Lumiere | s. black

Nine

Christmas morning arrived faster than the Knight Bus and Vidalia still hadn't managed to find anything for her friends. This made her feel even lousier as she entered the living room only to find presents for herself sent by each one of the boys.

"Oh, Merlin. I'm a terrible friend," Vidalia groaned as she picked up a very flat parcel sent by Peter.

"I'm sure they'll understand," Cosima said as she strolled in, holding two cups of hot tea. A plate of Christmas biscuits floated along just behind her and they landed gently on the table.

"Yes, but it's important to me that they know I care about them."

"They do," Cosima said. "I know they do. You let everyone know you care."

Vidalia didn't answer. She just hoped her mother was right and that they wouldn't mind. She was going to make up for it, most definitely, but for the time being, they would just have to accept that she only wanted to get them something perfect.

"We can take a trip to Hogsmeade tomorrow if you'd like," said Cosima. "I still need to get Floo Powder so we can get you back to school."

Vidalia nodded, pleased with this plan. Hogsmeade was huge. Surely she would find something there.

Vidalia opened presents. From her mother, she'd received another new jumper. A bright scarlet red with the Gryffindor crest on the front and a tiny little breast pocket at the top just for Spur.

"Oh this looks so cozy," Vidalia said as she tugged the jumper on over her pajama top. Spur, who was sitting comfortably in his human's curls, spotted the pocket at once and climbed right down to make himself at home. "Thanks, Mum, we love it."

The flat parcel from Peter, she found, was a homemade lunar calendar where he had drawn every single phase of the moon throughout each month of the year. He had even included all the boys' birthdays. Peter, ever the follower, apparently was very good at paying attention to details when it came to his friends.

From James, she received a book all about Quidditch and how to better understand it. He'd even included a tiny bookmark with the Puddlemere United Quidditch team.

From Remus, she'd received a book called Cassandra, and it detailed great prophecies this priestess had told but were never believed. Another book he had sent included several moon gods and goddesses. Perhaps this was Remus trying to help aid in her journal to figuring herself out.

Finally, from Sirius, she opened up a tiny box with a ring inside. Inside the ring was a pretty, pearlescent stone. Alongside the ring was a very folded up piece of paper written by Sirius.

Don't worry. This isn't anything romantic. This stone is called Moonstone. It's supposed to help with inner growth and strength and is also supposed to aid in intuition and clairvoyance. Wear it to help enhance your unique magic. -S

"You've got some great friends," Cosima said, stunned at all the well thought out gifts she'd received. She realized, she'd never in her life gotten so many presents at once that actually made her proud of her gift. It was just something she always had that she got a lot of flack for. She couldn't help the way she was born. But these boys seemed to make it so much easier to accept that the abilities she had were that of utter magic. She was an extraordinary witch.

•

Early on Boxing Day, Cosima and Vidalia took the Knight Bus all the way to London so they could do some shopping. Vidalia proudly showed off her new jumper under her coat and wore her new ring from Sirius on her right pointer finger.

"So what do these boys like?" Cosima asked as they left a shop after finally buying some Floo Powder.

"Well, James is a Quidditch fanatic. Remus loves magical creatures. Sirius is a bit weird. He likes Muggle things, like music and motorbikes. And Peter likes to read, I guess."