Saturday 8th November, 1976
I woke up early Saturday morning, feeling rather nervous. I went to the Great Hall and ate breakfast in silence, many of the students occupying the school still sleeping.
After breakfast, I found myself in my dorm, looking through clothes because apparently the outfit I was wearing today wasn't good enough. I wasn't sure why I was so nervous in the first place; it was only Regulus I was meeting. No one special.
Even so, my stomach was still churning by the time I made it to Hogsmeade. I looked around, remembering we'd decided to meet at Zonko's and started trudging through the snow to get to the store.
I saw Regulus before he saw me, allowing me a few seconds to observe him before he noticed me. Like the last time he was in Hogsmeade, he was wearing almost full black, except this time he wore no scarf and instead had a Slytherin jumper on.
When he noticed me, I pretended I hadn't been staring at him and walked over to the boy, nodding my head in greeting. I still wasn't sure how to act around him because while I certainly didn't like him, we were on the same side now, so the lines between us had blurred.
"Ready?" he asked me.
"Ready, I answered.
We braved the store, dodging multiple flying objects and students running around. Zonko's was always chaos, and we were on high alert as we browsed through the store, careful to avoid any collisions or injuries.
Looking through the store with Regulus was actually kind of fun. We'd notice a certain object and beckon the other over, making jokes or inappropriate comments about it. After about half an hour of looking, joking, and manoeuvring our way through the shop, we finally found what we were looking for.
"Perfect," I grinned, picking up the packet and looking at it. "It's on sale too."
"Good. Is that all we need?" Regulus asked.
"I think so," I said happily, turning around to head for the counter.
I stopped in my tracks when I saw James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus heading straight towards us. The only thoughts in my head in that moment were, they can't see the supplies. I hid them behind my back and moved closer to Regulus in the hopes of masking the items we had.
They stopped in front of us, Sirius and James glaring at Regulus while Peter and Remus looked on in confusion, all of them wondering why I was at Zonko's with Regulus, my sworn enemy.
"What are you doing at Hogsmeade together?" Sirius asked us, eyeing Regulus with disdain.
Regulus in turn looked at Sirius blankly, keeping a mask over his face to hide whatever emotions he was feeling.
"The real question is what are you guys doing here together?" I responded quickly, unable to think of an excuse.
"We're friends...?" James answered, confused.
"But what about Lily?" I asked.
James's expression brightened at the name of the red head he'd been in love with for years and he looked around, as if thinking she'd be right there waiting for him.
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"Didn't Lily tell you she was waiting for you at The Three Broomsticks?" I questioned, feigning confusion.
James's eyes widened and he grabbed Sirius's arm before bolting out of the store, no doubt to The Three Broomsticks where he believed Lily to be waiting for him. Lily, who had told me earlier, was at The Three Broomsticks, but definitely not because she was waiting for James. Lily would forgive me though. Hopefully.
Peter ran after the two boys excitedly, leaving just Remus. His arms were crossed as he stared at us, eyeing both of us suspiciously. I grinned, already knowing how to make him bolt faster than Sirius and James combined.
"So, how's Sirius?" I asked slyly.
Like I'd expected, Remus went beet red, mumbled a 'shut up' and quickly followed his friends out of the store, leaving Regulus and I alone again. Well, as alone as you can be in a store full of school students.
"Good job," Regulus said, mildly impressed.
"Did Regulus Black just compliment me?" I asked, faking disbelief.
"I take it back," Regulus answered immediately.
I shook my head, grinning widely.
"You can't take it back," I goaded as I walked towards the counter.
"Too bad, I just did," Regulus replied.
"Nope."
"Yep," He retorted, paying for the supplied before I could even get my coin bag out.
I felt my stomach to a somersault at the action but ignored it, continuing to squabble with Regulus as we left Zonko's. We walked past The Three Broomsticks and my gaze snagged on James and Lily talking together as they left the pub. I smiled, until I realised they were headed right for us, which meant another interrogation.
I grabbed Regulus's arm and dragged him behind me as I hid in an alleyway. There was a beat of silence before Regulus spoke.
"Trying to get me alone again?" he taunted
I rolled my eyes. "I'm trying to not get us caught."
Regulus sighed, shaking his head. "Excuses, excuses."
I hit him on the arm and he yelped, glaring at me as he rubbed his new wound. I grinned at him, and it was his turn to roll his eyes. We waited in silence until James and Lily left, making sure to stay there until we saw Sirius, Peter, and Remus trail behind them before leaving.
We walked out of the alley way and continued to walk the opposite way James and Lily went, pointing out the shops we liked as we went.
I always seemed to forget that Regulus played quidditch, but as he pointed to the Quidditch Supplies store as we passed by it, I was reminded that he did play quidditch.
"What quidditch position do you play?" I asked him as we walked.
"Seeker," he said. "I'm quite good at it, actually."
"Oh?" I prompted. "Better than Gryffindor's seeker, Marlene?"
Regulus smirked.
"Definitely," he answered. "I mean, your seeker is alright, but she doesn't give enough time to observe her surroundings and look for the snitch. Often, she's distracted by the game of quidditch and watches that instead of looking for the snitch."
"Huh," I said. "How do you know that?"
"I need to know how my opposition flies to beat them, don't I?"
I shrugged, Regulus's eyes watching the action.
"I guess. I usually only go to quidditch games for James," I admitted. "So, I'm not too educated on the subject."
"Didn't you go as the Chudley Cannons seeker for the Halloween party though?"
I snorted, shaking my head slightly.
"That was James's idea," I explained.
Regulus let out a soft laugh as well, and I found myself tempted to ask him to make that sound again. I didn't of course; I had more dignity than that. Still, it didn't change that it was a nice sound.
"Of course he did," Regulus said, shaking his head along with mine.
I watched him from the corner of my eye as we started walking back to Hogwarts. His hands were dangling limply by his sides, and I had the sudden urge to grab them. I frowned, shoving my hands in my pockets as I tried to clear my head of such silly thoughts.
We continued talking all the way until we arrived at Hogwarts. Usually, the walk was long, but it felt like Regulus and I got to Hogwarts in a matter of minutes, when in reality it was a lot longer than that. It was the longest conversation we'd had without having an argument as well, and I was quite proud of us.
That was, until, we actually got to the castle.
We stood in the entrance hall, unsure where we stood with one another. We still disliked each other, but we had just spent the whole day together in Hogsmeade, so that deserved a goodbye at least, right?
I cleared my throat. "Uh, goodbye," I said awkwardly, wincing at my own words.
"Goodbye," Regulus responded stiffly, also seeming to regret his words after he spoke.
There was another tense silence between us before Regulus spun around and left without another word. I was relieved and walked in the other direction he left in, heading to the Gryffindor Tower. As I walked, I thought about today. I was surprised to find that I had fun while hanging out with Regulus, a very foreign concept. I'd never had fun spending time with Regulus, and I wasn't sure what to do with the realisation.
I decided to simply ignore it, because one good time with him did not change my feelings towards the boy I'd disliked since I was eleven. Happy with my verdict, I continued my walk to the Gryffindor Common Room, untroubled by the blossoming feelings I was ignoring.
A/N:
so, i wasn't planning on updating until friday, but then guess who got covid? me, yes. i haven't had it before, and i honestly feel like i'm dying.
hopefully i'll be able to write some more chapters though, so theres that.
hope you enjoyed the chapter!