Perfect Illusion: Scars Saga 2

A Christmas Charade

Chapter 15

A Christmas Charade

I carefully unwrapped the small, square box that Jonathan had given me. We'd left the little round table for seats that had a little more cushion by the Christmas tree. It was really more of a sapling than a tree compared to the twelve that lined the Great Hall.

I pulled from the box an item that had the size, shape, and feel of a snow globe. Instead of a snowy winter scene, however, it appeared to be a flat sheet of ice. There was a small replica of the observatory at Glacier Peake on the ice. And instead of snow there was a faint black sky dotted with stars.

"Give it a shake," Jonathan instructed. So I did.

The ice and observatory faded into the background and the stars took prominence. I watched as the stars slowly morphed and the constellations changed. It was obviously an accelerated progression of their course over a year long period.

"It's the recorded positions of the stars at Glacier Peake while we were there this summer," Jonathan explained. "I know how much you enjoyed it, and I thought you might like to revisit some of the nights. So I contacted the old codgers down there and..."

I breathed in slowly, on hand over my mouth. Jonathan leaned in towards Remus.

"If she cries, then it means I succeeded," he whispered.

"Oh, stop," I said. I tried to push them back, but one tear escaped. Jonathan grinned. "Thank you, Jonathan. It's lovely."

Jonathan went next and opened the gift I gave him.

"It's a meteorite shard from the shower on our first night in Glacier Peake. One of those old codgers let me keep it. You seemed to really enjoy that night, even if you didn't enjoy anything else."

"It was wicked!" he exclaimed. "The meteorites were falling everywhere when we arrived. It was really...er—I mean...yeah, it was alright."

I laughed. I'd never heard him so animated about our trip.

"It's your go, Pro...er—Remus. Sorry I didn't get you anything."

"That's alright, Jonathan. I wasn't expecting you to. After all, you didn't know I was coming to dinner."

Again they gave me identical looks.

"Really! Stop that! You're starting to synchronize and it's tripping me out!"

They both laughed, and even that was synchronized.

Remus opened the gift I gave him.

"Self-grading quills," I explained. "A boon if you ask me; they've saved me so much time. Anytime you give an exam or homework assignment that has specific answers, i.e. list the sixty-seven moons of Jupiter, you fill one out yourself with the correct answers, and then it will grade all the others. It doesn't work as well with essays, but you can teach it to search for key words."

"Thank you, Katherine. I'm sure I'll find a great use for them."

Then it was my turn to open the gift he gave me. (It had arrived that morning with all the others, but I held on to it in hopes that he would join us for dinner.) It was a scarf, with a permanent warming charm that was activated by touch, he explained.