HERBOLOGY 101 ( REGULUS BLACK ) ✓

CHAPTER ONE

Noah Ackerman made his way alone down to the greenhouses. He smiled at the thought of going to class, Herbology being his favourite subject. Noah had always been interested in plants, all the different effects they had, how useful they could be, and he planned to do something that involved plants after Hogwarts.

He walked inside the greenhouse, grinning happily as he looked around at all the plants. He quietly greeted Professor Sprout before making his way to his seat, which was near the front. Professor Sprout had organized them in alphabetical order and since Noah's last name was Ackerman, he was pretty close to the head of the table. He sat down and looked around nervously.

Noah sighed in relief when he noticed that most students weren't there yet. There was just a quiet redhead near the back and who Noah assumed to be her friend, sitting near her. Noah hoped that no one else, especially the people who sat beside him, wouldn't show up until near when class started. If that was the case, then Noah would be lucky enough to not have to talk to anyone before class.

He had social anxiety and preferred not to talk to anyone besides his small group of friends. When he talked to other people, he would stutter and blush, both more than usual, and he usually had a hard time breathing as he was so anxious. It wasn't something that really bothered Noah, he had always been shy and he never really liked talking to people anyway. He preferred to stay in his own little bubble but his friends had pulled him out of it and forced him to join them in the real world.

Noah looked to the side as someone sat down beside him, but quickly looked back to the front when he realised that it was Regulus Black. He would never admit it, however, Noah had always been a little bit afraid of Regulus. Although, who could blame him? Noah's biggest fear was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and everyone expected the Black family to join him.

Noah took in a deep breath to help calm his nerves and clenched his fists to keep them from shaking. He closed his eyes and hoped that class would start soon and that Regulus wouldn't talk to him before then. Noah bit the inside of his lip and started bouncing his leg up and down as he impatiently waited for class to start. It was a nervous habit that he had never been able to break even though he tried after his friends got annoyed at him.

Regulus was reading his Defence Against The Dark Arts textbook when he saw Noah's leg bouncing out of the corner of his eye. He tried to ignore it, but it was just so irritating. Snappishly he muttered under his breath, "Could you please stop that incessant shaking? It's rather annoying."

Noah immediately stopped and bit down on his lip so harshly, he almost drew blood. He cried out at the pain and blushed as Regulus gave him an odd look. "S-Sorry," he apologized quietly and looked down. He started playing with his hands nervously, hoping that Regulus wouldn't continue talking to him. Luckily for him, Regulus wasn't much of a people person either, and had returned to his book without giving Noah another glance. Noah sighed quietly in relief and looked back to the front just as Professor Sprout addressed the class. Noah was glad that his favourite class was finally starting and he smiled while listening intently to what she was saying.

"Good afternoon, class!" Professor Sprout greeted in her usual loud tone. Noah assumed that she had grown accustomed to yelling over the plants that were a bit on the noisy side, such as the mandrakes they studied in their first year.

The fifth year students mumbled a tired 'Good afternoon' back to her. Many weren't as excited for the class as Noah was, seeing as it was the last subject of the day and they couldn't wait to get away from classes for the weekend. Not to mention the school year was almost over and everybody was most likely dreading their O.W.L.s.

Noah was anxious for them, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been since he had started studying a little every night before he went to bed a few months ago, so he felt as if he was the most prepared he could be.