Chapter Seven
Lyla POV
“No!” I shouted, annoyed that I’d let my imagination distract me from the golden retriever I was walking.
Indy was my sister and I’s plump dog who I had managed to sneak into Hogwarts. All summer I had been brainstorming how to accomplish this and ended up charming her crate to look like it housed a very large orange cat. Now I had enchanted her collar to make her invisible to anyone over the age of twenty. Perhaps I should have also made it have the ability to stun. I tore after Indy who had, unfortunately, spotted a niffler and was intent on making it her supper.
Seeing as the niffler was heading for the safety of Hagrid’s hut, I cut across Hogwarts’ rolling grounds ignoring the zig zag pattern the dog and her prey were making. I tugged at my blue scarf, getting quite annoyed as I leaped over the first sprouts of Hagrid’s famous pumpkins.
The niffler made a sudden left turn and I dove, snatching up the creature and holding him high in the air, victorious. Apparently luck was not on my side today. Rather than stopping to stare at the niffler in my arms, Indy bounded right past me, straight towards a gaggle of boys.
“No,” I groaned again. Maybe I should have just left the dog at home.
Indy happily vaulted herself onto one of the boys, knocking him clean off his feet and into a pile of what I prayed was mud and not poop. I ran forward, thoroughly embarrassed with the entire situation, and snatched Indy’s leash, pulling her back. She barked gleefully and began chasing her tail.
“I’m so sorry!” I said, a blush uncomfortably heating my cheeks. “She’s a bit psycho.” I looked at the boy in the (hopefully) mud properly for the first time and realized that I recognized him. “Hey, you’re Remus Lupin!”
“The one and only,” the boy replied, getting hauled to his feet by whom I believed wasJames Potter. “And there’s no reason to apologize,” Remus sent a half smile my way, looking at me through the sandy curls that scattered around his forehead. “If anything, I should be the one doing it. I never did say sorry properly. So…er…sorry.”
“It’s fine really. Call us even.” I smiled back, struggling to hold the squirming niffler and now Indy tangled in her leash.
Another boy, recognizable as Sirius Black, leaned toward James and whispered, not so quietly, “Who are we talking to again?”
I stuck out my hand, ignoring the slight flush in my cheeks, and introduced myself, “I’m Lyla Zemen.” James and Sirius eyebrows shot up in unison and glanced at each other with obvious mischief in their eyes.
“Oh! Remus told us about you,” James stepped in closer to me and threw an arm around my shoulders. I tried not to stumble in surprise. “You’re the one that ate our carmels!” I winced, the memory of puking still too fresh in my mind.
“Yeah sorry about that,” Sirius said, winking. He was obviously trying to pull out his signature charm. I resisted rolling my eyes, unimpressed, instead choosing to study him.
He was completely the opposite of his brother. A leather jacket was swung over his shoulder, and his tie was around his head, knotted to one side. Both his ears and his lip had piercings and a studded collar wrapped around his neck. His long, perfectly maintained, black hair fell into deep gray eyes.
Yes, I thought. The eyes are the same as his brothers.
“What’s with the dog,” James gestured to Indy, arm still carelessly placed on my shoulders. “I thought they were, I dunno, illegal at Hogwarts.”
I shrugged, “What the teachers don’t know won’t kill them.” James and Sirius hooted, slapping me on the back, causing me to stumble.
“Good one! I like you!” Sirius cried. “It’s nice to know not all Ravenclaws are stuck ups.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
Remus, who must have sensed the tension his friend was oblivious to, held out his hands to the niffler. “Here, we are the ones who lost the niffler. I can take it.”
“You lost the niffler?” I raised an eyebrow, challenging him.
“Yes,” Remus’s kind smile turned into a smirk as he rose to the bait. It made him look more boyish and playful. “Don’t bring anything of value to the great hall for dinner tonight,” he warned.
“Thanks for the tip,” I said, handing over the niffler.
“Welp,” James clapped his hands together. “We best be going. Mischief awaits. See you around, Zemen.” The Gryffindor now threw his arm around Remus, and turned him around.
“Bye,” I bent over to start detangling Indy. Sirius started singing some Queen song which quickly turned into James being all of the instruments at once and all three boys doing terrible dance moves. I shook my head slightly before making my way down to the Quidditch stadium to watch Mel’s practice. Those boys were like a moving ball of energy. I found I liked it.
“Come on, Indy,” I told my dog who was joyfully panting up at me. “You seriously need a bath.” As I headed back towards the castle I couldn’t help but hum to myself. Killer Queen was an excellent song after all.
Iris POV
The next Tuesday I got up early with Mel who had morning quidditch practice so I could walk Indy. We went to the hufflepuff table in the great hall, me still in my pajamas, which was the only one that had food.
We ate in a daze until Regulus came up to the table, his unshakable demeanor fully restored.
Mel (who was not a morning girl) saw his slytherin robes and groaned, “if you’ve come to trash talk us I would wait, we won’t even register what you're saying until lunch time.”
“Actually, I was hoping I could take some food,” he said coolly.
“And poison us with it? Not a chance,” Liam, another Hufflepuff in my year said grumpily.
“Come on David,” I scolded. “We couldn’t eat all this if we tried.” I said, pushing baskets of food towards Regulus. He took some.
“Oh and I finished the potions homework. Thanks for the notes, I’ll give them back to you at lunch.”
“You figured it out?” I asked.
“Yep, I completely understand what I’m doing now.”
“I’m glad they were helpful.” Then he walked away. Everyone stared at me.
“What?”
“Regulus Black is your friend?” Liam asked.
“Yes. What’s wrong with that?” I’m not sure if I imagined it, but I thought I caught a glimpse of a smile on Regulus’s face as he walked away.
"Sorry, I didn't realize it was him,” Mel said, sheepishly.
“It’s fine,” I tell her.
In the weeks following, Reg and I meet up in the corridors, during classes, and even in the great hall. I’m proud to say my project to befriend him worked wonderfully, although there were a few bumps along the road.
Every once in a while we would get in a fight over his arrogance, my optimism, or conflicting viewpoints. But I never was one to hold a grudge for very long, and sooner or later we would talk it out.
Day by day we learned to trust, appreciate, and enjoy each other a little bit more until I realized that I considered him a full fledged friend and wasn’t mad about it a bit.