Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter characters. Artemis and Victoria are creations from my mind. All others belong to J.K. Rowling.
1st Year – A Christmas Fear
My POV
"Artemis Flora Potter! If you do not get up this minute your brother will have your head for not eating a good breakfast before the Quidditch game!" I groaned as Victoria's voice pounded into my head. I buried my head further beneath my pillows so I did not hear her. It seemed to be working until I found myself on the follow along with my blankets and pillows.
"I warned you about getting up. Come on. You have to get downstairs to eat. You can't play on an empty stomach,"she said as she pulled me out of the mess on the floor. I groaned. I was beginning to have a stomach ache and it wasn't from food. It was the first Quidditch match of the season and Gryffindor was playing Slytherin. And it was my first match ever. Despite my brother's reassurance about playing, I was still nervous. I didn't want to mess up. Plus I didn't want to listen to my mum get all worked up about playing if I didn't do so well. She nearly had a cow when she found out that I was on the Quidditch team for Gryffindor. But she eventually gave in a bought me a broom.
"Alright. I'm up,"I said as I pulled on my robes and brushed out my hair. I put on my shoes and we headed down to the Great Hall. The ceiling was looking rather crisp this morning as it was the middle of November. According to Victoria, who had checked the outside from the girls dormitory every five or ten minutes before I got up, it was nice outside and not a rain cloud in sight. I was grateful because playing in the rain on my first match wouldn't be good since I had never actually had a practice where it was raining.
"And there is the girl of the hour,"Sirius joked as I sat next to my brother, who was stuffing his face as usual.
"You alright?"James asked as he noticed that I really wasn't eating anything.
"Nervous,"I replied with a nod.
"Don't worry. You'll do fine. You did great at our practices. Slytherin won't know what hit them,"Sirius said as he gulped down some pumpkin juice.
"Sirius is right, Artemis. You'll be absolutely fine. Besides, you have your brother's talent. Maybe more,"Remus piped in. He chuckled as James threw him a joking glare before he said, "My baby sister will do just fine. The Potter blood runs through her veins and we have done absolutely great out on the Quidditch field." I rolled my eyes and accepted a piece or two of bacon Remus had handed to me from Sirius's plate.
"Hey!"he exclaimed.
"She needs it more than you. Besides, if you ask Lily nicely, she might give you the plate of bacon sitting right in front of her,"Remus said, gesturing to the red head sitting a few seats down from us. I liked Lily, unlike my brother, who was absolutely in love with her and asked her out every single day with an answering being no. I don't know how James does it but James has the confidence that Lily will bend and say yes soon enough. She was a very pretty girl with red hair and emerald green eyes. She was very smart and intelligent. She had helped me and Victoria a few times when we just couldn't figure out how to do our homework. If my brother would stop being such a bloody prat she might just say yes.
Sirius went off toward Lily and Remus refocused his attention to me. Out of my brother's friends, I got along with Remus the best. He and I had a similar interest in Defense Against the Dark Arts and everything that pertains to that class. He was usually the one that helped me with Defense Against the Dark Arts when I needed help.
"He's going to end up being like James's owl, Chunky,"I said, shaking my head.
"Chunky?"he asked, trying hard not to laugh as my brother threw a piece of toast at me. Like always, he missed.
"His owl is fat. So I named him Chunky,"I replied with a nod.
"My owl is not fat. And his name isn't Chunky. It's Rigil," James said, rolling his eyes.
"Whatever,"I muttered, shaking my head as Remus started laughing. That was the one thing I liked about Remus since I met him. Unlike my brother and Sirius, he actually had a good sense of humor and knew when to keep his mouth shut about certain things.
"Alright, alright. Let's go, Artemis. We have to go change into our Quidditch uniform and listen to Anderson give us last minute pep talks. We'll see you guys out on the Quidditch pitch," James said as Sirius came back, stuffing last minute bacon into his mouth, and helped James drag me out of the Great Hall.
"I can walk you know,"I said, causing them to let go of me and me to almost fall over. I gave them a glare but they just brushed it off as we headed toward the Quidditch pitch. After changing into our uniforms, Anderson addressed us as a team and then individually. When he came to me, I thought he was going to tell me not to screw up, but he simply smiled.
"Don't be nervous, Artemis. We've all been in your position before. I thought your brother was going to completely fall off his broom during his first game since he was so nervous. You'll be fine. According to your brother, you're a Potter and it runs naturally,"he said, causing me to give my brother a look before nodding.
"You ready to go out there?"James asked as we approached the main field. I nodded and soon enough we were up on our brooms flying around the Quidditch pitch before the game started. I saw Madam Hooch standing near the middle of the Quidditch pitch with a box at her feet. Inside I knew was the Golden Snitch, which James was going after to win the game for us, two black bludgers, which Sirius and Jamie Green would be beating away from us since they were our beaters, and a red ball, which was the Quaffle. Myself, Adrianna Blake, and Kenneth Smith would be carrying it and trying to score points by throwing it into the opposite teams hoops, which Anderson would be guarding for us since he was our Keeper. We gathered around Madam Hooch as she released the snitch and the bludgers from the box.
"Captains, shake hands,"she said. Anderson and the Slytherin captain, Andrew Knox, shook hands before remounting their brooms and rising into the air with the rest of us.
"I want a good clean game,"she said before she blew the whistle and threw the quaffle up into the air. Acting on my quick reflexes, I was the one that grabbed the quaffle and headed for the Slytherin hoops.
"And Potter takes the quaffle and is heading toward the Slytherin hoops. She makes a quick pass to Blake as she dodges a bludger heading right for her. Blake passes back to Potter and...She scores! 10 points to Gryffindor!"
I smiled in triumph as the Gryffindor side of the stadium erupted into cheers. I saw my brother give me a thumbs up before he sped off toward the Gryffindor posts. He probably saw the snitch but I didn't give it any thought as Slytherin was now in possession with the quaffle.
"Anthony has possession of the quaffle. He passes off to Harrison, who is hit by a bludger by Gryffindor's very own Black. Gryffindor in possession now. Potter dodges Anthony and passes to Smith who throws and...scores! 10 more points to Gryffindor! Gryffindor is in the lead 20 to 0."
The game continued on until someone caught the snitch. And that someone was my brother. It had been down at Slytherin end and gone after it. The Slytherin seeker had also seen it and had gone after it. They were neck and neck, but my brother managed to grab it and claimed a 210 to 70 win for Gryffindor. As our team landed on the pitch, my brother swung me into a huge hug.
"You were fantastic! Potter blood really runs in your veins!"he exclaimed as he swung me around. We quickly changed and headed to the common room where we were met with food and cheers from our fellow house mates.
"You were absolutely fantastic. You and your brother definitely share something in common,"Victoria said as we started laughing. Sirius and Lily were the same way as they gave me a hug. Well, Sirius was like James and swung me into a huge hug.
"Let's hope you don't turn into your brother,"Remus joked as I joined in on the couch near the fireplace after getting through the crowd of students. Sirius and James had gone down to the kitchen and nicked more food and came back with loads of everything. I laughed and gave Remus a pinch on the arm. Leave it to him to joke.
"My brother isn't that bad. And I will never become big-head and conceited, which is what Lily calls my brother, at all. I prefer to have my own identity, thank you," I said. He chuckled and said, "According to your brother..."
"I could be the other personality of him,"I finished, rolling my eyes. He laughed.
"I am not and will never be like my brother. Yes I do find Quidditch to be interesting, but that's about it. That's about all we share in common. We're totally different. Unlike you and Victoria. You share so much in common," I said.
"This is true but we are just as different as you and James are,"he said.
"More close than James and I are though. I love my brother and I know he loves me, but we're too different to have as close a relationship as you and Victoria,"I said. He looked thoughtful for a minute before saying, "Just because you don't have all that much in common doesn't mean you two are not close. But you are still a little bit young to understand all of that." I rolled my eyes.
"Thanks Remus. You're such a big help,"I said as he laughed.
"Glad I could be of service,"he said, causing me to roll my eyes.
A Month Later – Remus's POV
"Potter!"
"Lily."
"Black!"
"Victoria."
"Remus!"
"You're in trouble."
I looked across the table at my companion as she looked up from her work to smirk at me. Of everything I hated about that smirk was that it was exactly like James's and I always knew that if he gave that smirk something bad was going to happen.
"Remus, please tell your big-headed friends to give back our books and homework we have over winter break,"Victoria said as she and Lily had come into the common room a few minutes after James and Sirius had run through here with their arms full of books and other things and up into the boys dormitory. I looked at Artemis, who merely shrugged and went back to her work. It was the last day before Christmas break started and the teachers gave us homework due by the first day of the new year. The Hogwarts Express was taken us to Kings Bridge Station tomorrow and we were all going home. Lily was going to Aspen with her parents and her sister, Victoria and I were going home to spend time with our family, Sirius didn't want to go home but he was and then would be joining the Potters for the remainder of the holidays, and Artemis and James were going home to enjoy the holidays with their parents and the rest of the Potter family. I sighed as I knew James and Sirius were trying to get the girls' mind off of studying, which was something you never saw them doing. They were usually always working.
"You do know you can go up into the boys dormitory, right?"Artemis piped in.
"We'd rather not see how big a mess those two are,"Victoria said.
"Exactly. And how come they didn't take your things?"Lily asked as she realized that both Artemis and I were working on our work.
"Both Sirius and James know I will severely hex them if they try. And since Artemis was actually sitting here and they were ready to confiscate her things, I think they thought twice when I told them I would hex them if they touch her things so long as she is in the presence of me,"I replied.
"And you can't do that for us now?"Victoria asked.
"I'm afraid not. Besides, Artemis and I are going out to the lake if you want to join us,"I said as we closed our books and stood up.
"Sorry. I'm beginning to like Artemis's idea of going after our books and stuff. Lily, we can kill Potter and Black while we're at it,"Victoria said as she suddenly dragged Lily up the stairs to the boys dormitory.
"Ok. That was just weird. Normally no one listens to me when I give a suggestion, but whatever. Give me a minute and I'll be right back,"she said before she took her things and went up into the girls dormitory. Before she even came back, Sirius and James came down holding their heads.
"What did they do to you?"I asked, trying to hold back a laugh.
"Never take their school things away from them. They'll smack you in the head until you give it back,"James replied. That caused me to laugh and say, "I could have told you that about my sister."
"Right. Anyway, where are you off to?"he asked as I pulled on my cloak.
"Artemis and I are going down to the lake. Why?"I asked. James was about to say something when Artemis came down wearing a dark blue cloak. She looked curiously between her brother and myself before asking, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Where are you going?"James asked.
"Down to the lake. Remus and I think it'll be nice to get out of this bloody castle before we go home tomorrow. Another few minutes in this nut house and I'll flip,"she replied. I watched him give her a look and her roll her eyes.
"I seriously think we need to get a DNA test to see if we're actually related. Are we going?"she asked, looking at me. I nodded and we headed out. The crisp December evening gave off a chill and she pulled her hood over her head.
"I always like winter time, although I much rather like spring time. I like both. Does that make any sense what I just said?"she asked. I chuckled and nodded.
"It makes perfect sense,"I replied with a grin.
"I never got to ask. How did you and my brother and Sirius become friends? And I guess Peter too. How did you all become friends?"she asked as she looked up at me in curiosity.
"How did we become friends? Well, that's a long story,"I replied, feeling a little uncomfortable. She seemed to notice because she said, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"I'm not embarrassed, Artemis. It's just that I'm not sure you will understand half of it,"I said. She looked at me for a second before she said, "There is a lot of things I can never understand of some people, but I do understand one thing. Just because you think that someone may not understand doesn't necessarily mean they don't understand. If that makes any sense, what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't care what other people think just because you are afraid they might reject you. The only way to know who your true friends are is if they stand by you all the way."
"And since when have you become so smart?"I asked with curiosity.
She laughed and said, "Since I knew I would be at this school with my brother. Although my brother is bright in a way, I have to be better so that I don't fall into a trap of being his shadow to some people. I hate that about older siblings. I went to a muggle school prior to coming to Hogwarts because I didn't like to be at home all day. Some of my friends there were coming into the school with their siblings being there already. So it meant that everyone knew them because of their siblings and expected them to be just like them. I didn't want that with James. So now I am just as smart, although maybe smarter, and as athletic as my brother."
"I see,"I said with a nod.
"So how did you all become friends?"she asked, going back to that.
I sighed and said, "Well, we were just like you and Victoria. We met our first day on the Hogwarts Express. Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape tried to start a fight with me until James and Sirius came to back me up. From that moment on we became really good friends. However, I would disappear every month for about a day or so around the full moon."
"Why?"she asked as she looked at me with curiosity.
"My sister hasn't blabbed it to you yet?"I asked, looking back at her.
"Blabbed what?"she asked, sounding confused.
I sighed and said, "Has your brother ever told you about the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade?"I asked. She nodded and said, "He says it's haunted."
I chuckled and said, "It's not haunted. It's me." She looked at me with confusion, causing me to sigh.
"When I was younger, I was bitten by something. My parents tried to find me a cure in every possible direction to help me. Unfortunately, no such luck. Ever since then, at every full moon I have to go to the Shrieking Shack to wait it out,"I said. She looked at me before saying, "Still not following." I sighed and said, "I'm a werewolf."
She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at me in shock. I swore I thought she was going to run away, but she stood there looking at me as if I had grown three heads. Her eyes that usually sparkled with amusement despite the predicament she usually got herself into were now confused and sad. I wanted her to say something but she just stood there looking at me. I was going to say something when, "Artemis!" I looked up and saw my sister coming toward us.
"You will never guess what James did to Lily. Come on,"she said as she grabbed my sister by the arm and pulled her toward the castle. She shook my sister off her arm and looked back at me with a more compassionate look before turning around and following my sister up to the castle. I sighed and headed back up to the castle myself. I found James and Sirius playing Exploding Snaps in the common room while Lily, Artemis, and Victoria were nowhere to be seen. They were probably up in the girls dormitory.
"Hey there, Remus. Wow. What happen to you?"Sirius asked as I sat in one of the arm chairs.
"Is your sister easily shocked at anything?"I asked, looking at James.
"Not particularly. Why?"he asked as he looked at me.
"I told her I was a werewolf,"I replied. They stopped their game of Exploding Snaps to look at me as if I had lost a head or something.
"You told my sister what?"James asked.
"She asked a simple question and I couldn't very well hide it from her. Besides, my sister would have told her sooner or later. The excuses my sister keeps giving her as to why I'm not around are wearing thin," I replied.
James shook his head and said, "No wonder my sister looked so disoriented when she and Victoria came in and headed to the girls dormitory. I hope she isn't going to be like this over the holidays. Why did you tell her, Remus? I don't know if she's going to keep it a secret."
"You don't trust your own sister?"I asked in shock.
He sighed and said, "It's not that I don't trust her. It's just that..."
"That what, James?"Sirius asked as he became interested in the conversation.
"She's just not someone I expect to keep things under wrap except things that concern her. That's all,"he replied. I sighed and shook my head.
"The two of you are more alike than you think,"I said.
"And what's that suppose to mean?"he asked.
I sighed and said, "You two live like you're on two different planets. The only thing you feel you have in common is playing Quidditch and that you feel doesn't make up for how much you want to have in common with her. Artemis is trustworthy and I do trust her. You should think about what you are saying, James." He looked to be thinking and he sighed.
"I do trust her, James,"I said.
A Few Days Later – My POV
"Artemis! James! Sirius! Come down for dinner!"mum called. I groaned as I heard my brother and Sirius go past my room and downstairs. I could hear them laughing as they probably reached the kitchen and started eating. I really wasn't that hungry. I hadn't been since I left Hogwarts the week before. I was still a little shook up over what Remus had said.
"Artemis, sweetheart. It is time for dinner,"mum said, knocking on my door and breaking me out of my thoughts.
"I'm not hungry,"I said, causing her to sigh and mutter under her breath as she went back downstairs. I sighed and looked out my window. It was absolutely gorgeous outside. It had begun to snow again and it fell gracefully to the ground as if it was waiting for someone to come and take it all away. I grabbed my cloak and headed downstairs. My brother, Sirius and my dad were talking about Quidditch and my mum was probably putting a plate together for me the way it looked. They looked up as I entered the kitchen.
"So now you're hungry. I seriously do not understand what has gotten into you,"mum said as she set the plate down on the table next to Sirius.
"I'm not hungry, mum. I'm going for a walk,"I said as I tied up my cloak and went outside. Once outside I decided to walk through the garden my dad had built for my mum when they first had gotten married. It was absolutely gorgeous, especially in the spring time when my dad and James would plant new flowers for me and my mum to enjoy. I sat down on the bench and looked around me. It was peaceful. It was always peaceful if James didn't ruin it too soon.
"Artemis!" Too late. "Wait. That sounded like Victoria," I thought as I stood up and walked to the edge of the garden. Sure enough, there she was. She was coming toward me with a smile on her face.
"You will never guess what mum and dad got me,"she said.
"A new brain?"I asked, sarcastically. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Remember how I said I liked to paint? Well, they got me classes for the summer to paint with a professional artist. Isn't that cool?"she asked.
"Yeah. Extremely,"I replied with a nod.
"Ok. What's wrong with you? Are you still freaking because you found out about my brother?"she asked.
"What? No,"I replied.
"Artemis,"she said, sternly looking at me. I hated that look. She got that from Lily. Lily always gave that look to me when I was doing something wrong.
"Alright. Fine. I'm still a little stunned over the whole Remus thing. Happy?"I asked.
"Not particularly. Remus has been an unhappy mess since he told you and you haven't spoken to him. Come on, Artemis. Remus is your really good friend. Well, next to me anyways. How long does it take you to get over something like this?"she asked.
"I'm shocked, Victoria. What do you expect me to be? And you of all people should have told me. You're my best friend,"I replied.
"This was not my secret to share with anyone, Artemis. It's hard enough on my brother to have to deal with this. If he wants to tell someone about it, then I won't stop him. He fears he may have lost you as a friend, Artemis. He did the same thing about James, Sirius, and Peter. He thought they would abandon him, but they didn't. They accepted that. Why can't you?"she asked. I sighed and looked at her.
"It's not that I can't accept it. It's just that..."
"You're frightened something may happen to you if you do accept it. You're frightened he may attack you during a full moon,"she said.
"That's not it, Victoria,"I snapped.
"Then what is it?"she asked.
"It's because I don't want to deal with something happening to Remus if someone were to find out. Do you know how deadly that secret is? Do you even realize what could happen if someone other than myself or your family or my brother and Sirius found out about him? He could be in harm if someone else were to find out. And I can't have that on my shoulders if I were responsible for that,"I snapped.
"That's what the cold shoulder is about? Are you tripping?"she asked in shock.
"And I can see that Black's uncompassionate side has worn off on you,"I snapped before I stormed inside. Mum, dad, and Victoria's parents were having coffee or tea in the kitchen and looked up startled as I slammed the door shut.
"Sweetheart, are you alright?"mum asked.
"Never been better,"I snapped before I went upstairs. James's door was open and I could hear him and Sirius joking around as I approached. When I stepped into the doorway, I saw James and Sirius sitting on his bed with Exploding Snaps and Remus was sitting on the window sill just watching them with a melancholy look on his face. But for some reason I didn't seem to care.
"I hope you're happy now, Remus,"I said as they looked up at me. "Now your sister is mad at me because she thinks I don't care. I hope you're happy." With that said, I stormed up a second flight of stairs to the loft. I threw my cloak on a nearby chair and sat in the bay window that over looked the field behind our home. Without any notion at all, I bursted into tears and buried my head in my lap.
Remus's POV
"You can not still be upset over telling my sister that you were a werewolf, Remus,"James said as he, Sirius, and myself headed upstairs to his room. My parents and his were spending the day together so Artemis, Victoria, myself, Sirius, and James got to hang out together. Well, Victoria and Artemis together while James, Sirius, and myself hung out.
"Get over it, Remus. If she can't except it then she isn't a really good person to have as a friend,"Sirius said with a nod.
"Great. Then she'll blab it to the entire school,"James said, sarcastically. I sighed and sat on the window sill as he and Sirius started a game of Exploding Snaps. It was true. I had been a bit upset since I had told Artemis. There was no response from her since I had told her and it was killing me to know that it may have had ruined our friendship.
"I hope you're happy now, Remus." I looked up to see Artemis standing in the doorway.
"Now your sister is mad at me because she thinks I don't care. I hope you're happy,"she said before she left the room. I sat there stunned before looking at James. He was just as shocked and looked at me.
"I guess that answers your earlier statement as to why I'm still not happy about telling your sister,"I snapped, standing up.
"Well, you better talk to her, Remus. The two of you are driving us all insane,"Victoria snapped as she stormed into the room. I looked at her.
"The problem isn't that she can't accept it. She's afraid something will happen to you if someone else finds out. She's afraid someone will blame her for knowing about you being a werewolf if it gets out. She's not afraid of you. She's not afraid to know you could be harm to her by an accident. That's not it at all. She's afraid of losing you to a mistake that results in harm to you if someone else finds out,"she said.
"That's it? That's all she was worrying about?"Sirius asked in disbelief.
"Shut up, Sirius,"I snapped as I left the room. Sensing sadness through my wolf senses coming from upstairs, I went up a second pair of stairs to find Artemis sitting in the bay window with her head in her lap. "Artemis,"I said. Her head snapped up and I could see the tears.
"What? Did your sister send you up here to torture me about whatever she told you I said?"she asked as she wiped her tears away.
"Artemis, I did not come up here to torture you with whatever my sister told me about what you told her. You should know me about that kind of stuff," I said with a sigh. She scoffed and turned her attention out of the window.
"Artemis, why are you afraid to accept that I'm a werewolf?"I asked. She snapped a glare my way, but I wasn't going to leave the subject alone.
"I deserve to know,"I suddenly snapped. That caused her to stand up and face me. I immediately started to regret it when those tears started again.
"I'm not afraid of you, Remus. I could care less if you were half monkey or something like that. I'm not afraid to accept what you are. I just don't want to lose you to a slip up. I don't want to lose you as a friend if someone other than your family and really close friends were to find out. Do you know what danger you put us all in if a slip up occurs? Do you realize that you've put our lives in danger for protecting a werewolf?"she asked.
"You don't think I realized that when James, Sirius, and Peter found out? I am well aware of the consequences, Artemis. But how could I explain my disappearances every month for two or three days at a time? Lying to a friend doesn't make me feel good,"I replied, shaking my head.
"But telling us is only going to make things worse for you if other people find out. And it's not a good feeling when you have to watch a really good friend be the end of that. I know. My best mate before Victoria, Annabelle, was the blunt end of that stick. It's not a good feeling when you get the harsh end of it when your best mate blames it all on you,"she said.
"Why would I blame any of you if someone were to find out? If someone were to find out, it would be because of their own stupidity,"I said.
"Yes. Well, in cases like that it's ju...Hang on a second. Stupidity? Since when is that in your vocabulary?"she asked, looking at me in surprise. I groaned and said, "And just like your brother you like to change the subject real quickly."
"I am not changing the subject. Ok. Well maybe I am,"she said. I crossed my arms and gave her the look I learned from Lily. Evidently it always worked with her.
"Alright, alright. I give. What do you want?"I asked. I raised an eyebrow.
"What? It always works for James. I ask him that and he tells me what he wants, I give to him whatever he wanted, and he leaves me alone. Although he does come back like an hour later and bugs me,"she said with a shrug.
I shook my head and said, "Always like your brother. You two really don't know enough about each other. It's sad. Anyway, are we clear of this whole mess we've made?"
She sighed before giving me a small smile and a nod. "Can't have James and Sirius bugging you to death now can I?"she asked with a laugh.
"I suppose not. Now, I suppose you should go down and calm down Victoria. The last I knew I think she was going to have a row with someone or something to take her frustrations out with. It's probably poor Sirius on the end of it. He always seems to get the end of her rows,"I said as we started heading back downstairs.
"Better him than me or you. I can't stand it when she has her rows. Especially in Transfiguration. You would think that by now she would learn not to listen to James and Sirius about half the things they tell her,"she said, shaking her head.
"True. Oh. By the way, you'll find your gift from Victoria on you bed, but mine you might have to jump for,"I said, teasing her as I always did about her height as I took a small box from my robes and held it above her head.
She groaned and said, "Remus Lupin, you know you shouldn't tease a girl about her height. Now can I please have the box?" I looked thoughtful for a minute before I handed it to her.
"It's not a chocolate frog, is it? Or something that will make me scream? Or something that will be all wiggly-jiggly?"she asked as she looked at me.
"Wiggly-jiggly?"I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sorry. It's a muggle term I learned at the muggle school I went to,"she replied before her eyes widen at the sight of what was in the box. Inside was a small bracelet with charms all around it. The charms flashed different colors and each meant a different thing.
"Where did you get this? It's absolutely stunning,"she said as she took it out of the box and clipped it around her right wrist.
"Since we were in Hogsmeade a few weeks before the Christmas holiday, I was shopping for all of my friends. Sirius, James, Peter, and my sister were quite easy. Lily seemed easy enough. And then there was you. Very difficult. Quite difficult actually. Had to owl my sister to have her opinion. And before the owl came back, I saw this. I figured it would be a perfect gift for a perfect friend,"I replied with a nod.
"It's lovely. Much better than James's gift, but don't tell him I said that. Anyway, thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I hear Victoria out in the garden and if I don't go, my flowers James planted for me this past spring will completely freeze to death and die,"she said before giving me a quick hug and vanishing downstairs.
"And you two are related how?"I asked James as I went back into his room where I found him and Sirius playing a game of wizard's chess.
"I have absolutely no clue. So, you and my sister squared away?"he asked, looking up.
"I swear your sister's muggle skills are wearing off on you. And yes. We're perfectly fine,"I replied as I sat next to the board and divulged myself into their talk and game. "Everything's just perfect,"I thought with a smile.