#with: regulus

[narcissablackss]

Those wasted hours we used to know // Narcissa & Regulus // September 1st

"No!" Narcissa said sharply when a bunch of second-year hufflepuffs, munching on sugar-glazed donuts, attempted the enter the train compartment where she had installed herself. "This one's taken."

They all glanced at her quietly - probably taking in her sleek black dress, the gold locket that she wore around her neck, her expensive suitcase - before disappearing. Narcissa smiled to herself. She hated sharing her personal space, especially if was with kids who talked with their mouth full and didn't know how to dress themselves. 

She had lost her sisters somewhere among the hustle and bustle of platform 9 3/4 - or maybe they had abondonned her purposefully. Either way, she did not care much. she would see them again soon enough - and it had been a long, long summer. There was only one person she really wanted to see right now. 

There had been a time when she and Regulus would see each other every day of their summer vacation - they'd run off to the attic of their grandparent's house, or the back of the garden, where no one would bother them, and revel in each other's company. But now that they were older they had duties, things to do, places to be. It had been weeks since she had last seen him. She missed his face. His voice. The way he would sometimes squeeze her hand affectionately, pressing his thumb into her palm. No one else touched her like that - so careless, so kind. 

"Finally!" she exclaimed when she caught sight of a familiar face on the other side of the glass compartment door. "I was starting to think you stood me up."

[clairehollands]

and is it worth the way, all this killing time / regulus&claire / october 29th

Potions had been over now for a few minutes and most students had fled the dungeons, but Claire was still standing outside the classroom, waiting for Regulus, who was the only student who was still in the room (she had counted). She didn't really know why - she only knew it was a very bad idea. Therefore, she had to do it.

It was cold down here, even colder than the last October days outside had been, storms of red and yellow leaves blowing over the grounds, and sudden floods of rain that had made the lessons outside very hard to endure. Claire couldn't imagine why the Slytherins liked living down here - it was like living in a dark, cold cave, never seeing the light of day. Then again, she probably didn't understand the Slytherins very well.

Case in point, the Slytherin she was waiting for right now. He had been almost too nice, too friendly, the last times they'd spoken - and then he'd just stopped perceiving her at all, it seemed. He hadn't looked at her, much less talked to her, for weeks, at least. And now he was probably lingering inside the classroom to avoid talking to her.

How that had led to her waiting for him, her mind set on getting at least a few answers out of him - am I just imagining this? - she had no idea. It would probably just end in tears, but maybe that was a good thing in the end?

[clairehollands]

REGULUS/CLAIRE | halloween au (wdss-challenge .002)

sally's song I sense there's something in the wind That seems like tragedy's at hand And though I'd like to stand by him Can't shake this feeling that I have The worst is just around the bend And does he notice my feelings for him? And will he see how much he means to me? I think it's not to be What will become of my dear friend? Where will his actions lead us then? Although I'd like to join the crowd In their enthusiastic cloud Try as I may, it doesn't last And will we ever end up together? no, I think not, it's never to become For I am not the one  

[clairehollands]

september 8th | pressed the shells into our bones | claire & regulus

Potions. Nobody ever cared, it was Slughorn. This year they would take their OWLs and frankly, either you wanted to do your NEWTS in Potions in two years (then you either got along really really well with Slughorn or you were simply good at Potions) or you didn't, and that last group usually dominated the classes, especially when it was late in the afternoon like today.

Claire was part of the first group. Potions came easy to her, it was almost like doing magic - you could feel if what you were doing was right or not, it was more of a gut feeling than careful and exact measurements and strict following of the tasks. Slughorn had stopped bothering her about what he felt was the right method at some point and simply gave her points for answering questions sometimes. They got along well.

Today, he seemed to have something special in mind, as he had written everyone's names on small pieces of parchment, folded them up and put them in a really large hat. Now, people were to draw from the hat until everyone had a partner. The idea was met with brief refusal from the class - nobody (especially the Slytherins) wanted to be paired up with someone from the other house. Claire was not quite paying attention, she had accidentally found an interesting passage on the usage of moonstones in poisons.

Suddenly, the hat was in front of her, Slughorn grinning down at her encouragingly. She threw a glance around - obviously it was her turn to draw a partner. She sighed and quickly pulled out one of the parchments, folding it up. When she read the name, she felt slightly sick as recognition swept through her.

(She had thought about him, of course she had, stupid as she was. She had noticed him in the corridores, speaking to the other Slytherins. He always seemed a bit cold, a bit passive-aggressive, so maybe it hadn't really been directed at her in the library. He was never alone and yet seemed very lonely. Something didn't quite add up about him.)

"So, who is it?", Slughorn asked when she didn't say anything.

"Regulus-", she said, and added: "Black." As if anybody didn't know who he was. She didn't dare to look up from her table.

[clairehollands]

september 5th | {there is no crime in being kind} claire & regulus

Around dinner-time, most people leave the library to go to the Great Hall or meet friends or whatever you do on a school night. Now begins Claire's favorite time of the day, when the library gets emptier and emptier until she is alone with all the books and the silence (and Madame Pince, to stay realistic, but she doesn't bother her). When nobody is around to not talk to her, she feels much less lonely. Being alone most of the time, she is used to solitude. She is used to using her voice in class only, speaking to the teachers. She is used to sit alone at lunch and look for spots by the lake secluded from the crowd. It only really hurts when she notices that there is a missed contact, when her life brushes someone else's, but not quite.

(When somebody sits at the same table in the library and she can tell they have no idea what to write in their essay, she reads the assignment upside down and thinks the essay through until she has a headline and still, she doesn't say anything. When somebody asks every person in the library if they have a spare quill except for her and she has one, she always has one, she still doesn't say anything.)

Just as she is about to relax, she hears someone come in and walk around between the shelves, sometimes slowly, sometimes almost hastily. She leans to the side and catches a glimpse through a gap between two shelves. It's Regulus Black from her year. Her heart makes a very small leap - he is good-looking after all, and she's always nervous around people she knows from class, especially Slytherins (even though 'knowing' is an exaggeration, she admits to herself). But even if he sees her, it's not like he would actually talk to her. Apart from being Slytherin he's also a Black, after all.