"Merlin, Antlia. You look terrible."

Antlia looked up from her half eaten plate of breakfast to glare at Lucius just in time to see Narcissa give him a sharp elbow to the side. Of course she looked terrible - she hadn't gotten much more than a solid hour or two of shut eye. Her mind had been buzzing since her talk with Tom - she still felt frustrated with how it all had played out, but there was nothing she could do. He was the leader, after all. If she wanted to be a part of the movement, she would have to do things his way.

"Antlia, are you alright?" Came Narcissa's soft voice as she studied the French girl carefully.

She nodded quickly, waves of her platinum blonde hair bouncing against her shoulders. "Just didn't sleep much. Still adjusting, I guess."

Bellatrix bounced over, forcing herself in between Narcissa and Lucius before leaning against her sister. "Aw, little miss Frenchie can't sleep? How sad," she mocked, pursing her lips in a less than sympathetic manner.

Narcissa started to lecture her sister, but Regulus spoke before she could get a word out. "Well, if you have study hall anytime today, it's a perfect spot to nap."

Antlia gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Regulus."

He returned it softly before winking. "We still have to talk, you know."

"Oh?" She asked, forgetting for a moment about their last conversation at Slughorn's party. "Oh. Definitely. Maybe after dinner?"

"Perfect," he returned before taking one last bite of toast and walking off.

Severus eyed her suspiciously but she soon found herself distracted by Narcissa's persistent tugging on her arm. "Come on. We need to head to Transfigurations. That's not a class we want to be late for with McGonagall in charge," she insisted as she slipped out from under Bellatrix.

"Is she strict?" Antlia asked as she stood up with her.

"Very. And no patience, especially not for Slytherins. She's head over Gryffindor like Slughorn is over Slytherin."

Antlia raised an eyebrow as she followed Narcissa down the hallway. "I'll have to keep that in mind."

Without notice, Narcissa stopped suddenly in an empty corridor, tightening her grip on her friend so she couldn't go any further. "Did you tell him?"

She stumbled over her feet for a second, caught entirely off guard. "Tell who what?"

Narcissa glanced around the hallway before giving her a stern look. "Did you tell Regulus what you told me? You know, about your family?"

Her emerald eyes widened for a moment as she realized what her cousin was referring to. Of course she hadn't told Regulus she was his half sister, but she didn't know what to tell Narcissa. Was it too early to tell her the truth? She had taken that risk once already but she wasn't sure it was the best idea to push her luck. On the other hand, what believable lie could she give the inquisitive teen to satisfy her?

She took a deep breath, trying to relax. "Not yet. I told him we needed to talk, but I didn't tell him what about." It was only half a lie; Narcissa could take it and do as she wished with the answer.

Almost immediately Narcissa gave her a sympathetic smile as she eased up on her grip. "Don't worry, okay? Regulus is a good guy. You've got nothing to be afraid of."

"I know, but thank you for reassuring me. You're pretty great yourself, you know."

Narcissa beamed at her. "Come on, let's go."

When they arrived to the classroom, class started promptly. They hadn't been late thankfully, but McGonagall insisted on starting class early. Transfigurations wasn't a subject Antlia's mother took time to teach her at home. There was really no need for such a skill in a healer's line of work, and even if for some reason either of them needed transfiguration, they didn't require wands or spells - they weren't witches after all. In order to blend in and keep the others from questioning too much, she would need to start learning spells and wand gestures, or at least how to mimic them. It would take a bit of time for her to catch up to her classmates, but it was do able. Difficult most definitely, but certainly do able.

Antlia tried her best to pay attention to McGonagall's review of their past year of study but she was utterly lost. Narcissa seemed to pick up on it, quickly passing her a note that promised to help catch her up and study with her. It was a comforting gesture even though Narcissa had absolutely no idea how far behind she was, but Antlia appreciated it nonetheless.

After Transfigurations, the two girls parted ways. Narcissa headed on to her Ancient Studies class after leaving Antlia with quick instructions on how to get to the room where her study hall was held in. She wasn't really looking forward to it though. It was just a meaningless slot filler in her schedule to Antlia. She couldn't use it to study Transfigurations just yet - she needed help getting caught up before she could study on her own. Sure, she could use it to start her Care of Magical Creatures assignment, but she really wished she was doing was something a bit more productive to her cause. It was the main reason she had come to Hogwarts after all. But, Hogwarts was still a school. She had known when she enrolled that studying would take up the majority of her time, but she still felt frustrated.

She took her seat in a quiet corner, fairly far away from the other students. Lily Evans was there, but she was sitting rather close to James Potter as they seemed to go over some assignment together. Besides that, Antlia had lost interest in the girl after learning about her family. Sure, it wasn't Lily's fault she had been born into a muggle family, but Antlia couldn't see past it. The poor teen would have been far better off being born a simple muggle or at least never learning about her magic and getting involved in the wizarding world.

"Well, Antlia. I think now is a good time and place to finish our talk, don't you?"

Antlia quickly looked up and met the milky blue eyes of Regulus Black. "Bloody hell, Regulus," she breathed, resting a hand over her heart. "You scared the living shit out of me."

He chuckled quietly as he sat down next to her. "Really? Or are you just trying to deter me from my question?"

"No, I'm not. And in all seriousness, are you sure this is the right place to talk?"

Regulus grinned back at her, picking up on her apprehension. "Don't worry. No one is going to be paying attention to us, especially not in one of the first study halls of the year. They're all too busy chatting and catching up to care about our boring conversation."

She gave him a skeptical look but didn't further protest. "If you insist."

"I absolutely do! Now, about Severus' values. What did you mean?"

She shrugged a little, laying out a piece of parchment and a quill for when she got around to doing her Care of Magical Creatures assignment. "Well, we just been discussing our views on a few different things and somehow we ended up on the subject of muggles and muggle-borns."

"And?" He pushed, fully aware Antlia was beating around the bush.

"And I told him about my experience with muggles and he ended up telling me he feels the same way."

"Which is?"

Antlia groaned. "You know exactly how he feels about them because you feel the same way, and honestly, it's obvious I know how you feel because I don't imagine I'd be uncomfortable expressing something supportive of muggles and their bloodline in a room full of people."

Regulus just gave a playful scoff as he leaned back into his chair. "You're being way too cautious, dear. You need to learn to trust me when I say it's safe to talk."

She scowled immediately. "I think maybe you should be a little more careful if you really care to see the movement succeed."

He stiffened almost immediately. "Severus told you?"

"Dear," she quipped, ever so slightly mocking him with her diction. "I knew about it before I left France. It's half the reason why I'm here."

He was silent for a moment, staring her down. "And the other half?"

"Family, remember?"

"And Severus talked to you about all of this?" He asked, his voice and even his gaze much more serious than what it had been before.

She nodded. "He wanted me to gain everyone's trust on my own. He didn't tell anyone about me because he didn't want to hinder that."

"I'm not so sure he really helped you by keeping quiet."

Antlia immediately scowled. "So you think I'm a problem."

Regulus let out a deep sigh. "I think our conversation is done."

"Regulus, don't do this."

He didn't so much as look at her as he gathered up his things and stood up. Without a word, he walked off, slipping out of the study hall, the tail of his robes flourishing behind him.

Well, fuck. Antlia thought as she slumped back into her chair, feeling defeated.