January 2nd, 1979

After a quiet night in Gryffindor Tower, things were back into full swing bright and early. The common room was hectic as students searched for their books and parchment that they had left during the holidays.

I ate breakfast with my friends, then Emmeline and I ventured into the dungeons for potions class.

"Merlin, it is freezing in here," Emmeline complained, sitting down at her seat.

I sat behind her, setting my books down on the table. "The entire castle is freezing," I commented.

Professor Slughorn had decided shortly before the holiday that we were keeping our potions partners and seats for the rest of the year. This meant that I was stuck with Regulus until June.

Regulus walked into the classroom, Evan and Barty following behind him.

I watched as Barty complained about something before taking his seat across the room, next to one of the Ravenclaw girls in our class.

Evan sat down next to Emmeline, grinning at her.

"I missed you, Vance," He said, "Did you miss me?"

Emmeline pushed his elbow off of her side of the table, groaning. "You're insufferable, Rosier."

"Hey, McKinnon," Regulus greeted, setting his books on the table.

I glanced over at him, he seemed to be in a good mood today. "Hey, Black."

"See, they're actually nice to each other now," Evan pointed out. "Come on, give me a chance."

Emmeline rolled her eyes at him.

"We're civil, at most," Regulus interjected.

I frowned slightly, giving him the side eye. "Yeah, civil."

Feeling suddenly annoyed with Regulus, I moved my chair all the way to the opposite side of the table, putting as much distance between us as possible.

Regulus glanced over at me, looking amused. He smirked when I frowned at him.

"So, Evan," I started, "How was your holiday?"

Evan grinned at me. "Why thank you for asking. It was great, I spent half of it drunk, which was a great use of my time."

"Hm, sounds nice," I replied.

Regulus shook his head slightly, rolling his eyes.

"You do anything for New Years'?" I asked.

"Yeah, Barty, Reg, and I went to that one club in London," Evan answered. "Then Reg ditched us to go home with some girl."

Emmeline perked up. "Hey, weren't you there, Meredith?"

"Yeah, I was," I said. "Must not have seen you lot."

Regulus glanced over at me, giving me a knowing look, which I ignored.

The classroom door opened, and Professor Slughorn came in, rubbing his hands together.

"Welcome back, class!" He chimed. "I hope you all enjoyed the holiday, but we have a lot of work to get to."

The class groaned collectively.

"We'll go ahead and get started then. Turn to page 543 in your textbooks."

- - - - -

When I reached the Great Hall, Regulus was already there, leaned against a pillar, talking to Evan Rosier.

Evan saw me first and grinned at me.

"Hey, McKinnon," He said, leaning against the wall.

"You know it's past curfew, Rosier," I joked. "I have every right to give you detention."

Regulus smirked, "That's what I told him."

"I'll gladly serve detention as long as it's with you," Evan interrupted, winking at me.

Regulus hit Evan in the arm. "Go back to the common room, mate. We actually have a patrol to do."

Evan held his hands up in surrender, saluting us goodbye before heading towards the direction of the dungeons.

"You don't look happy to see me," Regulus commented.

Merlin, he looks really good. His hair is slightly messy, he changed out of his uniform into a green jumper and trousers.

"I saw you earlier today," I replied, starting to walk down the corridor.

Regulus followed me, his steps falling into stride with mine.

"Yeah, but now you get me alone."

I glanced over at Regulus, raising an eyebrow at him. "Okay, and?"

"Well, you remember what happened on our last patrol."

It only plays in my head all the time.

"Tell me to stop, and I'll stop."

I shook my head, "No, it doesn't ring a bell."

Regulus smirked at me. "I think you just need a reminder."

"I'm kind of busy at the moment, Black," I said.

"I think patrol can wait."

He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into the nearest empty classroom. Regulus shut the door behind us and pressed me up against the door.

The room was illuminated by the moon outside the windows, casting shadows across his face.

Regulus looked into my eyes, then down at my lips before leaning in and kissing me. I kissed him back immediately, and I let my hands fall from his waist and tangle their way into his black curls.

Regulus had one hand on my waist, the other resting on my neck.

My lips parted to let his tongue slip into my mouth.

He kissed me like I wanted to be kissed, like no one else had ever kissed me before. The heat rose to my cheeks as our tongues danced together, deepening the kiss.

'He's a better kisser than his brother,' I thought.

I wrapped my arms around Regulus's neck and pulled him in closer to me, not a sliver of space between our two bodies.

Regulus smirked at me as he pulled away from the kiss, his hand still on my neck.

"What's so funny?" I asked, still trying to catch my breath.

He laughed, "I like seeing you come apart at my touch."

He pulled me into another kiss, this one filled with more passion and desire than the last. I moved my lips away from his as I kissed his neck, gently sucking to leave my mark on his body.

"Fuck," Regulus muttered, knocking his head back in pleasure.

I brought my lips back to his and kissed him again. His mouth met mine and he kissed me harder.

I pulled away from the kiss abruptly, smirking at him.

Regulus looked at me, his silvery-blue eyes filled with lust. "What?" He whispered.

"I like seeing you come apart at my touch," I teased, repeating his words.

He shook his head, smirking slightly. Regulus began to lean in again, but I cut him off, putting my finger against his lips.

He had an annoyed look on his face, fluttering his eyes at me.

I glanced down at my watch. "Ah, time to patrol," I said, showing him my watch.

"You're a tease, Meredith."

I opened the classroom door. "Are you coming?" I asked, gesturing towards the corridor.

"Yeah, just give me a minute," Regulus replied, looking up at the ceiling.

I rolled my eyes at him. "You're a mess," I mocked.

"You know this would be a lot easier if you shut up."

"Of course you get turned on when people are mean to you," I commented.

Regulus gave me the side eye before following me into the corridor to start our patrol.