Raven | 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 73

With winter and Christmas approaching, the weather grew colder and colder. Although despite the weather, Alexandra would go with Regulus to the Quidditch pitch whenever there was a match, even though she wasn't a big fan of the sport. But she knew how much Regulus loved Quidditch, and that was a good enough reason for her.

In return, Regulus would accompany Alexandra once a week down toward the edge of the Dark Forest to visit Hagrid in his hut.

      In fact, Regulus had come to love their little visits, even though he never admitted to it. He found Hagrid an amazing person with a kind heart and probably with the best tea anyone had ever made.

At first, whenever Alexandra and Hagrid went into the forest to either visit Buckbeak or another creature, Regulus would follow them with hesitation and jump each time he heard a weird noise in the woods.

     But eventually, he came to realize how interesting all those amazing magical creatures that lived among the tall tree of the forest really were.

They once ran into a herd of centaurs, and even though they didn't seem too friendly, Regulus was still amazed. Even the tiny Bowtruckles in the trees looked most adorable, and he had even grown fonder of the Niffler that currently lived in Hagrid's hut.

Hagrid still hadn't managed to get Alexandra's watch from the Niffler which she had given to him in exchange for Regulus's necklace, but she insisted that it was fine and she didn't like it that much anyway.

Near Christmas, the Heads of Houses soon walked into their common rooms just like they did every year, asking for the names of students who were planning on staying at Hogwarts for the holidays.

As Edna had asked her in the letter, Alexandra gave her name to Professor Flitwick, so she could spend Christmas this year at Hogwarts. But that day, as she met Regulus in the Great Hall so they could go to Transfigurations together, she was faced with a surprising news from him.

"You're — you're staying at Hogwarts for Christmas?" Alexandra repeated his words, staring at Regulus with wide eyes.

"Yeah." He nodded casually, a hint of a grin playing at the edge of his lips.

"But... don't you want to be with your family?" She raised a brow at him.

"No, I'm sure they'll understand," he said reassuringly. "I told them that I needed to stay at Hogwarts this year to study for the N.E.W.Ts. And they agreed."

"Oh, Reggie... you really didn't have to—"

"Why not?" He smiled charmingly, shrugging. "Is it a crime to spend more time with my girlfriend?"

Alexandra came to a stop, her smile widening. "Girlfriend?"

As if only realizing what he had just blurted out, Regulus halted, rubbing the back of his neck nervously with his hand.

"W-well, we've been going out for some while, and — and I thought we didn't really have to have that talk, and — er — I just figured that's what we were."

Giggling, Alexandra moved forward and placed a little kiss on his cheek. "I guess that makes you my boyfriend, then."

And so, with her cheeks pink and her heart lurching in her chest, Alexandra started walking away. Regulus was frozen on his spot for a second, dazed, before following her away with a sheepish smile on his face.

***

Regulus was never really a big fan of Professor Slughorn's large Christmas parties, and so he was thoroughly relieved that Slughorn was away this year to attend a gathering held by the Ministrer of Magic himself.

So as Christmas eve arrived, Alexandra and Regulus found themselves alone in the castle, along with the teachers and only a few other students.

Two third year Ravenclaws were staying at Hogwarts other than Alexandra, along with four Hufflepuffs and two Gryffindor fifth years who wanted to stay and study for their O.W.Ls. Although Regulus was the only one remaining at Hogwarts in the Slytherin House.

     That night, Alexandra was enjoying having the dormitory all to herself. She laid on the bed on her stomach, reading a book she had recently gotten from the Room of Requirements.

     The chapter was almost coming to an end that her head suddenly shot up when she heard a knock at the dorm's window. Looking up, Alexandra saw an owl flying out of the window, knocking at the glass with its beak as it carried a letter.

     A sense of worry ran all over her body as chills, thinking that it was yet another letter from Edna, bearing bad news. So she abruptly slammed the book shut and walked toward the window, opening it to let the owl in.

      The moment the owl dropped the envelope to the ground, it flew away out of the window and back toward the night sky. Alexandra quickly closed the window again to prevent the cold from creeping inside the room any more than it already had.

     She then bent down and picked the envelope up, opening it hurriedly to take the letter out of it as she read it through,

Meet me in the dungeons.
Watch out for Filch.
R.A.B

     At those words, Alexandra felt a little smile make its way over her face, feeling her heartbeat pick up with excitement.

     So as quick as humanly possible, Alexandra got up and changed out of her sleeping robes into a prettier outfit and threw one last glance in the mirror to check her hair, before running out of the common room and down the Ravenclaw tower.

     Cautiously, Alexandra entered each corridor after making sure it was empty and Filch-free, making her way down toward the dungeons as Regulus had asked her in the letter.

     Although the trouble was that she had never been through this part of the castle before and even though she knew what the Slytherin common room looked like from the inside, she had no idea where its entrance was.

      But just then she nearly yelped in horror when out of nowhere a hand grabbed onto her arm and dragged her back, hiding themselves behind the wall.

     Alexandra glanced back, relaxing only when she saw that it was Regulus.

     "What are you doin —"

     "Shh!" She was saying, but he cut her off, still both of them remaining hidden behind the wall.

      "The Bloody Baron was around," Regulus whispered, listening carefully.

     After a minute or two, Regulus finally took a step away, looking around before sighing in relief when he saw that the ghost of the Baron was gone.

     "Sorry," he chuckled sheepishly. "He's a scary bloke, that Baron."

     You don't even know half of it, Alexandra thought to herself, remembering Helena.

      "So what is it? You said in the letter you wanted to meet up," said Alexandra, speaking rather quietly, just in case.

      "Yeah." He nodded, now grinning. "I wanted to show you the Slytherin common room."

     "Th-the Slytherin common room?" Alexandra repeated, surprised. "But — wouldn't we get into trouble?"

      "Not if we don't get caught." He winked, laughing. "I'm the only Slytherin left for the holidays, and I have the whole place to myself. So... what do you say?"

      Alexandra hesitated at first, but she finally nodded shyly, smiling. "All right. Let's go."