"You look great, Hunts." The Slytherin Prince beamed as he watched his girlfriend walk towards him, having just left the Hufflepuff common room.
"You scrub up pretty well too, Reg." Hunter replied, winking in a friendly manner as they linked arms and walked to Slughorn's office.
Considering the fact that Hunter and Regulus got along like a house on fire when they finally both acknowledged the fact that their relationship wasn't genuine, some would be surprised to know that they got along better despite the somewhat awkward situation this was.
After all, the two were friendly towards each other ever since a particular Christmas dinner in Hunters third year, or 'Yule' as the Black family called it. The Moore girl looked out for both the Black brothers, so she and Regulus saw each other as friends and posed as the perfect couple around others.
They both much preferred this to the awkward silences that they used to sit in, alone and in public. Now, they could actually talk to one another and laugh about how they'd act around others. They'd even started daring the other to act overly affectionate and struggle to contain their laughter.
Part of Regulus' heart ached, as he had developed genuine feelings for Hunter, but he was much more comfortable with how they were now.
"Alright, Reggie, you ready to listen to people ramble about their families and brag shamelessly?" Hunter asked as they reached the office doors.
"Cannot wait, Hunts. Nothing gets me going more than listening to people bang on about how good they have it." Regulus chuckled, opening the door and watching as Hunter walked in. He silently admired the golden snake that was depicted slithering up her back.
"Drinks, Miss Hunter-Rose?" Popi, the house-elf that Hunter was most familiar with, asked as soon as she walked in. She was holding a platter of non-alcoholic drinks. Hunter usually saw Popi in the kitchens, and was somewhat taken aback by seeing her outside of that space.
"Oh! Good evening, Popi! What drinks are they?" Hunter asked, glancing down. She was horrified that so many house-elf were serving, as the Moore family saw the usage of house-elves highly immoral.
"A non-alcoholic Irish cream liqueur, Miss." she replied, holding it up to her.
"Thank you, dear, I'll take one for me and one for Regulus. In honour of my lineage." she joked as she bent down, talking two drinks and handing one to her boyfriend.
"Popi will always appreciate Mr Eoghan Moore, the great Irishman! Always a pleasure, Miss!" Popi said cheerfully as she walked away.
Hunter frowned as she and Regulus walked to a secluded spot, deciding against mingling. They'd do plenty of that at dinner.
"Merlin, I do pity the elves. It's disgusting that us magical people still use them. I mean, we have wands! And a good portion of us can do magic without using our wands! It's archaic." Hunter ranted as she sipped at her drink.
"I grew up with house-elves, so I see it as pretty normal." Regulus shrugged, his deep green velvet suit jacket creasing slightly as he did so.
"That's the issue, Reg, we've completed normalised it and now it's deemed absurd to question the practice. How do we see ourselves as above muggles when a good portion of their governments have illegalised slavery? Because, however we try to dress it up, that's what it is. Slavery." Hunter spoke with a bitter tone.
Regulus stayed silent, opting to shrug again and sip his drink. Being around Hunter had radicalised him in the opposite way that he was raised; not that he should be surprised by that, as the Moore's have historically remained an incredibly left-wing and radical family.
This worried the Slytherin, in a way. He was disillusioned with the Death Eaters, despised his 'friends' and was becoming opposed to getting the Dark Mark that summer.
Not that Hunter knew the full details of any of this, though. From her family history to Regulus' worries, she remained blissfully unaware. She'd find out with time, though. People always do.
"Would everyone like to gather around for food? I suspect you're all somewhat famished." Slughorn's jovial voice boomed from the back of the room, and a chatter rose again as people began to walk towards a large circular table that would sit around twenty people.
Hunter sat down, coincidentally opposite Slughorn's seat, with Regulus on her right. She watched as people piled into their seats.
Remus and Lily had clearly come together, and Lily sat besides Slughorn. Next to Remus was a fourth-year Hufflepuff that Hunter recognised to be Dirk Cresswell, a muggle-born boy with chestnut brown hair that stuck up in different directions and sleepy light brown eyes.
Hunter smiled sadly to herself, she was the only fourth-year last year, as it wasn't common for people below the fifth-year to be invited. Although, she supposed, Regulus was also a fourth-year. However, he'd been in the papers a lot recently, so perhaps Slughorn wanted to hear about it from both Hunter and Regulus.
Besides Dirk sat Hinata, who was talking with Tayo. Hunter smiled to herself, glad that there were a good amount of Hufflepuffs this year.
Next to Tayo sat the Head Girl, Karoline Owens, and besides her was the Head Boy, Quentin Goodman. Besides him sat a nervous-looking girl with light pink hair, who was talking quietly with a silver haired boy she greatly resembled. Twins.
Xenophilius Lovegood had taken the seat to Hunter's left, and when Hunter watched who sat to the right side of her, there was a rather notable shift in the type of person.
Besides Regulus sat Lucius Malfoy, who was talking quietly with Narcissa Black. Besides her sat another Slytherin girl that Hunter didn't recognise, who was talking cheerfully to Evan Rosier (who was sat on her right).
Besides Evan was a somewhat brooding, pale Slytherin boy, with Severus Snape besides him. And finally, to somewhat contrast Snape, sat an oblivious yet cheerful Pandora Wesia.
All students were so different, yet here they were gathered. Everyone was dressed in their finest outfits, from dresses to robes, brought together by the Sycophantic Slughorn.
"So glad to see you've all decided to join in for this years Slug Club! Nineteen members this year, and what a marvellous selection of students I've got! A few more than usual, but how could I not have you all here?" he started, and a few students smiled whilst others looked around awkwardly.
"How about we go around the table and introduce ourselves to one another, hm? We're all friends here!" Slughorn announced cheerfully. Hunter liked the idea of this; she always enjoyed hearing about others.
They went from Slughorn's right, and therefore started with Lily.
"I'm Lily Evans, Gryffindor in my fifth-year. Invited for my Potions work, I believe."
"Um, Remus Lupin, fifth-year Gryffindor. Invited for my work in Defence Against the Dark Arts."
"Hello, I'm Dirk Cresswell! I'm a fourth-year Hufflepuff, invited for my work in Charms and Herbology."
"Hinata Ito, Hufflepuff sixth-year. Invited due to my work in Transfigurations."
"Hi, I'm Tayo Ama, also a Hufflepuff in my sixth-year, here because of my quidditch work."
"Evening all, I'm Karoline Owens, Gryffindor seventh-year. Invited due to being Head Girl and overall grades."
"Hello, Quentin Goodman, Head Boy. I'm a Ravenclaw. Here for the same reasons as Karoline."
"Um, hi. I'm Ji-won Lee. Gryffindor, uh, sixth-year, invited because I'm good at Ancient Runes... uh, yeah."
"Geon-wu Lee, Slytherin sixth-year, twin of Ji-won. Invited due to my work in Care of Magical Creatures."
"Hello. I'm Xenophilius Lovegood. Fifth-year Ravenclaw, invited due to my Transfiguration grade."
"Hi! I'm Hunter-Rose Moore, Hufflepuff in my fifth-year. Invited because of... um..."
Hunter trailed off. Unlike everyone else, she hadn't received a letter specifying why she was in attendance. Slughorn had asked her in person before he sent out the invites, so she was uncertain about what she should say.
Thankfully, the Professor caught onto this before the silence grew thick and awkward. "Oh, I asked you in person, didn't I, Ms Moore? Well, you are here due to your consistently high grades in my class, and your others, from what I've been told! You're also the Hufflepuff captain for your quidditch team who led the team to victory against Ravenclaw, and you're all around an exemplary student with... an extensive family history!"
Hunter knew that was his way of saying 'you're a talented pureblood and I adore high society', but she didn't mind. Smiling, she accepted his compliments with a gracious thanks and did her best to ignore the stares (and glare from Snape) that she was receiving.
Regulus quickly started his introduction. "I'm Regulus Black, fourth-year Slytherin, here due to my Potions work."
"Lucius Malfoy, seventh-year, Potions work. Slytherin."
"Evening. I'm Narcissa Black, Slytherin seventh-year, here due to my work in Charms class."
"Astrid Golubev, Slytherin. I'm in my sixth-year, here because of my Astronomy work."
"Hi, I'm Evan Rosier, fifth-year Slytherin, invited as a result of my Potions and History of Magic class."
"Augustus Rookwood, seventh year in Slytherin. Here because of my work in Advanced Arithmancy Studies, I guess."
"Severus Snape. Potions. Slytherin, fifth-year."
"Hello! I'm Pandora Wesia, Ravenclaw in my sixth-year. I believe I was invited due to my work in Astronomy, Divinations and Care of Magical Creatures."
Slughorn clapped his friendly in a celebratory manner. "Wonderful! And what a diverse group we have! So many brilliant little brains, and I've taught thousands of students here so I certainly know how to identify outstanding abilities. Now, shall we eat?"
Beckoning over the house-elves, Hunter watched as around ten of skinny creatures carried massive platters of food. She felt disgusted at the usage of them, and decided it to be wise to talk with Slughorn after the meeting and recommend people that act as waiters instead.
A plate was put in front of Hunter, and she thanked the house-elf as they did this, before looking up at the food that had been put on the table. From large hams and succulent chickens to potatoes of various forms, there were many types of grand foods that sat before the twenty people at the table.
Just as everyone began to load their plates with food, Slughorn began to scan the room to see who his first victim would be.
"Narcissa, my dear! How are things with you?" he asked, and the Slytherin girl looked up at the Professor.
"Quite well, Professor, thank you for asking."
"I'm glad! There have been quite a few rumours about you and Lucius here, hasn't there?" he asked shamelessly, and Hunter looked at Lucius who smiled at him cooly.
"Indeed there have been, sir." the Malfoy responded.
"Would you let any of us into your secrets? Are you really engaged?" Slughorn asked.
Regulus looked over at Hunter, somewhat surprised. "That's a rather personal question, is it not?"
"That's just how these meetings work, Reg. He snoops and pries to see what he can find out about important and talented students." the blonde girl whispered quickly. Regulus nodded and turned his attention over to the Malfoy and the Black.
"Well... yes, sir, we are." Lucius revealed slowly. The already silent room grew ever quieter, with many looking shocked at this.
"Oh! Young love! Congratulations!" Slughorn cheered, raising a glass to the couple.
"So soon? You've not even left school yet." Astrid Golubev asked in a strong voice.
"It's just what's right to do. I'm sure you understand, Astrid dear." Narcissa spoke softly.
Hunter-Rose was somewhat familiar with the Golubev family. A Russian father, Swedish mother and four children - Astrid being there youngest. They were purebloods, though not part of the Sacred 29, as their oldest daughter had married a muggle. It was a rather big story in the Daily Prophet a couple of years ago.
Whenever Hunter looked at Astrid, she got a nervous feeling in her stomach. She had cinnamon brown hair, a turned-up long nose, black upturned eyes and full, heart shaped lips that were always glossy and a cherry red shade. When she laughed, dimples would appear on her tanned face and she commanded a room with ease. Whenever she walked past her, she smelled of vanilla.
Although the Hufflepuff wasn't quite sure why, she was intrigued by the Slytherin.
A silence fell once again, and Slughorn scanned the room to see who he would talk to next. This is how the rest of the evening went; he bounced from Hinata to Remus and every other students.
Hunter listened eagerly as people bragged about their parents, bloodlines, grades and anything else they could flaunt. Even if some of the people were hard to listen to, the Hufflepuff enjoyed hearing them talk about themselves.
She wasn't, however, as enthused to talk about herself.
"Miss Moore! How have things been with you?" the Slytherin Professor asked, and all eyes fell on the Moore.
"Things have been great, sir! And yourself?"
"Rather splendid for me as well! How is your family?" he got right into shamelessly asking about her family.
"They're both doing well. Fathers busy with his work in the Ministry, and mother is actually beginning to work again! And my little brother, Leonardo, is counting down the days until he starts at Hogwarts this September."
"Yes, there have been quite a few rumours about your mother making a comeback of sorts! Any idea when it'll be public?"
"No, sir, but I don't think it'll be too long."
"Brilliant news, either way! Say, what house do you imagine your brother will be in?"
"I have no doubt that he'll be a Gryffindor, sir. He's awfully reckless and very headstrong."
"I'll keep an eye out for him in Potions next year, then. What does he look like now? Your family haven't appeared altogether in anything for quite some time."
"Well, he's fairly tall for his age. Last time I saw him, he was just under my ears. His hairs started to go wavy, and it's dark like fathers - thinking about it, Leo looks just like father, but he does have mothers nose."
"Lovely stuff! What work is it that your fathers doing, my dear?"
Hunter paused, her smile falling for a second. She knew that it'd be an awful idea to tell the truth, especially when Lucius Malfoy was present.
Smiling again, composed herself quickly. "I honestly can't be sure, sir. He's awfully secretive, you know how ministry officials are."
"Yes, I've rubbed quite a few elbows in my time! Very secretive, your father, has been since he was a student here. No one has any idea what position he works in the ministry, do you?" Slughorn pressed.
"No, sir." Hunter said honestly.
"Ah, oh well! Suppose it'd be somewhat divisive of a role, knowing your families history!"
Hunter didn't know her family history all that well, only that her granda was significant in some way; a good way, but controversial.
It didn't help that her father would not allow for his daughter to read certain books that detailed the events that she so often wondered about; she'd been banned from History of Magic lessons since her first year, arguably starting her spiral into taking only five lessons.
Smiling politely, Slughorn moved onto his next victim, Tayo. Hunter was secretly very thankful, as she could eat, sit back and to her peers.
And that's what she did, she listened. Her eyes tuned into the people who bragged about their daddy's money whilst drinking their non-alcoholic drinks. It was a rather strange environment, as the Slug Club always was, and Hunter was as engaged as always.
Unfortunately, she had to engage a little less and talk a little more when Slughorn turned his attention to Regulus Black.
a/n - cliffhanger!! i've been away for ages, sorry about that! started sixth form & my phone broke so i've been unable to update, i hope this makes up for my absence!