Sugar & Spice

*Rosie's Point of View

I stood in the middle of my dorm, doing a bit of last minute packing.

It was four in the afternoon and all the students who were leaving Hogwarts for the Christmas holidays were getting ready. The train was due to leave in just under one hour, so I had ten minutes to check I’d packed everything I might need while I was away.

It had been a week since I’d gone to Hogsmeade with Black and gotten drunk. A few hours after our little tiff I’d finally remembered everything. I’d tried to kiss Black... and he’d refused. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why – he was constantly trying to get into my pants, so why would he turn me down when I’d obviously wanted him?

Well, I certainly wasn’t going to go ask him now, was I?

Our tutoring sessions had eased off now because I was mostly caught up on everything apart from Transfiguration, so I didn’t have to speak to him any more than strictly necessary. A fact I was very grateful for.

If I was completely honest with myself it was because he scared me. Not that he was a scary kind of guy (well when he was angry, maybe), but it was just... the way I felt whenever I was around him, the expression on his face every time he looked at me – everything. It was all too weird.

I shook my head to clear it and then reached for the half-full bottle of perfume on my nightstand.

After a couple of minutes of racking my brains I couldn’t think of anything I hadn’t packed that I should’ve, so I grabbed the handle of my trunk, slung my favourite yellow bag across my chest, and made my way down the staircase.

I couldn’t see James in the common room among all the leaving and farewelling students, so I continued out of the portrait hole, figuring he was already making his way out of the castle and down to Hogsmeade station.

After being poked and prodded by Filch with his dark arts sensor I waved my wand at my suitcase, magically lightening it so I could drag it more easily down the path. I’d become quite the pro at Charms and was able to cast most of the spells non-verbally now.

I sighed deeply. Even I had to admit that it was probably down to Black’s magical teaching skills that I'd become so accomplished in such a short period of time. Okay, it definitely was.

I felt the soft kiss of snow on my nose. Looking around I could see that the air was swirling with millions of soft white snowflakes and that the ground already had a couple inches of coverage. I looked out across the grounds and smiled. It was beautiful. Hogwarts really was a sight to see in the snow, and I was sure it would be at least knee-deep by morning.

I looked up at the sky as I made my way down the winding path past Hagrid’s hut and breathed deeply, loving the sensation of the crisp chilly air clearing my head. I'd really have to go visit him after Christmas.

Twenty minutes later I found myself standing on the platform of Hogsmeade train station, watching as students and teachers were engulfed by billowing clouds of steam.

After ten whole minutes of looking around for James I gave up and picked an empty compartment completely at random. I pulled the cream and gold angora wool blanket from my trunk and then lifted it up onto the luggage rack.

Having only gotten a few restless hours of sleep the night previously I felt more than ready for a little cat nap. I lay down across all the seats on my side of the carriage, stretching out as best I could, and wrapped my blanket all around me, pulling it up around my neck to protect myself from the cold. Before the train had even pulled away from the station I’d fallen asleep.

*Sirius’s Point of View

James, Peter, Remus and I made our way down to Hogsmeade station together, speed-walking because (once again) we were on the verge of missing the train. As we walked we talked. Quite a few things came up: Tammie, Evans, quidditch, Tammie and Evans were just some of them.

She’d avoided me like the plague ever since that fateful morning when she’d woken up in my bed after our night out in Hogsmeade. I hadn’t pushed her or anything because I understood, but... I missed talking to her – hell, even arguing with her.

I knew James hadn’t told her that I was coming to the Potters’ too, but I personally thought it was a smart move. She might not have even agreed to come if she’d known I would be there.

I sighed, suddenly irritated. How on earth was I supposed to get close to her when she wouldn’t even let me near her?

Finally we reached the platform where the train was. There were students running around like headless chickens, trying to convince the teachers supervising to let them run back up to the castle to grab things; first year struggled to catch their wandering pets and general chaos ensued.

I rolled my eyes as I caught Helen McDougall’s eye. She was batting her eyelashes at me and licking her lips, trying to get me to go over to her. This was our usual routine but for the first time I winced, noting all of a sudden just how slutty she looked. I wrenched my attention away to look at my watch.

“Guys! We’ve only got two minutes – let’s go,” I said quickly. I had to physically move James because he’d caught sight of Evans chatting animatedly with Snape. His hands curled into fists as he watched her swing her hair over her shoulder and giggle delightedly at something Snape had whispered to her.

We got our trunks onto the train with less than thirty seconds to spare and no later had we boarded the train it began to slide away from the platform.

“Let’s go find Tammie – I mean Rosie,” Remus said, looking utterly exhausted. I didn’t blame him – he’d had the full moon two nights before and he was still recovering. I grinned, finally feeling the holiday season take effect.

“You took the words from my mouth Moony,” I said and he grinned back at me.

We’d boarded the front of the train so we made our way slowly (with the maximum amount of bumping and grumbling from James and Peter) towards the other end of the train.

We were reaching the last few compartments at the end and I was just beginning to panic that Tammie hadn’t even gotten on when James tapped me on the shoulder, pointing to the compartment on my left.

I peeked in and immediately felt my whole body relax. There was Tammie, spread across all the seats, wrapped up in a very warm-looking blanket. I raised my finger to my lips and quietly slid open the door, motioning for the others to follow.

We loaded our luggage onto the racks above and took our seats opposite her.

I watched her for a few moments. She was obviously deeply asleep. She was a very deep sleeper – I knew that from the night she’d slept in my bed with me. She hadn’t even woken up when Remus had thrown a full-blown hissy fit upon seeing her in bed with me.

A slow smile spread across my face as I watched her mumble to herself in her sleep and turn over, putting her back to us. Peter nudged me in the ribs, holding up a pack of cards.

“Wanna play exploding snap?” He asked and I nodded, jerking out of the slight trance I’d entered.

All four of us played exploding snap for the next couple hours or so before James threw up his hands, exasperated.

“I swear to God guys – if I have to play just one more game of this I’m going to actually lose my marbles.”

Remus grinned cheekily at him.

“Who’s to say you haven’t already?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. James rolled his eyes and tried not to laugh, slapping him on the back.

“You know, Moony once again makes a fair point. But I’ll go even more barmy if I have to play this stupid game any longer, so I think we should play something else.”

“I concur,” I spoke up, having grown bored with the game long before James had said anything. “What about Wizard’s Chess?” I asked. James and Peter groaned, but Remus rubbed his hands together.

“You and me, Black. Prepare to get your arse royally kicked.” I grinned evilly.

“You’re on, my man.”

So Remus and I began playing while James and Peter looked on. This was one game Remus and I were virtually matched in, whereas James was completely useless and Peter was, if possible, worse than James.

Some time later, after I’d taken Remus’s second knight the trolley lady came by.

“Thank God,” Peter said, standing up. “I’m starving,” We all mumbled our agreement and the trolley lady left half a trolley lighter as we bought more pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, chocolate frogs and bertie botts than we could possibly stuff in our collective pockets.

Three games of wizard chess and more singed eyebrows (from exploding card towers) later we pulled into King’s Cross.

I stood and approached Tammie warily, unsure how she’d react when I woke her up. I sat on the ample amount of seat she wasn’t lying on (noticing for the umpteenth time just how petite she was) next to her head, and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek.

“Tammie,” I said gently, as the others clattered around, pulling down their trunks, and the sounds of bumping and shoving reached our compartment from outside. She breathed in deeply and stretched luxuriously like a cat, all without opening her eyes. I smirked and kissed her cheek, unable to help myself.

I got one lungful of her sweet, almost babyish smell before her eyes snapped open and immediately met mine. I drew back a bit, still smirking.

*Rosie's Point of View

I felt something warm and rough cup my cheek as I slept.

I took a deep breath like I always did when I woke and stretched to get the cramp out of my muscles, wanting to drift off into a deeper slumber. Something soft and wet touched my cheek, causing my eyes to open in surprise.

For the second time in my life I woke to the sight of Black's face inches from mine, only this time he was smiling crookedly at me, his pale eyes glinting.

“Morning, Tammie,” He said, looking suprememly unruffled.

Also for the second time in my life I slapped him (rather wimpishly, I might add, due to the weakness in my limbs). He stared at me for a second before he stood up and burst into deep barking laughter, completely unfazed by the small pink mark on his cheek. I closed my eyes to gather my wits as James joined in heartily.

“Oh man -” Black gasped, using James’s shoulder for support. “Too – funny!”

"Maybe you should change your MO Sirius," commented Remus dryly as he slung his bookbag over his shoulder.

I sat up and took another deep slow breath, running my fingers through my thick black bedhead. James flung his arm around Remus' shoulders, shaking him slightly.

“Come on guys! Mum and Dad are probably waiting on the platform,” He said, and I felt a little bit nervous all a sudden. James's parents were pure-blood like my father, and I wasn't sure if they'd have the same ideas of behaviour as he did. Well they can't be that bad, I reasoned. James is their son.

Black caught me up under the arms and pulled me to my feet faster than I could wave him off. I nearly fell over, but caught myself just in time, determined not to embarrass myself in front of him.

“I’m fine, Black...” A sudden thought occurred to me and I looked up at him, confused. “What are you even doing here anyways? I thought you were staying at Hogwarts for the holidays.”

“I’m going to James’s house,” He replied shortly, grabbing my trunk off the rack with a tad more force than strictly necessary.

“Fair enough. Uh, sorry anyways. For hitting you,” I clarified, not looking at him. I took my trunk off him and made my way out of the door after Remus and James, thinking that this was going to be a more interesting holiday than I'd previously thought.

We pushed our way through all the elbowing students (or rather, the boys pushed and I followed in their wake) till we made it to the platform, where James made a direct beeline for a man and a woman I assumed were his parents.

The Potters, unlike most witches and wizards around them, were wearing perfect muggle garb; Mr Potter was wearing suit trousers with a white dress shirt and embroidered waistcoat, and Mrs Potter was wearing a flowy black dress with a heavy duffel coat.

Our small band of Hogwarts students were still in school uniform (minus the school robes), so we wouldn't fit in quite as easily, as it was after school hours on a Friday night, but people wouldn’t think we were weird, at least, as we'd left our cloaks in our trunks.

Mrs Potter enveloped Black in a very motherly hug and I watched on, feeling forlorn. I'd give anything for my mother to be able to greet me coming home from Hogwarts.

Mr Potter grabbed James and ruffled his hair, clapping him on the back. After Mrs Potter had finished with Black she moved onto James, Peter and Remus before stopping at me.

“Well. You must be Rosie,” She said, glancing at James and beaming at me. I smiled awkwardly and tried to handle the blatant motherly vibe Mrs Potter exuded. I stuck out my hand hastily.

“Um, yes – did James -?” I began, feeling rather nervous before I was pulled into a hug. After a second of not knowing what to do, I relaxed into it. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been hugged, and to my immense alarm I suddenly felt quite emotional. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been hugged.

After everybody had greeted each other we made our way off of the platform and into the muggle section of the train station.

“Fucking Nora!” Mr Potter exclaimed as soon as the doors opened and we stepped outside. I smiled as Mrs Potter laughed and then playfully slapped him on the arm.

“Should’ve brought your coat then shouldn’t you?” She teased. He winked at her before pulling her towards him and whispering into her ear, causing her to giggle and turn a bit pink in the face (although that could have been due to the snow and cold wind).

We all sniggered into our scarves as James groaned loudly and buried his face in his hands and as I beamed at no one in particular. It reminded me of my own memories of my parents when I was younger and I couldn't stop glancing at their clasped hands every few minutes.

“He always does this when I have my friends over,” James whispered to me and I patted his arm, giggling madly.

I'm not sure what it was, but something about the Potters made me feel very comfortable. They had this homey vibe, and it didn't exclude anybody, even me.

Right about then I realised that we’d walked twice around the parking lot and were making our third round. I turned to the closest person, who, of course, was Black.

"Have you noticed anything strange?" I asked, my brow furrowed in confusion. He gave me a dazzling grin as he looked down at the arm I'd placed on his elbow so that I could lean closer to his ear. I removed it, feigning nonchalance.

"What? Like the fact that we've already walked around this place twice? Yeah, I have a feeling Mr Potter's lost the car again," He said and then stifled his sniggers with his scarf as we looked as one to where Mr Potter was striding more quickly than the rest of us, seemingly searching for something, and growing more and more agitated. "Mrs Potter's going to explode when she realises. This happened three years ago at Christmas and she gave him a proper earful. There's this charm he keeps placing on it and it gives it this kind of animal intelligence, you know? So he can call it whenever he needs it."

"So what's the problem?" I asked, rubbing my hands to keep them warm as he gave a bark of laughter.

"It keeps running off on him," He said, and began laughing heartily. I stared at him for one surprised second before I started laughing so hard that tears pricked at my eyes.

"That's - so - funny!" I gasped, but then stopped laughing as I heard Mrs Potter call out to Mr Potter, causing him to fall back, wearing a sheepish expression, as he whispered something in her ear.

“You what?!” She screeched incredulously, stopping in her tracks. Our little group hastily stopped walking as well, moving back a bit and averting our eyes.

“Yes, um, you see Naddie, the car – it never likes to stay still for too long, you know – has a mind o -”

I tuned them out, feeling like I was prying by listening. Black leaned in so he could whisper in my ear, startling me slightly.

“How are you doing?” I looked up at him and blinked slowly before I yawned widely, unable to stop myself. He tucked his chin into his scarf to hide his smile.

“Fine, I guess. Still waking up, you know?” I said lightly, pulling my scarf higher up my face so that it covered my mouth. “And bleeding hell!” I burst out, unable to stand it anymore. “It’s freezing out here!”

The Potters seemed to have heard me. Mrs Potter rushed to my side, rubbing my arms to get them warm (like Mum always used to, I thought wistfully). I smiled at her sincerely, slightly taken aback by the fact I'd only known her for twenty minutes and I already felt easy around her.

“Oh, I am sorry, my dear. We’d better catch the knight bus, I suppose,” She added, sighing as Peter and James cheered. I winced. I’d never liked the knight bus – especially since the time I’d been vomited on by an elderly gentleman with a hearing trumpet when I was four.

Mr Potter threw out his arm and a loud bang split the air as we flung ourselves backwards, Remus’s leg narrowly avoiding being squished by the bus’s wheels.

We gingerly picked ourselves up and boarded the bus. Since I was first on, I made my way to the top, glancing back to see that it was only Black, Remus and Peter following me, James having presumably gone to sit with his parents.

When we were halfway between the second and third floors the bus took off with a bang and I was thown backwards, half crashing into somebody and nearly throwing us both down the stairs.

“Sorry!” I squeaked, removing my hand from a very inappropriate part of Black's anatemy as I unplastered the bottom half of my body from the painfully sharp-edged stairs. He grinned cheekily and winked, but didn't say anything crass, to my relief. Remus and Peter glanced at each other quickly and smirked before I brushed myself down, hands on the walls to keep myself falling over again, and continued to the top level.

As soon as my foot touched the top level I stopped being thrown wildly in every direction. I turned to watch the boys' faces as they each experienced the same thing.

"Whoa," Remus exclaimed in awe as Peter nodded fervently. "That was really weird."

"How'd you know about this?" Black asked me curiously, giving me an odd look. I shrugged, barely concealing a wide grin.

"Found it my first trip on the knight bus," I said, sitting down on the nearest seat. "I think there’s some kind of stability enchantment on it, but it’s always empty for some reason. I think people reckon the higher you are the scarier it is," I added and then grinned at them all. "You can sit down you know. The seats don't bite," Black and Remus rolled their eyes and Peter looked frightened at the very thought of biting seats, before they all sat down nearby.

*Sirius’s Point of View

When we finally got off the knight bus at Godric’s Hollow I heaved a sigh of relief. Only in the last couple of years had I gotten over my motion sickness, but whenever I was on that bus it all came back to me. We’d only just managed to get all our trunks off of the bus when it took off with a loud bang. Mrs Potter tutted, looking at the spot where it had disappeared at the end of the road.

“I always thought they were a rude lot on there,” She stated softly as Tammie grinned, looking completely at ease. It was with massive effort that I took my eyes off her.

Mr Potter clapped his hands together.

“Well, shall we get this show on the road? I don’t know about you lot, but I’m growing icicles in places I’d rather not have them.” James and his mum rolled their eyes while the rest of us smirked, before we followed the Potters down the road to their house.

Like I always did, I couldn't help but compare the Potters to my parents. In a way, visits to the Potters were a little bit depressing in that they reminded me of what I didn't have. I always had to shake these thoughts off and remind myself that none of that mattered. The Potters were wonderful. End of story.

I looked around. Snow was beginning to fall rapidly and everybody had flecks of snow in their hair and on their coats. All the houses had snow covering their rooves and on their window ledges, giving the whole town a beautiful picturesque look. I smiled, feeling peaceful.

After only a very short walk the Potters turned up a certain garden path. I followed them and after Mr Potter searched for the keys for a couple of minutes (“I bet they ran off too,” Mrs Potter muttered lowly to muffled sniggering from James, Remus and I) we stepped into the warmth of the Potters’ house.

I looked around, satisfied that everything looked just like it had the last time I'd visited.

It was decorated in a very modern way, but it was still very homely. I could spot a colourful handmade quilt hanging over the banister of the stairs and I could see that there were places set on the dining table in the room to my right (my stomach grumbled loudly at this).

I took off my coat, scarf and gloves, rolling my shoulders and stretching my arms as I thawed out. The others did the same, trailing droplets of melted snow onto the floor. Mrs Potter waved her wand, muttering a spell to clean up the water before ushering us into the lounge, placing us forcefully onto the couches and armchairs scattered haphazardly around the room.

“Now! Who would like a drink? Or is anybody hungry?” She asked and everyone's hands were thrust into the air, except Tammie's. Tammie laughed and Mrs Potter joined in, obviously prepared for this reaction. “I thought so,” She said shrewdly. “I’ve got some nice pea and ham soup on the hob. Anybody interested?” We all nodded enthusiastically and she turned to Tammie.

“Oh, I’m fine thank you Mrs Potter,” Mrs Potter looked her up and down, but it wasn’t in a rude or challenging manner. James and I smirked at each other.

“Well I’ve also got some nice thick hot chocolate on the stove if you’re interested,” She added with a knowing smile; there was a sudden outburst of requests for hot chocolate at that. I was pleased to see that Tammie joined in.

"You got me, Mrs Potter. Hot chocolate is my one weakness," She admitted, laughing. I filed this information away for later.

Forty-five minutes later we were all so full of hot chocolate and soup that we could barely keep our eyes open.

“Well, my dears, it’s rather late. Don’t you think it’s time to be getting up to bed now?” Mrs Potter asked, and we all caught the hint, heaving ourselves up off the couches and armchairs we’d been sprawled in. “Rosie? I’m terribly sorry dear, but you’re going to have to stay in James and Sirius’s room tonight, and I’ll see what I can do for tomorrow,” She said, smiling and balancing a sleeping Mr Potter on her shoulder.

Tammie glanced at me and quickly looked away. I rolled my eyes.

"Of course. No problem Mrs Potter," She smiled gratefully.

We all trudged upstairs, struggling to keep our eyes open. All along the staircase and on the landing there were family pictures, some of them snapshots and some of them portraits, but all moving.

Remus and Peter bade us goodnight as they went off into the first room we came to. The last door on the right was James’s room. He pushed it open and I looked around; it was a large, simply decorated room, but it screamed 'James'. There was a huge Gryffindor banner draped across one wall and dozens of posters of his favourite quidditch team.

I raised my eyebrows at James and laughed when I saw the muggle stop sign in the corner. That one was new.

“Don’t ask,” James mumbled, obviously falling asleep on the spot. That turned my attention to the beds – two singles and a fold-out couch.

I flashed Tammie a grin and claimed the single bed next to the couch, leaving her no choice but to sleep next to me, as James had dropped himself onto the other bed. He pulled the covers over himself, not bothering to get changed into his pyjamas.

I placed my hands behind my head and watched as Tammie hesitated for less than a fraction of a second before plopping herself onto the fold-out and rolling over so we were face to face. She raised an eyebrow.

"Well what do you know, eh? We're roomies again," She smirked, giving me a dazzling smile. After a surprised second I grinned back, glad she could see the irony.

Finally we were getting back to normal. Sometimes that girl was so cold it gave me chills.

She stood up and went into James en-suite. I stripped down to my boxers in preparation for bed, but then I had a sudden, wicked idea.

I crept to the door of the bathroom and swung it open to find Tammie standing with her back to me.

She was trying to pull her pyjama shirt over her head, but a button had gotten caught on her hair and she was wrestling with it. I could see her bare back all the way up to her neck.

I stopped in my tracks and couldn't help but stare at the way her ribcage tapered to her waist and then widened again to her hips. She was beautiful. I found myself moving closer, not caring that I would be caught peeking. If she would just turn a little bit...

Tammie caught sight of me over her shoulder.

"GET OUT!" She shrieked and I hastily backed out with my hands up, laughing madly as I shut the door behind me and reentered the bedroom.

"Wha' was tha'?" James asked drowsily, having sat up at Tammie's cry.

"Nothing mate. Tammie just flashed me is all," I told him, just loud enough to carry to the bathroom.

"Great mate," He congradulated, falling back on his pillows and promptly resuming his loud snoring.

"I heard that!" I heard Tammie shout.

"You were meant to, darlin'!" I called, before dropping onto my bed and closing my eyes. I pretended to be asleep as Tammie stalked in, muttering darkly to herself and glancing at me before turning off the light.

I grinned in the darkness before I drifted off to sleep.