A/N: Sorry about the delay in posting this chapter – my computer went a little crazy over the weekend, and lost its internet abilities. But, now it's fixed, and I'm back in action!

This gets a titch naughtier than usual at the end. I still stand by my PG-13 rating, but if you're offended, I apologize. I don't think it's too awful, and I really hope it doesn't offend anyone.

As a reminder, my next update will be on 25 February. Thanks again for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!

I don't own Harry Potter.

Moving On

Some dance to remember,
Some dance to forget
- Hotel California, The Eagles

"Do you have everything?" James asked as he did a shrinking charm on their luggage in preparation to Apparate to the Canary Islands.

Lily grinned. "This was the easiest packing job ever. I took everything straight from the bags from the stores and put it in my suitcases."

James laughed, and shook his head. "Was an entire new wardrobe appropriate for a week-long vacation?"

"Yes," Lily said a bit defiantly. "Nothing I used to wear fits me anymore! And this is all your fault, you know – you're the one who got me pregnant."

James laughed again. "As I recall, you were a very willing participant in that."

Lily flushed, and smiled. "Guilty as charged."

He smiled, and looked at her closely. Even though she was teasing him as much as he was teasing her, he could tell that her heart wasn't in it. Something wasn't quite right with her.

"Are you all right?"

Lily looked at him with a smile. "Yes," she said.

"Are you sure?" He knew that she was lying, and she knew that he knew it.

"I'm just a little worried about Olivia," Lily admitted.

James sighed. "Lil, Olivia and Sirius have to come to terms with this on their own. We can't tell them how to live their lives, and we can't force them to get back together." He smiled, and pulled her close. "We're only going to be gone for a week. Let's take that time to focus on us, and only us."

Lily smiled, and snuggled close to him. "I like that idea."

"Good." He kissed the top of her head, and released her. "Besides, how much trouble can they get into in a week?"

"Dana,

"We're going out. Meet me at the Three Broomsticks at ten tonight, and dress for a night on the town!

"- Olivia"

After sending an identical message to Laura, Olivia knew she was ready for her evening activities. It was time to put her plan into action. She was as deserving of a man who loved her as anyone else – and it was time to find him. Both Dana and Laura were married, but that didn't matter. They would still have fun. Besides, her friends' martial status would cut down on her competition for the single men. She grinned in anticipation. She could hardly wait.

"Sirius,

"I want to make you dinner tonight. Come over after work.

"See you then!

"Love, Rebecca"

Sirius sighed as he read the closing. His friends were right. She truly did love him. Did he love her?

Well, there was only one way to find out, and that was to spend more time with her. If she wanted to cook for him, then that was an added bonus. He quickly scribbled a reply promising to visit, and sent it off with her owl. He smiled to himself, knowing that the excitement he felt over seeing her in just a few hours was probably an indication of how much he cared about her.

"I love this hotel," James grinned as they entered their room.

He immediately crossed to the double doors that led to the balcony, and threw them open. He stepped outside, and watched the surf rolling in across the beach. Children ran across the sand shrieking with laughter, older couples walked arm in arm, and newly-weds splashed one another in the surf. His eyes barely saw any of them as he let his thoughts wander, carrying him a million miles away from the tropical paradise before him.

Lily followed him outside, and put her arms around him from behind. "Are you all right?"

He turned to her with a smile. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"James . . ." She sighed. "You've been through a lot recently, that's all. You know I'm here for you if you want to talk, right?"

He turned around fully, and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you, Lil. I love you for your concern, and for how much you love me. But I really need to deal with this on my own, all right? I know you're here for me, and I know that I can always talk to you."

"Good," she smiled.

He kissed her gently. "What do you say we go down to the beach? We still have plenty of daylight left."

Lily wrinkled her nose. "That means I have to put on my bathing suit already."

"Yes," James grinned. "And I can't wait to see you in it."

"Sirius? Are you ready for our meeting?"

Sirius nodded, and rose from his desk. He had nearly forgotten about his meeting with his mentor – at least, forgetting about it had been his objective. It wasn't that he wanted to miss the meeting; it was more that he didn't want to let the overriding dread of it occupy his thoughts for the entire day.

But now there was no more putting it out of his mind. It was eight-thirty, their appointed meeting time. Gathering his binders and papers, he followed John to his office.

John's office was much more impressive than Sirius's. As a new Auror, Sirius shared his office, which was one of the smallest the department had to offer, with two other new Aurors. Fortunately, neither of them was Olivia. He didn't know if he would be able to handle that amount of awkwardness. Having her brother serve as his mentor was awful enough.

"Have a seat," John invited, indicating one of the chairs in front of his desk. He sat down behind it, and looked at Sirius expectantly. "How was your week?"

"Fine," Sirius said.

John raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"A bit boring," Sirius admitted. "I had rather thought that I'd begin with field work right away. I didn't expect to be doing all this paperwork."

"That's half of being an Auror," John replied. "Everyone just thinks they can jump right into the difficult missions, but you have to work your way up to that."

"Even now?" Sirius asked bluntly.

"What do you mean by that?" John asked. "Why should the rules be any different for you? I know that you don't necessarily abide by the accepted way of doing things in all facets of your life, but you have to expect to follow the norms here."

Sirius took a deep breath, reminding himself that he would treat John the same way if their roles were reversed. Not for the first time, he thought of Lily, who was as much his sister as James was his brother. If someone had broken her heart, he would never have been as kind to him as John was being to Sirius.

John looked at him with raised eyebrows, taking his silence for agreement. "Do you see my point, then?"

"Yes, I understand what you're trying to say," Sirius replied. "But, what I was asking was more if we have the manpower to allow any of us to sit around in the office. We're in the middle of a war, battling an evil that appears to be impossible to destroy. With the number of Aurors who are lost everyday, doesn't it make more sense to use everyone we have in the field?"

John shook his head. "Not unless you know what you're doing."

"I've just gone through an incredibly intense training program! I should think that I do know what I'm doing!"

"Nothing can prepare you for real battle," John said softly. "Don't be too eager to rush into it. You have your entire career to put your life on the line. Enjoy the less-dangerous work that you're doing now, and enjoy being safe."

Sirius was about to protest that he did know what real battle was, but held his tongue. As an Order member, he had been thrown onto the battlefield. As an Auror trainee, he had been assigned practice drills. His life was not the same as that of a normal new Auror, but that was something that John could never know. Order members did not publicize their identities. Dumbledore and Moody insisted on secrecy for the protection of all those involved in the Order.

John sighed, and ran his hands over his face. "Look, do you mind if we cut this short tonight? I've worked late every night this week, and I'd really like to get home in time to tuck my girls into bed."

"That's fine," Sirius said, as eager to leave the office as John was. "When shall we meet again?"

"Let's say next week at this time," John replied. "If something comes up, we can change it."

Sirius nodded. "Fine."

"Good." John rose to his feet. "If you need anything, let me know."

Sirius nodded again. "I will. Thanks, John."

"You're welcome."

Sirius made his way out of the office, barely suppressing his smile. He wondered if anyone would notice if he slipped out early. John would be gone, so he would never know. And Rebecca was waiting for him . . .

"BLACK!"

Sirius refrained from jumping in surprise, knowing that if he did, Moody would hex him on the spot. Sirius had learned that "constant vigilance" meant not showing surprise when his name was bellowed down a corridor from behind him.

"Yes?" he asked, turning to face his teacher.

"I need a word with you," Moody growled. He grabbed Sirius's arm, and dragged him into his office, which was even nicer than John's. "Have a seat."

Sirius sat down in front of Moody's desk, feeling the familiar dread of having done something wrong. He felt as though he had been transported back in time, and was about to be reprimanded by Professor McGonagall.

"Why the frightened face?" Moody asked, sitting down heavily. "Not a guilty conscience, I hope?"

"No, sir," Sirius said, looking Moody in the eye. "I just can't think of why you have called me here."

"Well, let me start by telling you that you've shown impressive restraint since you began with us as a full Auror," Moody said. "I know you don't like to sit and watch the action pass you by, yet you have managed to do just that. You also have had the rather difficult situation of working closely with Miss Alexander's brother, and you have managed to do that with success. You have impressed both Frank and I."

"Thank you, sir," Sirius replied, wondering where this was going.

"Let me get to the point," Moody continued. "Normally, our new Aurors are required to do desk work for six months. However, we are going to make an exception for you."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "John's not going to like that. He just gave me a speech about all Aurors needing to follow the rules."

"Yes, a dose of rule-following wouldn't hurt you," Moody said with a slight chuckle. "However, we need good Aurors more than you need to learn respect for regulations. You have more than proven yourself in the past, and we need you out in the field. Don't worry about your mentor. I'll talk to him."

"Are you going to tell him . . .?"

"He doesn't need to know of your extracurricular activities," Moody said, as close as any of them ever came to referring to the Order at work. "As with all our field Aurors, you will be assigned a partner."

"Who will that be?"

Moody looked deeply into his eyes. "Miss Alexander."

Sirius's eyes widened. "Sir, I know I can't tell you what to do, but . . ."

"I know all about what has happened," Moody said. "I know that the two of you were in a very involved relationship, and that it has ended. I don't know any more details than that, and I don't want to. However, I also know that you are both gifted Aurors, and that you work very well together." He leaned forward. "In order to do our best work, in order to win this war, we sometimes must align ourselves with those we would rather not. Part of assigning Mr. Alexander as your mentor was to teach you to work with those you would rather not. Consider that experience training for this one."

Sirius nodded dumbly. "Does Olivia know?"

"Not yet. She has today off, so I'll tell her tomorrow when she comes in. Please don't mention it to her until I've had a chance to talk to her."

Sirius nodded again. "When will we begin?"

"Next week. I'd advise you to be prepared."

When Laura walked into the Three Broomsticks, Dana was already there. She breathed a sigh of relief as she crossed the bar to sit down with her friend. She had hoped that they would both beat Olivia there.

"Hi," she said, taking an empty seat at the table Dana had managed to secure.

"Hi," Dana replied with a smile. "I'm glad you got here early. I was hoping that we could beat Liv here. We need to talk."

"I was thinking the same thing," Laura grinned. "What is going on? Why are we here?"

"I don't know anything for sure," Dana admitted, "but I've been friends with Olivia since we were eleven years old, and I can tell you from experience that she's flying off the handle. She's upset over Sirius and Rebecca, and she wants revenge."

"Revenge?" Laura repeated with raised eyebrows.

"Well, in a sense. She wants to get back at Sirius for his relationship with Rebecca by finding a new man."

"But Sirius has been with Rebecca for a long time now. Why would she wait this long?"

"Because until she saw them together at the ceremony, Rebecca was just a fantasy. She was some woman that Sirius was seeing in the abstract sense. But when she actually met her, Rebecca became a real person – or, to put it in perhaps more accurate words, she became a real rival."

Laura shuddered involuntarily. "She's not going to do anything to hurt Rebecca, is she?"

"Not physically, if that's what you mean. But if she manages to get Sirius back, she is certainly going to hurt her emotionally."

Laura nodded, remembering what Remus had said about Rebecca's love for Sirius. "Does Olivia consciously want to hurt her?"

Dana shook her head. "She's not the type to consciously hurt anyone. I think she truly does want to move on, and to get over Sirius. But I think that this is also a way of hurting him as much as he's hurt her, you know? She wants him to see her with someone else – to see her happy with someone else."

"What are we going to do?" Laura sighed.

"We're going to be supportive friends," Dana said firmly. "If she wants to find a new man, we're going to help her find him."

"All right," Laura said a bit uncertainly.

"It'll be all right," Dana assured her. "We won't let her do anything stupid. That's why we're here." She smiled. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Laura smiled, too. "Right." Her smile faded as a slight frown crossed her face. "But why is she doing this without Lily?"

Dana shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe she's afraid she'll talk her out of it. Lily's always been closer to Sirius than you or I – they were good friends even before she started dating James. She probably doesn't want to have someone that close to Sirius around to watch her play the field, as it were."

Laura shook her own head. "This could be harder than we thought."

"Lil, honestly, your hair looked fine before!"

Lily stepped out of the bathroom with a strand of red hair curled around her wand. She looked at James with wide-eyed innocence. "I thought you liked it curly."

"I love it no matter what you do to it," he said. "Right now, I'd really like to eat dinner. This country's food schedule is ridiculous! Who waits until after nine o'clock for dinner?"

"Spain," Lily replied, releasing her hair from her wand. "Don't you remember how late we ate every night during our honeymoon?"

"I don't remember much other than how much fun we had," he admitted. "If I had remembered that they try to starve their tourists here, I would have suggested that we go to France instead."

Lily laughed. "You'll live, love. Just let me finish curling my hair, and we can go get something to eat."

James sighed, and sat down on the bed, prepared to wait. In his opinion, Lily's hair maintenance always took far too long.

The hands of the clock had never moved so slowly. As the end of his shift approached, Sirius found himself checking the timepiece every three minutes. He just wanted to leave, and to visit Rebecca. The more he thought about her, the more he couldn't wait to see her.

Finally, the clock struck ten. The long workday was finally over. The only thing standing between him and Rebecca was the amount of him that it would take him to Apparate to her flat. Grinning to himself, he Disapparated.

Olivia walked into the Three Broomsticks promptly at ten. Dana and Laura were already there, sitting at a table in the center of the room. Both girls were, as instructed, dressed for a night out. Olivia grinned, and readjusted the straps of her shimmering silver tank top. They were going to have fun.

"Hey, ladies," she said, sitting down with them.

"Well, I see you took your own instructions to heart," Dana grinned. "You look great, Liv."

"Thanks," Olivia smiled. "So do both of you."

"You're lucky I decided not to throw out my clubbing clothes when I got married," Laura said, toying with the zipper on the side of her skirt. "My sister got rid of hers, and she told me to do the same. But, for some reason, I didn't want to."

"Every girl is entitled to a night of dancing, regardless of her marital status," Olivia replied.

"That's true," Dana said, fluffing up her hair. "But what brought about this idea?"

"We can't have a girls' night out?" Olivia asked.

"Without Lily?" Laura asked, consciously avoiding looking at Dana. "Unlikely. What's going on, Liv?"

"First of all, Lily probably wouldn't want to come. She's been very careful about what she does since she found out she's pregnant. And that means that she wouldn't want to be in smoky bars and clubs, and that she certainly wouldn't drink. So, it makes sense to do this while she and James are gone."

"All right, I agree that Lily wouldn't want to do this," Laura said, nodding her head.

"But that still doesn't answer the why of it all," Dana added.

Olivia smiled. "Well, you're both married, so I know you won't want to be a part of this, but I want to find a new man."

"So we're going clubbing?" Laura laughed. "Liv, a club is not the place to meet a potential boyfriend!"

"Yeah, she's right," Dana agreed. "Clubs are pretty much full of men who are looking for a girl for the night, if you understand what I'm trying to say."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "We're perfectly nice, respectable girls, and we've been to clubs before. Who's to say that men don't do the same?"

"Men who go dancing for the sheer love of dancing?" Laura asked incredulously. She giggled. "I don't think they're interested in you, love, regardless of what you wear."

Olivia waved her hand with a grin. "Not every man who dances for the fun of it is gay!"

"The percentage is a bit high for the odds to be in your favor," Dana said. "Let's hang around here for awhile, though. The Three Broomsticks brings in a pretty respectable clientele. We might be able to find you a man in here somewhere."

"You do work with men, you know," Laura offered. "Why not look for someone there?"

Olivia looked horrified. "Date an Auror? No way! I can barely handle living with my own schedule. I can't even imagine trying to deal with mine as well as someone else's!"

"Okay, bad suggestion," Laura replied, biting back the remark that she wanted to make about Sirius being an Auror. Olivia hadn't had much trouble working her schedule around his. "I'm just trying to think of alternatives to the bar scene, I guess."

"It's all right, Laura," Dana said. "We can find Olivia a man here. Or, at least, we can try. And now that she has this new attitude, we can be on the look-out for her."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Olivia said peevishly. "And what do you mean by 'new attitude?'"

"You've been a bit preoccupied with Sirius," Dana said delicately. "Which is fine, considering how long you dated him, and how in love you two were. You needed time to get over him. But, if you're ready to move on, we're here to help."

Olivia's eyes widened. "Lily didn't seem too excited about the possibility."

Dana smiled. "We all wanted to see you and Sirius married, Liv. It seemed so perfect. I mean, Lily and James, Laura and Remus, me and Aidan . . . we all were marrying our sweethearts from Hogwarts. We all assumed that you and Sirius would follow suit."

"But that wasn't meant to be," Laura said, her eyes a bit sad. "And if you're ready to move on, we're ready to help you do that."

Olivia smiled. Could she ask for better friends?

"All right," Lily said, stepping out of the bathroom. "I'm ready when you are."

James put down the paper he had been reading, and looked at Lily questioningly. "I thought you were curling your hair?"

Lily laughed, and brushed a straight lock back from her face. "Well, it ended up looking ridiculous, so I straightened it. I think it's been acting weird because of all the hormones that are going crazy in my body – which makes this your fault, too."

James shook his head. "I am far too hungry to see the humor in this situation."

Lily smiled. "All right, I'll stop, then. Where would you like to go for dinner?"

"The hotel has three restaurants. Shall we try one of those?"

"All right, then."

Lily took James's arm as they made their way to the lobby. "I'm sorry I took so long to get ready."

"It's all right," he said, giving her a smile. "Waiting didn't kill me."

She grinned, and ran her hand over his arm. "I should say not."

They found one of the restaurants, and stepped up to the host. James spoke to him quietly for a moment, and then they were quickly shown to a table by the window, overlooking the ocean. Lily looked out for a moment, watching the light from the half-moon dance across the waves. She turned to James with a beaming smile.

"This is perfect. How did we manage to get this table?"

James smiled. "Well, since you took so long to get ready, I thought I'd make sure we had a nice meal."

"You organized this?"

He nodded. "You deserve a special dinner."

"Why? Because I took so long with my hair?"

"No," he said, looking deeply into her eyes. "You deserve this because of all you've done for me since my dad died. If it weren't for you and your idea to come here, I'd still be at home, trying to force myself back into life. But now I'm here with you in this paradise, remembering why I've always loved everything about my life – remembering why I love you so much. So, we're here at this fantastic table so I can thank you for all you've done to help me."

Lily flushed. "I'm not doing anything you didn't do for me once upon a time," she said softly. "And I'm doing this because I love you, James."

He smiled. "Thank you."

"Thank you?"

"Yes. Thank you for reminding me of our wonderful honeymoon and our wonderful past together. Thank you for reminding me of the future that lies before us. Thank you for loving me. I love you, too."

Sirius Apparated into Rebecca's flat, and opened his eyes. It appeared to be empty, which made him a bit nervous. Was it some sort of a trap? If so, what had happened to Rebecca and her father? His chest tightened at the thought. He was an Order member; he was used to having dark wizards after him. He had never thought that he could bring that danger into another's life. Please, please don't let her be in danger because of me. He reached for his wand as he looked around with the eyes of a trained Auror.

"Rebecca?" he called. "Are you here?"

"Right here!"

He breathed a sigh of relief as she came out of her bedroom, still trying to attach a silver earring to her ear. "Hey," he smiled, releasing his wand.

"Hey, yourself," she replied, making her way across the room to him.

She put her arms around his neck, and he responded by snaking his arms around her waist, his fingers loving the feel of the black silk of her dress. He leaned down to kiss her, but let his lips hover above hers for a moment.

"Where's your father?"

"Out for the night," she said. "He's playing cards with some old cronies, which means he won't be back until well after midnight."

"Good," Sirius said, lowering his lips to hers.

She responded instantly, letting her lips caress his. She moaned softly as his hands began to move over her body, and pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, his eyes a bit glazed.

"I made you dinner, and I expect you to eat it," she replied with a smile. "We can talk about dessert later."

Laughing, Sirius nodded. "All right. What have you made us for dinner?"

"A traditional French meal," she said proudly, leading him to the table, where everything was already laid out.

"I've never eaten French food before," Sirius admitted.

"Really?" she asked incredulously. "How is that possible?"

Sirius shrugged. "I've never had the opportunity, I suppose."

"Well, you are going to love this," Rebecca said. "Let's start with some French wine."

"I love it already," Sirius said, watching her pour the wine into their glasses.

She smiled as she handed a glass to him, then took the other in her own hand. "Shall we make a toast?"

Sirius nodded, and raised his glass. "To you," he said simply.

"To me?"

"Yes," he grinned. "For making me this wonderful dinner tonight, and for caring about me everyday. For making me feel special."

"You are special," she said, a slight flush creeping across her cheeks.

"So are you," Sirius said.

"In that case, let's make this toast to us," Rebecca said. "To us, and to our relationship."

Sirius nodded, and clinked his glass against hers. "To us."

"What do you think of the selection?" Dana asked, taking a sip of her butterbeer.

"I think I'm never going to find a man here," Olivia replied. "Look, those four over there are clearly married. I can see their rings from here. Those three there are far too old for me. Those six over there look like they sneaked out of Hogwarts to be here. And those two over there . . . Well, I think they're sitting a bit close together."

"Ha," Laura said triumphantly. "See? I told you."

"We're not even at a club yet," Olivia said, rolling her eyes. "You said the guys in the clubs would be gay, not the ones at the bars!"

"Close enough."

Olivia looked at her sharply. "Are you all right, Laura? You look a little pale."

Laura waved her hand impatiently. "Have you been talking to Remus? I'll tell you the same thing I've been telling him – I'm fine! I just couldn't fall asleep last night, that's all. I'm a little tired."

"All right, all right," Olivia said, holding up her hands. "I was just a little worried, that's all. You're not normally so washed-out."

Laura shrugged. "I had intended to catch up on my sleep tonight, but someone decided we needed a night on the town."

"All right," Olivia laughed. "Let's give it half an hour, then we can give up and go home. We'll skip the clubs tonight. What do you say?"

"Fine by me," Laura replied, trying not to let her relief show. She was rather tired.

"Good plan," Dana agreed.

"Good," Olivia said, scanning the crowded bar again. She placed her empty glass on the table. "I'm going to get another. Can I get you girls anything?"

"I'm fine," Dana said, shaking her half-full beverage.

"Me, too," Laura said, lifting her own glass.

Olivia nodded, and made her way to the bar. She stood there for several moments waiting to catch the bartender's attention. She didn't see Madam Rosmerta anywhere, which she assumed was the reason she had to wait. The owner was always very adamant about taking good care of any friend of James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. She let her thoughts tumble around, remembering all the times they had come to this bar during Hogsmeade weekends while they were at Hogwarts. They had always had so much fun. She smiled slightly to herself as the memories washed over her.

"Am I missing a joke?"

Olivia's head jerked up at the sound of the deep voice so close to her. She looked up – way up – to look into the dark, laughing eyes of the stranger. Dark hair fell across his forehead, and his smile revealed straight, white teeth. Her breath caught in her throat. He was absolutely gorgeous! And the appropriate age!

"Ah, I'm sorry," he said with a teasing smile that displayed a dimple on his left cheek. "Do you not speak English?"

Olivia laughed. "No, I speak English. You just surprised me, that's all."

"Well, I'm sorry," the man replied. "I just saw you standing here alone, and thought maybe you could use some company while you waited for service."

"And wanting a drink yourself had nothing to do with it?" Olivia asked with a teasing smile of her own.

"Got me there," he laughed. "But, considering the amount of people here right now, it looks like we're going to be waiting for awhile. We might as well wait together."

"Sure," Olivia replied, leaning on the bar. "And who am I waiting with?"

"I'm Greg Wilson." He smiled, his eyes twinkling. "I think I know who you are, but I could be wrong. What is your name?"

"Olivia Alexander," she said, shaking his offered hand. "But I don't know how you know me. I don't remember ever seeing you around here before."

"You don't remember me?"

"Should I?" she asked with a frown.

"Maybe," he laughed. "We went to Hogwarts together. I was in Ravenclaw – I think I was about four years ahead of you."

"And you remember me?" she asked, taken aback.

"Of course," he said with a grin. "How could I forget one of Gryffindor's unstoppable Chasers? Ravenclaw had an unbeatable side put together the year that you and James Potter joined your team. If it hadn't been for you two we would have won the Cup that year. Even my amazing Seeker skills couldn't compete with the two of you."

Olivia laughed. "Sorry to have cheated you – just in case you were wondering, winning the Cup felt great."

"Just rub a little salt in that wound," Greg laughed.

Olivia grinned. "I just wanted to make sure you knew how it felt to win. Did you ever win during your time at Hogwarts?"

"No," he said with an exaggerated sigh. "Well, actually, Ravenclaw won my first two years, but I wasn't on the team then. By the time I joined, Slytherin had put together one of the best teams Hogwarts had ever seen. Then you and Potter started playing, and it was all over. Are the two of you playing professionally now?"

Olivia laughed. "Hardly. James is actually teaching at Hogwarts, and I'm an Auror."

"Really? You're an Auror?"

"What? You don't think I can do it?" she asked with a teasing smile.

"No, I'm just impressed," he said. "I can't believe you'd want to get into that with all that's going on right now."

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, I've heard that before. But, I think this is the best time to do it. I mean, someone has to defend us all."

"That's true." He looked into the distance for a moment, then brought himself back to earth. "And you said James is teaching at Hogwarts?"

"That's right," she smiled. "He's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Good for him," Greg smiled. "I can't imagine going back and being a teacher. I mean, all your old teachers would be your coworkers!"

"I know," Olivia said. "But he seems to love it." She paused. "And what are you doing post-Hogwarts?"

"It's not as impressive as being an Auror," he said. "I work in the Ministry with the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

"Oh, then you work with Adam!" she exclaimed.

"Of course," he said. "He's a great guy. His wife's a sweetheart, too. They were both in my year at Hogwarts."

"Yes, I guess they would have been," Olivia agreed. "They are great people."

"There's a bunch of us who graduated together who still stay in touch," Greg said. "They're part of the group, obviously. They told me that Potter had married one of the girls from your year."

Olivia nodded. "Lily Evans."

"Cute little redhead, right?"

"That's her."

"But you're not married, are you?"

Olivia laughed. "I'm as far from married as I can get!"

He smiled. "So I am I." He paused, and a nervous shadow fell over his eyes. "Hey, listen, are you here alone? I'd love to buy you a drink."

"I'm actually with a couple of girlfriends," Olivia said, her eyes filling with regret. "I promised them we'd only stay a little longer – they both have to work in the morning."

"Well, look, I don't want to keep you from your friends," Greg said. "But can I see you again? I'd really like to get to know you better."

"I'd like that, too," Olivia said with a grin.

"Great," Greg said. "Can we meet here Friday night? Say eight-thirty?"

Olivia ran through her schedule in her mind. "That should be fine," she said.

"Excellent. I'll see you then."

"See you then," she echoed.

"Well? What do you think of French food now?"

"You were right," Sirius grinned. "It's fantastic! But, I'm sure the chef had a lot to do with that."

Rebecca flushed. "There's not much to cooking. Anyone can do it if they have a good recipe in front of them."

"You say that now," Sirius laughed. "You've clearly never seen me try to cook!"

"Oh, come on. You can't be that bad!"

"The first time I tried to cook dinner after we moved into our flat, it took James, Remus and I to put out the fire – and we were using our wands."

"You're making that up."

"No, I'm being completely honest!" he exclaimed, holding up his hands. "After that, any time I 'cooked' it involved bringing home Chinese food or pizza."

Rebecca laughed, and pushed back from the table. "Well, come with me."

"Where are we going?" he asked, rising from his seat.

"You are going to have a cooking lesson," she said, taking his hand to lead him into the kitchen.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he asked with a grin as she released his hand. He leaned against the counter, watching her pull cooking utensils from her cupboards.

"I'm sure," she said, rummaging around in the cupboards for ingredients. "I'll have you cooking in no time. I'm a very good teacher."

"I'm sure you are," Sirius said. Unable to resist her, he came up from behind her, and put his arms around her waist. "Can't you teach me something that involves heating other things?" he asked, kissing her neck.

"Sirius," she murmured. She closed her eyes, then pulled away. "Cooking lesson first."

"All right," he agreed, stepping back.

She spun around with a grin, holding two thick bars of dark chocolate. "How do you feel about fondue?"

Olivia wasn't sure how she found her way back to the table where Dana and Laura were laughing and talking. She sat down with them, her eyes still a bit dazed.

"Whoa," Dana said. "Liv? Weren't you supposed to be getting a drink?"

"I got much more than a drink," she grinned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Laura asked apprehensively, exchanging a glance with Dana.

"Do either of you remember Greg Wilson from Hogwarts?"

"Of course," Laura said at once. "He was in Ravenclaw with me. He was one of the fifth year prefects our first year, so he pretty much took care of us. He's a great guy – a real sweetheart. Why do you ask?"

"Because I just met him at the bar."

"He's here?" Laura asked eagerly. "I'd love to say hi!"

"Well, hopefully, you'll have plenty of opportunities to do that in the future," Olivia grinned. "I have a date with him for Friday night!"

"Am I doing this right?"

"Sirius, you're washing strawberries," Rebecca laughed. "If you're not doing it right, you need far more help than I can provide."

Sirius grinned. "I just don't want to mess this up."

Rebecca shook her head. "Please tell me you have washed fruit before."

He thought for a moment. "Well, yeah, I guess I have."

"If you have to think that hard about it, I'm not going to take it as a good sign," she laughed.

"Well, consider this – at home, my parents had a house-elf that took care of things like this. Then I went to Hogwarts, where everything is done for us. Then, after I left home, I lived with the Potters, who also have a house-elf."

"And now?"

"That's why I said yes," he grinned. "I've been washing my own fruit since graduation – when I eat fruit, that is."

She shook her head again. "All right, I'm sure they're clean enough. Come here, and let me show you how to melt the chocolate."

"All right."

He crossed the kitchen to where she was standing next to the stove. She had chopped the chocolate into smaller pieces, which were sitting on the counter, ready to be melted.

"Why did you cut it up?" he asked, indicating what had once been large, solid blocks of chocolate.

"It'll melt faster this way," she replied. "Now, the trick to this is keeping the fire at exactly the right temperature. If it gets too hot, the chocolate will burn. If it's too low, it'll take all night to have enough melted for our fondue."

"All right," Sirius agreed. "How do we control it?"

"Magic, of course," she replied. She took out her wand, and pointed it at the stove, muttering a spell. Flames sprung to life under the pot. She moved her wand slightly, making the flames jump higher, trying to find the right level. When they were where she wanted them, she muttered another spell.

"What does the second spell do?"

"It'll keep the fire at this level," she said. "Now, let's start adding the chocolate."

They had fun adding and stirring the chocolate, trying to keep it from burning. Sirius watched the quickly melting mixture with fascination.

"How do we know when it's ready?"

"Well, we have to test it," she said with a smile.

She dipped her finger into the chocolate. When she pulled it out, it was dripping chocolate.

"Open your mouth," she said softly.

Sirius obediently parted his lips, and she swept her finger into his mouth. He closed his lips around it, savoring the taste of the chocolate against her skin.

She smiled at him, and pulled her finger slowly out of his mouth. "What do you think?"

"I think you'd better try some," he replied, dipping his own finger into the chocolate.

When he pulled it out of the pot, she opened her mouth. He slid his finger between her parted lips. He sucked his breath in quickly as she began to suck the chocolate from his finger, taking far more of the appendage than was necessary into her mouth. She looked directly into his eyes the entire time she sucked on his finger. The tension between them rose with each passing second until she finally slowly pulled his finger out of her mouth.

Fondue was the last thing on his mind as he pulled her into a passionate kiss. As they stumbled out of the kitchen toward the bedroom, she waved her wand to turn off the stove. There was no sense in burning perfectly good chocolate.