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Josie's gaze remains fixed on the library floor, she has been avoiding the section where those boys attacked her.
She regrets coming here in the first place now.
Replaying the scene in her mind causes the grip on the books in her hands to tighten.
"Josephine?" She turns, anticipating Regulus, but it isn't him. Her shoulders slump. "Hi, Remus."
His eyebrows furrow, and a scar near his eyebrow twitches. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, why?" She wonders why James's friend is concerned about her well-being.
He clears his throat. "You've been standing there, staring at the same spot for ten minutes."
"Oh," she mutters. Her brown eyes briefly return to the spot before shifting back to Remus. "I'm just lost in thought," she says with a shrug.
Remus lets out a small hum, and Josephine manages to force a smile before walking away.
"Oh, and happy birthday," she turns around and tells him before leaving the library.
She can't help but wonder what it would have been like to grow up with her biological parents. She has no idea what their personalities are like. Perhaps they would have been kind, or perhaps they would have been terrible parents. Either way, it is her fault they died.
Josie has a tendency to overlook things, perhaps why she hasn't dwelled on the whole prophecy thing, which is the deciding factor between both sides. She doesn't think the dark side is good; quite the opposite, Josephine knows they are bad, especially the pure-blood families. But the good side isn't entirely pure either.
She finds herself somewhere in the gray area, her morals sometimes leaning towards the dark side. This fact doesn't scare her. Dumbledore has even compared her to Tom Riddle, and she can see the resemblance. Josephine can easily imagine herself becoming like Tom Riddle. The thought makes her steps falter.
No. She isn't like Tom. He supports the murder of innocent people based on their blood. Josie would never harm innocent people. The only time she believes in causing harm is when it's justified.
She sighs, trying to push these thoughts aside.
"Josephine."
This time it's Regulus. She turns her head, realizing she has walked right past him without even noticing.
"Hi," she smiles and walks closer.
"Are you alright?" His eyebrows furrow, and his gray eyes scan her.
"I'm okay, just tired."
His eyes flick up to her face. "Do you want to work on the potions essay together?" He offers with a tilt of his head, his voice colder than usual due to the presence of other students nearby.
Josie nods in agreement, and Regulus leads her in the direction of his common room, away from the library.
"In your dorm?" she asks.
"Yes," his voice drops to a whisper. "I want to spend time with you without others around."
Josie hums in agreement. A few minutes later, Regulus makes sure no one is in the common room before guiding her inside. They go up to his dorm, sit on his bed, and open their books.
Silently, they read together, though the assignment is frustrating Josie. Potions always seem to be a challenge for her, especially after receiving a less-than-perfect grade on her last assignment. For her, anything less than an O or E is bad.
Josephine knows she can be competitive at times, so working on this assignment with someone who consistently earns top marks in potions might not have been the best idea. Her eyes wander to Regulus's paper, and she notices how far along he already is.
She begins writing immediately, but a few sentences in, her unruly hair starts to bother her.
She makes another attempt to push her hair behind her ears, only for it to stubbornly fall back into her face.
Pausing her writing, she takes a deep breath, assuring herself that everything is fine. She isn't overwhelmed in the slightest. All she wants at that moment is to chop off her annoying hair. She pushes it back again, her mind struggling to come up with the next sentence for her paper.
They work on their separate papers for what feels like hours, and it has gotten late. Josephine covers her mouth as she yawns.
"Are you tired?" Regulus stops his writing and looks at her.
"Mhm," she mumbles, trying to blink away the blurriness in her eyes. She only has a couple more sentences left on the essay, though. "I'll finish this first," she says.
"You can do it tomorrow." Regulus stands from his bed and grabs her bag, bringing it over and taking the book from her hands.
"But—" She cuts herself off with another yawn. "Okay," she agrees.
Regulus packs up her books for her as she puts away all the quills and pots of ink they had used.
"Thank you." She leans up to kiss him and then backs away.
He opens the door to ensure no one is in the hallway before guiding her out. However, as soon as they turn a corner, they encounter Mulciber and Avery.
Her throat feels as though it's closing up. Regulus has paused in his steps upon seeing them and takes a step closer to Josie. They have seen her and Regulus, but what confuses her is the way they immediately look away from her, not saying anything as they brush past Regulus.
She picks at her nails rather harshly, sparing them only a single glance. Turning back to Regulus, she gives him a worried look.
"They saw us," she whispers.
Regulus, who is staring at their backs as they walk toward their own dorms, turns his attention back to her. "It's okay; they won't say anything."
Despite his words, he doesn't sound entirely convinced. Maybe she should follow after them and make sure they won't say anything.
"Make sure the common room is empty," she tells him. He listens and walks down the hallway a few feet before going down the stairs.
She turns around to note which dorm those boys had entered, mentally repeating the dorm number. Josephine doesn't plan to do anything—yet.
Regulus comes back up the stairs. "It's empty."
She sighs. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." She walks past him and quickly descends the stairs before leaving the common room as swiftly as she can.
