Forget-Me-Not → Regulus Black

Eccedentesiast

It felt good to be back. It was only two months, but Aurelia couldn't possibly put into words the complete bliss she felt when she looked at Hogwarts. The castle was completely filled with magic; anyone would be reminiscing their previous years. The muggle borns always had expressions of complete awe, and while many of the pureblood students tried acting indifferent, they too couldn't help the smile creeping up the corners of their lips.

One of the pureblood students in Aurelia's year captured her interest in particular. She knew who he was, always having endured Sirius' constant blabbering about how awful his family was. Of course, Aurelia didn't mind listening to him constantly criticize his family. Orion and Walburga sounded dreadful, and she would quite often refer to them as 'Onion' and 'Wallburger,' much to Sirius' amusement. 

The relationship between the two brothers used to be close, but with Sirius' sorting along with their parents' constant words of disgust on having such a disgraceful son, their bond swayed and eventually broke. Regulus would no longer to stick up for Sirius, and Sirius hardly stuck up for Regulus. Their relationship shattered into a million pieces, and the shattered glass could no longer be recovered. The pieces were too small to make any effort; it's as if holding a pile of dust and expecting to be able to put it back together into it's original form. It was simply too far gone.

"To each their own," Sirius always said whenever he brought it up. "He's made his beliefs clear, and I have mine. No way in hell would I try and make an effort — it's pointless." 

The first day of Hogwarts was by far the most exciting. It was the day you got your timetables, get to see your friends after an excruciatingly long summer, and best of all, learn magic.

Aurelia looked at her schedule, smiling once she realized she shared the majority of her classes with the Slytherins. Unlike Gryffindor, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws didn't have as much of a problem with them.

In Aurelia's eyes, a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin perfectly balanced one another, and Ravenclaw was known for being accepting — regardless of stereotypes and the common myth that all Slytherins were evil.

"You have potions with the Slytherins?" Xenophilius Lovegood, who was a year above Aurelia, asked. His pale blue were eyes shining brightly and Aurelia raised an eyebrow in a puzzled manner but nodded anyway. "We're learning poison antidotes according to our course schedule."

"Should be no problem for you, then," Xenophilius replied. Suddenly, a girl with dirty-blonde hair sitting a few seats away caught his eye. Noticing this, Aurelia nudged him. "Go talk to her."

"What?" Xenophilius spluttered.

"You don't seriously think I'm that oblivious. You obviously like her, and the way she's looking at you quite clearly shows her mutual feelings." 

Okay, that was a lie. Aurelia was known for being oblivious, as she was constantly reminded. But Xenophilius had the decency to not comment on it. Instead, he began by refusing her claim, "I honestly have no idea what you're talking ab—"

But Aurelia had already left, heading her way towards Potions class.

"Today we're going to learn about the Wit-Sharpening Potion. Does anyone know what the potion does?"

Aurelia saw a Slytherin raise his hand lazily. "It does exactly what it sounds like." 

Professor Slughorn looked mildly embarrassed. "Yes, well... Anyways, I will partner you all up in groups of two. We will be concocting a Wit-Sharpening Potion today in class. Any questions?" 

After hearing collective confirmations of understanding the day's lesson, Professor Slughorn took out a roll of parchment. "Avery, Miller..."

The list went on and on. Soon, there were only a few people left.

"Mulciber, Thompson..."

"Rosier, Trelawney..."

"Greengrass, Rivera..."

"Black, Livierre..." 

Son of a Banshee. 

Regulus Black, in all his pride and glory, remained seated at his table, forcing Aurelia to get up groggily, feeling slightly annoyed with Professor Slughorn's seating arrangements. Regulus gave Aurelia an amused smile, watching at she half-heartedly moved her legs and plopped up in the chair beside him. 

"Let's get started, shall we?" he asked, still eyeing her in an entertained fashion.

Aurelia flipped through the pages of her potions book. "Seems fairly simple." 

"Are you going to brag about your extensive potion knowledge the whole class?"

"Of course not." 

Aurelia left Regulus sitting there, quickly rummaging into a cabinet. She pulled out the necessary ingredients, and returned to her seat.

Regulus wrinkled his nose in disgust. "What exactly is that?"

"Ginger root, armadillo bile, and ground scarab beetles. Surely you know that already? Professor Slughorn talks so highly of you; I thought you would know the basic ingredients of a Wit-Sharpening Potion by fourth year." 

"It's a fourth year potion," Regulus deadpanned. "We weren't suppose to know the ingredients until now." 

"Only joking," Aurelia said. "How about you help me mix the ginger root?" 

Aurelia and Regulus worked in comfortable silence, Regulus sometimes stealing glances at the way Aurelia confidently mixed and remixed. It was a bit odd that whenever he happened to be in the company of her, he had a permanent smile. It was bizarre especially considering he hadn't smiled in such a long time — and even the rare occurrences he did — they weren't exactly real. 

How do you do it? How do you make me feel so carefree?

But then he felt suddenly disheartened. This wasn't Regulus' and Aurelia's first encounter with one another, but whenever they did meet, Aurelia looked completely indifferent. Unlike Regulus, whenever she saw him her cheeks didn't turn instantly pink — nor did her mood somehow change whenever he was around her. Regulus would mean nothing to her. She was friends with his brother, as well as a bunch of blood-traitors. Of course she wouldn't like him, someone who's inevitable future concerned the Dark Lord. 

His thoughts were interrupted when Aurelia jovially fist-bumped the air. "We're the first done!" she exclaimed. "Professor Slughorn is sure to give us a good grade!" 

"Great," said Regulus, his tone sounding slightly dejected. "Just great."