"Two more days!"
It was shortly before Christmas break. Sirius was very eager to get away. He seemed to think that he'd go back to normal if he got away from the school. I didn't want to be pessimistic, and I wasn't going to tell him this, but I doubted it.
"Yes, two day," I replied happily. "I love Christmastime... so nice, and the snow is so pretty."
"It's freezing," said Sirius, his eyes sparkling red and green. He'd figured out how to control his eye colours, and, by now, it was normal to see him with different coloured eyes. No one outside our group (me, Sirius, Lily, Regulus, Peter, and now Severus, too) had noticed though.
"I wonder what the Heart looks like at this time of year," I mused.
"It's beautiful," declared Sirius happily. "The lake freezes over, it's much better for ice skating than the Great Lake."
"We should go," said Regulus.
"It would be rude to show up uninvited," Lily chided, just as an owl swooped down and landed on the table. It didn't have a letter or anything. It smiled widely, and I immediately recognized human-like features.
"Hi!" it squawked. "Evirah says to invite you to the Heart for a winter celebration!"
"Aw, how sweet!" cooed Lily. "A talking owl!"
"All of us?" asked Remus curiously.
"She said to invite you and friends!" said the owl. "But no bad people."
"Why would we invite bad people?" Sirius asked. "We wouldn't."
"Ooh, pretty eyes!" said the owl distractedly. Sirius turned red. "Come on!"
The owl flew out of the room.
"Should we go?" asked Peter anxiously.
"Well, it'd be rude to deny their invitation," said Sirius.
"I'm going to take your word for it," I said.
"Welcome, friends!" greeted Evirah when we walked into the Heart. Sirius was right, of course, it was magnificent. The lake sparkled, frozen over like Sirius had said it would be, and the trees glistened, suddenly all looking like Christmas trees instead of whatever they'd been before. "Today and tomorrow are our winter celebrations. You are welcome to stay- a house has been set up for you right over there."
"We've got to stay!" Sirius said, eyes sparkling. "The winter celebration is supposed to be awesome!"
"As long as we get back before Dad freaks out," I decided. "Me and Sirius and Regulus are going to stay. Lils?"
"Sure thing," said Lily. "As long as we're back for the train."
"I'll stay," said Remus.
"Me too," Peter stammered after a moment.
"Wonderful!" Evirah clapped. "Go get settled in, the festivities begin in an hour!"
"I like this place," Lily smiled. "So tranquil."
"Isn't it?" Sirius agreed. "The celebrations are great. There's games and food and presents and just hanging out! You guys will love it."
"Mum is not going to believe it," I beamed. "I'll have to get something for her... do they take galleons?"
"They trade, they don't use money," said Sirius. "But I'm sure they'd take the Galleons. They could make them into jewellery or something."
"Why would You-Know-Who want to come here, anyways?" Peter asked. "The people are too nice for him, it's too peaceful."
"Say Voldemort," Remus said. "And he thinks the lake brings immortality, which it doesn't, according to Sirius."
"It doesn't," Sirius confirmed. "At any rate, if Voldemort found this place, he'd destroy it. By destroying the Heart, he'd destroy the entire forest and everything that lives in it. The Heart, the lake especially, is the life source of the Forbidden Forest. That's why the creatures of the forest protect it so fiercely."
"Why does talking to you feel like talking to a native?" I asked teasingly. Sirius gave a barking laugh.
We found the cabin very easily. It was very small on the outside, but, on the inside, it was very large and comfortable. Sirius settled in easily, seemingly at home among the weird furniture and strange architecture. The rest of us... not so much, though I did admit Lily, Remus, and Peter looked more confused than Regulus and I.
"This is a bed?" Remus asked at one point, hovering over what was going to be his bed. "It's all wooden; great craftsmanship, but it can't be comfortable."
But when he sat on it, he changed his mind. "It's soft!"
"Magic, Rem, magic!" Sirius shouted from downstairs, obviously having heard him.
I thought my room was perfectly fine. As Remus had pointed out, everything was made very elaborately, looking very expensive. Nothing was uncomfortable. The mirror was made of ice, and the floor was made of dirt, but my reflection showed clearly, and the dirt was soft as carpet.
"This is a nice place," said Lily. "We'll have to get something for Evirah as a thank you."\
"I'd like to see you get her to accept it," Sirius laughed.
By all means, the village should have been completely crowded. But no one seemed to run into anyone and everyone seemed to have enough space.
Everyone also seemed to be staring at us. It was evident most of them had never seen a human before. A young kangaroo-girl hopped up to us at one point and asked us what, exactly, we were.
"We're human," answered Lily sweetly.
"Most of the time," Remus coughed, sending me and Sirius a pointed look. Sirius took this as an invitation to turn into a dog, and did so, barking jovially. Lily sent him a look and he changed back.
"Wow!" said the little kangaroo. "Humans can turn into animals!"
"Not all humans," said Lily.
"Yep, we're special," said Sirius, kneeling down and ruffling the fur on her head, changing his eyes to a rainbow colour that seemed to amuse the little girl.
"Can all humans do that?" she asked.
"Nope," I said. "Just Sirius."
"And my cousin, Nymphadora," Sirius said. "She's a metamorhpmagus. She's only one, and Andy says she's a handful. Moony's met her."
"She's very sweet," Remus said. "My father works with Ted."
The little kangaroo-girl, evidently, had gotten bored, and she waved and scampered off to find her mother. Lily giggled. "I love this place!"
"I thought you would," I said, leaning over and giving her a quick kiss on the lips.
"Ew!" Regulus said, making a face. Lily and I laughed at him. "Gross!"
"Yeah, Prongs, get a room," said Sirius teasingly.
"I think it's sweet," said Peter.
The village was truly a sight; little lights glowed rainbow colours all around, and, if you looked closer, they seemed to be little fairies that would wave happily at you. The snow glittered and didn't seem to be disturbed much by the walking feet of the villagers, none of which seemed to be wearing shoes. Everyone greeted each other like old friends, exchanging parcels and kind words. Children were skating on the glimmering lake, and there were little stands giving away exotic looking foods.
"Chocolate!" Remus exclaimed suddenly, rushing over to one of the stands. "May I have a piece?"
"Ah, a chocolate lover like myself," laughed the animal-man, who was ironically a wolf. "Here, take some. It is not too hard to make."
"You know how to make chocolate?" Remus asked eagerly. We laughed; Moony and his chocolate. The man laughed as well and nodded, handing Remus a big chunk of chocolate. Remus took the chocolate, mouth watering. "Thank you so much!"
"Imagine if he was allergic," Sirius snickered to me.
Lily, meanwhile, was drawn to a stand with several different types of robes that didn't look anything like wizarding robes. "These are beautiful."
"Thank you," said the leopard-woman selling the robes. "Pick some out, dear. I will trade: human robes (so exotic!) for two of these."
Lily's eyes lit up, and she picked out two new robes, leaving to change and coming back with her wizarding robes in hand, and wearing a green robe that made her fit in completely with the natives. "Isn't it beautiful, James?"
"Anything's beautiful on you," I replied. Regulus made a gagging motion.
Just then, a little penguin boy waddled up to us and began chattering in what was an obviously foreign language. I couldn't understand a word, mostly because there didn't seem to be words. All it sounded like was mindless chatter.
Sirius chuckled, and, to my surprise, began chattering back to the penguin-boy in the same tongue. My mouth fell open and Lily stared as Sirius and the penguin-boy talked. Sirius laughed loudly and turned to me, saying something I couldn't understand. I stared blankly at him, and he repeated himself. The penguin-boy laughed and said something else, and Sirius looked dumbfounded.
"Sirius, mate," I said. "You do realize you're speaking a different language, right?"
"I'm speaking a different language?" asked Sirius in English.
"Well, not anymore," I replied. "But you were. That kid wasn't speaking English, either."
The kid said something else to Sirius, who looked affronted, before scampering off.
"What'd he say?" Lily asked curiously.
Sirius scowled. "He said he thought I was some sort of monkey."
The next afternoon, I decided we needed to head back. My decision was met with massive disappointment, not just from my friends, but from the villagers too.
One boy clung to Sirius arm talking eagerly in the strange tongue from before, while Sirius tried to explain to him and five other children that didn't want us to leave and either couldn't speak English or didn't want to that we really did have to leave. Regulus was pouting, and Peter also looked slightly disappointed. Lily and Remus, one with two bags of clothing, the other with two bags of chocolate, were promising to come back again soon.
"We will come back," I assured them all. "But we've got to go home to see our families."
Sirius, I think, repeated what I had said to the children in their language.
"I hope you enjoyed your stay?" asked Evirah.
"Yes, of course," I said. "Thank you for having us."
"Well, we certainly wouldn't turn you away," she replied, in an attempt at a joke, I think. "Do come again soon."
"We will," I smiled. "But right now, my dad's probably going crazy at the fact that we're all missing... and he's probably caused Mum."
"Oh, please no!" Sirius exclaimed. "She'll murder us!"
"Your parents are welcome to visit as well, I suppose, as long as they are good people," said Evirah, looking from me to Sirius to Regulus. "You are all three brothers?"
"Yes," Regulus and Sirius said.
"Not biologically," I admitted reluctantly. "But in everything but blood."
"It's sweet, isn't it?" said Lily, hugging my arm.
Evirah nodded. "Well, I suppose we can't hold you back any longer. Children, let go of Sirius."
The children released Sirius and muttered what I assumed was an obedient apology.
The villagers waved as we left, and I found myself looking back every now and then until the village was once more hidden. The trek back to the castle was made with nothing more than amiable chatter (in English, of course).
I knew, though, the moment we walked into Hogwarts, that we were in big trouble. Mum and Dad were standing at the front of the school. They spotted us, and both crossed their arms in an eerily similar fashion.
"Well," I said meekly. "I guess we should have told you where we were going before we left?"
"You think?" Mum replied. "Gone! Disappeared without a trace! Two days, James Potter!"
"If you want to blame someone," I said. "Blame Sirius. He started it."
"I- I started it?" Sirius repeated. "I didn't- what do you mean- that's mad!"
And he resorted to (probably) cursing in the language from the Heart.
Regulus leaned over to me. "I'm guessing I shouldn't repeat any of that?"
"Probably not," I said.
"Where have you all been!?" Mum screeched.
"Oh, you know, winter celebrations at the Heart of the Forest," Remus said, munching on a piece of chocolate. "They make really good chocolate."
"And the most beautiful robes!" Lily beamed widely. "You have got to come next time, Mrs. P. You'd love some of the robes the make. Soft as silk and more beautiful than the most expensive wizarding robe!"
"The Heart of the Forest? That old legend?" said Mum. "That has got to be the worst lie you've ever come up with."
Sirius began saying something, but I tapped him on the shoulder. "English, mate."
"Sorry," he blushed. "It's not a legend, Aunt Carol. It's real."
We all nodded in agreement.
Mum stared, and turned to Dad. "Did you know about this?"
"No, of course not, honey," said Dad. Mum turned back to us, and he made a 'do not tell her' motion with his hands. I chuckled as Regulus completely missed the gesture.
"But we've been telling you," he said. "You've known for a while."
Mum sent Dad a look, and he smiled sheepishly.
"I meant," he said quickly. "I didn't know where they were going."
"You three," Mum said, narrowing her eyes at Sirius, Regulus, and I. "We will talk about this when we get home."
I exchanged glances with Sirius and Regulus. We were in trouble.
A/N: More about the Heart! Don't worry, Sirius won't be the only one with weird things happening to him. At least I've refrained from hurting him. :P Big thanks to N. E. Person, jeremiah123, Red Moon Lollipop, sk8boards4ever, Ranma's gril1, and Lady Loophole! For the girls, robes from the Heart! To the boys... how about a traditional sword from the Heart that I've just now come up with? Hope you all enjoyed!
I still don't own Harry Potter.