"It's a long story."
"I have time to listen if you want to tell me." She helped Crystal stand up. "We can go look for Sirius too, if you want."
"Sure."
"So, tell me... What happened to you?" The girl smiled sweetly.
"It's just that..." Crystal sighed deeply. "I had this friend, we were friends ever since we met in the Hogwarts Express..."
"Oh, you're also the Slytherpuff girl?" She lifted her eyebrows in excitement.
"Slytherpuff girl...?" Crystal asked, finding the sound of it strange. She had her eyebrows furrowed.
"Sorry. It's just that people used to talk about you having no prejudice with Slytherins... And you're a Hufflepuff, so..."
The girl seemed serious and a bit concerned as if she was pondering if she was rude to Crystal. Seeing this, Crystal gave a relieved laugh, the first ever since she encountered Balthazar.
"I get it. It's okay." She smiled. "But I guess I'm not the Slytherpuff anymore."
"Why?"
"Well, one of my friends called me mudblood and the other... that was the one I mentioned just now... He..." Crystal felt her eyes fill with tears, but refused to let them fall. "He was a manipulative jerk and I didn't know. He tried to use crucio in me..."
"What?! But crucio is one of the-"
"I know, that's what hurts the most, I guess." Crystal sighed, she was having difficulty walking and occasionally the girl helped her. "He was usually so friendly and then he became vicious and kept saying how I was supposed to be his. Like a property."
"For Merlin, that's horrible." She seemed truly terrified. "That explains why you are looking messy. Look, I'm sorry for what happened, I can understand you."
Crystal lifted an eyebrow.
"You can...?"
"I had this childhood friend, but we're completely out of touch now." She looked sad for a while. "He was a Slytherin too, maybe you even know him. His name was Severus Snape."
"I do know him." Crystal seemed thoughtful. "He used to briefly hang out with Regulus and Balthazar... I don't really know him that well, actually."
"He called me a mudblood... After he was insulted. He tried to ask me for forgiveness, but I can't do it anymore, you know?" She smiled, her face showing a bit of pain. "We're on different paths. He loves Lord Voldemort and wants to be a Death-eater and I'm just... I'm muggleborn, I'm against it all, of course."
"It's basically what happened with Regulus and I. He never was too open with me, but we had a good relationship and then he just appeared with Malfoy and called me that." She sighed. "It was awful. And now I get to add another loss to it."
"Lucius Malfoy?" She asked with confusion.
"No, with Alice."
The girl seemed to remember who Alice was and gave Crystal a friendly pat on her shoulders. Crystal shrugged while smiling.
"By the way." Crystal said, looking at the girl. "Who are you? You know a lot about me and I don't recall seeing you around."
"Oh, of course." She smiled. "I'm Lily. Lily Evans."
Crystal instantly looked very surprised, what caused Lily to look confused.
"THE Evans?" She asked, as if she was baffled.
"Yes, Lily Evans, why is that?" Lily asked, not understanding what was going on.
"My cousin talks a lot about you. You're like his super crush." Crystal lifted both eyebrows, while smiling.
"Your cousin?" Lily seemed to think for a while. "You're Potter's cousin."
"Crystal Reynolds at your service." Crystal giggled. "My mother is his father's little sister. So yeah, I'm James' cousin."
"He still thinks I'm gonna fall for him?" She seemed irritated while asking Crystal.
"Now he's just depressed, actually." She giggled. "I'd recommend you to not ignore him, though. I know he was a jerk of the worst type, but he has been maturing a lot lately. And he really likes you."
"I'm sorry." Lily glanced at the ground. "I'm just not interested, but I appreciate that you're willing to advertise him. "She laughed heartily. "But you seem way more brilliant than him, your reputation says the same, too."
"Well... Thank you, I guess?" Crystal laughed.
"It's nice to find someone we can talk to. Our stories are similar and I really enjoyed our conversation." Lily said, slightly tilting her head and making a gesture. "See, there's you sweetheart, Crystal."
Crystal lifted her head to look at the place where Lily was looking. Resting against a pillar was Sirius. He seemed carefree and had his hands inside his pockets. Both girls watched as his eyes beamed towards them.
He quickly stood up straight to walk towards them, but clearly hesitated when he saw the messy state that Crystal was in. She had dust on her hair which was quite messy, her clothes were messy and dirty from dust too. Her black pantyhose was torn apart at the height of her knees and her neck seemed a bit red. Her eyes were puffy and she had a tear stained face.
He stopped before the girls.
"What happened?!" His eyes were slightly widened. "Evans?!"
At this moment Crystal couldn't care less. Sirius had seen her in more miserable states so it wasn't something new to him. It wasn't something appealing, but she didn't like him, she didn't want to impress him, she was just really glad to see another friend that wasn't going to turn on her.
She gave him a crooked smile.
"Black. I found this one lying moping around a corridor." Lily gave a soft pat on Crystal's back. "A victim of Slytherin."
Sirius looked confused, frowning and looking from Lily to Crystal.
"It was Balthazar." Crystal said while glancing at the ground.
"Okay, but what happened?" Sirius asked again.
"He said... I was supposed to be his and that I would regret choosing you over him." She pressed her lips together, hesitating. "He said he set up a scheme to dispose of Regulus' presence. To hurt Moony... and he cast crucio on me."
Her shoulders were tensed up and she was almost trembling. She was looking pitiful and apparently feeling really sad and just experiencing bad feelings overall.
"Did it... hit?" He asked, both girls sensed that he was quite afraid of what Crystal could answer.
"It didn't. But you get what happened." She looked at the ceiling and then back at Sirius. "I think it was the first time I did well in a duel."
"But that's good, right? You didn't get hurt." Lily said, sympathetically. "I mean, physically. I know it hurts emotionally."
Crystal nodded.
"I'm just tired and I'm betrayed." She let out a heavy sight. "He was pretending all the time. What a psycho."
"Crys, we have to report it to Dumbledore." Sirius frowned at her.
"I will... In due time. I'm just really tired." She seemed thoughtful and then her eyes felt watery again. "It was supposed to be a good day... Oh, well."
"Listen guys, I have to go. Good luck, Crystal." Lily said, while turning to leave. "Black, be sure to not break her heart, okay? She's gone for too much already."
"We have to go, too. Let's rest, Crys." Sirius smiled at her.
After Lily was away, both started to walk towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Crystal wanted to talk to James.
Midway to the common room Sirius watched her suddenly come to a halt. They were walking side by side and she vanished from his peripheral vision. He turned around and walked to her side. The quiet sobbing was heartbreaking.
"Crys?"
She tried to hide her tears away by cleaning them with her long sleeve, but they weren't stopping anytime soon.
Sirius stood still. He was supposed to do something, but he didn't know what. Maybe he could just do what Remus or James did at this kind of situation.
He gently bowed to match her height and placed his arms around her. This time Crystal wasn't even startled like the time where they pretended to be dating. She was just unaware of the touch.
Then she felt his warmth. It was comforting and calming. She could feel her fast heartbeats starting to calm itself down. It was soothing and soft. And although it was a fake lovers' embrace it felt genuine. Not in a lovers' embrace way, but in a way where someone who cared was trying his best to soothe her pain.
She felt her heavy breath start to become calm again and soon her tears had dried out. She could feel the smell coming from Sirius' hair, but she wasn't bothered by it.
"Thanks." She mumbled.
Crystal ended the embrace by moving away from it. She gave him a soft smile. When they both started walking again, he kept his arms around to help Crystal walk. She wasn't really hurt, but Balthazar's Stupefy was really harsh on her.
She could feel slightly his body against hers as he helped her walk properly, but in her dizziness and confusion and mix of all things she didn't even realise it.
However, from her field of vision she couldn't see the concerned look on Sirius' eyes, neither the distinct gleam in his eyes.