“Well aside from the abductions and general unpleasantness…nothing I suppose” It was rare for anyone to receive a smile from the youngest Black upon interrupting him but the voice had not emanated from just anyone, for all he did to conceal the innermost parts of himself he did not bother hiding his affection and loyalty for his family. It was, perhaps, the one weakness he was not ashamed of. As Narcissa got herself situated Regulus closed the book and gingerly pushed it a little ways away from himself, there was always more time to read later and as she’d stated they’d not spoken in some time. It was an accident but one he hadn’t put much thought into until she’d brought it up, between serving the dark lord, trying to keep that secret, and his studies well…it certainly took away from his time in a way that he was not accustomed to leading to some imbalance. It was as if the mark could sense it was in its bearers thoughts, perhaps Regulus was imagining it but as soon as the inquiry about his life passed his cousins lips he swore he could feel the skin on the inside of his left forearm begin to tingle. It was almost absentminded, the way he began playing with the sleeve of his robes. No one could see it, of course, thanks to a bit of clever magic. He was proud to bear it but in a school like Hogwarts with a headmaster such as Albus Dumbledore it would not be permitted, it would probably even lead to expulsion. “Exciting? Me? you must have me confused with someone else cousin” humour was not something most would typically associate with the Slytherin but in the right company he could actually be quite funny. The Death Eater debated telling her the truth, out of all his cousins it was Narcissa that he was closest to, but this was neither the time nor the place, much too many people around few of whom shared the ideology of the Blacks and the Dark Lord. “Life is much the same as it’s always been for me…though this year I have taken up a great honour. I’ll tell you about it some other time, it’s not just for anyone’s ears” his voice had dropped to a whisper, luckily that wasn’t something suspicious given that they were in a library. “And you? anything exciting I should be worrying about?”
“Abductions?” she questioned with a confused smile before shaking her head. Narcissa had always found Regulus’ blase personality interesting, even more so when comparing him to the boastful Sirius. It was at times, though, that it took her some time to see through him and figure out whether he was joking or not. The ability to hide emotions was as characteristic most of her family possessed and valued anyways, but she was still learning. “Not confusing you with anyone, Reg, but I just assumed that perhaps you were finding ways to amuse yourself in this great, big old castle. I know last year there were some changes in the family, but there’s no need to to let that spoil everything is there?” She said with a bit of doubt in her voice. It was quite obvious that she was referring to Sirius leaving home and changing some of the dynamics in her family. For once she saw her own parents get more involved in the works of the Dark Lord; and secondly, the idea of ever showing an ounce of amiability to a mudblood or blood traitor was now forever forbidden. Yet she couldn’t help but use her time in the castle to open her mind to others and not be seen as just another stuck up Black. There was no way she would ever be as open minded as Andromeda, but she could at least try to be reasonable. Her cousin leaving had after all ignited a flame of jealousy that she could not quite shake off, so playing with the fire that had burned him felt appealing... except she was not planning on getting burned. She shook her head, knowing she couldn’t just explain all of that to Regulus and smiled sweetly. “And what honour is that? I hope you remember how much I dislike secrets,” she mused. “There’s nothing new nor exciting with me,” she lied, “I’ve just been solely focusing in school, for once.”