First Day

Slytherin was a cutthroat society, where people either muscled their way to the top or they snuck by with a cool wit. And friends were important. Rarely did you fight alone. But now I was alone, and so was Leandra.

As the Sorting Hat sang its new welcome ballad, I watched her. She knew how vulnerable she was. There were many in Slytherin pleased with her downfall, they were like vultures, eager to pick at her remains. But watching her, I was relieved to find, she was still refusing to be a victim.

She held her head up high. She looked undisturbed, unconcerned and dismissive of everything. If there was someone who could bounce back from something this bad, it was Leandra. She could build a new life. This was just another challenge. She could find new friends…

But I didn't want her to replace me. I hoped that I meant something to her, like she meant to me. I wanted her to know that she was irreplaceable to me.

Regulus looked at his new schedule; Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Art, Potion, Herbology, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures

His parents would be happy to know he managed to take the majority of the same classes as Sirius. They were avid that Regulus cleaned up after Sirius, which Regulus understood. A part of him also wanted to undue everything his renegade brother had done.

Without Leandra, it seemed many people were contending for Regulus's favor. Probably the most obvious were the Carrow twins, which was amusing because in the not so distant past Regulus used to laugh as Leandra cruelly played pranks on them. The twins had a temper that made for an easy target coupled with a brain the size of a walnut.

But now that Leandra was out of the way, the Carrow twins were eager to fill the void. Her absence meant a step closer to the Black Family for the Carrows. They even chose their classes based on Regulus's, but they only had the marks for four of his classes.

"What class do you have first?" Alecto asked, struggling to keep up with Regulus's stride.

"Magical Creatures." His favorite class.

"Kettleburn won't let me sign up for his stupid class," Amycus complained. Amycus and his sister did not have the patience for creatures. They didn't understand that a trust had to be built, of mutual understanding and something resembling respect. It was amazing how creatures could communicate with human beings. It said something about the nature of all living things.

"Don't the two of you have somewhere you need to be?"

"We have free until the afternoon," Amycus missed the hint completely.

"I heard Stirling is going to keep with Muggle Studies," Alecto said. "It makes sense now, with her mother being a Mudblood and all."

"Crafters need to take that course." Technically he wasn't defending her. It was true. Crafters were expected to take Muggle Studies. A crafter needed to know, first and foremost, the fundamentals of architecture. Since architecture was not magical in nature, it was taught in Muggle Studies.

"It shouldn't matter now," Amycus scoffed. "Her family won't give her an apprenticeship after school, she's been disowned."

"And no pureblood will hire her," Alecto added, delighted. Regulus only had to bare their company for a few moments longer before they turned back to the castle. From what he knew, there were no other Slytherin in his Care of Magical Creatures. This was a relief.

It was the last trip to Hogsmeade before the summer. The others were at the Three Broomsticks Inn, prematurely celebrating the end of the year. Her brother, Ascanius, had graduated that year, and he was one of the seventh years who ordered rounds of Butterbeer for all the other Slytherins. We only stayed for a while, and then she suggested we leave. She needed to pick up something at Dervish and Banges, and I offered to join her. At this point everyone assumed we were a couple, that it was only a matter of time before we declared ourselves as one. I thought so too then.

"Two more years," she breathed. We were making our way to the end of High Street. The flowers were finally in full bloom. The sun was bright above us. In the full sunlight her hair ignited into a copper rose. "Two more years, then no more Hogwarts. Frightening isn't it?"

"You're scared?" I asked with a grin, "You? Has hell frozen over already?"

"You weren't always this funny," she tried not to smile. I watched her lips pucker and then relax. "I'm not scared, I know more or less what I'll do after school. I always have. I'll get an apprenticeship, probably with an uncle or, hopefully, with my parents… but what I don't know about is the extra stuff."

Her eyes were avoiding me, though they danced at moments back to me. "Like what stuff?" I asked.

She shrugged. She wrinkled her nose and pushed up her glasses, she did it without thinking. It was automatic. I marveled at how uninhibited she could be. "Like… the extra stuff, Reg. Family, marriage, that kind of stuff." She was usually more eloquent than this.

"You're thinking about that?" I asked. A goofy excitement swelled up inside at what this conversation possibly meant.

Again she shrugged. We were approaching the store. "Who do you think you'll end up with?" she asked suddenly. "Like what type is your type?"

"Never really thought about it," I lied.

"No?" her voice was slightly higher than usual. "I mean- your family probably says things, you know, about it… right?" Her eyes finally looked into mine. They were such a deep brown, almost black, but fascinating.

"They aren't concerned about me making the wrong choice," I replied. "They agree with my choices thus far," I had to add. She smiled a little bit.

"Yeah, you wouldn't make the wrong choice," she agreed. "And your choice would be what you want, what you really want. That's rare, Reg. Not a lot of people are that lucky."

"How about you? Who do you see yourself with?" I redirected the attention. She blushed.

"That's silly," she laughed, "I don't even date. I don't think about those things."

His class mostly consisted of Hufflepuffs. There were seven in the class total, and everyone avoided him. Kettleburn was slicing up a potato as the class gathered. The potato slices fell into a large barrel that was filled to the rim with a variety of vegetables, fresh and bruised.

"Alright everyone," he called out as he wiped his hands on his robes, "when I say Erumpent, you say?"

Regulus missed Kettleburn's dry humor. His hand was the first to touch the sky.

"Black?"

"The Erumpent is a large gray African beast," he answered, "It's thick hide repels most charms and curses. They have a large sharp horn on its nose that can pierce metals and contains a deadly explosive fluid it injects its victims with upon contact."

"Typical, Black, straight to the beast's arsenal, eh?" Kettleburn grinned. Kettleburn might complain about the constant danger involved with his work, but he loved the near-death experiences just the same. Kettleburn was an aged adrenaline junky. "10 points for Slytherin. Erumpent horns, tails and Exploding Fluid are all used in potions, I don't remember which ones though, best to ask Slughorn if you're interested."

"Professor, d-do we have a Erumpent here?" a scared Gryffindor asked, her hand tightly holding onto her boyfriend's, as if she might faint. Regulus smiled to himself, an Erumpent won't attack unless provoked. So her face was paling for nothing.

"Unless you go poking it in the eye with your wand, Miss Dale," Kettleburn droned, "an Erumpent isn't going to charge. But yes, we have one waiting for us in the Forest. A friend just got back from a Safari. We only get the beauty for the day. Hagrid is watching over it until we get there."

"Are we going to feed it?" a Hufflepuff gestured to the full barrel of food.

"We might as well keep him happy and fed," Kettleburn replied. "Now, pair up as we venture into the great beyond," he took out his wand. The large barrel barely lifted off the ground and slowly trailed behind Kettleburn as he led his class. He ignored the fact that Regulus made up the end of the line, alone.

We found ourselves outside the Shrieking Shack. I don't know how we ended up there. We had picked up her things at Dervish and Banges and continued to wonder. There was no real conversation, we were just wondering together through Hogsmeade. We didn't mention returning to the Three Broomstick Inn where the others were.

"I don't even think its haunted," she said.

"Excuse me?" We were resting on a fallen log, facing the infamous house.

"The Shrieking Shack. I don't think it's haunted, it doesn't make sense."

"How can you tell?"

"Crafters can tell when a place is possessed or if it's being haunted by a violent spirit," she explained. She did that thing with her glasses again. "There are certain signs and this places hasn't got them."

"Are you sure? People are always reporting strange noises, screaming and howling," I replied. I didn't doubt she could be correct.

"I don't know everything," she gave in, but then added, "yet. But what I do know doesn't agree." I looked at the house, trying to see how she saw it.

"Regulus, why haven't you dated anyone?" she asked suddenly. She had been watching me.

"I guess," I stammered, "no one will have me?"

"Please," she grinned, "You're Regulus Black, you're like your brother, you're eye-candy."

"You think so?" I asked, very pleased. She blushed again I hadn't seen her do that this often.

"I've told you already how the girls talk about you," she told me. "It gets tiring, every Quidditch match all of them swoon with every dip or flip or turn you make. Don't play coy with me, you know it."

I smirked. I did hear these things, and there were a few girls who tried approaching me, but they never stayed around for long. They must have realized how hooked I already was on her. "Well," I responded, "I can't see myself with girls like them. I want someone who can make me swoon."

She gave me a weird look then broke into a smile, "You're odd, you know that?"

I laughed. "Sorry."

It was a fun class. Kettleburn had sealed the barrel just as they arrived at the clearing. The barrel of food was placed before the Erumpent. Hagrid slipped off the leather glove that covered its long, sharp horn. Kettleburn then had them all huddle about him.

The Erumpent, having smelt the food immediately, gently nudged the barrel. It quickly became frustrated, it knew the food was inside but it wouldn't come to him. Then it breathed testily, dug his front hoof in the ground and reared his head.

"Protego!" Kettleburn shouted just as the Erumpent stabbed its horn into the barrel. There was an instant explosion, chopped up vegetables flew everywhere. Kettleburn's shield prevented any scrapes from hitting him, his students, or Hagrid.

"Wow," Regulus was the first to break the stunned silence. Everyone nervously laughed, that had been an impressive introduction to the Erumpent. As they slowly regained their composure, the beast casually chewed on the scattered vegetables.

The rest of the class was dedicated to listing the diet, habitat and control of the Erumpent. Kettleburn pointed out the obvious anatomy and how to distinguish males from females. Apparently a shield charm is the only spell that can be used to prevent impalement.

Heading back, Regulus slowly followed after everyone else. Once they were outside of the Forbidden Forest people sprinted to get back indoors, probably to brag about what they had seen. Regulus kept at a slow pace, all that was waiting for him inside were the Carrow twins.

"Black," Kettleburn called after him. Regulus waited for his professor to catch up with him. "Now I let it slip this one time, but in the future you have to work in a group. I know you kids don't like to fraternize with the enemy House," Kettleburn said with a wave of his hand, "but suck it up and make new friends, Black."

That seemed to be the only advice people had for him lately. Regulus smirked, "Sure, professor."

"I was so sure Stirling was going to be in the class," Kettleburn went on. "She got herself an Outstanding. And I've known a crafter or two who took this subject N.E.W.T level. Guess you never know when a client wants a sphinx to guard their cookie jar or something ridiculous like that."

"Leandra's said crafters usually work with Beast Masters for projects like that," Regulus replied. If was sort of liberating to say her name, Kettleburn obviously had no idea what had happened over the summer. "I'm sure she's taking Arithmancy."

"Yeah, then she can't take this class, can she?" Kettleburn nodded. "It's a shame how scheduling works out, eh? You two worked well together."

Regulus couldn't dispute that. Kettleburn let him go, he had to prepare some Salamanders for his third years next period.

We were heading back to Hogwarts early. We were walking side-by-side, quiet and close. I could sense her hand was only a few inches away. I could feel the heat of her flesh so close. I should have reached out and grabbed her.

She took a sudden inhale, and then exhaled, I thought she was about to say something.

"I always imagined myself with an artistic type," she confessed abruptly. I didn't say anything. I wanted her to continue. I needed her to continue. "A fiery sort of relationship. Where we hate each other but crave each other at the same time. With lots of ups and downs, it would never be boring because it would be some passionate storm." She was animated, talking with her hands and the rest of her body. I never saw her like this. She couldn't be still.

"Oh." It was the only thing I could say. I wasn't artistic. Why say this? Was she warning me? Was she telling me I wasn't this storm?

"But now," she slowed down, "now I don't think that's for me. I don't think that's love even. Love should be… calming, right and constant. It's a blissful, abstract state of equilibrium or something. You know?"

I smiled at her, "It's perfect weather everyday, never stormy weather."

She was looking at me, surprised. I could see her on the edge of control. She was standing in unfamiliar territory. She was staring down a cliff and she wanted to jump. I wanted her to jump. I wanted us to jump together.

"Your eyes," she said finally, her voice soft. "I can never draw them properly… it's very annoying."

Waiting at the entrance, leaning awkwardly on a pillar with his arms crossed and his brow knitted, was Snape. By his feet laid his torn school bag, stuffed with books and supplies. Regulus hesitated, unsure what could be read from Snape's expression.

Snape caught sight of Regulus and pushed off the pillar. Regulus felt even more apprehensive.

"Black," he greeted. His oily complexion shone like the strange glint in his eyes. "You're fairly competent, aren't you?"

After the afternoon in Hogsmeade, we lounged in our commons and most people were already in their dorms for the night. Amycus had fallen asleep beside me on the couch. Leandra sat in the armchair across us, and she was carefully controlling a hovering quill while it drew obscene figures across Amycus's face.

I laughed as she drew him a unibrow. "If it was Alecto I wouldn't have to bother drawing it on," she commented.

"Draw him a few spots," I suggested, "on the left cheek to balance the ones on the right."

"Good idea," she grinned. As she finished the unibrow she steadily became the acne. I watched the quill, but every once and a while I'd look at her. It was hard not to. Amycus mumbled something incoherent and shifted, but remained fast asleep.

"I'm going to miss this," I told her. The quill paused.

"Miss what?"

"This, what we do when we're together," I explained. "Sirius and I use to have fun like this, but then he started school and… well you know how that's ended." I rarely spoke of my relationship with my brother, mostly because I could never explain it even to myself, but with her I found I was open about everything.

"My brother never did this sort of thing," Leandra said. "He was always the serious one. Didn't see the point in pranks. I don't see how you can't at a boarding school, I'd go mad if I didn't have the Carrows to doodle on."

She drew a line of ants leading to the corner of his mouth that hung wide open.

"What did you mean when you said 'I'm going to miss this'?" she asked me. "Where are you going?"

"Well I meant over the summer," I replied. "I didn't mean I was leaving, or anything."

"You could you know," she said carefully. I frowned. "It's strange, how it started, I mean we really started talking because I was blackmailing you."

"Yeah, but… it was fun."

"I find I'm rather unpleasant," she smirked. "I'm arrogant, sarcastic and bitchy. Why do you put up with me?"

Even though she smiled, I could see a timid thing behind it. "Leandra," I said, unsure how I could tell her everything without endangering everything, "I've never met someone like you. You're smarter, stronger and funnier than anyone I know. Without you I'd be… well I'd be miserable and left with company like the Dim Twins here."

She blushed again, the third time that day. "I guess we're both lucky then, that we ended up stuck in Slytherin, huh?" she looked at me coyly. "And we got two more years together. After that, we'll have to share each other with the rest of the world."

The quill set itself on the table. I waved my wand, and the ants started to move their tiny legs, scurrying across his face. There was warmth. It didn't come from the fireplace. It came from her, and the thought that for the next two years we had each other.