately, the smile fell off his face.

"What's wrong?" Lupin asked, noticing the frown that had overtaken Sirius's countenance.

"He says his scar hurt this morning…says last time it happened it was because Voldemort was at Hogwarts…" Sirius said, finally looking away from Harry's letter to see Dominique and Remus. "I need to go back…" he said.

"What? Where? To Hogwarts?" Dominique asked.

Sirius shook his head. "I just want to go further north…be closer to Harry…just in case…"

"But Sirius"—

"I'm his godfather," Sirius said, cutting Remus off, "he's my responsibility…"

"…But if you get caught…" Remus persisted.

"…no one's going to catch me," Sirius said coolly, "Harry and his friends, and Dumbledore of course, are the only ones in that area who know that I'm an animagus…I'll be fine…you got some quill and parchment? I want to write Harry back really quick…"

Remus nodded and got up. "You're not leaving now, are you?" he asked.

"No, not just yet…maybe tomorrow or the day after, I'll leave…if that's alright with you, Moony…" Sirius said when Remus came back into the kitchen with quill and a roll of parchment for Sirius.

"Of course it's alright…" Remus replied. "You know you're more than welcome to stay for as long as you'd like….and what about you, D? When do you need to leave?" he asked, turning to Dominique.

"Well...I've got to be back in Paris day after tomorrow, on Monday…we've got a rehearsal…we'll be performing in Aveyron…so I'll probably leave the same time as Sirius…"

Remus nodded, but vaguely heard what Dominique said next. Her sudden reference to France made him think back…Nora never mentioned what city…

"Hey, Dominique…" Remus said suddenly. Dominique and Sirius turned to look up at Remus, looking at him expectantly, wondering what could have made him interrupt their conversation.

"I was wondering," Remus started slowly, now wondering if it wasn't such a good idea to bring it up after all, "Do you remember Kierra? Kierra Nakofsky?"

Dominique grinned broadly. "Of course I remember her!" she said. "How could I forget her? She was quite a character…"

Remus let out a small laugh. "Yes, she was, wasn't she? Well…I just remembered…with you mentioning France…her niece was actually one of my students"—

"Wait, hold on…" Sirius said abruptly. "Who's Kierra? Did I ever know her?"

Dominique looked at Sirius incredulously. "How could you not remember her?" she asked. "She was one of my best friends! Remember? I got into a fight with her because she dumped Remus when she moved to the States"—

"Oooh…she went out with Moony? Same year as us, right?"

"Wait…you guys stopped talking because of me?" Remus asked. He vaguely remembered Dominique's grudge against Kierra many years ago…she had stopped talking to her, but never explained why…He couldn't believe this…he had been the reason for a broken friendship?

Dominique looked down guiltily at her empty goblet. "Well…" she said slowly, careful not to look Remus in the eyes, "yea…kind of…I mean, I didn't mean to…it just sort of came out…"

"Er, what came out?" Sirius asked.

"I was annoyed with her for breaking up with Remus like that…and I guess she picked up on my annoyance in my letters…and well…we sort of fought over it…I mean, I do feel bad about it now…I mean, I guess she had some justification in being mad at Remus…"

"Wait…now you've lost me…" Remus said. "She was mad at me when we broke up?"

"Yea, well, remember, you had helped her move? And you slept with her…and then left her"—

Dominique was interrupted by Sirius's laughter. "I'm suddenly remembering all of this now…Kierra…fellow Gryffindor…bit of a tart…"

"Sirius!" Dominique snapped.

"What? She was, wasn't she?"

"I can't believe you broke your friendship with her because of me, Dominique…" Remus said, rubbing his right temple wearily. "That was stupid…"

"That was a long time ago!" Dominique protested. "I don't hate her anymore, obviously…so…why'd you bring her up anyway?"

"Oh…well…you mentioned France…" Remus said, "it just reminded me…her niece was actually one of my students…she told me Kierra's living in France now…"

"Really?" Dominique asked. "Where? In Paris?"

"No idea…she didn't say…she just said she's teaching now…not at Beauxbatons though…some wizarding university or something…but I just thought…maybe you should get in touch with her, since she's in the same country as you now…"

"Yea…maybe I'll drop her a line…" Dominique said thoughtfully, and then added, "…but I don't know what I'd say to her…I mean, we haven't talked in years…"

"Why don't you write her, Moony?" Sirius asked innocently. "I mean, you've got the time… get yourself a little pen pal…"

"well"—

"…maybe get yourself a little laid…"

"What?" Remus asked incredulously. Sirius and Dominique fell into laughter, and doubled over as Remus's cheeks flushed. "I'm not interested…in that," he stammered, "I don't even care to correspond with her…I just thought I'd mention it to you D…in case you were interested…you were friends with her…"

"Yes, but you used to shag her…" Sirius said coolly.

"It was a long time ago…and why are you all of a sudden so shag-happy today?" Remus asked, but almost immediately added, "Please don't answer me…"

Sirius smiled contently as he folded up his reply to Harry and gave it to Hedwig. "Whatever you say, Moony…"

Kierra shivered as she waited at the front door. Christmas seemed to be getting colder every year in London…God, what was taking them so long to answer the damn door? But just as Kierra pulled her wand out to charm the doorbell again, the door swung open.

"Harvey!" Kierra exclaimed happily, immediately letting herself into the warm house and throwing her arms around her brother.

"Please, come in!" Harvey said with a mix of sarcasm and humour. "How are you? No trouble getting here, I hope?"

"Absolutely none—Janine! Nora!" Kierra squealed as she ran passed her brother to hug her sister-in-law and niece. The three ladies exchanged hugs and squeals, and when they finally pulled away from each other, Kierra studied her sister-in-law's face. She looked a bit different…more fresh-faced, more youthful…
"You look good, Janine!" Kierra said with a grin, "I mean…even better than you usually look…" she added quickly.

Janine blushed and smiled shyly in response. "Thanks…well…you know…life's been good lately…"

"Really?" Kierra asked, raising an eyebrow at Janine, looking at her slyly. "How so?"

Janine shook her head as she led the small party to the kitchen. "Nevermind….I'll tell you later…"

"Later, when I'm in bed?" Nora asked. "It's not fair, mum…I never get to know anything…"

"Please, Nora…it's nothing like that…I'll tell you all in good time…" Janine said, "but first I want to know how Kierra's doing…"

Kierra laughed. "I'm fine…it's always the same…nothing happening at work…but the next term is starting after the holidays so I did bring some of my work with me…I need to prepare my lessons and stuff…that's about it…"

"So the teaching bit is going alright then?" Harvey asked as he headed to the stove to help his wife prepare dinner.

Kierra shrugged as she took a seat at the kitchen table next to Nora. "Yea…it's gotten a little dull since Edmund left…"

"Oooh…how's he?" Nora asked excitedly.

Kierra grinned. "He's alright…currently enjoying his current job at Beauxbatons…"

"Wish he could teach potions at our school…I bet he's loads better than Snape..." Nora said glumly, "I hate Snape…"

"You know," Janine started, "potions wouldn't be half as bad if you at least attempted to enjoy it…"

"Aw, cut her some slack, Janine…" Kierra cut in, "you don't know Snape…he's probably the last person you'd want teaching you a class like potions…he's positively brilliant…I mean, he really knows his stuff, but then, he's all arrogant about it…thinks that anyone who's not at his level is an absolute troll…"

Janine sighed and made no reply to this, and instead turned her attention back to the cauldrons on the stove.

Kierra grinned at this and turned back to Nora. "So, how's school going? Who's your new defense against the dark arts professor? Is he as sexy as professor Lupin?" Kierra added, throwing a wink at Nora.

"No"—Nora mumbled—"I mean"—she stammered quickly—"no, our new professor isn't attractive…but that doesn't mean…I never thought…I never liked professor Lupin!"

Kierra laughed as she watched Nora turn a deep shade of red.

"Stop laughing!"

"I'm sorry!" Kierra laughed. "I couldn't help it! But wait…" she said, as her laughter subsided, you're over his whole werewolf thing, aren't you? I mean…you don't care, do you?"

Nora shook her head. "No…I felt kind of bad about it after that one letter you sent me in the summer time…"

Kierra nodded and turned to her brother and his wife. "And what about you two?" she asked. "I hope you guys are over it…"

Harvey sighed as he joined them at the table. "Nora had a long talk with us," he said, casting a glance at his daughter, "seems as though your spirit was channeling through her…and alright, to be honest…we're still a little wary"—

"Ah geez, Harvey!" Kierra said exasperatedly. "There's nothing wrong with Lupin! I dated him, remember? He was a really sweet guy! And from what Nora told us of him, I think he still is! Cut him some slack…it's not his fault he was bitten when he was little…"

"He got bitten when he was little?" Nora asked. She had a distressed look on her face. "How old was he?"

Kierra shrugged. "Five, I think…"

Nora frowned. "That's so young…that's terrible…"

"Yea…but he still turned out great…" Kierra said, "and even though I don't know any other werewolves, I'm sure they also lead normal lives…"

"Hold on…" Harvey said, in a slightly annoyed tone. "You never let me finish…I said we were wary…just because…you know, how they do become a danger and a threat once a month…but I understand where you're coming from, Kierra…I don't think any less of him, or anyone else for having lycanthropy."

"Oh…" Kierra said. "Well…good…"

There was a moment of silence amongst the group, where the only sound that could be heard was cauldrons bubbling at the stove.

"So…uh…you asked me about my professor…" Nora said slowly, trying to break the silence. "He's really cool…a weird old guy, but very cool…his name's Moody…I hear some people call him Mad-Eye though…cuz he has this magical eye"—

"Moody?" Kierra asked. "Mad-Eye Moody?"

"Er yea…oh. Don't tell me you dated him too!" Nora said, making a face. "That's so gross"—

"No, of course not!" Kierra snapped. "That's just sick…but I know him! Well, knew…he's an auror…"

"Yea, that's what I heard…but Dumbledore got him out of retirement…he seems kind of crazy…always saying 'Constant vigilance!'" Nora replied, screwing up her face to imitate Moody's scowl.

Kierra laughed. "So he still says that!"

"How'd you know him, Kierra, if you didn't date him?" Janine asked, smiling wryly at Kierra.

"Oh, ha ha…" Kierra said sarcastically. "you guys are too funny…"

"We still love you…" Janine replied innocently.

Kierra sighed and grinned at them. "Yea…bet you do…well, you guys remember after I graduated from Hogwarts, I had qualified to become an auror…" she said, turning to Janine and Harvey, who nodded.

"You were an auror, Kierra?" Nora asked excitedly. "No way! So you fought against You-know-who and his death eaters?"

Kierra shook her head. "I said I only qualified…my parents were so pleased…so even though I wasn't really interested in becoming one, I went for it anyway…plus a bunch of my friends were training too, so I thought, why not?"

"Anyway," she continued, "Moody was our mentor…he was definitely very cool…though I didn't realize it then…I thought he was completely mad at the time…" Kierra laughed.

"So how come you didn't become an auror?" Nora asked.

"Well…" Kierra said slowly, now feeling awkward. She did not want to tell her niece that she had not only witnessed, but indirectly caused the deaths of two children…she had never forgotten that night …she remembered the girl's name was Kelly…she remembered being yelled at, feeling worthless in front of all the other aurors, crying the night away in Remus Lupin's arms…it still gave her nightmares at times…

"Um…" she tried again, clearing her throat, "Well, it just didn't work out…I was out of it in a few weeks…and soon after, I found that job in the states…and you know how it went from there…"

Nora nodded, but remained silent, sensing some discomfort from her aunt. "Well, he's definitely a really good teacher. It's actually kind of hard to say who's better; him or professor Lupin…"

"Bet I know who you you'd rather have detention with though!" Kierra said, grinning mischievously.

Nora blushed. Oh, if only her parents weren't around…she'd tell Kierra to piss off…Fortunately, her mother seemed to be on the same wavelengths as her…

"Kierra!" Janine snapped.

"What?" Kierra asked innocently. "She's thirteen you know…"

"I'm well aware of that…" Janine replied. "But you're her aunt…you should set a better example for her…"

"Why? We only see each other a couple times a year…" Kierra replied coolly, exchanging a smirk with Nora, who had rolled her eyes at the lip Kierra was giving her mother.

"You have no sense of propriety, Kierra…you know that right?" Harvey said casually as he got up to help his wife bring the dinner to the table.

"So…do you talk to Edmund a lot?" Janine asked over dinner.

"Not as often as we'd like…" Kierra replied as she took a sip of wine from her goblet. "but we usually floo over to each other's places every few days…"

"Is he going to move back to Aveyron anytime soon?" Nora asked. "And is he ever going to visit London? I want to meet him!"

Kierra smiled. "I'm not sure about London…but he's going to move back to Averyron next year…he got a job offer at a hospital…"

Janine nodded. "Of course…hospitals always need potion brewers…we're always short of them at St. Mungo's…"

"Well, that's great that Edmund will be back in town for you…" Harvey said, setting down his own goblet of wine.

Kierra grinned. "Yea…everyone I know is glad about it…they all really like him…well, except Pierre…he hates Edmund…well, you know…I told you guys all about Pierre…he's such a sweet friend…likes to pretend he doesn't care two straws for me, but then goes around and gets completely defensive if any guy even comes near me…never approves of anyone I've dated…"

"I liked Pierre…" Janine said as she took a sip of her water, "you should've gone for him…"

Kierra laughed. "God, no…we're just friends…we can't be more than that…anyway, I'm trying to convince Pierre to come out…"

"Come out?" Nora asked. "Of what?"

"He's gay?" Harvey asked.

Kierra laughed again. "No…I'm not sure…but he's just so posh and…prissy…most people think he is…he's not married, and hardly dates…so I wonder too sometimes…but regardless, we're not each others' types…we just like to annoy each other silly…"

"That's how your brother and I started…" Janine commented, sharing a smile with her husband while Kierra and Nora giggled. "Oh shut up you two…." She said, reaching for her glass again. "Oh…I'm out…"

"Here have some wine…there's some left…" Kierra said, leaning forward to pour Janine some wine. Janine however, pulled her goblet away from Kierra and shook her head.

"Er…no, that's alright…"

"Why not? You like this kind…" Kierra said. "Why are you drinking water anyway? You usually have wine with your dinner…"

Janine glanced nervously at her husband, who in turn sank his head slightly. "Let's just tell them…" he said, looking shortly at his wife, giving her a nervous smile.

"Tell us what?" Nora asked.

Kierra's jaw however, dropped. "Oh my gosh…Janine…are you…"

Janine smiled slightly. "Nora…Kierra….I…uh…well, I'm pregnant…"

Kierra squealed. "Aw…you guys!" she said excitedly, getting up and running around the table to hug the couple.

Nora on the other hand, stared at her mother with disbelief. "You're having a baby?" she asked.

Her mother nodded. "I'm sorry we didn't say anything earlier…we only found out a few days ago…and so we figured we'd tell you when Kierra arrived, so you guys could find out together…"

Nora nodded. "So…you're pregnant…." She said, "so…I'm gonna have a baby brother? Or sister?"

Janine nodded. "You don't look particularly happy, dear…"

Nora smiled. "No, I am…really…I'm just…surprised, that's all…" Nora said quickly. "Never was expecting this…"

"Oh you guys, this is so great!" Kierra gushed. "so you said you found out a few days ago…do you know how far along you are?"

Janine nodded. "Only a few weeks…so…the baby will be born sometime in September next year…"

"Wait…so I'll be fourteen by then…" Nora said, frowning. "A fourteen year age difference…"

"Oh that's not too bad…" Kierra said. "You know Pierre? He's 38…his younger brother is 12…how about that for an age difference?"

"Wow…that's a pretty big gap…how'd that happen?" Nora asked.

"Same way this one probably happened…" Kierra said, patting Janine's stomach. "Ow! I was just kidding!" Kierra said, scowling at Janine, who had just slapped her hand very hard.

"Tis the season to be jolly!" Sirius sung loudly as he waltzed into Remus's living room with one arm around Dominique (who looked slightly frazzled) and a half empty bottle of champagne in the other. "Oy! Take it away Moony!"

Remus in turn, only rolled his eyes. "…and it's only nine o'clock in the evening…" he muttered, causing Dominique to laugh as she dropped Sirius on the couch.

"That's not how it goes, mate…" Sirius said. "you're supposed to go, fa la la la la…la la la la!"

"I don't sing, Padfoot…why don't you just uh, continue solo, mm? Remus said.

"Course you sing, Moony!" Sirius laughed. "Remember that one time…before..er…I was arrested? At my place? We were up all night singing muggle tunes from that old gramophone of yours? We sung that one shouting song…what was it.. 'The cockroaches' or something?"

Dominique laughed. "I remember that! It's 'The Beatles', Sirius…you guys were singing 'Twist and Shout'…oh, you guys were terrible…"

"My point exactly..." Remus said, taking Dominique's hand and pulling her up. "We're not very musical fellows…so, it's up to you to lead us…" he said, leading her to the rusted old piano in the corner of the living room.

Dominique sat at the bench and pressed down on several of the keys, producing a loud, unpleasant chord. Dominique winced and pulled out her wand.

"This needs serious tuning…" she muttered, pulling out her wand. "Harmonio" she said as she tapped the keys.

"Ah, that's better…" Remus said as Dominique hit the keys once more, producing a much more tuned chord.

"Alrigh'…how 'bout… a lil'…Jingle Bells?" Sirius suggested as he got up and stood behind Dominique.

"How about Silent Night?" Remus offered, glancing sideways at Sirius.

"Too sober for me…and I'm not sober enough to sing it…" Sirius replied quite seriously. "I like Jingle Bells…oh, how about Jingle Bell Rock? Now that's an upbeat tune!"

"Let's start with Silent Night…" Dominique said smiling slightly, and striking another chord, she started the song.

"…Silent night, holy night…"

Dominique glanced on either side to see Remus and Sirius standing by her, singing along. Gosh, they were terrible…Their voices were so hoarse…

"…Holy Infant so tender and mild…"

Dominique winced as Remus sang 'mild' a note too high, and Sirius a note too low…

"Radiant beams from"—

"Hey," Dominique cut in, catching the two men by surprise as she ceased to play, "Why don't we call it quits? My throat's sore…"

"It doesn't sound sore…" Sirius said, raising an eyebrow at Dominique.

"Well, it feels sore…" she said quickly.

"Doubt it," Remus said wryly, "it's probably your ears that are sore…"

"Don't be silly," Dominique said sweetly as she got up from the piano and walked passed Sirius and Remus to take a seat at the couch, "you two sang beautifully…"

"Now, now, D…old St. Nick doesn't like liars…" Sirius replied. He sauntered over to the couch and plopped down right next to Dominique. He smiled mischievously at her and added, "been a naughty little girl all year, have we?"

"I'm still in the room, you know…" Remus said.

"Oh, sorry mate…"

"It's alright…"

Sirius glanced from Dominique to Remus, who looked on to the couple a bit somberly. Sirius turned back to Dominique. "Y'know, I'm tired…let's hit the sack a little early, shall we?" he said.

"But it's only 9:30!" Dominique replied. "Oh, alright…"

"I'm actually a little tired myself." Remus said. "think I'll retire too."

"Alright, well we'll see you in the morning then." Dominique said as Sirius helped her up.

"Sure. And no sneaking downstairs to steal presents, Padfoot…" Remus said as he led the group to the bedrooms.

Sirius chuckled. "I stopped doing that when I was twelve…"

"Try sixteen…"

"You really have to remember every little thing, don't you, Moony?"

"You all would've been lost without my memory…"

Sirius rolled his eyes and smiled, but made no reply.

"…you know it."

"Night Moony…"

"I smell defeat…"

"…and a merry Christmas to you too!"

"Yes…acknowledging defeat Padfoot-style. Very nice Sirius…"

"Nice indeed," Dominique cut in impatiently, "Night Remus…"

"I thought you were tired…" Dominque whispered as she felt Sirius's lips brush against the side of her neck.

"I lied…"

"Oh, I see I'm not the only naughty one then…"

"You bet…"

"Sirius, we went to bed early just so we could fool around? What about Remus?"

"Oh yea…" Sirius whispered, sitting up in bed. "I forgot…that was the original reason I wanted to get away from him early."

"What do you mean?" Dominique asked, also sitting up now.

"Well…I wanted to talk to you about him." Sirius replied. "I feel kind of bad for him…you always come and visit when I visit him…so we're always together…I just don't know how that makes him feel…I mean, it seems as though he spends just as much time in solitude as I do when I'm out in hiding…"

Dominique shifted slightly in bed and sighed. "You think he's lonely?"

Sirius nodded.

"Yea, I think so too…" Dominique said. "But what can we do about it?"

Sirius shrugged. "When was the last time he went on a date? D'you know?"

Dominique thought for a moment. "I'm not sure…oh wait, I think it was sometime last year…when you had recently escaped Azkaban…I was on a world tour…yes, Remus wrote me…he mentioned some girl…it didn't last too long though. She found out he was a werewolf and dumped him…"

"Bitch wasn't worth his time then…" Sirius said, a bit savagely.

Dominique nodded. "You know, I was thinking about what you said…how we're always together here…" she said. "maybe…maybe I should hold off on coming here for a bit…so the next time you come visit him, it'll just be you two…you guys can catch up and stuff…maybe he can put you on a leash and take you for a walk…." Dominique added with a grin.

Sirius chuckled. "We've done that before…can't count the number of times the guys would take turns walking me, in hopes they'd get some girl's attention…"

Dominique laughed. "And did it ever work?"

"A few times…"

"Alright," Dominique said, "so from now on, I'll keep a little distance from Remus…let you two bond…do your…er...manly stuff together…"

Sirius laughed. "If you think we're going to sit on his porch and drink firewhiskeys and talk about quidditch, you're mistaken…"

"Oh well…whatever it is you two do when you're together…"

"Sure…"

"Sirius?"

"Mmm?"

"I'm impressed that you brought this up…you've become sensitive!" Dominique said with a grin.

"What are you talking about, D? I've always been sensitive! Sensitive is my middle name…"

"Yea…right…and I'm the minister of magic…"

"Oh, you're real funny, D…you know that?" Sirius asked as he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer to him. She let out a small laugh and pulled herself out of his grip, but almost immediately was pinned down by him.

"And now, as it is the season to be giving…I'm feeling particularly generous tonight…"

A few days later, as Sirius, Remus and Dominique sat down to breakfast, an owl tapped lightly on the kitchen window with its beak.

"Another letter from Harry…" Remus said, handing the letter over to Sirius.

"Everything alright?" Dominique asked.

"Don't know…" Sirius replied as he unfolded the letter and began to read it. "I told him to write me if anything strange happened…I told you guys how someone entered him in that triwizard tournament…"

Remus and Dominique nodded and remained silent, waiting for Sirius to finish the letter. After a minute, he finally put the parchment on the table and sighed.

"What happened?" Dominique asked.

"Well, he said when he was out in the corridors after hours, with his invisibility cloak of course, he found Snape telling Filch that someone broke into his office and he wanted him to help him investigate it…but Moody came along, course he can see through invisibility cloaks, and he saw Harry but covered for him. Snape tried to downplay the break in, saying it was probably a student stealing potion ingredients, but Moody accused him of hiding other stuff…"

"What other stuff?" Dominique asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Didn't say…except that Moody's searched Snape's office before…and that Moody took the marauder's map from Harry…wanted to borrow it…"
"Well, I suppose it'd come in fairly useful to Moody…" Lupin commented. "Did he give a reason why though?"

Sirius looked back down at the letter. "Says he saw Crouch's name in Snape's office."

"Crouch?" Dominique and Remus said together.

Sirius nodded. "You guys saw in the paper that he's also a judge for the tournament…"

"Yea…" Lupin said. "This is all very strange…"

Sirius tore off the bottom of the parchment, that had no writing on it, and reached for the quill and bottle of ink that sat on the kitchen counter. "I need to go and see Harry…" he said as he scribbled something onto the parchment.

"What? Now?" Dominique asked.

"Yea…" Sirius said absently as he folded up the parchment and gave it to the owl, which was currently helping itself to breakfast from Remus's bowl of cornmeal. "I have a feeling he's due to have a Hogsmeade trip soon…I can meet him there…"

"Sirius, you don't have to take off every time Harry writes you…" Dominique said, setting down her cup of tea a bit hard, causing some of the tea to splatter onto the table. "You're supposed to stay here for a few more days with us…once I leave, I won't be able to see you for a few months, you know…"

"I know…and I'm sorry," Sirius said as he returned to his breakfast, "but Harry needs me. Especially now, with this whole tournament. Somebody at Hogwarts wants him dead…"

"You think it's Snape?" Dominique asked.

"No, I'm wondering about Crouch…seems really dodgy, from what Harry's told me, and from what I've seen in the papers...Alright…I should get going now guys, it'll take me forever to get to Hogsmeade in this weather." Sirius said, getting up. "I'll probably see you guys in a few months…keep in touch though, will you?"

"Of course…" Remus said, smiling soberly at his friend.

"Sure…" Dominique said, with a tone of annoyance so slight that only Remus picked up on.

"Take care, guys." Sirius said. And with a wave, he disapparated out of Remus's house.

Remus glanced at Dominique, who was taking dirty dishes to the sink.

"You alright?" he asked.

Dominique shrugged. "First it was James, now it's Harry…"