"What in fresh hell is this?" Esme couldn't help but gag as she lifted a soggy piece of bread out of the crushed tin foil in her hand. She had never seen anything so revolting in her life. Esme dropped the slice of bread back down into its wrapping and some small droplets of an orangey-red substance splashed out and onto the floor.

"That." Levi smiled proudly, "Is a baked bean sandwich."

"Have I done something to hurt you? Do you hate me?" She asked, finally sitting down beside him.

He frowned, "What? No. Why?"

"Because this seems like a punishment to me."

Upon hearing this, Levi let out a loud laugh and shuffled up slightly to allow Dirk in to sit beside him on the cramped bench up in the quidditch stands. This would be the first match of the year, and the first match Slytherin were playing with their new Seeker and replacement Captain.

Esme couldn't settle on whether she'd like to see them lose to prove how vital Regulus was, or if she'd like to see them win just to shove it in Regulus' face.

Levi took back the pile of tin foil that contained two soggy, and now cold, baked bean sandwiches. "Well don't you have one then." He told Esme, "I think this is one of my best ideas yet."

"Tell you what would be a good idea..." Esme's familiar lopsided smirk grew across her lips, "Having someone give you a lobotomy."

"Oh," Levi scoffed, "You're a good friend you are. I make you a sandwich and this is how you treat me?"

This caused the girl to laugh now, "Yeah, obliviously. You deserve it for creating that monstrosity. I'd fight Grindelwald before I'd eat that sandwich."

"As nice as it is that you made us sandwiches for the match..." Dirk grimaced as he peered over Levi's shoulder to see the tomato juice leaking out everywhere, "That is perhaps the worse thing I've ever seen in my entire life, and my village was half burned down."

Levi, whilst his friend had been talking, had lifted up one of his sandwiches and taken an enormous bite out of it. He turned to Dirk, his mouth still full of beans and bread, and asked, "That's the worst thing you've ever seen, is it?"

"LE-VI!" Dirk leapt up to his feet suddenly, the shouting attracting the attention of dozens of people around them who turned to see Levi suddenly hurry to gulp down his mouthful of mush so as not to further embarrass himself.

Dirk, on the other hand, was frantically wiping at his face as he cried out, "You sprayed bean juice all over me!"

"I take it back." Esme howled with laughter, "That sandwich is a true masterpiece, Rogers."

"You be careful, or I'll wipe this on you." Dirk warned as he finally calmed and sat down again.

"Oi! Avery!"

She paused a moment to catch her breath, and the trio turned around to see Selwyn, his hands proudly on his hips and a gaggle of the other Slytherin boys behind him.

This immediately soured Levi's mood, and he packaged up his food, folded his arms, and turned his whole body around so his back was towards the Slytherins.

"Oi. Selwyn." Esme replied, already growing sour in their company.

The tall, lanky boy neared her, lowered his voice, and inquired, with a sneer, "Mind having a word?"

"Well... The match is just about to start..." She drew out slowly, "And if you're here... That means there must be a village somewhere that's missing their idiot."

"Never short of jokes are you, Avery?" Selwyn sneered, growing more malicious as he asked, "So you coming?"

Esme sighed, "Alright, don't get your wand in a knot." She stood up off the bench and begrudgingly followed the Slytherin boy into the stairwell and away from the crowd. The other Slytherins lingered just outside, clearly listening in.

"Have you spoken to Black recently?" He sneered, already having an idea of what he expected the answer to be.

Part of Esme wanted to tell the truth - to get it off her chest - but the other part of her let spill the lie: "Of course. Why?"

Selwyn clearly already suspected she was untrustworthy, and it wouldn't look good if she revealed she was more vulnerable now.

"Well, because the idiot has stopped replying to my letters." He shrugged it off as though it was no big deal, "And I wanted to know what the Dark Lord had asked him to do; it must be important."

"I... Well, clearly, if Regulus isn't telling you anything then you ought not to know." She responded, feigning confidence with delayed ease.

Of course, she hadn't actually spoken to Regulus at all since returning to Hogwarts, and she'd had no clue he was writing to the Slytherin boys - let alone what he could be writing about. But, more importantly, it was more than a little worrisome that he had stopped writing with no warning whatsoever.

Selwyn snickered at this, "Yeah, I should have bet money your response would have been along those lines. When did you last hear from him?"

"Given that the letter wasn't addressed to you, I don't think it's any of your business. Besides," She narrowed her eyes, "Why do you care so much?"

"As much as you care to believe otherwise, we are actually mates." He folded his arms across his chest and leant back against the wall.

"Find that hard to believe." She coughed under her breath.

Selwyn hadn't heard what Esme had said, but he knew he shouldn't be pleased by it. He cleared his throat and explained, "When you next write to Black, tell him to reply to my letter."

"Okay." Esme nodded slowly, "But you owe me one." Knowing full well that she wasn't writing to Regulus, and had no intention of doing any sort of favour for Selwyn.

"You know... It should have been me who was picked for this job." He muttered somewhat bitterly, all the while cautiously watching the girl out of the corner of his eye as he kicked his foot against the floor.

She had resist from scoffing as she asked, "You don't even know what the job is, how do you know you could do it?"

"I can do anything I need to, can you?"

"Oh, absolutely."

Selwyn pursed his lips and thought for a moment before pressing, "The only reason your so safe is because of your father. He's somehow persuaded the Dark Lord to trust you, but know that I don't."

"Well," Esme let out a laugh, "That's alright because I don't trust you either."

Then, Selwyn's eyes widened slightly and he hesitated for a moment before regaining his composure. "Do you actually know what job Black has been given?" He inquired.

Esme had to pause for a moment. As much as she wanted to lie and say she knew everything, there was always the risk that doing so could land Regulus in a lot of trouble.

"I know everything I need to know, which is apparently a great deal more than you." She replied snidely.

"Alright, keep your secrets, Avery." He rolled his eyes, "But just remember that every other Death Eater has their eyes on you, waiting for your inevitable mistake."

And as much as Esme wanted to play things cool, that send a violent chill down her spine. Because though she had always suspected that to be true, it was a very different thing to be threatened with it.

Not only that, but everyone knew how close she was to Regulus and that put him under the microscope too. However badly they fell out, she would still do anything to keep him safe and happy.

"You just worry about yourself, eh? You've got to improve your reputation if you want to land some impressive missions." She responded, pulling on the collar of her top slightly.

But the mistake was on its way and Esme wouldn't realise it until it was too late.

But it was close.

Once that happened, that irreversible action that would reveal herself, there would be no going back.

-

a/n

slightly short chapter here bc the next one is long and OH BOY