King Of My Heart | R. BLACK

6 | exposed marks

"Of all the stupid shit you've attempted, this is by far the dumbest," Sirius informed the girl as they stood outside the Gryffindor common room.

"How many synonyms do you know for the word stupid?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't exactly have all day. If you don't want to be my second, I'll go find Lupin or something."

Sirius let out a breath, "I'll do it." She raised an eyebrow, "Merlin, James is going to kill me."

"James needs to get over himself," Angela rolled her eyes. "If he really cared, he would have said yes when I asked him to be my second."

"Of course he cares, Ang," Sirius huffed. "He's just worried. You're growing up and he can't exactly keep you on a leash at all times."

"When have I ever proven that I can't take care of myself?"

"Normally, I would say that you haven't but after today I'd have to say he's pretty reasonable about his concerns."

"I know what I'm doing," she said pointedly. "I can handle myself."

"Against Dark Magic?"

"I'll figure something out."

"You can't use Protego against an Unforgivable," he reminded her. "You have to physically dodge it or disarm or hex him before he can finish."

Angela let out a shaky breath, "Yeah, I know."

Sirius watched her for a moment, "You don't have to do this."

She shook her head, "Yes, I do." She looked behind herself for a moment, "Do you think James really won't come?"

He frowned, "I don't know. He seemed pretty upset earlier."

"We should head to the Tower," she suggested as she wrung her hands together. "I don't want him to get his hopes up by arriving late."

"Angela-"

"I really don't want to hear it Sirius," she cut him off, "Let's just go."

The two made their way to the Astronomy Tower in silence. As soon as they entered, Sirius pardoned himself. He made his way over to where his younger brother stood.

"You're her second, I take it?" Regulus asked and Sirius nodded. "Figured she would have asked her brother."

"She did," he pointed out. "He declined. He didn't care to see his little sister get killed by some deranged Slytherin. And quite frankly, neither do I so let's cut to the chase. There will be no killing."

Regulus sucked in a breath, "I think I can get him to agree to that."

"You think?" he demanded. "This isn't a game, Regulus, this is her life."

"You don't think I know that?" Regulus asked under his breath. "I told her to back off. To leave him alone but she-"

Sirius cut him off, "You knew this was going to happen?"

"Anyone within six feet of the two while they argued saw this coming," he replied simply. "She still has the chance to back out."

"Have you met the girl?" he inquired and they both looked over to see her staring out over the edge of the tower, her wand tapping against the wall anxiously. "She's far too stubborn to do that."

"Salazar, you Gryffindor's and your stupid bravery," Regulus huffed and the brothers both turned to look at each other again. "Step in if you have to. I don't care about the rules. I care about-" he cut himself off with a shake of his head and Sirius raised a curious eyebrow as the boy looked around, "Nobody has to die."