Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: Hey guys! So... I'm sorry? I know its been really long since my last update but life got in the way :/ Anyyyway, here is the next chapter. Hope you like it!

Chapter – Replies and Common Rooms

As I got back to my room, I decided to draft a quick letter to Nici, asking her about the photo in Reg's possession and provided her with a hasty account of all that had happened since... yesterday? Had it only been two days that I had spent with Remus? It seemed longer than that.

I received a reply the very next day, at breakfast. Mercifully, I managed to arrive on time, though Remus was already situated at the Gryffindor table. He waved me over when he saw me.

We made polite chit-chat about classes just like we had last night at dinner, punctuated by light silences. I was finishing my pumpkin juice when the morning post arrived, Remus, to both our relief, didn't receive any post aside from his daily subscription of The Daily Prophet, while I got three. One was from my father, informing me of the family's departure to the states, while the second one was from Edgar Bones, my only guy friend, keeping me updated with his holidays and asking me about mine; and the last one was Vernicia's reply.

According to her, Reg had decided at the very last minute to stay back and hadn't notified his family till the proverbial eleventh-hour. In fact he had only deigned to inform her that he would not be going home, when she had been on her way to the platform to board the Hogwarts Express. This was followed by some less than pleasant adjectives, to describe the irresponsible behaviours of younger brothers. As to the matter of the picture in Reg's possession, as soon as she had read my letter she had proceeded to turn her luggage upside down and had not found the picture and so she concluded that the Reg had filched her photo. This was followed by even less pleasant adjectives to describe him. She also commanded me to write a more detailed account about everything that had happened with Remus and only then would she provide comments on it.

I couldn't help but grin and grimace at the same time at her words. Remus noticing my expression asked me about it, "It's Nici, I had asked her about the photo," I informed him, then before he could ask, I continued, "he did take it from her."

He nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, she seemed like the most likely candidate for the photo filching. Why the grimace though?"

I made a face, "Now I kind of regretting telling her about it," I cut my already shredded egg into smaller pieces, as much out of an inner discontent as it was to avoid eating them. I hated eggs or rather all kinds of poultry products, but since Remus had so thoughtfully loaded up a plate of them for me, I couldn't just not eat them, "I can only imagine what she will say to him, I didn't want to get him into trouble."

He smiled in sympathy, "Ah yes, loyalty above all. But deciding who is more deserving of it is a nasty business."

I sighed and nodded, "That question plagues a Hufflepuff's worst nightmares." I took a big bite of the eggs and washed it down with some pumpkin juice, then turning to him I raised my eyebrows, letting a smile grace my lips, "So, what should we do today?"

He smiled back, "Well, it snowed heavily yesterday so Hogsmeade is out of the question. But it is Christmas Eve..." he trailed off, "What do you want to do?"

I leaned back and crossed my arms, tucking them closer to my body; the Great Hall wasn't the warmest place to be in during the winters. "Honestly? Sit in front of the fire and read a book."

His face broke into a grin, "Well, in that case, why don't we find ourselves a warm corner?" He grimaced, "That sounds a bit wrong, doesn't it?"

I chuckled. He got up while I quickly swept up my eggs in one swipe of the fork and stuck them in my mouth. He bent a little, placing his hands on the table and asked, "Hey, do you want to visit the Gryffindor common room?" His eyebrows were raised and eyes entreating, "It has a big fireplace and it is quite cozy."

My eyes widened, "But isn't that forbidden? I mean, are we allowed to go into each others' common rooms?"

"There isn't any express rule against visiting other common rooms but its not common practice, its a little like eating at some other houses' table," he waved a hand to encompass the tables around us, "and well, we normally do invite students from other houses to The Marauders annual end of the year party." He rubbed the back of his neck.

I had heard about the Marauders' end of the year party but had never been invited.

He continued, "And you must know by now that the Marauders take rules as a personal challenge."

I grinned in reply.

His smile was relieved, "So? Do you want to?"

"I..." I dragged the word out, "... will have to grab a book first."

His answering grin brightened the hall.

The rest of the day was spent sprawled in front of the fireplace, me on the couch, with my feet tucked under me and him on the rug resting his back against the couch, reading; with intermittent breaks for snacks.

Later that evening, I decided to lay down my book. I had been plagued with insecurities for the better part of the evening. Wouldn't Remus get bored of me if I kept reading like this? After all, no guy was actually content with spending the day constantly reading, right? Also, hypocritically I was starting to feel neglected; was he not interested in me? Did he just want to be friends? Of all the exploits of my friends with the opposite sex that I had been privy to, none of them had been about just reading together. Even Lily would have progressed to some kind of skin to skin contact by now!

So I laid my book aside, settled my on my stomach and laid my chin on the arm of the couch. I was now facing the armchair perpendicular to the couch over which Remus was sprawled, his legs hanging off the arms.

Sensing movement he turned towards me and raised an eyebrow a faint grin lining his mouth.

I raised my head and supported it with an arm, "Have you been into the Hufflepuff common room?" I asked.

He shifted a little, so that he was facing me properly and laid his book, still open face down on his chest.

"Why do you think I would have been into your common room?"

"Well, you know the location of all the common rooms..." I trailed off.

"And why would you say that? Maybe I know the location of just the Hufflepuff common room." Though his words were slightly curt, his expression was merely curious.

"Didn't you have a hand in redecorating the Slytherin common room into a pink and white theme, last year?" I asked, unable to hide my smirk.

"That can't be traced back to me," he smirked.

"Yeah, but-", the rest of my sentence was drowned out by the roar of the fireplace. I jumped nearly ten feet into the air.

Remus was instantly on his feet, with his wand out and I followed him, tripping over my own feet to put distance between me and the fireplace.

It was a second before the flames settled and I took out my own wand from my back pocket, however, try as I might I couldn't bring a single useful spell to the forefront of my mind.

As the flames settled, for a moment I was sure that I was hallucinating. Because there was no way that a reindeer and a dog were stepping out of the fireplace.

A/N: Hihihihihihi. Don't hate me! What do you think will happen next? :P Promise the next update is gonna be faster, so pleaaaaaaaaase Review!