𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 || Regulus Black

𝐏𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

★★★

Throughout the session, Hera stayed perfectly still. Well, almost perfectly still. As she noticed a certain man at the side of the room taking frequent unconscious breaks from his sketch whenever he got too distracted by her. Every time she saw him, she couldn't help but eye him back, a faint blush forming on her cheeks.

Regulus was attractive as well, though he was humble and would never admit in publicly. But even in the privacy of his own mind, he compared himself to the goddess in front of him and thought that he was nowhere close to her level.

The art class lasted around two hours, a pretty standard measure for them, but for Regulus, it felt like just a blink as he was spending the class staring at the half-nude model in front of him.

When Slughorn announced that he would be closing up the studio for the night, most of the students were alright with it, as they had been finished with their sketches and were ready to go home then. Regulus Black, however, was snapped out of his trance by the announcement and looked at his easel only to find a detailed, yet only half-finished drawing of the woman.

While everyone looked contentedly at their art, the model pulled the sheet up to cover the majority of her body as she stood up, politely thanked the professor, and headed into one of the supply rooms surrounding the class.

Regulus panicked a bit, but hid it well as he quickly packed away his things. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to finish the art piece or ever see the model again, but had a plan to fix things.

Everyone else left the class relatively quickly, waving goodbye to and thanking Slughorn as they walked out the door.

Regulus saw Hera walk out of the supply closet, now fully clothed with her hair tied up in a messy ponytail. Again, he was distracted by her looks and forgot to run out after her, but he went to Slughorn first.

"Regulus, how did you like today's lesson?" The professor asked.

"Uh, it was great." He responded, clearly flustered. "But, see, I didn't quite get the chance to finish, do you mind if I come in sometime before next class and work on it?"

"Well, of course not! You're one of the few people with a key to this studio for a reason."

"Oh, great. Well, I would need Hera, the model for that. Do you by any chance have her number so I could get in contact with her?"

The old man realised that Regulus wanted her number for more than just finishing the first stage of his art, and his mood changed to one filled with reluctance.

"Oh, son, I don't think that's the best idea." He told Regulus.

"Horace, please."

He sighed, then gestured to the main door of the art studio. "I'm sure you saw she just left, if you're quick, then maybe you can find her on your way out."

"Thank you, professor!" Regulus said as he practically dashed towards the door.

"Don't thank me just yet!" Horace replied loudly, though his voice sounded like no more than a mere whisper to Regulus, who was already out the interior door and making his way down the wide spiral staircase.

He raced down so he could find the woman outside the building. When he was outside, he looked around and started to lose hope since most of the cars were gone from the parking lot and the only people he could see were students, but then he looked at the pavement leading away from the building and saw her.

He rushed over to her, slowing down and acting calm for the last metres before their paces met. She stopped walking when she heard the footsteps, and looked to see what it was.

"Hi." Regulus said, as he hadn't really thought out what to say to her beforehand.

"Hi." The woman replied with a small smile, turning to face him.

"I'm Regulus, Regulus Black, I'm in the art class you just posed for."

"I know." She confirmed. "What can I do for you, Regulus?"

"Well, I never finished my sketch of you in class, and I was wondering if I could meet up with you and finish it before the next lesson. I'm free anytime, and it's really whatever time works for you, if you're willing to meet me."

Hera thought for a second, then looked at the young artist again. "I'm free anytime tomorrow."

"Okay, great!" Regulus said, relieved she said yes. He pulled out his sketchbook from his pocket, ripping out a relatively empty page to jot down his address and phone number. "Um, we can use the empty studio tomorrow, say around six o'clock in the evening? Or, I live in Hackney and I'm writing down my number if you'd prefer something else."

He handed her the page, and she put it in a pocket of her purse.

"Great, well, I'll see you." She said, starting to turn around to leave.

"Wait." Regulus said, catching her attention. "Aren't you going to tell me something about yourself before you go?"

The woman smiled smugly. "No."

She tucked her thick hair behind one of her ears, then started to walk off.

"Meet me here tomorrow at six." She said loudly from a few metres away. "Don't forget."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Regulus responded, turning around with a proud smile strung across his face.

★★★