A Magical Carol (Harry Potter/Christmas Carol)

Ghost of Christmas Present

For all the wishing, it didn 't seem like the Ghosts of Christmas would help him as they helped Scrooge, what with the advice the first gave to bring Sirius home for Christmas effectively, to try.

In Orion 's mind, this made sense, given Scrooge was supposed to be the one to rectify the change. Yet for the life of him, Orion didn't know how he'd bring Sirius home for Christmas, what with how stubborn both Sirius and Walburga could be; he knew how much Regulus missed his older brother, not to mention Orion wanted their family to be whole again.

Flames flickered, the waxy figure of the Ghost of Christmas Past disappearing, leaving him in the hall of feasts, or at least Orion, from a young age, thought that quite the apt description for the home of the Ghost of Christmas Present. The stage lit and icy blue sprites appeared, making Orion 's eyes blink, having expecting someone more akin to the description of Father Christmas, except with fiery red hair. Otherwise, the opulence of the Christmas feast all around him matched his expectations. "Am I as you expected, or not at all, Orion Black?"

"Like and more, one might say," Orion said. "And this is about a Christmas present?" He turned his head. "My two boys."

"Ah. Yes. You're worried about the two of them, the paths they're going down. Isn't Regulus," the giant blue figure paused. "Isn't he one of his?"

"I rue the day that monster actually takes one of my sons as his own," Orion said. "I'm sure Regulus will see sense, particularly when his brother returns home."

"Ah. But does his brother return home? Does he have a reason to do so?"

Orion stared, his jaw dropping at sight, before shaking his head. "He doesn't."

"So, I don't need to show you what he is doing right now?"

"Wait," Orion said, holding out his hand. "What Sirius and Regulus are doing right now. How their Christmas' are going? I do want to know. Particularly since...."

There lingered the worry for him that something wasn 't quite right, that there was something he needed to worry about. Yet there he now was, staring at a rather welcoming room, where Sirius was with those Orion presumed to be his friends, and a girl with red hair, enjoying the way the lights from their Christmas tree flickered. They drank, remained merry and—

"So, has anybody told Sirius about the rumor?" one of the friends said, clearing his voice. There were scars on his face that made Orion wonder where they came from.

"What rumor are you talking about, Remus?" Sirius asked.

"Oh! Oh!" Said the smallest of Sirius' friends. "The one about his younger brother becoming a Death Eater. That's why everyone suspects him of being the traitor, working in cahoots with him."

Orion frowned. "What traitor?"

"Don't know, but certainly walking away from the family wasn't as easy as Sirius thought, was it?" the Ghost of Christmas Present said as a couple of the spirit's blue sprites—which reminded Orion of overly chubby Pixie wearing clothes.

"I don't know why he thought it would be," Orion said.

"You sure you weren't hoping he'd find it difficult and come home?"

"I honestly wish him the best of luck," Orion said. "And still want him home.

"Merlin, Peter," said another friend as Orion spoke to the Ghost of Christmas Present. "You know Regulus is a sore spot for Sirius."

"It's alright, James," Sirius said, smiling, turning to his friends. "I lost Regulus a long time ago."

Orion frowned. "Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Perhaps he's blind, or maybe you're blind to something?" The Ghost of Christmas Present said. "Regulus is a Death Eater, right?"

"He is, but" Orion shook his head. "It's not what you think." Then, he sighed. "No. That's what I want to believe. That Sirius isn't right and that Regulus didn't change, that Sirius leaving didn't harden him."

"Well, I think Sirius thinks Regulus hardened a long time ago."

"Sirius thinks a lot of things that aren't right," Orion said. "Nor does he ever stop and listen." He frowned. "But then, I do tend to let Walburga do all the talking."

"I wouldn't like being yelled at her either."

"No. I've only been yelled at her a few times, and always with the luck of calming her down."

"Well, I guess we should see your other son."

"I'm not sure I want," Orion started to say, but then they were gone. He was there standing, watching Regulus speak with a girl, actually smiling, and in the back of his mind, he thought—

"Are you sure that they're actually happy?" the Ghost of Christmas Present said. "Listen closer."

Orion frowned, listening to Regulus tell the girl about how Voldemort would make it so they no longer have to hide from Muggles even before the spirit said those words, but then, "And when that happens, we can be friends."

"She's a Muggle," Orion said.

"And he's quite smitten," the spirit said, as Regulus talked about family, and expectations and—

"I think we'll skip this part," the Ghost of Christmas Present said, as Orion's mind reeled at the fact Regulus had actually agreed to have sex with the girl, something he'd thought Sirius would do, but there was the matter of them both feeling it was something that Regulus choose, who he would be with first rather than his parents, both of them knowing—

Orion closed his eyes. "He really doesn't understand. He doesn't—"

"Kreacher?"

Orion 's eyes snapped open, seeing his youngest rushed over to the House Elf, the boy beloved so much, which was how he heard Kreacher relate to Regulus about everything that happened, how the only reason he survived the cave was because of Regulus' order, to which Regulus asked for Kreacher to give him some time, to hide, because—

"A Horcrux," Orion shuddered. "This is what I am to be shown for the present? To be told that a monster has crossed a line so that he will never die, to the end that our future—I can imagine a future that is as horrific as Scrooge's, if not worse if I don't do something."

"Well, I'm not the one to tell you that," the Ghost of Christmas Present said. "I know only what goes on now, and it's certainly not anything good."

The pixie-like creatures nodded their heads, agreeing with him.

Orion, in turn, found himself dreading the future.