Chapter 48: The Less Impressive Gift
She can leave that afternoon; that's the promise that Poppy Pomfrey gave her and Cressida is holding her to that. School leaves in just a few days, and her birthday is tomorrow and she'd rather spend it somewhere more comfortable than a bloody hospital bed. She's had all sorts of visitors from people that she knows well enough from her house, Bastian Jacobs, quite a few teachers. McGonagall and Dumbledore came together, very curious as to how she could have been poisoned since that is the conclusion that Pomfrey gave them. Cressida didn't give them the answer she knows to be true. What could they do? Give him detention? The real consequences of his actions are going to come from Sirius. That she is sure of. An investigation went underway, but she was clearly clueless about the entire ordeal so she was left out of the loop.
James stayed with her almost the entire day, as she had been told he did before she awoke. And for that she is glad, because thanking people for their well-wishes and dealing with people simply curious to her state with no care for her in particular was a strenuous task when you have to figure out how to respond all the time. James had taken to sitting on the far side of the bed so he could watch the entrance and warn her of any visitors so she could play sleep. Perhaps some would scold her for doing so, knowing that most come with good intent, but it is easier to pretend to be asleep than pretend to be interested in their thoughts and prayers.
The highlight of her stay was scamming Remus to share his treat pile with her which now sits in a slight mess on a table at the end of the bed.
Her body felt better after a night of proper sleep and some good food, and she feels perfectly right to go, if not for the fear of lingering poison reappearing. It would be a fool's assumption to think something perfect just for how it looks.
James, practically as exhausted as she is, has the chair dragged up to the side of her bed, head resting between his arms and soundlessly sleeps. Cressida, who had napped during the day, is curled up with her pillow, reading a book Peter left for her. She goes on uninterrupted for nearly two hours before someone else comes sauntering towards her.
Smiling at the oncoming company, she folds the top corner of her page down (ignoring an imaginative Remus screaming at her for it) and places it aside. Sirius doesn't say anything, only walking up to the cot and bracing his hands on it, smiling down at her. "Fuck you," he whispers.
"Fuck me?" she giggles quietly, being sure not to arouse James. "Fuck you."
"Had to make everything about you, didn't you?" he taunts, twisting around and plopping himself onto the cot with her. "Stole the attention at the Ball, when we all know I was the best looking one there. You've got flowers and Remus' candy stock. It's your birthday tomorrow. Just couldn't help but grab all the attention you could before school ended, eh?"
"Caught me," she winks, shuffling over as he nudges his way onto the mattress, kicking his legs up. Cressida keeps her own legs tucked to him, leaving space for James who is oblivious to the pair. "Too bad you're going to have to live with me for a while."
Sirius huffs through his nose, glancing off to the side. "You mean that? You're still going to live with me?'
"Eh," she shrugs in a mockingly nonchalant manner, "why not? James and I haven't talked about living together and I need someplace to go. And you have good taste in music."
"Utterly," he breathes, and they both lapse into airy chuckles. He peers over her side, gazing upon her hand which is somewhat held by his in his sleep. To her entertainment, Sirius' arm spreads over her stomach, then his hand creeps alongside hers and beings to dig underneath James' arms. Cressida huffs, removing her own and watching the spot be replaced with his. At the movement, James' takes a long draw of air, tensing his shoulders then relaxing once more. "Naw," Sirius pouts, "he laced our fingers."
Cressida drops her jaw. "He didn't with me."
"It's alright," Sirius continues, his bottom lip pushing outwards. "He's always liked me better."
Cressida shakes her head, using her now free hand to twist around some of his curls. "And you were worried about James taking me away. I think I need to be the jealous one."
"Yet here he is, sitting by your side all day," Sirius points out in a soft whisper. He takes his hand back, lacing it with his own to brace his knee in. Cressida watches James sleep, slipping her hand back where it belongs. A sideways smile lifts as his fingers flex around hers. "You've got both of us. All of us. I didn't really get that for a long time. I just always saw you as my person. It's just hard to fathom that you're going to go through things in life without me."
"Without you?" she echoes with a laugh. "Where do you think you're going? James is your brother and your mine. You're not going anywhere."
Sirius hums, tipping his head to his shoulder. "I suppose that's true," he murmurs, staring at his knee with a lopsided smile. A new commotion at the Wing's entrance draws their attention, even arousing James who lifts his head in a short startle. Professor Flitwick, followed by two Ravenclaw students and jogging (though the students are more just taking long strides). Cressida sits up, peering past Sirius as none of them look injured or sick. But as the two taller students split to move around a cot, they reveal another body. It floats horizontally in the air from Flitwick's wand, arms hanging half limply past his body. And Cressida can confidently say 'him' because she recognises the hair. The blonde hair. His face however-
His face is bruised and beaten. There are slashes in the shirt and stains of blood from a bloody, broken nose. Once he is lain down on the cot, the older looking of the two students starts calling for the matron who comes darting out of her quarters. Pomfrey fusses over him for nearly twenty minutes before she finally leaves his bedside. She comes back out moments later from her personal quarters, a vial in hand. This time, the matron heads towards her.
"Here," Pomfrey instructs, handing her the vial. "Take this, wait an hour and then you're free to go spend your last few days here out of this room."
"It's not so bad," she smiles, taking the small glass. "What happened to Arthur?"
Pomfrey tightens her lips. "The laddie had quite the stumble down the stairs it seems. He's in a terrible state and unfortunately, I think he'll be at Hogwarts a little longer than expected. Though I might send him to St Mungo's with the severity of his state." The matron makes a face of sudden remembrance, as though she had forgotten that she was talking aloud. "A poor fate considering he saved your life only days ago."
Pomfrey leaves without looking for a response.
"Did you-" Cressida hadn't even meant to ask that yet and cuts herself, but it's already out there. She had been fuelled by anger and hate, wanting at nothing to be the person who did that to him but now seeing him there makes it feel all a bit too real.
Sirius huffs through his nose, his eyes dropped down to his lap and his chin cocked to the side. "Deserved it," he mutters. Cressida simply stares at him with confliction of gratefulness and an urge to scold. Sirius glances away from his lap, in her direction but his eyes only fleet over hers, looking at James instead.
"It's a bit more than we talked about, mate," James murmurs, hazel eyes switching between them and the scene. "Not that I'm going to argue though."
"He fell down the stairs," Sirius confesses. "After he realised I wasn't there to fall to my knees for him and praise his bloody existence, he tried to run away and I chased him. We duelled but he was mostly trying to get away. It wasn't my fault; he tripped. I obliviated him and then left him there."
"That's…"
"Cold," he finishes. "I know." He glances down at her hand which still pinches the vial. "Drink up, buttercup." Cressida blinks away her thoughts, tipping the contents of the vial down her throat. It is warm like a mild firewhiskey. "We should go now. If we leave in an hour everybody will be in the halls."
James stands up, peering around for the matron. "Not a bad idea, Pads."
"I'm full of not bad ideas."
"At least you admit they're not great."
"Not bad isn't exclusive of everything above good. Saying it's not a bad idea, means that it could be brilliant."
"Alright, alright," Cressida breathes, pushing Sirius off the cot. "By the time you two finish talking, it'll be dinner time." Sending a humoured smile to James, she slides off on his side, falling straight into his hold. "I've been in here too long."
"I don't like you being in here at all," he counters, grabbing the small duffle-like bag that Remus had brought down for her with clothes and an assortment of items to keep her busy. He hooks it over his shoulder. "But I'd rather you be in here, getting better, then not even make it."
Her shoulders shift uncomfortably. "Morbid thoughts," she notes quietly, eager to move on in topic. Sirius valiantly volunteers to carry all her donated sweets, scooping them up in his arms, keenly eyeing off the chocolate frogs.
The way back to the Tower is filled with stares and whisperings, along with students in her own year sending awkward smiles. At least she's graduating with a bang. Any feelings of sorry for McMullen vanish, knowing that there was a chance she might've been walking through these halls just the few last times she has. She might not have spent her birthday in one last Hogwarts tradition, curled up in the dormitory.
Peter and Remus meet with them somewhere along the line. They'd been keeping the girls company (more like the other way around) since Pomfrey would shoo them all away if Cressida had that many visitors. But they both made up for their absence by bringing her sweet little gifts each time they did.
Once they arrive in the Tower, James grabs her hands, but looks to the other three. "Do you guys mind waiting down here? I want to show Cress something first."
"We've all seen your dick," Remus sighs mockingly. Cressida snorts, shrivelling her nose at James flat expression. "It's nothing to hide."
"She's already seen it too, this is something marginally less impressive."
This time, she blushes madly, pressing her lips together to hide her embarrassment. The three boys range in reactions but it mostly includes laughter and raised brows. James smirks in satisfaction, tightening his fingers around hers and pulls her up to their dorm.
"This is really your birthday present," he says, walking backwards with his hands gesturing for her to wait. He strides to his bed, reaching underneath it. "But I just want to give it to you now, because…" His head pops up with crooked glasses. "I don't even know. I just want you to have it."
"Couldn't wait a day?" she wonders, slowly walking around the fire heater in the middle of the room.
James pulls out a small flat-topped chest. "It's sort of a weird thing to give, but I know you've been struggling with some things. Remus… Remus told me about some things, and I know you don't like talking about them all, but he thought that it was best that we knew so we could help." He squints slightly at her, waiting for some sort of backlash for talking about her without her there. But she doesn't. "Anyways," he continues at her lack of protest, "so I knew just telling you these things wouldn't be enough, so I spent some time learning a spell. It's simple in theory but takes a lot of concentration that I honestly lacked. This isn't supposed to fix anything, because I don't think you need fixing, but it's there to help. Whenever you need it."
Cressida stands at the end of his bed, smiling down with her arms loosely folded over her stomach. "You're rambling."
James wrinkles his nose. "I am, aren't I? I think it's the nerves." He falls from his crouch. "Come here." Cressida pushes off the bedpost, taking it upon herself to sit down into his lap.
Before he can urge her to open it, she cups his jaw, kissing the side of his mouth. "Thank you. I can already tell it's going to be better than the present I gave you."
"Nothing will beat that," he protests, using his chin to turn her head and capturing her lips entirely. They catch themselves inside the moment, deaf to anything else around them until her foot knocks the chest as she tries to turn in his lap. James pulls away. "Open it."