Love, Aurélie | REGULUS BLACK

Chapter Five

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[CHAPTER FIVE]
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IT FELT LIKE IT HAD BEEN AGES SINCE ODETTE saw big groups of people all in one place.

Her blue eyes scanned Diagon Alley excitedly. Wizards and Witches of all ages talked to each other. She noticed the worry on their faces as they hurried from one place to another, but their fear didn't sink in quite yet. Accompanying Odette was Mei, Xia, and Liu. Hua wanted to go, but she had to take care of Emery and Rosie.

In the short time Odette knew the Xun family, she had no idea why Hua would have children so young. From what she heard and noticed, Hua was fresh out of Hogwarts when she had Emery. It was clear to Odette that Hua hadn't quite matured enough to be a mother. She still had things she wanted to experience, places to see, people to meet.

Odette had not met Hua's fiancé yet, but since he was not present, Odette figured he wasn't ready either. Although, he could just be away for work when Odette thought about it.

"Don't go off on your own," said Liu, "That's why there is an even number of us."

"Yeah, we know," said Mei, "You gave us the whole speech before we went to Diagon Alley a few days ago."

"Well Odette doesn't," said Liu, "Do you understand, Odette?"

Odette nodded. "I can't go off on my own," she repeated.

"Yes," said Liu, "It's really dangerous to be alone."

Odette still hadn't grasped the whole "there's a war" subject. It was slowly sinking in though as she saw the wizards all scurry to their next destination. Mothers gripped their children's hands tightly, some families all walked close together.

Xia grabbed Odette's arm, catching her attention.

"That's a Slytherin," she nodded at a direction.

Odette followed her gaze and shrugged, "He looks normal."

"You didn't expect them to look any different, did you?" said Xia.

"Of course not," said Odette, "But it sounded like it when you were able to spot him right away from a crowd."

"He's in my year," said Xia, "I used to share a class with him. He always gave me the creeps. He never talked, just listened. The moment someone did something he didn't like, he used what he knew about them against them."

"Oh, he wasn't that bad," said Mei, "I mean he's not a good person, but he's not that bad. He just gets really defensive for whatever reason. He snapped at me last year for accidentally saying hi."