Chapter 12: Even Good Guys Lie

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As the flocks of students made their way back to the school from Hogsmeade, Regulus and Elizabeth trailed slowly behind. Anthony had already gone up ahead with some girl from his House and was out of sight. Elizabeth reached over and laced her fingers into Regulus'. He squeezed her hand then pulled away and shoved his hands in his coat pockets.

"Today was hard, wasn't it?" Elizabeth asked in a worried tone. "The shops were all so crowded. I could see it in your eyes."

"Yeah," Regulus answered, his voice distant, his eyes focused ahead.

"Is that why you don't want to try and hold my hand?" she asked.

"Nope. I don't want to try because you're annoying the hell out of me today." Regulus licked his lips and set his jaw.

"What?" Elizabeth shrieked. She grabbed his upper arm and pulled him to a stop. She tried to look him in the eyes, but he refused to meet them. "How am I annoying you?"

Regulus shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Let's start with how damn clingy you've been. Then, throw in the fact that every time someone even walked too close to me, you stare at me like I'm a terminal patient. Not to mention your pathetic attempt at sucking up to Slughorn, your piss poor attitude towards Will's new girlfriend and how rude you were to Anthony. Oh! While we're at it, lets add the fact that you almost tore that girl to shreds for talking to me." He cut his eyes away from her and shook his head again.

"That bitch had it coming," Elizabeth sneered, pointing off in the direction of Hogsmeade. She shifted her weight between her feet and looked at the ground.

That bitch, as Elizabeth referred to her as, was Sarah. The girl though that it would be a good idea to come up and flirt with Regulus when Elizabeth was standing there. The results: it took Regulus, Anthony and the clerk at Honeydukes to pull Elizabeth off of Sarah. So much for her good idea. Not a mistake that Sarah would ever repeat.

Regulus rolled his eyes and turned, continuing up the path towards Hogwarts. Elizabeth tentatively fell into step beside him.

"Look, I'm sorry about all of that. I really am. It's just that...things have been off between us lately. I'm worried. Regulus, it feels like you don't want me anymore." Elizabeth made a pained face.

Regulus breathed out heavily and continued walking. "Of course I still want you. That's insane."

"Then hold my hand," she whispered.

"No, you were right before. It hasn't been the best day." Regulus bit down on his bottom lip and twisted his hands in his coat.

Elizabeth pursed her lips and made a scoffing sound. "Bet if Anthony asked, you'd hold his hand," she muttered under her breath. Her words were low. Not low enough.

Regulus' eyes flashed and he stopped walking. He caught Elizabeth's shoulder and spun her to face him. He grabbed on to the lower part of her arm with his right hand, his left lay in his pocket, gripped around his wand. "What the fuck did you just say?" he hissed into her face. His teeth were clenched together and his eyes were screaming with anger.

"Regulus, that hurts, let go," Elizabeth whispered as she tried to pull her arm away. When he responded by tightening his grip, she whimpered. "I didn't say anything. I was only playing. I didn't mean anything by it." She was starting to shake under his hold, her eyes worried.

"Why the hell would you say something like that?" Regulus asked, jerking her arm to make her stop trying to pull away.

Tears sprang to her eyes and she shook her head, desperately. "I was just playing is all. Please, that hurts."

Regulus pulled out his wand and pressed it to the underside of her chin. "You think this hurts?" he asked, jerking her arm again. "Just try me. Answer the damn question or I'll do it."

"You wouldn't!" she shrieked, trying to pull away again. The wand twisted under her chin and Regulus' eyes grew cold, there was no more doubt, she knew that he would. "Okay, okay. I think that Anthony's gay. I think he has a thing for you."

Regulus lowered his wand and shoved Elizabeth away from him. She examined her arm, which was already starting to reveal long, finger shaped bruises, and watched as Regulus headed back up the path. She ran to catch up, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I-I can't believe you p-pulled your w-w-wand on me-e," she stuttered out, shaken.

Regulus stopped again and turned to her, looking into her eyes. "If you ever say something like that again, I'll do more than just pull it."

Elizabeth looked at the ground, tears still falling from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she sputtered out. "I just hate the way he looks at you."

Regulus softened his face and slipped his hand into Elizabeth's. "What way is that?" he asked, putting his hand under her chin, raising her head to look at him. His eyes flickered slightly, but he refocused them.

Elizabeth smiled softly and took a deep breath. "He looks at you the same way that I do," she whispered.

Regulus shook his head and gave her a soft kiss, lingering a bit longer than he was comfortable with. He smiled at her as he pulled away. "Elizabeth, even if you're right about that, it doesn't matter. I'm straight and I'm with you. You hear me?" he said in a very soft tone.

Elizabeth nodded and Regulus reached up to dry her tears with the sleeve of his coat. They walked back to the castle, hand in hand, not speaking. They made their way to the Great Hall and over to the Slytherin table.

Anthony was sitting between Will and Topher, a spot he occupied during every meal at Will's insistence. As Elizabeth sat down on the bench, she cast a very arrogant glance at him and scooted as close to Regulus as she knew she could get away with. Regulus gave her a weak smile and pulled some chicken onto his plate from a near-by platter.

"Sarah wanted me to tell you that she's sorry your girlfriend is a psycho and her offer still stands," Anthony said, moving his eyes towards Regulus, a very casual tone to his voice.

Regulus looked up and laughed quietly. Elizabeth gritted her teeth together and leaned towards Anthony.

"You're making that up," Elizabeth said, clearly trying to restrain her desire to launch herself over the table at Anthony.

"I'm doing no such thing. You can't expect a girl like that to back off just because you pulled her hair." Anthony licked his lips and locked his eyes with Elizabeth's.

"I did more than pull her hair," Elizabeth growled. "I'll...I'll fucking kill the bi-"

"Elizabeth, that's enough," Will snapped, annoyed. "Just shut the hell up. Other girls want your guy, get over it."

Elizabeth was breathing heavily and darting her eyes between Will, who was staring at his food, and Anthony, who was still staring at her. "They can want him all day long, but it doesn't matter. Right?" She turned to Regulus, her face set in anger.

Regulus looked over at her with a smile. "Of course, you know that you're the only girl for me, Elizabeth." He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss before turning his attention to his potato.

Elizabeth turned back to Anthony, a smug smile on her face. "Hear that?"

Anthony nodded and gave Elizabeth a smile that reminded her of the one Will got just before he was going to curse someone or kill a small animal. "I heard. You're the only girl for him, Elizabeth," he repeated casually. He continued to smile, eyes locked with hers, waiting.

Realization hit Elizabeth and she flared her nostrils at Anthony. "You son of a -" She stopped speaking as she saw Will reach for his pocket, not even looking at her, but still clearly preparing. She tossed her napkin onto her plate and stood up. She narrowed her eyes at Anthony.

Anthony lifted his cup to his lips, eyes still locked on Elizabeth, and raised his hand. He gave her a small wave goodbye and smirked into his drink.

"Where are you going?" Regulus asked, looking up at Elizabeth.

"I feel sick," she lied, giving him a reassuring smile. "Must have had too many candies. I'm going to go see the nurse." She turned and rushed out of the Great Hall.

Will laughed manically and clapped Anthony on the back. "That was great. I don't how you pissed her off like that, but I loved it."

Anthony grinned and shrugged his shoulders innocently. "I guess that she just didn't like what I had to say about Sarah." He moved his eyes towards Regulus, who was looking at him with a confused expression. "What?"

"I just can't believe that Sarah would say something like that or that you would repeat it in front of Elizabeth, not after what happened earlier," Regulus answered.

Anthony gave Regulus a crooked smile and licked his lips. "Yeah," he said, moving his eyes away. "Sarah...didn't say that."

A loud laugh erupted out of Will and he banged his fist on the table. "Oh, you're brilliant. That was bloody brilliant. Anthony, you are shaping up nicely."

Anthony frowned slightly and gave Regulus an apologetic look. Topher stood up and climbed off of the bench.

"Where do you think you're going?" Will asked dryly.

"I don't feel so well myself," Topher bit.

Regulus looked up at Topher. Topher shook his head at him and made a disappointed face. "I thought that we were best friends."

Regulus looked horror struck. "We are," he answered desperately.

Topher looked at him as though he wanted to scream. Instead, he calmly said, "Yeah, we'll see." He glared down at Anthony, turned and walked out of the Great Hall.

A Note From the Author: Those of you screaming "What a jerk!" I refer you back to the warning at the beginning of the story. Just sit tight, the boy is going to do things a lot worse than get a little rough with his girlfriend. Thanks for the read, let me know what you think. :D -Jenna

Now Beta'd by magic139 from the HPFF forums.