Don't Tell Anyone About This | Regulus Black

Chapter Eighteen

"What would you guys like?"

Nera and Ada, sat next to each other in a booth in the Three Broomsticks, glanced at each other, and then up at Edgar who was stood in front of them.
"Butterbeer, obviously." Ada told him, "That's the whole reason we're here. I didn't do that stupid walk to have a glass of water."

Nera place a hand on Ada's shoulder, and then smiled at Edgar, "So... I think that's two drinks, please."
Edgar chuckled, "Alright, no problem. I'll be back in a minute."

"Wait!" Nera called to him, "Do you-do you want our share of the money?" She reached into the pockets of her jeans in search of some loose change.
He quickly shook his head, "No, no. Don't worry. I've got it."

Ada shook her head and mumbled to herself, "I'm absolutely right..." As Edgar went up to the bar to order the first round of drinks.
Nera turned to her, "Right about what?"
"About the fact that he's in love with you."

Nera turned a vibrant shade of red and exclaimed, "No! Don't-that's not true!"
Her friend snickered, "Just because you don't want it to be true, doesn't mean it isn't."
"It's not..." Nera's voice dropped to just a whisper, "It's just that I can't believe he would like me like that. That's insane."

"Oh, Stark, have you ever looked in the mirror?"

Internally, Nera cringed. She hated to think about her appearance, and she felt complete discomfort upon receiving compliments.
"Let's just... I'd rather not think or-or talk about this anymore, if that's alright." She started to repeatedly tap her fingertips on her knees in a fast, repetitive pattern.

"Of course." Ada nodded as she stretched her arms out along the back of the bench they sat on, "And forewarning, I have no money on me, so we better keep Edgar in good spirits so he keeps buying us stuff."
Nera laughed, and the feeling of tenseness faded away, "I'm not happy about that plan, but I'll play along."
Ada clicked her fingers and quipped, "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

Just then, the two girls looked up to see Edgar making his way towards them with a tray carrying three pints of Butterbeer and two small dishes of chips.
"Here you go." He set as he set everything out on the table and then sat down opposite them.
Nera thanked him as she took her drink, and the. slid Ada's glass across the table towards her.

"Oh, this is going to be a good breakfast." Ada grinned smugly to herself as she took a sip.
"Breakfast?" Edgar asked.
Nera cupped a hand over her mouth to mask her laugh.
"Yeah, breakfast." Ada said as if it were obvious to anyone with common sense, "I didn't get up until gone eleven. And even then, that was only because I had to meet you guys at twelve."

Nera mused, "You know, I could probably get used to having this for breakfast too."

"Oh, brilliant. That's healthy." Edgar chuckled and shook his head.

"Right, let's talk about something interesting." Ada declared, as she set her glass back down on the table with a heavy thud.
Nera raised an eyebrow and asked, "Like what?"
"Like... The future." She replied.

Edgar frowned, "What? Like careers? Are you going to give us one of the aspirational lectures like Mcgonagall?"
Ada scoffed, "I'm not trying to inspire you, you idiot."

To curd the conversation from more of Ada's insults, Nera said, "I've no idea what I'd like to do. I suppose I'll end up in some dead-end Ministry job or something."
"Are you joking?" Edgar exclaimed, "You're going to be Minister for Magic or something!"
Nera snorted, "Oh, really?"

Ada then interjected, "This might be the first time I agree with Bones. Nera, are you at all self aware?"

"I always thought I'd end up doing something related to quidditch. Not playing, obviously." Edgar said. Nera wasn't sure if he'd swooped in to save her awkwardness on purpose or not, but she appreciated it regardless. "What about you, Ostrowski?" He asked.
Ada quickly replied, "You'd never catch me near the cholerny Ministry. I'd like to do something with magical creatures, though."

"Magical creatures?" Edgar asked.
"Cholerny?" Nera asked.

"It's my favourite subject." Ada explained as she turned to Edgar, and then she turned to Nera and clarified, "Damn."

Edgar ran a hand through his hair to ruffle it up, and mused, "I never pictured you as someone who liked, well... Anything, really."
"Charming." Nera quipped.
"Yeah, so polite." Ada rolled her eyes.
The Hufflepuff boy brushed past this, "So, would you want to teach it or... I don't know... Go and conserve them or whatever it is?" He asked.

"Yeah," She mused, "Working with magical creatures, for sure. I've always been fascinated by demiguises. I'd probably have to go east to study them properly, though."

Edgar frowned, thought for a moment, and then turned to Nera. She explained, "Demiguises are magical creatures that can turn invisible and predict the future. They're difficult to study because, well, they can turn invisible when scared."

"Oh." He nodded, then asked, "East? As in back to Poland?"
Ada laughed lightly and shook her head. "East as in east Asia. China. Japan. Korea. Maybe the Philippines too, I'm not sure."
"Wow." Edgar admitted. His jaw hung slightly agape.

Nera looked down at her drink on the table, and watched a bead of condensation drip over her warm hand cupping the glass. She'd never really considered her future much before. Of course, Nera had always been aiming to leave Hogwarts, but that was mainly so she could get away from the loneliness of the school.
When she thought about it, Nera wasn't sure she had any real aspirations. She worked as hard as she could in her lessons, but again that had always been because she'd had nothing better to do. It wasn't like she was working towards a goal like Ada or Edgar - even though theirs were varying levels of vague.

She propped her elbow up on the table and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "How do..." Nera looked up at her friends, "How do you guys figure out what you want to do? Even if it's just an idea. A ballpark."

"Well, for me, it's based on my favourite subject. I want to spend all of my time around magical creatures so why not have a career in it?" Ada smiled.
"Yeah," Edgar agreed, "I love quidditch and I'd like it to be more than just a hobby in my spare time."

That didn't really help. Nera didn't exactly have a hobby. She used to play the piano - and had been rather good at it - before attending Hogwarts. So much time away from home meant her skills had rusted over and she hadn't been able to play competitively in recent years. She'd always enjoyed playing the piano, but Nera had never really considered it as a career. It certainly wasn't magical.

It almost made Nera feel guilty. Like if she pursued music she'd be wasting her magical abilities. Was she really not going to make the most of being a witch?

By the time Nera tuned back into the conversation, Ada and Edgar were bickering back and forth about something to do with quidditch, or lollipops... Or the colour blue. Nera couldn't really make it out. What she was growing more certain of, however, was that she had two good friends. She had two good friends that mostly got along with each other. She had two good friends and she was having a good time, too, on her first trip into Hogsmeade.