Winter In The Shade | Sirius Black x Female Ravenclaw Reader

XII

"Reg?" you called.

His body froze mid step, and then he turned around.

His face remained neutral, not an emotion crossing his features until he saw you there, standing in the middle of the hall. He opened his mouth but closed it again, his eyebrows rising slightly. He didn't move from his spot, he just observed with doubt.

"Y/N." he said, voice infuriatingly even and calm "You shouldn't be out this late, you'll get in trouble." he took a few steps towards you, reaching his hand towards you, and you let him.

"It's not that late." you said, your usual light gone from your voice as you glanced slightly to your side, Sirius eyes pleading as he shook his head. You bit the inside of your cheek and gave him a subtle nod, his chest falling in relief as backed away, just seconds later he was gone from where you had hid together.

Your attention returned back to Regulus, his hand taking yours in a gentle grasp. He pulled you to his side and started moving through the same halls you always walked to get back to your common room, the opposite direction of where he had come.

The tension filled the air in a way it had never happened between you two, the silence uncomfortable enough to make you want to pull away from his arm and confront him, Sirius' face flashing back in your mind and the desperation in his whispered words. "Don't." a simple mouthed word that made your stomach turn. You would have to wait to find out what was really happening. You knew Regulus would never tell you the truth, not about this. He would deny everything you just heard and somehow you knew you would believe him and forget about it for the night. But you weren't the only one who heard him, his words would return to you in dreams and you would wake up with his voice not only inside your head but from himself, and you knew Sirius would be the same if not worse. There was not denying what you two heard that night.

"I thought you would be reading by now." Regulus said, breaking the silence and just like that you were back next to your best friend. For a simple moment the last couple of minutes were erased from your head and you were back a few months ago, forcing Regulus to sneak out of your commons rooms late at night to bake cookies and make him live a little. Just the sound of his voice, those little words coming out of his mouth while he ignored the fact you knew more than he intended to let you know, while he acted as normal as he always did, that simple fact made your heartbeat slow down and put your mind at ease. Everything was the same as usual.

But then his voice turned cold and calculated, his words on repeat inside your head.

Pure enough

"I got a little hungry." you lied, keeping your eyes in the distance as you kept talking "I got started with it but my stomach wouldn't let me focus and I took a little walk to the kitchens."

"In this direction?" he asked, and you turned your head to him, confusion written all over your face until you realized where you were.

"I think I need more sleep than I realized." you laughed, taking a look around you as if you were taking the castle in for the first time.

"Here." he said, shaking his head as he reached his hand inside his bag, pulling an apple from inside it "You didn't even get to the kitchens, did you?"

"Well, I was on my way when you pulled me in the opposite direction."

"You were the one who called my name, if I remember correctly."

You nodded, fidgeting with the fruit in your hand as you suddenly turned to a loud noise behind you. Regulus turned in time with you, his eyes narrowed as he squeezed your hand "C'mon." he told you, starting to walk again.