Chapter 245: Professor Regulus [bonus]
Lily stood beside a flat stone at the lake's edge, hopping from foot to foot. Her laugh rang out, bright and clear, carried far by the wind.
Marcia watched her bounce and laughed along.
When Lily had finally had enough, she stopped, cheeks flushed, breathing quick, but the smile wouldn't leave her face. She glanced down at the slip of paper in her hand and moved to tuck it into the inner pocket of her robe.
The moment her fingers touched the edge of the pocket, the paper began to change. The dull grey-white faded back to deep yellow. The edges curled and the stiff sheet softened into something supple, slightly waxy.
A leaf.
Lily stared at it, pouted for half a second, then tucked the leaf carefully into the pocket sewn inside her sleeve.
A leaf works too. Could make a nice bookmark.
Marcia stood beside her, watching the whole performance of laughing and hopping, and a name surfaced in her mind: Regulus Black.
She'd known since last term that Lily had some kind of connection to the Slytherin boy. It wasn't a secret. Lily hadn't hidden it. Sometimes, coming back from the library, Lily would sit on the edge of her bed and stare at nothing, mouth curved in a smile she didn't seem aware of.