Chapter 23

LB

It was just a few days before Christmas break started, and I was in my chambers getting ready for my first date with Nott. I put a scrunchie in my mouth as I walked across the room, braiding my hair. I was wearing simple black tight jeans, with dark brown, over the knee boots. A blue Beauxbatons cashmere sweater hugged my figure. Just as I tied the end of my braid with the scrunchie, my uncle was leaning against my door frame.

"I'm not sure if I like this." He frowned.

"What part exactly? The part of me going on a date? Or because it's with a Slytherin?" I asked as I grabbed my coat and walked out of my room with him on my heels.

"No, it's not because he's a Slytherin. It seems like he's a good guy."

"What then?" I asked when I pulled on the coat, putting the braid of my shoulder.

"You know how I am with you dating. I even had it with Jack, and I've known him for ages."

"Oh, I know." I laughed. "I remember you tried to send him away when he came to pick me up over the summer, you told him I had the pox before I threw a bread roll at your head."

"Can't blame me for being overprotective."

"No, I cannot." I kissed his cheek. "But I'm not a little kid anymore, uncle Moony."

"You'll always be my cub." He smiled softly. "Even if you're sixteen and have a more mischievous streak than me back in the day."

"I learned from the best." I grinned and turned to walk to the door. My hand pushed the handle and the door creaked open.

"No sex!"

"REMUS!" I growled as I looked at him wide eyed. "The fucking door is open!"

"Sorry." He muttered, looking a little ashamed.

"Well, now you won't know what I'm going to do, now are you?" I shot him a little smile, reassuring him not would happen. "I'll see you in a few hours." I waved behind me before walked over the large front doors of the castle.

LB

Emmett Nott seemed the picture of relaxation as he leaned casually against the wall. He was wearing a dark grey wool pea coat, with simple jeans and Timberland boots. His brown hair curled over his eyes as he leaned his head against the stone wall. I walked over with a smile as it didn't look like he heard me walk closer. I stopped in front of him and went to lean close to make him jump, just a little. But then suddenly his hand, that was hanging loosely next to him, gripped my waist. He opened his eyes and looked down; his eyes dark.

"Don't think you'll get me that easy again, Lupin-Black."

"And here I was thinking you liked it when I call you by your first name. Ah well." I shrugged. "Nott it will be." I pursed my lips, hiding a smile as his gaze grew intense. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." He smiled as he pushed himself off the wall, leaving him only centimetres from me. His smirk in place before he turned and offered his arm for me to loop through. I accepted it before we walked out of the castle, on the crunching snow beneath our feet. The castle and the grounds looked like a winter wonderland, like I saw in books or movies. "So, what are your plans during break?" He asked as we reached the path that led to the village.

"Nothing much. Catching up on the potions I missed from Professor Snape's class, Christmas with my uncle and New Year's with Draco and his mother. You?"

"My parents, Theo and I go to Spain for the first week, like we do every year, but other than that." He shrugged. "I'm just going to enjoy a few days without studying, classes or homework."

"And what do you do to relax?"

"Oh, I have a lot of ways to relax." He wiggled his eyebrows, and I nudged him playfully. "No, but seriously. I like reading horror books and watch muggle movies. But don't repeat that to anyone. If my parents would find out about Theo and me watching those, they'll break down the house to destroy it."

"My lips are sealed." I chuckled. "Do you and Theo get along then? I haven't seen you two together much."

"Like all the siblings, we have our moments. It's getting better now that he's getting older, but just last year I didn't want that nugget to come close or talk to me in front of my friends. I know, horrible of me, right?" He laughed. "But he could be so annoying." He whined and I laughed softly.

"I don't have a younger sibling, so I don't know exactly what it's like. But I have seen my friends struggle with the same thing. He looks up to you, you know."

"What?" He asked surprised.

"You can see it in his eyes, the way he looks at you when you do great in class or ace your homework, or when you act all prefect-like."

"He's a good kid." He finally answered. "As long as our parents don't mess him up too much." I opened my mouth to ask about it, but he hurried along. "You seem to have a good influence on Draco."

"You think so?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. He nodded with a smile.

"He's more relaxed now, he doesn't call out every muggleborn, not even Granger, and you know how hard that is for him. He doesn't threaten with 'My father will hear about this!' anymore."

"I think his mother has a lot to do with that."

"Maybe." He shrugged. "But his mother is not here, is she? You are." He looked away from me and looked ahead. "Where do you want to go first?"

I turned to follow his gaze and was surprised to be standing in the front of the village already. Even with the snow and cold air, the street was filled with Hogwarts Students. I saw the three broomsticks not far ahead and rubbed my cold hands together.

"The three broomsticks?" I asked turning back to the Slytherin. "I need to warm up."

"Not Puddifoots? She has tea and -"

"Gods no. I don't want to be seen dead in that place." I laughed but stopped as we walked towards the three broomsticks. "Or do you want to go, because if you want-"

"Salazar no, you have no idea how relieved I am to hear that." He laughed as he opened the door for me. I walked in and took one of the seats in the corner, near the fire. "I had a few dates there over the years." He said as he sat down next to me and gestured for Madam Rosmerta. "Those are dates I would rather forget."

"It couldn't be that bad, could it? Was it the dates or the place?"

"Honestly? Mostly both. A butterbeer, please." He shot the barkeeper and flashing smile.

"Hot chocolate with whipped cream." When Rosmerta turned around to get their orders, I looked back to Nott. "So, no long-term relationships?"

"No, the longest I've been with someone was about five months. You?"

"I just came out of one a few months back. We were together for over a year."

"Was it the moving away?" He asked, clasping my hand softly.

"Yeah, the long-distance thing isn't really easy. But he was my best friend before, and I'm certain we can get back to that after a while. We just exchanged letters again, and he's actually going on a date with someone."

"And how do you feel about that?"

"Good question." I gave him a small smile. "I'll always love him, he was my first love, you know. But I want him to be happy, and if I was more heartbroken by the idea of him dating someone else, I wouldn't be sitting here."

"I like that answer." His smile wide, he squeezed my hand before taking the glasses Rosmerta brought over. "Thanks, Rose." The barkeeper pursed her lips at him, but the corners twitched before she turned to wave at Professor McGonagall and another man she didn't recognize. I took a small sip from my hot coco, leaving a little whipped cream on my upper lip. Nott chuckled and lifted his hand to wipe away the cream softly with his thumb. Our eyes locked with each other, and a fierce blush appeared making me duck my head. "Where do you want to go next?" He asked with his notorious smirk.

"Zonko's and Honeydukes for sure, what about you?"

"Sounds good, maybe the Shrieking Shack? I don't know if you know about it."

"I heard a thing or two." I smiled.

"Great, we can't go in though. It's fenced all way around." He said before he took a sip from his butterbeer. "Oh, I need to go through the post office too."

LB

When we were walking down the main street of Hogsmeade, our hands bumped into each other, at least until Nott made a move to hold my hand. My lips twitched as I saw a little nervousness flicker in his eyes. I let him take it and intertwined our fingers together. I saw his shoulders relax, a smile appearing on his face as we walked to the joke shop. I pulled him excitedly into the joke shop, I looked at every new product that was on display. Nott just followed my lead, laughing at my enthusiasm. The shop was crowded, and I recognized a lot of students from school, and others from the duelling meeting. They all smiled at us as we walked by.

LB

"Oi, Forge!" Fred called out to his twin on the other side of the aisle. George was checking out some Frog Spawn soap when he turned and saw him waving a wand in the air. "No offence to Zonko's, but our trick wands do more than-" He waved it in front of him and turned limp.

"We should let our friends check out the ones we already made. See what they think of it, maybe give us some more -" He stopped in the middle of his sentence when he spotted a certain witch in the aisle next to them.

"Forge?" Fred asked with a frown that matched his twin. When George didn't answer, he turned to look what he was looking at. Even though they knew she had a date, his heart plummeted when he saw her laughing, and he felt through the twin bond George felt the same.

The witch they had fallen for, fast and hard was on a date with someone else. Not just someone else, but a Slytherin. Not that Alec looked at the houses people where in, and if she agreed to go on a date with him, he must be a good guy. But it hurt seeing her enjoying herself so much without them. Alec placed a red clown nose on the stunned Slytherin, as his face turned into a clown, with a red, white, blue make-up all over his face. They heard her laugh boom through the store. She dropped her head on his chest, her shoulders shaking from her laughter. Her black wavy hair fell as a curtain around her. Nott looked down at her with a warm smile as he took off the nose and the make-up disappeared. He tucked her hair behind her ear, and she looked up smiling as his hand rested on her jawline. He was starting to lean in, Fred and George both clenched their fists as they looked at the scene in front of them. Then a large seventh year bummed into Nott, breaking the moment. Nott send her a wink, making her blush. He intertwined his fingers with her and guided her up the stairs to the second floor.

"I know it's inevitable, but thank Merlin, Joost bumped into him. I wasn't looking forward to the kissing, especially their first kiss." George shuddered.

"I know, I almost send a tripping hex at him." Fred grumbled. "Let's get back to the castle, I'm not in the mood to check out the other shops anymore."

"No, me neither." George agreed and dropped the soap into a box.

LB

"I've never seen the Shrieking Shack on the outside." I said as Nott wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"You've seen it on the inside then?" He asked surprised, and I cursed inwardly.

"No, just seen pictures." I hastily said. We were standing at the fence that enclosed the Shrieking Shack, snow covered the ground, the Shack, the trees, everything. I shuddered from a hard, cold gush of wind. Feeling me shiver, Nott moved to stand behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist and nestled his head in the crook of my neck.

"Better?" He asked, his warm breath sending another shiver through me. And I hummed in appreciation, leaning back against him. We stood there for ten minutes just looking at the scenery in front of us before I heard snow crunching behind us. It sounded like someone was running and when I turned, I saw Harry appear out of nowhere. The invisibility cloak. Something was off, his eyes were red and blotchy, has he been crying? "Potter?" Nott asked quietly.

"Alec." Harry's voice soft, broken.

I looked from Harry to Nott. "Can you give us a minute?" I asked Nott.

"Yeah, sure. Do you want me to wait at the village?"

"If you want to wait in the three broom sticks, that's okay. But you can stay here if you want, I'll just put a Muffliato over us."

"I'll wait here then."

"Are you sure? You don't have to wait in the cold-" He stopped me as he placed a soft kiss on my forehead.

"I'll wait here." He pointed at a large rock behind him, and I beamed at him.

"Thank you, Emmett." I kissed his cheek at the corner of his mouth. Before I turned to Harry. I led Harry to another large boulder a little further under the trees as Nott took a seat on the rock near the fence. I cast the Muffliato charm around us before we started our conversation.

"Harry, what's wrong? Did my cousin do something again?" I crouched down in front of him as I looked up to him.

"No, I mean not more than his usual self." He shook his head with a forced chuckle. "It's still weird you call him cousin."

"Well, he is my cousin." I smiled. "But enough about that, what's going on?"

He took in a deep breath. "Sirius Black."

"Yeah? Did he find you? Do we need to get you to the castle?" I was ready to jump up, but he took my hand in his.

"No, you're as bad as Mrs Weasley. Too overprotective." He chuckled a little, and I gave him a small smile.

"That's what family does."

"I know for a few months now that he was my godfather. But I overheard McGonagall talk to Rosmerta and Fudge talk about him just now. And it was just too much."

"I know that this is all confusing." I grabbed both of his hands in mine. "Even Draco thinks there is more to it than we know."

"It is confusing." He frowned. "But that's the same for you, maybe even more. He's your dad."

"No, Harry. Lupin is my dad."

"I know, but you know..."

"Yeah..."

"What did Malfoy say?" He asked and I explained in short notes what he told me. I chose my words carefully, not trying to bring in Draco's personal situation in it, or that from Narcissa and Lucius.

"I wish we knew more." He grunted. "Hearing them talk about him. Like he's the most vile and evil thing on the planet, it messes with your head. How do you deal with it?"

"In Beauxbatons, almost no one knew about it. And here... there were whispers and a little bit of name calling in the beginning, but I was prepared for it. I only care about what my friends think about me anyway." I shrugged.

"But how did you make them stop?"

"My great, likeable and brilliant personality?" I offered with a grin before I sighed. "I don't know, Harry. I talked with Nott about it, why specifically the Slytherins stopped. And he told me it was that they were impressed with my abilities, with potions, the Patronus when you fell, the duelling club. And Draco of course, you know how "high" he is ranked in their house, even as a third year. And he, though reluctantly at first, accepted me."

"It may be all that. But everyone seems to like you after just a few minutes of knowing you." He smiled with a blush.

"Including you, Potter?" I poked his chest. He sputtered a bit and I chuckled. I saw Ron and Hermione running over, and stopped a few meters away, looking at us both. "Ah, your friends are here. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I promise. I don't want to keep you away from your date." He said, looking from Nott to me.

"Come find me if you want to talk or hang out, alright? I'm staying at the castle too, during break." I smiled and kissed his cheek before standing and dissolving the Muffliato charm. "Hello, Hermione, Ron." I waved and walked back to Nott, who hopped off the boulder on to his feet and offered his arm to me.

LB

Next chapter Sirius Black!

(Maybe an early update ;-) )