Chapter 15: Journey to the Highlands

Disclaimer: Nope, not JKR and not making any money.

Author's Notes: A huge, huge thank you to DracoGurlFurever for her beta reading skills on this chapter. Also, thanks to the PP admin team and to you guys, the readers, for sticking with me and leaving some lovely reviews. They do really help to keep me going.

I must apologise for the delay in getting this chapter up. Real life has really kicked my butt in the last month as my little pony, that I've had since I was about twelve, has been quite seriously ill. He's not really been responding to any of the treatments, so it's been a really worrying time. So, I have everything crossed that he will start to improve now that we have changed his drug dose. Anyway, as a result of all that, my writing has been put on the back burner for the last couple of weeks, but I hope to pick it up again and should be much quicker with chapter 16.

Chapter 15: Journey to the Highlands

Sirius had rarely enjoyed the Christmas holidays any more than he was currently enjoying this one. Since the start of the holiday, he'd spent his days having snowball fights, playing Wizard's Chess and Exploding Snap, and just relaxing with his friends. Of course, the fact that Sophia was there with him made it all the better, as far as he was concerned. He'd noticed a further shift in their friendship as well as in Sophia's general demeanour. She seemed to be more at ease now, like she was finally getting free of the lingering shadow of Rosier. He delighted in the way she was now beginning to tease and play-fight back with him ever since the day he'd picked her up and thrown her down in the snow.

Christmas Day had also been a highlight in itself. He'd spent a long time trying to find a gift for Sophia, trying to hide his extensive search from the attention of his friends all the while (Merlin only knew the grief he would have suffered if the other Marauders had found out he was worrying over what to buy a girl for Christmas, after all). Finally, though, he'd found the necklace. It had been tucked away in the corner of a display cabinet, and he'd been instantly drawn to the colour of the flowers – the blue enamel reminded him strongly of Sophia's eyes. It was delicate, charming, and beautiful; he knew he'd found her the perfect gift. As he'd been paying for his purchase, James had found him, raising an eyebrow at Sirius' choice. Knowing he would have to explain it eventually, Sirius had been telling James that the necklace was for Sophia ... unfortunately, just as Remus had also appeared along with Peter.

'What did you buy for Sophia?' Remus enquired.

'He bought her a necklace,' James replied on his behalf, sounding a little too smug for Sirius' liking. Remus raised an eyebrow as he stared at Sirius for a further explanation.

'Since the girl in question has become a good friend and has also gone through hell in the last few months? Is that alright by you?' he replied, dodging a puddle as he continued to walk.

'Sure, once we're back at the castle and away from this freezing-arse weather!' Sirius replied jovially, striding off in the direction of the castle, his friends close around him.

Now that Christmas had passed, all of them were looking forward to the Hogmanay celebrations they were attending. The Marauders had received their kilts by delivery owl the night before they were due to leave to meet Sophia's friends. The five friends had spent the evening playing Wizard's Chess; Remus was still vainly trying to increase Sophia's skill at the game. Hamish had also joined them, his attention being captivated by the moving chess pieces. Sophia had scolded him enough times for him to know that ambushing the pieces still on the board was not allowed, but that still didn't stop him from pouncing upon the pieces that had been removed from game play. Unfortunately for Hamish, the lost pieces were rather angry at having been sacrificed during the game and were therefore more than willing to fight back. Eventually, Remus had had to rescue the cat from a particularly irate Bishop piece that was fighting back with his staff; he settled Hamish on his lap as he plotted his next move.

After losing five games in a row even with James and Sirius both giving her hints and tips, Sophia had finally given up and gone to bed, declaring that 'Chess is a stupid game that only dorks can master.' Remus had simply given her a smug grin for a reply; it earned him a hair ruffle as she passed him on her way to bed. The boys had stayed up a little while longer before retreating to their beds, and Sirius had spent a long time contentedly thinking about his enjoyable holiday before finally succumbing to sleep.

*

'Wake up, Padfoot!' James shouted loudly, only to receive a grunt in reply.

Sirius clung to his pillow tighter in an attempt to re-submerge himself in his pleasant dream that he had just rudely been awakened from.

'Sophia will be annoyed if you're late ...' James teased from across the room. Sirius's eyes snapped open in surprise, and he lurched up into a seated position.

'What the ...?' Sirius quickly looked round the room and realised that he and James were alone. 'What are you talking about?' he whispered urgently.

James broke out in a grin. 'I'm not blind, Pads. I'm your best friend for a reason. You bought her a flipping necklace for Christmas.'

'Prongs, I have no idea what you are on about,' Sirius scoffed, as nonchalantly as he could; he could tell by the stare James was giving him that he hadn't fooled his best friend.

James' reply confirmed this theory. 'Pads, you can't fool me.'

Sirius was beginning to feel extremely wrong-footed, and panicked slightly. 'Does Remus know? Do you think she knows?'

'Remus believed you when you said you only bought it for her due to everything that she's been through. If you ask me, though, I think that he's ignoring his extra senses in favour of living in blissful ignorance. As for Sophia, I have no idea – she's a girl, and who of us can figure them out, anyway?' James said with a snort of laughter as he dropped onto Remus' bed; it was next to Sirius'.

'Hmm, suppose you're right there,' Sirius grudgingly agreed.

'Course I'm right, I'm always right. You just normally choose to ignore me, which, more often than not, lands us both in detention,' James stated.

Sirius grinned. 'Yeah, but my way is always so much more fun than your way.'

James snorted quietly. 'Yeah, it normally is ... right up until I'm scrubbing out cauldrons listening to Flitch mutter about thumb screws.' James smiled before continuing. 'But, going back to Sophia, why didn't you talk to me?'

'I don't know,' Sirius replied with a shrug of his shoulders. 'I guess after what Remus told me back at the beginning of term and then everything she went through, I just tried to push all my feelings to one side.' He played with the corner of his duvet as he spoke in an effort to avoid James's intense scrutiny. He only looked up when he heard James chuckling.

'I never thought I'd see the day – Padfoot's all grown up! My ickle, ickle baby,' James mocked in a babyish voice.

'Shut up!' Sirius retorted playfully, hitting James with his pillow.

James's laughter subsided slowly as he spoke again, 'Listen, in all seriousness, if you feel this strongly about her, I really don't see what's holding you back. Remus only cautioned you before because he was worried it would just be a fling. I'm sure that if he knew you felt this way about her, he wouldn't stand in your way, and it seems to me as if Sophia is starting to move on, too. If you want my advice – go for it.'

'This coming from the guy who has been chasing Lily since fourth year with so much success,' Sirius said sarcastically.

'Hey, at least I'm going for what I want – I'll have no regrets. Can you say the same?' James raised an eyebrow at Sirius as he stood up again. There was a moment of silence as the two friends stared at each other and Sirius thought about what James was telling him. 'Now, will you get up? Sophia really will hex you if you make us all late.'

'Yeah – I'll be down in fifteen minutes.' James nodded and started to leave the room. 'Hey Prongs,' he said as James stopped at the door and turned to face him, 'thanks.'

'Not a problem.' His serious expression turned mischievous once more. 'It's good to know that her name can be such an effective wake-up call.' James darted out the room as a pillow rebounded off the doorframe.

At eleven o' clock, the Marauders and Sophia found themselves in the Headmaster's office, preparing to leave Hogwarts for the next couple of days.

'I trust you are all ready for your short vacation?' Dumbledore asked as he shut the door to his office.

'Yes, thank you, Headmaster,' Sophia replied; Sirius noticed she blushed slightly. He knew that she must be feeling slightly uncomfortable – the man was her great-uncle, but neither would show anything more than a student-teacher relationship as James and Peter still hadn't been informed of that secret. 'Thank you for letting us use your Floo connection.'

'Nonsense, your parents wrote and explained the situation; it was the least I could do.' He smiled at group of friends kindly before turning to reach for the pot of Floo powder on the mantelpiece. He opened the ornate box carefully and presented it to each of them in turn as they each prepared to Floo to Sophia's home.

*

Sirius stepped out of the fireplace into a cosy sitting room and saw that Melanie and Lucy were already there; he gave them both a smile in greeting. Sophia and Remus were also in the room; next to them was a woman who Sirius presumed was Sophia's mother. His suspicions were confirmed when he caught sight of the woman's brilliant blue eyes. It wasn't long before they were joined by Peter and then James.

'Mum, this is Remus, Sirius, Peter and James,' Sophia said, gesturing to each of them in turn; they each gave a small wave to Sophia's mother as their names were mentioned. 'Everyone, this is my mum – Anwen.'

The witch gave them a kind smile. 'It's lovely to finally meet you all. I hope that you will enjoy this trip to our friends. I trust that Sophia has explained that they are Muggles?' All the Marauders nodded. 'Good, though you may keep hold of your wands for the duration of the trip; after all, we are still in uncertain times. We're just waiting on Niahm, and Alasdair has yet to come back from collecting Lily, although he shouldn't be much longer.'

It was then that the flames turned green once more and Niahm emerged from the fireplace, dusting off the residue soot before greeting Anwen. Judging by the way the girls behaved towards Anwen and how they held themselves, Sirius guessed that they had all been to Sophia's home before. It was only a few minutes later that they heard voices coming from the back of the house.

'Look who I found!' A deep voice sounded through the house; Sirius saw a rather burly, and slightly intimidating, man come through the door, closely followed by Lily. 'Merlin, Anwen – we seem to have been invaded by teenagers!' He feigned shock and horror as Sophia started giggling.

'Oh, Alasdair, stop your teasing and give your daughter a hug,' Anwen admonished as Sophia stepped forward into her father's open arms.

'Good to see you, lass,' the man said softly as he enveloped his daughter.

'Good to see you too, Dad.' As they released one another, Sophia turned to face the Marauders with a smile, 'You know the girls, but these are Remus, Sirius, Peter and James, my friends from Hogwarts.'

'Pleasure to meet you – I'm Alasdair.' The Marauders all quickly nodded in greeting before Alasdair spoke again. 'We should probably all get a move on – I told Donald we would arrive sometime after two.' With that, everyone slowly left the house, and Alastair signalled for the Knight Bus.

The group went up to the uppermost deck, finding a group of seats towards the back of the bus. Anwen and Alistair sat slightly in front of the teenagers, who chose the sofa-type seats that ran along the back of the bus. Sirius had only just got himself seated when the bus lurched violently forwards, the force of the movement propelling him backwards. The girls, however, had been slower in getting their seats sorted, resulting in Melanie flying into a stunned Lily; Sophia also lost her balance, causing her to land half in Sirius' lap. Instinctively, he gripped her waist to steady her; she had reached out both her hands; one grabbed the back of the sofa as the other gripped his thigh. A few moments later, as the acceleration of the bus eased, Sirius saw Sophia blush as she quickly let go of her grip on his leg. Gently, albeit slightly reluctantly, he relaxed his own grip, allowing her to slide into the space beside him.

'Thanks,' she said quietly, her eyes darting nervously between him and her lap.

'Welcome,' he replied, feeling the tension between the pair of them. He was glad that Melanie and Lily were diverting everyone else's attention away from what had just occurred between the pair of them. He knew that, if James had seen it, there would have been numerous comments and significant looks for the rest of the trip. 'It was either grab you or risk you breaking my nose,' he said cheekily, bumping shoulders against her in an attempt to ease the tension.

Sophia laughed, all the worry leaving her face, and Sirius grinned.

For the rest of the journey, all the teenagers jostled against one another as the bus made its manic journey around the UK until, three hours later, they disembarked from the triple-decker purple bus, all slightly shaken, but otherwise fine. Alasdair took the lead, and they all slowly walked through the small Scottish village in his wake. The village was surrounded by high mountains, and the ground was covered by a good amount of snow, making everyone walk carefully lest they slip on any black ice.

When they finally reached the edge of the village, Alasdair led them along a small path that cut through a forest. The snow was thinner on the ground of the pine forest, protected as it was by the trees, though Sirius could see some icicles hanging from the branches of the trees as well. Sirius found his gaze lingering on Sophia's back as she walked ahead of him with Lucy and Niahm. They were all talking animatedly; several times, they all burst out laughing. Each time they did, Sirius found himself smiling at them.

Eventually, they reached the edge of the forest, and Alasdair came to a stop. 'Okay, it's not far now. If you all take out your luggage, I'll restore it to full size, and we'll go up to the house. I'm sure you could all do with a warm drink after all this walking.' There was a murmur of agreement as they each removed their transfigured luggage bags from their pockets and laid them on the ground. A few waves of his wand later, Alasdair had restored all the bags and turned, once more, to lead them in the direction of the house.

'House', Sirius decided, was not an accurate description. 'Castle' would have been more appropriate. After all, the building was very large and had more than one turret on it. There was a large, arch-shaped door in the centre of the front of the building, and one side of the double door was pinned open. As they neared it, Sirius noticed a man and a woman emerging from inside. They both had wide smiles on their faces, and each hugged Sophia's parents.

'Well, Alasdair, these bairns must be Sophia's friends, I presume,' the man said in a thick Scottish accent. He was similar in build to Alasdair, but slightly shorter, with silver grey hair and dark black eyebrows. He swept his gaze over the teenagers in front of him and smiled warmly at them, the skin around his light blue eyes crinkling. 'Welcome, and I hope you enjoy your time here – if you need anything, don't be afraid to ask. We don't stand on ceremony here.'

'Why don't we go inside and get you all warmed up?' The woman spoke with the same accent as her husband, and with an equally friendly tone. She was fairly short, standing at about five foot five, and had light brown hair that hung straight to her shoulders. As she slipped her arm around her husband, they both turned and led the way through the front door.

Upon entering, Sirius struggled to take in the imposing hallway. Immediately facing him, there was a highly polished, wooden staircase that split as it hit the far wall to run up in either direction to two landings. There were oil-painted portraits everywhere, through their subjects did not move, and these were interspersed with a large number of stag horns and the occasional sword and gun that were mounted at various points over the walls. The flagstone floor was covered by a number of Persian rugs. They all followed their hosts through to a room down the corridor to the left after leaving their bags by the stairs.

Once they were in the room, Sirius took a seat on the large sofa in between James and Remus, both of whom seemed to share his awe at the place they had found themselves in; this room was even more impressive than the entrance hall. He was only distracted from taking in his surroundings when he heard Sophia yelp in surprise.

He looked up to see a tall boy with light brown hair standing behind Sophia, covering her eyes. The boy leant forward and whispered something in her ear; Sirius watched as Sophia grinned and grasped the boy's hands with her own and removed them slowly. She turned round to face the boy and hugged him enthusiastically, throwing her arms around his neck, smiling and giggling as she did, while the boy gripped her waist firmly. Sirius was painfully aware of the clench in his gut as the boy proceeded to pick Sophia up and spin her around several times.

'Put the lass down, Hector,' the man with silver hair chuckled. Sirius exhaled the breath he hadn't realised he was holding once Sophia had her feet back on the ground, though she was looking at the boy fondly. Besides, they still held an arm around each other, which meant the twisted feeling in Sirius's gut still hadn't shifted.

'It's alright, Donald. It wouldn't be right if Hector didn't make me dizzy within ten seconds of seeing him, after all,' Sophia said jovially as she patted the boy affectionately. Hector grinned as he tried to ruffle Sophia's hair, something Sirius knew from experience she hated. Sure enough, she ducked and grabbed his wrists, pushing him away from her, each laughing richly.

'Aye, I suppose you have a point there,' Donald replied wryly.

'Good to see you again, Hector,' Alasdair said, shaking the boy's hand; this was swiftly followed by Anwen giving him a hug. It was clear to Sirius that the two families were close, and he began to wonder exactly how close Sophia and this Hector were, or had, been.

'Well, Soph, are ye nay going to introduce me to your friends?' Hector asked. Sirius wouldn't have thought it possible, but his accent was even thicker than his parents'; Sirius struggled to understand him properly.

'I suppose you're right. Donald, Mary, Hector, I would like to introduce you to Lily, Niahm, Melanie, Lucy, Peter, James, Sirius and Remus.' Sophia went round the group as they were seated; each gave a small wave as their name was called.

'Well, it's nice to meet you all – though I hope you'll forgive me if I forget your names; it's a lot to take in all at once.' Hector flashed them all a smile, and Sirius noticed that Melanie seemed to have taken quite a shine to him. Well, that was fine – Hector could have her, providing he kept his hands off Sophia. 'Shall I show you all to your rooms?' Hector looked at Sophia for her reaction.

'Yes, I think that would be a great idea. Perhaps we could go out on the estate after we're settled? We've been cooped up all day, and I'm sure we could all use some fresh air.'

'Sure, nay problem.' Again, Hector's beaming smile returned, and Sirius developed an irrational hatred for the boy then and there as he saw Sophia returning it. Hector turned to face the rest of the room, 'Well, follow me, then.'

Hector lead them back to the main entrance, where they each picked up their bags and followed him up the staircase, going to the right when it split. Hector was talking as he guided them, but Sirius couldn't understand a word of it due to the heavy accent – he assumed he was telling them about the history of the estate and the people in the paintings, if his gesturing hands were anything to go by. Hector led them down a corridor and stopped in front of a dark, wooden door.

'Sophia said that you were all use to sleeping in the same rooms, so Mum thought it might be best to stick to that arrangement, if it's okay by you?'

'Yes, Hector, that's fine,' Sophia affirmed.

'Okay, well, this room here is for you four boys, then, and the room over there,' he pointed to a door down the corridor on the left as he spoke, 'is for the girls. Sophia kens the house pretty well, so if you have any questions, she should be able to help, and if not, she kens where to find us. Anyway, I'll let you all get settled. Sophia, when you are all ready to go outside, come find me – I'll be in my room.' Hector turned and left back down the corridor in the direction of the stairs, leaving the rest of them standing outside their rooms.

'Okay, we'll go and unpack quickly, and I would suggest you do the same. We'll come and knock on your door in say, half an hour, and then we can go outside for a bit, if you like?' Sophia asked the group.

'Sounds like a good idea – I think a battle of the sexes snowball fight could be on the cards,' James replied, with a wicked grin.

'I'm sure Hector would be up for that. That's settled, then; I suggest you wrap up warmly, and we'll see you in thirty minutes.' Sophia gave the boys one last smile and then disappeared down the hall with the rest of the girls into their bedroom, leaving the boys to enter theirs.

The room was slightly bigger than the Marauders' bedroom in Gryffindor Tower and had a pair of single beds on either side of the room with two cherry wood wardrobes positioned on either side of the white-framed sash window which overlooked the grounds. On the right-hand side of the bedroom, there was a door that went through to a small en-suite bathroom. James and Sirius claimed the two beds on the left hand side of the room, leaving Remus and Peter with the other two.

'Can you believe this place?' Peter said excitedly as all the boys started unpacking their belongings.

'I know – it's huge! They seem really nice, too,' James said, echoing Peter's enthusiasm.

'I suppose so; I can't understand what that Hector bloke is saying, though,' Sirius grumbled. 'Besides, where does he get off swinging Sophia round like that?'

'Hector?' Remus asked curiously. 'He and Sophia have been friends for years. She told me that they've seen each other every time she's been up to visit her grandmother since she was small.'

'Well, if you ask me, he wants to be a lot more than "just friends" with her,' Sirius huffed, venting his frustrations by yanking his jumper free from his bag.

'No way, I think you're reading too much into it, Pads,' James said confidently, giving Sirius a quick slap on the back as he passed to go to one of the wardrobes.

Sirius didn't say anything further, lest Remus grow suspicious, but he fervently hoped that James was right.

Author's Notes:

Scottish word definitions:

'Bairns' – children.

'Aye' – yes.

'Nay' – no or not.

'Kens' – knows.

I can promise you, from living in Scotland for the last fifteen years, people really do use these words in everyday speech. Sometimes, it's very confusing!