The Story of Regulus Black - Years 1-4

XIV. The Art of Occlumency

Regulus Black sat in the library early Saturday morning; it was so early, in fact, that the only other occupant besides himself was Madam Pince. She seemed quite surprised when she opened the library that morning and found Regulus sitting in the corridor outside, slumped over and half asleep.

He immediately rushed into the healing section and set off for any books pertaining to Legilimency and Occlumency; he figured that they would probably be in the healing section, as the subjects themselves pertained to one's mind.

After a few minutes of searching, the only book that he could find was titled The Art of Understanding the Mind; he took the book and sat himself down into a quiet corner and opened to the front page.

Regulus stayed in the library all day, reading and rereading the book cover-to-cover. Several other groups of students had wandered in and out, mostly groups of friends trying to find quiet places to hang out, or else fifth and seventh years studying vigorously for their O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s.

Regulus looked up from the book on his lap and let out a deep yawn after his third time of rereading it; he wasn't exactly sure why he kept rereading it, it wasn't as though new information would just magically appear somewhere where it hadn't been previously.

With a sigh, Regulus shut the book and uncurled his body - he had been sitting in a tight ball in the chair. His legs felt stiff, and he winced with every step that he took back towards the healing shelves.

He rounded the corner to return the book, but stopped dead in his tracks; Sirius Black and James Potter were searching the shelves.

"Mate, the books for it obviously won't be here," James was saying, but he kept searching nonetheless.

"Ok, well where else would they be? It's changing the body, correct? Healing has something to do with the body!" Sirius responded; he was practically laying down on the floor checking the bottom shelves.

James shook his head and stood straight up, and his eyes landed on Regulus. "Oh - er - hi," he flushed and kicked Sirius in the side.

"What the bloody hell was that fo- oh," Sirius stood up quickly, dusting off his clothes and glaring at Regulus. "What do you want?"

Regulus glared right back and pointedly held up the book in his hands, "I'm returning a book you dolt," and he walked towards where he had found the book; it just so happened to be right where Sirius and James were standing.

Sirius narrowed his eyes and snatched the book from Regulus's hands before he could put it back on the shelf. "Hey!" he protested, but he wasn't fast enough to grab the book back from Sirius.

Sirius read the title of the book, and then he looked up at Regulus with a sneer. "Why are you reading about minds? That's weird."

Regulus flushed and ripped the book out of Sirius's hands. "And why are you in the healing section?"

Sirius scoffed, "For your information, we're researching how to-"

"EXTRA CREDIT FOR TRANSFIGURATION!" James said - a little bit too loud - and he clapped a hand over Sirius's mouth. James gave Regulus an awkward smile, and Regulus looked between the two boys skeptically.

"Check the Transfiguration section then, idiots," he rolled his eyes and pushed the book back onto the shelf where it belonged.

Sirius wrenched James's hand off of his mouth, and he narrowed his eyes. "We already tried that, stupid, we aren't that dumb,"

Regulus shrugged, "Dunno about that,"

"You little-" James kicked Sirius in the shin before he could continue, and he gestured behind himself with his head; Madam Pince was organizing books at the end of the shelf, and she was watching the three boys cautiously.