The Order of Mischief I

2.23

The sun dipped slowly in the horizon, tucking itself away from the darkness of the night. The winter air had not yet succumbed to the rebirth of spring, so, its chill lingered through the castle as hours passed. Classes had ended for the day and many students retreated to various parts of the castle to finish as much homework they could complete before dinner.

James Potter stood on the astronomy tower, his fingers fiddling with the edges of the letter he received in the morning. He had not had the chance to read it and knew better than to the second he recognised the cursive handwriting. It did not require much effort from him to sneak away from his best friends since Remus decided to study at the library and Peter followed him there. Sirius was meant to have detention with Professor Flitwick, except that the Ravenclaw head cancelled because of a meeting he had with other staff members. So, James was stuck with his loud best friend on the tower, trying to figure out how best to read the letter without Sirius snooping into his business.

"You know, you could probably stop playing with the letter and just open it, right?" Sirius said, his tone playful as he sat on the floor, scribbling in the black journal that he often poured his thoughts into.

"I was hoping to be alone when I finally did read it," James replied, leaning his back against the railing and watching the dark haired boy tilt his head from one side to another. Sirius did not lift his head or respond to James' sentiments. So, James asked, "Whatever do you write in that diary of yours?"

"Maybe one day I will let you read it, but that day is not today," Sirius wore a smug expression as he answered.

James shook his head. He looked at the ivory coloured sheet in his hand and then back up at his friend, "Fine, you write your little secrets, and I will read mine."

Sirius nodded, not lifting his head up to see James' expression. The older of the two wondered what was contained in the letter given to his best friend, especially since he, too, had recognised the handwriting. Anya Zion. A part of him was curious to know what his friends were discussing without his knowledge, especially after the pair had spent all of Christmas together. Sirius forced himself to continue writing in his diary, doing his best not to look up at James and attempt to decipher the message through the boy's expressions.

"Anya and her cousins will soon be returning," James declared out of the blue. Immediately, Sirius looked up, shocked. He was surprised by the revelation, mostly because it seemed like nothing to be secretive about. James added, "Apparently, the Zion family has been restructured and Anya has a new brother."

"I thought you said that her parents were incapable of having children, and that Anya was a one-off?" Sirius pondered.

"Huh?" James stupidly muttered as he looked up from the letter. He met Sirius' gaze and watched as his friend rose an eyebrow, urging him to speak more. James nodded when he finally understood his best friend, "Oh, right. No, yeah, her parents cannot have anymore kids."

"So, how did she randomly get a brother?" Sirius asked.

"Adoption," James answered, his eyes scanning the letter once more as he struggled to string his thoughts together.

"My friend, they are an ancient family that consists some of the most powerful wizards and witches ever. They are not about to go and adopt a random child into their family, magical or not. And plus, I doubt that Nora Zion would open her house to such a young child. As long as she is, Anya tests her patience enough, no need for another," Sirius said. He spoke as if his words were biblically true, with confidence and certainty.