Notes: Thank you to both Nebula and Chispa_estelar for their encouraging reviews. I dedicate this chapter to you =^-^=.
To: OoklaTheMok, I have but one thing to say: Bugger Off. In case any of you haven't noted it, there will be little to know Japanese in the following chapters, though I think it sort of detracts from their characters (those of SM, anyway), but that's just me, and I'm certainly not God like OoklaTheMok.
Disclaimer: Stands as my disclaimers do: I own nothing, and Usagi is not God.
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Chapter Eight - Of School and Christmas Troubles
Makoto was forced to stay in bed for two days before being set free by Madam Pomfrey. All in all she hadn't minded too much. Hermione, Ron, and even Professor Lupin had come to visit her, and so Sirius had been able to stay in his normal form much longer than he expected. He used Harry's invisibility cloak to sneak out that second night, and in the morning Lupin himself came to retrieve her for breakfast.
"Ne, ne, Sensei ... " Makoto asked, pausing.
"Yes, Jillian?"
"Wasn't there a painting there yesterday?" she pointed to a large empty space on the wall.
Lupin looked up and sure enough, nothing was there, though he was sure that there had been a large oil canvas of a nurse tending to a patient. He debated telling Makoto this, but decided against it figuring he could ask Madam Pomfrey about it later, and shook his head.
"No, I don't think so. Maybe you're thinking of a different painting. At any rate, there are plenty for you to look at while we go down for breakfast."
"All right. I am hungry," Makoto consented, but she really didn't believe him.
There had been a painting there, and now that she thought about it, it hadn't been the first time that she'd suspected a painting of disappearing. She just hadn't been paying attention to it before, but she promised herself that she would be doubly on the alert now.
That turned out not to be the case, however, as she was soon caught up in a whirlwind of tests, homework, tutoring both from and to Hermione, Quidditch, avoiding Malfoy and Snape as much as possible, and trying to work in free time with Ami, Rei, and Hotaru.
Makoto's classes in Charms had been getting steadily easier thanks to the steady guidance of Hermione, who was proving to be one of her closest friends, if not nearly a sister. True to her part of the deal they had made, Makoto was also teaching Hermione some of the more basic Japanese and found that she could already hold short conversations with the girl, which pleased her because it made conspiracies that much easier to plan. Though Hermione still disapproved of pranks, she had loosened up immensely in the years she had spent with Harry and Ron, and was now even helpful in coming up with some ideas to rival those of Fred and George's.
Malfoy and Snape were not Makoto's favorite people in the world, and she had more than one nasty exchange with Malfoy in the halls, but she was learning how to deal with them as well. In Potions she made sure to follow each instruction as meticulously as possible and tried desperately not to talk unless forced to by Snape. To deal with Malfoy she ignored him until he got on the subject of her late admittance or her dead parents, and then she would snap at him with some choice phrases that would make a sailor blush and walk away.
As it turned out, Sirius and Lupin had both been correct in telling Makoto that she would make an excellent Chaser, like her father. Sirius and Harry had even thrown their money together to buy her a Firebolt as an early birthday present. Calvin Sibley and Rupert Grint had also both been appointed as Chasers, though one had to sit out of every other game to be fair. But Lee was optimistic as always, saying that he was confident that when the three played together they would make as good a Chaser team that Angelina, Katie, and Alicia had been. There was a nostalgic feeling in his voice when he said that, but that was to be expected after their years of wonderful playing.
It was also hard to work in the free time she would have liked with Ami, Hotaru, and Rei. Being in different years, they had different schedules, and so it was hard to get in any real talking time during the day. There was breakfast, when they could sit at each others tables before the majority of the students wandered in, and in the halls when they passed each other, but no real time other than the weekends and during Quidditch matches. When they did get together on those few occasions, they would revert to Japanese and have rapid and long conversations to catch up with each other.
Best of all, Makoto was sure, was that Harry's scar wasn't hurting, and so there was no real chance of attack. The security had been upped since last year, Harry told her so and pointed out all the improvements, but any thought of Voldemort receded to the back of her mind and stayed there, despite it all. Her own scar had never really hurt, and both Sirius (who was now hiding in the castle grounds full-time) and Lupin theorized that it might have been the distance between her and Voldemort for much of her life. Lee, Fred, and George were still plotting the match of Ron and Makoto, and Makoto herself was trying to nudge Hermione to either Neville or Harry. So far it seemed Neville was going to be the winner. All in all, everything was going well, right up until Christmas.
"It's Christmas! Harry! Ron! Wake up! OKITEEEE! C'mon, it's snowing!" shouted a very happy voice.
Harry groaned and promptly pulled the covers over his head, trying to block out the light of the sun filtering in through the dorm window. He could hear the sounds of Seamus, Ron, and Dean waking up in their beds.
"Harold J. Potter! If you don't get up right now, I'm flying your Firebolt into the Whomping Willow, so help me!" shouted that same voice.
Now Harry shot up in bed, shaking his head frantically. "All right, I'm up! I'm up! Don't you dare touch my broom!"
Ron snorted on one side of him, Seamus and Dean laughed on the other. Neville had spent his night in the Prefect's lounge with Hermione, but what they were doing was strictly confidential. Each had chosen to spend the vacation at school because of the Triwizard Tournament, but they'd be dead before confessing their concern for Harry. The twins were up in their dorm, and Hotaru was in hers, but they would be down soon enough. The rest of the Gryffindor house had gone home for the vacation. Now Makoto launched herself at Harry, laughing freely and knocking him over.
"C'mon, baka-niichan! I want to go outside and you've got presents to open! Oh, this place makes me want to sing!"
The youngest Weasley boy laughed, "So why don't you?"
"I think I will! Jinguru beeru, jinguru beeru, suzu ga naru. Suzu ga rizumu ni hikari ni no wa ga mau. Jinguru beeru, jinguru beeru, suzu ga naru. Mori ni hayashi ni hibiki nagara."
Pausing for air and laughing again, Makoto tugged Harry out of his bed and thrust a robe at him. Ron, Seamus and Dean followed them, each in wonder of Makoto's enthusiasm. They trooped downstairs, shuffling in their robes and pajamas, and watched her all but dive on top of a small pile of wrapped boxes.
"Hora! Look! I've got presents! Can you believe it?" she cried.
"You shout as if you've never celebrated Christmas before," Fred yawned as he and George came downstairs to join the younger students.
"Well, I haven't."
The twins simultaneously tripped on the stairs and tumbled down, landing with a thud at the bottom, sending everyone else into hysterical laughter. Finally they picked themselves up, gaping at the young girl.
"You ... what?" George choked.
"This'll be my first real Christmas," Makoto replied.
The twins gaped dramatically at her, and she sighed in embarrassment, a blush rising slightly to her cheeks. It was true that other Japanese families celebrated Christmas, but she had never had one because her parents had kept to their Shinto religion. Even Rei and Ami didn't celebrate Christmas, and they had been her second family of sorts. So, she used that as her excuse.
"Oh, stop staring!" she groaned, "I was brought up Japanese, you know. Come on now! You've got presents too!"
Her last sentence set off a fury of excitement. Wrapping paper was torn off eagerly and sent flying every which way. Gifts were goggled at and squealed over. Harry got a subscription to a Quidditch magazine from Ron, and a big chocolate cake from Mrs. Weasley. He'd also gotten a miniature dog that walked around in his hand from Seamus, a drawing of himself and Makoto laughing happily in front of the Great Lake from Dean, a piece of gold ribbon from the Dursleys, a book on Auror training from Hermione, and a box of Chocolate Frogs and Sugar Quills from Neville to share with Makoto, but nothing from Makoto herself. Trying to mask his disappointment, he smiled and thanked his friends graciously.
"Oh wow! Jillian, these are so cool! ... Er ... what are they?" Ron asked.
Makoto laughed and the rest of the Gryffindors laughed, and most of the other students gathered around Ron to get a good look at the two coins, a piece of jade, and red ribbon that rested in the box he held.
"The coins are Japanese coins, their own version Muggle money," Makoto explained. "The green stone is jade. Here, you string this red string through them to make a necklace and they're supposed to bring good luck. It's custom for the giver to place the necklace around the neck of the person he or she is giving it to. So let me, okay?"
"Er ... okay ... " Ron said, blushing hotly.
There were suppressed snickers around the room, even from Harry, and especially from the twins. The portrait hole swung open and Hermione and Neville walked in. The situation was quickly explained in shorthand by Dean to avoid conflicts, though neither would have said anything anyway, then he looked at his present from Makoto.
"Oh my god!" he gasped, opening the box, "Jillian, where on earth did you get these?"
She looked over and grinned, embarrassed. "Hagrid and I made 'em. He carved them, I painted them. Then I got Professor McGonagall to help me bewitch them. Do you like it?"
"They're wonderful!" Dean replied, enthusiastically, "Now I can show all you Muggle-ignorant people how soccer is played! Come here and look at them!"
Everyone crowded around the box he held open proudly. Inside was a miniature, hand-carved and painted, soccer team. His soccer team set of another flurry of excitement, everyone trying to see what Makoto had gotten for them. For Seamus, she'd bought a set of fire-proof phials for potions (since his had melted during one class), and for Hermione she put together a book of verses and sonnets from ancient playwrights. Seeing the nice the wonderful presents others had received, the twins curiously opened theirs and gave shouts of joy. Makoto had bought them new Quidditch robes. She had even gone so far as to give Neville a small kitten in place of Trevor, who'd finally gotten away. Seeing all the wonderful things Makoto had bought the others, Harry couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't gotten anything for him.
"Nii-chan! Your turn!" Makoto suddenly called.
"Huh?"
"You didn't think I forgot you, did you?"
"Er ... well, no ... "
"Baka! Of course not! I didn't know what to buy you, so I got something else. There's just one catch."
"Eh? What's that?"
"The rest of you have to promise not to panic, and you all have to give me your wands. Except Ron and Hermione."
"How come they get special treatment?" Fred complained.
"Just give me the wands and promise not to panic, or I'll just have to disarm you all. This is required for Harry to get his present."
Amid much annoyed grumbling Makoto got hold of all wands but for Ron's and Hermione's. They looked at each other, bewildered, but Hermione had a smile that suggested she had an idea of what was going on. And she was pointing at the black robes she wore.
Black robes? ... Jillian got Harry robes? No, that doesn't make any sense ... Black ... robes ... Black ... SIRIUS BLACK! Ron realized and smacked his forehead.
"Yoshi!" Makoto grinned, "Shiriaasu-chichi! Come in!"
The portrait hole swung open ... but no one entered.
"You can take it off, you know."
The folds of an Invisibility Cloak opened, very slowly ... so that's where it went, Harry thought idly. The only thing left was the hood. Suddenly Harry's face lit up.
"Sirius!" he shouted, running to hug the older man.
Panicked voices all cried out together, their yells impossible to tell apart.
"Sirius!? Sirius Black!? Are you all insane?! What's he doing here?! Oh shit we're gonna die! Oh, don't be stupid, only Harry and Jillian are gonna die! What did he do to you, Jillian? He bewitched them! How did he get into Hogwarts? He's escaped!"
"URUSEI!" Makoto shouted, standing on a table.
All noise abruptly stopped. Even the portraits in the Common Room turned to look at Makoto, standing near Sirius and Harry as she was. She jumped off the table and started pacing in front of them, however, and they all followed her movements with their eyes.
"First, you promised not to panic. Second, everyone, meet my godfather, Sirius Black. Sirius, meet the rest ... well, most of the rest ... of the Gryffindor house. Third, bloody shut up before you get the Ministry authorities here."
Sirius bowed his head in greeting to the others, still holding Harry closely to him. Ron grinned widely and Hermione quickly rubbed at her eyes so the others wouldn't notice her tears. Makoto stopped her pacing and nudged her way into the hug and they could faintly hear: "Happy Christmas, nii-chan."
"He's innocent, you know," Ron started.
Fred and George looked at each other, shaking their heads. "Nutters, completely, stark-raving mad."
"No he's not!" Hermione insisted.
Every student in the Common Room stared at her. She sighed and plowed ahead.
"Pettigrew faked his own death; he was the betrayer of the Potters. Sirius is their godfather, and no, he wasn't their Secret Keeper. He persuaded them to use Pettigrew at the last minute. You can all run to Dumbledore now, but he'll tell you the same things I've said. Now let them enjoy Christmas as a family, will you?"
Later in the morning, Sirius, Makoto, and Harry still hadn't left the Gryffindor Common room. They had been given ample space by many of the students, who didn't trust Sirius, but realized that Makoto was still in possession of their wands. Hermione and Ron had done a good job of keeping them all quiet, though Dumbledore had confirmed the story for the twins who had barged into him quite literally in the halls. The old man had given the trio somewhat of a disapproving clucking of the tongue, but the usual twinkle in his bright blue eyes seemed brighter than ever. Lupin had also stopped by to check in on them, drop off a few presents, a painting of the three of them together, and then left them to their own devices. It was then that Makoto remembered the painting that had disappeared in the Hospital Wing three months before.
"Nii-chan? Sirius-chichi?" she asked.
"Mm?" came back lazily.
"Have either of you noticed any paintings missing from anywhere? I mean, there was a picture of a lady taking care of a sick patient in the Hospital Wing, right? But when I left, I never saw it."
There was a contemplative silence before anyone spoke.
"You know," Harry stated, "Now that you mention it ... you remember that old armor suit that used to follow first years down the hall on the way to Potions? It's been missing for a month now. I just don't think anyone's missed it enough to care. I thought it had just been moved."
"What ever happened to that old cowardly knight?" Sirius asked. "You know, that Sir Cadogan fellow. I went around the grounds a week or so ago and I wandered up there, but I didn't see him. He wasn't even calling out his usual insults from any other frames, and there were a whole bunch of empty spaces."
"Professor Lupin said that he didn't think there had been a picture there when I pointed it out to him," Makoto said thoughtfully, "but I knew there had been one. Shiriaasu-chichi? Do you know anything about this bracelet?"
The older man looked down at it thoughtfully. He lifted her hand close to his eyes and scrutinized it carefully.
"It's made of shiny metal," he replied, laughing. "It probably has some kind of power in it or something. Why? Where'd you get it from?"
"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you. It was sent to me by an anonymous person who gave me no return address. There wasn't even a stamp on it. And it gets really cold sometimes, and then back to normal temperature the second after it's been cold," she stopped, frustrated with it.
Sirius wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders and pulled her in a little closer. Both Harry and Makoto noticed that he had a tendency to touch them as much as possible, as if trying to reassure himself that they were real. Each figured that it had to do with his time in Azkaban and did not ask questions. Makoto wasn't sure she really wanted to know.
"Come on now, buck up!" the older man said, "It's Christmas! You're supposed to be happy on Christmas! There's still a feast to attend, and we've got the rest of the vacation to catch up with each other. I want you to go and have fun with your friends, understood?"
Harry and Makoto nodded dutifully and Sirius pushed them off the couch. They stood up right after catching their balance and looked back at him. He grinned and made 'shooing' motions towards the portrait hole.
"Go on, and have fun. You've been with me all day. Besides, Snape and I have a bit to catch up on."
"And that means trouble," Harry laughed gently. "If you're sure ... I've got some work in the library. I promised Hermione she could rope me into studying for my O.W.L.s over the next week." He turned and began walking to the portrait hole, then he stopped shortly and turned back. "Oh yeah, Jillie?"
"Hai?"
"Ron said he wanted to see you. Said something about your present. He asked you to wait here for him for him."
"All right," Makoto nodded and sat on the floor, next to her mostly unopened presents, "If you see him, tell him I'm up here, ne? Oh, and if you see Ami-chan and Rei-chan?"
Harry smiled slightly. "Hai, shimasu."
It was the younger turn to smile. "Baka-niichan."
True to his words, Harry must have told Ron that she'd be waiting for him, for the red headed boy came in less than fifteen minutes later. Sirius had left to see Snape, probably to pull some sort of prank on him, or maybe just to talk, though Makoto thought that unlikely.
"Hi, Ron," she said when he entered.
"Oh ... hello, Jillian," he stuttered back.
They fell silent, each unsure as to where to take the conversation. For Makoto it was especially awkward because she was alone with her crush. She didn't know what Ron felt, but he looked surprised to see her.
"Er ... Harry you wanted me to wait for you here ... " Makoto finally said, trailing off at the end.
"Um ... yeah ... I know I didn't leave you a present under the tree and all, and I ... uh ... " now it was Ron's turn to trail off.
"It's okay. To tell you the truth I didn't expect to get anything at all. I mean, you hardly know me and all and ... "
Ron shaking his head vigorously stopped her from going any further. He stepped forward, closer to Makoto. She stood still, nerves keeping her locked in place.
"No, it's not that," he said quickly, "It's just ... I didn't know what to get you at all and I ... uh ... well, I asked Harry and he said that *he* didn't know. And then I asked my brothers and they said to meet you here today, but they didn't say why and ... "
The boy trailed off again, looking down at the ground and scuffing his shoes on the floor. A breeze fluttered through a window, but the merrily cackling fire kept them from feeling any chill. A movement from the ceiling did catch Makoto's attention though, and she looked up.
"What's that?" she asked.
Ron looked up too, and blushed so brightly that Makoto had to stifle her chuckles, despite that she figured she should be nervous.
"It's ... er ... it's mistletoe," the youngest Weasley boy explained. "When two people are under it ... they're ... uh ... they're supposed to ... to kiss."
Now Makoto knew that she must have been blushing as bright as he was and looked down nervously. Ron hadn't looked up once during his explanation, and she was now sure that he didn't have any feelings other than friendship for her.
"You don't have to," she said quickly, "I mean, it might ruin the friendship and all that, so if you don't want to I understand - "
"Jillian," he cut her off and closed the distance between them, "I have a feeling that my brothers set this up, but it's only because they knew I wanted it."
Before she could process what he meant, Makoto felt Ron's lips touch hers gently. Before she could process what she was feeling, Makoto felt herself melt into him. Christmas was really looking good.
"Oy! I don't know what the big idea is, but damn it, what the bloody hell did you do with the Fat Lady?" shouted a voice.
Ron and Makoto jumped apart, staring at each other, jaws gaping. The Fat Lady was gone, and they were stuck inside.
~Owari, chapter eight~
*coughs* ... right, well, there's chapter eight. Hopefully, some of you have been able to put two and two together between the bracelet and the disappearances (and there I just gave it away), but that's not all the bracelet does. You'll find that out soon enough!
About the whole thing between Ron and Makoto during the presents (the necklace thing) I think that generally it's a Chinese custom, but for all purposes of this story, Mako's made it her own. Also, the "custom" for the giver to string it around the receiver's neck ... is totally fake. I just wanted Mako to have a chance to be close to Ron, and that was her excuse =^-^=
Urusei = "shut up"
Yoshi = "good"
Shiriaasu-chichi = "Sirius-papa"
Shimasu = "will do"
Baka-niichan = "silly brother"
And if you can't tell ... the song she's singing in the beginning is the Japanese "Jingle Bells".
Now for authors ending notes/rant, which you are not obligated to read ...
I'm sorry, but this whole Japanese thing is really starting to bother me. I'm sorry if you don't know any Japanese. "Iie" means, "no". "Hai" means, "yes". Both are common words used by everyone in Japan, and even by those of us here in America who don't know any more Japanese than that. If you think that someone saying "iie" is going too far, then I have every right to say you're insane.
There's also another thing that bothers me about the Japanese. IT'S MY STORY! No, the characters are not mine. No, I can never even hope to own them. BUT: the *plot* of this story is mine, and God damn it, if I want to ^*$#&)@ use Japanese, then I'm going to ^*$#&)@ use Japanese. The characters of Sailor Moon come from Tokyo, Japan. They speak Japanese. You have no right to tell me how to write my own story. I really don't think I need any more justification of using the Japanese than that.
Also, "to the best of my knowledge" means, in so many words "from a dictionary". I am also in my second year "honors" Japanese class, and my average is a 90 (A to A+), so I do believe I have a rather good grip on what I'm writing, though it is not perfect. If any of you are Japanese and you have suggestions for me, than please make them! I'd love you forever if you did.
Lastly, I don't expect any of you to be fluent in the language. I'm certainly not. But the sentences I write are fairly simple and basic. You can pick your way through most of them by the context of what else is going on. Also, because of all this trouble it is causing, I'm only going to be throwing a few basic words in every now and again, so buggers like OoklaTheMok can rest easy.
To: OoklaTheMok, I have but one thing to say: Bugger Off. In case any of you haven't noted it, there will be little to know Japanese in the following chapters, though I think it sort of detracts from their characters (those of SM, anyway), but that's just me, and I'm certainly not God like OoklaTheMok.
Disclaimer: Stands as my disclaimers do: I own nothing, and Usagi is not God.
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Chapter Eight - Of School and Christmas Troubles
Makoto was forced to stay in bed for two days before being set free by Madam Pomfrey. All in all she hadn't minded too much. Hermione, Ron, and even Professor Lupin had come to visit her, and so Sirius had been able to stay in his normal form much longer than he expected. He used Harry's invisibility cloak to sneak out that second night, and in the morning Lupin himself came to retrieve her for breakfast.
"Ne, ne, Sensei ... " Makoto asked, pausing.
"Yes, Jillian?"
"Wasn't there a painting there yesterday?" she pointed to a large empty space on the wall.
Lupin looked up and sure enough, nothing was there, though he was sure that there had been a large oil canvas of a nurse tending to a patient. He debated telling Makoto this, but decided against it figuring he could ask Madam Pomfrey about it later, and shook his head.
"No, I don't think so. Maybe you're thinking of a different painting. At any rate, there are plenty for you to look at while we go down for breakfast."
"All right. I am hungry," Makoto consented, but she really didn't believe him.
There had been a painting there, and now that she thought about it, it hadn't been the first time that she'd suspected a painting of disappearing. She just hadn't been paying attention to it before, but she promised herself that she would be doubly on the alert now.
That turned out not to be the case, however, as she was soon caught up in a whirlwind of tests, homework, tutoring both from and to Hermione, Quidditch, avoiding Malfoy and Snape as much as possible, and trying to work in free time with Ami, Rei, and Hotaru.
Makoto's classes in Charms had been getting steadily easier thanks to the steady guidance of Hermione, who was proving to be one of her closest friends, if not nearly a sister. True to her part of the deal they had made, Makoto was also teaching Hermione some of the more basic Japanese and found that she could already hold short conversations with the girl, which pleased her because it made conspiracies that much easier to plan. Though Hermione still disapproved of pranks, she had loosened up immensely in the years she had spent with Harry and Ron, and was now even helpful in coming up with some ideas to rival those of Fred and George's.
Malfoy and Snape were not Makoto's favorite people in the world, and she had more than one nasty exchange with Malfoy in the halls, but she was learning how to deal with them as well. In Potions she made sure to follow each instruction as meticulously as possible and tried desperately not to talk unless forced to by Snape. To deal with Malfoy she ignored him until he got on the subject of her late admittance or her dead parents, and then she would snap at him with some choice phrases that would make a sailor blush and walk away.
As it turned out, Sirius and Lupin had both been correct in telling Makoto that she would make an excellent Chaser, like her father. Sirius and Harry had even thrown their money together to buy her a Firebolt as an early birthday present. Calvin Sibley and Rupert Grint had also both been appointed as Chasers, though one had to sit out of every other game to be fair. But Lee was optimistic as always, saying that he was confident that when the three played together they would make as good a Chaser team that Angelina, Katie, and Alicia had been. There was a nostalgic feeling in his voice when he said that, but that was to be expected after their years of wonderful playing.
It was also hard to work in the free time she would have liked with Ami, Hotaru, and Rei. Being in different years, they had different schedules, and so it was hard to get in any real talking time during the day. There was breakfast, when they could sit at each others tables before the majority of the students wandered in, and in the halls when they passed each other, but no real time other than the weekends and during Quidditch matches. When they did get together on those few occasions, they would revert to Japanese and have rapid and long conversations to catch up with each other.
Best of all, Makoto was sure, was that Harry's scar wasn't hurting, and so there was no real chance of attack. The security had been upped since last year, Harry told her so and pointed out all the improvements, but any thought of Voldemort receded to the back of her mind and stayed there, despite it all. Her own scar had never really hurt, and both Sirius (who was now hiding in the castle grounds full-time) and Lupin theorized that it might have been the distance between her and Voldemort for much of her life. Lee, Fred, and George were still plotting the match of Ron and Makoto, and Makoto herself was trying to nudge Hermione to either Neville or Harry. So far it seemed Neville was going to be the winner. All in all, everything was going well, right up until Christmas.
"It's Christmas! Harry! Ron! Wake up! OKITEEEE! C'mon, it's snowing!" shouted a very happy voice.
Harry groaned and promptly pulled the covers over his head, trying to block out the light of the sun filtering in through the dorm window. He could hear the sounds of Seamus, Ron, and Dean waking up in their beds.
"Harold J. Potter! If you don't get up right now, I'm flying your Firebolt into the Whomping Willow, so help me!" shouted that same voice.
Now Harry shot up in bed, shaking his head frantically. "All right, I'm up! I'm up! Don't you dare touch my broom!"
Ron snorted on one side of him, Seamus and Dean laughed on the other. Neville had spent his night in the Prefect's lounge with Hermione, but what they were doing was strictly confidential. Each had chosen to spend the vacation at school because of the Triwizard Tournament, but they'd be dead before confessing their concern for Harry. The twins were up in their dorm, and Hotaru was in hers, but they would be down soon enough. The rest of the Gryffindor house had gone home for the vacation. Now Makoto launched herself at Harry, laughing freely and knocking him over.
"C'mon, baka-niichan! I want to go outside and you've got presents to open! Oh, this place makes me want to sing!"
The youngest Weasley boy laughed, "So why don't you?"
"I think I will! Jinguru beeru, jinguru beeru, suzu ga naru. Suzu ga rizumu ni hikari ni no wa ga mau. Jinguru beeru, jinguru beeru, suzu ga naru. Mori ni hayashi ni hibiki nagara."
Pausing for air and laughing again, Makoto tugged Harry out of his bed and thrust a robe at him. Ron, Seamus and Dean followed them, each in wonder of Makoto's enthusiasm. They trooped downstairs, shuffling in their robes and pajamas, and watched her all but dive on top of a small pile of wrapped boxes.
"Hora! Look! I've got presents! Can you believe it?" she cried.
"You shout as if you've never celebrated Christmas before," Fred yawned as he and George came downstairs to join the younger students.
"Well, I haven't."
The twins simultaneously tripped on the stairs and tumbled down, landing with a thud at the bottom, sending everyone else into hysterical laughter. Finally they picked themselves up, gaping at the young girl.
"You ... what?" George choked.
"This'll be my first real Christmas," Makoto replied.
The twins gaped dramatically at her, and she sighed in embarrassment, a blush rising slightly to her cheeks. It was true that other Japanese families celebrated Christmas, but she had never had one because her parents had kept to their Shinto religion. Even Rei and Ami didn't celebrate Christmas, and they had been her second family of sorts. So, she used that as her excuse.
"Oh, stop staring!" she groaned, "I was brought up Japanese, you know. Come on now! You've got presents too!"
Her last sentence set off a fury of excitement. Wrapping paper was torn off eagerly and sent flying every which way. Gifts were goggled at and squealed over. Harry got a subscription to a Quidditch magazine from Ron, and a big chocolate cake from Mrs. Weasley. He'd also gotten a miniature dog that walked around in his hand from Seamus, a drawing of himself and Makoto laughing happily in front of the Great Lake from Dean, a piece of gold ribbon from the Dursleys, a book on Auror training from Hermione, and a box of Chocolate Frogs and Sugar Quills from Neville to share with Makoto, but nothing from Makoto herself. Trying to mask his disappointment, he smiled and thanked his friends graciously.
"Oh wow! Jillian, these are so cool! ... Er ... what are they?" Ron asked.
Makoto laughed and the rest of the Gryffindors laughed, and most of the other students gathered around Ron to get a good look at the two coins, a piece of jade, and red ribbon that rested in the box he held.
"The coins are Japanese coins, their own version Muggle money," Makoto explained. "The green stone is jade. Here, you string this red string through them to make a necklace and they're supposed to bring good luck. It's custom for the giver to place the necklace around the neck of the person he or she is giving it to. So let me, okay?"
"Er ... okay ... " Ron said, blushing hotly.
There were suppressed snickers around the room, even from Harry, and especially from the twins. The portrait hole swung open and Hermione and Neville walked in. The situation was quickly explained in shorthand by Dean to avoid conflicts, though neither would have said anything anyway, then he looked at his present from Makoto.
"Oh my god!" he gasped, opening the box, "Jillian, where on earth did you get these?"
She looked over and grinned, embarrassed. "Hagrid and I made 'em. He carved them, I painted them. Then I got Professor McGonagall to help me bewitch them. Do you like it?"
"They're wonderful!" Dean replied, enthusiastically, "Now I can show all you Muggle-ignorant people how soccer is played! Come here and look at them!"
Everyone crowded around the box he held open proudly. Inside was a miniature, hand-carved and painted, soccer team. His soccer team set of another flurry of excitement, everyone trying to see what Makoto had gotten for them. For Seamus, she'd bought a set of fire-proof phials for potions (since his had melted during one class), and for Hermione she put together a book of verses and sonnets from ancient playwrights. Seeing the nice the wonderful presents others had received, the twins curiously opened theirs and gave shouts of joy. Makoto had bought them new Quidditch robes. She had even gone so far as to give Neville a small kitten in place of Trevor, who'd finally gotten away. Seeing all the wonderful things Makoto had bought the others, Harry couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't gotten anything for him.
"Nii-chan! Your turn!" Makoto suddenly called.
"Huh?"
"You didn't think I forgot you, did you?"
"Er ... well, no ... "
"Baka! Of course not! I didn't know what to buy you, so I got something else. There's just one catch."
"Eh? What's that?"
"The rest of you have to promise not to panic, and you all have to give me your wands. Except Ron and Hermione."
"How come they get special treatment?" Fred complained.
"Just give me the wands and promise not to panic, or I'll just have to disarm you all. This is required for Harry to get his present."
Amid much annoyed grumbling Makoto got hold of all wands but for Ron's and Hermione's. They looked at each other, bewildered, but Hermione had a smile that suggested she had an idea of what was going on. And she was pointing at the black robes she wore.
Black robes? ... Jillian got Harry robes? No, that doesn't make any sense ... Black ... robes ... Black ... SIRIUS BLACK! Ron realized and smacked his forehead.
"Yoshi!" Makoto grinned, "Shiriaasu-chichi! Come in!"
The portrait hole swung open ... but no one entered.
"You can take it off, you know."
The folds of an Invisibility Cloak opened, very slowly ... so that's where it went, Harry thought idly. The only thing left was the hood. Suddenly Harry's face lit up.
"Sirius!" he shouted, running to hug the older man.
Panicked voices all cried out together, their yells impossible to tell apart.
"Sirius!? Sirius Black!? Are you all insane?! What's he doing here?! Oh shit we're gonna die! Oh, don't be stupid, only Harry and Jillian are gonna die! What did he do to you, Jillian? He bewitched them! How did he get into Hogwarts? He's escaped!"
"URUSEI!" Makoto shouted, standing on a table.
All noise abruptly stopped. Even the portraits in the Common Room turned to look at Makoto, standing near Sirius and Harry as she was. She jumped off the table and started pacing in front of them, however, and they all followed her movements with their eyes.
"First, you promised not to panic. Second, everyone, meet my godfather, Sirius Black. Sirius, meet the rest ... well, most of the rest ... of the Gryffindor house. Third, bloody shut up before you get the Ministry authorities here."
Sirius bowed his head in greeting to the others, still holding Harry closely to him. Ron grinned widely and Hermione quickly rubbed at her eyes so the others wouldn't notice her tears. Makoto stopped her pacing and nudged her way into the hug and they could faintly hear: "Happy Christmas, nii-chan."
"He's innocent, you know," Ron started.
Fred and George looked at each other, shaking their heads. "Nutters, completely, stark-raving mad."
"No he's not!" Hermione insisted.
Every student in the Common Room stared at her. She sighed and plowed ahead.
"Pettigrew faked his own death; he was the betrayer of the Potters. Sirius is their godfather, and no, he wasn't their Secret Keeper. He persuaded them to use Pettigrew at the last minute. You can all run to Dumbledore now, but he'll tell you the same things I've said. Now let them enjoy Christmas as a family, will you?"
Later in the morning, Sirius, Makoto, and Harry still hadn't left the Gryffindor Common room. They had been given ample space by many of the students, who didn't trust Sirius, but realized that Makoto was still in possession of their wands. Hermione and Ron had done a good job of keeping them all quiet, though Dumbledore had confirmed the story for the twins who had barged into him quite literally in the halls. The old man had given the trio somewhat of a disapproving clucking of the tongue, but the usual twinkle in his bright blue eyes seemed brighter than ever. Lupin had also stopped by to check in on them, drop off a few presents, a painting of the three of them together, and then left them to their own devices. It was then that Makoto remembered the painting that had disappeared in the Hospital Wing three months before.
"Nii-chan? Sirius-chichi?" she asked.
"Mm?" came back lazily.
"Have either of you noticed any paintings missing from anywhere? I mean, there was a picture of a lady taking care of a sick patient in the Hospital Wing, right? But when I left, I never saw it."
There was a contemplative silence before anyone spoke.
"You know," Harry stated, "Now that you mention it ... you remember that old armor suit that used to follow first years down the hall on the way to Potions? It's been missing for a month now. I just don't think anyone's missed it enough to care. I thought it had just been moved."
"What ever happened to that old cowardly knight?" Sirius asked. "You know, that Sir Cadogan fellow. I went around the grounds a week or so ago and I wandered up there, but I didn't see him. He wasn't even calling out his usual insults from any other frames, and there were a whole bunch of empty spaces."
"Professor Lupin said that he didn't think there had been a picture there when I pointed it out to him," Makoto said thoughtfully, "but I knew there had been one. Shiriaasu-chichi? Do you know anything about this bracelet?"
The older man looked down at it thoughtfully. He lifted her hand close to his eyes and scrutinized it carefully.
"It's made of shiny metal," he replied, laughing. "It probably has some kind of power in it or something. Why? Where'd you get it from?"
"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you. It was sent to me by an anonymous person who gave me no return address. There wasn't even a stamp on it. And it gets really cold sometimes, and then back to normal temperature the second after it's been cold," she stopped, frustrated with it.
Sirius wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders and pulled her in a little closer. Both Harry and Makoto noticed that he had a tendency to touch them as much as possible, as if trying to reassure himself that they were real. Each figured that it had to do with his time in Azkaban and did not ask questions. Makoto wasn't sure she really wanted to know.
"Come on now, buck up!" the older man said, "It's Christmas! You're supposed to be happy on Christmas! There's still a feast to attend, and we've got the rest of the vacation to catch up with each other. I want you to go and have fun with your friends, understood?"
Harry and Makoto nodded dutifully and Sirius pushed them off the couch. They stood up right after catching their balance and looked back at him. He grinned and made 'shooing' motions towards the portrait hole.
"Go on, and have fun. You've been with me all day. Besides, Snape and I have a bit to catch up on."
"And that means trouble," Harry laughed gently. "If you're sure ... I've got some work in the library. I promised Hermione she could rope me into studying for my O.W.L.s over the next week." He turned and began walking to the portrait hole, then he stopped shortly and turned back. "Oh yeah, Jillie?"
"Hai?"
"Ron said he wanted to see you. Said something about your present. He asked you to wait here for him for him."
"All right," Makoto nodded and sat on the floor, next to her mostly unopened presents, "If you see him, tell him I'm up here, ne? Oh, and if you see Ami-chan and Rei-chan?"
Harry smiled slightly. "Hai, shimasu."
It was the younger turn to smile. "Baka-niichan."
True to his words, Harry must have told Ron that she'd be waiting for him, for the red headed boy came in less than fifteen minutes later. Sirius had left to see Snape, probably to pull some sort of prank on him, or maybe just to talk, though Makoto thought that unlikely.
"Hi, Ron," she said when he entered.
"Oh ... hello, Jillian," he stuttered back.
They fell silent, each unsure as to where to take the conversation. For Makoto it was especially awkward because she was alone with her crush. She didn't know what Ron felt, but he looked surprised to see her.
"Er ... Harry you wanted me to wait for you here ... " Makoto finally said, trailing off at the end.
"Um ... yeah ... I know I didn't leave you a present under the tree and all, and I ... uh ... " now it was Ron's turn to trail off.
"It's okay. To tell you the truth I didn't expect to get anything at all. I mean, you hardly know me and all and ... "
Ron shaking his head vigorously stopped her from going any further. He stepped forward, closer to Makoto. She stood still, nerves keeping her locked in place.
"No, it's not that," he said quickly, "It's just ... I didn't know what to get you at all and I ... uh ... well, I asked Harry and he said that *he* didn't know. And then I asked my brothers and they said to meet you here today, but they didn't say why and ... "
The boy trailed off again, looking down at the ground and scuffing his shoes on the floor. A breeze fluttered through a window, but the merrily cackling fire kept them from feeling any chill. A movement from the ceiling did catch Makoto's attention though, and she looked up.
"What's that?" she asked.
Ron looked up too, and blushed so brightly that Makoto had to stifle her chuckles, despite that she figured she should be nervous.
"It's ... er ... it's mistletoe," the youngest Weasley boy explained. "When two people are under it ... they're ... uh ... they're supposed to ... to kiss."
Now Makoto knew that she must have been blushing as bright as he was and looked down nervously. Ron hadn't looked up once during his explanation, and she was now sure that he didn't have any feelings other than friendship for her.
"You don't have to," she said quickly, "I mean, it might ruin the friendship and all that, so if you don't want to I understand - "
"Jillian," he cut her off and closed the distance between them, "I have a feeling that my brothers set this up, but it's only because they knew I wanted it."
Before she could process what he meant, Makoto felt Ron's lips touch hers gently. Before she could process what she was feeling, Makoto felt herself melt into him. Christmas was really looking good.
"Oy! I don't know what the big idea is, but damn it, what the bloody hell did you do with the Fat Lady?" shouted a voice.
Ron and Makoto jumped apart, staring at each other, jaws gaping. The Fat Lady was gone, and they were stuck inside.
~Owari, chapter eight~
*coughs* ... right, well, there's chapter eight. Hopefully, some of you have been able to put two and two together between the bracelet and the disappearances (and there I just gave it away), but that's not all the bracelet does. You'll find that out soon enough!
About the whole thing between Ron and Makoto during the presents (the necklace thing) I think that generally it's a Chinese custom, but for all purposes of this story, Mako's made it her own. Also, the "custom" for the giver to string it around the receiver's neck ... is totally fake. I just wanted Mako to have a chance to be close to Ron, and that was her excuse =^-^=
Urusei = "shut up"
Yoshi = "good"
Shiriaasu-chichi = "Sirius-papa"
Shimasu = "will do"
Baka-niichan = "silly brother"
And if you can't tell ... the song she's singing in the beginning is the Japanese "Jingle Bells".
Now for authors ending notes/rant, which you are not obligated to read ...
I'm sorry, but this whole Japanese thing is really starting to bother me. I'm sorry if you don't know any Japanese. "Iie" means, "no". "Hai" means, "yes". Both are common words used by everyone in Japan, and even by those of us here in America who don't know any more Japanese than that. If you think that someone saying "iie" is going too far, then I have every right to say you're insane.
There's also another thing that bothers me about the Japanese. IT'S MY STORY! No, the characters are not mine. No, I can never even hope to own them. BUT: the *plot* of this story is mine, and God damn it, if I want to ^*$#&)@ use Japanese, then I'm going to ^*$#&)@ use Japanese. The characters of Sailor Moon come from Tokyo, Japan. They speak Japanese. You have no right to tell me how to write my own story. I really don't think I need any more justification of using the Japanese than that.
Also, "to the best of my knowledge" means, in so many words "from a dictionary". I am also in my second year "honors" Japanese class, and my average is a 90 (A to A+), so I do believe I have a rather good grip on what I'm writing, though it is not perfect. If any of you are Japanese and you have suggestions for me, than please make them! I'd love you forever if you did.
Lastly, I don't expect any of you to be fluent in the language. I'm certainly not. But the sentences I write are fairly simple and basic. You can pick your way through most of them by the context of what else is going on. Also, because of all this trouble it is causing, I'm only going to be throwing a few basic words in every now and again, so buggers like OoklaTheMok can rest easy.