Disclaimer: yeah...

Hey guys! This is a massive chapter (it's like almost 20 pages on my computer) and it's all the NYE party!

Enjoy!

Essie

I'm a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm.
And the scars that mark my body, they're silver and gold,
My blood is a flood of rubies, precious stones,
It keeps my veins hot, the fire's found a home in me.
I move through town, I'm quiet like a fight,
And my necklace is of rope, I tie it and untie.

And now people talk to me, but nothing ever hits home
People talk to me, and all the voices just burn holes.

~Yellow Flicker Beat, Lorde

Dany was named after her great-grandmother. The first Danilynn Charlotte was a bold, regal woman who had taken absolutely no shit from anyone. Dany always felt somewhat uncomfortable being called by her full name for this reason; she didn't feel bold or regal at least 95% of the time. Looking at herself in the mirror in her mother's bathroom she, for once, felt like she was doing her namesake justice. She was in a bright blue halter dress and the heels on her feet made her taller than usual. Her hair remained down for the most part, except for the braids that came together at the back of her head. For once in her life she felt like the girl she was supposed to be: perfect. Her father walked into the bathroom and smiled at her.

"You look beautiful, Sweetheart. Ready?" He said. She nodded and followed her dad into the hallway, reaching the balcony above the entryway. Rhaegar and their mom were already there. Rae grinned at his sister.

"There is something cute under all that nerd after all!" He laughed. Dany whacked him in the arm and he yelped "Ow!" before their mother could break them up. The best-kept secret about the Masters' New Years party was that it's held at their home. Unless you had gone, you'd never know. Of course, the upper floors were off limits to guests but more than 200 people would pour into their house starting in less than 5 minutes. The Aurors had been there for hours making preparations for tonight; Daniel had insisted that once the party started that Alastor take a break and join in the fun ("it won't hurt, Alastor, honestly"). The doorbell rang. The four of them finally made their way down the stairs and Daniel opened the door. They all warmly greeted the Mr. and Mrs. Jones from Magical Law Enforcement and so the evening began.

People kept arriving for at least an hour. James and his parents appeared about twenty minutes in with Dorea apologizing saying "Sorry we're late, we can't make James be on time to save his life, really." Lily appeared with her parents not much later and the two girls complimented each other on their dresses and hair, as teen girls tend to do. Eventually, people stopped entering as consistently and Dany and Rae were allowed to leave the doorway to go talk to people instead of greeting everyone. Dany was idly walking around with Lily and James, with Dany pointing out who's who and telling them anything remotely funny about them. Suddenly, James looked towards the door sharply.

"They're here." Dany and Lily turned around quickly and Dany immediately excused herself.

"I'll go and play Minister's daughter, you two entertain yourselves." She said before pushing her way through the crowd. She reached her parents just as Walburga was moving towards them. She noticed that Rhaegar had appeared not five seconds after her, flashing his sister a smile. They shuffled around so the Blacks would run into Daniel then Rhea then Rhaegar and finally Dany as they walked through. Both of her parents were exceedingly courteous to both Walburga and Orion. Rhaegar shook both of their hands and finally asked what they had all been wondering.

"Are your children not coming, Mrs. Black?" Her brother said in a very neutral tone. Dany's eyes flipped over to her brother momentarily and she watched Walburga's expression pinch into an expression resembling that of one who just swallowed a lemon. Dany tried not to laugh at her face.

"They are. They must have wandered off somewhere…oh, here they are." Orion answered for his wife, who seemed incapable of speech at this point. Dany's head snapped up but she didn't catch sight of either Sirius or Regulus before she was stuck shaking Walburga Black's hand. She said nothing, but her husband did speak to her.

"Miss Masters, I hear you are friends with my son. How on Earth did he come by such a friendship?" He said and there was a clear challenge in his eyes. She could almost hear her father's groan of 'why did you have to talk to her' from her spot almost 10 feet away from him. Dany couldn't stop herself from rising to it.

"Regulus? I'm sorry I can't say I know him very well; it's probably because he's in the year below me at school…" Dany watched his expression keenly for a second, letting it sink in then pretended to remember something, "Oh! You mean Sirius. I'm sorry, I honestly forget that he's related to you sometimes; it's just he's just so opposite of the rest of you. Fortunate to have such a clever and well-rounded heir." She said faking a sense of obliviousness and kindness, pretending that she hadn't just called them complete dumbasses with her backhanded compliment. Orion and Walburga looked at her like she had lost her mind. Her mother looked less than impressed and her father and brother were both trying really hard not to laugh and were both failing. She heard a chuckle from behind Orion and saw it was Regulus; Sirius was still out of her line of vision. Both of his parents looked at him.

"What? It was funny." He said to them. With nothing more to do, Orion and Walburga stormed off, with Regulus trailing behind them. He paused to whisper, "That was amazing" to Dany then left.

"Danilynn Charlotte—"

"Hush, Rhea they had it coming. And it's not like you disagree." Daniel replied with a laugh.

"Yeah Mom, they're bloody horrible; they should at least know it." Rhaegar added on, also chuckling. Dany's mother looked like she was going to start lecturing them all on manners, husband included, when another voice spoke up.

"Hey, I live with them and I don't disagree so I doubt anyone really can." Dany's head snapped up at the distinctly male voice. She wanted to cry with relief; Sirius looked healthy, maybe not flourishing, but most definitely alive. He was supposed to greet her parents then Rae then her and they all knew it. Sirius grinned at her quickly then shook her father's hand.

"Minister. It's an honor, sir. Really, my parents hate you so much that I've actually been quite excited to meet you, I figured that you must be a great guy." Sirius said half-serious half-joking. Dany's dad shook his hand and seemed rather surprised but still smiled, he really meant it too, Dany thought.

"The pleasure's mine. Dany and James certainly only have good things to say about you. And please call me Daniel, all of Dany's friends do." Her father answered with another smile. Sirius looked surprised but said nothing. He shook hands with Dany and Rae's mom.

"Sirius Black. You might be the only good thing that your family ever produced." She said simply. Sirius looked rather flattered by this. He smiled at her in the same charming way that the children of powerful people do.

He shook hands with Rhaegar and they shared a brief moment of teen boy understanding and a head nod. Finally, he moved towards Dany.

"Hey, Dan." He said with a smile; a real one, not the bullshit he had just fed her mother out of courtesy. She was supposed to shake his hand and stay formal; it was tradition, a tradition that was hardly ever broken in their family. It was so rare that she couldn't ever remember it happening; she doubted that it had happened in her father's memory either. She was supposed to shake his hand. She didn't. Before she could stop herself she hugged him. She heard her mother gasp at the break in etiquette. The hand that had been extended to shake her hand moved to her back and she could feel him laughing at the sudden movement. Besides, he was always open to an opportunity to break the rules; he hadn't planned on it tonight but went along with it.

"Thank God." She whispered more to herself than to him. Sirius was alive and they could all rest a little easier knowing that fact. James would probably cry; hell, she wanted to cry. She heard him whisper, "I'm okay. It's okay. We're all okay." And she hugged him tighter for a second at this and then finally let go of him.

"Danilynn—"

"I think we can make an exception to the etiquette for a moment, darling." Dany's father chimed in and her mom threw up her hands, completely resigning herself to her daughter, and her husband, being a wildling tonight. "Dan, you probably want to bring Sirius to the rest of your friends. Let me know if James cries from joy, just by the way." He said with a laugh. She grinned and hugged him.

"Thanks, Daddy." She said without thinking. Then she realized that no one from school knew that she had held onto her childhood name for her father except James, who didn't mention it upon threat of death. Did she regret holding onto it? No. Was it embarrassing? Hell yes. She quickly moved away from her parents, dragging Sirius behind her, trying to ignore that her cheeks were quickly heating up. He pulled her to a stop.

"Daddy?" He said with a raised eyebrow.

"What? I'm a Daddy's girl. It's not like I can help it. It's what I called him as a little girl. I just held onto it." She retorted, trying to blow that over.

"So has Mom always been 'Mom'?" He asked, still amused.

"Nah, she became Mom when I was about nine. Mom and me don't always get along. Our house feels like a house divided sometimes, to be honest. Me and Dad versus Rae and Mom."

"Aw come on Dan, it's cute. Little Dany loves her daddy." He said as he batted his eyelashes at her. She ignored him and continued to lead him towards where she had left Lily and James.

"Lils and James should be around here somewhere…this is where I left them…but they're not here. Of course not." She said, throwing her hands in the air, "Sirius, you're tall; you don't see them do you?" He looked around, probably searching for Lily's hair.

"Um…I don't see—oh there they are." He winced. "Oh ouch, Evans just slapped him. Let's go, I hear the Lily-James train wreck from here." They shuffled through the crowd, Dany following closely behind Sirius, as she didn't know where they were going exactly. Eventually, they found Lily. She was standing next to a table, waving off some random guy that seemed very interested and wouldn't leave. She vaguely heard the redhead say something about going to find a friend; Dany supposed she meant James. Dany had no idea who the guy was. She walked over and raised an eyebrow.

"There isn't a problem here, is there?" Dany said, in a mostly pleasant voice. The boy turned around and his eyes widened.

"N—no. No problem." He stuttered. Dany glared at him.

"I wasn't asking you." She snapped at him. She realized she sounded very much like her father. She heard Sirius snicker behind her. "Lils? Problem?" Lily shook her head.

"Good. Now you, get. Go on. If I find you harassing someone else tonight, you're out. Got it?" Dany barked at him. The kid nodded and tried to get away as quickly as possible. Lily smiled at her best friend thankfully.

"Thanks. He wouldn't go away. It was like having a tapeworm." She muttered. "By the way, I wasn't going to find Potter. I was just trying to get rid of him."

"We figured Evans. I just saw you slap him." Sirius said dryly. Lily noticed that he was there for the first time.

"Oh my God!" She squealed and hugged him. He chuckled and hugged her back.

"I didn't know I was so popular with you two." He said. Lily slapped him on the arm.

"Oh shut it. We worry about you when you're home. We all do. We have no choice honestly. We all have to listen to Potter and Dany sit around chewing their nails and coming up with the worst-possible scenarios they can think of." She said lightly.

"Oi, you'd be coming up with them too if you'd ever met his bloody nightmarish parents." Dany protested. Sirius nodded in agreement in her peripheral vision.

"Alright, alright whatever you say, girl. I still think you have a bleeding heart for everyone you know…anyways, we probably should actually find Potter; he'll want to see you." Lily addressed the last part to Sirius.

They walked around for a while until they stumbled upon James, who was looking rather dejected in a corner. Dany waved him down and he looked up and waved at her. Than he caught sight of Sirius and they had the most intense reunion between a couple of guys Dany had ever seen. There was even hugging involved. The two girls finally walked over when they thought it was safe. The four of them found a table in a corner and sat down, ignoring the place cards for now. Sirius sat between Dany and James and Lily sat on Dany's other side. James finally asked the question they all wanted to know.

"So you gotta tell me, how was it, this past few weeks without me?" James tried to joke. Sirius didn't bother trying to play along.

"How awful were my parents, you mean."

"Well, yeah. I wasn't going to be that blunt but whatever." James shifted awkwardly in his chair.

"Not horrible. It was just really boring. I was on essentially solitary confinement in my room the whole time. I've had worse breaks believe me. I did my work for school I was so bored." He replied dully. Dany watched him closely, looking for any indicators that he was lying to them. She found none and let it go.

"Come on, they're starting the music. Dance with me Lillian!" Dany laughed and dragged all three of them out to dance.

Lily had watched Dany disappear into the crowd of people to find Sirius and she was left alone with Potter. He had been nice for a while, and they spent some time idly chatting. Until he tried to make a move and she had instinctively backhanded him across the face. She had walked off and almost immediately wished she hadn't. She didn't know anyone here well enough to just start talking to them; even though all the children of the people at the party had been technically invited, most didn't bring their kids unless they were friends of the whole family or friends of the Masters children from Hogwarts. Lily was there because she was Dany's friend, James because his parents were Dany's Godparents, and Sirius and Regulus because their parents had literally no choice but to bring them. Of course, Rhaegar was around somewhere but Lily slightly feared the older teen, no matter how much Dany insisted that he liked her. She just couldn't shake the feeling that Rhaegar Masters was not one to be toyed with; not that she was planning to, but that feeling made it awfully difficult to talk to him, let alone approach him.

So instead of seeking out Dany's brother or going back to find James, she began to wonder, looking at all of the people Dany had pointed out earlier. She thought about Dany's different persona tonight. She was on her game: perfectly polite, remembering everyone's name and full of small talk. She hardly seemed like the same girl that Lily went to school with but then whomever she was talking to would walk away and all of a sudden Danilynn Charlotte was gone and Dany was back, grinning and laughing, making a smartass comment about whoever had just walked away.

Lily stood on her toes and tried to pick out her best friend. She found her pretty quickly by the door with her parents and brother. It appeared that Sirius had just walked over to them and Lily barely glanced Dany hugging him before someone bumped into her and she lost her view. She leaned up against a table, having no problem being alone. Unfortunately, she wasn't along for long. A guy, probably fifteen or so, walked up to her.

"Hey, you seem awfully lonely." He said and Lily got the distinct impression he very much wanted to remedy that.

"Oh, yeah my friend just went to the bathroom. I'm waiting for him so if you don't mind…" She said, hoping he'd take the hint. He didn't.

"Well that's not very polite of you." He said and Lily rolled her eyes and waved a hand.

"Seriously, get." The guy didn't move. Suddenly, another voice interrupted them.

"There isn't a problem here, is there?" It was Dany and she looked pissed. For one of the first times, she reminded Lily of her father and brother: all righteous anger and no fear.

"N—no. No problem." The guys said, clearly recognizing the silver-haired girl.

"I wasn't asking you." She told him dismissively. Dany turned to her. "Lils? Problem?" Lily shook her head.

"Good. Now you, get. Go on. If I find you harassing someone else tonight, you're out. Got it?" Dany kindly informed him. The kid practically ran off to get away from her.

"Thanks. He wouldn't go away. It was like having a tapeworm." She muttered. "By the way, I wasn't going to find Potter. I was just trying to get rid of him."

"We figured Evans. I just saw you slap him." Sirius said from behind Dany. God, Lily had been glad to see him. It was horrible but she always worried that one day one of them would get word that Sirius Black was dead.

The four of them had sat down and talked easily for a while until someone had announced that it was time for dinner.

"Alright, find your place cards guys. If you're not anywhere near me, I'll see you all after dinner. I have no idea how these things are set up, honestly." She said and wandered off, presumably to find her parents. Lily wandered with Sirius and Potter, checking the seats to see if they had come across their own. Dany was seated between her brother and father towards the middle of the room, laughing at something one of her family had said.

"Oi Evans, I found your seat." Sirius suddenly called out. Lily walked over and sure enough, there was a place card labeled Lillian Evans between her parents names at the round table that seated eight about two tables away from where Dany was. She glanced at the other names and was very glad that she recognized one or two of the names from school. She wasn't very fond of Amos Diggory (no one was) but she'd take what she could get. She thanked Sirius and sat down as he and James kept walking about; she hoped Sirius and Potter would be close to each other, at least. The two were bloody nightmares on their own, with no one to entertain them. Lily's parents soon sat down and she began talking to them about the magical things in the room they knew nothing about. She was half-watching James and Sirius walk around, until suddenly Dany's mom waved James over.

Lily watched him walk over and talk to her momentarily. He asked her a question. She nodded. He said something else and she waved a hand dismissively. Dany entered the conversation and said something to Potter because he finally nodded. He also waved Sirius down and called him over. He walked over to where James was standing next to the Masters clan. James said something to him and he looked shocked. Lily was damn curious what was going on over there but decided that she also was quite glad to be here with her parents; for once she was glad to not be a part of the spectacle that Dany inadvertently was everywhere she went.

Sirius was really dreading dinner. He knew that people were seated closer to the Minister's family if they were close friends. The people closest to them were like family; childhood friends, godparents, and current friends were all seated adjacently to Dany's family. Then there were important Ministry benefactors, people who were considered to be the movers-and-shakers of the Wizarding World. And finally, there was everyone else: people that they were obliged to invite, those that they would rather not have very close to them but had no choice. He was quite certain he would be somewhere in the corner with his parents and brother, having a quite miserable time.

He found Lily's spot pretty close to where Dany was already seated. Then he and James started to wander around, occasionally checking tables.

"Man, these damn things get me every time." James grumbled. Sirius looked at him, amused.

"Who sits with them?" Sirius suddenly asked, noticing that there were four empty seats at the table the Minister and his family was at.

"It changes a little from year-to-year but it's usually Moody, one of Rhaegar's friends or something, sometimes my parents, but these past years it's been Ministry people, Daniel needs powerful friends in a time like this." He replied. Just then, Dany's mom waved James over. "Hold on, I'll be right back." Sirius nodded and looked around. It was like a less pretentious version of every Pureblood event he'd ever been to. Except the people were nice and he didn't particularly feel like he was being shunned or like his life was in danger. He looked at James talking to Rhea Masters. She was a pretty woman yet didn't resemble Dany at all except in height. She lacked the silver hair of her children and husband and had a head of dark brown hair instead. Where Dany had bright blue eyes, her mother's were a soft brown. They had different jawlines, cheekbones, noses, and even mouths; the youngest Masters was the spitting image of her father. James suddenly waved him over. Sirius walked towards them and when he got there, James clapped him on the back.

"I found our seats, bro." James said with a grin. Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"That's great James…if you'd like to point me in the right direction that would be even better." He replied. Dany laughed suddenly. Sirius glanced at her and it struck him, not for the first time tonight, how different she looked than usual. Her eyes were still the same though, still laughing.

"Well, walk a couple feet to the right…one more step…alright stop. You're there." She said with a small smirk. Sirius realized that he had merely sifted over another seat. He glanced down and sure enough, James Potter was next to Sirius Black, which was next to Daniel Masters. Sirius looked at James like he had no clue what was happening, because he didn't. He noticed that James' parents were also at the table. They suddenly arrived and smiled at everyone as they took their seats. James and Sirius exchanged a look and with a small shrug they both sat down.

Sirius very much felt like he was in the hot seat. He was eating dinner next to the bloody Minister of Magic. Logically, he knew that it was just Dany's dad and he shouldn't be this freaked out but he couldn't help it. It was definitely more intimidating than if her dad had been in Magical Maintenance or something. James' mother was happily talking to Dan's mom and James and his father were also talking, about some relative that had gotten into some scandal or another. Dany and Rhaegar were happily chatting on their father's other side.

"You can relax, you know. I'm not going to bite your head off." A voice suddenly said from next to him. Sirius jumped, he hadn't been expecting the Minister to talk to him so abruptly, or at all if he was being honest. The sound of his voice took him off guard too; he didn't sound scary or powerful or gruff at all. He reminded Sirius of moments Dany had sounded the same way, nothing but earnest kindness.

"Oh, erm sorry…I just got caught up in daydreaming is all." Sirius replied and then realized he sounded like an idiot in all probability.

"Sure you were. Look, I'm sorry that this is how my wife decided to set people, I'm sure you guys would rather be off doing something that didn't involve talking to people more than twice your age." Daniel said. Sirius looked at him in surprise. For a moment he thought that he had looked up at Dany but realized her back was currently turned to him. The same blue eyes stared back at him and they were exceedingly nice and gentle. But Sirius knew from experience that Dany had a tendency to turn cold and angry quickly and suddenly her eyes would go icy; he suspected that the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"Oh, it's no I have no problem with it. Honestly, as long as I'm away from my parents it's fabulous…out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to know why I'm sitting here, would you?" Sirius asked in what he hoped was a casual voice. Daniel laughed.

"My guess is that Rhea grouped you in with the Potters, not surprising considering that Dorea constantly talks about 'her boys' and how proud she and Charlie are of both of you. That and my daughter convinced me to let your family, who are generally not very nice, as I'm sure you know better than anyone, attend tonight solely for you; I figured I should at least talk to the boy that I was making all these exceptions for." He replied. Sirius was surprised at this. He was close to the Potters but he hadn't actually thought that Dorea considered him to be one of her own children. Not only that, but he hadn't known that Dany had been so forceful in her pursuit of his attendance.

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you; I'm the boy you're making all these exceptions for." Sirius said awkwardly. Daniel Masters looked at him, somewhat speculatively.

"She cares for you greatly, you know. Good friends are hard to come by in this family; we seem to have a chronic problem with fame seekers and gold diggers. I really do appreciate you and all of the others treating her like any other shithead teenager." He said. Sirius saw what Lorenzo the tailor had been talking about; he loved his daughter more than anything else. They were very similar although Sirius had a bit of trouble seeing past the whole Minister of Magic thing.

"Oh, well she's a good friend; certainly better than I deserve. She's got quite the mouth on her too, but I'm guessing you knew that." Sirius responded. The Minister looked at him almost critically and abruptly changed the subject.

"So, I hear that you play Quidditch. James says you're a pretty good beater, especially for being so young. Most don't become decent until they're mostly done growing up."

"Dad, are you seriously talking Quidditch at the table right now?" Dany suddenly said, turning to look at her father, her conversation with Rhaegar long gone.

"Yes, Danilynn I'm 'seriously talking Quidditch right now'. Really Sweetheart, I'm just making conversation and we all know that no one in this house appreciates the great game like I do." Her father retorted. Dany rolled her eyes with a snort.

"No one appreciates it like you do. I think you might even have James outdone." She said with a grin. Sirius watched on, amused by the banter and laughter that made the man he was sitting next to seem much more human.

"Last time I checked I wasn't the one who tried to ride a broom at six and then got so frustrated that she couldn't that she screamed so loud she broke all the windows in the house." Her father teased.

"Okay, it was an accident and I'm sorry that I'm not naturally gifted like some people." She said, her face turning slightly pink.

"I really think that's where your lack of enthusiasm comes from Dan; you're just mad that you can't play." Her dad laughed as she whacked him over the head. Sirius laughed at this and Dany looked at him, for the first time completely ignoring her dad.

"Hey, I never got to ask but how did your parents take to the Muggle clothing thing?" She asked with a small smile on her face.

"My darling mother threw a fit so big that it rivaled the one about me being sorted into Gryffindor, if that says anything." Sirius answered. Dany shuddered. It was well known how poorly Walburga Black had reacted to her heir being put in Gryffindor. As a matter of fact, "poorly" didn't even begin to cover it.

"That's shameful, being angry with your child over their house. The Hat hardly ever asks anyone to make their own choice and even if it does, it's still the child's choice to make, not their parents'." Daniel suddenly said.

"Aw, come on Dad if me and Rae had been Slytherin you can't tell me you wouldn't have been upset."

"I wouldn't have been thrilled but I wouldn't be throwing you out of the bloody house certainly; you're still my children and if anyone tries to throw you anywhere I'll beat them up." He said lightly, despite the impression that he was not kidding at all. Dany rolled her eyes.

"That's love right there, huh? See, Sirius this is what raised me; now you know why I'm such a nut case." She said with a wink. Her father looked affronted.

"You are no such thing. Your mother and I did a wonderful job with you! Granted it was a bit sketchy with your brother but we definitely knew what we were doing by the time you came around." He argued. Dany rolled her eyes.

"Well that's reassuring, I suppose. It does explain Rhaegar on a variety of levels though. The boy has never been quite right in the head. Did you ever drop him very hard? I feel like a lot of his personality comes from some kind of traumatic head trauma." She said mildly. Her dad laughed.

"Oi! I resent that. If anyone is whacked out of their brains around here, it's the both of you." Rhaegar protested and Sirius laughed. Dany whacked her brother over the head. And Daniel smiled slightly as he answered his daughter.

"No Dan, that's just how your mother was at sixteen. I suppose that's why they get along so well." Her father answered. Dany smiled at Sirius.

"God help the Ministry if he grows up to be like Mom. I love her, but she's kind of a soft person." She said. Her father looked at her keenly and Sirius got the impression that Rhaegar and Rhea Masters were close not only in name but personality; just as close and Danilynn and Daniel were.

"Hey, be nice now. She's still your mother and my wife. But yes…your brother needs to toughen up before he becomes Minister." Daniel admitted. Sirius raised his eyebrows; he was shocked that they were even talking about this in front of him or anyone else. "Sirius, do you have any idea what you want to do after Hogwarts?" He abruptly said.

"Oh, well I'm not really sure I mean we have plenty of time to decide, but if I had to choose today, I think I'd want to be an Auror." Sirius said uncertainly, never having given much thought to that.

"That's a noble job and a very difficult one. How are you in school?" Her father answered. Sirius had the feeling that this had just become an assessment of his abilities.

"Dad." Dany said warningly.

"Danilynn, I just want to see how he does in class, there's no crime in it." He told his daughter. "So Sirius, back to the original question."

"Oh, well I'm alright I guess. For a Third Year, at least. I'm miserable at Divination but I think that class is a load of rubbish, honestly." Sirius replied. Dany rolled her eyes from behind her father's shoulder.

"Alright? You're at the top of the class. I mean we're not even allowed to duel each other because no one ever wins." Dany added. At this, Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"You've dueled my daughter? Have you ever won?" He asked, his eyes glittering.

"Once last year." Sirius answered. "Most of the time we just end up going for so long that class ends and we have to leave."

"That's impressive. Dany has been taught to use magic during the summers ever since she got her wand. An exception was made because of the war and the target that the Death Eaters have placed on my family. Transfiguration?"

"Best student in the class, well tied with James but still." Dany answered, bored.

"Potions?"

"Good enough to ignore Slughorn and still pass." She said. Sirius was becoming mildly uncomfortable at this. He knew what these classes were: they were OWLs needed to enter Auror training.

"Charms?"

"I'm bloody rotten so I think everyone is good at Charms, honestly." Dany said.

"That you are, Sweetheart. Herbology?"

"I'm passable." Sirius interrupted Dany's rather accurate description of his academics. And she really was horrible at Charms. It just never seemed to click with her. "No, really. I passed out when we did mandrakes just because I didn't listen and forgot earmuffs." Dany and her father both laughed.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Sprout made James drag you all the way to the Hospital Wing by your ankles. That was before you two were frequent visitors to Pomfrey's end of the castle and people actually became worried when one of you was injured." Dany laughed. "Ah, you should have seen your face when you passed out. It was awesome." This didn't amuse Sirius. She hadn't shut up for almost a week when it had happened and he didn't particularly care to revisit that week.

"Visit the Hospital Wing much then?" Daniel asked.

"Oh um, yeah between Quidditch and the Slytherins I end up there every now and again." Sirius said, edging around the reasons hoping that he would accept that as an adequate answer. Sirius didn't feel like explaining to the Minister of Magic how he would end up in fights with some of his distant relatives because they were beating up an eleven-year-old girl or something. Unfortunately, the Minister was just as curious as his daughter.

"The Slytherins? You kids are getting each other laid up in the Hospital Wing now? When I was in school, the worst that ever happened was a tripping jinx on some Ravenclaw during my fifth year." He said thoughtfully. "I shouldn't be surprised, Hogwarts is really just the Wizarding World on a smaller scale." Sirius raised his eyebrows. A tripping jinx was just your average Tuesday walk to Potions.

"Yeah, the Gryffindors and Slytherins are really at each others throats right now…they've taken to picking on our First Years, actually; that's a lot of the reason we're all ending up under the care of Madam Pomfrey." Dany said absently, after taking a drink out of her glass. The comment didn't go by unnoticed.

"What do you mean 'we're all ending up under the care of Madam Pomfrey'? Danilynn, if you've been picking fights, so help me." The Minister said slowly. Her eyes widened and she looked at her father frantically. Sirius guessed that Daniel Masters wasn't aware that his daughter was just as frequently injured as he was. Rhaegar looked up from where he was eating and winked at Sirius as if to say, 'you're going to want to see this; no one's joking when they say that they're alike'.

"I'm not picking fights exactly…what am I supposed to do if I walk by some shithead kid beating up a First Year? Let it happen?" She argued with her father her voice becoming slightly louder. Sirius raised his eyebrows. He hadn't expected her to swear in front of her dad. Apparently it was a common practice because it went unacknowledged.

"No…it would be too easy to grab a teacher right? Of course it would be. No one in this family ever does it the easy way. Well, if you have to, try not to get yourself killed and most importantly…" He said as Rhaegar looked up again and answered with his father and sister.

"…Don't tell Mom." They said together with identical grins. The mother in question was still talking intensely to Dorea and didn't notice any of the conversation. Dany laughed and relaxed, knowing she wasn't going to rung out for something they all practiced; even Lily had gotten into a scrap or two in the last couple of months. Fortunately she had come out on top, and had managed to send one of the Malfoys to the Hospital Wing and had been given two weeks of detention under McGonagall as punishment. Sirius had become much fonder of the ginger after that particular incident.

"You kids should probably get back to your friends. It appears that Dear Lily is on the verge of clawing her ears off. Amos Diggory does tend to have that effect on people though; he's a nice boy but there's nothing he loves more than to talk about himself. It really can make one quite repulsive." Daniel said while looking a few tables over, where Lily did indeed look like she wanted to die, as he thoughtfully observed the crowd. "Ah, it appears that my wife was making a statement regarding your family tonight, Sirius." Sirius looked around, noticing that for the first time he couldn't see them. Dany started laughing abruptly and leaned around her brother to compliment her mother.

"Mom, I know I give you a hard time, like all the time, but seriously, that's amazing. Really, I applaud this on so many different levels. Ah, her face is hilarious." Dany said with a laugh. Rhea Masters tried to hide her smile.

"Thank you, dear; I did take some…liberties with the seating arrangements this year. And yes, she does appear to be a bit put out, doesn't she? Oh no, she's looking this way." Her mother replied and both women looked away from what they were watching.

"I don't see them…" Sirius trailed off, still looking around while attempting to be discreet. Dany grinned.

"Look a little to the right of Lily…then look back, to the left of that guy with the green hat on." She said, still trying to stifle her laughter so she wasn't being completely obnoxious. Sirius finally found his parents and he immediately understood what Dany's father had been talking about; while Regulus and his father looked like they really couldn't care less about the seating arrangement, his mother looked livid and Sirius understood why. They were seated towards the very back of the room, almost pressed against the wall and by themselves. Sirius accidentally caught his mother's eye by staring and she looked pissed. He could tell by the look on her face that she was thinking about the fact that while she and her husband were pushed into the corner, Sirius, their "blood traitor" son, was seated next to the Minister, talking to the entirety of the Masters family like they were all life-long friends. There was going to be hell to pay but for the first time in what seemed like forever, Sirius discovered that he really didn't care what the repercussions of his actions would be, as far as his parents were concerned, at least.

James was having a great time. His best mate was here and so was the girl he was in love with. Not to mention that his Godparents and Dany. God, he thought, Lily looked so beautiful tonight. She was absently listening to Amos Diggory three or so tables away from where James was seated and she looked very much like she wanted nothing more than to slap the Diggory boy's head into the table. It just made James like her more. Truthfully, he could never express how grateful he was to Dany for convincing her parents to allow the Blacks to attend tonight. He glanced at Sirius and he was talking to the Minister, who seemed to be enjoying the younger man's company. James couldn't say he was particularly surprised; Sirius was a good guy and generally if Dany got along with someone, so would her father. It was Rhaegar and Rhea that would differ in opinion from the father and daughter; they were different at their cores and even though they were all fundamentally good people, they just would never agree on some things.

Dany was talking to Sirius and her father and James thought she looked different tonight. He had seen her at a dozen of these things and she had never been glowing like she was now. Even her hair seemed brighter than it normally was and her smile was just a little bigger. He supposed that she was happier than usual and it was just shining out of her. His best friend looked different too, but that was probably because James wasn't used to the change in clothing. He seemed more relaxed and at ease than James had ever seen; the only times he was like this only lasted seconds normally and left so quick he usually wandered if he was seeing things.

Once dinner was over, the dancing started up at around 10. Dany and James dragged Sirius and Lily onto the dance floor, being much more accustomed to the situation. Lily laughed and followed her friend and the girls started dancing together and laughing at how horrible they both were. Sirius was more obstinate.

"Man, I don't dance. I'm bloody horrible at it." Sirius protested. James rolled his eyes. Everyone here was horrible at dancing.

"I don't think you've realized just how bad everyone else is…seriously if those two," he gestured to Dany and Lily still dancing as horribly as possible, "aren't enough evidence, look around." James replied with a grin. He watched Sirius look around at everyone horribly dancing, except for a few people who actually knew what they were doing. James was aware that Dany was intentionally dancing horribly and in a super dorky way; she was actually pretty good as long as she actually tried. He omitted this to Sirius and simply let him believe that they were all just as bad as he was.

"I don't know, mate…" Sirius said slowly. Just then Dany and Lily looked up at them.

"You two suck! Come on!" Lily yelled at them over the fast dance music. Dany laughed and grabbed both of them and dragged them completely onto the dance floor. They both followed, James willingly and Sirius much more hesitant. Dany and Lily went back to dancing and laughing. "What's wrong with him?" James heard Lily say to Dany. Dany glanced at Sirius, who still looked incredibly uncomfortable, and shrugged.

"I don't know…James, what's up with him?" Dany said, changing her attention to James momentarily. James shrugged and decided he was going to out Sirius' dancing fears to the girls.

"He doesn't like dancing. Says he's bloody horrible at it." James said, trying to be heard over the loud music. Dany rolled her eyes. And turned her attention to Sirius after relaying what James had said to her friend.

"Come on, you can't be that bad. You have to be better than Lily, honestly." James heard Dany say to him. They all had to stand really close to be heard over the music and she was practically shouting in his ear. James was shocked he could even hear them at all. "Besides, who cares? My parents? My dad puts everyone to shame each year with his interpretive renditions of the classic sprinkler and shopping cart moves, so definitely not them. You have no one to impress here…come on!" She said and James laughed at her mention of her dad's dancing. Daniel really was an unabashedly horrible dancer, despite actually being decent like his daughter was. It was always a form of free entertainment. Dany was still trying to get Sirius to dance and was having slightly more success than James had. Eventually she convinced him to at least move a little rather than just stand there looking awkward. James told him he didn't even look constipated when he did this.

Around 11:15, Dany motioned them over to part of the room where, sure enough, her father was attempting to "break it down" like he did every year. Rhea was in the corner talking to James' mom, Dorea, who looked highly amused, despite her companion looking horrified by her husband. Daniel motioned to his daughter and Dany laughed and joined her father. She danced with him for a little bit in their classically horrible way and he spun her around a couple of times before the music slowed slightly and they actually started trying a little. James smiled; like always any kind of dance that the father and daughter did was highly unscripted and also sweet and heartwarming. Dany motioned to her brother and mom, who begrudgingly started to dance a little. Rhaegar danced with his equally unenthusiastic mother for a few minutes but it was Dany and her father that really seemed to be enjoying the form of ballroom dancing that James' own parents soon started doing. The Minister and his daughter still reminded him of a little girl dancing with her daddy.

"She looks like she's about six." Sirius said abruptly from next to James. James glanced at him and saw he was watching them move around the room, between other people.

"She always does when she's with him. What everyone says about her being his favorite is true; just how Rhaegar is their mother's favorite. Even though we're growing up and we're in a war, which her father is leading, she'll always be his little girl." James answered him. Eventually Dany and her broke apart with a quick hug and Dany wandered over towards them. Lily was talking to her parents on the other side of the room and so James was able to fully concentrate on his Godsister and not the love of his life.

"Hey guys, y'all are looking pretty bored. It's only 15 minutes until midnight, you know." She said to them. They both shrugged.

"Well as we all know, Sirius isn't a dancer and I can't exactly leave him here alone. I'm going to head to the bathroom, you mind babysitting?" James said with a wink. Dany laughed and shrugged. James slowly walked away and circled around the room, not actually going to the restroom. Dany had it for Sirius bad and James wasn't even sure that she was aware of it yet. He had shoved them together on impulse to see what happened. They talked for a minute and then it appeared that he finally relented and let her lead him to the dance floor. She said something else to him and he shook his head. She put her hands on her hips and Sirius nodded. She grinned, visible from where James was watching them, and they started up some form of ballroom dance that actually was pretty competent. Dany was talking and occasionally he would abruptly change directions, taking her with him. Dany would say something and he would laugh. James suspected that she was trying to discreetly point people out to him and was relaying stories that she had heard from her parents and even her brother.

James checked the time and saw it was only a couple of minutes until midnight and suddenly the music turned off and everyone looked at the clock. James pushed through to Dany and Sirius and seconds after he arrived by their sides so did Lily.

"It's been a good year, you lot." Dany grinned as she turned her attention back to the clock. 30 seconds until 1973. James considered kissing Lily but thought better of it under the sharp look Dany gave him with a short headshake. 10 seconds.

"10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1! Happy New Year!" The entire crowd shouted. Couples all over the room kissed including, James noticed, both his and Dany's parents. He caught sight of Orion and Walburga Black who looked like they very much wanted to leave. They all hugged, no one feeling courageous enough, or wanting, to kiss. Dany hugged him and James laughed and hugged her back.

"Happy New Years, darling Godsister." He said. She grinned and hugged Lily, who hugged her back intensely before letting go and saying something that James didn't quite catch that made Dany laugh. James and Sirius did a typical man-hug including one arm and some form of shoulder contact. Lily hesitantly shook hands with James and hugged Sirius kindly, but not very close. Neither of them looked very comfortable. Dany hugged Sirius too, much more comfortably than Lily had, and he hugged her back and said something. She pulled away and grinned. Her smile quickly vanished as she looked past him. James followed her line of sight and caught a glimpse of Walburga Black walking their way. He and Lily moved closer to where Dany and Sirius were standing, not like the Third Years could really do much in an emergency.

Then, out of nowhere, appeared Dany's father. James wanted to walk right up to Daniel Masters and hug him for having such good timing. Walburga's face pinched slightly but did not walk away from where the Minister had just appeared next to her son.

"Sirius, we need to leave now. We have plans tomorrow morning, after all." Sirius' mother said and somehow that sounded incredibly menacing. James saw Dany glace up at Sirius, clearly worried and not believing what his mother was saying. Sirius nodded and suddenly looked rather closed off, like he didn't want his parents to think he was actually that good of friends with any of them. Daniel interrupted.

"Mrs. Black, you certainly have a great son here. It was quite the delightful accident that my wife put him with the Potters tonight; I truly enjoyed his company at dinner. He's more than welcome at my home any time. And Sirius, if you're still interested in the same career path in a couple of years, I can put you in contact with the right people. It was nice to meet you, Son." Daniel said with a handshake to Sirius and a simple nod to his mother. Sirius smiled at James and they quickly guy-hugged again and Lily smiled at him saying that they'd see him back on the train. Dany fully hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck and standing on her toes to be high enough to do so. He hugged her back tightly, one of his hands moving to her hair and another to her back; it was oddly intimate, James thought as he saw Sirius say something into her hair softly, much more gently than anything else James had seen him do in day-to-day activities; the boy was a regular bull in a china shop. She faintly nodded James guessed that she said something back because she let him go, returning to being flat-footed.

"See you soon, mate." James said and then they all watched him walk away from them with his parents, Regulus trailing behind. James' own parents showed up a bit later and received a much better welcome than the Black matriarch had.

"We're going to have to get on home; we've got company from work coming over for brunch and we'd all like to get some sleep before the Aurors descend on the house. It was really great this year, you all." James' dad said and everyone nodded, Rhea thanking them for the compliment. All of the Masters, as Rhaegar and Rhea had come over minutes before, hugged all three Potters (James noted that Dany was not nearly as enthusiastic as she had been when she had hugged Sirius; probably because she wasn't worried about him dying within the next week, he reasoned). Lily shook hands with both of James' parents and smiled awkwardly at him and eventually hugged him so quick that he wasn't quite sure that it had actually happened.

James followed his parents out of the front door and they all Apparated back home. Before James collapsed into bed, he thought, this is going to be one hell of a year.