Sweater Weather // Regulus Black

chapter ten // friends

november fifteenth, 1975

"Listen, all I'm saying is—" The somewhat deep, Welsh voice spoke, until another one cut it off.

"Oy, shut it," A somewhat squeaky voice interrupted, pointing over to an awkward Estella, who was standing at the bottom of the staircase to the dorms.

"Erm—What're you lot doing here?" She asked nervously, hoping she would've been able to sneak by unnoticed.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius countered, his voice unfathomably posh in the particular sentence. He must've been tired—Regulus did the same.

"It's the Slytherin common room, I have every right to be here," The girl countered, but James tisked.

"'Tis three in the morning, love, you should be in bed," He scolded, shaking his head in disapproval.

"You shouldn't either!" She exclaimed in frustration, beginning to lose hope in getting an actual answer. "I wake up at night sometimes—I just like to sit by the fireplace."

"Bad dreams?" Remus asked quietly, throwing a small, apologetic smile towards her. Estella nodded shyly.

"We're scheming, it doesn't concern you," Sirius murmured without so much as glancing at her, using his hand to shoo her away.

"In the Slytherin common room?—How did you lot even get in here?" She asked confusedly.

"Oh, come on, it's not that hard to guess that the password is 'Pureblood'. Bunch o' gits," Peter retorted, muttering the last part under his breath.

Estella's eyes fell down to her feet, as she awkwardly fidgeted with her hands. "We're not all like that," She murmured, before glancing back up. Remus was smiling at her yet again—He was very kind, she decided.

"Yeah, okay," Sirius sighed, running a hand through his long, disheveled hair. "We needa be in here...Get the layout," He said with a trademark grin, as the four of them slowly backed away.

"What—?" Estella began, watching the four idiots walk backwards towards the door. She was fairly certain James was moonwalking.

"We were never here, Smelly Stelly," Said moonwalker spoke with a grin.

"It's all a dream, love," Peter said with a sure smile as the quartet finally approached the door and backed out of sight, leaving Estella completely and utterly confused.

Boys.

- - -

She awoke somewhat late the next morning, getting dressed into a simple striped-tee and blue bell-bottoms.

The witch groggily stepped down the stairs, throwing up a wave towards Regulus, who was sat on the couch—Presumably waiting for her to go to breakfast.

He was such a gentleman.

"Hey, Re—" Estella began to voice, until a loud chanting filled the room, causing several heads to turn.

"Hey, ho, hey, ho, hey, ho!" The voices chanted deeply, as each one of the four Gryffindor fifth years began to step out from different corners around the room.

The girls eyes widened as they all circled in on her, as she realized this meant that she was now the center of attention. She'd never been the center of attention before.

All of the heads were staring directly at her, some scowling at the boys and others laughing at their tactics, and they all lifted the small girl up and away.

"What the hell? Put me down!" Estella exclaimed, trying her best to swat them away as they each hoisted her legs up above their heads.

"No, ma'am!" Sirius yelled with a large grin, seeming to be amused by her pain.

"Reggie!" She exclaimed, turning to face her friend. But the boy only sat and watched, his mouth gaping and his eyes wide opened. Great.

"Will you at least tell me where I'm going?" Estella asked through a groan, figuring she was done arguing with the bunch.

"The commons," Remus informed her, his voice light.

"Gryffindor?" Estella questioned, the boys all nodding to confirm. She sighed, mumbling a small sentence under her breath. "You could've just invited me."

Eventually, the group made their ways through the halls, despite the scared and confused looks literally every student threw.

The plopped her down onto the couch of the Gryffindor common room, not another student in sight. They must've all been at breakfast.

"Boy, you sleep late," James sighed as he plopped down on the couch across from the one she was sat at, the rest of his friends joining.

"Did you guys get any sleep last night?" Estella questioned, noticing all of their exhausted faces.

"Not a wink," Sirius grinned, before leaning close and booping her nose—Much to her dismay.

"We've decided, Estella Malfoy, that you are a mystery," James declared.

"And not just to us! To all," Peter piped up, a gleaming look in his eyes as he smiled.

"Wonderful. Now if you don't mind," The girl said, unamused as she attempted to sit up, before getting pushed back down by Remus.

"I thought you for a kind one, Lupin," Estella said through a sigh, making Remus smirk. "I do what needs to be done."

"We're interrogating you," Sirius spoke. Estella soon noticed that the boys tended to speak in order, each saying one sentence or phrase then circling through. They were a very coordinated bunch, she'd give them that.

"About?" The girl asked through an exasperated sigh, wanting everything to be over with so she could get to breakfast

"My brother. What's his deal?" Sirius spoke again, making Estella's face scrunch up in confusion. "This isn't even about me?" She questioned.

"Oh, it will be," James assured. "But Sirius needs his answers, first and foremost."

"Regulus is just...Regulus. I don't know what kind of family drama caused the two of you to get like this, but he's honestly a lot like you," Estella explained, causing Sirius to let out a loud honk of laughter.

"Like me? That twat is nothing like me," He said bitterly, his eyes rolling way up to the ceiling.

"Easy, Padfoot," Remus nearly breathed, placing a delicate hand on Sirius's shoulder.

Sirius turned to face his friend for a moment, and Estella couldn't help but notice the blush that appeared across his cheeks as they locked eyes.

"Anyways," Remus said with a small smile, slowly turning away from his friends and towards Estella. "Has Regulus mentioned anything to you about...The Dark Lord?" He asked quietly.

The very name sent shivers down the girls spine, as she shook her head no. "Of course not. I—I know what our families are like. I get it. But...But Regulus is a good person. He's just easily persuaded, as I'm sure Sirius already knows," She assured, turning over to face him. "We've never discussed anything even slightly related to that subject. Okay?"

Sirius's face fell, looking as if he was almost going to cry. Obviously, Too-Cool-For-School-Black would never let that happen, so he shook his mind clear.

"I need you...I need you to keep it that way, okay?  My brother, he—He'll do anything to please our parents. He doesn't understand the things he gets himself into, yeah? And he's never had friends before, like he does with you now...Or whatever you two are."

"Friends," Estella repeated in confirmation. "We're great friends," She forced a smile, though she couldn't ignore the slight tug feeling she felt her heart make, as if she wanted more.

"Good. Keep it that way."

- - -

word count: 1214