The young man looks at the paper in his hand, then up at the house in front of him. 37. It's a match. He strides up the cobblestone pathway, glad to have narrowly escaped the rain that just started up again. He looks for a knocker on the door, but it's hard to find amidst the decorations. He pokes around the wreath, careful not to drop any of the bright red and very real poinsettias on it. No luck. What kind of a house has no door knocker? He balls his hand into a fist and raps hard on the wood, hoping someone inside will hear him.

"What are you doing here?" Corinne spits out when she opens the door to reveal Sirius there. They had another fight on the train ride to King's Cross, which was about McLaggen, as their latest fights tend to be.

"Happy to see you too love," he smirks. "Your brother invited me, remember?"

"Well you're not welcome here," she says before slamming the door shut.

"Oi what'd you do that for?" Cody asks her angrily, opening the door once again. "Come on in, Sirius. Sorry about that, I didn't hear the doorbell."

"Doorbell?"

"Er, yeah, the button to the right of the door?"

"Oh, right," he says. Well, it would explain the lack of a knocker.

"So, are the others coming?"

"Yeah, James stayed behind to wait for them. I wanted to come early."

Corinne is sitting on the sofa petting her kneazle when the boys walk in. "Bite him, Spartacus."

Cody looks over at Corinne and gets an idea. "Spartacus," he calls to the kneazle, "come here."

Spartacus jumps off of Corinne and goes over to Cody. "Traitor," she mutters.

Cody holds up the kneazle to Sirius. Sirius looks over at the oddity and pets it behind its large ear. "Hey, your name is Spartacus right? You're cool."

"See Corinne, Spartacus likes him so you know he's good."

"That doesn't mean anything. Kneazles detect unsavory or suspicious people, not idiots."

"Come on, Johnson," Sirius says, "don't act like we aren't friends."

"We aren't, and you'll agree once Damien comes in."

"Excuse us," Sirius tells Cody, abruptly pulling Corinne into the hallway. "McLaggen is coming today?"

"Yes," she says almost defiantly.

"Are you joking? Why would you invite him here?"

"I'm dating him, Sirius! And this isn't your house! I can invite whoever I want, including Damien!"

"I don't like him. He isn't good for you."

"Give me one good reason."

"I'll give you two: he's a prick and he's not that into you."

"How can you say that to me?" she hisses furiously.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Johnson! I know how he is! He's the one who taught me everything I know about girls!"

"I don't believe you," she says, crossing her arms across her chest.

She might as well stomp her foot, she's already acting like a five year old, Sirius thinks. "Your disbelief doesn't make it untrue."

"I don't care, Black! I do what I want!"

"Look, I didn't want to have to be the one to tell you this, but I saw him two days ago. He was in Morgana's, that jewelry shop in Diagon Alley, with a girl."

"That was Christmas Eve. He could have been doing some last minute shopping with his sister!"

"He's an only child, Corinne!"

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for that."

"Yeah, and it's that he's cheating on you!"

"Drop it already!"

"You're so incredibly frustrating!"

"Good." They stare at each other, having a standoff of sorts, neither wanting to be the first to look away.

"The others are here! They brought Peter along too!" Cody calls from the next room.

Corinne is the first to break eye contact. She shoves past Sirius and walks into the sitting room.

"Spartacus, stop!" Cody is yelling at the kneazle.

Peter jumps behind James but Spartacus still tries to get at him. He keeps hissing and his hair is standing on end.

"What- Spartacus?" Corinne hurries over to the creature and picks him up. "I'm sorry Peter, he doesn't seem to like you," she apologizes, picking up the kneazle and stroking him to calm him down. He's stopped trying to claw at the pudgy boy but he still hasn't stopped hissing.

"It's deranged! What did I do to that crazy thing?"

That makes Corinne defensive. Her previous kindness vanishes at Peter's rudeness. "He isn't deranged or crazy," Corinne defends him. "Kneazles are intelligent, if he doesn't like someone it's because there's something wrong with them."

"So what? You're saying there's something wrong with me?"

"If the shoe fits."

"Just get Spartacus away from him," Cody says impatiently.

They all take a seat, all except Corinne who storms up to her room, Spartacus still in her arms. She closes the door behind her and puts the kneazle down gently on her bed. Damien should be here any minute now. She studies herself in the mirror, making sure her makeup is perfect and every strand of hair is in place. She can't hear what the boys are saying downstairs, but she does hear the doorbell. She takes one last look in her mirror, smoothing down her clothes, and hurries downstairs.

"Oh it's okay, the doorbell didn't ring, don't worry about answering it," she tells Cody sarcastically as she heads to the door.

Cody barely even glances at her from where he's lounging on the couch. The boys continue talking, all except for one. Sirius's eyes follow Corinne to the door and he glares at McLaggen when he walks in. He clears his face of any expression when the newcomer looks at them.

"You have quite a party here," McLaggen says.

"Yeah, my parents aren't home today so Cody reckoned he'd invite half of the school," Corinne says, annoyance etched on her features.

"At least he has some good taste in company. How's it going, Potter? It's been a long time. Hey Black, glad to see my protégé is still around."

Sirius answers with a nod and James says, "I'm fine, mate. How've you been?"

"Great as can be. I mean, I'm with Corinne, who wouldn't be happy about that?"

Corinne blushes, Peter rolls his eyes, Cody makes a gagging noise, Remus looks around awkwardly, Sirius scowls, and James answers with "I know, that's how I feel about Lily."

"Evans? The redhead? She finally said yes to you?"

"Yeah, she finally came around," he grins.

"Good job mate," he congratulates James, looking impressed.

"Well let me introduce you to the others. That's Remus and Peter, I'm pretty sure you know them, and this is my brother Cody."

"Nice to meet you Cody, hey Remus, and Wiggly Piggly Peter, I didn't recognize you! You've been laying off the Pumpkin Pasties, haven't you?"

It's Peter's turn to blush over his old nickname. "Er, yeah," he says quietly.

"How was everyone's Christmas?" he asks, taking a seat and bringing Corinne down with him.

A round of quiet 'it was okay' and 'great' goes around. Cody is the only one who has more to offer. "I met someone. A witch."

They all turn to look at him. It's clear that he's been dying to tell everyone this; he can't seem to sit still. Most of the group is curious, but Corinne is concerned, loathe as she is to admit it. "A witch? Who? What's her name? What do you know about her?"

"Don't worry about it," he smirks. "It isn't any of your business."

"What do you mean it isn't any of my business? She may be dangerous, you don't know the first thing about her," Corinne insists.

"This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you. You always overreact over the smallest things."

"This isn't small~"

"Let's talk about this later," Sirius suggests.

"Fine," Corinne huffs.

"So, McLaggen, I saw you at Morgana's the other day. Who was the girl you were with?"

Corinne shoots daggers at Sirius, but part of her is glad he brought it up. She'd like to hear the answer just as much as he would. Damien, on the other hand, looks at ease.

"Oh, you should have said hi or something. She was my cousin, helping me choose something. I was kind of saving this for a private moment, but now is a good a time as any I suppose. I was there buying a Christmas gift, for you Corinne. I remembered how you loved our second date, and I reckoned you could always have a memory of that day with you."

He pulls out a small black box from his pocket and hands it to her. She takes it slowly, shocked at the response she was least expecting. Inside the box is the most beautiful pair of earrings she's ever owned. "It's made from that volcanic rock I found, the one you loved. This way, you can carry around a memory of it with you."

"It's perfect," she whispers, her voice raspy with emotion. She clears her throat before continuing. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, I like making you happy. You're not just saying that you like them to spare my feelings are you?" he teases.

"No," she smiles, removing them from the box and putting them on, "they're absolutely gorgeous. They look so posh."

"I'm glad you like them. Sorry I didn't get anything for the rest of you."

"No worries mate, we didn't get anything for you either," James tells him.

"Well, I don't know about you lot, but I'm starved. We have food in the kitchen, if you'd care to join me," Cody offers.

"Great, I skipped breakfast this morning," Remus says, getting up along with Cody, James, Peter, and Corinne.

"I sure didn't, but I'm still hungry! You coming?" James asks Sirius, who hasn't moved.

"I'll be there in a minute," he answers, lounging back further into the armchair.

"How about you Damien?" Corinne asks, wondering why he hasn't moved either.

"I'll be there in a minute too. I just need to call my mum, tell her where I'm at before she sends someone looking for me," he shakes his head. "Do you mind if I use your phone?"

"No, that's okay. It's in the hallway, hanging on the wall under the staircase."

"Great, thanks love," he smiles, making sure she's through the kitchen door before he turns to Sirius. "So, mate, what's going on?"

"You're good," Sirius tells him calmly. "Part of me knew you would get away with the Morgana deal, but the other part was really hoping you'd get caught."

"I've been playing this game for a long time Sirius. I'm good at it; I won't get caught."

"Not when you have her wrapped around your finger like this," he says, barely able to contain his frustration and disgust. "The gift? That was a smooth move."

"I know how to cover my tracks and prepare for incidents like this."

"So who is she really?"

"She's girlfriend number one. Corinne is number two, and girl number three I'm just dating, no relationship."

"Why Corinne? She's not your type."

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm not seeing her."

"But there's something there. I see it in the way you look at her, the way you've been trying to protect her. Do you fancy her? Maybe you even love her?"

"No, neither. She's just a good friend. I'd do just as much for Lily, Mary, or any of my other girl friends."

"We're supposed to stick together mate. Why are you calling me out like that?" Even as he's accusing Sirius of betrayal, he's calm and relaxed, leaning back with his hands behind his head.

"I'm not your mate, McLaggen. I know what you're doing and I'm warning you now, don't mess her around."

"Ah," he sighs. "I see." Before Sirius can ask exactly what it is he sees, McLaggen continues. "Anyway, you're right, she isn't what I would normally choose, but she's pretty enough. There's just something about her. She's so innocent-"

That makes Sirius' blood boil. "If you hurt her in any way McLaggen, I promise that'll be the last thing you do."

"Tell me, how frustrating is it watching all of this happen and knowing there's nothing you can do to stop me?"

Sirius is seconds away from pulling out his wand and jinxing the prick in front of him, but he thinks better of it. Corinne would hate him, and it would ruin any credibility he has left. It takes all of his self-control to simply walk away, but he manages it. What he doesn't manage is to look calm because the second he walks into the kitchen, James and the others notice something is wrong.

"Hey," Corinne says quietly, placing a gentle hand on his arm. She isn't exactly happy with him, but he looks genuinely upset. It stirs some kind of protective instinct in her. She doesn't like seeing him like this. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he answers gruffly, too upset to even take this kindness from her.

"Okay." She knows when he needs space. "I'll be back." She avoids mentioning that she's going to look for Damien because she knows that will upset him even more. She wonders if they had some kind of argument. It would explain why he's so worked up.

"What's going on mate?" James asks Sirius once Corinne is gone.

"McLaggen."

"What did he say?"

"He confessed to it. He said that girl was girlfriend number one, Corinne is number two, and there's a third girl he's just dating."

"Wait, he's cheating on my sister?"

"Yeah," three voices respond.

"That f-"

"It's no use," Sirius tells him, putting a hand on his shoulder to hold him down. "She'll defend him to the end. I've told her a million times and she refuses to believe me."

"She knows and she's still with him?"

"You know how bloody stubborn she is. This is bollocks," he brings down a heavy fist on the table.

"I need to have a word with him."

This time James forces Cody down. "It won't help. It'll just make this a more exciting game for him. It's bad enough that Sirius let slip how upset he is," he shakes his head at his friend. "There's nothing we can do but keep warning her and keep looking for chances to out him."

"Can I at least kick him out?"

"Corinne is stubborn by nature," Remus begins, "the more that we disapprove of and warn her about McLaggen, the more she'll defend him and believe in his virtue. I think the best course of action here would be to act natural. Don't antagonize her."

"You'd be singing a different tune if she were your sister," Cody says.

"I'm sure I would, but it wouldn't change the logic."

"Remus is right," Sirius finally says. "Can we change the subject? I just want to relax and enjoy the holidays."

"Sirius," Corinne marches into the kitchen. "What did you say to Damien? He left!"

"If McLaggen left it's because he wanted to," Sirius answers coolly. "Don't go around blaming me for what your boyfriend does."

"Why did he leave?" Remus asks, trying to avoid a fight.

"He said his grandmother was visiting and his mother wanted him home."

"Then that's obviously the truth because he would never lie to you, right?" Sirius tells her scathingly. It's childish and spiteful, but he's so upset, and it's half her fault. If she would only listen to him . . .

"What is your problem?"

"You know exactly what my problem is!" he blows up. "How many times have I warned you, Johnson? How many? One hundred? Two hundred? Every time you bleeding mention him!"

"And how many times have I told you that I trust him? I've seen no proof to indicate that I shouldn't!"

"So you're going to trust him over me?"

"We don't even get along half of the time!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" he shouts back. He continues before Corinne has a chance to respond. "I've never lied to you, ever. Not even when we hated each other. I've never been anything but honest with you Corinne, and now you won't believe me when it matters most."

"It's not about not believing you, Sirius," Corinne tells him more gently. "I know you've never lied to me. I don't think you're lying to me. I think you're biased against McLaggen."

"He just confessed everything to me, so either I'm lying or he is. Who do you believe?"

"You're a great friend, Sirius. Please don't make me choose."

"Well I reckon I just got my answer. I'll see you lot later, I need to go," Sirius says, unable to take the frustration any longer. He takes out a small box from his jacket pocket and places it on the table before leaving. "Merry Christmas."

"Sirius- wait!"

He doesn't. He walks right out, sticking his wand out to signal the Knight Bus. He's gone within seconds. Corinne walks back into the kitchen, her spirits deflated. She isn't sure why, but Sirius leaving upsets her more than Damien leaving. "He's gone."

"That was intense," Peter says, not unkindly.

"I know," Corinne says, taking a seat around the table with the rest of them.

"He'll come around," James assures her. "He just needs space."

"Am I wrong?"

"Yes," four voices respond immediately. Corinne looks up, surprised.

Remus chooses his words more carefully. "None of us know Damien as well as Sirius does, except maybe James-"

"Nope," James says, "I was never a big fan."

"Well, then none of us know him very well, and we weren't there for the alleged confession either, but don't dismiss what Sirius is telling you just because he has no solid proof."

"Everyone knows McLaggen has always been a player," Peter pipes up, eager to have some input. "At least he was when he was at Hogwarts."

"Look Corinne, I trust Sirius with my life. If he says something is going on, then I believe him. You don't have to break up with McLaggen, but don't be so blinded by his charms that you ignore your gut feeling, or anything else anyone warns you about," James says gently.

She doesn't like where this is going. She knows they're trying to help, but it doesn't change her mind, so she changes the subject instead. "Thanks, I appreciate that. Cody, who's this witch you were telling us about?"

"Nice try Corinne," he grins, "but I'm not saying."

"Okay," she rolls her eyes, "she probably isn't real anyway."

"Oh trust me, she's definitely real."

"Right."

Remus interrupts before another argument can break out. "That's fine, you don't have to tell us anything. You should be really careful though. These are dangerous times in the wizarding world."

"I know, I know," he laughs, "but she's a nice girl. So who's up for a movie?"

"Sure," James says. "I watched one with Lily last week. It's so cool, you have to see what it's like!" he says to Remus and Peter.

"I'm going upstairs. Thanks for coming and I'll see you back at school," Corinne tells them, grabbing the box with her name written on it. She carefully tears open the red wrapping paper and lifts the lid. Inside is a miniature hourglass the size of her hand. The stand is shiny bronze and the sand inside is a brilliant blue. Corinne flips it upside down and for one horrifying second she thinks this is the special sand they found, but nothing happens. She notices the folded note at the bottom of the box and pulls it out.

A reminder of how we became friends. Even though it was a frustrating experience, I'm glad it happened. Happy Christmas, Corinne.

-Sirius

Corinne throws her head back against her pillows and sighs. This mess the two friends have found themselves in is more frustrating to her. She wants to believe Sirius, but she can't. She just hopes that he can forgive her because, though she'll never admit it to anyone, she would hate to lose his friendship.

OoOoO

Corinne runs down the staircase when she hears the doorbell. She's been expecting Jenna all day. Well, she's actually on time, but it feels like she's been waiting all day.

"Hey Jenna, I'm surprised you managed to dislodge yourself from Steven's hip long enough to remember you have a cousin," Corinne says, half jokingly, half sourly.

"Happy late Christmas to you too," she grins, not taking it to heart. Corinne closes the door and follows Jenna into the kitchen. "Hi Aunt Helen," Jenna says, hugging Corinne's mother who is sitting at the table eating a late breakfast.

"Hello Jenna, how are you?"

"I'm great."

"How's Steven?" she asks, a grin spreading across her face.

"I see you've been talking to my mum," she smiles, hardly embarrassed. "He's doing great too. I spent Christmas lunch with his family. It's just great because we've known each other for so long, so we're really good friends too."

"That's the best way to start. The other day I got home and I met some of your schoolmates. I was telling Corinne that I really like that Remus boy for her. He's such a nice young man!"

"That's what I've told her too, Aunt Helen! But I like Damien for her too."

"Yes, but there's something about R-"

"Enough about my love life!" Corrine interrupts. "Let's go upstairs, Jenna."

"I'll see you later Aunt Helen!" Jenna says, jogging up the staircase to catch up to her cousin. When she walks into Corinne's room, she settles herself on her bed. "Okay, you're dying to tell me something. What is it?"

Corinne sits on the edge, leaning against the bedpost facing Jenna. "So you know how I told you that the Marauders came over the other day?"

"Yeah, and your mum just mentioned it too. How was it?"

"Well, Damien was over here too, and Sirius started with his accusations again."

"About how he's cheating? What's new about that?"

"Well, it isn't, except it got really bad. He was alone with Damien for a few minutes and when he joined us in the kitchen, I went to look for Damien. He said he had to go, so I went back to the kitchen. Sirius looked angry so I asked him what was wrong. Then he said that I know exactly what is wrong and he started with the accusations."

"Do you think Sirius said something to Damien to make him leave?"

"No, he had to leave because his grandmother was visiting. So anyway, he said that he's told me a million times and I still don't believe him. I told him that I don't think he's lying, I just think he's biased."

"What did he say?"

"That Damien just confessed to cheating and that I either believe Damien was lying or that he was. Then he was all like 'I've never lied to you, ever. So who are you going to believe?'"

"What did you tell him?"

"I asked him not to make me choose. That didn't go over well and he took off."

"Wow, he must really hate Damien."

"So you don't think Damien is cheating? You think Sirius made up the confession?"

"Well . . . I just can't see Damien as a cheater, you know? I mean, you told me what he got you for Christmas. That isn't a gift a cheater would give. It's too thoughtful and sweet. It takes effort. At the same time, I don't like to think Sirius is lying."

"That's exactly how I feel! Sirius has never lied to me, but I feel like he's wrong about this."

"Do you think he's just jealous because he fancies you but you're with Damien?"

Corinne shakes her head. "No, that's not it at all."

"I've never seen him pursue a friendship like this with any other girl."

"He's trying to make amends," she lies. She's certain that he doesn't fancy her any more than she fancies him. How can she explain that they're friends because of a time travel fiasco? She can't, not without revealing the secret, which is why she hasn't shown Jenna the present he gave her.

"Amends for what?"

"For being such a prick for so many years," Corinne shrugs.

"I don't know. What I do know is that it's nice of him to try to look out for you, but he's wrong. Damien wouldn't do that to you."

"I don't think he would either. It's just . . . I don't like when Sirius is angry at me. It bothers me. It makes me want to find him and settle things so we can go back to getting along."

"He's your friend, you miss him," she shrugs. "It's natural."

"Yeah, I reckon it is," Corinne sighs. "You didn't bring your trunk?"

"No, I left it at school. I just brought that bag with me," Jenna says, pointing at the large purple bag at the foot of the bed.

"Oh, alright. Well we go back tomorrow, so what do you want to do on our last night of freedom?"

"Movies and popcorn!" Jenna yells.

"Sounds good," Corinne says, trying to sound as excited as her cousin but her heart isn't in it. As she stares at the screen, her mind wanders to Sirius and their argument. She feels terrible about it, but she's mostly afraid that he'll hate her forever, and for some inexplicable reason that bothers her a lot more than it should.


So . . . there's absolutely no excuse for taking so long to post but . . . I had no idea where I wanted to take this story. I had everything written out but I didn't like it but I didn't know what to do with it instead and between work and school I couldn't dedicate enough time to this story to figure it out. That issue is resolved though! I haven't written everything out, but I'm almost done with the next chapter and I have a general idea of where I'm going. I hope to finish this up by January or February (it's taken me long enough). So that's the end of my rambling. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and, as always, reviews are appreciated :)