Chapter 50: The Morning After

AN: I know this is a much shorter chapter than usual, but please bear with me as I push myself to finish the next one sooner rather than later.

When I woke up, the dormitory was light again.

Pressed against me with his chest to my back, Sirius dipped his head down to nuzzle my cheek. "Morning, kitten."

I smiled and gave a lazy stretch. "Morning."

He chuckled, his breath warming my skin. "How'd you sleep?"

"Really well."

"Really?" he said, propping himself up on an elbow, still nosing at my cheek and ear. "Maybe you should sleep in my bed more often."

I sighed in pleasure as I sank into the delicious warmth and comfort under the covers, snuggling closer to Sirius. "Mmm, I'd like that."

He rested his forehead against my cheek, his hair tickling my skin. "S'nice to wake up next to you."

"I should hope so, especially now that I'm your girlfriend." I said the last word slowly, the sound feeling strange in my mouth. The concept alone of dating Sirius had seemed so far out of my grasp for so long, and the reality of our relationship would no doubt take a while to set in.

His chest rumbled as he rubbed his cheek on my hair and wrapped an arm around my waist. "That'll take some getting used to."

"The dating part?"

"Yeah. Not in a bad way, but just because I spent so many weeks wanting it before I'd worked up the courage to finally tell you how I felt."

I grinned and rolled onto my back, his arm still around my middle.

Sirius smiled down at me in his arms, dipping his head close to kiss me softly. "Reckon we can wake up every morning like this when you come live with me in my flat?" he whispered against my lips.

I smiled before kissing him again. "Fuck, I would love that. I reckon I have fewer Seer dreams when you're there with me."

He drew back to meet my eyes, brushing my cheek with his knuckles. "Yeah?"

I nodded and tucked a dark wave behind his ear.

A smile twisted his lips as he said, "I guess you won't be able to move out of my flat."

I laughed and turned to bury my face in his chest. "Doesn't sound half bad."

Sirius lay back down, holding me close and tangling his legs with mine. "Sounds bloody brilliant to me, kitten."

"What time is it?" I mumbled into his chest.

"Dunno. Past breakfast. Moony left a while ago."

"You skipped breakfast? For me?" I teased, nosing at his skin.

"Yeah."

"Now that is a true indication of how you feel about me," I said, making him bark with laughter.

"Don't get used to it. I'm going to waste away if you don't let me leave the dormitory."

"You could've left to go eat. I wouldn't've minded."

He curled his arm snugly around my waist, his nose in my hair. "I didn't want to leave you. Besides, what if you'd had a… Seer dream?" he whispered.

"Thank you for staying with me, Sirius," I said, curling myself even closer.

He kissed the top of my head. "Of course, Kersti. Anything for you."

I smiled, my chest seemingly about to burst with fondness for this boy who'd let me get so close to him despite the facade he so readily adopted. When I was with Sirius, it finally seemed like there was happiness to be had in my future, even as we would undoubtedly struggle to make it through this war. Maybe now with Sirius a permanent fixture in my life, not all hope was lost.

Sirius and I skipped lunch later too in favour of several rounds of tender love-making and post-coital cuddling in his bed. After dinner, I headed to the library alone, hoping to get caught up on some homework that I'd neglected by going to the quidditch game and subsequent party yesterday. The library was quiet and The Pincer was at her usual position, her beady eyes roving over the students periodically. She gave me a particularly nasty look when I padded by her post; she had an excellent memory.

I spent the first hour at a table by myself, furiously scribbling out an essay for Slughorn's Potions class, and when that was done, I went to search for books to do research for my Defence Against the Dark Arts essay about banshees.

Taking my first book from the shelf, a figure in my peripheral vision caught my eye. In the dim lighting, my heart leapt in my chest, thinking it was Sirius.

Noticing me standing not very far down the row of bookshelves from him, Regulus Black met my eyes.

I froze, studying him even as he studied me back. He was dressed just as smartly as he'd been on Platform 9 and ¾ when I'd first seen him, his Slytherin robes impeccably clean and the gold Prefect's badge glinting to the left of his tie. Unlike Sirius's sloppy-chic hairstyle, Regulus had combed his much-shorter hair back into straight, even sections. The haughty set to his features reminded me so much of Sirius, yet all the similarities he bore to his older brother were not enough to fool me into thinking that dealing with Sirius would be at all similar to dealing with Regulus.

Regulus gave me the barest glance before turning away to take a book off the shelf, easily ignoring me.

I cocked my head, the banshee books forgotten as I watched him. The two brothers' body language and ways of carrying themselves was too different alone to make me mistake one for the other. While Sirius had an arrogant ease to everything he did, Regulus was self-controlled and quiet.

He tried to pretend that me staring him down from several yards away was of no concern, but I saw how his shoulders grew tense and the knuckles of his hands grew white. He snapped the book closed and met my eyes cooly. "Ridgelow."

I blinked, surprised that he would know my name. "Regulus."

He frowned and furrowed his eyebrows at me using his first name, but said nothing.

"Sirius told me about you," I offered, still watching him with unmasked curiosity.

"I figured as much," he said shortly, turning his attention back to his book.

The moments dragged by as I kept watching him, so curious I was about Sirius's brother now that he'd told me about him and his family.

Regulus heaved a short, frustrated sigh and slipped the book back into its spot. "What do you want, Ridgelow?"

"Nothing. I'm just curious because Sirius has told me about his family and you. Only a little bit, really. But it's still made me curious."

An eyebrow cocked, Regulus looked at me. "You must be very special to him. As far as I know, he never tells anyone about us."

I paused, noticing how he grouped himself with his parents in Sirius's eyes. On a whim, I said, "You're not on the same level as your parents in his books. "

He scoffed. "Nevermind, you clearly haven't been told everything about me and Sirius."

I frowned, feeling a hot flash of irritation at his dismissive tone. "Care to enlighten me, little Regulus?"

He made a derisive sound but didn't rise to the bait. "Some peace and quiet would be lovely right now, Grindylow."

I couldn't argue with that, so I turned my focus back to my banshee research. Banshees were interesting for me to read about since they heralded death with their screeches. At least I had never screamed while I was having a vision. Yet.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Regulus put his book back, wincing as he rubbed the skin on the inside of his left forearm. He whipped his arm out of sight when he noticed me watching, but when I turned my gaze away, he went back to rubbing his forearm, this time accompanied by a sharp intake of breath.

"Are you good friends with Avery and his lot?" I asked, absently turning a page in my book.

Regulus froze for a second before tucking his arm back into his robes. Straightening his tie and tweaking his badge, he faced the bookshelf and said, "We run into each other a lot. At school and… elsewhere." He frowned deeply and said no more, turning his back to me to read another book he'd found.

I stared at his back, my heart like a dead weight in my chest. There had been— and still was— so much suffering in Sirius's family, even for those who hadn't been disinherited. Did Regulus truly believe in his parents' pureblood mania, or was he just as lost as Sirius had been while he'd lived amongst them?

"I'm sorry, Regulus," I said, not sure what I was even apologizing for. Perhaps it was only natural for me to be so moved by an encounter with another lonely person struggling to find their place in a turbulent world.

He stiffened but didn't turn around to face me.

Just as I turned to leave, he spoke. "Keep an eye out for Avery, Ridgelow. He and Mulciber have been planning something for you. Just thought you ought to know." He trailed off, clearing his throat.

I looked over my shoulder at his back, which was still turned to me. "Thank you, Regulus." With a last glance at his dark form, I left the library, feeling significantly more morose than when I'd entered. I hoped that one day lost souls like Regulus could find their way out of this war. Merlin knows we'd all had to grow up faster than we should have.