Mischief Managed Year Two Part One: The Poisoned Truth

Chapter Fifty-Two- To be a Black

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"Oi, Reggy. COME ON!" came an excited whisper directly in his ear.

Regulus rolled off his bed with a sigh. He had almost forgotten about this whole stupid plan. But reminding himself Sirius and his friends snuck around all the time at night, he followed Greg quietly out of their room and up the stairs to the common room. Lucinda was waiting for them, her head pressed against the cool glass of the giant window showing beneath the lake.

Regulus watched a grindylow swim past, amused at how amazed they had all been by the sight at first. Now Lucinda didn't even bat an eye, although by the way she was slumped slightly Regulus wouldn't be surprised if she was asleep. Not half asleep but completely asleep while upright. Apparently it was a trick she had learned as her governess often made her stand for hours as a punishment when she didn't remember her family's heritage accurately enough or when she didn't play the piano perfectly enough. Reg wished he had picked up such a skill himself from the tedious hours spent with nannies but immediately felt bad for thinking that. He had to be careful, he didn't want to think like Sirius!

"Lulu, come on," Greggory shouted.

Regulus shushed Greg because they would be in big trouble if they woke up one of the older students. His friend nodded tiredly in understanding, sitting down on one of the many dark stools that sat around the tables in the common room. The cousin who was half awake himself proceeded to position himself as close as he could get to the large glass wall that revealed the dark waters of the Black Lake. Not that sitting let Greggory rest at all. The uncomfortable backless seats were there since they enforced good posture, unlike chairs you could actually slouch in.

"Come on, Lucinda," Gregory called softly this time. He leaned over to pat her shoulder, giving her a smile as the sleep and confusion left her eyes.

"You boys kept me waiting," she retorted, yawning behind her hand.

"Well come on or we'll miss it," Gregory insisted, the one out of the three who wanted to do this the most. The eager boy hopped out of the chair he had been trying to slouch in and began to move as if realizing the temptation to sleep would be too great if he didn't proceed to pace back and forth.

"Why are we doing this again?" Lucinda asked. Regulus just shrugged, suppressing his own yawn. Even Salazar himself probably wouldn't be able to answer why anyone would choose to be awake at such impractical hours.

"Because it will be really fantastic! I promise," Greggory pointed out excitedly, the only one who still seemed to have any desire to keep trying to get Regulus to agree to do crazy things.

"Are you sure this is even a proper challenge?" Reg asked as they left the common room for the dungeons, not even bothering to be quiet anymore. Only Professor Slughorn ever patrolled down here and the worst he would do would tell them to go back to bed.

"Yeah, all the first years are doing it. Last night two Hufflepuffs apparently got the closest so far," Greggory chatted in excitement.

"This is dumb," Regulus pointed out, knowing he wouldn't call a halt to the adventure because he also knew the Gryffindor first years were participating in the challenge. The proud Black wasn't about to let Slytherins loose. So far Sirius hasn't mentioned the challenge but Regulus wouldn't have been surprised if he invented it. At the very least Sirius must know about it since he knew about all the mischief that went down at Hogwarts. Regulus wasn't about to give his brother another excuse to call him a stick in the mud. They would win this competition, go back to bed, and then Reggy could boast to Sirius about it. If Regulus was lucky, for once his brother wouldn't have an annoying comeback. Since he was already daydreaming, maybe Sirius would then completely forgive Regulus for telling on him for going to the Forbidden Forest.