Black Rose [Regulus Black]

20 - unwanted colds & unsatisfying communication

All was going well.

Alessandra stood at her station in the restaurant she worked at and cleaned the dishes, humming a tune under her breath and occasionally glancing out the window to watch the drizzle. The kitchen of the restaurant she worked at was in full hustle, the clinking of utensils and the declarations of incoming orders piercing the pitter-patter sound of the rain. It was a peaceful chaos, one she was used to residing in, and her mood was relatively good after the disaster that happened last night.

What had even happened yesterday? Had she completely misinterpreted the situation? She and Reg were in very close proximity at the time, barely a few inches away, and she'd assumed that he was on the same page as her, until he just ran away. Why did he run away?

Saying that she was confused would be an understatement. Why couldn't they teach this in school? It seemed so much more practical than Newton's Laws of Motion.

She was interrupted by a crash and a yell, and turned to face the source of the commotion. The staff members were beginning to crowd around the centre of the room.

"Fire!"

She stood on the tips of her toes to try and catch a glimpse at what was going on, gaping at the new hire who had somehow caught his sleeve on fire. She didn't even know how he did it because he wasn't on kitchen duty so he had no reason to be near where the cooking was happening, but he'd managed it. The entire room had dissolved into chaos and everyone was running around and doing absolutely nothing, so she took advantage of the mayhem to put out the fire with her magic. She let small tendrils of her magic reach out and extend towards the fire, coiling around it and snuffing it out like a strangler fig suffocated its host.

She wasn't sure how other wizards did it, or how other wizards were, to be honest. She had no idea if what she was doing was the 'right' way or if this would have repercussions for her in the long run. Ignoring the exclamations of horror and wonder behind her, she turned back to complete her menial task of washing the plates, not wanting anyone to suspect that she had anything to do with the strange phenomenon that had just occurred.

That familiar prickle crept up the back of her neck, the one that she got when she felt like someone was watching her. She discreetly glanced back, but nobody seemed to have their eyes on her, everyone was busy doing their own thing. Brushing it off, she continued her job, until that same feeling came back, much more intense this time. She turned around, to be met with the same view she saw only minutes before, and then snapped her head to the window.

There stood Regulus Black in all his glory, dressed like a spy from the movies and watching her with his lips curled upwards, and she took an involuntary step backwards. Her heartbeat had soared due to the shock, but didn't slow down due to her embarrassment from last night, and she desperately hoped that he couldn't see her mortified expression very clearly. Schooling her expression into one of indifference, she discreetly looked around one last time, and when nobody was looking, she flicked her wrist, causing all the plates to clean themselves within the blink of an eye. Placing them all in a tray, she put them in the designated area, and then darted out the kitchen door to meet Regulus, who was now standing directly outside the entrance to the restaurant. Nobody noticed that she was gone, probably because they had better things to do.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I thought you'd have been happier to see me," he grinned at her, looking somewhat sheepish.

"You can't just come up here dressed like a robber, people might get suspicious. Also, why aren't you using an umbrella? You're going to get a cold."

"Muggles don't notice anything. I've been standing at that window for two hours, and nobody even took notice of me. Except this one child, but she's a child so nobody would believe her."