The Brothers Black

Chapter 22

I tossed and turned in my bed, unable to rest for even a minute. Today's Quidditch loss had put a damper on the entire Gryffindor Tower. There was no celebration party, no singing in the common room, and none of the usual laughter and happiness that made Gryffindor Gryffindor. Not wanting to disturb my roommates, I followed my usual routine when I couldn't sleep. I grabbed a jacket and stepped out onto the balcony adjacent to our dorm.

The crisp winter air filled my lungs and I watched the stars twinkle over the beautiful landscape. The moon hung low and full as a bowl of milk, reflecting its white light over the Black Lake. The snow fell lightly, like it would in the field that James and I would play in when we were little. We hadn't had too much snow this year, so even a light fall was a pleasant surprise. It was so peaceful at this time; just me and Hogwarts.

Usually.

The first noise that took me by surprise was a rustling of the branches below. The normally still branches of the Whomping Willow were showing their namesake, attacking whatever had dared come within the range of its thrashing branches. Probably a little rabbit looking for shelter from the snow. I shivered. I was going to need some shelter soon too. 

Just as I turned around to go back to bed, an unfamiliar gush of wind caught my attention.

Something was approaching me. It looked like a big bird, but as it got closer, I realized it was a person on a broom. I stood up, ready to jump back inside. Who would be out there at this time of night?

"Adelaide," Regulus said, in a manner that did not sound like he was surprised to be seeing me in the middle of the night in the freezing cold. He was wearing a black jacket and a black hat with gray trousers. I had never seen him out of uniform before. I looked down at my pink pajama pants and bunny slippers and frowned, embarrassed.

"Regulus," I responded, sounding a bit more surprised, considering he was the one flying a broom in the middle of the night in the freezing cold at my balcony. "What are you doing?"

He shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

"Me neither."

He stepped off his broom onto the balcony. "My friends dared me to fly around the grounds in the middle of the night second year. They thought for sure I'd get caught, but no one's up at this hour. I do it all the time now."

I nodded, trying to find something today. "It's nice out here."

Wow, great one, Addy.

He turned to face me. "Do you want to go for a ride?"

I frowned."I left my broom in the locker room after the match."

He looked down, kicking up his broom with his foot and catching it. "You can come on mine."

I don't know if it was because I was shivering, because it was so late, or because of some other inexplicable reason, but before I knew it, I was stepping onto Regulus's broom. He sat in the front and I was behind him toward the end of the broom. Unsure where to put my hands, I paused. He turned to the side, and I caught a hint of that mischievous glint flash across his eye. He lifted up his arms and I tentatively wrapped my hands around his waist, intertwining my fingers together in front of him. He kicked off my balcony and we took flight.

It shouldn't have felt weird, considering we'd been physically closer than this before, but I suddenly became aware of every place our bodies were in contact. My chest against his back. Our feet lightly touching. My hands against his firm torso. 

He started picking up speed. It felt strange to be in a broom, but not in control like I usually was. We twisted around the towers of the castle, flying over the stone walls. I thought of everyone asleep under us, completely unaware of the adventure we were having above.