The Brothers Black

Chapter 12

Slughorn assigned another Potions paper. It's the fourth this month, and we still have a week left in October. I decided to work in the library so I could at least have some quiet while I struggled.

I set my books down at a table in the back and began to flip through the pages, attempting to remember the lecture we had the other day in class. As usual in Potions, nothing was sticking. I seemed to read a sentence and forget it directly after. I needed a good mark on this paper, but I just couldn't focus. It certainly did not help that the only thing I could think about was Regulus Black's smug face after he got top of the class again. 

Luckily, I am significantly better than Regulus in all the other classes we have together – Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Herbology. Especially in Herbology. All my practice in my garden at home put me far ahead of the class.

Giggling from a table nearby interrupted my train of thought. A group of Gryffindor girls in the year above were laughing together. I noticed Marlene among them. Noticing that they were being loud, one of the group, a pretty girl with long red hair, leaned forward and shushed the others, although she was smiling too. Her friends stopped laughing and started whispering instead. She seemed satisfied, so she buried her nose in her book and flipped her hair over her shoulder. I recognized her a little bit. She always seemed to be in the library, and I often saw her friends sitting near James' in the Great Hall. 

"Hey." A voice startled me. I blinked away from the Gryffindor group and saw Bertram standing in front of my table. 

Bertram Aubrey. At my table.

"Hey!" I said. Shoot. That was really loud. 

Bertram didn't seem to notice. "I heard about what happened yesterday in the courtyard. Are you okay?"

The fight. He's checking in on me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I blushed. "It wasn't that big of a deal. They're just a bunch of jerks."

"Couldn't agree more, but I heard it was pretty rough." He casually pulled up a chair to sit next to me. My heart skipped a beat. "I also heard you held them off. Impressive. You know, if I'd been there..."

His voice trailed off, but he shook his head and rolled his fingers into a fist on the table.

"Thanks." I smiled up at him.I knew what he meant. His eyes met mine. Blue. Blue eyes.

"It was Black, wasn't it?"

My head tilted in confusion.

"The one who started it," he continued.

"Wilkes started it. But Black was there too." I was going to elaborate, but for some reason I didn't.

"I hate that kid. Black. Since he was a first year, he's always been causing trouble with that Slytherin group. He's tried to mess with me a couple times." 

I nodded. "I haven't had the best experiences with him either. "

"Yeah," he trailed off, his fingers tapping the table as if in thought. "Anyways, I wanted to ask you something. Would you want to come to Hogsmeade with me in a couple weeks?"

Bertram. Just. Asked. Me. Out. AHHHHH!

"Um, sure. I'd like that," I said. I hoped the smile on my face looked at least a little less goofy than I felt on the inside.

"Cool. See you then." He stood up and walked away out of the library. I attempted to go back to my Potions work, but I didn't get too much studying done after that.

I didn't get much studying done at all over the next couple weeks. I've been counting down the days until Hogsmeade on a calendar in my room. That sounds really creepy, and it sort of is, but in my defense, it's my first date. My bunkmates all know that Bertram invited me to go with him, but I made them swear not to tell anyone. I don't want the whole world knowing, especially if it doesn't mean anything. He could have just asked me to go as friends. Luckily, I won't be having to hide from James at Hogsmeade. He, Sirius, Remus, and Peter have all gone "on strike" against the Hogsmeade trip because Sirius hexed someone and was banned for the rest of the year. I was bribed to join the cause with a chocolate frog card, but I politely declined. As tempting as it was, I had better plans.