𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆, regulus black

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓: 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞-𝐕𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐲-𝐕𝐢𝐚𝐥

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

As soon as Rune's eyes opened, she knew she was late. The rays of sunlight shining through the window, and past the curtains she forgot to close, were far too bright for it to be any time before midday.

She lifted a bare arm over her head and winced at the hanging sheds of the skin she'd been wearing for the last month. She groaned and pulled the blanket over her head deciding no classes were worth getting out of bed for.

She would have probably slept the day and night away had it not been for the incessant clawing at her dorm room window. She sat up in her bed and nearly shouted in fear at the sight of yellow eyes peering in from the window and following her movements.

"Damn you, Regulus Black" she cursed as she threw her blankets aside and strode towards the black feathered owl waiting for her on the other side of the window.

She scoffed as she pulled the yellow detention slip from its beak.

Unexcused Absence, Disrespect, Mischief, Poor Attitude, Misuse of Magic.

Her grimace grew as she recognized Regulus's writing which stated for her to meet him in the Trophy Room for detention at 8pm that night or to have the matter escalated to Professor Slughorn. 

A glance at the clock on her bedside showed her that 8pm was 5 minutes ago. Through an award-winning string of curses, she pulled on her biggest cloak and trudged out of the dorm, purposefully stomping past Regulus' sniggering friends who were lounged across the common room and towards the Trophy Room. 

"8:15," snarked Regulus as she entered. "That's 15 minutes late. I've known you for 5 miserable years, so 15 multiplied by 5 is 75. I guess after your two hours of detention are done, we'll spend an extra 75 minutes together in here." He looked around the room with a pleased smirk, "By the time you're done, dear old Filch won't have to worry about cleaning this room for the next 15 years." 

Rune exhaled loudly and then stuck up her middle finger at him. 

"Oh," said Regulus, tilting his head at her. "80 minutes." 

"You're a hateful toad and I hope you never know a day's happiness in your life," murmured Rune. 

"85." He grinned as he tossed a wet rag at her. 

Rune turned around and grabbed a cup of the shelf and began to scrub the bronze exterior with brute force.

"Gentle, Westwood. One might mistake this for poor attitude and work ethic." 

"I hope you know that I hate you immensely!" she spat at him as she picked up the next cup in the cabinet. 

"90 minutes. You must love spending time with me." 

Though he couldn't see her face, Rune mustered up the greatest eye roll known to humanity and zipped her mouth as she got on with scrubbing the rest of the cups in the cabinet. She glanced around the room and pitied herself at the vast number of trophy cabinets around the room. She knew Regulus would use any excuse to keep her in the room until all the trophies were squeaky clean.

Nearly three hours later, Rune had arrived at the last trophy cabinet. The one right next to where Regulus sat primly in a cushioned chair. From a distance, she assumed he was seated there staring into nothing, but with the little space between them, she saw the way his eyes travelled across something that was rested on his lap. 

"What are you doing?" she asked, before she remembered he added minutes every time she opened her mouth. 

"What number were we on?" he questioned, not lifting his eyes from his lap. "Yes, 225 minutes."