Don't Tell Anyone About This | Regulus Black

Chapter Eleven

Autumn had very much dug its claws into Hogwarts as the grounds were littered with red and orange leaves and the air had a brisker chill to it as it ran over the hills.
Despite the biting cold weather, Nera still found herself sat in the quidditch stands as she watched one of the first Gryffindor practice sessions of the year. Whilst she absolutely feared flying on a broomstick, watching the games brought a great amount of joy to her.

Nera had chalked that up to feeling a sense of belonging and communal house pride when watching the quidditch matches, which she didn't get elsewhere.

The stands were relatively empty, with only a few hardcore quidditch lovers out in the early morning to see the players shooting through the air. That was what made it so easy to spot Regulus Black as he made his way along the seats.

At first, Nera didn't say anything to him as he neared - presuming that he was spying on Gryffindor and not there to talk to her.
That wasn't the case though, and she was quickly surprised as he sat down just behind her shoulder and asked, "You've been hanging around that Bones boy a lot. What's the deal?"

Whilst it was somewhat unnerving to know that he'd been taking note of who she surrounded herself with, it was also quite comforting that someone had bothered knowing.

"There's no deal anymore." She replied, "You were right. Well, I haven't spoken to him, but I don't want to either."

He chuckled and tucked a curl of his hair behind his ear as he spoke, "I know I'm right. What happened?"
"What do you care?"

Regulus shrugged slightly and leant back, "I'm just curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat." Nera spoke softly, recalling the saying.

"Excuse me?" He asked.
"What?"
"I can't hear you."
She rolled her eyes, "You're the one who sat down behind me and then tried to start a conversation." 

He sighed irritably and moved around to sit on the bench beside Nera. "So what's wrong with Bones then?" He asked. Sitting next to the girl, he noticed a faint smell of jasmine. It was nice.

"Why are you taking an interest in my life?" She asked, swiftly changing the conversation topic, "I mean, we'd only speak to each other when we were arguing before but now you keep popping up and trying to talk."

Regulus folded his arms, "Well I think after four years it's about time I got over the Flying Class incident."

"That's not the real reason." She said.
"I don't know," He shrugged, "You jinxing my broom and injuring me was pretty traumatic."

Nera scoffed, "Oh please, the only thing you injured was your inflated ego."

"Oh, please," He bitterly replied, "Are you seriously going to act like you don't have an ego too?"
"What?"
Regulus raised an eyebrow at her and chuckled, "Come on, do you seriously not see that you have a big ego? You think you're too good to hang around with anyone."

Nera didn't want to admit that what he'd just said had stung. Did people really think she thought she was better than them? Because... If that was the case... Then Nera couldn't blame her loneliness on the other students... Surely part of it was her fault? No. That couldn't be true. Could it?
She bit down harshly on her tongue in her mouth as her eyes pricked with tears. She couldn't let those words get to her - not when they'd been picked with such carelessness from a boy that was so often horrible to her.

"I-I think I might head back." Nera rose to her feet and adjusted her scarf around her neck, discretely using one end of it to wipe her eyes.

Regulus only hummed in response as he kept his gaze fixed on the quidditch players darting through the air.
That was that, really. Nera spun around on her feet and walked away. No more words were said. But she couldn't get those thoughts out of her head. The idea that people were judging her and forming negative opinions of her. The idea that people who had never spoken a word to her had some image in their minds that she was a bad person.

Then, suddenly, Nera got a bold rush of courage. As quickly as she stood up and left her seat in the stands, she returned.
"Hey, you never answered my question." She stated as she came to a standing halt beside him and, while looking down at him, folded her arms.

Slowly, Regulus turned his gaze from the pitch to meet her eyes. He asked, in a slow voice, "What question?"
"Why have you suddenly started to talk to me? The only time you used to speak to me was to make a snide remark."

Regulus had known this question was coming his way, and had pitifully tried to stall so he could come up with a diversion. Needless to say, that hadn't worked out so well for him. He hadn't expected Nera to return and ask him a second time. As much as he didn't want to answer, he did quite like that she'd outright asked him.

"I... I don't entirely know." Then, he had a sudden urge to confess, "Well, I do. I've grown tired of the Slytherins and that whole... Environment."
What a relief it was to be honest.

That had caught Nera completely by surprise. She hadn't expected that kind of answer. She'd been preparing herself to be told it was part of some elaborate scheme to make fun of her or something.
She wondered if it had something to do with the family drama that was supposed to have unfolded at the Black home over the summer. Something to do with Sirius Black running away was all Nera had managed to figure out from Edgar.

Upon realising it had been an awkward amount of time since she'd spoken, Nera stammered, "I-er-are you sure?"

Regulus chuckled, became conscious of that, and wiped it away with a frown. He asked, "What does that mean?"
"I don't know. I didn't know what to say."

As much as Nera liked to keep her guard up and keep her distance, she'd never been a cynic. She'd never instinctively assumed someone would lie to her.
Then again, she'd never foreseen the whole Edgar Bones situation. Perhaps it had been her naïveté.
Now she didn't know what to think.

Regulus shrugged and turned back towards the quidditch practice. "You don't need to say anything." He replied.

She wanted to ask why. Why had he grown tired of the Slytherins? What had happened?
But she knew she shouldn't.

"I've got one more question, though." She said.
He glanced to Nera out of the corner of his eye, and told her, "Go on."

It took a moment for her to decide she definitely wanted to ask the question. It wasn't remarkable or anything. Nera just had this deep feeling that she needed to ask it in that moment.

"Do you like coffee?"
"Coffee?"
"Yeah, you heard of it?"
"Of course - I'm not stupid."
"You sure?"
"Well, I'm your competition, aren't I?"

Nera pursed her lips, and through gritted teeth she repeated, "Anyway... Do you like coffee or not?"
"No." He shook his head, "It smells nice but tastes foul. I only drink tea."

"Okay, cool." She responded, "I should go now."

Regulus stood up now, "Well, hold on. Are you not going to tell me what that was about?"
Nera placed a finger to her lips and feigned an expression of deep thought, before she replied. "No."

Long after Nerezza had left, after even the quidditch practice session had drawn to a close, Regulus found himself still sat up in the stands. A smile was playing on his face. It was odd. Those days all he did was scowl.
There was just something about Nerezza though... He couldn't help but smile when he captured glimpses of her coming out of her shell - when she snapped at him or made a clever quip.

Merlin, Regulus thought, he was straying awfully near trouble.