Chapter 6
Friends or Foes

The soft creak of the door in the Gryffindor sixth year girls' dorm echoed and I buried my face in my pillow instinctively. I tried to hold my breath in case it was Becca or Polly and I wasn't particularly fond of the idea of them finding me in this pathetic state.

"Monica?" a comforting tone ran in the room.

I felt myself relax at the voice of my obnoxious best friend but I didn't raise my head, too embarrassed to face even Lacey.

What the hell was I thinking, bursting into tears in front of Sirius Black, of all people in Hogwarts? It was utterly humiliating and I was seriously contemplating spending Christmas with the merpeople in the Black Lake as self-punishment.

"Monnie?" Lacey called once more.

I felt her coming closer, footsteps softly tapping on the wooden floor towards my four-poster.

"Go away please," I moaned into my pillow, words coming out as pathetic muffled sounds but I was pretty sure Lacey got the message.

"Oh, come on," she said persistently, taking a comfortable seat on the foot of my bed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," I said stubbornly, face still glued to my pillow. "How did you even find out?"

"You know I can't understand a thing you're saying with your face like that," Lacey said snippily.

I quietly stayed in place for a few seconds before irately sitting up and facing Lacey with swollen eyes.

"I asked how you found out," I said stonily. "Did someone from the common room see? Merlin knows how gossip spreads in this bloody castle."

"Sirius told me, Mon," Lacey said with raised eyebrows.

"Sirius told you…" I repeated in an enraged whisper, before raising my voice in sharp anger. "Well, it's Sirius now, is it? What are you doing trying to buddy-buddy with them anyway?"

"What– I'm not–" Lacey stuttered.

"I know what you're doing, Lacey," I whined. "You're the reason we had that bloody conversation with them this morning!"

"I'm not trying to do anything," Lacey said defensively. "I was just being nice! Merlin, you know how bad I feel reacting that way to Remus when he tried helping me up after the Quidditch match?"

"So is the only way to make up for it to be friends with them?" I snapped childishly.

"Well, yes!" Lacey said. "That's how normal people do it, Monica! I'm sorry we can't all be as cold and reclusive as you are!"

"Reclusive?" I repeated incredulously. "I'm not reclusive!"

"Then explain to me what all this is about then?" Lacey snapped.

"Lacey, he called me a shrew," I deadpanned.

"Well, that wasn't particularly polite," Lacey admitted but tilted her head in thought. "But Sirius wants to apologize. He told me to tell you. He's just not used to you being… Well, you in general."

"Why, because everyone else falls on his feet to be his friend?" I scoffed, but felt myself calming down at her words.

Lacey sighed and took my hand, rubbing my palm with her thumb.

"Monnie, you're my best friend," she said, sincerity in her eyes. "And I know you better than anyone else. We've lived with Becca and Polly for six years and I haven't seen you so much as flinch when they call you things even worse than shrew, mind you. So, what's wrong?"

I sighed, feeling bad I vented my anger out on her. Lacey had always been the more socially apt between the two of us and she pretty much got along with anyone. It was unfair to blame her for trying to be friends with the Marauders when they hadn't even done anything I could hate them for.

"It's just…" I began, pausing before continuing, "new, I suppose? They're the most popular boys in school and it would be much easier if they just continued to ignore us like nothing happened. I mean, I can't help but feel like…"

"Like there's an ulterior motive?" Lacey offered.

I didn't speak, which pretty much meant she was right.

"That's how most relationships are formed, isn't it?" Lacey added with a smile. "You can't really have a relationship with anyone if you don't have a motive. But if you take that chance, it could still turn into something beautiful, wouldn't it?"

"Don't get sappy with me, yeah?" I said bluntly, but understanding her point.

"Who would I be if I weren't a sap, eh?" Lacey grinned. "I take it as a compliment."

"I know you do," I said bitterly.

"But seriously, Mon," she said, squeezing my hand. "If it bothers you so much then I'll stop too. We don't have to be friendly with them if you don't want to."

"No, no. You don't have to do that for me."

"I would though. You know that."

I felt a wave of affection for her, and squeezed her hand back. It was fate how much we balanced each other out, Lacey always being the positive source of my stay in Hogwarts, despite everything else being dull. The year definitely started out differently, but Lacey was the same.

"Does he really want to apologize?" I asked her, eyebrows raised.

"Think you shook him up pretty bad," she chuckled. "He caught me walking back from Potions and was stuttering everywhere. I actually couldn't understand a thing he was saying until I told him to get himself together."

I laughed a bit, can't really imagine Sirius Black in such a state. I suppose it was an understandable reaction from making anyone burst into tears, and I still couldn't shake the world of embarrassment I felt. I groaned and fell back into my mattress.

"Do you think I'm a shrew, Lace?" I asked, agony consuming me.

"Maybe a bit aggressive," Lacey said jokingly.

"That's just a nice way of saying it. I actually bloody cried. What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Think you just got caught off guard. I mean, it's been a hell of a year, and we're not even halfway yet. Plus you got paired up with Regulus Black today. What's worse than that?"

"Don't remind me," I said grumpily. "And that's your fault by the way."

"Hey, I won that race fair and square," she said, pertaining to our fight to one of the last empty seats in Potions earlier. "Anyway, the way your year's going, I probably would've cried too."

"That doesn't really make me feel better," I muttered.

"You're impossible, you know that?" She shook her head affectionately. "Come on, it's nearly lunch. A bit of pie will fix you up."

"I didn't know pie had the qualities to make me feel any less pathetic," I tried to say with a straight face, but my lips twitched up a bit.

Lacey took it as her cue to skip happily to her bag and I followed her lead, bracing myself for the rest of the day.

By the time we got to the Great Hall, it was packed. Lacey and I were able to get seats together by the front door next to a group of sixth year Gryffindor boys, Carter Robins included. His dark blonde hair wasn't pushed back in its usual style, instead his bangs fell across his forehead, framing his bright brown eyes as he rapidly spoke about his murderous Quidditch practice with James Potter this morning.

The first time I'd met Carter was in first year during our first Charms class in Hogwarts. Somehow I found myself seated next to him because I'd nearly been late, foolishly following directions from a fourth year who found it hilarious to give me directions to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom than my classroom.

Given I was completely clueless about the Wizarding World before I turned eleven, my first bit of practical magic went completely disastrous, accidentally lighting my feather on fire instead of gracefully charming it to float. Carter, on the other hand, had the gift of magic in his blood, coming from a pure magical family. He helped me with the spell until I managed to lift my singed feather with my wand.

Ever since then, I couldn't quite keep my eyes off him. Of course, I wasn't alone. Ever since he joined the Gryffindor Quidditch Team in third year, everyone took notice of him. Suddenly being smart and attentive in class was cool, and Carter Robins became the perfect mix of brains and brawns. Curiously, Carter didn't seem to revel in the attention he was given, known to put his studies and Quidditch as his first and second priorities respectively.

It was painfully difficult to keep myself from sighing in affection when we took our seats next to his group, but I managed to keep my eyes fixed on the salmon that looked awfully underbaked. Had the house elves been experimenting with Japanese food?

"Oi, Fenwick," one of the Gryffindor sixth years, Rory Thompson, called.

Lacey looked up politely. "Yes, Rory? How many times do I have to tell you lot to call me by my first name?"

"Right, sorry, Lacey, I can't get used to it," Rory said with an impatient wave. "Anyway, how's it working with Wiley on the Potions project?"

His friend next to him, Adam Perry, nodded earnestly, mouth full of salmon.

"Yeah, I heard she spends her days crying half the time now," Adam said after swallowing, eyes alight at the gossip.

"Why, what's wrong with her?" Lacey asked innocently.

"Didn't you hear?" Rory said eagerly. "She caught him talking to one of the Carrows in an empty classroom the other day. Reckon they're recruiting him for You-Know-Who."

"You don't even know if that's true, Rory," Carter cut in disapprovingly.

"I have my sources!" Rory said defensively.

"Like who? The Fat Lady?" Carter deadpanned.

"She said she heard from one of the paintings across that classroom!"

"You just want to believe it because you fancy her, mate," Carter said with a sigh.

"I do not!" Rory exclaimed, red in the face.

I chuckled to myself, peacefully sipping on my goblet as I watched them bicker. I saw Lacey roll her eyes before contributing to the nonsense conversation.

"Well, she definitely wasn't crying when I was working with her this morning," Lacey said, looking disgruntled. "Bloody Ravenclaws, think they can boss you around because they got a bit of blue in their robes? She set meetings with me everyday starting tonight! It's ridiculous!"

"At least you're set to get at least an E," I said bitterly before I could stop myself. "My partner ran off right after we decided on the love potion we were going to do."

"You're with Regulus Black, aren't you, Dyer?" Carter suddenly addressed me, and I almost dropped my fork.

"Mhm, yeah," I said, semi-casually as I stared wide-eyed at my half-eaten salmon.

"If he mentions any top secret Slytherin Quidditch plays, you'd let me know, yeah?" Carter said jokingly and I almost choked on my spit.

"I think he'd rather drink the love potion than tell me any of that," I said dryly.

Carter laughed as he poured himself more pumpkin juice. Unfortunately before he could reply and carry on a perfectly good conversation with me, he was forced to scoot to his left as someone squeezed between him and Rory on the bench across me. My brain was almost too slow to register the silky black hair and tall figure of Sirius Black, probably the effect of having a rare conversation over lunch with Carter Robins.

My good mood quickly dissipated and a scowl formed on my face. Fortunately I think I was able to look at him with begrudging dislike instead.

"What's with that look, Dyer?" Black said with raised eyebrows.

So maybe I couldn't erase the scowl before it came.

"What look?" I tested him, averting my gaze.

"It's the same look my brother gives me when I pass him in the hall," Black said.

"Oi, we're trying to eat here," Rory said irately as he moved his plate.

Black didn't spare him a glance but flattened his elbows on the table, taking any little space Rory had left.

"Git," Rory mumbled as he tried to finish his food, holding his plate up instead.

"Haven't you got somewhere else to be?" I said, focusing my gaze on Rory struggling to eat instead.

"Of course, I do," Black said. "But instead, here I am."

"I'm flattered," I said.

"As you should be," Black said humorously with a glint in his eye. "Now, I've got my own space down the table with much room to enjoy my dessert, but Moony wouldn't pass me the pumpkin juice if I didn't go over here and apologize."

"I'm surprised you didn't just eat your dessert without pumpkin juice."

"Treacle tart without pumpkin juice is a mortal sin, Dyer." Black smiled. "So I would like to sincerely apologize for my words earlier. I shouldn't have called you a shrew."

"You called her a shrew?" Carter said with a frown.

"Yes, well..." Black said with an impatient wave. "Anyway, my words clearly hurt and I promise to be more polite next time."

"What's a polite way of calling someone a shrew?" Rory muttered.

"Do you two mind?" Black said snippily at Rory and Carter. "I'm talking to Dyer here."

The two sixth years averted their eyes quickly and Black focused on me again. I still couldn't bring myself to look back directly at him, too embarrassed to even think about my reaction to our earlier conversation. I tried to side-eye Lacey for help but she was conveniently looking the other way.

"Dyer, I'm trying to apologize here," Black spoke again with more sincerity in his tone. "I didn't mean to–"

"Yep, yes, got it!" I interrupted in panic, knowing Carter and Rory were still listening, or at least forced to listen given the lack of space between everyone on this side of the table. "It's fine, Black. No hard feelings."

"Brilliant," Black grinned and leapt out of the bench.

Rory sighed in relief and slid back to his space. But Black still stood in the area.

"So I'll see you at Slughorn's Christmas Party then?" Black said confidently.

"Wait, what?" I said, wide eyes finally shooting up at him.

"I mean, I'm politely asking you to go to Slughorn's Christmas Party with me, Dyer," Black repeated with a charming smile.

I could feel multiple pairs of eyes on me, even further down the table where Becca and Polly sat. I might as well have melted into a pile of goo at the state of shock I was in. I didn't know if the whispers were just in my head or my anxiety was just kicking in. What was he playing at, asking me in public?

Suddenly, like Merlin decided to have mercy on me this once, I vaguely saw Carter shift his head to look up at Black from where he was seated and spoke.

"Sorry, Black, but I've actually asked her days ago and she's going with me," he said with a stony look on his face.

I felt Lacey's hand grasp my elbow at Carter's words. I blinked twice and slowly took in Black and Carter's strange confrontation. I caught a brief look of surprise on Black's face before it vanished into his usual confident grin.

"Well then," Black said. "Tough luck, isn't it?"

With that, Black stalked away without another word and resumed his place with his friends. I watched him inaudibly snap at Potter who looked sheepish and poured him some pumpkin juice.

"Sorry, Dyer," Carter said, allowing me to snap my gaze back to him. "It looked like he was bothering you so I decided to step in. I hope I wasn't intruding on anything."

A wave of affection washed over me as Rory clapped him proudly on the back.

"A good gentleman as always, mate," he said. "That Sirius Black's a real git, isn't he?"

"Thanks," I said sincerely.

"Bloody hell, Monnie," Lacey sighed heavily next to me "I swear I didn't know he was gonna do that. Would've stopped him if I did."

"You don't have to go with me to the party, by the way," Carter said hurriedly. "I'll just say you weren't feeling well and decided not to go. No trouble, really."

"Right," I said, still a bit out of it. "Yeah, sure, thank you. You really didn't have to do that."

"Don't mention it," Carter said with a smile as he readied his things to leave. "Anyway, I've got to get to class. See you around, yeah?"

"Yeah, sure." I smiled back.

When he left, I slowly felt the bitterness resume their rightful place in my mind, and couldn't help but sneak a glare towards the group of seventh year boys by the middle of the table who were back to laughing in their own world.

Lacey chattered next to me but for a while nothing she was saying was registering in my brain. I continued to stare at Sirius Black whose disgruntled look when he returned to his friends earlier was completely gone and back was the cheerful grin on his face. The nature of his apology wasn't particularly out of character and I did appreciate the effort in coming to see me as soon as possible, but the persistence was something I didn't expect.

I wondered what his motives were. Did he really just want to help out his friend in a prank or did he not trust me enough with their secret to leave me alone for good? Did he want to keep appearing in my life as if his constant presence would remind me to keep my mouth shut? Or maybe he thought it would be fun to take the mickey out of me by asking me out in front of Gryffindor house?

Thankfully Carter saved me from further embarrassment and in turn, put Black in an uncomfortable spot. I definitely owed him one, but that was just another day for him, extending a helping hand to someone who clearly needed it.

Slowly, I found the focus to listen to Lacey's chatter, who I realized was still incessantly apologizing for Merlin knows what.

"–and he just said he wanted to apologize but didn't know how and I just told him to approach you and be sincere! He didn't mention once that he was still going to ask you to the party! I mean, I didn't know they were that determined at pissing off Slughorn–"

"Lacey," I cut her off with a tired sigh. "It's fine, okay? It's not your fault."

Lacey looked at me with wide, apologetic eyes. "Okay, but I'm still sorry. I feel like I should've known and mentioned to him not to ask you again–"

"Lace, let it go, alright?" I said. "I told you it's fine. Anyway, Carter helped me out. It's all good now. I don't have to go to that stupid party and you can go with Potter if you want to."

"Oh, no way am I going with him," she said determinedly. "They're completely insensitive! I'm not speaking to them until they apologize again!"

"No more apologies please," I pleaded. "Let's just forget about this and move on, yeah? I just want my regular sixth year back, Merlin…"

But it turned out more difficult than I thought. Pretty much sixth year had gone from completely uneventful to people gossiping about me in the corner. I pretty much lost all hope the moment Becca blocked the entrance of the girls' staircase in the Gryffindor common room and demanded I give her answers to why Sirius Black was asking me to go to Slughorn's Christmas Party with him.

All things considered, I had no idea why getting an invite to a party hosted by our one hundred something year old Potions master was such a big deal. Plus, no way was I going to believe Black had that much pull in this school that he had the ability to turn a gathering as dull as Professor Binns into the talk of the town.

Camping in the library until it closed that night just to avoid Becca and Polly's incessant interrogations definitely didn't improve my mood the next day when I slipped out of my dormitory before the sun came up just to avoid them. Absolutely sleep-deprived, I managed to experience sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast before the food materialized before me.

Suppose the only good thing was having first dibs on the waffles before anyone else could finish them, but it didn't offer much comfort when I realized the plates refilled by themselves and having first dibs practically meant nothing.

With a pang in my chest, I thought about my dad whom I missed tenfold since the madness of this school year began. Half of me belonged to the Muggle world and it was hard not to miss the simplicity of being normal. I'd go even as far as saying everything good about me came from his side; the love and acceptance I felt from his world was unmatched. It was ironic how lonely I felt in a world full of magic.

It wasn't long before I realized I'd dozed off on the Gryffindor table, head resting on my fist. I opened my eyes with a jolt when I groggily noticed two people take their seats directly across me. I rapidly blinked to focus my vision and dumbly concluded neither of the two were Lacey.

If possible, my mood took an even more sour turn when I realized who the two people were. Taking in the damp messy hair of James Potter and perfectly combed brown locks of Sirius Black, I nearly gathered my things to leave that second. Suppose the only thing stopping me was good manners, which I strongly believed they didn't deserve.

"Top o' the morning, Monica Dyer," Potter said cheerfully as he filled his plate with sausages.

I gasped as a sharp pain in my head struck.

"Are you hungover?" Black asked innocently.

"No, you dolt," I said snippily as I filled my goblet with pumpkin juice. "Because of you, I can't even step in the Gryffindor common room without someone trying to hex my hair out."

"Hey, I thought no hard feelings?" Black pouted.

"That was before you asked me to go to Slughorn's bloody party with you in front of Gryffindor house," I said, unfazed by his antics.

"Ah, Dyer, you wound me," Black said lightly as his eyes narrowly scanned the table. "Where's the coffee?"

A steaming pot materialized next to his plate and his eyes lit up.

"Never gets old," he said as he poured himself a cup.

I stopped myself from asking why they were here when there was enough space to cover the width of a football field across the Gryffindor table. I was more curious why they were eating breakfast at a quarter past six in the morning, but catching Potter's scarlet robes, I realized he probably had Quidditch training.

Black was already in his uniform, tie loose around his neck and his robes hanging on the bench next to him. I watched them quietly as they ate. Probably if I said I had to work on Potions in the library, they wouldn't stop me. But somehow I stayed and didn't vocalize any of the excuses that came across my head.

"Something on your mind, Dyer?" Black said, not looking up from his plate.

I blinked and shifted my gaze away.

"Lots of things," I said vaguely.

"Keeping you up at night then?" he continued the conversation. "You look like you've been trampled by a hundred hippogriffs."

"Funny," I said dryly. "Maybe you can tell your fan club to leave me alone so I can get some sleep."

"I don't have a fan club." Black looked up, face scrunched up.

"I don't know, Padfoot, you know how women are," Potter said before chugging his pumpkin juice.

"Don't encourage her," Black snapped, looking disgruntled.

"What's so wrong with a fan club?" I caught myself laughing. "Don't tell me you, of all people, don't realize all the girls throwing themselves at you?"

Black visibly looked uncomfortable. "No, I don't."

"Don't make me laugh," I said airily. "You absolutely do notice!"

"No, I really don't," Black said somewhat seriously. "Girls like that would fancy Peter because he hangs out with us. It's just an issue of societal status, Dyer. James is the Quidditch captain and Head Boy and I'm a Black."

He practically spat out the last word. On the other hand, I almost found myself speechless, but couldn't help but blurt out a regrettable reply.

"You're kidding, right?" I said in utter surprise. "Girls fancy you because you're Sirius Black, not because you're a Black. People in my year practically avoid Regulus at all costs too, by the way."

"Because I'm Sirius Black," he repeated slowly. "What does that even mean?"

"If you're trying to fish for compliments, you're not gonna get it from me," I said coolly.

Black laughed and smiled to himself as he poured his second cup of coffee.

"Why're you laughing?" I asked, eyes narrowed.

"Because you're funny."

I blinked twice, caught off guard.

"Might be hard for you to give compliments but I'm very straightforward," Black said with a glint in his eye. "Unless of course you save your compliments for your dear Carter Robins."

I nearly choked on my spit and quickly grabbed my goblet to chug my juice.

"Merlin, slow down, Dyer," Potter commented as he watched me drink.

"You two are a thing, right?" Black said with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, I know my boundaries so don't worry. I'm not gonna ask you to the party again if that's what you're worried about."

I gulped down the last of my pumpkin juice and mentally hoped the cup would refill itself so I could delay myself from replying. Sadly the house elves' magic didn't go as far as aiding to nonverbal requests.

"We're not…" I began, but caught myself stuttering with my face burning.

"Wait, you and Robins aren't a thing then?" Potter asked with scrunched eyebrows.

"I- He was just-"

Black gave me a knowing look.

"Don't tell me he just said you were going to Slughorn's party with him so I'd stop bothering you," he said slowly.

I pursed my lips and quickly grabbed my things but Black was quicker and grabbed my wrist from across the table. As if his touch burned, I flinched and pulled my arm back.

"No bloody way," he said breathily, taking his hand back too and ignoring my reaction.

"I was totally convinced!" Potter said with the same surprise. "Nice guy, Robins."

Black shot him a glare.

"What?" Potter said innocently. "That's a nice thing to do for a girl, innit? Saved her from rejecting you at least."

"Doesn't make it any less humiliating for me," Black said, sulking as he stabbed his sausage.

"Don't look so down," I snapped. "If anything, just makes the girls want you more."

"What are you talking about?" Potter said, suddenly invested in the conversation.

I tilted my head, releasing the grip of my hand from my bag.

"You know, when something's suddenly unavailable from the market," I said, "you just want it even more. Or some rubbish like that."

Black slapped the table with his palm and I jumped in surprise.

"Exactly!" he bellowed at Potter. "Just like when you stopped asking Evans out, she's been bothered!"

"Oh, hell, will you stop it with that?" Potter said. "She's not bothered. She actually talks to me properly now and we're sort of friends. I mean, if we're Head Boy and Girl, we have to be, y'know? Would be weird if I still kept asking her out everyday."

"Oh, come on, Prongs," Black said with a roll of his eyes. "She stares at you all the time! And she goes to your Quidditch matches! When has she ever gone to a match?"

"Oh, shut up," Potter said with a small smile on his face. "Don't get my hopes up."

"What, I thought you don't see her that way anymore?" Black said mockingly.

"Yeah, but she's still a fit bird." Potter shrugged. "Anyway it's not like you got a girlfriend or anything. What's this got to do with Sirius?"

He asked me and I felt the blood rush up to my cheeks. Black answered before I could formulate my thoughts.

"Use your brains, Prongs. She's saying people think I fancy her so they'll like me more now that I asked her to go with me to Slughorn's party."

If I were still chugging my pumpkin juice, I probably would have spat it all out.

"That's not what I meant."

"That's totally what you meant," Black said with a smirk. "But as much as I enjoy talking about how girls adore me, I'd much rather change the subject."

"Please do," I practically pleaded.

"So back to Carter Robins."

I groaned. "That's really not off topic. Let's talk about something else, shall we?"

"So does Robins fancy you or something?" Potter asked with a curious look. "Why else would he do that for you?"

"I don't know, maybe because he's a decent person who can tell when someone's getting unwanted attention?" I snapped.

There was a moment of silence and Black and Potter shared a look.

"Nah, that's not it," Potter said.

"Guys don't just pick up that kind of stuff," Black agreed. "Look at Prongs, took him six years."

Potter shot him a disgruntled look as I laughed.

"Was that a real laugh, Dyer?" Black said with fake incredulity and took another sip of his coffee. "She looks better when she laughs, doesn't she, Prongs? Not with that scowl on."

"Merlin, please let me throw that cup of coffee on your face," I muttered, said scowl back in place.

Black chuckled and pushed the coffee pot further down the table. Next to him, Potter quickly finished his eggs and stood with his bag.

"I've got to get to the pitch," he said in a hurry. "See you in Charms, yeah?"

"Sure, send Robins my regards," Black said.

Potter laughed (as I deepened my scowl) and briskly walked away. Taking this as an opportunity to leave myself, I gathered my things and stood.

"I'm off too."

"Why?" Black asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Because I'm ridiculously sleep deprived and I feel much better with food in my stomach," I said, checking my watch. "A nap before Potions sounds way more appealing than you badgering me about Carter Robins. No offense."

"None taken," he said dryly.

"Bye, Black."

I swiftly turned and took a step to leave, but a hand lightly tugged on the sleeve of my robes, halting my exit. I turned to see Black who had reached for me from across the table and was now standing and leaning forward, hands flat on the wood.

"By the way," he started, looking strangely sincere. "I'm sorry. Really."

I didn't know if he was apologizing for asking me to Slughorn's party in front of all those people, making me cry, or both. But curiously I felt myself relax at his simple apology and couldn't bring myself to scowl or snap. Instead I stared blankly back and replied with the first thing I could formulate in my head in this state.

"Why are you here so early anyway?"

"What, me?" Black said, smirk back in place. "We've got a Charms test first period. Meant to study over breakfast."

I blinked at the normality of his reason. I had no idea what he was doing in the Great Hall at half past six in the morning but definitely something as dull as studying didn't even cross my mind. It was the same feeling I had when he genuinely looked bothered by having a fan club. I wondered what else of my preconceived judgments of Sirius Black were in fact wrong.

After a few more seconds of weird staring, I nodded and resumed my exit, awkwardly listening to my echoing footsteps as I left.

It both amazed and comforted me how quickly gossip subsided and spurred something new in Hogwarts. By the time dinner came around that day, I already noticed the stares and whispers had significantly decreased. I was relieved to be able to walk past students in my year without getting looks of utter hatred at every corner.

Of course, Becca and Polly tried to remain focused on interrogating me about Sirius Black during every class we shared together, but thankfully news broke out from an anonymous source that there was a Slytherin and Gryffindor fifth year couple and they couldn't torment me while discussing that at the same time.

It was a relief when I dropped off my things at Gryffindor Tower and no one pestered me with questions I didn't know the answers to. So when I had to go down to the library after dinner to meet Regulus Black to work on our Potions project together, I was in an exceptionally good mood.

Lacey had to finish her last detention with Slughorn before the holidays so I hadn't seen her since our first class together. I savored the peace and quiet Merlin knew I deserved and let the good mood embody me that I was practically skipping to the library that night.

As expected, I arrived before Regulus and decided to get to work early, skimming through Potions books in the common section. I managed to find a few readings that mentioned the love potion Regulus and I decided to do, but couldn't quite get clear instructional material on the antidote.

Thirty minutes later, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I swiftly turned around, finding myself face to face with my Potions partner himself.

"There you are," he said. "I've been looking for you since I got here ten minutes ago."

"I've been here for thirty," I replied. "I managed to find a few books on the-"

"Oh, there's no need for that," he said, waving a battered gray book in one hand. "Stole this from my cousin. This one has instructions on the potion and the antidote. Should be easy enough."

"Where in Merlin's name did your cousin find that?" I said in surprise.

"No matter," Regulus said as he skimmed through the pages of his book. "What's important is we have the instructions. We can start brewing during class tomorrow and we can take shifts to check on the progress after dinner everyday."

"Sounds fair," I said, still suspicious of the book. "You didn't get that from some sketchy bookshop or whatever, did you?"

Regulus looked at her, bored.

"Why would I get it from a sketchy bookshop?" he asked with a raised brow. "I told you I got it from my cousin."

"She could've gotten it from a sketchy bookshop," I muttered, narrowing my eyes.

He rolled his eyes. "Sketchy or not, it has what we need, yeah? Now quit looking at me like I'm about to hex you or something."

I shot him a deeper glare and followed him out of the aisle to an empty table. We silently took our seats across each other as he opened the tattered gray book and skimmed through its yellowing pages.

I took a moment to observe him and how different he was from his older brother. His brown locks were neatly parted to the side and the reserved aura around him contrasted the confidence from Sirius. But both were mysterious in their own way. A lot of things about Sirius Black surprised me the more I encountered him, and I begrudgingly admitted he wasn't as bad as I thought him out to be. On the other hand, the mystery of Regulus was whether or not the Death Eater rumors were true, which isn't really a plus in anyone's book.

The apprehensive part of me quickly scanned the library, which thankfully was filled with potential witnesses cramming for their projects and exams before the holidays.

"We've got about two weeks to the holidays so we need to start brewing in class tomorrow," Regulus spoke softly, nearly making me jump in surprise in my seat. "Most of the ingredients can be found in the common storage cupboard but I think there are a few we need to order from Diagon Alley."

"I can head to the owlery tonight to make the order," I said.

"Okay, sure," Regulus said, eyes glued to the book. "Think it'll get here in two, maybe three, days? Won't really be an issue since the potion will need to sit for a few days anyway."

"Cool," I said. "Alright, so what about shifts? We can split the days."

"Got that covered," Regulus said quickly, pulling out a timetable and handing it to me. "Just remember which nights you have to check."

"Oh," I said, accepting the timetable from him in surprise. "You've thought this out then, haven't you?"

"Can't have anything distracting me these days," Regulus muttered that I almost didn't catch it. "Best to finish everything ahead of schedule, don't you think?"

"I suppose," I responded slowly.

"Anyway, it's not like you'll be able to do this yourself, eh?" he continued a bit louder this time. "You're quite rubbish at Potions, aren't you?"

My face formed into a scowl. Just when I thought he was actually quite decent.

"I'm perfectly fine at Potions, thanks," I said snippily.

He looked up from the pages of his book with a small frown on his face, as if acknowledging me for the first time. He didn't speak for a while while I sat there fuming, watching him as he calmly took me in.

"My housemates complain when they're forced to get paired with a Gryffindor," he began slowly. "But there's nothing worse than getting paired with a mudblood."

I blinked in surprise, not at all hurt by the disgusting word but more offended he used it in front of me in the first place. The calmness in his tone and look had fueled the anger in me.

"So because you think I'm muggleborn, I can't be good at Potions, is that it?"

Regulus tilted his head as he continued to observe me, eyes blank.

"Am I wrong?" he asked.

"You're disgusting, that's what," I spat, preparing my things to leave. "I'm heading to the owlery to order the damn ingredients. Wouldn't want my muggle blood to offend you."

He quickly reached forward and grabbed my wrist, keeping me from making a quick exit. I froze and suddenly felt fear, eyes darting to the nearest door should I need to wrestle away from him.

"But I'm right? You are muggleborn?" he asked calmly.

I yanked my arm away and his hand fell limply on the desk.

"No, I'm not," I said viciously. "But you'd be surprised to know that I bloody wish I were."

His eyebrows shot up and I was satisfied I managed to pull some sort of reaction from him, whether it was disbelief or disgust.

"You think you're better than me because your magical blood is pure," I continued to speak, fueled by the small reaction. "But I've met the lot of you and you're nothing but a bunch of arseholes."

Without waiting for a response, I walked out the door, any essence of my good mood gone.