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Lucius and I meandered along the streets of Diagon Alley as we headed to The Leaky Cauldron. You would think it would be rather busy since it was the week before Christmas and all, but surprisingly the streets were rather empty. Lucius and I were able to walk alone in peace and quiet. Our only company was the twinkling of the stars from the heavens above.

Finally, after about a five minute walk or so, Lucius and I arrived at The Leaky Cauldron. As soon as Lucius opened the door to it, our peace and quiet pretty much shriveled up and died. The Leaky Cauldron was rather similar to The Three Broomsticks. Pretty much every table was occupied and many people were talking and laughing.

Lucius frowned as he opened the door for me and said, "I didn't realize it was going to be this busy. Are you okay with this still? We can go somewhere else if you'd like." Of course I didn't want to go somewhere else! This was great. I mean, I didn't really care where Lucius and I went as long as we stayed far away from my mother, Tom, and Bellatrix. Besides, I wanted to go into one of the hotel rooms in the back part of The Leaky Cauldron to have a nice and long make-out session with Lucius.

"Don't worry, this is great," I reassured Lucius, squeezing his arm as the two of us walked inside. Lucius smiled at me and dragged me along to the bar where an old man with red cheeks and a big smile was standing. It was rather obvious that he had been drinking quite a bit himself. Looking up at us with that merry smile, the man slurred, "What can I get for you two?"

"I'll have a fire whiskey," Lucius replied. Then he turned to me and asked, "What would you like, Cissa? They have butter beer here I think if you want that." I contemplated my options for a few minutes. Butter beer did taste pretty good. It was sweet and had a syrupy taste to it. Unfortunately, that meant that there had to be lots of sugar in it. In my book, sugar equaled fat. Butter beer was now out of the question. I would have to find something a bit healthier.

I looked up at the list of drinks written on a menu on the wall behind the man. Most of the drinks were either alcoholic or probably had gallons of sugar in them. Figuring that it couldn't have too many calories in it, I finally turned to the bartender and said, "I'll just have some cranberry juice please." It was juice so it couldn't be too unhealthy. At least, I didn't think it could be.

Lucius gave a funny look at me, but didn't protest. That's what I liked about Lucius; he never butted in or asked me things that would make me uncomfortable. The man behind the counter immediately bustled off and returned within the minute with a large glass of fire whiskey and a smaller glass of red liquid for me which was obviously the cranberry juice.

Now that Lucius and I had our drinks, we had to now go and find somewhere to sit. Unfortunately, that was much easier said than done. After about five minutes of wandering around The Leaky Cauldron, we finally found one occupied table that was set for two people. It was perfect! We even had seats by the fireplace. It couldn't get much better than this.

Lucius and I sat down across from each other and simply looked at each other. There was no need for words really. This wasn't an awkward silence at all. I could really just gaze at Lucius all day. He was so beautiful and that look that he was giving me made me think that maybe it was true that he loved me after all.

After what was probably a good five minutes, Lucius reached for his fire whiskey and took a sip while continuing to look at me. Figuring I might as well try the cranberry juice, I reached for the glass and slowly brought it up to my lips. Before I actually took a sip, I eyed the drink hesitantly. I didn't like putting any unknown substances into my body. Still though, I would probably end up looking like a freak if I didn't drink anything. Besides, Lucius had paid for my drink and I didn't want to look ungrateful.

Taking a deep breath as if I was off to meet the executioner, I slowly took a sip of the cranberry juice. Oh my god, the tartness of the drink made me cringe and pucker my lips. It was way too tart and there obviously wasn't a drop of sugar in this. That was good and all, but how the hell was I suppose to drink something so bitter?

I eyed the drink vengefully and set it back down on the table a little louder than was necessary. When I looked up at Lucius again, he was grinning at me. Wondering just what he was smiling at, I raised an eyebrow and asked him curiously, "What? You're giving me a funny look. Did I spill or something?" I immediately looked down to see if I had spilled any of the cranberry juice.

"No, no, you didn't spill," Lucius replied, still smiling. I could tell he was having a hard time trying to keep from laughing. Finally, he went on, "I had to laugh when you ordered cranberry juice. That's probably the only item on the menu that tastes so bitter. Tell me, have you ever had cranberry juice before today?"

"Well...no," I replied honestly, my cheeks blushing. Lucius nodded, still smiling, "Yeah, I kind of thought so. That's alright though. I mean, there's a first try for everything, right?" Still feeling kind of embarrassed, I nodded. Lucius pointed his wand at something behind me and said in a quiet but powerful tone, "Accio straw!"

Not even two seconds later, the straw was in Lucius' hand. I didn't see how he was always so good at summoning charms. I couldn't even summon something that was lying two inches away from me. Lucius quickly unwrapped the straw, threw the wrappings aside rather carelessly, and then dunked the straw into his fire whiskey along with the straw that was already there. Pushing the glass towards me, Lucius said, "Here, you can have some of this. It's way better than cranberry shit."

I hesitated for a few moments as I tried to decide what to do. I didn't really like fire whiskey that much because of it's strong taste. Nonetheless, it was better than drinking the cranberry juice and I always got a rush of adrenaline from drinking out of the same glass as Lucius. Surprisingly enough, I will found myself protesting though, "Nah, it's okay. The cranberry juice doesn't have much sugar in it."

Lucius gave me a blank look for a moment before comprehension filled his eyes. He rolled them at me and said, "Oh, so this is what this is all about, hm? Sugar and calories?" When Lucius said it like that, it all sounded rather stupid. However, it wasn't at all stupid in my brain. I was obsessed over doing everything possible to avoid foods and drinks. So instead of answering Lucius' question, I just blushed and looked at the floor. I didn't want him to think I sounded stupid.

Lucius didn't say I was stupid or anything like that though. Instead, he said in a gentle voice, "Cissa, there's like no sugar in this. You can have some of it and it will be alright. I promise you that. Come sit by me. Please?" Lucius wanted me to sit closer to him? Of course I would do that! I jumped up so hastily that I almost knocked over my chair in the process.

I huried around to the opposite end of the table and started debating about whether I should pull up another chair or if Lucius would mind if I sat on his lap. Lots of other couples were doing it and some were even kissing passionately. As if reading my mind, Lucius said, "Won't you sit on my lap? You trust me, don't you?"

I nodded and eagerly took my place on Lucius' lap. He put one arm around my waist and then handed me the fire whiskey. With a look that said don't-you-dare-protest, Lucius told me, "Here. Have a sip of this. I don't want you getting dehydrated. Besides, like I said earlier, there is no sugar in this. It's just going to go right through your body. It's not going to make you fat or anything. I promise."

Lucius' words were rather reassuring. I still just didn't want to drink though. Simple things like eating and drinking were supposed to be simple processes. However, in the last few months, it had become a struggle. Every bite or sip was like torture and my mind kept screaming at me to get away from all the food being stuffed at me.

Regardless though, in this situation, I probably did have to drink something. Lucius would freak if I didn't and what if he told my mom he was worried about me or something? That would cause more hell at home. I was just going to have to get this over with and take a goddamn drink. With one final request, I turned to Lucius and asked, "Alright, fine. But you have to take a sip at the same time as me, okay? That's only fair. Besides, everyone else is doing it."

It was true. Three of the couples nearby were sharing drinks. Having no problem with this whatsoever, Lucius agreed, "Sure." We both put our lips to the straws and took a sip of the fire whiskey. For some reason, as soon as I took a sip, everything seemed to be just a little bit better. My anxiety went away a little bit. As we were sipping, my eyes found Lucius'. We gazed at each other for a moment and then Lucius put the fire whiskey back down on the table.

Shifting me on his lap so that he had access to my lips, Lucius leaned down and kissed my mouth. His blonde hair tickled my cheeks. I eagerly kissed him back, sucking the remaining fire whiskey from his lips. My hands pressed against Lucius' chest as we kissed and I had a sudden impulse to start undoing the buttons on his shirt.

Our kiss deepened and I found Lucius growing hard against the inside of my thigh. After literally sucking each other's lips off, Lucius pulled me away gently and said, "Let's finish this and then we'll go up and get a hotel room so we can have some privacy. How does that sound to you? I've wanted to be alone with you for a quite a while now."

"That sounds great!" I replied, feeling almost happy. Knowing that the sooner the fire whiskey was gone the sooner we could get a hotel room, I took another large sip of it and let it was down my throat. Alright, there was no denying that I had been thirsty. And don't ask me why, but for some reason, the fire whiskey was making me even more thirsty. Weird. Was that normal?

"So Cissa," Lucius started out as I took another sip of his fire whiskey, "What's been new with you lately? I want to know how your Christmas vacation has been going. Has Bellatrix been nice to you? She can be moody sometimes and I know you well enough to know just how much that bothers you."

"Oh my god, my Christmas has been like a living hell so far," I sighed, taking another large gulp of the fire whiskey. "You will never guess what she did." Looking alarmed, Lucius turned concerned eyes to me and asked, "What did she do, Cissa? She didn't hurt you or anything, did she? If she did, I'll...I'll..."

As Lucius fished around for something to say, I went ahead and told her of Bellatrix's felony, "She invited Tom to spend Christmas break with us. She didn't ask anyone's permission. She just went up to mother, told her that Tom had nowhere to stay, and then of course you know what my mother said. She treats Tom like he's her own child. I swear she likes him twenty times more than me."

My last statement was unfortunately, very true. Tears started to flood my eyes, but I forced them back. After all, I was in public and crying in public was just plain embarrassing. In an attempt to keep the tears at bay, I took another big gulp of the fire whiskey. Lucius suddenly grabbed me a bit roughly and turned me to face him. Stroking my cheek, he replied, "Your mother should go to the twentiefth depth of hell if there is such a thing. I love you, Cissa. You deserve so much better."