Silent Riot | Regulus Black

THIRTY TWO

Gemma left the hospital wing two days later, and she was met with the delightful news that Ted had not, in fact, been expelled. What was rather disconcerting was the fact that Dumbledore had let him go without any repercussions; Ted said he just studied him with a sad look on his shrivelled prune face and then sent him out of the office with just a warning.

She noticed that most Hufflepuffs now cowered in fear whenever they saw him, or anyone in their group for that matter, something which Mulciber and Avery enjoyed immensely.

There was only one day left until the start of the Easter holidays, and there was a detectable buzz of excitement in the school. Gemma was among them, keeping her mind off the fact that she was not going home to her dad by talking with Iz about all the fun things they were going to be doing.

Luke, Ted and Gemma had all been invited by Iz to stay at her house, since Luke's parents were on holiday with his older brother, Ted was unsure about seeing his since he'd walked out on them, and Gemma's house had probably been long sold by her dad's muggle lawyers.

She was sat in the common room that evening. The warming weather meant that it was staying bright for longer periods of time, and the common room didn't need any lit candles. She was completing a History of Magic essay, as the closeness of the upcoming exams were finally starting to dawn on her. She was alone, and was surprised when Regulus sat down opposite her.

'Um... hi?' She said confusedly.

'Hi,' he said quietly, taking out his own work and starting it. She stared at him for a few moments, then shrugged and carried on with her own.

Nearly half an hour passed before she decided to speak again, the silence that had once been comfortable now felt uncomfortable.

'You've only managed to do half a piece of parchment?' She mocked. 'I expected better from you Regulus Black'

'Yeah,' he murmured. She folded her arms.

'What's got your knickers in a twist?' She asked. 'Why so moody?'

'You always say I'm always moody,' he said, putting down his open and looking at her.

'You are,' she said truthfully. 'But not this kind of moody.' He went back to silence for minute.

'Are you excited for the holiday?' He questioned unexpectedly. She was about to answer but he interrupted her, 'of course you are. Where are you going? Iz? Luke?'

'Iz,' she said. He hummed in agreement.

'Your lucky,' he said quietly. 'You really are lucky to have friends that good.'

'What?' She said in confusion. 'You could- you were friends with us. You decided not to be!'

'I-' He stopped for a minute. 'I was... wrong.'

'So that's what this is?' She demanded. 'An apology? A can we go back to how it was?'

'No,' he said hastily, 'I don't think anything can ever go back. Not with you in the... and how... what I will-' his voice broke, and she looked on in surprise.

'Then... what do you want?'

'Must you have an explanation for everything?' He groaned.

'No,' Gemma said warily. 'Keep your weird thoughts to yourself. But I would like to know, what do you want?'

'Just to talk.'

'About what?' She said coldly.

'Something normal.' She would have refused, and gotten up and left, if it wasn't for the pleading look in his eyes.