Raven | 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 04

"Black?" Alexandra repeated, raising a curious brow at him. "As in... Sirius Black's brother?"

     By the mention of that name, Alexandra saw the boy frown, his jaw clenching. And then, before she could process what was happening, Regulus turned on his heels and stormed out of the bathroom, leaving her alone.

     Dazed as to what had happened, Alexandra tried to shake the thought away as she proceeded with the rest of her classes that day, after receiving her timetable from Professor Flitwick.

      But all day long, she didn't seem able to get the boy out of her head, her mind messed up

     Throughout those hours, Mike could tell that something was wrong with her friend, but Alexandra didn't tell him about Regulus until lunchtime.

     "I really don't know what I did," said Alexandra later that day as her and Mike sat down for lunch at the Great Hall. "I just asked if he was Sirius Black's brother or not."

    "Ooh, you brought on a sensitive subject, considering what happened between them over summer," said Mike with a smirk, taking a bite of his chicken.

    "What do you mean? What happened over summer?"

    Mike dropped his chicken, staring at Alexandra in disbelief and then hissed, "You haven't heard!?"

     "Heard what?" She blinked a few time at him in confusion.

     "Jeez, Alex. This is like the biggest gossip of the day!" said Mike, causing Alexandra to giggle at that. "What?"

     "You're such a gossip queen, Mike." She chuckled.

      "I prefer gossip king, if you don't mind."

      "If you say so..." Alexandra grinned. "So what is the deal with Regulus and Sirius Black?"

     Mike cleared his throat, rubbed his hands together in excitement, and leaned closer to her to whisper, "Rumor has it that Sirius Black ran away from home over summer."

     "What!?" Alexandra exclaimed.

     "Shhh!"

     "But — but he's only sixteen, isn't he?" she said apprehensively, lowering her voice. "Poor kid... but why?"

      "Dunno." He shrugged. "Apparently his parents were a bunch of gits and so when he ran off, they disowned him and burnt him off their family tree. Word has it that he went to live with the Potters."

     "Mike, how on earth do you know all these stuff?"

     "I have my sources, Miss Starling," said Mike importantly, grinning in an arrogant manner.

     "Are your sources your ears, for when you eavesdrop?" Alexandra said playfully, causing Mike to send her a look, so she tried to change the subject. "So why is Regulus so mad about it?"

     "Use your non existence brain, woman! When Sirius left, probably Regulus was left to hear all the screams and complains coming from their parents. And imagine being left alone in that horrible home... yikes."

    Alexandra threw her gaze down as Mike rambled on. She knew well enough what a 'horrible home' was and highly doubted if any household was as bad as hers. But she said nothing, deciding to keep this matter to herself as always.

      "... and this is probably why Regulus was acting so moody today, from what you told me," Mike went on. "He's still trying to cope with his problems."

      "How do you know Regulus so much? And how can you be so sure that he's not always this cranky? Maybe that's his usual attitude, for all we know."

      "I know him because he's the seeker of Slytherin's Quidditch team," Mike reasoned. "I've been playing against him for some while now, and honestly, I always thought he was one of the good Slytherins."

     "How come?"

     "I don't think he's ever been in trouble, for starters. Never laid a wand on anyone for bullying, unlike many other Slytherins — and of course unlike those four Gryffindor gits; Potter and Black and their other two friends." Mike rolled his eyes at that. "Those four think they rule the world, the way they behave."

"Um... you were saying about Regulus...?"

"Oh, Regulus, right!" Mike shook his head to snap himsef out of his thoughts and went on, "Anyway, I always thought he's been a bit of a loner. Always keeps to himself. Never talks to anyone much."

     "You scare me with your knowledge sometimes, Mike," said Alexandra with a cheeky smile.

     "Ah, well... At least some of us has to act like a Ravenclaw."

     "And then, you become so arrogant every time that it doesn't surprise me anymore. I'm not sure if I like it." She chuckled.

    "There's a thin line between hate and love, my dear miss Starling." Mike grinned. "So beware! Because you are just at the verge of falling for me."

    "No, I'm not," she said calmly, raising her book again to start reading.

     "You stink of denial."

But just then, their attention was caught when an owl swooped in the Great Hall and flew toward their direction, dropping a letter in Alexandra's lap, with no name written upon it.