COMFORT ZONE | Sirius Black [REWRITING]

52. The Incident

Sunday, 8th June 1975

Regulus had struggled to sleep last night; it wasn't a problem all that often even though he was quite a light sleeper but waking up in the middle of the dark to strange images flashing in his mind was becoming more frequent. He'd started keeping note of it, and it had happened almost every night this week.

Raised hands and a tree and the suspended figure of a dark-haired boy.

It made little sense to him on the surface level, but at the same time, he had a feeling that if he tried hard enough, he might just understand.

The castle corridors were pleasantly cooler than the school grounds, yet Regulus found himself walking towards the Entrance Hall even then, the promise of talking to a certain cinnamon-eyed girl playing in his mind. Barty had borrowed a book from Avery the other day and he'd kept his nose buried in it while Regulus had decided to head out.

"Black."

His footsteps slowed at the voice of the last person he wanted to talk to.

"Mulciber."

The idiot strolled up to him with Avery and third-year Rosier beside him. Regulus got the distinct feeling that Evan had been coerced to join their current venture more than anything else. But then again, he never seemed particularly keen on any of Adrian's bright ideas, despite being first cousins.

They were all cousins if he really thought about it.

"Do you happen to know where Shafiq is?" asked Mulciber.

Regulus did, in fact, happen to know where Maddi was. He'd seen her head off to the grounds with her friends shortly after lunch in the Great Hall. Informing the boy of her whereabouts, however, was not something he planned on doing.

"Why do you want to know?"

"You know..." Mulciber shoved his hands into his pockets casually. "For a little chat."

"I don't get the impression she likes chatting to you much."

"Well, you could put in a good word for me, couldn't you Black?"

Before hell froze over.

He kept his voice cool. "Not how it works, Mulciber."

"Are you lot looking for Shafiq?"

Regulus wanted to bang his head against doors of the Great Hall and then throw Barty over the top of the Astronomy Tower.

Perking up at the words, Mulciber turned to the boy with a genial smile.

"We were actually. Do you know where she is?"

Though he tried signalling to Barty to shut up, the idiot, who had for some reason decided to vacate their dormitory, blabbed right on.