After ing it out, he made a trip to a nearby Muggle supermarket to restock the fridge with fresh groceries.

  Wheurhe house was almost unreizable—it was orderly, fresh, and spotless.

  By the time he finished, it was arou in the evening. Outside, the quiet street was lit by glowing streetlights, with the first signs of Christmas decorations hanging from houses. Sirius strolled down the road carrying a box of pizza, whistling a tune. When he opehe door and stepped inside, he froze in his tracks, looking around with wide eyes.

  He backed out of the house, cheg the number on the door, thinking he had walked into the wrong pce. Everything was —the furniture looked he air was fresh, and even the lights seemed brighter.

  But the thing that surprised him the most was the Christmas tree by the firepce. Decorated with small ors shaped like lions, snakes, eagles, and badgers, the tree sparkled with a golden star on top.

  "Alex?" Sirius called out, unsure if this was some kind of eborate prank.

  Alex appeared from the kit, casually carrying a pte of roast mb chops, wearing an apro the mb down on the dining table and said in his usual deadpan tone, "Ah, you're back. Your oven works fine, by the way. It’s actually pretty good."

  Sirius stared, still trying to process what had happened. "What... what did you do to my house? I’ve only been gone for a few hours! And what’s with the Christmas tree?"

  Alex blinked, fused by Sirius’ rea. "Your house was a mess, so I ed it up a bit. As for the tree, I saw an old man selling it at the supermarket. I figured you didn’t have any Christmas spirit, so I got one. I made the decorations using Transfiguration. Not bad, huh?"

  Sirius eechless. He rubbed his eyes as if trying to wake himself from a dream. "A little ing? You redecorated the whole house! This is... this is..." He trailed off, still in shock.

  "Are you going to eat or not?" Alex asked, taking off his apron and sitting down at the table, clearly unbothered.

  "Yeah, yeah, let’s eat," Sirius replied, shaking his head. He sat down, eyeing the mb chops before stuffing oo his mouth. "This is really good, but I still o know—how did you manage all this?"

  "It’s simple," Alex expined nontly. "I broke the pistachios into small pieces, pan-fried the mb chops in butter and rosemary until they were golden brown, coated them with the pistachios, and roasted them in the oven. I went for medium rare—though, if you prefer raw, I adjust for ime."

  Sirius raised his hands in mock surrender. "No, no, medium rare is perfect. But seriously, thanks for doing all this. I wasn’t expeg it, but it’s nice."

  Alex shrugged, clearly unbothered by the praise. "Just figured if I’m staying here, might as well make it livable."

  As they ate, the house felt much more like a home—warm, , and with the faint st of Christmas in the air.

  "But still…. How did it get this spotless in just a few hours? My God, it’s er than when I first bought the pce!"

  "We’re wizards, remember? Isn’t ing just a flick of a wand?"

  "Sure, sure," Sirius said, shaking his head in disbelief. "But this isn’t like any ing spell I’ve seen. The carpet stains—pletely go’s like the house was rebuilt!"

  "That’s because I have my own special ing spell," Alex said with a pyful grin, keeping his secret teique mysterious.

  Sirius, still not fully recovered from his shock, wandered from the living room to the kit, toug every surface as if to firm it was real. It was clear he hadn’t seen his home so in years.

  After Alex ed the table from dinner, he hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Sirius, I o talk to you about something serious."

  Sirius turned from admiring his newly ed kit and, with his usual cheerful tone, said, "What is it? You’ve already mastered housework and cooking, so what’s left? You’re practically a housewife—what more you do?"

  Alex, rolling his eyes, retorted, "I’m not here to talk about my ing skills. It’s something important. I overheard some chatter about the Death Eaters pnning an attaembers of the Order of the Phoenix around Christmas."

  Sirius’s fastantly shifted from pyful to serious. "Are you sure? How do you know all this while at Hogwarts?"

  Alex, smirking a little, replied, "Remember, I’m a Slytherin, Sirius. You pick up on things in that house."

  Sirius raised an eyebrow. "So, what exactly did you hear?"

  Alex gestured toward the firepd took a seat on the sofa. He waited for Sirius to join him before tinuing. "I overheard a senior in Slytherin, Quick Wilkes. He said his family was talking about an attack, something to do with the Death Eaters. Do you know a Wilkes?"

  Sirius frowned. "Wilkes, huh? He was always hanging around with Snape, Avery, Mulciber, and the rest of that crowd. I’ve suspected him for a long time. But the Ministry of Magiever moves uhere’s crete proof. They all wear those bsted masks during their attacks, so without catg them i, it's hard to pin anything on them."

  Alex couldn’t hide his disbelief. "So, you’re telling me you know who these Death Eaters are, but uhey’re caught i, they just walk free? Even if they’re right in front of your face?"

  Sirius gave a bitter nod. "Exactly. But things have been ging since Millison Barnold became Minister of Magic. His administration, along with Dumbledore’s stant lobbying, has made it harder for these Death Eaters to operate in the shadows. Still, the Ministry's hands are tied uhey have solid evidence."

  "Why ’t you detain them uhe guise of assisting in an iigation?" Alex asked, surprised at how slow and bureaucratic the Ministry seemed to be.

  Sirius sighed. "It’s not that simple. Mah Eaters are from iial pure-blood families. They have es in the Ministry and on the Wizengamot. Even with Barnold’s improvements, there’s still a lot of fear and corruption."

  Alex thought for a moment, then suggested, "You should alert the Order of the Phoenix as soon as possible. Even if it’s just a rumor, being prepared might give you the upper hand."