The Sirius Effect

Do You Hate Me Yet?

“Wait,” Sirius called out as James and Saphira turned to him.

“James doesn’t tell me what to do. You didn’t turn me into a zombie. Seeing you trapped like a prisoner turned me into zombie,” Sirius explained as Saphira quirked a trimmed blonde eyebrow.

“I wasn’t trapped,” She objected quietly as James scoffed.

“Yeah, and I’m not the Gryffindor Seeker,” He muttered darkly. Saphira glared at his sarcasm.

“We just weren’t meant to be, Black. Let’s just accept that with good terms,”

“Did you think about me? At every waking moment? When you slept? Did you think about me, Malfoy?” Sirius interrupted as James and Saphira stared at him. Saphira’s lips parted, unsure of how to respond. If she told the truth, they’d be stuck in a vicious circle. If she lied, he’d leave her alone and go be happy with someone else, while she went and married his younger brother.

“Tell me the truth, Saphira,” Sirius added softly as he took a step toward her. Saphira’s ice blue eyes were wide as she stared at him. He knew he had caught her off-guard. He knew she was running her options in her head, deciding on which road she’d take. In his mind, he pictured she was at a fork that had a sign that said Love Sirius This Way pointing to the right and a sign that said Marry Regulus This Way pointing to the left. 

“I did, but then I didn’t,” Saphira answered truthfully with a sigh.

“Sirius, I’m sorry,”

“No! You can’t marry that insufferable prat! I won’t let you!” Sirius exclaimed as James moved forward to hold him back. Saphira held up her hand, stopping the brunette.

“I can’t break it off, Sirius. My parents would consider it dishonorable and disown me,” She remarked firmly. Sirius stared at her.

“Let them! Marry me instead! I have a fortune from an inheritance! You don’t need to marry Regulus! Marry me!” Sirius blurted out as Saphira and James froze in surprise. James, in all honesty, had never thought his best friend would ever propose to anyone. Much less a Slytherin. Even less a Malfoy. Saphira was speechless as she stared at the man in front of her. Her heart pleaded with her to say yes, however, her head told her no.

“No,” Her answer was short and lethal as Sirius’s entire composure fell. James stared at her before scowling.

“See? What did I tell you, Pads?”

“Oh, and one more thing, you both have detention for being out past curfew and 150 points from Gryffindor,” She announced before leaving the two men alone. Sirius stared after her with longing before fury crossed his features.

“Malfoy,” He growled to himself as James shook his head.

“Just like her sodding brother,” He mumbled quietly as they trudged back to their own common room. Soon the Marauders grew to hate Saphira Malfoy just as much as they hated Severus Snape and spent most of their final year at war with the Slytherins.

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2 Years Later:

“This is ridiculous, Sirius,” Remus and James complained as they followed the determined man.

“She wouldn’t go through with it,” He growled in response as they walked further down Diagon Alley.

“Sirius, why can’t you simply accept she is marrying your brother today?” Remus asked as James groaned from beside him.

“And why did you send Peter ahead of us, exactly?” He added as Sirius turned to them abruptly.

“Peter’s been getting cozy with Regulus for the past few months. I figured he’d be able to talk Saphira out of marrying him, only the rat hasn’t, yet.” Sirius growled in explanation as James rolled his eyes.

“Bloody hell, mate. Just let it go!” James exclaimed as Sirius shook his head.

“No,” He responded curtly. James and Remus’s eyes widened as they looked past Sirius and found Saphira standing between Narcissa and her mother. The three blondes seemed to be in an argument.

“Mother, really, I don’t think it’s appropriate,” Saphira hissed as Narcissa and the Malfoy matriarch frowned.

“You should feel honored, Saphira. The Dark Lord wants to come see this wonderful union,” She replied curtly as Narcissa nodded from Saphira’s other side.

“I only wished he had been at my wedding,” Saphira scoffed at them and froze when she saw the three men in front of her. Sirius quirked an eyebrow at his horrified best friends before he turned to see what had captured their attention. His entire body froze when he saw her. She looked pale and dark circles took away from the depth of her blue eyes. He watched her hands clench into fists at her sides.

“Saphira, stop scowling. You’ll wrinkle your face,” Her mother chastised until she followed her daughter’s line of sight. Narcissa did the same and the three blondes frowned at the three dark haired men.

“Blood traitors,” Narcissa hissed as she and Saphira’s mother dragged Saphira away from them.  Saphira wouldn’t let them see the tears that sparkled in her eyes as she watched the pained expression that had spread across Sirius’s face.

“It’s unbelievable you almost married him,” Narcissa remarked as Saphira nodded, hiding her true feelings.

“Yes, unbelievable,” She mumbled as her mother scoffed.

“It’s such a horrid thing that happened to your aunt, Narcissa dear. I told her he was a bad seed when he was small, but she believed he would come to his senses,” Saphira frowned at her mother’s description. She remembered Sirius when they children. He had always protected her and Regulus. Now 20 years later they were betraying him.

“Now I think green dresses would be perfect for the bridesmaids,” She continued as Saphira sighed and nodded. Honestly, she didn’t want to get married to Regulus. Honestly, she detested the thought. Ever since he became a DeathEater, he had been worse than her brother and Severus combined.

“Is that Severus?” She asked as she looked ahead and found the dark haired man standing next to her brother.

“Yes,” Narcissa answered as she waved for Lucius. Saphira smiled at her friend and dragged him away from the group.

“I’m glad to see you’re alright,” She remarked quietly as Snape smirked at her.

“I wish I could say the same for you, Lea. You look sick,” He mentioned as she shook her head.

“It’s the wedding, I swear. My mother and Narcissa and Bella are driving me insane. Regulus has been no help. It’s ridiculous,” she growled in response as her best friend frowned.

“Lea, just tell them,” He replied darkly as she shook her head.

“No! Are you kidding me? That’ll push them over the deep end. Your Dark Lord is coming, so everything has to be perfect,” She responded lowly as Severus shook his head.

“This isn’t healthy, Lea,”  He commented as he gently swept a limp curl away from her face.

“Yeah, well, that’s my burden to bear.”