From Eden - Regulus Black (Complete)

Chapter Forty-Five

WHOLLY POTTER

Euphemia had tried to hit Dumbledore at least three times during the discussion, Monty had to hold her and James back throughout the whole meeting while Anne watched, amused and emotional, how wonderfully protective they were on her, especially when Sirius skipped class to make sure Anne was alright and bringing her the homework, which he had said he refused to do himself, still his calligraphy was all over Remus' notes, adding small details.

Dumbledore agreed not to enter in contact with Anne unless absolutely necessary or with the presence of Mia or Monty, if impossible, with McGonagall.

She had received the day absolutely free and she had walked to the gardens outside of the castle to take some sun in and make her back stop hurting. She had her homework on her lap and sun on her head when Regulus Black ran to her side.

"What the hell happened?" he asked.

He was panting, clearly trying to hide his presence by almost entering the bushes that were on the sides of the stone bench she was sitting on. She looked around, trying to see if there was someone nearby.

"Just sit down, nobody can see you from there," she said. "Nothing happened."

"Don't lie to me," he insisted. "You don't skip classes for nothing. I heard you were on the Hospital Wing, but Potter didn't tell me anything."

She looked at him in surprise.

"You talked to my dad?" she asked.

"I caught him alone in the bathroom, I asked then," he said, blushing a bit. "He said you got hurt and spent the night over there. What happened, Anne?"

She sighed.

"You need to promise me you won't be rash," she said. He looked at her, rolling his eyes. He wasn't known for being impulsive. "Dumbledore and I had a small argument, in which I said something very wrong and... well, he had a moment of accidental magic, which threw me against the wall and I hit my back, then I fell on my face and broke my nose."

There was a moment where Anne wondered if Regulus had understood her at all, his blank face had no movement as he sat down beside her, turned to her completely. Then his jaw locked and his nose flared in clear anger, but he took a deep breath as he nodded.

"You'd think the old man had control over his magic at this point," he grumbled.

"It was my mistake. I stabbed him in the open wound," she said. "It was a low-blow, but I was angry. I should've held my tongue."

"You're seventeen, Anne. Seventeen-year-olds make mistakes sometimes, they speak without thinking sometimes," he said. "A man more than a hundred years should know that, especially if he works with seventeen-years-old for more than a century."

"If somebody talked to me about Harry in the way I talked about Ariana to him, I think I'd have done the same," she said, shaking her head. "I don't blame him completely, but that doesn't mean I liked what happened," she pulled her legs up the bench, putting her homework to the side. "I'm so used to hating him and seeing him as less than me that I forgot he's a powerful wizard. I learnt my lesson. I remembered my place."

That wasn't a lie.

She had seen Dumbledore as a means to an end for too long, his power becoming an asset she needed, not a liability. Now that it was used against her, she could know for sure that she needed to tread lightly from that moment on – she couldn't afford making another mistake just like that one; coming out of nowhere.