Stars and Mist | Regulus Black

c h a p t e r. s i x

"What are you saying?" Liora laughed incredulously. "You know the Black family. They're blood supremacists, like Anabel, and he and Anabel are arranged in the marriage anyway."

Mirabel looked straight at Liora. "I'm just telling you what I saw. He was stealing glances at you, and that's weird in itself seeing as you haven't had any meaningful interactions with him from our first year till now."

Liora shrugged. "What did Anabel want?"

Mirabel's face darkened. "Oh, nothing, just that I have a chance of getting disowned if I keep talking to Ollivander. Oh, yes, talking to someone in the Sacred Twenty-Eight is suddenly not allowed. What do they want me to do? Not talk to anyone?" Mirabel shook her head before moving to a more well-lit area. "Hey, wanna go to the Black Lake?"

Both girls set off toward the lake, basking in the cooling air surrounding them, sitting in silence by the lake. Liora looked at her friend in concern, watching the girl rub her eyes. To anyone else, it would just look like Mirabel had an itchy eye, but Liora knew better; her friend was upset. She didn't want to intrude on Mirabel's privacy. Finally, the girl pinched her nose, showing that she was done. Liora didn't know how to feel; should she feel sorry? Worried? Mirabel didn't like talking about her feelings, even to Liora.

The sun finished setting and the two headed back into the Slytherin common room, deciding not to eat. They fell asleep rather quickly, with nothing looming over their heads; what could go wrong?

***

Potions.

Liora had quickly grown to hate the subject; being paired with Regulus was terrible. Not only was he a know-it-all, but Slughorn would also give him the majority of the praise while she got nothing. Liora wasn't jealous of that; it was just so unfair on how he treated some students compared to others. So, it was no surprise that when Liora was in a bad mood, Potions class was not the best time to anger her.

"What's wrong with you? You're getting everything wrong-"

"Me? You were the one who added more curdled root when I told you that I'd already added it!"

"Yes, but you added the wrong type! It's your fault, you little-!"

The two Slytherin students were arguing rather loudly at the front of the class, finding ways to insult each other. What they were battling about? The assignment, to make a replenishing potion, was a rather complex potion requiring precise ingredients. Because neither student bothered to provide communication, the potion had turned out bad.

"Oh my god, why don't you just go ask Slughorn for a re-do? Better yet, a new partner? The blatant favoritism in this class can play out in your favor," Liora groaned.

"Favoritism? You're just jealous Slughorn doesn't think your potion-making skills are up to par!"

"Enough," Professor Slughorn intervened. "Detention, you two. Fifty points from Slytherin."

Both students glared at him at that, turning away from each other.

"Empty your cauldron. You will read the textbook until the end of class," Slughorn continued. Liora sighed and rolled her eyes, picking up her wand and waving it so the cauldron was empty. She grabbed her textbook and read it in silence, edging away from Regulus Black. Really, he could've just listened to her and everything would've been fine.

Class finished and Liora made her way towards Arithmancy, thankful that detention was all she got. The rest of the school day ran smoothly until detention. Liora reported to Slughorn's room, spotting Regulus making his way over as well. She knocked on the door, greeted by Slughorn's face.

"Ah, Miss Gaunt! Welcome, welcome..." His voice trailed off as she spotted Regulus, and Liora took it as an invitation to sit down. She did exactly that. She looked up as Slughorn shut the door, and both students sat on opposite sides of the room.

"For your detention assignment, I want you to brew a Volubilis Potion."

The instructions were on the board, and both students looked towards the teacher.

"Professor, there's only one cauldron."

Slughorn raised one eyebrow at that.

"Then I guess you'll have to share."

Unwillingly, Regulus moved to sit next to Liora, who went to get the ingredients. Both students worked quietly, with little to no communication. Liora moved to chop up some mint sprigs as Regulus monitored the potion until it turned red, then green.

"Honeywater," He said and Liora handed him the vial. Pouring it in slowly, the pair watched the potion turn a shade of pink. Liora turned the heat on again, waiting for the potion to turn orange before adding in some of the mint sprigs. They waited some more until the potion turned blue, then added some more sprigs.

Regulus reached over Liora to grab the stewed mandrake, unintentionally elbowing Liora in the ribs. She glared at him as he apologized halfheartedly. Sighing, she took the stewed mandrake from him and added it into the potion and it turned the perfect shade of orange, then added some Syrup of Hellebore to make it turquoise.

"I'll heat it," Regulus said. "You put away the things."

Nodding, Liora took the ingredients and placed them back neatly on their shelves, coming back when the potion turned its final shade of yellow. They looked up towards Slughorn in anticipation, and he nodded at them; it was done.

They left the potions classroom together, splitting up to get back to the Slytherin Common Room.

"Hey, Gaunt," Regulus called just as Liora was going to enter the girls' dorm. She whirled around to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"We should..." He seemed to have trouble pushing the words out. "Work in Potions like that more."

She nodded before disappearing upstairs, leaving him to look at her retreating back.

***

"Seriously?!" Mirabel exclaimed. "Detention went that well?"

Liora shot a dirty look at her. "No, detention is never good. I hated the atmosphere, the..." Her voice trailed off into a shudder. "It was just terrible."

Mirabel sighed. "Sure, but after detention. He literally just said he liked how you worked in detention, which was together." She paused for dramatic effect. "Together, Liora. Remember what I said before?"

"Um, Mirabel, we like working together too. Does that mean we like each other?"

"Not in that way, you bimbo."

Liora rolled her eyes. Her friend was the weirdest sometimes.