QUEEN OF THE NIGHT ≛ Regulus Black

01 ≛ The Green Pouch

She was watching him again.

Lyra Yaxley — with her bottom lip being chewed by her top teeth — was watching Sirius Black intently as a small, green pouch landed in front of him with a thud during breakfast. With narrowed eyes and furrowed eyebrows, Lyra eagerly leaned against the Slytherin table; as if to get a peak within the contents of the bag as Sirius opened it, but it was no use. The Gryffindor table was all the way across the Great Hall.

Lyra was never one to meddle in the affairs of other people, but ever since she could remember, the Blacks and the Yaxleys had always been involved with each other. She wouldn't say their families were particularly friends in any way, but their parents were definitely powerful people that saw great benefits in being associated with one another.

And so naturally, Lyra was concerned about Sirius when she found out he had run away from 12 Grimmauld Place the summer prior to the school year they were currently in.

But she would never admit that out loud — even if her life depended on it.

The clearing of a throat caused Lyra to turn away from the eldest Black at the Gryffindor table, and had her facing the youngest one that stood a little ways to her left. She met Regulus Black's solemn frown with her own expression of distain.

"What do you want, Black?"

Lyra smirked as a look of annoyance dawned Regulus' face. He tried to recover quickly from it by returning to his usual face of indifference, but it was no use. Lyra had already seen him bothered, and that satisfied her even more — raising one of her eyebrows as she patiently waited for an answer.

Regulus, unwilling to let her win, proceeded with a teasing, yet harsh tone, "Careful Yaxley, we wouldn't want it to get out that you have a little crush on my brother now, do we?"

"What's it to you?" She turned her body to fully face him, legs on either side of the bench, "Jealous?"

"You wish."

"Oh! Fingers crossed!"

"Will you two shut it already!"

The two's bickering was promptly cut short as Evan Rosier took the empty seat across the table from them. "Sit," he said in a mock-authoritative voice, causing the two stubborn Slytherins to dramatically roll their eyes, but follow his orders anyways; making a point to leave an extensive amount of room between the two of them.

Evan treaded forward with the conversation carefully, "For years — YEARS — I've been trying to make the two of you get along! Now that we're finally in our Fifth Year, what's it going to take for you to at least be civil with one another?"

"Listen Rosier, I don't see why it's such a big deal for you. We've never got along, it's just the way our dynamic worked." Regulus dodged the question masterfully, as he always did.

Lyra chuckled with full amusement as she saw Evan's frustration creep up his neck in the form of a full-on blush. The laugh died down on her lips, however, when not too far behind Evan's head, Lyra noticed a very familiar figure moving away from the Gryffindor table and towards the exit of the Great Hall; green pouch in-hand.

Regulus — always attentive to the smallest of the girl's actions, as she was with his — saw the light in her eyes and followed her line of sight.

Towards his older brother.

"Will you excuse me? I just remembered that I have to go to the library to check out that Astronomy book I've told you about, Evan." Lyra smoothly lied through her teeth, eyes still on Sirius as she carefully rose from the Slytherin table.

Right then and there, Regulus saw a gentleness to her that he had never seen before. As if any sudden movements on her part would scare her target away and cause them to scurry out of her sight. She was so unapologetically kind in that moment that it almost rendered him speechless.

That was until he remembered that she needed to stay out of the things he so precisely planned and built up.

By the time Regulus psyched himself out of his initial state of surprise, Lyra was already a good ways away from them, with Evan proceeding to stuff his face with the morning breakfast set out on the table.

He seemed completely unbothered by the way Lyra left so suddenly; waving her off with one hand when she barely excused herself in the proper manner. Evan may be her best friend, but there was no doubt in Regulus' mind that he knew her better.

He heard the urgency in her voice and saw the way she flipped her hair over her left shoulder with her right hand — something she would often do when she lied.

Meddling was not his thing, for it was always Sirius' forte and Regulus made a point to create his own reputation for himself — something separate that had nothing to do with his disappointment of a brother. But no matter how big of a disappointment he was in his parents' eyes, when it involved him, Regulus never hesitated to intervene.

Lyra was now quickly approaching Sirius — her arrogant strides were timed perfectly to meet him at the entrance of the Great Hall. All she needed were a few more seconds and then she would be able to confront him on-

"YAXLEY!"

Regulus' voice boomed through the entirety of the Great Hall, prompting the rest of the students to abandon their meals and turn their attention towards the Slytherin table.

Lyra tensed. Her patience was quickly running thin, but even still, she turned on her heels expecting to meet the younger Black's cold blue eyes with crossed arms.

Except, he wasn't looking at her.

In the moment where all eyes were on him, Regulus' were set directly on Sirius, who had looked at him with soft eyes. He returned the sentiment and the two brothers shared a moment before Regulus nodded towards the door. This confused Sirius for a short while, but he trusted his younger brother's orders and followed them blindly, knowing that he would explain later.

One way or another, they would find a time.

Within the brief time that Lyra averted her eyes away from Sirius, he had gracefully slipped from her fingertips; allowing Regulus to let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, and throw Lyra a senseless smile.

Upon seeing his expression, Lyra's irritation had turned into a sort of thinly-veiled fondness. Against her better judgement, she tilted her head to the side and sent him a small smile.

It was barely there, but Regulus saw it.

The smile remained there until it had turned into a deep frown, accompanied with furrowed eyebrows as Regulus picked up a paper dove from the table. He blew it towards Lyra like a kiss, and that's when it all clicked for her.

He was mocking her.

As she caught the bird, she turned her head towards the Great Hall's doors and saw that Sirius was nowhere to be seen. Regulus had fooled her once again.

With a foul scowl, she open the letter, and upon reading the eight words written in Regulus' practiced script, Lyra tore it up immediately and threw the small pieces of paper over her shoulder. Small gasps could be heard throughout the room, but she couldn't care less.

Regulus was a downright prick.

That was the only thing going through Lyra's mind until she turned on her heel once more and her face collided with a firm chest.

"Ms. Yaxley." Professor Slughorn greeted with a tone of disappointment, causing Lyra to bow her head shamefully.

He looked further behind her and saw Regulus failing to hide his laughter behind the palm of his hand. He stopped immediately, though, when he met the eyes of the Head of his House, "Mr. Black."

Professor Slughorn picked a small piece of parchment off his shoulder before saying with a stern voice, "I would like a word with the both of you in my office, please."

"Now."