Padfoot's Twelve Days of Christmas
Day ten! Boy has this flown by, like a certain seeker on a Firebolt! I think I like the format of this, putting something out every day. It is kind of cool! The New Year will bring more than a few of these challenges I suspect. As ever, if you like it, favourite it, favourite me – I'm going to put out a fair bit this Christmas – and make sure to leave your quill mark in the Review section. Enjoy!
Day Ten
On The Tenth Day of Christmas, My Parents Gave to Me… Ten Chocolate Frogs a Leaping!
Tradition. Some families had their own traditions, whilst some were very traditional. Very rarely, a family could be both, but it wasn't very often that occurred. The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black was steeped in more tradition than most Pureblood families. It was very traditional, producing Slytherin after Slytherin for generations. Some said that if you cut a Black open, they would bleed green. However, they also had their own traditions, one of which would be happening today.
It all started at breakfast, as such things in life often do. The remnants of the student body of Hogwarts, and a few teachers besides, were all tucking into a marvellous spread of bacon, eggs, sausage and – of course – baked beans. It was a good morning, a great morning in fact. Sirius had been fastidiously watching the calendar with an eagle-owl eye. In the Black family calendar, today was pretty special. If Regulus was at Hogwarts, he would be just as excited as Sirius, but fortunately for him, he was spending time with mother and father in the south of France. Reggie would have already got his today.
A flurry of owls drew everyone's attention to the window. Missives and gifts were delivered to students, and a few were intended for the staff too, but Sirius couldn't see the off-white colour of the family owl. How could Ulysses not be here today? The post filtered away, undoubtedly back to the Aviary – Sirius simply hated calling it the Owlery – and still his bird was nowhere in sight. He speared a sausage, and tore into it with canine efficiency. How dare his parents forget!
He went through the day unable to think about anything else. Even a game of Seeker's games with Prongs couldn't shift his mood. There was no way his parents could have forgotten. They never had before, and they were the kind of people to always remember such things, even if they hated him belonging to Gryffindor. He supposed that the bird could have gotten lost. It wasn't unknown for owls to make mistakes. But then Ulysses wasn't a regular owl. He was selected for his intelligence and speed. Perhaps he was intercepted on his way? Sirius realised now that he was getting irrational. Who would want to intercept a package intended for a schoolboy?
Dinner came soon enough, much to Sirius's chagrin. It was looking increasingly hopeless. He couldn't even muster up enough of an appetite to eat more than a couple of bites. James commented on spoiling his dessert, but Sirius waved it off. He was in far too much of a bad mood to care.
The mood was broken when a package splashed onto his plate. It looked grubby, ragged, and hastily wrapped. At first he thought that it was an attempt by James to make him feel better, but then he noticed something odd about the grubbiness. It had a certain familiarity that he couldn't quite place. As he was questioning it, the package floated up to his face, where it opened very much like a Howler.
"Sirius Orion Black! How dare you mope around the Castle like some Muggle oaf!" Came the deafening voice of his mother. The entire Great Hall looked on in amusement as she continued, "You have done nothing but bemoan your lot all day, and I shall not have it! It is not enough for us that you are a Gryffindor, but to completely abandon the Black family values at the merest drop of a hat is shameful!" He hung his head and prepared for a further onslaught.
"That being said," The package continued, "it IS Christmas, and there is a very important tradition we must adhere to. Provided you refrain from said acts again, I will not deny you any further. Happy Tenthday my son!" The package spat a brown object out, licking the corner of its mouth afterwards. It landed at the far end of the Gryffindor table, gave a loud Ribbit and leapt off. Several more were ejected before the package tore itself up. The Great Hall was in chaos, which was in itself a backhanded salute to Sirius's Gryffindor nature. His mother, however Slytherin she was, could sometimes show she had a fun side. Ten Chocolate Frogs a Leaping, students and teachers diving over each other to catch one, and Sirius Black laughing like a maniac. He couldn't have planned it better himself.