A/N: Happy New Year! I know this is later than I had promised, but, for some reason, this chapter was a challenge. I hope it's worth the wait.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

I don't own Harry Potter.

Disrupted Plans

Olivia walked slowly between the racks of robes, looking at them without actually seeing them. Lost in her thoughts, she was impervious to the other shoppers who brushed by her, occasionally knocking into her. Her eyes did manage to take in the Christmas decorations that covered almost every available space in the store. She sighed, smiling slightly to herself. Christmas was less than a week away. As always, she had requested several days off for the holiday. While she normally used the time to visit her family, this year she would be using it to visit Sirius. She could hardly wait to see him again.

"What do you think of this?"

Dana's voice shook Olivia from her dream world. She looked up to see her friend displaying a gorgeous set of pale pink dress robes. "Don't you hate pink?"

"They're for Laura," Dana replied, rolling her eyes. "I want to get them for her for Christmas."

Olivia closed her eyes briefly. "Tell me that our little girl is not old enough for dress robes."

"I know," Dana sighed. "It's killing me, too. But I got my first set when I was in fourth year, so it seems appropriate."

Olivia nodded absently.

Dana looked at her closely for a minute. "You could just go to England, you know. A visit would probably do you both a world of good."

Olivia looked at her in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"We've been shopping for almost an hour, and I've held your attention for about ten minutes. You don't want to be here, you want to be in London. Why don't you just go? I'm sure he misses you, too."

"Dana, I can't just go . . ."

"Why not? What's stopping you? You've dropped in for visits before."

"Yes, but only when I knew that we'd be alone . . ."

Dana smiled. "You know, spending time actually talking probably wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for the two of you."

"We talk!" Olivia exclaimed, looking a bit insulted.

"Calm down, I was joking," Dana laughed. "Have you talked to Remus recently enough to know for sure that he'll be there?"

Olivia thought for a moment. "I think he will be."

"Well, then, you'll get to see him, too. It's been forever since either of us saw Remus; one of us needs to catch up on what's going on in his life," Dana rationalized. "Seriously, Liv, just go. I can pick things out for Laura on my own, and we can go shopping together on our next day off in common."

Olivia looked uncertain. "Are you sure? We've been planning this shopping trip for ages."

"And you've waited for ages to be able to see him any time you want," Dana said quietly. "Tell them both that I said hello."

Olivia smiled, feeling a rush of adrenaline at the thought that she could, indeed, see Sirius any time she wanted. She nodded.

"You're going?" Dana asked, grinning with the reflected excitement of her friend's impending adventure.

"I'm going," Olivia affirmed. "I'll be back in time to see Laura when she gets home from school tonight."

Blowing Dana a kiss, she walked out of the store to Disapparate.

Remus threw yet another book away from him. It slid across his bedroom floor, stopping when it hit a wall. He sighed in frustration as he looked first at the mountain of books on the floor, then at his empty bookshelves.

He wanted so desperately to distract himself, to think of something other than the previous day. He had tried writing letters, going over notes from Order meetings, planning his next mission, and reading every book he had. Nothing had worked. He couldn't stop thinking about Tonks.

He still couldn't believe that it had actually happened. It had been like something out of a dream. One minute, they had been sitting together, talking quietly, and the next minute he had been kissing her. Not that he had kissed her for very long, of course. He had been shocked by what he had done. He had taken advantage of her. Acted on feelings that he hadn't even known he had had. Responded to emotions that he only believed that she might feel because of comments that Sirius had made.

In short, he had been completely irresponsible.

It wasn't just the fact that he had taken advantage of Tonks and the situation that bothered him. There were also his own feelings to consider. He wasn't entirely sure of what he wanted from a relationship with her. He loved being her friend; he found it almost impossible to imagine his life without her friendship. But after what had happened, after what he had done, would she be content with that? Would she want more? And if she did, was he willing to give it?

Almost as if in answer to his confused thoughts, his eyes fell on a picture of him with his arms around his wife. He picked up the framed photograph, and sat down flat on his bed.

"I still love you," he whispered, watching as his photographic self kissed Laura's cheek. "You were the love of my life. How can I even consider a relationship with another woman when I loved you so much – more than I ever dreamed that I could love anyone?"

These feelings for Tonks were not supposed to happen. Laura, the woman he had married, had won his heart. It was hers to keep. He had vowed to love her and no other. Even though she had died, he still intended to keep that vow. He had spent so many years married to her memory that he didn't know how to deal with these new feelings for Tonks. The emotions that were now coursing through him were not part of his plans. He couldn't allow them.

He put the picture of him and Laura back on his nightstand, firmly resolved not to think of Tonks anymore – at least not as anything other than a friend. He couldn't be disloyal to Laura's memory.

Even with his decision made, the thoughts of Tonks, and the way her lips had felt against his, were impossible to banish. He jumped up off the bed, and began pacing around his room.

"What is wrong with me? Why can't I stop thinking about her?"

He continued pacing, then came to a slow stop.

"I just need to talk about it," he said to himself. "Once I've talked it all out, gotten rid of all these feelings, I'll be back to normal."

He waved his wand to put the books back into their rightful positions on the shelves. Then he marched out of his room to find Sirius.

"I can't believe you're here," Sirius said, cuddling Olivia close on the couch in the living room.

"I can't, either," she grinned. "Dana basically told me I was being no help to her if I was constantly thinking of you – and then told me to get to London."

"Remind me to get her an extra Christmas present," Sirius grinned, kissing Olivia's neck.

"Sirius," she murmured.

"Hm?" he replied.

"We shouldn't – Remus could walk in at any minute –"

"You're right," Sirius sighed, pulling back from her. "We don't exactly have the house to ourselves this time, do we?"

"I thought of that," Olivia replied. "I considered waiting for a time when we could be alone, but Dana said that I should just go."

"I'm glad you listened to her," Sirius said. "Don't ever wait, love. Just sitting here with you is more amazing than I could have ever hoped."

She smiled, and kissed his cheek. "I agree."

A soft knock on the doorframe made them both look up. Remus was standing there hesitantly, grinning at the sight of Olivia.

"Should I wait for a better time?" he asked.

"Remus!" Olivia exclaimed. She jumped off the couch to hug him.

"When did you get here?" he asked with a grin.

"Just a few minutes ago," she replied. "I'm so excited to see you!"

"No, you aren't," he laughed. "You wish that I was gone so that you could shag Sirius for two days straight. Don't lie to me."

She looked at him in shock for a moment, then began to laugh. "I can't believe you said that! You never say things like that!"

Remus laughed and shrugged. "I've been living with Sirius for too long."

"It's taken me over twenty years to get him to this point, Liv. Don't ruin it now by acting shocked when he says stuff like that," Sirius grinned. He looked closely at Remus for a moment. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Remus sighed. "Is it that obvious?"

"Yes," Sirius said simply. "Come in and sit down. Tell us your problems."

Olivia looked between them for a minute, her eyes finally coming to rest on Remus. "Do you want me to leave so you and Sirius can talk?"

"No," Remus said at once. "You know I'll tell you anything. Besides, I'd really like to hear your opinion."

"All right, then."

Olivia reclaimed her spot on the couch, and Remus sank down into a cushy chair. He made a face at them.

"I'm not sure exactly how you're going to take this."

"Well, neither are we," Sirius said fairly. "Just tell us, then we'll let you know how we feel about it."

Remus nodded, and drew a deep breath. "I kissed Tonks yesterday," he said in a rush.

Sirius and Olivia stared at him for a moment. Then, Sirius broke his silence by laughing loudly.

"Well, it's about time!" he exclaimed. "Good for you, Moony! I told you she fancied you!"

"Sirius, calm down," Olivia said. She touched Sirius's arm to quiet him, but her eyes never left Remus's face. "You don't seem happy about this, Remus."

"Well . . ." he said slowly, "I'm confused."

"You're upset because you kissed her but you're not dating her, aren't you?" Sirius asked sagely. He had been friends with Remus long enough to know that that issue would be at the front of his mind.

"Well, yes," Remus admitted. "I feel like I took advantage of her."

Olivia leaned forward. "How did she react?"

"React?"

"Yes. What did she do when you kissed her? Did she pull away? Slap you? Kiss you back? What happened?"

"It was really quick, Liv. I don't think I gave her time to react."

"What did you do after the kiss?"

"I apologized."

"And how did she take that?"

Shame colored his face. "I don't really know. I left the room."

Sirius closed his eyes for a moment. "So, let me get this straight. You kiss the girl, make it so short that she doesn't have time to kiss you back, pull away, apologize, then run out of the room?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up."

Sirius shook his head, but Olivia looked thoughtful.

"You're thinking too much," she said at last.

"What?" Remus asked.

"I know you, Remus. You've been over every second of that encounter to the point that if it were a piece of parchment, it would fall apart. You've analyzed every last thing that happened down to nothing."

Remus smiled. "Guilty as charged."

She nodded. "You need to stop."

"To stop?"

"To stop. The analysis isn't doing you any good right now, and it's just going to make everything all the more awkward the next time you see Tonks."

He nodded. "I suppose you're right."

"Now for the hard question. How do you feel about her?"

Remus let his breath out slowly. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Sirius asked.

"I love having her as a friend," he said. "But as for something more . . ."

"Yes?" Olivia asked.

Remus sighed. "I was married once, guys. Laura was the love of my life. Caring about Tonks doesn't change that."

"It doesn't have to," Sirius said. "You're allowed to love more than one person, Remus."

He shook his head slightly. "I'm not sure that I want to."

Sirius opened his mouth to comment, but Olivia put her hand on his arm again.

"Remus, you need to think about this before you do anything else."

"You told me not to over-analyze," he said with a smile.

"Not to over-analyze that particular moment in your life, yes," she replied. "But, you do need to think about a potential relationship before you go any further with Tonks. You have to know that it's what you want before you say anything to her."

"But what if I decide that it is what I want, only to find out that it's not what she wants?"

Olivia smiled. "Remus, every woman wants you."

"Oh, stop it," he sighed. "You know very well that flattery doesn't work on me. You can't use it to boost my ego."

"All right," she said. "But, you do need a bit of confidence. I'm sure that she cares about you. The fact that she let you get close enough to kiss her at all says that much."

"Liv is right, Moony," Sirius nodded. "Take some time to figure out what you want. If it was meant to be, Tonks will be waiting for you. If not, then . . . Well, with the amount of time you tend to spend considering your options, she'll probably be married to someone else. That would completely remove the decision from your hands."

Remus shook his head. "Sirius, please don't ever become a motivational speaker."

"There is a valid point in there," Olivia said. "Take your time, Remus. If it was meant to happen, if she really cares about you, she'll be willing to wait – just not forever."

"Point taken," Remus replied. He pulled himself to his feet. "Thanks, guys. You've really helped me."

"You don't want to stay to chat?" Sirius asked.

Remus smiled and shook his head. "You guys need some time alone together. I'll put a silencing charm on the door on my way out."

Sirius and Olivia watched as he left the room, closing the door behind him. They heard his spell, followed by complete, utter silence.

"Well," Sirius smiled, pulling her close again, "it looks like he repaid our advice with a little problem-solving of his own."

Olivia giggled, and reached up to kiss him.

Olivia only stayed with Sirius for a few hours. They were both sad when she took her leave, but she had promised to be home to see Laura that evening.

"I'll be back in a few days," she said as she hugged him goodbye. "I have to work tomorrow, so I should get my Christmas schedule then."

"How many days will you be able to stay over Christmas?"

"Probably four."

Sirius kissed her forehead. "That sounds like heaven. Remus will be gone, you know."

"Is he going to stay with his parents?"

"Yes. I think he's spending some time with Laura's family, too."

Olivia nodded. "He does that every year. He has an incredible relationship with them."

Sirius sighed. "I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing."

"You're worried about him and Tonks."

He laughed slightly. "There is no 'Remus and Tonks' – not yet, anyway."

"Don't push him, Sirius," she warned. "You know how he is."

"Yeah, I know," Sirius said. He leaned down to kiss her lips. "You'll let me know when you're coming for Christmas?"

"I'll Floo tomorrow to tell you."

"Good." He kissed her one last time. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Once she was gone, Sirius made his way to Remus's room. He found his friend throwing clothes into an open suitcase.

"Leaving so soon?" he asked.

"I'm off tomorrow morning," Remus replied. He looked at Sirius closely. "Do you mind? You won't be alone too long, will you?"

"Liv is coming soon enough," Sirius replied. "I'll be fine." He sat down on Remus's bed to watch him pack. "How long are you staying with the Bonds?"

"Just Christmas Eve day," Remus replied. "I'll be back with my parents that night."

"It's nice that you have such a good relationship with them."

"They've really treated me like one of their own ever since the wedding. Even after Laura died, they never stopped acting like I was part of their family." He sighed. "How do you think they'd feel if they knew that I had kissed Tonks?"

"I don't think it's any of their business who you kiss," Sirius replied evenly. "Besides, how would they find out? Are you planning to tell them?"

"No, of course not," Remus said. "But it seems like things like that always have a way of getting out."

"You spent too much time teaching teenagers. Gossip doesn't travel as fast in the outside world as it does inside Hogwarts," Sirius said lightly. He smiled. "Come on, Moony. Even if they do find out, I don't think they'll be all that upset. Do they expect you to be a monk?"

"They expect me to be faithful to her," Remus answered quietly.

Sirius sobered. "Remus, you can't spend your entire life being faithful to a dead woman. You're still alive. You're still allowed to have feelings, to have emotions, to – to kiss anyone you want."

Remus smiled sadly. "How would you feel if you were one of Laura's brothers? If your sister had died and you found out that her husband – the man who had sworn to love her forever – was suddenly struggling with feelings for another woman? Another woman who was fourteen years younger than he was?"

Sirius grinned at that. "You have serious issues with her age, don't you?"

"Well, the fact that we were halfway done at Hogwarts by the time she was born is a bit disconcerting, yes."

"You know, age is just a number."

Remus laughed. "Since when do you quote lines like that?"

Sirius smiled sadly. "Since James wasn't here to do it anymore."

Remus sighed, and sat down next to Sirius on the bed. "Now do you understand what I'm trying to say? James meant so much to you – he was like a brother. Imagine that Lily had survived the attack. Imagine that she was welcoming Harry home for Christmas tonight. I'm sure she would have invited us both over. We would go to their house, and Harry would greet us at the door. He'd take us inside, where Lily would be sitting with her new boyfriend – the man who was taking James's place in their lives and their family. How would you feel? Would you think that she was betraying James's memory? Making a mockery of their relationship? Letting you down?"

Sirius's eyes were suddenly over-bright. "Remus, that's a terrible example."

"You're saying that because you know that I'm right."

"No," Sirius said hoarsely, "I'm saying that because if there was any way that the scene you just described could really happen, I'd be so thrilled to see Lily sitting there, I wouldn't care who she was entertaining. I'd cheer her on if she decided to marry Cornelius Fudge, just as long as she was still with us."

Remus closed his eyes, realizing how much pain he had unintentionally caused his friend. "Sirius, I'm sorry. I've had so much time to come to terms with their deaths that it didn't seem like such a horrible thing to say. I should have thought – "

Sirius shook his head as he stood to his feet. "It's not your fault. You didn't tell me to talk them into using Peter as their Secret Keeper. You didn't cause all this to happen."

Remus opened his mouth to reply, to make him understand that it wasn't his fault, but Sirius was already leaving the room. Remus stared at the door that had framed his friend's retreating back for a long time before he was able to resume packing.

"Good morning," Olivia smiled to one of her coworkers as she made her way to her office the next morning.

"Good morning," Pierre replied. "Oh, Olivia, Jean is looking for you."

"Jean?" she repeated. "Why? He makes the schedules; he should know that I wasn't supposed to be here until now."

Pierre shrugged. "I'm just passing along the information."

"Thanks," Olivia replied. She should have known not to expect a straight answer. She had long-since realized that the few French Aurors in the office always stuck together – almost as if they needed to band together against their British coworkers.

"You can probably find him in his office," Pierre added.

"Thanks," Olivia said again. "I'll go look for him now."

She changed direction, and walked briskly down the hall to Jean's office. She had no idea what he could possibly want with her. Although they maintained a fine working relationship, she knew that it was their lack of communication that helped them stay on good terms. They tended to rub one another the wrong way, and Jean was as quick-tempered and stubborn as Olivia – a combination that had led to more than one inter-departmental fight. After the last battle, their supervisor had asked that they limit their contact to only that which was absolutely necessary. They generally only spoke when giving one another reports, updates or pertinent news. Olivia hoped that this was a simple "report" visit.

She reached Jean's office and knocked on the open door. He looked up from his paperwork and gave her a smile – a sure sign of bad news.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "Please, come in."

She entered his office slowly, unsure of whether to sit or stand. Jean took care of that problem for her when he rose to his feet and crossed to a filing cabinet.

"I wanted to talk to you personally about the holiday schedule before I post it," he said, pulling a piece of parchment from a drawer in the cabinet.

"That doesn't sound good," she said in a light tone.

"Actually, for you, it's not," he said. "Listen, Olivia, I've had more requests for time off during the holidays this year than I ever have. Most of them have come from Aurors who have small children and want to spend time with them on Christmas morning."

Her face fell as she realized what he was about to say. "You're asking me to work over Christmas, aren't you?"

"Well, yes," he said. "I know that you always have that time off, and I know it's because your family lives so far away, but I really can't spare you this year. I've given you time off for New Year's, instead."

"But not Christmas?"

"I can't," he said. "I can't ask the people with little ones to give it up."

"But you can ask me?"

"Olivia, you don't have children," he said, coldness creeping into his voice. "I'm sure that your mother will appreciate seeing you just as much after Christmas."

"What about my nieces?" she snapped. "Or do they not count because they aren't my children?" She knew it was unethical to bring her nieces into the argument when she had planned to spend very little time with them, but hoped that it might work. Jean didn't know of her plans for the holidays.

"In this case, I'm going to have to say that they don't count as much as they would if they were your own," he said harshly. "I've already made the schedule, Alexander, and this is how it will remain. Complain all you want, but it won't help. And if you even think about calling off any day you're scheduled for the next two weeks, I'll do my best to have you demoted."

She felt all emotion slip from her face, giving way to the "Auror mask" that hid her true feelings. There was no way she would ever let Jean know that her first impulse had, indeed, been to call in sick. She knew that he would follow through on his threat. He hated that she outranked him; any excuse to have her demoted was good enough to him.

"You understand the schedule, then?" he asked.

"Yes. Thank you for letting me know," she said shortly.

Turning quickly, she left his office. She walked to her own office, where she closed the door. Pausing to lean up against it, she grabbed her hair back in a ponytail.

"Oh, Sirius is going to love this."

Sirius wandered around his empty house for what felt like the hundredth time. Remus had left early that morning – so early, in fact, that Sirius had still be asleep. He rather regretted sleeping so late. He had wanted to talk to Remus, to apologize for his outburst the day before. It was probably unnecessary, he knew – Remus rarely held a grudge, and had likely already forgiven and forgotten. Even so, it would make Sirius feel better.

"Master, a lady is wanting to talk to you," Kreacher said, giving an exaggerated bow as he crossed paths with Sirius in the hallway.

"Get up. You know I don't like it when you do that." Sirius scowled at the house-elf. "Where is this lady? In the kitchen?"

"Yes, Master. In the fire."

Sirius nodded, and hurried to the kitchen. Olivia's head was in the dancing flames, waiting for him.

"Hi, Liv," he grinned. "Kreacher just told me you were waiting. You haven't been here long, have you?"

"Only a few moments," she said. "Listen, Sirius, we need to talk."

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's my schedule," she sighed. "I have to work over Christmas."

"But you said you're always off for Christmas."

"I always have been," she replied, "but, apparently, we've had a baby boom in the department. They're giving the time off to the Aurors who have kids."

"So you won't be able to visit?" Disappointed flooded through him, but he tried to hide his feelings from her. She obviously felt bad enough without him adding to it.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I should be able to come for New Year's Eve, though."

"So we have to wait another week?" He knew he shouldn't have said that, but couldn't stop it. The idea of being without her for Christmas was like a knife twisting in his heart. He hadn't realized exactly how much spending the holiday with her had meant to him until it was taken away.

"I'm sorry," she said again, looking truly miserable.

"Don't be," Sirius said firmly, hoping she hadn't realized how disappointed he was. "It's not your fault. You didn't ask for this."

"No, I know that, but I still feel terrible. I wish there was some other way that we could be together."

"We will be – just a little later than we had anticipated." He sighed. "Maybe my name will be cleared by next Christmas, and I'll be able to visit you."

"Visit?" she asked. "We'd better be living together, if that's the case."

"Are you asking me to marry you?" Sirius grinned.

"Maybe," Olivia grinned. "We'll talk about it later, all right?"

"All right."

She sighed. "I'm so, so sorry, Sirius."

"If you say that again, I'm going to refuse to forgive you."

She grinned. "All right. Merry Christmas."

"I love you," he replied.

"I love you, too."

Her face disappeared from the flames with a pop. Sirius stared into the fire for a moment, feeling the hurt and disappointment over the death of all his plans for the holiday as it washed over him in waves. Standing quickly to his feet, he grabbed a jar of ink from the table. He threw it across the room, where it slammed into a wall, shattering into hundreds of pieces. He drew some grim satisfaction from watching the ink run down the white paint.

"Kreacher!" he bellowed. "Get in here and clean this up!"

The house-elf made his way into the kitchen. He looked at the ink-splattered wall for a moment, then at Sirius.

"Master is destroying his mother's house," he said. "Was it not enough to break her heart?"

"She didn't have a heart to break," Sirius said. He grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey and a shot glass from the cupboard. "I want this cleaned up by the time I come back in here."

"Yes, Master."

Sirius lost track of time as he lost himself in the firewhiskey. He didn't let himself get completely drunk, feeling that to do so would imply that he had a drinking problem. Rather, he drank until he was relaxed and a bit tipsy. Then he would stop until he was sober, then begin drinking again.

He had no idea how late it was when Phineas appeared in the portrait facing him in the library. He nearly jumped out of his seat when he saw the man.

"There you are," Phineas said. "I've been bellowing your name from the portrait upstairs for ages."

"I've been here the whole time," Sirius said, blinking at him.

"It's not exactly easy to get down here since you destroyed all those portraits."

Sirius scowled at him. "Do you have a reason to be here, or is your sole purpose to annoy me?"

"Oh, no, I have a message for you from the Headmaster," Phineas replied.

"Which would be?"

"Arthur Weasley has been injured," Phineas recited. "His wife, children and Harry Potter are coming to stay with you."

"What?" Sirius yelled, jumping out of his seat. "What happened?"

"If you want details, you're going to have to ask Dumbledore."

"No, I'm going to ask the messenger who knows far more than he's willing to say!" Sirius yelled. "Tell me what you know!"

"Arthur Weasley is gravely injured," Phineas said again. "Something about the Ministry – the Potter boy knew about it, though I have no idea why, and the children –"

"Wait a minute," Sirius said. "Harry knew?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Didn't you hear me say that I don't know?"

Sirius sighed. "You have no idea at all?"

"All I know is that he showed up in the Headmaster's office with one of the Weasley boys and Minerva, raving about some dream that he had had . . ."

Phineas continued, but Sirius didn't hear him. His mind was still busy turning over the last phrase: raving about some dream.

"Remus, I think this is it," he muttered to himself. "We've hit the point where we need to talk to Dumbledore."

"Are you even listening anymore?" Phineas asked.

"No," Sirius said bluntly. "When will they arrive?"

"Within minutes, I'm sure. Dumbledore seemed most eager to get the children here as soon as possible."

"I'd better get ready, then," Sirius said. He hurried out of the room to do just that, the sounds of Phineas screaming about his lack of gratitude following him down the hall.

I guess I won't be spending Christmas alone after all.

And, although he was horrified to think of what Harry's dream might mean, although he was terribly worried about Arthur, although he knew this could be awful for the Order, he couldn't help feeling a bit happy that he would have company for Christmas.