DISCLAIMER: All of the characters in this story belong to JK Rowling.
LIPS PURSED, SECRETS SEALED
CHAPTER ONE: MIDNIGHT PRESENT

Harry couldn't believe his eyes. It couldn't be ...

"A flamingo!" he wondered aloud in the dead of the night.

Harry quickly clasped his palms to his mouth. He wouldn't want to wake up the Dursleys, not when it's past midnight. An owl delivering letters were enough nonsense for them, and now a flamingo!

The pink flamingo tried to squeeze itself through the window. When Harry tried to stifle a laugh, the flamingo seemed to look offended.

The pink flamingo dropped the bundle that it had been carrying in its beak all this while. Harry untied it carefully. There was a note and a nicely packaged parcel. The note said:

Dear Harry,

You must be very surprised to hear from me. I just want to send you an early birthday present.

Harry paused for a moment. Harry had totally forgotten about his birthday. There was nothing to celebrate about, especially when Sirius wasn't here anymore. Tears welled up in his eyes. Now, he couldn't talk to Sirius anymore. All means of communication failed. Even the two-way mirror that Sirius had given him was of no use. In the midst of his sorrow, he continued reading.

I know you might not be exactly in a very good mood now but I sincerely want to give you something, you know, to cope with your loss. I hope it'll help. It was a present my mom gave to me. I hope you will like it. Happy birthday.

PS: Touch and think hard. It will be what you want it to be.

Luna

"Touch and think hard?" Harry muttered under his breath, breaking the silence of the night. The pink flamingo was almost going red with anger. It was very impatient. Sensing this, Harry quickly tore off the brown paper that wrapped his present. It was a slob of mud. At least, it looked like one. Harry glanced at the sentence 'touch and think hard' and back to his 'present'. Luna wouldn't possibly mean this, would she?

Despite its ugliness, Harry forced himself to touch it. For a fleeting moment, Sirius flashed through his mind. And then he saw that the slob of mud had magically transformed into what seemed like a very small version of Sirius Black. It was the very same face, hair and eyes that Harry recognized. It could even change itself into a black bear-like dog, looking exactly like Sirius when he was an Animagi. It could talk (when it was in a human form) and bark when it was a dog. It was a spitting image of Sirius. Harry realized it was an image of Sirius, only smaller. The burden on Harry's heart had somewhat lessened.

Harry replied Luna's note hastily.

Dear Luna,

Thank you for your present. It was really meaningful and I appreciate it very much. Looking forward to seeing you in school.

Harry

He carefully attached the note to the flamingo's leg, so as not to provoke its anger.

Harry whispered to it, "Say thanks to Luna for me!"

Harry watched the bird disappeared into the horizon. While bathing in the moonlight, he looked up at the starry sky. As he stared at the full moon, he couldn't help thinking of the girl that was Luna.