Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 128

The next morning, everyone got to work to put up the Christmas decorations around the house and set up the Christmas tree. The place looked so good and bright to the point that it had become almost unrecognizable.

Sirius was happier than anyone had seen him in a long time. He would help around with the decorations, singing Christmas carols at the top of his lungs. The Christmas spirit was all over the place, and now that Arthur was back, they all went back to their normal and happy selves.

That day, Jenna and Sirius had retreated to their room for the afternoon, taking a long and well-deserved nap. Although even after hours had passed, they remained in bed in each other's arms.

"You remember how we wondered last year that why Lexi didn't warn anyone about the Hufflepuff boy's death?" Sirius started out-of-the-blue, playing with Jenna's long hair as he gazed up at the ceiling.

"Cedric Diggory?" Jenna raised her brows. "Yes, of course I remember."

"Turns out... Dumbledore was the one who asked her not to tell anyone about it."

"What!?" Jenna exclaimed, jumping up into a sitting position as she stared down at Sirius with wide eyes. "What are you talking about!?"

"Well, think about it," Sirius went on, sitting up as well and leaning his back against the bed's headboard, "Dumbledore is probably the most skilled Legilimens there is. True, he couldn't have used it against the Order members, including Pettigrew, because we all knew a little Occlumency... but when Lexi first arrived, she couldn't do any magic, and so couldn't hide her thoughts from Dumbledore. So —"

"So you're saying that Dumbledore has seen through Lexi's thoughts and knows exactly what's going to happen in the future, and yet he refuses to change things that aren't necessary," Jenna stated in a hollow voice.

"Exactly." Sirius nodded. "Maybe he's afraid of worse consequences. That's what he told Lexi when she wanted to warn him about Arthur and to save him earlier than he was supposed to be saved."

"But that's insane!" Jenna retorted. "You'd think he would be more grateful that the Muggle girl was trying to help and save Arthur from being more severely injured."

"I know, that's what I thought too."

"Dinner's ready!" Molly suddenly called loudly from downstairs.

Sirius sighed, getting out of bed. "Come on, we should go."

After changing out of his pajamas, Sirius wore on his day clothes. But Jenna didn't bother, and only transformed into Crookshanks before following Sirius downstairs.

   After they were done with dinner, Sirius thanked Molly and left the kitchen to go upstairs to the parlor with the ginger cat going after him. He then chuckled when Crookshanks went and laid down on his lap, purring loudly as she closed her eyes.

   Although Sirius turned his head around when he heard someone knock at the parlor's door, only to see Lexi standing there with a goofy and shy smile on her lips.

"Hey, Lexi." Sirius smiled back at her from over his shoulder as she walked in.

"Can I join you?" Lexi asked and Sirius nodded brightly, gesturing at the empty seat beside him, and so she sat down.

But before Lexi could say anything, Sirius asked, "Everything all right with the Weasley boy?"

"The Weasley boy?" Lexi repeated with a raised brow, laughing.

"Well, you tell me if he gives you a hard time again," Sirius said with a warning tone, a grin playing at the edge of his lips.

Lexi chuckled. "I will."

"Ah..." Sirius sighed, leaning back on the couch. "I miss the teenage dramas."

"Really?" Lexi grinned. "So... you had someone back then?"

"Yeah..." Sirius smiled, glancing down at Crookshanks who was laying on his lap, purring. "There was someone..."

"What happened?"

Sirius frowned for a few seconds, thinking. "With the Order and the war going on... you hardly have time for anything else. Besides, I... well, I really did make a mistake that night, going after Pettigrew... I ruined everything..."

A long pause came and an eerie silence filled the space between them. But Sirius could feel that there was something bothering Lexi, and she was desperate to talk about it with him.

"Look, Sirius," Lexi started awkwardly after a while. "I really need to talk to you. There are so many things I want to know, and I'm pretty sure you have the answer to them."

"Wh-what is it?" Sirius asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He was afraid of the conversation she was about to start, because he had a feeling that he knew what it was going to be about.

"This necklace you gave me," Lexi started again after taking a deep breath, showing it to him, "it belonged to my mother, didn't it?"

Sirius jerked so quickly in his seat that Crookshanks fell off his lap and hissed at him angrily, and so Sirius gave the cat an apologetic look before turning to face Lexi again.

Although Jenna hopped up on an armchair nearby, curious to know where this conversation was going. Sirius had already told Jenna that Lisa Goldman — his childhood friend — had given two identical necklaces to him and Regulus, one for each.

Sirius had guessed that maybe Regulus had gotten Lisa pregnant before his death, and so Sirius gave his necklace to Lexi in hopes that she would recognize it. If Regulus truly were her father, then there was a chance that Lexi had seen that necklace before.

"You — you recognized it?" Sirius asked, gulping.

"So it does belong to her!" Lexi exclaimed. She looked down at the necklace, muttering to myself, "I knew it."

"Lexi —"

"You knew my mother, didn't you!?" she asked, watching him warily.

There was a small pause as they stared at each other, until he finally said —

"Yes."

Lexi felt the breath hatch in her lungs and her lips went dry as she stared up at him, her heartbeat picking up speed.

"That's actually the reason I gave you the necklace," Sirius said and her head shot up at that, giving him a questioning look.

"What do you mean?" Lexi mused.

"I needed to make sure that you really were her daughter," he explained. "I had to make sure that her name being Lisa Goldman wasn't just a coincidence. But I still have so many unanswered questions."

"Well, so do I!" Lexi retorted. "Was she the one who sent me back? How did you know her? What else is there that you know about me?"

Sirius sat there staring down at his hands for long seconds in silence before finally saying,

    "I will tell you some day, Lexi. I will. But I need to make sure that I'm not mistaken first. I mean... now that you've recognized this necklace, it clears things up a bit more. But I need to be a hundred percent sure before I bring that burden on you."

"A hundred percent sure about what?"

"There are things that I can only guess — things about you, and who you are — but they don't make any sense!" Sirius huffed in frustration, looking away. "It just doesn't make sense... I can't be your... I just can't be..."