𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞 || 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Chapter 37

Tuesday 19th January, 1977

"Holy shit!"

My eyes flew open at the sound of Evan's voice, and I was presented with a blurry Evan holding open the bed curtain, staring at me in shock. "When the bloody hell did you get in there?"

Avery's head poked over the side of Evan's, mouth agape. "And without saying hi to me first!"

I felt my face heat up and wanted to crawl under the covers and die. Of course they'd find me sleeping in Regulus's bed, because that's just how bad my luck was. I swear, it's as if I'm a main character in a story and the author is making every single bad thing happen to me for their own amusement.

Curse you author.

"She's been here the whole night," Regulus answered. "And I'd much appreciate it if you gave us some privacy, Rosier."

"Hey, you're the ones who decided to fuck in our shared dorm," Barty called from somewhere in the dorm. "These are the consequences."

"We didn't fuck," Regulus grumbled, snatching the curtains away from Evan and Avery and closing them.

He turned to look at me and sighed when he saw my horrified expression. "I can't believe they found us like this," I whispered.

Regulus rolled his eyes. "It's fine. I've walked in on way worse, especially with Barty. This is nothing. They're just messing with you."

I cleared my throat, trying to gather what little dignity I had left. "Well, in any case, I think I should leave now."

I moved to get out of the bed when Regulus grabbed my shoulder. I turned to look at him in question and noticed the concerned expression on his face.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay after last night? It was a really scary thing to happen. Hell, I'm still fucking terrified."

I gave him a shaky smile and nodded. In truth though, I wasn't so sure. He was right, it was a really scary thing to happen, and I still felt fear coursing through my veins. We nearly died last night. We nearly got torn to shreds by a werewolf. That was a scary thing.

Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was feeling. What were you supposed to feel in the aftermath of an attack like that? If those animals hadn't come in time, hadn't saved us when they did; I didn't even want to think about what that would mean.

I was afraid, of course I was, but I also found myself actively reminded myself that the werewolf wasn't to blame. When someone close to you nearly dies, you want to blame someone. You want to direct your feelings of terror of grief at what almost happened into something else, into anger at something so you don't need to focus on all the other bad stuff, and I wanted to do that with the werewolf.

I found myself hating them, thinking of all the things I'd do if they ever hurt Regulus, but in reality it wasn't they're fault. Lycanthropy is a sickness, not a choice. They don't choose to turn into a werewolf every month, to feel that instinct, that need to kill humans, and to feel the painful transformations every time they turn into a werewolf and turn back into a human. None of that is their choice, and even though I feel like I'm drowning in fear and despair, I can't blame them just to make myself feel better. It isn't right.

I got out of the bed, trying to ignore the boys on either side of the room as I left it, casting a disillusionment charm on my way out. I made it to the Gryffindor Common Room and snuck into my dorm where I had a shower and got dressed properly.

Once I'd gotton ready, I went down into the Common Room, finding James, Sirius, and Peter sitting on the couch seeming unusually sombre. It matched my down mood, and I didn't like it. I was hoping that James's upbeat personality could cheer me up, but they were acting as if they too nearly got killed by a werewolf last night.