UNLUCKY. ❪ Sirius Black ❫ ✓

two

Mercy looked over her shoulder to see Sirius, but he didn't glance at her. He was glaring at the gang of Slytherins that included his brother, Regulus.

"No problem at all, Black," Crouch spat out.

Regulus flinched at the use of his surname.

"Well, then I'm sure you'll let this nice girl go, then, won't you?" Sirius asked, putting an arm around Mercy's shoulders, bringing her closer to him.

She would have squealed and blushed at this gesture if she wasn't in such a predicament with the Slytherins who tormented her daily.

Crouch stared at Mercy and Sirius in disgust. "No problem at all." He pushed past Mercy, whispering along the way, "Watch out."

No doubt Sirius heard what he had said because he pulled Mercy even closer to him - if that was even possible.

The other Slytherins followed after Crouch. Regulus and Sirius held eye contact before they disappeared to the Slytherin table inside the Great Hall.

"Are you all right?" Sirius asked, looking down at Mercy.

She unclenched her fist and glanced down to see fingernail marks dug into her palm. Then, she looked up at Sirius who was still waiting for a reply.

"I'm fine. Um - thank you," she whispered, eyeing the arm around her shoulders.

Noticing where she was looking, he withdrew his arm. He took a step back and looked at her - really looked. He had noticed - many times - her stares pointed to him, but he never truly noticed her as a whole.

"And you are?" he asked.

Mercy's ego deflated slightly - though she never had much to start with. She straightened up, pulling her skirt down once more - something she did when she was nervous.

"Mercy Apón."

"Ah," he quietly said.

There was no doubt he had heard of her. Everyone had heard of the Apón tragedy. Mercy sighed. No one wanted anything to do with her because of that tragedy that had stripped her away from the feeling of love she wanted dearly.

Mercy cleared her throat. "Thank you. I - I should get going. Thank you."

She scurried away. Sirius stared after her.

"Curious," he whispered before turning back to the Marauders.

Once Sirius had returned to the rest of Marauders at the Gryffindor table, he was immediately ambushed with questions.

"Did you see your brother?"

"What was Crouch saying?"

"Did he mention you being a you know?"

"Who was that girl?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you lot that," Sirius replied. "She said her name was Mercy Apón. Surely, she can't be..."

Remus nodded, putting his book down. "Quite sad, really. Mother's a Veela, father was a Muggle. Veelas are beautiful, so I'm not sure why her mother drugged her father with Amortentia."

"But children born from Amortentia aren't capable of love," Peter said.

"Rumors state," Remus replied, looking at where Mercy had previously stood. "Amortentia is quite difficult to brew. There's a chance it wasn't brewed correctly when she was born. She's harmless and quite nice. She doesn't deserve all the attention and threats from the likes of Crouch and Snape."

"She's shy," said Sirius. "Odd thing, she is."

James shrugged, then looked at his best friend. "Don't tell me she's next on your list."

"Her?" Sirius shook his head. "I'm not that heartless. She's come from too little to have anything else taken from her."

Remus nodded. "Good call, Padfoot."

"So, what did Crouch say?" James asked.

"I didn't hear much of what he said before, but I can only imagine how bad it was. Poor Apón was shaking."

"Did they call you a..."

"Blood traitor?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. "No. I'm actually quite surprised they didn't, considering I took Apón's side and she's a Half-blood."

James hummed, turning his eyes and attention to the Slytherin table. He wasn't surprised to see that Crouch's gang was glaring at them already.

"We should plan something - a prank," said James, a smile growing on his face. "Teach them how to behave properly."

"Starting with old Snivellus," added Sirius.

Remus opened his mouth to object, but the two were already planning their prank.