Chapter Four- Secrets among friends

It was a warm, March, Friday morning and it was the first morning in ages the group of friends had a class together. Their first class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, Bri's favorite class.
"Come on Bri! Get your ass out of bed!" Dawn exclaimed tugging at her feet.
"Mmmm...go away" came the mumbled reply.
Lily laughed. "We're going to be late, it's your favorite class" Lily groaned putting her hand on her hip. No reply. Dawn rolled her eyes and they left.
When Bri heard the door slam she got up and went into the shower. Then got dressed in a pair of tight jeans, a white t-shirt and cowboy boots. Grabbing her I-pod, she headed out the door.

Meanwhile...

"Hey you two... where's Bri?" Sirius faltered.

"Upstairs, asleep" Dawn rolled her eyes. The boys looked dumbfounded.

"Oh well, lets go" Remus smiled. Dawn walked out- talking to Lily - and ran smack into someone.

"Oof" Dawn grunted falling backwards. Sirius caught her.

"Regulus! What are you doing out here?" Lily asked.

"I'm waiting for someone" he said.

"You're waiting for someone in Gryffindor?" James raised his eyebrows. Regulus gave a curt nod. Suddenly the portal opened and Bri walked out. She didn't even notice them.

"Look at that body, shaking that thing like you never did see. Got a nice package alright, guess I'm gonna have to ride it tonight" Bri sand as she fished through her bag looking for some homework. She started humming, while tapping her foot. "Gonna have to ride it tonight edit... 4,3,2, o-ahhh!" Bri jumped when she looked up. "Holy crap!" Bri exclaimed ripping off the earphones. All six of the people were looking at her, eyebrows raised. She blushed. "Whoops, sorry about that, he he" she squeaked scratching her head, cheeks still quite pink from embarrassment. "Oh! Regulus, what are you doing out here?" Bri smiled warmly.

"Picking you up for breakfast... Remember?" he reminded. She stared at him for a moment then smacked her head.

"Oh yea! I forgot about that, lots of homework last night" Bri grinned. Her friends looked at her.
Bri's eyes widened, then she walked briskly over to Regulus' side, linking arms with him.

"Um... I'm really sorry guys, but... Regulus and I-."

"Are dating. Since before Christmas break" Regulus finished, wrapping his arm around her. Bri looked down at her feet as Dawn walked over.

"When were you going to tell us?" she asked softly.

"I was going to. Just I didn't want to face your reactions... like I am now" Bri sighed. Sirius grabbed Bri's hand and pulled her to the side.

"Bri, you don't know what he's up to. What if he hurts you" Sirius whispered.

"Sirius, he's not up to anything, he wont hurt me" Bri assured.

"Bri, he's a Slytherin and twice your size. He's dangerous!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I don't care. I love him and I can take care of myself" Bri snarled. "come on Reg, lets go" Regulus followed his girlfriend down the hall.

At the Great Hall...

Dawn, Lily and the Marauders sat down at Gryffindor table. Talking quietly amongst themselves about their friends new love for a certain Slytherin. When their friend walked in holding Regulus' hand. Her lips slightly swollen, her cheeks flushed. Her hair was slightly tousled as well. They watched as she fixed her hair walking with "him". Dawn threw a biscuit at Bri's head. Bri looked over at her "friends" and watched Dawn wave her over, frantically. Bri's eyes narrowed dangerously as she glared at her. Then went to go sit with Regulus. She began to eat as he kissed her cheek.

After taking a few bites, Bri looked up and giggled. Alex was looking at Dawn and she was giving him weird looks. Bri nearly fell out of her chair laughing when Sirius positioned himself in front of her in a protective manner.

"What are you giggling about?" Regulus smiled. Bri nodded over in their direction.

"Alex was giving Dawn looks, and she was giving him funny looks, then Sirius noticed and positioned himself so he was blocking his view of her" Bri giggled. Regulus snorted. Bri looked over at James and Lily and her eyes brightened. "They look so cute together" Bri thought to herself. Her attention was caught by Shay, one of Regulus' best friends. He was looking at her funny... almost hungrily. She gave a soft smiled then looked down at her watch. "Oh! We got to go to class Reg, we're going to be late" Bri jumped up and gathered her bags, briskly walking between Slytherin and Gryffindor tabled catching the attention of her friends. Regulus then took one last bite of toast and nodded to his friends, then followed her out.

During Defense...

Regulus and Bri were sitting near the front side by side, while Alex and Shay were sitting behind them. Lily, Dawn and the Marauders were sitting up near the back paying close attention. "Oh for gods sake, she's talking crap again. This is so boring" Bri whispered to Regulus.

"Tell me about it, I could be asleep right now" Regulus whispered back. Bri snickered. She then put her feet up on the desk and pulled out a book and began to read.

She was in the middle of the 10th chapter when the teacher called upon her. "Ms. Angelus?" The professor called.

"What?" Bri answered her eyes still on the page.

"Why are you reading in the middle of my lesson?" the professor demanded.

"Because I'm bored, ever thought of living your class up here?" Bri looked up and grinned.

"Not this again Ms. Angelus, do you plan to disrupt my class, every time you come" the professor sighed.

"Of course, until you learn what you're talking about, and until it gets exciting I plan to." Bri smirked devilishly. The class snickered. The professor stared at her.

"Once again, do you want to teach the class?" The professor glared at her.

"Once again, sure" Bri grinned.

"Sit down Ms. Angelus, I will not tolerate this kind of behavior, if there is any more trouble, it'll be straight to the Headmaster's office" the professor threatened. Bri nodded. As the professor turned her back Bri stuck her tongue out and gave the finger. The class laughed and the professor spun around to see Bri busily writing notes. She turned back around and Bri looked up and began to mimic her.

Later on...

It was after classes and Bri and Regulus were walking out by the lake under the moon light holding hands. He stepped up onto a rock and helped Bri up too. Wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm they looked out over the water watching all the stars.

"I love you" Regulus whispered in her ear. She turned around and smiled softly.

"I love you too" He leaned down and kissed her, as she kissed back she felt something cool and smooth slip onto her finger. She pulled away and looked down. "Oh Reg, its beautiful"

"I thought you'd like it. It's a promise ring. We're promised to each other now... that is if you accept." He smiled. Wrapping her arms around him to give him a hug, she whispered,

"of course".

Out side the common room...

"I had a great time, thank you" Bri said quietly.

"No problem, see you tomorrow?" Regulus asked.

"Of course" Bri grinned leaning up she kissed his cheek then went inside. Hanging up her bag, she walked out into the common room and leaned up against the wall, taking off the ring she looked at it and found a little message. "Promised to you, my love". She grinned and put it back on, looking back she sighed and skipped over to the couches, not even noticing the group of people on it, until she almost sat on one of them.

"Hey! Do I look like a seat cushion to you?" Lily yelped.

"Ahhh! Oof" Bri grunted when she fell on her butt. The guys laughed. "Not funny" Bri grumbled. Bri looked up and found them all watching her. She looked back down and cleared her throat. "Um... I'm sorry. For keeping you in the dark that is. I should of told you. And... I'm really sorry for being so rude to you... especially to you, Sirius" Bri apologized quietly.

"Aww, it's ok" James smiled.

"Yea, we understand why... if you had told us before hand... our reactions would of probably been worse" Dawn smiled.

"We're gonna have to learn to accept your choice of boy... even if he is a Slytherin" Remus agreed. Bri nodded happily and sighed.

"So, what were you so happy about when you came in?" Lily nudged Bri. Bri blushed.

"Oh, um... I went out with Regulus" Bri smiled softly staring into the fire. Dawn nudged Bri with her toe.

"Aaand?" Dawn pressed.

"He gave me a promise ring" Lily and Dawn gasped.

"Oooh, lets see it!" Lily squealed taking Bri's hand. Brianne laughed as she watched her two best friends fawn over her ring. Which was beautiful. White gold with a bright blue sapphire in the middle. Bri looked up at the guys to see them with raised eyebrows. Peter... was just confused... as always.