Rabbits and Rattlesnakes [Regulus Black/OC/Tom Riddle ]

Chapter 4

He tried to avoid me. I let him for a while; I even found myself forgetting about him every now and then but he always managed to sneak a look at me and suddenly I was back scheming. We were playing hide and seek, taking turns stealing glances from one another, or brushing our hands past each other in the corridors. It was enjoyable and I've never shied away from a long game, but a moment was coming. If something didn't change, if our routine wasn't altered it would slowly seep into nothingness. I didn't want that to happen, so therefore I wouldn't let it happen.

I walked into the courtyard, the corner of my eye immediately clocking him sitting on the wall reading. I looked to my right to see a group of sixth year boys play fighting. Perfect. I walked past, a bit too closely, and one of them stumbled backwards into me. We both fell and he landed on top of me in a rather precarious position. It hurt more than I'd anticipated, and I looked up to see the boy's face change from fear to an ugly smirk as he heard his friends laughing.

"You could just ask Eloise, no need to trip me up." The joy in his eyes was short lived, however, as soon I saw two hands grasp his arms and push him violently off me. There he was, just as planned. Regulus' face was red and hot, and parts of his black hair stuck to the edges of his face, looking like swirls of ink on a white canvas.

"Are you alright?" He whispered, looking over me to see if there were any obvious injuries. I nodded, finding myself surprisingly tongue-tied under his analysing eye.

"What was that Black?" The sixth year stood up, squaring himself up against Regulus who immediately placed himself in front of me. "Got yourself all worked up over this little slu-" Without a moments hesitation Regulus' wand was digging into the boy's throat, making him wince and shiver with fear. Regulus' whole body leaned over the boy, an atmosphere of pure darkness shrouding over him.

"You won't ever talk to her like that again. You won't touch her. You won't think about her." The boy didn't move. After a few long seconds Regulus released his grip before grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the courtyard, leaving a rather shaken boy and a truly entertained crowd. 

He took me to the willow, setting me down before rolling the sleeve of my jumper up to see a small, bloody graze on my elbow. I wanted to tell him I was fine, but I still found myself unable to form words. For some reason his presence and his anger had shocked me. I grabbed the sleeve and tried to roll it back down my arm, the two of us fighting over it for a second. When he finally let me bring the cotton back down I felt his finger running over my forearm to my wrist. He lifted his eyes and we looked at each other. Those rabbit eyes peered into my mind, and for a second I feared that he would really see me. Our hands stayed intertwined and we sat under the shade gifted by the willow, the blossoms of spring scenting the air. Neither of us spoke, and I now know it was because neither of us had any words that would convey our young confusion. My plan had worked, but once again his hands left mine and he got up to leave. As he turned away my heart went cold, but my efforts had not been in vain. I understood the change in him more now. There was a darkness, an intense passionate anger that swelled inside of him. It fuelled him, but hadn't yet taken over. He didn't want me to see it, so I had to show him that I wasn't as sweet as I'd always made myself out to be, that I too was looking for someone to share the shadows with.