portentous: 'momentous significance', or 'done pompously to impress'.
in both meanings of the word, hunter-rose's life fit the bill. the seemingly perfect hufflepuff clawed to live up to her title, but how long could she grasp onto that when a war...
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"Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today..."
Hunter bit her cheeks as she walked into the Great Hall, Regulus following her from behind. Leading her boyfriend, the Hufflepuff made her way to the Gryffindor table and sat opposite James, and Regulus took his place opposite Sirius. She kept her head held high and Regulus followed suit, ignoring the fact that people were watching their every moment.
Open newspapers of the Daily Prophet stood before the dropped jaws that some students sported. They'd just been told that Sirius and Regulus had a broken family, under the tyrannical reign of their dark family. Why on Earth would they be sat together? The boys famously didn't get along, unless... they did. Did they?
Was Regulus Black really who Skeeter said he was?
"...I want to be a part of it, New York, New York..."
As if reading it for the first time, Hunter received a copy of the Daily Prophet and ensured that her laughter would be heard throughout the hall. Students of all ages watched as The Hufflepuff Princess showed her boyfriend the news, and watched as he laughed.
Laughter.
Regulus Black does not laugh.
Every student in the hall, and admittedly most staff members, wanted to know what was going on. No, they needed to know. What was wrong with the paper?
"These vagabond shoes, They are longing to stray... Right through the very heart of it, New York, New York!"
Regulus showed the paper to Sirius who loudly mocked Skeeter's words. Watching, as Sirius and Regulus joked together. These two brothers, who were portrayed and assumed to be estranged, were sat together at breakfast and teasing the other brotherly.
But the Hogwarts population didn't see the strain in Sirius' expression, nor did they pick up on Regulus' constant looks at Hunter to receive a quick, reassuring glance.
After all, the Black brothers had only agreed to do this in order to protect Hunter and themselves. Sirius was rebellious, not a fool. He had been trained to be clean cut and convincing, after all.
And Regulus?
Well, he just wanted to protect the girl he was falling for. The girl he had betrayed.
"I want to wake up in a city, That never sleeps. And find I'm king of the hill! Top of the heap!"
Hunter-Rose glanced around her, watching as eyes slowly avoided hers as they realised that the fifth year girl was aware of their presence.
People would watch her, mesmerised, until she glanced in their direction. Some admired her, others were searching for a slip up; anything that they could use to either fuel their own ego or worse - report back to their Death Eater parents.
Only a few people knew that she actually an incredibly tired, somewhat neurotic individual that was just trying to live up to expectations.
And yet, she still reigned over the school. Had her desirability been faked for three years, building her up only to knock her back down? Or was she overthinking the plot that had been created before she had even started Hogwarts?
"These small town blues, They are melting away..."
Hunter decided to turn her head back to James, Sirius and Regulus. She watched as Sirius' tense face slowly melted back into his usual snark, and as Regulus calmed immensely.
James, it seemed, had opted out of the conversation. He watched his best friend and his brother as they had an actual conversation, no trace of an argument to be found. He sipped his orange juice slowly, listening as Sirius slandered Regulus' choice of 'best Queen song'.
Apparently, both the Black boys loved muggle music.
Hunter met James' eyes, and both smiled at the other. When Hunter was with James, she felt completely comfortable. They saw the other as the sibling they never had, and the Hufflepuff cursed herself for straying away from him to preserve her reputation.
Because she really, truly had grown sick of this 'perfect' act.
The Moore girl wanted to run the Hogwarts halls, chasing her friends as they teased and lovingly mocked the others. She wanted to let her hair down, wear baggy clothing that didn't enhance her figure, cram on heavy eyeliner, dye her blonde hair unnatural and bold colours.
Oh, how she wanted to live.
After all, a war was brewing. She wanted to enjoy the childhood that she had; who knows what was in store the next day?
Why live miserable, and discontent? Why, when you could die with a laugh etched onto your face?
"I'll make a brand new start of it! In old New York!"
Half-listening in on Sirius and Regulus' conversation, Hunter turned to the Hufflepuff table. She scanned the seats, watching as people pretended that they weren't looking at her, until she finally met with someone that was looking right at her. Someone who wouldn't shy away from Hunter's stare.
Hai Nguyen looked right at Hunter-Rose Moore.
It was no secret that the two had grown more distant over the past few weeks. They had barely talked at the Hufflepuff party, only seeing each other at quidditch practice and the occasional lesson. Hunter was never in the common room anymore, and she went to bed far too early for Hais liking.
Many had assumed that the two had an argument over something, and Hunter feared that tension was brewing. They hadn't had a proper conversation for a while, and Hai's bitterness over Sirius and Louises fling made her very hard to be around.
And that was all it was, a fling. Hunter had heard from Evan Rosier in Potions that Sirius broke it off with her, and that Louise was rather happy to see it go as she longed to hang around her friends again.