RISE OF THE FALL | R.B.

XVII.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter World belongs to J.K. Rowling.

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CHAPTER XVII.

"I couldn't—Reia, I'm sorry—but it's the truth—I couldn't refuse without bringing great shame to my own family. And as much as I...don't really fully agree with my family's views...I still don't want to disappoint them—I don't want them to see me as a failure even though I'm not—I'm not like them." Regulus said, raking a hand anxiously through his dark hair, "And I don't know what to do now—,"

"Calm," Reia said, cutting him off, and Regulus finally stopped and took a breath.

"Okay," Regulus said after a moment, "I'm calm. Any advice for me?"

"Stop stressing about it," Reia said quietly with a shake of her head, "We have our final year at Hogwarts left to enjoy before we have to go into the real world."

Josie, who was sitting beside Reia, nodded in agreement and said, "What's the point of having a Seventh Year if all you're going to do is stress about the next?"

***

Josie Nott didn't seem as stressed as Regulus, but she was just as worried. She was going to become a Death Eater soon herself, and she was dreading it—she was dreading that one day, she would have to stand on the opposite side of Reia—that she might have to one day be forced to fight one of her best friends.

Because even though Reia was a Slytherin—and even though she was a great friend of most of the Slytherins, she was not a pure-blood Slytherin.

She did not come from some Ancient, pure-blooded family with firm beliefs in blood purity and involvement with the Dark Lord.

Reia did not have to face the pressure of being forced to become a Death Eater—the pressure of having to step up in a duel and fight for the Dark Lord and not be afraid of using the worst, most unforgiveable of curses.

Lucius and Narcissa—although they were friends with Reia, they still were firm believers in blood purity. They still valued pure-bloods above anything else and wanted nothing to do with any muggles.

In their first year, Josie had watched Lucius and Fagan make fun of Reia—and she had been expecting Reia to break and sob—like all of the other students whom Lucius and Fagan made fun of.

But instead of crying, Reia had snapped at them and told them to go away...

"Oi, little half-blood!" Lucius had taunted as the First Year girl stepped into their compartment.

Reia had done nothing wrong. She'd politely asked whether if she could sit with them, and Josie had been about to reply when Lucius had cut her off.

Josie watched from where she sat at Narcissa Black's side, Bellatrix snickering beside her sister and Narcissa and Josie both silent as they watched the scene unfold before them.

Josie already knew what was going to happen.

Fagan shoved the girl roughly, and the girl glared at him fearlessly and snapped, "Watch it."

Josie's eyes widened. The girl was brave enough to snap at her older brother?

She whirled around to Lucius and snarled, "You, too. Both of you—stay away. I'll be leaving now."

Then, the girl turned and stormed out of the compartment, muttering angrily under her breath.

There was a moment of long silence before Fagan finally spoke.

Fagan glanced at Lucius, "Bet you 5 Galleons she's going to be a Slytherin."

"Josie?"

"What?" Josie snapped upright and realised that she'd been silent for a long while, staring blankly out of the window as she remembered the memory from the first time that she'd step foot in the Hogwart's Express.

She was here again—seven years later.

Oh, how different the circumstances were today.

Reia had always been fiery—she had always been a Slytherin.

But even though Reia Lupin was a Slytherin, she was not bad.

She was good at her heart.

But Josie didn't know whether if her own heart was good or bad.

She didn't know if she wanted to be good or bad.

"Um—I'm sorry. Excuse me. I'm just—I'm going to the bathroom."

Josie quickly excused herself and headed out of the compartment without another word.

Author's Note:

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Cya <3