Assumption // Regulus Black

28

Thalia

Well. You just witnessed another great demonstration of Thalia making really smart choices. 

But in all seriousness, now was not the time to joke. Because I had done exactly what Ace did, and I hated myself for it. 

I couldn't bring myself to go to breakfast the next day. I was too mad at myself. I shouldn't have kissed Regulus without knowing if the feelings were reciprocated. I also shouldn't have kissed him without consent.

I really just shouldn't have kissed him at all.

Idiot.

Idiot.

Idiot. 

I felt horrible. He obviously didn't want to kiss me. He was obviously in a difficult situation. And now I'd just made it ten times worse. 

I liked him- there was no denying that. But having feelings for someone is no excuse to kiss them when they don't want to. 

I needed to apologize. I was planning on pulling him aside in between classes. Except he didn't show up to our first class-potions- which made me feel even worse. There was no way I could talk to him today, I was just going to have to wait a bit and let it blow over.

Thankfully, Regulus was in Transfiguration which made me feel slightly better. At least I hadn't ruined his whole day.

I entered the classroom and nearly did a double take when I saw him. He didn't look up to acknowledge my presence. He merely continued talking with Severus, his desk mate. 

"You okay?" Anna frowned as we sat down.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"You look a little sick."

"I'm fine," I assured.

"Ok, just don't puke on me," she smirked.

"I won't puke on you," I laughed. We opened our Transfiguration books and waited for the rest of the Gryffindors to show. Sirius walked past my desk on his way in and blew a kiss to me. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't suppress a snort.

His friends followed- James, Lupin, Lily, and Peter. I noticed that James and Lily were looking more buddy-buddy. Perhaps she finally gave into his constant flirting. I decided to make them my subjects of observation today.

Mostly because I figured the last thing Regulus wanted was for me to stare at him the whole class.

So instead, Lily and James it was. James with his messy hair and crooked glasses pulled out Lily's seat for her. I watched with slight amusement as she faked a posh accent, saying something along the lines of "Why thank you kind sir."

"You're welcome my lady," he replied, tipping an invisible hat. Cheesy idiots. It was kind of cute. Mostly annoying though. 

McGonagall hushed them, making Lily's cheeks turn pink. I don't think she liked to be caught flirting with James. Or admitting she had even an ounce of feelings towards him. I suppose I related somewhat- though no one would ever quite compare to Lily and James. Anna and Liam came pretty close, but those two Gryffindors were something else. The perfect love story. 

I'm not quite sure if I found Lily and James to be annoying because I was jealous of them, or because they were just plain annoying. Nonetheless, I endured my irritation and continued to observe them. 

I at least owed Regulus that. 

I found my gaze drifting from the two love birds to Sirius and Remus. They were sitting next to each other- Lupin taking notes (I think he was the only one with enough brain cells in their friend group to do so) while Sirius watched him. His expression was much different than the joking, flirty ones he cast me. Rather, it was much deeper- more meaningful. I admired their different sort of love. James and Lily were obvious- outgoing, picture-perfect, and bright. Sirius and Remus were much more quiet yet intense. 

I then looked at the outcast- Peter. I didn't know him. Honestly, I doubted many people did. He isolated himself. Much like I did, but in a manner that made me concerned for him. He didn't accept his friends attempts to include him. I felt pretty bad for him, actually. His friends were in love with each other while he was naturally the fifth wheel. 

"Hey," Anna'd hushed voice snapped me from my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I turned away from the marauders. 

"What'd you get for Liam for his birthday?" Our friend's birthday was only two days away.  

"The usual," I whispered- AKA joke shop items and a shit ton of candy. 

"Ok, I got-"

"Anything you'd like to share, ladies?" McGonagall's voice made us sit up straighter. Everyone in the class turned to look at us. All I focused on was the fact that Regulus subconsciously made eye-contact with me.

He looked away almost instantly, leaving me staring at the back of his head.

"No, professor," Anna replied, causing Liam to snort. 

McGonagall continued on with the lecture, and I forced myself to look away from Regulus.

Regulus

I felt awful.

Thalia was obviously avoiding me because I'd been so rude about the kiss.

The thing was, I shouldn't have felt bad. Again, I should have been happy that she was mad at me and move on with my life. That would be a lot smarter than kissing her. Still, at the very least I wished I hadn't acted so appalled. 

I ignored her in school because I thought that was what she wanted. I didn't want to make her feel awkward about the whole situation, and she seemed mad at me. Plus, a part of me knew I should capitalize on the opportunity to make sure I never got into a similar situation with her again. 

I decided to use that- suppress my feelings of guilt and focus on the positive. 

You see, when we took the pledge to Voldemort, he had wanted a list- a list of people we loved. He claimed it was for their protection, but I wasn't stupid. 

My list was very short.

The thing is, the Dark Lord doesn't care too much about our friends. He does, however, want to know about romantic relationships.

Not that this is one.

So, on the plus side, not having a romantic relationship kept both Thalia and I safe. I needed to keep it that way.

Because above all, she was my friend. Regardless of how I felt about her, I liked- really liked-her as a person, and I didn't want to put her in danger. Friends was fine, but kissing was getting into dangerous territory. No, it was the dangerous territory. It couldn't happen again.

I knew my best bet was to lay low for awhile and let it blow over. I had no doubt we would go back to being friends, but for now I figured ignoring Thalia wouldn't be the worst thing for either of us. I doubted she wanted to see me anyway.

A/N: Sorry this is short but y'all the next chapter... I got no words. I impress myself sometimes. Stay tuned :)