"Please open your books on page 168.", Slughorn's directive cut through the classroom's stale air.
Danica, once the epitome of sophistication, now sat hunched over her textbook, wrestling with the dull ache of a relentless hangover. Her Slytherin tie felt like an oppressive noose, but she tugged at it discreetly, determined to maintain an air of poise.
Much like her, Regulus who sat next to her, was in no better state. His cuffs were messily buttoned and his curls looked shapeless and unkempt. Two purple circles tinted the bottom of his eyes on his sickly pale skin.
Somehow, it felt quite satisfying seeing him look not so content after last night.
"Can anyone tell me what is the title of today's lesson? Yes, Miss Nowakowski?", the professor pointed at a Gryffindor.
"It says Wolfsbane Potion, sir.", she answered.
"Thank you, that's right. Would you mind reading the class its uses please?", he asked her again.
Danica pulled out her leatherback notebook and began scribbling on the title.
"Wolfsbane Potion is a specialized elixir designed to mitigate the effects of lycanthropy, a magical condition causing individuals to transform into werewolves during the full moon." Danica raised her eyebrows curiously when the girl began reading. Why the hell would they need to learn about werewolf medicine?
"The potion, commonly referred to by its Latin name "Lupinum Lunaris," is brewed from a precise combination of ingredients, with Wolfsbane being a key component.", the girl finished.
"Perfect." Slughorn clapped his hands in excitement, walking behind his desk where a large cauldron stood. "Here I made a batch of the potion just this morning. If you look at its appearance, it should have a glowing silvery tint to it.", he mixed it with a measuring spoon. "Now if you read the page that you are on, there you'll see the ingredients as well as the instructions on how to brew it."
Danica quickly skimmed through the instructions while Slughorn continued the explanation."The recipe is quite advanced, I agree . Which is why please utilise your partner to their full potential. This an assignment for two." the professor emphasized, his gaze sweeping over the classroom.
She felt Regulus stiffen beside her. He, usually poised and composed, now seemed almost restless. His fingers tapped nervously on the edge of the desk, and his gaze flickered from the parchment to the surroundings, avoiding any direct eye contact.
Curiously, however, she was not the source of his discomfort this time around. Feeling the air shift, Danica tried tracing down the source of his troubles until her eyes reached a petite blonde girl sitting by the window, who shamelessly sent glares in Danica's direction.
Her bones chilled when the memories of the past night flooded back inside her head. The way Regulus was holding her, pushing the blond locks aside, pressing her body against the wall.
It was all so disgustingly unsettling.
Meanwhile, the classroom buzzed with activity. Students gathered their ingredients for the Wolfsbane Potion, their movements creating a background hum. Amidst the commotion, Danica and Regulus remained seated.
The air hung heavy with silence, waiting for someone to make a move. Danica stole a glance at Regulus, finding him equally reserved.
Swallowing her pride, she decided to be the bigger person."Regulus," she uttered. "Would you mind fetching the ingredients with me?"
His shoulders stiffened for a moment before he slowly faced her, almost in shame. "Right... we'll run out of the good ingredients.", he said quietly, still seated.
"Right..." Danica tried catching his eyes, unsuccessfully. "So, we should probably go."
Curtly nodding, he stood up and walked to the large wooden cabinet, not sparing her a glance.
Her head hurt too much to even bother being offended by his attitude or to bring up the party. Hoping to finish the project as soon as possible, she walked up beside him in silence with her textbook in hand.
"3 drops of Stardust essence.", she read from the textbook.
"Here.", Regulus held up the small vessel of essence to show her before placing it into his small basket. "I've already got the moondrops.", he gestured towards the neatly selected ingredients.
"Great." Danica nodded a little awkwardly. "Then we just need some dragonfly berries.", she read from the list and Regulus placed the items in the basket. "Oh, and here's the ghost orchid petal-"
She reached for the shelf in front of her but her voice halted when his cold hand brushed against hers, reaching for the same ingredient. The touch was fleeting but enough to send a jolt through them.
"Sorry." Danica instinctively recoiled, her cheeks flushing slightly.
"I'm sorry," Regulus muttered in tandem, both of them quickly pulling their hands back as if burned.
"Right, uh, next is... Lunar Nectar. We need one cup," she said, trying to regain composure while avoiding eye contact. Regulus silently retrieved the nectar, adding it to the growing collection in the basket.
The dimly lit potion laboratory seemed to shrink in on itself as Danica and Regulus moved about. Shelves lined with dusty vials and jars loomed overhead, their contents contributing to the room's peculiar scent—a mix of dried herbs, ancient parchment, and the faint residue of previous magical concoctions.
In the background, a few of their classmates diligently worked on their own potion projects, the clinking of glass and the occasionally mumbled incantation adding to the subdued atmosphere.
The remainder of the ingredients were gathered in strained silence.
"We've been neglecting our prefect duties," Danica finally broke the stillness.
After a few more moments of silence, she was going to repeat herself, thinking he was purposely ignoring her, until the air around him shifted.
Regulus, still avoiding direct eye contact, nodded slightly. "Yeah, we have," he admitted, his tone measured.
"Just pointing it out. I'm surprised Slughorn hasn't taken us down yet from our Prefect positions.", she turned slightly to face him. The shelves lined with dusty vials and jars loomed overhead, casting shadows on their faces.
"We," he paused, carefully considering his words, "we should schedule patrols together soon. It's been a while." His gaze, once averted, now met hers directly, the distance between their faces seemingly nonexistent. Danica caught off guard, looked up with surprise, the sudden proximity causing a subtle flush to color her cheeks.
"Let's meet today at 9, at the common room entrance," he continued, maintaining eye contact. Danica managed a nod.
"Noted," she replied, and they both nodded in agreement before retreating to their desks.
As they began to sort through their collected ingredients and heat up the cauldron, the atmosphere remained awkward yet surprisingly civil.
"I... did not mean to call you miserable," Danica mumbled, her eyes falling to the ingredients scattered on the table. Regulus, focused on measuring an ingredient, paused at the sound of her voice. He turned to her, eyeing her for sincerity. "That was out of line, and I was drunk. I apologize."
Admitting her mistake felt like a stab to Danica's pride, still, she held her chin up confidently, trying not to seem bothered.
Regulus nodded, his usual reserve softening. "Me too. I apologize for being invasive and rude. You didn't deserve to be accused."
Before she had any more time to build up her walls again, Danica pinched her thigh for a little surge of motivation and extended her hand for a shake.
"Let's not overstep anymore," Danica proposed, almost desperately. "We need to look past the petty arguments and move on."
Regulus placed the stirring spoon down as his widened eyes dropped to her hand in disbelief. He blinked a couple of times with his long lashes before his shoulders relaxed, ones that he wasn't aware were tense in the first place and reluctantly grabbed her hand.
"The pleasure is mine." He almost whispered, his gray eyes staring right through hers.
For a moment, they forgot to drop their hands.
"Have you heard anything from your parents recently?" Regulus nonchalantly started some small talk like nothing happened as he diced the dragonfly berries.
"Far more than what I had wished for." Danica scoffed.
"Which is a slightly bit more than nothing I assume?" he smiled a little.
Danica's hands felt sweaty.
"Yeah..." she reluctantly replied. "I have a bunch of letters stacked up in my drawer. All sunshine and rainbows as you can imagine." Danica grumbled under her nose as she stirred in some ingredients.
"That can happen with our kind. It's inevitable."
"Bullshit."
"I'm sorry?", he stopped his movements and raised his head.
"I mean that there is no such thing as inevitable." Danica just continued focusing on the potion. "Anything can be influenced and hence, changed. Especially when it comes to not being an arsehole." she sneered at the last sentence.
"Don't be ridiculous, Danica." Regulus rolled his eyes, continuing his previously paused potion-making. "You know our destiny has been prescribed to us the moment we were born. There's no way ou-"
"And I call bullshit on that one. I'll carve my own path and change my destiny, no matter the cost. Even if I have no idea how I'm going to do it yet.", she cut him off but quickly realised her mistake. "Sorry, I shouldn't have interrupted you."
"No worries." he shook his head. "Although I'm curious about the kind of destiny you'd like to have instead. Poverty? Or do you plan to live the rest of your life without class?" his eyebrows furrowed as he tried reasoning with her.
"I never said any or that."
"But you know that those are the consequences." his eyes met hers. "Us, purebloods are at the top of the food chain. Nothing could ever compare to what we have."
"And you know exactly the cost of said power, Regulus. I know you know." she did not avoid eye contact. "What is it being the apex predator if we keep ourselves confined in a golden cage."
"You have 30 minutes left!" Slughorn announced, cutting Danica off. This helped her realize just how tense the atmosphere had gotten again and leaned slightly back on her chair.
"And the way outside the cage," her eyes motioned towards Crouch. "is ugly."
Regulus's gaze moved towards the arm of his classmate where a darker outline was peeking from underneath the linen of his white shirt.
"So what, are you planning to stay a wolf in sheep's clothing for the rest of your life?", he quietly asked.
"No", Danica looked back at him. "I'd rather become the Basilisk himself."
***
The staccato rhythm of Danica's heels echoed through the common room, each click resonating on the cold stone floor. The bronze hour hand on the massive mahogany clock was a mere five minutes away from IX. A palpable tension hung in the air, dissuading anyone from venturing out of their rooms, lest they encounter the returning prefects.
The heavy door swung open, revealing Danica's surprised expression. "You're actually here," her voice carried a note of astonishment.
Regulus, leaning casually against the hall's wall, pushed himself off with a nonchalant grace. Crossing his arms, he retorted, "Did you think my words were empty?" His scrunched eyebrows betrayed a hint of annoyance.
"No, I just always assume the worst," she said, striding down the hall with purpose.
"You should try thinking with a bit more optimism," Regulus suggested, following closely behind.
"I'm getting tired of disappointment. Would much rather be pleasantly surprised." Stealing a glance at him over her shoulder, she admitted.
"Fair enough," Regulus conceded as he finally caught up to her.
Whether or not he enjoyed the chase, he kept it to himself. The slight frown on his face and the meticulous adjustment of his cufflinks suggested it was a small price to pay for their fragile truce.
They walked side by side in full silence, peeking around corners every now and then, trying to catch any rulebreaker. The night air felt light and refreshing, and for the first time in a while, Danica breathed freely.
The soft moonlight filtered through the larger windows, casting an ethereal silver glow on Regulus's pale skin, the reflection dancing on his long lashes.
"Your engagement is coming soon," Regulus remarked, interrupting Danica's reverie. She hadn't realized she had been staring at him until he spoke. Maybe something was wrong with her head.
"Sorry?" she cleared her throat.
"To Rosier."
Ah..." Danica looked down at her shoes, suddenly feeling a twinge of embarrassment. "Yeah, during Yule break. Your family's invited too, right?"
Mhm. The Rosiers made sure to have us there. Although, you helped take away their bit of fun." He chuckled with a pained breath as they both halted at the connecting bridge between the two towers. The only source of light now was the starlit sky and the moon.
"I what?" Danica asked, tucking away a strand of her hair that the cold night wind had blown astray.
"The letter that you wrote." He leaned a little closer to her.
"Regulus. I don't know what you're talking about, but I didn't write anyone, not even Pandora, since the start of the school year."
"Right, because Greengrass just popped out of fucking thin air." Regulus scoffed under his cold breath.
Danica's eyes widened as a memory plummeted back into her head.
Tell Regulus to stay strong as well. I always knew to never trust the Greengrass family.
When she raised her chin up to look back at Regulus, Danica saw him holding a restless expression, as though urging her to finally clear up the air.
"Listen.", she exhaled through her nose. "You have to tell me exactly what you know because things aren't adding up."
"Never mind," he rolled his shoulders before attempting to walk again, but Danica's grip on his cuff paused him in his tracks.
"Please, Regulus." She tried not to sound too miserable, refraining from outright begging. Yet, an unspoken urgency lingered in her voice, hinting at a realization that something far deeper and more sinister than she could've imagined needed to be unveiled. "You have to tell me." Nervously, she toyed with a strand of her hair.
He swallowed deeply for a moment, his gaze briefly capturing the moonlight before returning to her. However, his face seemed to grow more unreadable with each passing second. The silvery glow accentuated the contours of his sharp jawline,
"Fine." he sighed. "What do you want to hear?"
"Everything you know since they canned our engagement."
He crossed his arms. "And what do I get in return?"
"I'll tell you my point of view." she confidently stated.
"I doubt there's anything I don't know already." Regulus laughed mockingly.
"Are you sure about that?"
A slip of silence followed.
"Or is it something you've been fed?" she added.
A small, victorious smile played on her lips as Regulus shut his eyes in surrender before meeting her gaze with newfound seriousness.
"My mother told me in late August that your father has broken off our engagement. Then school began."
"And you started acting butthurt." she chimed in.
"As a matter of fact, I wasn't." He glared at her, his eyes narrowing in annoyance. "I was following my father's orders not to acquaint myself with you."
Danica stepped back, her arms crossing over her chest. "And you complied?"
"Evidently so."
"So, you knew it wasn't my fault all along?" Danica stepped back, feeling a little conflicted.
"Yes?" his eyes furrowed. "That should be obvious even for someone as dense as you."
"Ha ha, funny." Danica mocked, her tone laced with sarcasm." Hard to believe when you go around screaming and glaring at me at every given opportunity."
"Because you blew things out of proportion and complained to your mother."
"I just told you." Danica rubbed her temples. "I never wrote anything."
"Then how do you explain my sudden engagement to Greengrass?"
...what?
One could've heard a pin drop in the horrifying silence that followed the last word.
It was all finally making sense. So much so that Danica felt like throwing up.
The legilimens, the glares.
You have the nerve to lecture me on hypocrisy when you went behind my back with the engagement.
The engagement.
His engagement.
"Oh my god." Her forehead fell into her palms,fingers digging into her hair. "We're actually in the same shoes."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Regulus, did you write to my brother about Huber?" her voice wavered.
"I have better-"
"Did you?"
"No." Regulus's reply was curt, his jaw clenched in frustration.
Her intestines felt like a giant dumbbell was dragging them down.
"And you think that you got engaged because...?"
"Because you wrote to your mother about us crossing paths in a bad light and my mother decided to leash me with a new engagement as a measure to keep face." He spoke with a bitter edge, each word landing heavily in the air.
Each word hit her like a bucket of ice water and realization finally gnawed at her.
"Someone's watching us."
He frantically turned around from side to side, searching for onlookers.
"Not now. They don't see us at night. It's always during the day. And it's someone we know."
"What are you talking about, Lestrange?"
"You think I reported our inappropriate encounters during the past few weeks which made your mother arrange a new engagement for you in order to remain high in the field of reputation, right?"
"That's what happened." Regulus replied, his tone edged with bitterness.
"Merlin, you are stubborn." Danica sighed. "Can't you realize? My family knows all about Huber. Someone we both know is reporting everything to our families. And if they planned to plot us against each other, then it worked. I didn't write a single letter this year."
"You didn't..?"
"No."
"Then who-"
"I don't know. But we're under constant surveillance. Keep it in mind."
Regulus squeezed his eyes shut before turning on his heel and walking away. It was now Danica's turn to do some catching up. The outdoor scenery transformed into the castle's grand halls, and then they narrowed down, the walls adorned with the tapestries of wizarding history, and began descending into the dungeons silently side by side.
"I apologise." Danica's head whipped up in surprise at his words. "I feel ashamed of my actions on that night when..."
"I know. It's fine."
She wished it was all true but there was no doubt that their relationship would never return to the way it used to be.
"So, Lucilla Greengrass?", she questioned.
"Mhm, you'll see her at your engagement party.", his voice reflected off the damp stone walls.
"Right, I almost forgot about that."
"Your own engagement?", his eyebrows raised in amusement.
"You could say I was a little distracted recently."
"Sure" Regulus grumbled under his breath, probably thinking she wouldn't hear.
"Do you think she'll transfer to Hogwarts now?"
"Unlikely. The Greengrass family is quite concerned about gaining new connections following their new blooming business." Regulus gladly caught on the change of subject, the tension in his shoulders slightly easing.
"The Magicages."
"Indeed. Her brother graduated from here. It's only right if they send Lucilla to Beauxbatons."
"At least we won't have to see our fiancées daily until our graduations." she exhaled loudly through her nose.
"But then it's all over."
"How nihilistic.", Danica chuckled.
"Merely realistic."
The air grew cooler with every heavy step taken down the spiraling staircase, and even the torches lining the walls emitted a menacing greenish glow, casting eerie shadows along the dimly lit stone passageway. The flickering flames played upon the worn tapestries that adorned the walls, depicting scenes from wizarding history that seemed to move and dance in the shifting light.
"He must be related to our parents." Danica pointed at a sculpture along the stairway's walls, the intricacies of the middle-aged man clad in renaissance-styled clothing came into sharper focus who looked into the distance with his chin raised regally.
Regulus swiftly scanned his eyes through the plate under its feet.
" 'Lachlan the lanky- a man proud for unknown reasons.' Do you suppose our families have nothing to be proud of?"
"Do you think there's much to be proud of?" She scoffed.
"I could give you a list."
In pure disappointment, Danica rolled her eyes at his ever-so-strong family ideals despite all the pain they've caused him throughout his life.
"Then I propose to shift our focus onto another topic."
"I agree. In which case..." he hesitated a bit. "So, the transfer, huh?"
Startled, Danica's feet came to a halt, which did not prove to be an issue considering that they had already reached the common room's entrance. Regulus's eyes held an indescribable, almost desperate look as he waited for her response.
"So, blondie, huh?" Danica replied without thinking, immediately regretting what she blurted out, slightly cringing.
All the nervousness washed away from Regulus's face. His shoulders pulled back and the skin on his forehead evened out as a smug grin crept up against his cheeks.
"I took your advice for a change of view" he slowly dragged his pointer finger along one of her protruding coffee dark locks."And she has a name. Patricia."
Danica playfully slapped his hand away from her, prompting him to release a breathy chuckle " The 'transfer' has a name too, Black. It's Max."
"We're back on a last-name basis, Lestrange?" He took a small step closer to her.
"Why of course. If I ever said so otherwise, it was only slip of tongue. Besides you've been rudely calling me by my nickname left and right." Playing along, Danica crossed her arms
"Moments of weakness."
They both stood in front of the door, unmoving. Their shift has long since ended.
A loud door screech broke the stillness of the moment.
"Reggie! I've been waiting for you the entire evening. Where were you?" The blonde girl ran out of the common room and latched herself onto Regulus's upper arm. Her eyes fixated on Regulus with an intensity that made it seem like he was the sole inhabitant of her world, entirely disregarding his prefect partner.
Danica, clearing her throat to attract attention, asked, "We were on prefect rounds. Which compels me to ask why are you out of bed past curfew?" The bitterness in her tone escaped her notice.
"I-"
"Patricia, go to your room. I'll follow you in a bit." Regulus gently cut her off.
Patricia shot a venomous glance at Danica, then directed a saccharine smile at Regulus. In turn, Danica responded with a lifted chin. At last, the blonde girl turned around and entered the dorms.
The once meek light of the Serpent's Heart due to Patricia's presence, was back to glowing brightly.
"I think you should follow your girlfriend, Black."
"Do you want me to?"
"Why would I be opposed?"
His grey eyes looked into hers one last time, searching for something, before dropping his shoulders in defeat and pushing the door open.
"Good night, Danica."
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I'm so sorry for being away for so long, but I'm back to uploading regularly again. Hopefully, this chapter is good. I'll upload another chapter in a few hours.