Promises- A Sirius Black One Shot

Malia was walking into the castle from the grounds; she had been taking a walk after dinner. As she approached the courtyard, it began to rain. Malia picked up her pace, but after only a few steps, a wall of bodies stopped her. She looked up into the sneering faces of Regulus and Bellatrix Black, Rodolphus Lestrange, Severus Snape, and a few other slimy Slytherins that she didn’t recognize.

“Where do you think you’re going, blood traitor?” Regulus spoke with his usual air of superiority and annoyance that he had to even look upon scum like Malia Nheils.

“Um, inside. It’s raining, in case you haven’t noticed. Of course, Severus probably hasn’t. It probably just feels like he forgot to shower this morning!” Malia finished brightly. Snape snarled and took a step forward, but Rodolphus held him back.

“No, not just yet, Severus. First we’ll have some fun with the little brat. Then we’ll kill her off.” Rodolphus’s words sent a chill down Malia’s spine. Just an empty threat, she told herself. Bellatrix took a step forward, cackling a twirling her wand around her fingers.

“Let’s have some fun, shall we?” She murmured viciously.

“Expelliarmus,” Snape said quietly, and Malia’s wand flew out of her hands, and he caught it. Great. Now I’m going to die at the hands of some idiot Slytherins. Fan-tastic.

Bellatrix suddenly whirled on Malia with malice in her eyes.

“Crucio!” she cried, pointing her wand at Malia, who collapsed to the ground, trying with all her might not to scream. The pain was unbearable. A thousand white hot knives were piercing every inch of her skin. She wanted to die then, and end it. But the pain stopped, and Malia knew she hadn’t died; Bellatrix was going to play with her first.

“Let’s finish her quickly, before someone comes,” said a large, beefy Slytherin that Malia didn’t know.

“Not scared, are you, Travers? Do we need a little…incentive…for you to stay?” Bellatrix murmured softly to Travers while circling round him like a snake.

“No,” he whispered, his reply barely audible.

Just then, there were footsteps. Snape suddenly turned to Malia and said in a low voice, “Sectumsempra!” This pain was unlike the pain of the Cruciatus Curse. Her skin was literally being cut open by a million invisible knives. She could feel the blood pouring out of her body. Bellatrix and the others turned to leave. Malia lay there on the courtyard floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. Rodolphus turned to Travers and said, “Finish her.”



Sirius impatiently stared into the common room fire. “Have you guys seen Malia? She wanted me to help her with Transfiguration.” Sirius said to James, Remus, and Peter.

“Sure, mate. Use that as your excuse. We all know you’re practically in love with her,” James told Sirius in his usual cocky voice.

“I’m bloody serious, she’s terrible at it!” Sirius replied.

“Whatever you say, mate,” James said, a smirk on his face. Sirius rolled his eyes and slumped back in his chair.

“Just check the Map. I think it works now,” Remus told him. He was referring to the map of Hogwarts that the four of them (Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs) had created. It showed where every person inside the castle was, and the secret passageways. Remus was referring to the fact that is Sirius found the dot labeled Malia Nheils, he would know where to find her.

Sirius pulled out the Marauder’s Map, put the tip of his wand to the blank paper and said, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” Instantly, the name of every single person inside Hogwarts castle appeared beside a small, inky black dot. Sirius searched through them until he found the one labeled Malia Nheils. Malia was in the courtyard, not moving. James was looking over his shoulder and said,

“Why would she just be sitting there? It’s raining. I mean, we all know Malia’s weird, but it’s practically hailing, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t enjoy inflicting pain upon herself.”

Sirius sat there, utterly confused, until it dawned on him. He suddenly jumped up and bolted out of the common room without explanation. Without a word, Remus, James, and Peter followed.



Sirius reached the courtyard just in time to see Travers standing over a motionless figure. Said figure also happened to be surrounded by blood. He slashed his wand through the air and muttered an incantation that none of them could make out. Travers then turned sharply on his heel and marched into the castle.

The four boys ran towards the figure that Travers had just left; all of them hoping and praying that it wasn’t who they thought it was. But when they reached the girl lying on the ground, there was no mistaking that long curly blond hair. Sirius dropped to his knees beside Malia. There were gashes all over her skin, and she was still bleeding. She was unconscious, and completely still.

“Is she breathing?” Remus asked quietly. Sirius raised his arm and gently placed two fingers on the side of her neck. His face relaxed as he said, “That’s definitely a pulse.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t change the fact that is we don’t get her to Madame Pomfrey soon she’s gonna bleed to death,” James replied, and Sirius quickly scooped Malia up bridal style.

The four of them sprinted to the hospital wing. God, she’s so pale, Sirius thought as he approached the hospital. And he hadn’t taken his eyes off her the entire time that he was racing to save her life.



Madame Pomfrey must have had quite a shock. One minute she was tending to a student with a fierce head cold, the next four boys came bursting through the door, one of them carrying a slight, pale figure covered in blood.

Madame Pomfrey gasped but quickly regained her composure. She ordered Sirius to lay her down on the bed, and she set to work immediately, healing the gashes on Malia’s skin and tipping potion after potion down her throat. Sirius didn’t seem capable of speech, he just sat in a chair beside Malia’s bed without moving. A kind of numbness had spread throughout his body. All he cared about was her. Peter was standing at the end of the bed, flustered. James and Remus explained to Madame Pomfrey what had happened, although they left out the bit about the Map.

After a few hours, the bleeding had finally subsided, and although Malia looked much paler than usual, she looked better than she had a couple hours ago.

“She’ll be fine,” Madame Pomfrey said, sounding exhausted. Sirius, James, and Remus murmured thank yous to her; Wormtail had scuttled off to the dormitory, saying something about ‘homework,’ ‘McGonagall,’ and ‘detention.’



A few weeks later, Malia was released from the hospital on strict orders not to play Quidditch. But everyone knew that that was not going to happen.

Malia was fully recovered, except for the thin white scars covering her body; they were only noticeable in bright light. She was sitting by the fire, reading Quidditch through the Ages. James had lent it to her, saying, “If you hurt this book, I mean at all, I will murder you. Wait, no, I’ll make you buy me a new book and then I’ll murder you.” He was rather proud of his master plan.

As Sirius looked at her, he could see the scars of what the Slytherins had done to her on her pale skin, and he silently resolved to himself that no matter what, he would never let anyone hurt her again. And this promise? This promise, he would keep.