one
eyes like sinking ships on water
Mary MacDonald was not a violent person, she liked taking polaroids of anything she found pretty, and making friendship bracelets. She liked sitting out past Hogwarts’ curfew just to watch the stars form shape in the sky, and drinking hot chocolate when the days grew cold. And when nights seemed especially long, she liked to pull out a book to pass the time. She was the farthest from violent–she was, really–but the urge to commit a murder whenever she walked into her potions lesson grew stronger daily.
It was her only class with him . It was only twice a week that she had to deal with his smug smirk and his cocky comments, only twice a week that she had to physically restrain herself from carrying through with a crime, only it had been the same class twice a week for three years. She was sure the dean had it out for her, it was like he wanted her to suffer.
What made matters worse, was she was absolute rubbish at potions. She excelled in everything but the one subject she truly needed to succeed in. The one subject she shared with him. The one subject he saw what marks she got when their tests were returned. His reactions always caused her to become infuriated—because now he thought he had bested her. Now he thought he was smarter than she was. If only he saw the scores for the rest of her classes, then he wouldn’t be laughing, would he?
Mary was convinced that not only the dean was out for her, but her potion’s professor was, too. There was no way she had done that horribly on the latest test, he just preferred quite literally every other student other than her. She was positive it was because she was the only Gryffindor. Nobody else seemed to do poorly on the tests, she knew he was taking off random points. That had to be it, she was a natural at everything else.
Professor Slughorn claimed he did not have favourites–but it was painfully obvious that Regulus Black was one of them.
She had shared this theory with Evan Rosier countless times, who would then remind her of the fact that they were dorm-mates.
That was the thing, no matter how hard she tried, she could never escape Regulus Black. Getting rid of him was like trying to clean up the stickiest kind of syrup, or trying to open a jar of pickles. Sharing one class with him was bad enough, but working with his roommate was even worse, because he was a regular at The Three Broomsticks.
“I wish I didn’t drop out,” Evan sighed, washing out a glass from behind the counter while Mary sat slumped in one of the barstools. She eyed him, waiting for him to continue. It was impossible to try to guess where he’d go with anything. Ever. “Because I would love to see you two destroy each other. It’s so funny.”
“Yeah, and I would’ve loved to see you fail potions for the third year in a row. That’s so funny, too.”
Evan pointed the end of the glass he was holding at her. “Watch it or I’ll spill bleach on your favorite sweater.”
“And I’ll shave off your eyebrows.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be sure to take a picture of your feet while you’re sleeping and sell them on the dark web.”
“This is why you have zero friends.”
“Because I sell pictures of feet on the dark web?”
“Because you’re weird.”
Evan scowled at her, but didn’t have any time to respond because she had already stood to seat the newest customers. The Three Broomsticks had once been a bar-only type of place, but within the last decade they expanded the building and added a kitchen, as well as booths for dining. For being on such a small campus, the restaurant was always busy.
“Why does that woman look like she’s on the brink of death?” Evan asked once Mary had returned. She immediately reached to smack his arm. “Hey! What the hell?”
“Don’t be rude. And make me two pineapple martinis.”
“A please would be nice.”
“Don’t care. Hurry up.”
“And you say I’m the one who has no friends,” Evan muttered, beginning to make the beverages. “It’s definitely you.”
“I always knew you were a loner,” someone said from behind, and Mary turned her head to see Regulus standing there.
Her eyes rolled on their own before she could stop them. “You’re one to talk. The fictional people from your little books don’t count as company.”
“Oh, very insulting, MacDonald. Maybe you’d have more friends if you went to that potions study group. God knows you need it.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she pretended not to notice how Evan slowly turned in their direction, the most odd smile etched upon his face. “I don’t need to attend a study group for a class I’m doing fine in.”
“Fine?” Regulus repeated, that arrogant smirk following after, the very same that made fury build in her chest everytime he wore it. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
“That’s a nice shirt,” Mary said, watching his expression falter into slight confusion. “I think it’s so cute when people wear what their grandmother’s knit for them. They spend so much time doing it, I feel like their effort goes unappreciated. It’s good to see that someone still cares.”
“It’s a vintage —”
Taking a single drink from Evan, who still held the other in his hand, she pretended to trip on something, and sent the liquid inside, spilling all over the counter before her, including Regulus, who sat there, looking a mix between shocked and angry.
“Oops.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I think I need to take a tutoring session on how to walk. I am just such a klutz.”
Regulus stared at her, briefly glancing to Evan who had thrown up his hands in annoyance after she’d spilt the drink, and then looked back to her. She stared back, pursing her lips into a thin line as if challenging him to retaliate. She’d had enough with his snide comments for the day, if he was going to come in and insult her where she worked, too, he had an entirely different thing coming his way.
It was easy to get sucked in by the intensity of his gaze, which was such an odd and random thought that it took her aback, because Sirius had those same eyes and she never found herself locked in on them like she was now.
Really, there was nothing similar about the Black brothers. People often got them confused, but she never had. Not even when she’d been eighteen and dating Sirius, just meeting his younger brother for the first time, who had seemed so different then. Sirius had always been the light in the night sky, but Regulus seemed to be the darkness that allowed his brother to shine so bright.
She’d felt bad for him at first, Sirius loved the spotlight, but knowing both of them now, she didn’t feel that way anymore. Regulus was a stuck-up prick, and she regretted ever trying to befriend him.
Mary didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but she knew she had been the first to look away, only because Evan let out a shout of annoyance.
“What the fuck, man?! Now I have to remake it!”
If her entire body didn’t feel like it was on fire from her conversation with Regulus, she would have laughed.