The Slytherin Transfer

36: "Don't be dipshits."

"Hopefully better after this." I wiggle it in the air before downing it all. It tastes like liquid sugar, and I feel nauseous for a moment before suddenly the pain ceases, and my hangover is gone. I look down at the bottle, "huh."

"Better?"

"Loads," I say, pocketing the vial before following the flood out of the portrait hole. I see a small figure sitting on the stairs, and my heart drops when I see it's Mariah, watching everyone go.

"Wait one second," I mutter to Sirius, turning to head back to the couches.

"Knew you couldn't stay away from us," quips Gardner with a lopsided grin, and I roll my eyes.

"Shut it, I'm here about Mariah," I say, gesturing behind me with my head and lowering my voice, "Make sure she has a great Easter, okay?"

"Well, why isn't she going home? Surely her mom's back from whatever work trip she was on," points out Hocks, and I shrug.

"Not sure, but she likely feels horrible about it. Don't be dipshits to her, or I'll see to it that you pay, understood?"

"Sir yes sir," Gardner responds with a salut, and I give him a look before heading back to where Sirius waits for me. We head out of the portrait hole and follow half of the group to McGonagall's office, splitting with Mary, Alice, Peter, and James, who are returning home via their families that wait in Hogsmeade for Side-Along-Apparition.

The wait takes about fifteen minutes, but soon Sirius and I are at the front of the line, and McGonagall beckons us inside with a hand.

"Mr Black, Miss Milton, both to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place?" She asks, glancing down at a piece of parchment before looking back up at us.

"Yes, ma'am," answers Sirius.

"Step forward to the fireplace, then," she says, moving out of the way so we can approach the hearth.

"I'll go first," Sirius states, and I nod, feeling slightly nervous as I watch him step into the fireplace. He grabs a pinch of some green powder McGonagall holds out in a small leather bag before positioning himself in a wide stance, his elbows tucked in. With a wink to me and nod from the professor, he throws the powder into the fire at his feet, which then burns a bright emerald, and shouts, "Twelve, Grimmauld Place!"

And then he's gone, and Professor McGonagall is beckoning me forwards. Before I step inside, she grabs my arm.

"You be careful."

I nod meekly, unable to really respond as I grab some Floo Powder and head into the flames, copying Sirius's movements exactly and watching as dozens of other wizarding fireplaces flash by my vision before I'm nudged out and into a room far away from Hogwarts.

Sirius catches me as I trip on the stone floor, and he makes sure I'm upright before letting go. I take this chance to look around the place. We stand in what seems like a basement kitchen, as there are no windows. It's dank and stuffy, but well kept, the table polished and the stone walls spotless. I have little time to examine my surroundings, however, because my eyes then land on three people. Two I recognize, and one I don't.

The first, Regulus Black, looks as smug as ever in his place of prime. Though he resembles Sirius in physical appearance, he could not have looked more unlike him in this moment. The way he stands straight, his chest puffed out and his nose crinkled like he smells something vile starkly contrasts how Sirius's posture remains loose, his hands in his pockets and his expression more bored than anything else. Where Regulus looks down at his mother with apparent admiration, Sirius gives her a cold stare. Where Regulus looks at me with an almost shocked disgust, Sirius looks at me like I'm the only thing about to get him through this, which I have no doubt I am.