20 December 1996

The cold winds of December announced the upcoming school break and the arrival of Christmas time. All over, Hogwarts had been heavily decorated accordingly to the season, even more so than in the previous years, under the orders of Dumbledore himself. Hopefully, the headmaster had thought, the Christmas spirit would smother temporarily that dark cloud of war hanging over everyone's heads, especially after Katie Bell had ended up badly cursed by a necklace during a November Hogsmeade visit. The enhanced Christmas spirit did seem to work mainly with the youngest students, though some of the older seemed pretty affected as well.

Fact was, the number of Death Eater attacks had decreased after Flint's arrest and trial as he'd spilled his guts and given away nearly two dozens of Death Eater's names in exchange for being exiled to a secured location instead of sent straight to Azkaban. After that little betrayal, several of Lord Voldemort's servants had gotten too busy (either by being sent to jail or being on the run from it) to bother with taking part in attacks.

Along with the extra Christmas decorations, the holidays had brought Slughorn's Christmas party. In the Gryffindor common room, Ginny Weasley sat in one of the armchairs waiting for Harry to finish getting ready for the party. It crossed her mind that usually it was the other way around – the guy waiting for the girl to get ready. But then again, usually the guy didn't come out of detention just fifteen minutes before the party in question and sped all the way to his dorm in order to change into his dress robes.

A hysterical burst of giggling coming from the portrait hole's direction had her turning her face to it. She wished she hadn't. Pressed against the wall was Lavender Brown, who happened to be busy getting snogged by Ron. It looked more like a face-sucking match than anything else, Ginny considered, feeling all the appetite she might have had earlier going down the drain.

It had been her fault… sort of. She'd been the one who'd dragged Harry to some secret passage a couple of weeks before in order to give him a victory snog after their first Quidditch game together and gotten herself caught by her brother. She'd also been the one who'd gotten really pissed off when he'd started blabbing about 'revoking his permission' for them to date if they kept on snogging in front of him, venting her fury by mocking him for never having snogged a girl and throwing to his face that even Hermione had done it with Krum. He seemed to have fixed that last part fast enough with Lavender's aid, which had caused an enormous rift between him and Hermione, who'd not only been supposed to have him as her date to Slughorn's party but also, though she wouldn't admit it, had been pining over him for a while.

And now, in the middle of it, Harry had the hard task of having to split himself between his two best friends, his girlfriend, his family, Dumbledore's lessons and his detentions. It made Ginny wonder if she should have just told Ron to piss off instead of provoking him – not that the git wasn't asking for it but she did feel bad for Harry and Hermione.

"Hey, you ready?" she heard Izzy as she came down from their dorm.

"Yeah, just waiting for Harry," Ginny replied without turning as her best friend sat on one of the sofas.

"Hum, I see Ron's having a good time," Izzy pointed out dryly, her tone rather sickened as she spotted the snogging couple at the entrance of the Common room. She was okay with a little kiss or maybe some light snogging in public but that seemed to belong right inside a broom cupboard.

"It's like they're trying to suck each other's faces off," Ginny whispered furiously, turning to her friend. "It makes one wonder if Ron's feeding himself right since he's trying to make a meal out of Lavander."

"I can't believe you've just said that."

"Well, it's true, isn't it? Don't tell me it's not!"

Izzy rolled her eyes. "It does seem like they need to improve their technique," she offered diplomatically. "But it looks worse than it is to you because he's your brother. It's disgusting seeing him snog by principle. Kind of like me with you and Harry…"

Ginny didn't want to look but her eyes wouldn't obey and turned to face Ron and Lavender. Where was a prefect when she needed one to break it off? Oh, that's right, he was standing right in front of her giving them all a show – so, maybe Izzy was right. Ron being her brother only made it worse.

But she certainly wasn't the only one bothered by it. A group of first years were doing gagging sounds at the couple and Seamus Finnigan, who'd been unusually quiet ever since he'd returned to the school after spending three weeks at home mourning the loss of his parents, appeared to be a bit green while looking at the couple as he sat with Dean Thomas. Then again, Ginny thought, she'd always suspected he had some crush on Lavender Brown.

"Hey, Ginny, Izzy, have you seen Cormac anywhere?" she suddenly heard Hermione asking as she walked down the girls' staircase. Her words were enough to make Ron jump away from Lavender and look straight at her in confusion. "You know, that guy who nearly made Keeper for Gryffindor," she added in a spiteful tone.

Ginny nearly clapped at the intervention but found it more satisfying to watch her brother's face change from confusion to infuriation, though he didn't breathe a single word.

"McLaggen?" Izzy asked, pretending to be surprised, as Hermione had already informed them of her plans. "No, not lately."

Hermione slapped her own forehead, in a fake self-scolding fashion. "Oh never mind. I completely forgot we'd agreed to meet downstairs so he could escort me to Slughorn's party. Thanks anyway." And, with that said, she made her way to the portrait hole, passing right in front Ron without a single acknowledgement.

"Brilliant," Ginny mumbled under her breath as a pouty Lavender left to go sit with Parvati and Ron made his way to the boy's staircase, looking annoyed to the bone. Hermione couldn't have picked a better date to get back at him than the pompous Cormac McLaggen. Letting out a satisfied breath, she turned to her best friend, feeling in a chatty mood. "So, where's Colin? You're still going with him, right?"

Izzy nodded. "Yeah but just as friends." Colin had wanted to go to the party but didn't get an invitation and she'd wanted a date so she wouldn't look pitiful. Since he was a friend and far from a prick, the deal had seemed good at the time. "He said he'd wait for me by Slughorn's office. He was hoping to snap a bunch of pictures of famous people."

"You sure that's nothing more than that? Just friends?" Ginny asked her best friend, curious. Ever since she and Harry had gotten together, Izzy appeared to have gotten pickier in what came to guys. If in the previous year she'd settled with Terry Boot easily even though what they had was a far from love, that year she'd already gone out with Dean Thomas once, another with Jimmy Peakes and finally with some Hufflepuff whose name Ginny couldn't remember, all those times saying something about 'no chemistry'.

"Just friends," Izzy assured her, referring Colin.

"Maybe you're being too picky with guys," Ginny suggested.

"I'm not." She paused, noticing the redhead's doubtful look. "Okay, maybe I am. I'm just… looking for something."

"And that something would be…"

She shrugged. "I dunno… a guy who can make me laugh without trying too hard. Just by being himself, you know?"

"Well, too bad there isn't a comedy club here at Hogwarts," Ginny joked.

Izzy shook her head. "It's not just that. I want someone who I can lean on and really talk to. Like my parents do."

"And you expect to find that guy among all the randy minds here at Hogwarts? The odds are against you, Isabelle."

"Well, you did," she pointed out.

Ginny didn't have any weapons against that point and couldn't help grinning because of it. "I'm lucky."

"Maybe I'm be lucky too. And since the product of your luck has just walked in, this conversation will have to be finished later," Izzy informed her as her Harry hurried towards them.

"I'm ready, let's go," he told Ginny.

She stood up from her seat and turned to him, smiling. "Your tie is all crooked," she informed him with a chuckle. And his hair was completely messy but that was impossible to fix and, honestly, she had a thing for that look.

He huffed, trying to fix the tie. "I hate dress robes."

She slapped his hand away from it and straightened it herself. "There you go. You look just like a big boy," she said in a tone that one would use with a five-year-old, poking his nose when she was finished.

He frowned. "Hey! I'm not a kid."

She chuckled and kissed his cheek right before he turned to glance at Izzy.

"Where's your date?"

"Colin's waiting for me outside Slughorn's office. I thought I'd walk with you guys, unless you're planning on making any detours…"

He ignored the last part. "Colin as in Creevy?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a problem with that?" She didn't even bother mentioning they'd be going as friends, all ready for a shouting match with the git for meddling with her dating life.

"Not unless he chases me around with his camera," he stated, making her face soften.

"Colin promised he'd behave," she assured him.

Harry gave her a doubtful look but just shrugged and urged them to get going. The long corridors of the castle were rather cold and empty, seeing as many students were probably already in the Great Hall, getting ready for Dinner. As soon as they reached the fifth floor and started to approach Slughorn's office, the music coming from it started to fill their ears, getting louder along with the voices for every step they took. A group of important-looking individuals walked by them and showed their invitations to Filch, who was serving as a porter that night. Colin Creevy also stood by the entrance, though he was distracted snapping a picture of a couple of seventh-years.

"Remind me again why we have to go to this thing…" Harry asked under his breath, staring at the lights coming through the open door.

Izzy was the one to answer. "Because you're the chosen one, my father was the first person to ever escape Azkaban and Ginny has wicked bat-boogey hex, which she happened to be aiming at Zacharias Smith's face when Slughorn was walking by."

"Damn," Harry cursed under his breath. He really had no way to escape the party without looking completely rude. Just a couple of hours, three at the most, he thought. Then, he'd claim to be exhausted, escape with Ginny, hopefully get a great goodnight kiss and go to bed. When he woke up in the morning, it would be time to catch the Hogwarts Express and go home for Christmas. He turned to Izzy. "Do you think you can convince Colin to go distract Slughorn by having him pose for a bunch of pictures? Maybe that way he'd forget about me for a while."

She raised an eyebrow. "And what would I get in return?"

"My eternal gratitude?"

Izzy wasn't convinced. "We'll have to renegotiate that later. Wait out here a minute while I take care of it. Hey, Colin!" she called the mousy brown-haired boy before reaching him and taking him into Slughorn's office.

"You know, you can always fake some sort of injury," Ginny suggested. "Fred and George once taught me this spell that gives the illusion of an exposed fracture. You should have seen Mom's face when Fred used it on George's neck and she saw him with his spine hanging out… She screamed bloody murder before realizing it was all bollocks."

Harry made a face. "Merlin, that's… that's completely morbid, not to mention disgusting. I'll have to pass. Besides, it can't be that hard to live through the party, right? If we go back to the common room, odds are we'll run into Ron and Lavender going at it."

"Again," she added just as Izzy showed up by the door, signalling it was safe for them to go in. "Ready?"

He shrugged. "Guess I am." He offered Ginny his arm to hold as they made their way into the party and she smiled as she cordially accepted it. Harry took a moment to observe the room, realizing easily it had been magically charmed to seem larger than it was, which, with the drapes all over, made it look like an enormous tent.

He spotted Hermione at the opposite side of the room, sipping from a glass and apparently not paying any attention to what McLaggen was saying by her side, simply giving a nod every now and then. Izzy had settled herself nearby, chatting with Luna Lovegood, who Ginny informed him that Neville had brought as a friend. Slughorn was proudly getting his picture taken as he stood laughing with a familiar-looking sturdy, dark-skinned woman.

"Holy Merlin. Harry, look, that's Gwenog Jones!" Ginny whispered frantically, staring at the woman.

Hum, so that's why she looked familiar, he thought. The very well-known Beater and captain of the Holyhead Harpies, Ginny's favourite Quidditch team of all times, usually had her picture in the sports section of the Daily Prophet every week.

If he hadn't known that being professional Quidditch Player and playing for the Harpies was Ginny's dream job, he might have laughed at that amazed, admiring look on her face as she looked at Jones – it kind of reminded him of the look Alex wore whenever he was impressed. He reckoned someday Ginny would be the one receiving the praises from every Quidditch publication in the country – she was a brilliant chaser already. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind – he realized it might turn out to be a pain in the arse for him but it would be worth it if it made his girlfriend's night. It was Christmas time, after all – one ought to be generous. "Hey, Gin, would you like to meet her? Gwenog Jones, I mean."

His girlfriend's face turned to him in a flash, disbelieving. "Are you kidding? Of course I would! She's my Quidditch hero!"

He smiled at her, then. "Let's go, then. I bet Slughorn is just looking forward to introduce Harry Potter to every single one of his protégés, Gwenog included. Guess if you stick with me, he won't mind introducing you too."

Before he could take a step Ginny pulled his arm so he'd look straight at her. "Wait. You're going to pull the Harry Potter card? But you've just gotten Izzy to get Slughorn off your back!" She knew how much he hated his fame and all the attention that it brought. Her mind just couldn't help thinking of how he was going to bring all of it onto himself just so she had a chance to meet her idol… just because of how much it meant to her.

In response to her question, Harry shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal. "I guess if I have to use the fame every once in a while, it might as well be for you. See it as a Christmas gi…"

She was kissing him, very publically, before he could finish. Someone in the room – Ginny assumed it was Romilda Vane since she'd managed to infiltrate herself into the party as Zabini's plus-one – reacted to the kiss with a piercing shriek, which the couple ignored. Then, pulling away, she clutched his arm. "I love you, you know?" she kissed him again. "Now take me to Gwenog Jones!"

It occurred to him, as he made his way to Slughorn, that it was the first time one of them said it out loud – I love you – though it had been implied in their actions for months. "Love you too," he said very softly and, if it wasn't for Ginny looking up, giving him a brilliant smile and telling him that she knew, he might have believed she hadn't heard him at all.

He grinned. Maybe that party and getting himself in the middle of everyone's attentions for once might not be so bad, after all.

At 12, Grimmauld Place, Mia reached inside a cardboard box to get a star ornament that was destined to the top of the Christmas tree in her and Sirius's room. They'd grown used to having plenty of trees in the house: one in their room, which usually was only up to the two of them to decorate, other in the living room for the whole family to take care of and another in the dining room, Kreacher's responsibility although Izzy usually ended up helping him with it. It had originally been Sirius's idea to have them all over the place. 'Christmas is everywhere, love, so should trees' he'd claimed. At least, she thought, only the one in the living room was an actual tree, while the others were Muggle plastic ones, or else someday there wouldn't be trees left for anyone.

That year, since she was almost too large to even reach the higher branches without bumping her belly into them, Sirius had recruited Alex as his personal assistant during the decorations, while she was in charge of sitting on the bed, picking the decorations and dictating where they went. It had, by far, been the best time she'd had in months, watching her little boy giggling in delight every time Sirius lifted him up to place the ornaments sloppily on their respective branches.

"There you go, honey," she said, passing the star ornament to Alex and placing a kiss to his chubby cheek. "Remember that's not to eat, baby."

With an oddly serious expression on his face, Alex nodded. "Tate bah," he said thoughtfully.

"Cookies are so much better, aren't they, mate?" Sirius told his son, picking him up. "The crispy ones with chocolate chips."

"Whew cookies?" the little boy asked, looking around for them.

Mia shook her head. "Not here, honey. You can have one after dinner if you're a good boy," she promised.

"Now, how about we put that star on top of the tree?" Sirius suggested, pointing at the specific location, which was only a foot opposite his face. "Right there."

"Up?" the toddler asked.

"Up-est," Sirius told him in their own code.

After the successful placing of the star, Alex looked rather proud of himself and ran to Mia just as Sirius let him down. "Baby!" he said, looking at Mommy's big belly, resting the side of his face, trying to listen to what his little sibling was up to.

Mia rubbed his hair. "I think the baby's napping right now, honey. Just a little longer before it comes." According to Elizabeth, two or three more weeks at the most, though there shouldn't be any problem if the baby came at any point from there. If Mia didn't trust her best friend as a healer and hadn't been trained as one too, she could have called her a liar and said the kid should have arrived at least two weeks before. She couldn't see her own toes or carry her son anymore since she was so big, not to mention those blasted back aches and swollen ankles. She felt like an elephant lately.

"Can pway?" he asked, looking up at her hopefully. "Like Dashy?"

He actually meant Darcy Finnigan. Her grandparents, the O'Dells, had come over earlier that afternoon in order to thank them for letting them use the Wales house, bringing the little girl in a tow. Even if there was still something sad about her, little Darcy looked a lot better than she had before, right after her parent's deaths. She didn't quite understand, her grandmother had said when they'd talked bit. But one thing was for sure: she'd gotten much more cheerful after she and Alex had gotten over the shyness and taken to play with each other for a while. Though she was four months younger than Alex, Darcy was nearly as fast on her little legs as he was and the youngest Black appeared to like having a competitor of his own size. Later, the O'Dells had left with a promise of bringing their granddaughter over every once in a while, concluding a friend was exactly what she needed.

"Not yet, honey," Mia responded. "The baby will be really tiny when it comes out. You've got to wait for it to get bigger."

Alex didn't have a chance to be too disappointed about that as he got more interested in the lights that Sirius had cast all over the tree before he came to stand against one of the bed's posters.

"The little bugger's having the time of his life," he said with laugh.

"He's not the only one," she said, smiling back as she raised a hand to him. "Help me up?" she requested. Simple tasks just as that one were starting to become a problem. Her maternity leave had arrived just in time or else she'd end up humiliating herself at Hogwarts by getting stuck on a chair or something.

He promptly assisted her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips just as he succeeded on getting her to her feet. "There you go, love. The little one is getting kind of cramped in there, isn't it?"

"Very," she confirmed. "I love being pregnant, I really do, but I wouldn't mind getting this kid out of me before Christmas so I wouldn't be so useless."

"You're far from useless, love. Just a little… conditioned these days. It's not like you can't help around – Molly promised she'd let you peel the potatoes on Christmas Eve," he pointed out. Due to Mia's condition, Molly Weasley had offered to have them all over for Christmas and New Year's, an idea that had been very welcomed by the kids and the Weasleys in general, who loved a good old messy Christmas.

She huffed. "That's as good as nothing. I'm a witch. I can have potatoes peeled without lifting a finger."

"Well, maybe you should use the Muggle way this time around then, then," he suggested mildly, winning himself a glare from Mia in return

And suddenly, as Sirius was about to say something else, there was a knock on the open door, which had then both turning to face it and Alex running happily to the people standing there. It was Remus and Tonks.

"Wotcher, guys," the Metamorphagus greeted the cheerfully, reaching down to pick up the little boy, placing a kiss on his cheek, which initiated a fit of giggling from his part.

"Kreacher told us to just come in," Remus said. "Hope we're not interrupting anything."

Mia shook her head. "Never mind that. Come on in."

"Nice tree," Tonks said, grinning at the Christmas tree standing in the corner of the room. "Ours is nicer. Tell them what it's got on it, Remus?"

He huffed and gave Sirius a don't-you-dare-laugh warning look. "Half-naked Father Christmases."

"They sing dirty Christmas carols when we ask them," Tonks described proudly.

Ignoring his friend's earlier warning, Sirius didn't even try to hold his laughter at that, same with Mia. That was about the last thing they'd ever picure being in Remus Lupin's flat. Only Tonks… "Where on Earth did you get them?" Sirius asked.

His cousin grinned as Alec grabbed a handful of her hair. "Charlie Weasley gave them to me last year – he brought them from Romania."

"Priceless. Just priceless. So," he let out a breath, ending the laughter, "what brings you guys to our humble residence?"

"Just dropping by for a visit," Remus replied, slightly nervous.

"Just a visit my…" she glanced at the toddler on her arms and concluded profanity might not be a good idea "…behind," she finished, turning to Sirius. "Remus here wants to talk to you about something and doesn't want me to know about it."

"It's not that I don't want you to know, Dora…"

"Yeah, yeah," she said dismissively. "You're lucky I have a thing for mysterious blokes." But she knew that if it was too serious, he'd tell her.

"Well, since we're not welcome here," Mia said, making her way to her husband's cousin, "we'll just go downstairs to the kitchen and smuggle some of today's desert before dinner. I think Kreacher was making an apple tart…"

"Apple tart… I'm so in," the Metamorphagus said as she and Mia left the room along with little Alex, leaving the two Marauders behind by themselves.

"Well?" Sirius inquired.

Remus reached for his wand and pointed it to the door, closing it and casting a Muffliato charm. Then, there was a moment of silence before he spoke. "I got her a ring."

"For Christmas?" Sirius asked, not quite getting the meaning of his friend's words. "If you want my opinion of it, I don't know that much about jewellery. You might want to ask Mia…"

"An engagement ring," the werewolf specified.

"Oh. That sort of ring." More silence. "When are you gonna ask her?"

"I have no idea. I didn't even know I was going to do it in the first place until I went into Gringotts this morning to make a withdrawal and came out with my mother's engagement in my pocket. This is mad!"

"No, it's not. She's your girlfriend, you live with her, you love her and she's great. Sum that all together and you want to marry her. What's mad in that?"

"I'm a werewolf – werewolves don't get married," Remus stated.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Please tell me we're not going down this road again, for Merlin's sake. She doesn't give a damn you're a werewolf and there's nothing in the law against them marrying. I checked."

Remus was surprised for a moment. "You did?"

"Yeah. When I first noticed you went all gooey-eyed for Tonks, I got curious and asked Dumbledore about it. And if he knows it, so do you. Who cares if werewolves don't usually get married? Neither do formerly escaped convicts and here I am with an eight-and-a-half-month pregnant wife."

"Many people may care. This may get Dora into trouble at the ministry…"

"Then tell them to piss off. You're freaking out, mate."

"I know!" Remus said. Everything had seemed so simple when he'd picked up the ring from Gringotts: he loved Tonks, he wanted to stay with her forever. Marrying her would be just great. But as soon as he'd come out, the real world had hit him like a train.

"You don't have to ask her today or tomorrow just because you've got the ring," Sirius told him. "I had a ring for weeks before I decided to ask Mia. And I freaked out too – James got an earful out of it, believe me." And even then, he hadn't even been able to ask her because she had to go into hiding… "Anyway, my point is that it's okay to freak out for a while. Just don't over-think it. Everyone knows she lives with you, anyway – if Tonks had to get problems at the ministry, that would have already happened, don't you think?"

Remus couldn't counter that logic. And that made him calm down slightly. "So, you think it's a good idea?"

Sirius grinned. "I think it's a brilliant idea. Want my advice? Get her to the ministry and marry her just as soon as she accepts the proposal. Before you've got a chance to over-think it again, you know? I suppose I can work with a post-wedding bachelor party."

"Here we go…" Remus said under his breath. "Last time you arranged a bachelor party, James spent the whole morning of his wedding day getting to know a toilet."

He snorted at the memory. "I know. I should have probably watered down that firewhiskey… Amateur's mistake. Won't happen again." There was a silent pause when the werewolf looked thoughtful. "She'll probably ask you herself if you don't," Sirius pointed out. "Tonks is the type that isn't afraid of taking matters into her own hands."

"I know," Remus admitted, letting out a sigh.

"You'll be ready to pop the question when you're done freaking out, mate," Sirius assured him. Proud of his own advice, Sirius clapped his old friend's back. "Now, since the ladies are downstairs already attacking desert, it's only logical that you guys stay over for dinner too. I suppose we start discussing the numbers for that bachelor party afterwards."

"I'm not having a bachelor party," Remus told him. "I'm not even engaged"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yet. And it's not like you have a choice, Moony. I'll have the twins drugging you if I have to."

"That's illegal."

"Only if we get caught," he pointed nonchalantly as he headed out, whistling the tune of a wedding march, for his friend's frustration.

In only all the problems in the world involved wedding proposals…

A/N: As promised, a lighter chapter this week. Hope you all liked it. Now, i've got to go back to write the most boring school paper ever. Feedback is welcome, as always! Review!