Chapter 29

Sitting at Gryffindor table the next morning, Thorn smiled as she watched Remus and Jenny being all cute with each other. She wondered if she and Regulus would be like that if they were able to openly show each other affection. Tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, she decided that they probably would be, considering that whenever they were together, they could hardly keep their hands off each other. Feeling herself blush slightly, Thorn tried to think about something else before she drew attention to herself. "So!" Morghana said loudly, and Thorn looked around to see she was talking to Larne.

"What…?" Larne asked warily.

"How's things?" Morghana asked lightly.

"Things?" Larne narrowed her eyes at Morghana.

"…Things with Cormac," Morghana sighed, "Geeze… Make me spell it out, why don't you?"

"What things?" Larne asked evasively.

"Things!" Morghana pressed. Thorn watched carefully as she saw Larne turn slightly pink.

"Things are fine."

"…you're blushing." Morghana accused.

"…so what if I am?"

"Things must be more than 'fine' if you're blushing…" Morghana muttered, feigning indifference. This time Larne turned more than slightly pink. "…oh my gods, you slept with him, didn't you!" Morghana burst out.

"Keep it down!" Larne hissed, now turning practically scarlet.

"Oh my gods! You did!"

"Morghana!" Thorn cut in. "Do you have to grill her in front of the whole of Gryffindor?"

"I'm just interested." Morghana protested.

"It's none of your business…" Artemis said lightly.

"Come on!" Morghana insisted, "She's the first of us to lose it and you aren't interested?" Thorn focused her eyes upon her plate, she was interested, especially as she had been increasingly considering it with Regulus lately, but she wasn't going to pry.

"It's Larne's choice if she wants to discuss it." Artemis told Morghana firmly, "You don't have to interrogate her at breakfast in the middle of the Hall."

"Fine." Morghana sighed. "Sorry Larne."

"It's fine." Larne said softly, then added "I'll tell you about it later."

"Aha!" Morghana cried, "See… I'm not a complete weirdo pervert… She wants to talk about it!"

Thorn shook her head and nudged Morghana to be quiet as Dumbledore stood up to speak. Turning her attention to the headmaster, she was at first apprehensive when he announced that the Halloween dance was to be held as usual, and that this year's theme was Masquerade Ball. Thorn's eyes immediately flicked to Sirius who was halfway up the table on the other side. She blinked when he looked at her for a moment and then looked away. Letting out a soft sigh, Thorn looked back to her plate, and then looked across the hall with a sudden smile as a thought occurred to her – the Masquerade Ball would be the perfect opportunity for Regulus and herself to make their relationship public to the school. Apparently Regulus had had the same thought as he was looking across the hall, right back at her, a large smile upon his face.

*

Regulus grinned as Dumbledore announced that the Halloween Dance would be a Masquerade Ball. Looking across the Hall at Thorn he thought that it would be a great opportunity to reveal themselves to the school. His smile widened when he saw her look across at him. She'd obviously had the same thought, and he loved her for it…

"What are you smirking about? Vulcan's voice interrupted Regulus' thoughts and he glanced around at his friend.

"What?"

"You're sitting there with a cheesy-arsed smirk on your face." Vulcan replied bluntly. Regulus gave a quick frown and then rearranged his face into his neutral mask. "Hmmm." Vulcan observed, before turning back to his food. Regulus looked at him for a moment longer and then turned his attention to his own food.

"So… where were you last night?" Aeshire asked Regulus lightly. Regulus looked up at her, to see her smirk at him.

"…I went for a walk." He replied, giving her a meaningful look. She just grinned wider.

"Anything interesting happen on that walk?" she asked. Regulus raised an eyebrow at her as Zane looked up, apparently catching on to what Aeshire was hinting at.

"Nothing that hasn't happened before…" he said.

"Is that so?"

"Yes. That is so." He replied simply, raising an eyebrow at her.

"You people are being weird." Vulcan muttered, shovelling food into his face. Regulus glanced at him and then looked back to Aeshire, glad that she'd decided to let it go. He vaguely wondered if Thorn had talked to her, and perhaps mentioned something about last night.

*

Thorn turned around when somebody tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey Em." She said lightly, seeing Emerald-Rose looking down at her with a grin.

"Hey." He friend replied, then tilted her head, "I'm gonna make my mask for the Ball…" she said, "Want me to make you one?"

"…Yeah!" Thorn exclaimed, grinning widely. Emerald-Rose gave an excited bounce.

"Awesome! – What colours?"

"Oh…Uhm." Thorn bit her lip. "Red…" she said slowly.

"And?"

"And…" Thorn's eyes slid over to Regulus at Slytherin table, "…Green."

"Nice." Emerald-Rose said, nodding.

"You can't have Green, Thorn." Morghana said, "That's Slytherin's colour."

"They don't own Green, Morg." Thorn replied flatly, "Besides, Green is my favourite colour."

"Yeah, and my name is Emerald-Rose," Emerald-Rose said, "And I'm neither Slytherin nor Gryffindor."

"I'm just saying," Morghana said insistently, "We're at war… and you can't go wearing the enemy's colour."

"I'm not at war." Thorn retorted sharply. "Don't bring me into your vendetta crap."

"Yahhh…" Morghana muttered, raising an eyebrow and leaning back in her chair.

"Right, so Red and Green…" Emerald-Rose said softly. Thorn smiled up at her and nodded. "Will do." She tilted her head, "Which colour is your dress?"

"Uhh… I was thinking that I might go shopping in Hogsmeade this weekend to get one." Thorn replied, watching as Emerald-Rose's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Oh, yes." She said, "That sounds like a good idea."

"Hells yeah it does." Artemis agreed, leaning forward. "We can all go together!"

"Sounds like a plan." Thorn said with a smile, before pushing back from the table.

*

Sirius sat with his head rested on his hand, listening to the conversations around him. Glancing up, he saw Thorn get to her feet and head for the doors to the Hall. Letting out a soft sigh as he watched her, Sirius bit his lip, thinking. He hated the way things had been between them since the wedding, but he didn't know if he could handle knowing she was with him. Glancing across at Slytherin table, Sirius' eyes found his brother and he watched as Regulus looked up, watching Thorn leave the Hall, a blatantly ardent look in his eyes. Sirius let out a slow breath, his eyes going back to Thorn just as she pushed open the Hall doors and slipped outside.

Running his hand through his hair, Sirius got to his feet and started after Thorn. He loved her, he did, but he loved Regulus too, as hard as that was to show sometimes, and he couldn't hurt either of them. If that meant dealing with the fact that they were together, then that was what he would have to do, because it made them happy and he was not going to be selfish enough to ruin it for them.

Pushing open the Hall doors, Sirius hurried out into the hallway and looked for Thorn. He spotted her nearby, just about to go up the marble staircase, and ran towards her. "Thorn! Wait!" he called, catching up to her. Thorn turned to look at him and Sirius almost flinched, seeing the wary look in her eyes when she saw him. Coming to a stop before her, Sirius ran a hand through his hair, tugging lightly on it as he looked at her and then dropped his eyes to the floor. "Look, Thorn…" he began, then sighed, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for how I've been lately." He looked up to see Thorn tilt her head as she looked at him. "I know I've been a bit… cold… and well… I've hurt you, I know that, and I'm really sorry." He bit his lip as he waited for her reaction.

"Sirius…" she breathed, suddenly stepping forward and throwing her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Sirius smiled, incredibly relieved, and wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him.

"I'm so sorry." He said softly.

"I know." He heard her reply as she slowly nodded. "I am too. I never meant to hurt you, Sirius. I swear. I tried to tell you…"

"I know you did." He replied, letting her go and stepping back to look at her.

*

Thorn looked carefully at Sirius when he let her go, trying to swallow the tears she felt trying to escape. "Oh, No… Don't cry…" Sirius said, reaching out to her. Thorn smiled and looked at the floor, blinking away the tears before they could fall.

"All better…" she grinned, looking back up at him a moment later.

"Good." Sirius said, smiling back at her.

"So… are we friends again?" Thorn asked softly, looking up at him.

"We'll always be friends." Sirius replied, hugging her again, "No matter what happens."

"Good." Thorn breathed. She wanted to ask him how he was feeling about the situation with Regulus, but didn't know if he was ready to talk about it yet, so she decided to wait.

"I just want you to be happy." Sirius told her gently, "Regulus too." He added, and Thorn nodded, surprised that he just got straight into it. "And… if that means the two of you being …together," Thorn heard him force the words out, and she closed her eyes, hugging him tighter, "Then… I'll just have to deal with that." He continued, "I won't get between you… and I won't make things difficult…"

"Thank you." Thorn breathed, looking up at him. Sirius nodded, then let her go again, stepping back, but taking hold of her shoulders, making sure he still had her attention.

"I'll do that if you promise to tell me if anything bad happens, or if Regulus does anything…wrong. Okay?"

"Uh…" Thorn began, looking at him, a little surprised. "Yes… okay." She looked at him, not understanding what he was talking about, but it seemed like a reasonable enough request, and she didn't see the harm in agreeing.

"Promise." Sirius told her, and Thorn nodded quickly.

"I promise."

*

Regulus watched as his brother followed Thorn out of the Hall, debating whether or not he should go after them. He didn't want Sirius to upset Thorn, but if they were going to work things out, he didn't want to interrupt them. He knew how important his brother's friendship was to her, so he decided to let them have their time. "Good choice." Aeshire said, as if she'd been reading his mind. Regulus made a face at her and looked back to his plate.

"So!" Vulcan said conversationally, waving his fork around a bit. "How much action do you suppose we'll get during this Masquerade Ball?"

"Why?" Regulus asked flatly, "You not getting enough as it is?"

"Well, obviously I am." Vulcan scoffed, "but think about it… masked chicks. They wont even have to be attractive!"

"Oh gods, Vulcan…" Aeshire sighed, "Could you be more of a whore?"

"Actually, probably not." Vulcan replied absently, not even looking at her, but still staring at Regulus, "We could totally even get you a piece of arse… if she's wearing a mask she wont have to fit your little perfectionist description… it's perfect!"

"No." Regulus replied dully. He tried to make it look like his entire attention was focused upon his food, but he saw Vulcan narrow his eyes at him, and sought to distract his friend with something else. "Think about how awful that situation could be, Vulcan." He said, "If you can't see who you're with... it could turn out to be someone revolting… like… Angela…" he gave a shudder at the mere thought. Vulcan, however, didn't seem so disgusted by the thought of Angela, and gave a suggestive smirk.

"Yeah, but that's part of the excitement… you don't know."

"Oh gods, Vulcan." Regulus groaned, "That's even worse…"

"…Who is she?" Vulcan suddenly asked. Regulus looked at him.

"What?" he asked, almost panicking.

"You're obviously seeing someone… Who is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Regulus replied in what he dearly hoped was a dismissive tone.

"Crap." Vulcan replied simply.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Regulus repeated.

"Crap." Vulcan answered again. "You've been acting weird and saying weird things and it's obvious you're with someone... so just tell me who she is. I'm your best friend… I should know."

"You have a strange sense of your rights." Regulus replied evasively. Vulcan wasn't fooled.

"Well… she's obviously a little dark haired chick…" Vulcan mused, "Because that's what you like, right?" he began to look around the Hall and Regulus was thankful Thorn was no longer at Gryffindor table. "I'd say that she's probably not in Slytherin, or else you wouldn't be so secretive…" Vulcan continued. "hmm… how interesting…" His friend was then interrupted by Angela Adamson appearing beside them and staring at them with wide, excited eyes.

"Oh… a Masquerade Ball!" she exclaimed, "Oh… I just love those! This is going to be fantastic! It's so romantic! Don't you think, Reggie?"

"Sure." He replied, "But then anything can be, with the right person." He saw Vulcan smirk at that, but his friend didn't say anything and Angela continued her attack.

"Who knows who will end up dancing with who… and then… later…" she let that hang, but nobody was lost on her meaning. Regulus saw Zane make a face and then he and Aeshire got to their feet.

"Well, we have planning to do…" Aeshire said, before she and Zane practically fled from the Hall. Regulus envied them their escape, but he knew that if he left, Angela would only follow.

"Reggie… we should make some plans…" The girl said with a coquettish smile.

"Sure." Regulus replied, "Tell me what colour dress you'll wear so I can avoid you." He enjoyed the shocked look on her face before she gained control over herself again and turned her attentions on Vulcan.

"Vulcan knows how to have fun, don't you, Vulcan." She simpered.

"Sure do, Sugar…" Vulcan replied in a low voice as Angela manoeuvred herself into his lap. Regulus doubted his ability to keep his food down if that continued, and so he swiftly got to his feet.

"Right, well… if you two are about to have sex on this table… I'll just be leaving now." He saw Vulcan smirk at him a second before he hurried away from the table, towards the hallways and Slytherin commonroom.

*

The rest of the week passed quickly and Thorn was awoken rudely the day they had arranged to go to Hogsmeade. She let out a loud groan when someone landed heavily on her, and she tried to twist away but just tangled herself in her sheets. "Argh! Morghana!" she cried, trying to push her friend off her. Morghana just laughed.

"Time to get up!" Artemis called to her.

"Why are you guys always up before me?" Thorn muttered, managing to get Morghana off her and sit up.

"Maybe you should get to bed earlier…?" Artemis put in.

"…hmmm suspicious late nights…" Morghana added with a smirk.

"Not Thorn." Artemis replied.

"You're right." Morghana agreed, "She's not Larne…"

"Hey!" Larne exclaimed, turning pink.

"What do you mean not me?" Thorn asked, looking at Artemis.

"Well…" Artemis replied, glancing at Thorn and then looking away, "I just meant you're… well, you're…sweet and innocent." Thorn raised an eyebrow and looked at Artemis.

"And you're not?" she asked.

"Well, yeah…" Artemis replied, "But you're…like…anti-guy."

"I am not." Thorn said, feeling slightly irritated by that.

"I just meant that of all of us, you are the least likely to…" Artemis broke off seeing the look on Thorn's face.

"Right." Thorn muttered, grabbing her clothes. "I'm going for a shower."

After her shower, Thorn returned to the dorm to get ready for Hogsmeade. She brushed her hair silently, wondering if her plan with Regulus would go off smoothly. They had arranged to meet halfway through the day to spend the afternoon together. That gave Thorn time to do her shopping with her friends and then find some excuse to get away from them to meet him. She tilted her head now, thinking that it might be an idea to just tell them straight out. Sirius knew now… and they might be a little hurt if she just allowed them to find out when they made their relationship public to the whole school. Thinking about that, Thorn felt a chilly little ball settle in the pit of her stomach. Morghana was going to explode when she found out. Oh gods. She thought, Oh Gods, Oh Gods, Oh Gods! Reaching for her eyeliner, Thorn bit her lip. She really should talk to Regulus about that. She didn't think he'd disagree, but she supposed that she just wanted the support. Having decided that her eyes were suitably lined and even, she set her eyeliner aside and watched Morghana pace the room behind her in the mirror. Closing her eyes for a second, Thorn let out a soft breath and decided to let it go. She'd just think about dress shopping and then getting to spend the afternoon with Regulus. Opening her eyes to look at herself in the mirror, she noted the light smile now upon her face and brushed her hair back slightly. Glancing at her make-up on the table before her, she picked up her mascara and looked at herself in the mirror again. She didn't usually wear mascara, usually saving it for special occasions, but she figured that considering this was the first time she and Regulus would be able to spend time together in Hogsmeade, it kind of was a special occasion. In fact, she thought, it was kind of their first actual date. She smirked at that thought and unscrewed the mascara.

"Whoa, Hey…" Morghana exclaimed, coming up behind her, "Mascara…"

"Yes." Thorn replied simply.

"Planning something special?" Morghana laughed, "Its just Hogsmeade."
"It's going to be a good day." Thorn told her.

"Sure looks like it." Morghana grinned. "You ready to go?"

"Ready." Thorn announced, putting her mascara down.

*

Regulus headed up from the Slytherin commonroom with Aeshire, Zane and Vulcan. "Can't wait!" Vulcan exclaimed. "I'm meeting Jolene in the woods after lunch."

"Rosier?" Zane asked, looking at Vulcan with raised eyebrows.

"That's her." Vulcan smirked.

"Her family is gonna be pissed when they find out she's not an innocent anymore…" Zane muttered. Vulcan just shrugged.

"Not like I raped her." He replied, "It was her choice."

"Yeah, and I bet you had absolutely no part in helping her make that choice…" Aeshire said flatly. Vulcan just laughed. "You're unbelievable." She muttered, quickening her step. Regulus shook his head and shifted his thoughts to this coming afternoon, wondering if Thorn would be able to get away from her friends. He really hoped that she would be able to, as he didn't want this perfect opportunity to spend some time with her outside to go to waste. Usually they were locked away in some room or other and he really liked the idea of walking through the woods with her in the cool autumn air.

Having gotten out of the gates, the group headed for Hogsmeade. "Don't you have to buy a dress?" Regulus asked Aeshire as they slowly walked up the road.

"Nah." She replied, "My aunt sent me one. She makes dresses and said that this one seemed like it was just for me."

"Convenient." Regulus replied easily. Aeshire just smiled,

"I'll say."

"What are we going to do then?" Vulcan asked, "Three broomsticks?"

"Sounds like a plan…" Regulus replied, shivering as a cold wind ripped past them.

"Fantastic." Vulcan said, "I'm already thirsty."

"Of course you are." Zane grinned.

Not too much later, they reached the Three Broomsticks and found it only about half full of students. "Odd." Aeshire commented. "You'd think with that cold wind out there, that there'd be more students in here."

"They obviously have better things to do." Regulus replied, leading them to an empty table and thinking that if Thorn had have been free right now; he'd be out there with her no matter how cold that wind was.

"Anything planned for later?" Aeshire asked Regulus when Vulcan went to order them some Butterbeer.

"Yeah, after lunch." Regulus replied softly. He saw her smile at that, but she didn't say anything more as Vulcan was heading back.

"Angela is here." He said, sitting beside Regulus.

"Oh no…" Regulus sighed, attempting to sink lower in his chair so that she wouldn't see him. "The girl can't take a hint. Hell, I've done more than hint at her. I've told her straight out… she just keeps coming back."

"You must have really made an impression on her…" Vulcan smirked.

"Why couldn't you have?" Regulus muttered, "You've gone there… why couldn't you have tried harder so she'd be stalking you and not me?" Vulcan gave him a cold smile.

"Is that your way of asking for help?"

"No." Regulus replied, "If I want help, I'll just ask for it. This is me wanting you to explain yourself." He smirked widely at his friend.

"I can't help it if the girl prefers the lesser model…" Vulcan replied lightly. Regulus snorted.

"Yeah, can we change the topic?" Aeshire asked, "This is making me ill."

"Talk to me." Zane said softly, "Considering I'm the only guy at the table not tainted by that hussy."

"Eurgh. Don't rub it in…" Regulus said in a low voice.

"You did it." Vulcan told him. Regulus scowled.

*

Thorn pushed the next dress on the rack up. "Yeah, I don't think so…" she muttered, eyeing the ruffled light blue thing with something that came close to revulsion.

"It's not that bad…" Artemis said, taking it off the rack and looking at it.

"You wear it then." Thorn said, waving her hand at Artemis.

"I might." Artemis replied, "You're a dress snob. That's your problem."

"I can't help it if I have standards." Thorn muttered.

"I've got to try this on!" Morghana announced, coming towards them, holding up a silky red dress. Thorn smiled and nodded, looking at it.

"The colour would look good you." She replied, "Just… might be a bit slutty… don't you think?"

"Might be… if I was a slut." Morghana said, before flouncing off towards the change rooms.

"Got mine…" Emerald-Rose said, following Morghana with a green dress.

"Oooh…" Artemis then commented, putting the horrible blue dress back on the rack and picking up a turquoise one.

Thorn watched Artemis head off to the change rooms and then she turned away from the rack she was looking at and wandered over to the other side of the store to where Larne was browsing.

"Anything good over here?" Thorn asked her lightly.

"Depends on how much you're willing to spend." Larne replied. "They're gorgeous though…"

"Nice…" Thorn grinned, stepping towards the rack. "Do you know what colour you want?"

"Nah…" Larne said softly, "But there's a gorgeous mask over there that's sort of brown and gold."

"I saw that." Thorn told her, pausing as she came across a silky black dress. Pulling it off the rack, she looked it up and down with a smile.

"You've found yours then…" Larne grinned at her.

"If it fits properly." Thorn agreed, nodding. "I'll go see…" she added, turning and heading off to the change rooms.

Stepping into the hallway of change rooms, Thorn saw Morghana step out of her room, wearing the red dress.

"I feel… so hot!" her friend exclaimed. Thorn laughed and nodded.

"You look hot." She agreed.

"Excellent!" Morghana smirked, dancing up and down the hallway. Thorn grinned and walked into an empty changing room.

She was extraordinarily pleased when the dress went on easily and sat perfectly on her. She'd just turned to look at herself in the mirror when Morghana had pulled the curtain back and demanded to know how she had gone with it.

"It's good…" Thorn told her, twisting in front of the mirror.

"It is." Morghana agreed, looking at her. Thorn nodded, her eyes running over the dress again. She liked it. It was simple and elegant, and having seen the fancy red and green mask that Emerald-Rose had made for her, it was exactly what she needed. "Looks like we're both done then." Morghana said, smiling broadly.

"Me too." Emerald-Rose announced, coming out of her changing room, her dress back on the hanger.

"We don't get to see?" Morghana asked her with a pout.

"…No." The Ravenclaw replied, "Adds expectation to the actual event."

"Eurgh… none of us are Gabriel." Morghana pointed out. Emerald-Rose smiled.

"Trust me." She said, "I had noticed."

"Yeah, you better not have been picturing me naked!" Morghana said with mock seriousness. Thorn made a face and pulled her curtain closed to get back into her clothes. When she came out a few minutes later everybody was ready to go, Larne having eventually found a sort of golden dress that went well with the mask she had seen. They all paid for their dresses and headed out into the street.

"Fricken hell it's cold!" Morghana exclaimed.

"I reckon." Thorn muttered, turning her collar up against the wind, and adjusting her scarf.

"Stuff this." Artemis announced, "I'm going back to school."

"Really?" Emerald-Rose asked.

"It's too cold." Artemis replied, "I could be in front of the fire in Gryffindor commonroom right now. Besides, I've got what I came for."

"I'll head back too…" Emerald-Rose said, "Gabriel is waiting for me anyway."

"I want some Butterbeer." Morghana said, "I'll stay."

"Me too." Larne agreed. Thorn shifted her weight when they all looked at her.

"I have to meet someone later…" she muttered.

"Okay. Do you guys want me to take your dresses back to school?" Artemis asked, "Beats carrying them around in this wind."

"An excellent idea." Morghana said with a wide smirk. Artemis just smiled as they all handed their dresses over and then went their separate ways.

Thorn glanced at Morghana and Larne as they headed for The Three Broomsticks. She didn't know just how easily they were going to let her go. She'd said she had to meet somebody, so she could always just say it was Aeshire if they began asking questions… but what if they then saw Aeshire without her? It would be better if she could just tell them the truth… that she was going to meet Regulus. But, she wanted to talk to him about that first before she just started to spill the beans. Sighing as they pushed open the door, she headed in after them to find an empty table. She'd just see how things went…

-

Disclaimer; I'm not JK Rowling.

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