Wristbands | Sirius Black [1]

Chapter Four

★

[Chapter Four: Wristbands]

★

       Ever since the surprise encounter with Sirius Black, Aspen has not been able to look at the boy... or be in the same room as him. Or stop thinking about him. What if he recognized her? Not many Hogwarts girls wore wristbands on their arms, that was more of a muggle thing–Hogwarts teens preferred magic bracelets with flittery charmed birds and elven gold. Then again, she did cover her face with her hair; and black hair wasn't uncommon whatsoever–Black was admired for his own black locks. As for the wristband problem, she could just wear long sleeves for a little while. Honestly, she'd do just about anything to avoid interacting with the boy–confrontation was terrifying without the hazardous odds of being maimed or murdered.

The whole situation was pathetic. After spending twenty worthless minutes crying with Moaning Myrtle, she had begun to recuperate. It was just an essay, she didn't even get yelled at. There was no worthy reason for her to be crying with the school's snappy ghost. Well, perhaps McGonagall did want to yell at her . . . she just didn't have time seeing as Aspen ran away like a coward.

Her mind went from possibility to possibility. She should cry! She probably had just broken any and all positive ties with Professor McGonagall, a woman of high power and credibility. Although, missing one essay out of her whole seven years at the school wouldn't affect anything, would it? Also, people cried–it was an expected human predisposition; McGonagall would forgive an overworked student, right? She wasn't a Slytherin, she had morals. Honestly, by six in the evening she had lost the energy to cry because she spent the rest of the day writing it and then handed it in. If she did it right, only a few points would be taken off for being late—at least that was what she hoped. That could be easily recovered with extra credit.

After delivering her essay she returned back to the Gryffindor common room. She quickly slipped to the stairway towards the girl's dorms and went up to her room. No one was in at the moment, so she grabbed some clothing and got dressed. Of course, Mr. Cracker had to remind her of his presence in the jar by jumping against the glass making a loud clunk!

Aspen sighed, "Yes, yes, I know you're here Mr. Cracker. No need to break your jar." She pulled on an old sweater that covered the bands on her arms, her first tactic of cloak and dagger. The Nutcracker crossed its wooden arms and waited for Aspen to open the jar. She felt bad for keeping him inside the little prison, but if she allowed it outside, he'd wreak all kinds of havoc. Plus, every time she tried to leave the wooden toy on his own, he attempted to bloody kill himself. Determining the room safe and her reaction-skills advanced, she opened the jar to let him out. Like an acrobat, the Nutcracker jumped up and grabbed the edges of the jar before flipping itself out. It landed on the table with a large thump and attempted to run but Aspen quickly grabbed him. No magic required.