the secret of Erised {s.b.}

chapter 31: apart

There are moments in life when we feel indestructible. Adrenaline fuels our bodies and we feel on the highest point of a rollercoaster. These moments can last months, weeks, days, or even seconds. Fortunately, Esmeralda had been feeling like this for a while. Everything in her life was perfect. Perfect boyfriend, perfect friends, perfect grades. But the rollercoaster has to continue its path after a while.

Esmeralda had been spending more time than usual with Sirius, and although he loved it, he began to believe that something was going on with her. At first he thought that it was the nervousness of her new role as a communication medium for him and Regulus, but he had asked her multiple times about it and she did not seem bothered by that. It was the little things that Sirius noticed about Esmeralda that had changed. Normally, she would not mind a random sound while they studied, but lately she had become incredibly jumpy.

It wasn't just Sirius that noticed these small changes in Esmeralda, Lily had actually brought it up to Sirius out of concern. She had woken up one night at around midnight and saw Esmeralda sitting by their dormitory window looking out. When the red-haired girl asked her what was going on, Esmeralda simply said that she couldn't sleep. Thinking that this would only be a one time thing, Lily didn't think much of it. That changed when Clara mentioned to Lily that she had seen Esmeralda awake in the middle of the night multiple times.

Concerned, Sirius asked James, Remus, and Peter to keep an eye out for any signs that Esmeralda might not be doing as good as she said she was. So, after a week of carefully watching over Esmeralda, the Marauders sat down with Sirius in their dormitory to talk about what they had seen.

"There's definitely something going on," James said, "She's been awfully quiet lately."

"Yeah," Peter said, "We were supposed to talk about this book that we're reading together on Wednesday and she blew me off."

Remus nodded.

"It's not just with us though," he said, "Anyone notice how she hasn't been staying after Transfiguration to talk to Minnie ?"

The remaining three boys shook their heads.

"Well, it's happening," Remus said, "I don't know what that means, but if she's not even talking to Minnie then there's definitely something bothering her."

"You didn't do anything to her, right ?" James asked Sirius, "Because if you did I swear to Godric tha-"

Sirius smacked James on the back of his head. The Potter boy's glasses fell off his face and landed on the ground, breaking slightly. The groaned and picked them up. Remus rolled his eyes, took his wand, and fixed James's glasses with a simple spell.

"Of course not, you twat," Sirius said, "I would never do anything to harm her."

"I was just asking," James replied.

"But do you think you might've said or done something without paying attention that could potentially make her sad ?" Peter said, "I've heard that happens sometimes in relationships."

"I don't think Sirius did anything," Remus said, "She's been spending more time than usual with him. Although she's not as talkative as she was before she's still with him."

Sirius nodded.

"Which is why this is so confusing to me," he said as he ran both of his hands through his hair.

"Why are women so complicated ?" James asked.

"And you think men aren't ?"

The four boys turned their heads towards their dorm room and saw Lily and Clara standing in the doorway.