Welcome back! Sorry for the wait, but I always find this fic to be one of the ones I struggle with the most, for some reason. But all of your favorites/follows and reviews keep me encouraged to continue writing this, so thank you!

Chapter Ten

In hindsight, bringing her friends along to the library so they could all do their homework together had not been one of Diana's brighter suggestions. Henrietta—the ever-dutiful prefect—was fine, but Gemma and Jackie were prone to bore easily, and that did not bode well for the library's other patrons.

"For the love of Merlin!"

Henrietta snapped her Charms book shut when the two troublemakers cracked up over yet another joke. Diana glanced up from her own work and watched Henrietta glower at the snickering duo.

"Are you trying to get us thrown out? This is a library, for heaven's sake! People are trying to work!"

"I think you need to shine your badge a little more, Ettie," Gemma teased. "'Prefect' looks a bit more like 'Pinhead' now…"

Jackie snorted loud enough that several Ravenclaws turned and glared at their table. Henrietta grimaced at them apologetically before turning on the two girls again.

"Well, if you're not going to work, can you at least spare the other people here?"

"When's the last time the four of us all hung out together?" Gemma objected. "You're always off doing prefect stuff, Jackie has Gobstones Club, and Diana's been too busy tutoring a snake."

Diana looked up from her Herbology diagram with a frown. "Oi. Be nice."

Gemma rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just a git, then."

"You don't even know him."

"And I suppose you do?" She raised an eyebrow. "Grown chummy with him after spending so many hours locked in the dungeons together, have you?"

Now it was Diana's turn to roll her eyes. "Of course not."

"Going to start tutoring Nott next, are you? Have you already forgiven him for blasting a hole through your hand?"

"What's your problem?" Diana said, scrunching her brows.

Gemma flopped back in her chair. "Nothing."

There was clearly something bothering her friend, but Jackie perked up across the table just then. "Oi, speaking of…"

The four girls turned and spotted Regulus Black entering the library, his bag slung over his shoulder and for all the world looking like any other teenager spending their Thursday evening in the library. Diana's heart flipped, and she hoped there was nothing off about her expression. It had only been scant days since their talk in the Forbidden Forest, and neither of them had yet approached the other since. She told herself she was merely waiting for their tutoring session on Friday, but a part of her knew it was because she was anxious to suddenly face this new understanding between them head-on. She didn't know where to even start.

Gemma scoffed as Regulus settled at an empty table several rows from theirs. "First time in a while I've seen him without his little gang of blood worshippers around."

"Seriously, what has gotten into you?" Diana demanded. "He's been nothing but civil to me ever since our first session. Has he done something to you?"

Gemma's round face soured. "He's a Slytherin and a Black on top of that. I told you not to trust him."

"Who says I trust him?"

"That besotted expression of yours whenever he walks into the same room does all the talking for you."

Diana reeled. "What?" She turned to Henrietta and Jackie, outraged. "What is she talking about?"

"No idea," Jackie said quickly. "Leave me out of this."

Henrietta tapped the cover of her book thoughtfully. "Mm, Gem has a point. I wouldn't go as far as to say 'besotted'," she said to Diana's look, "but you do seem to give him a fair bit of attention now. Especially this week." Her eyes glittered. "After…whatever happened between you two during your last session."

"Nothing happened," Diana said. "I was just ill, remember?"

Gemma snorted. "What, catch something after snogging him?"

Diana stood abruptly, her face burning. "You know what?" She gathered her things in her arms and yanked her bag strap over her shoulder. "You want to think I'm – I'm snogging Black in secret or something? Fine. Go ahead. But I won't sit here and let you pick a fight with me over something that isn't even true!"

She stormed off, reveling in their shocked faces when she marched right over to Regulus's table and threw herself down.

He looked up from his homework with a start, his face creasing in a puzzled frown. "Er…hello?"

She slapped her diagram on the table and turned her back on her friends. "Hi. Mind if I join you?"

"Little late to ask, don't you think?" he said with a wry look at her bag and supplies. His grey eyes lingered on her red cheeks. "Everything all right?"

"No," she said, unscrewing her inkpot with unnecessary force.

His lips quirked. "Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Very well." He raised his hands. "I'll leave you to it, then."

She suddenly paused, uncertain, as he went back to his essay. "I'm not bothering you, am I?"

"Not at all," he said, his attention on his parchment. He wrote down a sentence in an unsurprisingly beautiful script, and she pulled a face.

Pure-bloods.

She dug around for her quill before stopping again. "Is it all right if I'm seen with you here?"

He shrugged, glancing briefly up at her. "It's the library. We're both here to study. There shouldn't be a problem."

"But are you all right with being seen with me?"

He gave her a dry look. "My Housemates aren't going to start dueling me right here and now if they see us together if that's what you mean."

She leaned closer and lowered her voice. "But what about the whole—?"

She jerked her chin at his left forearm, and he winced. "Look, if anyone brings it up, I'll just tell them we were going over some concepts from our study sessions. Relax, will you?"

"Sorry." She smiled sheepishly. "This is all just…new."

He just gave her a look she didn't quite comprehend before returning to his work. "I do have to finish this essay, by the way. Can we keep the chatter to a minimum?"

"Oh! Right. Sorry," she said, picking up her quill.

"Diana?"

She looked up and met his amused stare. "Hm?"

"Quit apologizing."

"Sor—" She blushed when one of his eyebrows ticked up. "Right."

They went back to their work in silence. Diana tried to cool the heat in her face with the back of her hand, but the effort was futile. Just the realization that she was alone with Regulus, in public, for anyone to see was enough to keep her fidgeting. This wasn't the Potions classroom, and he was no longer just Regulus Black. He was a Death Eater, and she had willingly decided to get into bed with him.

The thought made her blush deepen. Merlin, what was wrong with her? She wasn't actually getting into bed with him; it was just an expression.

She touched her face again. Blazing hot. Maybe she was just running a fever. Maybe she actually was sick now, and she should visit Madam Pomfrey for some Pepper-Up Potion—

"All right over there?"

Diana jerked, slashing an ink line through her diagram with her quill. She swore, extracting her wand to undo the damage as Regulus stared at her in mild confusion.

"I'm fine," she said, waving him off when he continued to stare. "Just fine… Oh, bugger, what's the spell again?"

"Tergeo," he said. He smirked slightly while she cast the spell. The ink siphoned off the parchment and flowed back into her inkpot. She sighed in relief. "You seem out of sorts today. Are you sure you're fine?"

She nodded, stabbing her wand through her hair again in agitation. "Yes. No. Maybe." She scrubbed a hand over her face. "I dunno. My friends and I just got into a row right when you came in, so that's why I left their table."

"Ah." His eyes slid past her and narrowed at whatever he saw. "I know that feeling all too well." To her curious look, he admitted, "Nott's been on my case lately, too."

Her stomach dropped at the mention of the cruel Slytherin boy. "Are you two actually friends?"

"More or less." He shrugged. "We grew up together. He's the closest to what I would consider a friend, anyway." He snorted. "He's about the only bloke in our year I even tolerate."

Diana frowned. "Who else do you share your year with? In Slytherin, I mean."

"A bunch of nobodies, really. Barty Crouch, Cadmus Crabbe, and Thorfinn Rowle."

"Oh, Crouch is the one with some big-name dad in the Ministry, right? His name's in the Prophet all the time." She tilted her head. "So, not really a nobody."

"He's nobody to me," Regulus muttered, scrawling another sentence.

"I'm fairly certain I'm more of a nobody than him," she said, amused.

"Yes, well, at least I can tolerate your presence," he said.

Diana's amusement grew. "Oh, so I'm just tolerable? Good to know."

"I didn't say—" His eyes lifted from his parchment only to narrow a second later. "You're taking the piss, aren't you?"

She dabbed her quill in her inkpot. "Maybe."

He rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Cute, Diana."

Her heart skipped a beat for some reason, but she covered it up with a mischievous grin. "Now you think I'm cute?"

"I think this conversation is over," he said, but his words lacked any venom as he turned back to his work.

Diana just huffed a laugh as she copied him, trying to ignore the way her heart fluttered, sending a tingling sensation through her core. She got the distinct impression that she may have flirted with Regulus Black just then, and it was enough to almost have her running out the door. What had gotten into her lately? She was being reckless, throwing caution to the wind whenever Regulus was involved, and she couldn't understand why. It was like sticking her hand into the fire and seeing how long she could keep it there without getting burned. It was wildly stupid and dangerous, but it was exhilarating all at once.

Regulus sighed and leaned back in his seat. Diana schooled her features into nonchalance, suddenly hoping he wasn't an accomplished Legilimens or anything. Her thoughts were embarrassing and confusing enough without having someone read them.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Something the matter?"

He waved a hand toward his parchment. "This essay for Defense. It'd be a lot easier to explain how to defend against the Body-Disintegration Curse if we were actually taught what the curse does." He shook his head. "But the only way to find that out is to learn the details of the curse, and no book outside of the Restricted Section is bound to have that information."

"So, ask Professor Tawnycroft for access to the Restricted Section," said Diana.

Regulus's lips pursed in what Diana could only describe as a pout. "I did. She said no; that I should just stick to the base definition she went over in class. Which is stupid. Yes, the curse can turn the body's bones to dust, but how? How can we counteract someone afflicted with the curse if we don't know what the curse targets specifically? The bones themselves, or the cells of the body? Does it infect the blood and then travel throughout the body, or—"

He made a frustrated gesture with his hands, and Diana's mouth quirked.

"You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" she asked.

He expelled an irritated sigh. "I just think magic is so much more complex than what we're taught here. We learn spells and how to cast them, and what they can do on the surface, but magic is deeper than all that. We just take it for granted; it's something natural that we can do. But why?" He shook his head. "Anyway. I'm not trying to bore you. It's just something I've always been interested in."

"It's not boring at all," she said. She hesitated before glancing around discreetly and reaching into her bag. She dug around for a bit until her fingers bumped against the small metal object, and she drew it out. She leaned forward and placed her closed fist on the table.

Regulus stared at her. "What are you doing?"

Diana motioned for him to lower his voice. "Just hear me out." She glanced around again and whispered. "What if…I told you that I had access to the Restricted Section?"

He looked dubious. "That's not really a big secret. Plenty of students are granted access for one thing or another. Why are we whispering?"

Diana bit her lip and opened her hand. In her palm rested a small but ornate bronze key attached to a keyring. "Because, technically, I'm not supposed to have access."

"You're kidding." His lips stretched in a smirk. "Diana Fairchild, how on earth did you manage this?"

She fit the keyring on her index finger and gave it a little twirl, her sheepish grin turning smug. "Professor Slughorn gave me permission ages ago for an extra-credit assignment right before O.W.L.s last year. All the professors have multiple copies of keys to almost everywhere in the castle, you know. Slughorn lent me this one, and since he never asked for it back…"

"You kept it?" At her guilty nod, he whistled. "That's quite devious for a Hufflepuff. I never would've expected such a thing from you."

"That's precisely why I've gotten away with it," she said. She dangled the key in front of him. "Now, Mr. Black, would you like a tour of the Restricted Section?"

He grinned, his dimples making a rare appearance and lending him a boyish look that made him appear like an actual human instead of an entity carved from marble. "After you, Miss Fairchild."

The Restricted Section always had a different smell from the rest of the library. Separated from the main floor by a magicked gilded gate, the air was mustier, thicker, and reminded Diana of an ancient, abandoned house that gave her the sense that she was trespassing. Or perhaps her guilty conscience was projecting since, after all, she technically was trespassing. But that was neither here nor there, she thought once she caught the impressed look on Regulus's face when she shut and locked the gate behind him.

"Go on, then," she said, jerking her chin. "Search to your heart's desire."

"I've never been in here," he admitted, keeping his voice low as they began to walk through the expansive bookcases. His grey eyes darted about, drinking in everything. He looked like a child inside of Honeydukes. "I always wanted to, but I could never find an opportunity." He snorted. "And when I did, Tawnycroft basically told me to sod off."

"Tawnycroft's an old hag," Diana said dismissively. "She gave me a P on my Old Defense Techniques essay for citing too many sources, can you believe that?"

Regulus's lips twitched. "Sounds like a serious grudge."

"Oh, stuff it," she replied when she caught his eye, but she couldn't help but grin, too. "Hurry up and find something before Pince comes sniffing 'round."

Regulus gave her a mock salute, and she rolled her eyes at his back as she trailed after him. He made a beeline for the aisle titled 'Dark Arts' and began his search, using his wand to tap certain books so they would shimmy loose from their brethren and float beside him as he flitted through several pages before either returning them to their rightful place or adding them to his airborne stack that grew steadily larger and larger.

Diana's gaze roved over the various titles, ranging from Latin, German, and French to English. The titles she could read sent shivers down her spine, reminding her why these books were restricted as she read things like The Nightshade Guide to Necromancy and Magick Moste Evile. She couldn't even begin to imagine what horrific things those volumes contained within its pages.

She glanced at the tome Regulus was currently skimming, unsurprised to find that it was in French after remembering when he'd told her that he had been required to read in different languages growing up. "Find anything useful yet?"

"A few things," he murmured, his eyes glued to the book. "A lot of these books are familiar, actually. My father owns quite the collection himself." He turned the page. "Maybe I'll make a list and ask him to send me them."

"Smart," Diana said, choosing not to comment on his father owning some of the vilest Dark spellbooks around.

She returned her attention to the shelves when he didn't answer before a sudden question crossed her mind.

"Is Nott a Death Eater, too?" she asked.

Regulus's head snapped up. "Are you out of your mind?" he hissed, his eyes flashing. "You can't just go 'round asking questions like that!"

She only raised an eyebrow coolly despite the squirming in her gut. She really had been cursed by a Death Eater. "Either way, your reaction is all I needed to know."

He slammed his book shut, glaring at her. "This isn't a game, Diana. You're not a little detective seeking out clues. There are real, serious consequences to your actions if you push too far. You're already pushing too far just by being associated with me and knowing what I am. Don't make the mistake of getting involved with any other Slytherin besides me, or else I can't help you. Stay the hell away from Nott, you hear me?"

"I'm not an idiot," she said, miffed. "I know who to stay away from."

He gave her a scornful look as he put away the book. "Obviously not since you're here with me."

"I told you; I want to help you," she said, crossing her arms. "You're the idiot if you think you can plot to take down You-Know-Who all on your own."

He stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head. "Whatever." He waved his wand, and the books that had been floating beside him zoomed back to their respective spaces. "I got what I needed. Let's go."

They had just started for the entrance when they heard a key jingling in the lock, and they froze.

"Shit!" Diana whispered. "Pince!"

"You have a key!" Regulus hissed back. "Just lie!"

"Yeah, but you don't!" she snapped. "I'm not allowed to bring unauthorized people in here with me, and I'm not even supposed to still have the key! If she tells Slughorn, I'm screwed!"

"Oh, for f—" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down the aisle as the sound of heels began clacking toward them. Between the end of the bookcase and the wall was a small space, and he wedged her into it. Diana opened her mouth to object, but he smothered it with his hand as he forced himself in with her, his eyes flashing a warning.

Diana's objection died in her throat as Regulus squeezed his broad shoulders in an attempt to fit, his chest pressing solidly into hers at the motion and pushing the air from her lungs. He was far too close, and she went lightheaded at the familiar sharp bite of his cologne and the way she felt his chest rise and fall against her with every breath. She should've been worried about Madam Pince finding them in such a compromising position in the Restricted Section, but all she could focus on was the warm pressure of his body and the way he still hadn't removed his hand from over her mouth as he peeked around the corner.

Her heart pounded against her ribs and her brain clanged a warning bell in her head, but not only from Pince. She stared up at Regulus while he stared down the aisle, keeping watch as the librarian shuffled around somewhere nearby. The tempting fire from before grew hotter, challenging her to keep her hand engulfed in its flames. The fire itself stood in front of her now, scorching her and blistering her skin, but she didn't move. She couldn't. She was too transfixed, too foolish, just like Regulus had said. And even worse was that even if she could move, she didn't want to.

For once in her life, she wanted to burn.

The minutes dragged on, agonizingly slow, before there was finally the jangle of the key again and the gate closed. Madam Pince's footsteps receded, and Regulus's shoulders slumped.

"Merlin," he said. "I thought she'd never leave."

He glanced down at Diana and finally seemed to realize that he was still smothering nearly half of her face. "Oh, shit." He removed his hand, and Diana inhaled deeply, accidentally pushing her chest even more into him. "Oh, shit."

He stepped out of the alcove, straightening his robes and refusing to meet her eyes, for which she was thankful. Her face was bound to be beet-red, and she suddenly became very interested in her shoes as Regulus cleared his throat.

"Well," he said, sounding slightly hoarse. "I take that as our cue to leave."

He started for the gate without even waiting for her, and she rushed to follow him out. She felt like a bloody fool as he led the way back to their table in the main library, wondering if he'd really been as repulsed by her as his voice had conveyed. She remembered then when she'd run into him escorting Magda Travers outside of the Great Hall that one morning and her face flushed even more. She'd completely forgotten that he was even involved with Travers, and here she was, swooning over him because they'd been forced to share a hiding place. She was an unbelievable fool.

They packed their things silently and exited the library. Diana bypassed the table she'd been with her friends at earlier and saw that they had already vacated. She held in a sigh. Probably for the better.

As they entered the corridor, Regulus said, "I'll walk you back to your common room."

He didn't look at her, but she conceded. "I s'pose it'd be weirder if you didn't, seeing as they're right next to each other."

He gave her a curt nod. "Indeed."

They didn't speak as they traversed the corridors, descending into the bowels of the castle. Diana snuck glances at Regulus as they walked, but his face was as expressionless as stone once more, and just as hard. She scuffed her shoe bitterly. Of course, just because they were now tentative allies didn't mean that he saw her in a different way, not like she obviously now did with him.

Idiot, she cursed herself.

They came upon the entrance to the basements, and Regulus faced her hesitantly. "Diana."

She looked up and met his gaze. It was blank and unyielding.

"Whatever it is you're thinking," he said lowly, "stop." His face hardened even more until she was peering at the emotionless mask of the Black heir once again. "It won't end well for you, Diana."

She wilted. Merlin, was she that easy to read?

She bowed her head. "I understand. Goodnight, Black."

"Goodnight, Fairchild," he said, his voice stiff, and then he was gone.

Diana turned, about to descend the basement staircase when another voice stopped her.

"Di?"

Henrietta met her eyes when Diana turned. The blonde looked guilty, and Diana sighed. "You heard all that?"

Henrietta nodded, her blue eyes concerned. "Are you all right?"

No, she wanted to say. I got involved with a Death Eater and I think I now fancy said Death Eater. Brilliant, right?

Instead, she shrugged. "I will be."

Henrietta held out her hand and smiled. "Hot cocoa in the kitchens?"

Diana put her hand in hers and smiled back, accepting the truce. "Sounds good to me."

Regulus slumped into the Slytherin common room and prayed that no one would notice him slinking to the dorms, but of course, luck was never on his side in such matters.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Black Prince?"

Regulus inwardly sighed and turned to find Nott lounging in one of the green velvet armchairs, a lazy smirk on his face as he waved Regulus over. Regulus shouldered his bag and tried to ignore being summoned like a dog as he joined the company of Nott, Cadmus Crabbe, Barty Crouch Jr., and Magda Travers. He plopped down beside Magda when she made room on the loveseat for him, and immediately, one of her arms snaked around his shoulders.

"What's with the new nickname?" he asked Nott.

Nott leaned his chin in his hand and grinned. "I only thought it fitting, since you never seem to have time for your dear old friends anymore." He sighed dramatically. "The high and mighty Black Prince, who'd rather earn his favor with the peasants than socialize with his pals."

Crabbe chuckled, and the sound was akin to a troll coughing. He was a thick and lumbering boy built like a boulder, with the brain to match. Next to him and Nott, Crouch laughed nervously, his pale eyes darting between Nott and Regulus as he fidgeted in his seat. These were his other roommates whom he'd told Diana about earlier, and his mood plummeted further at their open laughter.

He narrowed his eyes at Nott. "If you're referring to my tutor, then you should know that I'm rather forced to spend time with her. That's kind of the whole point of tutoring."

Nott flapped his hand. "Just make sure the half-blood stays in her place. I'd be more than happy to blast another hole in her other hand if she gets too nosy for her own good."

"She doesn't know anything," Regulus said. "I've told you this a hundred times."

"Leave him alone, Nott," Magda said in her perpetually dry, cool tone. She looked bored, and Nott scowled at her indifference. "Reg is doing what he must, hm? There's no need to heckle him."

Nott huffed. "You don't have to defend him at every turn, Travers. You're not betrothed to him yet."

"Yet," she repeated loftily. She sighed and nestled into Regulus's side. "Leave us. You're all boring me."

It was a testament to Magda herself that the three boys obeyed her wishes, albeit grudgingly. Regulus kept his eyes on the abandoned game of wizard's chess in front of him as his roommates skulked back to their dorm, casting him and Magda dark looks all the while.

"Finally," she said when they had gone. "I was trying to read earlier when they invaded and started being annoying."

Regulus snorted. "They're always annoying."

"Mm," was her only reply as she rested her head on his shoulder. Her warmth and pressure were familiar to him—comfortable, even. He'd known Magda for years, and they'd always gotten on well. It was one of the reasons why their families had supported a match between them ever since they were children.

With Magda curled against his side, he was forcibly reminded of his sticky situation with Diana earlier in the library. Compared to Magda, her heat and presence had been completely foreign, and he still felt like vestiges of it were in him, clogging his pores, her scent of oranges and gardenia in his nostrils. The memory made him frown, his gut tightening.

"Relax," Magda murmured, her eyes shut. "Your shoulders are so tense."

He made a concerted effort to loosen his muscles. "Better?"

She made another noncommittal noise. "I suppose."

He looked down at her head. Her black hair spilled across his arm like ink, matching the shade of her eyes, which he knew well even when they were closed like now. The slope of her nose was sharp and defined, and her lips were petal-pink and plump, despite being stuck in a constant neutral line. He couldn't remember her smiling or laughing much, even as children. She'd always been reserved and aloof, pretty and proud. He supposed if he had to marry anyone, he wouldn't mind if it was her.

He leaned his head against the back of the loveseat and shut his own eyes.

"Whatever it is you're thinking, stop. This won't end well for you, Diana."

It had been a warning meant for them both. If they were going to be allies, then they could only be that. He was against getting Diana Fairchild involved in the first place, but if she insisted, then it was better to watch out for her in partnership rather than risk her being discovered by someone like Nott. She had wiggled her way into needing protection from him, and he loathed it.

But what he loathed more was the feeling in his core that Diana had been giving him for weeks; the feeling that spelled trouble for them both if they didn't revert their course quickly. And that was what his warning had been. A change in direction. A chance to stop that feeling before it could ever begin.

His heart was a small thing, a dark thing, and he would keep it that way.

And not even Diana Fairchild could change that about him.

In conclusion, Regulus is a melodramatic idiot. I love him.

I was excited to introduce more of Magda in this chapter since she's only had a cameo so far, and she surprisingly has a large part to play in the future. The story will really be heating up now that (mostly) everything is in the open, so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading! Until next time!