Christmas Day;
One Family Lost, One Friend Found

I was tired on Christmas morning, and hadn't planned on being awake very early. Ten o'clock was a good time for me to wake up, but Devi had another time in mind, such as six.

"Wake up! It's Christmas! Presents! WAKE UP!" She emphasized the word 'up' with a pillow.

"Owww. Why'd you do that?" I whined, not fully awake yet.

"BECAUSE IT'S CHRISTMAS, YOU IDIOT!" she yelled.

"Oh. Why didn't you tell me?" I sat up and started piling all my presents on my bed.

Devi rolled her eyes at my comment and followed suit – we both like to have our presents in easy reach. I placed a large bag in between us for the trash, and we set to work waging war on our present wrappings.

I received presents from a lot of people, but everyone seemed to remember that I didn't care how big it was or how expensive it was as long as it had sentimental value or I could eat it. Therefore, my pile of presents didn't look like something to be marveled at. The content was a different matter. Devi gave me a beautiful silver necklace, matching bracelet, and even a circlet that slightly resembled a crown. Inlaid in the silver were gold ravens. Devi's family was amazingly wealthy, though she scarcely acted like it.

"Oh my god, Dev, it's beautiful. It's just – I . . ." I couldn't go any further, but I didn't need to. Devi met my gaze and, no words necessary, understood.

The Marauders had given me a large bag of tricks and candy. The tricks were the regular kind, like Dungbombs and Fizzing Wizzbees. The candy was slightly less normal. It seemed that the boys thought that I liked Acid Pops and Blood Pops. However, I didn't, so I avoided the candy.

Sirius had also given me a device that allowed a two-way communication. He had the companion piece. It was a piece of polished hemite, roughly circular, close to two inches in diameter, and about half an inch thick. According to the instruction manual, you had to tap it with your wand and whisper your name and then the name of the person you need to talk to. The other stone should grow warm and maybe vibrate, which would alert Sirius that I needed to talk to him. He would tap it, then whisper his name and my name, and the connection would be complete. To end it, we had to tap the stones with our wands and say "Finite." That would render them useless. Also, they were supposed to be connected to just our wands and our voices, so it wouldn't work for anyone else. I was really impressed with it.

There was the usual assortment of books, candy, jewelry, and little magical pieces. My parents had sent me a laptop, and told me to e-mail them regularly. I resolved to ask Professor Dumbledore for a warded, completely non-magical room with an electrical connection so that I could work the computer with not interference from Hogwarts' magical atmosphere.

The last present was a necklace with a large, gold pendant on the end, inscribed with strange runes. Attached was a note in a spidery script.

Sanya,

This amulet is designed to protect the wearer from Dark Magic. Please, for your safety and for our concern, wear this at all times. It will become invisible when you put it on and will grow warm when it protects you from any type of Dark Magic. Please wear it.

"Well, well, well," I said, turning note and amulet over. There was no signature.

"What?" said Devi, looking up from the magical make-up kit I had given her.

"Dumbledore is concerned for my health. Well, I'm pretty sure it's Dumbledore. The handwriting is the same as the letter from him to the Flourish and Blotts owner." I handed the note to her.

Devi read it and whistled. "Wow. You sure this is Dumbledore?"

"Well, who else could it be? I mean, it's got to be really expensive, and only Sirius and Dumbledore would do that. It's not Sirius, because that's not his handwriting. Besides, could you imagine Sirius being careful? Yeah, that's what I thought. It's got to be Dumbledore."

Devi shook her head, still not convinced. "I'm hungry. Let's go raid the kitchen."

"Dev, you're always hungry," I grumbled. But I complied, leading my small friend out, still in my moonshine pajamas, to the entrance hall. I was about to go down the passage that led to the kitchens, when I heard a bang.

The doors slammed open, and, to my surprise, Sirius walked though them. His bags were floating behind him, and he looked angry. Exceedingly angry, and on the verge of tears.

"That – those – Oh!" I could tell he was breaking down, from the shaking of his hands, the expression on his face, and the way he doesn't even see anything in front of him.

I immediately forgot about Devi and the kitchens and rushed over to Sirius. I rubbed his back and made comforting noises, hoping to calm him down.

"Shh, shh, it's okay. It'll be all right. Shh. Shh. It's okay. Shh."

Eventually I got Sirius under control. "Come on, Sirius, let's go to the common room." I led him up to the Gryffindor common room, talking quietly, comforting him, all the time.

"Sirius," I said as he dropped onto one end of a couch. "Sirius, what's the matter?" Devi had followed us up and kept her distance, landing on a beanbag near the fire.

"I –" He said, then broke off. "I ran away."

"What?"

He took a deep breath. "I ran away from my home, from my idiot brother, my weak dad, and my heinous mother."

I gathered him into a hug again, gently patting his back. "It's okay. It'll be okay. Things will work out. You did the right thing."

The last comment startled him out of my grasp. "What? I thought you would try to convince me to go back!"

I gazed levelly at him. "I know something of your family, and I know that you did the right thing, running away right now. Things will work out."

My reassurance seemed to calm him. "Yes." He swept his eyes around the room, and saw Devi. "Ooh." Sirius exhaled, the breath deflating him.

Devi rose and offered her hand to my tutor. "Hi. I'm Devi, Sanya's friend."

Sirius took the hand. "Hello. I'm Sirius, Sanya's other friend." Then he winced at the lame greeting.

My American friend laughed, a light, pretty laugh. Boy, did I hate her right then.

The three of us chatted for a while, with Sirius progressively recovering from his ordeal. He's not recovering. He's just forgetting because he fancies Devi.

That's not bad.

Then why do I feel as if it is?

You're in love with him

No I'm not. He's my friend.

Exactly.

I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH SIRIUS!

Sure, whatever you say.

I was arguing with myself all during the conversation.

',',',',',',',',',

Later that night, as we climbed into bed, I started a conversation with Devi.

"Say, Dev, do you really think it's nice to flirt with a guy that you're not going to go out with later? Especially if he just lost the love of his family? That he never really had, but it wasn't official that he didn't have? Well, you're not going to go out with Sirius, are you?"

Devi laughed. "Oh, this is about Sirius, hmm? I'm not going to go out with him, don't wor – wait a sec." Her tone became a lot slyer. "Why do you care? You don't like him, do you?"

"NO!"

Devi began to chuckle. "You do, don't you? Oh Sa-a-a-anya! You're in love with your tu-u-u-utor! God, this is good!"

"Shut up!"

"Sanya – no seriously. It's fine that you like him. I might, if I didn't already have a boyfriend."

"WHAT!" I was furious that she hadn't told me that before. "You have a boyfriend? Who? Where? Since when? What does he look like? AND WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS BEFORE?"

"'Cause you didn't ask." Devi said, smirking. "His name is Ryan Temero, he's a full-blooded American wizard and he's tall and blond and blue-eyed. Ryan has a deep, extremely sexy voice," she cooed, her voice going dreamy, "and he's so brave and handsome. He says he loves me so much, and-" Devi stopped suddenly, embarrassed. "That was a little over-done, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, Devi." I said dryly, glad for that the conversation wasn't about Sirius anymore. "That was."

"He he. Anyway, he asked me out just after school started. I'd known him since I started – remember that 'Ryan guy' I said I liked the last couple of years?" I nodded, even though I really didn't remember. "Yeah, well this is the same guy. He's sixteen years old. And he's coming for the Valentines' Dance! I asked Dumbledore and he said yes!"

We rambled on for a while, talking about Devi's boyfriend and school, but Sirius was always in the back of my mind. Just before I dropped off, I whispered, "You were right, Devi. I do love Sirius. I do."

"I knew it!"

"Shut up."