𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 [𝐑. 𝐋𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧]

𝐀 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

"When am I meeting Lucious, by the way?" Callisto inquired, raising an eyebrow teasingly. He had been busy with family business as Narcissa described it over the past few days, meaning that he had limited amount of free time that he spent either with his friends or with Narcissa. Of course, poor Narcissa didn't know that her soon-to-be fiance's "family business" roughly translated to joining Voldemort's ranks right after he graduated from Hogwarts.

"I was hoping you two could talk properly over the weekend." Narcissa answered with a small smile. "Unless you have anything else planned."

"Sounds good to me." Callisto agreed. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine."

Regulus almost laughed at that but kept a straight face for his cousin's sake. No, there was no way Callisto Claire would get along with Lucious Malfoy and he could clearly see it. The reason for that being that Lucious Malfoy was a rude piece of shit. He had never expressed his true opinion about Malfoy to Narcissa not only because it wasn't his place to judge, but also because she was the only soft spot Lucious had. A dick or not, Lucious Malfoy loved Narcissa Black and in Regulus' eyes, that was enough.

~ ~ ~

Callisto was not okay; if anything, she was on the verge of going to Miss Collins and asking to drop out of her class. The book was open in the right page, her eyes were reading the neatly written lines, but her mind couldn't process anything for the life of her. And as she got progressively more annoyed by her inability to answer the homework questions, people started to notice. Up to now, she had scared off a few first year Gryffindors who had gotten up from their seats and left after she closed her book shut and kicked the chair opposite from her and Madame Pince had completely given up on scolding her for being loud, instead resorting to pretending the blonde wasn't even there.

"Can I sit?" A masculine voice said. Callisto's head snapped up, a long string of curse words ready to spill out of her mouth when she saw a familiar pair of dark brown eyes.

"I don't know; can you?" She retorted, taking her legs off the chair and motioning for him to sit.

"Aren't you particularly cheery today?" He sarcastically remarked, taking the seat opposite from her. His eyes immediately fell to the open DADA book in front of her as well as the empty worksheet next to a broken quill.

"I'm dropping out of DADA." She calmly stated, closing the book shut and pushing it away like it had the plague. "I don't know. I just don't think this is great for me... I don't want to do it. I wanna go home."

"What are you talking about?" He questioned, trying to hide a smile at her frustration. "What did that quill do to you?"

"DADA, Lupin." She repeated, pointing at the worksheet. "It makes absolutely no sense! Why do we need 'expelliarmus' to disarm someone when we can just say 'accio wand' and it does pretty much the same thing? Why do I need to know how to stick someone's tongue in the roof of their mouth? Why is it so imperative that I can make someone's legs turn to jelly? And what happened to taxes, basic math and sex education? I just don't understand!" She rambled on, burying her head in her hands.

"First of all, look at me." He began and she groaned, but looked up with an annoyed expression in her face. "Second of all, those are all very valid questions, but you need to calm down a bit."

"Shit, how haven't I thought about this before? You, Lupin, are a bloody genious!"

"Drop the attitude, Claire." He deadpanned. "You're acting like Garfield on a Monday."

Her eyes immediately narrowed and she gasped, putting a hand right above her heart. "Take that back!"

"Not unless you calm down." He negotiated, and she rolled her eyes, but nodded in agreement. Now that she wasn't ranting about DADA, she finally noticed that he wasn't dressed in his uniform, but a pair of sweatpants and a black hoodie that looked exceptionally comfortable. Pushing aside the newfound thoughts, she looked back up to his eyes.