ᴄʜᴀɴɢɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀᴛʜ sᴇᴛ ɪɴ sᴛᴏɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏᴇɪɢʜᴛ ↬↣↫ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs?

⋄⋄⋅⋅✺⋆⋄•☽❁☙❁♥︎❁❧❁☾•⋄⋆✺⋅⋅⋄
*Insert a really cool gif totally related to the chapter*
↬↝∗✶✾✶∗↜↫ ↬↝∗✶ ✽✿✽ ✶∗↜↫ ↬↝∗✶✾✶∗↜↫
⋯℘☠︎❧♥︎☙☠︎℘⋯
❝I would say I'm sorry
if I thought it would change your mind
But I know that this time I have said to much
been to unkind.❞
⋯℘☠︎❧♥︎☙☠︎℘⋯
↬↝∗✶✾✶∗↜↫ ↬↝∗✶ ✽✿✽ ✶∗↜↫ ↬↝∗✶✾✶∗↜↫

HER EMERALD GREEN eyes narrowed in concentration as she worked, every movement she made calculated and deliberate. The soft, ambient light of the makeshift potions classroom that the Room of Requirement had so kindly conjured for them, illuminated the array of potion ingredients spread out before her. She measured each component with painstaking precision, having messed up in that aspects so many times before. Her pale hands were careful and steady as she added them one by one to the simmering cauldron. It took a lot of time. Liquid luck was all about timing.

Her lips moved silently, repeating the brewing instructions and ingredients in her head, almost like a mantra or a chant.

Across the room, Regulus Black leaned against what would have been the professors bench, examining her every move. He watched her carefully as she worked, his gaze lingering on the cauldron, then on her pale hands as she measured out the ingredients. His silence was unnerving to Olive, even though she'd grown used to his quiet demeanor. He was stoic, as usual he was cold, detached, almost clinical in his observations. Yet, there was something comforting in his presence, though she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly made him so comforting to be around.

Olive was hyper-aware of him. She could feel his grey eyes following her every move, even if he wasn't directly watching. It made her fumble with the vial in her hand and she bit down on her lip to steady her shaking fingers. The silence between them was thicker and more stifling than usual. She wished he'd say something, anything.

And then he did.

"Add the powdered common rue now, and stir clockwise," he said in his usual calm voice, the sound of it cutting through the heavy air.

Olive jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, the suddenness of it caught her off guard. She blinked, her heart skipping a beat as the instructions echoed in her ears. For a moment, all she could focus on was the way his voice sounded — low and steady, melodic even. She didn't know why but hearing him speak, even if it was just to give her instructions, made her . . . happy.

Ridiculously happy.

She shook off the strange feeling and nodded, doing as he instructed. Carefully, she poured the common rue into the cauldron. Her hands were still trembling a little, though she tried to mask it. It was just a lesson, she reminded herself. A potions lesson. With Regulus Black. She had already had many lessons with him. This one was no different.

But the awkwardness she felt was undeniable. She snuck a glance at Regulus, who was back to leaning against the edge of the table, arms crossed as he continued to watch her. His face remained emotionless, as if nothing from the day before had ever happened. She wondered how he could be so composed, so unaffected.

Was he really not thinking about it?

"Am I doing this right?" Olive asked, her voice sounding more strained than she intended.

Regulus simply nodded. "For now. Just don't overheat it."

She chewed the inside of her cheek, trying to focus on the task at hand. The potion was delicate, she knew that, she had already failed multiple times. The failed potion didn't lead to a 'disaster' as it had been described in the Half-Blood prince. She had thought that it would explode, or perhaps make the whole room break apart. It had been bad, but not disastrous. The liquid had began to bubble and melt everything it touched. It was bad, nothing could stop it. So, they had to exit the room and enter it again. Restart it of sorts.