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┄┄ .•* 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟑 *•. ┄┄

𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐬?

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"Bad news, " Barty said with a grimace as he sat down on the Slytherin table the next morning for breakfast.

"Bad news as in. . . .?" asked Rabastan looking away from his plate to Barty, the others following along. Their curiosity getting the best of them.

"As in some first year is in the hospital wing," Barty said looking all too guilty, as he filled a bowl with porridge.

"How does that concern us?" Evan frowned at him.

"Well, he had an accident with a broomstick, " Barty said trailing off as he grabbed an apple from a bowl on the table.

"As in one of the school's brooms?" Regulus deduced and when Barty nodded they all grimaced.

"Well, at least he's not dead," Rabastan pointed out and as the boys went to nod along with his logic, Annora slapped him around the head.

"Those charms were supposed to cause slight tremors," she said with a huff. "Not put someone in the hospital wing."

"Well. . . ." Barty started, as he swallowed and waved his spoon around; they all turned to look at him. "I might have added an extra boost to one. You know, make it, um, slightly independent."

"Which one?"

"Probably the one the kid used," Barty said and they gaped at him. "I dunno which it was. It was dark!"

"So we'll go there again and remove the charms," Regulus said simply with a shrug and then turned to Evan. "You have the countercharm, right?"

"No, " Evan scoffed. "I thought it was a permanent thing. I didn't bother with it."

"We can—"

"I'm not spending hours in the library looking for it, " Evan cut Regulus off promptly and Annora couldn't help but agree. "The brooms won't kill anyone. Especially with a teacher present. I say leave it. Eventually, people will start to pick up on it."

"Well, at least the detention I got wasn't for nothing, " Annora said with a nod.

She didn't much like that someone was put in the hospital wing, but Evan was right. People would have to be really stupid not to notice the brooms were jinxed and that meant that she didn't have a point in feeling guilty, after all, people are to blame for their own stupidity. Besides, she would've hated for them to have to take the charms off and for her detention to be for nothing at all.

"Speaking of, " began Regulus, "it's with my brother, isn't it?"

"Yup, " Annora replied nonchalantly.

"You're going to catch fleas," Evan said grimly, and Annora rolled her eyes.

"The problem isn't your brother, " Annora told them with a downcast face. "I'm wasting an entire Saturday. McGonagall never gives short detentions."

"At least it isn't your mother," Evan pointed out with a shudder, "She was way too happy to give Rosalyn Knight detention yesterday. The bloody witch couldn't stop complaining about numbers. Your mother is a bloody Muggle-Loving Menace."

Annora grinned proudly, promptly ignoring any insult she found in Evan's tone.

"Where is your mother?" Rabastan asked as he craned his neck over to the staff table.

"She's not here on the weekends."

"That's fortunate for her," Regulus said with a smirk, "That way she can eat in peace without Bas watching her like hawk."

"Snake," Bas muttered, "I watch people like a snake."

"Do you bite people too?" Barty asked and waggled his eyebrows.

Annora grimaced, and Bas scowled. "I do not bite. Unless it is requested I do so. Everyone has their own kinks."

Barty and Annora burst out laughing as Regulus added, "He talks in his sleep you know. I think he's the one asking for bites."

Rabastan threw bread at his head, and Evan snorted.

***

Sirius watched from the other side of the Hall as his brother said something causing his friends and Annora to start laughing—to the point she was gripping her ribs and leaning on the Rosier boy. Since when was Regulus funny?

It had been a few days since the late-night incident with Minnie and that day he had the detention with Annora Hale.

Much to his surprise, Sirius was actually looking forward to the detention. Since that night, for some reason, Annora Hale wouldn't get out of his head. He found her intriguing. He always had in fact, even since the first time they met on the Hogwarts Express. She had been different. But he didn't care much for her, especially since she was put in Slytherin and then took his brother's side. But now, after a proper interaction with her, that didn't consist of hearing her talk to James or Lily, he couldn't deny he was impressed.

He didn't know that she was a rule breaker or any of her friends really. In reality, the fact that the Slytherins could be so human was odd to him. But she was, along with his brother and the rest of them. Like him and his friends, they knew the castle well and even got some sneaking around in them—at least from what he saw the other night and what he gathered from Annora.

That was another thing about her. She was vague. She was casual. She acted with him as she acted with most people, well, apart from her friends, Lily and James. But she didn't giggle all girly just because he was around—technically she didn't laugh at all when they'd interact—or made her voice high-pitched while batting her lashes like some girls in Hogwarts. And she also wouldn't tell him anything, which quite irritated Sirius.

"Hey, mate?"

Somebody nudged him in the side and Sirius broke his gaze off the Slytherin table and turned to his friends. Peter was the one that talked.

"Everything alright?" Peter asked frowning as he looked where Sirius was looking. "Why were you looking at the Slytherins?"

"He was looking at his brother and his friends, " Remus replied casually not taking his eyes off the newspaper.

"And Nora," James muttered under his breath, and Sirius glared at him.

"I just never knew Regulus was so funny, that's all, " Sirius said with a scoff, popping a grape in his mouth. "Anyway, I'm off."

"Where're you going?" asked Peter and Sirius shrugged.

"Dunno, I'm gonna waste time until I have to visit Minnie."

"It's detention, " Remus said, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

He set off, out of the Great Hall, nodding in the Gryffindor girls' direction. The group of four nodded back before returning to their conversation. Yet, Lily, after Sirius had disappeared from view, watched as Annora started to stand up with her friends on the other side of the hallway and stood up abruptly.

"I need to talk to Nora, be right back, " she told her friends and walked over to where Annora and her friends were reaching the doors of the Entrance Hall. "Nora?"

Annora turned around, a warm smile tugging at her lips, and she gestured for the boys to keep going. "What's up, Lils?"

"I heard you got detention," Lily said with an eyebrow raised.

Annora frowned.

"It's not the first one I had, " Annora said calmly.

"With Black, " Lily pressed. "What were you even doing with him?"

"Me? Nothing," Annora huffed and Lily gave her a disbelieving look.

"Look, Nora, you know I love you, and that's why you should know that Black isn't the most trusty guy when it comes to—"

"Whoa there, Lils, " said Annora gaping at Lily. "What in the bloody world are you insinuating, Lily?"

"I thought you were one of Black's weekly girls, " Lily frowned, and Annora burst out laughing.

"That's cute," she said, "but no. I wasn't even with him."

"Then what happened? Everyone is saying you guys were snogging in a broom cupboard, " said Lily and Annora gaped.

"Then everybody can go right ahead of a shove it." She pinched the bridge of her nose and then looked back at Lily. "I was with my friends. We were late for bed and out after curfew because of some circumstances I can only tell you when you're out of Hogwarts and can't put me in detention or take points anymore—"

"—Yeah, yeah, get on with the story."

"Anyway, then we heard Filch, right? So, we used the technic we always use. Split and run. It works because the old man can't catch all five of us and it's easier to run when you don't have anyone to worry about. So, we split and I ended up bumping into James and Black. Then Filch came again and I ran and Black followed me and then we found McGonagall, and you know how she is. Hence detention today," Annora said in one breath, gasping for air at the end.

"Oh, right," Lily said with an embarrassed look, "that makes more sense. You would've told me if something was happening with a boy right?"

Annora hissed, and gave Lily a small smile, "Well... Then you should probably know... I made out with James this summer."

The redhead, pulled back a shocked look on her face, "WHAT?!"

Annora burst out laughing as everyone turned to look at them at the door of the Great Hall and wiped a tear of mirth from her eye, "Ew, Lily! James is like my brother-slash-cousin. But you should've seen your face! Green suits you."

Lily gaped at Annora, and her eye twitched. Annora swallowed and stepped back, putting her arms high in surrender. "Lily, it was just a joke, I didn't mean to—" Annora didn't end her sentence as she took off running, Lily after her.

***

That morning the sun was high in the sky, birds were chirping and the grass was green. And against all signs that she should go outside, Annora made her way to McGonagall's office, whilst glancing longingly at the windows.

"Hey, Hale?"

Turning around, Annora rolled her eyes at the sight of the older Black making his way over to her.

It wasn't as if she disliked Black. But she didn't like him either. It was neutral ground. They weren't friends or anything. They weren't really on speaking terms either; she had talked to him but from what she remembered the last meaningful conversation was the debacle on her first time spending Christmas Eve at the Potters. Apart from that, he didn't talk to her unless she went to seek out James, and that was something that pissed her off.

Not because he didn't talk to her but because that meant he didn't talk with Reggie either—seeing as the five Slytherins were almost attached to the hip. And that was the main reason Annora was more inclined to dislike Sirius Balck: Reggie.

"Are you ignoring me?" he asked as he caught up to her pace, looking down at her through grey eyes.

"I turned around to look," said Annora as if it was obvious. "If I was ignoring you, you'd know."

Sirius cracked a grin. "So, excited about detention?"

"It's the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me!" Annora said with a squeal faking ancient before her face went back to blank.

"Well, you are having detention with Sirius Black," Black said smugly. "It is pretty amazing."

"Eh. I've had better company in detention," Annora said nonchalantly.

"You have a lot of detentions?" Sirius asked curiously and Annora snorted.

"No," she said with a laugh. "I usually don't get caught. And you're only in trouble if you get caught. Which you and your friends do a lot."

"What would you get caught for?" Sirius asked, ignoring her last comment.

"Please, " Annora said scoffing, and fastened her pace until she got to McGonagall's classroom's door.

Once she stepped inside, she found the older witch, sitting on a chair at her desk, seemingly grading papers. When McGonagall heard Sirius come in, loudly opening the door that Annora almost closed on his face, she turned the gaze to the two students—having half a mind to tilt her head at them, but she refrained from doing so and pursed her lips. She stood up and walked around her desk as Annora took a step to the side to put some space between herself and the Gryffindor.

"Your detention today is simple," McGonagall started. "You will have to write an essay, no shorter than two feet of parchment worth, about why you should not be out during curfew. I expect them on my desk once I return."

With that McGonagall left the classroom.

"You'll catch flies, Hale," Sirius said amusedly as he saw the younger blonde witch gaping at the door.

Annora snapped her mouth shut and moved to a desk, where she saw parchment, quill, and an inkpot (much to her dismay; she much preferred pens), she sat while grumbling under her breath. How was she supposed to write two feet worth of an essay about not being out after curfew? Why shouldn't she? Annora saw no problem at all about that—if students were tired the next morning and were late to class that would be their fault; and then the detention was worth it. But she knew better, and, after all, she was a Slytherin. She could bullshit her way through the essay, coming up with arguments about sleeping schedules and poor vision in the dark, with the help of larger handwriting and more space between lines.

As she dipped her quill in the pot, she was startled by a voice beside her, causing Annora to yelp and create a blotch of ink in the paper. She turned to the side to see Sirius sitting down next to her (seemingly having moved his stuff over) with a cheeky smirk on his face.

"Can I help you?" she asked sarcastically and didn't allow him to answer as she turned back to the parchment.

"How'd you find out about that passageway?" Sirius asked and Annora turned to him with a confused frown.

"Which one?" she asked causing him to gape at her.

"You know more than one?" he said. "Blimey, Hale, I didn't think you had it in you."

"What are you talking about?" Annora asked, feeling even more confused.

"I didn't know you were a rule-breaker," Sirius said with a grin. "You look far too cute for that."

"Cute?" Annora gaped at him in the offense. "I am not cute, Black. So kindly fuck off."

"Sharp tongue," Sirius said clicking his tongue, a smirk growing on his lips. "How come haven't  talked in years?"

"Maybe because your head is always up your own ass?" Annora offered and instead of scowling Sirius sent her a cheeky smile.

"So, you did want to talk to me?"

"No," Annora said unphased. "But not talking to me, means you don't talk to your own brother," she said bluntly, her jaw clenched slightly; Sirius's cocky smile fell from his face, and his eyebrow twitched.

"You didn't answer me," Sirius said after a moment of silence (in which Annora was able to finally write down her first paragraph about the importance of falling asleep at nine). "How'd you learn about the passageway?"

"The paintings," she shrugged as she continued to write.

"Why were you out after curfew that night?" he continued to ask and Annora shrugged.

"Can't tell you," she said, the corner of her lips twitching up when he pouted slightly. "Don't pout, Black. It's not attractive."

Sirius stopped pouting, his mouth tugging into a small, barely noticeable, smile.

A few moments of silence passed—which ended up being a good hour and a half—in which Sirius merely watched as Annora wrote her essay, sometimes mumbling profanities under her breath when the quill let go of too much ink or it ran out of it, mumbling something about 'pens'?. She had her bottom lip, tucked into her teeth, and one of her hands tapping on the table. And then, she stood up, grabbing the stuff atop the table and settling them down at McGonagall's desk.

"So long, Black," she said with a twirl of her fingers and then left the classroom, promptly breaking Sirius of his stupor and reminding him of his own essay.

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