Take Me To Church - Regulus Black

VI. he was falling hard

"Do you know what your being for Halloween yet?" Avery asked Emma. It was currently breakfast and the two girls sat at the end of the Hufflepuff table. 

"No clue yet. I was thinking a hippie or a cow girl" Emma pondered. Avery smiled. 

"I think i'm gonna go fairy or vampire" Avery says. 

"Oi, just because you have a friend now doesn't mean you get to ditch us" Emma heard the voice of her brother beside her. Sirius was beside him smirking at Avery. 

"Even if the friend is stunning" Sirius winked at Avery and she blushed under his stare. 

"Stop hitting on her you pervert. And I didn't think you guys would want two girls there now" She looked back at her brother after scolding Sirius. 

"Of course she's welcome. The Gryffindor table is better anyways" James shrugs. Emma looks at Avery to see if she's okay with it. She nods excitedly.  

"Well, off we are then" She smiles and they all make their way to the Gryffindor table. 

Regulus's eyes follow Emma as she sits next to Remus and Avery sits next to her. He usually wasn't this obvious about his little crush. He didn't know if it was her actually talking to him that made him not able to stop looking at her. He would never admit it to anyone, but he had been hovering around her hoping that they would run into each other or she would say something to him. 

"Mate, who's your girlfriend's new friend?" Evan asked. He slung his arm over the younger Black. Regulus rolled his eyes. 

"Not my girlfriend and I don't know. She seems new. I heard she's an American" He explains. Barty lowly whistles. 

"I'll bet she'll love a British man buttering her up. Evan, I think your accent will get her swooning" He hits Evan's arm. 

"I hope so. I reckon she will be the lucky girl I ask to the dance" Evan says. Regulus simply hums and continues looking at the girl he hopes he could go to the Halloween dance with. 

-

-

"Emma, your potions the wrong color" Emma sighed as Regulus's words. 

"What am I doing wrong?" She threw her hands up in frustration. She would love to kill whoever made potions a mandatory class. A slight chuckle tumbles its way out of Regulus's mouth. 

"Here. Let me help" He nudges Emma with his shoulder to scoot over a little. She takes a step aside, but close enough for their shoulders and upper arms to still be touching. Regulus tried not to let the sharp breath he took be noticeable. Even if Emma did hear it she didn't say anything. 

His hands hovered over the ingredients as he figured out what was wrong. Emma watched as he put in a few things and then the potion turned a lavender color. Emma smiled brightly at Regulus.  

"That was bloody brilliant. How are you so good at this?" She asked in amazement. Regulus shrugged as his cheeks began getting quite hot. He tried to tame his blush, but it was no use. A small smile was set on his face. 

"I just really like it" He shrugs. Emma hums. 

"Um, are you very busy after classes?" She asks. Hope twirled around in Regulus's stomach. Was this it? Was Emma Potter asking him out?

"I'm not busy at all" He replies trying to keep his cool. Emma smiles brightly. 

"Great! Do you think we could go to the library and you could help me with my potions?" She asked. And with those words the fluttery feeling stopped. There was a twinge of disappointment settling in his stomach. 

"yeah, that works" He says offering Emma a small, weak smile. 

"Cool!" She exclaimed before getting back to work on her potion. 

-

-

Emma had her journal open in front of her. Writing down her feelings was her escape. Poems and songs were how she liked to do it best. Vent notes sounded, unappealing to her. It made her feel like she was writing reasons for people to feel sorry for her. It made her appalled at the singular thought. 

"Is that a poem?" Emma fell out of her seat at the sudden voice from right beside her ear. Regulus watches with wide eyes and an amused smirk at what he had created. Emma glares at the boy before getting up. 

"Go ahead and laugh I know you want to" She says. Regulus bursts into laughter. Emma couldn't help but let a small smile slip onto her lips. Regulus's laugh was something she didn't hear often. It was nice. She gathers her notebook and shoves it in her bag. 

"Sorry. I just couldn't resist. I'm sorry if I upset you" Regulus apologized. 

"It's fine" Emma smiles. "Can we go ahead and start?" Regulus nods and sits next to her. He was hoping that she didn't think it was weird that he was sitting so close to her. He was yearning to be close to her. Ever since she touched his arm in potions class she's been invading his thoughts more than normal. 

"So, I kind of just don't understand anything about the Draught of Peace other than what it does" Emma explains pulling Regulus from his thoughts. 

"What color does it usually turn whenever you try it?" He asks. 

"Pink" She says. Regulus bites his lip as he thinks about what could be the cause of that. He takes a parchment and writes down the recipe. 

"Do you do these in this order?" He asked. Emma scans the page. Realization flashes through her eyes. 

"Oh Merlin! I haven't been doing the last two steps. God, I'm dumb" She says while throwing her head into her hands. Regulus contemplates on saying something. 

"Your not dumb. Simple mistake really" He tries to make her feel better. She looks up at him and smiles. 

"Thank you, Reg" He tried to keep himself contained, but he couldn't help the smile growing on his face at the nickname. 

Emma adored his smile. It was something that not many people saw. His eyes crinkled up and that's how you know it's genuine. 

"You have a really nice smile" She blurts out. Her eyes widen when she realizes what she had said. Crimson covers her cheeks. 

"T-thank you. Yours is nice too" Regulus mentally curses himself at how awkward hsi response was. His heartbeat sped up tremendously. 

Regulus Black was falling for Emma Potter, he was falling hard. Little did he know, she was too.