the secret of Erised {s.b.}

chapter 25: the forest

The cool mid-February air blew softly as Esmeralda walked towards the Quidditch pitch with Lily to watch the Gryffindor team practise before their first game after Winter break. Esmeralda liked to see every Quidditch practise she could, but she still had loads of work to catch up with. Even then, she'd convince her tutor and newfound friend, Lily, to let her go see Quidditch practise. Lily always accepted to let her go and would go with her. Although she said she'd go with her so she wouldn't be alone, Esmeralda knew it was because she wanted to see James.

Lily would never admit out loud that she had begun to have feelings for James Potter. Esmeralda did not need to use her ability to read people to know that Lily was attracted to James because she was pretty obvious about it. She'd always sneak a look or two without him noticing during mealtimes and various classes. It was adorable. 

They reached the Quidditch pitch and climbed the stairs up to the seats where they would normally sit. Sirius, Remus and Peter were already there. Remus was reading a book, Sirius was leaning back and playing with his hair, and Peter was down looking at James with admiration written across his face. Esmeralda and Lily approached the three boys at a steady pace. Sirius heard their footsteps and shot his head up in their direction.

He saw Esmeralda and immediately stood up. He didn't notice Remus had his feet placed on the seat in front of them, so when he wanted to walk towards her Sirius tripped on Remus' legs and fell on his face.

Esmeralda gasped and began to laugh immediately after. Lily looked at her in disbelief and punched her lightly in the shoulder, but she also trying to hold back her laughter.

Sirius stood up and glared at Remus.

"Thanks, Moony," he said.

"Anytime," Remus replied without taking his eyes off his book.

Sirius walked closer to the two girls and stood in front of them. He smiled at Lily and she smiled back as a greeting. Not wanting to be a third-wheel, Lily walked past Sirius and sat next to Remus.

As usual, Esmeralda and Sirius looked at each other's eyes before speaking a word to the other. They only did this when they were alone because it would make the rest of their friends uncomfortable. Besides, it was their way of communicating and they didn't want to share it with anyone.

After a few seconds, Esmeralda spoke.

"Maybe if you had paid attention you wouldn't have fallen back there," Esmeralda said with a wide smile on her face.

Sirius smirked at her and took a step closer to the Dragonstone girl. He grabbed her waist and leaned in to speak close to her ear.

"But that's the beauty of falling, isn't it ?" he whispered, "You do it without paying attention."

Esmeralda's cheeks immediately turned a deep shade of red and she looked at her feet in embarrassment. Sirius smiled and grabbed her hand.

"C'mon, love," he said, "They're about to start."

They walked back to where the rest of the group was sitting hand in hand.

Over her first month and a half at Hogwarts, Sirius had become much blunt about his feelings for Esmeralda. It wasn't something that bothered her, but it always took her by surprise when he made comments like that or held her hand just because. She didn't feel pressured by him or anything, she simply didn't know how to react to everything that was happening. It was a bit overwhelming to think about her own feelings for him and still catch up with her school work.

They sat down next to each other and watched as Quidditch practise took off. Esmeralda missed flying around in her broom while searching for the Snitch. A game that she would play inside her head while she watched the Gryffindor team practise was to find the snitch before their Seeker did. She always found it before the Seeker ever caught a glimpse of it. Esmeralda knew that, if given the chance, she could beat their fifth-year Seeker and get her place back on the Quidditch Team.