A/N: Hey, everybody. This chapter is written to the inspiration of Better Days, by the Goo Goo Dolls. It's a great holiday song, and since it's the holiday season, it felt like a good fit. Also, for those of you interested in checking out my Remus/OC stuff, I've got a new story up a fair amount like this one called Broken, so if you are interested, check it out, please! I've got high hopes! Love you guys! If this gets up in time, Happy Christmas! If not, Happy New Year!

-J

Jenny woke up with tears on her face. It wasn't so unusual, but this time she knew it was because of her encounter the night before with her best friend. What she hadn't expected, however, was the owl patiently waiting at the foot of her bed with a small parcel and a note. The note read:

Jenny,

I should have sent this to you yesterday, but I wasn't sure if you'd be alone so I thought I'd wait until I knew you'd be sleeping so it wasn't intercepted. Consequentially, thank you for the chocolate. It is my favorite, you guessed correctly. I hope things are okay there. You're missed here at Hogwarts, by me, at the very least.

I know I shouldn't say this, or put it down in words, so this letter has been enchanted so that only you can read it. To anyone else, it looks like an old Potions essay. You got good marks, by the way.

So, here it goes.

I may not have made it clear before, and I may not have found the right ways to express it. We both know why. Still, I love you deeply and I spent all of Christmas wishing I could just hold you, just for one night, and know you loved me even a fraction of how much I love you. Of course, I didn't get my Christmas wish, and that's probably for the best, but I thought you should know that I think you're the most beautiful, wonderful girl in the world and I love you. There will never be anyone good enough for you, but if you do find someone, I hope he makes you as happy as knowing you has made me, without the pain of not getting to have you.

But it's worth every second of pain.

Maybe someday we won't have to sit around in that pain and we'll find our own sorts of happiness, but I'll never forget these days and I'll never, ever stop wishing I had you. You are perfection and I truly hope you have the happiest life imaginable.

Forever your love,

Remus

She set the letter down and opened up the parcel, which had a little box. Inside the little box was a necklace with a small Celtic knot. It was a triquetra knot, said to symbolize many things, including the phases of the moon and power, intellect, and love. Without hesitation, she lifted it out of the box and put it on, looking in the mirror. It suited her, but more importantly, it felt like carrying a little piece of Remus around on her neck. She swore in that moment that she would never take it off.

With a heavy sigh, Jenny dressed and made her way downstairs, greeting her siblings softly, not meeting her parents' eyes.

"Where did you get that necklace?" Melissa said perceptively. "I've never seen you wear it before."

"Anna gave it to me," she lied easily, "on the train ride back. I don't know. I just felt like wearing it today."

Melissa's eyes narrowed suspiciously and her mother frowned. Women always knew with those sorts of things, but no one commented further. There were more pressing matters to attend to, Jenny knew.

"I received a disturbing note from Walburga this morning," her father drawled. "I don't suppose you know what it said?"

Jenny looked up at him with the blankest face she could muster and shook her head.

"They said Sirius was sick, didn't they? It's nothing life-threatening, I hope?"

"You know perfectly well he wasn't sick, you silly girl," David hissed. "Don't lie."

"He ran away from home," her father snapped. "Apparently, they arrived home from the party the night before and he was gone, his things gone with him. They thought he might have come here, at least to see you, before he went on to his final destination. He's not upstairs, is he, Jeneva?"

"Not that I'm aware of, father," she said coolly. "I don't suppose Sirius would have hidden in my room without making me aware of his presence, so I very much doubt that he's here."

"David, check her room," her father snarled, and her brother rushed up to her room, searching for Sirius. Jenny held her breath, hoping that Remus's enchantments on the note would hold. When David returned, shaking his head, she exhaled slowly.

"Write to Walburga," her father ordered her mother. "The boy is probably with the Potters. There will be no getting him back now. Their heir is gone." He turned back to Jeneva. "I don't suppose you've gotten any bright ideas about joining him, girl."

"No, father," Jeneva said honestly. "My place is here."

Even as she said it, her heart broke. She didn't want to stay with her family. She wanted to grab Cecilia and run as far away as possible, but it was just as impossible that morning as it had been the night before, and the delicious breakfast laid out before her didn't make her feel any better about it. Still, she hoped that Sirius had managed to get to Godric's Hollow unencumbered. If she couldn't be free, Sirius ought to be. He deserved freedom. He needed it. It was nice to picture him eating breakfast with the Potters, smiling, laughing, happy, not afraid. It must be nice not to be afraid.

January came quickly after the party was over, and the Avery family found themselves at King's Cross once more. Jenny quickly made her way onto the train, not looking left or right, barely pausing to say goodbye to her parents, and settled into a compartment. She didn't have to search. Sirius and James found her.

"Hey Jenny," James said with a grin. "You'll never guess who turned up on my doorstep on Boxing Day! We're like brothers now!"

Jenny snorted.

"You were already like brothers."

Sirius hadn't told James that he had tried to get Jenny to come along. It was their secret, and she was grateful. She tried to convey that in a look, and Sirius nodded that he understood. They had a frightening amount of secrets.

"Nice necklace," Sirius said softly. "New?"

She nodded and blushed a little. He knew who it was from, she knew, and there was no point talking about it. James seemed oblivious, but that wasn't particularly new.

"Our parents seemed to think you were hiding in my closet," Jenny muttered. "David searched my room for you."

"Sorry," Sirius sighed. "I guess they were bound to give you trouble over me. I just couldn't go to that party, Jen, I couldn't do it. You know what would have happened. I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of trapping me like that."

"I understand."

James frowned.

"What's this about a party? What's the big deal?"

Jenny sighed and shook her head.

"Voldemort," Sirius whispered. "He was at the party, recruiting I guess. I suppose they were making suggestions for marriage and whatnot, Jen?"

"Yeah," Jenny snorted. "The wonderful matches he came up with were you and Melissa and me with Regulus. Too bad for Walburga and my father that you ran away. That might have actually worked out for them."

"Nah," Sirius sighed. "They'd have had to drug me to get me down the aisle with your slutty sister. Snogging is one thing, marriage is an entirely different ball of wax."

"I wouldn't put it past them, you know," Jenny mused, "drugging you. I don't think Regulus would have made such a bad husband. He probably would have just left me to my devices, and I could have left him to his."

"But you don't love him," James pointed out as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Jenny sighed.

"James, purebloods don't marry for love. Don't be so silly."

They would have laughed if it hadn't been so true. The idea of marrying for love was a modern one, a Muggle one, not something that pureblood society would ever accept, and certainly not her parents.

"Don't count out marrying him yet, Jen," Sirius growled. "You're speaking in past tense, but I imagine that either you or Melissa could still end up with him. Your parents aren't going to rest until they've got their claws in the Black fortune."

"What about Remus?" James asked, frowning.

"What about him?" Jenny said coolly, and James's frown deepened, but he asked no more questions. He got the message loud and clear. Remus wasn't an option, no matter what Jenny wanted.

Jenny had a session with Elias the day before classes started, and he wanted to hear all about her holidays.

"They were good," Jenny said vaguely, and he raised his eyebrows.

"Good?"

"Yes."

"That's it? Just 'good'?"

"Well, I guess."

"What did you do?"

Jenny frowned, looking down at her hands.

"Well, my family had a party for Christmas."

"What was that like?"

"It was fine."

Elias frowned deeply.

"Jenny, we were making a lot of progress. We were talking about all kinds of things, but it's very clear to me that something big happened over the holiday that's made you so despondent. Now, please tell me what it is."

Jenny bit her lip. He hadn't said a word yet about anything. How much could she say without telling him enough for him to be legally obligated to take action? Was it worth risking it? There were, after all, things she wanted to get off her chest.

"Promise you won't tell?" she said softly.

"The same promises apply," he conceded with a nod.

"Right," Jenny muttered. "Well, Voldemort was at the party." He frowned. "Well, just about all the purebloods were there, but because of him, I think. And I had to meet him. He… he started getting involved in my marriage prospects."

Elias's frowned deepened.

"How involved?"

"Well, it seems like he wanted me to marry Regulus Black, and for my sister to marry Sirius, but I'm not sure if that's going to work out like he wanted."

"And why's that?"

Jenny couldn't keep the smile from sneaking onto her face. The idea of Sirius's freedom made her happier than she had been about anything for a very, very long time.

"Sirius ran away."

Elias sat up at little straighter.

"Tell me everything."

Jenny recounted the tale in less-than-perfect detail of Sirius running away, hiding in her room, asking her to come along. She said how she refused, that she didn't want to leave her baby sister alone. She explained how he left for the Potters', how her family confronted her in the morning and were satisfied that she was uninvolved.

"He's free," she whispered, a smile still playing on her lips. "He's finally free."

"Why did he want you to go with him?" Elias pressed gently.

"Because," she said with a shrug. "He made this promise when we were kids that he was going to protect me. He's said it over and over but he's never really been able to do anything, and I guess this was his way of trying to make good on that promise. But he understood why I didn't leave."

"Protect you from what?" Elias pressed, but Jenny shook her head. He knew. She knew that he did, but she wasn't going to say it out loud. It felt too much like admitting… admitting the truth, her weakness, the horrible fear she lived in every time she was around her family. It was almost like admitting that she was a human punching bag to her father and brother, and she couldn't bring herself to do that.

"Jenny," Elias said softly after a few moments of awkward silence, "your parents have been hurting you, haven't they?"

She said nothing, just looked at him, blinking.

"I'm sure they've told you that it would be worse if you told someone, but that's not true, dear. I can get you out of there, you and your sister both. I can get you help."

No he couldn't. The Avery family would not give up their children, disappointments, though they were, especially after what had happened to the Blacks, losing their heir.

"I'll be able to get to a family who loves you and can take care of you. Professor Dumbledore and I will be able to make sure you're safe. I just need you to tell me the truth. I need you to tell me what they've done to you."

"I can't," Jenny whispered.

"Yes, you can, Jenny," Elias encouraged. "You're a Gryffindor, dear. Be brave and tell me what happened."

For a moment, Jenny teetered on the edge. What if he could help her? After all, he wasn't a sixteen-year-old boy like Sirius. He was a man with the power of the Ministry at his disposal. Perhaps he really could save her and Cecilia, keep them out of harm's way. Maybe she would be able to live her own life, date Remus, have all the things she ever wanted. But what if he couldn't? She would be worse off than before.

The image of Sirius sobbing in her bedroom, begging her to come with him swam to the forefront of her mind. It was worth the risk. If Elias was able to protect her, Sirius would be so proud of her. Cecilia would be able to have a relatively normal life, more normal than Jenny could ever hope for. Suddenly, it seemed obvious that it was the right thing to do.

Before she realized what she was doing, Jenny was telling him everything she could remember about her family, all the secrets, all the horrible actions. She was recounting every time her father, brothers, sister, had ever injured her in the best detail she could remember and Elias was scribbling it all down as fast as he could. Jenny felt as though a weight was being lifted off her chest, and she began to notice that tears were flowing down her cheeks, although she wasn't sure when they had begun. There was really hope. She could really be free, like Sirius.

Her smile was plastered on her face. Elias promised that he would have some sort of results for her by the morning, and he wished her a good day and hoped she would sleep a little easier knowing he was working on her salvation. It almost felt too good to be true, but it felt so good. Jenny hugged him tightly, kissed him on the cheek, and rushed off to find Sirius.

"Sirius!" she cried, tackling him in the common room. "Let's go somewhere quieter, I need to tell you something!"

He frowned at her, a little concerned, but he led her up to his dormitory, where Remus was flipping through a book, searching for something.

"Erm," Sirius muttered. "Sorry, thought it was empty."

"No, it's fine," Jenny insisted, leading him into the room. "Remus can hear this too."

"Hear what?" Remus asked, marking his place in the book, sitting up, and stretching a little. "Oh. It looks lovely, Jenny."

Jenny blushed a little, realizing he had seen that she was wearing the triquetra.

"Thank you, Remus. I adore it. Anyway, I just finished talking to Elias."

"Right," Sirius nodded. "I take it things went well?"

"I told him," she said excitedly. "I told him everything."

"Told him…?"

"Everything."

"You're not serious."

"No, I am!" Jenny insisted, ignoring the amused expressions the boys exchanged over the pun. "I told him all about my family and what they've done. Actually, he backed me into a corner a bit, asking me about my holiday, and I told him about your running away, but more than I ought to have, I guess, because he insisted on asking why you wanted to take me and Celia with you. But I realized he actually could fix things!"

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, leaning forward attentively.

Jenny told them of the promise Elias made, that he was going to get Cecilia and Jenny out of that house, somewhere safe, like Sirius was.

"You see?" she said, grinning. "Everything's going to be okay now! I can have a normal life and do normal things and not have to be scared all the time, Sirius. I can be free like you!"

Sirius grinned, hugging her tightly.

"Where do you think they'll put you?" he asked. "You think you can move in with the Potters? They've got plenty of room, and I know they'd love to have girls around for a change."

"It's possible," Jenny breathed. "After all, they're a respected family who are more than capable of supporting us and keeping us safe. Oh, Merlin, Sirius, my whole life is going to change!"

She broke free of his hold and hugged Remus as well, who tensed at first before wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly. She didn't worry that her body wanted to stay with him forever. It was going to be okay. They were going to have a chance to be together, without hiding, without fear. They were safe. Without a second thought, she pressed her lips firmly but chastely to his.

It was like the world was spinning, like fire and ice, like her heart was beating faster and slower all at the same time, and although it took a moment, he responded to the kiss and she nearly collapsed into him. Her first real kiss, and it was everything she had ever hoped it would be. Things were going to be good, she realized, as she pecked Remus and Sirius both on the cheek and skipped toward the door.

"Oh," she said, "don't mention it to anyone else yet. I want to surprise Celia with the good news when it's all for sure, all right?"

For the first time, life was good.