CHAPTER FIVE !
OF SECRETS AND OF LIES
REGULUS SWORE that his heart had stopped when Caroline asked him about the project. I mean, it sounds ridiculous, but it was the truth. To the others, yes, it was only an assignment, no big deal. But to the raven haired boy, it meant something else. And no, he wasn't talking about that stupid, good for nothing bet. He was talking about how he felt towards the Hufflepuff herself. He couldn't help it. He did feel a strong emotion towards the girl, so much that he prayed it was only an attraction, and that it wouldn't bloom into something much stronger. And because of this, Regulus kept reminding himself mentally, that they were just friends—or school mates, rather, that had a project to work on. And that these feelings he felt for her were only mere admiration, and nothing major.
The pair worked every night at their chosen spot—the Astronomy Tower every night, where the whole palace was at rest, while the moon was the only light they could see. Regulus couldn't help but glance at the girl, as her honey locks cascaded carefully down her face. Almost like it was caressing it. Oh how he wish he could run his fingers through her soft hair, and feel her soft skin. Regulus Black, are you out of your bloody mind?! He inwardly cursed at himself and looked away, just in time when Caroline decided to look at him. "Is everything alright?" She asked, noticing how tensed he was, carefully clenching his jaw, while Caroline observed him with her piercing blue eyes.
Regulus simply nodded, giving her a gentle smile. "Of course. Why else wouldn't things be fine?" The girl scoffed at his reply, smiling.
"Alright, if you say so. It just looks like you're rather, um, tensed."
Regulus looked down, quite flustered and flushed. His cheeks a tad pink. "Is there something that's bothering you lately, Regulus?" Once he heard his name roll of her lips, his head immediately shot up, looking at her. "Hmm?"
"I'm asking if you're doing well. Unless, something is bothering you—"
"—No, no. Nothing's bothering me. Are you assuming that something is bothering me?"
Her blue eyes squinted at him, while her pink lips gave him a smirk. "Really? Because I remember the last time I answered a question in the exact same manner as you did, I was actually feeling bothered deep down."
As Caroline explained, she stopped squinting and got back to the potion. "You know, I really like the potion we're making at the moment. It makes you tell the truth, and your inner most thoughts." She continued, stirring the mixture, and looked back up at him. "Makes me want to try it on you."
Regulus gulped, and was shaking inwardly. The idea of the potion, and what it could do honestly did frighten him, and the last thing he wanted was to let the girl he admired know the truth. That's it. I'm going to die.
His anxious thoughts were suddenly caught off by a burst of laughter. Melodic and soothing, laughter. "I was joking! Oh, you should've seen the look on your face! You were so scared!" She laughed once more, and leaned back. Regulus started to ease up a little, allowing her to have her fun. It was nice seeing her this way, all joyful, and not in rage or doesn't look like she's going to kill someone.
"Well what if I use it on you! I wonder what I'd get out of you!" Regulus joked back. The laughter died down all of a sudden. And the boy was taken a back, as he felt like he said something wrong, because it was clearly written all over her face. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"No, it's alright. I just—it's fine."
He nodded, and silence filled the air again once more. Regulus beat himself up mentally again, feeling like he could push her away if he wasn't careful with his words. "Hey, it's alright. I'm not mad or anything."
Her affirmation calmed him down, and sooner or later his regular heartbeat came back. "I was just conscious. Because just like you, I have secrets of my own. Tell me Regulus, do you ever fear the thought of having one of your darkest secrets spilled out? And that after it does, everyone starts to look at you differently because of it?"
Regulus smiled lightly. "Oh, you have no idea."
—
"Say, is it true, that the sorting hat almost put you in Slytherin?" Sirius Black asked in curiosity, as he and the blonde girl walked on the school grounds, late at night. It was pass curfew, but Sirius had a few tricks up his sleeve for him and the Hufflepuff to ignore all the prefects, being the troublemaker he is. A week has passed, which meant Caroline and Regulus were onto their second week of brewing the potion. The blonde decided to talk to the older Black about it, but he gave her a question instead which was rather interesting to Sirius's liking.
Caroline rolled her eyes, remembering that infamous event. "Yes. The rumours are in fact true, dear Sirius. But I knew deep down that the kindness in my heart overpowered my cunning, and aggressive large ego. And that is why I requested to be sorted with the badgers."
Sirius nodded and joked, "Awe, well that's a pity. You could've been sorted with my brother. It might've made things easier for the both of you." By that he earned a playful but strong punch in the arm. He responded with a mischievous laugh. "Awe, Goldie. Couldn't take one single joke. After all this time, you seriously haven't gotten used to me and my humour?"
"Well believe it or not, my brother does fancy you. He just doesn't know how to say it, or express it. Unlike me, who's obviously a ladies' man." He laughed once more, but before Caroline's fist could touch his arm, he cut off. "It was a joke, before you start showering me with bruises."
"Keep that up and I might just shower your oh so lovely face that the ladies' swoon over with black and blue!" Sirius flinched at the words of the girl. His face? No, not his face! Anything but his face. Caroline smirked at his reaction. His reactions humoured her, and made her feel somehow empowered. Although on her part, she was also only joking. It was a regular thing for them to do. Banter and joke around back and forth.
"But actually I know."
"Know what?"
"About your brother and his sacred feelings. It's simple really. How he acts around me, and how he looks at me, and make those dumb excuses, it's quite entertaining, really. If you'd ask me, he's easy to read up close."
"It sounds like you know my brother more than I do. Although I've never seen him in love–which I would like to see. Yes. I would like to see Regulus in love. Being the perfect child of the family can require a lot of pressure. If anything he needs some inspiration, and thankfully, you're here to provide some for him." The older Black enthusiastically explained, and gasped at what he just said. "Which means...my brother has a girlfriend!" Slap. "Goldie! But joking aside, if you do know, then why not tell him you know?"
"I guess you could say that I'm...afraid. Afraid of being hurt again. I just feel like the more you open your feelings up to a person, and the more you let them in, it'll be easy for them to just...leave." Caroline felt her body start to tense up, her eyes starting to get a little glossy. Sirius noticed this and pulled her into a soothing hug.
"What makes you say that?"
"I-I don't know..."
Those three words came out of her mouth, as she was shaking in the arms of the brother of the person possibly, was starting to have feelings for. Although she held back, trying not to break, even if she was already on the edge of breaking.
But did she really not know? Did she really not know why she was feeling this way? Or was she just in denial? A thousand questions flooded the blonde's mind, as Sirius continued to envelope her into his arms.