𝙰 𝙳𝚘𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰 𝙳𝚘𝚟𝚎 - 𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘

Chapter 11

As everyone opened their letters during breakfast on a particularly cold morning, Aurelia had excused herself, wishing to just be away from everyone's cries of glee at the pocket money their grandmothers had sent along, or the heartfelt letters from father's missing their child.

Aurelia did not want to impose on such happiness that the letters from her friends' families brought them.

So, she wondered throughout the icy hallways of the only place that had ever felt like home to her, wondering if she could perhaps find somewhere to just cry.

It was one of those days.

One where she simply just wished to cry and wonder why she had been subject to such cruelty from her parents simply for being different, for being something they could not understand. She wondered what could have happened should she be born a normal boy – no doubt her father would have loved the child more than he did with her.

A crook by a large, rain-splattered window provided Aurelia with a chill that sent shivers up her spine, and so she sat against it, her right side pressed into the stained glass like it were a pillow of ice.

Minute by minute, she merely sat beside the window, her thoughts wondering to far-off places as she fought back the urge to cry. Making a fool of herself was the one thing Aurelia was proud to never have done, her image one of immense grace and intelligence to everybody around her.

She transfigured a small loose stone from the wall into a journal, pulling a graphite pencil from the back of her pocket, and she began to draw, lines jagged in some places when anger rushed through her, others soft as tears fell slowly down her cheeks, echoing the rain outside.

"I'd say you look like a mess, but I can't really speak," a suave voice said, and Aurelia didn't bother looking up, continuing to strike at her journal. A hand like smooth marble reached out, delicately taking the journal from Aurelia's hands, and a snort escaped their nose a few seconds later.

"Save it, Black. I'm really not in the mood."

Regulus' eyes dipped to the small muggle-born girl beside him, before huffing a sigh, scooting into the ledge opposite Aurelia. He was dressed in his quidditch gear, having had just come from a cancelled training session, and had been on his way to avoid the letters from his father, before coming across the Ravenclaw girl.

"Honestly, neither am I," Regulus admitted, toying with the hem of his sleeve. "But to see the brightest smile in the castle fade is a sight I am quite unfamiliar with."

Aurelia looked up through her dark lashes, studying the younger boy as he fiddled now with one of his silver rings. "Sometimes the darkness becomes too overwhelming, and the brightness of the star fades behind clouds," she muttered, recalling the phrase from one of Alice's books.

"I see poetry is your escape route when words do not wish to be formed," Regulus observed, and he tapped Aurelia's foot with his own, making sure her attention was on him, and not the swirling thoughts that lingered behind her eyes. "Tell me, Hope, what troubles you?"

His genuine curiosity was one Aurelia had seen before, often when she passed him holding books, they both knew few read at Hogwarts.

"Family. What troubles you?" she countered, leaning her head back against the cool stone. He smirked, though Aurelia could tell something had been bottled up inside of the fifth year – something he was desperate to tell someone about.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you. And I don't think I have the heart to do that," Regulus muttered, looking up to her.

"Then tell one of your friends where I am and tell me to walk alone to the Forbidden Forest. I know many of them would love to see my deceased body hanging from the branch of a tree," she said with a small, sad smile. "I'm practically tip-toeing by Death's door each day, as my final year at Hogwarts approaches."

"Don't say things like that, Aurelia. You know I promised your cousin that you'd never come in harm's way under my protection."

There was a split second of silence.

"You're fifteen, Regulus. Though you may be tall and come from one of the most ancient Pure-Blooded families, you're still just a child. And promises are always easily broken with a snap of a finger, just ask those two poor girls from my house who were murdered over the summer. No doubt someone had promised them lives of happiness and laughter," she said with a bitter tone.

"It was an Unbreakable Vow, Aurelia."

"For which I still haven't forgiven you. Who in their right mind makes an Unbreakable Vow at thirteen?!"

"Someone who finds comfort in expressing their darkest secrets with the one person who would take them to the grave. You are like a sister to me, Aurelia. A sister that cares about others, despite what gets thrown at her every day by those jealous of how she smiles through everything," Regulus said, swivelling his legs over to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with her.

"Telling me about the girl you fancy isn't a dark secret, Reggie," Aurelia mumbled with a short grin, leaning her head on his.

"It is when they're a half-blood from Hufflepuff, Reli."

"I hate that nickname, you know."

"I know you do, but it makes you smile brighter every time."

Aurelia kicked Regulus' shoe gently, resting a hand on his knee. "You may be closed off to most people Regulus Black, but you certainly do know how to distract someone," she said, standing up slowly. With her newly crafted journal between her fingers, she tapped her wand on it, and watched it disappear.

Regulus stayed where he sat, glancing up at one of the only people he considered a friend. Though he had not told her of his secret, he knew she would not press him about it, and nag until the terrible truth spilt. Aurelia Hope was as trustworthy as they got, and that was why his Unbreakable Vow with her cousin was so precious to him.

She was the healing hand that the world needed, despite how low she thought of herself.

And Regulus knew that his brother needed that healing hand most of all.

He was glad they had finally met this year, to see them both giggle and laugh over things dear to them in the Great Hall at breakfast.

Their smiles were what kept that dark secret of his from tumbling out.