Hiraeth | Regulus Black

Chapter Seventy Two

"Oh, come on, Dirk! What's the worst that could happen?"

Levi stopped his pacing and waited for the other boy to reply to him.
"Esmerelda!" Dirk called up the stairs to the girl's dormitory, ignoring what he'd been asked.

"Seriously, Dirk," Levi continued to pace back and forth in front of the fire place in the Ravenclaw common room, "Just let me go with you."
Sighing, he replied, "You've been asking all week, why would I answer differently tonight?"

"Because I'm dressed up." Levi stopped to gesture to the clean white shirt and black trousers he was wearing.
"Esmerelda!" Dirk shouted, "Are you nearly ready?" Yet again, as it had been for the past fifteen minutes, he was met with no reply.

"It's not like it means anything, obviously." Levi continued on, "Just let me go with you."
Dirk ignored this, and called out again, "Avery! Get down here!"

Before Levi could speak again, they were interrupted by a knock on the common room door.
"Oh, hello." Regulus greeted with an awkward half-wave, "You scrub up well."
Dirk looked down at his own navy blue suit and bow tie and hummed in response before stepping aside to let Regulus in - who was donning his own black suit, though the jacket seemed to be made of a velvety velour material which revealed a white shirt underneath with a open neck.

Levi collapsed down onto the sofa in front of the fireplace, "So can I go to the Slughorn party with you now, Dirk?" He asked.
"Fine. Yes, okay. What's the worst that could happen?" The Ravenclaw boy begrudging gave in.

"Brilliant!" Levi clapped in succession.
Regulus raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, you might regret that soon, Levi; it's really not that exciting. Oh, and where's Esme?"

"I think she's stumbled into a portal - lost forever." Dirk rolled his eyes and sat down beside Levi in front of the fireplace before continuing, "I've been calling her forever."

"Ever so dramatic." The boys turned to see Esme stood at the foot of the stairs with an entirely unimpressed expression sketched over her features.

The atmosphere, up until then, had been utterly chaotic. Although that wasn't too unusual for the group at this point.
Rather, what had cast a sudden quiet over the room was the sight of Esmerelda. Though from first glance, the boys might not have even recognised her had they not heard her voice.

It was Regulus who spoke first, mostly because they all knew he was least likely to earn a telling off from the girl for whatever he said. He approached her slowly, his eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights, and said, in a quiet voice so only she could hear, "Can I say wow? Because that's the only word that seems appropriate."

"I look like Salazar Slytherin himself threw up on me." Esme replied bitterly, looking down at her emerald green dress. It was a long gown, reaching from its turtleneck-line down to skimming the floor that cinched in at the waist and had elegant balloon sleeves with cuffs. Around her eyes was dark, slight smudged eyeliner which made her look almost older - though not in a bad way, but in a way that showed maturity from how much she had seen and done in her young years.
If someone were to look at a picture of Antoinette Avery as a teenager, they would barely have been able to tell the difference between that and the girl stood in front of them.

"Wow." Regulus reiterated, sliding his hands to rest comfortably on her hips, "I really-wow."
She rolled her eyes and groaned, "Ugh."

Looking past her boyfriend, who was still staring intently at her in the dress, she took note of Dirk and Levi who had now stood up from the sofa and had started quietly bickering amongst themselves.

"Levi, did you convince Cresswell yet?" She asked with a grin.
The boy smirked, "Obviously. Do you even know me? Dirk never stood a chance denying me."