Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the wonderful wizarding world and all credit must be given to Ms. JK Rowling, however, anything unrecognisable is of my own creation.
Chapter 38: Tea and Crumpets
Fawkes was sitting in the Marauders's compartment as we boarded the Hogwarts Express. I stroked the old Phoenix's head, whilst grabbing the note in his claws. I broke the seal on the note as Sirius peered over my shoulder.
Miss. Granger… I wish to invite you and Mr. Black for tea and crumpets, I understand, of course, if your friends make more appealing travel companions. Albus Dumbledore.
"What are crumpets?" Sirius asked.
"They're muggle food," I replied. I knew that this invitation probably wasn't optional, because Albus had been researching further horcruxes over the holidays. Fawkes disappeared in a burst of flames as I glanced towards the others. "Dumbledore has invited me and Sirius for tea," I explained.
"Why?" James asked.
"To exchange Christmas presents." I continued. I felt this made it seem less suspicious, plus I had brought a Christmas gift for Albus. I retrieved this gift from my trunk, whilst Sirius stepped out of the compartment.
"Think he found another one," Sirius asked as we walked along the train.
"Perhaps," I replied. I really hoped that Albus had located another Horcrux. Sirius knocked when we reached Albus's compartment.
"Come in," Albus called. I slowly slid open the door.
"Ah, Miss. Granger," he greeted, "and Mr. Black. Please, have a seat." We both sat down opposite Albus.
"Merry Christmas," I smiled, holding up the Christmas present.
"This is very thoughtful of you," Albus smiled, "I must apologise for not sending gifts. I became rather preoccupied after the fiasco at the Order's party." Albus continued by summoning a couple of Christmas presents from the overhead storage. Sirius became rather speechless as one of the presents landed in front of him.
"You shouldn't have, sir," I said.
"Christmas is about giving, is it not?" Albus said, before tapping the top of the teapot, which sprang into action and poured out three cups of tea. I watched Albus helping himself to crumpets. He gestured for us to do the same, which Sirius happily did without hesitation. "I believe it's traditionally ladies first," Albus said after a moment. I glanced towards him, confused. He glanced towards my gift. Oh. I slowly tore open the paper to find a book; The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The book was quite old, written in runes and a first edition. "Fairy tales," Albus explained, "perfect bedtime reading I've always found."
"Thank you," I smiled, flicking through the book.
"Age before beauty," Sirius said next with a smirk.
Albus chuckled, "quite right." I looked up from the book as Albus unwrapped his gift. Albus looked very pleased as he inspected the jar of muggle pick'n'mix.
"I hope there's some you haven't tried before," I started, "I got a wide range."
"I'll look forward to them," Albus responded with a twinkle in his eyes.
I helped myself to another crumpet whilst Albus stared towards Sirius. Sirius grinned, grabbing his gift. I flinched as Sirius ripped open the gift, though I smirked as a confused expression washed over his face. He was now holding a small emerald coloured device. The device sort of looked like a cigarette lighter.
"What is it?" Sirius asked.
Albus smiled, "there's a button." Sirius hesitated for a moment. I'm almost certain that Albus wouldn't give Sirius something dangerous. I watched as Sirius pressed the button. The device flipped open at the top, and suddenly it went dark, as if the light had been pulled from the fittings and fixtures. "It's a Deluminator," Albus explained, as we sat in the dark. "It is capable of drawing the light from any source… if you press the button again, then the light will be restored." Sirius pressed the button again. The light returned to the compartment.
"Cool," Sirius said. I couldn't begin to imagine the amount of trouble that Sirius and James would get up to with a device like this.
"Use it wisely, Mr. Black." Albus said. I smirked; that's never going to happen.
"Thank you," Sirius smiled, "did you have a good Christmas, sir?"
Albus smiled, "yes. It was quite informative, in fact that brings me onto my next agenda."
"You've found another horcrux?" I asked, hopefully.
"I have confirmed the location of Marvolo Gaunt's Ring," he corrected. Hmmm. I supposed that's progress at least.
"Where?" Sirius asked.
"It's most definitely hidden at the Gaunt estate," Albus continued, "I took a trip there to investigate the estate's defensives… I believe I've figured out a plausible strategy for gaining access to the ruins. There is, however, still much planning to do... I've requested that Professor Cullen trains you both in techniques to resist dark energy. There's an awful lot of it surrounding the estate, and you must be strong enough to resist it." I'd always known locating these horcruxes would be dangerous. Albus said he'd arrange these training sessions once we'd settled back in at Hogwarts. We returned to our tea and crumpets after this. Sirius spent some time explaining his motorbike lessons to Albus, who seemed very intrigued by it all.
Returning to the Marauders compartment after changing into our robes, Sirius and I found James and Lily making out. Sirius grinned at me, which I knew meant pay back. James is always interrupting us. He quietly opened the compartment door. I couldn't figure out where Remus and Peter had disappeared too, possibly another compartment. I glanced towards Sirius, who suddenly shouted.
'James Potter!' Lily and James sprung apart: James hitting his head on the window, and Lily flushing bright red. James rubbed his head as he retrieved his glasses, which had fallen to the floor.
'Pads! Not cool, dude!' James complained. Sirius sat down opposite him.
"Where's Moony and Wormtail?" Sirius asked. James glanced around the compartment, looking rather confused.
"Err," he started. I sat down besides Sirius, leaning into his side. There were a few moments of peace, before Remus and Peter reappeared.
"Oh good," Peter started, "they've stopped eating each other." Sirius smirked.
James frowned, "you're just as bad with Mynee. I've had to put up with it all Christmas."
"No, you didn't." Sirius retorted, "anything you saw was entirely your own fault." James and Sirius continued bickering, until the sweets trolley arrived. After which, they'd became preoccupied with the cauldron cakes that I'd bought. I'd settled down against Sirius's side, with the copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, falling asleep at some point in the warmth of the compartment.
