A/N: Thank you Ceccie, Matthew, Margaret Black, Kittyhawk09, mysterious guest and Cassie C for taking the time to read and review. I find Regulus very intriguing, even though we don't know that much about him. What we do know is that he turns out to be rather heroic. And he loves Kreacher. Adorable.

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Dark Words and Doom

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"Do you ever feel an impending sense doom?" Velia asked Alice. Her friend was busy fogging up their crystal ball with her breath so she could write her initials in it.

"I do in this class, that's for sure," Alice grumbled, looking terminally bored. Velia smiled.

"Double Divinations on a Tuesday," Alice continued. "Should be renamed Doomsday. How come, Bagshot?"

"I don't know," Velia answered, glancing around the gloomy classroom. "It just feels like bad things are happening and there's nothing we can do to stop it." With the pad of her thumb, Velia caressed the section of flesh where her gash had been.

"Yes, but you know all this Wizard War stuff is going to sort itself out," Alice said, a positive pep infecting her voice. "I'm going to become an Auror, so is Frank, we're going to save the Wizarding World (maybe a few muggles while we're at it) and then everything is going to be hunky dory."

"That easy huh?"

"Piece of cauldron cake," Alice confirmed, her bobbed hair swinging forward so that it tickled her nose. Velia smiled weakly. She slumped onto the table, resting her arms and chin in front of her. A prolonged yawn pushed her mouth open as she gazed into the quartz crystal globe.

Velia wanted to believe Alice but she couldn't shake the niggling feeling of foreboding that had taken seed in the pit of her stomach. Sometimes when she closed her eyes, she imagined she could hear a faint rushing noise in her ears, the kind of noise you hear when something is hurtling at a great speed towards a certain destination.

Velia lifted her head when she saw a pinprick of light pulsing from the center of her and Alice's crystal ball. The light grew larger and larger, dispelling the white fog that swirled around it.

At the table next to them, Xenophilius was polishing his crystal ball with his robes. The ball slipped from his grip making a loud noise as it connected with the floor. Velia jumped at the sudden clamour. When she looked back at her own ball, the light was gone.

"Did you see that?" Velia asked Alice while eyeing the crystal ball suspiciously.

"See what?" Alice said, concentrating solely on trying to balance her wand in the palm of her hand.

"Never mind," Velia shook her head roughly and then rubbed her eyes with two balled fists. "I think it was just a reflection," she added, noticing how Xenophilius's necklace reflected a dim light onto their ball as he approached them.

"Right," he said excitedly, his arms cringing under the weight of his hefty copy of The Dream Oracle. "Tell, me your dreams," Xenophilius requested in a spooky tone. "I want to practice. Velia, you first." Velia stared blankly at Xenophilius. She was feeling completely unresponsive to his enthusiasm.

"Don't be shy!" He urged.

Velia sighed. "I dreamt about stars," she said finally, skating her fingers over the crystal ball.

"I see," Xenophilius said with exaggerated understanding. He flicked wildly through the book's pages. Velia leant forward and turned the textbook around in his arms so that it was upright.

"Ah, yes. Much better," Xenophilius cleared his throat. "Dreaming about stars could indicate that you're being protected and watched over by dead ancestors, spirits or celestial angels."

"Jolly good Vel! Well done," Alice said encouragingly. Xenophilius frowned as he looked at the book, turning it around and around at odd angles.

"Or, it could mean you're being stalked by malevolent forces. Maybe a band of demons," Xenophilius said excitedly. "It depends what formation the stars were in," Xenophilius finished, looking completely bewildered. Alice let out a low whistle.

"I'd go with the first option, if I were you," Alice suggested. Velia snapped her own textbook shut.

"Or, it could mean that I was thinking about the Astronomy assignment due today that I still haven't completed," Velia pointed out reasonably.

"Oh," Xenophilius uttered, looking completely crestfallen. "Well that's not nearly as dramatic."

"It is more fun when it's dramatic," Alice argued in Xenophilius's defense. Velia flicked the crystal ball grumpily. It rang in perfect time with the echoing class bell. The students filed quickly out of the Divinations classroom, happy to get some fresh air intro their lungs.

A plump second year approached Xenophilius and pulled him aside. Xenophilius waved goodbye to his friends as he leant down to allow the second year to whisper in his ear. Velia warranted a guess that the boy had a penchant for sweets and was looking for a good deal on a large load. It seemed Xenophilius's illegal sweet trade was already booming.

"You're being summoned again," Alice noted as one of Remus's burgundy paper airplanes zoomed into Velia's hand.

"Maybe he just misses my company," Velia said hopefully, sidestepping a group of first years playing Gobstones in the middle of the corridor. Alice didn't look convinced.

"I'm going to get a lecture, aren't I?" Velia amended. Alice gave her a regretful nod.

"You don't need to have the Sight to see that one coming. Good luck soldier," Alice waved farewell. Velia saluted her friend before leaping onto a set of moving stairs she knew from memory favoured a route to the library.

When she found Remus he was waiting at the isolated desk by the outskirts of the restricted section, his hands clasped in his lap. The dim light of the library often had a softening effect, but today it failed to conceal how tired and worn Remus looked.

"Hello Remus, nice day isn't it?" Velia said in a half-hearted attempt to engage him in a normal conversation. He was trying to appear calm, but she saw that irritable energy of his leaking out through his furiously twiddling thumbs.

"Let me see your hand," he said quietly.

"It's not what you think," she told him quickly. "I broke my telescope and cut my finger on it, that's all- "

"James said you looked terrified. And what were you doing with him alone at the top of the Astronomy Tower after curfew?"

"I forgot about an Astronomy assignment due today, I had to finish it. He was already up there."

Remus lay his hand across the table. Velia obediently lay her hand in his. Remus passed a finger over where the wound had been. It tingled, but it didn't sting.

"You know I'd tell you if he threatened me," Velia said meekly.

"You can't know that," Remus shook his head, his tone taking on a gentler edge. "They're particularly skilled in the art of intimidation."

"Well, my secret is still safe, so there's nothing to worry about. It was just an unfortunate accident."

"That's what I am worried about. Your fortune seems to be nothing but ill lately."

Velia dropped her head onto the desk with a thud. Today was indeed doomsday. If one more person mentioned ill fortune, doom, or malevolent forces she was going to become a hermit. After a minute of pressing her forehead into the cool wood, she lifted her head.

She studied Remus's patient posture and noticed that the buttons on his shirt were done up the wrong way. She had the impulse then to reach forward and fix him up, but she stifled it. She knew that whenever she initiated any contact with him, even in the most plutonic way, he would become skittish, making an excuse to scamper from her company.

"Did he say anything to you?" Remus asked.

"He just helped me with my assignment a little bit," She shrugged, trying to pretend as if this was a completely normal occurrence.

Velia could see how risky the situation had been. Regulus had helped her with an Astronomy assignment. If he had decided to help with a certain other assignment, the assignment he himself was supposed to be doing, her secret could be exposed and then real danger could ensue. Remus pinched the bridge of his nose as if he was trying to squash a headache between his finger and thumb.

"So it seems he doesn't abhor you. He holds great respect for old pure-blood families, especially well known ones. Thinking you're a Bagshot might mean he see you as something of a peer."

"He also said he doesn't mind Ravenclaw," Velia said thoughtfully. Remus winced.

"Velia, I can't stress how important it is that you don't encourage any kind of acquaintance with Regulus. Sirius says he's very inquisitive by nature. You can't afford for him to become inquisitive about you."

He stared at her, his forehead ruffled with concern. Sometimes Velia wished she had a magical iron that could gently smooth the creases of worry from his face. Remus lifted his hand to scratch his nose. The sleeve of his robe fell, pooling around his elbow. Velia spied a nasty gash just starting to heal on his exposed arm.

"What happened?" She cried, echoing his gesture earlier by putting her hand out in request of his.

"Oh, just got too close to a Spiky Prickly Plant in Herbology," Remus said as if it was the smallest of injuries. He reluctantly gave her his hand. Velia barely grazed the skin under his wound, but Remus flinched in obvious pain.

"Why didn't you get Madame Pomfrey to heal it?" Velia asked.

"Just haven't had the time," he said flippantly. Remus took his hand out of hers and pushed his sleeve far down to cover his arm. He made a show of checking his pocket watch. Velia could feel his skittish energy taking hold.

"But it will scar," Velia persevered, her royal blue eyes emoting deep concern.

"No matter," he replied. Velia's pale lips pulled down in a small frown. One thing that had always simultaneously intrigued and maddened her about Remus was how much he cared about other people but refused to take proper care of himself.

"You know there's a good potion you can use to clean the wound," Velia informed him as he hastily gathered up his things to leave. Remus smiled.

"I am well aware of it. I've got a supply of it myself," he said.

"Seems like everyone does these days," Velia muttered under her breath.

"Well, I best be heading off. Got a Transfiguration test to study for," Remus said before waving goodbye. He left Velia sitting alone without waiting for a farewell in return. She knew she could've dissected his poor excuse by pointing out that he had already been in a room designed for studying but she didn't have the energy for it. She got up and headed for the library's exit.

Whether it was fortune, fate or the guidance of demons and angels, Velia found herself wandering through the Astronomy section on her way out of the library. Her gaze skipped across the fraying spines of the books housed there. One book on star constellations stood out in particular. She used both hands to pull it out from its place wedged between its neighbours.

The book was bound in dyed leather the colour of the night sky. A scroll spilled out from the book's center, unrolling down the length of the aisle. The magic ink on the parchment began to stir by glowing with an intense white light. With a nudge from Velia's wand, the incandescent ink wrenched itself from the scroll and floated up into the library's dark atmosphere.

The Leo constellation spun slowly all around her. Velia sank to her knees and stared up at it in wonder, her face illuminated by its radiant emission. She could pick out the loose shape of a lion drawn between the stars. At the lion's heart, Regulus shone with hypnotizing brilliance.

For the first time in a day that had been filled with dark words and doom, as she sat in the glow of the magical projection, Velia finally felt a sense of peace.

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A/N: I always get a bit sad writing Alice knowing what happens to her in a future, poor poppet. She's definitely got a bit of doom coming her way. At least she can have a bit of fun as a teenager. Anyway, thanks for reading xx