I, once again, found myself face to face with Regulus Black. This time under the orders of a professor for divinations. James and Sirius kept a watchful eye from their corners of the room, which I fully understood.
"Leaves say I'm going to fall madly in love." He commented.
"Pity the girl." I replied. He held back a laugh.
"Maybe it's you darling."
"What happened to "I'd never date you" that ring a bell?"
"You hold a grudge, huh?"
"Not a grudge, just reminding you what you said." He turned back to the leaves. I smirked as he shuffled them trying to get seemingly anything else.
"What do yours say?" He asked after a while.
"I'm going to be annoyed by an unusually tall boy for the rest of the year." I retorted, he rolled his eyes.
"I'm not unusually tall." He defended. He was almost whiny. I bit back a smile.
"I never said it was you. Full of yourself aren't you?" He went quiet until we were dismissed. I walked out of class with James and Sirius who each slung an arm around me.
"Tough luck getting paired with Black." James commented, I shrugged.
"Least Reg is smart." Sirius commented, I nodded.
"Bit of a prick though." I replied, they both hummed in response. We walked to potions where I was partnered with Otto Bagman. I groaned and took my seat in front of Sirius. I stayed turned around talking to him until class started. It was obvious Otto felt just as awkward as I did. If our hands accidentally grazed each other we'd both pull back in a hurry, offering condolences. Sirius would lean forward every so often and crack jokes about it. He was partnered with Pandora Rosier who fawned over him daily.
Sirius had taken Pandora out last year, I'm almost positive they hooked up, then Sirius bolted when Evan Rosier said he was going to hex him. I think Sirius really liked her. He wasn't too torn up about being partnered with her this year.
I glanced over to James who was partnered with Severus. He was banging his head on the table while Severus stirred the potion and scolded him. I laughed lightly to myself. Lily was with Regulus, she didn't mind it much. Regulus was smart, good at potions, and kept quiet, he really was the perfect partner for Lil. Peter was with a quiet Hufflepuff girl we weren't even sure was in our year. Moony was with Dorcas Meadows, which made Marls incredibly jealous considering she was partnered with Evan Rossier. Needless to say, none of us were too fond of our pairings. I watched Lily walk up to the professor and chat for a moment before I was called up. I excused myself from the awkward silence I was sat in and walked up. Lily shot me a look of pure apology.
"It's been brought to my attention that Ms. Evans and Mr. Black cannot work together anymore. Mr. Black has requested you." Slughorn explained. Of course he did. Black was a part of Slughorns exclusive little club. I knew he was going to get his way. I nodded.
"Is there another option Professor?" I asked although I knew the answer.
"I'm afraid not, Potter. It'll be a good pair." I nodded and gathered my stuff from my spot next to Otto.
"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable Nova." Otto explained.
"This isn't my choice. Slughorn thinks I'm better fit with Black. You'll have Lily." I explained. He nodded and smiled at me. I walked off to Lily's old spot. I sat down next to Regulus, James leaned over his workbench.
"What the fuck is this?" He whispered, I shrugged.
"I truly have no idea."
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