Maybe Memories

By the beginning of November, snow was starting to fall. As usual, the cool draft began to fill the entrance hall. The dungeons were ice-boxes as usual.

On days he felt braver than usual, Sirius would hold Estelle's hand. Sometimes, she would give him a look and other times, she would simply let it happen. She was more confusing then an Arithmancy N.E.W.T. these days.

It was a Hogsmeade weekend, and the five of them went to The Three Broomsticks, as usual. Although, the booth that they usually sat at already had someone sitting in it. That someone happened to be Severus Snape.

"What the bloody hell do you need all that room for?" Sirius yelled.

"I'm meeting some people," Snape replied.

"Well, fine a new seat, Snivellus!" Sirius growled.

"I was here first, Black," Snape sneered, "Sorry about your lousy luck."

"You little son-of-a--"

Estelle cut in, "Sirius, come on. Just forget it. We'll sit over there." She pointed out an empty booth of the same size.

"Thank you, Estelle," Snape said.

"Oh, so now you're on his side, are you?" Sirius questioned.

"Sides?" Estelle questioned, "There are no sides in this. It's called common courtesy, which you wouldn't know anything about!"

"Well, this is our table," Sirius said.

"Oh, yeah, that's mature," Estelle rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll just make Snivelly move!" James exclaimed.

Peter was observing with wide eyes.

"Leave him alone!" Lily Evans approached the scene, raging.

"This the big group you're meeting, Snape?" Sirius spat.

"Oh, quiet down, Evans," James said, "We were simply asking him to get out of our table."

"Your table?" Lily questioned, "I don't see your name on it anywhere, Potter."

"We always sit here!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Well, I suggest you sit somewhere else today," Lily said crossing her arms.

"Make us!" James said.

"You're such an idiot. You're not even at the table!" Lily exclaimed, "go somewhere else."

"Give me a kiss and I'll leave you alone," James said grinning.

"Is he that thick?" Sirius muttered to Estelle.

"You're ridiculous!" Lily spat, "I would never kiss you, James Potter."

"Rather kiss that would you?" James looked at Snape, who was stunned by now.

"It's really no concern of yours, now is it?" Lily growled.

James laughed, "That's pathetic."

"I thought this was our argument," Estelle whispered to Sirius.

"What do we have going on here?" Lucius Malfoy stepped behind Lily, with Narcissa right behind him.

Sirius' face fell, "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"I was meeting my friend, Severus," Malfoy replied coolly, "When I approached I found your little band surrounding..."

"We were just leaving," Estelle said.

"No, we want our seats," Sirius spat.

"Sirius--"

Malfoy cocked his head to the side, "And what are you going to do about that?"

Quickly, Sirius took his wand out of his pocket.

"Let it go!" Estelle exclaimed.

Malfoy raised his eyebrows. "Better listen to your little girlfriend, Black," Malfoy said.

Sirius narrowed his eyes, "Watch your back, Malfoy."

"Oh, Black," Malfoy sneered, "I think you should be the one watching your back, blood traitor."

Estelle became uneasy, "Come on, Sirius."

Narcissa was observing the relationship and contact going on between Sirius and Estelle with great pleasure. Sirius was so furious, he didn't even care if she was.

When she took his hand, somehow, he was able to turn away. They made their way to a booth that Remus was already seated at.

James was oddly quiet, and kept glancing back at Lily, who left the pub very shortly.

"Pettigrew," Malfoy called, "come here."

The five of them exchanged glances.

"Don't go," Estelle said.

"Just see what he wants," James said.

"I'll hex him if he attempts anything," Sirius growled.

Hesitantly, Peter stood and made his way to the other table.

"I have a really, really bad feeling," Estelle said.

"He's probably going to turn him into a toad or something," Sirius sighed.

The four of them watched closely as Malfoy spoke to Peter.

"I wish I could hear him!" James hissed.

Shortly, Peter returned.

"Well?" Sirius questioned.

"Oh, he just continued to threaten you guys," Peter said without meeting their eyes, "He was saying something about 'things that we couldn't imagine'."

James and Sirius exchanged glances, silently agreeing that Malfoy was a death eater.

A few weeks passed, and a full moon came again. Estelle went to the boy's dormitory, and the three of them, James holding Wormtail, fit snugly under the cloak. They made their way into the could November night. Estelle was clutching on Sirius' hand for dear life, until the reached the tunnel, where they all immediately shifted.

It was still hard to watch, as their friend morphed into a werewolf. Once the transformation was complete, the quite odd group of animals prowled the grounds.

The following morning, Estelle woke on a couch in the dormitory, resting her head in Sirius.

"Sirius," she hissed.

"Hm..." he blinked his eyes open.

"Go get James and Peter," she said.

Sirius slowly made his way to the dormitory.

The four of them went to the hospital wing, were Remus was still sleeping. Estelle left him a chocolate bar.

They reached the Great Hall for breakfast. Sirius noticed his brother talking to Malfoy, which was a very unpleasant way to begin the day. There was no hope in helping Regulus. He would likely fall into this dark group, and there wasn't a thing Sirius could do about it. It drove him mad, watching silently.

Beside him, Estelle was talking to Lily. Sirius rolled his eyes and turned his attention to James, who was in a conversation with some of the Quidditch team. Peter had disappeared.

Sirius rose and decided to take a stroll down the entrance hall, back to the dormitory.

"Look, it's the blood traitor, " Malfoy called as Sirius approached the exit.

Fuming, Sirius turned around. "Listen here, Malfoy!" he exclaimed, "You shut your bloody trap."

A chorus of "Ooh" came from the surrounding Slytherins.

"Huh, and what are you going to do if I don't?" Malfoy questioned, with his lips curled.

Without thinking, Sirius pulled out his wand.

"Sirius Black," Professor McGonagall approached behind him, "what do you think you're doing?"

Sighing, Sirius put his wand away, "I don't know, Professor."

"If you're finished with breakfast, I suggest you make your way back to the dormitory or go on to class," McGonagall said sternly.

Malfory snickered.

"Malfoy started it," Sirius muttered.

"Well, I'm going to finish it," McGonagall replied and turned on her heel.

Sirius did as he was told, still fuming. There was a lot on his mind. He was sure Bellatrix and her husband were death eaters. Regulus was going to become one. Lucius Malfoy was obviously making sure of that. It was hardly a surprise that he was following a dark lord.

The word blood traitor was stuck in his head. His mother had called him that once. He couldn't think of anything 'insulting' that either his mother or father had called Regulus. But of course, he was the perfect son.

Mum and dad will be really proud of Reggie then. A murderer in the family how lovely.

These death eaters were killing the innocent. Half-bloods, muggles, muggle-borns, and blood traitors.

Most of his worried lied with Estelle. She wasn't just a half-blood, she had muggles for parents. He wanted to protect her. There wasn't a damn thing wrong with her due to her bloodline. She was nearly perfect.

Sure, she was snappy, but that kept things interesting.

One thing was for certain, he was defiantly in love with her and highly aware of it. He was entirely unaware of the way she felt in return. For now, he would settle for snogging randoms again. None of those randoms would be as good as Estelle though.

When he reached the portrait hole, he muttered, "Floo Network."

Silently, he sat while few students popped in and out of the hole and dormitories. Then, Estelle came through.

"Hey, Sirius," she said smiling.

He grinned, "I was just thinking about you."

"Oh isn't that flattering," she said flatly.

His smile faded.

She plopped down next to him, "Surely you weren't in here just thinking about me."

"Not entirely...no."

"Then what?" she questioned.

Sirius shook his head.

"Hey," Jasper Bones, of all people, dared say.

She smiled, "Hi."

"You two coming to class?" Jasper asked, smiling back.

"What's it to you?" Sirius snapped.

Estelle stood up, "I am." She stormed off with Jasper, leaving Sirius sitting on the couch still.

Sighing heavily, Sirius rubbed his face with his hands. Of course, he would do that and mess everything up. Slowly, he rose and made his way to class.