Raven | 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 20

"Who's that from?" Mike asked when he realized that Alexandra had been staring down at the present in her hand for the last minute.

"I'm not sure..." Alexandra said in a hollow voice, her eyes still fixed on the three initials that made her heart sink. She already had an idea of who could've sent it.

"Well, go on," Mike urged her on with a grin, his curiosity taking the better of him, "open it up!"

Alexandra hesitated at first, but soon started opening the wrapping of the present, revealing an old-looking book inside.

Mike tilted his head to look at the title, but his excitement soon faded when he saw that it was just an old copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

"Looks like someone didn't even care enough to buy you a new copy." He scoffed jokingly, moving back to opening his own presents. "Besides, don't you already have a copy of that one?"

But Alexandra wasn't listening. Instead, she grazed her fingers upon the ancient-looking book and opened it up. But the moment her eyes fell upon the first page, she let out a loud yelp and jumped to her feet in surprise.

"What!?" Mike asked hurriedly.

"This — this is a — IT'S A SIGNED EDITION! IT'S SIGNED BY NEWT SCAMANDER!"

"You're kidding!" Mike exclaimed with widened eyes, getting to his feet and staring down at the front page, where Newt Scamander's signature was visible.

Alexandra's hands had started shaking at this point in pure happiness and shock as she held the book. Newt Scamander had always been her idol since the day she first laid eye on his writings years ago.

"This must've costed a fortune!" said Mike in disbelief, taking the note up and looking down at it with furrowed brows. "But who would —?"

His eyes widened in realization and he turned to face Alexandra.

"This is Regulus, isn't it!?" he said in shock. "Regulus whatever-his-middle-name-is Black! R.A.B!"

"Give it here, Mike," said Alexandra, taking the note from his hand and trying to ignore his glares.

"Alex, I thought we had agreed that the boy was bad news!" Mike retorted.

"I — I never agreed on such thing," Alexandra said in a small voice.

"You'd promised you would stay away from him!"

"Technically, I didn't say the words 'I promise' so it doesn't count," she tried to say wittily.

"Don't give me that cheek, Starling!" Mike pointed a warning finger at her.

Alexandra groaned. "Look, I really don't understand why you worry! Regulus is a nice boy! He's done nothing wrong to hurt me!"

"Well, that's what I'm afraid of," he said, more gently this time. "I don't want you to get too close to him, only to end up hurt."

"He won't do anything to hurt me, Mike!"

"How can you be so sure!?"

"Because — because —!" Alexandra tried to reason, but her mind was blank. So she sighed in defeat, saying, "Look... I know you're worried about me, trying to be like a protective older brother — even though you're two months younger than me — but I really don't need protection."

She smiled at him reassuringly, moving forward to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. Mike could see her kind soul through her eyes, and so he calmed at her touch.

"I'll be fine," she whispered softly, "and that's a promise."

***

It was nearing the end of Christmas break and the snow had covered the earth in a beautiful white dress. Everyone was out all day long in the town, making snowmen and snow-angels, having endless snowball fights and enjoying themselves to the best of their ability.

That evening, Mike and Alexandra had decided to go to town and wander around for some while for a bit of fresh air. They had both decided to drop the discussion and so hadn't mentioned Regulus for the last few days. But it was obvious that it was still bothering Mike.

"You know what I don't get?" he started as they were making their way back home, taking a shortcut through the back alleyways, seeing as they were both freezing. "Why would Black even bother to go through all that trouble to find you a book like that?"

"Well... maybe he already had it and it was passed through generations," Alexandra tried to reason, shrugging.

"Okay, but even so, why would he give up something so valuable? Let's look at the facts, shall we?" Mike said with a grin, rubbing his hands together in glee.

"Ugh, please don't tell me you're gonna use your so-called 'Ravenclaw senses'." Alexandra groaned playfully.

"Hey, Ravenclaw Senses are a real thing!" Mike retorted jokingly. "It's just like Peter Parker's Spidey Senses."

Alexandra gave him a confused look.

"You know... the comics? It's like a sixth sense," Mike explained, but Alexandra looked even more puzzled. "Oh, forget it." He shook his head. "Anyway, if my Ravenclaw Senses are deducing me right — which they always do — there's something fishy going on here."

"Oh, yeah?" Alexandra said mockingly.

"Oh, yes." Mike nodded dramatically. "And here come the facts: You two hadn't even uttered a single word to each other for four years. Then suddenly you start talking —"

"Yeah, because I blew up a potion in his face!"

"True, but he was really cranky about it, wasn't he? And you kept apologizing and asking him to be your friend, but he kept pushing you back. So how come out of nowhere he's suddenly in good terms with you and sending you valuable gifts?"

Alexandra rolled her eyes playfully. "Look, Mike —" she was trying to say, but she was cut off when they heard a loud crash in the distance.

"It was probably just a car," Mike tried to reason, but he was suddenly looking around alarmed, gulping. "Do you have your wand with you?"

Alexandra shook her head weakly, her eyes roaming the empty and quiet alleyway, her heartbeat speeding up.

But they both took a step back in horror when they saw two masked figures approaching them from the depth of the alleyway's darkness.