SPLITAPARTS: lessons in love ✔️

The Best Christmas Present Ever - Part Four

Finally, it was only the four of them left in the country house: Sirius, Cassie, Ryan and Andromeda. They sat in the family room together, enjoying warmed eggnog and fresh pastries before the fire. Sirius had wanted Harry to remain, but Harry elected to return to Grimmauld Place so that Sirius could get to know his children.

"Dad, I've got a question," Ryan began.

"Yes?"

"Did you know Mum was your split apart at first sight?"

"No, I don't think so, but then, I wasn't looking at her directly. She had shades and so did I, if that's what you mean?"

"Oh. What about in the pub?"

He smiled. "Well, there was certainly something about her that was familiar. I thought it was because she was Lily's and Remus' friend for they'd been telling us about her for years, you see."

"That makes sense," Ryan said nodding. "But you've so many things in common—"

Sirius was eager to learn what his children knew. "Such as?"

"Besides, us," Andromeda added, rolling her eyes.

Ryan returned the eye roll. "Well, there's the music and the motor bikes, dogs—Dad, mum and Remus say that you loved all things muggle and Mum was raised muggle—"

"Are you asking if I think our being brought together was predestined?"

"I suppose so, yes," Ryan said thoughtfully.

Sirius leaned back on the sofa, pulling Cassie along with him and grinned. "I believe we were fated to be together, yes."

"What was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"You know, touching her hand for the first time."

"Oh, it was such a little thing, really."

"Oh hush, it was not," Cassie said.

"Well, Mum said that she ran to the loo and vomited."

Sirius chuckled. "Well, you have to understand—I was existing in darkness."

"Both of us were," Cassie replied.

"I reckon we were—it was like—like, someone turned on the sun—I remember feeling a momentary blindness, then being blanketed with this incredible gentle warmth, very much like a favorite blanket—it wasn't a suffocating sensation as I recall—but I was blinded for a moment and, at least I didn't vomit," he chuckled. "Dee? What do you remember?"

Cassie stared into the air as she remembered and she smiled, raising her brow at Sirius. "I had a bit of an advantage—my Grandmother told me what hers felt like and my mom did too—their experiences were completely different though. Grandmother's was a lot like what your Dad just described and Mom's was foreboding—there was no love at all with hers—it was like it was almost forced on her and she said she felt lonely in her pairing, there was no tenderness what so ever. No love--at least I had that, even if it wasn't right away. So there was some loneliness--your father fought it and he fought it hard."

"You did too," Sirius said. "You wanted to be with Remus as I recall."

She nodded uncomfortably. "Yeah I did."

"It's said that the Dark Lord was conceived under the guise of a love spell," Sirius said.

"That's why Mom was so fierce with her love and affection," Cassie said sadly as she nodded her head, her eyes welling up. "Like she was trying to make up for it."