Silent Riot | Regulus Black

FORTY SEVEN

Exams came. Gemma was certain she would fail everything except Arithmancy, but she didn't care, because it wasn't like she had a father to scold her and a mother who gave two flying fucks about her life and her future was probably doomed to be gloomy anyway now that there was a war coming. 

In reality, she actually did okay- by her considerably poor standards, anyway. She could perform one or two spells, and her theory knowledge was enough to answer most questions. 

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful month until their exam results came out.

When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, she couldn't help cheering with the rest. They left the exam hall and Regulus came with them, like he usually did now that it was exam time and Elladora wasn't speaking to him.

'That was far easier than I thought it would be,' Luke said as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds. 'I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager.'

'Stop talking, please,' Ted begged. 'I don't want to think about that torturous exam ever again.' Luke and Regulus always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ted and Gemma said this made them feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. Sirius, Pettigrew and Potter were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.

'No more studying,' Ted sighed happily, stretching out on the grass and ditching his robe and jumper, so he was only in his school shirt. 'You could look more cheerful Gemma, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done.'

'Yeah, you're right,' she decided, lying down next to him on the grass. She turned her head towards him, and watched as he stared up at the cloudless sky with his green eyes, blissfully unaware and carefree. The peace was infectious, and she found herself more relaxed than she had been in a while. If only Iz was here, then it would be perfect. 

Of course, it didn't last. 

'Hey!' Sirius Black- called out when he spotted her. She shot up off the grass. She had completely forgotten to return the map to them. She pulled it out of her pocket, and held it up, scrambling to stand. 

'Oops!' She called out theatrically. 'I wonder how this ended up here!' 

'You fucking thief!' Potter said. 'You give that back, or I swear I'll hex you!'

Sirius started stalking towards her, but before she could give it back, someone else pulled it out of her hand. It was Regulus, and he glared at his brother defiantly as the older boy didn't stop walking until he was almost nose to nose with his brother. 

'Give it back,' Sirius demanded. 

'No,' Regulus said coolly. 'It really is quite useful- '

 'It is useful,' Sirius said, lunging for it but missing, 'but it isn't yours.' They stared at each other for a moment, before it was plucked out of Regulus' hands. Luke and Ted peered at the map in Ted's hands with awe. 

'Woah!' Ted marvelled, 'this is a map of Hogwarts!'

'Oh my god,' Potter said, burying his head in his hands with exasperation. 

'You're running a bit behind, Nott,' Pettigrew piped up.

'But- there's no way from Hogwarts to Honeydukes,' Luke said confusedly. 

'There is,' Gemma droned. She eyed the marauders dully. 'Apparently we just haven't noticed it before.'

'Oh my god,' Ted said. 'It moves! When I walk- look, Gemma, it- '

'Yes we know,' Regulus snapped. 'Keep up.' He looked back at the Gryffindors. 'Why're you making a map, anyway?' They exchanged glances. 

'Elladora said it'd be useful to have a map of Hogwarts,' Potter muttered. 'We're gonna surprise her at the end of the year.'

'You should put a concealing charm on it,' Luke advised. 'So that any random person can't look at it.'

'Yeah we might, if you give it back to us,' Sirius said forcefully. 

'Wait, let me just memorise all the secret passageways,' Ted said, holding out his arm to block Pettigrew, who was trying to grab it. 

'Just give it back- '

'I said wait,' Ted snarled, his eyes turning black, before they returned to green and he continued surveying the map normally, while Pettigrew was flabbergasted. 

'Woah,' Potter said lowly. 'Is that- normal?'

'Obviously not,' Regulus snapped. He snatched the map from the boy's hands and finally, returned it to its original creators. Then he grabbed Gemma's arm and pulled her away from the rest, back into the castle. 

'I've been looking into some things,' he said darkly once they were well inside the entrance. 'The other day, I found a book in the library, lying on the desk. Cursed Jewellery or something like that.'

'Cursed Jewellery?' She echoed. She tried to recall where she'd seen that book before.

'It'd been stolen from the restricted section by someone called Greengrass, funnily enough.' Oh. That was where she'd seen it. 'I wonder why Gage would need it,' Regulus continued. 'But anyway, there was something in it about a necklace.'

'A necklace,' she echoed. 

'It possesses the soul, feeds off of it,' Regulus continued. 'It drives the holder insane, makes them do... psychotic things- '

'Regulus- '

'Just listen. What if that's what's been happening to Ted?' She paused, and let the information seep in.

'He doesn't wear necklaces,' she said slowly. 'And you've been reading fiction, Regulus. Possesses the soul? Seriously? Nobody even knows if the soul is a real thing.'

'Of course it is,' he said exasperatedly. 'And maybe not a necklace, maybe it takes different forms like- like a chain or ring or something- he wears a ring, that's it! But-'

'Why would he wear something like that?' She demanded. 'He's not evil.'

'Maybe he doesn't know.' They both fell silent, listening to the echoes of first years playing gobstones on the grounds outside. 

'His parents gave him the ring,' she said slowly. 'They wouldn't drive their only heir insane.'

'Wouldn't they? He ran away, what if they- '

'Stop,' she said firmly. 'Nothing has been happening to Ted. He's fine, just- just gets a bit angry sometimes but- '

'You're going to stick your head in the sand?' He said with disbelief. 'Really Gemma?

'I have other things to think about right now,' she snapped. 'And your crazy theories about my friends just- don't make the list!' 

'Are you guys alright?' A concerned voice asked. They turned to see Ted and Luke, and Ted put his arm around her.

She kept her glare on Regulus. 'Fine,' she said. 'Everything's fine.'

They resumed regular conversation, but Regulus abstained from joining in. His theories were not crazy, they made perfect sense to him. It annoyed him that just because of her own fear of its truth, she denied it. A familiar scene popped into his head and he scowled at the thought. 

Regulus stayed up late into that night, and only at two in the morning did he close the book he'd been captivated by. 

Horcruxes. Had Elladora been right? Was Lord Voldemort making horcruxes?

a/n- three more chapters till part twooo lets gooo