𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚 || 𝘳.𝘢.𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

072. a fox & a vixen

"He might feel things differently, but he certainly feels things, Lyss, especially for you." Regulus smiles, patting her shoulder and she offers him a thankful smile. "Just. . .give him some time."

"What? cause it took you four months to build up the courage to even kiss Maria?" Alyssa jokes and Regulus nudges her with an eye roll. "No—it's fine, I'm just having flashbacks to how completely in denial you were—"

"Okay, that's enough, let's get to work, please." Regulus mumbles and Alyssa grins, a laugh bubbling from her chest.

"So, what memory are you using—no wait, I'll guess." Stan says as Maria thinks of a strong memory. "Definitely Regulus—naked, in a bath of. . .milk—"

"Shut up Stanley." Maria groans, pushing him and he cackles. "I'm trying to concentrate."

"On what? Picturing Regulus in a bath of milk?"

"Oh my god."

Maria rakes through her brain for a memory she believes to be powerful enough; ones with her parents, with James, with the four marauders, Clary and Danielle, Regulus. She's had many happy memories, enough to drown out most of the terrible ones — ones of Lucius Malfoy, even of Bellatrix LeStrange, dragging a blade down her collarbone.

Shaking her head, Maria sighs, her brain having gone off on a tangent. She thinks to her third year at Hogwarts, it was James' fifteenth birthday party in the Gryffindor common room and Maria was upset because Regulus had been giving her grief about her interesting haircut. Remus and Sirius had slouched onto the sofa either side of the glum thirteen year old with frowns on their faces.

"What's the matter, Mari?" Remus had asked her and Sirius had smirked slightly, watching a fifth year girl swaying her hips as she danced, his actions made Maria roll her eyes because in her third year, she had a massive teenage crush on Sirius Black. He'd kissed her, the Christmas before James turned fifteen, eh was her first kiss.

"She's in a mood because dear Reggie was tormenting her about this haircut?" Sirius had tugged at her short, dark hair. "I find it rather beautiful, beautiful enough for me to be seen dancing with you."

He'd held out his hand and she'd looked at him before sighing and letting him take her hand, leading her into the teenagers mingling, singing and dancing with her to the upbeat songs.

She doesn't know why that memory came to mine, maybe because Sirius' actions had made her the happiest she'd felt in months, since her and James' grandmother had become ill from the fumes of dangerous plants. She'd had a love for herbology, which is what had encouraged Maria to get better at the subject.

"Expecto patronum." Maria says firmly, bursts of light shooting from her wand before dying out making her let out a frustrated sound at the back of her throat.

"Remember, this is an extremely difficult spell—it takes many tries to master so do not worry if you haven't got anything yet." Professor Rosemary reminds them and Maria looks around, seeing a few people had a animals of silvery white prancing around the room, making Maria even more agitated with her lack of ability.

Searching her mind again, she thinks to Christmas Eve in her fifth year of Hogwarts, Sirius and Remus were staying for the Christmas holidays and they were all sat in the living room of the Potter Manor, mugs of hot chocolate clutched in their hands whilst James rambled on about his specific liking towards a certain red haired muggle-born to his father, Remus and Sirius wefe having a joke about the new Minister for magic saying his haircut was worse than Maria's famous third year haircut which made her shoot them glares.

They all were so happy, the night prior had been the full moon, so Remus had some fresh cuts and bruises here and there - Maria now understands that he wasn't actually in a muggle gang that sold illegal drugs around the roughest streets of London.