The Half-Blood Princess

[Chapter 3]

Hogwarts was amazing.
Granted, the amount of work and the number of essays she had to write wasn’t amazing, but at Hogwarts, she finally felt like she belonged.

Among her Slytherin classmates, Adelia felt like she found her niche, she found people she could relate to, especially Regulus.

The boy who’d saved her quickly became her most trusted and valued companion, besides her brother and Lily.

But where there was Regulus, Sirius wasn’t far from her mind.

The two boys looked so similar, it was impossible to not think of him when she saw Regulus.

Adelia passed the early months of her first year at Hogwarts in a sanctuary during classes and the time she spent in her common room.

But elsewhere, he seemed to be wherever she was; he was always prepared with an insult or a snide remark designed to destroy her mood.

She’d be walking to her next class with Regulus, and out of nowhere Sirius would appear. That now familiar smirk would be upon his face as he accosted her. After he dashed her hopes of not seeing him for at least an entire day and widdled away at her confidence, he left her with a satisfied smile upon his face.

Regulus told her to ignore him. Lily told her that he was no one she should concern herself with.

Sev told her…well he didn’t tell her anything because Adelia didn’t tell him about Sirius’ antics. Sev had told her to stay away from the boy; and she did her part. She avoided him as much as possible. But he kept finding her. Adelia knew her brother would be mad if he found out what Sirius was doing. She didn’t want him to interfere because she wanted to handle it herself. Maybe, although she didn’t want to admit it, Adelia didn’t tell Sev because she didn’t want Sirius to be right. He asked if she always did everything that her brother told her to. And she did. Because he was her brother and he looked out for her. And even less then she wanted Sirius to be right, she knew that sometimes, just a little part of her wanted to see him, as perverse as it was to want to see someone who tormented you.

And torment her, he did. Sirius seemed to easily find ways to get under her skin. He seemed to know exactly what to say to hurt her. He knew that she was sensitive about her fears so he kept bringing up how she almost drowned, with no obvious remorse at having caused the incident. One time after a class, during which they’d charmed spiders, she’d commented to a friend how much she detested spiders. The next day a bunch of hairy, spiders found their way into her bag. Adelia shrieked and threw her bag away from herself. Shaking from the incident, her eyes gazed shiftily around herself and they found Sirius laughing at her only a little way up the hallway.

By the time December came, Adelia was proud of herself for surviving Sirius’ pranks. The school was mostly deserted then, as most of the students returned home for the winter holidays.

Lily had left, as had most of the Slytherins Adelia talked to. Sev had stayed, as did Adelia for they both found Hogwarts preferable to their home situation. Adelia knew, however, how desperately her brother missed Lily.

One particularly chilly morning found Adelia sitting outside beneath a snow covered tree as she stared off into the distance at the ice covered lake. The sound of crunching snow made her senses perk up, but she did not look at the intruder.

“Where’s brother dearest?”

She knew the voice, and the snide tone, very well. Adelia did not need to turn to look at him to confirm what she knew. Sighing, Adelia leaned her head against the tree trunk and closed her eyes.

Adelia breathed in deeply, smelling the trees and the snow, even though snow doesn’t have a smell. She was too comfortable to relinquish her spot to walk away from him and she was too peaceful (and timid) to fight with him.

“Library.” She replied quietly, not wanting to disturb the nature surrounding them, as she grudgingly turned to face him.

When she made the decision to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays, she’d hoped that he would be gone as well. However, her hopes fell through the moment she saw him at dinner the first night of the holidays. Adelia knew Regulus had gone home and she couldn’t comprehend why the elder Black hadn’t as well. It certainly wasn’t for the company of his friends, for they’d all returned home as well.

Turning her gaze upon him fully, she noted that a gentle snow fall was drifting down from the sky above them. The flakes fell into his hair, sprinkling the black mess of curls with white. Among the white winter abyss they were in, his grey eyes stood out brightly to her. Her eyes traveled down to the dark red and gold scarf wrapped around his neck. The image of her own green and silver scarf was clear in her mind. That was what stood behind them, keeping them separated at two opposite ends of the spectrum: four colors, one brother, and thousands of pretenses and precedents that decreed how they should act.

He breathed out, a cloud of air dispersing into the air for them both to see. She was startled as he quietly sat down next her.

“What are you doing out here?” He asked her as he rubbed his hands together for the heat the friction would provide.

Adelia was confused, more than words could describe and more than her own thoughts could comprehend.

“I like snow?” She said; being as confused as she was, the response came out as a question.

Adelia watched in amazement as the corners of the boy’s lips curled up into a small smile, one of three he’d ever given her. His eyes were gazing out at the lake, as just as hers had been moments ago.

“But it’s so cold.” He replied.
“I don’t mind.” She muttered, starting to feel ever so slightly more comfortable, however confused she still was.

He didn’t respond and suddenly the quiet, which she’d found so peaceful before was daunting and awkward. She felt the need to fill the silence as if it was an obligation.

“Why didn’t you go home for the holidays?”

“Why didn’t you?” He replied.

Knowing he wouldn’t answer, if she didn’t first, she replied, “I f-find Hogwarts a more welcoming h-home. Now why didn’t you? Regulus did.”

Sirius scoffed lightly, “Regulus. The ‘good son.’” Sirius said, making his voice go deeper, she assumed he was imitating his father. “I’m more of the…black sheep of my family.”

“What do you mean?” She was looking at him now, even though his gaze was still on the lake. She wished he would look at her.

“Good old Regulus is exactly what my parents want from me. But being me, being a Gryffindor are only additions to the long list of disappointments that my parents have endured because of me.”

“What do they want from you?”

“Evans is a muggle-born.”

“Yeah…” she said slowly, wondering where this was going.

“My parents wouldn’t want me to associate with her. My parents wanted me to be a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor. My parents don’t want me to talk to people like James.”

“But Regulus hasn’t ever said anything about-”

“I’d imagine he wouldn’t. You’re a friend of his. He knows you’re close with Evans. He doesn’t want to alienate you.”

Unable to think of a response, she sat in silence, still confused as to why he wasn’t insulting her in some way.

Finally, he spoke with his gaze still upon the lake.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.” The words tumbled from his lips and she did not understand. “With the lake…I just…I thought you knew how to swim. You were just supposed to fall into the lake and then…climb back out.” He turned his grey eyes on her again and she felt paralyzed by their probing gaze. “You weren’t supposed to almost drown.” He turned his gaze away from her again. “You weren’t supposed to meet Regulus,” he muttered so quietly that she could barely hear him.

And that was it. Neither of them spoke. Together, they sat under the tree and watched the snow fall.

For the rest of the holiday break, Adelia only saw fleeting glimpses of Sirius, a great contrast from how often she usually saw him. She wondered if he would act any different toward her when the rest of the student population returned back from their holiday in a couple of days.

The next week, he dropped balloons full of green goo upon her in front of the entire Great Hall.