Mischief Managed | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 71

The kiss didn't last more than a second, and it was nothing more than a small peck, but when Sirius pulled back, they were both flushed in the face, a pink tint coloring their cheeks. It was Jenna's hair which had become the most noticeable, remaining a deep shade of pink.

"Well, that was... um..." Jenna started in hopes of saving the awkward silence, but perhaps it was better not to speak at all, because she couldn't even find the right words to say.

Sirius only chuckled. "I agree."

"So... should we go back to the party? James must be looking for us. If he's managed to escape our relatives, that is," Jenna joked.

"Oh... yeah, okay... let's go." Sirius nodded in agreement, trying to hide the disappointment from his face.

He had been preparing himself and mustering enough courage to kiss her again, perhaps this time longer. But he had to push that idea aside for the time being as he followed Jenna out of the kitchen.

"Oh, wait!" Jenna suddenly came to a halt before the could enter the ballroom. She then closed her eyes and focused, and Sirius watched in amusement as she turned her pink hair back to blonde for the night.

He grinned. "I like how you change your hair into different colors."

"You do? Thanks." Jenna giggled shyly, finding it harder than ever to keep her hair from turning pink after the kiss they had shared. She still felt butterflies in her stomach, unable to suppress her smile.

With goofy smiles on both their faces, Sirius and Jenna joined the party, where the adults were now a bit tipsy and drunk, singing along to a jolly song with terrible harmony.

"Where have you two been!?" James asked angrily the moment he sighted them.

"We were looking for you," Sirius lied smoothly, and Jenna had to bite the inside of her cheek to prevent her giddiness from showing.

"Great Aunt Silvia introduced me to her new boyfriend," James said moodily. "I swear, he couldn't have been younger than a hundred years old. He kept messing my hair up!"

"Your hair already was messy," Jenna reasoned.

"Yeah, but it was the perfect version of messy. He kept patting me on the head, which somehow made my hair look neater."

"There's something that could cheer you up," said Sirius, pointing at a magical tray that was floating past the guests in the distance.

"Butterbeer! Awesome!" James grinned, and so the three of them ran across the dancing and singing crowd to catch up with the flying tray.

The next two hours passed in a cheerful state and the three young Gryffindors enjoyed themselves to the best of their abilities, dancing and laughing.

Sirius thought that the best part of the ceremony was around midnight, when Mr. and Mrs. Potter asked all the guests to step outside the house and into their backyard. There, Mr. Potter set up magical fireworks in the sky, turning them into dancing dragons as everyone cheered and clapped, awed by the beauty.

Sirius was standing in between James and Jenna. Hoping that James wouldn't notice, he stole a glance at Jenna's direction. Sensing his eyes on her, Jenna turned her face slightly as well, meeting his gaze.

They both smiled at each other before looking up at the magnificent fireworks again, their hands brushing against one another as they stood side-by-side.

At the end of the night, when the guests were leaving one by one after thanking Mr. and Mrs. Potter, Sirius fell into a foul mood, feeling nervous that now he had to return back home and face his mother.

"Hey, mate," James nudged him in the arm, catching his attention and snapping him out of his thoughts. "Jenna and I want to show you something. Why don't you come upstairs with us?"

"Yeah. Okay." Sirius nodded feebly, before following the twins to the second floor and into James's bedroom.

While Jenna stood back and leaned against the doorway, James opened his closet and took out a box from it, placing it on his bed.

"This is a gift from me and Jenna. Go ahead, open it!" James said with an excited smile, watching for Sirius's reaction eagerly.

Sirius walked toward the bed and took the lid off the box, his eyes widening at what he saw inside. "Woah! Is this a —"

"Yup! A music disc! It's got loads of Muggle songs on it," James blurted out, unable to contain his excitement anymore.

"We bought it from the Muggle town near our house yesterday," Jenna explained.

Sirius's grin became wider than ever. "Thanks, you two! This is the best gift I could ever get!"

"You've got a record player at home though, right?" James asked, trying to make sure he could actually use it.

"We've got an old gramophone. It belonged to my grandfather, but I recon it still works," said Sirius, taking the disc out of the box to observe it more closely. But his smile then faded and he placed the disc back in the box. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you guys any Christmas presents this year. I was... busy."

Busy shutting myself up in my room while Mother yelled her lungs out, he said to himself, but never out loud.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." James shook a hand at him. "Write to us and tell us how you like the songs on it. It's got all sorts of Muggle singers on it! Like the Rolling Stones or... er... what was that other music band? It had the name of an insect."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "They're called The Beatles."

"Right! That one." James nodded with a smirk.

"Thanks," Sirius repeated with a grin, closing the box's lid and picking it up from the bed.

The three of them then walked back downstairs and stepped out of the house where Mr. and Mrs. Potter were bidding all the guests goodbye, who walked down the lane before Disapparating in the distant.

     "Ah, Sirius!" Mrs. Potter smiled at him as the three youngsters walked toward them. "Did you have fun tonight?"

     Sirius nodded lightly. "It was perfect. Thank you... For everything."

     "Then hopefully we'll see you next year here as well for the next Christmas Ball," said Mr. Potter, clapping a hand behind Sirius's shoulder, causing him to hurtle forward a bit, but Sirius only laughed.

     "Goodbye, Sirius," said Mrs. Potter kindly, but then she caught him totally off guard when she leaned down and brought him into a warm hug.

    Sirius stood there awkwardly with his eyes wide, the odd feeling of her motherly embrace a complete stranger to him.

     When she pulled away, Mr. and Mrs. Potter walked over toward two of their Ministry colleagues, wishing them a merry Christmas and thanking them for coming to the party.

Holding the gift with his left hand, Sirius took out his wand with his right hand and raised his wand-arm high. Moments later, a loud BANG erupted the place as the Knight Bus appeared before them in the front yard.

"I... um... I should better get going," said Sirius, turning to face James and Jenna who had accompanied him into the yard as well. "Can't keep Mother waiting for too long. Not that she would complain if I never went back, but still," he joked, always trying to find humor in a bad situation.

James gave him a sympathetic smile. "See you at Hogwarts, then."

"Yeah. See you guys later," said Sirius, his grey eyes wandering toward where Jenna stood, before clearing his throat and entering the Knight Bus.