LAURA HAS NO idea where she's going, but by the looks of it, it's the opposite of the direction towards Hogwarts.
She really is a coward, running away like this.
An impertinent scowl resides on Laura's lips as she storms angrily down the street. Her ponytail is unkempt and damp from the snow, and her cheeks are flushed from both her anger and the cold.
Laura, Laura, Laura, Laura, Laura.
The aggravating grate of Regulus' voice swims in Laura's head, drowning it in utter mortification. She loathes the sound just as much as she hates Moaning Myrtle's caterwaul in the odd hours of the night, and yet the sound floods her senses in revel.
She can't fathom why her own brain is torturing her like this.
Laura whips around, deciding to go back the way she came from, but she immediately regrets it when she sees a familiar lean boy approaching her with an annoyed glare. She spins back around, pulling her sleeves over her hands and crossing her arms as she begins to quickly walk away from Regulus.
"Lovegood, you'll freeze if you keep going that way." Regulus sounds closer, and Laura immediately blankens her mind. Her thoughts aren't going to just be some open book for Regulus to root through whenever he fucking pleases.
"You're quite fast for something so small," Regulus comments, and Laura suddenly wants to disappear as she sees him fall into stride with her out of her peripheral.
"Go away." She grits out.
Regulus rolls his eyes. "I'm not here to argue."
Laura stops in her tracks with a frustrated scoff. "Then what are you here for? To ridicule me some more? Talk to me about my fucking breed? Brag about your purity?" She turns to glare at Regulus.
Regulus' jaw clenches as he glances down at Laura. "I was going to apologize, but it seems that you've already set your head on being stubborn," He sniffs. "I do not entertain things that are blinded by petty emotion."
"Merlin! You're fucking infuriating!" Laura explodes, unfurling her arms from her body just to stick an accusing finger in Regulus' face. "You're— You're an absolute git, for no reason, and I've done nothing wrong to you!"
Regulus' upper lip curls in disgust as he swats Laura's finger away. "Lovegood, the only thing infuriating is having to hear your brain flutter incessantly with thoughtless nonsense and then watch as you get fawned over for your own stupidity. You're insufferable."
"How is that my fault? Just tune it out, and quit being a nosy prick," Laura seethes sharply. "You call me a whore, you tell me what an utter failure I am, but I'd barely even spoken to you before Slughorn made an arse of himself by pairing me with some egotistical Slytherin who only cares about blood status. I am a kind fucking person, Black. I do not do mean things, and yet you carry on as though I've wronged you in some horrid manner."
In a matter of seconds, Regulus closes the arm-length of distance between them, and the dark look that he sends Laura momentarily takes her aback. "I am not one of your brain-dead Gryffindor friends, Lovegood. To think you to be nice would be as folly as to shove my wand up my own arse," He hisses. "And, as you put it so keenly, I am a fucking Slytherin. I know a façade when I see one, and yours is the most transparent of them all."
The glare that Laura sends Regulus is formidable despite how he towers over her. "You have no idea what I've gone through, Regulus Black— the things that I've sacrificed to be here," She spits back, blood boiling. "I did not leave my family behind just to be berated and belittled by some sorry excuse of a wanker who knows nothing of the world. You are shielded by your troubles. You don't understand what it's like to be alone in life, to be by yourself but never without company. I would much rather end my miserable life than be here, arguing tirelessly with someone who holds me at the same level he would a stray krup. I hate you."
Regulus smirks condescendingly. "Hate's a strong word for you, Lovegood. Did you have to look it up?"
"Merlin, do you ever just fucking—"
Regulus cuts Laura off by harshly pressing his lips to hers. She immediately jolts, frozen and unresponsive before she shoves away immediately. "You—"
"I had to shut you up somehow."
When Laura's fist hits Regulus' chin and draws blood, the proud grin that graces her lips is entirely obscene. "Consider that being me returning the favor."
Instead of erupting into a fit of fury, like Laura had expected him to, Regulus simply touches his chin and pulls the bloodied finger away appraisingly. "I wasn't aware Gryffindors knew how to punch."
Laura's grin drops into a scowl. She'd wanted him to be enraged, just for the mere entertainment of it, but he almost looks as though he's reassessing Laura entirely.
After a few more seconds of silence pass, Laura pushes past Regulus in agitation. She despises how unconcerned he seems to be, even after being hooked in the jaw.
"At least you're going in the correct direction this time," Regulus hums in amusement as he falls into step with her. Laura moves to shove him away, but he easily dodges her hand and tacks on, "Darling, don't be obstinate. At least I'm being perfectly amiable."
Laura lets out an undignified snort. "Right, and my name's Salazar."
Regulus tilts his head. "Are you finally acknowledging that Slytherins are better, then?"
Laura rolls her eyes and doesn't respond. It's enough that she's having to deal with the fact that she's likely missed not only DADA, but divination as well, and she still feels dreadful from her hangover. The coffee had done little to soothe her headache and Regulus' taunting is only making it grow worse.
"If you'd like, I could also teach you to occlude."
The suggestion catches Laura so embarrassingly off-guard that she stumbles a bit and Regulus immediately reaches out in case he has to catch her again. He recoils his hands quickly when she steadies herself and looks away. "I'm not the only Legilimens in the school, Lovegood. With you being a Gryffindor, people who dislike you might try to take advantage of your mind being so painfully open." He clarifies wryly. "It would be during the tutoring sessions, of course. My time is valuable, and I'd rather not willingly waste it unless the outcome is opportune."
Laura's brow draws together. "How is my learning to occlude opportune to you?"
Regulus clasps his hands behind his back, and Laura's eyes momentarily drift to the rings that line his fingers before they dart back to his face. Her response seems to miff him. "It's not, Lovegood. The tutoring sessions are already set to happen, so why not fucking use it for something useful?"
Laura peers at his face curiously. "But wouldn't that still waste your time nonetheless? You'd be putting in your effort to teach me something entirely new."
Regulus finally looks at Laura out of the corner of his eye with a single brow raised, though he doesn't fully turn to face her directly. "I am offering you an opportunity to learn. Quit arguing against it and just accept the bloody favor."
"And cater to your ego?" Laura responds dryly, all of her piqued interest gone as she tilts her head. "For all I know, this is just another dull excuse to have another one-up against me."
Regulus finally turns his head towards her and narrows his eyes. "For once, Lovegood, get it through your thick skull that not everything is a fucking wand match. You wanted me to quit being a 'git,' so I am trying to offer you this as an apology."
"Oh." Laura blinks.
Regulus rolls his eyes as they approach the place they'd apparated to earlier. "Under normal circumstances, the answer 'thank you' would suffice, but I'm afraid that may be too taxing for your feeble mind. Under health ordinances issued by St. Mungo's, a witch must have both her wits and her energy intact to apparate without experiencing a malady afterward."
"That is not an ordinance," Laura grumbles, slipping her sleeve over her hand as Regulus reaches out to grasp it. He eyes the motion with an unreadable expression before muttering a quick incantation, and the same nausea that had overcome Laura earlier twists at her stomach again.
As soon as their surroundings steady and she affirms that they're in the library again, Laura immediately steps away from Regulus and pulls her hand away.
"If you tell any of the other students that I skipped classes with you, I'll stab you in your sleep," Regulus drawls, eyeing Laura with a placid expression.
Laura's lips purse as she pats down her frizzed hair and wipes the snow away from her robes. "You were the one who forced me to go with you."
The corners of Regulus' mouth lift slightly. "If I recall correctly, you still went with me anyway. That makes you a willing accomplice."
"You— That makes absolutely no sense!" Laura fumes, both Regulus' self-assured smirk and the way his hair looks annoyingly perfect even after apparation yanking her towards her wit's end.
Regulus merely hums. "Or are you just pressed because of—"
Laura looks up as Regulus cuts himself off and looks at something behind her, and her face pales at the sound of Sirius' voice.
"Oh, for fucks sake, Laura."
author's note-
me: *throws random kiss in the plot to get it over with bc why not*
also me: *throws a punch in the plot as well to keep things slow-burn*
the plot rn: *destroyed*
the fic: *ruined*
(yes, the hot timmy gif was my form of apology to you all)
(ALSO THANK YOU FOR 1k READS!!! <333)