𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞 || 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Chapter 09

. . .

Monday 27th October, 1976

The sky flashed as yet another bolt of lightning was struck, causing me to jolt. My eyes darted from the brewing storm to Regulus, the boy wearing a smirk as he observed me.

It was prefect duty, and while normally we would be bickering back and forth, the storm had taken much of the fight out of me. I hated storms, finding the thunder and lightning not only a distraction but a frightening one at that. I'd never liked them; the sudden booming of thunder and bright streaks of lightning always seeming to be too much for me.

What I hated more than all of that though, was the fact that Regulus Black was finding this out. He watched me as time and time again I flinched whenever I heard the thunder rumble, and never failed to tease me about it each time.

"Scared Potter?" Regulus taunted with a smirk.

"You wish," I shot back, eyeing the sky outside with distaste.

Even though what I said was true- I wasn't scared of the storm, the sounds just startled me- I couldn't help but drift slightly closer to him, if only to get away from the window next to me.

I saw Regulus smirk, but before I could decipher exactly why he was smirking he turned away, hiding his face from view. We continued walking like that, closer than strictly necessary, and for once the silence between us didn't feel so sinister.

I was sure it was nothing. There was no reason for there to be any change between us, especially just because the storm was putting me on edge, and yet I couldn't help the feeling Regulus was keeping quiet for my benefit.

I continued pondering about the silence until we reached the end of our patrol, arriving back at the Great Hall. I found myself at a loss of what to do, the quiet patrol softening my usual burning hatred for him. Regulus saved me from any further confusion as he turned around and walked without so much as a goodbye. I let out a huff as I walked to my Common Room, feeling annoyed that he didn't say goodbye, even though there was no reason for him to.

It didn't matter that he didn't say goodbye to me, I continued to think to myself. I didn't like him and he didn't like me, so why should he bid me goodbye? The silence between us during the patrol was probably just as menacing as always and I just missed it, too focused on the storm outside to notice. So why did I feel like it was different? Why did I find myself hoping it had been different?

With no answers to these questions, I decided I had not been hoping it had been different, and there had in fact been a threatening silence between us throughout the patrol. It was easier than way, not having to question myself.

I arrived at the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room and entered the portrait hole only to bump into Lily Evans. She smiled brightly at me, and I returned the gesture warmly, forgetting all about the annoying Slytherin boy.

"I was just looking for you," Lily said, a sudden knowing smirk making its way onto her face. "How did your patrol with Regulus go?"

I looked at her, confused. "Fine, I guess...?" I answered, trailing off as her smirk grew. "Are you okay?"

Lily laughed, glancing around the Common Room before back at me. There weren't many people there; it was a weekday after all. Of course, there were still those that were franticly studying, having left their homework to the last minute, and those too excited to sleep, whispering to one another happily. Mostly though, the common room was rather quiet, especially since my brother and his friends were no-where to be found.

"Oh I'm fine," Lily said. "You, on the other hand..." she stopped talking, instead eyeing me slyly. I raised my eyebrows, encouraging her to continue and her smirk widened. "You fancy Regulus Black."