Love, Life, And Lies- Regulus Black

.destructive detention.

.your worst battle is between what you know, and what you feel.

The weeks passed and gradually it became easier to count the days left in the term than it was to count the amount that had passed. The snow melted, and spring had overtaken the Hogwarts grounds with full force. The black lake had completely melted, and the Whomping Willow was covered in tiny blossoms that looked almost as if popped corn was springing from the branches.

It was on one such beautiful spring day that I found myself sitting outside in the courtyard wracking my brain, trying to finishing an essay for Herbology. A wizard in Nepal had begun growing gravity-resistant trees, and Professor Sprout was so remarkably excited that she wanted a two-foot essay on how such a plant could impact the future of the Wizarding world. The thing was that I honestly couldn't bring myself to care in the slightest about gravity-resistant trees. Homework was a remarkable challenge when you hated the subject.

But I was determined to finish, so I clenched my teeth and attempted to write. I hadn't been working for more than a quarter of an hour when a shadow appeared over my parchment, blocking the sun from warming my body.

I looked up into the dull blue eyes of Mallon Mulciber. My heart seemed to stop beating, and my blood turned to ice inside my veins. I tore my eyes from his and scanned the courtyard, relieved to see that there were many other students around. He couldn't hurt me.

"How are you?" Was his simple greeting. The way his words rolled off his tongue sickened me as I remembered the vile things he had whispered in my ears the night he attacked me. An involuntary shudder went through my body.

"I don't want to speak to you. You had best leave me alone before anyone finds out you have tried to talk to me." I replied through clenched teeth, finally having calmed myself enough to speak. The threat was about more than just Sirius and Regulus finding out. Mulciber knew that I to a certain degree was under the protection of the Dark Lord.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright." His words came like a slap to the face. I quickly jumped to my feet in defiance, anger coursing through my veins. My ink bottle and roll of parchment I had been working on fell to the ground, the bottle shattering, sending black ink flying in every direction. I inwardly groaned as I watched the liquid coat the parchment of the essay I had been working on.

"You want to make sure I'm alright? After what you did to me?" I spat, venom coating my words, making them sound poisonous. My eyes narrowed as I glared at him.

He opened his mouth a few times to reply but seemed as if he couldn't find the right words. It was just as well. There were no words that could possibly ever fix what he had done to me. Some things were simply unforgivable.

"I didn't have a choice." He finally stated, his voice taut and strained. I saw a dangerous fire flash behind his eyes that made my skin crawl with uneasiness.

"We always have a choice. You simply didn't want to deal with the consequences." I replied, emphasizing the fact that he could have chosen an alternative, but knowing very well that the alternative was not one he was willing to risk.

"Yes, forgive me. The consequence of such a thing would be death, and I really didn't want to deal with that so soon in life."

"If you are looking for sympathy, I suggest you look elsewhere. You won't get any from me." I jeered, trying to end such an unfortunate encounter. Why he had approached me, I had no idea.

"I don't want your sympathy. I just want you to understand why I did it." He said, a look that almost seemed to be regret filling his eyes. His fingers fiddled with a loose string on his robes, and I felt something that I strangely identified as pity. Begging for my understanding was a pitiful action.