𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨-𝙧.𝙖.𝙗

𝟬𝟳-𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

WITH AN ACHE IN HER CHEST, JO RUSHES UP TO THE OWLERY, Juniper weaving in between her feet with each step, stiff parchment clutched harshly between her fingers. Jo really, really misses her mum. It hit her hard, earlier in the morning, as she sat on the edge of her bed and stared out the window, gut twisting and wrenching and eyes watering. Her head pounds and she thinks about her brother and she pushes back her tears. It's all poured out in her letter to her mother, ink smudged and almost illegible.

She does what she can to push the memory of last night out of her thoughts. Jo can't stand it. Her face burns in humiliation at the mere idea of the night before. When she closes her eyes, she sees Regulus's face, staring down at her, completely unreadable, while she cursed and stumbled and struggled. Jo doesn't know how she'll ever be able to face him ever again. She can't imagine how she must've looked to him. The thought of Potions class lingers in the back of her head, heavy and dreadful.

It's still early in the morning when she reaches the top of the steps of the owlery, moon dipping behind the horizon, chill biting at the tips of her fingers and Juniper chirping and meowing. There's this brawny, brute of an owl Jo fancies, brown feathers and extraordinarily proud, and Jo has him on her mind as she heads for his normal spot.

But she freezes as she lifts her head, slew of curses leaving her tongue at the sight of Regulus Black standing on the other end of the owlery, the darkness of his robes and his curls and the bruises under his eyes a heavy contrast to the icy gray of the stone around him; he is like a spilled ink drop, a long, elegant stain. Jo is still, clenching her muscles with her arms straight down her side, like if she moves he might see her. But he is already staring right through her. Her face burns. Humiliation works it's way up her throat in the form of broadened shoulders, narrowed eyes, a jutted jaw, in the form of a challenge. And Jo is hoping that her mask is as opaque as his, that she can become as composed as he is.

Regulus is void, as he always is, of anything that might give him away, eyes empty as he stares her down and Jo clenches her jaw, digging her fingernails into the soft flesh of her palm. His shoulders are squared to the owl in front of him, but his head is almost lazily lopped to the side, watching Jo with a slight slouch in his shoulders and a hand deep in the pocket of his robes and Jo realizes that there is something on his face, in his relaxed posture, that he simply cannot hide: exhaustion.

The silence is heavy and the stares even more so. Jo figures she should say something, anything, to thank him for the gentleness and the attentiveness in a moment when she was clearly not making the best decisions for herself. But the embarrassment has sown her lips shut and she couldn't even make herself speak if she wanted to.

It's Regulus that relents first, swiveling on his heel and turning to face her fully. "You know," he starts, with whispers of a smirk playing on the edge of his lips.

But before he can continue, it is wiped clean off, and he becomes a blank slate once more. Regulus turns away from her, completely upright once more, and before Jo can even think of anything proper to say, there are strong, warm arms enveloping her.

She's about ready to start shoving elbows when she hears Reed's laugh in her ear. He lifts her off the ground, pulling her back tight into his chest, and despite herself, Jo smiles. "There's my little lion!" he cheers as he places her back down on her feet. Jo turns and faces him, unable to decide if little lion is adorable or awful, with her hands on his chest and his on her hips as he holds her close. "How're you feeling?"

It's then Jo suddenly remembers the ringing in her head. "Could use a proper breakfast," she tells him, a slight squint in her eyes.

The sun is rising behind Ivan, his hair bright and golden in the light of it, and his smile even brighter still. Jo wonders if his mother's part Veela; she always thinks more fondly of him whenever he's around, smiling down at her like that. "Reckon you might've had a bit too much fun last night, yeah?"