Constellations ↠ Regulus Black

03

Astronomy Homework

Regulus Black woke with a pounding headache, and a sense of dirtiness. He must have stayed in the shower for hours the night before, scrubbing at his skin until it was raw and a violent shade of red. He couldn't help it, he needed to be clean.

As he stood and gathered his things for another shower, his thoughts drifted to last night. Not the worst part, he was sure he had repressed that memory, rather the aftermath. He knew of Grace Potter, many people did with who her brother was, but they had never spoken before. Perhaps it was the fact that she would occasionally be with his older brother, or that she was a Gryffindor, but they had never spoken before last night.

He pushed the thoughts from his mind as he turned the faucet, waiting for the water to run warm. Once it was he quickly stripped of his clothing, but withheld from entering the water just yet. He examined his body, and he noticed no sign of the occurrence from the previous night. Nothing to indicate what had happened. He pushed the memory away once more entering the shower and letting the warm water rush over his body.

He once again scrubbed at his skin, it turning an angry rouge color. He avoided looking into the mirror as he put his uniform on and left the dorms while his dorm mates were still sleeping. The Great Hall was practically empty with the odd student sitting at their house tables. His eyes briefly scanned the Gryffindor table searching for Grace before be stopped himself and began to eat. He winced when the burning food touched his tongue.

He sat there for a good while, the hall slowly filling with children from all the houses. He didn't notice when Grace entered, nor did he notice the occasional glance she would throw his way. That was until his friend shook his arm, motioning towards the Gryffindor girl who quickly whipped around.

"She been staring at you for five minutes." His friend laughed. "Since when has James Potter's sister cared about you?"

Regulus simply shrugged, "I don't know, maybe my brother's asking her about me."

"Yeah, that's likely." His friend snorted, and Regulus pushed his shoulder.

"I'm heading to class, I'll see you later." Regulus told him, leaving the Great Hall. Classes seemed to drone on, with Regulus barely paying attention but feeling the heat of a glance on the back of his head. He was relieved to return to the common room, but it was only an hour before he once again had to head to class for Astronomy.

Arriving at the tallest tower, only a few students were there, one of which was Grace Potter. He avoided looking at her and found an empty corner of the area.

"Hey." He heard, and turned to look at the blue eyed girl.

"Oh, um.. Hey." He offered her a small smile which she returned.

"Are you.." She looked around for a moment before lowering her voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah.. Yeah I'm fine." He shrugged, avoiding her eye.

"Oh.. Okay I'm glad." She told him, giving him once last glance before going off to her friends.

He sighed, but he knew ignoring her was for the best. She just shouldn't hang around him, no matter what she witnessed the night before; She was always hanging around his brother too. His brother. He mentally cursed. What if she had let it slip last night? He probably should have told her not to say anything, but wouldn't that have made the situation seem worse?

Regulus didn't know, but he decided to ask her after class. The class seemed to drag on, him ignoring what the professor was saying seeing as how he knew enough about astronomy to not pay attention for one class. Instead he focused on her. He noticed how Grace chewed on the end of her quill occasionally, whenever she was having a hard time. He noticed how she furrowed her brow and bit her lip when she concentrated.

Regulus knew staring at her probably wasn't the best idea, but he was good at reading people, and he could read her like a book. She was so open it surprised him, and she did nothing to mask her body language or when she was frustrated.

Class soon ended, and as Grace was gathering her things he made his way over to her.

"Did you tell my brother?" He asked her bluntly, and she jumped in surprise at his sudden voice.

"No." She replied, staring up into his face. "I thought if you wanted him to know you would tell him yourself."

He nodded, and turned to bid her farewell until she began to speak.

"Are you any good at Astronomy?" She question, arching one of her eyebrows at him.

He gave her a startled look before nodding, "Yeah, it's one of my best classes." He told her.

"I know you don't particularly seem to like me, but can you do me a solid and tutor me for a while?" She asked him. "I'm not very good, well actually I'm failing."

He gave her an odd look, running a hand through his hair and pondering her request. His parents would be furious if they found out he was hanging around a Gryffindor, a blood traitor at that; One who had seen him in such a fragile state, but as he stared into her hopeful wide blue eyes he let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine." He mumbled, running a hand through his hair once again. "But no one can know about this alright? I can't been seen hanging around a blood traitor." He noticed a flash of anger in her eyes and smirked.

"Now show me the Astronomy homework, I wasn't paying attention so I don't know what it was."