metanoia

Chapter Twenty-four

Eddie sat down in the open seat in-between Charlie and Gideon at the Gryffindor Table in the Great Hall, lightly and rhythmically drumming his hands on the wood as he was greeted by the group, "Hey, you guys are coming to my Christmas party on Friday? Everyone's invited."

As everyone around them confirmed their presence at the Hufflepuff's annual Christmas Party held in the Hufflepuff Common Room, Alex sucked her teeth and shook her head in denial as she twisted the ring on her middle finger, "Eddie... you know parties aren't my thing."

"Come on, Allie. It'll be fun. We'll pull out the piano and you can play some Christmas carols and Eddie and Fabian can play guitar." 

Sirius raised an eyebrow at the suggestion Charlie made, intrigued by the latest fact he learned about Alexandra Worth, "You play piano?"

"Please, Alex..." the brunette pleaded, locking eyes with the blonde seated directly across from him. Seeing that he caught her undivided attention, he said four words that made her have a change of heart, "I want you there."

Alex rolled her eyes at Sirius' inquiry about her musical knowledge, smiling at the brunette across from her as she arose from the table, "I dabble... Fine, I'll make an appearance."

***

"Are you going to Bones' party in the Hufflepuff common room tomorrow night?"

Alex looked up from her Potions' essay about the rigorous brewing process of Veritaserum and its uses once it's perfected, meeting Narcissa's eyes as she nodded in confirmation, "Yes, my presence has been requested by the host himself. And I'm pretty sure they're going to try and make me play piano while Eddie and Fab play guitar."

The Slytherin raised her perfectly arched eyebrow at the Gryffindor, "You play piano too?"

"Your cousin asked me the same thing," Alex chuckled, feeling a strange sense of deja vu seeing the same reaction from the Black cousins in the same afternoon.

"Growing up, his parents made him and Reg learn how to play piano. Sirius played piano at all our Christmas parties growing up, I'd sing with him. Those songs are a part of the few happy memories I have of those parties," Narcissa smiled fondly, remembering the last Christmas they spent together and the laughs that came with them trying to sing a Christmas song without one of their relatives interrupting them by reminding them it was Muggle music.

"What happened?"

The Black cleared her throat, looking down at her piece of parchment as the wave of resentment and reality hit her in the memory of why it had been years since they sang at Christmas together, "He ran away, moved in with Potter. So now they make Reg play, but you can hear in every note he hates it. It reminds him of Sirius, how he left him. Anyways, let's get back to studying."

Friday night came and the buzz and excitement of Edgar Bones' Annual Christmas Party was abundant. The Hufflepuff Common Room was filled from wall to wall with friends, enjoying each other's company before their departure for Christmas Holiday in the days to follow. The room was loud, the sound of laughter and drunken conversation outpouring from the revolving door of attendants entering and departing as they please.

"You know you don't have to go in. I'm sure whoever you're hesitant about meeting inside will forgive you."

Alex broke her stare of the door, looking to her left towards the voice that broke her out of her train of thought, "Huh?"

Amos Diggory chuckled at her confusion, pushing himself off the stone wall with his foot as he wiped his thumb under his eyes, "You've been standing here, biting your thumb for the past fifteen minutes and I've seen every Gryffindor walk in already. So it's either you don't want to be here or you're nervous to meet someone."

"So, you've spent the past fifteen minutes watching me? Don't you think that's a little weird?" The blonde challenged, raising an eyebrow at Amos as a pair of Ravenclaw Seventh years exited the Common Room.

Amos smirked playfully at the blonde, shrugging innocently, "I don't like crowds and just about every person at school is in there. So yeah, I'm gonna stay out here until my friend gets here. You never said which it was: nerves or resistance?"

"Resistance."

"Lex!" Sirius Black sang gleefully, standing in the doorway. Smiling from ear to ear, he takes her by the hand and leads her inside the Common Room towards their group of friends, "Where have you been? We've been looking for you."

Alex looked over her shoulder at the now alone Amos Diggory, feeling bad for being ripped from their conversation, "Been here talking to Diggory, what are you wearing it's ghastly?"

Remus leaned down to bring his mouth to her ear as she took the open seat between him and Peter, "Charlie made it for him, she's taken up knitting."

Alex chuckled, nodding as Charlie and Letti skips over and plopped down on the bean bag chairs near the fireplace, "I see Peter has met Teacup."

"Isn't Charlie's kitten so cute? It's got a little Santa hat," Peter cooed, cuddling Charlie's tiny black and white kitten to his chest.

Benji drained his cup of spiced eggnog, glaring at the group of people who'd entered the party, "What's he doing here, Bonesy?"

Eddie looked up from his conversation with Fabian, following his friend's line of sight to find a group of Slytherin, "Who, Reg? I invited him, he's my friend. Look I know you don't like him all that much but he's not that bad of a guy when you get to know him."

The blonde sitting beside James, Pandora, looked up from the guitar she'd been tuning, "He's right, you know? He's just a product of how he was raised and because Sirius rejected their family's way of life, he had no choice but to be the perfect son. And I'm in no way saying that it's your fault, Sirius, I'm just saying I know what he's going through. Lucius has always put that pressure to be the "perfect pureblood heir" on himself because he knew I never wanted it."

"Wait, you're Malfoy's little sister?" Letti gasped, realizing what the platinum blonde had said.

Benji didn't let the Ravenclaw Fourth year speak, glaring at youngest Black sibling as he sulked in the shadows of his cousin's shadow, "Well, you can be friends with whoever you want, Dora, but Regulus and I will never fucking be friends after what he did to those 2nd years last year."

"That's your prerogative kid. But remember, Malfoy and Bellatrix made him do it. Hey, it's a party so lets have fun and not talk about this."

Eddie clapped loudly, agreeing with James and began to change the subject, looking Alex directly in her blue eyes, "Exactly. Who's up for some Christmas carols?"

"Me," Sirius claimed, taking the seat at the piano and playing a little jazz flourish. "Unfortunately, I was cursed with a voice that resembles nails on a chalkboard. But, fortunately, we have a few angelic voices in present company to accompany me and the musical stylings of Eddie and Fabian."

"He means me, guys," Gideon and Nicholas say together, laughing as they make their way towards Sirius, Fabian and Eddie.

Sirius rolled his eyes at the pair in Frog Choir, "I was talking about my cousin and Alex."

"Alex?" the blonde repeated, confused as to why Sirius Black claimed she could sing.

Letti rolled her eyes at her best friend, scoffing at her tone of surprise that Sirius knew about her hidden talent, "Oh please, Allie, don't act like you can't sing. If you keep pretending that you can't, I'll start singing and no one wants to hear that."

Narcissa grabbed the blonde Gryffindor off the couch, pulling her to lean against the piano with her as Sirius softly began to play O Holy Night, "Sing with me, please. It's Christmas."

The rest of the evening was filled with laughter and music, a never-ending sound of joy coming from the Hufflepuff Common Room. The room was full of friendship, love and joy as they ended the term.