the secret of Erised {s.b.}

chapter 23: cold

Over the next few days, Sirius visited Esmeralda every day during his free periods and meal times. He knew the food in the Hospital Wing wasn't as good as what they served in the Great Hall, so he snuck a couple of napkins filled with food to the Hospital Wing for him and Esmeralda to eat. Even though their conversations were shorter than when she was trapped in the Mirror, they had learnt so much about the other. It felt nice to finally be able to be face to face without anything in between.

Almost every topic of conversation was touched upon except what had almost happened when they first saw each other. Neither one knew what to say or how to feel about it, so they had decided not to bring it up to not make the other uncomfortable. It was obvious that they had feelings for each other but were too embarrassed to admit them out loud now that they were actually in person.

When Sirius declared his love, he thought Esmeralda was a ghost and what he felt could never be reciprocated fully and would end in a tragic love story. When Esmeralda explained everything to him he had no idea if he was going to be able to pull her out of the Mirror, so he didn't feel the urge for the feelings to be reciprocated. But ever since their first real encounter, he had not stopped thinking about her lips.

Esmeralda was scared. She knew she loved Sirius, but she didn't understand why. She didn't know if it was because the Mirror played with her emotions or because she had never actually fallen in love with anyone. Back when she was a student, no one paid attention to her and she didn't mind. Of course, she'd develop a crush on a guy every once in a while, but never had she felt so head over heels for someone.

Perla found out about the multiple little rendez-vous between Esmeralda and Sirius and decided to join the pair for a couple of them. She'd also bring food in from the Great Hall. When Sirius wasn't around and it was just her and Esmeralda, the only topic of conversation was always the same.

"So," Perla began, "Have you thought about what we talked about ?"

Esmeralda groaned and buried her face on an extra pillow she had on her hospital bed.

"No," she groaned against the white pillow.

Perla rolled her eyes.

"C'mon, Mer," she said, "I can see how much he likes you and the pain in his eyes when he has to leave you. If you don't ask him, then I will."

Esmeralda threw the pillow she had been burying her face in towards her aunt, who easily dodged it.

"You have to work on your aim," she said, flashing a smirk towards her niece.

"Shut up," Esmeralda said, "And no, you won't say anything to him. I don't even think he'd be willing to spend Christmas with us."

"I would love to,"

Esmeralda and Perla looked to the side and saw Sirius standing there. Esmeralda blushed and looked at her hands and Perla grinned at the young wizard.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I forgot my Charms textbook here and it's my next class. I didn't mean to intrude."

"You did no such thing, dear," Perla said, handing him the Charms textbook he'd forgotten on the side table, "So you think you might be able to join us for Christmas ?"

Sirius looked at Esmeralda, who was avoiding his gaze in embarrassment. Although he didn't understand why he knew Esmeralda didn't want to spend Christmas with him. Maybe she just wanted to spend her first Christmas with Perla like they used to before she got trapped in the Mirror. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable in her own house.

"Thank you for the invitation, but I don't know if it would be a good idea," he said.

"Why not ?" Perla asked, raising an eyebrow.