The Story of Regulus Black - Years 1-4

LXVIII. Valentine's Tea

It was Valentine's Day.

Regulus still had not discovered the names of either of the men in the photographs, and he was starting to give up. He had briefly considered writing to someone, but he didn't know who to write to. Andromeda, perhaps? But he didn't even know if she would know the name of the man in the photo with his father.

The photo of the Dark Lord was harder. He had tried to find any records on the men who's names were on the back of the picture, but he couldn't find anything. Regulus was starting to give up on his search.

Deacon and Francesco were on good terms. They were friends again, and they had both learned to not only suppress their feelings towards one another in a much better way, but also to keep the weirdness of their interactions to a minimum. At least, while they were around Benji.

Everything was good. Everyone was doing well. Nothing bad had happened since Deacon's father had been killed. Evan Rosier and Severus Snape hadn't even so much as looked at Regulus since the start of term. Life was good.

Regulus was sitting at the Slytherin table for breakfast, sipping away at his coffee and gradually eating a few bits of toast. Gillian was sitting across from him, twirling her hair around her finger absently as she read her Advanced Transfiguration textbook. Barty was sitting down beside Regulus on the bench, eating a stack of waffles and reading through that day's copy of the Daily Prophet.

"So," began Gillian, looking up from her book, "do you two have any plans for the day?"

Barty and Regulus both shook their heads. Gillian raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on. You two really aren't doing anything for Valentine's Day?"

They shook their heads again. "What would we even do? Not like we like anyone," Barty said, and Regulus looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but didn't comment.

Gillian clucked her tongue. "You lot are so boring."

"Are you doing anything for the day?" Regulus inquired, turning his raised eyebrow onto Gillian.

Gillian seemed to tense up, and she quickly looked back at her book. "I'm having tea. With Corban."

Regulus and Barty were silent. By this point, Barty was aware of everything that was happening with Carson and Gillian, and what Corban had to do with it. The two boys looked to one another, and then back at their friend across the table.

"Couldn't you just say you have other plans?" Regulus asked.

Gillian shook her head. "We weren't even the ones that set it up. Our parents did. I assume they found out that Carson and I were hanging out over holiday break, and they didn't really like it."

Regulus and Barty thought a moment. "What if we came with you?" Barty suggested.

Gillian looked up at them in surprise. "What?"

"What if we came with you? It technically wouldn't be going against your parents, and then it would be less awkward." Barty shrugged.

Regulus nodded his head. "Yeah! We could!"

Gillian looked between the two of them warily. "Guys, I don't know if that's-"

"It's a great idea!" They chorused before she could even finish her sentence.

She took a moment to think, and then she let out a defeated sigh and returned to her book. Just when they were about to open their mouths to argue, she spoke again.

"It's at nine o'clock in the sitting room off of the entrance hall. Don't be late."

The two boys grinned and returned to their breakfast. However, the silence between the three friends was quickly broken.