The Story of Regulus Black - Years 1-4

XLIII. Mum? Dad?

It was the night of the June full moon.

The Gryffindors had Astronomy that night, and they were all sitting up in the tower, goofing around with one another. Professor Itri had been called away on something rather urgent sounding, and had been gone for more than thirty minutes. So, none of the second year Gryffindors were doing anything.

Deacon, Benji, and Francesco were all sitting in the back of the tower, backs pressed against the cold stone wall, staring out at the area around them. Deacon was sitting between Francesco and Benji, and he could feel Francesco leaning towards him by the smallest little bit. Deacon enjoyed the feeling. Not only of that, but just of being with his two best mates. He knew that he only had a few weeks left at Hogwarts, and that he would soon be thrust back into the life that he lived at home. He really didn't want to go back, but he didn't see a way of getting out of it. Not only this, but being back home also meant that he wouldn't be able to see Fran or Benji for weeks on end. Merlin, he would really, really miss them.

"You alright, Dea?" Fran whispered, and he leaned closer to Deacon so that he was speaking directly to him.

Deacon turned his head to face Fran, and he felt his breath catch in his throat at the close proximity of the two; he could practically feel Fran's breath on his face. However, he was suddenly reminded of Valentine's Day - the day that he had kissed Regulus Black - and it made him recoil just the slightest bit.

"Dea?" Fran asked, noticing the odd reaction that the smaller boy had had.

Deacon faced forward again, resting his head against the wall behind him. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm ok." He said. And, for once, Deacon thought that he truly meant it.

"Hey, have you lot filled out the forms that Professor McGonagall gave us yet?" Benji asked.

Deacon and Francesco turned to look at him. "Forms?" Francesco asked.

"Yeah, the ones about which classes we're taking next term?"

"Oh, right! Yeah, I think I have mine done," Deacon said.

"Which classes did you put, Dea?" Fran asked him.

"Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, and Divination. What about you two?"

"I put Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Muggle Studies," Francesco said.

Both of his friends turned to him. "Muggle studies?" Benji asked.

Francesco shrugged. "Yeah, why not. Seems easy enough. And, hey, we have Deacon here. He can help with our homework!" He nudged Deacon with his elbow.

Deacon laughed. "Yeah, right."

Benji thought for a moment. "I guess I'll take it too, then. No offense, Dea, but I am not taking Ancient Runes. I've heard it's torture."

Deacon rolled his eyes. "I'm sure it's not that bad."

"My cousin took it," Francesco said. "She said she wanted to drop out within the first three minutes. Got a Poor on her O.W.L."

"Well, I'll just have to do good at it then, won't I?"

The three boys laughed, and then they settled into a peaceful silence.

Suddenly, though, Lottie Burton's voice broke the moment of peace that the three boys were sharing.

"Who's that?" She asked, her voice dripping with worry.

The three boys looked at one another curiously, and they immediately scooted over so that they were sitting directly behind the railing on the edge of the tower. Deacon had to squint his eyes to see through the thick darkness in front of him, but, sure enough, there were two people breaking through the line of trees of the Forbidden Forest. Deacon furrowed his brow in confusion.