sister of the wolf | s. snape

thirteen | detention

A few days passed into the first week back to classes. Stress was high, as Elise and the rest of those in her year were going to have to take O.W.L.S. in the near future.

She knew she'd have no issue in Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies, or Astronomy, as those were her strongest points. Severus had been helping her study Potions and D.A.D.A. after school most days. Divination, History of Magic, and Charms were most likely not going to look great, but they weren't needed for her future career options, so she wasn't too worried.

Towards the end of the day on Thursday, she was in her study period in the Great Hall, trying to absorb some Potions text that Severus had recommended to help her. That was, until she felt someone sit down in front of her.

Looking up, her eyes widened in surprise. It was Sirius, sitting before her with his brows furrowed at her.

"Uh, can I help you?" she asked quietly, trying to not be detected talking by McGonagall.

Sirius shrugged. "How's the Death Eater boyfriend?" he asked with a smirk, though it didn't look friendly or jesting.

Elise rolled her eyes and sighed. "If you're going to be a dick, you can go now."

He chuckled dryly. "Sorry, sorry. But I do want to know how that whole... thing is going. You two look pretty close." He said the last word with a tinge of disgust.

"I'm as close as anyone could be with him," she shrugged. "We study and hangout, nothing crazy."

"He doesn't look at you like a study buddy."

Elise pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. McGonagall hissed "Black! Lupin! Quiet, please!" to them. They each mumbled apologies.

"Anyway," Sirius continued in a whisper, leaning over the table a little to be closer. "Can you just give up on him, already? He's not going to let anyone in as much as he did with Lily. She couldn't make him normal, so what makes you think you can?"

"I'm not trying to make him anything," Elise said lowly, narrowing her eyes at him. "I just don't believe he's some evil You-Know-Who follower who deserves to be harassed at every breath he takes!" she took a deep breath, attempting to not lose her cool. "He's a good guy. I wouldn't be passing Potions if it weren't for him."

She turned a page in her textbook to make it appear as if she were studying if McGonagall looked over. The silver bracelet revealed itself from beneath her robe sleeve as she did. Sirius noticed, and a thick eyebrow raised at it.

"And who's that from?"

Elise tugged her sleeve back over it, staring down at her book and refusing to answer.

"Ah," he sighed, looking away from her. "Maybe he has made a little room for you in his cold heart beside Lily."

She tried to ignore him. The thought of being compared to Lily in a way made her heart hurt. And she hadn't wanted to replace her at all, she simply wanted Severus to not feel so alone.

"He loves her, Elise," he whispered to her as if he'd read her mind. He tried to meet her eyes, but she kept her gaze down. "And I don't believe he'll ever get past that -"

Elise snapped her gaze to him, fuming. "He doesn't need to!" Her voice was raising a little, the students near them glancing to the two. "I'm not asking him to love me! I just want to be there for him!"

"That's it!" McGonagall shouted, swiftly walking towards them. "Black, Lupin! You both have detention! Tonight!"

The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor groaned, but nodded. The bell rang at that moment, and Elise shot Sirius a cold glare as she gathered her things to head to her next class.

-

The assignment for that night's detention was to clean up the Great Hall after dinner without any magic. Sirius and Elise's wands were confiscated by McGonagall before she left, informing them she'd be in a classroom down the hall to grade papers whenever they were finished so they could retrieve their wands.

Thankfully, the food had been cleared magically beforehand. But the four tables were littered with scraps, leftovers, used napkins, and dishes.

They were given spray bottles of water along with soap, buckets of water, and mops. This didn't bother Elise too much, as her mother was a Muggle and had taught her to clean as a child. But Sirius, however, was struggling. And of course, she was still angry with him and refused to help him.

For a good while, they cleaned in silence. Sirius knocked over his bucket of water, earning a snort from Elise and him telling her to 'shut it.'

Only one table was left, and they'd met in the middle to clean it together. Elise cleared off plates and Sirius cleaned the wood beneath it. Until his finger slipped on his spray bottle trigger, and squirted the girl directly in the face with water.

They stood staring at each other for a few seconds, Elise's mouth agape and Sirius struggling to hold back a laugh. Then Elise dropped her plate down and ran to grab her own spray bottle.

"Oh shit," Sirius exclaimed as he dived to hide behind a table before Elise could return to get him back.

"Come here, you shit!" She climbed over the table to him and aggressively sprayed his precious, well-kept hair.

Sirius growled and ran off a few feet, touching his hair. "You twat!" He sprinted towards her and she ran the opposite direction, giggling maniacally.

Elise had run to the other side of the Hall before noticing she didn't hear his footsteps anymore. Cautiously, she stopped and turned, spray bottle in hand. She looked around but didn't see him anywhere.

That was when she was struck by a black ball of fur from behind, and she fell to the floor. Laughing hysterically, she rolled to her back and the familiar large, scruffy black dog stood over her face.

Its grey eyes gleamed amusedly as she, still laughing, reached up and pet its soft head.

"You're a dick," she said, giggling and shaking her head as she sat up. The dog barked loudly before transforming back into her friend.

Sirius sat beside her, laughing along with her until both their faces and stomachs hurt. They stood after awhile and went to finish cleaning the remaining table.

Occasionally, their eyes would meet and they'd burst out into a fit of giggles once again.