𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞 || 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Chapter 10

Tuesday 28th October, 1976

"So, the party's coming up this Friday, and we really need to sort out our outfits."

I choked on my orange juice, coughing and spluttering as James hit my back just a bit too hard. I sent my brother a glare when I started breathing again, wiping the orange juice away from my mouth before focusing on Sirius.

"You didn't say we had to wear costumes!" I exclaimed in outrage.

"It's a Halloween party, what else would you wear?" Sirius retorted.

My eyes widened as my fingers twitched, begging to wrap around Sirius's neck and strangle him. I couldn't believe he'd neglected to inform me this was a costume party until days before the actual event and then expect me to get matching outfits with all of them.

"What ideas do you have?" James asked quickly, directing my attention away from all the ways I could murder Sirius with my fork.

Sirius grinned. "The Chudley Cannons team."

I scoffed, but the sound was drowned out by James's cheering.

"That's a brilliant idea Padfoot!" he exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. It was not, in fact, a brilliant idea because the majority of the people who would end up wearing the costumes were people who didn't even play quidditch. Though, from the way James and Sirius were excitedly assigning us different players to be, I knew there would be no changing their minds.

I sighed and grabbed my bag, wanting to read through some of my astronomy notes before class, but fate seemed to have other plans. Or rather, Regulus Black did. As I opened my bag, green and silver glitter shot out of it, exploding right in my face.

Laughter erupted from the Hall as students craned their necks to see what the loud bang belonged to, only to find me with my entire face covered in glitter. I scowled, eyes darting to the Slytherin table where most of the laughter was coming from. Regulus Black sat there, laughing with his friends as his gaze found mine, a cruel smirk making its way onto his face.

Sirius snorted from beside me, eyeing his brother with disdain. "Was that my brother's miserable attempt at a prank?"

I frowned, looking down as mixed feelings milled inside me. Obviously I didn't like being pranked, and being humiliated in front of the whole school was not desired, but the prank hadn't seemed bad. It had just seemed like Regulus, and wasn't that the whole point of this war? To see who could win, me or Regulus?

I pushed the thoughts away and got out my wand, casting a cleaning charm on myself. Nothing happened. I tried again, and again, but my face was still green and silver. Remus even attempted to get rid of it, only to find himself disappointed. The glitter was stuck firmly on my face, and I wondered with horror whether I'd be forced to go to class like this.

"Try having a shower," Remus offered. "It might work getting it off the muggle way."

I nodded, about to get up when I overheard Sirius and James's frantic whispers, already planning their next prank for Regulus. I stayed where I was sitting despite the glitter all over me, wanting to be a part of this next prank.

I tried to add something, give a suggestion, an idea for a prank in my prank war, but they all ignored me, even Remus. I felt hurt and angry, but continued to sit there, not wanting to miss what they were planning.

"We should use Levicorpus on him," Sirius said maliciously, a glint in his eyes.

I'd had enough. I knew Sirius's relationship with Regulus was rocky, and that he often used pranks as a way to express his feelings but using Levicorpus was too far. It's not that I cared about Regulus, it's just that it was too mean, and these pranks were supposed to be fun, strategic ideas, not outright bullying.

"We're not using Levicorpus," I said, raising my voice so they could hear me.

"Oh come on Y/n-" Sirius started.

"No," I said firmly. "You're not using that spell on him for my prank."

There was quiet muttering but no direct disagreeing, so I let the subject drop and stood up to have a shower and see if getting the glitter off the muggle way would work.

It turned out the muggle way did work. Of course, Regulus would make me have to work to get the glitter off, and even after I'd washed my hair three times, I could still see a fair amount of green and silver in there.

I sighed in defeat and went to Astronomy, half wondering if I was leaving a trail of Slytherin coloured sparkles behind me. I wouldn't be surprised if I was.

I arrived at the Astronomy Tower to find everyone else already there, talking quietly with one another as they waited for the teacher. It was a theory lesson, but our teacher still made us study up here, claiming the fresh air was good for us. I didn't mind much; in fact I enjoyed looking at the view when I was working.

I looked around and spotted Regulus walking up to me, a grin on his face as he stared at my hair. I scowled at him, not saying anything as he stood right in front of me, which only caused his grin to grow. He moved his arms, and before I realised what was happening I felt his hand in my hair, gently playing with a few strands before retracting his arm, his hand covered in glitter.

I felt my throat close up as I stared determinedly at his hand. He'd touched my hair, that's all, just to show me how successful his prank was. There had been no ulterior motive, no other reason for playing with my hair, and yet I couldn't stop the somersaults in my stomach as I thought about his actions. Why did it affect me so much? Sirius often braided my hair, and I didn't freak out when I felt his hands in my hair, so why was I freaking out now?

"Nice glitter," Regulus taunted, bringing me back to reality.

I scoffed, swatting his hand away. "Careful Black, or else I'll dye your hair again."

"I don't think your brother and his friends would allow that," Regulus said in a fake forlorn tone.

I furrowed my eyebrows, staring at him incredulously. "What do you mean?"

Regulus sighed, rolling his eyes at my confusion. I ignored the action and raised my eyebrows, gesturing for him to explain.

"All the pranks that have happened since your friends have started helping have been their style, not yours," Regulus clarified.

"You can tell when I prank you?" I asked.

Regulus scoffed, crossing his arms. "Of course I can."

I tried to ignore the flutter in my chest at his words. It didn't work, and the air between us came awkward as we both realised what he said. We started walking away from each other at the same time and spent the rest of the class at other sides of the room.

Even with the space between us, I felt like he was right next to me, and I couldn't seem to get him out of my thoughts. Nor could I seem to forget Lily's words and her ridiculous theory. I didn't fancy Regulus Black. I never would.

So why couldn't I stop thinking about him?

A/N:

another update!!! so proud of myself rn

this is a kinda short chapter, but something happened in here that is important to The Plot, so it was needed.

regulus playing with y/n's hair. ugh, why can't they just get married already?

also, i recently got tumblr. my account is loonylupinblack3 if you wanna check it out