ᴀʟʟ ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ɪꜱ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ꜰʀᴇᴇ - regulus black

chapter 21

Back in Hogwarts, Octavia went to bed early as she felt tired that night. She wanted to be somehow ready to face the first day of classes.

Octavia met with her friends in the morning, at the Slytherin table, for breakfast. It was so convivial, the atmosphere was great and she had missed that. She had missed Hogwarts. As she was laughing at something Jaden said, Regulus Black approached them and sat next to him, which was right in front of her.

"Good morning my dear comrades," he started. He got some greetings in answer while Octavia simply stared at him.

"What do you want?" she blurt out, not nicely.

His grey eyes finally fell on her. "I'm just saying hello," he casually replied as he started buttering his toast.

"You could say hello somewhere else."

"Why? Am I not allowed to sit there?" He looked up at her again. His expression was unreadable. 

"Hey! Stop bickering you two!" said the stern voice of Jaden.

"But Jaden-"

"Octavia," he continued as his brown eyes fixed her.

"What's going on? Why are you suddenly as thick as thieves now?" she asked in return, her annoyance dissipating as she talked to her friend.

"We met a lot this summer, and well we got along, that's all."

"Yeah, that's all, Octavia," added Regulus, shrugging in nonchalance.

Regulus Black was always here when Octavia wanted to avoid him. She should be used, but it always irritated her. He reminded her of awful things, and she knew it wasn't his fault. They didn't even have a conversation ever since that day, when he found her and Max in bed which ended up in her whimpering miserably once again.

And all this time, Octavia didn't stop thinking about Maximilian. And about everything she regretted doing, including kissing Regulus. She regretted it for the first time. Because a way to freedom was more important than anything, than any kiss that made her heart flutter, any stupid attraction. It was too important but her chance had been missed. She did a mistake and she couldn't stop thinking about whether she should reach out to him or not .

Octavia and Maximilian had dated three years, it was a long and meaningful love story, hopefully, and maybe Max didn't want to end it so soon, maybe she could persuade him.

It was already October when she decided to write him a letter. She apologized at least a thousand times and expressed regret a thousand times more and begged him to accept her again so they could have a future together, like he promised. She added that she missed him and knew he missed her too. She was hardly convinced by her own words, but it was the best she could do.

After doing so, she ran outside and towards the Quidditch pitch as the first match of the year opposing Slytherin and Ravenclaw had started.

"What took you so long?" asked Lilah as she saw her friend come to her, out of breathe obviously.

"I just didn't see time pass..." she answered with smile she hoped convincing. She didn't tell anyone about the idea that had been busying her mind for a few weeks already.

"Felix is so good, you missed so much!"

"What about Zephyr?" she asked as her eyes were trying to spot her little brother but the only person her eyes were following was Regulus.

"So far, he's been guarding so well, only a few went through. Good thing Zabini graduated this year, Felix fits so well at this spot."

That was when she found Felix who had just scored. She cheered loudly for him. As he grew older, he got more impressive and was offered an important position in the team. No more replacement. Despite despising Slytherins very much, she had to admit it was in a way thanks to Silas Flint and Regulus Black the team finally accepted to give more chances to Felix to prove himself and his talent – and it was for the better. He had always trained a lot and became an incredible chaser, currently one of the best in school, and despite his young age. He was just very dedicated to this sport. Unfortunately Slytherin didn't win. And it disappointed Octavia who was now supporting her brother's team which was also her best friend's team after all.