Gemma woke to sunlight streaming through her window. The clock on the wall opposite her showed it was only 4:30. She cursed as she pulled the blinds shut, but now that she'd woken up, she couldn't go back to sleep. She got out of bed, threw on a hoodie and a pair of leggings and left the dorm- as usual, not bothering to make her bed.

As she left the castle and started jogging, the frigid September air biting at any exposed skin, she headed for the Black Lake. At this time, she had often seen the Giant Squid basking in the early rays, or one of the merpeople singing and brushing their hair.

Today, however, there was another person there- none other than Regulus Black. He wasn't doing anything, just sitting there on the large rock, watching the lapping waves.

'You're up early,' she said, approaching him. He looked up at her, startled.

'So are you,' he noted. 'Why is that?'

'Forgot to close my curtain,' she explained. 'Thought I'd go for a run.'

'Oh.' He turned away from her, and stared at the dark water. Gemma studied him, and for the first time she noticed a real sadness in his expression- a faraway look of longing and hope.

'I'm going back inside now though,' she said softly. 'It's quite cold. Are you coming?'

'No,' he said. 'Stay for a bit, will you? It's such a nice place.' Gemma hesitated for a minute, but then climbed up onto the rock and sat down next to him. They remained silent for a few minutes, with only the sound of the waves, their cheeks and noses going pink from the cold. Then, he turned to her.

'Tell me about yourself,' he said quietly. 'Anything. Anything you think is interesting.' She thought for a moment before answering.

'When I first came to Hogwarts, Iz teased me so much about my Irish accent that I stopped talking in it,' she said. 'I mimicked the way everyone else spoke, and eventually it became habit.'

'I can't imagine you with an accent,' Regulus said thoughtfully. She shrugged in response.

'Neither can I,' she said, almost inaudibly. 'Not anymore.'

'My middle name is Arcturus,' he said.

'That so?'

'When I was younger I always wanted it to be my first name. I forced Sirius to only ever call me that.' Gemma smiled at that.

'I don't have any siblings. I always wanted one though.'

'I lost the one I had. I don't even know how to talk to him now.'

'My favourite colour is red, because I feel like it represents me.'

'I love the sound of leaves rustling, like trees in the wind.'

'I like Potions and Arithmancy best because they don't require magic.'

'I used to always want to get a tattoo. Now it's my worst fear.'

'My lucky number is 7, because I got my broomstick on July 7th.'

'I'm scared. And I'm so, so tired of always being scared.' Gemma fell silent. She wanted to ask why, why he was scared. But she didn't. Instead, she stood.

'Come on,' she said, holding out her hand. 'It's time to go back inside now.' He took her hand, and she pulled him up.

.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.

Iz was ranting to Gemma about her latest issue- Ludo Bagman. They were in Divination, and Trelawny was explaining what the work was. It was difficult, but Gemma was somehow managing to listen, despite Iz's angry whispers.

Out of the three optional O.W.Ls Gemma had chosen to take- Arithmancy, Divination and Care of Magical Creatures- Divination was the only one she actually regretted. It seemed to make no logical sense, and ever since Trelawny had predicted her death, she'd been pretty terrified of asking the woman any questions.

But then McGonagall had told her that Trelawny predicted death every year, and thankfully, nobody had died yet. That had both put her mind to ease, and also lost her respect for the subject.

Today they were doing Horoscopes and zodiac signs, and when Trelawny finished speaking, Gemma opened her book and turned to the chart.

'Well?' Iz asked her. 'What do you think?' Gemma realised she hadn't been listening.

'The real thing here,' she said carefully, 'is what do you think?' Iz frowned.

'I think he's a piece of shit,' she decided. Gemma nodded.

'So, Iz,' she began. 'Your birthday is June 16th. So that makes you.... a Gemini.'

'Okay,' Iz said. 'So what's in my "near future"?'

'Um... you will face a huge... decision,' Gemma said, following the constellations.

'Ugh,' Iz said. 'Lemme do you. Move.' She grabbed the book from Gemma. 'What's your birthday?'

'Can't believe you don't know that,' Gemma said, hurt. Iz rolled her eyes.

'Just tell me will you?' She snapped.

'April 10th.'

'Right. That means your an... Aries and... Oooh.'

'What?'

'Death.'

'Huh? Who's death?'

'Doesn't say. Just says "DEATH" in bold letters.' Gemma didn't say anything, just contemplated that. Why was this subject so desperate to kill her?

'Divination is just pure bullshit,' Iz said, brushing it off. 'Let's see our friends... Ted's birthday is March 9th so...'

'You know his and not mine!' Gemma protested. She was ignored.

'He will... suffer great loss?' Iz looked confused.

'Yeah, probably me since I'm apparently dying,' Gemma said, irritated. A thought popped into her head. 'Hey, check Regulus. July 25th.'

Isolde checked the chart, and a wide smile spread across her face.

'What?' Gemma questioned impatiently, as Iz shut the book.

'You'll find out eventually,' she said, patting the other girl on the head, who slumped back in her seat in annoyance.  

.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.•*•.

The common room was fairly quiet for a Thursday evening. Usually there was a group of first or second years making a lot of noise, but today it was mostly just the fifth and seventh years, studying for their exams.

Gemma sat on the large sofa with Luke. Iz was sitting cross- legged on the armchair, and Ted was sprawled out on a two- person sofa opposite her. They were all supposed to be doing homework, but Gemma had taken to polishing her broom, Luke to reading an auto-biography by Martin Luther King, Iz was painting her nails and Ted was snoring loudly.

Their peace was disrupted by Regulus and Snape.

'Hey guys!' Regulus said as they entered, his mood brightening when he saw them.

'Hi Reg,' Luke said. 'Come, sit.' As Regulus took a seat between Gemma and Luke, Snape hovered uncertainly behind Iz. She turned around.

'I'd rather you didn't come so close to me,' she said, scrunching up her nose. 'Goodness knows when you last touched bathwater.'

Snape looked rather taken aback, and Gemma had to stifle her laughter.

'I.. Um.. I- I'll see you around Black,' he said quickly, and darted up the stairs.

'That was interesting,' Gemma commented. Regulus smiled in agreement.

'Hey, Gemma,' she said. 'Let me do yours now.' It took Gemma a moment to realise she was talking about her nails.

'Sure,' she said. She offered Iz her hand, but Iz made a face.

'Your nails are short as stumps,' she complained. Then her face brightened. 'Oi, Lukey. Come here.'

'What?' Luke asked, surprised. 'Absolutely not.'

'Oh come on,' Iz whined. 'We all know your a bit.. um..'

'A bit what?' Luke said threateningly. 'Finish that sentence Isolde.'

'Oh you are such a grumpy pants today,' she huffed, slumping back into her armchair.

'Have you guys done the Arithmancy homework?' Regulus asked, quickly changing the topic.

'No,' Iz snapped. 'I don't do stupid subjects.'

'Your a stupid subject,' Gemma said, smiling slightly. 'Arithmancy is the best.'

'So have you done it?' Regulus prompted.

'Of course,' Gemma replied. 'I still have Transfiguration, Charms and DADA stuff to finish though. DADA's a breeze, but the other two are doing my head in.'

'I'll make you a deal,' Regulus said. 'Let me copy your Arithmancy, and you can copy my Charms homework.' Gemma laughed.

'You're cute,' she said. 'But you realise I could just copy them from Luke for free, right?'

'Right,' Regulus said, looking slightly downtrodden. Gemma smiled.

'But I'll make a special offer just for you,' she said. 'Charms and Transfiguration.'

'Hmm. Your robbing me blind here.'

'Take it or leave it. Going once.. going twice..'

'Sealed!' Regulus pulled out his completed work from his bag, and Gemma did the same. She pulled out a pen from her bag and started to write.

'What is that?' Regulus questioned, ogling at her pen. Gemma realised he was holding a quill and had placed a pot of ink on the table.'

'Um, a pen,' she said. Iz rolled her eyes.

'It's some muggle thing,' she explained. 'Gemma's left- handed, and always makes a mess on the page with ink, so she uses that weird device.'

'Yeah,' Regulus said in awe. 'It is weird alright.'

'Try it,' she said, holding it out to him. He took it, and tried writing.

'And you don't need ink?' He asked. Gemma shook her head.

'It's already in there,' Luke said. 'There's a cartridge inside the plastic of the pen which holds it. Regulus's eyes and smile were impossibly wide as he wrote a few words with it.

'This is so much easier!' He exclaimed. Gemma smiled.

'Keep it,' she said. 'I have loads.' And, impossibly, his smile grew even wider. Ted chose that moment to wake up. And oh, he did so dramatically.

'Luke!' He yelled, as he jerked out of his seat. He lunged at Luke, and shook him frantically by the shoulders.

'Get off me!' Luke yelped, struggling to push Ted away.

'I had a horrible dream. You turned into a carrot and you ate me! And I know it was you because the carrot kept saying it wasn't a fruit!' He rambled. Finally, Luke managed to pry Ted away from him.

'Well, I'm right here, aren't I. As a human.' he said, through gritted teeth.

'Maybe you.. should go to bed,' Gemma advised Ted in between giggles.

'Yeah.. Maybe. But Black is coming too. I don't feel safe around that.. Ted- eating carrot.' Luke rolled his eyes, while Ted dragged Regulus upstairs.

'Bye guys!' Regulus called.

Only when Gemma was done copying his homework, and went to get her Arithmancy homework from where Regulus had been sitting, did she notice that Regulus had already filled his paper in with ink a long time ago.

a/n- check the moon on their birthdays if you want to know why I chose those <3