AN: Clearly I've been on a holiday kick and I wanted to give Penny a happy Christmas with her little family!

The muggle inside of Penny was still surprised when the shaggy dog at her feet became the tall, handsome, incredibly dirty, man she knew to be her godfather. Sirius grinned at them, his hair longer than Penny remembered it. He was thin and his clothing was torn. The man was a hot mess, but his happiness at seeing the three of them before him was contagious. Lupin didn't waste a moment and embraced his old friend, Harry quickly following suit. Penny found herself nervous even though she'd spent so much time wishing to see Sirius again. Thankfully, he did not notice and bridged the distance between them and pulled Penny into a rough hug before holding her at arm's length,

"It's uncanny how much you look like your mother, Penny. It really is like looking at a ghost," said Sirius, his eyes glazing over much in the same way Snape's did from time to time.

Penny couldn't help but roll her eyes, she'd heard that line one too many times in her life.

"So everyone says, I might try coloring my hair black just so I won't have to hear it anymore, then maybe take on your last name, if you'll let me," Penny said, shooting a grin at Harry.

"My mother would turn over in her grave, it sounds like a brilliant idea," Sirius replied with a bark of laughter.

"No one is touching Penny's hair," said Lupin, looking much less amused by the proposition than Sirius.

"Remus, why do you always have to be be such a killjoy. We already know what she'd look like," said Sirius, gesturing to Harry.

"I don't think I'd make a very pretty girl," said Harry, skeptically.

Lupin raised his eyebrow in an I-told-you-so manner, to which Sirius scoffed.

"Considering it's my hair, I'll be the one to decide," Penny said, darkly.

"Atta girl," Sirius said, slapping Penny on the back in what she assumed must be an affectionate gesture, but she was not quite sure because it nearly sent her toppling to the floor. She caught herself on Harry's head, who'd taken a seat on the nearest rock. He yelped when a few of the hairs from his head came loose beneath her grasp.

"Erm, sorry. It's been a while since I've been in this form," said Sirius apologetically.

"Don't worry about it Sirius, Penny is just unbalanced," Harry replied with a grin.

"A product of being your sister," Penny retorted, straightening herself.

"Well, it certainly feels like the holidays," Lupin laughed, waving his wand to conjure a table and chairs for them, a small candle hovering just above it.

Following his lead, Penny pulled her rucksack off her shoulder, "I brought you some things, Sirius."

He sat down, his eyes looking bright with excitement even though they were shadowed by the horrendous bags he had developed while in Azkaban. Meanwhile, Harry handed Sirius a pile of chicken from his own bag, which Sirius began inhaling immediately. Penny pulled a plate full of sandwiches, mashed potatoes, pork cutlets, a container of pumpkin juice, rice pudding, a cake, two bars of soap, a tooth brush, a blanket, several books, a new pair of clothing, and several games from her sack.

"Did you enchant that yourself?" Lupin asked, looking mildly impressed.

"Hermione helped me. We were in the library one evening when we decided to try, it's actually been really convenient," Penny replied off-handedly, jamming her arm all the way to her shoulder into the bag to ensure she hadn't missed anything.

Her fingers slid over the smooth surface of her camera and she yanked it out and tossed the sack to the floor just in time to see Sirius come up for air from his food. He accepted a glass of juice from Harry gratefully and eyed the haul, turning over the toothbrush in his hand like it was a luxury he could have only ever dreamed of.

"You should have packed more soap, Penny, he looks like he hasn't bathed in a year," Lupin teased, bringing the bright pink bar to his nose to smell.

"Is it floral? Jenny Braester used to always smell like flowers," Sirius said, tugging his shirt over his head to try on the sweater Penny brought for him.

For such a slim man, Sirius was still quite muscular, his torso looked more like that of a male model's than an outlaw. Before Penny could get a better look, Lupin had yanked her toward him, covering her eyes with his hand.

"Really, Sirius, you're not 17 anymore," Lupin said in a tone of paternal scorn.

"Find me a 17 year-old with better abs than these," Sirius bragged in response.

Penny wrestled with Lupin, floundering like a turtle in his lap, unable to free her eyes from his censorship. She found herself disappointed when he did let her go and returned her to seat, giving her an accusatory arch of his brow. Penny pretended not to notice it, and turned away with a scowl. Sirius was right, none of the boys she'd seen looked like him!

"It suits you," said Harry, looking at Sirius like he was a new man.

Penny followed the eyes of her twin, finding Sirius looking quite nice in his clean black denim pants and dark grey over-large sweater that fit his frame nicely. She nodded her vigorous approval, "What can I say, I have an eye for it," Penny said, smugly.

"It's easy when you have such an excellent model to work with," he winked and then returned to his seat at the table where Lupin was shuffling cards for Slap Jack.

It did not take long for Penny to discover she was not made to play this game with the three nutters sitting around her. They all became intensely competitive and would smash the jack with all their force, resulting in many swollen hands. Harry proved himself to be the undefeated champ, having the quick reflexes of a star quidditch player, to which Sirius spent much time praising him and reminiscing about the games he and Remus watched James play.

Having lost first for the seventh time in a row, Penny picked up her camera to snap their faces mid slap. She grinned imagining what the photo would look like, none of them realizing what she'd done until the flash went off.

"Harry you little cheat!" Sirius yelled, arguing his pointer finger had touched the jack first.

"You're just a sore loser," Harry taunted, adding the cards to his already thick pile.

When Penny finally pried them from their game, she handed them each a cracker from her pocket.

"Happy Christmas!" they chimed, each of their crackers exploding in a burst of sparks as the wizarding ones do.

Among the enchanted items, they each received a Christmas hat that Penny made them all put on before situating themselves for the Christmas photo she wanted. It took several tries because Sirius had no concept for how muggle photographs worked and kept turning his face away from the lens. Finally, the four of them squished together and Penny felt she'd gotten the perfect picture.

"So, Harry tells me you've been spending a lot of time with that slimy git, Snape," Sirius growled, fixing Penny with a hard stare.

Penny shot a furious look at Harry for being a tattle-tale.

"He is my Professor, I'm required to," she replied in an even tone.

Sirius turned to Lupin, who glanced hesitantly at Penny, "The relationship is curious, but knowing how brilliant Penny is, it doesn't surprise me. I wish you wouldn't let old prejudices cloud your judgement, because from what I've seen, Penny and Professor Snape are good for each other, he was after all, the one who found her last month," Lupin generously pointed out.

"Of course he wanted to be the one to find her, he was the reason she disappeared!," Harry interjected, angrily.

"What!" said Sirius, rounding on Harry for more information.

"Penny?" Lupin said quietly, turning to her with a questioning look.

"I know you want to trust him, but he pointed his wand at you, Penny," Harry said, meeting her furious expression with his own fierce conviction.

"He did what!? I'm going to wring his slimy neck," Sirius burst out, getting to his feet.

"Sit down, Sirius," Lupin said almost lazily, waving his hand at him, still watching Penny. The gesture seemed to work because Sirius sat down quietly and turned his gaze to Penny who was reeling.

She needed to control her fury, and she also needed some way to explain, but she wasn't sure how. Harry looked vindicated in his opinion of Snape, which only served to annoy her further. It was tedious sometimes, how Harry was never open to considering how he may have been wrong about someone.

"It wasn't Professor Snape's fault, I lost control," Penny finally said. "and yeah, he pointed his wand at me, we were fighting, but he didn't use it."

"He's a dead man," Sirius said under his breath, which garnered him a sharp look from Lupin.

"What could you have possibly have been fighting about that warranted him pulling out his wand on a student?" Lupin replied, looking as appalled as the other two.

"I stumbled on him and Karkaroff having a weird conversation, and I don't think I was meant to hear it," she said, looking nervously at her hands.

Her heart was hammering in her chest, fearful of what would have to come out of her mouth next, scared for the confirmation of disgust their eyes would bring.

"Karkaroff?" Sirius said in a suddenly sharp tone, "Did he see you too?"

"I don't know, I tried to run off, and when Snape caught me he was gone," said Penny.

"Karkaroff, like the Durmstrang headmaster?" said Harry, looking between the worried looks of Sirius and Lupin, evidently as confused as Penny.

"Yes, but he wasn't always a headmaster, he spent some time in Azkaban because he was a known Death Eater," Sirius replied, getting up from his chair to look out of the cave.

"Why'd they let him out!" Harry demanded, looking disgusted.

"He cut some sort of deal with the Ministry," Sirius said, not bothering to look at Harry.

"What was the topic of this conversation?" Lupin asked Penny, concern still etched in the lines of his pretty face.

Penny shifted uncomfortably, she wanted to lie, but she knew she was not capable while Lupin's warm brown eyes were on her.

"Karakroff was saying something was growing darker while Professor Snape denied knowing what he was talking about, but Karakroff demanded to see his arm. Then Professor Snape pulled his wand on him and Karakaroff backed off and pulled up his sleeve. And well, on his forearm, I saw the dark mark," Penny trailed off, expecting Harry's sharp intake of breath. "So Snape's a Death Eater! too"

"We don't know that!" Penny said, defensively.

Sirius finally turned around to fix his dark eyes on Penny, and then to look back at Harry.

"As far as I know Snape's never been convicted as a Death Eater, but he sure as hell was into the dark arts while we were at school," he said to Harry.

"It does not matter what Professor Snape was like at school, Dumbledore trusts him and gave him a job at this school," Lupin said loudly as he poured a cup of pumpkin juice and offered it to Penny.

When she looked into his eyes she could tell he wanted her to know he was on her side. It eased the tension in her chest to hear him vouch for Snape. Penny really had not been able to come to a conclusion about the topic, and whenever it crossed her mind it left lingering distress. But Lupin had a point, if Snape had been a Death Eater, there must have been a good reason for Dumbledore to trust him.

"Remus, we both know Dumbledore is too trusting," said Sirius, looking unconvinced.

"And we also know you are too keen to judge everyone by how they acted in school. I seem to remember you being an insufferable bully," Lupin said, his lips upturning at the sides.

Sirius grinned back at Lupin, "Whatever you say, but I can't allow James' daughter anywhere near that slimeball, it's Snape ," he pressed, alluding to the mutual dislike Harry and Penny discovered Snape and their father shared for each other while at school when they learned Sirius was innocent.

"Allow me. . ." Penny said in a dangerously low voice, getting to her feet.

She could see Lupin recoil slightly and give Sirius a gruff shake of his head, as though to warn him, but he was ignored by both Penny and Sirius.

"You're my responsibility," said Sirius, meeting her defiance with narrowed eyes.

"That does not give you the right to presume to tell me who I can and can't be friends with. You don't own me," replied Penny, ignoring Harry tugging at the edges of her mind, asking her not to ruin their visit by being hotheaded.

"It does when you appear to be so incapable. Do you even care about your father's memory?" said Sirius, voice rising.

"I've done just fine for the last fourteen years, thank you! Professor Snape was there many years before you decided it was a good time to live up to that responsibility. And you want to talk to me about my dad's memory, well I never got any of those because everyone decided it better we rot with the muggles, so screw you!" Penny yelled, the anger bulging in her veins.

She knew she would regret what she said later, her response was merely a reflex to the pain he inflicted insinuating James would be ashamed of her. It was a topic she struggled with often, and made navigating her relationship with Snape difficult. But at the end of the day, she always felt like her parents would have supported her. Even if Snape and her father didn't get along, that didn't change all the ways he had cared for her the last four years. And he wasn't even obligated to, like Sirius.

Feeling like she might accidentally turn Sirius into a toad, Penny made to push past him and get some fresh air, but he caught her roughly by the upper arm, his features dark with anger.

"You're not getting off that easily," he growled in her ear.

She looked up into his face, he was much taller than she, and even as thin as he was, his grip was strong, making Penny certain she could not break free.

"Let go of me or I'll hex you," said Penny through gritted teeth.

"Try and hex me and see what happens,"

"Sirius," said Lupin, sternly, getting to his feet to stand between them and place a firm, but warning hand on his shoulder.

For a moment Sirius held Penny's gaze, shooting daggers at her, but then he heeded Lupin's warning and let her go, allowing Penny to march off. Harry's thoughts lingered at the edge of her mind, irritating her more. His opinion was she'd been horrible to Sirius and that Sirius had a good point, so she shut him out completely, refusing to hear another word. Instead, she heard Lupin behind her, "Have you tried listening to her. . .don't you remember being her age. . .did that ever work on you?" he scolded, to which Sirius retorted, but the crunching snow beneath her feet drowned it out.

She was tempted to march all the way back to school, alone, but felt that would only serve to solidify the perception she was acting like a dramatic teenager, and she didn't want to lose the time with Lupin, who would likely be heading back to his normal life soon. So she waited several minutes out the front of the cave until Lupin appeared carrying her bag, Snuffles the shaggy black dog and Harry bringing up the rear.

"Thanks," Penny said with a small smile, hoping Lupin would know it was for more than grabbing her things.

He clasped her hand gently and searched her with his warm eyes. He always made her feel like he could see straight through her, but not in the same way as Snape, who felt privy to her thoughts. No, Lupin's gaze pierced Penny to her core, discovering all the things she was too afraid to see in herself.

"I think it's just been a long time since Sirius has had anyone to care for, and that scares him," Lupin said softly, as he nudged her toward the path where Harry and Sirius stood waiting.

"Of course you gotta go and do what you always do. I was perfectly content leaving annoyed," Penny sighed.

"What did I do?" he smirked.

"Remind me what's important," said Penny, squeezing his hand back before she plodded off toward Sirius.

She knelt before the huge dog, who fixed her with his round puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sorry I was rude, it's just been a really shitty last three months," Penny began, patting Snuffles on the head. "But today was really nice, even if you are an insufferable-" she continued, stopping only when Sirius barreled her over mid-sentence.

Lupin was above them, rubbing his temples, and looking as though he could not believe their immaturity. Penny turned, annoyed, to the dog staring back at her, his big black paws pinning her shoulders, wet snow seeping into the neck of her robes. Just when she was about to yell at him, he bent down and licked the length of her face with his wide, wet tongue, at which Harry howled with laughter, and Lupin tried hard to suppress his own.

Sirius licked her several more times, ignoring her protests. When he finally released her, he dashed enthusiastically down the lane, avoiding any retaliation. Lupin helped her to her feet and handed her his handkerchief, looking far too amused.

"Don't you dare say anything," she warned, and he obliged, chuckling quietly under his breath as they followed after the damn dog.

After some time, they bid farewell to Sirius, arriving in the Entrance Hall just before sunset. Lupin broke the news he'd have to leave them there and head back home, which left Penny greatly disappointed. She sulked while Harry said his goodbyes and set off for the library after learning Penny preferred to head back to her dormitory.

Penny glanced around the hall, which was very beautifully decorated for the upcoming Yule Ball, yet it still felt somewhat empty knowing Lupin would not be there.

"Don't look so sulky, Penny, you have a lot to look forward to," he teased, turning her chin to face him.

"I wish you didn't have to go," she admitted quietly, feeling anxious at the thought.

"Believe me, I feel the same way. The last three months have been the hardest of my life, if I could hug you and never let you go I would. But that would be me being selfish, because I know the best place for your healing right now is here with Harry," he said, tilting his head to make her stop avoiding his eyes.

"I know that you're right, but it doesn't make me miss you any less," she complained, with a large pout.

"I guess I'll have to leave you something to remember me by," he said stepping closer to her and glancing above her head with a grin.

Enticed, Penny followed his gaze to find the mistletoe hanging above them. Realizing what he must mean, her eyes snapped back to his twinkling brown ones. He leaned in, causing Penny's breath to catch in her chest, and kissed her very softly on the side of her cheek, lingering for a moment before he pulled away ever so slightly to whisper, "Happy Christmas, Penny, I'm very proud of you and I know your dad would be too," into her ear.

Sooner than she would have liked, he returned to looking at her, smiling in amusement at the dumbstruck look on her face. And then with a last smile and an affectionate bonk to her nose, he pulled the hood of his robes over his head and made for the door, Penny barely managing a "Happy Christmas to you too," before he disappeared from sight.

Still dazed, Penny made her way to the Great Hall, replaying the look on Lupin's face over and over again. Suddenly, she collided with someone and stumbled backwards, their hands reaching out to keep Penny from falling to the floor.

"You all right, Penny?"

Penny looked up into the familiar blonde features of her potions buddy.

"Draco!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him and smothering him with her gratitude.

"Missed me that much?" he said, smoothly.

"You-are-the-most-beautiful-person-in-the-entire-world," she said, going back and forth from his cheeks and planting kisses on them.

She only stopped when someone cleared their throat loudly, causing the two of them to look up into the irritated features of Professor Snape.

"As touching as this romantic reunion is, people are trying to eat, Ms. Potter," Snape drawled, prying the two of them apart, looking disgusted.

"Sorry Professor, she came at me," said Malfoy, smirking.

"I do not blame you, Mr. Malfoy. I am well aware that Ms. Potter is a very forward girl and I do not imagine there is a man alive prepared for her advances," he said, giving Penny a cruel grin.

"I'm sorry women do not find you stimulating enough to be enthused around, Professor, Draco and I shall find a more private place to continue our conversation," Penny quipped, eyes narrowed.

Snape grabbed the hood of her robe, yanking her backward, and preventing her from leaving the hall.

"You'll do no such thing, get back to your common room, Mr. Malfoy," he said through gritted teeth, his cold eyes boring into Penny.

Draco gave Penny an apologetic shrug and left, leaving Penny to the clutches of Snape, who released her, allowing her to round on him.

"What was that? Did you forget he was the reason I got out of HELL?"

"No, but you seem to have lost your mind and propriety!" he snapped.

Penny snorted in derision, giving Snape a haughty look, "Oh boy, here we go, let's hear that sexist lecture about how I should never express anything that looks remotely similar to expressing sexuality. I'm sorry your mom didn't hug you when you were little, but really Professor, friends are allowed to show affection!" she fumed, adding, "Lupin does it all the time."

This seemed to be the tipping point for Snape who appeared to be shriveling in his anger. It was a curious thing to note, and so unlike her uncle. She watched him register everything that she'd said, his mouth opening several times and shutting again as though he thought better of what was to come out. Just when he looked like he'd gathered himself to respond, the handsome frame of Cedric Diggory came into view, engulfing Penny in his arms, pulling her off her feet and giving her a huge bear hug.

"Penny!" he said, kissing her cheek several times.

The sensation was quite pleasant, and startled Penny, who felt her face begin to burn. For a fraction of a second, mid-hug, Penny caught the smug look on Snape's face that told her he knew exactly what she was thinking at that moment, making her face burn scarlet. With a dramatic swoosh of his cloak Snape left Penny to her humiliation, which she could not be distracted by for long because alongside the handsome face of Cedric, several other's joined, squealing her name.

Things became suddenly loud again, and Penny felt like Lupin was right, being at Hogwarts was exactly where she needed to be.