Disclaimer: Nada.

XxXxX

December came with a burst of angry snow. Trekking to the greenhouses became so difficult that it took most of their class time just to get there. Lily and Amos still weren't an official couple. It sent a twinge through Aly's heart when Logan told her that he had been giving Amos pointers.

In order to avoid those who Aly now chose not to acknowledge, she spent most of her time with the Hufflepuffs. Lily did so as well. However, when Amos asked Aly where Lily disappeared to every few nights, Aly had no other option but to shrug.

Logan had been more sweet than usual with her, and it broke her heart when he started packing to leave for Christmas.

"Can't you stay?" she pleaded. He had become her only constant. They had been having very few fights and everything had been going so well between the two of them, she hated to have him leave now.

"I'm all my dad's got," Logan told her.

"I'll go with you."

"No," he said simply.

"But I'm small. I take up hardly any space."

"Aly," he turned to look at her, a smile on his face. "You're all your dad's got." He kissed her on the head and told her, "You will stay. You will survive. And I will be back soon." Aly couldn't argue. Logan refused to hear anything bad her dad so it would've been useless to tell him that she probably wouldn't even see her dad over break.

He left on the last train out and Aly slowly made her way back to what she assumed was a now empty Gryffindor tower. However, to her surprise, Sirius and Remus both sat at their usual table. She stopped in place as she saw them, but regained herself quickly and sat on the couch and pulled open a book.

The silence that followed was stifling as evening rolled around them. The air was so thick that when Sirius sneezed, Aly jumped.

"Enough!" Remus exclaimed, jumping up.

"What?" Aly asked, confused by his sudden outburst.

Remus came over to her. "We're going to be together, the three of us, for a while. Can't we get along?"

"Sure," Aly said with a shrug.

Sirius mumbled after her, "Don't you need to check with your boyfriend first?"

Aly snapped her book shut angrily.

Remus scolded Sirius, "That's not helping."

"Really? Really?!" He jumped up in anger. "A month! She's ignored us for a month! Because of her big brute we've been invisible for an entire 31 day cycle! And we're just suppose to forgive and forget?!"

"Sirius," Remus grumbled.

Aly ignored him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sirius, let's be adults," Remus pleaded.

Sirius simply stood still, his face twisted in anger, and said nothing.

"What's it matter to you anyways?" Aly asked sharply, starring hard into the fire. "I'm sure you found someone else to fall onto. What do you need me for?"

She peeked over her shoulder and saw his eyes bulge slightly out of his head.

"We're friends!" he finally bellowed. "Fra-ends-sah! I lost my friend to some moron--"

"Hey!" she yelped.

"Sirius, name calling is not going to help," Remus advised.

"Whatever. The point is, Aly, that I miss my friend. I miss talking to you. I miss hanging out. You let him pull you away from us." He folded his arms and sat.

Aly sat where she was, her mind reeling. She blurted out in a whisper before she could stop herself, "I've missed you too." She added in a solid voice, "Both of you."

Remus smiled, kindly.

"We can at least hang out over break," she said reassuringly, feeling excitement stir in her chest.

"No," Sirius said point blank.

"Why not?" Aly snapped.

"Because." His face was set in defiance.

"Because why?" Aly stood and faced him. Her face set in anger.

"Because I said so." He stood as well.

They stared each other down.

"Oh, no. Don't---" Remus moved out of the way just in time.

Two spells expelled from their wands pointed directly at the opposite person. They hit and, with a boom, papers began to float down around them.

"Aww," Aly said stomping her foot, with a smile on her face. "You ruined my book."

Sirius let out a laugh and came bounding over to her and scooped her up into a backbreaking hug.

Remus, who was originally clearly mad, started to laugh as well.

"It's good to have you back." Remus told her coming over.

Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus' shoulders, squashing Aly between the two boys.

"It's good to be back," she breathed.

XxXxX

Being the only three remaining Gryffindors, the three of them pulled their mattresses down and camped out in front of the fireplace. Remus was staying over the holiday's due to his parent's work schedule. When he had found out that Sirius was staying over break, merely to avoid his family, he asked his mother of he could stay and she allowed it, feeling less guilty about being at the hospital on Christmas Day.

Aly arranged with her dad a trip to Diagon Alley to do some last minutes Christmas shopping. The morning off the trip, the three of them made their way to the Headmaster's office. He looked displeased as he saw Aly accompanied by the two boys. They used the Floo Network and arrived within seconds.

"Let's stick together," Remus advised.

"Whhhyyy," Sirius whined. He was like a kid in a candy shop, ready to take off running.

"Because," Remus said. Aly slipped her hand through the crook in Sirius' elbow and held onto him.

They wandered all around the Alley, stopping in each and every store. The wind was harsh on their faces, and after one trip all the way through, they found a coffee shop and ordered hot chocolate.

Aly sat over her cup, letting the steam that was rising warm her face. With a big inhale, she took big whiff of the sweet smell of the chocolate. As she exhaled, she said, "I've missed you guys."

Sirius, who had taken to eating the whipped cream on the top of his, looked up with a big glop of it on his nose. "We are a fun bunch," he said.

Aly laughed aloud and handed him a napkin. He took it but looked at in confusion. He looked at Remus for direction. Remus touched his nose, and Sirius wiped Remus' nose for him. Remus rolled his eyes.

Aly's laughter continued. Sirius smiled back at her and wiped his own nose off.

They finished up and in the shelter of the doorway discussed which shops to revisit. They entered the Qudditch store for the 3rd time that day and Sirius whined, "Again?"

"Yes, please," Aly said moving through the rows.

"What are you looking for?" Remus asked.

"I don't know," she said.

She wandered to the back of the store and stood staring, but not really seeing, at a shelf of broom polishes.

"What would you want for Christmas?" she asked absentmindedly as Sirius wandered past.

He stopped and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"What would you want from Christmas -- from a girl?" she expanded.

Sirius' face fell as he said simply, in a small voice, "You're shopping for your boyfriend."

Aly, her mind coming back to reality, turned to look at him. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She had been careful not to mention Logan since they had all made up. She hadn't meant to bring him up now, but she had.

Sirius looked at her and, since he could read her face so well, he knew she hadn't meant it. So, he said, "Get him a visor."

"What?" Aly asked, surprised he was offering help.

"He's a seeker. A blonde seeker, no less. He needs a visor for when he plays in the sun."

Aly nodded and grabbed as he advised.

"And a pair of gloves."

"Gloves?" Aly asked.

"Yeah, James destroyed his last time we played him," Sirius explained.

Aly grabbed those as well. Frowning as she remembered the Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. It had become a flat out battle between the two houses. She, of course, was on the Gryffindor side, but she never mentioned the game around Logan to avoid problems. When Gryffindor won, James caught the snitch from right under Logan, she celebrated with the Gryffindors, all females, of course. Logan still wasn't happy about it, and she still had the mark on her wrist from where he twisted it.

She unconsciously grasped her wrist at the thought. Sirius stood watching her mood change right before his eyes. "Als--"

Her eyes narrowed.

"Sorry!" he said quickly. "I forgot. It's been a while." He smile a small smile at her and she returned a weak one.

"Maybe a book as well," he offered.

"Equipment and a book -- how romantic," Aly mumbled sarcastically.

"Maybe a picture frame with your picture in it," he sighed in fake exasperation.

Aly jabbed him in the ribs before going up front to pay for her items.

She managed to get Sirius' and Remus' gifts without them seeing as well as all the others that she needed to get.

She collapsed onto her mattress which was warm from the fresh fire that was roaring when they arrived. Aly was sure whichever house elf was responsible for the tower over break had been watching for their return to light the wood before they got to the tower.

She fell into a dreamless sleep, feeling Sirius and Remus sit down on either side of her on their respective mattress.

XxXxX

"Ugh"

"What?" Aly asked, the garland in her hand falling to the floor. She "grred" at it in aggravation and kicked it.

"A tree? In our room?" Sirius asked, pouting

"Our room? Don't you mean the common room?" Aly asked trying to pick up all the garland. After getting even more agitated, she just throw it. It caught midair and wound its way around the tree.

Aly glared at Sirius. "What?" he asked.

"I could've done that," she said bitterly staring at his wand.

"Then why didn't you?" he asked putting his wand away.

"Because," Aly said grabbing a bright gold ornament. "Trimming the tree is one of those things you're suppose to do together during the holiday season."

She placed the gold ball on a branch and stood back to admire her work before grabbing a red ball.

Sirius had a strange look on his face. He said nothing, but he continued to watch her work. She placed 4 ornaments on the tree when she turned to face him.

"What is wrong with you?" Aly asked dusting off a rather old looking star.

He scrunched up his face as if in pain, and before Aly could ask what was wrong she heard it. All four of her bobbles now laid on the floor, nothing more than shards of red and gold glass.

She let out a sound of frustration deep in her throat and proceeded to stomp on the remains of the bulbs.

Sirius came over quickly and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away from the scene. He sat her down and waited for her to cool off before asking, "Why is this so important to you?"

She exhaled deeply and said, "Because."

"I'm gonna need a little more than that," he said with a half smile.

Aly surrendered, realizing he was going to get the truth out of her anyways, "Because it's what your suppose to do. As a family. Normal people do it. I guess I just wanted to be normal this year."

He nodded.

"Oh well," she shrugged and sent any evil glare at the tree, "Guess that's just one more thing I'll never have."

So the tree stood ignored and bare, except for the one string of garland Sirius hung. He dared not remove it. Aly never made mention of it, but Sirius knew it was there as a reminder of what she couldn't have. It was like a cavity. Whenever he saw her glance at it, he knew it was like she was blowing air into a festering tooth to check it would still hurt. It was best to just let her fester.

Christmas Eve arrived and Aly prepared to spend the evening with the two boys. After her shower, she saw a pile of unidentifiable clothes on her bed. She scurried across the room to investigate. There was a note with just two words on it: Wear me.

It was a red, velvet dress with a red ribbon that went around the waste and tied in a bow in the back. The collars were trimmed with white fluff and it sparkled as if it had been dusted with glitter. She pulled on a pair of white tights and slide into the dress. She slide on a pair of black flats and tied a red ribbon in her hair to act as a headband to hold back her curls.

As she entered the common room, she gasped. She began to tear up as she examined the scene laid out before her. The fire was lit and three stockings hung on its mantle. Sirius and Remus were both dressed in ridiculous, bulky, Christmas sweaters. Sirius also added a Santa hat to his ensemble. Pine and holly was draped over all corners and walls. Mistletoe hung over the portrait hole entrance. And much to Aly's delight, they were decorating the tree by hand. "Happy Christmas!" Sirius announced.

Aly laughed through her tears. "Thank you. And to you too."

"I told you that dress would fit her," Remus said.

Sirius laughed like Santa with a "Ho, ho, ho, Remus! You clever bastard."

Remus rolled his eyes, never being on for the use of such words.

Sirius took Aly by the hand and lead her over to the couch. It had an old crochet blanket thrown over it, and there were christmas books and cups of egg nog on the table.

"This - is --" Aly looked for the right word as she gazed all around her. "Magical."

Sirius and Remus shared a glance of pleasure.

"Wanna help with the tree?" Sirius asked, holding out a gold ornament.

"It's probably best that I don't," she advised. In reality, she just wanted to watch and take it all in.

Sirius and Remus worked together to add the lights, the ornaments, and additional garland to the lonely strand still left. Aly watched in amusement as Sirius managed to get tangled up in a strand of lights and fall down onto the ground. She laughed uncontrollably as Remus plugged him in.

"Question," Sirius said, after untangling himself and taking a big swig of egg nog. He gagged and stuck his tongue out.

"Egg nog is one to be taken slowly," Aly told him and then asked, "What's your question?"

"How does all this eck-let-trick stuff work in here?" He made a face as he said the unfamiliar word.

Aly smiled. Sometimes she forgot just how unexposed to muggle stuff Sirius was. "My dad used some spell to make it so we could plug in the cords and magic, instead of electricity, would make it all work."

"That's cool," he said nodding.

"You have no idea about how any of this non magic stuff works, do you?" she asked.

"None what so ever," he said smiling hugely before bounding for a box. "I've got something for you to put on the tree," he told her.

"Oh no, no, no," she exclaimed. "You've seen what I do to decorations. We don't get along."

"Trust me," Sirius said pulling out a beautiful tree topper.

Aly scooted closer to it. "Wow."

"You get to hang this," Sirius announced.

"But," Aly gasped. She was too overcome with emotion to argue any further. She stared at the beautifully crafted, porcelain angel. She had a creamy, white face with cascading, black hair set in curls. She looked so graceful, Aly was sure she could've danced right out of Sirius' hands.

"Here," he gently handed it to her.

Aly stood and carefully made her way over to the tree. With Remus holding onto to her for support, she climbed the small step ladder place by the base of the tree and put the angel in her rightful place.

As she stepped off the ladder and stood back to admire the boys work, she felt her heart swell with happiness. All three of them watched the angel glow from her own ambience. There was nothing artificial about her glow. She made the rest of the tree look fake and cheap.

"Christmas. A real christmas," Aly whispered. She smiled but realized something, "I know what's missing!"

The boys gave a start and asked, "What?"

"Presents! Under the tree!" she bounded away and up the stairs. She gathered her gifts for the boys, grabbing them all quickly as to not miss any of the fun below.

As she reached the last turn in the stairwell, she paused. The two boys were discussing something in very hush-hush voices.

"That angel is something else," Remus said.

She heard Sirius sigh as he started his story, "It's said to be modeled after the most beautiful witch ever born."

"The one born under the sixth moon to a wench and a power monger?" Remus asked.

"So goes the tale," Sirius said. "This girl, the bellini, was born into a broken household, but the wives tale made her a legend. Her father ordered the angel be made when the girl was just 4 years old. It's made out of unicorn horn and mother of pearl."

"Woah," Aly heard Remus gasp.

Sirius murmured his agreement and continued, "Yeah, well, she may have been the bellini, but she still had a pretty crappy life. Her old father has been living alone for a while now. Deserted by everyone he ever had. He died over the summer. My parents went with other vultures to pick over the broken pieces of his life. They brought back the angel that had once sat upon his Christmas tree."

"Why do you have it?" Remus asked.

"Because I'm returning it where it rightfully belongs," Sirius told him.

Aly could only guess what Remus' face looked like, but she was sure it was the same expression she was wearing. She heard Sirius explain, "See the resemblance?"

She heard silence follow and then a soft "oh" of comprehension.

"So the bellini --" Remus said.

"Was Aly's mom," Sirius finished.

Aly felt the blood leave her face. That angel was of her mom. Her grandfather had just died. She didn't even know he was still alive.

"So, I stole the angel because it belong to Aly," Sirius said. "It is hers. To do what she wants with."

"Are you going to tell her?" Remus asked.

Aly took that as a good entrance time and appeared, gifts still in hand, and asked, "Tell me what?"

"That you haven't looked in your stocking yet," Sirius said quickly.

Aly nodded and, after placing her gifts under the trees, grabbed her stocking. "Wow," she laughed. It was filled all the way up to top with every different type of candy. "Thanks!"

She put the angel and the story out of her mind, but she couldn't help steal a glance at the top of the tree every so often. She also couldn't help but notice that Remus kept stealing glances at her as well.

XxXxX

The next morning Aly found the boys already waiting for her by the tree.

"Happy Christmas!" Sirius greeted.

"We figured we'd keep up the whole family charade," Remus said with a wink.

Her gifts had been added to in the night. The three of them started into them. Remus opened his very carefully as to not rip the paper. Sirius just tore his paper to shreds. Aly tore hers open but not in a carefree way as Sirius did.

Aly cleaned up, in her opinion. Remus had gotten her a new chess set. Lily got her clothes from her favorite muggle clothing shop. Her dad had gotten her the new bedspread she had been hinting for. When she opened Sirius' gift, she gasped. It went unheard by the two boys. As she stood staring at the silver bracelet, twinkling against the tissue paper, her eyes welled up with tears.

"Wow, Als. Thanks!" Sirius called over to her. He picked up the sweatshirt, and the book Aly got him fell out of it. "Cool!" he exclaimed as he scooped up the book and sank into a chair to begin reading it.

Remus glanced at the cover of the book and shook his head. He paused as he caught sight of Aly's face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she sniffled and quickly grabbed her gift from Hagrid.

They headed down for dinner together. Sirius wore his new sweatshirt. Aly's bracelet was tucked carefully under her sleeve. Over dinner, it slipped out and everyone caught sight of it.

"That looks just like the necklace that belonged to your mother," her dad observed.

"It kinda does," Aly said, sending a glance at Sirius.

Before bed, while Remus was getting changed up in the boy's room, Aly had a chat with Sirius.

"Hey," she called to him. "Come sit."

He plopped down on his mattress, facing her. "What's up?"

"Thank you. For the bracelet, I mean."

"It was no big deal," he said shrugging it off.

"How did you---?"

"I saw what happened in the library that day," he said quickly.

Aly took a deep breath in as he continued, "And I saw it break so I saved in for you."

"Thanks," she said.

"So, what happens when, he, comes back?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know," Aly said hugging her knees.

"We'll figure it out." He tapped her playfully on the cheek.

He got up and started towards his room.

"So, the bellini, huh?"

He stopped in his track. He didn't turn around.

She waited, but when he didn't move, she said, "Thanks for returning it to me."

"No prob," he said without looking back and bounded up the stairs.

Aly pretended to be asleep when Remus and then Sirius came down to go to sleep.

XxXxX

Reviews would be a GREAT early christmas present. =]