Assumption // Regulus Black

11

A/N: Ugh I'm mad I deleted part of this because I feel like it isn't as good now, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless.

Regulus

Remember how I hoped that Lupin wouldn't actually approach me? For a few days, I thought I was in the clear. 

That changed today.

I was walking to my arithmacy class when a voice behind me called my name: "Regulus." I turned around to see the brown-haired boy nearly running to catch up with me. I visibly rolled my eyes at him in attempt to conceal my concern. "Did you get my note?" Remus asked, falling into stride next to me. 

"No," I lied, picking up the pace to walk faster. 

"Oh," he frowned, matching my pace, "I just wanted to check in on you."

"Ok," I said nonchalantly. Merlin, how far away was the arithmacy classroom again? Two more hallways? 

"So," Remus started, "How are you?"

"Fine, you?" I asked absentmindedly as we turned the corner to walk down the intersecting hallway. I assumed most people had already made it to class considering how empty the corridors were. 

"Er, I'm well," he said. He was obviously at a loss for words, surprised by my rude manner. Good. I needed it to be clear that I didn't need his pity or his help. And I also needed him to stay out of my new life.

"Want to know what's funny to me?" I asked, walking even more briskly. 

"Er- yes?"

"You've made an effort to 'check in on me' while my brother hasn't said one word," I replied bitterly.

"Regulus, you have to understand-" Lupin started. 

"Understand what?" I asked, sparing a glance at him. His mouth hung open while he grappled for the right words. I didn't give him much time to find them either. "I have class now. See you around, Lupin." Not Remus, just Lupin.

I didn't bother to watch his expression as I entered the arithmacy classroom. 

Thalia

"Just if you had to pick," Augie asked me on our way to herbology. 

"I seriously don't know," I laughed, "I don't know enough about quidditch."

"Just pick one- Ace or Joe."

"Augie," I groaned, "You can't make me pick between our friends."

"It's not like I'm asking 'who's the better friend' or 'who's the hottest,' I'm merely asking who's the better player," he said as we walked down the almost-empty hallway. 

"That doesn't sound much better," I laughed. 

"Just pick one," he said. 

"Why, again?" I asked.

"Merlin Tals," the dark-haired boy groaned, "It's not that hard- pick Joe or Ace."

"Fine. I dunno, Ace," I shrugged and he grinned almost instantly. "What?" I asked irritably.

"Nothing," he smiled as we entered the herbology classroom. Somehow, I knew that his "nothing" meant he knew about Anna's theory. 

"I really thought I could count on you to not-" I stopped myself, wanting to keep my voice down now that we were in the greenhouses.

"To not what?" He asked with a grin.

"You know what I mean," I said quietly.

"No, I don't," he said as we took our spots at the back of the greenhouse. I sighed and rolled my eyes. 

"Anna seems to think that I fancy Ace," I said quietly to him, "And she has it in her head that he likes me."

"Do you?" He asked with a smile.

Luckily, before I had a chance to respond, Professor Sprout began the lesson. 

I still wasn't sure how to feel about Ace. I would be lying if I said I didn't like him at all, but I told you about my concerns; deep down I knew it wouldn't be smart to kindle anything with him for my sake and the sake of our friend group.

Thankfully, Augie didn't continue the conversation. Instead, we spent the class writing observations about our newly sprouted Devil's Snare plants. Augie, Anna, and I were the only ones who still took Herbology, as last year I'd decided to pursue a career as an auror. 

Let me ask you this- do you think I still want to be an auror? If you answered no, you'd be absolutely correct. What do you think made me change my mind?

I still had no clue what I wanted to be coming out of Hogwarts, but for now I stuck with the auror path just to make sure I had qualifications for something. Though, I was certainly not planning on actually becoming one. 

I had thought about being a writer, but there wasn't much money in the industry, and I had been cut off from my parents. A few years earlier, I could've pursued that career option and been well-off. Now, however, it wasn't quite as stable without my parental insurance. 

While Roman being over 18 had left me everything- his assets, the house, etc- it felt wrong to use his money. I was intent on making my own after school.

The thing is, in terms of careers we had been told for all six years that you had time to figure it out. You had time. But now I was running out of it. I wasn't prepared for something to knock me off my career path so abruptly, so I hadn't exactly brainstormed back-up options. Sure, being a writer would be great, but it wasn't stable enough to be realistic. I physically could not being myself to be an auror. And I had virtually no other interests. Either that or I had too many interests that I couldn't commit to one thing.

As a Slytherin, the whole career deal was a lot harder on me than it would've been for others. I had worked my whole life getting the grades, making connections with teachers, only to have something completely alter my future. Furthermore, deciding I wanted to do something purely for enjoyment and not for success was difficult. 

So for now, I wrote the words spiky, black, opaque, two centimeters tall on my paper and tried not to think about it.

The rest of the day past slowly. I found myself glancing out the windows in a lot of my classes to look at the colorful trees. Fall was Roman's favorite season because apparently it was the best weather for quidditch.

I met my friends for the afternoon, and we did homework together before dinner. Anna was already discussing plans for Halloween, though I didn't involve myself in the conversation too much. 

We prepared for bed pretty early, so I stared at the ceiling for awhile until a little after midnight. I made sure everyone was asleep before slipping out of my bed, grabbing Regulus's book, and walking downstairs. 

Regulus was already sitting in his usual seat on the couch, reading my book with such a look of disgust it was hard to not to crack a smile. 

"So," I smirked at his expression, and he looked up, "What do you think so far?"

"You don't want me to answer that," he shook his head.

"Oh trust me I do," I smirked. 

"Fine, the book is terrible," he said and I laughed, "Seriously, it's absolute shit."

"I knew you wouldn't like it," I laughed. 

"You could've just said that and given me another one."

"No way," I shook my head, "This is payback for insulting me."

"Touché," he smirked before looking back down at my book. "You know, I can't say your comments aren't amusing," he spoke again.

"Thank you," I cracked a small, triumphant smile and opened Regulus's book. 

The two of us read mostly in silence. I glanced up every so often to see if Regulus's expression ever changed. It hardly did. 

I felt him watching me too.