King Of My Heart | R. BLACK

2 | sticky run-ins

"I'm gonna kill them!" Angela exclaimed as she flung the syrup off her hand. "This isn't even clever! It's stupid and unoriginal. Syrup and feathers...ugh!" She moved to stand up off her bed but let out a gasp as a bucket flipped over above her, showering her in glitter. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"I'm going to strangle your brother and his stupid friends with my bare hands," America announced as she washed away the mess off herself with a quick Scourgify.

"I'm right behind you," Angela replied as she blindly groped for her wand that rested on her nightstand.

"I'll help," Daisy announced before waving her wand. The glitter, syrup and feathers vanished and Angela was safe to open her eyes. "That's better."

"I'm going to kill them now," Angela announced.

"Not without me you're not," America said as she quickly followed the girl out.

Angela ran down the stairs quickly, finding her brother sitting on the couch in the common room without a care in the world. "Levicorpus!" she exclaimed and the boy was dangling by his ankle within seconds. "You are an asshole, James!"

"Morning to you too, sis," he groaned out. "Would you put me down now?"

"No," she scowled. "Once the blood has rushed to your head and you're on the verge of passing out, then maybe."

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Sirius inquired and Angela almost dropped her brother so she could move on to the other twat but America made it so she didn't have to.

Within seconds, the two dimwitted sixth year Gryffindor's were dangling upside down and a crowd had formed. "How did you even get in there?" Angela demanded.

"I haven't the slightest clue as to what you're talking about, Ang."

"Oh, don't be coy with me, asshat."

"We have our ways," Sirius muttered.

"What's going on here?" Lily asked as she descended the stairs. "Put them down."

"Not until they tell me how they got into the girls dorm," Angela replied.

Lily turned to look at the boys, "That's not possible."

"Actually-" Sirius began but James's arm jutted out, nailing him in the stomach and silencing them. "I think I'm going to pass out."

"Put them down," Lily suggested.

"That's not fun," America pouted.

Angela nodded, "Agreed."

"You're a Prefect, Angie," Lily reminded the girl, "You should behave better than this."

Angela let out a huff before unceremoniously dropping her brother to the couch. America followed in suit, dropping Sirius on top of James. They both let out a groan, laying in a disheveled mess on the couch.

"Stay out of our dorm," America warned before storming back up to their room.

Angela waved her wand over the two boys, whatever spell she uttered causing them to grab at their ears, "Try something like that again and it'll be far worse than that." She then made her way up the stairs, leaving Lily to deal with the aftermath.

After changing into her robes for the day, Angela opted out of breakfast and decided to take a stroll through the castle, hoping to finish her read through of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Not bothering to look where she was going, seeing as everyone was in the Great Hall, she navigated her way through the school with relative ease.

That was until someone rounded the corner, knocking her over and sending her book falling from her hands.

"Ow," she muttered as she moved to a crouched position. She reached for the book but whoever had run into her had gotten a hold of it first.

She looked up in surprise, her eyes locking with familiar grey ones. "I'm sorry, I-" they cut themselves off, seemingly registering something. He stood up and she followed in suit. "Potter," his apologetic expression immediately changed into that of a scowl as he thrust the book toward her chest.

She took it with slightly narrowed eyes but she couldn't help but be amused with the sudden turn around. "Black," she said in what was an attempt at a mocking, menacing tone. He raised an eyebrow at this, "Oh, whatever. I'm not exactly a scary person." She pointed at him, "And for the record, neither are you."

He rolled his eyes, "Watch where you're going next time, would you? Had you been paying attention, I wouldn't be forced to endure this stupid conversation."

"No one's forcing you to talk to me," she reminded him with a pointed look. She raised the book she had been reading up, "I have my book. You can go now."

"Of course, only a blood traitor like you would read a muggle book."

"And only an asshole like you would have a problem with it," she said in response. "What makes muggles so bad? What's the difference between your blood and theirs?"

"Mine is clean," he answered. "Theirs is dirty. Filled with mud."

She snorted at this, a laugh escaping her despite the seriousness of the conversation. "You don't really believe that, do you?" she inquired but from the look on his face, he did. "Oh, dear," she frowned, "You really are just a blindly following sheep, aren't you?"

He straightened up at this, his eyes narrowed on the girl, "Excuse me?"

"Oh, cut the big bad wolf act, Regulus," she suggested. "Like I said, you don't scare me. The only emotion you evoke from me is pity."

"Do you want me to hex you?"

"Not particularly, no," she admitted. "But even if I did, I'm certain you wouldn't."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because you, Regulus Black, are not a bad person," she informed him. Her gaze flickered down to his left forearm for a brief moment and he was quick to move it behind his back, suddenly self conscious under the girl's scrutinizing stare. She looked back up at him, "Sure, you've made plenty mistakes but that doesn't make you bad. The world isn't split into good people and death eaters."

"You are incredibly naive," he replied simply though it didn't go unnoticed by himself that his heart rate had picked up significantly as she stepped closer to him.

"No," she countered, shaking her head. "If anyone is naive here, I hardly think it's me." She searched his face for a moment, "You aren't too far gone, you know that, don't you? I can see it." She raised her hand and he flinched away instinctively. She frowned at the action and carefully placed her hand on the side of his face. She brushed away a stray tear with her thumb and he seemed surprised by the action.

Whether he wasn't used to such an intimate and gentle action or he wasn't aware that he had been crying, she couldn't be sure. Sirius had been the same way. "It's right here, Reg," she explained, tapping his temple with her forefinger gently, "It's your choice to be good."

He stared at her for a moment before his hand shot up, grabbing her wrist. It wasn't rough, as she had expected it to be, but gentle and cautious. He pulled her hand away from his face and released it before he turned away from her, leaving her alone in the hallway, watching as he walked away.