"So, I'm sorry, let me get this straight." Piper furrowed her eyebrows and massaged her temple as she tried to comprehend the complexity of what she was being told.

"I don't think you can get anything straight." Esme snickered.

"Oi!" Piper gasped, trying to hold back her smile.

The night, all in all, had been utterly chaotic. Everyone felt a little betrayed, some people had emerged more hurt than others, but finally everyone knew the whole truth.

Everyone except Ignatius, that was.

Esme had been keeping a close eye on her brother the whole day but he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary. At one point Levi Rogers even bumped into the Slytherin boy in the corridor and Ignatius didn't bat an eyelid as he was preoccupied with mocking Snape.

It seemed that Dirk's charm had saved all of them.

"So, Dirk and Levi thought Regulus was a Death Eater... And he was going to turn you into one too?" Piper asked, looking at Esme who sat opposite her in the Great Hall that afternoon.

She nodded, "Yup."

"How ridiculous! Why would he do that to you when he's clearly utterly infatuated with you?" The blonde girl scoffed as the corners of her mouth tugged upwards into a playful grin.

"Ugh," Esme groaned, "You're gross."

"Anyway! Ignatius overhead Dirk and Levi talking about this, and he didn't tell them the truth. Ignatius then told Bellatrix about your plan. You and Regulus nearly get caught. Dirk and Levi plan to confront you about becoming a Death Eater. Ignatius stops them and convinces them to follow you two out to the Forest where they think you're about to become a Death Eater, but Ignatius thinks he's going to get proof of your plans to defeat the Death Eaters." Piper inhaled a deep breath, "Dirk then removed Ignatius' memories of the whole thing and you were nearly attacked by a werewolf?"

"Ding, ding, ding." Esme tapped on her nose.

She had, however, deliberately omitted the fact that she and Regulus had been saved by some Animagi - one of whom turned out to be Sirius Black. Esme thought Regulus would appreciate that as few people be involved in that as possible.

Even that morning, when she had asked Regulus about what he wanted to do in regards to his older brother, he had turned very tense and literally just walked away from her.

Piper shook her head, "I mean, you really are just a magnet for utter chaos and danger. But... About what Dirk and Levi did..."

Esme sighed softly, "They didn't know what they were doing. I-I was so mad at first. I could have torn both their heads off. Really, though, they were just trying to help me. It's Regulus who should be mad."

"How is he?" She asked.

"I don't know." Esme admitted with a slight shrug, "He's been quiet."

Piper pursed her lips, "That's not super unusual."

"I suppose." Esme mumbled, her attention starting to wander elsewhere. As the hours passed, she was growing more and more concerned about Regulus. He was touchy on the subject of his brother at the best of times, but this was really putting his patience to the test - knowing that at some point he would need to confront his older brother.

Esme had no idea how to help.

"Did you hear anything I just said?" Piper waved her hand in front of the girl's face.

"What?" Esme blinked, dragging her gaze up to Piper, sat opposite her.

She shook her head in disbelief, "You just completely tuned out."

"Yeah... That happens..." Esme tilted her head slightly to the side so she could peer past Piper. Squinting, she watched a group of boys sat at the table at the opposite end of the Great Hall.

"Esmerelda!" She exclaimed, tilted her head to the side so she blocked Esme's view, "What is up with you?"

"Huh?"

Finally, she made eye contact with the boy she'd been watching.

Sirius Black lifted up his head, wiping a stray strand of curly hair out of his eyes as he stared across the room, right back at Esme.

"Pipes, I've got to go..." Esme slowly rose to her feet, watching as Sirius mimicked her movements, "We'll talk later. Oh, and tell Levi not to be stupid. I haven't reminded him in a while."

"While I'm at it, shall I tell Dirk he's a bore?" Piper joked.

"Yeah, go on." Esme added, earning a scoff from Piper as she realised the younger girl was serious.

Esme, her eyes still trained on Sirius across the hall, began making her way down the room and towards the large double doors at the entrance.

She had to talk to him about what had happened, and she was more than confident he wanted to talk about it too - though, he most likely wanted to talk to Regulus.

"I can't tell if you're running away from me or not." Sirius confessed as he jogged after her down the corridor.

"Um..." She paused for a moment, stopping so she could turn and face him, "I don't think I am."

"We should... I should..." Sirius frowned, his eyebrows knitting together as he stopped to think, "What were you two doing out there."

Esme opened her mouth to reply, decided against it, closed her mouth, and then opened her mouth again to reply, "It's a little difficult to explain."

"You weren't... You know..." Sirius grimaced slightly.

She was puzzled as she replied, "What?"

"Well... Some students... Couples... Go out there together." He began slowly, looking up at the ceiling as he spoke.

"What?"

"They... You know, do stuff."

"You're joking!" Esme exclaimed suddenly, "I didn't sneak out there to have sex with your brother!"

"Alright!" Sirius shouted, "Shush! Not everyone needs to hear that!" He waved his arms around desperately to get the girl to shut up.

Esme couldn't help but let out a laugh before deciding to ask, "What exactly where you doing in the forest?"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Sirius shook his head, "You never answered my question."

"And I'm not going to." She retorted, folding her arms and smirking.

He scoffed, "Well I'm not going to either."

And that was that.

It seemed that their combined stubbornness had really done it now.

"Right... Well..." Sirius slowly unfolded his arms, "I guess I'll go."

Esme rolled her eyes, "Go on then."

"Hold on. I'm not leaving. You leave!" He pointed at her, growing flustered.

She grinned broadly as she cheekily replied, "Okay."

As she turned to leave, Sirius called after her, "You can't leave!"

"Well... What do we do then?"

After much hunting throughout the castle, eventually they found who they were looking for stood under the shelter of the covered bridge, leading out away from the castle and towards the rolling hills of the Hogwart's grounds.

"Oh no..." Regulus Black sighed, looking over at the two of them, who were impatiently waiting for him to say something.

"Well?" Esme asked.

Sirius added, "Are you going to tell me what you two were doing?"

"Don't answer that!" She insisted, "He needs to tell us why he's an Animagus! And what was he doing fighting a werewolf?"

"Don't shout about it!" Sirius argued.

Regulus pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes for a moment to think. If only there was a way to get away from them.

He should really have predicted that Esme and Sirius wouldn't be a good mix - he just hadn't anticipated ever talking to his older brother again.

"Do you want to know what he thought we were doing out there?" Esme asked the younger boy, a wicked grin plastered across her face.

He tutted, "Was it inappropriate?"

"It was perfectly valid!" Sirius exclaimed angrily.

"What were you doing in the Forbidden Forest?" Regulus asked as Esme moved to stand beside him and opposite Sirius. He looked across at his older brother, almost tempted to spill the whole truth to him.

Regulus had missed the time when he and Sirius would share all of their secrets with each other... But now they were little more than strangers.

Sirius felt that perhaps, after all, he did owe his brother the truth. At least, part of it.

"Me and my mates... We became Animagi a couple years ago. Just for fun, really, you know, sneaking around the castle. When we're in our animal forms, the werewolves don't attack us."

That was as close to the truth as Sirius dared to go without breaking the trust of one of his best friends - Remus Lupin.

Except, Regulus didn't believe him.

He could always tell when his brother wasn't telling the whole truth.

"You know what, I don't care." Regulus shook his head, "Come on, Esme, there's got to be better company somewhere."