The Wolf and the Raven

Ch 36- Here We Go Again

Sirius slid the magazine across the floor, clearing aiming to hide it beneath his bed, but it fell short. The (very-nearly) nude woman on the cover looked unconvincingly shocked.

"Wait to go, gits!" James growled, grabbing the magazine and tossing it back into his trunk. "You just scarred my little sister for life!"

"Scarred yourselves, is more like," she snapped. "You think women actually look like that? Maybe if Muggle women have some kind of magic that we don't know about."

Four pairs of eyes turned to her, then swiftly jerked away. Red in the face, they looked everywhere and anywhere but each other. Peter grabbed a pillow from the bed and slid it on to his lap, swallowing thickly.

"Ugh. Boys," Branwen rolled her eyes. "Here, enjoy my gifts instead. At least they're appropriate for mixed company." She ran back to the bed where she had deposited the three packages. "These are from me and James and my parents."

To cover their embarrassment, the boys dug into the wrappings as quickly and energetically as possible. Sirius was the first to get his open. "Woah!" It was the most reverent he had ever sounded. In his hands was a black leather jacket. He held it up to allow them all to bask in its glory, before jumping up and sliding it on. He ran to the mirror on his wardrobe and pirouetted, trying to see himself from every angle.

James peered over his shoulder. "Are you crying, mate?"

"No," Sirius coughed, but continued to run his hands over the supple leather.

Behind him, Remus and Peter had their presents open as well.

Peter pulled out a large box. It was bright and colourful with pictures of a candy-coated house and candy-bearing tree. The name of the game was, unsurprisingly, Candy Land. Branwen rushed over to explain. "We found a store in New York City that sold wizarding versions of Muggle games. This one is played with actual candy!"

Then she turned to Remus. He was turning over a handsome wooden box with the company name "Voges" etched in gold lettering on the lid. Inside was half a dozen of the finest quills in the wizarding world.

Branwen leaned on his shoulder and pointed at each of the feathers in turn. "Look! This one's from an Eagle. That one's a Pheasant. There's a Fwooper, a Snallygaster, a Jobberknoll, and a Raven. You can't find another collection like that anywhere!" She beamed. "I know because I customised it myself at the factory in New York City. And look here," she reached between his hands and pulled out the bottles of ink that were nestled at the bottom. "This shade is called 'Amazonian Gold' and it's made with real gold! And of course all the other specials are here: invisibility ink, glow-in-the-dark, colour change, self-correcting...." she stopped chattering and blushed when she realised he was watching her with amusement.

"Thanks, Branwen," Remus chuckled. He leaned forward and found his lips a breath-space from her cheek before he jerked back and awkwardly patted her hand.

"Um, mates," James held up his watch and tapped the face.

They all bolted upright, dumping the presents unceremoniously onto the beds. Branwen raced back to her room to grab her cloak while the boys scooped theirs from their trunks. They met back up in the common room, where James tossed the Invisibility Cloak over the five of them.

It wasn't until this very moment that they realised how much taller they had all grown over the past two months.

"Scoot closer, Peter."

"You're standing on my foot, Moony."

"Sirius! Stop breathing down my neck."

It was slow going, the five of them stumbling over each other while trying to stay concealed. To make matters worse, the whistle from the Express could be heard in the distance. Soon, the castle would be flooded with new and returning students. The five friends barely made it to the base of the Whomping Willow before the clatter of the first carriage drew even with the Entrance Hall.