the secret of Erised {s.b.}

chapter 14: drifting

Autumn arrived at Hogwarts in a heartbeat. The once green forest had turned different shades of orange, red, and yellow. The sky and the Forbidden Forest would melt into one another during sunrise and sundown when the skies were clear. The weather grew colder by the day, which meant that the Hogwarts students would spend more time inside than they did outside, although some still preferred to enjoy their spare time walking around the grounds.

Sirius Black was not a person that liked to be alone, he preferred to be surrounded by his friends or, as a recent discovery, a girl. It had become a habit of his to scan the Great Hall for a new beauty to court that day during breakfast time. Once he chose a target, he would walk towards her and offer to accompany him to her first class. If she had a free period when he didn't, he would skip class just to be with her. By the end of the day, Sirius would have her wrapped around his finger and chasing after him.

It was one day during these escapades with a girl that Sirius saw his younger brother and a group of Slytherin students walk hurriedly towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Would you mind walking back to the castle alone ?" Sirius said to the Hufflepuff seating beside him as he unwrapped his arm from her waist.

"But we just got here," the Hufflepuff whined, "Can't we stay a bit more ?"

"No," Sirius said as he stood up, "I've got somewhere else to be."

He ran off in the direction the Slytherins had gone and once he was behind a tree transformed into his Animagus form. It was easier to track the group of snakes with his heightened senses. He reached the clearing where the other students were and stayed behind a tree.

"No word yet ?" One girl asked.

"No," A boy Sirius recognised as William Avery replied, "My father has not told me anything in any of his letters. The Dark Lord has been silent for weeks."

Sirius froze at the mention of You-Know-Who. He knew his brother had been obsessed with the Death Eater attacks over the summer, but he never imagined that he would actually surround himself with people like Avery, whose father was known to have attended Hogwarts at the same time as You-Know-Who and become one of his first followers.

"So are we supposed to wait until he acts again in order to contact him ?" Regulus asked.

Contact him ?

"Exactly, Regulus," a monotone voice Sirius knew to be Severus Snape spoke, "We must wait until the Dark Lord acts again or calls for another meeting to express our desires of joining him."

Not being able to listen to more, Sirius ran back to the castle. He transformed back into himself behind a column and held his chest. He was hyperventilating. His head was spinning and he was unable to focus his eyes on anything. He stumbled on his own feet and fell down on several occasions. A couple of students walked by and eyed him suspiciously. Two girls had approached him and offered help, but he waved them off and kept walking.

As usual, Esmeralda was doing something to entertain herself when Sirius burst into the Room of Requirement.

"Sirius ?" she asked worriedly once she saw the state in which he had barged into the room.

"Mer ?" he asked, "Please help."

He stumbled until he crashed with the Mirror and fell on the ground unconscious. Esmeralda shot right up from her spot on the floor and ran towards Sirius. She moved her hands frantically over the glass separating her from the young Gryffindor trying to get his attention.

"Sirius, I'm here," she said, her voice breaking, "Look at me. I'm here, you're not alone. C'mon, stay with me."

A wave of frustration ran through her body as she slammed her fists aggressively against the glass. She wanted to break it and help Sirius, but being trapped in the Mirror made her useless. She banged the glass until her hands throbbed with pain due to the intensity of the punches. Having given up, Esmeralda slid her hands down the Mirror carefully until they were right across from Sirius' face. She stroked her hands against the cold glass in an attempt to remove the hair covering Sirius' eyes.