Bleh. This chapter isn't so good. But it's the Christmas one, so...I guess I like parts of it. Not that that matters. Whatever. Ignore me. I'm high on painkillers right now. (And yes, they were prescribed. I'm not a druggie.)

Chapter 8: Thin Lines

Everyone went home for Christmas the next day. I, of course, was staying at the castle, even though Lily had invited me to her house for the holidays.

"Sorry, Lily, but I'd rather not be there when you and your sister get into another one of your infamous arguments" had been my response. Nellie had invited me too, but she had three sisters and four brothers. Alice was going to Italy with her family and Mary was going to Finland, as was Peter Pettigrew. Sirius went to James', and Remus . . . Well, I wasn't really sure.

There were three other Gryffindors staying, two of which were second years while the third was a fourth year. I never really went down to the Great Hall, I just went down to the kitchens whenever I got hungry. My eating schedule was a little mixed up, as it always was over any of the holidays, because I stayed up until two in the morning and didn't actually get up until sometime around ten or eleven in the morning.

To be honest, it was a very boring holiday, spent with only the company of a few books, the house elves, and Strawberries. She decided that she wanted to tear up the whole dormitory, so I ended up having to clean up all the feathers and repairing everything. (Except, of course, Elvora's things. I let those be.)

No one even sent me any letters.

When I woke up on Christmas, however, I had a pile of wrapped presents at the foot of my bed. I was a bit surprised, although that was irrational, as I had sent everyone presents too, including the Marauders.

I spent most of the morning unwrapping them while Strawberries lounged on my lap, occasionally moving to sit on my pillow.

Lily had sent me a pair of bright green knee socks, because she'd know I'd love them. In the letter, she said, 'I saw these and immediately knew that they were practically invented for you.' She'd also given me a muggle candy called 'Sour Patch Kids'. Alice and Mary both gave me jewelry, Nellie got me a singing card, because she knew I'd hate it, (Those things seriously scare me) and a knitted scarf that she knew I would appreciate. James gave me... Well, I'm not really sure what it was, really. It was square and yellow, with a black dot in the middle. I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do with it, and to be honest, I was a bit afraid to ask him. Remus gave me a few muggle books that he'd found, all ones he knew I'd read since he knew exactly what I liked to read. One of the books was titled The Host, and I could see that it was by Stephanie Meyer, who I, coincidentally, hated. But this book sounded much better than her other horrible series, and I found myself wanting to read it right away.

But I had other presents.

Peter gave me a pencil. A muggle pencil. I had no idea whether that was supposed to be funny or he just didn't know what to get me, but I was guessing it was option two.

But really, Pettigrew, a pencil? Do we even use those?

Evangeline sent me a present, too, including a letter. She gave me a gold ring with an emerald, my favorite jewel, front and center on it. She told me that it had once been mum's ring.

Well. Looks like my sister has changed.

I finally got to the last present, and from the haphazard wrapping, I knew exactly who it was from. And honestly? I was kind of afraid to open it.

But, being the naturally curious person that I am, I had to open it anyways. I did so cautiously, wondering why the bloody hell he'd even sent me a present.

But hey, if it's better than Elvora's, I'll be happy.

Whatever it was was wrapped up in a box. And when I opened that box, there was another one. And another one. And another. Finally, I managed to get to the real gift.

I almost wanted to cry when I opened it.

It was a snow globe, something I hadn't seen since I was eleven. I'd never known what one was, and then one day when I went to James' house, he had one. I'd stared at it for hours while Sirius laughed at me, saying that I was practically drooling.

It was a beautiful snow globe, one with two pandas on the inside, right on the edge of a tropical forest. Instead of snow, though, it was magically charmed to look like it was raining, and the pandas could move around. They looked entirely real, and as I watched a brightly colored bird started flying around.

He'd gotten me the perfect gift. And all I'd gotten him was a leather jacket because I'd thought he'd like it.

But the snow/rain globe wasn't all. I looked in the box to find a silver locket in the shape of a raindrop. When I opened it up, one side had a picture of a panda and a seal together.

The other side was what threw me, though. It was picture of Sirius and I when we were having one of our strange arguments. I watched as I smacked Sirius' head, we both said something, and then burst out laughing.

We looked...Happy. And we were together. Not ripping each others' throats out.

There was a letter, too, written in a hasty scrawl that had I not been reading it for years, I wouldn't have been able to decipher it.

Well, Muffin, hope you don't hate it. Prongs says that he's not going to help me if you throw that globe at me. Really, what kind of mate is he? Choosing you over me? I'm a little insulted. And since he's reading this over my shoulder right now, (git) he says that he's not choosing anyone, just that he likes you better.

Gee. Thanks, Prongs.

Anyways, we'll be back at Hogwarts soon. We're driving Mrs. Potter mad. I'm sure you're about ready to croak from boredom by now, but you can always go looting through the she-devil's things! I know you'd enjoy that.

Merry Christmas, love.

-Sirius

It was strange enough that he'd actually given me a present, much less two, but he even sent a letter?

What the bloody hell is he playing at? Does he know about the bet? Is he just trying to mess with my head?

Sad that I don't know the answer to any of those questions.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

The rest of break was spent wandering around the castle with Strawberries at my side. She was rarely out of Gryffindor tower, except the few times someone left the portrait open and she escaped.

We never ran into anyone, and even through the whole holiday I never saw one professor.

Of course, that probably had something to do with the fact that I spent my time in the kitchens and the tower.

And then, the day before everyone was supposed to come back, while I was sitting on my bed reading, I heard shouting from the common room.

"Oi! Dae! Come down here before Padfoot finds a way to get up there?"

I smiled and rolled my eyes as I bounded down the stairs and smacked straight into someone's chest. From the faint smell of ash, lemons, and something else I could never identify, I knew that it was Sirius.

I almost jumped when he put his arms around me, but after having no human contact for over a week, I needed to hug him back.

"Hey, Muffin." He murmured into my hair.

I was smiling, even though he couldn't see it. "What are you doing here?"

James voice surprised me, causing me to jump back from Sirius, although our arms were still around each other. "Didn't Padfoot tell you? We were driving Mum bonkers. She kicked us out."

I laughed. "Wow, you two really can't handle a day without stirring up trouble, can you?"

Sirius grinned. "'Course not. I'm amazed you lasted this long."

"So am I."

His grin widened as he pulled me back into the hug, whispering into my ear, "Trouble is what we both do best, Muffin."

James cleared his throat and we pulled away from each other. "Where's my hug?" He pouted.

I rolled my eyes and ran over to him, throwing my arms around his neck while he lifted my feet off the floor. I quickly dropped my arms and threw myself back to the floor, causing him to put more while I laughed. "There. You got your hug."

He rolled his eyes but let it go, instead asking, "Did you like my present?" He sounded like such an eager little puppy that I had to laugh again.

"Yeah, by the way, what was it?"

He gave a mock gasp. "You mean you don't know?" I shook my head, trying to keep a straight face. He smiled mischievously. "Well, you'll just have to wait and find out."

I was about to respond when I heard Sirius quietly say, "I'm assuming you liked my gifts, considering you're wearing one of them."

It was true; I was wearing the locket. I was about to give him some witty reply when I realized that his tone hadn't even been remotely arrogant when he'd spoken. Instead, I turned around to face him and smiled. "Yes. I loved the rain globe. It was a perfect present."

He smiled. And it was a real, genuine, no-hidden-agenda smile, something very rare for Sirius. "I'm glad."

"Speaking of gifts, mine was better than what you gave the she-devil, right?"

"One might think you're jealous, Daelia." In reaction to his comment, I just reached over and smacked James on the head, not taking my eyes away from Sirius.

He glanced away. "Well...Er, I might have forgotten to get her a present..."

I stared at him in silence for a few seconds before I bent over, laughing. Sirius grumbled something about me being daft, but I didn't comment as I fell to the ground, out of breath.

James was staring at me almost as if he was frightened. "Er...I'll be in the kitchens."

He slipped out of the common room as I stared up at Sirius, who rolled his eyes and leaned down to pick me up from the floor. He put both hands on my shoulders, holding me at arms length with an eyebrow raised as he waited for me to stop laughing.

Finally, I did. "Okay. I'm okay now. Sorry about that."

He gave me a half-smile. "It's fine. I'd be laughing too if I were in your situation."

"Good. That makes me feel a bit less daft."

He glared at me suspiciously. "When did you become so...happy? You...You don't even seem like you hate me anymore."

I pulled back and went to sit on the couch. He stayed standing and our gazes locked. "I don't." I said simply. "At least...I don't think I do."

He gave a sigh, maybe one of relief, and flopped down on the couch next to me. "Are you going to have one of your weirdo mood swings and start hating me again, are you?"

"I don't know. Probably. Once I see you with the she-devil again, I'm sure I'll remember what a man-whore you are."

He raised an eyebrow, although his stormy gray eyes were looking sad. "You really do sound jealous, Muffin."

No. Not jealous. Just upset about the fact that I might possibly lose this bet to the she-devil.

And then I got an idea.

I grinned seductively, and from the look on Sirius' face, I wasn't making a total fool of myself. "Black, if I wanted you, I could get you, regardless of whether you were with Elvora or not."

As I started up the stairs to the dormitory, I could have sworn I heard him mutter, "You got that right."

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Everyone finally came back the next day, and I practically pounced on Lily. (Then again, so did James.)

"Thank you, Merlin! You have no idea how boring the dormitory is at night. It was so quiet and..." I didn't mention the fact that I'd slept in the boys dormitory last night. "Argh! Please tell me at least one of you is staying for Easter break."

Nellie laughed. "Don't worry. I'll be here."

I put a hand to my forehead dramatically. "I was about to die without you."

Alice rolled her eyes as they all started towing me towards our dormitory, mainly to get away from James, I think.

Of course, there was the added bonus of not having to see Sirius and Elvora sucking face.

And...There goes the hate again.

"How the bloody hell can he stand to be with her?" I fumed as Lily, Alice, and Nellie sat down on my bed.

"You really hate that, don't you?"

I looked at Lily incredulously. "Lily. It's bloody Elvora. And I may hate Black, but I refuse to lose."

Nellie laughed. "You don't hate him, Daelia. We know you don't."

"Yes. I do."

"No, you don't, Dae." Alice.

"I do."

"You really don't." Lily.

"Yes, I really do." I insisted.

"If you hate him, then why are you wearing that locket he gave you?"

Okay. That froze me up. I really had no response. I looked at Lily hopelessly. "I need to hate him. I can't...not hate him."

Lily smiled softly at me. "Well, you're going to have to learn."

We sat in silence for a few minutes before Nellie finally said, "Go down there. Snog him. Ask him out. Whichever. He'll say yes."

"He's dating Elvora."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Lily exclaimed.

"How does that not mean anything?"

They all gave a collective sigh, which was actually kind of frightening. "You really don't get it, do you?" Alice asked gently, yet sounding confused.

I merely raised an eyebrow while Lily said, "Look, Dae, Sirius would choose you over Elvora any day. You may not believe that, but we know it. Now, you say you want to win this bet, then go down there and win it! And if you really do hate Black, which we know you don't, then don't you want to get this over with?"

I stayed silent for a few moments. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

All three of them smiled as I got up and started down the stairs. I found Sirius quickly, sitting on a couch with James and Remus while Elvora sat on the other side of the room with Shannen.

I smiled and Remus as I walked over to Sirius and grabbed his hand, pulling him up. Trying not to think, I put a hand on the back of his head and pulled his head down to meet mine, pressing my lips against his.

After the initial shock, he kissed back. I was surprised; For some reason I'd been thinking that he would push me away and hex me or something. But no, his arms wound around me, warm hands resting on my lower back. The room went silent, but I didn't pay much attention.

Honestly, I wasn't paying much attention to anything other than Sirius right now.

I wasn't even thinking about the bet.

But then when I realized that all I could think about was this snog with Sirius, I panicked and pulled away, trying to appear like I wasn't even remotely affected by what had just happened.

Sirius looked a little dazed, but his eyes were a bit smug and full of curiosity. His head was still bent down towards mine, so I stood on my toes to whisper in his ear, "You really are as good as they all say." I knew this would just inflate his ego, but there was no denying it.

Snogging Sirius Black is probably the best thing I'll ever do in my life.

I walked back over to the stairs, smiling a bit, and walked up them as Alice, Lily, and Nellie, who had been standing at the bottom watching, following.

They were all giggling as we sat back down on my bed. "Did you see Elvora's face? Priceless!"

No. I hadn't seen her face. I'd been too focused on something else...

"You're going to win, Daelia, no doubt."

"I can't believe you did that in front of the entire common room! I at least thought that you were going to take him out of the tower."

Hmm. I hadn't really thought about that.

"Dae?" A finger snapped in front of my face. "Dae!"

I looked towards Nellie. "Hmm?"

She started laughing. "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

I looked down at my nails. "Who doesn't enjoy a good snog?" I replied nonchalantly.

Lily rolled her eyes but didn't comment. "So, I guess this means Elvora just lost."

"You can't know that, Lily. All I did was snog him a bit."

"Because. He snogged back." Alice chimed in. "Which means that he just cheated on her. So she lost. Contract, remember?"

"So? If they stay together for another two months after this, she wins." I stopped for a second as they all stared at me like I belong in the mental ward, and at the same time we all burst out laughing. "Okay. Never mind."

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

I was a bit nervous about going to breakfast the next day, and it had nothing to do with the fact that classes were about to start up again. Practically everyone in Gryffindor had seen what I did last night, and I wasn't exactly keen on having everyone stare at me.

But hey, if it means I win, I think I can handle it.

We got down to the Great Hall at the same time as usual, and I acted as if nothing was different. The only seats open were next to the Marauders, and Lily, Alice, and Nellie raced ahead of me, leaving the seat next to Sirius the only one open. I calmly sat down, not glancing at him, and reached for some toast. Alice, who was on my other side, nusged me with her elbow and pointed down the table, saying, "There's Elvora. She's glaring daggers at you."

She was. The phrase If looks could kill came to mind, and I had never been so happy that that statement wasn't true.

Unless you're a basilisk.

I snorted as Lily, who was across from me and very reluctantly sitting next to James, said, "Wonder where she was last night."

"Well, I'm just glad she wasn't in the dormitory last night. I thought she was going to slit my throat in my sleep or Avada me or something."

I felt warm breath brush my ear. "And why is that, Muffin?" He murmured it so quietly that I knew no one else would hear.

"Oh, I don't know." I replied, just as quietly. "Maybe because her boyfriend decided to snog someone else last night."

None of the others were listening to us, all immersed in their own conversations, but they kept shooting us curious glances.

"If I recall, said boyfriend was accosted by some other girl. She couldn't resist his charm."

"Accosted." I scoffed. "Admit it, Black, you liked it."

He looked down at me, gray eyes sincere. "I did. And you know that."

I smiled. "Well, it's a good thing we can admit it. And by the way, I can resist your charm. I've been doing it for five and a half years, which is more than I can say for most of the other girls at this school."

"Well, it seems as if you can't resist anymore."

I snorted. "Please. I could resist you for years and years."

Lie.

He raised an eyebrow. "Then what was that last night, huh? Were you imperiused or something?"

I sighed. "No. Can we stop talking about this now?" Actually, I could have kept going, but I had to find a way to bring Elvora into the conversation. "Shouldn't you be with your sla-girlfriend?" Almost calling her a slag was totally accidental. I swear.

Okay. So maybe it wasn't.

"No. She's not my girlfriend. She said she was willing to forgive me for my 'transactions with a whore that doesn't deserve to be on this Earth.' After that, I didn't really want her to forgive me."

I smiled. "Right. I'm the whore. Isn't that an American word? I've never understood American words and yet I use them almost as often as I use English ones."

"You're not a whore or a slag. You just fell for the wily charms that belong to Sirius Black."

I smacked the back of his head. "Drop that grin. One snog does not mean that I've fallen for your wily charms."

His grin didn't drop, though. Instead, it widened, and his eyes sparkled in a mischievous way that almost frightened me. "Well, then you're going to have to give me a chance to make you fall for my wily charms."

This was going exactly where it was supposed to, but I still had to play the innocent act. "And why should I give you a chance to do that?"

He was still grinning as he leaned forward a few inches to press his lips to mine. It wasn't as heated as the last night, probably because we were in front of the whole school, but it still made me crave more.

He pulled away and rested his forehead against mine, saying, "That's why."

"Mmm." I couldn't really think of anything else to say, although my brain was buzzing with thoughts.

He rolled his eyes. "You know exactly what I'm asking."

I raised an eyebrow. "No. I really don't."

He made a noise of frustration. "You've always been impossible, Daelia. Why do you have to make this hard, too?"

I smiled. "Because it's fun. Besides, you need a challenge."

He sighed, and as his breath washed over my face I could smell mint and a hint of lemon.

Why does he always smell like lemons?

"You've been a challenge for five years, Daelia." He muttered. Then he pulled back a little bit so he could look into my eyes. "Will you, Daelia Eckhart, go out with me, Sirius Black?"

I almost said yes. It would have been easy. But I knew that I had to play the cautious card, or he would eventually get suspicious. "Go out as in...relationship?" I asked slowly as I pulled back a bit farther.

"Yes, Muffin, that's exactly what I meant."

"With...You?"

He gave me a look. "Who did you think I was talking about? Langor?" He winced when he saw me flinch. He put an arm around my waist and pulled me in for a hug. "Sorry." He murmured.

"It's fine." I whispered after a few moments. I pulled back and said, "Sorry, but I really don't feel like walking in on you shagging some Hufflepuff. Don't feel like being the laughingstock of the year."

It was true. I should have been saying yes. That was the point of the bet.

But I didn't want to walk in on him with someone else. And it had nothing to do with not wanting to be the laughingstock.

Although that wouldn't be so good, either.

"Dae, you'd be surprised how long I can last without shagging." He didn't even sound like he was lying. And I've always been good at knowing when people are lying.

"That's not what eighty percent of the female population of Hogwarts says."

"Merlin, Daelia, you really are going to be impossible, aren't you?" I smiled and he shook his head. "That's because I get bored with all of them. They're quite boring girls, you know. And annoying, too." I raised my eyebrows at him, silently asking what the point was. "Right. Anyways, I've been talking to you for five and a half years, Dae." I gave him a look and he rolled his eyes. "Okay, so part of it was arguing. But still. I haven't gotten bored of you yet, have I?"

"I guess not." I conceded.

"So. Are you going to give me an answer?"

I felt like this was some cheesy movie moment, except for the fact that this whole conversation had been whispered and it was being held in the presence of our whole school. And I still wasn't really sure why I wasn't saying yes.

Except I was sure. I knew exactly why I wasn't saying yes.

I didn't want to get my heart broken.

And Sirius Black was exactly the person to do that.

And I said yes anyways.

Meh. I don't particularly like this chapter. But would you like to review anyways? Because I'm getting tired of waking up in the morning and checking my email to see fifteen things that say either story alert or favorite and then only getting one review. Pretty please?