Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter Six

The Great Hall was aglow with life, students chatting happily whilst the sun streaked in through the tall windows. Lessons had resumed a mere week ago, yet to Esmeralda it felt like she'd been back home for years - back where she felt comfortable.

She strode into the Great Hall, a small smile playing on her face as she sat down at the end of one of the tables. It was quite late in the morning but breakfast hadn't ended yet and the owls were still to arrive. Peering up the table, Esmeralda noticed Dirk sat not too far away, surrounded by a large group of friends all laughing wildly and leaning on each other for support.

That's when she made eye contact with a particular blonde-haired girl. Piper Horix was grinning broadly, demonstrating her dazzling teeth as she rose from her seat and neared Esmeralda.

"Esme! I haven't bumped into you in a while, it's good to see you." Piper sat down opposite the girl, still smiling.

"It's Esmeralda." She corrected as she started to pile pancakes onto her plate.

"And why is that?" Piper asks.
"Why is what?"
"Why go by your full name? Not only is Esme shorter, it's also really nice." Piper added.

Esmeralda pursed her lips, "Fine. Call me whatever you want."

Piper opened her mouth to reply but was abruptly cut off when several first years began shouting as the owls began to swoop into the hall. Esme noticed her family's grey owl swoop into the hall. Unexpectedly, it wasn't headed to her brother with any gifts of sorts. Instead, it fluttered over towards the Ravenclaws and dropped a small letter in Esme's lap.

"Well aren't you going to open it?" Piper leant forward, watching cautiously as Esme simply stared at the letter resting on her legs, not picking it up to open it at first.

"My parents never write to me." Esme mumbled under her breath, picking up the letter and turning it over in her hands.

"What?" Piper frowned.
"Nothing. Doesn't matter." She corrected herself.

Esme delicately pulled at the edges of the envelope, lifting the lid and plucking out the letter that had peaked her interest. Gently, the unfolded the parchment and her eyes fell upon what was written.

"...Well? What does it say?" Piper leant forward across the table, attempting to peer over the top of the parchment to read it upside down.
"Nothing." Esme replied shortly, pocketing the letter and rising from her seat.

Piper frowned and pulled away, "You haven't even eaten breakfast. Where are you going?"

Choosing not to reply, Esme strode with determination out of the Great Hall. She knew exactly where she was headed. The quidditch pitch.

It filled her with incredible anxiety, knowing what her parents had said in the letter. What was even worse was that Esme knew she couldn't change their minds.

She was to be sent to the Black household over the Christmas holidays. There wasn't a doubt in the girl's mind that Regulus knew about this and the pedestal his parents placed him on most likely meant he could persuade them to take back their invitation to Esme.

The more pressing question was why would Walburga Black invite the girl she loathed so much into her home? There must have been some desperately pressing reason for that.

The sun had barely risen and the dew was still deep set into the grass as Esme almost slid across the grounds on her walk down and away from the castle. Unsurprisingly, the quidditch pitch wasn't empty. There was one boy darting about in the sky that she wouldn't expect to be anywhere else at this time.

She held her hands up to shield her eyes and watched from the edge of the pitch as the broom and its rider zipped up and down at incredible speeds. After only a few moments, he appeared to notice Esme stood on the ground and came to a rather slow stop.