Sirius Black was really enjoying his new toy. Before he got his hand on the muggle utensil, his essays had been riddled with strikethroughs and carets crammed into the margins; the ability to erase mistakes had become invaluable to him.
"Look, Rem, I got an E with the comment 'surprisingly legible, keep it up'!" Sirius laughed excitedly. "I'm never giving this thing back." The Gryffindor proudly held up his essay on the Seize and Pull Charm that did indeed have a big fat E scrawled into the corner. A surprisingly high grade for an essay written the night before.
"Why did you keep it again?" Peter asked from his bed, his hands fumbling over the tie around his neck.
"Because the girl behind me said something that put me off." Sirius ran a hand through his hair, irritated at the mention of his tormentor, and walked out of the room before the boys could ask any more questions. He didn't want to talk about the girl any more than he had to, she was already occupying his dreams and not in a good way. The last thing he needed was for his worst nightmare to come true.
"Oi, Black, what's that in your pocket?" Fabian Prewett shouted from across the stairs of the Great Hall as Sirius made his way to breakfast. A tuft of red hair sped over to him and peeked over his shoulder and it tried to slip a bony hand over Sirius's shoulder, into his breast pocket.
Gideon joined his brother and sped around behind the third year, eyeing the pencil with a guarded look in his eye. "Lookie here! Someone has been rolling around with the badgers. You really shouldn't be stealin' from a girl like her."
"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked, irritated at the seventh years' prying. What did they know about his business with the Hufflepuff?
"Well, Little Crimson Reeds had a right fit about a missing pencil a few days ago," Gideon sang threateningly, walking up to the boy and straightening out his robe and collar insincerely.
"And what do we see but Sirius Black with a muggle pencil not a week later." Fabian wagged a finger at the boy and tutted loudly.
"Why were you in a class with a third-year?" Sirius asked, looking for an opening to get the upper hand.
"We're taking Arithmancy late, alright," snapped Fabian. This was clearly a touchy subject. "McGonagall was going on about us not taking enough classes to occupy our 'distracted minds' so we took the third-year class as an easy O."
"Enough about us–you have something that doesn't belong to you," Gideon sneered. "Now we know, so what's gonna stop us from informing Kooky Crimson?"
"I know the password to the Slytherin Common room," sighed Sirius; he had been hoping to play a prank on the Slytherins for Halloween, now his dreams were dashed by two nosy seventh years. "Just leave me alone."
"Alrighty, I'd say that's acceptable payment, isn't it brother?" Fabian grinned at his brother, all menace was gone from his voice like a light switch.
Gideon seemed to have caught the cheerfulness bug as he let go of Sirius quickly and ruffled his hair in a brotherly manner. "Of course, brother."
"It's 'Sacred Twenty-Eight' right now," Sirius said, pushing past the brothers and entering the Great Hall. "Get away from me." The damn lengths he went to keep this pen better have been worth it. When she saw it later today, he wanted her to explode in rage.
Speaking of Crimson Reeds, the eyes of a particular Hufflepuff landed on Sirius and he pulled his robe a little tighter around himself to shield him from their laser gaze. He would never admit it to his mates, but Sirius was freaked out by the unnatural colour. The blood-red irises were all he could think about as he ate his breakfast and went to his first class of the day, charms, where he sat in front of the girl who was tormenting him,
"I can get you what you want," the hissing voice said to Sirius again, only this time he wasn't going to let her get away with taunting her.
Sirius nudged James and jerked his head in the direction of Crimson. James looked confused as his best mate mouthed, "Watch this." Sirius slid the pencil out of his front pocket and raised it over his shoulder for Crimson to see. He waved it in the air a little, just to torment her a little longer before giving in to the temptation to peek over his shoulder to see the fury on her face. James and Sirius snickered under their breath when a paper ball landed in front of them.
As discreetly as possible Sirius opened the crinkled parchment and a single word: 'mandrakes'; the print was straight and neat with a certain perfection to the letters. Absolutely furious, Sirius stewed all class waiting for the moment they were dismissed so he could catch Crimson before she had the chance to escape.
Once she was in his grasp, Sirius took in the person who had been pissing him off all week. Her long, dyed hair was dull and brassy, and her red eyes were framed by eye bags no third-year should be wearing. Her shoulders were pushed back in confidence despite her haggard appearance, and she acted completely different to what Sirius imagined when he envisioned a Hufflepuff.
"What is this supposed to mean," Sirius hissed closely.
"I know what you're trying to do," the fake blonde smirked. "I know about your friend's little problem, and I know how to get you what you want."
James stepped in and pushed the two out of the classroom and Minerva's suspecting gaze. "What do you think we want?"
"It's obvious, isn't it? His name is fucking Remus Lupin. I don't know if that was a crazy coincidence, but if that wasn't enough, the fact that he mysteriously disappears once a month is a dead giveaway." Sirius wanted to protest, shout that she had no clue what she was talking about, but there was something in her eyes that told him she wasn't done. "Meet me at the greenhouses after dinner and I'll have what you need to join him."
Crimson left feeling proud of herself for standing up for herself, but dreading what she had to do next.
The sun had set on the castle leaving the grounds in the shadows and the group of boys walked up to a silhouette perched upon a large rock. The girl was hunched over herself, circling her ankle in gauze and lightly testing it on the ground. The only light source nearby was her wand, hidden in the grass casting harsh shadows across her face that was contorted in pain.
Remus was the first one to speak up. "So, do you have what we need?" he asked nervously.
"One goddamn second," hissed Crimson as she stood up, supporting herself on the boulder. "Jesus, here. There's enough for you to try three times each, but I'm not going back to get you anymore."
The mandrake leaves trembled in her outstretched hand, pale from the light of the wand. Sirius studied her face for a moment before taking the leaves without saying a word other than "thanks." Internally he wondered if she was okay. Had she hurt herself trying to get them the leaves? Could she walk inside? Of course, he didn't voice these concerns as he led the others inside. Maybe it was overkill to have all four of them come outside, but James had insisted they all go with him. It made Sirius feel foolish in front of Crimson.
He didn't like it.
