The Pureblood Princess | Sirius Black

|108| Curse and Secret

Regulus liked birds. Unfortunately, there was really only a finite amount of time that anyone could listen to Malfoy go on and on about his peacocks before they either started to tune him out or dropped dead of pure boredom.

Regulus remembered that Bellatrix had yawned three times, Narcissa had yawned four, and Rodolphus had yawned six times (yes, he was keeping count) and that Malfoy was saying something about one of the birds (was it Samantha? Steve?) getting very fat and that they didn't know if it was pregnant or if it needed to go on a diet—that's when Regulus heard glass shatter across the room.

The sound jolted him awake and he looked around. Had a house elf dropped a platter? He certainly hoped not. Fancy event such as this, they'd probably beat the poor thing in front of everyone to make a point.

No one else seemed to notice... or perhaps they simply didn't care. There were too many people and he couldn't see what had happened, but took advantage of the conversational lull, and snuck away quick as a snitch... leaving yawning cousin Bellatrix and her creepy husband to fend for themselves against Malfoy's conversational skills.

Regulus didn't really have a plan for what he would do next, he just knew what he didn't want to do. First, he did not want to run into Addy and his brother. Best case scenario, they gang up on him and start trying to get him to admit his deepest darkest secrets because they were the two nosiest little berks to ever exist. Worst case, they start snogging. Not only was the idea of them snogging just gross... but it made him miss Marlene...

But he'd rather watch Addy and his brother exchange saliva than have to talk to Evan Rosier.

The fact that he'd been able to evade Evan since he overheard the conversation between he and Jake Farley was honestly a marvel. Regulus was still trying to process... trying to come to terms with the fact that Evan had kept something that big from him.

Regulus always knew Slytherins were masters of self preservation, but for Evan to know Mulciber attacked another girl—and not just another girl—Cleo freaking Greengrass, whom they'd known since they were in nappies even if they weren't particularly friendly—For Evan to witness Mulciber attacking her—and not tell anyone? That was just cowardice.

Regulus didn't want to see Evan and his good natured face. He didn't want to hear Evan's excuses. He knew if he talked to him it would only make it more difficult to loath him. Regulus just wanted to ignore Evan until their friendship eventually shriveled up and died in the dust of non-confrontation.

Unfortunately, fate was not on Regulus's side that evening.

Just as he escaped earshot of the peacock obsessed Malfoy he found himself directly in Evan's line of sight.

"Reg! There you are! I've been waiting around for you all night!" Evan laughed, walking towards him. Regulus noted the dark circles under his eyes—he sadistically hoped he was losing sleep over his cowardice.

Regulus tried to act natural. He briefly tried to convince himself that he'd misunderstood the situation—that he misheard what he had between him and Madge's big brother that last evening at school—that Evan wasn't a piece of steaming dung, but it wasn't really working.

There was an awkward pause when Regulus didn't say anything back. Regulus glanced around the room for a means of escape. Where was Addy and her pestering questioning when he needed it?

Evan scratched the back of his neck. "Uh... Reg? You're not— you're not angry with me, are you?"

"Why would I be angry with you?" Regulus said, a bit harsher than he intended.