Raven | 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 74

With that, Regulus's grin widened and in a quick motion he grabbed her arm, pulling her away. Alexandra chuckled. It seemed like they were always dragging each other around.

Alexandra was growing confused as Regulus lead her through the different dark halls of the dungeons, wondering how long it took Slytherins to learn how to get to their common room in their first year.

But at last, they came to a stop in from of a stone wall, and Regulus said, "Salazar Slytherin."

On cue, the stone wall started to move aside at the mention of the password, revealing the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

"Hmm... so you guys don't have to answer any sort of riddle to get into your common room?" Alexandra mused. "That's way more sensible, actually, to say a password. Do you have any idea how many times someone was stuck behind our door for hours because they couldn't guess the riddle? It happens to someone at least once a month."

Regulus chuckled. "Well, I guess sometimes cunningness is better than cleverness." He winked at her, walking into the common room.

Alexandra smiled, hesitantly following him forward. She looked around, knowing that she had been in here once before. The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains.

       A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherin signs were carved on its chairs.

     "Whoa... this place is enormous." Alexandra breathed out as she looked around in awe, deciding not to mention that she had already been here before, though in her grandfather's memories, in his Pensieve.

"Which one is better then?" Regulus questioned with a playful grin. "Ravenclaw or Slytherin common room."

"Oh, definitely Ravenclaw," she said proudly before giggling. "Our common room may not be as large as yours, but it's more... airy and calming. But the one thing that I always thought it lacked was a warm fireplace to curl up before it on an armchair and read a book all through winter."

Regulus chuckled at her dreamy sigh with his hands handsomely in his pockets, watching as she sat on the floor before the green fireplace.

     "I got you something, by the way," Regulus suddenly said out-of-the-blue, breaking the peaceful silence of the common room.

Alexandra turned around to look over her shoulder from where she sat on the floor before the fireplace, watching with excitement as Regulus took of a wrapped up box from the table, before walking toward her.

"Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed happily as he handed it to her, sitting on the floor as well. "I was going to wait until Christmas morning to give yours."

"It's all right." He shook a hand at her reassuringly, saying with extreme eagerness, "Open it up."

Smiling broadly like a fool, Alexandra quickly opened the wrappings to reveal a small and tiny wooden box. But when she opened the lid, Alexandra blinked a few times in confusion at what she saw in the box.

"Are these... Galleons?" she questioned with furrowed brows, staring down at the two golden coins inside it.

"Yes." Regulus kept on smiling. "Take them out. Hand one of them to me, and hold the other one yourself."

      Alexandra was confused, but she obliged anyway. So with that, she took the two Galleons out of the box and handed one to Regulus and held onto the other one herself, waiting for him to explain what he had in mind.

      "Okay. Now open your palm and place the Galleon on it," Regulus guided her, and Alexandra did as she was asked. She held up her hand and placed the golden coin upon her open palm.

      "Now what?" she asked curiously, waiting impatiently for something to happen.

      But Regulus didn't answer and only smiled. Then, with the second Galleon in his hand, he closed his fingers into a fist and gripped the coin firmly in his grasp.

      Alexandra was about to ask what he was doing, but she then let out a gasp when she felt the Galleon on her palm grow warmer and warmer against her skin.

     "How did you — how did this —" Alexandra said in a hollow voice, staring down at the warm coin in shock, which was turning slightly red.

      "I've put a Protean Charm on these two Galleons, which we had learnt about in Professor Flitwick's class this year," Regulus explained, still smiling. "We can each keep one of these coins. If one of us holds on tight to it, the other would feel their Galleon going warm and it would go slightly red. So if we're keeping it in our pockets and sense it going warm, we know that the other is thinking about us."

"Oh Reggie, that's —"

"And before you say anything, I know this isn't like a big gift or anything... but I thought you might like it. Or at least I hoped that you would."

Alexandra smiled at him, her cheeks turning pink. "This is the best gift you could've given me."

They were both now seated on the floor, they're faces only a few inches apart and lightened by the fire before them. But Alexandra suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine as Regulus's eyes travelled down her lips.

The silence was reigning the walls of the Slytherin common room and the only sound that could be heard was the small cracking fire and their soft breathings. And then slowly, Regulus started to lean in, his grey eyes still fixed on her cherry red lips.

She could now feel his soft lips grazing against hers, and so she closed her eyes, closing the remaining space between them with a kiss.

     She felt the breath hitch in her chest as Regulus moved closer to her as they were sitting on the floor, their lips moving in sync. His hand moved up and he placed it gently upon her rosy cheek, deepening the kiss.

Alexandra then moved her hand upward to softly reach out for his robe's collar, but they pulled away quickly and she let out a gasp when her fingers got tangled with something chain-like.

It was his necklace.

"I'm sorry," Alexandra said briskly, pulling away from his with an uneasy and guilty look upon her expression. "I-I didn't mean to —"

"No, it's all right. Don't worry 'bout it," Regulus said hastily, clearing his throat as he shifted awkwardly on the floor, throwing his gaze away and glancing into the fireplace.

Another silence filled the space between them, but this time it wasn't as comfortable as it had been, neither of them knowing what they were supposed to say anymore.

"Are you still not going to tell me the story behind that necklace?" Alexandra asked brightly as a last attempt to draw him into a conversation.

      She tried to sound gleeful, but her chuckle which followed didn't sound full-heartedly.

"It's — nothing," Regulus mumbled, not taking his eyes off the burning flames before them.

Alexandra felt her heart ache, her eyebrows furrowing with hurt as she whispered, "You can trust me."

It broke her heart when Regulus didn't look back at her again, and this time he didn't even bother to answer her. Alexandra looked away from him, regretting that she had mentioned this and feeling the guilt surge from within her.

     But just then, her head snapped up when he finally said in a mere whisper,

      "Lisa Goldman," said Regulus after a long pause, finally turning to look at her. "The girl who gave me this necklace was Lisa Goldman."