Roses All The Way Down【Sirius Black】

ⅩⅩⅩⅤⅠ. 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬

"Happy Christmas!" Sirius greeted Virginia cheerily when he saw her in the hall early the next morning. She grinned back at him, despite the sobering conversation of last night.

"Happy Christmas!"

The two walked down the stairs and entered the living room. The tired rug and musty armchairs looked like they always did. However, lights hung from every surface and holly practically dripped from the ceiling. Virginia grinned. Under the tree, a sprinkling of objects wrapped with brown parchment paper were stacked.

The stockings were full of the usual objects: oranges, a small paper journal for faith keeping and updated, shiny rosaries. Sirius smiled gratefully when he found the same things along with a pair of cross earrings for ears he didn't have pierced. The smile looked strained. Virginia also found a few other things like socks and candy. Her parents seemed impressed by Sirius's gifts. They even went so far as to place the large wooden cross and the plaque on the mantel above the fireplace. Sirius winked over at Virginia when they weren't looking and she giggled.

Her gift from her sister was a record that she held very close to her heart for a few minutes. She had already had this record or at least they had already been sharing it. They had bought this particular Rolling Stones record for 50 cents a year or two ago. But they gave each other their actual presents upstairs in private. From her parents she got a large eyeshadow palette and brushes. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw it, "thank you Mother and Father, this will be fun to experiment with on my friends at School. I cannot wait to decorate myself and my roommates in private!"

They nodded. Virginia felt her heart soar slightly. It dropped as soon as her mother opened her mouth, "about the return to school... your father and I have been thinking. After all it is a family choice and we know what you're going to say with you and Ophelia it's tied but-"

"It's not," Ophelia said without looking up from the book she was twirling in her hands that had been 'gifted' to her from Virginia, "I side with you guys. Virginia shouldn't return to the devil school."

"Oh," Her mother clapped happily.

Virginia's jaw twitched, "We do need to call a car for Sirius."

Sirius stared between the family members when his name was said. He looked like a deer in headlights. Her father looked rather pleased and he nodded, "yes Sirius can take his things and your empty trunk so the rest of the things can be shipped back to you."

Virginia nodded. Ophelia nodded. Her parents nodded.

Well, Virginia thought, in thirty seconds my life went from amazing to complete shit, that has to be some sort of record. She couldn't even bring herself to scold her internal monologue for swearing.

"Why would you say that?" Sirius exploded at Ophelia when they had returned to the safety of the girl's room. She raised her eyebrows shrewdly at him.

"Down boy, they still live here you know," she shook her head, "they were going to say they'd gotten the aunts on their side anyway. Wouldn't have mattered."

Virginia's nostrils flared. Sirius noticed and a smirk brushed across his face. "So," she took a step towards her sister, "even if you had been on my side, I would still be stuck here. You- you knew that didn't you?"

Ophelia shrugged, "of course I did, kinda hard not to. Anyone with half a brain would have seen it coming."

"Were you even going to actually help me?" Virginia asked, the anger leaving her voice in one large whoosh. Her throat felt clogged, "or were you just going to put in your vote and watch as they trapped me here? I got out, is this just jealousy?"

She scoffed loudly, "why would I ever be jealous of you Miss. Virgin-ia? Would it be how committed you are to your faith? How you can recite the Bible? Of how all those stuffy church boys wanted to hold your hand? I'm not jealous - I was trying to help you. I knew you'd never go back. Hell, you can't convince me you didn't know that." She took a step towards Virginia, who stumbled back in spite of herself, "I wanted you to at least try and be wild. Do something with your pathetic, sheltered life. And what do I get from helping? You getting mad at me because of our crappy parents, that's funny honestly."

Virginia swallowed, "I'm sorry Ophelia, I didn't mean to-"

"Want your present Sister?" She cut her off, Virginia cringed but she nodded slowly. Ophelia crossed the room and pulled out a long brown box. She shoved it at her. She opened it slowly to reveal a dress. It was red and looked almost like it had been made of plastic. She swallowed. Ophelia raised her eyebrows, "I had wanted to say congratulations... but also consolation. I may be 'brave' but neither of us have the backbone to stand up to them."

Virginia looked up at her sister through her eyelashes. A moment passed and then another one. "Sirius," she paused, "get the hell out and wait in the hall." Sirius's eyes widened but he did as he was told. "Sister, I pranked people this year. I snuck out of the school grounds. Almost made out with someone in a broom cupboard before being interrupted. Screamed at someone who hurt me. Wore one of those other dresses you sent me. Went outside past curfew. Tried out for a sport and embarrassed the hell out of myself. I- I've really lived this past semester, in ways I could never imagine myself doing. If I could go back and trade it all for one 'real' kiss... I wouldn't." She shrugged, "thank you for helping me go in the first place. Thank you for the bet."

A small smile Ophelia came to her face, "anytime Sister. And uh- sorry for calling you pathetic and dumb..." she scratched the back of her head awkwardly, "hold up... is that... a scheming expression on the face of the formal Virginia Waters. Have you got a plan?" Virginia's smirk grew even wider.

"A plan that would make even Fabian and Gideon proud."

She forced Ophelia to turn around before stripping down and pulling on the dress. She tugged her hair down and let it hang around her shoulders. She grinned before bursting out of her room and storming downstairs. Sirius gaped at her as she passed him. Ophelia chuckled and nudged him, "you might want to wait a second before walking downstairs, I don't think anyone's in the bathroom either if you need to... relieve pressure." She winked. He turned bright red.

"Hey Mom, Dad," she stood in the doorway.

Her Mother shrieked and covered her eyes, "what the hell are you wearing you foul girl!"

Virginia smiled at the floor, "an outfit I like. One I like a lot in fact." She took a deep breath, "I do magic," she paused, her nose twitched and she let her wings unfurl. It was slightly uncomfortable since she had to shove them over the dress but she didn't care, "I have these damn things. I wasn't born normal. I wasn't born perfect. But I have tried really, really hard to be. It's never been enough of course, it will never be enough. But I've found people it's enough for. People with whom I don't need to try hard around. People I love and not in the way that you have to because it's family." She shook her head, "so I stand here with my hair down and in an outfit you would never approve of to show you that I mean business." She regretted saying that and cringed internally, "If you don't let me on the train back to Hogwarts, I will fly there. Do you understand? Try to stop me all you want, it won't do anything. I'm going back."

Her mother and father were silent for several long moments before they nodded weakly.

A/N - originally I was going to have her sneak out with Sirius's help but I liked it better where her flying was her own idea. I hope you like this better too! I will update later today as well and I hope you like the little aesthetic at the top of the chapter.