Arielle was back in the good graces of the Gryffindors. The first and second year girls followed her around like an annoying entourage. There were a few times Sirius had to shoo them away; usually at meals where she found it difficult to eat her boiled potatoes with a bunch of batting eyes staring her down in admiration. As much as Arielle wanted to enjoy her newfound social status, her mind was consumed with guilt. Regulus was absent from Potions all week, and her meeting with Dumbledore lasted all but two minutes. The old man turned her away almost as soon as she sat down in his office.

"Take another week, maybe two…" He said eyeing her skeptically, confirming Arielle's suspicions that he could indeed read her mind.

Arielle trailed behind Sirius, James, Remus, and Lily to their Charms course. She walked to her desk in the front of the classroom and tossed her bag onto the table. She sat down with a huff.

"Bad day?" A dark-haired boy asked indifferently. He sneered when he saw that Lily Evans had swapped seats with Sirius to sit with Potter.

"I'm in the depths of despair, Severus." Arielle sighed placing her chin in her hands.

Severus rolled his eyes at her grandeur.

"Aren't you going to ask me why?" She said raising her eyebrows.

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me anyway." He nearly growled.

"Severus, I've committed a crime and now I must seek penance. Was I under the impression that humiliating Regulus Black in front of the entire school would bring me immense joy and pleasure? Yes. But unfortunately, unlike that stupid git, my pig-headed conscience has condemned me to a fate worse than total social annihilation."

"And what is that?" He asked playing along.

"Guilt." She said dramatically.

"Seems like a fair punishment considering Regulus is friendless and losing his spot on the quidditch team." Severus responded casually, eyeing his friend to catch her reaction.

Arielle gaped. Her stomach dropped. She didn't think it was possible to feel more guilty.

"Wait, what do you mean he is losing his spot on the quidditch team? He's the best seeker at Hogwarts!"

"Emma's graduating this year. She named Lucienda captain instead of Regulus and told the rest of the Slytherin team he was out for good."

Arielle was suddenly feeling nauseated. Merlin, this is all my fault. She had to fix this. Just as Professor Flitwick entered the room and greeted the class, Arielle grabbed her bag and bolted out the wooden door. She could go to Slughorn, certainty the Slytherin professor would not allow his own house to ostracize one of his favorite students. However, Slughorn had a big mouth and she didn't want to give Regulus the satisfaction of knowing she was trying to help him. Perhaps she could lure each member of the Slytherin team away and perform a memory charm. Although, given her current performance at occlumency, Dumbledore would surely know of her misdeeds the moment she entered his office. Performing a memory charm on another student was absolutely forbidden. Arielle racked her brain for ideas. Surely there was something someone like her could do, she was a Malfoy after all—wait that's it! Arielle practically ran to the Gryffindor common room and up the stairs to her dormitory. She took out her quill and a piece of parchment.

Lucius,

Arielle looked at her brothers name, crinkled up the piece of paper, and sighed.

Dearest Narcissa,

I'm sorry to bother you. I know the wedding is approaching, and you are probably busier than a dozen house elves. I'm writing to you, well, because I thought you may be able to help me fix a terrible mistake. Please don't tell my brother, he would be furious! It's about Sirius...and I, we played a horrible prank on Regulus. Since then he has become a social piraha, and Emma Vanity gave the Slytherin quidditch captaincy to Lucinda Talkalot. If the seventh year Slytherins have it their way, Regulus will be kicked off the quidditch team permanently. I really feel awful for my part in it all, please tell me there is something you can do to help me fix this. Lucius would be livid to know that I am hanging out with Sirius again and as much as I loathe Regulus, you know why, he's the best seeker at Hogwarts and it would be a tragedy if he weren't on the quidditch team next year.

Everything else is good. You'll happy to know that I am doing well at Hogwarts, I have even recently acquired an annoying entourage of first and second years to follow me around. Please give my love to Lucius. Actually nevermind, then he'll know I wrote you this letter…

Lots of Love,

Arielle

Arielle read the letter over and over again to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She sealed it and made her way to Owlery.

Regulus returned to Potions the next week. Whispers ensued as he walked into class sporting a black eye; everyone stared at him. Arielle mustered the courage to look over at the Slytherin boy as he sat down beside her. Their eyes met for a moment before he looked away coldly. Throughout the entire lesson, Regulus didn't speak to her once. Instead of telling her what he was doing, he just did it, forcing Arielle to watch his every move to make sure she didn't screw up their potion.

Two weeks had past and Regulus's social isolation continued. Arielle watched him eat alone at the end of the Slytherin table every day for every meal. Sometimes Severus would send her a knowing glance and sit across from the former Slytherin prince. His black eye was fading, and people had finally stopped whispering fervently every time he entered the room.

"What the hell—Ari?" Sirius bellowed approaching the table where she sat with Remus and Peter. James was trailing after his best friend looking apologetically in Arielle's direction.

Arielle looked up into Sirius grey blue eyes. He looked furious.

"I got a howler this morning." He began, sitting down and piling food on his plate.

Arielle's eyes widened, oh no….

"My mother is absolutely beside herself. She seems to have this idea in her head that I've gotten her sweet little Regulus kicked off the quidditch team!" He nearly shouted.

"I'm so sorry Sirius, was it really that bad?" Arielle asked. She never thought about the consequences for Sirius after she wrote Narcissa who no doubt told her aunt of his misdeed.

"Hilarious actually… in front of the whole common room" James smiled, taking a bite of his roast beef.

Sirius scowled at his best friend.

"Just because you're obsessed with my brother doesn't mean…"

"That's not true and you know it!" Arielle yelled gaining the attention of the entirety of the Gryffindor table. Remus put a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

"Fine. What is true, is that you managed to ruin my plans to stay at Hogwarts for the Easter Holiday."

"Ugh, what?" Remus and Peter both huffed looking at Arielle accusingly. There would be a full moon on Easter and the Marauders had planned to stay at Hogwarts to keep Remus company.

"That's right. Now I have to attend the Malfoy wedding with you." Sirius spat.

"Wait, what?" Arielle asked.

"My dear cousin insists we go to her wedding together to witness the union of two death eaters!"

Arielle dismissed the rage his words sparked in her. He was angry, she could let it go.

"This came for you." Lily said joining the feast and sitting down beside Arielle. The redhead looked around and her eyes widened at the growing hostility in the air.

"What's the matter?" She asked cautiously.

"Ask her." Sirius huffed giving Arielle a cold glance.

Arielle sighed and opened the letter.

Sweet Arielle,

I'm sure by now you've heard that you will be attending the wedding with Sirius as his date. Quite a fitting punishment if I do say so myself. No doubt he'll be furious so that's why I need you to keep him under your thumb the entire evening.

Arielle huffed. Who was she punishing him or her?

As far as Regulus goes, I was able to make arrangements that I think will prove beneficial to his current predicament. If all goes well, as soon as Emma Vanity graduates, he will have his spot back on the quidditch team. If my plan doesn't work, I'll have to tell Lucius and he'll be able to make it right. Your dress fitting is tomorrow evening, you'll look ravishing in silver.

Yours,

Cissy

PS: Witch Weekly is covering our wedding! They will be interviewing and taking pictures of the wedding party on Thursday, please look your best for the cameras! Since it's a school night we will send the carriage. Make sure Sirius wears a suit!

Arielle closed the letter and tried to catch Sirius's gaze. He was actively ignoring her at this point. She doubted he knew about the Witchy Weekly interviews. She sighed and finished her dinner silently. She wondered what Narcissa's plan was to get Regulus back into the good graces of the Slytherins. Arielle didn't have to wonder too long because as soon as she exited the Great Hall she was ambushed by a brunette witch.

"Oh Arielle. Have you heard the good news?" Lucienda squealed. Arielle raised her eyebrows in apprehension.

"I just got a letter this evening from Narcissa Black, one of her bridesmaid cancelled on her last minute and she wants to give the spot to me!"

"To you?" Arielle asked incredulously.

"Yes, to me." Lucienda said dreamily. "She said I was going to get fitted tomorrow evening. The dress is silver, not really my color, but oh Arielle, it's going to be magical."

Arielle opened her mouth to speak but was at a loss for words.

"Who's your date?" Lucienda asked with a giddy expression.

"Um…" Arielle said still trying to fathom the absurdity of this situation. Narcissa barely knew Lucienda, what was the older witch playing at?

"I'm going with Regulus." Lucienda said with a sweet smile.

It finally dawned on her, Narcissa's plan. Arielle stood stunned with her mouth hanging open.

"I know what you're thinking Arielle. But who cares what Emma Vanity or the rest of those bonehead snakes think? She'll be gone in a few months and if I want to be Queen of Slytherin House, Narcissa says that I need a proper beau, and Regulus...being from the most ancient and noble house of Black, is the perfect king."

"Er...this is great news Lucienda. Are sure Emma won't rescind your captaincy?"

"She can't. It's too late for that now." Lucienda practically purred.

"Who will be the new seeker?" Arielle asked outrightly.

"New seeker?" Lucienda nearly laughed. "Arielle, did you really think that I'd let Emma or the other Slytherins intimidate me into kicking Regulus off the team? I've been dealing with their shit for years. Regulus is the best seeker at Hogwarts, it would be stupid to kick him off the team. As soon as Emma and Wilkes are gone Regulus will be back on the team. No offense but we all know it was your fault we lost the game, not his."

Arielle sighed in relief, her guilt began to fade away.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you either!" Lucienda said, thinking Arielle's sigh was about her.

Arielle smiled. "This is great news Lucienda, let's meet up for the dress fitting tomorrow?"

"Is your fitting tomorrow too? We'll have so much fun. See you tomorrow!" Lucienda said skipping off down the corridor.

The next day during Potions, Arielle noticed that Regulus was less tense than usual. He managed to mumble a few words to her as they worked together on an assignment. The Slytherin boy still refused to look at her.

"Arielle, my dear, I just got my invitation in the mail for the wedding. I'd say it must've gotten lost, the wedding is in two weeks! My owl is very old you know." Professor Slughorn said approaching the table in the front of the room. He made sure to glance around, eyeing that the other students were busy. At least he tried to maintain the illusion he didn't pick favorites.

"How delightful sir. I'm so glad your coming. You know Lucius, he always likes to have the most important people in the wizarding world attend these elite events." Arielle cooed.

Slughorn blushed at her compliment. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Regulus trying desperately to hold back a smirk and failing miserably.

"And Regulus, who are you bringing as your date?" Slughorn asked the young man completely unaware of her biting sarcasm. Arielle turned to face the shaggy haired boy as he answered.

"Lucienda Talkalot sir." He said with a flashy smile.

"Good. Good. And you Arielle?" The old man asked looking over at the black haired witch.

Regulus turned to face Arielle, raising a quizzical brow. Arielle rolled her eyes and put on her best fake smile.

"Sirius Black." Arielle said biting her tongue as Regulus chuckled. "But don't worry Professor, I'll be sure to save you a dance."

Professor Slughorn let out a satisfied laugh and walked away to search for something in the Potions closet. As soon as he was out of sight, Arielle whipped around, placing a defiant hand on her hip. Regulus hadn't spoken to her in weeks, most likely to intensify her guilt over the quidditch incident and now he had the nerve to just laugh at her in front of Slughorn. Before she could dig her claws into him he decided to take the first shot.

"Sounds like I got a date to your brother's wedding and you got a babysitting job." He said with an annoyingly large smirk.

"That's right. I'll be spending my evening at the wedding sparing your family from further embarrassment and utter humiliation in high society." Arielle said nastily. She couldn't believe how much she sounded like Lucius right now.

Regulus snorted. "Right, that's why they lumped you two together, NOT because you're considered the two lepers of our families."

Arielle gasped at the insult. "Last time I checked Black, you were the one sitting alone in the Great Hall like a pariah not me."

"Well that's about to change no thanks to you." Regulus said through gritted teeth.

"Actually thanks to me. The only reason you're going to the wedding with Lucienda is because I wrote Narcissa and told her about your… tragic fall from grace. Your welcome." Arielle said with a satisfied smile.

"Oh really? Well I'm sure your brother would love to hear all about how you and Sirius sabotaged our team during the quidditch match ending Slytherin's five year reigning championship that he started." Regulus quipped.

"You wouldn't." Arielle growled.

"No. I wouldn't. I prefer to be more open in my dealings with others, not blatantly underhanded like you...and your deceptively cunning little stunt on the quidditch pitch." He said callously.

"Oh! You mean blatantly underhanded like you tricking me into falling in love with you while simultaneously hosting a bidding war with your friends for my virginity like I'm a fucking broodmare?" Arielle shouted.

The entire Potions class had gone quiet now. Arielle was so enraged, she couldn't even look at Regulus. Her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest, and her ears were ringing.

Noticing that all of the eyes in the classroom were on her and her partner, she shouted again, "Alright shows over! Get back to work you nosy twats!" At that moment Slughorn emerged from the storage closet and everyone pretended to be busy.

Arielle picked up her bag to leave but a strong hand grasped her wrist tightly. Regulus's grey blue eyes penetrated her dark blue ones with a gaze she assumed was suppose to look like remorse. Arielle glared at him for a few moments before wrenching her hand out of his grasp and walking over to Slughorn.

"Professor, I'm suddenly feeling quite ill. Would you excuse me? Regulus has graciously offered to finish our potion for the both of us."

"Of course my dear." Slughorn said looking overly concerned.

"Thank you for understanding sir." Arielle practically whimpered before turning around with a deadpan expression that sent chills down Regulus's spine. Her high heels clicked loudly on the floor as she left the room.

Arielle skipped dinner and met Lucienda in Slughorn's office; she had a row with one Black today and she didn't want to fight with Sirius who was still pissed off about having to come to the wedding. The girls used floo powder to get to and from Twilfitt and Tattings. The silver dresses Narcissa had picked out were divine. They contrasted Narcissa's beautiful emerald wedding gown, that Arielle had seen over Christmas Break, nicely. The dresses were sequenced and spaghetti strapped. The silvery fabric shimmered with every movement and Lucienda and Arielle talked of how angelic they'd look in the moonlight. After their dresses were fitted, the two girls picked out new dresses for Thursday night's soiree with Witch Weekly.

"What color dress do you think Regulus would like?" Lucienda asked browsing through the clothes. Arielle sighed—that's right Regulus was her date to the wedding.

"Um, green remember? But you can't wear that." Arielle responded as Lucienda held up a beautiful green dress.

"Are you afraid he might be attracted to me in this?" Lucienda asked innocently. "I overheard your row in potions...and I wasn't eavesdropping, you guys weren't exactly quiet."

"No, I'm not afraid…"

"I know you guys have history," Lucienda interrupted still examining the dress, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm not really over Avery yet...but a handsome guy like Regulus might be just what I need to…"

"Listen Lucienda," Arielle said cutting off the brunette witch, she couldn't bare to listen to her incessant rambling on this subject, "do whatever you want with Regulus. I couldn't care less, just be careful. Also, no green...that's the color Narcissa will be wearing and you don't want to be photographed in Witch Weekly caught in the same color as the bride."

"Oh Merlin...you're right!" Lucienda said mortified putting the green dress away immediately.

Arielle settled on a dark blue dress that matched the shade of her eyes perfectly. It wasn't the sexiest dress but her date was Sirius so who cared? It was simple and elegant. Lucienda picked out a red dress. She looked smoking hot and Arielle couldn't shake the pang of jealousy that she felt when she gazed at the gorgeous Slytherin girl. Before they left the shop, Arielle picked up a blue tie, knowing full well that Sirius probably didn't have one and if he did it was long gone by now.

A/N: Special thanks to ForeverTeamEdward13 I appreciate your feedback and love reading your reviews. To all my other readers, please leave your comments! It keeps me engaged with the story and motivates me to write more when I'm suffering from writer's block.

What did you guys think about Regulus/Arielle's big blow out? I feel like they needed to have it all out before they could ever reconcile. What are your thoughts, opinions, criticisms? Who committed the worst deed in your opinion Regulus or Arielle? Leave your comments :)

xoxo