lovely lady may • sirius black

Chapter 29

When I finally get Regulus alone, I don't know if I can confront him. I have to for peace of mind, but I don't know what I'm going to do if he says he actually was involved in his family's decision to send someone after me.

He sits on the couch in the common room, and I sit down quietly on the opposite end. He looks up at me with narrowed eyes, "What do you want?"

"Did you know your parents were the ones who ordered the attempt on my life?"

His face drops, confusion spreading across his face. He doesn't speak for a while, and stares into the fireplace, deep in thought. "My parents are the reason someone tried to kill you in New York?"

"Yeah the asshole mentioned something about the Blacks before I bashed his head in."

"I—" he stops, as if every fiber in his body is telling him not to speak, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

As mad as I want to be at him, I have to keep my composure. I can't push him further away. "It's okay, and I'm sorry about being such a bitch in that letter, I was just mad about the whole Sirius thing."

"Is he better?" he asks timidly.

"Yeah, for the most part I think."

"I don't get it," he mumbles, "my parents said they weren't actually there for you. They were there for your friend, and you just so happened to be there..."

"Jake had nothing to do with any of it. He hardly knew anything about the war."

"That you know of—"

"He was my best friend, Regulus," I hiss, "and after that son of bitch killed him, he said specifically 'the Blacks just want to talk to you'."

He runs in hands through his hair and hunches over, "I shouldn't have let them see the letter," he sounds like he could cry, "Shit, I'm so sorry Octavia. This is all my fault."

I shake my head, "Don't worry about it, all I care about is if you were in on the whole thing or not."

"I wasn't," he says quickly, "I swear. You've always been good to me. I might disagree with you but I'd never wish harm upon you, I promise. Narcissa wouldn't either."

"I know you wouldn't," I get up from the couch, feeling satisfied with the conversation, "I'll see you around."

"I'll try to get the others to leave you alone," he adds.

Even Regulus can't be that convincing, but I admire the effort, "Thanks, I appreciate it."

I can't spend any more time in the common room without running the risk of a less than pleasant encounter with the boys in my year, so as soon as the conversation's over, I leave and make my way to the library. I've barely sat down for five minutes when James sits down across from me.

"Have you been stalking me?" I smirk.

"Actually, Sirius has," he answers, "he saw you sitting next to Regulus and freaked out, but wanted me to come and talk to you about it because he didn't you to get mad at him."

I raise an eyebrow, "Why did he freak out?"

"He just worries about you whenever you're in the dungeons. He thinks someone's going to hurt you, so he constantly watches the map. I honestly don't know what the big deal about you sitting with Regulus is, but I told him I'd talk to you just to calm him down."

"Well," I chuckle lightly, "you can't tell him the reason why I spoke with Regulus, or he'll freak out even more."

He nods in understanding, "My lips are sealed."