╔══《✧》══╗

╚══《✧》══╝

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day had been an extraordinary experience for Sirius as before he had only gotten the chance to visit the Potters on their ball that they hosted, either on Christmas Day or New Year's Eve every year.

Sirius had enjoyed every moment of it. Celebrating Christmas with the Potters was very special for him, as back in his ancestral home, they did very little, which meant that his parents invited family and friends over that Sirius despised.

Sirius Black had loved every second of Christmas in Potter Manor, as he felt overwhelmed that the Potters were so loving and Sirius felt a part of their wonderful home. He couldn't have asked for a better family than this.

Right now, Sirius was in James' room along with Remus and Peter, who had been invited to stay over for the New Year and the remainder of the break. Now, the boys were eagerly looking at the clock, waiting for the small hand to finally hit twelve and announce a new year.

"Well, a new year means bigger and better pranks." James said as he played with the Golden Snitch he had nicked during Quidditch practices, sprawled lazily across his bed.

"Sure thing, anything that will make you shut your nagging of Lily not liking you." Remus retorted, whilst reading his book on the ground.

James frowned, turning to lay on his stomach so he could look at his friend, "I do not nag."

"You do." Remus said.

"Do not!" James replied.

"Actually, Prongs, you do." Peter interjected.

"I do not, Wormy!"

"Whatever makes you sleep at night." Sirius commented with a smirk.

The young Potter threw a glare at all his friends, before letting his head fall onto his mattress, releasing a groan.

"You guys will be the end of me." He mumbled.

"More like you will be the end of us." Remus muttered.

"Shut it, Moony." James said back.

"Uh, guys, there's about fifteen seconds left until the clock hits twelve." Peter interrupted before they all began fighting again. This caused all the boys to look up at the clock, and it showed eleven seconds left.

"Countdown, go!"

"Ten! Nine! Eight!" They all shouted, standing up. "Seven! Six! Five!" James was jumping excitedly on his bed. "Four! Three!" James jumped onto Remus' back, catching the latter by surprise. "Two! One!"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" They all shouted and Sirius popped open a balloon that had loads of confetti inside, which sprinkled all over the boys and the room.

"Another year that will bring more glory to us, the Marauders!" James said, pointing at the sky as if trying to make himself look heroic as Remus tried to keep his balance. Peter cheered enthusiastically.

"Yeah, this year will be a great one, like no other." Sirius said, his mind drifting to his secret admirer. He was going to catch her, that was for sure.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

With the new year having commenced and the Marauders having spent their days away making prank plans and such, everyone was once again back at the magical Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

It was the morning of a new day and classes were set to resume once again. Everyone was enjoying breakfast, even the Marauders, at least they tried to.

"Evans! Did you like my present? Oh, how was your Christmas break? Why didn't you come to the ball? Oh, Evans-"

"Oh for heaven's sake, shut your mouth, Potter!" Lily shouted, fed with James' constant pestering, who only quieted for a moment before grinning.

"Aw, my darling Lily-pad, glad to know you missed me too. Did you open the present I sent?"

Lily was visibly fuming, her face red as her hair. Marlene and Alice giggled silently, while Peter watched with a grin. Remus on the other hand, rolled his eyes and returned to his book, as he wasn't ready to deal with James' stupidness right in the morning. Sirius chuckled, shaking his head at his best mate.

"No, I did not! Now, leave me alone!"

The light in James' eyes dimmed. He had hoped for Lily to accept his gift, and even with the constant rejections from the redhead, the refusal to open his gift hurt James a bit.

"Oh, I see. Well, hope you had a nice break." And with that, James finally sat down quietly, continuing to eat his breakfast. Lily released a breath, calming down slightly and returned to talk with her friends, who had humorous grins on their faces but didn't dare mention anything regarding James knowing the redhead would lose it.

A loud rustling suddenly sounded overhead, signalling the arrival of the owl post. Sirius looked up in anticipation and located the familiar owl, as the tiny creature began making its way towards the Gryffindor. Once in his hands, Sirius immediately ripped apart the envelope, and unfolding the parchment, began reading the letter.

Dearest Sirius Black,

Happy New Year! It is 1977, and we're halfway through our sixth year and next year is our final year at Hogwarts, it is sort of hard to believe.

Oh, remember how I mentioned I was going to Italy with my family? Well, we went and it was so freaking amazing! Beautiful! Although, I discovered I am not cut out to ski. I don't think I'll be doing it again after what happened.

Anyways, forget about me, let's talk about you, Padfoot. How was your break? What were you up to?

Sirius, I thought with a new year perhaps maybe it's time for new steps to take.

I fancy you, Sirius Black.

A lot.

If you haven't realized already.

And I would love to reveal myself to you, I really do, but I'm afraid. I don't want to have my feelings played with, one of the reasons I haven't told you who I am.

I'm sorry Sirius for writing this but I had to get it off my chest.

Anyways, lovely seeing you around again. (Actually I haven't seen you yet, that will be tomorrow, probably by the time you may reading this letter)

Bye handsome.

Love,

Your secret admirer

As Sirius finished reading, he was left with a whirlwind of emotions. He was happy to hear from the secret admirer, glad to know that she had a wonderful trip and break. However, he was feeling a bit down and almost hurt. Sirius never planned on playing with her feelings. If he was not interested, he would have simply thrown away the first letter itself, but he kept it, because this person had captured his interest.

"So, what she'd write to you?"

Sirius looked up to find Remus looking at him for an answer. This question caught the attention of Peter and surprisingly James, who still looked a bit glum due to the scene earlier with Lily.

"Who are you talking about?" Peter asked Remus.

"His secret admirer wrote to him, that's what I'm assuming anyways." Remus replied, while Peter's eyes widened in realization and nodded. "So, Pads, any new clue?" Remus directed at Sirius.

"No hint this time, but," Sirius said thoughtfully, "I have a feeling she's a muggle-born. In her last letter before we went home, she said she was going to fly with her family to Italy. How do muggles fly again?"

"Airplanes, Pads. They're like the shape of a bird but extremely large, they're used to fly people from place to place. The insides are sort of like the Hogwarts Express train but not quite. So, if she mentioned flying to Italy, chances are she is someone who has a muggle or muggle-born parent or parents." Remus explained.

"In other words, what Moony means is that she could be a muggle-born or a half-blood" James piped up.

"I see." Sirius said thoughtfully. Perhaps it was time for him to send her the diary, that way they could learn more about each other.

"You know," James spoke slowly, "I'm surprised you haven't used that head of yours properly."

Sirius lifted an eyebrow, "Meaning?"

"Meaning dearest Pads," James continued with a grin, "you could have asked her to send you a scent of her perfume."

Sirius cocked his head sideways, looking at the young Potter in confusion, "Why would I ask for her perfume?"

"Yeah, how would that help, Prongs?" Peter asked, just as confused as Sirius.

"I think I understand what this idiot is trying to say." Remus interjected.

James huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, "Excuse you, I am not an idiot, Remus John Lupin!" Uncrossing his arms, James puffed out his chest, "I am a gentleman and a genius!" He exclaimed.

Remus rolled his eyes, "Whatever." He turned his attention back to the young Black. "What he means is to take advantage of being an Animagus."

"Exactly!" James exclaimed.

"Oh." Peter said, stretching the oh. "He could check for what scent is on his suspects, right?"

Sirius clucked his tongue. "Ah. That is actually a good idea, I should have thought of that before."

"This way, if your secret admirer happens to be wearing that perfume, you could confront her." Remus explained. "The scent should last in the letter, but even if it fades, your Animagus traits should still allow you to pick up on it." The Gryffindor explained.

Sirius stared at his friends with such an intensity, the others shared a look thinking something had happened to him. James leaned across the table and knocked on Sirius' forehead.

"Hello, are you broken?"

Sirius smacked James' hand, who retreated it with a hiss, throwing a glare at the black haired.

"What would I do without you guys?" Sirius said in thankfulness.

"Probably have gotten kicked out of Hogwarts in your first year." Remus retorted.

"As much as I'd love to fight you for that, I'm too excited about this idea. Although," Sirius grinned teasingly, "I really do love you and your witty brain, Moons."

"Uh huh." Remus muttered, too engrossed in his book once again.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"YOU LOT GET BACK HERE!" An angry Filch shouted as the Marauders ran away, causing dungbombs to go off in his office. After a day of classes, the Marauders decided to give some more life to the quiet, peaceful corridors of Hogwarts, as they wanted to start the new year with a bang.

"I think we lost him." James said, as the group of four came to a halt after rounding another corner. Sirius peeked around the corner, and Filch was nowhere in sight.

"Yeah, I think you're right, Prongs." Sirius said, as he faced his friends once again.

"Come on, let's head to the Great Hall for dinner." Remus suggested, beckoning a hand for the others to follow. The three others agreed and followed their tall friend.

However, after going down another corridor, they felt commotion getting closer and closer as they progressed ahead. Turning a corner, the four Marauders realized why.

"I'll have to deduct points from Slytherin."

It dawned upon Sirius whose voice that was.

It was Rina from Ravenclaw.

Two Slytherins who stood in front of her, shared a look and let out cold chuckles.

"We can do whatever we want." One said, who they recognized as Severus Snape.

"Yeah, no one is going to tell us off, and we aren't taking orders from anyone, especially a filthy Mudblood like you." The other spoke, who happened to be Evan Rosier.

Rina suddenly froze at the term being used. She tried to speak, to say something back but couldn't as she opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, unable to form words.

Rosier laughed, "You're pathetic." He pulled out his wand from the pocket of his robes. "How about let's teach you a little lesson, eh?" He said with a malicious smile.

This caused Sirius to move, and he rushed forth, his friends in tow, all fuming due to the two Slytherins.

"How about you stop right there, Rosier." Sirius growled out, as he reached the trio, stepping in front of Rina. The Ravenclaw looked in surprise at the newly arrived, and the Slytherins were caught off guard too. But not before Rosier snapped back to his senses.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the filthy blood traitor with his dirty friends." He spat out with disgust. "This'll be more fun now, to teach you all a lesson for messing with us." He spoke, raising his wand.

"How about you back down, Rosier, if you know what's good for you?" James said, pulling out his wand, as Sirius did the same.

"As if I'm afraid of you." Rosier spat back. "Bring it on."

Rina suddenly jerked and tried to get in between. "Wait, you all can't be duelling." She said, looking at James and Sirius as she got in front of them.

Sirius looked down at her, his eyes softening slightly, "Rina, move out of the way, please."

She shook her head, "I'm not letting you two duel, this has to stop- AH!" And she stumbled right into Sirius, who caught her in his arms as a spell sent by Rosier, hit her directly in the back.

Enraged, James suddenly began shooting spells and the two began to battle.

"Rina!" Sirius said, worriedly as the girl was having trouble standing on her own. Remus rushed forth and took her from Sirius, while the latter turned back and helped his friend.

"R-Remus... we have to s-stop them..." Rina mumbled. Remus meanwhile looked torn. On one hand, he wanted the battle to stop, but on the other hand, he was too concerned about Rina's wellbeing and wanted to make Rosier pay.

Rina gently tapped his chest, making him look down at her. "We have to stop them."

Remus nodded and pulled out his wand, to cast a shield in between. This proved successful as it stopped the duel, sending both parties flying due to the force of the barrier.

"Sixty points from Gryffindor and sixty points from Slytherin for this behaviour." Remus announced.

Sirius growled and James huffed as both sent a glare at Evan Rosier and Severus Snape, who sneered at them.

"I'll get you back for this!" Rosier shouted, before turning on his heels with Snape in tow, rounding a corner and they were gone.

"Those rascals!" Sirius spat out angrily, "If I get my hands on them again, I'm going to tear them apart."

Peter, who had backed away into a corner, finally moved towards the rest of the group.

"It's alright, Pads, at least no one got badly hurt." He squeaked out.

Sirius scoffed but decided that perhaps Peter may have a point. His attention turned towards Rina, who looked slightly better but swayed a bit.

"Are you sure you're alright, Rina?" Remus asked in concern.

Rina waved a hand, "Yeah, but a potion from Madam Pomfrey should help."

Remus nodded and Sirius rushed forth to sling Rina's other arm around his neck, as they took her to the Hospital Wing, James and Peter right behind.

After Madam Pomfrey did an examination and Rina briefly twisted around the exact reason of her current state, and was given a potion, she was resting in a bed. The other two Marauders had left after knowing Rina would be well.

Sirius and Remus, however, stayed, sitting in chairs beside Rina's bed. Rina was looking down at her hands as to avoid talking to them, before she finally spoke,

"I really am pathetic and weak, aren't I?"

Sirius looked up to lock eyes with her, before she turned away, breaking the contact.

"I couldn't even... I couldn't even take a-a stand for myself." Rina said, rubbing at her eyes furiously, wiping away the tears that gathered. "What good use is being a Prefect when I can't even tell someone off for speaking ill about me?" She scoffed, before her sniffles became more and Rina was gasping for air.

"Rina-" Remus started.

"No, please don't tell me otherwise." Rina let out a sob, as tears raced down her cheeks. "He called me that horrid word and I just froze, not even trying to fight him back on it." She buried her head in her knees as she brought them into her chest, wrapping her arms around. "He was right, I am pathetic." Rina sobbed harder.

Sirius and Remus felt their hearts clench at the sight. Rina was sitting here letting the words of Rosier affect her, letting herself break down in front of a friend and a complete stranger.

"Hey, hey, Rina," Sirius breathed out softly as he moved to take a seat beside the Ravenclaw, tentatively wrapping his arms around her body to comfort her. "Shhhh, please calm down." He said. "Rosier is just a git who needs his head shoved down a toilet. He's a prat who was raised to hate people for who they are. People like those have no meaning in the lives of individuals who are as soft and kind hearted as you, Rina."

Rina sniffled, shaking her head. Remus rose from his seat, sitting on Rina's other side.

"Rina, you're one of the kindest and most talented people I've ever met." Remus began to say, "Magic is in your blood, and no one can shame you for it. People like Rosier are raised to be horrid, you can't let him get to you."

Rina looked up, her tears had lessened and she moved towards Remus, but he was quicker and had already embraced her. Her body still wracked with a sob every once in a while.

"If anyone ever feels different it is me, Rina, and I know how you feel when people discriminate against you for who you are. I'm so sorry people do this and I'm extremely sorry that you have to deal with this."

Rina squeezed her eyes shut, pulling Remus closer. "Thank you." She breathed out. Sirius watched the scene with a fond smile.

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

Hello everyone!

How are you all doing? So that was the next chapter, let me know your thoughts and see you in the next one! <33

-Serina