Sweater Weather // Regulus Black

chapter four // the hogsmeade trip

september 25th, 1975

  It was now the following Saturday—A Hogsmeade day! Estella always loved going to Hogsmeade, but she liked the idea better now that she potentially had someone to go with.

  Often times, she ended up tagging along with Narcissa and Bellatrix, though she often felt like a third wheel as she followed behind the two. And she most definitely did not agree with Bella's idea of 'fun', which mainly consisted of hexing Gryffindor's and yelling at the customer service workers.

  Estella had hoped that Regulus would tag along with her to Hogsmeade, but she wasn't sure how to ask him without it sounding like a date—Which it definitely was not. The two weren't there yet. Maybe someday they would be, but for now, the pair stayed friends...Ish. Acquaintances.

As the girl approached the carriages, she saw a familiar Slytherin boy up ahead of her.

She grinned, immediately running over to greet Regulus—Something she didn't think she'd ever be doing to a friend. Everything had felt so different for her lately.

"Hey, Reg," She said with a smile as she approached the boy, immediately making him grin. "Hey. You up to go to Hogsmeade with me?" He questioned, a small hint of nervousness laced into his quiet voice.

Estella nodded, the smile never leaving her face. "Of course," She murmured in response as the two hopped onto a carriage, both immediately staring at the thestral in front of them.

"Can you see them, too?" The boy pondered when his eyes met hers, as he fiddled with his hands anxiously.

She nodded slowly. "I can. Figure most of the Slytherin's can," She responded with a small grimace.

No good memories ever popped up when she caught eye of a thestral. All she could think about were the terrible things she'd witnessed her father do to her poor, poor house elf, Rinkey.

She figured Regulus had had a similar experience. Pureblood's treated their help like actual shit, it wasn't abnormal to have seen one pass. As terrible as it was...

  "Fair point," He muttered, before directing his glance back up at her eyes again. Estella could feel her cheeks heat up at the sudden eye contact.

The girl flashed a sheepish smile, making Regulus grin as his eyes quickly dropped down back to his shoes, where he tapped his foot repeatedly.

The carriage slowly came to a halt as they pulled up to the Hogsmeade bridge, which was dusted in red, orange, and yellow fall leaves, some shriveled form the students who had stepped on them, others untouched. 

  "I'm assuming you usually go to Flourish and Blott's?" Regulus questioned, Estella nodding in response. It's pretty easy to tell, she thought. She knew he usually did, too.

  "Th-there's this one book I saw last time that I wanted to buy. A Girl Called Leta, by Thesius Scamander. It seems rather interesting," Estella piped up after a moment of walking.

  Flourish and Blott's was all the way on the other side of Hogsmeade, so the two had a rather lengthy walk to get there. Estella didn't mind, though. She enjoyed walking with Regulus, and she could only hope he did, too.

  "The Scamander's," Regulus said with a small laugh as he looked back up at Estella, who stood with a confused look on her face. "My father has a strong opinion on those ones."

  The witch only shrugged, knowing hers did, too. "He doesn't have to know. Fantastic Beasts is required reading for first years, anyway," She pointed out, the boy moving his head back and forth as if he was contemplating something.