CHRISTMAS HAD GONE MUCH better than Leo had anticipated. There was no discussion of Elladora's trial, but there was a bit of discussion about Leo's parents Christmas morning when Mary was shredding open her gifts including the one's from her grandparents. But it didn't last long because as soon as Mary would open one gift, as soon as she saw what it was, unless it was something truly exciting, she moved on to the next one. So Leo was able to go home to London with very little to complain about. Besides the news of Atticus' new job that he had accepted for the following school year at Triwizard School in France as their new Potions Master and Alyona's plans to find work at St. Mungo's. Relocating their family of three to Europe, meaning Leo wouldn't be able to avoid seeing Atticus or even his parents (who would more than likely visit on a monthly basis) as much anymore. Atticus wouldn't ever choose between Leo and their parents, despite their ideology's he considered them family and Leo was the one to disappoint him by easily writing them off.

          But still, Leo was relieved to finally got back home. At least until he stopped inside his apartment. Only to find a mountain of dishes scrubbing themselves, clothes folding themselves, and a pile of clothes still waiting to be washed. And on the couch was Sirius, still sound asleep. Leo should have known that the apartment either would have been a disaster or would have been in the process of being repaired.

"Have a good time, Sirius?" Leo asked, dropping his bag on his coffee table hard enough to make a loud enough thud to jolt Sirius awake. Sirius was slouched against the back of the couch with her arms folded across his chest and went he jolted awake the only change in his position  was his eyes shot open. "Thank you for at least cleaning up after yourself."

"You've trained me well." Sirius replied hoarsly.

"Not true, if I had, there wouldn't be a pile of dishes as tall as mount everast waiting to be cleaned." Leo replied, picking up his bag again before making his way down the narrow hall and his his room where he could begin to unpack.

"They'll be done in no time." Sirius called after him, "How was Christmas with Atticus?"

"Better than I expected," Leo replied as Sirius made his way down the hall. "he'll be moving over here this summer though. Meaning my parents will be around even more."

"Lovely," Sirius replied, "I'm a bit surprised though. Marianne always hated being in London."

"Well, once her prized son lives here, I'm sure she'll be much more pleased with it." Leo huffed as he began to pull his clothes out of his bag to begin putting them away.

"I'm surprised they didn't try to go see the first task of the triwizard tournament while they were here." Sirius replied nonchalantly, appearing in the doorway of Leo's room but kept himself on the other side of the threshold like they had agreed upon when he started staying there. "Rita Skeeter is writing all about Harry's first heartbreak."

Leo sighed heavily, "Anything about Harry Potter is a easy sale for the Prophet," Leo told him. "Specially since they are trying to hide what's going on with you-know-who."

"I reckon he's got something to do with Harry being picked. He wasn't even able enter his name on his own." Sirius rambled, "Did the ministry really have no say on whether of not Harry could compete?"

"Not my department," Leo said, turning towards him with an arm full of clothes to add to the pile Sirius had of clothes waiting to be cleaned. "but whatever names came out don't have much of a choice. Besides, I thought you would have been happy with it. He did well in the first task, didn't he?"

"That's not the point," Sirius huffed in reply as he stepped aside so Leo could bring his things to the pile. "people die in the triwizard tournament."

"And people also win a lot of money, and right now, Harry's on track to winning it." Leo replied as he dropped his clothes into the pile.

"It won't be of much use if Harry's just in it because Voldemort has something planned for it. Why else would someone risk getting caught entering someone not even old enough to be in the tournament?"

"Lydia's going to be there, if you want, I can write to her and see if she can look into it. Keep her eyes on Harry for you." Leo suggested as he turned towards his cousin just in time to see him wave a hand towards him dismissively.

"I've already asked her to." he stated.

Leo rose an eyebrow, "You wrote Lydia?"

"I thought since I saved her life she'd owe me."

"Hm," Leo hummed a bit in replied before he walked past Sirius and back to his room to finish emptying his bag. "well, she's definitely the one you'd want looking after Harry. She can be a real pain in the ass if she sets her mind to something. Harry will be wishing she'd leave him alone after a week."

"Maybe she could keep Skeeter at bay while she's at it..." Sirius muttered bringing the conversation full circle.

"Nobody believes a word she writes," Leo replied, "she's grasping at straws to get those stories about Harry out. Besides, do you really think Harry would tell you if she was right about his first heartbreak."

Sirius looked a bit offended, "I like to think so," he replied simply, "I think he'd be more honest than you are." he replied, arching a brow as Leo shoved his bag back in his closet.

Leo rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, have you even tried speaking to Mona since the Burrow?" Sirius questioned.

Leo shook his head, "She wasn't exactly willing to say much to me there, I figured not telling her I was hiding a accused mass murderer was a good reason to not want much else to do with me."

"Leo I spent twelve years in Azkaban and still know that when a woman suddenly gives you the cold shoulder, she's just waiting for you to make the first move." Sirius said as the two of them made their way down to the living room. "But seeing as you will barely even say you fancy her..."

"I've been a bit preoccupied, Sirius." Leo huffed as he took a seat in the armchair and Sirius took a seat back on the couch where he had been sleeping. "With Elladora, losing my job temporarily, oh and, ya'know, everything at Riddle Manor."

"But you could go to the Leaky Cauldron practically every day? Seems you found plenty of time for that."

        That evening, once the dishes were finished and the clothes were all tucked away in their proper places, as if to prove a point to Sirius. As if to show him he wasn't avoiding Mona, Leo made his way to the Leaky Cauldron after promising to bring back something for dinner. But as Leo approached the entrance, the pizza parlor just down the street from his own apartment sounded much more appealing.

         The Leaky Cauldron was no busier than it usually was this time of day, and as usual Mona stood behind the bar. Hunched over reading the Daily Prophet, unaware of him entering the Leaky Cauldron at all. Meaning he still had a chance to leave. It wasn't that he didn't want to see her, he did. But he was almost entirely certain that she didn't want to see him. However, seated by the fireplace was the same witch who had commented on his consistency at being there the day he and Mona spent time outside of the Leaky Cauldron. And she watched Leo with curious eyes, so he couldn't turn back now. For all he knew, if he did leave, she'd tell Mona all about it.

"Hey," Leo said with a heavy sigh as he approached the bar, and Mona looked up from the Daily Prophet. And it wasn't the reaction that Leo had been expecting. He had expected an unamused look, possibly a small eye roll. But instead, her lips formed a small smile.

"I was starting to think you'd found another pub to waste your time at." Mona replied.

"I considered a couple." Leo replied, smirked a bit as he sat down on a stool. As he did, his eyes caught on to what she had been reading. Rita Skeeter's newest article about the Yule Ball and Harry's heartbreak about the girl she had written about a handful of times going with someone else instead of Harry. The same article that had gotten under Sirius's skin. "Your brother goes to Hogwarts, doesn't he? Is any of that true?" he questioned motioning to the moving image of the four triwizard champions dancing with their dates.

Mona shook her head, "He's not friends with Potter, but he says' that its probably not true." she said simply. "Have you heard from Lydia? Is she doing alright?"

"Last I heard she was," Leo replied simply, "Dumbledores' got her set up in Hogsmeade for now."

Mona wrinkled her nose, "She probably is miserable. She never really enjoyed it there like the rest of us."

Silence surrounded the two of them, despite the chattering from the other witches and wizards inside the pub. The occasional sound of silverware clinking on dishware, and glasses hitting the tables with a thud.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted when you showed up at the Burrow." Mona said after a moment, her voice no longer was light and charismatic. "I just thought you would have told me about, we'll all of it. The Order, the first time at Riddle manor...your cousin..." she said keeping her voice hushed so not everyone there would hear her.

"Arthur made me swear not to, he didn't think it would be a good idea for you to get involved-" as Leo spoke, Mona rolled her eyes so dramatically it made Leo stop in the middle of his sentence for a second. "-and not talking to you about any of it kind of made it seem like I could ignore it for a bit. It was nice to not have to worry about it around you." Leo added.

Mona sighed heavily, "I still would have at least like to know about it. Even if it meant you just bothered to tell me the bare minimum." she stated simply, "But now I know all about it, so there's no reason you shouldn't tell me anymore."

AUTHORS NOTE;
Look, I know there hasn't been too much mention in Leo's story about the Triwizard Tournament, but our mans has had some other stuff on his plate. But now that things seem to be calming down a wee bit for him, we shall see where that takes him.

Anywayyy, this chapter was a wee-bit of a filler. I wanted to have some Sirius and Leo bonding time, and get back to the roots of Leo and Mona. But this chapter ended up being more than a filler when it comes to Mona and with that being said, I'm now taking shipname ideas for Leo and Mona now that the ship is officially starting to set sail!!

Stay classy!