Silent Riot | Regulus Black

FORTY EIGHT

a/n- this book is officially one year old. felt like pointing that out.

A week or so passed. Nothing eventful happened, although Gemma found herself more and more desperate to confront Album Dumbledore.

On the 25th of June, a knock cracked sharply on the door. Gemma's eyes opened first- she glanced around the room to see nobody else's sleep had been disturbed. She groaned, cursing whichever idiotic soul had bothered to stray into the vicinity so late at night. Half asleep, she wrenched open the door to see Regulus Black, his face ashen and aghast, and her sleep evaporated immediately. 

'Horcruxes,' he said, his voice fragmented. 

'What?' She asked, rubbing her eyes.

'The Dark Lord,' he said impatiently, and her eyes widened. 'He- there are horcruxes, and their hidden, and their protected so now he's immortal and-'

'Calm down,' she whispered, turning back to ensure her dormmates were still asleep. She dragged him into the hallway, closing the door. 'Now, slowly, from the beginning, and in a way that I can understand.'

'The Dark Lord cannot be killed,' Regulus whispered. 'That is why he is so powerful. He has created horcruxes.'

'Oh my god!' Gemma gasped, her hand going to her mouth. Then she frowned. 'What the hell is a horcrux?'

'It's an object in which a person places a piece of their soul- '

'Not this soul shit again,' she groaned, and Regulus had to clench his fists to stop himself from strangling her. 

'I don't know why I even came to you,' he growled. 'I need to find Elladora...' He trailed off, stalking down the staircase, and Gemma followed. 

'Oh that's just great,' she said indignantly. 'Disturb someone's sleep and then wander off!'

'It's not my fault you cannot seem to fathom anything beyond the reach of your own understanding!' He snapped, not looking back. 

'You are such a hypocrite! And you should be happy even if he's immortal!'

'Why would I be happy about the darkest wizard of all time being impossible to kill?'

'Because you support him!'

'I do not support that murderer!' He half yelled.

'Then why did you become a Death Eater!' She cried, and he froze in shock, and so did she. She'd let it slip. He hadn't known that she knew, but now he knew that he hadn't known about her knowing, and she had no idea how he would react. 

He spun round, advancing on her, and she backed away, until she was against a wall. 'What did you just say?' He asked in disbelief, as though his own ears had failed him. 

'I said you're a Death Eater,' she said, more quietly this time. The common room in which they stood was silent and deserted, spare for the crackling sound of the fireplace. 

'You- '

'You thought I wouldn't figure it out?' She demanded.

'How?' He asked, his face going paler by the minute. 

'Because you are stupid and dumb and careless,' she informed him. 

'But you're the only one that knows,' he said slowly, taking a step closer to her. The pace of her heartbeat increased rapidly, to the point where she thought her arteries may burst open from the pressure.

'Because I pay attention,' she said breathlessly. 'Because I..I-' She swallowed harshly, forcing herself to meet his eyes, though her heart nearly stopped under the intense scrutiny she was subjected to under his gaze. 

'Black!' Regulus whirled round to see Snape, breathlessly running up the stairs and calling his name. 

'What is it, Snape,' he snarled, pure rage fuelling him at the interruption. The worst possible time. 

'You- you might want to come out into the Grounds,' Snape said hesitantly. 'Both of you, I suppose.'

'We're busy,' Regulus dismissed, but Gemma sensed a sort of urgency in the older boy's usually dull mannerisms.

'What's wrong?' She questioned warily. 

'It's Hargreaves,' Snape uttered. 'She's dead.' He said the words coldly and uncaringly, but Regulus felt his whole world crumble at the sentence. He didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. The vow... how could he have forgotten? It wasn't possible. Any sort if understanding of reality eluded his grasp. There was no way that he'd become so caught up in his own world that he'd forgotten all about the girl's task, there was no way that he was that bad of a friend. Of a person. 

He still didn't believe it. Not even when Severus led him to the scene, not even when he was standing outside with all the other students, towards the back of the crowd. Not even when he saw Remus Lupin sobbing like a wreck, clutching Elladora Hargreaves' lifeless body in his arms. Not even when he numbly raised his own wand to the sky.

The sight of hundreds of other arms raising their wands in the air and lighting the tips white made Lupin crumple and bury his head into Sirius, the boy wrapping an arm around him and joining him in his crying. Potter reached out and slowly shut Elladora's eyelids.

Gemma didn't cry, although many students did. She hadn't been close to Hargreaves, although the crushing weight of sorrow did make its presence known. Death always seemed to be lurking close by, and as it claimed more and more victims to add to its collection, it wouldn't be long before paranoia seeped in. She almost turned around out of fear that the cruel deity would clutch her shoulder suddenly. 

Hesitantly, she raised her hand and placed it on Regulus' shoulder, but he shrugged her off. He seemed to be entranced in a sort of denial, and she didn't know if he wanted to be comforted or left alone. 

Finally, he turned away and left, going back inside. She didn't know whether to follow, but something pushed her to, and she did. She caught up to him, and they walked side-by-side for a few moments before he spoke. 

'I should've realised sooner,' he said hollowly. 'Maybe she'd be alive if I'd just believed her.' Gemma had no clue what he was talking about but she bit her lip and nodded anyway, just to be supportive. 'What am I going to do?' He asked softly, as though he were talking to himself.

The corridors were empty, and the silence was suffocating. The girl knew loss, yet she still had no idea how to comfort and soothe the gaping holes it drilled through people. 

So she just wrapped her arms around him in an embrace, and he sobbed quietly into her shoulder, and she realised that even though their exteriors had hardened from the cruelty of circumstance, he was still the boy who'd told her he was scared by the black lake all those months ago. And she was still the fool whose feelings for him would not be faltered by the gentle zephyr which swept grief and misery into their path.

a/n- that was painful to relive. t