Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Healing Touch (2)
Sirius Black stared in awe at the impressive mountain of whipped cream and caramel in front of him, crowned with what appeared to be a chocolate Quaffle almost in real size. He shifted his gaze, first catching James's grin, then meeting Remus's 'I told you so' expression, and finally, finding Catherine seated with her back turned towards him.
"Is this for me?" – he asked tentatively.
"Well, considering how much time Flame spent making it yesterday, I hope you'd at least share with us!" – chuckled James, tilting his head towards the black-haired girl with a distinctive plead in his eyes.
Fortunately, his friend quickly understood the message. With a deep sigh, he approached the young witch and squatted next to her chair.
"You won't be mad at me on my birthday, right?" – he asked gently, receiving an angry growl in response. Undeterred, the young wizard continued – "Come on! I didn't want to be mean yesterday! I was just frustrated I couldn't share our victory with you right away! You can punish me if it's going to make you feel better! Or I can punish myself! I'll try to pet this demon Kneazle of yours! How about that?"
Despite her determination to be cold and distant, Catherine couldn't help it - a hint of a smile slowly appeared on her lips.
"This means more work for me because you'd be incapacitated, and I'd need to feed you myself after Nyx is done." – she replied indifferently, but Sirius already knew he was out of the woods.
"How do you eat this?" – asked Remus, pointing at the chocolate Quaffle, once the five friends were gathered around the table where the cake was placed.
"You open it first." – explained the witch, passing a knife to the birthday boy.
"Ah? Is there anything inside?" – he asked enthusiastically and carefully broke the reddish shell to discover a second brown globe inside – "Wait a second! Is that a Bludger?!"
"Yes, but don't be alarmed! It's still made of chocolate!" – Catherine chuckled.
"Does this mean… No way!" – exclaimed Sirius excitedly, using the knife to make a small opening inside the Bludger – "There's a Snitch inside as well!"
A small crowd had gathered in the Common Room to witness Catherine's culinary masterpiece. Since Sirius was a generous soul by nature, he quickly distributed his birthday cake, leaving the biggest piece for himself.
"You really outdid yourself, Daisy!" – Lily praised her friend after receiving her share of the cake – "Was it hard to make?"
"Insanely!" – responded the black-haired girl – "Especially because halfway through, we needed to extinguish Hagrid's rock cakes that caught fire."
"I hope it tastes as good as it looks." – said Greg, who had appeared behind Lily.
"Nobody's forcing you to eat it!" – snapped Sirius, but nevertheless, he handled his teammate a plate. Then, he froze, staring at the bracelet on Greg's wrist – "Is this from Flame?"
"Yeah, so?" – shrugged Greg, having a mouthful of cake.
"Just great!" – snapped Sirius and left the Common Room in front of everyone's astonished faces.
"What happened?" – Greg asked innocently.
"Like you don't know!" – Catherine hissed and ran after Sirius.
'Where did he go?' – the girl thought, wandering around the corridors until she finally saw a half-open door. The young wizard was sitting on top of a desk in an empty room, glaring through the window.
"Hey!" – said the black-haired witch, approaching her friend.
"You know, Flame, growing up, I rarely felt special." – said Sirius without turning back – "My parents were never happy with anything I did. Everything was about my duty as the oldest son of the Black family. I needed to do everything according to some stupid made-up rules. It was such a relief to come to Hogwarts. Here, people like me for me and don't regard me as some kind of a prize stallion that needs to win horse races and produce pure-blood offspring with blind obedience."
"After I met you, James, Remus, and Peter, I finally felt like I could be myself. For the first time ever, I felt genuinely special. Merlin, even when you were scolding me for touching you without permission, I felt this unique bond between us. I know it's stupid and perhaps childish, but since you gifted me that friendship bracelet, I've never taken it off. It was as if you finally acknowledged our connection, and now I see you've given one to Greg McMahon of all people!"
"Sirius," – Catherine took her friend's hand it hers and forced him to look her in the eyes – "I'm truly sorry that you're upset. I understand your feelings more than you can imagine! And I do apologise that this present I kind of owed Greg ended up causing you such distress. However, you should not, and must not compare yourself to him in any form or shape! What we have… you know we started a bit awkward, but I quickly realised you and James, and Remus… you are my chosen family! No amount of friendship bracelets would ever change that!"
"What about Peter?" – smirked Sirius.
"Fine, Peter as well, although maybe he could be part of my chosen extended family." – the witch rolled her eyes.
"It's probably not fitting for a fourteen-year-old to throw a tantrum over a few pieces of leather. I hope you can forgive me. I guess it was because McMahon has always rubbed me the wrong way. It's just so unfair he gets everything that he wants, being born with a silver spoon in his mouth and all. I've seen him at King's Cross with his parents, you know? They appear as the perfect family; it just makes me wanna throw up!"
"What appears to be perfect rarely is." – said Catherine softly – "But you're right that a fourteen-year-old wizard should do a better job controlling his emotions."
"I'm not very good at that." – sighed Sirius, standing up and hugging Catherine, resting his chin on top of her head – "The only time I'm actually perfectly in control is when I fly."
'When did he grow up so much?!' – pondered the young witch but didn't move away.
"You're wise beyond your years, Miss Plantier!" – chuckled Sirius from somewhere above – "It's hard to believe you'll be turning just thirteen in ten days."
"The perks of starting school earlier." – shrugged the girl.
"You've never told us why you did though." – noted the wizard.
"My magic was causing a lot of problems in the Muggle school I attended, so Dumbledore himself made an exception, allowing me to start studying at Hogwarts earlier." – Catherine recited the answer her parents had made her learn by heart a long time ago.
"It must have been cool being in a Muggle school." – Sirius smiled dreamily – "I know Muggles face a lot of difficulties in their everyday lives, but at the same time, they appear to relish their freedom greatly, despite being clueless about the world. I've gained a deeper appreciation for their qualities thanks to taking Muggle Studies. As a matter of fact, I'm quite fascinated by some objects I read about. Take motorcycles, for instance... I bet it's a lot of fun to ride one! And with a little tinkering, I believe you can enchant it to fly! Wouldn't it be brilliant if you have such a motorcycle!"
"Maybe for your next birthday!" – the young witch smiled, took Sirius' hand, and led him back to the Gryffindor Tower.
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