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chapter sixty-four,
everything but you
September 18th, 1975
My darling Beatrice,
I am sure you will be excited to hear that your cousin Massimo and Miss Emerita Zabini have finally set a date for their wedding - October 31st. You will be expected home at least a day before then, so please pass this note on to your head of house as soon as possible so that we can get your absence approved.
Much love, Mum
☾
Beatrice liked to think that she knew everything about Regulus Black, and for the most part, she was right. She knew trivial things like his favorite band, favorite food, and that even though his house was large, he shared a room with his brother until he was eight because he was scared of the dark. She knew that he'd stolen a joint from Sirius over the summer, smoked it in his room, and proceeded to cough so hard he almost got Kreacher to take him to Mungo's because he thought his lungs were on fire. She knew that his favorite book was Dante's Inferno, and that he was trying to learn Italian so that he could read the text in its original language. She also knew more serious things, like that the pressure his parents put on him made him feel like he's drowning, and that he's worried he's destined for something terrible.
Oh! And she also knew that he was smart. Like, really smart.
It was this knowledge that allowed her to look slightly less confused than the rest of her O.W.L level potions class when Regulus walked into the classroom one day in the middle of October.
Sirius, who had been laughing about something or another with James at the back of the class, immediately stopped, and leaned forwards in his seat. "Darling brother," he drawled in an accent so pure-blooded it had to be ironic. "I think you've stumbled into the wrong class."
Regulus just ignored him, and sat down in the only empty seat left at the front of the class - right next to Lily Evans.
Beatrice shifted in her seat slightly. "That's weird," she whispered to Alice (who she was sharing a desk with, of course). "Why isn't Evans sitting next to Snape?"
