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The next day, during Herbology, the Slytherins and Gryffindors were working in pairs with mandrakes. The professor named all the pairs before returning to his own study of a volatile looking flower. Severus and Sirius were paired together, as were Reid and James.
"I'll go get the tools," Reid said after tossing her notes and quill on the chair next to James. She ambled over to the cabinet, and rummaged in a drawer for what she needed. Turning around to go back to the desk, Reid nearly knocked into Sirius. "Watch out!" she gasped, as a glass vial slipped through her fingers and shattered on the conservatory floor. Bending down to clean it up, she cursed her clumsiness. Sirius' face appeared next to hers as he knelt down beside her. "You're not going to join, are you?" he whispered. She paused, looking up long enough to see that no one was paying attention. Reid shook her head mutely. "I couldn't." Sirius seemed happy with this answer, and leapt away, grabbing some supplies from the cabinet and returning to work with Snape. Reid collected the shards and reconnected them with her wand.
"Took you long enough" sneered James, who had already started working. Reid sighed, as she didn't want to start a fight with James. While they examined the mandrake, she stole glances at what Severus and Sirius were up to.
At one point, Severus shouted very loudly, "Look what you've done now, you good-for-nothing Blood Traitor!" causing the whole class to jump. Snape was pointing furiously at the parchment crammed with notes, an overturned ink bottle spilling its contents and soaking through to the desk below. "Relax, Snivellus." Sirius replied coolly, pointing his wand at the mess, and cleaning it in an instant. The next second, he was walking out of the greenhouse with a stony expression on his face.
Reid excused herself, leaving poor Remus to restrain James from throttling Snape. She ran quickly out to the grounds, where she had seen Sirius disappear to. Reid pivoted around, searching for an indication of where Sirius was now. She edged toward the Forbidden Forest, picking up her pace when she heard a rustling up ahead of her. "Sirius! He was just trying to upset you. Look, I've been meaning to-" she waded through the dense undergrowth, squinting in the sudden darkness for a glimpse of Sirius.
"Meaning to… what, exactly?" he asked, suddenly right next to her. Looking into his eyes, Reid saw that Sirius was not upset, but enraged. Touching his shoulder, she forced herself to look into his expressive brown eyes. "Meaning to tell you what a complete and total prat you're being!" she shoved him. "Since when is it any of your business where my loyalties lie?" Sirius' expression turned from interested to incredulous as what Reid had said sank in.
At dusk, the Slytherins could be found in their common room, either belittling the other houses or rehashing the day's events. Reid put the finishing touches on her Potions essay and leaned into Malfoy's strong shoulder next to her on the couch. He stiffened slightly at the contact, and then relaxed. Lucius seemed agitated all evening in the common room; ignoring Crabbe and Snape's attention. "What's wrong?" she crooned into his ear.
"Come with me." He answered. She wasn't entirely excited about this, but Reid followed him out of the common room, treading quietly down the hallway and holding his hand. Lucius led the way out to the grounds. When they stepped outside, Reid pulled her cloak around her shoulders, noticing how she could see her breath in the light from the full moon above them. Lucius pulled her closer to him as he escorted her in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.
"Why do we have to come all the way out here to talk?" Reid asked, once Lucius had stopped walking. She recognized this particular clearing as the place where she had talked to Sirius earlier that day. It felt strange to be there twice in the same day, considering she was technically not allowed to be in the Forest at all. "This" Lucius rolled up the left sleeve of his robe, showing an all too familiar tattoo seared into the skin of his forearm. "He wants you, Reid." He waited for this to sink in, searching her eyes for comprehension. She didn't look at his face, and instead stared fixedly at the large full moon.
They had never discussed Voldemort before. "How does he know anything about me?" she whispered. Reid already knew the answer. She knew Voldemort could find out anything he wanted to know with the snap of a finger, but she didn't want to believe he knew so much about her. "Well, he asked me, and I'm not about to lie to him… I mean he's the goddamn Dark Lord, Reid! Aren't you excited? We can work together; he said so. It would be perfect for us." Reid had never doubted Lucius before, and she hated that she was doing it now, but his offer was too good to be true. Reid knew she could never be a Death Eater. She didn't hate muggles and mudbloods enough to ever just kill them out of spite.
"I'll think about it, okay?" she smiled weakly, and prayed that he would change the subject before she had to be any more decisive out loud. "That's all he wants." Lucius replied and kissed her softly. Reid pushed away after a second, tensing at a strange new sound. It was definitely growling. She whipped around, but not soon enough. A massive silhouette bounded out from between the trees and overtook Reid easily. She screamed and reached for her wand while trying to get out from under the creature. A flash of light, and the beast whimpered as it was thrown off of her. She didn't want to open her eyes, but finally found her wand, laying on the ground near her hip. "What the hell was that?" she gasped. Lucius chased after the animal, beast, whatever… and she was left alone in the clearing.
Reid sat up and examined herself, checking for bites and scratches from whatever it was that attacked her. After deciding everything was all good and well, relatively, she got up and dusted herself off. Movement from somewhere in the trees around her made her nervous again. She had her wand now, so she knew she could fight back, but she was worried that Lucius had been hurt. She ducked behind a tree and dropped out of sight when the figure rushed into the clearing. It was none other than Sirius Black, who dropped to his knees gasping and spluttering. He hadn't noticed her, and ripped off his shirt, using it to wipe up blood pooling on his back. She gasped, giving away her presence, and he warily turned around. The wounds on his back were huge and disgusting. "Re-Reid? What the fuck are you doing here?" As she started to explain, Sirius leapt up and grabbed her hand. "Neverminddoesn'tmatter. Youneedtogobacktothecastlenow." He said in one breath, dragging her out of the Forest. "What about Lucius?" she cried as he gripped her arm tightly. Sirius stopped for a second, as it dawned on him that Lucius was probably more of a problem than Reid. A jet of purple light answered her question for her, as Sirius groaned and dropped to the ground next to her and Lucius stepped out of the forest and advanced upon them. Reid glanced down at poor Sirius, who was clutching his back and muttering obscenities. Then, she looked back to Malfoy and sighed with relief.
"Oh, Lucius! I thought you had been hurt! I'm so glad-" Reid began, but Lucius wasn't even listening to her. He marched up to Sirius and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him up to look him in the face. "What are you playing at, Blood Traitor? What were you doing in the Forest?" Lucius shook with fury, and Sirius just stared at him, a dazed look on his dirty face.
"Don't call him that." Reid said, lacing every word with malice. She hated this side of Lucius. Normally, he knew better than to let her see it.
Malfoy was shocked; Reid had never looked at him like that. Sirius just stared between Reid and Malfoy, completely unsure of what would happen next. Finally, Lucius loosened his grip on Sirius, and the Gryffindor staggered away. Sirius came to a stop a few feet away, massaging his shoulder and glancing, frustrated, at the Forest. He really had no business with either of the Slytherins, but something inside him wouldn't let him leave them alone together.
"I'm going back to the dormitory, Lucius." Reid snapped. "By yourself?" Lucius retorted hastily. Reid looked like she was reconsidering, and he scoffed, ready to escort her back to the common room like nothing had happened. "No. Of course not. I'm bringing Sirius." Reid grinned and took Sirius' hand in hers. Disbelief and shock on Lucius' face soon turned to rage as he was left standing alone on the edge of the forest.
They walked in silence until they reached the entrance hall. Reid stopped suddenly, and turned to Sirius. "About this…" she said quietly, placing a hand on his back, which was still bloody and grotesque. With a wave of her wand, his flesh began to heal and warmth came over his whole torso. "Wow. You're awesome. Thanks." He touched his back and marveled at how quickly she was able to heal it. "But, I really should get back. I- I left something in the Forest." Sirius turned to leave, but Reid grabbed his shoulder. "Don't go back out there now. At least wait until Lucius has come back inside. He can be a little… unruly… when he's upset." She warned. With that, Reid turned and began to make the cautious journey back to her own dormitory.