Esme did not bother waking Andromeda this morning, and instead left her personalized hangover potion on her dormant friend's bedside table.
She ate her breakfast alone at the great hall until Regulus eventually arrived.
"Where's Andy?" He inquired wordlessly grabbing Esme's cup of coffee and stealing a sip.
"About to nurse an epic hangover," Esme said, piling food unto Regulus's plate.
"Where were you last night?" Regulus asked stabbing an egg with his fork.
"Sleuthing."
Regulus gasped in hurt. "You abandoned me at that boorish party to babysit my cousin and sleuthed...without me?!"
"In my defense, the sleuthing wouldn't have been successful with you involved."
"Aaah," Regulus sighed, "I see it required a woman's touch," he rolled his eyes in reproach.
"You can say that," Esme evaded, not wanting to reveal her involvement with his brother since it was still a touchy subject.
She instead examined the remainder of the Marauders who sat at their designated seats on the Gryffindor table. This was a novel habit that had formed over the past few weeks.
The Marauders with the exception of Sirius, who was no doubt where Esme had last left him, were all anxiously analyzing the hall, perplexed by his absence.
Remus was the calmest member of the gang, with one hand on a book and the other hand clearing his plate. James, on the other hand, could not look worse, his fingers were incessantly tapping the table in anticipation, while Peter inhaled waves of food to alleviate his anxiety.
"Lupin looks well today," Esme observed, "better than usual."
Regulus spared a glance at the group and nodded indifferently, "I guess."
"Why is it that he gets sick so often?"
"Well he's a naturally ill boy, that's always been common knowledge. The infirmary wing can practically be considered his second home."
"But what disease is he particularly ailed with? I never see him cough or sneeze, he just becomes weak and occasionally bares a new scar or two."
"I've never considered that before," Regulus sent a curious glance over to the group once more.
"And chocolate surely won't help a cold," Esme shook her head her stare unwavering.
Regulus in turn looked at his best friend nodding his head in a sudden understanding, "you really won't let go of this will you?"
Esme sighed. "Reg, I've tried Legilimency on all four of them and it won't work."
Regulus scoffed to this, "Not even on Pettigrew?"
"Not even on Pettigrew," Esme confirmed with defeat. "Either they're all wickedly talented or something else is about."
"It could always be a protection charm," Regulus shrugged, biting into his French toast.
"To protect what? What could possibly be so valuable?"
"I'm sure it'll only be a matter of time till you find out."
•• • •• • ••
•• •
•
It seemed to Esme that the Marauders had been tactfully avoiding her all week, whether it was in class, the library, or even the halls . To Esme it was a refreshing round of hide-and-seek because Esme adored games.
It was her passion for such games that made Esme such a valuable player on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Her unmatched ambition and thirst for success was definitely a factor to the house's winning streak. Human nature had always been very predictable for the young witch which made her a shoe-in for the keeper position. A glance to the opponent's eyes and Esme could determine where the ball would be before the chaser had even let go of the quaffle. It seemed like they were just passing the quaffle directly into her hands rather than actually trying to score. Some blamed her success on her beauty, claiming that she was too distracting to defend the hoops, other rumors suspected that she could manipulate her opponents with charm speaking, while some simply assumed she used her Legilimency to determine the trajectory of the ball. At the end of the day they were all rumors, but Esme never went out of her way to deny any of them.
It was the first Quidditch practice of the season and Lucinda Talkalot was elected Quidditch captain of the Slytherins. Lucinda was merciless on the field and the witch despised the aspect of defeat just as much as Esme. The two were the only female players on the team but this fact only caused Lucinda to push Esme harder to rule out any circulation of sexist remarks or patriarchal habits.
Sun rays graced the field which Esme recognized to be the last remnants of the summer. She was currently hovering over the three hoops while the team endured a screaming match between Lucinda and Lucius who was not accustomed to...well not getting his way, when the Gryffindor team began approaching the field.
"So help me Merlin, if you mention your father's name one more time, Lucius, the only broom you'll find will be up your arse!" Lucinda exclaimed, to which Esme couldn't help release a chuckle yet was silenced when a death glare was sent her way.
"I like her," Esme heard Sirius mumble to James as they neared the utter chaos that ensued.
"As much as we wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments, Talkalot, we have the field for today," James interrupted Lucinda.
"Who says?" Lucinda scoffed.
"The schedule says," James rolled his eyes.
"Well Slughorn says he wants us to maintain our winning streak," Lucinda smirked handing them a signed note that reserved the field for Slytherin practice.
"Oh c'mon! You all do this all the bloody time," James grabbed the note to verify it.
Sirius peaked over his shoulder at the note as well, "Exactly, you never see us running over to Minny," he said.
"It's called a loophole sweetheart and loopholes were invented with the purpose of being exploited," Esme finally flew down from her post with such grace she seemed unreal in Sirius's eyes.
"So Slytherin of you to always take the easy way out, always winning without merit," James snarled.
"A five year streak would prove otherwise," Esme smirked.
The comment earned a round of cheers and hoots from the Slytherin team.
Esme then paused and acknowledged the rest of the Gryffindor team strolling in for practice.
She let out a dramatic sigh and sent a faux-pitiful look at Lucinda, "Hey, Lucy, the cup is basically in our hands for the year, why don't we give these poor lads a chance for once, huh? I've never been one to refuse charity."
Lucius was grinning idiotically at the incensed expression on the Gryffindors' faces.
Lucinda rolled her eyes but nodded, "I'll let it slide for just this once, I have a potion's paper due," she paused, " and, you know, charity."
The Slytherin team started packing up their equipment as Esme walked up toward the pair who were glaring so hard now she wouldn't be surprised if a blood vessel popped from Sirius's jugular or smoke started rising from James's ears.
"That's twice you owe me, Black," Esme remarked, "I see a developing habit."
Sirius simply rolled his eyes but James's seemed to bug out of his sockets
"Twice?"
"Oh Sirius, didn't tell you? I always thought the two of you shared a single brain," she paused waiting for Sirius to explain himself to his best mate.
"Well since Black, has elected to act mute, your mate owes me a potion, Potter, well to ingest a potion of my choosing to be precise."
James simply gawked in response and Sirius shook his head in shame.
"Well, good luck on the field lads," Esme bit her lip to conceal a chuckle, "you'll need it."
A/N
bit of a filler...
My friend recently contended that the Harry Potter universe lacks diversity
What are our thoughts?
Here's a list of all the POC I could think of from HP:
Kingsley Shacklebolt, Padma and Parvati Patil, Cho Chang (tho I admit she could've been a bit more creative w/ the name), Lee Jordan, Dean Thomas, Blaise Zabini, Angelina Johnson...
-unedited as always <3
Be safe.