Inferius | Regulus Black

Year Six (I)

"It's your birthday," said Annabelle, placing the wrapped parcel on the table, and beaming at him, as she stood beside where he sat, then her smile began to fade,

Regulus looked almost ill. He hadn't slept in days. He was so sleep deprived in fact that he looked at her and blinked once,

Trying to figure out if she was a hallucination, he didn't say anything, leaning towards her and setting his head on her side, eyes closing,

"Majesty?" She whispered, running a hand through his hair, and his eyes snapped open, leaning away from her, blushing furiously,

"Oh, Aelin," he said, scratching the back of his neck, "I- I was just tired, and why is there a gift in front of me?"

"Are you okay?" Asked Annabelle, sitting down next to him, "You don't need to come on rounds if you're tired,"

When she moved towards him he cleared his throat and moved away,

"No, no, I'm fine," said Regulus, "im perfect, in fact im a prefect."

"You're always perfect," said Annabelle, "That was a given, I'm looking for the unknown,"

"I'm never helping you with Arithmancy again," groaned Regulus, his quill dropping lazily from his hand, he ran a hand over his face and seemed to spot the gift in front of him anew, "What is that for?"

"It's your birthday isn't it?" Asked Annabelle, and Regulus thought for a moment before frowning and running a hand through his hair,

"I guess it is." He muttered, seventeen. One more year, the voice in his head whispered, if you're lucky.

"Are-"

"What did you get me?" He asked, opening it slowly, pulling on the thin brown yarn which created a bow on top,

"Nothing much, sort of short notice," said Annabelle, "Because you refused to tell me your Birthday,"

"I just don't like my birthday," he muttered, pausing and glancing at her,

"Then it's not a birthday gift it's just a gift," said Annabelle, concern coating her eyes but she didn't let it leak into her voice,

She'd seen Regulus tired, sure, but it seemed as though he hadn't slept in days.

"Just a gift," he said, nodding, tearing the old daily prophets covering the box off in a way that made Annabelle think he may be trying to preserve the paper, "A box?"

"Maybe it's what's within the box," said Annabelle, and he opened it to see a small notebook. It was plain, green cover blank pages,

Maybe he really was sleep deprived, he thought to himself as he leafed through the book,

"Now tap it twice with your wand," she said, almost excitedly, and he shot her a questioning glance, raising his wand slightly and tapping it twice, and then writing appeared, and photos,

Photos of them together in London. Each page different, movie tickets and everything,

"Took me ages to get that charm right," said Annabelle not disclosing who had helped her, as a smile spread over Regulus' features,

"I didn't know you liked me this much," he muttered, sometimes he found Annabelle a little hard to believe, he didn't really understand why she'd stuck around for so long,

Don't get him wrong, he was more than happy that she did, he just didn't get it. Regulus would have given up on himself years ago and chosen someone else if given the chance,

She mimicked his action of affection, her head going to his shoulder practically nuzzling his neck, leaning into him, before moving away,

"You're rather special to me, majesty," she said with a cheeky grin, and he rolled his eyes leafing through the notebook,