King Of My Heart | R. BLACK

7 | deranged help

"That's why you did it?" Peter asked as they all sat sprawled out in the boys dorm.

Angela nodded, "Nobody was taking it seriously. They didn't understand that it was really happening and that it was happening right and front of them."

"Next time you go about proving a point, how about you do it in a way that won't possibly end with you dead?" James requested as he released the snitch he was playing with and caught it again. "I'd rather I didn't have to attend my little sister's funeral because she's an idiot with no impulse control."

She snorted, "Because you have room to talk."

"Why didn't you just duel my brother?" Sirius inquired, acting as though the mention of the boy didn't bother him. "He hates you enough, it would have been easy."

"He doesn't have the mark," she shrugged.

Sirius perked up, "He doesn't?"

"No," she replied, opting to leave out the fact that it was because he wasn't old enough. "Besides, I had to duel someone I could catch off guard. Your brother and I are tied for the top of our year. And he's better at controlling his anger than Crouch is."

"Perks of growing up in the Noble House of Black."

Angela sat up with a huff, "I have Potions to get to."

"Be careful," James requested. "Steer clear of Crouch."

"And my brother," Sirius added passively and Angela raised a curious eyebrow.

She said nothing in the subject before she made her way to Slughorn's classroom in the dungeon.

"Hello, everyone," he greeted, clapping his hands together. "Same seats as last time. Let's go."

"Today we will be brewing the Invigoration Draught," he announced. "Open to page 130 and begin. You will each be required to turn in your own phial but feel free to work together." His gaze flickered over to Regulus and Angela for a brief moment but no one seemed to notice, "Some of you work better together than you do apart."

Angela immediately set to work on splitting the materials equally between the two. Regulus watched her warily, his hand tapping anxiously against the table.

He cleared his throat, "We could work together."

She didn't bother to look up at him, "I'll pass."

He huffed in response before pulling out his wand and waved it, throwing up a Silencing Charm around them. "Look," he began, "Barty is-"

"A deranged psychopath who tried to kill me?" she finished for him.

"Well, yes, that, but he's-"

"Completely lost his marbles?"

"Yes but-"

"What?" she demanded as she finally turned to look at the boy. "Are you really going to sit here and try and defend him? Because you don't have to. I know exactly who he is and what he is and I'm starting to think that maybe I understand who you are as well."

"I'll teach you," he blurted out and she raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"The Dark Arts," he explained, "Dark Magic. I'll teach you."

"Why?"

"Because you should be able to protect yourself."

"I thought you didn't care?"

"I don't."

"Seems to me that you do."

"Angel," he said pointedly and she perked up at the nickname. Whether he had meant to or not, she kind of liked it. "I don't care."

"Whatever you say, Reggie," she replied. "So when do we start?"

"What?"

She rolled her eyes, "You teaching me. When do we start?"

"Oh," he replied, "Er, tomorrow. After the Quidditch match?"

She tutted, "See, that doesn't work for me. Cause after Gryffindor beats Slytherin, we're going to celebrate and as a member of the team, it's required that I attend."

"What makes you so sure that you're going to win?"

"Have you seen Slytherin's Seeker?" she teased. "Absolutely dreadful."

He tossed a piece of the Scurvygrass at the girl playfully, "You think the Slytherin Seeker is bad, you should take a look at the Gryffindor Seeker. I heard she only made the team because her brother's the Captain."

She gasped and he grinned at her reaction as she tossed the Scurvygrass back, "She did not."

"Oh, she totally did," he countered and she narrowed her eyes. "Apparently she was barely able to mount her broom at tryouts."

"You sure seem to know a lot about her."

"Hmm, I pay attention," he replied.

She tucked her hair behind her ear as she smiled slightly. He watched her for a moment before clearing his throat, "The potion needs to brew for three hours so we should really finish up."