𝕿𝖗𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖗 - ʳᵉᵍᵘˡᵘˢ ᵇˡᵃᶜᵏ

Chapter 4: Pandora Knows Best

[ September 6th - 7th, 1977 ]

IF ONLY she had just listened to Pandora in the first place and just stopped trying with Regulus. Theona should've kept their communication strictly coursework-related-at least that way the uncomfortable tension wouldn't be so thick-but of course, she had to test him. She had to push, to make sure Pandora wasn't being overdramatic.

The sixth of September was a plain, cold day, with rain pattering the windows and every student clinging to their cloaks for extra warmth. Theona spent the beginning of her morning in Divination with bitter Sybill Trelawny, and the end with charming Professor Roman. Lunch was boring, but she had noticed a plate of bibinka hiding in between the lengths of British foods, and made a mental note to thank Xenophilius for his efforts.

Potions is where it all went awry. It started off exactly how it always did: 'How was your day, Regulus?', 'fine, you?', 'it was good.' Then, they'd began to brew a simple Ageing Potion. Theona purposely allowed Regulus to take charge, waiting for her moment to speak. She found it while Regulus was stuck doing one hundred and fifty clockwise stirs-the counting charm she had placed on the cauldron meant he didn't have to worry about keeping track in his head, and could instead offer his full attention to her subtle interrogation.

"So, Pandora mentioned you two used to be friends," she started, watching as his stirring faltered ever so slightly, "what happened?"

"Grew apart," he shrugged, biting his lip hard enough that it turned white.

This was the first time she debated giving up (even though it was pathetically early into her investigation). Seeing how uncomfortable he got at just the mention of the Sailstream girl made her feel guilty for asking.

"Really? You guys should reconnect," she suggested casually, "maybe you could join us at lunch tomorrow?"

"No, no I don't think so," he breathed, shaking his head.

"Why not?" She questioned, and perhaps she sounded a little too interested, as he looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"What's it to you?" He asked, squaring his shoulders.

This was the second time she debated giving up; the last thing she wanted to do was get in an argument with him in the middle of class, but alas, curiosity killed the cat.

"She's my friend, you're my friend, I just thought it could be nice that's all," she mumbled, glancing over to where Pandora was hastily brewing her potion with Barty Crouch Jr.

"I'm not your friend," he scoffed, turning his attention back to the cauldron. He was almost at seventy-five stirs.

"Ouch," she chuckled, "that stings, Regulus, really burns."

"You don't want to be my friend, Bell," he drawled in the most melodramatic, laughable way.

"Careful, only friends care about what each other want," she teased, nudging his arm. A small smile pulled at his lips and, while she hated to ruin their rare moment of kindness, she knew she should probably continue to pry while he was in a good mood. "So, what really happened with you and 'Dora?"

"I told you, we grew apart," Regulus repeated, and Theona couldn't help but notice that he quickened his stirring-he wanted to get out of the conversation as soon as possible.