way to go, tiger | Lorenzo Berkshire

࣪𖤐 Y6 | 11 . The Burrow

PLAY WITH FIRE — SAM TINNESZ
'I've always liked to play with fire.'

The snow has cleared by the morning, somehow. It had rained so torrentially through the night that it's all turned to mush and puddles. The sun hangs low in the sky, peaking over the horizon as the clock strikes eight AM. Contrasting the time of year, the birds whistle in the trees, waking Cassie peacefully.

She seems to be one of the last ones awake, as the bubbly chatter from the living room is loud enough to wake up a whole street. Since the Burrow is so huge, there are just about enough rooms for everyone. Cassie bunks with Remus and Victoria in an old, small room. It isn't too comfortable, but Cassie is just grateful to be getting some sleep.

Enzo beams up at her as she walks into the room. Ginny is in the middle of messily unwrapping one of her few presents as Cassie sits down next to her father. "Merry Christmas, sweetheart." he smiles.

"Merry Christmas." she grins.

He passes her one of her presents carefully. It's a thin, rectangular shape as light as a feather. She furrows her eyebrows and peels it open with a smile. Inside was a small photograph of Cassie and Sirius sitting in the garden one summer night in third year. It's sunset outside and they're sat on two garden chairs, Cassie's legs chucked over the arm. Sirius is admiring his daughter while Cassie aimlessly stares up at the sky. Cassie didn't even know this photograph existed.

Behind the photograph, a number of letters are attached. There must've been over thirty letters altogether. However, they're all from Sirius. Remus must've made this himself— no amount of magic could've made something this precious and full of love.

"I know you miss him, sweetheart, I do too. I put together all of his letters to you in the hope that it will remind you of his wise words whenever you may need them. He was always a better speaker than me." Remus smiles.

A teardrop falls from her eye and onto the parchment with a plop. Cassie laughs and brings her father into the warmest hug she can find. He kisses the top of her head and closes his eyes. If he had the option, he would never let go.

A few hours later, it's dinner time. Christmas dinner this year is different. Everyone acts fine between themselves and speaks to others with smiles on their faces, but everyone at that table has something else on their mind. Cassie guarantees that nobody is thinking about Christmas at the moment.

For instance, Cassie is worried about the full moon being a few days away. Actually, worried isn't the right word. Dread fits better. Cassie doesn't worry about full moons anymore. She knows they are inevitable— but she figures she might as well allow herself to dread it every month. As much as it doesn't stress her out, she would much rather not be doing this every month for the rest of her life.

Harry is thinking about how good last Christmas was. Everyone was themselves and enjoying the time they were all spending together. When they went sledding, when they played group board games, when their stomachs would ache from laughter. He misses it. He misses Sirius.

The majority of people at the table would agree that the attitude would be completely different if Sirius was present. If he was sitting at the head of the table cracking jokes left-right-and-centre, morale would be much higher. He was the light in everyone's life that they sometimes needed when their bulb had burnt out.

Cassie fills her plate with roast dinner, grateful for Molly's magical cooking (pun unintentional). Enzo puts an arm around the back of her chair as he laughs with Atlas. Cassie listens to Ginny and Chris's conversation across the table as they discuss quidditch.