Regulus Black sat on the opposite side of the leather couch from Freya Grey. He was doing his morning sketching, and Freya sat doing her history essay. One hand knotted in her hair, the other taking a sip of her tea, she glanced over at him. With messy hair and his deep blue sweater on, he tilted his head trying to see if the Ashwinder on his page looked too bloated.
"Your tea's getting cold." She mentioned and he absentmindedly nodded, then took a sip.
"What are you doing today?" He asked, yawning.
Blanket on her lap and her large white knit on her shoulders, Freya looked as though she wasn't planning on moving for a long time. "Not much, might head over to Hogsmeade to get more quills."
"I thought you got some last week." A little pinch came between Regulus's brows and he blinked sleepily.
"That was ink." She answered.
"I'll join you I need to get..." Suddenly, his head dropped and his eyes closed.
Freya instantly stood up and removed her large white sweater and blanket to show a black skirt and shirt. She tucked them under the comforter that rested on her unconscious friend. Quickly, she pressed her ear against his heart and heard the thumps, then put a finger under his nose to make sure he was breathing. Then she dumped his tea into the potted plant next the sofa.
To prevent any nasty pains from his potion-induced sleep, Freya fixed his head then covered him with a blanket.
She checked the time on her watch, it wasn't even noon yet.
Freya had some rather important and illegal things to get to and she did not want to be late.
***
On the third group out to Hogsmeade, Freya was further ahead of schedule than she planned and things were going smoothly. All she need to do was leave Hogsmeade unnoticed, easy peasy—
"Oi! Freya!" Marlene McKinnon shouted across the courtyard as she jogged up to the trail to the tight-lipped girl. The Gryffindor chaser panted, her hair in a poorly made knot at the base of her neck(the bun was almost entirely pointless since nearly half her hair had already fallen out). With rosy cheeks from the cold air, she fell into step with Freya. "You headed out too, huh?"
"Yes." Obviously.
"Mind if I walk with you?" She asked, then explained. "I'm supposed to meet Lily at the Three Broomsticks, but I overslept." Freya nodded, cursing the world, but Marlene smiled.
Marlene was not bad company; they had sat next to each other in Herbology. When Lily tried to get her Slytherin friends and Gryffindor friends to mingle, Freya and Marlene were the only ones who somewhat got along. It may have been due to the fact that the second time they met they got entirely wasted and all levels of shame were off. Still, Freya was doing her very best to remain calm about this unexpected intrusion.
As they walked, Marlene chatted a bit and Freya gave a response or two, unsure how to keep the conversation going since they had no point in speaking.
"I'm craving Butterbeer." The blonder and fairer of the two said once they reached the small town. "You should come with."
"Oh, no, thank you," Freya replied, already antsy about Marlene.
"You sure? Drinks on me."
"I have chores to do." The Slytherin attempted to sound disappointed, but was sure she failed at it because Marlene was still starring at her. Glancing around the town, she latched onto the first store she saw which happened to be right next to her. "I'm getting ink."
"Another time then." Marlene shrugged and Freya nodded. Walking away Marlene, waved her hand at Freya and the dark-haired girl mimed the gesture. "See you later."
Not wanting to seem like too much of a liar, Freya ducked into the ink shop and waited for Marlene to leave down the block. With a sigh of relief on her lips, she tore her gaze off the window and noticed a few signs. There was a sale. She picked one up and noted the thickness of it, then kissed her teeth. It was a good sale. Glancing at her watch, she still had some time to spare and frowned as she picked up a basket.
After a few minutes of careful inspection, Freya had decided on her choices contently, even picking up one for Regs that would work nicely for his more detailed work. She went in line behind the next customer and took some time to read through the labels. The person in front of her turned around slightly and she caught James Potters gaze. Bloody hell.
Freya was not upset with James for rejecting her perfect plan which then led her to be saddled up with the most annoying man who ever walked the earth, nay. She was however the tiniest bit upset that he, James Potter, thought that she, Freya Grey, would not be able to brew Wolfsbane given the proper ingredients and she would be lying if she denied that this was one of the things that propelled her to have a set deadline of two months to make the perfect potion, so she could mentally rub it in his snide, stupid face that she could do it. Although, he would never know about it.
Awkwardly, he smiled. "Hi." Freya acknowledged his existence and he uncomfortably bounced on his heels, then gestured at the vile in her hands with his chin. "That's some good ink." She started at him and he cleared his throat. "Which you know because you're buying it."
"You don't need to speak." She said factually.
"Right." He bounced his heels, then searched around the small shop for something. "Right. Right."
Indifferent, Freya didn't follow his gaze. "Lily's not here."
"That's not who I'm looking for, but thanks for the assumption." He replied, then noticed the little bell on the counter and pressed it. "Hello?" He called out for a shop attendant when no one came immediately, he became rather restless and turned around to leave. "You know I just remembered, I don't need ink."
"Found the last one, they put it in the wrong section." A voice called out behind Freya and she turned to see who it was. Lanky and tall, with the worst posture she had seen in a while, Remus Lupin bound up to the line with a vile in his hands and brown hair in a strange attempt to be tamed. He looked up and froze in his spot. "Freya."
Straightening out her shoulders, she forced an expressionless look on her face and glanced him up and down. "Remus."
He scratched the back of his neck and offered one of his slight smiles. "You look good."
"You look terrible." She replied, honestly, but the softest change in her voice betrayed her. She was being factual, but Remus knew by the slight dip in her gaze, that she was also concerned. The two stared at each other, dipped in silence, each having a pound on their minds, but neither saying any of it.
Aggressively, James rang the bell repeatedly, in an attempt to get someone to help. "Oi!"
Remus bit back a smile at James's actions, but Freya was still focused on Remus. He returned the look and she blinked, cheeks red with embarrassment. Then her attention shifted once another figure, this one much shorter and slightly softer than the other ones. "Did you know they made purple ink? What do you even need purple ink for?" Peter Pettigrew asked, popping up at Remus's shoulder with four different colored inks, when no one replied he looked and saw James shaking his head, then noticed Freya and Remus awkwardly next to each other in line. "Oof."
Freya's hand attacked the silver bell. "Service, please!"
***
Twisting around the front exit, Freya waited around the corner to see three-quarters of the marauder's exit the ink store together. She had her cloak hood pulled on since she could not risk any more people seeing her. Her eyes followed James's messy hair and skewed glasses as he tugged the other two boys along into Zonko's.
"Careful, I think you're being followed." Sirius Black's voice caused set her heart to fly out of her chest and her body to leap up. Eyes wide she looked at his raised brows. "Sorry, did I startle you?"
Brows furrowed, she held in her need to slap him. "What do you want?"
"I want to know where you're going." He replied, stuffing his hands deeper into his leather jacket. His bright red and yellow scarf was tucked in the center of it, and his hair was brushed back.
"None of your business." She replied, entirely upset with his presence.
Sighing, he tilted his head and smiled. "You have a meticulous work ethic and a strong value for efficiency; admirable, but you are also a predictable creature." He poked her forehead and she looked like she might bite his finger off. Tucking his hands back in his pockets, he continued, thoughtfully. "So, I know what you're doing, but my question is how you're doing it, specifically why you chose to do it outside of Hogsmeade?"
Jaw clenched, she raised a brow. "Hogsmeade has too many people we know; it'd set off fewer alarms if I went elsewhere."
He nodded, then said. "The nearest village is about 20 kilometers away. That's going to ring a few more alarms if you're gone for a few hours."
"It shouldn't."
"It could."
"It won't."
"Your friends are going to notice." Sirius countered.
"It's just one friend and it's been taken care of." She replied, arms crossed, and pushed past him. "I have to go before it gets dark."
Catching up with her stride, he stepped in front of her. "I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not." She firmly stated.
Crossing his arms, he stared down at her. "Before you argue with me on it, you are going to walk for five hours alone to what is basically an illegal drug deal."
She stared right back, unamused. "Careful, Black, you might come across as you caring about me."
"I'm protecting my investment." He grinned sarcastically. "If you get murdered or kidnapped, I lose a good sum of money and Remus." Sirius then added, "Plus I'm business savvy."
Exhaling through her nose, she knew he had a fair point and she hated it. With one last begrudging look, she shook her head in defeat. "I don't like you."
"I've heard." He smiled broadly, then stepped out of her way. "What did you do with your friend?"
She marched forward. "I poisoned him."
A/N: Sorry for the gap between up dates, school's been kicking my ass and I had to finish plotting my Peter Parker fanfic. Hope you're all doing well.