Redemption For A Monster (Marauder fanfic) Book Three

8- Winter Woes

Sara blew warm air into her hands, as she stared at the light coming from the candle inside the lantern in front of her.
She was sitting in the living room on the floor, using the lantern to try and keep herself warm.
Sirius stepped into the room, and brushed fallen snow off of his shoulders, before sitting down beside Sara.
"Everything go to plan?" Asked Sara.
Sirius rubbed his hands together and nodded.
"Yep. I gave the letter to Crookshanks, and he's on his way now, to the owl delivery room, to hand over my order. Hopefully Harry will wake up on Christmas morning, with a brand new Firebolt broomstick" he replied.

"Good. Harry will need a new broom if he's going to continue playing Quidditch, since the last one got wrecked" sighed Sara.
"Yeah. And if what the Daily Prophet says is true, it's the fastest broom ever made" exclaimed Sirius.
"I'm sure Harry will love it, even if it's not the fastest in the world, afterall, it cost you a lot of money. It's a shame you can't tell him who it's from"
"No. If I did put my name on it, I expect he'd break it apart with his bare hands, because it's from me. I bet he hates me right now. And I don't blame him, I let him and his parents down".
Sara put her arm around Sirius, and rested her head onto his shoulders.
"It wasn't your fault" she said softly.
"If I hadn't convinced James to make Wormtail the secret keeper-"
"You couldn't have known that Peter was going to betray us all" interupted Sara.
"No, but I still made made a mistake that cost him and Lily their lives" reminded Sirius.

"Peter's betrayal did do one good thing for the world. Harry defeated Voldemort somehow, and ended the war, saving a lot of lives. If he hadn't gone to the Potters that night, who knows how many more years the war would have gone on for, and how many more lives would have been lost" admitted Sara.
"They're angry with Wormtail. The Death Eaters in Azkaban. It was his information that led Voldemort to James' house, and the Death Eaters blame Wormtail for their Dark Lords downfall. That's why he's been hiding as a rat for the past 12 years. He's scared of the Death Eaters, who are still at large" revealed Sirius.
"Well, being afraid of the Death Eaters, is probably the only reason a sane person would willingly spend 12 years as a rat"
"I think calling Wormtail sane, is too high a compliment. No one can spend that long as a rodent, and still be the same person that they were before"
"I can vouch for that. I've spent the last few years as a dragon, and I'm definately not the same person that I used to be".

"None of us the same anymore. The war changed us all. I've been in Azkaban, Wormtail's been a rat and you've been a dragon" admitted Sirius.
"And Remus has been all alone" Sara mumbled.
"Yes. Moony's been suffering in a different way. Solitude is its own curse"
"None of us have been together. We've all been alone. But maybe when we reunite with Remus, things might get better, as the group will be more complete than it has been in years"
"We'll just have to hope, that the cat can bring Wormtail to us soon, because so far he's been able to stay out of Crookshank's grasp"
"What will we do if we don't get to Peter before the summer holidays?"
"I don't know Sara. I honestly don't know".

****

"Happy Christmas Sara" announced Sirius on December the 25th, waking Sara up from her sleep.
Sara rubbed her eyes, and pushed herself up into a sitting position.
"Morning. Merry Christmas Sirius" she grinned.
Sirius handed a small package over to Sara, that had been covered in old newspapers.
"You got me a present?" Quizzed Sara.
"It's nothing big, so don't get your hopes up" admitted Sirius.
Sara opened the package and found a beautiful black crystal, with a piece of string going through it.
"You made this?" Sara asked.
"I found the crystal in one of the caves nearby, and then I made a small hole in it, so that I could push a piece of string through it, to make it into a necklace" he explained.

"It's beautiful Sirius. Thank you" smiled Sara, as she jumped off the bed, to give him a hug.
"I got something for you as well. I didn't manage to wrap it though" continued Sara, as she placed the necklace around her neck.
"That's fine" replied Sirius.
Sara dropped to the ground, and pulled up one of the floorboards. She then placed her hand into the space beneath, removing Sirius' present, before replacing the floorboard.
"Here you go" announced Sara, as she handed Sirius his present.
It was a perfect, flat, black stone, that had two S's carved into one side. And on the back there were four carvings instead of two; S, P, M, P.
"The two S's symoblise our names; Sirius and Sara. And the other letters on the back, are the first letters of the Marauders names; Smokey, Padfoot, Moony, and Prongs" explained Sara.

"It is perfect" Sirus said quietly.
"Well I wanted to get you something. But I couldn't exactly go out shopping for anything" replied Sara.
"That doesn't matter. It's the thought that counts. And this home made gift matters much more to me, than anything from a shop"
"I'm glad to hear it. It was a nightmare trying to carve all those letters with a knife"
"It looks good though"
"Thanks"
"I have another surprise for you"
"Oh, do tell"
"I managed to catch a chicken earlier, and it's still in pretty good shape. So the two of us will be having chicken for our Christmas dinner".
Sara hugged Sirius again, and kissed his cheek gently.
"Thank you. I haven't celebrated Christmas in years, I didn't really see the point when I was a dragon" she admitted.

"I didn't exactly have any good Christmases in Azkaban either. So this is my 1st Christmas, in 12 years" sighed Sirius.
"It may be small, but I have a feeling this is going to be our best Christmas ever" replied Sara.
"I don't know about ever. But certainly in a long long time"
"You might be right there... Although I did celebrate Christmas with Mary and John, it wasn't the same without you and the others. Thanks for lending me some money by the way, so I could send him a Christmas card, so that he knows I'm alive"
"You're welcome. Right, well we should probably go down and eat this chicken, before it goes off"
"I'm right behind you Padfoot".
Sirius grinned and led the way downstairs to their make-shift kitchen, where their chicken was waiting.