King Of My Heart | R. BLACK

50 | long forgotten

"Huzzah!" Sirius exclaimed as the group clinked their glasses together. "To exams being canceled due to our gracious Prongs trip to the hospital!"

"Huzzah!" everyone cheered in unison before downing their drinks.

"So," James said to his sister as the group spread out across the Gryffindor common room. "I take it you not mentioning it means you've changed your mind?"

Angela raised an eyebrow, "Changed my mind about what exactly?"

"You're messing with me, right?" he inquired as he stopped their stroll and turned her to face him. "What we talked about in the hospital?" He raised an eyebrow as he scanned her face. "Come here."

He grabbed her hand taking the girl by surprise and pulled her across the room to under the stairs. "What's your problem?" Angela asked as she pulled her arm from her brother's grasp.

"What did you do?" he demanded.

"I didn't do anything!" she protested. "But if you would elaborate, maybe I could help you with whatever your issue is."

"Padfoot! Moony!" James shouted and Angela covered her ears as the boy shouted. The two perked up and crossed the room, joining them in their secluded corner. "Which one of you is responsible for this?"

Sirius and Remus exchanged a look, "Responsible for what, exactly?"

"I told her to wait!" he exclaimed. "Just until I got back and she couldn't even do that. I can't believe you guys were stupid enough to do this."

"Mate, we have no idea what you're talking about," Sirius raised an eyebrow. Remus crossed his arms over his chest as they watched the boy, "Can you explain what you're so upset about?"

"Regulus! I'm talking about Regulus!"

"Sirius' brother?" Angela asked in confusion as Sirius spoke in unison. "My brother?"

"Oh," Remus said simply and the three turned to look at him in confusion. He nodded his head to the side, "Could we maybe talk upstairs?"

James shook his head, "It was you. I can't believe you, Moony! This was so irresponsible of you! You could have damaged her memory permanently or-"

"Prongs," Remus hissed, "Shut up."

Angela looked between the three boys, "I'm going to go. You lot have fun figuring this out."

"Remus, I'm going to kill you, werewolf or otherwise," James threatened.

"Woah, woah," Sirius said, stepping between the two, "Can we take a pause here for a moment and save the threats for after everything is explained? Please?"

"Fine," James spat and Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius pushed James back slightly before he could attack. "Upstairs, you said?" he asked and they both nodded. "Perfect, the less witnesses the better."

"I don't know who sent it," Remus admitted honestly. He had handed the letter to the boys once they got upstairs. "But maybe they have a point? Even if she wouldn't be stupid enough to go back to him, it will hurt her far less if she doesn't know there was anything there to begin with?"

"And what if she falls for him again?" James asked. "Only this time it's worse because she can't remember any of the reasons as to why she can't be with him, outside of the obvious."

"We can't fix this even if we wanted to," Sirius pointed out, his gaze still focused on the note, "Only the person that cast the spell can remove it. And I can guarantee he won't."

The two turned to look at him in surprise and Remus was the first to speak, "He?"

"R.A.B.?" he said as though it were obvious. "Regulus Arcturus Black." Sirius placed the letter on the nightstand, "And Moony's right. She was miserable trying to stay away from him and she was unsuccessful every time. Besides, it's a win-win when you think about it. The only person hurting is the one who deserves it. Regulus will be the one to suffer the most from this."

"What are you on about?"

"Star-crossed lovers was hard enough but unrequited love?" Sirius said as a way of explanation. "Can you imagine loving someone so much that you'd be willing to do anything for them?" his gaze flickered to Remus for the briefest moment, "Even if that means putting them first and leaving yourself utterly heartbroken."

"Pads-" Remus began but Sirius waved him off.

"Look, I'll talk to him," Sirius informed them. "Not sure it'll do much but it's much better than Prongs going over there all high and mighty and getting himself hospital bound. Again. Besides, my final annual request of him to do the right thing is overdue. It's now or never, right?"

"Don't do anything too drastic," Remus requested.

"I would never."