Ch. 6

I was reluctant to return to Hogwarts after such a short break. It meant I would have to face Noelle after what I had done only days before. My arm burned constantly after being branded with the Dark Mark- it felt like pins and needles were stabbing into my arm at all times.

Not only was the pain excruciating, but the Dark Lord's demands were going to be hard to fill. He wanted fifteen new recruits from Hogwarts by the time school let out for the summer. It was going to be hard enough to talk about his plans without being turned in, let alone carry them out.

As I boarded the train back to Hogwarts, I could see Noelle talking to someone I couldn't quite see from the fog that covered the platform. She was smiling, laughing; no sign that I had ever known her… Narcissa noticed my distress when I walked into the compartment shared by fellow Death Eaters.

"Don't worry, Cousin," she told me. "I have someone better for you; someone who will be honored to serve a Death Eater such as yourself." I gulped. Better?

By that evening, I wanted nothing more than to be curled up alone at home. I tried talking to Noelle and she ignored me, I met that girl Narcissa told me about, and the looks Sirius gave me almost killed me in the hallways. The year was turning into a fiasco and I had no control.

I hid in the boys' dormitories trying to hide from Annette, the girl Narcissa introduced to me. She seemed nice (at least as nice as a Slytherin could be) at first, but she got a bit…possessive the more time I spent with her.

A dark skinned boy a year older than me named Lance Zabini walked in on where I was hiding in his dormitory. He raised an eyebrow at me. "And what might you be doing here?" he asked me.

"I…uhm…I was just hiding from…"

"Annette, yeah, I saw," he finished for me. "I can't believe you even thought about her, not to mention actually date her."

"It was—my cousin Narcissa—blind dating is sort of her specialty, you see," I tried to explain. He frowned.

"What happened to that other girl? The pretty Ravenclaw?" I stared down at my feet.

"I lost her. She found out I'm a Death Eater…"

"You mean she's free?" he asked excitedly, not even batting an eyelash at the fact that I was a Death Eater. I nodded reluctantly. He clapped me on the shoulder. "Black, you just made my day! I have to go find her…"

I groaned and collapsed on the bed closest to me, not caring whose it was.

The next day, I skipped Transfiguration to try to catch Noelle after her Charms class. I wanted to apologize and I wanted her to listen, not that it was likely, but I figured it was worth a shot.

So, that afternoon, I waited outside the Charms classroom for the bell to ring. As soon as it did, students came poring out from each of the classrooms in the hallway.

I caught Noelle by the wrist and pulled her back to me as she tried to fight her way past. "Noelle," I said trying to stop her struggling.

"Let go of me, Black," she spat, whipping out her wand and pointing it at me. I released her wrist and she went stalking past me into the thinning crowd.

"I'm sorry!" I blurted out. Well, more like yelled it. "What else am I supposed to do!"

The whole hall had stopped and turned to look at me, and Noelle was no exception. She looked like she was about to cry as she glared at me from across the hall, then:

"THINK! Regulus!" she screamed at me. "I know it's a new concept for you, but why don't you put that so-called 'brilliant' mind to work for once!" She smiled at me in a somewhat mad way before storming away to her next class.

I stood in the hallway stunned for a moment, no one really moving, besides someone who came up behind me and clapped me on the shoulder.

"Tough luck, mate," Lance Zabini said, "but, if you would excuse me, I have to go and comfort her." He walked away, a certain spring in his step.

I really felt like dying.

Author's Note: Two chapters because I don't know if I'll be able to update this week. I think these weren't my best, but the message still comes through.

Just really quick: some may call these chapters "un-called-for," but I really think that they do help the story progress. What would you do if you found out that your boyfriend/girlfriend had joined a group like the Death Eaters?

With that, I invite you to review this story and tell me what you think!

~Salty