𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞 || 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Chapter 14

Wednesday 5th November, 1976

The next day I found myself continuing to avoid the marauders, instead hanging out with Lily, Mary, and Marlene. It was the afternoon, class for the day finished, and all four of us were outside walking along the grounds of Hogwarts.

"It's getting colder," Marlene mentioned as she shivered. "Soon it's going to be December, and I still don't have any good gloves."

"Snow is definitely my favourite part of winter," Lily said wistfully. "I can't wait for next month."

"Christmas is my favourite part of winter hands down," Marlene replied.

I smiled at her excitement when she mentioned Christmas, as did the others.

"I'm quite excited for the Yule Ball, actually," Mary commented. "The dresses, the food, the romance. What's more to like?"

I snorted and Mary playfully nudged my shoulder with hers.

"What's your favourite part of winter Y/n?" Lily asked.

I hummed, thinking, before shrugging. "I don't know, really. I love the snow, I adore Christmas, and I haven't attended the Yule Ball yet, so they're all pretty equally tied."

I didn't mention the fact that I was very excited to finally attend the Yule Ball, afraid I'd get teased for how much I wanted to go. The Christmas ball was only open to fifth, sixth, and seventh years, so I'd never had a chance to go before now. I was very eager to go to it.

We started heading inside as it began to turn dark, arriving at the Great Hall just as dinner began. I noticed James and the marauders staring at me from their usual seats at the Gryffindor table and ignored them, electing to sit with the girls.

I often found James staring at me whenever we were near each other and wondered if he missed me like I missed him, because I did. I was angry at him, yes, livid even, but that didn't stop the loneliness creeping in when I remembered we were no longer talking. He was my brother; we weren't used to spending time apart, but I wasn't ready to talk to him again. I needed time to get past what he did and acknowledge that he didn't mean anything bad by it, but I just wasn't ready yet.

"Hey, it's okay," Lily said quietly from beside me.

The other girls stopped talking, eyeing me with sympathy or pity. I didn't like it much.

"I'm fine, really," I said. "Who do you guys think you're going to go with to the Yule Ball?"

The girls didn't question my change of subject and talked about the new topic gladly. I was relieved they were no longer looking at me like I was some wounded animal, because I wasn't. I missed my brother, yes, but I was also angry with him and it was my choice not to spend time with him.

Even so, I fell asleep that night missing my brother.

. . .

Thursday 6th November, 1976

"We'll need supplies for it," Regulus reminded me.

"Yeah, I know," I said frustratedly. "Out of all the things from Zonko's, I forgot to get the one thing we need."

It was lunch, and Regulus and I were in the library where we were supposed to be studying for our Transfiguration assignment. It wasn't going so well, because we were definitely not studying, instead having been distracted by the prank we were planning on the marauders.

"There's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend, we can get the supplies then," Regulus offered, somewhat begrudgingly.

"Okay," I agreed. "Now we should probably study."

Regulus nodded his head, and I grabbed one of the books piled on the desk to read. We had finally figured out a rough plan of what we were going to do for the prank, though it definitely needed some work.

I focused on the book in front of me and began reading, Regulus doing the same with one of his own books, both of them about Animagus. We read in silence, and I was surprised at how peaceful it was to study with him, nothing like studying with the marauders. I was also surprised to find I liked studying with him.

We wrote down notes of what we learnt while reading and for a while it was... nice. No bickering, not glares, just silently working side by side, occasionally reciting an interesting fact to one another. Unfortunately, nothing nice between us ever lasts.

"Should we swap notes now?" I asked when I noticed we only had 10 minutes until class.

"Sure," Regulus answered, grabbing my notes as I grabbed his.

We worked in silence as we read over each other's work. That was, until, I heard the scratching of parchment and looked up to find Regulus writing on my notes. I frowned.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Correcting your grammar," Regulus answered, not even looking up from my work.

I scowled and tried to grab my work. He moved it out of reach and continued writing, all the while a small smirk was on his face. He knew this was annoying me and he was enjoying it.

I lunged again, my hands curling around the edge of my parchment as I tugged. There was the distinct sound of paper tearing as I pulled away, and I looked to my hand where I was holding the bottom half of my once whole work.

"Look what you've done," I hissed, glaring daggers at the boy in front of me.

"Me? You were the one who ripped it," he retorted.

I scoffed. "I wouldn't have tried to get it back in the first place if you hadn't been a twat and started correcting my grammar."

"Well, maybe you should work on your grammar then," he said in an irritatingly calm voice.

"Piss off," I responded, grabbing my stuff, and storming out of the library.

I was in a bad mood the rest of the day, and it only worsened when I saw my brother and his friends laughing the hallway. When they noticed me, their laughter died down instantly and James took a step forward, intending to say something. I did a 180 before he could open his mouth and left them alone in the corridor as a bitter taste filled my mouth.

All in all, it had not been a good day. 

A/N:

sorry for the short chapter. it was sort of a filler chapter but also sort of not, because i wanted to remind people that regulus and y/n still hated each other. aren't they so cute? 🥰🥰🥰

also, to clear up confusion, here is my posting schedule. i publish a new chapter every friday (australian time) and occasionally post during the week, but only if i feel like it.

hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter! the next one is a good one in my opinion.