Assumption // Regulus Black

43

Thalia

I woke up in my bed the next morning to chirping birds. I felt refreshed and nearly smiled at the stream of sunlight that filtered into our dorm. That was, until I remembered what today was.

I sat up immediately and glanced at the time. I wanted to make sure I could see Regulus once before he left, even if we couldn't talk to one another. The clock read 7:26AM which gave me enough time.

 I surveyed the rest of my dormitory- Hazel was gone (she was already awake I presumed) and Anna was still fast asleep. I swung my legs over the side of my bed and stood up.

And then I nearly fell back down.

Luckily, I caught myself before I could completely fall to the ground. My arms braced myself between the dresser and headboard of my bed. 

I stared wide-eyed at my unsteady legs that were trembling beneath the weight of my body. 

Shit.

I rolled my eyes at an imaginary comment that Regulus would have made and pushed myself off of the headboard to stand up again. I had regained my balance, but my legs were still spasming every so often.

I slowly walked to the bathroom to get ready, doing my best not to completely collapse again. Getting ready quickly was difficult, but I made it work. I descended the steps to the common room as quickly as possible and walked down to the Great Hall. The halls were virtually empty, as most people didn't wake up for school until later.

I entered the Great Hall which was 20% full and walked over to the Slytherin table where Hazel was sitting across from Ace, showing him something on the paper in between them. Even from afar, I could see Ace' eyes wandering from the paper to Hazel.

As much as I wanted to focus on them, however, I saw Regulus. He was eating a couple seats away while keeping himself busy with what looked like charms homework. He glanced up from the paper and locked eyes with me.

And then I did something really stupid- I walked over to him. 

"Hey," I said to Ace and Hazel, sliding in between Hazel and Regulus. 

"Hey," Ace and Hazel looked up from their homework to smile at me. Luckily, they didn't seem to think anything of the person sitting on my right.

"What are you doing up so early?" Hazel asked, putting away the paper in front of her. 

"Not really sure to be honest," I shrugged, shifting slightly in my seat to try to ease some of the weight off of the sensitive area between my legs. Hazel laughed at my response and handed me a muffin from the center of the table.

A weight on my right leg caused me to glance at Regulus who was now leaning his leg against mine under the table. When our eyes met, he frowned slightly, his eyes darting down to where I was shifting in my seat. I pressed my leg into his in a way I could only hope was reassuring and turned back to the conversation.

Thankfully, Hazel and Ace had such fat crushes on one another that I didn't have to worry about them analyzing the small interaction.

Our legs remained leaned on one another, providing some sense of comfort and warmth. That was all we could do for one another.

"Reg, where are you going again?" Ace's voice drew my attention away from our legs. 

"My Grandmother is in poor health, so I have to be there in case things go downhill," Regulus lied easily. "Plus I should get on her good side. That inheritance has to go somewhere," he added and Ace and I laughed. Hazel spat out her water at the comment, causing all of us to laugh even harder.

Regulus had on a slight smile, but it faded quickly. I watched him glance at the time and stiffen. The smile fell from my face.

I watched him tuck away his charms homework and begin to stack his plate. All I could do was watch. I wanted to scream at him to just stay- tell him he would be safe at Hogwarts. But I remained trapped inside my body, merely watching. Regulus moved his leg off of mine as he stood up from the table. 

I watched him step away. Watched him turn to leave.

"Black," I blurted before I could stop myself. 

Idiot.

While I was looking at Regulus, I could feel Hazel and Ace watching from behind me. Regulus was looking at me with a blank expression, though his eyes were warning. "Good luck- with your grandmother, I mean."

"Thanks," he nodded blankly and walked away.

I turned back to Hazel and Ace. Ace was back to eating, but Hazel had an eyebrow raised. I resumed eating as though nothing had happened. I watched Regulus leave the hall out of the corner of my eye.

And then he was gone.

x x x

"So, Ms. Evans what are your plans for after Hogwarts?" I observed Professor Slughorn ask the red-headed girl. I was sitting among fifteen or so people around a circular table in Slughorn's office. There was an untouched bowl of green soup in front of me. 

I tuned out Lily's answer.

Ace sat next to me, both of us looking completely bored. As much as I hated these meetings, however, anything that distracted me from Regulus was enough.

It had been a day since he had left. I would have felt a lot better if I had actually known what he was doing. But I didn't, and it made him being gone a whole lot worse. Because I had no way of knowing if he was safe. I had no way of knowing where he was. I had no way of knowing when he would come back.

I tried not to think about him, but I couldn't help it. I loved him. And given the fact that he was one of the only people I loved, I had to be concerned about him.

"Are you ok?" Ace asked under his breath.

"What?" I asked.

"You keep tapping your foot," he nodded to my leg under the table.

"Oh, sorry," I smirked slightly and made sure to keep my feet planted.

"But you're ok?" Ace asked in a hushed voice.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I whispered. 

"Hazel said she thought you seemed off yesterday," Ace replied.

"I'm fine," I rolled my eyes. 

"Ok," he smirked and held up his hands in surrender. 

I directed my attention back to Slughorn and did my best not to let my thoughts stray.