Regulus woke to a pounding headache, and the stale taste of firewhiskey in his mouth. He pushed back unfamiliar covers, and looked around the unfamiliar room. The clock said it was only 8:00, meaning he'd only been asleep four hours. That explained the headache.

It was empty, but he recognised it from the other night as the girls' room. He was lying in the bed Isolde had been in that night, and his eyes immediately wandered to the bed opposite him.

The lilac covers were thrown back, revealing the sheet all wrinkled and messy. The pillow was in an upright position, though slightly crooked.

Regulus groaned and buried his head under his pillow. The vague memories of last night brought a whole new level of embarrassment.

He rolled out of bed, and headed to the bathroom. He splashed water on his face in an attempt to wake himself up, then left the dorm.

.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.

Hastily throwing on his robes, Regulus dashed out of the dungeons. He didn't stop running until he got to the greenhouses, where he found- with much relief- that Herbology had not yet started, as everyone was waiting outside. He found Gemma and the others amongst the crowd.

'Hey,' Gemma said, spotting him. He felt his mouth go slightly dry. What would she think of him, after last night? Did she even want to talk to him?

'Can I um.. talk to you for a second?' He said, feeling his voice go up an octave.

'Sure,' Gemma said, as though she'd known all along that he'd want to. He led her toward the back of the greenhouses.

'I'm surprised your already awake,' she said casually. 'I thought you'd have a much worse hangover.'

'I'm sorry,' he blurted.

'Okay.'

'I've never had alcohol before. In my life.'

'I could tell.'

'I don't know what came over me.'

'It's okay,' Gemma said slowly.

'Really?'

'Yeah. The whole point of friends is that you can embarass yourself, you know.' But you're different, he thought.

'I guess,' he replied.

'You may want to do your tie up though,' she said, pointing to it. It was dangling loosely around his neck.

'Right,' he said. 'Yeah.' He fumbled with it for a moment, until she lost patience. She reached out and knotted it for him, hands grazing his jumper slightly. It sent shivers down his spine.

When she was done, she looked up an smiled at him. He returned it, following her back to the others.

'Ah look,' Ted said. 'So kind of you to join us.' Regulus smiled.

'I can't come to quidditch practise today,' Gemma told them. Regulus stopped smiling.

'Why?' He asked.

'She has some stupid detention in the hospital wing with Sirius goddamn Black,' Isolde informed him. Regulus caught Gemma watching him intently, and attempted to pass it off as nothing.

'You sound annoyed,' Luke commented.

'I am,' Iz said. 'Of course McGonagall sets her up with some stupid Gryffindor.'

'Let's talk about something else,' Gemma said decidedly. Regulus was glad.

'I know what we can discuss,' Luke said. Ted looked at him sharply.

'Don't,' he said. Luke ignored him.

'We can talk about why I had to sleep in the common room because you two couldn't keep it in your pants, or take it to a different room.' Ted and Iz looked mortified.

'I did walk in on you two,' Gemma lied, to add to their mortification. 'I am now scarred for life.'

'Well, it meant nothing. It was just a one time thing,' Iz assured them.

'Really?' Ted said, sounding hurt.

Isolde looked at him surprised, as though just noticing he was there.

'I-' She began, but was cut off by Professor Sprout ushering them into the greenhouses.

.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.

As Gemma trudged to the hospital wing, all she could think about was how she could currently be playing quidditch with Ted, or laughing with Luke and Iz. Maybe even spending time with Regulus.

But because of her stupid urge to act up in lessons, here she was. Facing the consequences.

When she got there, she found that Sirius Black had not yet showed up. Madam Pomfrey had a strange dislike of her- maybe because half the quidditch casualties she had to treat were thanks to Gemma- and assigned her to student medical record filing by alphabetical order.

Only ten minutes in, she could already feel herself going cross- eyed from boredom. Luckily for her, Black chose that moment to burst dramatically into the room.

'Sorry I'm late Poppy,' he said breathlessly. 'I was just-'

'I am a busy woman, Mr Black,' Madam Pomfrey interrupted coldly. 'I do not have time to listen to you explain yourself. Help Miss Aston, please. She'll tell you what to do.' Black looked offended, and huffed as he made his way over to her. He crouched down next to her on the floor, where she had spread out all the files.

'So,' he said. 'What are we doing?'

'Sorting the files alphabetically,' she replied curtly. 'Here's your half.'

'You've given me the more difficult half,' he pointed out. Too tired to argue, Gemma switched the piles.

As they worked, Gemma realised just how different the older Black was to his brother. While Regulus attempted to avoid attention, Sirius did just the opposite. While Regulus usually tried to remain diligent, Sirius complained every time he sorted a file. But despite all this, Gemma couldn't help but find the long haired boy rather amusing. Maybe even like him- as much as a Slytherin could ever like a Gryffindor, anyway.

'So... your friends with Reggie, right?' He asked. She nodded. 'How is he?'

'Good,' she said. He looked at her, as though telling her to go on. 'Yeah. He's fine.'

'Care to elaborate on that?' He prompted. 'How are things for him at home?'

'I don't know.'

'How can you not know?' He said incredulously. 'You're always with him.'

'We don't talk about it,' Gemma snapped. 'I've known him for about two weeks. And if your his brother, why don't you go ask him?'

She knew she'd touched a nerve, because he winced slightly and went back to sorting the files in silence.

The silence lasted about five whole minutes.

'So, are you still on the quidditch team?' He asked.

'Yes,' she replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

'I still need to get back at you,' he said. 'For that concussion you gave me in my fourth year.' Gemma couldn't but smile at the memory; she'd managed to win that match for Slytherin by knocking out the opposing keeper; that had now become her strategy. Ted had dealt with Potter. It had been the best match for Slytherin and the best season- they ended up winning the cup. Wins for Slytherin against Gryffindor were scarce these days.

'You can try,' she said.

'So, I actually have a question.'

'Of course you do,' she sighed.

'What do you Slytherins like?' Gemma frowned at the strange question.

'Care to elaborate?' She said, imitating him.

'Well,' he continued. 'I'm trying to become friends with this Slytherin girl. I have detention with her tomorrow actually, in the forbidden forest. Anyway, I was wondering, how would she want me to act?'

'Why on Earth are you asking me?' She said, shaking her head and going back to her files.

'Because your a girl,' he said, as though she was stupid. 'And your a Slytherin. So, you and her are basically the same person.'

'You mean there's about seven hundred me's walking around.'

'No,' he whined. 'That's not what I mean at all.'

'That would be so cool though,' she said, picturing an army of people exactly like her.

'Can we please stick to the topic?' He said exasperatedly.

'What was the topic?'

'Are you serious- Oh you know what, never mind.' He aggressively threw a file labelled Marlene McKinnon underneath Mary McDonald, huffing in frustration.

'May I ask, who is this girl you're attempting to impress?' Gemma asked. 'And aren't you and the deer boy the little Casanovas of the Gryffindor tower?' Sirius stiffened, and she immediately knew why. She quickly looked down, hoping he would drop it. He didn't.

'The deer boy?' He asked, his tone completely changed. Panicking, Gemma reached into her brain for any bullshit she could come up with.

'He looks like a deer,' she lied. 'Just like you look like.. um... a platypus. I don't know why. I just tend to associate people with animals.' He studied her, and for a minute she thought he'd see right through her. But luckily for her, his two brain cells seemed to be currently occupied.

'What the hell is a platypus?' He asked.

'This animal that lives in Australia,' she said, relief flooding through her.

'Is it handsome?' He said hopefully.

'Yes. Very,' she lied.He nodded, apparently happy.

'So, the girl. It's Elladora Hargreaves,' he informed her. Gemma frowned.

'Seriously? I don't think she really wants friends,' she said.

'Everyone wants friends.'

'That is, actually, not true. Ted thought she had some illness as first.'

'She does not,' Sirius snapped. 'It isn't nice to spread rumours.'

'I wasn't,' Gemma argued. 'It's just what Ted said.' Sirius studied her.

'So now you know who it is,' he said. 'Any tips?' As she put the last file in place, she stood up. Before exiting, she looked at him.

'Just don't act like a total prat,' she said earnestly.

Damn, Sirius thought as she left. Now how do I do that?