Chapter Text
“Wait, seriously?” Abi gaped, stepping closer to the fireplace in interest. Kacie scowled in the direction of the fire, choosing not to respond but instead head for her trusted new weapon; the fire poker. Meanwhile, Abi stopped in front of the fireplace, staring into the flames and the apparition of Sirius Black’s gaunt and grizzled face. He had made an attempt at cutting his beard but it was still straggly and matted, his hair was a similar way. She couldn’t make out any details of clothing as it was just his face, but she would have guessed he was still in his prison clothes. He looked surprised at seeing Abi but offered an awkward smile.
“Oh, hullo…”
“Woah, there’s a murderer in your fireplace,” Abi heard herself say, voice sort of drifting. Kacie was somewhere crashing about the bedroom, still in search of the fire poker that had seemed to have disappeared.
“Please, I’m not a murderer; it wasn’t me it was Peter Pettigrew!” Sirius pleaded suddenly, appealing to Abi in the place of Kacie, who was now getting louder in her search.
“Where is it?” She yelled from the back of the room, continuing to search about. Abi then heard a door, as if her friend had headed for the common room. Distracted by her new fireplace friend however, Abi turned back.
“Who’s Peter Pettigrew?”
Sirius glanced somewhere, although it seemed he was looking about his own surroundings before he spoke again, more urgently. “It’s Ron’s rat, Scabbers. He’s an Animagus,” he glanced about again, eyes seeming distant and worried. “Please, Kacie and Harry are in grave danger!”
Abi blinked, “why didn’t you say this before?”
At this Sirius sighed heavily, the exasperation evident. “I’ve been trying, but she just won’t listen to me!”
“Ever thought that maybe it’s because you’re a convict?”
His eyes darkened in a sort of way that reminded her of Cedric when he facepalmed. “No, the thought never crossed my mind.” He deadpanned, causing a small smile to cross her face; this guy was funny.
“How can we believe you though?” Abi began grilling; if Kacie wasn’t willing to listen to the guy, then Abi would investigate him for her. However, just as Sirius was about to respond, Kacie re-emerged from the common room brandishing the recovered fire poker.
She marched over to the fireplace and immediately began to stab it into the coals, poking it between his eyes and nose region with a vindictive tight lipped grin. “Will you please stop doing that?” Sirius cried, “you know it doesn’t work!”
“Still feels good!” Kacie retorted, continuing to prod him angrily.
While Abi was finding it amusing, she couldn’t help but want to pause Kacie in her actions. As right as she was to hate the guy; she was being stubborn. Abi placed a hand on the blonde's arm, stopping her. “Kacie, I think you should hear him out; he’s being Sirius- I mean serious!”
The joke paused Kacie in her actions and she turned towards the brunette. “Was that intentional?”
“No-“
The two stared at each other for a moment, caught between stony expressions and smiles, but pulled their gaze back to the fire at Sirius’ alarmed shout. “Listen, I can’t stay much longer; it’s not safe here!” His eyes darted about him as his face moved and shifted. “Just please keep an eye on the rat. I’ll try and contact you again!”
With that, the flames flickered and his image died. Kacie turned to Abi, amusement gone as she fumed, “I can’t believe you actually listened to him.”
Abi shrugged apologetically at this, her eyes shined with a curiosity and she didn't look sorry, “I’m sorry, but it did sound important; and I think I believe him…”
Kacie’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you believe him- that he’s not a murderer!?”
“Well… yeah, maybe?”
The blonde’s eyes only grew bigger- if possible- and she dropped the fire poker to the floor, hands now clenching as she began to pace. Abi scrambled to come towards her and suggested in a placating tone, “look, Kacie. Hear me out.” She reached out for her best friend’s shoulders, stopping her pacing and looked into her eyes searchingly. “What if we just… researched it a bit? See if there’s any truth to his story? About him being innocent?” Kacie’s jaw clenched, her knuckles white as she clenched them tighter. All she could think about was what Snape had said to her, ‘not everyone is deserving of your insight’. She shook her head.
“We can’t, I promised I wouldn’t.”
“To who? Besides, this could be important- it might clear some things up for you.” Abi squeezed her hand on Kacie’s shoulder who only shrugged it off with a sigh.
“Abi no, I won’t. He doesn’t deserve it.” She then turned from the brunette and took a seat in the nearby armchair, glaring at the fireplace, effectively ending the conversation there. Understanding quickly, Abi simply nodded before taking a seat on her bed, glancing about the room for a moment. Kacie wasn’t watching then, she simply looked away and focused on some crack in the honey coloured wall. After a minute or two of Abi making sound somewhere, whatever she was doing causing her to giggle far too much, she spoke.
“Okay, but what about this?” There was a flap of parchment. Irritated, Kacie turned to make a quip but was stunned into silence. She was looking at another drawing, but this time it was of an oval faced, squiggly, red haired ‘Gred Wesley’. The body was tiny and the head was ballooned to a massive size, complete with large ears and far too many freckles. Behind the paper she could make out Abi’s grin and that, mixed with the soothing atmosphere of the room caused the tension that had been building to immediately disperse. The Christmas album was still playing and had now reached ‘2,000 miles’ by the Pretenders. The fire crackled and popped gently and Zoe and Petal could be heard snoozing somewhere in the room. It was hard to stay annoyed when the stark contrast of the room was battling with her emotions.
She just couldn’t fight the grin as she sighed, “I fucking hate this song.”
Abi smiled that same, Cheshire cat smile. “I know.” Kacie stared back at her, the smile finally taking over before the two burst into fits of laughter, the blonde getting up to flip the record over as Abi waved her wand and retrieved the ‘Happy Pottah’ doodle from earlier. After changing the music to the much better ‘Step into Christmas’ by Elton John, they spent the remainder of the night counting down to Christmas and drawing boys with unrealistic proportions. 'Draco Malfy', 'Roonil Wazlib', 'Feorge Wesley', 'Nevid Wrongbottom' and company began to fill up Abi's bulletin board. The collection of boys would no doubt either cause questions- or nightmares- for her dormmates when they came back after Christmas. It didn't much matter to the two though, because whatever had happened earlier and whatever was bound to come, the girls felt better knowing that through it all, they would always have this to return to.
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“You~” The note dragged out, not quite finishing as the record scratched against the needle and skipped to the next track. The opening chords of ‘Rocking Around the Christmas Tree’ filled the room as Abi flinched awake, noticing that it was her foot hitting the record player that had caused it to skip.
“Oh man, I need to stop doing that…” Abi mumbled as she tucked her legs into her chest and took up the fetal position where she had been sleeping on the floor. Kacie, not far away and similarly curled up began to blink awake, her body feeling stiff from the hardwood floor. She squinted at the golden beam of winter sun that had worked it’s way through the frosted windows; it was like it had come just to blind her as she groaned,
“What time is it?”
“Christmas time.” Abi grinned towards her as she corrected her position, sitting upright and moving to hover above her friend. “Mistle toe and wine~” She continued, almost singing the words as Kacie joined her in the upright position.
“Is that a song?” The blonde asked groggily, still feeling and looking half asleep.
“A muggle one, yes.” Abi hummed as she got to her feet, going to get ready for the morning feast. A quick glance at the clock let them know it was 9am and really- they had slept in. Thirty minutes was all they needed to be dressed, ready and entering the Great Hall. It was decorated lavishly, the enchanted ceiling looking just as cold and bright as the snow outside, the rafters showing a clear, crisp winter sky. Snowflakes, although not cold to the touch as they landed on the girls’ hair, drifted down as the enchanted suits of armour placed in corners of the hall sang carols, bewitched to do so and fill the room with a strong sense of Christmas. The tables were placed together, no room for segregation and each and every one was covered in garlands of holly and ivy, twinkling with fairy lights that danced like stars. There was a grand feast already served; plates of roasted turkeys, hams and chicken to mountains of roasted potatoes and vegetables, steaming puddings and piles of mince pies- Kacie’s least favourite Christmas snack. At the back of the hall stood the usual staff table, similarly decorated with garlands, along with the usual professors; Dumbledore, McGonnagal, Flitwick and Snape who each sat with glasses of mulled wine. They chatted amongst themselves happily and heck, even Snape looked like he was having a nice time.
The girls took a seat at a table, not far along from where the Golden Trio sat. They gave them a wave and a shout of ‘Merry Christmas’ as the two sat down, smiles bright as Ron stuffed his face with roast potatoes and chicken. Kacie’s favourite part about Christmas at Hogwarts was how the gifts were distributed. Every year at 11 o’clock, without fail, owls would descend upon the ginormous Christmas tree behind the staff table and collect each students’ presents’. Then, very much like Mail day, they would fly above the tables and distribute the gifts. As Abi began to tuck into her Yorkshire pudding and veg, the first of the gifts’ arrived. First, a box landed beside Abi’s plate, startling her a moment before she grinned and looked towards Kacie. As she did, she noticed that Kacie too, had a gift to open, so without further preamble; they ripped into their presents. Down the table, Harry unwrapped a Firebolt and his jaw dropped. Seeing his excitement was sweet and the room buzzed about him with admiration, Ron looking particularly amazed and excited to get a look at the sleek, top-of-the-line broomstick. Although, it was short lived as Hermione eyed it suspiciously.
“Harry, who does it say it’s from?”
Harry’s eyes widened further, but with surprise this time as he searched the wrapping for a name and came up short. When he couldn’t tell her, Hermione crossed her arms before taking the Firebolt from him; quickly confiscating it as a possibly dangerous gift from a dangerous someone. Kacie felt confused for a moment before Hermione’s gaze darted to hers. Oh, of course. Sirius could have sent it. She couldn’t help but deflate a moment and Hermione must have noticed as she looked a little guilty before heading for the professor’s table with the broomstick under her arm.
“What do you think?” Abi asked, capturing the blonde’s attention. Kacie turned to get a look at her best friend and laughed as she posed in her new Christmas jumper which showed a white cat sitting at the end of a dinner table, wearing a Christmas hat with the words, ‘Meowy Christmas Ya Filthy Animal’ printed in bold. She also wore a set of Christmas tree glasses and what she recognised as a muggle ‘polaroid camera’ around her neck.
“Oh, damn, I can’t compete.” Kacie laughed, lowering her head in mock shame before the two burst into giggles. Abi then encouraged Kacie to open her own gifts, hinting that she might find a very stylish Christmas jumper of her own- which she did- alongside a set of socks that mimicked cat's paws; they were both cat related, something totally expected. However, when the blonde opened up her third present, she found something totally unexpected.
“Is that a ring box?” Abi gasped, leaning over the blondes’ shoulder as they looked down at the gift, “my Godrick, is Fred proposing!?” She joked as Kacie further unpacked a letter alongside the jewellery box. The two then eyed it quietly as Abi’s jokey tone changed to one of concern. “Does it say who it's from?”
Kacie turned the letter over, “I think it’s from my parents- well,” It was weird to think of them differently, “my aunt and uncle.” It was hard to fight the shiver that wanted to go through her, calling them that just felt wrong. She shook her head instead and began to peel open the letter, it was just addressed to her in familiar handwriting and as she read she knew it was from exactly who she had suspected.
‘Hey Trouble,
Merry Christmas! We hope you’re doing alright up there on your own and know that we miss you loads! We know why you had to stay this year and honestly, we know it’s not about your grades (even though they could do with some improvement)’
Kacie scoffed a moment but hid a smile as she continued to read.
“Grades aside, there’s something we do need to talk about and we are so sorry, but we didn’t know what else to do. I feel as though it’s more my fault, Lydia was my sister after all, but when you came to us that night, swaddled, babbling and calling me daddy… well I just couldn’t make you think otherwise.”
She gulped back what felt like a rock in her throat. This was it, he wasn’t trying to hide it and Godrick she couldn’t even hate him for that. At least he was being honest.
“Your mother, Lydia. She was the woman in all those photographs, I know you never asked and must have assumed she was your aunt- but that’s actually Emma.
Truthfully, your ‘mum’ is aunt Emma, and I’m uncle Matthew. I know it’s weird now, maybe even awkward but we still love you like our own. Really to us, you are our daughter and nothing can change that.”
It was too late now, she couldn’t hold them back anymore as tears spilled onto the letter. Abi sat beside her and rubbed circles on her back in a soothing motion, it earned some stares from the few students in the hall but Kacie couldn’t bring herself to care as she kept on reading.
“In the box we sent you is the Black family ring. Whether you choose to think of me as your uncle or father, we felt that you deserved to have your family signet.”
Kacie looked down to the box in her other hand and decided to open it. Sat inside propped up on a plush, velvet cushion sat a thick, onyx ring. The band was heavy and big and on the top where the metal flattened, a 'B' was carved.
“If you can guess, the ‘B’ stands for Black. We know that Dumbledore told you, so we won’t say it again, but the ring is your fathers and your birth right. However, it doesn’t define you. You define who you are, we just sent it because we thought you might like to have something, well, physical to connect you to your ancestry now that you know the truth. But this doesn’t change anything about our relationship with you unless you want it to. If you want things to stay the same, they can. We love you just as you are and are here for you, no matter what, be that as your aunt and uncle, or as mum and dad.”
Her lips trembled as she clutched the letter, the text becoming a bit incoherent between crinkles and tears, but she managed to make out the ending.
“If you have any question do not hesitate to ask. We’d hate to see you pull away because we still need you with us. Not because Lydia left you to us, but because we chose to stay with you… so please stay with us. Take your time to process, and remember that we’re here for you. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, we are only a letter away.
With all our love,
Matthew and Emma.”
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“Still trying to figure out what to write back?” Abi asked as Kacie sat hunched over her writing desk, her hand un-moving after writing her opening sentence, ‘Dear mum and dad’. It just felt… weird. She scribbled it out and wrote again, ‘Dear Matthew and Emma’; stared at it again, then struck through it again before groaning in frustration and pushing it back and out of sight. Abi looked concerned as she got up from the green armchair she had been sitting at in- this time- Kacie’s room in the Slytherin dormitories. She approached the blonde and leaned against her desk as she suggested,
“Maybe you need to think about it some more. What do you want to say?”
Kacie pushed herself back from the desk in defeat, approaching her bed and falling onto it before grumbling, “I don’t know. I just,” She sighed, putting a hand to her pocket and feeling the ring box that laid there. “I don’t know.”
“I can’t imagine what you’re feeling… but, your aunt and uncle,” she paused, waiting to see Kacie’s expression which remained unchanged, her eyes shut and her brows furrowed. “Well they seem to care about you a lot.”
“Yeah,” the blonde murmured, her voice thick with emotion, “they do. I mean, they've always been there for me but this- this changes everything.”
“What do you want to do?” Abi asked gently, probing as she stepped closer to the bed until she rested against one of the four posters. Kacie opened her eyes, looking to her best friend. The emotions were scrambled but a mixture of uncertainty and determination shone through strongest.
“Talk to them because… I don’t know, I want to know more about her.”
“Lydia?”
“Yeah…” She breathed out, taking another deep breath before sitting upright. She pulled the box from her pocket and held it with trembling hands. The box was simple and likely one of her mum’s (aunt’s?) spare boxes, although, it was weird to think that what was inside was from a house, a home, she had never seen or really known about. Carefully, she lifted the lid and gazed at the onyx ring inside. The letter mentioned it was a Black family heirloom and it seemed obvious from looking at it- the dark and moody style of it acting as a dead give-away. It just felt so strange, so foreign; this connection to a heritage she hadn’t fully known or understood until now.
“Dude, I’m sorry, but it’s really pretty.” Abi said as she sat beside her, getting another look at it. Kacie felt a smile creep onto her lips as she nudged the brunette,
“You would think that, you ‘emo’.” The two shared a smile as Abi spoke again, squinting at it as Kacie removed it from the box and considered slipping it on.
“It seems important.”
“I guess.” Kacie nodded, just holding the ring and feeling the weight instead. “It’s a symbol,” she murmured as she held it between her forefinger and thumb, looking through the hole. “Of who I am, where I come from.”
“But it doesn’t define you,” Abi added, echoing the words from the letter. “You decide who you are.”
Kacie placed it back in the box, closing it gently as she nodded, “yeah. I think… I don’t know, I just need some time to figure things out.” She then smiled to the brunette, “thank you, for being here.”
Abi leaned her head on the blondes’ shoulder, smiling up at her as she softly spoke, “what are besties for?” Kacie smiled back and the two sat that way for a moment, the warmth of the fire and the distant melody of Christmas music making a comforting atmosphere. Although, it was quickly interrupted by a stir of the fireplace and a cough which caused the girls’ attention to snap to the sound. It was Sirius Black, again, emerging out of the flames like a shit Terminator.
“Oh my Godrick, it’s Christmas! Could you please just fuck off?” Kacie grumbled, rising to a stand to go and collect the nearby fire poker.
Abi stood and wrung her hands awkwardly as she approached Sirius in the fireplace, who wore a tired expression as he pleaded not uncommonly, “stop with the fire poker, please! I thought we were past this.”
“We’re past this when you stop using up my firewood.” Kacie retorted as she reached the fireplace and began stabbing at his face, almost lazily as it was becoming far too rehearsed an action. Sirius remained unphased once again as his gaze shifted to Abi.
“Please,” he mouthed at Abi stood to the side, a slight look of amusement on her face as she watched the two. She didn’t want to help Sirius, but with his stubborn rate of return and Kacie’s itchy trigger arm she knew this would keep going and eventually become a burden to the two when they were trying to do anything else. She sighed, stepping up to Kacie and placing a hand on her shoulder.
“I know you said you didn’t want to hear him out, but listening to him doesn’t mean we’re helping him.” Kacie looked to her with a pained expression, but Abi continued on, "please Kacie, at least If you listen to him he might not come back.” The blonde stared for a moment, torn between annoyance and begrudging acceptance. She knew Abi was right- Sirius wasn’t just going to disappear and poking him with the fire poker sure as hell wasn’t working, heck it didn’t even feel that satisfying anymore.
With a resigned sigh she lowered her weapon and looked down at Sirius properly who only looked relieved and mildly apologetic. “Fine,” she muttered, her voice still tight with annoyance. “Speak then, but make it quick.” Abi smiled a supportive smile from the blondes’ right, silently proud of her for giving this a shot, although still wary of whatever Sirius could say.
“Look,” Sirius began, tone earnest, “I know you don’t trust me, and I get it. But I need you to understand, I didn’t betray James and Lily and I didn’t abandon your mother-“ Kacie levelled an eyebrow and Sirius stopped, mirroring her action. For Abi, it was weirdly uncanny because like this, you could see the resemblance.
“Do you not know?”
“No and I wouldn’t like to find out from you, thank you very much.”
It was like he flinched at the words, eyebrows tightening as he sort of winced before continuing, “well. As I said, I didn’t betray anyone. I was set up, I’m innocent.”
Kacie crossed her arms, eyebrow still resolutely cocked and her expression sceptical, “and you expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t expect anything,” Sirius replied, frustration creeping into his tone, “but it’s the truth. Peter Pettigrew framed me. he’s the one who betrayed them.” His voice grew heated as he drilled the words.
the blonde just frowned, uncertainty flickering in her eyes as she questioned, “but why would he do that?”
Sirius sighed heavily, his face becoming blurred as what she guessed was his hand ran through his flaming hair. “Because he’s always been weak. He was afraid and he saw a chance to save himself by sacrificing me, his friends,” his eyes shone with a rage, “he’s been hiding as Ron’s pet rat, Scabbers for all these years.” Kacie’s ears pricked at the mention of the rat again. He did say this that first night he appeared, but it had just sounded stupid then. Heck, it sounded stupid now- but that look in his eyes, and what Abi had said echoed in her mind- listening to him didn’t meant trusting him. Besides, she could always listen out of curiosity.
“Okay,” Kacie finally spoke, her voice firm. “Suppose you’re telling the truth and you really were framed… We could take a look at the rat,” Abi gasped from her side and she continued, “But if I find out you’re lying-“
“I understand,” Sirius interrupted, his expression set. "Thank you for giving me a chance.”
“This isn’t a chance. I’m just curious.” Kacie said, her arms still crossed as she desperately fought Abi’s giddy side eye. She was far too excited about any sort of investigation; be it about missing socks or magical rat men, she was down. Sirius nodded resolutely before fading away into the coals for what was hopefully, a final time and left the two cloaked in an air of tension. It was weird considering they could hear other Slytherin out in the common room dancing and singing along to iconic lines of ‘Shake your booty like a Boggart in pain’.
They shared a look, charged with understanding. They would investigate later and enjoy Christmas now. Whatever tomorrow held was a problem for tomorrow and as the two returned to playing songs on the record player from the night previous. They pulled out Abi’s new pencils and crayons to draw another set of terrifying boys, they were grateful to have moments like these.