So so so sorry I've been so long updating. I've been working on another one.

Massive thanks to Gliding One for the shop name!

Please review!

The next day, that of the Christmas Hogsmede trip and the beginning of the holidays, dawned cold, snowy, and glinting with sunshine and endless blue skies. I gave Sirius a friendly punch (we'd declared a truce after the horror of 'The Disney Announcement' as we had dubbed it) and yelled 'Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey' straight in his ear hole, then while he was still half asleep dragged him into the bathroom.

I was in a good mood.

I know, surprising isn't it.

I shock myself sometimes.

By the time I'd wrapped my long red and gold scarf around my neck (It still reached my knees) and ensemble of all 11 of us (where Alice went, Frank was sure to follow and as I was attached to one of the leaders of the Marauders so they were there (minus Peter who was in the Hospital Wing with constipation) too.

All in all it was a pretty large crowd that left for Hogsmede after breakfast but even through the throngs of people even I couldn't miss that Jazz was jumping up and down (beautifully and gracefully of course) in hyper excitement.

"What got into Jazz? She looks like a toddler on sugar rush."

"Don't I know, Sirius, the last time she was this excited she accidentally charmed herself so she could fly, it took us ages to pry her off the ceiling."

Sirius mock shuddered as Jazz's and Lizzie's conversation floated over towards us.

It went something like this…

Jazz: (bouncing around in toddler sugar rush way) You'll never guess! You'll never guess!

Lizzie: You hooked up with Briggs last night?

Jazz: Nah, did that last week, and it's even better than that.

Lizzie: (mock sarcastic) What could be better than that?

Jazz: Well, this for starters.

Lizzie: What?

Jazz: (Pouting in such a way that some poor fourth year who'd been watching her fell straight on his face in a pile of snow and went beetroot. Jazz didn't even notice much to his relief ) That's what you're supposed to be guessing.

Lizzie: I hate this game

Jazz: You'll never guess, you'll never guess!

Lizzie: (now annoyed) Then what's the point of me trying to guess?

Lily, who walking on the other side of me rolled her eyes and muttered, "I'd better go and rescue her hadn't I?"

"Good luck, you'll need it"

"Thanks for that boost of confidence."

" Confidence is ignorance, if you're feeling cocky there's something you don't know."

"Have you been reading psychology books again?"

In my defence that was only one time when Lizzie was so stressed with OWL's that she took to beating some poor unsuspecting person (usually me) around the head with the thickest transfiguration book she could find (and believe me they are thick!). It hurt so bad that I started reading therapy books just to get her to calm down.

Lily rolled her eyes at me and walked over to Jazz and Lizzie who were still arguing.

Jazz: (On spotting Lily) Great Lils, you'll never guess, you'll never guess!

Lizzie: (exasperated) It's like she's a stuck record

Lily: (Raising one eyebrow) Judging by the fact that it's today you chose to get excited it must be something at Hogsmede. And as you got a long letter from your mother this morning it must be something to do with home, or at least the business. So my guess is that your mother has set up a branch of her business in Hogsmede.

Jazz: (Jaw drop) Oh

Lizzie: (Jaw drop) Oh

I rolled my eyes. Trust Lily to know exactly what was going on. I was just contemplating heading into the Three Broomsticks for a pint when Jazz let out a strangled shriek. I spun a round expecting dementors/ deatheaters/ ex-boy friends at the very least but instead saw Jazz in the arms of a small women who looked far to good to be the mother of three children. They were jabbering away in rapid Hindi (Jazz is bilingual) and seemed to be unaware that all five of us (Alice and Frank had vanished off the Madam Puddifoots and Lizzie and Remus had gone to look for books) were just standing there.

Jazz noticed us then and ushered us into the little shop behind her. Just before the door clanged behind us I caught a glance of the sign swinging outside the shop.

'StarDucks! Home of the Mocha Filled Glowing duck!'

And it was like stepping into another world.

0o0o0o0

The café was brightly lit and full of comfortable couches, with low wooden tables and a counter over at one side. But it wasn't just ac café, hundreds of shelves lined the walls with goodies of every shape and variety.

There was a blackboard over the counter reading the specials of the day, Spell Fish starter, followed by self stirring stir fry with cheese and bangers(because crackers weren't loud enough) for afters. A wireless stood in another corner playing music softly underneath several pictures of Diagon Alley and a small house with a family in front of it I recognised as Jazz and her family by her house in India.

I pulled Sirius over to a shelf as name after name jumped out at me:

Teeth Cleaning Sweets: no more worrying about decay

Reducing Chocolate: eat as much as you want without expanding

Jelly Snakes: wiggle 'n' giggle in the stomach

Sherbet Volcano: They'll erupt your insides

Chocolate Mice: First you'll need to catch them.

Sirius was examining a packet of 'Magic Mushrooms (Tired of Seeing the World in the Right Colours?) with one hand and had a small packet of boiled sweets 'Chilli and Ginger (It's enough to blow anyone's head off) in the other. He grinned at me and we all sat down and ordered.

It was over two hours later that we finally paid and left, feeling pleasantly stuffed. I rolled my eyes at Lily and pulled Sirius over to Madam Malkin's robes for every occasions to pick up our disney costumes, I was still trying not to think about it, before splitting up and going to buy our Christmas presents.

Most of my friends were pretty simple, books for Lily and Lizzie, subscription to another quidditch magazine for Max, some sort of plant for Alice, jewellery and make up for Jazz but I had absolutely no idea what to get Sirius, or whether I ought to even get him a present. We'd been through a lot in the last few weeks, with the potion and everything and I had already admitted to myself, even if I would have rather found a way to drown myself than tell Sirius, that I liked him in that way.

But there was no way I was gonna let him rip my heart by dropping me the second a pair of long legs bounced past. I had my standards.

But then I saw it. The perfect present for Sirius. A book. Okay, don't get me wrong I know it's not something that I'd normally give him but it was just perfect.

'1 million and 1 practical jokes, tricks, and secrets for Hogwarts'

I glanced at Sirius who had his back to me and was flicking through something which looked like an old quidditch magazine before slipping a hand into my back pocket and pulling out a handful of galleons. I nodded at the shop assistant who hurried over after realising that I was actually attached to the guy behind me. I pocketed my change and stuffed it hastily into my bag, before pulling Sirius towards the door.

"Time for butterbeer me thinks,"

Sirius grinned at me.

"Finally you're talking my language."

And we set off through the twirling snow to find our friends.