Back at Hogwarts the boys had opened their presents and were heading to the Great Hall for Christmas Dinner. When they got there the usual house tables were gone, replaced by smaller ones stretching the length of the room. Dumbledore sat at the head of the table, the other professors around it with the few students that remained close to them. The only seats left available were by Dumbledore. Having no choice but to sit there or starve, the four boys took their seats, Dumbledore smiling at them with twinkling eyes.

They had been sat for 15 minutes or so, careful of what they spoke about with their head teacher sat so close by. So far the topics had been Quidditch, during a moment of silence (which basically means they had stopped talking in order to eat something), Dumbledore spoke to them.

"A very interesting magazine you have under your bed, Mr Black." He said in a quiet voice, audible enough for the Marauders but no one else to hear.

Sirius, who was in the middle of swallowing his food at that moment began choking, Remus immediately began hitting him on the back to soothe him. James began laughing at his predicament and Peter frowned at Dumbledore, having no idea what magazines he was talking about (there's a reason he wasn't the quickest at understanding things, all to do with him being a very…not bright being.)

"I've never really saw the attraction of motorbikes myself," Dumbledore continued as though none of this was happening. "They don't fly and they make a lot of noise. Nothing like a broom."

Sirius, whose throat was still a bit saw after the aggressive attempts to dislodge his food, couldn't hide the relief that crossed over his face. "Oh, you mean that magazine, sir." He croaked out.

Dumbledore's eyes, if possible, lit up more than before, a smile twitched at his greying moustache. "Yes, that magazine, although the other one was quite interesting too."

Butterbeer sprayed across the table, James had been taking a drink as Dumbledore said this. His laughter, which had been subsiding, came back and the liquid didn't quite make it down his throat before being expelled over his friends. Sirius' face was turning red but Dumbledore made no more comment on it. He was talking to Peter.

"Mr Pettigrew, I trust you've had a good day. Lots of presents. I, myself, received a delightful pair of lemon socks with an equally bright blue check pattern, what about you?"

Peter was a little surprised that the professor would speak to him directly, once he got over the shock he was speaking as though they were old friends.

"Well the guys went to Honeydukes and bought be sweets and chocolate and jointly bought me the Appleby Arrows' annual for the year. My parents bought me some of the latest tricks from Zonko's." When he had finished he looked quite satisfied and pleased with himself.

Dumbledore turned to Remus, "And you, Mr Lupin."

"Um…The same as Peter but my annual was the Chudley Cannons, and off my parents I got another stationary set." He pulled a face, as though to say 'could they have picked a more boring present?'

Dumbledore nodding gently before asking James.

"The Honeydukes stuff with a Holyhead Harpies annual. My parents sent me a load of new clothes and the like, for some reason they sent me some aging parchment. Not a clue what that's about," he trailed off, shaking his head at how odd his parents could be, but also because he felt a wave of sympathy spreading through him towards Sirius as he realised he was next to be asked.

"And you Mr Black?" Dumbledore urged gently.

Sirius' face darkened for a moment. "Sweets and chocolate from Honeydukes and Wimbourne Wasps annual." He said quietly.

Dumbledore looked at him. "Is that it?" Sirius nodded his head in an embarrassed sort of way. "I don't believe it is."

Four heads turned to look at Dumbledore as he continued to talk to Sirius. "Come to my office after dinner." Sirius nodded again, beginning to feel stupid.

Dumbledore stood up and everyone turned to look at him. "Merry Christmas to all," he said. "I must attend to some business but please, all of you take your time. I know for a fact that there are some delightful puddings organized for you and I will be terribly disappointed if you don't all enjoy them."

Smiles that already existed grew on people's faces as he exited the room.

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Sirius made his way up to the statue that he knew concealed the doorway to Dumbledore's office. When he got there he realised he didn't know the password. He called out every word he could think of but the statue would not move. Out of sheer desperation he said "Socks," to his surprise the doorway sprang open.

He walked quietly up the revealed steps; amazed by the things he saw when he reached Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was sat behind a tall desk; around him in the room were what seemed like hundreds of shelves adorned with thousands of curious items. Sirius was in awe.

"Please, sit down." Dumbledore motioned with a smile.

Sirius did as he was asked, still looking around the room.

"Now, I understand – Mr Black, are you listening?"

Sirius' attention snapped back immediately, looking a little sheepish he nodded.

Dumbledore chuckled quietly. "Now that I have your attention I would like to say. I know that you have some, er, difficulties with your family, but that that doesn't mean they don't care for you."

"Prof…" Sirius tried to interrupt, but Dumbledore continued regardless.

"And there is something here for you," his eyes were twinkling again as he handed a small package to Sirius. "A little something. From everyone. Now off you go, I'm sure your friends will be waiting for you."

And waiting they were, in their dormitory. Sirius said his goodbyes and left the office heading to his dorm with the package in his hand. He walked almost comatosely, not paying attention to where he was going except the direction; consequently he fell over two steps and got his foot stuck in three. He didn't open it until he got back there with his friends.

"What's that?" Peter asked being the first to notice the package.

Sirius shrugged as he sat on his bed and opened it. "You've got to be kidding," he said as a small grin broke out across his face.

"What?" the other four asked almost simultaneously, turning to look at the object in his hands.

There in his hands were a pair of socks; deep purple with bright green spots. Laughter rang around the room, keeping the five boys in happy spirits for the rest of the night.

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The day before New Years Eve. Just 6 days ago she had made the promise to be the best daughter possible and she was pleased to say she was succeeding. Everyday she got up early and tidied the house and prepared breakfast for her family for when they got up. She offered to help with shopping or washing the windows and not once did she complain when she was asked to do something. She joined in with family activities, whether it was day trips or just conversations or playing games, she kept a civil tongue. She didn't even respond to Petunia's taunts and jibes, which, she noticed with distinct unhappiness, were becoming more frequent everyday. Her parents seemed to have noticed the change too.

Lily was fast asleep in bed, Petunia had just gone up herself and Jack and Katherine sat discussing their daughters that night.

"Those two…I'm proud of Lily for not fighting back, but I can't help but feel there's something wrong with her. That's not the girl we sent off to that place in September. She'd be getting back at Petunia with all she could." Jack said.

Katherine nodded in agreement. "And all that stuff before Christmas, then the sudden change. Jack, I'm worried about her."
Jack, though looking solemn, but on a light voice. "It's Lily." He said calmingly, though for his wife or himself it wasn't clear. "Whatever it is, she'll bounce back."

"But she shouldn't have to," Katherine exclaimed quickly, her eyes looking sorrowful. "Jack, what if it's something really bad. You remember what it was like being her age, she should be happy and normal but she's more calmed and too accepting."

"Kathy, you forget, she's not normal, not the way we were anyway. She's probably just had a fight with that friend of hers – what's her name? The one who came last year? – And she knows she's at fault but is too stubborn to apologize. You watch come two weeks she'll be fine again." Though he was saying these calming words for his wife's benefit, he didn't believe them himself. He was just as worried for Lily; it was as though she had been replaced with some kind of robot. She showed no kinds of emotion and was so quiet. She was pleasant enough to be around, but it wasn't the Lily they knew.

Katherine smiled. "Yes, you're probably right." She sounded just as forced positive as her husband, and the look on her face was one of disbelieving. "Probably."

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The day before Lily was due to return to Hogwarts soon came and Katherine refused to let her daughter go back there in the state that she was.

"Lily, do you want to come to the shops with me?"

"Sure mum, just let me get my shoes on," was the emotionless response.

Five minutes the two were sat in the car and on their way to the local supermarket. They were sat in silence, Lily nodding her head to something unknown to her mother.

"Hey Lily?" Lily stopped the head movements and looked up. Katherine smiled at her. "What's say we ditch the shopping and head over to that ice cream place you've been looking at every day for the last week?"

A light shimmered in Lily's eyes, a glint of the eagerness she usually showed. "Sure," she said, a ripple of excitement running through her.

Katherine's smile grew as she pulled into the car park a short walk from the ice cream parlour.

"What do you want?" she asked, knowing full well what Lily's answer would be.

"Toffberry and mint choc," Lily said with a sly grin.

Katherine ordered herself a coffee and Lily a mix of ice creams she thought were disgusting together but her daughter loved; toffee, raspberry and mint chocolate chip. As she did this Lily found a table, eagerly taking the ice cream as it arrived. Seeing her daughter so eager and content, Katherine took her opportunity.

"Are you ok?" she asked suddenly.

Lily frowned and nodded. "Yeah…" she said slowly, not understanding the question.

"I mean," Katherine amended, catching her daughters tone. "Well, since you got back you've been very quiet and, not that it doesn't make a nice change, it's just not like you, so is there anything wrong?"

Lily hesitated a moment too long before answering. "…No."

Katherine shifted in her seat to face Lily directly. "Tell me what's up."

Lily looked into her bowl, as though it could say everything her mother wanted to know. 'Well let's see,' she thought miserably. 'My best friend hates me and has now made friends with the girl I hate to make my life miserable. The guy I like doesn't see me "that way", I have no other friends, not real ones, and Potter's getting to me more than normal. Not to mention the fact that my own sister can't stand the sight of me, it's nearly 6 months since Nana died and no one seems to remember and I'm starting to get stomach cramps.' At this last thought her arm flew over her stomach as though protecting it. "Nothing," she cried eventually, no way was she going to let her mother know all this.

Katherine wasn't satisfied with this answer though. "Lily, please, I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."

Lily sighed. "If I say guy problems can we just drop the subject?" she asked hopefully.

A small smile threatened to break out on Katherine's calm face. "Nope." Lily sighed again. "But it'd help."

For the first time in a long time Lily smiled, a proper smile, accompanied by a laugh.

Katherine was satisfied that Lily was opening up on at least one of her problems and contentedly downed the last of her coffee. "You done yet? We still need to go shopping."

In traditional Lily fashion a groan escaped her, what wasn't normal about it was that it was laced with pain.

"Sweetie, are you ok?" Katherine asked with deep concern.

Lily shook her head but stood up and headed for the car. Katherine followed her and once the two were safe inside it Lily spoke.

"I keep getting pains in my stomach," she whimpered. "And there was blood this morning."

Katherine couldn't help it, she began laughing. Lily stared at her angrily. "Mum!"

Katherine paused, a great smile on her face. "I'm sorry, it's just…" She started the car and began driving towards the supermarket. "You and I need to have a little talk…"

AN: I am so glad I got this done, I wasn't sure I was going to but I did, so here you go Katie, the update ;D