Weasley tradition was to open all their presents together on Christmas morning, and that didn't stop just because their parents weren't around to enforce it. Hermione and Harry were included in this, as well as Lee. They all sat on the floor near the fireplace happily, not caring that they were up much earlier than they normally were on break days.
Cosette had sent presents to Ginny, Fred, George, and Lee, and her presents were easy to spot due to the odd shaped boxes they were put in. Ginny had a pyramid, Fred a circle, George an octagon, and Lee a diamond. After looking at each other's odd shaped boxes, they decided to open those last.
"I wanna go first," Fred said, holding up his sphere present that was wrapped in plain paper. He held it out for them to see, and on the paper were the words Shake me. "Do I shake it before or after I open it, you think?"
"Both," Said a voice from behind them. They turned around to see Professor Lupin standing behind them, who seemed to have just arrived. "But don't open it in front of me, or I am required to take it."
Fred just grinned and aggressively shook it. They were surprised when a series of odd noises, and even though the present remained unwrapped, they all knew what was in it. It was a sound sphere, which was hard to find, and was one of the few items listed specifically on the banned items list. She must have heard him talking to Lee about how he would love to have one.
"Mine says don't shake me, so I think I'll go next," Ginny said happily, moving around her warning paper carefully. She was a tad bit surprised when she opened the box to see a candle.
"That is the reason I am here," Lupin said with a puzzled expression, "I have no idea what a spicy mango is."
"Your daughter is wild, sir," Ginny said happily, smelling the candle before passing it for it to make its way to him. "Where did she find that? We were talking about our favorite smell we could think of, real or not."
"And you chose a spicy mango?" He asked her playfully, passing it back, "She likes chemistry. It's like potions but there's no magic involved. She does makeup, candles, perfume, stuff like that."
George couldn't help but smile a little at that. She had told him she liked to make things but never explained what kind. Lee opened his box next, which had firecracker candies in it, and when George went to open his they were all distracted by Ron's reaction to something Harry had opened.
He had received a firebolt from an anonymous source, and Mcgonnagal who was in the common room as well was skeptical. She was thinking along the same lines as Hermione- that Sirius Black had sent it. She immediately sent Ginny upstairs to see if Cosette had received anything similar, and although she was confused, she did. She came back downstairs an unmarked box with a frown, and the boys had their own to match.
"There was only this," Ginny said, going to hand the box to her. Remus, who was standing next to her took it instead.
"It's from me," He blurted out instantly, wishing he could have kept his composure better. "Sorry, I thought it was a good idea to put her name on the order instead of mine so they took it to her dorm instead of to me. I came to ask for it so I could wrap it better."
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, seeing right through his lie, and the others did too. He told them he was there to smell the candle she had made and didn't even mention it to them. It wasn't that he was a bad lier because Mcgonnagal believed him, but he had given them contrasting information before. Before walking out of the common room, he gave them a short merry Christmas and a smile that thanked them for not questioning him.
The first place that Cosette went after getting off the train was her father's office. She was used to seeing both him and her mom on the holidays, so she missed him. She also was excited to go because he said he had a surprise for her. When she got them, the door was closed, so she did her special knock to let him know it was her. They came up with the knock at the beginning of the year when he realized that a lot of people would be knocking at his door, and with everyone but Cosette, he could yell come in. The knock was two short one, followed by two loud spaced out, followed by another four short.
It wasn't long before he opened the door for her with a smile. He had missed her too and ushered her into the room quickly where it was warm from the fireplace. Right away he put a box into her hands, that she looked at with curiosity as she sat down in an armchair across from his. Remus hadn't opened the box, but he knew what was in it. He hadn't received a gift like she and Harry, but a letter which was much better for him than any material thing he could have gotten.
Inside the box was another box, this one small and velvet containing a ring. The ring was a simple silver band with sapphires and diamond along the middle, she looked at Remus curiously, and he told her to look at the inscription. She wasn't sure what she expected, but couldn't help but laugh when she saw that it said dad². It was from her other dad, Sirius, and she loved it.
"He sent us a note," Remus told her, passing the paper to her. "It explains everything."
She took the page from him timidly, a little nervous. She'd sent him letters before to Azkaban, but he had never been able to write her back. She didn't even know if he received them, so this would be the first proper letter she'd received from him.
In the letter he explained that he had been falsley accused, as they suspected, and since he was never given a trial he was not given the chance to explain that he had not been the secret keeper of the Potter's House, and he had gone after the person who was. This person killed everyone on the street and framed him for those murder as well. He didnt tell them who the person was, but he did tell them how it was Cosette's letters that kept him going- knowing that his family never gave up on him and that somehow he still got to be a part of their daughters life even a little bit. It kept him determined to make things right.
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Compass *George Weasley
Fanfiction"I thought you were stuck on the whole soulmate idea?" He asked him. At first, George was confused, not understanding what he meant or why he couldn't just say it out loud, then his brain processed what he was being told, and he pulled his hand away...
