AN: LoveFiction2021 your reviews made me so happy ! Thank you so much. You can look up Chase Hill on Instagram at chase_hill

toxic – britney spears

"i'm addicted to you, don't you know that you're toxic?"

A week into the spring term, it became pretty clear that Sofia and Regulus were simply not going to talk about the kiss. And Sofia was kind of fine with that. It had been a hormone-fueled impulse. And as much as she wanted to do it again, she steeled herself against all thoughts of kissing Regulus Black.

Sofia wasn't sure if it had been the kiss or their mall rendezvous but this was probably the most stable their relationship had been since... well, ever. They helped each other out with potions and were civil towards each other most of the time.

They were even civil during Quidditch practise, of which they'd had more than usual, with Travers's replacement joining the team and the upcoming match against Durmstrang where they hoped to redeem themselves.

Which they did. It was a pretty even game, but Hogwarts had ended up coming out on top by just a few points. Sofia was quite pleased with the result, plus the fact that she didn't have to play alongside Travers anymore sweetened the deal.

She was happy enough that she dared volunteer to put away the equipment after the game with Regulus.

They wrestled the Quaffles into their box in silence and as they secured them, two Durmstrang players walked into the locker room.

"Perebezhchik," one of the dudes whispered bitterly as he passed Sofia.

Sofia's eyes widened in surprise. That was kind of an unexpected insult.

Regulus frowned at her. "What did he say to you?"

"Um, he called me a defector."

"Oh?"

Sofia shrugged. "I guess he means because I technically could've attended Durmstrang if I wanted to, since I was born in Russia. Or maybe he was talking about... no, but that wouldn't make sense."

"What?"

"Well, my father did technically defect when we moved out here."

"Oh. Shit."

Sofia smiled forlornly. "Yeah, but I somehow doubt that guy is super well-versed in the Muggle ballet scene."

A crease between Regulus's brows. "I'm confused, what does ballet have to do with this?"

"My father was a ballet dancer back in Russia. And he's a choreographer now. So was my mother. She teaches it now."

"You come from a family of ballerinas?"

Sofia scoffed. "What? Do I not seem like the offspring of ballet dancers?"

Regulus looked her up and down. "Well, hockey and Quidditch don't exactly seem like ballerina sports."

"So, you don't think I could be a ballerina because I like to hit things with sticks?"

Regulus shrugged, uncomfortable. "I don't know... I mean, do you know how to... ?" He made a twirling motion with his hands that Sofia supposed meant dance ballet.

Sofia smiled. "I do know how to dance ballet, I was in lessons for eight years actually."

There was a glint in Regulus's eye. "I'll have to see that to believe it."

Sofia laughed. "Yeah, tough luck on that."

"How do you even go from ballet to hockey though?"

"Well... my grandfather is the one who likes hockey. You can imagine he wasn't too pleased when my father started with the ballet but... well, this was after the siege of Leningrad so when Grandpa realised Papa was good enough to get paid for dancing, he wasn't about to start judging."

Regulus nodded. "Hold on, if your dad defected though. Can he still see go his family?"

"Technically... no."

"You've gone back though?"

"Yeah, but never in a... official Muggle capacity, let's say."

Regulus's brows raised, a glint of amusement in his eyes. "So, you've technically been there as an outlaw."

Sofia rolled her eyes.

The next week was still all Quidditch. Gryffindor beat Slytherin by a comfortable margin and after the match was over, Sofia finally had a moment to start worrying about other things. Like her upcoming business venture.

Sofia sat in the potions lab trying to keep herself focused on the Transfiguration paper she was writing instead of looking at the simmering potions she had in front of her.

The door flew open and Regulus walked in. "What are you doing here?"

"Homework."

"It's past curfew."

Sofia checked her watch. It was twenty minutes past curfew. "Lost track of time. What are you doing here?"

"I'm a Prefect. I was patrolling and saw the light on. You should go back to your common room."

"Not to worry. I have a permit," Sofia took a piece of wrinkled paper out of her bag and wrote something down on it before handing it to Regulus.

Regulus looked down at it. "This just says I can do what I want and it's signed by you."

That caught Sofia's attention. "How do you know it's signed by me?"

"Apart from the fact that I just saw you sign it, isn't that your name in Cyrillic?" He turned the paper and pointed at the signature, which read Софья Бессонова.

How did he even know that? Even Sirius couldn't recognise her name written in Cyrillic. "Oh. Well, there you have it. Permission."

Regulus sighed in annoyance. "I'll give you detention."

Sofia giggled. "Oh, will you? And what will you have me do?"

Regulus took a step towards her and Sofia sat up in her chair, she felt a chill up her spine. "I don't know... I could always confiscate whatever illicit potions you're making there."

Sofia glared at him. "They're not illicit, I'm allowed to make what I want on my own time."

Regulus leaned closer to one of the cauldrons and took a look inside. He probably couldn't see it that well under the dim light, otherwise, he would've recognised it. He inhaled. "What is that... strawberries?"

He put it together pretty quickly after that. "Is this Amortentia?"

Sofia had gone rigid in her seat. Strawberries... maybe they were his favourite fruit. Sofia didn't know but it definitely had nothing to do with her strawberry shampoo. Nope. She cleared her throat. "It might be."

Regulus looked at her questioningly. "Who are you trying to seduce?"

Sofia felt her cheeks go hot. "No one. It's not for me if you must know."

That seemed to intrigue him even further. "Oh. I don't think there are many people in this castle you would go through this trouble for... I doubt it's for my brother so maybe... Honda?"

Sofia scowled. "Will you stop? It's not for Chloe... this is strictly a business venture."

"You're selling love potions?"

"You'd be surprised at how many people in this school want a date for Valentine's Day and are too dumb to successfully brew a love potion. It's good money."

If Sofia didn't know any better, she'd say Regulus looked impressed. "Those two aren't Amortentia though." He motioned to the other cauldrons.

"One is a variation of it that I'm experimenting on. The other is a less potent potion that sells pretty well too," Sofia explained.

"You're experimenting with Amortentia? You could get into a lot of trouble with Slughorn for that."

Sofia raised a brow. "What, are you gonna tell on me?"

"How about... you cut me in the deal and I don't tell?"

Sofia's eyes widened. "So... you basically want a bribe?"

"No, I... I mean that I'll help you brew the potions for a percentage of the profits."

Sofia considered it for a moment. She could use the help, as evidenced by her brewing three very delicate potions at the same time, something which she should not be doing. "Fine."

"So, which one should I take? None of them are done I assume?"

"What, right now?"

"As good a time as any."

"What about your precious Prefect duties?"

Regulus shrugged. "I'm trying to deal with a student breaking curfew, duties fulfilled."

Sofia sighed. "Take the Amortentia, it's almost done."

He did as she said and went back to her paper as he set up in his work station.

An hour passed in virtual silence as they kept working on their potions, Sofia was starting to get stressed out. She needed him to leave. Now.

Regulus stood. "Okay, I think these are done. You should really go back to the Gryffindor tower now."

Sofia stayed seated. "I need to finish this paper."

"Can't you finish it in your common room?"

Sofia thought of the logistics of going all the way back to the Gryffindor tower and then back down. She might manage it, but it would certainly complicate things a lot. "I'm in the zone, I need to finish it now."

Regulus ran a hand through his hair. "I know you have no respect for my authority but you could get into actual trouble if you stay here. Just let me walk you back to your common room."

"I can't!"

Regulus frowned. "Why not?"

Sofia looked away from him. "There's just something I need to do."

"Does it have to do with your... business venture?"

"Yes."

"We're business partners now, remember? I'll help you."

Sofia looked at him unsure. "You don't have to help with this... it's nothing."

"Will you at least tell me what it is?"

"There's an ingredient I need to get."

Regulus took a step back and threw his head back in frustration. "Please just tell me it's not as dangerous as that Death-cap."

Sofia gave him a nervous look and tried to smile reassuringly. "It's... acromantula venom."

Regulus started laughing an incredulous laugh. "Are you serious right now? Acromantula venom?"

"I've been scouting the colony for weeks, one of the younger ones is injured and I think it'll be pretty easy to extract the venom. I have a plan."

Regulus gave her a worried look. "Why isn't Sirius tripping over himself to go with you?"

Sofia looked down at her hands. "He... doesn't know I'm doing this. He'd only freak out if he knew. It's best this way."

"So you were planning on going alone?"

"I'm not that bad at non-potions subjects, you know. I can take care of myself."

He didn't reply but he headed over to the door before turning back to Sofia with an impatient look on his face. "Well, are we going or not?"

Sofia hesitated. "You don't have to–"

"I'm not letting you get acromantula venom by yourself. Come on."

Sofia got up and walked out of the lab with Regulus. She pulled an Invisibility Cloak from her bag and pulled it over her head. "Here, get under."

Regulus complied and Sofia momentarily wished she hadn't pulled the cloak out. Her heart was threatening to burst out of her chest at Regulus's nearness. She hadn't so much as touched him since... the event but now it was impossible not to bump into each other under the cloak. She tried to regulate her breathing.

She meant to use the Marauder's Map as well but there was too much of a chance Regulus would realise whom it belonged to.

They walked out of the castle in silence. It was surprisingly easy. The crescent moon illuminated their path as they walked towards the Forbidden Forest. Sofia had only been there a few times but she didn't think it was too hard to navigate.

Once they were a few metres inside, Sofia put a hand on Regulus's arm and stopped. "We should take off the cloak. The terrain starts getting a lot rockier here and we have to pay attention."

Regulus nodded and Sofia hid the cloak behind a tree so she didn't have to carry it around. She raised her lit wand.

They continued walking. Sofia would like to think that she was generally a tough person, but she would be lying if she said the Forbidden Forest in the dead of night wasn't at least a little bit scary. At that moment, she was actually grateful Regulus had insisted on accompanying her.

"Regulus?"

"Yes?"

"Nothing, I just couldn't hear you and it's dark, so I wasn't sure you were still beside me." She turned her wand slightly towards him so she could at least make out his shape in the dark.

"I'm here," he said. And then he did something extremely unexpected he took her hand. He pulled it until it was hooked around the crook of his arm and let go.

It made Sofia feel better.

They were deep into the forest when Sofia spoke. "It's just around here, by that pond. One of the younger spiders ventured out of the colony and got injured yesterday. I was going to pull the venom then but I was worried they would come looking for her and figured if it was still there by today, it meant no one was coming."

Regulus nodded. "Do Stunning Spells work on them?"

"I'm rather hoping it's dead by now but in any case, I believe they do work on them."

The pond came into view and Sofia could see the dark lump, the size of a pony, slumped over right where she had left it yesterday.

Regulus took a step in front of Sofia as they neared the spider. They both held their wands at the ready.

They were a few feet away when the lump twitched, Sofia finally making out the shape of its legs. Regulus was quick to react. "Stupefy!"

It stopped twitching. Sofia knelt down beside it and set to the task of finding its pincers. She handed Regulus a large vial. "Will you hold that?"

Sofia slipped on latex gloves and moved its legs to find a clear spot to remove the venom from. She raised her wand to it and cast a silent incantation. The venom flowed out of the pincers and very carefully slipped into the vial Regulus held.

Sofia sighed in relief. Her plan had really been more wishful thinking than anything. Regulus capped the vial and handed it to Sofia to put away.

Sofia grinned at Regulus. "See? Not so hard, was it?"

As if on cue, a single clicking noise resounded through the quiet night. Sofia got up and looked around wildly to see where it had come from.

"It seems like my children will be having a feast tonight."

A chill went down Sofia's spine. She knew that acromantulas were capable of human speech but it was just too creepy.

This acromantula was fully grown, it almost doubled Sofia in height. Sofia felt feint.

"Stupefy in three," Regulus whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Sofia white-knuckled her wand and Regulus counted off with a hand behind his back.

"Stupefy!" They yelled out in unison.

The spider tilted over but it didn't seem fully unconscious. It was still moving.

Regulus wasted no time. He took Sofia's hand. "Run."

They ran.

Sofia had never run for her life before, but it seemed like she was kind of bad at it, judging by the clicking sounds that followed them. Sofia wondered how far the spiders would dare venture out of their colony.

She wasn't even sure where in the forest they were anymore. Sofia saw a pond and for a second she thought they had gone in a circle, but the stunned acromantula wasn't there, so it must've been a different pond.

She felt something hairy touch her ankle and before she knew it, she had been tripped up and landed hard on the ground. She heard Regulus yelling out spells and she turned back to look at the spider that had taken hold of her. "Diffindo."

The leg was severed from its body and loosened from Sofia's ankle just in time for Regulus to grab her and pull her up. He led them towards the pond.

"Hold your breath," he whispered.

Sofia barely had time to react before he dove into the water, an arm secured around her.

Sofia felt goosebumps cover her entire body. It was so fucking cold. But it was a good idea. The spiders couldn't get them there.

Sofia panted and tried to kick to stay afloat but her legs felt atrophied. She had no idea how Regulus was holding the both of them above the water right now.

Sofia spotted the large spiders at the edge of the pond. She didn't even realise how far into the water they'd gotten. Sofia thought she heard the acromantula leader say something but she wasn't paying enough attention to understand.

"You can let me go, I think I can swim now," Sofia said, still out of breath.

"Yeah, no way."

Sofia didn't argue further. She adjusted her arms around his neck so she didn't lean on him so heavily. Regulus seemed to reach the bottom more or less fine, but Sofia didn't think she could keep her head above the water even on her tiptoes.

She looked at Regulus, who was staring at the acromantulas. She didn't want to look. "Are they still there?"

"Yeah, but I think they're about to retreat."

Sofia nodded and leaned her head on his chest. "How long do you think they'll stalk us?"

"Hard to tell," his voice came out strained. "I should... I should send out some sort of signal, so someone can come help us."

"Won't that attack more predators?"

Regulus sighed heavily. "I don't... I don't know. I don't know what to do." He sounded defeated.

Sofia felt like shit. "I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. "This was such a stupid idea."

Sofia thought she was imagining Regulus pulling her closer to him but it was clear she wasn't when he tucked her head under his chin. "It's okay, Sofia."

He said it in a soft voice that made her think he meant it. She stayed quiet.

"They're gone now," Regulus announced after a few minutes.

"Should we risk getting out?"

"I think with a few protective spells, it might be fine. I don't know why I didn't think about it before."

"Hard to throw proper protection spells while running for your life."

Regulus half-smiled. He started moving them towards the edge of the pond until Sofia could finally touch down on the ground and he let her go.

Regulus cast the protective spells to give them a little safe bubble and they finally got out of the water. Sofia shivered as the cold night air hit her. She quickly cast a drying spell over herself and her cross-body handbag, which she thankfully hadn't lost in the struggle. Regulus dried himself as well.

They sat on the ground to finally take a proper breath.

"Maybe we could try to summon something from the castle. Like a broomstick or I don't know," Sofia suggested.

Regulus raised his wand. "Accio Cleansweeper 2."

They waited but nothing happened. Only the sounds of the forest could be heard. He tried it with a few other items but nothing yielded results. "Just how fucking far are we from the castle?"

Sofia shrugged and laid down on her back. "Do you want to try walking back?"

"I don't know, I'm not entirely sure the spiders aren't still stalking us."

Sofia covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologise. It's not like you would've been talked out of this so, I'm just glad you let me come with you."

Sofia groaned. She put her hands down but kept her eyes closed. "Will you stop being so nice to me?"

"You'd rather I be an asshole?"

Sofia sighed. "Well... no, but asshole I can deal with. It's hard to deal with nice."

She opened her eyes to see Regulus lay down beside her. He held himself up with his forearm, so he could look at her properly. "Alright. I'll stop being nice."

Sofia gave him a tiny smile as she turned on her side using her arm as a headrest. If he was going to stare at her, then she got to stare at him too.

"Hey, if you feel bad about this, I know a way you can make it up to me," he said with a glint in his eyes.

Sofia raised a brow. "What's that?"

"You can stop trying to kill me with the Bludger next time we play against each other."

Sofia laughed. "Yeah... that's not gonna happen."

Regulus tsked. "So much for almost getting me eaten by spiders."

Sofia knew he was just teasing but she still averted her eyes, embarrassed. "I... I know I can be a vindictive bitch sometimes and I tend to have some... anger issues but you have to know that I would never try to get you eaten by acromantulas on purpose—"

"Sofia."

"—and I know you were kidding about the Quidditch thing but I really should make it up to you somehow, because that was actually scary and I feel like a fucking idiot—"

"Sofia."

"—and it's fine if you don't want to be business partners anymore because—"

He cut her off with a kiss. It was more tender than the kiss they'd shared at the ballet. Sofia felt butterflies wrecking turmoil in her stomach. His lips moved against hers softly, slowly and just the same he pulled away. "Shut up. You're forgiven. Always."

Sofia took a heavy breath. She glanced down at his lips. "You shut up." Then she pressed her mouth to his again.

Regulus set a hand on her waist while he hovered over her and Sofia entangled her hands in his hair. The ground was hard and she was cold but she could've stayed there forever with his lips on hers.

Sofia lost track of time. They could've been snogging for a minute or for twenty but she was unaware. It felt like the world had paused. She forgot about the acromantulas and about being lost in the Forbidden Forest and how she really should not be snogging Regulus Black right now.

They finally pulled away when it was getting hard to breathe. Sofia took a second to catch her breath. She stared up at the stars – looking clearer than ever without any light pollution out in the forest, she found Leo. She pointed up at it. "Isn't that Regulus?"

He laid on his back and looked where Sofia pointed. "I believe so, yes."

Sofia let her eyes close. She was starting to feel drowsy. "Are you even a Leo? I mean, your Zodiac sign."

"No. But they didn't name me for the star per se. It's a family name," he said.

"I'm a Leo."

"I know."

Sofia frowned. "You do?"

"Your birthday's in late July, isn't it? Sirius always snuck out all day for it."

Sofia didn't really want to talk about Sirius. She took a deep breath. She felt the weight of the day crashing down on her. God, she wanted her bed. "...yeah," she breathed out.