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xii. CHAPTER TWELVE
STONEWELL JEWELLERY
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"HE WON'T TAKE IT BACK."
Briar and Lily were walking out of Transfiguration the next morning. Professor McGonagall had been surprisingly concerned about Briar's health, and asked her if she was feeling well enough to sit in class. She'd even given her a two-day extension on their homework.
Briar frowned. "What do you mean, he won't take it back?"
"I don't know. He just said that you could throw it into the lake if you wanted, but he wasn't going to take it back," Lily explained.
Briar reluctantly took the box that Lily handed her. "Well, can't you tell him that-"
"I'm not telling him anything. The two of you are as stubborn as mules, you can talk it out yourselves. Really, Briar, he wants to give you a gift, he probably feels bad about breaking your old pin. And if he says it isn't as expensive as you think it is... maybe he isn't lying. You should accept it. What's stopping you?"
"I just don't understand, Lily. He didn't seem particularly apologetic when he broke the pin, so why is he trying to make amends now?" Briar demanded, reluctantly sliding the box into her bag.
Lily rolled her eyes. "I think you worry too much. Maybe you should stop analyzing it and just take the gift. Will I see you in the library again today?"
Briar nodded absent-mindedly. "Yes, um... I was hoping you would help me out with some observations I need to prepare for Potions."
"All right. I'll be there at half past six. See you then!"
Briar waved goodbye to Lily, before turning towards the Slytherin common room. She waited until she found a comfortable seat near a window, before taking out the small box that Lily had given back to her.
Briar had to admit, she wanted to keep the hairclip. It was beautiful, and if it had come from someone else she would have accepted it instantly. It was hard to refuse such a wonderful gift. But it was Sirius Black's motives behind it that confused her.
Why would he do something like this? Briar hated to think that this gift was some sort of a trick, but the thought kept occurring to her. It didn't seem much like Sirius to do something out of the goodness of his heart. She didn't trust him, not really. It couldn't be cursed, he wouldn't go quite that far, but... Briar simply wasn't sure what to think. He'd been kind to her the previous day, but that didn't mean much. Black could be charming to anyone when he wanted to be.
She opened the box again, her eyes drawn to the softly swaying flowers. The maker must have cast some sort of a charm on it, to ensure that anyone who looked at it would be unable to turn their eyes away. It was a clever piece of magic and Briar found that it took quite a lot of will-power to close the box again.
She ran her fingers along the edge of it thoughtfully, until she felt a small engraving on the bottom. Turning it around, she saw that the maker had stamped his name into the bottom. Stonewell Jewellery, the name read, beside a symbol shaped like an odd diamond. The name was familiar. Where had she heard it before? She racked her brain, trying to remember.
Royce's engagement party! Briar's mother had bought a number of pieces of jewellery for the both of them just for the party, and Briar remembered being there when a boy had come to deliver them to their home. The boxes had the very same engraving on them, she was certain. Amelia D'Alessio had commented multiple times that the jewellery was of excellent quality but the price was rather extravagant, considering she'd had to travel all the way to Hogsmeade, where the shop was located, just to place the order.
Briar frowned at the box. Was this really from Stonewell Jewellery? It was the sort of place where only the very rich, elite wizards shopped. She was certain that Black couldn't have gotten it from there. The idea was absurd.
Sighing, she put the box back into her bag, and realized with a sinking feeling that the only way she would get any answers was if she talked to Black himself. Perhaps that was what he'd wanted all along.
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Sirius Black and James Potter were walking down the corridor after class, debating the likelihood of Puddlemere United winning their next match against the Holyhead Harpies. They both admitted it was unlikely, and Sirius was about to share his opinion when something caught his eyes.
Briar D'Alessio was sitting on a bench nearby, her head buried in a book. Her eyes scanned the pages with obvious eagerness, and the corners of her mouth were turned up in the slightest hint of a smile. Sirius watched, fascinated by her ability to be so completely absorbed in a book when there were so many students talking, chattering, and creating noise around her.
"Close your mouth, mate, you're drooling," James joked, reaching out to push Sirius' chin up, although it was already closed. Sirius pushed him away.
"Shut up."
"I will when you admit that you fancy her. Mate, I was never this bad with Lily. At least I'm self aware and admitted that she's the love of my life."
Sirius glared at him. "No, you were a pain in the ass and you still are. I don't fancy her, she's a Slytherin."
James snorted. "Sure, mate. And I'm the Minister for Magic. D'Alessio might be a Slytherin, but she's a Slytherin that you spent almost thirty galleons on. Wasn't that how much that hairclip cost?"
"Thirty-two," Sirius muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Thirty-two galleons. Have you any idea what we could have done with that money? At the very least, you could have bet it on the Puddlemere United game and won double. And you spent it on jewellery for a girl who's never going to shag you, no matter how hard you try."
Sirius's face broke into a grin. "I wouldn't be too sure about that. Nobody can resist my charms, not even her."
"I don't believe you."
Sirius shrugged, before making his way over to D'Alessio. James raised his eyebrows, surprised that he was even trying. He paused for a few seconds and then shook his head and left to find Lily. He had better things to do than sit and watch D'Alessio ignore Sirius.
Sirius walked over to Briar, who was still sitting cross-legged on the bench. He stood in front of her, but to his dismay, she didn't even glance up at him. Her eyes were still flickering across the page rapidly, and she turned a page absent-mindedly, before reaching up and twirling a finger around her neatly-done plait. Sirius was almost disappointed to note that she hadn't attempted the messy ponytail from the other day again.
"Culinary Spells for Amateurs," Sirius said out loud, bending over slightly to read the title written on the book. Briar jumped, startled, and looked up at him. "You're joking. It's a book on cooking spells?"
Briar cheeks turned a faint shade of pink, Sirius was pleased to note. She blinked at him a few times, before shaking her head. "Um, no. It's a novel, I just... I charmed a different cover onto it so that nobody would notice what I was reading."
"And you think people will buy the fact that you're reading about cooking spells? Don't you purebloods have house elves for that sort of thing?" Sirius asked casually, sitting down beside her. Briar lowered the book and frowned at him.
" Why do you speak that way?"
"What way?"
"The way you say 'you purebloods'. It's not as though you were never one or aren't one. Purebloods aren't some sort of a foreign species to you," she argued. "Just because your mother is completely rotten human being doesn't mean all purebloods are the same." She paused for a second, realizing what she'd just said. "Erm.. .sorry."
Sirius shrugged. "Don't be. You can say whatever you'd like about my mother, I'd be surprised if you came up with an insult I haven't thought of before."
Briar was silent for a moment. "Repulsive, air-headed twat?"
"Hm. Twat. I'll admit, that one's new, but not the best I've heard."
"Sorry. I can't think of insults unless I'm really ticked off."
Sirius smiled, and he noticed that the corners of her mouth were turning up as well. She didn't smile very often, Sirius noted, but when she did, there were two small dimples that formed at the sides of her cheeks. They were hardly noticeable unless you were really close to her. He coughed slightly, and turned his face away from hers.
"So, erm, how's Malfoy?"
"Pardon?"
"Malfoy. He seemed angry the last time I saw him. I hope he didn't react too badly afterward."
Briar laughed, but there wasn't much humor in it. "Please. He reacts badly to everything. But you've got nothing to be worried about, he's decided that whatever he thinks is going on isn't your fault."
Sirius frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that he's decided it's much more convenient to blame me. He's probably written to my parents already, cooking up some scandalous story about you and I," The platinum blonde said. She glanced up at Sirius, and noted that he looked almost angry.
"Traitorous little bugger." Sirius looked at her, unable to hide the concern in his voice. "Will, um, will you be all right? How angry will your parents be, do you think?"
Briar sighed. "It's difficult to tell. I'm counting on the fact that they'll believe me over him. I mean, they trust me, it's not like I've ever gotten involved in anything remotely similar before. And they're my parents. I doubt that Lucius' word counts for more than mine with my father."
Sirius smirked. "Daddy's little girl are you?"
Briar raised an eyebrow. "And either way, I'll be the one telling the truth."
"You really believe that everything will be all right if you tell the truth?"
"Don't you?"
"I've told my fair share of lies."
Briar rolled her eyes. "Of course. I forgot who I was talking to. I don't know, really. It seems easier to lie, but... it's one thing to tell a small lie and another thing to live one completely."
Sirius was surprised. He hadn't expected her to say something like that, at least not to him. He was unsure of how to respond. "Is that what you think you're doing? Living a lie?"
Briar looked up at him, her blue eyes shining. Sirius frowned. He'd once hated those eyes because they resembled Malfoy's, but sitting there, he couldn't find a single resemblance. There was sense of helplessness in her expression but he felt her eyes were conveying a hidden fear. "I don't know."
Sirius tore his gaze away from her eyes, finding that his tongue was slightly dry. He paused, staring down at the grass beneath his feet for a few moments to compose himself. He stopped, when he felt something solid press into his hand softly. Surprised, he glanced down and saw the Briar had pressed the jewellery box into his hand.
"What's this?" he asked, his tone sharp. Briar bit her lip before speaking.
"Please take it back."
Sirius shook his head, and tried to give it to her. "No. I told Lily to tell you that-"
"She told me. But I can't take this, Black. I don't entirely understand why you're giving this to me," Briar replied. She stared at him, trying to see if she could tell what he was thinking from his blank expression. It was difficult.
"What's to understand? I broke your old one and threw it off the Owlery. I know this is nowhere near as valuable as that one must have been, but-"
"No, stop," Briar said, firmly. Sirius looked up, startled at the firmness in her tone. "Please listen to me. I feel awful that you took the efforts to buy this for me. But the pin you broke wasn't goblin-made, or expensive at all. It was some old Muggle piece that my grandmother never bothered to throw away. It was worthless. So you can see how I would be a horrible human being if I accepted this from you."
Sirius didn't speak for a moment. Briar watched his face worriedly. Was he angry? He had every right to be, he'd just bought her the hairclip for nothing. When he spoke, however, his tone was no longer sharp. "Just because it was Muggle-made doesn't make it worthless."
"Whatever value that hairclip might have had, it's nothing compared to this one," Briar said, with a sigh. "You should return it and take your money back. Or if that's not possible, at least give it to somebody you care about. I'm sorry to have wasted your time and money."
Sirius shook his head. "The money doesn't matter-"
"Of course it matters!" Briar replied, her tone getting slightly heated. "How do you think I feel, knowing you spent Merlin-knows-how-much on that? And don't try to tell me that it wasn't expensive, I've been to that shop. Everything there is expensive."
"So?"
Briar frowned. She hadn't exactly expected him to take it back quietly, but she didn't think that he would put up this much of a fight either. "How could you even afford to buy that?"
Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm not broke, if that's what you're thinking? My Uncle Alphard left me a decent amount of money when he died."
Briar gave him an incredulous look. "Your Uncle Alphard?"
"Why does the idea that I might not be poor seem to bother you?"
Briar took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "It doesn't bother me, I'm happy for you if you've got a large inheritance. I just don't think you should spend it on things you don't need to, or you might find that you have less money than you thought."
Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but he stopped at the sight of Professor McGonagall. She was walking towards them, her lips pressed together tightly.
"Miss D'Alessio," she called, alerting Briar of her presence. The Slytherin girl jumped slightly, and turned to face the Professor.
"Professor McGonagall," Briar said politely, as she and Sirius stood up in surprise.
"You have been asked to go up to the Headmaster's office immediately," Professor McGonagall said. She was frowning down at her. "Your father is here, and he would like to see you."
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an two updates in two days?? who am i 😭
━━ sel 💖💘💕💞💗