A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!
gwenwesley: 400k for a first kiss is apparently the way things are going...I didn't plan it that way I swear haha. Sirius was supposed to go to the third floor in this chapter, but I ran out of time. He'll find his way there soon though!
Guest: Thanks! :)
haleygur7: I honestly have no idea where the Lucius/Narcissa thing came from but I was laughing while writing it so. I'm glad you enjoyed that as much as I did!
Guest13: Thank you! I had a little too much fun with that scene I think ;)
LunaEvanna Longbottom: Yeah he wasn't that subtle was he? I think Lily would have normally caught on immediately, but I needed her to be a little less observant. She is probably going to murder him though, which should be fun!
Toffeeloveryes: Thank you yes! That's exactly what I'm trying to portray. She's trying to cling onto every 'normal' piece of her life that she can so as to handle the anxiety. I'm glad that's coming through in the writing to some extent!
Marnie Quiera: See above ^ But yes, my take on Vivian's method of handling the stress of her task/everything else is that by pretending that everything is normal, it's easier to deal with the things that aren't.
Aamarylis: It will take them a while longer but we're definitely getting there now. Vivian's being a little more stubborn than Sirius (a shock, I know haha) but she's starting to realize that she's begun to fall for him. As for the James/Lily plot, I have plans for that which should amuse everyone!
Chrysanthemum: That is a nice mental image lol. Things are going to happen really quickly on the romance front when we actually get to it. It's going to be a bit of a whirlwind I think
Guest1515: They are definitely special. I honestly couldn't tell you why I write them like that, it just happens!
laleh: Jivian! Love it! It will happen. I have so many scene ideas for Vivian and James being bros. I can't wait to dive into their relationship more!
Guesttttt: Thanks :)
123qwe: Never watched Scream Queens but I shall take your word for it :)
AnnaPansy: Thanks so much for your review! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. Not entirely sure where Morrigan's plot will go as of yet, but I think she'll probably be in future seasons of Vivicendium when they're all adults, so she may very well marry Dolohov...I don't know for sure though. I have a lot planned for Vivicendium and am hoping to take the story all the way into the HP books, so I hope you stick around :) As for a first kiss...you definitely won't have to wait for too much longer for that!
a-reads: Thanks! I've really enjoyed developing their relationship into something deeper. Also I'm sure Vivian would agree that James is the annoying younger brother type haha. I'm excited to write Harry/Vivian interactions too. I have no idea how their relationship will be (a few ideas, but nothing concrete) but it should be really fun to get into that part of the story!
This Muse: No problem! I thought you meant that in terms of the writing aspect. No worries though. I don't use the FF app so I had no idea that it doesn't include the line breaks. Good to know. Anyway thanks! Glad you liked last chapter :)
This chapter is a little shorter than I originally planned, but life has been a bit crazy for me lately and I had a bit of writer's block this past week. The next update should be longer!
Chapter Forty Five | In ambiguo
[In doubt]
"AND HERE WE ARE, LADIES AND GENTS! THE MATCH WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! LET'S DO A QUICK RECAP AS OUR TWO TEAMS LINE UP ON THE PITCH! RAVENCLAW IS CURRENTLY IN THE LEAD FOR THE QUIDDITCH CUP WITH GRYFFINDOR IN CLOSE SECOND, FOLLOWED BY SLYTHERIN AND THEN HUFFLEPUFF! THIS MATCH WILL EITHER KNOCK GRYFFINDOR DOWN A FEW PEGS OR PROVE THAT THE SLYTHERIN TEAM IS SHITE!"
Vivian rolls her eyes as she adjusts her hair, tugging it into place to ensure that it doesn't get in her eyes during the match. The Slytherin and Gryffindor teams are both facing each other on the pitch, waiting for Madam Hooch to release the balls. Avery and James step towards each other to offer the usual pre-game handshake, but as expected, neither of them looks all that pleased to be forced into such pleasantries. As Hooch clicks open the case that holds the Quaffle, Bludgers, and Snitch, they end up glaring at each other. They both look to be struggling with something that the female race likes to refer to as stupidity à la testosterone.
With everything going on in her personal life, Quidditch is really the least of Vivian's concerns. The match between Slytherin and Gryffindor has been postponed to the last week of January. One of the Gryffindor's Chasers' parents had been brutally murdered by the Dark Lord's followers just before Christmas, and they hadn't wanted to use one of their reserves for such an important game. The postponement had thrown off the Quidditch Cup schedule somewhat, but Vivian is just as glad for it. She's had enough to think about without the addition of this.
To be honest, she's been seriously considering dropping off the team altogether. These days, it's like she doesn't even have time to breathe, let alone all the other things she has going on. Besides classes, there's prefect meetings and patrols, assignments to do, Quidditch practices to attend, and the issue of her task, which definitely serves to throw off everything else.
Vivian has no idea what to do about it. She knows, deep down, that the only way to get out of her predicament is to remove herself from her current lifestyle entirely, which is precisely why she hasn't yet been able to. For all of Sirius's buoyant words about how Dumbledore would be able to sweep in and help her carve out a new life for herself, she still doesn't believe it will be that easy. She's also more than a little afraid of venturing into the unknown like that. She isn't a risk-taker. She doesn't have the same carefree spontaneity that would make such a decision an easy one. She wants to be free from this task and her impending marriage, but like any proper Slytherin, she isn't about to take an action that isn't thought through. Calculated risks are one thing, but suddenly turning on her own house while she's still in such a vulnerable position within said house is practically a death sentence.
The only way she can imagine getting out of this is if she waits until graduation before taking action. She has to think about her own safety. She's too near to Mulciber and his friends to expect that they'll just let her do whatever she wants. It would be far wiser to pretend to go along with their plans and then, at the ideal moment, take her leave of them once and for all. There's only one problem with this: her task.
She'd thought that she had until graduation to present the Dark Lord with this spell, but if Regulus is correct, then she only has a few weeks at most. She has no other choice but to complete her task and play the subservient role for now, until she sees the opportunity to save herself from well and truly becoming a part of that life. She doubts that the Dark Lord would make her take the Dark Mark before she graduates, if he even wants her to take it at all. She's not as fanatical as Mulciber or Avery and, as far as she knows, the only reason the Dark Lord is interested in her at all is because her father had bragged to him about her talent for creating spells. She's sure that he wouldn't even remember her existence if not for that.
"I want a clean match today. No funny business or you'll all be sorry," Hooch warns. Though she doesn't turn to address the Slytherin team directly, it's clear that she's speaking mainly to them. The Gryffindor team leers at them in amusement, but it hardly intimidates Vivian's teammates. They leer right back, smirking widely at Hooch's warning and promptly brushing it aside.
As Avery and James grapple with a handshake that looks somewhat painful, the rest of them mount their brooms. Vivian can't hear what the two Captains are saying, but she imagines that the low words they're firing off at each other aren't as outwardly pleasant as the handshake. Her eyes drift over their figures idly as she prepares to shoot into the air…and abruptly land on a pair of grey eyes from across the way. The momentary surprise she feels upon realizing that Sirius Black is watching her fades somewhat when he raises an eyebrow at her sends her a competitive smirk. After that, the only thing she feels is annoyance.
Right – annoyance. Because she hates Sirius Black and everything he does makes her angry, and that's all there is to it. She makes sure to send him an imperious look in response, though it doesn't seem to faze him much. His smirk becomes slightly less sharp. It has a strangely dizzying effect on her, so she looks away.
This is an important game. Whoever wins will be one step closer to winning the Quidditch Cup. The losing team will be behind until their next play-off. They won't be completely out of the running for the Cup, but it will be much harder to secure a place in the final matches. Despite the urgency of a win, though, Vivian just wants to get this over with. Her heart isn't really in the match.
Still, it all feels so blissfully normal as the game begins. The Gryffindor stands erupt into loud cheers when their team manages to score first, and the inter-house rivalry is at its finest when Avery slams into one of the Gryffindors Chasers and makes a show of pretending that it had been an accident. While everyone is distracted, Morrigan and their fellow teammate Anthony Lloyd gets a goal in, and Slytherin house cheers even louder than the Gryffindors had, some minutes before.
Slytherin is definitely on top of their game today. Her teammates are being particularly ruthless. Fifteen minutes into the game, Hooch calls a foul when Mulciber sends his Beater's bat into Potter's face. Unlike Avery, he doesn't try to make it look like an accident and just sneers, "Watch where you're flying, Potter," before turning his broom to the ground to collect his bat. The Gryffindors are a bit more ruthless as well, after that, but not even they can quite live up to the energy that the Slytherin team is bringing to the game.
"50/20 WITH SLYTHERIN IN THE LEAD!" the commentator informs the stadium. "AS USUAL THE SLYTHERINS ARE BEING COMPLETE TOSSERS – RIGHT, SORRY PROFESSOR! SO FAR GRYFFINDOR HAS ONLY MANAGED TO SCORE ONCE, BESIDES THE TEN POINTS FOR THAT FOUL – FLINT IS NOW IN POSSESSION OF THE QUAFFLE, SHE'S HEADING DOWN THE PITCH…LEIGHTON TRIES TO INTERCEPT BUT FLINT BYPASSES AND – SCORES AGAIN, FUCK! OH, SORRY PROFESSOR, IT JUST CAME OUT – "
The Gryffindor Keeper seems to be having a difficult time today, because Slytherin ends up scoring again not five minutes later. The Slytherin Chasers team up and trick him into thinking they're aiming for the right hoop, but at the last minute, Lloyd passes the Quaffle to Avery and he tosses it into the leftmost hoop instead. The Slytherin stands go absolutely wild.
"SLYTHERIN, SLYTHERIN, SLYTHERIN!" they chant, and make sure to insert plenty of insults against Gryffindor in between their words.
The commentator, who happens to be in Gryffindor himself, is equally impassioned when he cries, "WHERE ARE OUR BEATERS WHEN YOU NEED THEM HUH?! SLYTHERIN SEEMS TO BE USING SOME SORT OF TACTIC TO KEEP THE BLUDGERS TO THEMSELVES. THE GRYFFINDOR CHASERS ARE DISTRACTED TRYING TO STAY AWAY FROM THEM."
Mauve and Mulciber are, indeed, using such a tactic. Granted, trying to control the Bludgers isn't a simple thing, because they tend to have a mind of their own, but the Slytherin Beaters are succeeding so far. They've fallen into a sort of zig-zagging flying pattern as they hit the Bludgers back and forth between them, targeting as many Gryffindor players as they can. Their flying is tight enough to make it difficult for Sirius or his fellow Beater, Brent Morley, to intercept and throw the pattern off. As such, the Gryffindor Chasers are having a hard time focusing on anything besides avoiding being hit by the Bludgers, and Slytherin is having a field day because of it. Within the next ten minutes, they manage to score four more times.
"90/20! SLYTHERIN LEAD!" the commentator announces, sounding rather miffed.
Vivian makes sure she keeps one eye on Potter as she continues her search for the
Snitch. So far, she's seen no sign of it, and when the sky opens up and snow begins to fall lightly onto the pitch, she becomes rather worried that the turn in weather might impact her search. She stays somewhat removed from the game, not willing to get too mixed up in the chaos that her teammates are enacting below, and pauses in her flying to adjust the leather gloves she had donned before the match.
It's freezing out, and the chill of the wind isn't making things any easier. She's shivering as she turns her broom towards the stands, squinting against the falling snow in hopes of seeing the Snitch hovering near the spectators. Potter isn't too far away, apparently having decided to stick relatively close to her in case she sees the Snitch before him. With the snow now falling around them, it's getting harder to see. She reckons he must be taking precautions.
"How's your face, Potter?" she calls as she's flying over the Ravenclaw stands. She glances around to catch sight of Gavin but doesn't see him in the sea of blue, and promptly gets distracted when James drops down beside her on his broom, joining her mid-flight.
His only response is a smug, "Still pretty, I'm sure!" over the bracing wind.
Vivian feels an amused smile press along the edges of her mouth despite her efforts to keep a straight face. A quick glance at him tells her that he's being a tad overconfident. He's got one hell of a black eye, curtesy of one Adrian Mulciber. It's swollen something awful, hindering his sight and giving him a strange squinted appearance. One of the lenses of his glasses has cracked as well, hindering his sight even more. He doesn't seem overly bothered by it though, at least not to the point of calling for a time-out to attend to his injury.
"Are you going to follow me around the whole pitch?" she calls after a minute or so. He's still flying beside her, and she's quite sure that it's just one of his tactics to get the Snitch before her. There's something about James Potter's energy that, while somewhat annoying, reminds her of a brilliant ray of sunshine. Sometimes it's blinding, but as she's flying through the January snow, there's a part of her that doesn't mind his presence. A small part, of course. He's still a prat most of the time.
James swerves slightly to avoid hitting a banner that a Hufflepuff student is waving and calls back, "It's better than getting in the way of your insane teammates! I can't believe they're getting away with this stunt!"
At this point, it's more than just a 'stunt'. Mauve is on fire today, and Mulciber – arsehole though he is – clearly knows how to play Quidditch. Her team is being especially cutthroat today, and they don't seem to be slowing down.
"I told you we'd crush you," she says with an amused glint in her eye.
James scoffs, "Game's not over yet, Blair."
She begins to say, "Yeah, but – " and then promptly stops talking, because that's when she sees a flash of gold zip across her peripheral vision. Immediately, she turns her head to see if she'd just been imagining it. They're still flying low to the stands, and the snow is beginning to fall even harder now. Her visibility is shit and she's half-convinced that the gold was from a wrist watch or a piece of jewelry – until she catches sight of the Snitch hovering about fifteen feet above them, between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff stands.
James doesn't yet realize that her attention has been diverted. With the black eye, cracked glasses, and heavy snowfall, he's currently not playing his best game. Of course, when Vivian abruptly swerves away from him without any explanation, he quickly catches on. Before long, they're neck-to-neck as they race through the Hufflepuff stands, swerving around banners and shrieking students. The Snitch begins to dart away from them, zipping around the tall pillared teachers' stands and trying to throw them off its course. It's as James and Vivian are shooting to the very top of said stand that the commentator seems to finally catch on to what's happening across the field.
"OUR TWO SEEKERS HAVE SEEN THE SNITCH! IF POTTER CAN CATCH IT, WE CAN PUT AN END TO THIS INSANE MATCH!"
Vivian's fellow teammates take full advantage of the distraction that the Snitch brings. Mauve and Avery manage to continue controlling the Bludgers, sending them at the Gryffindor Chasers, who are hard pressed to turn their attention anywhere else in their efforts to avoid being hit. The rest of the stands turn their eyes to the red and green streaks flying across the pitch in pursuit of the small golden ball, which is taking them on a wild goose chase above the stands. It weaves in and out of the rafters, darting between fluttering banners and around ducking students. Vivian accidentally knocks off Professor Anderson's hat when the Snitch zips right near his ear and then drops in a dead feint back down to the grassy pitch. The two Seekers follow its trajectory as best as they can in the snowy weather, struggling to overtake the other. By the time they both reach the grass, though, the Snitch has disappeared.
"AH LOOKS LIKE THEY'VE LOST SIGHT OF IT! A SHAME, TOO, SEEING AS – SLYTHERIN SCORES AGAIN! 120/30! C'MON GRYFFINDOR, YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!"
It's clear that the commentator is being slightly ambitious, though. The Gryffindor team is clearly unprepared to handle the Slytherins today, because the more time that passes, the more they fall behind. James ends up drifting away from Vivian after the initial debacle with the Snitch, flying around on his own while she darts briefly through the game on her way towards the Gryffindor goal hoops. The Snitch seems to have completely disappeared, and it doesn't show itself again for another hour. By then, Gryffindor seems to have grown more accustomed to the Slytherin team's tactics. After a brief time-out to discuss the game, the Gryffindor Beaters are now busy trying to break up Avery and Mauve's tight zigzagging formation. So far, Sirius and his fellow Beater Morley have only managed to steal the Bludgers a few times, but it's enough to break up the Slytherins' strategy. It doesn't do them a whole lot of good though, because at that point, Slytherin is nearly one hundred and forty points above them. The current score is 180/40, with the Gryffindors falling far behind.
Gryffindor's only hope at this rate is the catch the Snitch, and they know it. James is back in the running after the time-out, having managed to repair his glasses. With a quick spell, Madam Pomfrey had taken down the swelling of his black eye, and though it will need proper healing after the game, his vision is much clearer. Vivian is all too aware of this as she dodges Bludgers and fellow Quidditch players, trying to locate the Snitch before him. At this point, her fingers are absolutely frozen around the handle of her broom and she hasn't been able to feel her toes for ages now. The wind has steadily grown into a howling tempest, flurrying the snow around the pitch and making the game nearly impossible to follow. The commentator does his best, but because it's so hard to see each individual player, he mainly settles on just keeping the score.
It happens about ten minutes later, when Vivian is flying around the side of the pitch in order to avoid the Bludgers (of which Mauve and Avery are desperately trying to control once more, with only limited luck). She's kept one eye trained on James throughout the match, and so when she sees him suddenly drop into a straight dive, she immediately leans forward to follow him. The problem with the Snitch's current location, as she soon discovers, is that it's in the very center of the game.
Now, in better weather conditions (and with less team rivalry), this wouldn't be an issue. The Snitch has a mind of its own and, in order to avoid being captured, it often goes where the most action is taking place. The problem doesn't lie with where the it is, but what else is happening in the center of the game. When Vivian drops down to pursue James, she drops right into the middle of the chaos, and a game between Gryffindor and Slytherin is very chaotic.
If James gets the Snitch before she does, Gryffindor will win. An additional 150 points added onto their currently low score of 40 would just barely bring them above Slytherin's score of 180. That extra ten points would secure their win and end the game. Vivian pushes her broom ever faster through the chaotic game, spinning out of the way of one of the Gryffindor Chasers, ducking just in time to avoid being clobbered by the Quaffle as it zooms through the air, and just barely managing to drop down as Avery comes barreling past her to hit one of the Bludgers. She narrows her field of vision, focused entirely on catching up to James as he flies across the pitch. He's having just as much trouble avoiding obstacles as she is, but he had a head start and is much farther ahead than she is. Even now, he's reaching his hand out to grab the Snitch, which is fluttering manically in front of his broom as it attempts to throw him off course.
Vivian momentarily loses sight of James when one of her teammates comes crashing towards her. In the thickly falling snow, she doesn't see Lloyd until he's right at her side, and it's only instinct that makes her spin to the side in order to avoid crashing into him. When she rights her broom again several seconds later, she finds herself face to face with a Bludger that's hurtling towards her at breakneck speed. Now, what happens next is extremely confusing and rather difficult to follow, because it all happens so suddenly. One moment she's scrambling to avoid being bludgeoned by said Bludger, and the next, at the very last second, someone is crashing in front of her and taking the inevitable hit.
All thoughts of James and the Snitch leave her mind when she realizes that this person is wearing Gryffindor red. She hears a grunt of pain as the Bludger connects with his arm and sends him off his broom and into her. Vivian, so caught off guard by the abruptness of the situation, again acts on instinct. She grabs him, coming to a dead stop and trying to wrangle with the extra weight of his body. It's a lost cause, though, because a moment later she happens to glance down at who, exactly, she's holding onto, and the shock of her realization makes her let go of him entirely. The problem is that he hasn't let go of her, and so when he begins to fall, he takes her with him.
Thankfully, they are only about ten feet above the snowy pitch. They both end up tumbling into the snow with matching groans as the game continues above them.
"Bloody hell," Sirius groans as rolls onto his back, cringing as he cradles his arm against his chest. Vivian, whose confusion is slowly trickling away, scrambles up and finds herself at his side, a concerned expression blazing over her face.
"Are you okay?" she demands, reaching out but stopping herself from touching him at the last moment. Instead, she draws back slightly, realizes how out of character her concern is, and rearranges her expression into something slightly less worried. She doesn't want him thinking that she cares about him or anything.
Sirius opens his mouth to groan out a pained reply, but before he can even get one word out, the stands erupt into loud yells as the commentator shouts, "POTTER'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH BUT FLINT WAS ABLE TO SCORE ONE LAST POINT FOR SLYTHERIN. I'M SORRY TO SAY THAT THIS MEANS…SLYTHERIN WINS WITH A SCORE OF 190/180! BULLOCKS!"
Sirius barely hear this, though, because to be honest…well, there's just something about Vivian Blair when she's worrying about him. He stares up at her with a strange light in his eyes. He's almost able to ignore the pain of his broken arm when she looks at him like that.
"James caught the snitch," he hears himself mumble as he stares at her.
Vivian snorts, hesitantly brushing snow from his hair and scoffing, "But Slytherin won."
"Yeah…" he belatedly responds, and reaches up to capture her hand.
For a moment, it seems as if they're in a different world. The snow creates a sort of blanket around them, making it difficult to see anything else but each other. The howling wind diminishes the noise from the other students as they either complain or celebrate the results of the match. The other players are still in the process of wrangling down the Bludgers and Quaffle, and haven't noticed their two wayward teammates as of yet. There's a flurry of activity on all sides, but the falling snow makes it seem as if they're in their own separate bubble, a million miles away.
"Why are you holding my hand?" Vivian scowls, though the question is halfhearted. She tries to pull her fingers out of his hold, but he only tightens his grasp of her and smiles boyishly through the pain of his broken arm, which is beginning to thud through him more adamantly as the adrenaline leaves his system.
"Cause I want to," he responds, and tucks her fingers against his Quidditch robes.
Vivian snaps her eyes to his. Her complaints die on her tongue when she catches sight of the way he's looking at her. It's difficult to describe because she's never seen him look like this before, but it's warm and pleasant and affectionate, and even though it's freezing outside and there's snow falling onto their figures, she suddenly feels inexplicably flushed.
Her tongue feels heavy when she slowly inquires, "And why did you stop that Bludger from hitting me?"
She feels even more flushed when he sends her a crooked smile and smugly repeats, "Cause I wanted to."
Clearly, he's not in his right mind. Before Vivian can snap him out of whatever stupor he's in, though, James lands several feet away and comes barreling towards his fallen friend.
"Padfoot! Are you alive? How many fingers am I holding up?" he exclaims, dropping to the ground beside Sirius and shoving his hand into his friend's face. Vivian immediately wrangles herself out of Sirius's grip and shuffles back, abruptly uncomfortable now that the rest of the Gryffindor team seems to be following James's lead. As they drop down to check on their Beater, she loses sight of Sirius amid the cluster of red robes and concerned teammates. She slips off to rejoin her own team, who are celebrating on the other side of the pitch, and forces herself not to look over when Sirius is carefully escorted to the hospital wing some minutes later. If she feels his eyes on her as he goes, she makes no sign of it. And – if her heart is beating a million miles a minute and her thoughts are spinning with the memory of his warm eyes on hers, well…
She makes no sign of that, either.
The whole school is up in arms about Gryffindor's near-win. It's practically the only thing people are talking about. As for Slytherin house, they're very content to rub it in everyone's faces, going as far as making snide remarks to every Gryffindor they see, whether they are a part of the Quidditch team or not. A few months ago, her housemates' banter would have been a source of amusement for her, but the stress of her task and the knowledge that she doesn't have that much time to complete said task erases whatever entertainment she would have normally felt.
The rest of her house doesn't seem to share her sentiments, though. They host an enormous party in the common room the night after their win, smuggling in alcohol and bribing the house-elves to supply them with food. Avery and Mauve are practically worshipped by the younger students. It's nice to see Mauve fitting in a bit more, but Vivian isn't really in the mood to party. After lingering around for a while, she takes her leave and decides to wander a bit, craving the silence that the empty hallways provide. She doesn't venture outside of the dungeons. Though she is tempted to head to the third-floor classroom, she doesn't want to push her luck and her mind is spinning a bit too much to concentrate on anything of import. The several shots of firewhiskey she'd downed at the behest of Morrigan have gone right to her head, and it's only when she presses her back to the cold stone wall by one of the many Potions classrooms that she feels like she can breathe.
Her thoughts are wispy things with nothing to hold them together. They flit around like snow flurrying from overhead, aimless and directionless. She thinks about her father and how a part of her has always yearned for his acknowledgement; she thinks about the spell that she needs to create and what might happen to her if she fails; she thinks about warm eyes and cold fingers, boyish smiles sent her way that make her feel flushed and overheated…
"Why did you leave the party?" a voice suddenly wonders across the way. Vivian's head snaps up in surprise, only to find that Regulus has followed her out of the common room. He's standing several meters away with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall by one of the sconces of light. His expression is especially unreadable tonight, as if it is carved from the stone that he leans against.
Vivian sends him a look and mutters, "What do you want, Regulus?"
For the briefest of seconds, he seems slightly taken aback by her tone. His expression falters just a little before returning to the unreadable mask from before. Vivian nearly misses the change entirely. She would have, if she wasn't busy glowering at him.
He scoffs quietly and pushes off from the wall. "Just wondering why you're not celebrating our win with the rest of our house." Then, pausing, he adds in a begrudging tone, "You and my brother looked very cozy on the pitch." He raises an eyebrow at her, studying her face in a manner that makes her distinctly uncomfortable, for it seems as if he can see right through her. Her reddened cheeks and the way she immediately looks away from him makes him uncomfortable, too. She appears awfully guilty for someone who claims to hate his brother, and as before, he wonders if hatred is really the right word for it.
Vivian snorts and straightens up, dusting off her robes. "What's that supposed to mean?" she grouses, but doesn't stick around for his response. Instead, she walks down the corridor in hopes of getting away from him. She had left the common room so that she could find peace and quiet. His presence here rather makes this difficult.
Regulus isn't the kind of person to let her leave that easily, though. He follows her down the hallway, his footsteps falling lightly on the stone floor. Judging from the stiff set of Vivian's shoulders, she's more than aware that he's still lingering behind her. Her impatience is quick to spill over after only a few moments, and she spins around to confront him and to demand why he's still here – but before she can form the words, Regulus beats her to it.
"I know things between us haven't exactly been smooth lately, but I – "
"How could they be?" she cuts in with a frown. "You've made your perspective very clear and I've told you plenty of times that I don't want anything to do with it."
They stare at each other for a long moment before Regulus says, "…I still care about you, Vivian."
She rolls her eyes. "You're so full of shit, Reg," she snaps, and turns on her heel.
Regulus reaches forward to grab her upper arm and haul her to a stop before she can escape. In a quiet voice – a voice she's never heard him use before – he calmly says, "I do care. Which is why I'm warning you that you're running out of time. The Dark Lord is sending an agent to Hogsmeade soon to collect your spell. You'd better hope you've got something to hand over."
His words are like ice water dousing over her. She turns her head to stare at him, catching his eye. He stares back with a solemn expression. His fingers feel too tight around her arm; he's gripping her so hard that it almost hurts.
"You already told me I had a deadline," she manages to say after a moment of total silence. Her voice is surprisingly calm. She's not sure how it doesn't shake.
Regulus purses his mouth and slowly releases his grip on her arm. When his hand falls away, it feels oddly final, in a way she can't quite describe.
"I don't know what's going on between you and my brother," he says, "but you know he won't protect you from what's coming. He's out of his league, and you're an idiot if you think it's worth throwing your life away to get in with his little group of friends."
A feeling quite unlike any that she's ever experienced rises up within her then. It feels almost defensive, almost protective – as if she can't bear to hear him talk about Sirius like that. That, even though they're brothers, Regulus doesn't know Sirius at all.
"He's…good," Vivian struggles out, unsure of what she's even trying to convey. After all, so what if Sirius Black is good? So what if he's on Dumbledore's side? It's just that suddenly it matters to her more than it ever did before, now that Regulus is standing in front of her, seeing through her actions with far more clarity than he has any right to.
Regulus scoffs quietly, eyes narrowing slightly as he stares at her. "And I'm evil? C'mon, Vivian. The world isn't that shallow."
But isn't it? When there's a war on their doorstep, and everything is going to hell around her, and she feels so confused and unsure about her future – isn't it exactly that shallow? She doesn't have the luxury of a more indulgent perspective. Regulus Black's direction has been made very clear to her.
"Thank you for telling me about the agent," Vivian says stiffly, and takes a step back. She stares at him with a removed look in her eye that has Regulus straightening his shoulders and lifting his chin. The look they send each other in that moment borders on frigid. He's obviously insulted that she seems to have such a low opinion of his character, and she frankly doesn't have the energy to explain said opinion.
Without a word, Regulus turns on his heel and makes his way back down the corridor towards the common room. He doesn't look back, and Vivian doesn't try to stop him.