A/N: I know. It's been forever. You probably thought I was dead. In reality, I nearly drowned in the insane amount of end-of-semester work I've been doing. January is truly the worst month of the year when it comes to schoolwork. But it's over now, and I truly apologize for the delay in posting! Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up before the end of the week!

And for all those of you in the US, I hope you watched the Super Bowl last nightand cheered the Steelers on to victory! I've never been so excited over a sporting event! We've finally got the "one for the thumb!"

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

I don't own Harry Potter.

Holiday Cheer

Exhausted, Remus made his way slowly to headquarters. He had been working with the werewolf colony again, spying in an effort to glean more information before beginning to actually speak with the werewolves. Dumbledore had already told him that they were nearing the time when he would be asked to go openly into the colony in the hopes of convincing the werewolves to go against Voldemort. He had asked Remus to seriously consider whether or not he was willing to do so. Remus knew that it was the last thing that he wanted to do, but that he had no choice. Who else could be sent into a situation like that?

The decision to do it, however, still plagued him. For that reason, he had Apparated to a point a short distance away from headquarters. He had hoped that walking through the cold night air would do him some good. As the house appeared before him, he knew that the walk had helped to calm his nerves, but had not put his mind to rest. He sighed as he opened the door, hoping that he would be able to shelve all his worries to spend time with Harry and the Weasleys.

As he walked through the front door, he paused, wondering if he had somehow walked into the wrong house. Christmas seemed to have exploded all over the quiet, dark dwelling. Decorations were everywhere, and he was sure that he could hear the faint sounds of Christmas carols. He walked through the front hall toward the rest of the house with an expression of shock on his face.

"Moony!" Sirius exclaimed as Remus entered the living room. "How are you?"

"Stunned," Remus replied, sitting down slowly. "The house . . ."

"Doesn't it look amazing?" Sirius grinned. "Molly, the kids and I have spent the past few days decorating. I'm actually thinking of charming the mounted elves' heads to sing Christmas carols, but I'm not sure that Hermione would handle it well. What do you think?"

"I think she'd hurt you if you tried," Remus smiled. "I can't believe all that you've managed to do while I've been gone!"

"Well, it's taken everyone's minds off Arthur," Sirius said earnestly. "The Weasleys are so worried and Harry's been convinced that he was possessed . . .I had to do something."

"Harry thinks that he's been possessed?" Remus exclaimed.

"Yeah, I think he's over that now," Sirius said. "Ginny talked to him about it for awhile – she has firsthand experience, you know."

Remus nodded with a slightly ill expression on his face. He hated the thought of all that Ginny had endured as an eleven-year-old at the hands of Voldemort.

"You know, I think that she and Harry are actually cute together," Sirius said with a grin.

Remus rolled his eyes. "What, you couldn't get Tonks and I together, so now you're playing matchmaker for the kids?"

"I would never even try," Sirius laughed. "I remember what it was like to be their age. They have enough drama on their own without me adding to it." He paused and grinned at his friend. "And don't think that I've given up on you and Tonks. I still think the two of you have an excellent shot at a relationship."

"Sirius . . ."

"I know," Sirius replied, holding up his hands to stop whatever argument Remus was going to give him. "I promised to stay out of it, and I have. Can I ask you a question, though?"

"I suppose so."

"Have you thought about what kind of relationship you'd like to have with her?"

Remus sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. He knew that he would be completely honest with Sirius. He was one of the few people with whom Remus felt comfortable speaking openly.

"Moony?"

He opened his eyes slowly. "I've thought about it," he admitted.

"And?"

"I don't know, Padfoot," Remus sighed. "I've tried to stop thinking about what Laura's family would think if they knew I was with someone else, but that's been tough. Aside from that . . . I just think that Tonks deserves better. She deserves a man who is younger, one who is gainfully employed . . . who doesn't turn into a monster once a month . . ." He looked away from Sirius. "She's too amazing to waste her life on me."

Sirius's eyes widened. "Are you trying to tell me that you have romantic feelings for her?" After spending so much time trying to get him to admit it, Sirius could scarcely believe what he was hearing.

"No," Remus said sadly. "I can't have feelings for her. It just wouldn't work out." He paused, and then repeated his earlier statement. "She deserves better."

Sirius let out a long, slow breath. "I think that you're selling her short. I think she'd be willing to work with all the obstacles that you can see standing between the two of you."

Remus shook his head. "I don't want her to have to. I want her to be free to fall in love with someone who doesn't come with all these obstacles. I want her to have the life she's always dreamed of."

"You do realize that it sounds an awful lot like you have very deep feelings for her?" Sirius said slowly. "It sounds rather like you're falling in love with her."

Remus shook his head again. "I can't, Sirius. I just can't." He paused and looked away for a moment. "Can we please talk about something else?"

"All right," Sirius agreed. He cast his mind around for a new topic. "How about Harry?"

Remus grinned. "You never need much encouragement to talk about him, do you?"

"Well, there is a very important reason for discussing him."

"And that would be?"

"Christmas," Sirius said. "This is the first Christmas since he was a baby that I'm allowed to openly give him a present – and I thought we could go in together on it."

Remus looked apprehensive. "What are you planning to get him? I hope you weren't expecting much along the financial lines from me."

"Actually, I was hoping more for something along the practical lines from you," Sirius replied. "I'm not exactly sure, but I think I'd like to get him some sort of defensive magic book – and I thought you could go pick one out."

"That's a really good idea!" Remus exclaimed. "He'll need something to help him with the practical component of his Defense O.W.L." He thought for a moment. "Tell you what. I'll go shop around and bring back some ideas. We can go over them together and pick the book that we like best for him. Then I can go back and buy it."

Sirius nodded. "That's perfect." He paused. "And, Moony," he said softly, "don't worry about the financial thing. I've got it covered."

"Sirius, I don't want you to –"

"I know," Sirius said, holding up his hands. "But, for too long, I've been away from his life. I should have been buying him the most extravagant Christmas and birthday presents imaginable for the past fifteen years. Now that I can, I want to spend all my money on him. Please, just let me do this."

Remus nodded slowly. "All right. If it will make you happy."

"Thanks."

In some ways, it is impossible to grow up. Remus was sure that he would forever be a little boy on Christmas. As always, he woke up far too early, eager to see what the day held. He did feel a bit confused when he awoke in his room at headquarters rather than his room at his parents' house, but quickly reminded himself of all that had happened. He would visit with his parents at the next opportunity. Hoping that they would understand why he couldn't be with them for the holiday, he climbed out of bed and headed for the shower.

By the time he was walking along the hall to go downstairs, others were stirring in the house. He could hear movement in Harry and Ron's room as he walked past; he assumed that the boys were opening their gifts. Smiling at the thought of the books that he and Sirius had chosen for Harry, he continued to the kitchen.

Molly was already there, making breakfast at the stove. She smiled brightly at Remus as he entered the room.

"Merry Christmas, Remus," she said.

"Merry Christmas," he said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "I'm sure you're going to far too much trouble."

"Nonsense," she said, waving him away. "It's Christmas! We should have an extravagant breakfast."

Remus smiled, knowing that there was no way to convince her that their extravagant dinner would be quite enough. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You could start the coffee, if you'd like."

"Sure."

Remus was still searching for the coffee – Molly had apparently rearranged the cupboards again during her current stay at headquarters – when Fred and George came into the room, both sporting their new Christmas jumpers. They both looked slightly tousle-haired and bleary-eyed, but they smiled cheerfully at their mother.

"Good morning, Mum!"

"Merry Christmas!"

"Good morning, boys," she smiled, pulling them both close for affectionate hugs. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Professor," they said once their mother had released them.

"Merry Christmas," he replied. Coffee supplies in hand, he went about the task of making the beverage, while the twins took seats at the table.

"Where are the others?" George asked.

"Still sleeping, I expect," Molly replied. "You're the first ones we've seen this morning."

"Ron, sleeping in on Christmas?" Fred asked. "Perish the thought! He's probably been up for hours, playing with all his new presents."

Molly rolled her eyes. "He's not a little boy anymore, Fred."

"You wouldn't know it to talk to him," Fred muttered.

George quickly turned his laugh into a cough at a look from his mother.

In an effort to hide his own laughter, Remus turned to look out the window. He noticed what looked like an owl coming toward the house. As it approached, he could see that it was carrying a package.

"Looks like someone is getting another Christmas present," he commented.

"O-o! Maybe Alicia got you something, after all, George!"

"Shut it, Fred," George said, giving his twin a warning look.

"What's this?" Molly asked, immediately pouncing upon this unexpected information about her son. "Who's Alicia, George?"

"No one," he said, flushing a deep shade of red.

"Fred?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"Come on, George, tell her!" Fred encouraged.

"Fred," he hissed. "I don't want –"

"Sorry, George, but this is for your mother," Remus said loudly as he took the package from the owl. "Let's just let her open it, shall we?"

"Yes, good idea," George said quickly. "What did you get, Mum?"

"I can't imagine whom it would be from," she said with a frown. "You children are all here, except Charlie . . . but I got a package from him two days ago . . ."

"Well, open it, then we'll all know," George said.

She nodded, and began pulling the wrapping away. While she was engrossed in her task, George shot Fred a murderous look.

"What?" Fred asked innocently.

"You promised," George hissed.

Fred laughed. "I don't understand why you want to keep it quiet. She's a great girl, and I know that –"

His words were cut off by a cry from Molly. Both Fred and George looked around, and Remus stepped over to her from his place by the stove.

"What is it, Mum?" Fred asked.

"It's – it's Percy's Christmas gift," she whispered, her eyes full of tears. "I sent it to him yesterday, hoping that he'd get it in time to wear today –" Her words ended as she began sobbing.

"He sent it back?" George asked in a horrified whisper.

"He's not worth it, Mum," Fred said, his eyes narrowing into a glare.

"No, he's not," George said, his own face set in an identical expression. "If he wasn't willing to stand by you and Dad – to stand with his family – then we don't need him."

"Not a bit," Fred agreed. "We're better off without him."

Far from offering any comfort, their words only made their mother cry harder. Remus moved forward, pulling her into a comforting embrace.

"I'll take it from here, boys," he said quietly.

"Right," Fred agreed. "Come on, George. Let's go see if Ron and Harry are awake."

"Right."

The two boys hurried out of the room. Remus held Molly tightly, letting her sob against his shoulder. After several moments, when her spasm of tears was over, she stepped back shakily, and looked up into his face.

"I'm sorry, Remus," she said. "I shouldn't have gone to pieces like that."

"Molly, you don't ever have to apologize for your feelings," Remus said. "If what Percy has done hurt you, then you have every right to express that."

She sighed. "I can understand how the twins feel the way they do," she said. "They feel like their brother – their older brother, who, on some level, they've always looked up to – has betrayed them. If that's the way they feel, then so be it. But, Remus, I just can't feel that kind of anger. Not toward Percy. Not toward my little boy."

"Percy has made some bad decisions," Remus said slowly. "That doesn't necessarily make him a bad person."

"No, of course not," Molly said. "I know that he's still a good person. And I know that once everything – well, once everything explodes, he's going to see that we were right. I'm sure he'll feel badly about the way he's treated us, but I'll forgive him." She smiled shakily. "I already have. He's family, Remus, and family – family is the one thing that matters. It's the most important thing. You should always be able to depend on your family. And Percy will always be able to depend on me to love him."

Remus hugged her again. "Percy is very lucky to have you as his mother. I hope he knows that."

By the time Sirius and the children appeared, Molly was ready to be cheerful again. Christmas spirit seemed to permeate the house as she served them a delicious breakfast. The Weasley children were all talking animatedly about visiting their father later that day. Only Harry seemed concerned about the trip to St. Mungo's.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Sirius asked, taking in his preoccupied expression.

"Nothing," Harry said quickly.

Sirius glanced at Remus, who raised his eyebrows in reply.

"You're a terrible liar, Harry," Sirius sighed. "You obviously inherited your mother's sense of honesty rather than your father's ability to spin a believable cover story. Out with it. What's bothering you?"

Harry sighed. "It's just – what are you going to do while Professor Lupin and Mrs. Weasley take us to visit Mr. Weasley? You're not going to be alone on Christmas, are you?"

Sirius smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm not. My cousins are coming to visit."

"Tonks?" Harry asked.

"Yes, and her mother. Don't worry about me, Harry. Just go have fun with your friends."

Harry nodded with a smile. "All right. You have fun with your cousins."

"I certainly will."

Ron tapped Harry's arm, summoning him to resolve a dispute he was having with Hermione, ending his conversation with Sirius. Remus looked at Sirius with a bemused expression.

"He really does take on the woes of the world, doesn't he?" he asked quietly.

Sirius nodded. "Sound like someone else we knew?"

Remus nodded sadly. "His mother."

He sighed, thinking of the days and weeks that Lily had spent with him following his wife's death, trying desperately to help him get through the worst of his grief. He thought of her relentless pursuit of Death Eaters as a part of her work both with the Order and also with the Daily Prophet. He thought of all the times that Lily had suffered, either emotionally or physically, as she shared others' pain.

"She would be proud of him," Sirius said quietly.

"She would be terrified for him," Remus muttered. "She would know firsthand how much he could hurt himself by constantly worrying about others." He paused. "She would teach him how to recognize when to help and when to back away."

"You think that she would discourage him? Do you think that we should?"

Remus smiled sadly. "I think we'd be wasting our time if we tried. He's just as stubborn as she was – as James was. He'd never be convinced to go against his own convictions. Snape would say it's his father's arrogance shining through."

"Yes, that sounds like our friend Snivellus."

Remus nodded. "There's nothing we could say that would ever convince Harry that he should spend more time worrying about himself and less time worrying about others."

"Well, there are far worse character traits that he could have," Sirius said. "I, for one, am not going to worry about it. Lily's ability to feel for others was one of the things that I always admired most about her. If Harry has inherited that, then I say it's a good thing."

"I suppose you're right," Remus said slowly.

"You didn't appreciate the way that Lily would try to help others?"

"I think I appreciated it more than most," Remus said. "But Lily knew when to stop. She knew which people needed her, and which ones she could help. I just hope that Harry can do the same thing."

"Of course he can," Sirius said easily. "He's her son."

Remus nodded, but remained silent. He wondered if being Lily's son was enough to teach Harry how to deal with his desire to save the world. Maybe he did need his mother to teach him when to help and when to back away.

Sirius had just closed the door behind Remus, Moody and the Weasleys when two pops sounded in the front hall. He turned around with a grin to see Tonks and Andromeda beaming at him.

"Merry Christmas, Sirius!" Tonks whispered.

She stepped forward to hug him, but tripped. Sirius caught her as she careened toward the floor, but couldn't stop her from grabbing a chair on her way down. While she was safely held above the floor, the chair crashed against the hardwood. The horrific noise awoke Sirius's mother, who instantly began screaming.

"My God," Andromeda exclaimed. "Is that your mother?"

"Oh, yes," Sirius said grimly. He steadied Tonks on her feet, then lunged forward to silence the portrait. "Shall we get away from her before continuing this conversation?"

"Goodness," Andromeda said as they settled themselves in the kitchen, "can't you get rid of her?"

"Believe me, I've tried," Sirius sighed. "The woman knew enough to make sure I could never remove her from this house. It's almost as though she knew I'd be back one day."

Andromeda laughed. "I don't think that was something she ever anticipated. That would be like saying my parents expected me to be home again after I married Ted."

Sirius laughed. "Remember the Christmas when you brought him for dinner?"

Andromeda laughed with him. "What was I thinking?" she exclaimed. "I should have known that it would blow up in our faces."

"Quite literally," Sirius grinned, thinking of the pudding that had exploded as the result of a misfired curse that had been intended for Andromeda. "I think you sort of wanted that, though."

"What, to have my hair singed by my father?"

"No, to irritate them."

She grinned a bit guiltily. "I suppose I did. Part of me wanted to see how they'd react." She paused and sighed. "The other part was hoping that they'd understand and accept Ted."

"That's asking a bit much," Sirius sighed. He looked at Tonks with a grin. "You're lucky you weren't there."

"I'd say Mum and Dad are lucky that I wasn't there," she grinned.

"Can you imagine the looks on their faces if you had shown up with a baby you had had out of wedlock?" Sirius laughed.

"Oh, I don't even want to consider it!" Andromeda laughed.

"Yeah, our family is a bit twisted," Sirius grinned.

"There's a reason I kept you away from all this, Nymphadora," Andromeda smiled.

"Oh, but she certainly missed some interesting scenes," Sirius said.

He and Andromeda launched into descriptions of their most memorable family Christmases. The stories had all three of them laughing hysterically, although with a bittersweet feeling. Family was, as Molly had said earlier, the most important thing. However, the three people gathered in the kitchen that day had come to realize that blood did not mean everything, but the bonds of friendship and love did.

Remus and Molly kept the children with Arthur for the entire day. Because it was so late when they finally made their way home, Molly insisted that the children go straight to bed. She followed them up to make sure that they were actually going to their own rooms, rather than one another's. Leaving the children in her more than capable hands, Remus made his way to the library to go over his notes from the last meeting again.

He had not done more than to take out his notes when he realized that he was in desperate need of a snack to help him think. He grabbed the parchment that he had written his notes on, and started down to the kitchen.

Reading as he walked, he wasn't paying attention to any potential obstacles in his path. He knew that the kitchen door was just ahead of him, and reached out to open it. His groping hand met with thin air.

Startled, he looked up just in time to realize that he was about to collide with Tonks, who was walking out of the kitchen. She apparently realized what was going to happen a split second later; she squealed as they made contact.

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed as Remus reached down to help her up.

"It's okay," he said at once. He pulled her to her feet, but didn't immediately take his hands from her waist. "It's as much my fault as yours. I was reading, I wasn't watching where I was going –"

"Remus," she said quietly, cutting him off.

"Yes?"

She pointed up above their heads. "Mistletoe."

Remus's face colored. "Where did that come from?"

"Ginny and Hermione put it there."

"I suppose I could have guessed that one."

"Well," she said slowly, putting her arms on his shoulders.

"Tonks, I don't –"

His words were silenced as she leaned up to press her lips against his. Completely unprepared for her action, he sucked in his breath quickly through his nose. After a moment, he relaxed and kissed her back. The kiss deepened, surprising them both, but neither made any move to stop it. Rather, Remus pulled Tonks closer, and she pressed her body against his. Her hands moved from his shoulders to play in his hair, and his hands traveled up and down her back, coming to rest on her bottom.

Voices drifted to them, signaling that someone was coming down the stairs to the kitchen. They jumped apart, looking at one another in shock.

"Tonks, I . . ." Remus faltered, unsure of what to say.

"Remus," she breathed, still very flustered from the experience.

They stared at one another for a moment, completely at a loss for words. Neither knew what to do, but neither could stop looking into the other's eyes.

"Well, Moony, I didn't know you were here!" Sirius said as he and Andromeda came into view, breaking the spell. "We were just coming to find Tonks. She took a stack of dishes down for us ages go – I was afraid that she got lost."

"More like I found the floor," Tonks said. "I ran into Remus."

"So you stopped to chat?" Andromeda asked in confusion. "What does that have to do with the floor?"

"No, we literally ran into one another," Remus said. "We had a bit of a collision, and we were just picking ourselves up."

"Ah," Sirius said, giving Remus a look that said that he knew there was more to the story. "Well, Andromeda was actually just getting ready to leave, and, Dora, she wanted to say good bye to you."

"Oh," Tonks said. "I should be going, too. I need to get some rest. I have to be at work early tomorrow."

The women said good bye to Sirius and Remus, then Disapparated. As soon as they were gone, Sirius turned to Remus.

"What the hell just happened between you and Tonks?"

Remus flushed. "We told you. We ran into one another."

"I'm sorry, Remus, but I don't believe that sending Tonks flying to the floor is going to make you that flushed – or mess your hair up quite that much." His eyes were twinkling as a grin stretched across his face. "You snogged her, didn't you?"

Remus's face turned the color of a ripe tomato. "This was less horrible when we were in school."

"What? Snogging?"

"No, being interrogated about it."

"So you did snog her!" Sirius said triumphantly.

Remus shrugged helplessly and looked up. "Mistletoe."

"Oh, no, my friend, you're not blaming this on holiday tradition. All mistletoe calls for is a kiss on the cheek – a chaste peck, if you will. Certainly not what you two were doing."

"She kissed me!" Remus exclaimed a bit desperately. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Moony, Moony, I'm not blaming you!" Sirius exclaimed. "You have feelings for her! Of course you were shoving your tongue into her mouth. That's completely understandable! And, obviously, if she kissed you, she has feelings for you, too!"

Remus buried his face in his hands. "This isn't happening."

"Falling for someone isn't a bad thing, you know."

"It is when you're an old, unemployed werewolf, and the woman you've fallen for is a young, gorgeous Auror."

Sirius heaved a sigh. "Baby steps, Remus. We're going to lead you toward this relationship in baby steps."

Tonks knew that no stroke of luck could have been greater than the fact that her mother did not insist upon following her home. She made it to her flat quite alone, and promptly collapsed onto her sofa.

"What just happened?" she whispered to herself. She hugged her knees to her, and rested her chin on them. "What just happened?"

The wonderful, giddy feeling that rushed through her made her jump off the couch. She paced around her flat, going over every last moment of the kiss again and again. She couldn't stop grinning.

For better or worse, Remus and Tonks did not have a chance to discuss what had happened between them during the rest of the children's winter break. Remus had practically become a bodyguard for Harry and the Weasleys, escorting them every time they left the house. Tonks, on the other hand, was a slave to the Ministry over the holidays. Even the promise of an overtime-heavy paycheck was not enough to keep her from being bitter about the amount of time she spent at work. While Moody was accompanying Remus and the children around London, she was stuck with work assignments.

During the time between Christmas and the New Year, Olivia managed to find time to visit Sirius. She spoke with Remus ahead of time, and planned her visit during an afternoon when he had assured her that he would have Harry and the Weasleys away.

She found Sirius in the kitchen, cleaning up after lunch. She held her breath for a moment as she watched him work, then finally stepped forward.

"Need some help?"

Sirius jumped and turned around. "Liv!" he exclaimed.

He was across the room in a matter of seconds, pulling her in a passionate kiss. She giggled as he released her.

"I thought Moody trained you better than to jump when someone came up behind you."

"Those days were long ago," he sighed. He kissed her again. "I didn't know you were coming today!"

"It's your Christmas surprise," she grinned. "Do you like it?"

"Like it?" He kissed her deeply. "What do you think?"

She glanced around the room. "That I'd rather discuss this in your bedroom."

"You've got it," Sirius said, sweeping her into his arms to carry her upstairs.

By the time Remus, Molly and the children returned, Sirius and Olivia were in the sitting room, talking quietly. The sounds of the children's voices reached them first. Olivia looked at Sirius regretfully.

"I should go."

"You can stay longer, if you'd like," he said. "They won't bite, I promise."

She shook her head. "Those poor kids have enough to worry about without adding me to the mix. I'll meet them another time."

"Well, at least say hello to Remus."

"All right."

They walked out of the sitting room and nearly collided with Harry and Ron, who were on their way to the kitchen.

"Hi, Sirius," Harry said.

"Hi, Harry, Ron," Sirius replied. "You two don't know where Remus is, do you?"

"I think he was headed to the library," Harry said. "Right, Ron?"

"Yeah, he wanted to find some book that Hermione needed for her homework." Ron rolled his eyes. "She already has a foot more than she needs on that goblin essay, mind. She just wants to add a bit more to 'round it out.'"

Sirius laughed. "That sounds like Hermione. Thanks, guys. I'll go look for him there."

The boys continued on their way, and Sirius began walking in the opposite direction. He had only taken about five steps when he realized that Olivia wasn't beside him. He turned to see her still rooted to her spot in the sitting room doorway.

"Hey," he said, walking back to her. "Are you all right?"

Her eyes were full of tears as she replied. "That was Harry?" She swallowed hard. "James and Lily's Harry?"

"Yeah," Sirius said softly. "Yeah, that's him."

Olivia looked at him for a moment. Then, almost as if it was the last thing she expected to happen, she began to sob. The sobs wracked her frame, and she sank down to the floor.

"Hey, Liv, don't," Sirius said sitting down next to her. "Don't. It's all okay. You don't have to cry."

He pulled her close, letting her sob against him. She grabbed his robes, twisting her hands in them as she cried.

"Oh, Sirius," she said when she finally had herself under control. "I'm sorry. I never thought I'd react like that. I never thought – I never dreamed –" The tears welled up in her eyes again. "He really, truly is just like James, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Sirius said a bit hoarsely, "yeah, he is."

"It's amazing. I mean, I knew what he looked like when he was a baby, but to see him now – when he's an age that I remember James being . . ."

"I know," Sirius whispered. "It's a bit scary, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she agreed quietly. She shook her head. "And those eyes . . . Lily's eyes . . ."

Sirius nodded, and kissed her head. "Do you want to meet him? I mean, I don't think he even saw you standing there. We could go find him and introduce you. I'm sure he'd love to meet his mother's flat mate."

She shook her head, causing a tear to fall. "No, Sirius, I can't."

"You can't?"

"I went to pieces just seeing him," she said. "I can't meet him. Not yet. I'm just not ready."

"But you'll meet him someday?"

"Of course."

"Good," Sirius grinned, kissing her temple again. "I can't wait to be the one to introduce you to him."