Hi all! Thank you for being patient with me.

I have been really busy with finishing my master's and work at the same time so I appreciate the patience.

I don't usually do this but I am so thankful to those that have commented so far that I wanted to mention and respond to you here!

followgirl19

thank you so much for being my first commenter! It really means a lot to me! It might take a bit for the rivalry to get into full swing but there is a small taste of it near the end of this chapter.

WhiteArcobaleno

I am happy to hear that you are enjoying this so far, I hope this chapter gives you some of your Snape friendship fix!

Guillious

I am glad you like the concept! it is something that just came to me as I was writing one of my other stories and it has kind of taken over some of the time that I tried to give to my other projects, so I hope you enjoy the new material!

Daimond2539

thanks for waiting on the update! If you like this kind of story there are some good time traveling Hermione stories on the site you might like. I recommend Sirius Black and the Girl with the Terrible Hair. it's a lot of fun.

Spark10111

I am just as excited as you are to see where this story goes. I have a general idea of how I want it to end, but the middle is a mystery to me. So we are all on this ride together!

And a big shout out to those that are following and favoriting this story. It really makes me happy to know that yall are enjoying the story.

Comments are the big thing that really keeps me writing and I appreciate the time that each of you took to write yours, even if it was just a passing thought, I really take it to heart and try to incorporate what you want into the story.

so without further diddy dallying

Chapter 3

17 pages

8,269 words

5/10/2022

That morning Esme got up earlier than usual. She decided to take another shower to wake up for the day and by the time she got out the other girls were just getting up. Quickly putting on her uniform, she still missed the feel of her baggier loose-fitting robes rather than the ones that were tailored to fit her. There was no hiding in these clothes. They weren't second-hand soft but had a crispness to them that screamed hand-tailored and money. After she was fully dressed she poured a bit of a gloss potion into her damp hair and brushed through it before casting a drying charm on her long locks. They came out like she had practiced at the manor, shiny and thick. She then took a small lock from either side of her head and brought them around to the back of her head braiding them together. This, she found, kept most of her hair from falling in her face while she was reading.

"Ready to go to breakfast?" Odessa Digby asked the group in a manner that was more of a statement than a question

The group of Ravenclaw girls made their way down the stairs. And were surprised to see the boys already waiting in the common room. "What got you four up so early that you got down before us?" Odessa asked shifting her eyes to each of the shifty looking boys

"We thought that we would wait and escort you to breakfast." Saul Norwood said, looking around the group before smiling at Esme "As a show of house unity on the first day and all."

"Right." Odessa said, rolling her eyes at the display, "Well if that's all it is then we should get going breakfast will start soon."

The walk to the great hall was pleasant enough. There was mostly only small talk between the students about the first day of classes and what they thought would happen or be expected of them. They lamented the fact that they would be sharing not only potions but also herbology with the Slytherins this year. When they got to their seats in the Great Hall the girls all sat around Esme. Almost protecting her from having to sit next to some of the boys who had been making eyes at her throughout their walk to the great hall. Esme had not noticed but the rest of the girls had, and from their first impressions of Esme, they felt more of a protective instinct about the girl rather than a jealous one. She was clearly oblivious to the fact that she was gorgeous and garnering attention from all of the tables.

Finally, after breakfast those that were taking potions made their way to the classroom, again going in a flock of sorts. The Ravenclaws were surprisingly not the first to the room, as a fair amount of the Slytherins were already scattered filling in some of the seats. There was a note on the board at the front of the room telling students to pair up before class began. As the students began to pair off it quickly became apparent that they were at an odd number and that there would be one person that would have to either go at it alone or pair up with a Slytherin.

Esme looked around the room and saw Snape sitting quietly at one of the desks alone reading a book. She turned towards the group of Ravenclaws and said, "I'll see if some of the Slytherins would like to have me as a partner. I don't want to be the reason that old partners need to separate just on my account." and though there was some light protest, the group let her go into uncharted waters knowing that there was only one person that always worked alone in their Slytherin classes. A Wizard that none of them ever wanted to work with. Though none of them expected her to go directly to Snape. They immediately began whispering to one another when that was the direction she went towards, "Snape? It was Snape right?" Esme asked as she approached the boy.

Snape turned towards the girl that had walked up to him with a guarded indifference, "Do you need something."

"Well, there are an odd number of Ravenclaws in the class so I was wondering if you wanted to pair up for this class?" Esme asked hesitantly, and fully expecting for him to say no, as was the rest of the class.

But everyone was surprised when he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Fine, you seem at the very least like you won't knock over the cauldron."

Esme gave a nervous chuckle and put her things down next to Snape's, "I will do my best not to do that."

As the rest of the Slytherins began to file in, Esme did her best to ignore the shocked whispers. But they all quieted down once Slughorn came into the classroom.

"Well, a new year is upon us, students. I hope you are all ready for a challenging year, as next year you will be preparing for your OWLS. Now for today, we are going to be making a potion known for its unique brewing method. This potion to many may seem to be a regular bone-growing remedy, but there is more to it as you will see in the instructions on page 106. The result should be a white almost cream-colored liquid with a slight shine to it. That would come from the fairy wings that you will be adding at the end. Each successful potion will receive five house points and their potion will be delivered to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing. Now you will be working in pairs today as written on the board, so hop to it then."

"I'll go get the ingredients," Snape said before Esme could even get off of her stool it seemed they both knew which potion Professor Slughorn had been referring to without even opening the book. To make sure she was right Esme turned to page 106. And she was, it was the Archem Bone Growth Potion. It was a very technical potion that required a lot of precision and could easily be botched, which was interesting considering how vague the instructions in this text seemed to be. But it was also a much better bone growth potion than one regularly saw on the market or in the hospital. For one it tasted better, but more importantly, it was less painful. While Snape was getting the supplies Esme pulled out the needed tools from underneath the desk. She laid them out neatly in order of use from Snape's side to her, assuming that he would probably want to take charge of the potion-making process.

Snape returned holding an armful of ingredients. He looked over at the table and nodded in approval. "Were you able to get everything?" Esme asked

"Yes." Snape responded placing the ingredients carefully on the table

"Well, then it seems as though we can get to work then." Esme said, taking off her outer coat and rolling up her sleeves, before lighting a small fire underneath the medium-sized cauldron. "We start with a mixture of ¾ water and ¼ dragon's blood."

"Yes, and once that is boiling then we put in the crushed dried bat's wing." Snape said, measuring and then pouring the water into the cauldron while Esme measured out the dragon's blood.

They worked together in an orderly fashion during the class only needing to consult the book a few times to make sure that they were getting the correct measurements of ingredients. The book was often vague not specifying the amount but rather saying a few drops of this or a handful of that. This was what made the potion difficult, getting the right proportions; too much almond oil would make the potion too viscous, too few baby's teeth and the potion would not turn white, and not enough honey and the potion would not taste right. This potion happened to also be in the advanced potion book Snape had recommended her to get from the restricted section in the library in the future. But it was an updated version of the potion with an accurate list of ingredients and detailed steps. Esme worked with Snape letting him make most of the decision, but she would interject and put her notes in here and there fully expecting to be ignored. But instead, she would see a slight tightening of his jaw in what seemed to be annoyance, but then, surprisingly, he would acquiesce.

"Looks like all we have left is to add the fairy's wing." Esme said, peering over the cauldron, it was a thick lazely bubbling white potion, it smelled of almond, honey, and dead tree bark. An interesting mix, but this was, so far, a successful brew.

"Looks like it." Snape said he looked sideways at Esme before standing to the side and made a gesture for Esme to complete the final step.

"Are you sure?" Esme asked

"Just get on with it before we boil it over. Or worse Slu-" Snape cut himself off as he saw the Professor approach from the corner of his eye

"Ah I see you two are on the final step!" Professor Slughorn said, stepping in front of their potion. He bent over taking a whiff of the concoction, closing his eyes as he did. "And it seems to be a successful brew so far. Miss. Bulstrode I heard you got an equivalent of an O in your potions. It seems that two of the best students in the year have come together. I am looking forward to seeing a potion done solely by you in the next class when you will be making a Draught of Peace."

"Ah, another tricky white-colored potion." Esme said

"Yes, I see you have been reading ahead. Now let us see if you two have properly completed your first potion of the year correctly." Slughorn said clasping his hands together behind his back

Esme nodded and gently picked up the fairy's wing and dropped it into the cauldron. The edges of the wing turned a bright silver and began to melt into the potion. As the last of the wing turned to silver and melted, Esme took out her wand and extinguished the flame. Then she took the wooden stirring stick and stirred the potion 7 times clockwise. Taking the stick out she took a step back signaling that she was done with the potion.

Professor Slughorn looked at the potion, and as if to say it was correct a shimmer went across the smooth surface of the potion. Then he took another sniff as he had before and nodded his head. "Well, class it seems we have our first successful batch of the Archem Bone Growth Potion! And in this case, because it was a combined effort of two separate houses I shall award five points to both Slytherin and Ravenclaw." There was some polite clapping in the background, "I need a bottle from each of you, labeled for grading, and then bottle up the rest for Madam Pomfrey. Now, who needs my attention?" And with that Professor Slughorn was on to the next pair of students whose potion was on the darker side of gray.

"Not enough baby's teeth." Esme whispered to Snape who nodded.

A few moments later Professor Slughorn said, "Ah yes I see the problem here, not enough baby teeth. Are you sure you put in a whole handful?"

Snape snickered and Esme fought a small smile as she began clearing off the table and tools they used. Esme used scourgify to clean the tools before putting them away. As Esme did that, Snape worked on bottling up the potion into round glass vials, labeling theirs, and putting the rest to the side for Madam Pomfrey.

After they were both finished they sat at the table looking around at the other students struggling with their potions. Pearl Moriarty was partnered up with Odessa Digby and they watched as they were the next ones to add their fairy wing to the potion. Except they left their fire going and the potion continued to boil.

"If they don't put their fire out soon they're going to boil out the fairy's wing and thicken the potion so that it will be practically undrinkable." Snape said to Esme

Esme nodded and tried to make eye contact with Pearl whose head was currently down putting things away. So when that failed she tried to make eye contact with Odessa, but she was too busy trying to get Professor Slughorne's attention.

"Oh don't worry about Digby, this is not the first time that she has messed up a potion over trying to get attention for second place." Snape said as he watched Esme try in vain to get the other girl's attention

Esme turned towards Snape, "What do you mean?"

"Second year we had potions with the Ravenclaws and she was always either rushing or adding too much heat or leaving the cauldron unattended for long periods of time because of this or that and she would always blame it on Pearl or someone other than herself. After the entertainment value went away it was just annoying to watch and listen to."

"Ah, well that's why I'm trying to get her attention so that she won't blame Pearl and - Ah too late." Esme said, slumping a bit in disappointment as silvery dark steam began to roll out of the two girls' cauldron.

The two girls were still oblivious to the cauldron until Professor Slughorn turned around promptly telling them to quell the flame and that they probably ruined the potion. He went over for a whiff and wrinkled his nose then shook his head, "Yes definitely over-boiled the potion."

"Pearl you were supposed to be watching it!" Odessa Digby said

Snape turned to Esme and gave her a look that said 'see what I told you.'

"Yes, I see what you are talking about. I will avoid partnering with Digby in the future. But it is unfortunate because their potion looked alright until they over-boiled, which means they were at the very least on the right track."

Snape curled his upper lip, "Incompetence is still incompetence."

Esme hesitated to say something to defend her housemates, but all that came out was a meek, "I suppose."

"At least you paid close attention to the potion and even contributed. There are not many here that are willing to work with me at my level, but you held your own. I told you that you would be fine if you were reading those types of books on potion-making." Snape said awkwardly, it was very obvious that compliments did not come easy to him. Perhaps not even compliments but talking to others, in general, seemed to be an imposition to him.

"You don't have to force yourself." Esme said with a smile, "I am fully aware that you would prefer to just sit in silence, and that you did the majority of the work on the potion. I only contributed here and there."

Snape stiffened for a moment before relaxing a smidge. There was a moment of silence until he asked, "How did you know that it would require no more than 6 drops of almond oil? The instructions said a few drops, generally, that means three. I had a feeling that it might need more than that but you seemed confident that 6 was exactly enough."

"I have worked with almond oil before in other potions." Esme said a little too quickly. "I also read in one of my older potions texts that 6 was a good number for a bunch of different potions. So I figured if 6 worked for them then 6 would work here."

There was a bang from the other side of the room and both of them turned to see Esme's cousin and her partner with singed hair and black smoke coming from their cauldron.

"It is interesting that the talent for potion making seemed to have missed a witch in your family. Your cousin is atrocious at potions. Last year she caught the potion on fire. Literally on fire, and I'm not talking about the burner but the actual potion."

"Grandmother said that Slughorn suggested she get a summer tutor for potions." Esme whispered to Snape

"Well, it is clear that that didn't happen." Snape said deadpanned looking at the mess the two other Slytherins made, "It is an embarrassment to our house really."

"Perhaps I could help her with her potions work." Esme offered, "Although she redacted rather… aggressively the last time I offered. She claimed that I would sabotage her work."

"Ridiculous, any help you would give, even if it was sabotage, would be an improvement over what she turns in. But if she refuses the help, don't push it. Us Slytherins have our pride to hold onto." Snape said

"Well she is my cousin I should help her, but maybe you're right. I don't want to stick my nose in a situation that I can not get out of."

"How very Slytherin of you." Snape rolled out in a bored tone

"I suppose... I don't really think that I am very Slytherin though." Esme said slightly confused

"Self-preservation is a very Slytherin attribute." Snape said matter of factly

"Ah." Esme replied

"Have your housemates shown you the library yet?" Snape asked, changing the topic abruptly

"Yes, they showed it to me after dinner last night. It is amazing there. So many books, it is really one of the most extensive libraries in magical Europe. I can not wait to explore some." Esme said, truly excited about finding her old place in the library and surrounding herself with tomes and other rare texts.

"Well, maybe we can work together on potions sometime." Snape offered

Esme smiled, "Yeah I'd like that, I'd like that a lot."

They chatted a bit about the potions section of the library, Snape mentioned a few of his favorite texts so far that he had found. Surprisingly Esme had read a few of them and they had found some common ground in discussing the theoretical uses of mugwort in the use of healing potions for the rest of the class. They were so absorbed in the conversation that they did not notice their other classmates finishing their potions or that there was only one other pair of Ravenclaws that had successfully completed the potion. They were in their own little world until Esme felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Bulstrode." She heard a male voice call to her. She quickly turned around to see Saul Norwood standing next to her, "We really should be getting to our next class… Snape." He acknowledged with a curt nod.

"Norwood." Snape said with a tone of indifference, but he grabbed his bag and got up to leave

"I'll see you around Snape." Esme said as he left

"Hn." He responded not really turning back around

After Snape was out of earshot, and Esme had gotten her things together Norwood said, "You should know that he is really not the kind of wizard you would want to hang around."

"Really? He was perfectly pleasant to work with." Esme replied

Norwood looked around as the rest of the Slytherins were leaving the potions room. Whereas the group of Ravenclaws were waiting by the door awkwardly looking around. "Just trust me, he is a dark wizard. And he has an attitude problem. The people in his own house don't even like him. Just take my word for it."

Esme knew that Snape may be a bit awkward and more of a brooder than a talker, but he didn't seem to be a dark wizard. But then again she didn't know much about him other than he would teach potions in the future as a potions master. But he couldn't be that bad if he was a teacher at Hogwarts in the future. If he was a real dark wizard then he would have been tried and sent to Azkaban with the rest of the death eaters and followers of He Who Must Not Be Named.

Esme wanted to say something, but thinking better of it kept her thoughts to herself and followed Norwood out of the classroom.

88888888

The Marauders were busy planning their first of the year prank, well at least James was trying to. Sirius was in his own little world staring at the door to the classroom.

"Don't you think it is too early in the year to start?" Remus asked

"It's never too early." James responded seriously

"But shouldn't we wait for the Slytherins to actually do something first?" Remus continued

"Why? We already know they are going to pull something or say something vile, it's better to get them before they have a chance to. Right Sirius?... Sirius… hello?" James said looking up from his notebook

"He's been staring at the door since we got to class. What do you think has gotten into him?" Peter said in a whisper to James

James turned around to look at the other boy who was indeed transfixed on the door. Remus looked at the door and down to his watch, "Don't worry Sirius the Ravenclaws will be here soon. They are not the kind to be late for class."

After hearing that James cracked a smile, "Still caught up about that witch that snubbed you? You should really get over it. She is not the kind of girl that will go for your usual tricks."

"I don't know about that. My charms have yet to fail me. Plus you should not be the one talking. Right Evens?"

"Please don't involve me." Lily said coolly after pulling herself from her conversation with some of the other Gryffindor girls.

"Oh come on Evans don't be like that. I like to think that we have come to an unconventional friendship between the two of us." Sirius said with a tilt of his head and the award-winning smile he was known for.

"Hey why do you get to be friends with Evens?" James asked, turning towards the redhead, "It's not true is it? You're not friends with Sirius are you?"

There was a moment where Evens pulled herself from her little group again and turned towards the group of boys, "I am not and have never been friends with Sirius."

"Oh come on now Evens don't be like that." Sirius said, he winked at one of the girls with Evans who promptly blushed, "I am sure that some of your friends would be happy to be friends with a guy like me."

"Well I'm not them." Lily said turning back toward the group

"You tell him, Evans!" James said

Sirius laughed, "Merlin your whipped mate."

"Hey Sirius," Peter whispered

"What?" He responded

"The Ravenclaws are here." Peter whispered leaning over to try and be as quiet as possible

Sirius wiped his head around to look at the back door of the classroom. There were the Ravenclaws entering in a group. In the front leading the group were Norwood and Digby who were chatting with the new girl Bulstrode. Now Digby was not an ugly girl but next to the Bulstrode witch she looked downright plain. He noticed that Norwood was sending subtle glances at the girl and would occasionally drop the fact that he was at the head of his peers in some of their classes. Sirius wanted to laugh, there was no way he was going to lose out to Norwood. The guy had a tree-length stick up his ass. Sure he may be smart in some areas, but he was not nearly as interesting as Sirius. And Esme had seemed interested in him. At least before his dear monster of a mother got involved.

"Excuse me boys." Sirius said, sliding behind James and made his way towards the witch.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." James said

"I'm not you James, I don't strikeout." Sirius said over his shoulder

"Well, he is a master." Peter whispered

"Wait and watch, the Ravenclaws seem pretty protective of this one." Remus whispered watching the group sit around the girl.

Sirius sauntered over to the Ravenclaws and let them settle before he swooped in to make his approach. The Bulstrode witch was sitting in the middle of the Ravenclaw girls, two of which he recognized as having snogged last Christmas season. As he made his approach the Griffendoor boys watched on and one of the girls winked at him. He nodded back at the girl, "So are you girls taking care of the new student?" He said, somehow managing to seamlessly flirt with all the girls in one go.

"What do you want Black." Norwood asked with a tone from across the table

"Just checking in on the new girl Norwood. No need to get your panties in a wad." Sirius said, barely acknowledging the boy. He tried making eye contact with the new Bulstrode girl, but she had her head down in a book. "Any difficulties getting used to the culture? Do you miss France yet?"

"Bulstrode do you know Sirius?" Digby asked, a slightly jealous tone coming through her voice. Digby was one girl he avoided, she was one of the girls in his fan club whom he did not want to interact with. Any attention you gave her would be too much.

"We have met, in passing, isn't that right Bulstrode? You even met the monster that is my mother." Sirius said with a laugh running his hand through his hair, his ruffled shirt inched up so that the girls could see some of his midriff. The rest of the girls around him started blushing and giggling.

Bulstrode put down her book and looked up at Sirius with cool guarded eyes, strange, Sirius thought usually girls would be… well like the other Ravenclaw girls. But the new Bulstrode girl did not let her eyes wander over his body or to his hair. Instead, she leveled him with her dual-colored eyes. He felt like he was being hypnotized by them, they were fascinating. Both eyes were bright yet had a deep coolness to them that he could not read. There was a moment where his smile faltered and he wondered if she was going to respond to him at all.

Finally, she let out a breath, and broke their eye contact turning towards Digby, "We met in passing as he said, at a tea shop in Diagon Alley a few days before school started. At the time he was with his mother and younger brother."

"Oh, so it was before he got kicked out of the house of Black." Digby said in awe

"I wasn't kicked out, I left." Sirius corrected the girl, probably a little harsher than necessary

"Really? Reggie said that your mother kicked you out." Digby said

"Well, you can tell that lying Slytherin to shove it next time you talk to him, Digby." Sirius said frustrated to be diverted away from the way he wanted the conversation to go, but he supposed this was one way to get the information to the witch that he was no longer tied to his house. "But anyway I'm enjoying my freedom, how about you Bulstrode enjoying school life so far?"

"Sure." Bulstrode said

"And feel free to call me Sirius, can I call you Esme, it would be more convenient since we will be seeing more of each other now." Sirius said

"I'd really rather that you didn't." the Bulstrode girl said coolly looking back down at her book. The room went quiet. James snickered. Peter almost fell out of his chair in shock. And Sirius ran his hand through his dark locks regaining his composure.

"Are you sure about that now?" Sirius said leaning over the table

The Bulstrode witch didn't respond. The rest of the girls at the table were looking at her like she was crazy, but that didn't shift her focus from her book.

"I think she is done talking with you Black." Norwood scoffed

Ignoring him Sirius continued, looking instead to what the girl was reading, "Not many girls want to read advanced books on transfiguration. The rumors about you being smart must be true." The witch clenched her jaw and continued to ignore him. "I'm not going to go away you know this whole hard-to-get persona is not gonna work on me."

"Give her a rest, would you Black the witch is clearly not interested." James said jovialy from across the room

"You should listen to your friend." Norwood said trying to sound intimidating

It was at that moment that Professor McGonagall came in.

"Mr. Black, please find your seat."

"Minni! Hope you had a great summer! I'll see you around Bulstrode." Sirius said, straightening himself up, "Ladies." he nodded to the rest of the girls as he strolled away back to his seat. Not letting on to the confusion he felt in his chest as to how he felt about being ignored by a witch for the first time.

"Told you." James said as Sirius took his seat

Peter leaned forward and whispered to Remus, "I can't believe that Sirius failed to bag that witch."

"She's just playing hard to get. And even if she isn't, all I have to do is wear her down and she will eventually be coming to me." Sirius whispered back

"I bet 10 galleons that Sirius will bag the witch before Christmas." Remus said

"I'll say he doesn't bag her at all." James replied

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Remus, and James you should know better than to bet against me when it comes to witches." Sirius said

"I just have a feeling about this one. She doesn't seem like the other girls here, maybe it's because she is foreign." James shrugged

"She's just a little apprehensive. Give it some time." Sirius said, leaning back in his chair as McGonagall started the lesson.

Sirius subtly observed the Bulstrode witch from his seat in class. She didn't ask as many questions as the rest of the Ravenclaws usually did. He could tell she was clearly a higher-ranking pure blood by the way she held herself. Perfect posture, not gossiping in class, and she did not seem to be paying attention to any of the looks that the boys around her were giving her. Whether it be a smile or a gesture she just paid attention to Professor McGonagall. Usually, the prettier ones liked to bask a bit in the attention that they got from guys especially if they were from one of the sacred 28. Normally sacred 28 girls were a bit prudish and vile, at least his cousins were. All except Andromeda, she was nice, loved indiscriminately, and look where that got her. Kicked out of the family and burned off the tapestry, he respected her for that. Now that he was thinking about it he really should contact his cousin now that they were both Black outcasts.

Class ended swiftly with Sirius wandering through his own thoughts. He was barely cognizant of the fact that they were dismissed till he saw the Bulstrode witch put her things away. For a brief moment, he was compelled to follow her out of the classroom and take a more direct approach as to why she seemed to dislike him. But he thought better of it as he saw the other Ravenclaws gather around her. He needed to get her alone and talk to her somehow. Somewhere where she was comfortable and would not be so on guard like when they were at the tea shop. He was shaken out of his thoughts by James nudging him.

"We ought to get going, Sirius." James began walking out with the other Marauders, going on about more inventive prank ideas for the Slytherins. "Do you think Peeves would be willing to help us get into the Slytherin dorms, because if so there are so many things I think we could do."

"Start small James," Sirius said, getting his things, "save the really fun ones for when they start actually doing something."

"True, wouldn't want to show our cards too early." Remus said with Peter nodding along.

Sirius thought back to the Bulstrode witch. What left the biggest mark on him wasn't her beauty but her eyes. Sirius had seen beautiful witches before, but never had he been leveled by a pair of eyes like that. They both pulled him in and made him unnerved. He knew that Grindelwald had dual-colored eyes. Perhaps that was one of the ways he captivated people. Some in the wizarding community thought that eyes like that were deceitful and a sign of an evil wizard. But how could eyes be a mark of an evil wizard? But just in case, maybe he should do some digging of his own on the matter.

"Hey, guys." Sirius asked as they were walking with them down the hall. The group was leisurely strolling as they had a free period next. They paused walking and turned around towards Sirius. "Have your parents ever told you anything about people with dual-colored eyes?"

"My grandmother said that Grindelwald had dual-colored eyes." Peter said eagerly

"Yeah, I think most people know that Pete, I'm talking more about… I don't know, stereotypes isn't the word I'm looking for. But kind of like rumors or myths. Remus, you know anything?"

Remus shook his head.

"I think my parents told me that they were a sign of power, but that they also leaned towards evil… Wait a second this has to do with the new Bulstrode witch again." James said another mischievous grin coming across his face, "It's nice for once not being the obsessive one."

"So you finally admit you are obsessive over Evens." Remus said jokingly

"Never denied it." James said with a confidence that made the three other boys laugh

After the laughter died down Sirius began again, "I was just wondering because I have never met anyone else with dual-colored eyes." Sirius said trying to play it off as a passing interest.

"Yeah well, it's super rare. But if you really want to know you can always check the library." James said half-jokingly, Sirius avoided the library like the plague. Even during exam times he usually studied in either the common room or some abandoned classroom with the other Marauders. Remus was really the only one of them that would spend any time in that place, but even he usually checked the books out rather than reading them there.

"Oh Good idea, I'll ask the Librarian for some recommendations." Sirius said, "I am gonna head that way for a bit. I will catch up with you at lunch."

The other Marauders watched with slack jaws as their friend turned and went in the direction of the Library.

"Never in my wildest dreams would I have even thought I would see the day Sirius would go to the library on his own." Remus said

"Witches can make you do scary things." James mumbled, "Anyway let's get back to planning. If Serius wants to miss out on the fun that is his loss."

Sirius was swiftly walking to the Library, for the first time in his life he was going to actually research something for reasons other than an assignment. Getting to the library he found it practically empty. It was only the beginning of the year and other than a smattering of Ravenclaws here and there no one else really bothered with the place anyway. Sirius went up to the librarian's desk where the librarian, Madam Pince, was sitting going through a stack of books. Looking down her nose at the new arrival her eyes narrowed. "Mr. Black there will be no shenanigans in this Library, am I understood."

"Yes, Madam Pince. I was just wondering if you could direct me to an area or a few books that have information on eyes."

"Eyes? Wizard or animal?" Madam Pince asked, tapping her nails on the desk.

"Wizard or Witch." Sirius replied

Madam Pince thought for a moment looking down the rows of books "I can think of a few, follow me." and the witch began her way towards the long shelves of books. They passed shelf after shelf until finally, Madam Pince began pulling books. Pulling out her wand she levitated books from various shelves into Sirius's arms. There were about 4 books he was holding from various sections of the library.

They were in the defense against the dark arts section when Madam Pince turned down another aisle of books and smiled, "Ah Mr. Malfoy. I must have missed you coming in. Have you found everything you are looking for?"

Sirius came around the corner and made eye contact with the other student. He had run into the older wizard on occasion as he was engaged to his younger cousin Cissy. He didn't like him, he was everything about pureblood society that he hated. Pompous, entitled, hated muggles, hated muggle-borns, a Slytherin, and his family were closely connected to You Know Who. The last was reason enough to hate him.

"Madam Pince, yes I have found everything I needed. I was just finishing up here actually." Malfoy said with an easy smile before turning his eyes to Sirius, "Sirius Black, looks like you are doing some research. Do tell on what on, perhaps there is something I can help you with. After all, we are going to be cousins soon enough."

"None of your business what I'm doing Malfoy." Sirius said defensively

"Now Mr. Black that is no way to treat your fellow student!" Madam Pince said to Sirius before turning back to Malfoy, "We are researching eyes in magically gifted people."

One of Malfoy's perfectly manicured eyebrows rose and a small smile came to his face, "What a coincidence. I am doing something similar. There was a book in the Malfoy collection that had some rather poetic descriptions of eyes for witches and wizards. Of course, ours is a first edition, but the copy that is in this library is just as useful. At least I got what I needed out of it." he walked over and dropped the book down on the stack that Sirius was holding. He leaned down by Sirius's ear and whispered, "The section on heterochromia is particularly interesting, that is to those who believe it. I have always enjoyed a little competition." And with that, he began exiting the aisle, "Goodbye Madam Pince. Have a lovely day." the blond said over his shoulder.

"Yes, you as well Mr. Malfoy." Madam Pince said. She looked down at the book Malfoy had placed on the stack of books, "Well this was the one that I was coming down here to get for you. What a coincidence that Mr. Malfoy and you needed a similar book."

"Yes, what a coincidence..." Sirius said as the gears in his head were viciously turning.

"These are the ones that you have access to. There are others, some other resources that reference eyes that is, but they are in the restricted section. You would have to get permission from a professor or the headmaster to go in there."

Sirius put a note of that into the back of his mind, "Thank you Madam Pince."

"Now remember this is a quiet space, no fooling around. And be careful with those books; some of them are very old." Madam Pince said walking off back to her desk

Sirius chose one of the long tables that was unoccupied and sat spreading out the books before him. There were two that were from the section on care of magical creatures, and two from defense against the dark arts. Finally, one odd-looking book on what he could only assume was the study of dark witches and wizards through history as the title read, How to Identify Dark Magic and its Users. Of course, this would be the one that Malfoy would read.

He found that the two with the care of magical creatures mostly focused on witches or wizards that had some sort of mixed blood of other creatures in them. The sections were small and really had little to do with what he was looking for. So he moved on to the defense against the dark arts books.

The first had a small section on powerful spells that would temporarily change the caster's eye color during its use. So nothing really useful there. The other seemed to have similar content which left him with the book that Malfoy was reading. He had a bad feeling about the book. It was the reason that he had saved it for last. He almost wanted this book to be as useless as the others. At least that would mean that there was nothing substantial to hold up the rumors that wizarding folk with heterochromia were actually evil.

He opened the old book and looked at the table of contents, scanning the subjects and quickly finding the section he was looking for on page 122. After turning to the page Sirius began reading the in-depth section on eyes. Some of it did read a bit like poetry, but he simply attributed that to the way the author wrote. From what he could gather, apparently, the most common color of eyes for those that truly dove into the depths of the dark arts had their eye color change to red or black. That there was some magic that permanently left a mark on their users that could be seen through the eyes. Usually, that kind of magic required blood or the sacrificing of wizarding folk or muggles. He followed the section until he finally got to the subheading on dual-colored eyes.

One of the rarest and fearful sights is that of those witches and wizards with dual-colored eyes. These eyes spawn the paranoia felt in empty streets at midnight: plagued by portentous signs & warnings. Beware as these dual-colored eyes patrol the city limits and the borders between what is and what seems: curtailing freedoms.

As Sirius read on he felt the author's paranoia and prejudice seep more and more into his writings. Or at least that was what he hoped it was.

These dual-colored eyes drain the blood from youth's vital countenance; the sound of nightmarish, tainted, crashes of evil come forth to destroy the wizarding world. Will we remain trapped in docile bodies as the future unfurls? Will the scales fall from our own eyes? Will we see the danger that lurks in the beauty of those dual-colored eyes, that so many are drawn to? History has shown they are those that power is destined to come to, yet the handling of their mighty presence is destined to bring mayhem and havoc.

Sirius scribbled some of the lines down from the section and the title of the book on a piece of parchment, tore it off, and closed the book putting the piece of parchment into his pocket. He wasn't sure how to feel about the book. It had certainly had the most content on what he was looking for, but he wasn't sure that they were the answers that he was looking for. Perhaps he was in denial. He looked around the library and noticed that most of the other students had left. "Shit." He whispered to himself, I'm late for lunch.

Quickly he put the books back where they had come from, except for the last one. Madam Pince gave him a look when he asked to check the book out. "Well, Mr. Black do try to come back now and then. This is one of the best wizarding libraries in the world that you have at your fingertips."

"Yes, Madam Pince." Sirius said, tucking the book into his bag before turning and hoofing it to the great hall for lunch, hesitant to reveal what he found to the rest of the Marauders. James was smart and had many passions, that was what he liked about his friend. But he also had a deep-seated hatred for dark magic and its users. All of the Marauders did to an extent. Remus was interested in the study of everything, but there was a very clear line that he was not willing to cross. Pete, well Pete was just Pete, he wasn't the best at magic and he had a hard time keeping up as it was, he had no reason to dive into the dark arts since he was fighting hard to get the basics down.

Due to being a Black, he was the one with the most experience and knowledge of dark magic and the qualifications that one had to have in order to successfully cast it. Esme Bulstrode didn't seem like the kind of witch that had that in her. But then again he didn't really know much about her. She had a shy but kind smile. She was from France. She was willing to drink muggle tea, so he assumed she wasn't a blood supremacist. She didn't flaunt her family name around as one of the sacred 28 to gain social status in the school, at least so far. And she wasn't a Slytherin, she was a Ravenclaw. But Malfoy was interested in her. So was there something that he didn't know about her that would make Malfoy interested in her other than her being incredibly beautiful in an uncommon way? He would have to keep his eyes on her. He was being drawn to her somehow. And along the way of getting her to come to him, he would figure out her secrets.

The piece of parchment burned in his pocket as he hastily walked down the empty corridors making his way to the great hall he looked out of the window. Dark clouds were rolling in. A rumble of thunder growled through the sky. It looked like rain was on its way. He could smell it in the musty air. These eyes spawn the paranoia felt in empty streets at midnight: plagued by portentous signs & warnings.

Ok!

Here we are at the end of chapter 3!

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