Through The Veil「 The Veil Trilogy Part Ⅱ 」✔

[29] An Unexpected Christmas Present

It was well past midnight and everyone had long since gone to bed. I couldn't sleep of course so I was completing an assignment that Professor Sinistra gave on complex fields of Astronomy and their applications. 

The fire was burning in the hearth and I was sitting close to it despite the light being very low for normal working conditions. But I didn't want Mum to see the lights on in the living room and come to lecture me about going to bed.

My eyes were itching due to the light and if Mum happened to pass by there, I would best be prepared for a lecture.

"Katerina," a voice did snap me out of my work but it wasn't Mum who had come up there. 

I turned around in surprise to see Sirius. He was holding a tiny box in his hand and the calculative look I had seen on his face during dinner wasn't fully wiped off his face yet. I closed by books and made room for him to sit on the ancient couch beside me.

He took his seat and faced me, "you were telling the truth at dinner, weren't you?"

I shrugged, trying to deviate from the topic slightly, "about Umbridge? Yes, I was, she's horrible."

He shook his head, looking past my attempt at steering away the conversation, "no, about the curse."

I could see where that conversation was headed and had to handle it before things took a turn for disaster, "look, Sirius, it just slipped unintentionally. I didn't mean to say that. It was just that I was feeling so damn reckless and all of you questioning me about it made me kind of retaliate."

He raised an eyebrow skeptically, still not believing my words, "are you sure?"

"Of course."

"So she didn't use the Cruciatus on you," his eyes had narrowed and I couldn't directly reply to that. but after a while he let the topic drop himself, remarking with a soft sigh, "that Umbridge is from the Ministry, right? Quite pitiful if she's going about using Unforgivable curses in public. I wonder what moths have eaten Fudge's brain."

As if he even had a brain in the first place...

I was however more intrigued about the box in his hands; It was wrapped in colored paper with a red ribbon tied to it. 

"I got you a Christmas present," he stated, noticing my gaze.

How sweet.

"Really? You didn't have to," I smiled, taking the box from him nevertheless.

"I got Hermione to order it for me," he explained, an excited spark taking over his eyes instead of that slightly worrying calculative look, "she's wonderful at dealing with Muggle stuff."

Well yeah, no surprise there because she is a Muggleborn... I mentally scolded myself to keep my sarcastic ideas to myself as I surely did not intend to be a spoilsport.

Who am I kidding by the way? I AM a dreadful spoilsport.

Anyhow, I mumbled thanks and opened the present at last. Inside the box, a silvery gleam caught my eye.

Carefully, I put aside the silk covering around it and found a silver bracelet. It was beautiful and had the same tree of Life charm on it.

I was speechless for a while. That was really thoughtful of him to get me a bracelet that was exactly like the locket I had given him back when I had said my farewell on the last night of my time spent with the Marauders due to the time travel accident that occurred in my fourth year.

"It's so beautiful. Thanks a lot, Padfoot," I smiled and noticed the smile lighting up his face upon being addressed by his nickname.

"Thought you'd like it," he replied with a soft gleam in his grey eyes.

I laughed, "like it? I absolutely love it."

Thanks to the gift, my sullen mood had finally evaporated. 

"Know what, it's actually charmed," he added as he took the bracelet from me to show something, "whenever you feel the need to tell me something or to communicate with me, you  just turn it over like this."

He pointed to the backside of the tree which was blank. All of a sudden it gleamed and he took out his own locket which was also gleaming. I looked in wonder as the mirror-like surface of the bracelet showed Sirius's reflection while that on the locket showed mine.

Unbelievable.

"That's brilliant," I remarked appreciatively, "where did you get the idea from?"

He smirked, reminding me of the times we used to pull pranks together, "well, naturally, I am a very intelligent person. I get awesome brainwaves all the time."

I couldn't hold in a light laugh. Even after all those years, his humor was the same.

"But to be honest, I was inspired by those mirrors James and I had to communicate with each other during separate detentions," he added.

He fastened the bracelet on my wrist but while doing so, he caught sight of the scarred word Azkaban engraved onto my palm. He could have seen the scars administered by Umbridge as well but those were fading away while that word on my palm was prominent as always.

Ever since I had had that vision of Sirius in Azkaban, that word had emerged upon my hand and I couldn't get rid of it. But not many people knew about it.

Sirius looked up at me questioningly and I was trying to formulate a believable answer.

"What's this?" He asked finally, his finger carefully touching the scars.

I immediately pulled my hand back, "nothing."

He looked at me closely as if suspicious about my answer, "no one gets such a word imprinted on their palms for nothing."

I was at a loss of what to tell him. I knew he would not let the matter rest until he figured it out.

But I was spared the trouble when Fred and George apparated right in front of us though it did give me quite a jump scare.

"Kat, Mum says you have to go to bed by now," they announced, furnishing a very convenient excuse for me to dash right off without giving Sirius an answer.

I thankfully stood up, gathering my books, "of course, I was just leaving anyway."

The twins followed me but then Fred mumbled loud enough for only me and George to hear him, "and we also want to have a word with you."

Uh oh... Disaster again.

I kinda had a feeling what they wanted to talk about but I also knew it would get awkward very fast. 

I hadn't told them about my time travel accident in my fourth year so obviously they had no idea that I was friends with Remus and Sirius already and that was why I was close to the two. But ever since I had come back from the time travel, the twins knew something was up and had been trying their best to find out.

They were very observant, I had to admit, but sometimes their observation could put me in an inconvenient situation too.

Such as right then as George piped up, "nice bracelet."

These two couldn't be any more obvious... Of course they wanted to talk about Sirius. 

So in the time it would take for us to reach my room, I had to come up with an excuse to shoo them off because I am not going to have that conversation right then or else they would not leave me be for the rest of my life.

***