Just Like Old Times

It was nearing the end of November and The Americans were celebrating their Thanksgiving, giving Jimmy and Lily a long weekend. Sirius still didn't understand why they would celebrate their harvest two months after the actual event. Americans. Who could figure them? Still, it had taken Jen some doing, but she managed to get the Twins out of school two days early and convinced her brother Thom and his mate Rick that they would not be considered 'traitors' for spending Thanksgiving in the country their ancestors once fled. Sirius agreed to have them all at Grimmauld, as long as they tried to stay out of the main floor corridor so his mother's portrait wouldn't be disturbed.

Sirius leaned back in his chair. The late brunch was one of the finest meals he'd had in months. His guests had arrived late the night before and the lot of them spent most of the morning in bed. After the initial integration of Jennifer, Jimmy and Lily, the past three months had been something of a blur. He looked around the table and smiled to himself. He sat at the head with Jen, Jimmy and Remus to his right down the long table. Thom, who wouldn't hear of spending Thanksgiving away from his sister, sat opposite him at the other end while Lily, Harry and Rick filled the chairs to his left. They were all talking over each other, participating in several conversations at once.

This is how a family should feel, Sirius thought

Sirius was becoming so happy, he was beginning to feel paranoid. How long would it last? Lily had taken to him as if she'd known him always. After meeting her Father, she owled him at least twice a week, and visited his fireplace whenever possible. When they found time to spend in each other's company, she would throw her arms around him in welcome and seldom let go of his hand. Jimmy had taken to Sirius as well, though not as expressively. It was relieving that Harry and Jimmy had come to a mutual understanding in that they both cared for Sirius and neither had the right to pull him away. Lily seemed to have completely forgotten their initial introduction. She spoke with Harry almost as freely as she did Sirius.

Although not comfortable with the idea of the same sex thing, Sirius had decided he liked Jen's brother and his lover. The two weren't obvious about their relationship. In fact, they seemed to be discreet. Jen's brother Thom really looked nothing like his sister. Where Jen had an olive complexion, he was fair; her hair and eyes were a deep brown, his were blonde and blue. He was only about 5'9 and he had a stocky build, as opposed to Jen's lithe form. Rick was taller than both, and Sirius suspected his blondish hair was actually brown, as his eyebrows were. Thom and Rick both were welcoming and friendly to Sirius, saying how glad they were to finally meet their niece and nephew's father. Sirius decided he rather enjoyed Jen's brothers-in-law company.

Yet, in the midst of all this comfort and camaraderie, His old girlfriend had become something of an enigma to Sirius. Jen had become polite, friendly, compromising, and everything she should be. But she wouldn't look directly at him. Unless she thought he didn't see her. He didn't expect them to fall back into their relationship of almost two decades ago, but then he didn't think it would be dismissed either. His paranoid reasoning ran something like this; she still lived in The States and Jen and the twins would only visit every opposing weekend, scarcely giving him a chance to talk to her alone, and when they did have an opportunity she would suddenly have something very important to do. Sirius knew she was avoiding him, although she'd done nothing to dismiss him. Sirius's confusion was becoming more profound than that of a teenager, and he hated it! If she didn't want him back, he would deal with it. Although when he'd catch her looking at him it would be with the look he recognized as a look she had just for him. These mixed signals were starting to drive him over the edge. The not knowing was driving him mad; he was needed to get her alone. The guests were to be with him for five days, and he was determined to get her alone.

"Now, Sirius, what's the deal with your mother?" Thom asked, pulling Sirius from his reverie.

"I beg your pardon?" Being so wrapped up in his own thoughts, Sirius hadn't heard the conversation.

"You're mother," Thom repeated. "Why does she not want us in the main corridor?

"Oh, it's not her," Sirius replied, leaning his arms onto the table. "It's me. I just don't want to deal with it anymore."

"It?" Rick leaned forward, mirroring Sirius. "You refer to your mother as 'it'?"

Harry smiled. "No, not her in person. It's her portrait." He watched the Americans exchange confused looks.

"You don't want to deal with a portrait?" Jimmy asked, raising an eyebrow. "How bad could it be?"

Remus softly laughed. "This is no ordinary Portrait. His mother had quite a temper. Add that with how she and Sirius used to get on..." he trailed off, shaking his head remembering the few encounters he had with Mrs. Black. "It's a wonder any of us stayed sane while using this place as headquarters." He thought back to the early days, just after Voldemort's return to life. It was a time of mixed feeling when everyone was scared to death of the Death Eaters taking power and still cherishing every moment of life together as a team.

Thom was shaking his head. "I still don't understand. It's just a portrait! Animated or not, It can't be that bad." Then looked at his sister.

"Don't look at me!" Jen smiled, holding her hands up in defense. "Every time I get anywhere near it one of these blokes," she said, gesturing to the English Gentlemen, "covers my mouth and escorts me carefully away. Personally," she teased slyly. "I think that they're just a bunch of sissy's that are afraid of a little noise."

Sirius, Harry and Remus all dropped back in their chairs and snickered.

"That first year The Order was jumping in and out was total madness," Remus tried to explain through a toothy grin. "We never knew who was coming or going, or when. So we couldn't take any real precautions. And then there was Tonks's clumsiness that seemed to be wakening the bloody witch every ten minutes." He shook his head broadening his grin. "It took us almost three years to find a powerful enough silencing charm to make this place habitable."

"For a portrait?" Thom was still disbelieving, he pushed his light hair out of his eyes.

Remus leaned forward. "She could get very nasty. It would take us a good half hour to get her quiet."

"She's that bad?" Rick said as he pushed his chair back from the table. "I mean you really took such precautions for a memory?" Rick looked at Thom with what could only be described as a twinkle.

"She isn't just a memory," Harry replied, shaking the tealeaves in the bottom of him cup. "She's still here. Finding any excuse to come off."

Sirius began to get a bad feeling when his American visitors-all five of them- began exchanging mischievous looks, raising the corners of their mouths into wicked grins. Before he could protest, although he wasn't sure of what, the five all jumped from the table and ran to the main corridor. He only heard one of them say, "This, I've got to see!" And another say, "This is going to be fun!" He looked at Harry and Remus, who both looked properly stunned.

"They're going to wake her up, aren't they?" Sirius asked, already knowing the answer.

Remus nodded his head. "Safe bet."

Then the three jumped to follow.

The roaring noises coming from the corridor were reminiscent of the early days of The Order at Grimmauld, but this time there was howling laughter mixed in with the loud and violent cursing. When Sirius, Remus and Harry entered the corridor they saw the five Americans standing in front of Sirius's mother's portrait, laughing as though it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen. Out of habit, Remus grabbed one side of the curtain and Sirius the other.

"NO!" Rick shouted in between fits of laughter. "Let her go! Listen to her!"

The two Marauders looked at the others as though they were mad.

"SHAME OF MY FLESH!" the Black Matriarch howled.

"Now Grandma, you don't really mean that!" Jimmy said to her, snickering.

The woman in the portrait stopped for a moment.

"Oh, yes!" Thom said. "You son has fathered two bastards!"

"THE BLACK NAME WOULD NOT ALLOW SUCH BLASPHEMY!" her voice grew louder.

"It's true!" Lily stepped forward. "I'm one of them!"

"LIES! ALL LIES! EVEN THAT BLOOD TRAITOR WOULDN'T TAKE WITH A WHORE!" the woman in the portrait wailed as she clenched her hands to her chest.

"Oh, but he did!" Rick said, pulling Jen forward who raised her hand through tears of laughter.

"That's me! I'm the whore!" Jen could barely speak through her laughter.

"LIES! BLASPHEMERS! BLOOD TRAITORS!"

"This ones a Muggle!" Jen tossed a thumb at Rick.

"FILTH! BEGONE FROM MY HOUSE!" Her hands flung towards the door, the painted eyes round with horror.

"Well, technically isn't it mine and Lily's house?" Jimmy smiled wide. "I mean after you washed your hands of our daddy wouldn't every thing go to us?"

"ALL LIES!" The horror of what the Americans were saying to her seemed to be sinking in. There was definitely a terrifying truth to what they were saying.

"Tell her the truth, Sirius," Thom said, still laughing. "She obviously isn't going to believe us!"

Sirius hadn't realized the scene had paralyzed him until he was addressed. He noticed Harry and Remus were in similar states. He stepped forward to Thom's bidding. "Uh, its true Mother, these two are my children."

"And the part about Jen?" Thom continued to laugh.

"Well, I wouldn't call her a whore, but yes, she's their mother."

"SHAME OF MY FLESH! MONSTROSITY TO NATURE!" the shrieks had now become shriveled with loathing as there was no denying her son's words.

"Aw, come on Grandma." Jimmy tried to look charming through his snickering. "You don't mean that!"

"FILTH! SCUM!" the tone again had changed, this time it was coated with disgust.

"You know this really isn't a good look for you, Grandma," Lily said, giggling against the wall opposite her Grandmother's portrait. "You're all blotchy and red!"

Sirius's mother suddenly stopped and glared at her Granddaughter, then stormed from the frame.

Harry, Remus and Sirius all stared at the portrait, as the other's laughter began to die down now that the entertainment was over.

Disbelieving, Harry looked at Sirius. "She's gone," he said quietly, and then looked at the others. "How did you do that?"

"Oh, It's only temporary," Thom said leaning an arm against the wall, taking deep breaths. "She'll be back. A woman who chooses her legacy to be the portrait of the mother of all madness will not give it up so easily."

Jen was nodding, trying to compose herself. "Yes, she's just going to regroup. She's probably upstairs in one of the other portraits right now still screaming." She then looked at Sirius. "I can't believe you've been restricting me and the twins from this corridor for that! It's not like you to let her get away with that for so long!"

"I've been trying forever to rid this place of her and you do it in five minutes?" He looked at Jen, stunned.

Rick was leaning onto Thom. "And you thought your Mom was bad!"

"This place isn't rid of her. She's still here," Thom said, looking past Rick to Sirius.

"Well, she's not here!" Sirius gestured the vacant portrait. "If I'd known insulting her would do it, I'd have tried a bit harder."

"But we didn't insult her, Dad." Lily smiled ruefully. (Sirius still couldn't get used to her calling him that.) "We only told her the truth. Mom's a whore and Jimmy and I are bastards."

"But your not," Harry said, shaking his head vigorously.

"We are to her." Jimmy wiped his eyes, leaning on his knees. "We've just confirmed her fears." He then straightened up and still looking amused explained, "It's just like Dad said, the Black's were a bunch of pure-blood freaks. Now, not only are there two Black bastards, but to make it even worse, their Mother is a Muggle loving American! What could be more shameful?"

Silent through the whole scene, Remus started to quietly giggle to himself.

"What's so funny?" Sirius demanded.

"We are," Remus clarified, and shook his head laughing at himself. "Here we've spent years hiding from that woman, and this group starts laughing at her and she flees." He looked at Thom and Rick. "Do you think we could permanently banish her?"

"I don't see why not." Thom thought about it, with whimsy still in his eyes. "It would have to be a back-ended spell. Something like a trap door, so she couldn't return to the portrait. We'd probably only be able to banish her once before she catches on and she'd still have free reign over all her other portraits. So you'd have to carefully pick which of her frames you want her to be permanently expelled." He looked at Sirius.

"This one!" Sirius and Harry exclaimed together, pointing at the recently emptied frame.

Thom smiled and looked back at Remus. "I'd need some help to write it, Are you truly the thinker, or does my sister exaggerate?"

"I'm sure she exaggerates, but, yes, I am a thinker." He led Thom and Rick back towards the kitchen, Remus's hand on Thom's arm to guide him out of the hallway. "This should make and interesting challenge. Where should we start? A banishing spell, or an expelling one? We'll have to make certain we cast the spells in the appropriate order..." the conversation dwindled away, leaving the remaining guests to finish their giggles and compose themselves. Finally they all got control of themselves and stood for a quiet moment.

Harry looked at his wristwatch. "It's 12:30," he stated. Then looked at Jimmy and Lily. "Did you still want me to show you 'Diagon Alley'?"

The twins looked at their Mother with hopeful expressions of six year olds. She had promised them that this time Harry could take them to the English Wizarding Market; in fact Jen was actually very curious to see it herself. Yet, a part of her started to panic. If she said yes, she'd be alone with Sirius. A place she'd avoided for months. But she couldn't think of a good reason to say no.

Sirius almost hugged Harry when he offered to take the twins, but contented his enthusiasm with a grateful hand on the boy's shoulder. Jen would have no excuse to dismiss herself with everyone else busy. But when the twins looked at her she paused. "Go!" Sirius said and smiled at the three. "And have fun. But stay out of Knockturn Alley. I've still got some friends down there that will tell me if you're out of bounds."

Jen opened her mouth to protest, but quickly turned it into a smile when she realized she had none. "And don't spend all your holiday money. I won't be offering any more until we get back to The States."

Lily let out a little yip and hugged Sirius. "Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!"

Sirius smiled as he watched as the three walk out the front door.

For a moment Jen looked at the door the three had just disappeared through. She could feel Sirius staring at her. She took a deep breath to steady herself and turned. "I think I'll go see if Thom and Remus need any help."

As she started to pass him, he blocked her path with his palm against the wall. "No."

She looked up at him. "Excuse me?"

"I said, no." He looked down at her and held her gaze sternly. He wasn't going to let her escape this time. "We need to talk, Jen."

"What about?" She tried to sound nonchalant.

Sirius opened his mouth a bit and slightly shook his head, trying to mask his confusion. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do," he spat at her angrily. He closed his eyes to think. Now he had her, he wasn't sure where to start. But he knew if he didn't do it now, he never would. He had to get her where she couldn't run away. He had to make sure she would stay and hear him out.

"Sirius, please." She tried to move past his arm.

"Dammit, Jen!" He abruptly grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him up the stairs.

She protested and argued with him, struggling to pull her wrist free as he dragged her up the stairs behind him. When he finally got her up the four flights of stairs and into the attic, he slammed the trapdoor shut and turned to her.

She stood a few feet away, in front of the large pile of hay that made Buckbeak's nest when he was there (as it was, the Hippogriff was currently with Charlie Weasley somewhere in Romania), Sirius knew they would not be disturbed up here and he could sit on the door if he had too to keep her from bolting again.

"What are you doing?" she cried, looking at him shocked.

"I told you, we need to talk," he said calmly. "And I'm not letting you run away again."

"Run away?" she demanded. "Since when do I run away?"

"You don't really want me to answer that, do you?" He raised an eyebrow at her comment.

She looked hurt, then turned away from him, crossing her arms over her chest and looked out the enormous windows that made one side of the A-slanted ceiling.

"I'm sorry," he said softly putting his hands on her shoulders from behind. "I didn't mean that." He rested his forehead on the back of her head. Her hair still smelled of cotton blossom and almond. "I never thought there would be a time that I didn't know you. I never thought I'd look at you and not know what you were thinking." He turned her to look at him, and then cupped her face in his hands. "I want you to talk to me about Us."

Slowly, she pulled his hands from her face and stepped back. "There is no 'Us'."

He felt a bit of his temper slip. "Yes there is," he didn't shout, but only because he was holding fast to his self control. He stuffed his hands into his pockets to control his urge to shake her. "There has always been an Us. There will always be an Us. The problem is nobody here seems to know how to define Us."

"It's nobody's business."

"It's my business!"

Jen shook her head a bit, thinking. "You can't just pretend the last eighteen years didn't happen, Sirius."

His temper slipped a bit more at her patronizing tone. "No, not any more than you can pretend we're not together now."

"We aren't together now."

"I know that!" he finally shouted. "And I would like to know why!"

"Eighteen years," Jen said flatly. "I've spent eighteen years alone. Eighteen years learning how to cope. Eighteen years doing it by myself."

"So its your pride that's keeping us apart," he said just as flatly.

Before he realized she was moving, her palm smacked the side of his face. He stumbled back, more from the shock than the actual impact. He looked at her, stunned.

Horrified, she turned and started to the trapdoor. Sirius ran in front of her and just as she started to lift it, he stomped on it slamming it shut. "I said I wasn't going to let you run away again."

"You've taken to kidnapping now?"

"If that's what it takes." He held his foot firmly on the door. "I don't care what you say, but I deserve to hear it!"

Her eyes softened a bit and she tilted her head. "You don't care."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. You're just looking for a good excuse to get away from me. And I'm not going to let that happen until I know why!"

Seeing the determination in his eyes, she knew he wouldn't let her go. She didn't want to talk about the two of them. Especially not to Sirius, the only man she'd ever loved and trusted. She had to get away. Pulling together all the will and strength she could find, she shoved him with all her might, throwing him off the door.

He fell onto his backside and saw her reach to open the door. He lunged forward and grabbed her ankle pulling her back. She twisted around and made to push him away with her other foot, but he caught it up and dragged her towards the center of the room. "You're not leaving!" he shouted at her.

She madly jerked her legs back and forth, trying to shake him. Realizing his hands were too strong and she couldn't possibly break free, she shoved her feet into his chest. "You can't make me stay here!"

"I can until you tell me!" He jerked her legs to his side and pinned them beneath his left arm at her knees, then grabbed her left forearm. He wasn't going to let he go. They'd fought like this before, many times when they were younger, and he could stand to fight like this with her again. He wasn't giving in. As she beat on his chest with her free hand, he dragged them both with one knee and one foot balancing them further into the attic, away from the door. "Tell me!" he panted around their flailing limbs. "That's all you have to do!"

"I can't!" she shouted as he tossed her onto Buckbeak's nest. She tried to get her leverage, but was suddenly pinned beneath Sirius. He'd straddled her hips and securely pinned her arms on either side of her head.

"Is this how it has to be?" Sirius demanded, out of breath from their struggle.

"Stop!" She thrashed beneath him; tears had begun to form in her eyes. "I can't do this! Not again!"

"Do what?" he shouted, still fighting against her thrashing.

"Love you!" She stopped fighting him when she realized the words had fallen. "God Dammit," she said mostly to herself.

Sirius completely stopped cold when he heard her say it. He lowered his head, forcing her to look in his eyes. "Why not?"

Tears slid from the corners of her eyes down her temples and disappeared into her hair as she closed her eyes. "Because I'd die if I lost you again," she said so softly he almost didn't hear her.

He sat up and shifted off her, allowing her freedom.

She stayed as she was, only putting a hand over her eyes, trying to hold back the assault of emotion. "You work for the Ministry now. You're chasing down the people who most want you dead. When they-" she stopped and took a deep breath. "If they kill you, I'd have to be strong." She sat up, shifting slightly and wiped her face then looked at him, realizing there were but a few inches between their faces. "Don't you see how they look at you?"

Sirius didn't need her to explain she meant the twins, and most likely Harry. He shook his head. "No. This isn't about them. This is about us."

A tear dropped from her eye. "I almost died. They took you away and I wanted too." She looked at him yearning for all the years they should've been together. The years of love and laughter, the fights, tantrums, parental disputes, injured children, shortness of money, birthdays, holidays, all special moments they should've had together. She looked into his eyes, still struggling with her heart. "I never got over you." Then looked away. "I still haven't. The pain of loosing you once almost destroyed me. I don't think I could survive if I lost you again."

He slid closer to her and cupped one hand on her jaw. "I can't promise that won't happen."

She looked at him abruptly.

Sirius could see that wasn't what she wanted to hear. "I can promise I won't go gently. And I'll fight to keep what I have."

"You're not one that's prone to gentle." She tried to look down, but his hand held her face firmly, not relinquishing eye contact.

"Could you give me the benefit that twelve years in hell have made me less reckless?" He slid his hand behind her neck, weaving his fingers into her hair and holding her gaze. "Would you allow that three teenagers give me a reason to be careful?" He brought his other hand up to stroke her face. "Would you believe that I still love you as much as I did the day they took me away?" His thumb brushed her cheek softly. "Can I believe you still love me?"

Her eyes, still shining with tears, looked deeply into his. "I never stopped. Not once."

For several long moments they looked at one another. They still loved each other. They still wanted each other. Sirius felt all his fear slip away as he saw his love reflected back at him in her eyes. After so long they were still in love. The future seemed trivial, because at this moment they were together.

He pulled her forward and softly kissed her; his lips brushing tenderly across hers. He felt her hands come up to his sides, pulling their bodies slightly closer. He gently kissed her again and again wrapping his arms more tightly around her. As her hands clutched in the fabric of his shirt, he coaxed her mouth open and she released a small groan. He lowered one hand around her waist and pulled her body firmly against his. His felt his heart hammering against his chest. It was as if his heart suddenly became aware of who he was holding. A long ago buried passion began to resurface as he felt her reacting to him. The electric heat they shared when they were so much younger was sparking to life.

Jen felt the softness of his hair as she tangled one hand into the back of his head, and the firmness of his shoulder beneath the other. The desire she was sure she'd never feel again was shooting throughout her body. She had almost forgotten how wonderful it felt to have his arms holding her so tightly. The heat and passion she had felt so many years before came flooding back.

Their soft, tender caresses became more urgent, more fierce. Sirius shifted and pushed her back down onto the hay. He trailed kisses down her jaw and to her neck, biting and tasting.

She was biting his shoulder though his shirt, hands clutching his shoulders and back. She hooked her leg around his and clung to him, frantically.

He raised his head to her ear and gave her earlobe a flick with his tongue before her pulled it into his mouth and bit it. "I have you back." He said as he licked the spot behind her ear he remembered delighted her.

She released his shoulder and turned her head. "Sirius," she breathed on his ear. "I love you so much."

With that simple phrase the world slipped away. Eighteen years of separation suddenly washed over them. Possessed, they ravaged each other. Tearing clothes as they tried to remove them, bruising as they kissed or grabbed too hard. The need to feel each other consumed them. Their uncontrollable desire made them both tremble. They were lost in each other.

###### #####

Lily stood outside the Quidditch shop looking at the broom through the window thinking what an utter waste to be spending time here. After all, both Jimmy and Harry spent enough of their waking hours talking about and practicing Quidditch that they really shouldn't need to infringe on her only trip to "Diagon Alley" by looking at brooms. She shifted her shopping bags under an arm and pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders fighting the chilly English weather, becoming quite annoyed with the boys. She looked up and saw the two fawning over a broom enrapt in a debate over something Lily quite clearly did not care about. She sighed and looked down the street at the bustling people. "Damn," she said to herself. She didn't want to lose any more exploration opportunities standing in the cold waiting for the boys to decide they'd been in the stupid broom shop long enough.

Turning back to the window, she balanced her packages on her hip and rapt lightly on the glass until Jimmy looked up at her. Lily pointed her finger down the street, indicating she'd be waiting elsewhere. Jimmy nodded absently and then went immediately back to his conversation with Harry. Lily shook her head and pushed away from the shop front and turned to start down the street.

And almost instantly found she was sailing through the air as she tripped over something, sending her sprawling across the pavement with her parcels scattering in front of her. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she sputtered to the unknown assailant as she tried to gather herself and her purchases. "I didn't see you!" She pulled several packages together and looked to see who she'd fallen over and saw a meek little house-elf ramming its head against the brick wall.

"Forgiveness! Please!" the elf was wailing. "Phinn did not see the young mistress!" Then whacked his head against the wall again.

Lily tried not to smile at the elf's self-punishment. "No, no!" She reached to try and stop the elf from inflicting more pain onto itself. "It's okay! It's entirely my fault!"

The elf wailed louder, "And the mistress is so kind!" Then threw itself against the wall. "Bad Phinn! Phinn must punish himself!"

"Now what have you gotten into?" a low sneering voice came from above Lily, then she saw a cane smack the elf into the wall again.

"Hey!" Lily jumped to her feet and looked up at a young man with platinum blonde hair, slicked back over his head with steel gray eyes glaring disgustingly at the elf. He was taller than she, though not by much and Lily couldn't help but think, despite the ugly look on his face, this man is gorgeous! "It wasn't his fault," she said with a hint of a flirt.

When the young man looked at her the sneer was briefly replaced with a look of delight, then replaced with the sneer so quickly Lily wasn't sure she'd actually seen the enchanted look.

"Of course it was." He raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at Lily. "Ever since we lost our last house-elf this one has done nothing but get into trouble. He knows we won't be fooled into giving out clothes again, so he's trying to have us dismiss him." He glared at the elf that was guiltily wringing its hands.

"Then, why don't you?" Lily scoffed, protectively stepping in front of the elf. "Why would you even want an elf that so very obviously doesn't like his employ?"

The young man stopped and looked carefully at Lily, his eyes drifting from her head to her feet, then back. Lily felt herself blushing under his scrutiny as he continued his sweeping gaze. He stopped at her eyes, and with a look bordering on distaste he said, "You're a Colonial?"

Lily stood a bit straighter and squared her shoulders. "I'm an American," she said proudly, for all on the street to hear. "You know, the place where we've abolished slavery?"

Though traced with venom, his face broke into a calculating grin. He stepped closer to the building, away from the passing foot traffic. Then he held a hand out to her. "Welcome to England. I'm Draco Malfoy."

Tentatively, Lily matched him stepping away from the many passing bodies and rested her hand in his, slightly smiling. "Lily Black." She watched him lift her hand to his lips and softly kiss the back of it. Against all good reason, Lily couldn't help but marvel at how soft his lips felt on her skin in contrast to his wicked words. "You should set the elf free," she said, trying to distract herself from the wonderful feeling of his lips on her skin.

"Between Potter and Granger, all elves will be free soon enough," Draco drawled sarcastically, keeping hold of her hand.

"Harry Potter?" Lily asked, stepping slightly closer to the magnificent wizard, forgetting about the elf.

Draco tilted his head, and raised his eyebrows again. "You know him?"

Reluctantly, Lily pulled her hand from Draco and bent down to gather up her parcels as she nodded. "Yes, I guess you could call him a very dear friend of the family." Then stood straight, tucking her packages under her arm and smiled.

"A friend of the family-" Draco cut himself off, and narrowed his eyes on her. For several moments he looked at Lily, appraising her again. "Lily Black, as in Sirius Black?"

She smiled brightly at him. "Yes, he's my Dad." She pulled herself back as a passerby nudged her shoulder.

The gorgeous wizard smiled at Lily with a look she couldn't define. "I wasn't aware Sirius had any children."

"Well, up until about three months ago, neither did he," Lily laughed lightly at the irony of the statement, thinking Sirius was still having quite a struggle adjusting to parenthood.

Draco reached out and took Lily's packages from under her arms and smiled brilliantly. "That sounds like an interesting tale." Then shoved his elf into the street with his foot. "Go home," he snarled, and then turned back to Lily replacing his smile. "I'm not going to forfeit my elf, he belongs to the family, not just me. Perhaps by way of apology, you'd allow me to buy you a cup of tea? Or perhaps some mulled wine?"

Something in the back of Lily's mind urged her to refuse, but she was so captivated by this man she buried the doubt. "Tea would be fine. Unless you know a place to get a decent Cappuccino on this god forsaken, freezing island?"

Draco smiled and held his elbow for her to take. "This is England, Luv. Stick with tea."

**** **

"Now, hold on a moment." Draco leaned forward on the table and held a hand up. "How many languages do you speak then?" He was growing more and more fond of this American witch the more he learned of her. Though American by birthright, He learned she'd spent a great deal of her childhood in the South American countries. Which seemed to bring a certain level of culture to the young American. This girl had great potential. Leaving alone the fact she was pureblood, though she wouldn't get specific about her mother's lineage, She was witty and bright, and very close to Potter. Draco knew a good opportunity when he saw one.

"Fluently?" Lily smiled bashfully. "Just the three. Although if I ever got lost in France I'd be able to manage."

"Is Spanish your second or third language?" He smiled, trying to get her to continue giving him tidbits of information he would most assuredly use sometime down the road.

"My first, actually." Lily sipped the last of her tea. "Well, that's not entirely true. Mom says my and Jimmy's first language was Spanglish." Then set her emptied cup on the table.

"Spanglish?" Draco queeried as her reached to fill her cup with more tea, deliberately brushing his hand across hers.

Lily looked at the table trying to hide her blush. "Yes. You see the family we lived with were originally from Costa Rica so they all spoke Spanish, but then Mom and Aunt Illia were always speaking English, so the two languages sort of got jumbled together while we were first learning to talk." She looked back up at Draco feeling her heated face calming. "Portuguese came later, when we were old enough to start school."

"Sounds complicated," Draco drawled.

"Well, sure, when you say it. But when you're actually living it, it just seems natural." She met his eyes and he held her gaze for several moments.

"Lily?" the unfamiliar voice broke Lily and Draco's moment.

Lily looked up to see a tall redheaded man rapidly approaching their table. It was one of the Weasley's. "Umm..." Lily tried to put the correct name with the face as he stopped beside the table. "Charlie, right?"

"Bill," the Weasley said, eyeing Draco. The two men glared at each other for sometime before he turned to Lily. "What are you doing here?"

The instant Bill stopped next to their table, Lily could feel the tension. There were obviously a lot of bad feelings between the two. This wasn't some kind of rivalry, was it? Lily speculated inwardly. Men can be so ridiculous sometimes! She looked back and forth between the two, shaking her head. She took Bill's stiff demeanor for his families pride, and Draco's extremely controlled behavior as more of his old family charm. She was really starting to like Draco, impressed by the hand kisses, rising from the table when she excused herself to the restroom, and the polite yet wonderfully entertaining conversation. Yes, I could get used to Draco. "Drinking tea?" Lily ventured to Bill with a smile. "Draco has been so kind as to entertain me while I wait."

"I'm sure he has," Bill stated. "Why are you here alone?"

"Oh." Lily waved a hand dismissively. Thinking he was referring to Diagon Alley and not the teashop. "I'm not. Harry and Jimmy are across the street playing with brooms. Quite boring really. Anyway, I'm not alone, Draco is with me."

"Not any longer. Let's go." Again, the Weasley made a statement and began to pull out Lily's chair.

"The lady said she is with me." Draco stood up, scowling.

"The lady doesn't know any better," Bill countered. Ice dripped from his comment, shattering the warm comfortable atmosphere Lily had been sharing with Draco.

Sensing the tension rising further and not wanting a fight to break, Lily quickly pulled something from her bag. "No, It's okay," she said to Draco as she stood. "I should really be collecting the boys. Mom will be expecting us shortly." Then held a hand to her newfound friend. "It was really quite nice to meet you, Draco."

Slowly taking his eyes from the Weasel, Malfoy took Lily's hand and felt her press a small parchment into his. He smirked. "As it was you, Lily Black." Then released her grip, folding the parchment into his hand. "I hope to see you again."

"Don't count on it," Bill said as he helped Lily gather her packages. And with one possessive hand on her back, he escorted her from the shop.

Draco watched them exit and slowly sat back down. He didn't look at the parchment; already knowing what message it would hold. A slow wicked grin began to form on his face as he watched the two disappear through the door. His self-satisfied feeling was rapidly growing. Not only had he met a girl that could possibly be pure enough to gather approval from his family, but she was also a Black. And judging from the way she futilely tried to hide her blushes, was still a virgin. All the more reason to pursue her. But he'd have to do it discreetly. He couldn't risk Potter knowing until it was too late. He kicked his feet onto Lily's vacant chair and smiled. The day had turned out much more productively than he could've imagined. Especially after that embarrassing public incident with the infuriating house-elf, that brought this girl to his attention. Lily would be a wonderful asset. He toyed with her parchment between his fingers. He would owl her tomorrow. In the world of young women, a response so soon after the initial meeting would send the girl spinning. Lily Black would make a great confidant. And a great tool. Draco couldn't wait to visit his father at Azkaban.

##### ###

CRASH!

"I'm so sorry!" the high-pitched wail stopped Jen.

Jen didn't even turn around. She stood quietly listening to Tonks falling over herself in apology. As the cook, she didn't want to see which part of the meal she'd be replacing. By now, having lost the bean salad, the yams-twice over, the okra, and several bottles of wine, she was almost regretting the 'No Magic' tradition she and her brother had initiated eight years ago on Thanksgiving. For some reason, at the time she and Thom thought it would be more meaningful and gracious to spend the day without the comforts of magic. Now she thought it just plain stupid, but after eight years she could hardly argue about it.

"I don't know how that chair got pulled out!" Tonks continued to apologize, embarrassed. The young witch mumbled to the floor as she tried to gather all the pieces of glass and scattered food.

Lily had come to stand beside her mother suppressing a grin. "The candied yams, Mom." Lily fought back a definite giggle. "Again."

"Of course," Jen whispered. She shook her head a bit and turned to Tonks. "Think nothing of it. I can whip up another batch in no time." Her forced smile turned genuine at the pathetic sight before her. She knelt down to help the accident-prone metemorphmagus.

"No, no. I'm really sorry!" Picking pieces of the shattered dish up and putting them in the trash bin, Tonks pleaded, "I'm so clumsy! I don't know why you people tolerate me!"

Lily knelt down with them smiling. "You need to relax. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a couple of tragedies! Just wait until Uncle Thom and Rick start fighting!"

"I'm sorry!" Tonks put a piece of shattered dish on the table and accidentally knocked a bowl of marinating apple slices onto the floor. "Oh, no! Those weren't that important were they?"

Putting a hand over her eyes, Jen smiled and shook her head. "No, nothing I can't replace." She then looked at her daughter. "Lily, why don't you take Tonks outside and see if the boys have room for two more?"

"You want me to put her in a game of football?" Lily tried not to sound appalled.

Jen smiled and wiped her hands on a towel. "Rick and Jimmy are the only ones that actually know how to play, therefore I can't imagine either of you would be any kind of a hindrance. Judas Priest, they have Remus out there trying to be athletic."

"He can be very agile, you know!" Tonks almost sounded insulted.

"Just," Jen said and pinched her eyes. "Just go. It'll still be another hour or so before the turkey is ready and that should give me just enough time to get everything laid out."

Lily stood and helped Tonks to her feet. "C'mon. This could be fun."

With a final look at Jen. "I'm really very sorry!"

"I know." Jen smiled at Tonks. "Now go and show those blokes how American football is meant to be played."

Once gone, Jen knelt down to finish gathering the apple slices and the candied-now mashed-yams from the floor. She smiled thinking Tonks was more clumsy than Jimmy and Lily were combined at the age of ten. But Tonks' heart was true. She was only trying to help. This Thanksgiving was shaping up to be one of the most enjoyable she'd had since she was a child.

Normally the others would be in the living area, watching one of the thousand football games on the television. But as they were in London, they wouldn't get any of the games. Even if Sirius had a television, there was no football to be had. Europeans didn't take to American football. They preferred soccer and rugby. For that matter, it was odd they were paying attention to Muggle sports at all. But Jimmy and Rick had a love for the games. They both loved Quidditch, but as Rick couldn't fly a broom, Jimmy developed an affinity for the Muggle games. When the reality settled that they wouldn't be able to watch any of their games, the two sports enthusiasts opted to make one of their own. Insisting Sirius, Remus, Harry and Thom join them. Jen didn't see any kind of a real game resulting with only six players, but found herself very partial to the idea of the male bonding that surely would come from a game of beating each other stupid.

When she'd finished clearing the mess from the floor, she busied herself replacing the yams and apples. The yams would turn out just fine with plenty of time to cook. However she'd been marinating the apples for the pie, which now would not be as tasty. She sighed. One small casualty for the greater good.

As she began to peel and core the last of the apples she found her mind drifting to Sirius. A smile played across her face. He was relentless with her. He still knew her so well and wouldn't let her get away with anything. He'd known how she'd been avoiding him and he called her on it. Just as he always had. Never let up; never give in. It was his clarion call. Could she have really been so thick as to think he wouldn't see through it?

Again, she smiled. He still loved her. So much so, he'd trapped her in the attic. So much he wouldn't release her until she told him the truth he already knew. A part of her was still angry at his presumption, but the greater part of her was thankful. From the moment she unfolded the Daily Prophet in her flat months ago she wanted to throw herself at him, begging his forgiveness. She'd betrayed him thinking he was guilty, even for a moment. He'd made it so easy. "I love you." He said, smiling at her guilt. Why had it been so hard for her to say it back?

She opened the oven to baste the turkey. The stuffing was browning quite nicely, as was the turkey's skin. She shoved the thermometer into the bird and saw just under an hour before it would be fully cooked. She pulled the tool and busied herself stirring the glaze that would coat the yams. She'd already done this twice. Tonks. She couldn't help but love her. She wondered if Remus had any idea of how Tonks felt for him. She actually wondered if Tonks knew. Jen had been paying close attention to Remus when she'd see him on their visits, avoiding her own feelings by concentrating on how lonely her friend seemed. A part of her felt she needed to repay Remus for helping her find her way back to Sirius. She was glad she thought to invite Tonks. Remus and Tonks seemed to have developed a fragile companionship, and Jen thought it was about time Remus stopped feeling so lonely.

'Okay' she thought. The potatoes were cooking, all four kinds of them. The beans and asparagus were fine; broccoli and cauliflower were ready to be steamed. The sauces, breads and wines were set. The flour was waiting for the turkey to make fine gravy. The broken dishes were cleared from the floor, and the kitchen was as it should be.

Jen congratulated herself with a satisfied smile. She'd done it. The meal was all but ready and everyone was happy. 'Thank you Merlin' she silently said to herself. But as always, she said it too soon.

"Mom!" Jimmy's voice sailed into the kitchen. "Mom! We need your help!"

Jen ran from the kitchen and to the hallway where she saw Lily and Jimmy pushing Remus onto the stairs clutching his face with a very bloodied towel.

"I'm sorry!" Tonks was saying from behind him. "I really am! I thought you were going the other way!"

"Its okay," Remus muttered through the towel and tilted his head back.

Jen knelt on the stair beside him, and pushed his head forward taking the towel from his face. His nose was streaming blood and his eyes were beginning to yellow. She couldn't help but laugh. "You're going to look like a raccoon." She turned to Jimmy and asked, "Would you fetch my bag?"

Her son nodded and darted up the stairs.

Remus tilted his head back again, and Jen pulled it forward. "Why do you keep doing that?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "To stop the bleeding."

"Can I get anything? Is there anything I can do?" Tonks was falling over Remus in guilt.

"That's how you drown in your own blood, Remus." Jen pulled his head forward, pressing the towel back to his face. Then looked at Tonks. "Settle down, Luv. It's part of the game. You're supposed to try to beat the hell out of the other team!"

Lily patted her mother's shoulder. "She was on his team."

She looked at Lily with a big grin, then to Tonks.

"I didn't understand!" Tonks wailed. "Rick just started shouting numbers then they all came running at me!"

"It was really quite funny," Sirius said as he walked in with the others. He knelt in front of Remus and laid a hand on Jens knee.

"It took us few minutes to figure out what had happened." Rick smiled, placing a sympathetic hand the injured man's shoulder. "One minute we were all in a scrum, the next Remus was flat on his back."

"Something smells wonderful," Harry said, distracted from the conversation.

"I wouldn't know," Remus said dryly.

Jimmy hopped down the steps and opened his mother's bag. "Here, Ma."

"I've never seen anybody go down so fast." Thom grinned down at Remus. "She must have hit you but good!"

Remus scowled over his towel. "She broke my nose, idiot."

Jen busied herself in the bag, smiling. "It's okay." Then pulled out gauze and a salve. "It's not broken," she assured Remus as she pulled her wand.

"Mom!" Lily shouted. "No magic!"

"I think we can make an exception here." She pressed gauze to his nose and lightly smoothed the salve beneath his eyes. "I'm not going to have him bleeding all over my feast. Anyway, I was about to call you in to get ready for dinner. If I'd called a few minutes earlier this wouldn't have happened."

Lily harrumphed as Jen cast a healing spell on Remus's face. "That should take a few minutes, but it'll be good as new."

"I'm sorry!" came the guilty wail again.

Tenderly, Remus touched his nose and looked at Tonks, gently grasping her hand. "Don't worry about it. Sirius and James used to have me in the hospital wing at school several times a month. This is nothing."

Jen stood and brushed her knees down. "All right, crisis over. Now everyone needs to get cleaned up." She shooed everyone to his or her rooms and turned to the kitchen for a final inventory.

As she stood at the sink washing her hands and the spattered blood drops from her medical instruments, a second pair of muscled and muddied hands crept into the sink on either side of her.

Sirius had trapped from behind. He kissed her temple. "You know how hard it is for me not to throw you on this table right now and fuck you till your eyes bleed?" he whispered in her ear.

"Eloquent as always." Her body, against the will of her mind, relaxed back into him.

He kissed her jaw, then her neck. "I've been wanting to do this all day." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her further back into his chest, trailing kisses down her neck to her shoulder oblivious to the wet marks and dribbling water down her shirtfront. She leaned onto him for a moment, and then suddenly pushed him back.

"Stop that." She tried to turn and push him away. "We don't have time for this. You need to get washed, and I need to change."

Sirius held his ground firmly. "Do you remember the first time I made love to you?" he asked softly, breathing across her neck.

Jen smiled. "The dark forest." She couldn't help but be taken by his spell. She wanted to back away from the counter, but the glorious feeling of Sirius pressing against her was stronger. "You abducted me from my dorm," she breathed softly, trying to pull her neck away, but found her desire to be close to him was stronger than her desire to be ready for dinner. "Lily was none too happy," she said vacantly as his mouth trailed down the other side of her neck.

"Ah," Sirius replied through caresses. "Is that what you remember?"

Leaning back into his attentions, she tried to keep coherent thought. "You remember differently?"

"The first time we were together?" Sirius continued to hold and stroke Jen's body in a way he was sure she'd never feel with anyone but he. "No. I remember the first time we were together." He pulled her closer. "But that wasn't my question." Then stopped nibbling her neck, though he held her close to his body. "I asked if you remembered when I first made love to you. The first time I knew I loved you."

His cheek brushed against hers, tearing away at her self control. Jen closed her eyes, smiling. "The Hospital wing." She dropped her head back against his shoulder. "You turned me green and then I fell off my broom."

"James' broom," he corrected brushing his whiskers across her cheek. "You stole James' broom." Then sighed, tightening his hold on her. "When I saw you fall of that broom I felt my life change." Wrapping his arms more firmly around her waist. "I wasn't worried about getting into trouble, or even scared that you'd be hurt."

Jen slightly turned her head, rubbing their cheeks closer together. "Really," she said flatly.

"Mmm," Sirius nodded. "I was scared of what I would do if you were gone. I was sure you were going to die when you slipped from that broom. How would I go on?" He tightened his hold on her and kissed the nape of her neck. "When I was racing across that pitch I knew I had to catch you, because without you I'd be hollow."

Jen closed her eyes against the heat behind her eyes she felt forming and twisted around in his arms. "I love you," she said as her arms circled his neck, hugging him. "Now that I have you back, I don't' know that I'll ever be able to let you go."

"There will never be a need," he said into her hair, then started teasing her neck with a bit more vigor.

Again, Jen was taken in by his attention, but then remembered why she was in the kitchen in the first place. "Stop." She stepped back from him, her face slightly flushed. "You need to get out of her so I can finish this meal." She firmly pushed him towards the door. "Go get washed up."

He caught her hand in his. "Help me?" He raised an eyebrow.

Jen groaned softly. "There's nothing I'd like more, but there are several others who would be quite put out if we held up their meal. Now," she pushed him into the hall. "GO!"

############ ####

Finally, the nine had all washed and dressed for the meal proper, taking their seats at the large kitchen table. It was law that formal dress was required at the meal of Thanksgiving, and all had come through brilliantly. Neither Jen nor Lily cared a great deal for the Wizarding robes and opted to wear one of the many Muggle gowns Thom and Rick had bought for them over the years. They even managed to talk Tonks into wearing a gown, though it took a great deal of persuasion. Jen and her daughter spent a great deal of time perfecting on their hair and make-up, feeling ready to assault Tonks when the metamorphmagus simply shifted her hair and face to look quite elegant.

When the three women entered the kitchen, they saw Thom, Sirius and Harry were all in their formal dress robes. Jen pinched the back of Lily's arm when she started to giggle, knowing her daughter found extreme amusement that her Father and his Godson were both wearing robes several years out of style. Similar to his sister, Jimmy did not care for robes and took most of his fashion tips from Rick. He and Rick were wearing silk shirts of maroon and green, respectively, with black dress trousers. Briefly, Jen was surprised to see Remus in Muggle garb, but then thought he more than likely couldn't afford dress robes and given Jen and Thom's insistence on formal dress accepted Rick's offer of loaned Muggle formals.

From the instant silence and gaping faces when the girls entered the room Jen figured they had succeeded in their quest to look stunning. In fact, Jimmy elbowed Harry saying, "Close your mouth. That's my sister."

Everyone was chatting and eating, enjoying the warmth of what could only be defined as family. Jen caught Sirius looking a bit misty from time to time, but said nothing. She wasn't sure how hard this was for him, so opted not to bring it up in the middle of this crowd. However, Jen imagined that he must have been thinking something regarding suddenly being the head of a very large and abnormal family.

Remus looked magnificent as a Muggle and hadn't shown any signs of anxiety, taking up conversations with Rick and Thom as though he'd know them as long as he'd known Jen. Then again, he hadn't just met his two grown children, been reunited with his love and inherited two gay brothers. No, Remus's mind and heart seemed fine, though a bit lonely. Jen noticed he and Sirius exchange a few looks occasionally. The looks she recognized as the ones they used to give each other in school. The looks that inevitably resulted in Lily, herself or a Slytherin being humiliated. She eyed them both from time to time, making sure neither so much as looked at their wands.

Harry and the Jimmy were engrossed in a conversation about the "Chudley Canons", and seemed to have completely forgotten there was anyone else at the table. Although the Canon's were Ron's team, Harry favored them as well. But with the little Jimmy had learned of the British teams, he didn't agree with Harry. The boys were lost in their debate.

"These Yams are wonderful!" Tonks remarked. "I wish I could cook so well."

Jen smiled. "I can usually get them right by the third pass."

Lily giggled into her goblet at her mother's off-handed remark.

Tonks looked up at Jen. "I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"It was a joke, Tonks," Jen interrupted the young witch and raised her hand to stop the onslaught of apology. "I've had to deal with broken dishes long before I met you."

"So that's why you sent her out to break Remus's nose." Thom pointed his fork in the werewolf's direction. "I was wondering why you sent them out."

Tonks flopped back in her chair, looking utterly broken. "I really didn't mean it."

"If you're going to be spending any time with this brood," Rick said, waving his hand around the table before continuing, "You're going to have to develop a thicker skin."

"Tell me something about my mother," Harry said to Jen suddenly and seemingly completely out of nowhere, until Jen noticed Jimmy shaking his head firmly looking at his plate. The boys had obviously reached an impasse in their debate and Harry wanted to change the subject.

She looked at him and blinked. "You mean something these average Joes don't know?" she asked, indicating Remus and Sirius.

Harry nodded, and stuffed another forkful into his mouth, not looking anywhere near Jimmy.

"Hmm." Jen sat back and thought about her old friend. It had really been quite a long time since she'd really thought about Lily in a specific sense. It was usually vague recollections or musings. When she noticed all eyes were on her she finally said, "She wanted to be a Pilot."

"No she didn't," Sirius countered with a half grin.

"Yes." Jen nodded. "She did. Before she got her Hogwart's letter. And not those commercial planes. She wanted to fly Military Jets."

"I didn't know that," Remus said.

"That was the point, Moony." Jen smiled. "She also wanted to change her hair. She thought James would find her more attractive as a brunette."

"Really?" Sirius leaned forward, pushing his emptied plate aside. "James was never partial to brunettes."

"I suppose you were the one with a predilection to brunettes?" Thom grinned at Sirius.

Sirius smiled. "Just one." And he looked at Jen, who blushed.

"Ah..." Jen fanned a hand at Sirius with flourish. "Go on-"

"I'm sorry." Rick held a hand up and looked at Remus. "Did she just call you Moony?"

"An old nickname," Remus explained, smiling. "From my school days. We all had them; Sirius was Padfoot, James was Prongs and Peter was Wormtail. We were called the Marauders."

"Colorful names, Remus. In America, if we formed a gang, we'd have jackets made. But then again our nicknames went along the lines of 'Stinky' or 'Scooter'." Thom smiled with a little huff.

"James and I used to have matching jackets," Sirius recalled, leaning back in his chair and rubbed his stomach. "But we got good and tossed one night and lost them." He looked at Harry, who had just finished the last of the wine in his goblet. "After that night, your Father and I decided to always remember to bring Remus along."

"To keep you sober?" Harry asked, grinning.

"To be their coat rack," Remus said wryly. "And their wallet, and their driver, and their consciousness." He noticed Jen had a troubled and distracted look on her face. "What is it?"

Jen shook her head and smiled. "Nothing, I just forgot all about those coats." Remus couldn't help but notice her distant look, but it was quickly replaced with a distant happiness as she piled Sirius's plate on top of hers.

"Is everyone finished eating?" Thom rose and began to clear some of the emptied dishes. "Shall we prepare for Thanksgiving?"

"I think so," Jen said looking around the table, noticing most had finished and were pushing food around their plates.

"I thought that's what we were doing," Tonks said as she handed her plate to Thom's proffered hand.

"This was just the meal." Lily stood and began to help Thom. "We haven't given Thanks yet."

Taking a cue from Jen, Thom and Lily, the others all began to help clearing the feast. They busied themselves for the next several minutes either clearing the table, scraping the dishes to be washed or storing the leftover food. Everyone had a chance to help with something and the warmth of family they were all feeling grew stronger the more they bumped and pushed each other around the crowded kitchen, laughing and talking about nothing of consequence.

"So what do we give Thanks for?" Harry asked curiously, as he quickly wiped the table with a dishtowel.

"It varies." Jen turned from the counter with fresh coffee and tea, while Jimmy offered everyone an empty cup, as they all settled back into their chairs around the table. The American witch was the last to take her seat beside Sirius when she noticed he was giving Remus another of his looks. Remus was calmly looking back, with an almost imperceptive nod. Sirius definitely looked anxious. She was about to question them when Thom spoke up.

"Shall we go 'round the table, or tag it off?"

"Tag it off," Jimmy said with a smile. "It's more fun that way."

"What are you on about?" Harry asked a bit warily.

"Well." Jen poured herself coffee then looked at Sirius, holding the pot over his cup, as he nodded. "We each take some time to tell each other what we're most thankful for over the last year. Then you tag the person you want to hear from." As she passed the Pot down the table, she watched as Sirius heaped spoonful after spoonful of sugar into his cup. "You know it could save a lot of time if I just poured the coffee into the sugar dish."

"I just want it as sweet as you." He smiled at his cup, stirring it.

"Oh, that's so sweet." Lily looked at her father adoringly.

Jen just shook her head. "Would you like to begin, Lily?"

"Okay," Lily agreed and took a deep breath then looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm most thankful for meeting my father." She looked at him and smiled, Sirius returned it in kind. "I'm thankful for the owl that brought my Mom the paper. I'm thankful for Harry and Remus who fought so hard for him to be cleared. I'm thankful that this year I'm spending today with both my parents." She toyed with her cup a few moments. "I'm not thankful that Mom wouldn't let us transfer to Hogwart's. I think I'd have made a splendid Gryffindor."

Jimmy scoffed. "They'd have put you in Slytherin in a New York minute."

"Your one to talk, Hufflepuff." She glared at him.

"Giving thanks, here," Rick warned lightly.

Lily smiled at her uncle and nodded her head. "Well that's about it. There's also the incident at school last spring, but I don't have to go into that here at the table. I can't think of anything I'm more thankful for than to be sitting next to you." She looked at Sirius.

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Thank-you," Sirius said softly to his daughter.

"It's not your turn yet!" Thom interjected. "Or is it? Who do you tag, Lil?"

"I tag Rick."

"Okay." Rick smiled. "I keep forgetting we do this, so I never really prepare anything."

"At least you had warning!" Remus accused. "I had no idea we were to be making speeches!"

"Not speeches, Remus," Thom said. "Just a thanksgiving, and it doesn't have to be lengthy." He then looked to Rick and shook his head. "And he's lying. Rick thinks about this for days."

"And with that," Rick reclaimed the floor. "I'm thankful for Thom. I'm thankful he helped me get my play produced this year and has stood beside me through everything to make it happen. As well as standing beside me every year for nearly fifteen years. A part of me is even a bit thankful he's a witch."

"Wizard!" Harry, Jimmy and Thom corrected.

Rick smiled. "I'm also thankful for Jen and her unwavering loyalty." He looked at his psuedo-sister. "For all the times she'd pull me up by the bootstraps and kick me in the ass telling me just to get it done." He paused, sharing a look with Jen that was so emotional all the others at the table briefly felt uncomfortable. Before the feeling became palpable, Rick continued, "I'm thankful that I have you all. I'm thankful that I found the tolerance in this brood that my own kin lacked." He looked over the table at each of them. Then looked across the table. "Tonks."

"Oh!" The young witch sat straight in her chair. "Me? Well, uh-" She frantically thought trying to come up with something touching. "I-I don't know. Um...I'm glad to still be alive. I mean I'm thankful for it. And thankful the war with You-Know-Who is over." She looked at Remus for a moment, then to Harry. "And that none of you died. Oh, I don't know!" she sounded desperate. "I'm no good at this sort of thing!"

"That's fine, Tonks. You don't have to go on and on!" Jen took pity on her. "We only demand one thanksgiving from everyone. And you've done so, so tag whomever you'd like."

Tonks looked outwardly relieved. "Okay then. Remus."

"Well, I'd have to say I'm thankful for Sirius. I'm thankful for his understanding when everyone turned their backs on him. I'm thankful he's so forgiving. I'm not sure I could have been." He lifted his mug and blew thoughtfully into it. "I'm thankful for the warm meals and soft bed he's provided for me. For his friendship and compassion. For everyday I wake up and know I will always have someone at my back." He looked at his friend and nodded his head. Then lifted a brow and said, "Harry."

Although surprised, because he was sure Remus would tag Sirius, Harry smiled and sat back. "I'm thankful that Sirius and Jen were never properly educated about birth control." Even though all eyes were already trained on him, they all became a bit wider and several mouths dropped. Rick even sputtered his coffee back into its mug as he laughed. Harry tried to look innocent. "If they had been," he explained, "Jen might not have gotten pregnant and then we all wouldn't be sitting here right now. I wouldn't be able to talk with Jen about my mother. I wouldn't have Jimmy and Lily to bully around. And Sirius wouldn't have that satisfied look on his face." Harry smiled at his Godfather. "I'm thankful you don't look so sad anymore."

"For the record," Sirius spoke softly, raising an eyebrow at his Godson. "We were properly educated. But sometimes nature is stronger than Magic, or even science."

Harry shrugged and waved away the excuse. "It's Jimmy's turn."

"Mine is simple." Jimmy stretched his arms over his head and then dropped them on the table. "I'm thankful for my father." He picked up the pot, and refilled his coffee. "I can think of no better way to say it. I'm thankful he's here, and I get the time to spend with him. Uncle Thom."

"Let's see." Putting a finger and thumb to his chin, Thomas made like he as thinking hard. "I'm thankful for Rick. And Jennifer, Lily, and Jimmy. I'm thankful we made this trip and met you foreigners. I'm thankful Rick's play is being produced so he will stop sponging off me."

"Sponging?" Rick looked indignant. "I earn my keep!"

Thomas smiled at him and folded their hands together. "I'm thankful I'm not alone. Your turn, Jenny."

"Just to clarify," Jen started, "We're the foreigners." She turned to Sirius. "I'm thankful for you. Thankful you haven't lost any of that stubbornness, and that your children inherited it. Had they not, I'd still be pacing around my flat wondering what to do." She stopped and looked at him thoughtfully. He looked back at her with all the love she was feeling. She felt something pass between them. Something deep and strong. "I love you," she said simply. "I'm thankful I have another chance with you." She took his left hand in her right and kissed the back of it. "I guess that just leaves you."

Still holding her hand, he reached over and gently stroked her cheek with the other. "I love you, too." He continued to look at her thinking of how he was going to proceed. There was a knot in his stomach that made it hard to concentrate, not to mention the look in her eyes. Was he going to be able to do this?

A throat being cleared brought him out of her eyes.

"No stalling Sirius," Remus urged him on, knowing what was about to happen.

"Alright then." Sirius leaned back in his chair. "I'm thankful for today. And for yesterday." He did not look away from Jen. "I'm thankful for the possibility of tomorrow, and knowing you'll be in it." He looked at the table and took a deep breath. "But I'm mostly thankful for time." He leaned back and pulled something from his pocket. "For so long time meant nothing. I didn't matter how much passed or how slowly. But now I have it. I have time back and I don't want to waste another moment of it." He opened a small blue box and set it in front of Jen and looked deeply at her. "Marry me."

Everyone seemed to have suddenly been cursed with Petrificus Totalus, except Remus who benevolently watched Jen gape at Sirius. She hadn't even looked at the box. Remus shifted his eyes around the table to see each person's reaction; they were all dumbfounded. He smiled slightly thinking Sirius had been planning this since September, but had continually put it off because of Jen's odd behavior. The man had been carrying that box around in his pocket daily, waiting for the perfect moment. Remus remembered Sirius carrying the same ring around twenty years ago looking for the perfect moment, but could never seem to be able to find it with the busy lives he and Jen had been living all those years ago. Remus knew Sirius would have no excuses this time, like Jen's trips, or his training, or Lily and James having a baby. But Remus also knew Sirius was concerned about how Harry, Lily and Jimmy would react. Though After hearing their thanksgivings, Remus figured Sirius decided the time was right.

Jen finally pulled her eyes from Sirius and looked at the box. A trembling hand reached for it. It throned a simple golden band with five stones of diamonds and sapphires alternating each other. Sirius remembered how she loved the blue jewels. Bewildered, she looked at him. "Are you mad?"

"Probably." He smiled and slid off his chair and onto a knee beside her. "But that doesn't take anything from how much I love you. And that I want you to be my wife." He took her hands in his and tried to shut out the seven sets of eyes that were fixed on them. "I'd have married you a long time ago except all these obstacles and bad circumstances kept getting thrown in my way."

She was staring blankly at him, her mind reeling. Slowly, she stood and stepped past him. Was this happening? Did Sirius just ask her to marry him? She brought a hand to her forehead as though it held the answer. With her back to the table she could hear Sirius stand up. She wanted this. She'd always wanted this. However, this couldn't be happening, not so easily. After all the years of wishing for it, dreaming about it, could it suddenly happen so quickly? Slowly turning, she looked at him. He was standing a few feet from her with an odd look. Was that fear on his face? Did he actually think she would say no?

Closing the space between them she touched his chest, then his cheek, then his arm. She looked into his eyes and put a hand behind his neck, pulling him close. Realizing her voice had completely left her she kissed him. Softly, slowly, deeply.

Taking the response as an affirmative, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, deepening the kiss.

"Is that a yes?" Tonks whispered to Remus, trying not to intrude on the moment.

Remus smiled and nodded. "That's a yes."

With Remus's small confirmation, Harry, Lily and Jimmy jumped from their seats.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Oh my god!"

"I don't believe it!"

Rick leaned forward and looked at Remus with an almost angry face. "Isn't this a bit quick?" he asked softly.

Remus looked at him with a sad smile. "He bought that ring for her twenty-one years ago." Then back to Sirius and Jen with the same withered smile.

The two finally broke from their kiss and held each other-if it was possible-closer. Jen buried her face into Sirius's neck, trying to get closer to him.

Sirius held the back of her head tightly to him kissing her hair, ignoring the teens for a few moments more. Reluctant for the moment to end, they finally pulled apart at the urging of the three over zealous teenagers. They looked at each other briefly, then before answering any of the questions being thrown at them, Sirius reached down and took the ring from the box. He smiled at Jen as he gently slid it home onto her finger.

Slowly, Remus looked back to Rick and saw something akin to jealousy on the man's face. "He's been carrying that ring around since you Yanks showed up in August. He wanted to marry her a very long time ago, but well..." he trailed of smiling at Sirius and Jen being accosted by Harry, Jimmy and Lily.

"He just couldn't find time," Rick finished, trying to mask something.

"Rick, please," Thom said, and then looked sternly at his mate.

Remus looked back to Rick slightly confused. "No," He replied. "He couldn't find time." Then turned his gaze to Thom who was looking at him with a look of somewhat apology, slightly shaking his head. Remus knew there was much more going on than he knew, and somehow thought Sirius proposing in front of Rick and Thomas was a mistake. But Rick and Thom had been together for more than a decade, hadn't they? "I'm sorry, is there something I should know?"

"No, not at all." Thom answered quickly, then sighed and laid a hand over Rick's arm. "It's just," he looked up at Jen and Sirius who were still ignoring the teenagers; touching one another's face, looking obscenely blissful. "Sirius has never been real. To any of us. Give those of us that have been helping Jen a little patience. This is new."

"Excuse me." Rick abruptly stood from the table and left the room.

Remus watched the man retreat curiously, and then turned to Thomas and quietly asked, "What is going on?"

"This isn't the time," Thomas replied as he rose. "Nor the place." Then stepped around the table and held a hand out for Sirius. "Take care of these Kids," he instructed, nodding at the teens. "And if you hurt my sister, I'll be forced to kill you." He cocked his grin making sure Sirius understood that although his comment was light, it was nothing but the truth.

Sirius cuffed Thom's shoulder and nodded, acknowledging his meaning. "They're my family Thomas."

Thomas nodded in reply. "Just don't forget they're mine as well." Then turned and gathered his sister into a great embrace.

As though someone had thrown a bucket of water over him, Remus suddenly understood. Thomas and Rick had been helping Jen to raise the twins. And although theoretically he knew it, until Sirius proposed to Jen, He really didn't grasp how important the twins were to Rick and Thomas. Surely they would be feeling a sense of loss with Sirius stepping up as father, and Remus realized the next few months were not going to be as smooth as he'd anticipated.

He sighed and stepped around the table, to offer his congratulations.