A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who has been reading so far! Glad you're enjoying this short story!

Lucy disappeared for awhile before returning to the kitchen, wearing a rather worried look on her face. "Left one box up there and came back with another. This one seems to be marked, 'Christmas', 'kitchen', and 'Slytherin' so we'll see how this goes," she set the box on the table before asking, "Dinah, you haven't seen my ring by any chance, have you? It's a gold band with a blue topaz solitaire."

"No," Dinah admitted, "I'm sorry. Have you lost it? It's from Sirius, I assume? I'll definitely keep an eye out for it."

"No, it was my mother's, actually. I always wear it, except at night and when I shower. I just noticed I wasn't wearing it and it's not up on the nightstand where I usually put it. I guess I'll wait until the boys come back and if neither one of them has seen it I'll try casting Accio for it."

Dinah nodded, "Now, let's see what on Earth a box labeled with 'Christmas', 'kitchen', and 'Slytherin' could have in it."

Lucy cautiously opened the box, "What the…" she reached inside as if she was afraid whatever was in there was going to bite her hand off. As she walked backwards more and more of the item was revealed. "I think it's a snake garland. What do you think?" The object was scaly, with red and green stripes, and bells hung intermittently along its length. There didn't seem to be a head, or at least one hadn't emerged from the box yet.

"I just hope it isn't alive," Dinah replied, trying to look like she was joking. But the sight of any kind of snake, in the presence of other people, if she accidentally… spoke to it, things could get ugly.

"I don't think it is…and there's a head. Oh, Dinah, I really don't think I can put this up. First of all it looks like some sort of sick joke, it's not very Christmassy, despite the colors and the bells, and it's bound to scare any kids that come over."

Dinah couldn't help but laugh; "Well, I think it's kind of cute now that I know it's not alive. But… you're right about the scaring kids thing. And I do admit I've never heard of a Christmas snake before. So is Sirius like… the only person in his entire family to not be in Slytherin?"

"Yeah, I guess that's something we have in common. He's the only Gryffindor in a house full of Slytherins and I'm the only Ravenclaw in a house full of Gryffindors. A lot of people assume my father was in Ravenclaw because of how studious he is but he was in Gryffindor."

"Hmm, it's nice to know that Gryffindor isn't full of only perfect people," Dinah grinned. "Of course, Wortham and Lee attest to that, too. They treat Speasy the same way that James and Sirius used to treat Severus. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to insult Sirius, it's just… I have a hard time with the way he used to behave. And from what I've seen… that is, heard from Severus, I fail to understand what Lily ever saw in James. Not that I'm complaining that she chose him. I mean, I'm sad that she hurt Severus but I'm glad he's available for me – oh no, I'm babbling! What have you done to me?" Dinah laughed.

Lucy covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing too hard. "Mum did teach me to share with my friends," she said before going back to some of Dinah's previous comments. "I really can't say too much about the way he treated Severus. Mostly because I don't know much about it. It's rather a bone of contention between us. He tells me he doesn't want me to know about those things because, and I quote, 'I don't regret the majority of what I did, because I honestly think he deserved most of that, but I did things I'm not proud of and I don't want you to see that part of me'. I don't think he understands what unconditional love is. Of course his mother's love was very conditional as I understand it so I suppose that's to be expected."

"Hmm," Dinah sighed. "At least he regrets something. It was probably that thing. I had given him the benefit of the doubt for it, for your sake, and because he was young at the time, but I confess I'm glad he at least regrets that. On the other hand, I wish he regretted more, because I don't think Severus deserved most of that. I could be biased, though," she shrugged.

"Part of me wants to ask you what you know and the more sensible part of me thinks I should wait for Sirius to tell me," she smiled. "Love is a funny thing, ready and willing to forgive anything. At least anything I've come across so far. Sirius just doesn't quite believe that yet, I guess." She turned away from the box she was stuffing the snake back into, "Tell me Dinah, do you love Severus?"

Dinah paused for a long time. "I might," she finally admitted, "I hesitate to say I do because I'm sure he doesn't feel the same way about me. Coping mechanism, I guess."

Lucy nodded, "I know how that is. Right up until the moment Charlie told me Sirius had been killed, I had myself convinced that I wasn't in love with him, that we'd have a good time together but that was it because he couldn't possibly love me. That loving him in such a short time was crazy so I must not love him because I wasn't crazy I was a very logical person. Then he died, and my world stopped. Literally. I just sat on Charlie's couch for two days, not moving, not anything. Just existing. Then Aunt Molly got there and I couldn't stop crying."

Dinah shuddered, "I'm sorry. I can't imagine. If I had been involved with Severus when he was… killed… And in such awful circumstances, too…" she sighed. "On a lighter note, I see how you feel about being a logical person. If I do love Severus I don't mind telling you that I have no idea why." She laughed. "I mean, I can come up with reasons why I like him, but not why I should love him."

"And I don't mind telling you I have no idea why either. Why I love Sirius, that is. Probably has something to do with the way he looks at me. How when he found out my father never wanted me, he waited until I was almost asleep and then whispered in my ear, 'Just for the record, I will always want you'. The way he's probably going to go all out for Christmas because of how royally he screwed up my birthday…which hasn't even happened yet by the way," her smile seemed to say she almost didn't mind that he had done whatever it was to screw up her birthday.

Dinah smiled, "I guess it's normal then. When you say that, Sirius sounds like a real sweetheart. You know, maybe both him and Severus can change. Maybe they could even, someday, get along. Not be friends, but have some kind of respect for each other? I don't know. It's a long shot, and it would take a long time. But I think it's possible. By the way, how does somebody screw up a birthday before it happens?"

"He actually bought, wrapped, and gave me a wand case, which I didn't want, need, or have a use for, a full four months before my birthday occurred. My birthday's in January in case I didn't already tell you that. And as for your earlier comments I hope they can at least be left in a room together without fear of them killing each other. Because otherwise you and I hanging out away from Hogwarts will probably end up becoming a thing of the past."

"Yeah," Dinah frowned, then shrugged and laughed, "Well, here's to hoping we can get them to tolerate each other eventually. And, well here's hoping Sirius can start to remember your birthday. It never goes over well when significant others forget important dates."

Lucy joined in Dinah's laughter, "No, it doesn't," she peered into the box again. "Okay everything in here seems to be snake-themed…I don't think Sirius will mind if we put this one back in the attic. Although…" she reached into the box and pulled something out, "It seems we have some mistletoe with a snake ornament hanging from it. I think we can use this. It's actually kind of pretty."

"It's cute," Dinah smiled. "The snake actually fits with mistletoe. The whole nature theme and everything. Honestly," she hesitated but finally decided it would be safe to make her point; "I think snakes get an unnecessarily bad reputation among wizards. Because of the whole 'lots-of-Slytherins-turning-bad' thing."

Lucy nodded, "Not just snakes, Slytherins too, I think. Truthfully I've never really been enamored of either. I mean I don't mind snakes in general but I don't really want them slithering around the house…if that makes sense. I actually like some of these snake sculptures and things around the house but I think the Blacks went a bit overboard. As for Slytherins…well I've had a few less-than-pleasant run-ins with a few of them."

"Slytherins too," Dinah agreed. "But the problem is that as a general rule the ones that draw attention to themselves are the ones that become Death Eaters, and they end up defining the whole house. There are decent Slytherins... Professor Slughorn, for example. The only bad thing he did was, as I understand it, a mistake he's been regretting his entire life. And Severus... he's not a bad person. His values may be warped, but he's not a bad person."

"It's that way with a lot of things, a few bad apples ruining the entire bunch. I think some, like Professor Snape, are fairly decent people who've made bad decisions and it's the consequences of those decisions that get the focus and not the reasons surrounding the decisions. I don't know Professor Slughorn all that well. When he actually shows up to staff events he has a tendency to name-drop and I can never get a word in edgewise. I find him rather annoying," Lucy climbed on a chair to hang the mistletoe in the middle of an archway in the kitchen. She paused to regard the object thoughtfully; "This isn't going to make things awkward for you, is it? I hope not. Mistletoe has been rather…good to me," she said, seeming to hint at something.

"I'm not going to go stand under it and stare pointedly at Severus until he comes over and kisses me, if that's what you mean," Dinah laughed. "No, it won't bother me. Please put it up. Likely both Severus and I will ignore its intended purpose. Although..." she blushed, remembering their conversation at her house yesterday.

Lucy giggled, climbing back down off the chair, "You do realize that as much as you two will be ignoring it, Sirius and I will probably be making good use of it. Did I ever tell you about the first time Sirius and I kissed?"

She shook her head, "No. Was that before or after his death?"

"Before," Lucy leaned against the wall. "The Christmas before. Right here," she pointed down at the floor, "or more accurately right there," she pointed to the spot underneath the mistletoe. "Uncle Arthur had been attacked and we were having Christmas here to be close to St. Mungo's. That and it helped keep Sirius distracted from wanting to leave the house. Someone had decorated a bit. I don't know where they got the decorations because none of the stuff is here. We got stuck under the mistletoe that was there. Everyone kind of stopped and stared. Then he leaned down and kissed me. It was soft and gentle and then I was up against the wall," she patted the wall she was leaning against. "I don't think you could have gotten a piece of parchment between us. Things escalated quickly. Tongues were involved, not that you needed or wanted to know that. Someone coughed and he stepped back. Breathing was not an option. It's a good thing the wall was behind me because I'm sure I would have fallen on my butt otherwise. His response was to clear his throat, say something like 'Well, then' and walk over to the table to sit down to dinner. I don't think he expected it to be quite like that either."

"Wow," Dinah shook her head. "Are you sure you aren't living in a romance novel? Severus and I have kissed exactly twice and neither time was there tongue involved. Yesterday, though, before you so rudely interrupted me," she grinned, "Anyway, he'd never looked at me in such an intense way before. I can only imagine he was about to kiss me. And then," she blushed, "after we went downstairs and before you two followed, I think it was probably because I was initially behaving shy and awkward after the situation that he felt like he could say anything at all, but he actually apologized to me, took my hand and told me he was sure another opportunity would present itself!"

"It does feel like I'm living in a romance novel sometimes. Of course if we had been the lead couple in such a novel the sex would have been better the first time and painless on my end. Not that it wasn't…enjoyable," Lucy waved her hand around; "Never mind."

Dinah blinked. Lucy did have a knack for too-much-information sometimes. "Oh, so then you were a virgin before Sirius?"

Lucy nodded, "Yes. It might be a bit old-fashioned of me but waiting was important to me. Actually I wanted to wait until I was married, but, well we know how that turned out. I don't regret it. And…I'm sharing too much. You can tell me to shut up when I start doing that, you know. I guess I'm just used to being that way with Tonks, and vice-versa, and I tend to think of you as just as good a friend as she is."

"Oh," Dinah smiled, "Thanks. It doesn't really bother me; it's just sort of amusing. I've never been much for sharing that kind of intimate detail, myself, but it's just a personal thing. I don't mind hearing it, for the most part. I know how you feel about the virgin thing. I never really felt like I needed to wait until marriage, but I wanted to be in a serious, committed one-on-one relationship. It's why Dylan is the only man I've ever slept with. And we had been dating for a long time before we did."

"Sirius and I weren't technically dating all that long before we did the deed so to speak but he was dead for two years and we did have intentions of talking about it before he was killed. Though I suppose it would have been rather hard to date him when he couldn't leave the house." She reached into the box for another decoration, "Another dead tree? This is about the fifth one I've found. Honestly if it's going to die why bother packing it away for next year?"

Dinah grinned, "Maybe the Blacks liked dead trees."

Lucy grinned, "Maybe. I'm making an executive decision and getting rid of them. They're starting to rot and there's no point having them around taking up space." She threw it at the pile of wood next to the fireplace, "It might as well make itself useful. Are you hungry? We could take a break and eat before I show you my favorite part of the house. It's already all decorated and it's also where I had Sirius set up the live tree."

"I am getting pretty hungry," Dinah nodded and stood up. "Any lunch plans or would you like me to whip something up since you did dinner last night?"

"I didn't have any plans but you don't have to feel like you should make lunch just because I made dinner last night. You are our guests after all. Though if you insist I won't refuse," Lucy smiled.

"Just thought I'd offer. I don't really know what you have. Anything you're particularly craving? We could both help out, make it go faster."

"That sounds good. Though to be honest we don't have a wide variety. Neither one of us are big on grocery shopping."

Dinah laughed, "I am. Severus always teases me about my enthusiasm for food."

"Like last night? That's nice. Actually that probably sounds weird but teasing can be fun in the right context. Sirius loves to tease me about the amount of time I spend with my books."

"I know. I actually love it when Severus teases me about that. Anything that amuses him, really, I like. In those moments he reveals that he's human. I don't know; maybe I sometimes act overly silly on purpose... semi-consciously... to get a reaction out of him. I never really thought about it."

Lucy opened the cupboards and started looking around, "Hmmm. Love does change a person. I used to be more reserved, you know with the innuendos and such. Maybe that's why Gawain and I never really got anywhere. Clearly that is no longer the case. Sometimes I just pretend to read a book in bed in order to get him to tease me."

"I think Sirius is probably just more of the type to inspire such behavior. He seems to enjoy it. Severus is more of the reserved type. And from what you've told me it sounds like Gawain sort of was too. Although I'm sure not quite as brooding."

"Definitely not as brooding as Severus. No offense but I've yet to come across someone who is worse than him in that respect." She pulled a couple jars out of the cupboards, "How do you feel about peanut butter and jelly?"

"That sounds fine," Dinah smiled, politely covering up the fact that peanut butter had never been her number one meal choice. She liked it well enough, "And something salty on the side? Crisps or some such? If you don't have any I would be happy to apparate home and bring some over."

"Salty? Let's see what we've got…" she rummaged through the kitchen some more, "Well we have these," she held up a jar of pickles and a bag of tortilla crisps. "We've got a big bunch of grapes too but those aren't salty. Personally I think crisps and/or grapes would go better with the sandwiches than tortilla crisps and pickles but it's up to you."

"Let's compromise and go with the tortilla crisps and grapes," Dinah grinned. "Sounds good to me. What can I do to help?"

"Do you want to assemble or set the table? There's not a whole lot else to do other than that. Dishes are over there," she waved her wand and a cupboard door opened, "Glasses are in there, too. Oh! What would you like to drink? We have water, cider, butterbeer, and pumpkin juice."

"I'll have cider, I think, thanks. And I'll set the table, too," Dinah set places for herself and Lucy and soon they were eating their lunch. Dinah had to admit that the grapes and the peanut butter went well together, and the tortilla crisps added a pleasantly salty crunch. Turned out peanut butter was a pretty good idea after all. After they had put the dishes away Lucy led Dinah to her favorite room in the house.