Goods Secured!
Regulus ducked into the potions classroom. The sixth years were just finishing up, so Regulus waited by the door, among the fumes of the potions bubbling in their cauldrons. At least, that’s what he wanted to do, until Sirius yelled at him. “Reggie! You’re here!” He abandoned Lupin at their cauldron, yanking Regulus over instead, drawing the attention of the mix of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Regulus followed his brother dutifully, even though he desperately wanted the ground to swallow him up.
Lupin was standing there, throwing in what looked like rose petals into the cauldron. “Regulus,” Lupin greeted. Regulus simply nodded at him, turning his attention back to Sirius. Of course, Slughorn said nothing about Regulus being there, only telling the students to finish up.
“Reggie don’t be rude to poor Moony here,” Sirius argued, turning to grab his other two mates. “Oi! Prongs, Wormy, Reggie’s here!”
“Me? Rude? Where did you even get that from?” Regulus deadpanned. Lupin let out a bark of laughter, shaking his head. Sirius ignored the obvious jab, disappearing among the different cauldrons. Regulus couldn’t be bothered to find out where he went. Curiously, he glanced at what they were making. ‘Felix Felicis’ the board spelled out in big letters. Interesting. A bit.
“What are you doing here anyway?” Lupin asked, stirring the cauldron. Regulus glanced back at him.
“Wanted to talk to Slughorn. I didn’t know I was interrupting, and I’m not sorry either,” Regulus replied, watching as Sirius made his way back to them, dragging Pettigrew and Potter behind him as Lupin chuckled.
That strange fluttery feeling was back. Regulus actively avoided Potter’s gaze, instead focusing on the potion, which was slowly turning golden. He didn’t know why, but every time he happened to look in Potter’s direction, he would pretty much forget everything and suddenly be clumsy, which was extremely unlike him. And despite Pandora’s advice, he simply refused to believe it was a crush. He instead liked to believe it was a burning hatred for Potter. As Evan had once said when Regulus asked him about confessing to Barty, denial was a very good state to live in.
“Regulus, whatcha doing here?” Pettigrew asked as they drew near. Regulus pointedly ignored that question, and Lupin stepped in to answer instead. Sirius complained once again about Regulus being rude, which again Regulus ignored.
“Aren’t you supposed to be making your own potion?” Regulus asked, gesturing at Lupin and Sirius’ cauldron. Sirius peered into the cauldron, studying it before praising Lupin. Lupin blushing did not go unnoticed by Regulus, and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, filing it away for both interrogation and blackmail.
“You noticed?” Potter’s voice was much too close for comfort and Regulus startled, a chill shooting down his back. Regulus whirled around, and Potter was standing almost directly behind him, about half an arm’s length away. Regulus’ face burned at once. His mind went blank and he became a panicking mess inside. What do I even do? Putain qu'est-ce que je fais (what the fuck do I do)? He smells like…cedar wood? And pine? Wait, why am I even thinking this? Merlin, aide-moi (Merlin, help me).
“Only a fool wouldn’t notice,” Regulus somehow bit out, almost missing what he himself had said. He was acting completely on auto-pilot, and his mind had turned to emotionless sarcasm. Regulus stopped to take a deep breath, as Dorcas had instructed him once when he had a panic attack, before inching closer to the cauldron under the guise of seeing how it turned out, putting distance between him and Potter.
The bell rang, saving him from possibly making an utter fool of himself. Potter and Pettigrew left to take care of their own cauldrons and Regulus finally released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Remembering his original mission before he got sidetracked by Sirius and a certain messy-haired boy, Regulus made his way to the front of the classroom, stopping in front of Slughorn.
“Ah, Mr Black, how can I help you today?” Slughorn asked, completely ignoring the fact that Regulus had interrupted his lesson. Probably because the two Black brothers were in the classroom.
“I want to research more into the properties of Armontentia. Do you possibly have a vial of it that I can borrow?” Regulus asked, keeping his contempt very thinly veiled by politeness.
“Of course, my boy. I should have a vial…” Slughorn’s voice trailed away as he ducked into the backroom. He reappeared soon enough. “Return it to me whenever you want, yeah?” Regulus nodded in reply, quickly slipping out of the classroom before Sirius could ‘harass’ him again, the vial safe in his robe pocket.
Regulus found Barty and Evan on the way to Charms. “Have you secured the goods?” Barty dramatically leaned in, lowering his voice. Regulus rolled his eyes, quickly flashing the vial. “I knew ol’ Slughorn wouldn’t be able to resist the Black charm,” Barty teased. Regulus ignored him yet again, pausing near an alcove to lift the vial out.
“What is it?” Evan asked, studying the vial curiously. Regulus hesitated. But there was a nagging feeling in his mind that it was not actually Armontentia. Regulus shook his head instead, slipping it back into his robe pocket.
Usually, he was very good at ignoring things, especially problems. But all day, the vial of Armontentia seemed to burn a hole in Regulus’ pocket, waiting to be used.