If Love is a Game...

Chapter Twenty-One

Surprise, Merry Christmas!

"You can't possibly go through with this," Lily said seriously, giving Sirius one of her I-Don't-Think-This-Is-Such-A-Good-Idea looks. However, Sirius was looking determined and nodded his head, fiddling with some things in his trunk. She rolled her eyes. "But Sirius, this is crazy."

"Lil's right, Padfoot; it's barking mad, but I still think you should go through with it," James added, giving his friend a grin. Lily whacked him upside the head and glared at him. He rubbed his head. "Ouch, Lily, that hurt."

"You're supposed to be helping me stopping him from doing this reckless idea he has," Lily told her boyfriend, "not encouraging him to do it!" He just rubbed his head and didn't answer.

"Sirius, you can't be serious; James was just joking when he said that," Lily told him.

"I wasn't joking, I was being downright serious!" James exclaimed indignantly. "I think it's a great idea." This earned him another whack upside the head.

"James, you're supposed to be on my side!" Lily replied shrilly. "You can't let your best mate go through with this!" He rubbed his head and didn't answer. For one thing, he'd learned not to argue with Lily because she always won their fights. For another thing, he learned when to shut up for once.

"I'm sorry, Lily, but I have to do this and there's no one who can stop me," Sirius said flatly, finding a pair of socks and smiled. Lily frowned and crossed her arms.

"Oh, fine, do your silly plan, but don't come groveling to me when something goes wrong," Lily said, frowning at him still. He grinned.

"Don't worry; nothing will go wrong," Sirius sighed. He sat down on his bed and yawned tiredly. It had been a very long night and many Christmas parties. He'd introduced himself only God knows how many times. "'Night, James, Lily."

"Good night, Sirius," James sighed. James and Lily said good night to each other and had a quick kiss before Lily left the room, turning off the light and shutting the door. Soon, they both drifted off to sleep, but not before Sirius heard James snoring.

~*~

It must've been early in the morning when Krystyna woke up, because the sun hadn't even totally risen yet and the sky was still dark for the most part. But for some reason, she felt a strange feeling that she was not alone this morning.

She kept her eyes closed and rolled over in her sleep, extremely tired from last night and just wanting to fade away. But for some strange reason, she felt as if she needed to stay awake. She opened her eyes to receive the shock of her life. She gasped and bolted straight up in her bed, clutching her t-shirt.

"Surprise, Krystyna; hello and merry Christmas!" Sirius exclaimed exuberantly. She just sort of gaped at him for a second, thinking that this was some cruel joke. But that cheerful grin on his face could only belong to the Sirius she knew.

"Sirius, is that really you?" Krystyna whispered in disbelief. His grin broadened and he nodded his head. Tears of joy welled in her eyes. It was him. It was him. It was actually him. "Oh, Sirius, I didn't think I'd get to see you ever again!"

Talk about being overwhelmed with happiness. Krystyna threw her arms around his neck instantly and took in the smell of his robes as she rubbed her face in them. He easily hugged her back, having missed her so much, taking in the same strawberry smell of her black hair. She could smile again, knowing that he hadn't forgotten about her. And what her parents hadn't known was that she had bought him something while she was in Diagon Alley.

When they pulled apart, they just looked into each other's eyes and thought of how great it was to see each other again. Ever so slowly, Sirius kissed her softly on her lips, both of their eyes closed from being caught in the blissful moment. This was much better. This was how it was supposed to feel; not a forced kiss--like last night's problem. They pulled apart and she put her head against his chest, taking in another deep breath and sighing happily. He laid his head on top of hers, smiling to himself.

"Merry Christmas, Sirius," Krystyna said softly, smiling faintly. "And thank you for coming."

"Ah, you're welcome, but seeing you makes me grateful enough," Sirius replied sweetly, grinning at her, as usual. She beamed at him. "Well, down to business as usual, I suppose..."

"Shouldn't you be opening presents at Lily's house soon?" Krystyna asked him. He grinned and chuckled a little. He shook his head.

"We already opened all of our presents," Sirius told her cheerfully. She gaped at him. It wasn't even dawn yet and they had already opened their presents--all of them. She'd been to Lily's house--without her parents' knowledge, of course--before on Christmas and they had lots of presents. Of course, Sirius was an expert in tearing things up.

"Really, wow, I can't believe it," Krystyna said, pulling her bed cover off of her legs to reveal that she was sleeping in shorts and swinging them over so she could be sitting like Sirius. She looked over to him again. "I'm over here, snoring like a log, and you're over there, tearing at presents."

Sirius gave his bark-like laughter and grinned. "Lucky for me, you don't snore," he chuckled. She smiled with relief. "On the other hand, James snores like a monster." She chortled, but then stopped herself short. He looked at her oddly.

"My parents and--"

"Don't worry; I put a Silencing Charm on the room before I woke you up," Sirius reassured her, putting his hand over hers on her bed. "They can't hear a thing." She looked at him nervously and then nodded her head, believing him. He wasn't that reckless, was he? She shrugged it away.

"So... what's this business you were talking about?" Krystyna asked him curiously. He grinned wickedly. She looked at him inquiringly.

"Why I had to get you something," Sirius told her boisterously. He pulled up a long box that had been on the floor where she couldn't see it. Her eyes widened immediately. "Merry Christmas, Krystyna--for the second time."

"Sirius, thank you..." Krystyna said, gaping at it. He laid it down in her lap so that she could open it up. She took the top lid off--which was very long--and pulled the paper back to reveal the gift. Her blue eyes lit up immediately. "Oh, Sirius, thank you... Thank you, so very much!"

Krystyna merely touched it and the racing broom began to hover in the air between them. Sirius could see her eyes sparkle at the sight of it. They sparkled in--almost--the same way they did when she saw him, but a little dimmer, he noticed. On the black handle of it was the spidery writing in red that said: Nimbus 900. Her hand ran along the handle of it and then slowly pushed it back down in the box to set it back on the ground.

Without warning, she lunged at Sirius again to envelope him in another happily welcomed hug, wrapping his arms around her too. She had never had such a wonderful gift. She had gotten a racing broom--and got to see Sirius, too. She only wished she could see her other friends.

"Ah, but that's not all," Sirius whispered in her ear. She pulled away slowly.

"How much money did you spend on me, Sirius?" Krystyna asked him nervously. Sirius grinned at her, knowing that Lily had told him that she would say that. "Honestly, Sirius, I didn't expect you to practically... empty... your... Oh my gosh, Sirius, that's--that's astonishing!"

Sirius proudly held out the only present he picked out himself. It was something that looked like a Muggle musical jewelry box, except it glittered with red and green gems on the outside. He could see them reflecting off of her eyes. He grinned happily, already seeing that she liked it very much.

"But wait, there's more to it than meets the eye," Sirius whispered in her ear, leaning in. She beamed at him cheerfully. Nothing in the world could deflate the happiness filling inside of her. Even if she had to be stuck with her rotten family--except Andrew and Catherine, of course--all day, it wouldn't matter because she would be very happy.

He opened the musical box to reveal what--at first--looked like a normal musical box. There was a mirror inside and it was covered with dark blue velvet with gold lining around the edges. And as she gawked into the mirror, a faint tune began to play. Soon, that was all Krystyna could hear. It was a very familiar tune, also. And then, it hit her. She looked up at him, her eyes glimmering with utmost joy and her smile wide with happiness. He remembered.

"You remembered," Krystyna said in a barely audible voice. He smiled gently at her. "You actually remembered. It's been around ten years and you still remember." He nodded his head slowly.

"Well, I sort of remembered," Sirius sighed softly. "I don't remember the name, but I've had the tune of that song tucked away in the back of my mind since that day. I remembered a few nights ago, how it was one of the first nights we actually talked. It's been in my mind since that day. That was my mainly first impression of you, and when I saw you at school again when I was eleven, that's how I remembered you so well."

Krystyna smiled and laid her head against his shoulder again, closing her eyes slowly. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. "Sirius, please, can you remind me of that day...?" she asked him softly. He smiled and nodded his head, though he knew her eyes were closed. He began to tell the story of how they truly first met...

~*~

As usual, he had to sit through another one of his father's boring business meetings with another one of his boring colleagues. It was bad enough that he had to sit at the table and eat silently, but then he had to go to his bedroom and sleep. There was nothing in between. He never got desserts when there were guests over. He wanted to talk to someone, at the least. Regulus may only have been five and a very easily frightened boy, but he was entertaining. So, he sat in silence, pouting and shooting loathing glares at his father in between his chews.

But, this co-worker of his father was different from all the others. He couldn't quite put a name to the man, but he always knew who he was. He referred the man as the "Man with the Daughter". This man had always brought his daughter along with him during these drawled out meetings.

Evidently, she was just as bored as he was with these business meetings because she had turned to consult with the dregs of her tea, even though she knew nothing about Divination. He knew a bit ("You never know when it might come in handy one of these days, Sirius!" his mother always told him.), but he didn't make himself out to be a fantastic boy in that stuff. He, again, looked up at his father, this time pleadingly, and this time he caught his father's eyes. Though hard and cold those dark green eyes were, he knew he had finally won.

"Sirius, why don't you run along now and practice in the guest room," his father said idly. As quickly as it had come, his pleasure had been snatched away from him. He didn't much like to practice. No, it wasn't the Dark Arts--which he also detested doing--but it was practicing the wretched piano.

He was never good at it--at all--and he rarely practiced ("That's why you're sounding terrible!" his father had told him again and again.). But, he did as he was told and got up from the table slowly, without making any noise. He was about to leave when his father put a firm hand on his shoulder. He tried not to shudder; that usually meant he did something to offend his parents--again.

"Sirius, why don't you be a good host and take Miss Melanie with you?" his father added lazily. He glanced at the girl, whose face had brightened. He wouldn't be alone; he supposed that was a good thing and did not argue--which he wouldn't have done in the first place.

Black's don't argue, he told himself as a daily routine, as he had a large problem with arguing.

He nodded his head obediently and the girl immediately got out of her chair. She glanced nervously at her father and slowed her pace down. She pushed her chair back and wandered over to his side of the table. They both bowed and then walked out of the room, side-by-side. When they walked into the guest room, there was an awkward silence. Neither had heard the other one's voice before.

"Um..." The girl blushed immediately, but tried to keep her composure. He was almost sure that that was what she was taught and told to do. He knew that he was taught to act like that. "Do you happen to know where the closest bathroom is?"

Her cheeks turned a crimson colour that he soon found to like. He liked the colour red, much to his parent's dismay. They liked green; therefore, he should like green--which he did not.

"It's down the hall..." he said quietly, pointing at a door on the other side of the room. She nodded her head and scurried to the door he had pointed to. She opened it up.

But before she scrambled out of the room, she turned back around and said, "Thank you." She walked out of the room quickly, leaving the door wide open. He gaped at it for a second when she suddenly came back and closed the door softly. She'd most likely almost broken a rule: Rule Number 674: Never leave a door wide open.

He snickered at the thought, but then realized that his father would be wondering why he couldn't hear any music being played on the piano. He stalked over to the piano grumpily.

"Stupid thing, going to make me go deaf in the end," he mumbled moodily, sitting down on the small wooden bench and picking out some music. However, he found himself on the blank of what to play. He could only play a few things and he couldn't read complicated music yet.

So, he found himself playing the last thing he had learned--the most complex by far, but rather simple. He could do it by memory so he didn't need the music that stood in front of him. He didn't even know what the name of it was because he had not been paying attention when his mother had told him.

What he didn't know was that the young girl had come back from her trip to the restroom and was now standing behind him, listening to his music. She smiled lightly as she listened from afar, humming the familiar tune herself. When he finally finished, he sighed moodily and was about to pound the keys in his grumpy disposition.

"That was really good," she blurted. He almost fell off of the small bench, but caught himself before he did so. He turned around and saw the girl standing there with her hands in her pockets, looking very shy and still.

"I thought it sounded horrid," he replied in a matter-of-factly tone. "The dratted piano, I hate playing it because I'm no good at the bloody thing." She frowned.

"I liked it," she simply said. "It's a wonderfully, simple tune yet with a slightly complex rhythm, if you know what I mean." He thought about it for a second and then nodded his head slowly.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right," he noted, grinning, proud of himself for once.

"It's 'yes'; not 'yeah'," she repeated almost immediately. And then, she blushed and looked down at her shoes, which seemed to become extremely interesting. He grinned at her response. He knew that it was most likely out of habit. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's alright, even I do that sometimes to Regulus," he told her calmly. There was another awkward pause of silence. She looked up at him, smiling a little.

"Can you please play it again?" she asked coyly. He nodded his head and patted to the small spot on the bench next to him.

"Here--why don't you sit right here so you won't have to stand the entire time?" he suggested politely. She smiled gratefully and sat down next to him on the bench. He grinned at her--he didn't know why, but grinning seemed much cooler--and looked back at the piano. He began to play the song again and she smiled once more, humming the tune softly to herself with her eyes closed.

~*~

"Yes, it was wonderful," Krystyna sighed softly, her eyes still closed, stopping to speak again after humming the tune while Sirius retold the story of how they first talked. He had recalled the story many times at night when he couldn't fall asleep, and the tune would slowly dance into his mind like a lullaby and he would drift to sleep.

"Do you like it?" Sirius asked her keenly. She opened her eyes to look up at him. She smiled like she always did and nodded her head.

"Of course I do, silly; why would I make you recall that memory if I didn't?" Krystyna chortled happily, beaming at him. "Thank you, Sirius." She kissed him again and sighed as she pulled away from him, leaning her head back on him once more.

"I bought you something, too," Krystyna said quietly, her cheeks turning pink, "but I don't think it'll be able to match up to your luxurious gifts, Sirius." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Anything that you get me will be wonderful, and just seeing you on Christmas morning is priceless enough for me," Sirius replied serenely. Her cheeks turned a darker shade of pink and she looked down at her bare feet.

"Well, you know how James has an owl, Peter has a lizard--I don't want to know why--and Remus also has an owl?" Krystyna asked him, turning slightly red. He nodded his head, a grin coming upon his face as he pieced the puzzle together. He knew he was going to like the outcome. "Well, I saw that you didn't have a pet and, well, I thought you'd like one, but a little more... unconventional than the rest of the pets everyone else at Hogwarts has..."

"You bought me a pet?" Sirius asked her, a grin spread across his face broadly. He'd never had a pet before and had always wondered what it would be like to have such a responsibility--as if making sure Peter didn't get lost himself in Hogwarts wasn't a large enough responsibility already. James had that owl of his and Remus also had an owl--as decrepit as it was, it was nice to have one. Peter had a lizard--but according to him, it had once been a cat until his younger cousin grabbed his dad's wand and accidentally did a spell on it, transfiguring it into an irreversible lizard.

"Oh, I should've known you didn't want one..." Krystyna was looking at her feet and was missing the grin on Sirius' face.

"Don't want one? Of course, I've always wanted a pet, and a different one at that!" Sirius exclaimed buoyantly, turning Krystyna around to face him so she could see how excited he was. He looked around the room eagerly. "Where is it?"

"Well, my parents would have had a fit if they saw it trampling around my room so I had to hide it in a spot where they never would look," Krystyna said mischievously.

"I do believe James and I have corrupted you, Krystyna," Sirius teased jokingly. She grinned at him just like he usually did with her and chortled. She grabbed her wand on her nightstand beside her bed and waved it in the air slowly. A rather large hamper that went unnoticed suddenly changed into a large den and the door swung open. What came out of it made Sirius was to kiss Krystyna and laugh at the very same time.

A small and black puppy came out of the den, bounding happily toward them. Unknown to Krystyna, this was exactly what he had been wanting. It was very ironic though. She knew absolutely nothing about him, James, and Peter being animages and, here, she gave him a black puppy--the miniature version of his animagus form.

"Do you like him?" Krystyna asked him nervously. To answer her question, Sirius gave her a kiss on the lips before taking the black puppy up in his hands. It immediately began licking his hands, warming them up from the cold outside.

"Does that answer your question?" Sirius asked her exuberantly, grinning from ear to ear. She was beaming so much back at him. "Ah, he's so sweet--just like you, eh?" She blushed again.

"What are you going to name him?" Krystyna asked curiously, trying to control her blush. Sirius had no doubt in his mind what he was going to call the puppy. It was already set in his mind when he first saw it bounding out.

"From this day forward, his name shall be Padfoot Jr.!" Sirius proclaimed in a deep voice, lifting the puppy in the air, as if to show everyone. He grinned and put "Padfoot Jr." back on the ground to play with the dirty pile of clothes on the ground. Krystyna thought of what he had just said.

"Back on the train before the year started, I heard James call you that and Remus said it was just your nicknames," Krystyna noted slowly. "He said that James changes them every month." Sirius thought about what she just said quickly.

"Oh, yeah, James does that a lot, but I always liked the silly name he gave me because it sounded so lame," Sirius replied smoothly. There was silence, which was interrupted by a playful bark from Padfoot Jr., who was now under the pile of clothes. "So... I thought of our plans of what we're going to do today and I have them all figured out."

"Our plans for today?" Krystyna repeated incredulously, eyeing him suspiciously. He grinned again and nodded his head.

"Yes, our plans for today," Sirius told her firmly, still grinning impishly. She grinned too. Anything to get her away from her parents today would be nice. "I'll tell you as we go and we can take Padfoot Jr.--hehe, I love that name--along with us."

"Okay, but what about my parents?" Krystyna asked him worriedly. "I mean, they'll be wondering where I went and all."

"Just leave a note telling them that you decided that you were going to spend the day by yourself since you're seriously apprehensive about the upcoming N.E.W.T.s," Sirius said smoothly, as if lying was done daily. She thought about it and thought it sounded nice.

"Okay, but won't Lily and James be wondering where you are?" Krystyna asked him again, concerned that they were missing a detail somewhere along the lines. But he shook his head.

"Nah, they won't worry about me; I told them I was going to the restroom..."

"Sirius, I'm trying to be serious over here!" She swatted at him playfully and he grinned. He put his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright, I told them that I would be hanging out with you all day so not to fret about them anymore," Sirius answered easily. "So... um... change out of those clothes and I'll be sitting in here, waiting for you to come back." It was his turn to blush and her turn to grin.

"I'll get changed in the restroom so not to fret about that," Krystyna told him, mocking him slightly. He nodded his head. She stood up and grabbed her things out of her closet; she left her coat and boots in her bedroom along with Sirius. She slipped out of her bedroom and shut the door.

Sirius sighed happily and collapsed on her bed, his face into her pillow. He smelled and found that it, too, smelled of strawberries. Maybe it was her shampoo or conditioner she used, he didn't know, but strawberries had been his favourite smell for a long time.

88

Krystyna came back to her bedroom quietly, dressed out of her pajamas. She slipped her boots on and pulled her coat off of its hanger from inside her armoire. She threw it on the bed beside Sirius and found a scrap of parchment. She grabbed some ink and a quill. She scribbled the note on the piece of parchment and opened her door again. She put it on her door and locked it from the inside of her room. She picked her coat up and slipped it on.

"Ready?" Sirius inquired. She pulled her hair out from the back of her coat and took a deep breath after running all over the place.

"Yeah, finally," Krystyna replied breathlessly. He grinned happily and stood up off of the bed. He stretched and walked over to her. "So... where are we going?"

Sirius handed Krystyna her wand and pulled out his wand. He then grabbed her hand and looked up at her. "Hogsmeade," he told her calmly. She raised her eyebrows up at him.

"Is that possible?" Krystyna asked him doubtfully. He shrugged his shoulders.

"It is now," Sirius said smoothly. She looked a little anxious after that. He looked over his shoulder slowly. "Now, where is that pup...? Padfoot, where are ya?" There was a muffled, soft bark from under the bed. Sirius bent down and pulled "Padfoot Jr." out from underneath the bed. He stood back up slowly.

"Can we Apparate with a dog?" Krystyna asked skeptically. He thought about it for a second and then shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno, let's see," Sirius said quickly. She looked even more anxious. "Ready?"

"I suppose..." Krystyna sighed quietly. He smiled and then got ready. She closed her eyes. Without anymore talk, they Apparated to Hogsmeade.