𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀 || 𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐔𝐋𝐔𝐒 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊

III - retriever

He never ignored her like that before.

So, Danica took their fog of silence as a chance to observe him in detail. She took ahold of one of the Quidditch magazines from the coffee table to conceal her actions a bit. She wasn't peeping. Of course not. 

It was his fault anyway. He should've been less of a git.

His hair was different. It was slightly messier compared to the careful curls he had yesterday. She recognized it as the hairstyle he wore in front of his family.

His complexion was the usual shade of ghostly pale, contrasting the subtle purple patches under his eyes. But his eyes themselves were not visible due to his downturned thick lashes.

It truly baffled her how someone so pretty could be so two-faced.

"Are you done staring?" He suddenly asked, not even looking at her.

Danica rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't flatter yourself, Black. I was just wondering if that book of yours was the family album. Seems like you're more interested in those old pages than in the real world."

"You seem quite interested in my family matters for someone who's trying to pose the facade of not being hung up." He turned his head to look at her with a brow raised in mockery.

"Hung up? I'd rather hang myself." She scoffed.

"Please, you don't have enough guts to stand up against your father, let alone follow through." His gaze followed her silhouette up and down in belittlement.

"You're one to talk." She shot back. But then the corner of her mouth raised at a thought. It might be pushing too far, but they were too far gone anyway. "Say, do you miss your brother?"

Regulus abruptly shut the book and jumped up on his feet.

Maybe she did take it too far. But then she remembered his comment about her father and anger boiled through her veins. Why would she have to be considerate to someone who threw the first punch?

She matched his form, standing up and began to step towards him, about to say something when a sunny voice interrupted them.

"Mom, Dad, I'm scared."

Both Slytherin prefects halted for a moment, then almost comically slowly, turned in the direction of Evan Rosier, secretly with the intent of hexing him.

Evan on the other hand, stood there rather innocently, completely unaware of the tension he broke through. Perhaps it was inherently in his character to act like a damn golden retriever all the time, or maybe he was simply foolish, but from the way he naively blinked his baby blue eyes, one could assume he thought that Regulus and Danica were only playfighting.

Taking a better look at Rosier, Danica noted how his appearance, quite fittingly so, mirrored his inner world. His golden blonde hair was fluffy and unstyled, his face displayed a bright smile, and he smelled like...cookies?

Despite the tense moment, Danica relaxed her shoulders and put on a soft smile.

It's been a while since she saw her friend.

"Good Morning, Evan." She said in a soft voice.

The scoff of disbelief from Black didn't pass her ears. But the reaction she received from Evan was far from what she was expecting to see. His smile dropped almost instantly, and so did his overall posture. For a moment or two, all he did was stare at Danica without saying a word.

She was about to ask if she said something wrong to see his mood change so quickly when the air was knocked out of her lungs. She felt two arms squeeze her at a rib-shattering strength, making her eyes water a bit.