Silent Riot | Regulus Black

TWENTY EIGHT

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY TED!' Gemma and Iz shouted as he walked into the Great Hall with Luke. 

'I'm sixteen,' Ted said with a goofy grin on his face as he sat down. 'Before all of you.'

'Not me,' Luke said, for surprisingly without a book in his hand. 

'Your just old. You don't count. People shouldn't be allowed to have birthdays in September.'

Gemma pulled out her present, and handed it to him. 

'It's a special quill,' she explained as he unwrapped it, 'when you write with it, only the person its meant for can see the ink.'

'Awesome,' he marvelled at the green- feathered quill. 'That's way better than Luke's present.'

'I gave him Hogwarts: A History,' Luke explained. 'Since he still asks how the sky is in the hall every single day.'

'He's never going to read it,' Iz said. Luke shrugged.

'Worth a try.'

'You know what's weird,' Ted said. 'My parents gave me a present too.'

'After you walked out on them?' Iz asked, sounding surprised. 

'You walked out on your parents?' Gemma said in shock.'

'Sometime before Christmas,' Ted dismissed. 'But they sent me this ring, said it was a family heirloom! Maybe they forgive me!" He held up his hand to show them the simple black ring on his index finger.

'That's ugly. My present is the best,' Iz said, pulling out a large bottle of something. 'It is an entire bottle of my new product, Voluptuous Volume, intended for hair!'

'This sounds like an advert,' Gemma said. 'And since when are you developing hair stuff?'

'Since I have decided to enter the beauty business,' Iz replied, pushing her own bleach blonde curls over her shoulder. 'I'll start selling soon. After I've found out if this one works.'

'So for his birthday, he gets to be your Guinea pig,' Luke said sceptically. Ted, on the other hand, looked absolutely thrilled, and was now cradling the bottle like it was some sort of elixir.

'Thanks Iz,' he marvelled as he stood from his seat. 'I am gonna go use this right now!'

'Oh, disclaimer, your hair could all fall out!' Iz called after him. He didn't hear her, and she shrugged and turned around. 

'Don't look, but there's a moron behind you Gemma,' Luke said, finally bringing out his book. Gemma turned to see Regulus, who was sneering at Luke. 

'Very funny,' he growled. Then he looked at her. 'I need to speak to you.'

'She doesn't want to speak to you,' Iz snapped. Regulus' eyes narrowed.

'Its urgent.' Gemma glared at him, but decided to hear what he had to say, and got up.

'If you want to call me a slag, I gotta tell you, you've already said it-'

'Just see what he wants Gemma,' Mulciber drawled lazily as he came to sit at the table. 

'Don't tell me what to do,' she muttered, following Regulus. She was still a bit embarrassed about kissing him at the match, and while she'd tried to explain that it was only because she got carried away with her enthusiasm for quidditch, he just smirked like an insufferable git and told her she was finding excuses and avoiding the inevitable attraction she felt towards him. Git.

'I need a favour,' Regulus said when they got outside, looking anywhere but at her. She didn't even try to contain her anger.

'A favour! You really are a self- entitled brat, Regulus Black!'