The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

162. Snowflakes

"What are you doing for Christmas?" Harry asked Thea after she joined them in front of the fire in the Common Room.

"Mum has to work, so I'll be going to Grimmauld Place to be with Dad," Althea replied with a shrug. "What about you three?"

"Harry and I are going to the Burrow," Ron said.

"I'm going skiing with my parents," Hermione explained.

.

"Okay," Althea called, clapping her hands together to get the attention of the rest of the D.A. "Harry and I decided this evening we should just go over the things we've done so far, because as it's the last meeting before the holidays, we don't want to start something too big. But, we also decided that once we get back, we can begin something really big, like patronuses."

It was a fun meeting this week as Althea had made the suggestion of turning it into a challenge to see who would do the best. To Althea's delight, Neville made it into the top five before being bested by Hermione at the last moment.

After bidding everyone a Merry Christmas at the end of it, they all left, each looking and feeling very cheerful. Althea was sitting in front of the fire reading peacefully while Ron did homework and Hermione wrote a very long letter.

"What kept you?" Ron asked half an hour later when Harry finally returned.

Harry said nothing for so long, Althea finally looked up, frowning at the wide, dopy smile on his face.

"Did someone hit you with a Cheering Charm?" she asked, beginning to laugh.

Harry shrugged, but still seemed slightly out of it.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking up at him. When he still said nothing, Hermione asked, "Is it Cho? Did she corner you after the meeting?"

His cheeks growing slightly pinker, Harry nodded, causing Ron to snigger as Althea smiled.

"So, er, what did she want?" Ron asked with a smirk.

"She...she, er," Harry began.

"So how was your first kiss?" Althea asked lightly.

When Harry said nothing, Ron said eagerly, "Well?"

"It was..." he began, his cheeks growing even more pink. "Wet."

Althea snorted, trying to contain her laughter as Ron made a noise either to indicate disgust or amusement.

"Because she was crying," Harry explained quickly.

"Oh," Ron said, his smile falling. "Are you just that bad at kissing?"

"Dunno," Harry replied. "Maybe I am."

"Don't be silly," Althea said. "Cho spends half her time crying these days."

"You'd think a bit of kissing would cheer her up," Ron said in surprise.

"Ron," Hermione sighed, not looking up from her letter. "You're the most insensitive wart I have ever had the misfortune to meet."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron said in confusion. "What sort of person cries while someone's kissing them?"

"Yeah, who does?" Harry agreed cluelessly.

Hermione sighed, glancing at Althea who was looking much more sombre than before.

"Don't you understand how Cho's feeling at the moment?" Hermione asked. When they both shook their heads, she set down her quill, explaining, "Well, obviously, she's feeling very sad because of Cedric dying. Then I expect she's feeling confused because she liked Cedric and now she likes Harry, and she can't work out who she likes best. Then she'll be feeling guilty, thinking it's an insult to Cedric's memory to be kissing Harry at all, and she'll be worrying about what everyone else might say about her if she starts going out with Harry. And she probably can't work out her feelings toward Harry in the first place because he was the one who was with Cedric when Cedric died, so that's all very mixed up and painful. Oh, and she's afraid she's going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she's been flying so badly."

After a shocked silence, Ron said, "One person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode."

"Just because you've got the emotion range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have!" Hermione cried.

There was a tense silence for a moment before Althea began to giggle, looking between Ron and Hermione incredulously before Harry too began to laugh. Soon, all four of them were laughing uncontrollably.

.

Amara was fast asleep, curled against Sirius' side as he lay awake. Every couple of moments he glanced over at her, admiring her pale face in the moonlight. It had been over a month since she'd told him the truth, but he still couldn't believe it. He, Sirius Black, was going to be a father. He and Amara would have a child. Would it be a little boy he could teach to ride a broom and play Quidditch? No, he would teach them Quidditch no matter the gender. Nothing would stop that, and with two brilliant Quidditch players as parents, the little tike was sure to be a legend. Maybe it would be an artist, like Amara, or would the baby be more of the sporty jock sort? Maybe more bookish?

He couldn't stop wondering, stop hoping and dreaming, wondering what their child would be like. He was so lost in his ponderings that he didn't at first notice as Amara began to stir in her sleep. Then, with a sudden jerk, she clutched onto him so tightly he thought she was trying to bruise him.

"Amara!" he exclaimed in shock, but when he looked at her, he saw her eyes were milky white.

She was having a vision, not a dream vision that could either be a regular dream or a prediction, but a real vision of present events. She began to rise in the air, her hair swirling around her. Then, just as soon as it had started, she fell back, gasping for air.

"What happened?" he demanded, looking at her with concern as she gasped for breath.

"Arthur," she gasped. "He's been attacked."

"Come," Sirius said, jumping out of bed.

"Sirius," she said. He turned back to look at her. "Dumbledore already knows. Or, if he doesn't, he will."

"How?" Sirius asked in confusion.

"Harry was there," Amara explained, getting to her feet and approaching him. "I don't know how to explain it, but I just knew he was there. He saw it all."

"You're absolutely sure?" Sirius said.

"Positive," she insisted.