Lifetime of Friendships
Chapter 1
Sirius Black ran his fingers through his hair once more. Emily couldn't believe her luck when she was assigned the seat behind him. He had given her a smile before wishing her luck on the exam. Her eyes widen, seeing the handsome Gryffindor leaning back in his chair. She quickly began to look over her answers once, pretending that she wasn't staring Sirius, who was sitting in front of her. Professor Flitwick called the time and had them all stop writing with their quills on the desk. Emily watched her parchment roll up and zoom to Professor Flitwick, who was promptly knocked over from the numerous scrolls flying at him at once. She, along with many others of her peers, chuckled at the sight while a few helpful students pulled Flitwick back up to his feet. With a squeaky voice, Flitwick dismissed them.
"Emily!"
She whirled around, her bag swinging dangerously around her as she rose from her seat. She looked over to her fellow Hufflepuff next to her. Emily felt her face burning, seeing the mischievous smile on her friend's face, glancing in the same direction to see Sirius Black laughing along with James Potter. She ducked her head, adjusting the strap of her bag as she muttered, "Shut up, Adeline."
"I didn't say anything." Adeline tossed her wavy blonde hair over her shoulder, flashing another smile at her friend. Emily gently bumped their shoulders together, the two walking out of the Great Hall. Many fifth-years took advantage of their time, soaking up the warm sunlight. Their written exam was over and many were taking a quick break before resuming their strenuous studies for their practical exam after lunch.
"It's such a nice day," Emily sighed, looking up at the bright clear sky. "Let's go to the lake, Adeline. The others will probably be there too."
"Great, more people can hear how badly I performed on the exam," Adeline groaned, her shoulders slumping as she tossed her head back.
"I'm sure you did fine, Adeline," Emily tried to reassure her friend, giving her a smile.
"I sat next to Snape. He wrote a foot and half more that I did—and his writing is tiny," Adeline complained. She let out a dramatic sigh, laying down at the edge of the lake, using her bag as a pillow. Emily sat down next to her, taking off her socks and shoes to dip her feet into the cool water.
"There you are."
Marlene McKinnon dropped her bag next to Adeline, taking the empty space between Emily and Adeline. She, too, dipped her bare feet into the lake, letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh, this is nice."
"You should be careful," Lily Evans warned as she sat on the other side of Adeline. "The giant squid might just pull you two into the lake."
Marlene scoffed. "Please, the giant squid doesn't care about a couple pairs of feet dipped into the lake. As if it had nothing better to do."
"It might think that it's snacks," Adeline told them, her arm still thrown over her eyes. "A couple of first-years were feeding it last weekend."
Emily quickly pulled her feet out, eyes wide. "You're joking, right?"
"Of course she is," Marlene replied, rolling her eyes. "When was the last time you heard that the giant squid attacked a student? It's Godric Gryffindor, after all."
The other three let out a snort at the infamous rumor about the giant squid being Gryffindor's animagus form.
"Speaking of Gryffindor," Adeline called out, rolling over to waggle her brows at Emily.
"Don't you dare—"
"Well, you were staring at him a lot today. Was it because he was leaning back in chair? I never knew your face could turn that shade of red, Emily. I mean, he was practically inches away from you."
"Who?"
Emily bit her lip, seeing Lily and Marlene looking at her expectantly. Her eyes darted away to avoid their gazes, but the heat of their stares bore into her. She shifted, closing her eyes shut before she whispered quickly, "Siriusblack."
"What?"
"Emily!"
"It's not like I meant for this to happen," she defended herself with hands raised in front of her. She gave a helpless shrug along with an apologetic smile. "It just happened, you know?"
"I thought you still liked Remus!"
"No," Lily corrected Marlene. "She stopped liking Remus before the winter holidays. Right before Easter, she began to like Mark Davies. But apparently, she has moved onto Sirius Black."
"When did this happen?" Marlene demanded, folding her arms.
"I don't know," Emily reluctantly admitted. "Maybe it was during Transfiguration when he was helping me with the Vanishing Spell or when he was standing up to the seventh-year Slytherins bullying the first-year Hufflepuff."
"But isn't he a bully as well?" Adeline frowned. "He and Potter always tend to pick on Snape and other Slytherins too."
"Not everyone is perfect," Emily quickly defended.
Marlene laughed, patting Emily on the shoulder. "Oh, you've got it bad, Emily."
"I know," she moaned, resting her head on Marlene's shoulders. She closed her eyes, feeling the reassuring pat on her head.
"Well," Adeline sighed, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "At least it's not as bad when Emily liked Isaac and—"
She let out a shriek, seeing Emily lunge toward her. Adeline quickly rolled away, laughing as Emily shouted after her, "You said that you wouldn't talk about that anymore!"
With Adeline out of reach, Emily sat back down next to Marlene again. She caught sight of a group of boys sitting underneath a beech tree. Too easily, she recognized Remus Lupin, bent over his Transfiguration book, intent on continuing his studies. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Sirius sitting next to him, looking haughty and bored but handsome as ever. Spotting him glance in her direction, she quickly looked away, tucking a lock of hair behind her ears. Her gaze flickered over in his direction a few more times, realizing after a moment that the bright glint in the air was a golden snitch. Not to her surprise, James Potter was releasing and catching it with ease, glancing over in Lily's direction to see if she was watching him.
"He's staring over here," Emily spoke, hiding a yawn behind her hand.
"Who?" Lily asked, leaning over Marlene.
"Who else?" Adeline replied, laying her head in Emily's lap. She scowled up at Emily, whose fingers caught a snag in her hair. "That hurt."
Lily let out a groan, resting her head on Marlene's shoulder. "Maybe if you two weren't so loud—"
"Emily was going to attack me!" Adeline defended herself. "Of course I was going to scream. Don't you know her rank in the Dueling Club? She's one of the top members!"
"Maybe you shouldn't have talked about my former crushes." Emily childishly stuck out her tongue at her friend. "Besides, I'm not a top member of the club, but Regulus is."
"Regulus?" Adeline asked, her eyes lighting up at the sound of his name. She and Emily often laughed about their crushes being identical twins. Although he and Sirius shared the same handsome features, Regulus liked to keep a proper appearance, his long hair often tied back with a ribbon and his uniform crisp and clean with his tie fastened around his collar. Placed side by side, it wasn't difficult to know which twin was which.
"See, you make fun of me whenever I see my crush, but you..." Emily trailed off, giving her best friend a pout as she finished braiding Adeline's hair.
She let out a laugh. "But Emily, you have so many former crushes while I only have two."
"I know," Emily chuckled, shaking her head. "You're too picky while I just fall in love too fast and I fall out of love just as quickly."
"Who else have you liked?"
"You're asking the wrong question, Marlene," Adeline grinned, arching her neck so that she was staring at Marlene upside down. "The question you should be asking is, who hasn't she liked?"
Emily let out a groan, pushing Adeline off her lap and moving to sit next to Lily while the other two giggled about her former crushes. "You won't be as mean as them, will you, Lily?"
"Of course not," Lily replied, giving Emily a sympathetic smile. "I wouldn't be that mean if you tell me who your former crushes were. I want to know too."
She gave Lily a good-natured shove, shaking her head at her three friends who had dissolved into giggles. Emily rolled her eyes, wondering why her friends were so mean when a flash of light caught her attention. She turned her head sharply, eyes widening as she saw another spell had the Slytherin falling over.
"Lily."
Lily immediately turned around and in a flash, she was on her feet, marching to save her best friend. The other three watched as Lily attempted to save Severus, only for him to throw a slur into her face. Emily gasped, her hand clamping over her mouth as Marlene let out a few well-chosen swears. Immediately, she was on her feet, her wand grasped tightly in her hand.
"I'm going to—"
"Snape is Lily's friend," Adeline told her, gesturing to Lily with a nod of her head. They watched as Lily coolly turned away from Severus. "She can handle this."
Emily watched as Lily walked away, head held high. With a glance at the other two, they all grabbed their bags (Marlene carrying Lily's), heading to comfort their friend. Lily sat in the middle between Adeline and Marlene, wiping the tears from her cheeks. What could they say to her? Her best friend had just insulted her in front of everyone.
They all went to dinner together, huddling around the Hufflepuff table as Adeline and Emily took control of the conversation, debating on wizard and Muggle contraptions and which were better. Marlene quickly took Adeline's side while Lily defended Emily.
"But the pen already has a built-in ink bottle inside of it so we don't have to carry an ink bottle around."
"Yes, but do you have Sugar Quills that you can suck on in class without the Professors knowing?" Marlene demanded.
"No, but we've got bubblegum in our lollipops so we win!" Emily shouted, slamming her fork on the table. Against the loud chattering in the Great Hall, no one paid attention to them.
"Ah, but does your bubblegum last more than an hour?" Adeline asked, raising her brows at the two muggle-borns, giving them both an expectant look.
"Do you have a container that keeps your drinks hot?" Lily shot back.
The four argued back and forth, even as they were walking out of the Great Hall. Adeline, seeing Lily's expression, stopped in mid-argument and reached out to clasp her hand.
"You know you can always stay with us in the Hufflepuff Common Room if you don't feel comfortable, Lily," Adeline told her quietly. "Marlene will join too."
"We have these alcoves and—"
"Thanks, but I'll be fine," Lily told them with a soft smile. She gave both Emily and Adeline a warm hug before she'd headed off to the Gryffindor Tower with Marlene. The two watched them leave before they continued their trek down the corridor, past the kitchens to the Hufflepuff Common Room.
"Are you heading to the library?" Adeline asked as she and Emily both dropped off their bags next to their beds.
"Actually, I have Dueling practice," Emily explained, tossing her robe onto her bed. She began pulling out a black notebook from her stand before rummaging through her bag for a self-inked quill she had been carrying around earlier.
"Oh. I'll see you back in the Common Room later then. I think I'll start studying for Divinations," Adeline told her, walking out of the dormitory.
Emily made her way to the seventh floor, her notebook tucked underneath her hand. Spotting the club door already opened, Emily peeked inside to find Isaac Westwick already there. The sixth-year Slytherin looked up from his book, giving her a nod.
"Knew you would already be here," Emily greeted the Captain of the Dueling Club.
"I'm surprised that you weren't first," he replied with a smirk, closing his book. "Slacking off, Emily?"
"I remember you slacking off when you had OWL exams last year," she shot back.
"Yes, but I also won the Captain's position as well," Isaac pointed out to her. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Should I be worried for my position?"
Emily scoffed. "Please, I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility yet, Isaac. I can barely manage myself from the stress of exams. I don't think I can handle being Dueling Club Captain and NEWTS."
Isaac raised his brows at her. "You're not even going to try to jostle me from my position? I thought that you would want my position since you're now a fifth-year and are able to participate in duels. You're not even going to take a shot?"
"I've participated in my fair share of duels this year already, Isaac," she told him. "And I still need to practice a lot more if I want to challenge others for your title."
"How do you know if you've improved if you don't duel at all, Emily?" He folded his arms, hands tucked in his sleeves. "Besides, if you're going to take my title, you should at least know what you're going up against, right?"
Her eyes narrowed, seeing the look Isaac gave her. "Don't even think about it—"
He barely gave her time to react, sending a stream of light shooting straight toward her. Emily ducked, her wand dropping from her sleeve and into her hand. She raised her wand at him.
"Protego!" She shouted, casting a powerful Shield Charm that nearly knocked Isaac off his feet.
"Impressive," he complimented. "Your Shield Charm has definitely improved, but you still use defensive spells. That's not going to work on me."
He began his relentless attack, sending one spell after another, the sheer force of the spells knocking Emily back. She let out a grunt, hitting against the wall, her Shield Charm disappearing due to her broken concentration. She fired off a Stunner, but with a flick of his wand, Isaac easily blocked it with his own Shield Charm. He waited patiently, waiting for Emily to regain her composure. Ever the gentleman like he was raised to be, Isaac didn't dare to attack a helpless female. But Emily also knew the other reason why he didn't attack was to show her that he had the upper hand and if he wanted to, he could've ended the duel.
"Trapped like a corner animal, you can only attack," Isaac told her with a triumphant smile, seeing that Emily was finally ready. A snake emerged from his wand, mouth opened wide.
"Speculo!"
The Mirror Charm reflected his attack, the snake bouncing off the charm and charging at its wielder instead. Isaac ducked just in time, the snake crashing into the wall behind him, turning into a cloud of black smoke upon impact.
"Are you two finished?"
They looked over to see a fifth-year Gryffindor standing there, a stern look crossing his face. Ethan Lee wasn't too happy to see his twin and Isaac dueling each other once more. The last time they had dueled unsupervised, a large chunk of wall had been reduced to dust.
"What will the others think, seeing you two recklessly duel each other?" Ethan reprimanded them, both avoiding eye contact with him. He let out a sigh, directing his gaze at the older male. "Merlin, how did you become the Captain of the Dueling Club?"
"With the help of a ruthless tactician," Isaac answered, his eyes sliding over to Emily. The two shared a grin with each other and Isaac held out a hand to Emily for a quick high-five. She slapped his hand before they bumped fists together.
"There was no rules that said that I couldn't help him plan out his attacks," Emily defended, seeing the pointed look her twin gave her.
"Are you sure you're not supposed be in Slytherin?" Isaac asked her. "You certainly have some of the traits within you. Cunning, ambitious, certain disregard of the rules…"
"No, I'm Hufflepuff," She replied. "Although I think I might be hanging around Slytherins for too long now."
"Ah, so we're a bad influence?"
"Speak for yourself," Regulus Black scoffed, entering the room. "It's something Emily needs to have for survival."
Emily was about retort back to Regulus about survival when a group of third-year Hufflepuffs entered the room, chattering loudly. They stopped, seeing the older group looking over at them. But a simple wave and smile from Emily placed them at ease. The other members slowly trickled into the room, sitting on the cushioned benches, waiting for the announcements. Emily saw Ethan sitting in their unofficial seats and sat next to him.
"Hi," she greeted her twin, nudging his shoulder with hers. She blinked, seeing his frown. "You alright?"
"Are you?" He asked her. "You're the one who suddenly decided to take on the Dueling Captain!"
"Ethan—"
"Why didn't you kick his arse?" Her twin hissed. "You had a chance and could've taken his spot!"
Emily looked at her twin as if he had grown a second head. "Probably because no one would believe me and also I'm not ready to take him on."
"That is true," Ethan nodded. "Isaac would easily defeat you in less than a minute."
"I knew I can always count on you for moral support," Emily replied, giving him with a flat look.
"Well, he does have a point," Regulus joined in, sitting behind the twins. "You lost to me in less than forty-five seconds."
"That was in our first year!" She protested. "I've improved since then!"
"Yes, but I'm still beating you, though."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Regulus. I've noticed."
Ethan and Regulus shared a laugh before Isaac moved to stand in front of the benches. Everyone fell silent, conversations abruptly ending as they all turned to face the Captain.
"As you know, we will be having mock duels for the younger members in a couple of weeks. Anyone who is under fifth-year is welcome to participate but remember, you will have to sign up for the competition. So, in order to prepare the younger students, we will be having practice for fourth-years and lower—"
Excited whispers broke out, the younger students turning to each other with a bright look on their faces. Isaac held up a hand and silence fell again, everyone watching him expectantly as he continued on. "The older students, fifth-years and above, will help me supervise. I ask you all to provide constructive criticism only. There's no need to put down our fellow members. Anyone who doesn't heed to my orders will be promptly kicked out of the club permanently. Do not begin until I say so, understood?"
He had the younger students separated into their respective years before dividing them up into pairs. The older students began walking around, making sure that there was enough room between each dueling pair, correcting their positions while they all waited for Isaac.
"Wands at the ready!"
The younger students held their wands in front of their faces, bowing politely to their opponents. Isaac glanced around, his eyes sweeping the room for any mischief.
"Begin!"
A/N: So in this particular story, Sirius and Regulus are identical twins. I think it makes a more interesting dynamic as Regulus is the golden child and Sirius is the black sheep of the family.