The Sunrise of My Heart

As Christmas loomed closer, everyone in Sirius's house was in cheerful moods, even Harry now that he was sure he wasn't being possessed. It was a rather pleasant time, even more so for me now that Draco and I were friends again. He might have been an incomprehensible ass, but I still missed his company.

Christmas morning, I awoke to find a stack of presents at the foot of my bed. Eagerly, I tore into them, feeling much like I did as a kid. All of my gifts were wonderful. My mother had sent me eyeshadow that changed colors with my mood and picture of my cats and Acerbus, who were all doing fine. Hermione had given me a book on Unicorns and how to call them, Ginny had gotten me wonderful-smelling lotion that changed scents each time you used it, and Remus had given me a mountain of chocolate and a hair-tie that flashed the colors of the rainbow. From Sirius, I got a diary full of the Marauders' best pranks while in Hogwarts, some complete with vivid drawings on how the pranks turned out.

"Morning," Ginny yawned from her bed when she awoke.

"Merry Christmas," I said cheerfully, throwing my gift for her onto her bed. "Thanks for the lotion, by the way. It's awesome."

The sight of presents seemed to wake her up more, and she eagerly opened my gift. Inside was a soft scarf of deep red and a diary with a velvety blue cover.

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

"I figured you could use a diary that doesn't try to eat your soul when you write in it. Oh, wait, I almost forgot the rainbow ink!" I handed her a cartridge of rainbow ink, and then we both finished opening the rest of our presents.

There was a crack, and George was suddenly standing beside me, a wrapped gift in his hands. "Merry Christmas," he said, leaning down to kiss me. I beamed and eagerly stretched up to meet him half way.

"I'm going to get breakfast," Ginny said, rolling her eyes at us.

"I wouldn't," George cautioned. "Mum's in a bit of a state. Percy sent his sweater back."

"Turd," I muttered about Percy. Ginny sighed softly and shook her head, then said she was going to check on Ron and Harry.

Without saying anything else, I grabbed George's present and handed it to him. "Here, merry Christmas." He opened the package to find a pair of dragon-skin gloves, a bag of licorice snaps, and some new dung bombs.

My gift was a container of exploding chocolates and a necklace. The delicate chain was made of gold, and there was a starburst sapphire pendant hanging from it. It was very beautiful. "Oh, George! It's wonderful!" I hugged him tightly and kissed him, smiling at my reflection in the mirror with the pendant resting just above my shirt hemline.

That afternoon, we all headed for St Mungo's in a magically enlarged car. The hospital was decked cheerfully in Christmas festivities, making it look more homey. We all went into Arthur Weasley's room, wishing him a happy Christmas and handing over gifts for him. Unfortunately, the cheerful mood did not last long. Mrs Weasley had noticed that Mr Weasley's bandages had been changed a day early, and when she asked him why, Mr Weasley admitted to letting the Trainee Healer try giving him stitches. I closed my eyes and shook my head, knowing this wouldn't end well.

"Do you mean to tell me," Mrs Weasley said, her voice getting rather loud," that you have been messing around with Muggle remedies?"

Bill, Fred, and George had already ducked out, claiming they wanted tea; Remus had strolled over to the werewolf's bed nearby, noticing he had no visitors; Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione all fled for tea as well, hoping to leave before Mrs Weasley began really screaming.

Giving Mr Weasley an encouraging smile, I hastily made my way over to Remus's side, smiling at the werewolf when I got there. "Merry Christmas," I said cheerfully.

The werewolf grumbled something under his breath before turning his head away from me, obviously not in a merry mood. With a pout, I crossed my arms. "Merry Christmas," I repeated more forcefully. "It's a happy day, the sun is bright, and you should be merry."

"How can I be merry?" he muttered darkly, gazing at the wall as if he might find some answer there.

"Well, for starters, you can stop staring at the wall. It's not going to do a very good job making you happy, seeing as it's an inanimate object and all."

With a sigh, he turned to look at me, but he still looked dreary.

"Oh, honestly, your life's not all that dark. Can't you at least smile?"

He scoffed softly. "My life is consumed by darkness now. It's all I have left."

"Bull," I snapped. "Your life is only as dark as you let it be. If you choose to wallow in your own pain and misery, then your life will be very dark indeed. But if you can rise above that to see the light, it will be so much better."

"And what would you know of that? You're just a child."

"She's right," Remus said, interrupting me before I could go on a tirade about just how much I knew what it was to have a truly dark life.

"I'm gonna get you some tea," I said cheerfully.

The werewolf started to object, but Remus cut him off. "It's best if you just agree. She'll get it for you anyways. She's very adamant that way." He smiled at me. "Sometimes, her fierce determination can be the only thing keeping a hopeless person from drowning in their own woes."

I smiled at them both and then slowly walked away to get tea.

"She's been a blessing in the middle of my curse," I heard Remus say.

"Is she your daughter?" the werewolf asked.

"No, but she might as well be. I honestly don't know if I'd have been able to handle the curse were it not for her and her sometimes vicious hope."

"Ah, so you're cursed too? For how long?"

"I was bitten as a child."

"And the girl? Is she one of us as well?"

I didn't hear anything after that, though, because I'd walked too far away. Humming to myself, I started on my way to find the tea room. While wandering, I ran into Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, so I followed them for a bit. Because we ran into Gilderoy Lockhart and a motherly Healer assumed we were his visitors, we ended up in the long-term resident ward. I was just thinking about leaving to get the tea for the werewolf when I heard one of the Healers say:

"Oh, Mrs Longbottom, are you leaving already?"

I spun around to see Mrs Longbottom and Neville walking away from two beds at the end of the ward. I bit my lip, wishing I could warn Neville not to come any closer, but before I could think of anything to do, Ron had noticed Neville too. "Neville!" he called.

I sighed softly and gave Neville a sympathetic look. As Neville and his grandmother came closer, I crept past everyone, moving silently down the ward to the two beds at the end. Hardly breathing, I stepped around the curtains to see Frank and Alice Longbottom laying there, looking a fate worse than death. Silently, I bent down and kissed them each on the cheek before turning to head back. Alice, however, slowly got out of bed and followed me down the ward. Silently, I reached back and took her hand, walking with her.

"Do I know you?" Mrs Longbottom asked when she saw me walking with her daughter-in-law.

"No," I said softly. "But my father knew them. His name was Andrew Carson. He always told me that they were heroes, braver and stronger than almost all other witches and wizards he'd known. I just wanted to see them."

I smiled faintly at Alice as she made her way back to her bed, knowing that if I didn't get out of there soon, I'd start crying over her fate. "If you'll excuse me, I promised to get some tea for a friend. It was lovely meeting you, Mrs Longbottom. Bye, Neville." I walked from the ward as quickly as I could without looking like I was fleeing. Once I was out and around the corner, I took a few deep breaths to control myself, and then continued on my way to the tea room.

"Here you go," I said cheerfully to the werewolf when I finally got back to his bedside. "I hope you like it. Remus, I got you one too." I handed Remus a cup, beaming at both of the werewolves as they drank their tea.