Smile When You Dive In

Chapter 4

For three more days, Regulus scoured endless library books and those he'd been given as birthday gifts from Narcissa and Lucius for anything that might help Sirius. There had been a few promising spells, ones he'd tried out himself in private, but nothing that he thought would convince Sirius it would be in his best interest to return home. The girls had noticed his sudden need to read at mealtimes and during lessons, but said nothing to begin with. Whenever Regulus pulled out a new book, they simply exchanged knowing glances, probably assuming it had something to do with the 'meetings' in Hogsmeade that Regulus had been making excuses not to go to.

"Reggie, come on! You're being boring!" Carmen prodded at his stomach, trying to pull his attention away from the ancient charms book he'd found in the back of Binns' classroom. The three of them were lounging beneath a tree, Regulus' head in Willa's lap as she read aloud the quizzes in Witch Weekly. According to the latest one, she was most suited to be a healer when she left Hogwarts, while Carmen should really have been thinking about journalism. But since the girls had finished their magazine, Regulus obviously had to cast aside his book too.

"Can't I finish this chapter?"

"Depends. Are you going to read it out loud in a sexy voice?" At that, Regulus wrinkled his nose and closed the book. He hated when they said things like that, and that was exactly why they insisted on saying things like that. Beyond pleased with herself that she had won the battle for his attention, Carmen flopped down beside Regulus. "Hogsmeade weekend this week."

"So?" Regulus turned his head to face her, which Willa took as an invitation to play with his hair.

"So, are you going?" He knew what she was asking, but wasn't going to talk about that. Instead, he hoped he sounded casual when he answered.

"Haven't decided yet, are you two?" The two girls looked at each other, passing a look that Regulus was less familiar with.

"We are, but you can't come with us." Willa answered and tapped the end of Regulus' nose when he looked up at her. "Girl things." That was code for 'don't ask any more questions', and Regulus often wished there were an equivalent for boys that he could take advantage of.

"I'll probably stay here then. The dorm will be quiet without Selwyn and Shafiq around." Carmen pouted, put out at the suggestion that Regulus would be left all alone in the castle while they were out doing whatever it was they did together, but Willa didn't relent.

"You could do a lot worse than hanging out with Malfoy, you know? Daddy says that he's very good to do business with." Carmen Ollerton's father inherited his fortune through the Cleansweep Company, but Regulus doubted that was the business he was referring to. Among the pureblood families, there were certain things that went on, referred to as 'business', that remained a mystery to Regulus. They almost definitely involved money, since all of the families Regulus' father did 'business' with were wealthy, but he hadn't quite worked out where it all came from. Nearing his sixteenth birthday, he thought it was really about time that his father explained those things to him. When they were younger, Sirius would get to go to work with him occasionally. Letting him in on family secrets, training up the heir, that sort of thing. Regulus' life was a lot simpler back when Sirius was the Black heir.

"He's not very..." Both girls looked at him as he tried to find the right word. Nice? He certainly wasn't that, but it wasn't Regulus' biggest problem with Lucius. "Genuine."

"Maybe you just don't know him well enough yet." Willa suggested, while Carmen pointed out that he liked Narcissa and she liked Lucius. That was true. But he didn't think Narcissa was very genuine when she was with Lucius, either. Not like when they were kids. Before Andromeda ran off with the muggleborn man. She'd been different then, softer around the edges.