King Of My Heart | R. BLACK

42 | he-who-shall-not-be-named

Angela watched from the ground as fellow Gryffindor housemates flew around the field. She had separated them into groups so she could focus on them all more. So far, she had her second line Seeker, James was her first line Chaser and a fifth year was the second. Marlene and Sirius were first line beaters and she was trying to decide on second.

"What are those snakes doing here?" Marlene asked in disgust and those on the ground turned to look in confusion.

"Come to scope out the competition?" Angela inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"No, we came to practice," Regulus countered as he stepped in front of his team. "So, if you'll round up all the scum and be on your way, it would save us from time."

"Not so fast, Black," she replied, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a letter. She handed it to him, "We have the Pitch reserved until noon. It's all yours after then." She was about to turn to look at those flying above but added, "You can keep that, I have another."

Crouch took a step forward so he was standing next to Regulus, "I should hex you." James and Sirius immediately stepped forward at this, standing on either side of Angela. Even Marlene stood behind her rather protectively, her hand hovering over her wand.

"I don't have anything else to say to you," she replied simply. "If you have a problem, take it to Professor McGonagall. Now, either go sit on the bench and admire us while we play, or get off of my Quidditch Pitch."

Crouch narrowed his eyes but Regulus grabbed his arm and pulled him back, "Let's go talk to Professor Slughorn and see if he can fix this. They're not worth our time."

James placed his hand on his sister's shoulder and shook her slightly with pride as the Slytherin's walked away, "That was bloody amazing, Angie."

"I know," she replied simply before turning to the whole group, "Let's get back to work."

Angela and Regulus had talked the night before and come up with somewhat of a plan. It was probably not a very good one, but they didn't have much to work with.

She was to tell Sirius and James about what Regulus had told her - that the Slytherin's were going to be after her due to what he ordered. She was also told to tell them that his name was taboo. That they should only refer to him as 'you-know-who' and 'he-who-shall-not-be-named.' It had taken them a while to come up with those.

The rest of the plan was for them. Regulus was going to work with his buddies and make plans to take her off the board. And she was supposed to trust that he would find a way to tell her before it happened.

Nothing written, nothing spoken out loud. It was just a good thing that Regulus had taught her Occlumency and Legilimency last year.

But she had no idea as to how she was supposed to tell Sirius and James.

After tryouts were over, they all cleaned up and made their way back to the common room. "Wait," Angela blurted out as she turned around, stopping her brothers from progressing any further.

"Waiting," Sirius said.

"Follow me," she requested before she navigated her way through the halls.

She could hear them whispering behind her as they begrudgingly followed her through the school. She paced in front of a wall and a door appeared. She grabbed both of their arms and dragged them in, not giving them an opportunity to react.

"Are you about to murder us?" Sirius asked and James whacked the boy on the arm.

"Not quite, no," she replied before gesturing for them to take a seat on the couch. "We have to talk." James and Sirius exchanged worried glances as she continued, "But before I begin, I need you to promise that you'll let me finish before yelling at me. And that everything I say doesn't leave this room."

"That sounds a little worrisome," James admitted.

"Does this have to do with my brother?" Sirius asked in return.

"Somewhat but it mostly has to do with me."

"Alright, fine," Sirius agreed.

"Okay," James nodded, though he was hesitant.

So she explained everything. Well, mostly, everything. Leaving out the more intimate details, she explained everything that Regulus had told her. About how she was wanted dead and they were going to stop at nothing for that to happen.

The harder part of the conversation was talking about him. Eventually she granted them permission to talk again and they had a million questions. But it was hard to adjust to not saying his name when prior they didn't mind saying it.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" she huffed. "The name is jinxed! If you so much as whisper it, he'll know exactly where you are and exactly what we're talking about!"

"But how?" Sirius asked. "No wizard is that powerful."

"He is," she countered, "And we need to spread that information so nobody else gets trapped. So I was thinking we tell-"

"Peter," they both finished for her. And just like that, the word was out.