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HOGWARTS, THIRD FLOOR 1978
There was a dreadful sense of trepidation stirring in her stomach when a stranger slid into the empty seat at Maeve Saint-Laval's left. The heavy legs of the chair made a loud, awkward grating sound against the classroom floor, capturing the attention of nearly all the students. She fought off the urge to cringe, feeling the dozens of disdained stares boring into her skull.
Hushed murmurs began to spread around the room. It wasn't her fault; yet somehow, Maeve was on the receiving end of scorn again. She wanted to strangle the stranger but didn't dare to look at them. She held her gaze straight ahead, her posture adamantly rigid.
The stranger at Maeve's left cleared their throat ⎯ male, she easily assumed ⎯ and said, "Saint-Laval, isn't it? You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" When she didn't answer, he continued to ramble, "See, I'm in a fight with my mates right now, and this was the only seat left so..."
Maeve realized after a moment that he was waiting for an answer. "That's fine," she told him, staring at her charms notes on their desk. Her throat constricted.
"Cool," he said, shifting around as he placed his things down. Though his movements were clumsy, there was an air of natural self-assurance and nerve about it. "I'm Sirius Black, but you probably already knew that."
Maeve froze, the blood draining from her face. Of course, she knew who Sirius Black was. She'd be a fool not to. After all, he was exactly the type of person she should never cross paths with.
She nodded stiffly and looked the other way from him, hoping it might somehow make him vanish into thin air. A tremor ran through her hands ⎯ a not uncommon occurrence for Maeve.
"So," Black began to say. "What's your name?" he asked easily. His voice sounded alarmingly closer. Like he had leaned towards her. Maeve swore she could faintly smell cigarette smoke lingering on his robes.
She shivered at the proximity of him.
It wasn't that Maeve disliked Sirius Black. She had no reason to. He was popular, fit, and adored by the majority population of Hogwarts. But she had only ever seen him from afar. Never up close like this. If she looked at him now, this close to his face, she would know.
