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"I had no idea that I missed this so much," I smiled, my head propped upon his chest for a better view at the television.

"Me neither," Remus responded, "but couldn't you have chosen a different movie?"

"Hey! The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a classic."

He snorted though I chose not to scold him since I suddenly noticed the song playing. I jumped up from the sofa and grabbed the nearest bottle of water.

"Nope," he shook his head at me with a bemused grin, "You remember last time when we watched The Aristocats'?"

"You did an amazing cover of Thomas O'Malley though," I smiled sheepishly as he shot me a glare.

"No. I won't sing."

"Pleas- oh! That's my part," I screeched excitedly.

I had always loved Columbia's part in that particular song; it was simply so much more fun to sing, than the rest of it.

"Well I was walking down the street just having a think
When a snake of a guy gave me an evil wink
He shook me up, he took me by surprise
He had a pickup truck and the devil's eyes.
He stared at me and I felt a change
Time meant nothing, never would again!" I sang loudly while dancing around the living room, "Come, Remus. Dance with me!"

I pulled him to his feet just as the instructions began;

It's just a jump to the left…

I did as ordered while Remus stood a bit awkwardly beside me.

"Come on, Remy," I urged using his old nickname.

"Don't call me that," he muttered, embarrassed. The name still invoked bad memories, I guessed; it had been the name his grandmother always used for him, and she'd been one of those 'Give me a BIG, FAT kiss'-kinda women - horrifying and traumatizing on so many levels.

And then a step to the right…

Once again, I did as the song suggested enthusiasm clear in my movements. Even Remus sidestepped a bit.

With your hands on the hips….

And bring your knees in tight!

Slowly, Remus started enjoying himself, and a smile appeared on his lips as he mimicked my posture.

"See, it's not that bad, is it?" I giggled, not really able to stop again. Seeing him dance was kind of… off, although most guys probably look off with their hands propped on their hips while twisting and turning. It was rather entertaining to be honest.

He simply rolled his eyes in response.

It's the pelvic thrust that really drives you insane!

"Mine surely does," a smug voice said from the doorway.

Both Remus and I jumped into the air at the sudden interruption.

"Sirius!" I exclaimed throwing the nearest pillow at him, "Shut up!"

Due to what I guessed was excellent quidditch reflexes he dodged it easily, a mischievous grin playing on his lips (He was like the Cheshire Cat; pure mischief and evil).

"Hey, slow down, Hayley," he laughed entering the room, "By the way Moony; nice moves."

Remus groaned, "I won't hear the end of this, right?"

"Nope," he said, "I'll owl James later to tell him, too."

"What are you doing here anyway; I thought you were… what were you actually doing?" I asked, crossing my arms. He'd unpacked the night before, so what had he been up to in the meantime.

"Well, I started my day by taking a shower. Then I had breakfast; two fried eggs, three slices of toast and a glass of orange juice. Then I went to the loo-" he began explaining before I cut him out.

"Okay! I didn't want to know every detail of your day," I said slowly. "I just thought it funny that you've been hiding all day apparently."

"Not hiding. Going to the loo and many other exciting places," he grinned at me. I knew he was keeping something from me, but since he wouldn't tell, why should I bother? Scratch that - Note to self: FIND OUT WHAT SIRIUS IS HIDING.

"Well, you wanna see the rest of the movie, Remus?" I asked him, ignoring the secretive twat beside me.

Remus frowned, before nodding, slowly. "Sure," he looked at me for a second before adding, "You wanna join us, Padfoot?"

I frowned. Why was Remus inviting Sirius to join, when the former was so bothered by the latter's supposed infatuation in former's best friend? Wow... that sounded confusing – and didn't make any sense at all. Maybe he wanted to show me that he in fact did trust me. Even around Sirius.

I didn't even hear Sirius' response, but it seemed to have been yes, since we all took a seat on the sofa, which suddenly felt uncomfortably small. It reminded me of the drive back to the Potters, where James, Sirius and I had been squished into the backseat; much like now it seemed. I didn't dare move, too afraid to stir the boys since we were sitting elbow by elbow... by elbow.

The movie kept playing like nothing had changed even though everything had changed. From the corner of my eye, I noticed how Remus would glance, first at me and then at Sirius. And glancing at Sirius... well, his eyes shifted only from the television and to me.

I gulped, feeling the awkwardness of the moment creep under my skin and making me nervous. As Sirius casually draped his arm on the back of the sofa – just behind my seat – I felt close to bursting, my heart going at a million miles per hour rate.

Silently, I prayed for a miracle. I needed some kind of distraction, so I could make a run for it and get away from this sofa...

"Hayley, there's phone for you!"

Never before had I been so happy to hear my grandmother's voice.

She walked into the living room and upon noticing us, only uttered a soft: "Oh."

"If you're busy," she added, "I'm sure they can call later-"

"No, no!" I exclaimed a bit too loud and a bit too quick, "I'll just take the call now."

"Should we pause it?" Remus asked, referring to the movie.

"Don't bother," I smiled, "I've seen it before as you know."

Remus nodded and I winked at the boys, "Don't miss me too much."

For once the boys seemed to agree on something around me; they both rolled their eyes in response.

I hurried into the kitchen, where my grandma kept her phone and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Honey?" an all too familiar voice responded.

"Mum?" I asked confused.

"Yes, honey; it's mum-"

"And dad!" a just as familiar voice called in from somewhere in the background.

"And your dad," my mother added with a slight chuckle. I knew she only added it for his sake.

"How are you?" I practically yelled in joy.

I hadn't talked to my parents in months and with all things going on (or in one word: Hogwarts) I hadn't even had the time to realize just how much I actually missed them. But talking to them now – I felt myself aching for one of my mum's tasty Christmas cookies and for the tree hunts with my dad, which we used to do each year – even while living in India and Australia.

I was suddenly feeling homesick – months worth of unbelievable homesickness.

"We're fine, honey," my mother answered, and I swear I could hear her smile as she added, "But I'd much rather hear something about that young man you've invited home for Christmas."

Oh. Boy.

"We're friends," I said a bit too quickly, hoping she'd just forget about it if I just skipped the question. "How's India?"

"It's hot. Like last time we were here," she chuckled, clearly finding amusement in my weak attempt to skip questions. My mother had always been able to tell my thoughts by just taking one look at me. Apparently she could hear such things, too. If it hadn't been turned at me, I might've called it impressing, but being the victim – not so much.

"It's India, mum. Of course it's hot. What did you expect?"

"More air-condition," she joked. "But now tell me, how are you? How's Hogwarts? Have you gotten many new friends? Are you-" etc. etc.

I must have been answering questions for hours – or so it felt like anyway.

After lots of "how have you been"'s and "how are you grades"' and "have you made some nice friends"', she finally asked the much dreaded question – or re-asked actually.

"So about that boy of yours..." she started, letting the sentence trail of on its own.

"First off, he's not my boy. And second, do we really need to talk about this now?"

"Okay, when would be a good time for you to talk about it then?"

"I don't know. Let's say... in 10 years or so-"

"Hayley!" my mother exclaimed, "You have a boy staying – For Christmas! That's huge."

"Are you talking about that boy?" my dad's voice called from the background once again, and it wasn't exactly hard to pick up on the slight edge to his voice. "Let me talk to her."

"Have I any reason to be worried?" I quickly asked my mum, before she handed my dad the phone.

"Not at all, Hayley. You know your dad," she sighed, and once again I swear I could hear her roll her eyes – frankly, I couldn't blame her.

My dad might be tall, but he was a skinny and peaceful man; he came after my grandma in that way – barely wanting to swat a fly even if it kept annoying him.

That... and he was geek.

I knew he would be adjusting his glasses at the moment, pushing them farther up the bridge of his nose, while preparing himself to "argue".

"Hayley," he started, and for a moment he actually sounded nervous although I had no idea as to why he would be. "I know you're a responsible and mature young woman now. And as being so, it is only natural that you may start becoming... ehm... curious... about the... ehm... male gender-"

"Dad," I interrupted him confused and slightly amused, "Are you talking about sex?"

"I... ehm... was about to," he stammered in a low voice, and suddenly his nervousness made sense to me – and I couldn't help laughing.

"Dad," I said in between the laughs, "Mum and I had that conversation when I was 12 or so."

"Oh," he sighed, clearly relieved.

"And me and that boy; we're just friends."

"Thank God," he muttered under his breath, "I'll just hand the phone over to your mother again and go be... embarrassed. Love you, honey."

"Love you, too, Dad," I smiled, forgetting that he couldn't actually see me.

Rustling followed as the phone changed hands once again, going back to my mother.

"How bad was it?" my mum immediately asked me, slowly adding, "And why is you dad slapping himself on the forehead?"

"It's alright," I grinned, "It was fun."

"Good," she responded, not seeming to be troubled any furtherer as she quickly said, "And now, do you have a crush?"

"Mum!" I shrieked.

"What? You've had boyfriends before-"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I'll tell you about each crush that I may or may not have-"

"Oh, please, Hayley! Please!" she whined.

"We're friends-"

"Please!"

"Friends!"

"Pleas-"

"Mum, you're not listening," I exclaimed exasperated, not succeeding in hiding a smile from tugging at the edges of my lips. Lucky me, that we were on the phone - she would never have given up on the subject, seeing such a reaction.

"I am listening," she said, her voice soft, "But I know you well enough to know that you would never invite a boy home if you didn't feel at least a little bit-"

"Don't say it," I groaned, banging my head against the wall beside the phone, "Please don't say-"

"... Attracted."

"Mum, I'm not 'attracted' to Sirius Bla-"

"Black?" she finished.

"Yeah," I said, feeling somewhat confused. I was pretty sure that I hadn't mentioned his last name to her. "How did you know?"

She snorted. "I've worked in London, Hayley. I know the big names there and trust me; 'Black' is one of the biggest and most influential."

"How come?"

"His family is known for believing in certain... values. Hasn't he told you?"

"No," I said, feeling kind of lame; my mother - who had never even met Sirius - knew more about him than I did. In some way it actually hurt a little. "He doesn't like talking about his family," I added, like it was some kind of excuse for me.

"I don't blame him," she replied, pity creeping into her voice.

"But what values were you talking about?"

"I really think he should tell you, honey," she said, "It's his family after all."

"But-"

"Honey, I have to go now. Ask him yourself," she said before adding in a much more cheerful tone, "and merry Christmas! Greet Remus and grandma. Love you!"

And then she hung up, leaving me to listen to the bibbing of the phone, while thoughts raced at a million miles per hour rate through my head.

Bib. Bib.

Who were the Black's exactly?

Bib. Bib.

Why were they apparently so infamous?

Bib. Bib.

And what could be so awful about Sirius' past that he didn't wanna talk about it?

I knew the only way to get any answers would be for me to confront him; an idea that I really didn't like.

He probably had his reasons, right? It's not usual anyway; going around and boasting about your family.

But it's not normal, not wanting to talk about them at all either, is it?

In that moment I realized that I really only had two options about this. One, I could talk to him about it and risk he'll get upset with me for snooping (which I didn't want) or two, I could just leave the matter alone and never get my answers (which I didn't want either).

Option one it was then.

Since Sirius and Remus had cleared out of the living room, I decided to go to my room. It was getting dark anyway, so I figured I might as well get some 'me'-time before having to confront a certain someone. Walking up the stairs – taking two at a time (I was never really the patient type) – I drifted off in thoughts, imagining myself snuggling up under the covers of my bed with a good book in hand.

In fact I was so caught up with my own thoughts, that I didn't even notice the person sitting on the edge of my bed as I entered.

"Hey," I jumped at the sound of his voice, all thoughts about books and covers suddenly abandoned.

"Sirius," I gasped, "you startled me."

"Sorry; I know my good looks can be quite choking at times, but I thought you would've gotten used to it by now," he grinned wolfishly at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I thought I would've gotten used to your bad jokes and arrogance by now, too. Guess we're all a little bit surprised."

"Ouch," he said in mock hurt. "Oh, how you hurt me, Hayley."

"I'm sure your ego will live through it. What did you want anyway?"

He frowned lightly, his eyes darting towards the window for a second. Then he looked at me and shot me a mischievous grin – that really made me nervous.

In one fluid movement he stood up, and closed the short distance between us in a couple of strides. He took my hand in his and he got down on one knee. You'd almost think he was about to pro... pro... propo... I couldn't even think it. It was simply too ridiculous.

Naturally, I started laughing (in slight hysterics).

"Sirius, what are you-"

"Hayley Gráinne Thorne-"

"How did you know my middle name?" I exclaimed, choked. I hadn't mentioned that name to anyone for at least 10 years and I sure as hell hadn't mentioned it to anyone at Hogwarts. Except... "Remus."

He nodded, still grinning like he was about to win the lottery. It didn't exactly help calming my nerves, as I was getting more and more flustered for every second passing.

"Hayley Gráinne Thorne," he repeated, clearly enjoying the moment far too much, "will you do me the great honour of escorting me on a walk?"

My mind stopped. My body stopped. Heck, even the world stopped at that moment.

"A... a walk?" I sputtered, furious at him for making me such a wreck. It wasn't healthy when someone could get into your head like that – it simple wasn't.

"Yes, darling," he said, and got up. I tried staring him down even though I was like one and a half head shorter.

"I'm not in the mood for a walk," I grumbled, pushing my way past him (Not that he was taking up that much space – I just felt the need to harm him in some way).

"Hayley," he sighed, grapping my forearm and swinging me back towards him.

I locked my jaw and stared up at him, only to realise that he looked... troubled. Something was bothering him and I instantly felt myself warming up towards him again.

But only a teeny-tiny bit.

"Tomorrow," I said, giving in to him. "We'll take a walk tomorrow."

He shot me grin. "It's a date."

Turning on his heel, he walked out of the room.

"It's not a date!" I called after him, but I knew he'd ignore me.

You could call it what you wanted, but no matter what, I was less than 24 hours away from getting answers to my questions about his past. It didn't stop the uneasy turns of my stomach, though.

Songs used: "Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show

A/N: Hellooo! And merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all of you, lovely people.

First off; I thank you all for the great 'welcome back'. You are the most wonderful readers any kind of writer could wish for! :D

Second; I want to thank all reviewers, who I still believe is far too kind on my writing, and all who've either faved or alerted this story. You guys, keep me motivated ;)

I think I'll go snuggle up under the covers of my bed with a bowl of popcorn and watch a good movie now ;) See ya next time (Chapter 23 is going to be some kind of a milestone in this story and it's going to be really fluffy, I fear... hope you won't mind it too much :P)

-Marie