𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 - regulus black

chapter two

Adena's first school day went by slowly, the same way as the following days. Nothing too different from the past years. She would wake up, nibble some toast at breakfast, be scolded by her classmates for not eating enough on her way to class, not like she really cared but would obviously refrain herself from being rude. Then she would have her usual five to six hours of class, trying to act attentive like the top student she was but not really listening most of the time. In the middle of the day her way-too-energetic sister would catch up with her in the hallways, gossiping and telling her the meaningless dramas that happened that day in class.

"Hey sis! You won't believe what happened in Transfiguration class today! We had to turn a cat into a bird, the usual you know, and Peter got the spell wrong and ended up creating a weird creature that resembled a cat flying and croaking like a crow, that was hilarious-"

Candace was the only pleasant thing in her boring life. Even if she did not show interest to her antics, she would always listen to her ranting. She knew her sister liked to talk, and Adena was the perfect listener. They were really opposites but got along so well.

The only difference in comparison to the past years was that Adena was now a prefect. She had more duties added to her infinite tons of homework, but she would never complain. Some guy going by the name of Dale Penley happened to be the second prefect of their house. He was a sturdy boy, much taller than the usual, and he was in fact a beater in the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. She wasn't too fond of him but acted polite and formal in his company nonetheless.

That day was a Monday. Adena had tried to get more sleep these past few days but her shift would always finish so late on Sunday nights. Per usual, she would head to the Great Hall and eat some food while drowning in her thoughts. Adena was not the type of person to talk, the others had understood that a long time ago and never forced her into a conversation. She was always so quiet we could almost forget her presence, but she didn't mind that. She wasn't neither the type to care about these trivial things, we could say she wasn't the type to care at all. The young girl seemed so detached from everything, always minding her own business, only focusing on her studies. She liked learning and the satisfactory her good grades would bring, as well as her parents' pride.

She wasn't even interested in her housemates, which she considered as comrades, only. Not even Jacob and Isaac with whom she would always act friendly nor her roommates, Eugenia Hawlins, Millie Robinson and Jade Fawley, who were actually friends with each other. Nobody could guess what was on her mind, nobody really knew her, and she was fine this way. She had always lived the same plain life since she was little. She was probably considered an odd girl.

Monday's first class was always double Potions. She was seated at her usual place, middle of the room, hidden among other the fifth-year students from her house and the others, looking perfectly conscientious and ready to work on what Professor Slughorn had prepared for the day.

"Students! I chose to put you in pairs for today's class to get a look at your teamwork for this first class of practice. I'll be mixing up the houses of course, that would be funnier and who knows, you'll maybe meet a great pal haha!"

Professor Slughorn finished his explanation with a laugh as the students were murmuring among themselves, becoming curious on who they would work with. Adena only hoped she would not be paired up with an idiot as she waited for her name to be called out. When it was finally her turn, Professor Slughorn looked at her.

"Adena Winsten and Regulus Black," was all he said, with a sly grin, as if he was rather proud of this combination. His top students obviously.

Adena only nodded her head in response as she waited for him to finish before moving. She was quite relived she hadn't been paired up with an idiot and instead with a smart boy. After Slughorn finished talking, he let his students move around the classroom searching for their partner. The brown-haired girl didn't take long to find hers. He was sitting at the back of the class, minding his own business, he did not even acknowledge her when she came to sit at his right side. Adena just stayed as quiet as always, listening to the teacher's explanation on how to make a Peace filter.

"And don't forget, you might have to re-do this potion for your O.W.L.s exam! You can start now!"

Just as he finished, the girl side-glanced at her left to notice Regulus preparing the necessary ingredients. She started moving as well, not wishing to be a burden to him. Not a word was exchanged between the two, both had their own way of working. For Adena, maybe this wouldn't be as easy as she thought it would be. Just as she thought that, Professor Slughorn made his way towards them.

"So, how are my best students working together? I was hoping it would be a good match," said the teacher in his usual joyful tone.

"We're doing fine, sir, thank you," was the immediate reply of Adena, along with a polite smile.

"Good, good..." was he murmuring as he directed himself to another table.

The girl got her long brown hair in a low ponytail, before she adjusted her glasses on her nose, getting ready to work. She was sensing Regulus was the stubborn type, and so decided to speak to him first.

She murmured in a quiet voice, not completely facing him, "We'll have to talk in order to work together, you know..."

He was making her nervous with that cold attitude, as if he was ignoring her but she wanted to look confident, sure of herself, like she would often do. Her soft and barely audible voice reached his ears, and he turned her way, muttering a just as quiet, "I know."

Without much thinking, her eyes scanned the ingredients and started pouring them one by one in the cauldron. From the corner of her eye, she could see Regulus reading the recipe, as if checking she was doing right, or not. She refrained herself from smiling. As if she would do a mistake. Maybe he was not that smart after all, she thought.

"Don't do everything on your own. We should work together. If you're going too fast, you'll obviously mess up something," came suddenly the calm but stern voice of Regulus, surprising the brown-haired girl at the same time.

She faced him completely, staring at him mixing up the ingredients with his wand, a small smirk tugged on her lips as she replied with a small scoff, "I won't mess up. I may go fast but I'm very careful, plus I know how to read a recipe."

She found it funny how he dared doubt her skills. She had never messed up a potion, he should have known since the Slytherins were in the same classes as the Ravenclaws when it came to Potions. That sassy reply made the young boy widen his eyes for a brief second, before a frown was placed on his features, as well a slight haughty expression.

"You seem quite confident I must say, but I'm just warning you. We have to make this perfect."

She nodded her head with a smile, not wishing to talk more for now as they continued working on their potion.

As expected, Adena Winsten and Regulus Black got the best grade for the Peace filter potion. Professor Slughorn had come to them with enthusiasm and was beaming with delight after discovering their potion was perfect, like they both wanted it to be.

"As expected from my top students," had muttered Slughorn with a wink. The two were rather proud of themselves but kept a calm and straight expression, not wishing to vaunt.

That class was days ago, but Adena still couldn't stop thinking of what a good pair the two of them had been. It came off as a surprise for her as for the past few years, the people she had been paired up with weren't a good match at all. She even started thinking that maybe she wasn't good to work with others and that she was better all alone. She realized that thought wouldn't only apply to school-related activities.

Right after that class, her housemates started pestering her with questions about the Slytherin boy as he was such a mysterious and difficult person to approach, such as "How was he?", "Did you get along with him?" and many more.

"It was normal," came her simple reply, even though it wasn't really to her.

The young girl watched with a small chuckle her comrades' faces going from excitement to disappointment. They really put too much importance on trivial things. Regulus Black was Regulus Black, nothing more.