𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞 || 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Chapter 07

Friday 24th October, 1976

I opened my eyes groggily, squinting as the sun shone through the window into my bedroom. I rolled over, groaning, and glanced at my clock, feeling better rested than usual. I bolted upright when I realised why, blinking, once, twice, but the time didn't change.

I had 15 minutes to get ready and get to the Great Hall before breakfast disappeared. I scrambled out of bed, wondering why my alarm clock didn't go off and found my uniform folded neatly at the end of my bed. One of my dormmates must have done it.

I ran out of the room before I even had my tie on, franticly working on it while sprinting down the stairs to the Great Hall. I arrived with 7 minutes to spare and slowed to a walk as I headed for the Gryffindor Table. My pace slowed even more in hesitation as I noticed everyone staring at me with curious, stunned expressions. My fellow Gryffindors were worrying me the most, disbelief and betrayal on many of their faces.

I got to the marauders, only to find them staring at me with similar expressions. Remus seemed concerned, while James and Sirius seemed horrified, almost disgusted. Peter just stared between James and I in terror, as if waiting for a bomb to explode.

"What are you wearing?" Sirius asked, voice straining as he tried to be calm.

"My robes...?" I answered, trailing off in confusion.

"I didn't know you were in Slytherin," James scoffed.

I looked down at my uniform, eyes widening as I noticed the green tie around my neck. Where had that come from? I thought back to this morning and the rush I had been to get ready. My clothes had been folded neatly at the end of my bed. My clothes were never folded neatly, and my dormmates had certainly never folded them for me before. So who folded them?

I got my answer when James started speaking, his voice dangerously low.

"Does you wearing a Slytherin tie have anything to do with the Slytherin across the hall wearing a Gryffindor tie?" he wasn't even looking at me as he spoke, instead glaring daggers at something across the hall.

I followed his gaze, eyes widening when it landed on Regulus Black, calmly eating his breakfast as nearly everyone in the hall stared at the red and gold tie currently around his neck. My red and gold tie. Almost as if he could sense my gaze, Regulus looked up, eyes meeting mine as his lips curled into a smirk.

My mouth went dry as I stared at him. It was only a piece of clothing, I kept telling myself, and yet the way my whole body heated would make it seem like something completely different. He had snuck into my room and swapped our ties, all without me noticing.

And now here he was, the pureblood Slytherin heir, wearing a fucking Gryffindor tie, just to get me in trouble with my brother. The little shit.

"This is not what it looks like," I assured them, sending Regulus one last scathing look before turning to my brother and his friends.

"Then what, pray tell, is it?" James asked through gritted teeth, ripping his gaze away from Regulus to glare at me.

I took a deep breath and started my explanation, telling them everything from the first revenge prank I ever did on him, to the prank that had been mistaken for a romantic gesture, to my book that screamed.

Once I'd finished, the marauders looked at me in silence, making me shift on my feet uneasily. I looked at each of their faces, trying to gauge their reactions. Peter seemed shocked, Remus was good at keeping his face blank so I couldn't get anything from him, James was looking at me with a mix of awe and pride, and Sirius was frowning.