He wiggled his index finger in-front of her and said, “Well it wouldn’t be a secret anymore if I told you, would it?” He chuckled and watched Mina give him back a grin as she started talking about girls that were supposed to be trailing after him or clinging onto his arms. He gave her enough time to ask him questions and listened to them politely, letting her finish talking before cutting in. “Even superheroes need time for themselves. Besides, this is like giving the ladies restday for chasing after me. I assure you tomorrow they’re going to be following me throughout the hallways again.” He grinned again and winked.
He got kind of confused when she mentioned Alecto Carrow though. How is it possible for a gryffindor like Mina Lima to look for that slytherin? He started to think it over but shook his head almost immediately after because he thought it wasn’t his business to mind. Then he heard a stomach growling. It was just the two of them in the hallway now and he was sure it wasn’t his stomach. He looked at Mina and bit his lip. “Busy? Not at all. Let’s go to the kitchens and fill that hungry stomach, then!”
Mina stepped back as Sirius wiggled his index-finger in front of her. “Yes it can, just one more person would know!” she then explained as she smiled at him. Sirius was a very entertaining guy, and Mina enjoyed talking to him when there weren’t girls flocked around him. She thought that she should find him on these rest days more often. “Well of course, you can never be left alone for long,” she teased as she playfully tapped his shoulder. “Though I’ll probably find you more often on these rest days,” Mina then told him as she took a deep breath in.
The way that Sirius’ face suddenly looked confused made Mina laugh. “Alecto’s my friend,” she then explained as she shrugged, not thinking to much of the topic. The way that her stomach just had to growl was quite embarrassing for Mina, but she shrugged it off. “Well alright! Let’s go!” she then exclaimed after him as she was then lead off to the kitchen. Hanging with Sirius would be fun. At least that’s what Mina thought, though seeing Marlene along the way might make things a little more awkward. She hoped that she wasn’t like that, but she had only talked to Marlene once or twice, so she wasn’t sure.
“I try, it get’s difficult when you hang around a lot of the other snakes,” Mina explained as she sighed. “I would like that very much,” she then added with with a weak smile. Suddenly the door slammed and she figured that it was the angry slam of one Miss Bellatrix Black. Everything he said was very cryptic. So cryptic that it felt like he didn’t particularly like her, which was odd because from what she heard, Rodolphus Lestrange pretty much liked all women.
Mina smiled as Rodolphus started to become more lively. “Not really, just some light reading,” she then explained as she shrugged. “Poor souls? Well for me no, I’ve never dated anyone, and according to Nott I won’t be for a while,” Mina told him as she chuckled. “For other girls though, you might be right.” She told him wit ha gentle smile.
“Hmm, alright,” she said as she nodded. “Well I hope you enjoy it,” she told him casually. The alcohol was slowly starting to get to her head. “This whiskey is good,” she them commented completely out of the blue.
Again, he raised his eyebrow in a silent question; already catching an inkling of where her thoughts were going. Winking at her, he smirked roguishly and went back to reading his book. He was very well known for his womanising, much to Blellatrix’s annoyance, and it wasn’t any different when it came to the lions.
“Poor souls, indeed.” he said, eyeing the book suspiciously. Sure Bella would not read the drivel that was contained in such novels. He tipped his head in response to her smile. “I sincerely hope I am not right.” he said rather seriously
He poured himself another portion of the amber liquid as he nodded. Just as he was about to offer her another, she spoke her mind. He tilted his head in amusement, “Gone to your head, has it?” he asked indicating towards the liquid. “Perhaps another portion might be too much… or not.” he said as he poured her another. “What’s life, if not to be enjoyed?”
Well Mina’s thought certainly did not head in the more intelligent direction when she was around Rodolphus Lestrange. All she could really do now was hope that he didn’t pick up on it and pounce. She didn’t know Rodolphus well enough to actually predict if he would so the opportunity was still up in the air. “I agree, now that I think about it. There are too many expectations,” she said as she nodded. It did make a lot of sense now, because it was the first time that she had looked at a romance novel in that perspective.
Min then cheekily nodded again as she sipped at her whiskey. The taste was fascinating, but she felt like she had almost reached her limit. Go any further than that and she wouldn’t be able to walk later. She chuckled as he poured her another glass and sighed. “I agree,” she then told him before she took another sip of her newly filled glass.
“Do you sit here every night?” she then asked curiously, because she had never really pictured Rodolphus as the library kind of guy.
“Well yeah, but I don’t know how.. Plus I’ve already been hurt by her,” Mina told him as she shrugged, At least it was over now, and it wasn’t like Bellatrix hunted for her on a daily basis. She looked the wards, wondering what spells they could possibly be. Then she turned to look at him once again, finding it inappropriate to not look at a person while speaking to them.
The way that his eyes twinkled with hidden knowledge made Mina smile. “Well then, I don’t want to be Avada’d,” Mina then told him as she smiled a little bit wider. “Hmm, yeah! I think so,” Mina told him as she picked up her book. It was a book of romance stories, that Mina liked to read for leisure. You couldn’t read textbooks all the time right? She didn’t really mind what Rodolphus thought of her book because she enjoyed reading it.
“What are you reading?” she then asked as she tilted her head a little bit to the left. Maybe she would pick up his book after she finished hers. There was a good chance that it may be an interesting one.
His fiancée was fierce when it came to taunting any and everyone, “Just avoid her at all costs.” he said not really giving any helpful hints. Maybe one day I’ll share which charms and wards I use.” he replied cryptically again. Hee looked past her as he heard the door slam and the sound of Bella’s voice was muted significantly.
He nodded, chuckling at her choice. “Wise choice.” he said before looking at the title of the book. He grimaced and his eyebrow twitched upwards in silent question. ”So, that’s where you women get ideas to torture our poor souls?”
“Just some light reading.” he replied lifting the textbook, looking at it with a measure of disgust. “There’s no romance, just inappropriate topics.”
“I try, it get’s difficult when you hang around a lot of the other snakes,” Mina explained as she sighed. “I would like that very much,” she then added with with a weak smile. Suddenly the door slammed and she figured that it was the angry slam of one Miss Bellatrix Black. Everything he said was very cryptic. So cryptic that it felt like he didn’t particularly like her, which was odd because from what she heard, Rodolphus Lestrange pretty much liked all women.
Mina smiled as Rodolphus started to become more lively. “Not really, just some light reading,” she then explained as she shrugged. “Poor souls? Well for me no, I’ve never dated anyone, and according to Nott I won’t be for a while,” Mina told him as she chuckled. “For other girls though, you might be right.” She told him wit ha gentle smile.
“Hmm, alright,” she said as she nodded. “Well I hope you enjoy it,” she told him casually. The alcohol was slowly starting to get to her head. “This whiskey is good,” she them commented completely out of the blue.
Alecto nodded numbly, Mina’s words distant, nondescript noise. She ran a shaking hand through her hair, trying to rid herself of the sadness that seemed to weigh her entire body down. “Okay, Bean,” she murmured, not bothering to figure out what her friend had said. She continued to follow Mina, feeling as though she were wading through quicksand.The way that Alecto responded so blandly made Mina worried. What could have possibly happened? Mine then decided that going to find Lucius could be put off. She sat down in front of Alecto and tugged on her fingers to gesture her to the grass as well. “You’re going to tell me what going on,” Mina told her softly. “Though I can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me in the first place, because I thought we were best friends,” she then continued as she sighed. Why was Alecto acting this way? All she knew that it was something to do with Cyprien. “I’m not letting you leave,” Mina then told her as she continued to pull her hand towards the grass.
Alecto sat in the grass staring down at her feet. “I’m fine,” she mumbled. she twisted a blade of grass in her hands, willing herself to keep her eyes down so Mina could not see the tears beginning to pool in her eyes. “I’m fine,” she repeated in an even less convincing tone. A tear spilled from her eye, pooling at the tip of her nose before dripping into the grass.
The way that Alecto sat there, looking down at the ground made continued to make Mina’s fact correct.”Alecto, you’re not fine,” Mina told her softly as she crawled over to her and hugged her. “Tell me what’s wrong?” she murmured to her softly, before wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. The fact that something could make Alecto cry like this was kind of astonishing, but it had happened before, and it was usually because of a guy.
“Mina, you idiot, you never said you guys were meeting by the lake!” Alecto exclaimed, rolling her eyes. Her expression darkened at the mention of Cyprien’s name. “Well, people say plenty of things. But that doesn’t make them true,” she replied, attempting to sound nonchalant. She had far too much pride to describe the disastrous lunch with Cyprien, hardly wanting to remember it herself. She allowed herself to be lead in the other direction by Mina, beginning to wallow in the pain of Cyprien’s rejection.
“Sorry, sorry!” she then exclaimed as she braced herself for something, but nothing ever came. That was something new from Alecto. Suddenly, Alecto’s expression darkened and Mina knew she had struck a nerve. Then the way that Alecto said her next statement re-assured her reasoning. “Alecto, you know you can tell me anything,” she then told her softly as they continued to walk along, because if she tried to pry into that, Alecto would get angry and she knew that for a fact. They continued to walk along until they reached the lake. “Now to find that tree,” she explained as she continued to pull Alecto along. Maybe he left? She thought as they walked. The fact that it looked like nobody was at that lake helped her re-assure herself.
Alecto nodded numbly, Mina’s words distant, nondescript noise. She ran a shaking hand through her hair, trying to rid herself of the sadness that seemed to weigh her entire body down. “Okay, Bean,” she murmured, not bothering to figure out what her friend had said. She continued to follow Mina, feeling as though she were wading through quicksand.
The way that Alecto responded so blandly made Mina worried. What could have possibly happened? Mine then decided that going to find Lucius could be put off. She sat down in front of Alecto and tugged on her fingers to gesture her to the grass as well. “You’re going to tell me what going on,” Mina told her softly. “Though I can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me in the first place, because I thought we were best friends,” she then continued as she sighed. Why was Alecto acting this way? All she knew that it was something to do with Cyprien. “I’m not letting you leave,” Mina then told her as she continued to pull her hand towards the grass.
Alecto listened to Mina, nodding at her words. “Hmm…” she shrugged. “Honestly I haven’t the slightest idea where it could be. But hey, I have time to kill. Let’s find this stupid tree shall we?” She gestured for Mina to follow her, walking briskly in the direction of the forbidden forrest. “Plenty of trees in here! Willow trees are a little more rare than the rest. So if we find one willow tree we’ve probably found it, right?”
Mina followed Alecto, all the way to the Forbidden forest. Had she forgotten to say that the tree was by the lake? She hoped not. “Alright, Well I think so, but. the lake is that way,” Mina the told her as she pointed in the opposite direction. “And Lucius said it was by the lake. Plus, there are wolves in here..” Mina then explained as she inhaled. “How are you by the way? I heard you were with Cyprien. That’s what people told me. You’re talked about a lot,” She then told her as they continued to walk along, without changing direction. Mina wondered why they were continuing to head this way, so she stopped Alecto, and pointed to the other way again.
“Mina, you idiot, you never said you guys were meeting by the lake!” Alecto exclaimed, rolling her eyes. Her expression darkened at the mention of Cyprien’s name. “Well, people say plenty of things. But that doesn’t make them true,” she replied, attempting to sound nonchalant. She had far too much pride to describe the disastrous lunch with Cyprien, hardly wanting to remember it herself. She allowed herself to be lead in the other direction by Mina, beginning to wallow in the pain of Cyprien’s rejection.
“Sorry, sorry!” she then exclaimed as she braced herself for something, but nothing ever came. That was something new from Alecto. Suddenly, Alecto’s expression darkened and Mina knew she had struck a nerve. Then the way that Alecto said her next statement re-assured her reasoning. “Alecto, you know you can tell me anything,” she then told her softly as they continued to walk along, because if she tried to pry into that, Alecto would get angry and she knew that for a fact. They continued to walk along until they reached the lake. “Now to find that tree,” she explained as she continued to pull Alecto along. Maybe he left? She thought as they walked. The fact that it looked like nobody was at that lake helped her re-assure herself.
“Hmm. Alright,” Mina said as she shrugged and continued to take cautious sips of her whiskey. She had never tried normal whiskey before, and the taste was different on her tongue. Mina also wondered if Alecto tried this drink before. Maybe she should bring Alecto some. Then she also heard the unmistakable sound of Bellatrix heading toward the library. “I see,” she then told him as she giggled. It seemed that Rodolphus knew how to protect himself from the wrath of Bellatrix. Right now she wanted to learn how to cast these charms as well.
“Where did you get the whiskey?” Mina then asked as she smiled at him. She continued to take hesitant sips of it, while letting the alcohol burn through her system. It was a nice feeling, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. “Do you always protect yourself from Bella like this?” She then asked him curiously.
Watching his companion sip her drink cautiously amused Rodolphus, momentarily taking his thoughts off of Bella and her rampaging. “Wouldn’t you?” he asked as he saw her mildly interested and appreciative glance at the wards that surrounded them.
His eyes danced with hidden knowledge. “If I told you, I’d have to Avada you.” he winked at Mina. “Did you find the book you were looking for?”
“Well yeah, but I don’t know how.. Plus I’ve already been hurt by her,” Mina told him as she shrugged, At least it was over now, and it wasn’t like Bellatrix hunted for her on a daily basis. She looked the wards, wondering what spells they could possibly be. Then she turned to look at him once again, finding it inappropriate to not look at a person while speaking to them.
The way that his eyes twinkled with hidden knowledge made Mina smile. “Well then, I don’t want to be Avada’d,” Mina then told him as she smiled a little bit wider. “Hmm, yeah! I think so,” Mina told him as she picked up her book. It was a book of romance stories, that Mina liked to read for leisure. You couldn’t read textbooks all the time right? She didn’t really mind what Rodolphus thought of her book because she enjoyed reading it.
“What are you reading?” she then asked as she tilted her head a little bit to the left. Maybe she would pick up his book after she finished hers. There was a good chance that it may be an interesting one.
Alecto listened to Mina, nodding at her words. “Hmm…” she shrugged. “Honestly I haven’t the slightest idea where it could be. But hey, I have time to kill. Let’s find this stupid tree shall we?” She gestured for Mina to follow her, walking briskly in the direction of the forbidden forrest. “Plenty of trees in here! Willow trees are a little more rare than the rest. So if we find one willow tree we’ve probably found it, right?”
Mina followed Alecto, all the way to the Forbidden forest. Had she forgotten to say that the tree was by the lake? She hoped not. “Alright, Well I think so, but. the lake is that way,” Mina the told her as she pointed in the opposite direction. “And Lucius said it was by the lake. Plus, there are wolves in here..” Mina then explained as she inhaled. “How are you by the way? I heard you were with Cyprien. That’s what people told me. You’re talked about a lot,” She then told her as they continued to walk along, without changing direction. Mina wondered why they were continuing to head this way, so she stopped Alecto, and pointed to the other way again.
The fact that Mina hadn’t really been able to talk to many people other then Professor Bobinsky, had Mina worried. Where had all her friends gone? Last time she checked they were still there, but now it was like they had disappeared of the face of the planet! Today, Mina decided to search for Sirius, because he knew how to have a good time, or at least Mina thought so. It would be better than just staying quiet all day. Maybe a little firewhisky would make her feel better. She hadn’t had a lot of it in the longest while. Mina hadn’t even had a chance to ask Alecto where her firewhisky supply was because she tended to always be with Sturgis. She then began to search the halls diligently, looking for where Sirius was. Mina figured it would be easy to find him because he was usually the one surrounded by a bunch of girls. It was possible to get him mistaken for Gilderoy Lockheart apparently, because she tended to see Gilderoy with a lot of girls too.
It seemed to be different today, because Sirius had no girls next to him. That was a very odd sight, considering that she knew Sirius enjoyed having girls next to him. Mina did think that he had a thing for Marlene though. No one had told her, but it was really easy to see if you looked hard enough. Honestly, she thought that Sirius should go after Marlene, but since she was dating Gilderoy it was kind of a bad idea now. “Sirius!” she then called out with a wide smile as she caught up to him. “Hello!” she then exclaimed. It looked like Sirius was a little out of the normal today. There was no Marauders, no girl and the look on his face was interesting. “Have you seen James? I figure he should have a Quidditch practice going. I saw the snakes on the pitch yesterday, and we can’t let them get ahead now can we?”she then explained to him. Quidditch was something that Mina and Sirius had in common. It may of been the only thing, but probably not.
Mina then realized that indeed she had been rambling a little too much, so Mina stopped talking. She decided to just wait for Sirius to say something, since he hadn’t really said anything yet. Mina only watched him with a simple half smile placed on her lips, and a little twinkle in her eye. She hoped that Sirius was doing well because it would of been a pity if he wasn’t. Mina thought of Sirius as a generally nice guy after all, even if Alecto didn’t like him. It seemed Alecto didn’t like any of Mina’s friends, and liked to keep Mina to herself, bit that didn’t matter because it wasn’t like it was going to stop her from talking to her other friends.
It had been kind of an off-day for Sirius. That must be very obvious to those who saw him walking the hallways on his own. No marauders, no girls around him or trailing behind him, no everything. Just him —and maybe a snickering Peeves stalking him without him noticing a thing. He sat down on one ledge of the many windows in this one hallway and rested his back against the wall. He shoved one of his hands into his pocket and traced the contour of his Zippo lighter -a muggle portable device to generate a flame. Maybe he should go outside and have a smoke, he thought. He was about to hop off the ledge when he heard someone call out his name.
He looked at the direction of the voice and the sight immediately put a smile to a his face. It was Mina Lima, a 5th year from his own house. Before he could answer back a hello, she started asking him about James and Quidditch. He listened politely, as he slowly stood up from the ledge. He was towering over her -over a lot of girls- but never did he make them feel like they’re the weaker sex. Sirius might be a ‘womanizer’ as most people call him, but he’s always had respect for women.
“And hello to you too, Mina,” he finally managed to say as she stopped talking. “I think James is busy somewhere only we should know about.” He said this with a wide grin on his face. He’d say this phrase when he’s talking about pranks or stuff that are Marauders Top Secret. “And you’re right about that. We are in no way going to let those stingy snakes win. It will always be a flag of red and gold!” He exclaimed, completely showing off the loud side of him again.
“But that’s not fair! I wanna know!” Mina exclaimed before putting on a fake pout. She truly did wonder where he was. She wanted to talk to him about Quidditch and dying Lucius’ hair pink again! Those were fun times, when she could find him. The way that Sirius suddenly changed from looking sad and mopey into his fun loving and loud side made Mina happy. Sirius deserved to be happy after all. Even though he was a womanizer, it wasn’t like he was mean. He even had a respect for woman like many other womanizers didn’t. She was pretty sure that Remus, James and Peter would probably get angry if he lost that respect after all. “Yes!” Mina then joined in as she grinned at him. It didn’t even take five minutes with Sirius to have both of them smiling widely and boasting at the top of their lungs.
“Well, what are you doing here by yourself? I’m surprised there are no girls following you around,” Mina then told him before faking a gasp. “I mean, the great womanizer Sirius Black doesn’t have a girl on his arm? Such a shame,” she then teased before playfully punched him in the shoulder. Of course Sirius just happened to tower of Mina in height, so reaching his shoulder was a little bit of a challenge. Mina honestly hoped that Sirius was alright; after all being a cousin to the Black sisters must have been a hefty job. After her few encounters with Bellatrix, she was really glad that Sirius wasn’t like her. She couldn’t even imagine being hurt by Sirius.
“Well, why aren’t you with Remus and Peter then? I was really just looking around for Alecto, but she seems to be busy all the time,” Mina then explained as she shrugged. Then suddenly her stomach rumbled and Mina let out a little giggle. “Sorry,” she then apologized. “Shall we head to the kitchens? Or are you busy?” She then asked him softly. She hoped she wasn’t bothering him, or being annoying. Mina didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable either, but since when did Sirius ever feel uncomfortable? She didn’t even remember a time where he had been.
Mina was wandering around in the courtyard as she thought about what Lucius had said. “Was it behind the willow tree in the corner? Which corner? Oh gosh I don’t remember..” Mina mumbled to herself as she walked along. She was supposed to meet him in one corner of the lake because it was more secluded. They thought that people were probably in the open area of the lake, so Mina had listened to Lucius and decided to meet him in this secluded corner even though it made her a little bit suspicious as to why he wanted to meet in that corner. She just got a little bit lost, and now couldn’t remember where to go. Mina had a feeling that he was probably waiting for her there, and she really didn’t want to keep him waiting.
Then she noticed a small figure walking into the courtyard, and Mina instantly knew it was Alecto. There was no mistaking Alecto, mostly because of her height and the loud, confident voice that usually followed. “Lecto!” she called, a small smiled slowly creeping its way onto her lips. Then she walked over to her and started to talk. She wondered if Alecto knew where this secluded area of the lake was, so she decided to ask. “I need a little help,” she started. Then she slowly began her mindlessly long sentence. “I was supposed to go swimming with Lucius and the lake, but he said to meet in this secluded place that was at the lake but behind some sort of willow tree right? The thing is I’m not sure where that tree is and now I’m worried I kept him waiting..” Mina then explained. She then stopped talking and gave Alecto the time to answer her question.
