Constellations ↠ Regulus Black

02

Bare Legs and Broken Hearts

Grace winced at the taste of alcohol on her tongue. She never liked it, but she continued to drink it. The burn of the liquid as it ran down her throat made her eyes water, but she took a deep breathe, glancing towards her brother. He was drunk off his arse, as was Sirius; However Remus and Peter had decided to be a bit more mature their seventh year, staying sober through the party.

She pushed her glasses up her nose, deciding not to let her brother know she was leaving the Hufflepuff common room. She welcomed the cool air as she exited the party, which had been quite humid with so many sweating bodies crammed into one place. She wrapped her arms around herself, listening to the sound of her feet hitting the floor and watching for Filch.

What was odd to her, was when walking in front of one of the abandoned class rooms was that her foots steps were muffled, as if a silencing spell had been placed over the area. She brought her wand out of her knee length socks, she didn't bother changing for the party, and quietly muttered a counter curse.

"Finite Incantatem." Almost as soon as the spell was cast, she could hear the sounds of sobs coming from the old classroom. She pushed open the door, and found her eyes lying on a dark haired boy who was curled up into a ball on the ground. The only thing he had on, she noticed, was his school robes; Everything else was scattered about the classroom.

"Hello?" She asked hesitantly as she entered, and the boys head whipped up in surprise, tears staining his pale skin. "Sirius?" She questioned, but that was impossible, she had left him at the party.

The boy began to shake, another sob escaped him lips as he pulled his legs closer to his body. "Regulus?" She asked out of realization. Grace didn't get any kind of conformation, but she knew she was right. She occasionally saw him in classes, but the shadows lying on his face made him look even more similar to his brother.

"Regulus what's wrong?" She questioned, walking towards him and sitting on her knees beside him. When she didn't get an answer she gently placed a hand on his knee to get his attention, but he jumped away like her touch had burned him. Her eyes fell upon his bare leg once again, and she suddenly realized what had happened to the poor boy, or maybe she knew as soon as she entered the room and just didn't want to admit it.

"Regulus.. I know this is hard but you need to tell me if it was a boy or a girl." She whispered, placing both her hands in her lap. She didn't get an answer, and she sadly looked at him. "Regulus please, I have to know. It's important to your health." Grace pleaded with the boy.

"Girl." He whispered almost inaudibly, and she felt her eyes tear up.

"Regulus, do you want to go to the hospital wing? I'm sure Madame Pomfrey could help you." She was answered with him urgently shaking his head "no".

"Do you want me to leave?" She questioned, and she was once again answered with him shaking his head "no". She sat with him for what must have been hours, or maybe it wasn't; All she knew was that she wouldn't leave until Regulus was ready to let her.

"Thank you." He mumbled out, his voice hoarse and so quiet she almost missed it.

She offered him a comforting smile, "It was no problem, really. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry this happened to you."

He shrugged, his gray eyes finding her blue ones, not giving her an answer.

"Do you need me to help you to the hospital wing?" She questioned, keeping her voice soft and light.

"I'm not going to the hospital wing." He replied, pushing himself off of the ground and collecting his clothing. Grace adverted her eyes as he got dressed, and she sighed.

"Regulus, you probably should go." She told him, but he shook his head.

"There's nothing Madam Pomfrey can help me with. I'm just going to go back to my dorm." He shrugged, wiping his face to remove any stray tears or marks they might have left.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, and he gave her a sad smile as he walked out of the room.

"Yeah, me too."

She could feel her own tears threatening to fall as she left the old classroom and started walking towards the Gryffindor common room, keeping an eye out for Filch. She offered a smile to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Pumpkin pasty." She spoke clearly, and the portrait swung open to reveal a very worried, and not quite as drunk as she thought, James Potter.

"Where were you?" He demanded, Sirius lounging by the fire while Remus sat on the couch staring at the siblings and Peter was asleep.

"Walking back." She replied, shrugging him off and going to head towards the girls dorms before James gripped her wrist.

"You left before us! It's been hours Grace! Hours! Do you know what could have happened during that time?" He questioned.

She ignored his question however, focusing on his tight grip. "James, you're hurting me!" She told him, trying to tug her wrist away from her brother.

Focusing on her words, he quickly let her wrist go, his eyes finding her hurt ones. "Grace I'm so sorry-"

"Yes I do know what could have happened!" She snarled, cutting him off and cradling her hurt wrist to her chest. "But it didn't! Now I'm going to bed, do you wanna walk me and make sure I get there okay?" She snapped before running up the stairs to the dorm she shared with a few other girls.

She knew she probably should have told Sirius what happened to his brother, but it wasn't her place. If Regulus wanted Sirus to know, he would tell him. With those thoughts in mind, she quickly changed into a pair of pajamas, pondering what would happen the next day. With her thoughts so busy, it surprised her that her eyelids soon felt heavy as she began to drift off into a fitful sleep.