"There's a million ways this could go wrong!"

Piper fretted, pacing back and forth and pulling at her hair. She couldn't believe that Esmerelda had finally lost the plot.

"Shush! You'll wake everyone up!" Esme whispered as she pulled on her trainers. It was the early hours of the morning, and a delicate silence coated the Ravenclaw girl's dormitory. Piper was in the doorway of Esme's room, repeating over and over again about what a terrible idea it was.

"You know there's monsters in the forest! Why the forest? Of all places!" Piper complained.

Esme, now tying up her laces, replied, "You don't have to worry about it. You're not coming."

"Just tell me... In that big, clever brain of yours, did you not realise what a dangerous place the Forbidden forest is? Not to mention, you're about to really get on the bad side of some Death Eaters." The older girl hissed, moving into the room and nevertheless kneeling down to tie up Esme's other shoe.

"It has to be in the forest. We need cover so we can hide and see who follows us." She explained with a roll of the eyes.

Piper shook her head and stood back up again, "I don't like this one bit."

"Go back to bed, then. Better than lying awake worrying about what we're doing." Esme insisted.

"Esme-"

Esme clapped her hand over Piper's mouth as one of the girls asleep in the beds stirred - rolling over and sniffling slightly.

She slowly lowered her hand and turned to Piper, "Trust me, okay?"

"Don't make me regret it."

A few moments later, Esme was tugging her tattered jacket over her shoulders as she descended the stairs from the Ravenclaw common room in the pitch black.

All she had to do was find Regulus in the dark, escape the castle without running into any teachers, and navigate their way through the Forbidden Forest at night. Easy.

"Esme!" A voice hissed from the shadows as she reached the bottom of the spiral staircase.

She froze, pausing a moment before softly calling out, "Reg?"

"Thank Merlin... I was scared you were Filch." Regulus stepped into the dim light with a sheepish smile on his face.

"You thought I was Filch? Do I look like Filch?" Esme accused him, raising an eyebrow as she tried to hide her smirk.

He sighed, knowing full well she wouldn't let this go, "Of course not. I couldn't see your face, could I?"

"Are you saying the outline of my body is the same as Filch's?" She let out a slight laugh now.

"You're never letting this go, are you?"

"Absolutely not. We will address this later." Esme warned playfully, "But we need to get a move on before a teacher comes."

"I'd just like to remind you how insane this is." Regulus whispered into her ear as they exited the castle and began to make their way across the grounds.

Esme tutted, "I'm starting to think insane is the new normal."

Looking up at the sky, it was alive with dancing stars that flickered against the dark backdrop of the night. A cold, misty blanket had dropped over the Hogwart's grounds as the first signs of dew were condensing on the grass. And there, glowing brilliantly in the middle of the sky, was the full moon.

Instinctively, Esme reached out to grip onto Regulus' hand as they neared the Forbidden Forest. Neither of them had ever actually been in before, and Esme was finally understanding why everyone had stressed this was such a bad idea.

A sudden wind rushed past them, ruffling the dark leaves of the trees and sending a chilling shiver down Regulus' spine.

"Did you not bring a jacket?" Esme asked, finally taking note of how freezing the boy was.

He shook his head, "I was a little distracted by the fact that we might die."

"Here, take it." Esme shrugged her coat off her shoulders and handed it to him, "Just promise not to get it dirty."

Regulus, begrudgingly, pulled it on and drew his wand, "I'm glad your priorities lie with your jacket."

As they took their first steps into the trees, all visibility of the night sky vanished. The towering trees and branches woven together endlessly, blocking any vision more than a few metres in front of them.

"How do we even know if they're following us?" Regulus mumbled, extending his wand in front of them as he cast Lumos and the small glowing ball guided their way through the dense forestry.

"Well..." Esme began slowly, "They're not right behind us so I suggest we find somewhere nearby to hide and wait."

"Hide and wait? This keeps getting better and better." He muttered under his breath.

They kept pushing forward for a couple of minutes. Every time a stick snapped or they hear a mysterious noise (which often turned out to be a harmless bird) they would freeze.

Then, they emerged into a small clearing.

"This is brilliant!" Esme's face lit up, "They've got to stumble upon this - it's impossible to miss. We'll hide at the edge of the clearing and see who comes by."

Regulus followed Esme back into the tree line, settling down behind a thorny row of hedges, he complained, "I should have brought snacks. We could be here all night."

They were barely there for half an hour before the commotion started.

At first, Esme thought it was some sort of sick practical joke. There was no way it was possible.

Perhaps she was so exhausted she was simply hallucinating. But... Regulus saw it too.

"Oh my... God." He breathed out, eyes wide as they watched the figures emerge into the clearing.

Stumbling into the clearing, loudly snapping branches and crunching leaves, were three figures all dressed in dark robes.

It was difficult to see through the darkness and the fog. Yet, as Esme leant forward and squinted, she recognised them all too clearly.

"Careful!" One of them hissed.

The other retorted, louder, "Shut up."

"This was your idea!" A third complained.

"They've got to be around here somewhere. Be quiet otherwise they'll find us!"

Regulus drew his wand, "What do you-"

He was cut off as Esme drew her own wand and lurched forward through the vegetation.

"For Christ's sake!" Regulus grumbled as he scrambled to his feet and hurried after her.

"You! You idiots! What are you doing?" Esme practically shouted as she neared the three figures, a dark scowl carved into her face.

Ignatius, Dirk, and Levi finally turned to face the girl.

"W-what?" Levi stammered, stumbling back with surprise. Dirk's face paled considerably as he stepped back to stand behind the older boy. Ignatius showed no sign of flinching, as he folded his arms and wore the faintest of smirks.

"You'll be lucky if I don't hex you!" She warned, "This makes no sense! What are you doing?"

Regulus, coming to a stop beside Esme, sighed, "Es, there's only one possible reason for them being here."

"But... You!" She pointed her wand at Levi, "And... You?" She turned to Dirk, staring at the boy sadly as she slightly lowered her wand.

"Esme-"

"Don't you dare!" Esme interrupted her brother, her blood boiling with anger, "I was expecting you to come here with the Slytherins, but... But... You brought my friends."

"What do you know? How? How! You sold us out! You could have gotten us killed! Or worse! Why? Have you all lost your minds? Are you fans of Death Eaters now? Dirk, you're a muggle born!" She yelled desperately, unable to comprehend the millions of thoughts her mind was flooded with.

"Esme." Regulus placed a hand on her arm, dragging Esme out of her rage as she slowly turned across to look at him, "Let's start from the beginning."

"I don't want to start from the beginning!" She snapped, "I want to jinx them!"

Ignatius scoffed, "Deep down, you're too soft to jinx anyone. These guys are still your friends. You really think they'd want to actually cause you harm?"

Esme blinked, not really understanding what he had said.

Regulus asked, "I don't understand. Why are you three here?"

"I-I should explain, really." Dirk began, stepping forward slightly, "Although I don't believe I know the whole story myself."

Esme, still clutching her wand in one hand, gripped Regulus' forearm with her other hand. Her grip tightening as she tried to refrain from screaming at the three boys in front of her.

How much did Dirk and Levi know?

How were they involved?

Had Piper spilt their secret?

Had Ignatius threatened them?

"We - Levi and I - heard you two talking the week before the Christmas break." Dirk began slowly, rubbing the back of his neck, "We didn't think anything of it at first. You two were at the back of the library and we were going to say hi but... Then Levi heard you were talking about Death Eaters. I told him we should stay and hear what you were saying... It was my idea to eavesdrop. I hate to say it but I didn't trust Regulus. I knew he was up to something."

Levi stammered, "It's-it's not like we could really trust Black. Hell, both of your families are pureblood maniacs."

Dirk held up his hand to continue talking, "I thought perhaps... Regulus might have been trying to convert you to become a Death Eater. I assumed the worst. It kind of made sense, at the time. I knew there was a secret you were keeping. I could tell Piper found out but you weren't happy about it - Esmerelda, I'd seen you snapping at her not to mention anything."

"So... You turned to Ignatius?" Regulus frowned. No matter how much it hurt to know that neither of the boys had trusted him for a second, it hurt more to know they thought he was worse than Ignatius.

"We didn't mean to!" Dirk exclaimed, "That was an accident."

Levi added, "We should have been more careful. Avery, we were going to confront you and we were planning it the day after we heard you in the library but... But someone else was eavesdropping on us."

"Let me get this straight." Regulus rubbed his temples as he tried to wrap his mind around what was being revealed, "At this point you thought I was converting Esme to follow You Know Who?"

"Exactly. Then Ignatius caught us talking about it and... It got more complicated." Levi sighed.

Ignatius scoffed harshly, running a hand through his hair with one hand whilst he twirled his wand between his fingers with the other, "Of course, I knew they were wrong. That much was clear. I suspected you two were plotting something but... Dirk and Levi really gave me the proof. They'd heard you were talking about the Bagmans. It didn't take a genius to put it together. You were going to pay them a visit and potentially help them weasel their way out of the Death Eater's grip. All I did was send a message to Bellatrix through the fireplace the moment you left the house. Though she didn't find anything... And yet again we had no actual proof to show anyone. I told you both your actions would put us in danger and you left me no choice! You could get both of our families killed for your heresy!"

Dirk and Levi's faces fell suddenly, as they turned to face Ignatius. "What?" Dirk blurted out.

"They... They didn't know?" Regulus asked, his mouth hanging open.

"Of course not!" Ignatius sneered, "They told me about the Bagmans. I did the rest myself. Then... In the Three Broomsticks Levi and Dirk overheard you again. Though, it turns out perhaps that was intentional. They came to me, thinking I would want to help my dear, darling sister. I lied and told them that Regulus was going to turn Esmerelda into a Death Eater by giving her the Dark Mark. That's what you were coming out here to do."

"You're sick." Levi gasped, slowly reaching into his back pocket to pull out his wand, "You would betray your sister like that? Send a Death Eater after her?"

"Of course." Regulus nodded, "That's what Death Eaters do. They'll sell anyone out to appease the Dark Lord and save their own skin."

Esme gritted her teeth together, aiming her wand at her brother as she finally spoke up again, "The thing is... I am a Death Eater, Cresswell. But you've committed the worst crime of us all. You betrayed me. You didn't trust me enough to ask me to my face!"

"Oh, and it turns out you should have trusted Regulus all along. You idiots! How could you have such little faith in me, that you would turn to my brother before me?" She cried.

Levi let out a shaky breath, "In hindsight, that was a terrible judgment call."

"Terrible? I-Rogers-" Esme was almost screaming now.

Dirk interjected, "Why are you friends with us, if you two are Death Eaters? I don't get it."

Regulus scoffed, "You think we're Death Eaters by choice? Do you know Esme at all? How could you think the absolute worst of her with no hesitation? We were both forced into it. We've been trying to escape!"

Dirk and Levi paled at this information, the blood draining from their faces as they realised what they'd inadvertently done. They had assumed the worst, panicked, and made an irreversible mistake. Their distrust of Regulus had blinded them.

"But you... You could have killed us." Esme sneered at Ingatius, taking a step towards him so her wand pressed against his chest.

"Esme..." Regulus warned, trying to reign her in.

He didn't need to, though, because at that moment... Not far enough away, the howl of a werewolf rang out in the night sky.