..... “I killed them all,” Esme whispered. “The vampires. I switched their blood with Snape’s when he put it though the distillery. That’s why the puddle followed him, I guess.”

..... “You have Snape’s blood?” Sirius asked. He had pulled her out of the wind, halfway into his lap. They sat in the shadow of a chimney. Esme shuddered, goosebumps rising on her bare arms. Her dark clothing made her seem all the more pale and fragile.

..... “It’s why he was hurt instead of me,” she said, voice a bare gasp. “I kept it in a container in the bandages around my wrist. You crunched it when we fought in the bathroom. When the ichling fed from me there, it was his blood that it took. That pain was meant for me. Ficus knew I was up and around and intended to put a stop to it. With the Bind gone, he can’t hurt me...But he still has my blood.”

..... “You said he’s a Slider,” Sirius pressed. “How does he use magic?”

..... “As little as possible,” she sighed, huddling closer to him and wincing from the pain that caused. “He wears gloves so he won’t hurt other wizards or damage their items. He needs magical objects since he can’t summon power himself. That’s what brought him to me. I made him enchanted trinkets and he gave Lorey a job and protected her.” Her voice trailed off sadly.

..... “What about the ichlings?” Sirius asked her. She shuddered a little.

..... “I don’t know where he gets them,” she whimpered. “Someone else must be making them for him. Some of them really hate him. He wasn’t always a Slider. Used to be a Potions teacher. Most powerful wizard born to a Muggle family. I remember...something about an accident, and him begging the Ministry of Magic to let him intervene...Someone in his Muggle family died and he wasn’t allowed to help.” A shivering attack came over her and she huddled closer to Sirius. He waited for her to go on, and after a moment, she did.

..... “I think it was that mess that turned him bad...his anger at the Wizarding world for caring more about keeping magic a secret than that some poor Muggles died. When grief turns bitter, a person can’t help but change. His hatred soured and turned his own magic against him. Whatever enchantment he touched, withered and died.”

..... Since she seemed so close to doing that as well, Sirius was quick to change the subject.

..... “How did you meet Rosie and Tanner?” he asked. After a moment, Esme’s weak voice reached his ears again.

..... “Rosie’s temper got her in trouble,” she said. “I stepped in and lied through my teeth for her. Saved her irate little life for her which she never forgave me for.” She made a gasping cough as if it was getting hard for her to breath. Her voice faltered, but kept going. “And Tanner loves her enough to die for her, but she’s never even given him a kind word that I’ve heard.”

..... “If he really loves her that much,” Sirius said. “He may not need to hear it. It might be enough just to be with her.”

..... “Maybe,” Esme admitted. She gave him the teensiest of smiles. When it faded though, there was a long silence.

..... “Are you all right?” Sirius asked after a moment.

..... “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I feel like I’m being held together with spiderwebs. One wrong move and the silk will snap and I’ll be ripped apart.”

..... “Are you cold?” he asked, noticing that her shivering had stopped.

..... “I like it,” she said. “Numb is nice.” He rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. He could feel the scars through her t-shirt.

..... “Did tigers do this?” he asked. She shuddered, but didn’t speak. Silence stretched out again and the wind seemed to chill. Sirius pulled the corner of his robes up over her. Esme still made no sound. He found himself remembering Azkaban. How the screaming would dwindle and the Dementers become more excited as time passed. As long as there was noise and suffering you knew you were alive. It was when the silence grew thick that death came.

..... “Say something,” he gasped. “Esme, talk!” ..... “I hurt,” she whimpered. “Even fighting the tigers didn’t hurt like this. And a tiger is easy after killing a vampire.”

..... “You wouldn’t get away with that here,” he told her, just to keep her going. “There are wizarding laws to protect intelligent creatures.”

..... “At home there’s so many no one really cares,” Esme said. “They are dead to begin with. I just finished the job.”

..... “How many have you killed?” he asked. She had to think about it.

..... “Five...” she finally said. “Well...four and a half.”

..... “How do you kill half a vampire?”

..... “I got his blood and destroyed his body, but Brohm still exists. Part of his awareness was made into the Bind...and since Ficus controlled that, it means he has Brohm’s spirit contained somewhere until a new form can be made for it.”

..... “That’s frightening,” said Sirius, giving her back another rub.

..... “That’s Dark magic,” she replied.