Hands Down (Vas)

[brett]

Regulus Black sat with his back propped against his favorite tree down by the lake. He could feel the print of the bark being ingrained into the pale skin of his back, but he really didn't mind. It was a lovely October day at Hogwarts. A light autumn wind ruffled the tree's branches knocking a few yellowish orange leaves to the soft green grass. One was carried into the shallow waters of the black lake causing light ripples in the waters calm surface.

Regulus had found much time for coming out to the lake to relax recently so it was certainly a welcome feeling. To have nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon save sit and watch the water was amazing. Reg's previous trip to the lake had not been nearly this peaceful, nor had his motives been as innocent, but what could be expected of the serpentine prince.

Reluctantly, Regulus had played hero that day, pulling a rather annoying fourth year out of the lake and spoiling her suicide attempt. The bright spot of the afternoon had been the other fourth year girl he had run into. His partner in crime Viviene Schwartz. Partner in crime may have been an over statement, but Vas certainly had been crucial in his getting away with the destruction of a classroom. He hadn't seen the girl since, and he did still owe her a favor, hopefully she hadn't forgotten. Regulus did not much like being in someone's debt.

[vas]

“No, stay. Stay. Ow!” Vas swatted her cat away, finally loosing patience with Fez. She had been trying to leave her dorm for the past five minutes but keep the cat locked up. He kept bounding forward when she creaked the door and had actually made a leap onto her leg, hoping to be drug out. Shoving him off, Vaz lost her temper and pulled out her wand. Levitating Fez was quite the sight, the feline flopping around in circles in the air and getting no where. “Serves you right,” she spat at him as she dropped him to the floor, closing the door with a snap. Vas tucked her wand away and smoothed down her hair, calming herself before she headed down into the Common Room.

There was scarcely anyone indoors, most of the students enjoying the light sun outside in favor of a place by the fireplace. She decided she’d follow the crowd and left the Common Room, humming quietly to herself as she walked down the hall. She really had no where to be, and her homework was done. The lake seemed like as fine a place as any – now Vas, let’s make sure today doesn’t involve any suicides. A dry laugh escaped her, shaking her head at the thought. Bella could be so strange sometimes, but Vas loved the girl to death. They’d been best friends forever and something like that wasn’t about to shake their friendship. What could possibly shake it was the fact that Regulus was now Vas’s unofficial friend. She never had gotten it out of Bella why she hated him so much; it was unfathomable to Vas, head over heels for the Slytherin herself. Just the fact that he actually knew of her existence was enough to send her stomach into a fit of butterflies. It really was foolish of her, thinking she meant anything to him – but one could dream.

As Vas walked down the steps of the castle, a cool breeze greeted her, making her pull her thin coat more securely around her figure. Maybe wearing a t-shirt today hadn’t been so smart. Dismissively letting that pass, she headed down the small dirt path towards the lake. Carelessly she kicked along a rock as she went, staring at the ground with her thoughts going haywire. She became so distracted by herself that she accidentally kicked the rock a little bit harder then she meant to, sending it flying off the path. She looked up, startled as she heard it land with a thump against the grass. “Oh!” she gasped idiotically, forgetting all about the rock, her sole focus now that Regulus wasn’t so far off sitting underneath a giant tree. Quick – what’s an excuse to talk to him? In a flash she had it, a teasing smiling lining her lips. Vas walked right over and grinned down at him, “You still owe me, you know,” she said a matter-of-factly, ignoring casual greetings. He’s so handsome! she squealed in her mind, glad he had no way of hearing it.

[brett]

"I remember," Regulus said smiling up to see Vas' face grinning down at him, so she hadn't forgotten. Reg scooted over and patted the ground next to him for Vas to join him. "Thought of what you'd like?" he asked almost as if he were asking her what she would like for Christmas this year. What the young Raven would ask was a mystery to him, but he was actually rather anxious to find out. The last favor called in he had spent a night camping out in the forest with Gemma Avery studying her sleep patterns, trying to diagnose/cure her problem as she had done for Reg.

Would Vas ask him to cover for something she had done? Probably not, Reg couldn't imagine the cute fourth year doing anything she wasn't supposed. Even if she did, a known bender of the truth like Regulus Black was probably not the best person to turn to. Then again he could always make people, especially teachers believe him so perhaps he wouldn't be such a bad resource after all. But if Vas wasn't going to ask for a cover up, what would her request be? And how far would Regulus go? Typically he tried to make it somewhat equal, but he would usually accept any request as long as it wasn't too extravagant.

Regulus looked to Vas, she was really rather cute especially for a fourth year. And it really was endearing the way she seemed to swoon over him, though Regulus pretended not to notice. Even now he was a bit surprised she had been able to come right up to him in her t-shirt and light jacket. If he didn't have a girlfriend, he might just have been tempted to take advantage of his Ravenclaw admirer...Somehow, he didn't think she'd mind. But he was far too in love with Indi to try and employ such tactics...not to mention Bella would probably flip on him again, he'd seen what she was capable of and quite frankly it was scary.

[vas]

“I remember.” She would have forced him to remember if he hadn’t. But that didn’t concern her too much, more focused on trying not to hyperventilate as he made room for her. Just the fact that he offered made it hard to breathe – it was official: it was unhealthy to like someone so much when they could scarcely remember your name. She knew she failed miserably at not looking too over-eager as she sat down beside him, wrapping her arms around her waist for warmth. “Thanks,” she smiled, trying hard to keep it small.

“Have you thought of what you’d like?” Regulus could not possibly know how much she loved his voice and absolutely ever word that rolled off his lips. Immediately her mind launched into all sorts of requests that she knew were impossible and foolish, like demanding he take her to the dance. She knew that would never happen – Vas had done her research: the girl’s name was Indigo Grace, sixth year Gryffindor. When she’d confronted the Swan girl about it, she’d almost seemed too ready to give Vas information. There was unresolved tension in her tone, like she was secretly rooting for Vas or something. She’d even offered to point out the girl, which Vas had graciously accepted. Now she had a name and a face – both of which she loathed with all her heart, simply because she’d managed to steal Regulus’s.

It was supremely hard to crush those silly requests and come up with something reasonable. Her mind kept wandering back to her fantasies, not reasonable suggestions. Vas was aware she’d probably been silent for too long, but childishly she figured the longer she drew it out the longer she’d have with him. And then she just blurted it out, as calmly as she could, “How about we just hang out for today? I’m rather curious about you and that classroom…what on earth were you doing in there that caused it to become a danger zone? I saw it the other day…it looked like something had exploded.” It seemed like an easy enough request. Besides, all she really wanted was time with him anyways. She had to make a mark on his memory, even if it was just the Ravenclaw with a schoolgirl crush.

[brett]

((I actually feel bad that Vas likes him so much, but he can't do anything))

It was funny, that Vas would thank him for simply allowing her to sit next to him while Regulus would have a difficult time conjuring the words for someone who save his life. It was hard to admit gratitude to someone else. In a way, it felt like submitting to them, like by giving them gratitude they now somehow held a power over you. It was a ridiculous notion, but ridiculous notions were the foundation for all teaching in the most Noble house of Black.

Regulus was almost dissappointed by the docile request. An afternoon with the Serpentine Prince to replace the one they had made up in their first encounter, it seemed fair. Besides, who was he to deny the Raven the pleasure of his company. Of course her chosen subject matter was something of a concern. He could tell her what happened in the classroom, as long as he stayed away from specifics. He couldn't tell her what spells he had used, or where he had found them, surely if she knew her school girl crush would be...well crushed. Not that Regulus cared much for the feelings of others, but the knowledge could be used against him rather easily and somehow if it came down to her word or his the Headmaster would barely have to blink before deciding who to believe.

"Quite a few things exploded actually," Regulus smiled proudly. He recalled the incident the scrawled parchment full of mysterious spells from a book in the restricted section of the library. Regulus had been so afraid of getting caught in the act. He could have stopped after the first spell caused a desk to burst into flames, but he couldn't curiosity over came him and he fired spell after spell off the list with little regard for the damage he was causing. The power had been intoxicating...it had only been when he finally finished the list and surveyed the scene that reality set in.

"Not much else to tell really," Regulus shrugged unsure of what else he could say about the event. "Just some spell practice that got a bit...out of hand," he smiled innocently. "I'm sure there's other things you'd much rather talk about," he suggested grinning at her. Reg assumed that Vas wouldn't want to spend the day talking about the destruction of a classroom, otherwise it would seem a bit of a wasted afternoon. "I know I'm personally more interested in finding out more about you than your name is Viviene Schwartz, but you go by Vas," Regulus adding letting her know he hadn't forgotten what little he knew about her.

[vas]

OOC: *Laughs* Don’t worry; Vas has plenty of other love interests; it’s just fun to make her so taken with someone she can’t ever have. Kind of morbid of me when you think about it…torturing my own characters…hmpth. Well, anyways, posting…so on it…


God, get a hold of yourself, Vas mentally scowled herself, and failing beyond all belief. She was simply gushing with happiness just to be sitting by the boy – there was something wrong with that. They had talked once, once in her entire history at Hogwarts – and suddenly she was glued to him, more so then before, just because they had talked. Once. Yes, there was something wrong with that. But in her mind it made clear sense, often fantasizing about him whenever she had a spare moment and even when she didn’t. Of course, most of the time her dreams were now cluttered with an annoying Gryffindor off to the side, but that was unimportant – the fact was that right now, in real life, Regulus Black was sitting by her. and there was no intruding Gryffindor around either. Or Bella for that matter.

“Quite a few things exploded actually.” He could have just smiled to bring her back into reality, but his voice was much better. Oddly enough, he almost sounded as though he were boasting, like destroying a classroom for the purpose of blowing things up was something highly encouraged. Well, it was attractive at least, in her mind. Her wild envisionments of Regulus casting about fury-filled spells was crushed though, his finish something of a let down: “Not much else to tell really…just some spell practice got a bit...out of hand.” Her image was reduced to Regulus sitting on top of a classroom table and firing off a few random hexes, one of which accidentally hit a bookshelf and igniting the thing to flames. Not as impressive as her first view, but still pleasurable enough to see.

Oh, oh, oh! It was like he had heard her – he knew he just had to look her way and suddenly she’d be tongue-tied. Vas wasn’t sure how he knew, but he did…then again, he’d probably figured that out all by himself just because she had practically thrown herself down to sit by him. How pitiful. Vas honestly and truly tried to take in every word he said with coherency, but she was still too thrilled that he was talking to her of all people to really take in much at all – until he mentioned her, her name fluently rolling off his lips like he’d done it a million times. Or maybe she just heard it that way. Embarrassingly enough Vas felt her cheeks redden slightly, simply because he wanted to know more about her – her! “Um, well,” she thought, fumbling for a topic of conversation that might possible interest him. And then she had it, “Well, this does have to do with me…sort of, but it’s a question to.” She smiled fleetingly, hoping that was okay. “The day before, you mentioned that I’d been telling you about my brother…his job…I was just wondering if you knew Leon or not; I was slightly shocked when you’d guessed quite accurately. That letter? Yeah, I’d only just been reading it when you came along. You’re quite a good guesser,” she complimented, her smile getting too big again.

[brett]

OOC: haha, well that's good to know, perhaps it's just because the issue of unrequited love hits close to home for me

Regulus nodded for Vas to continue as she said she wanted to ask a question. He had really hoped to get away from questions, but as long as it didn't have to do with the library it didn't matter. Reg was really just curious as to what she would ask. Would she ask if she had a girlfriend? No, she said it had to do with her. Had he told her he had a girlfriend? Wouldn't she know even if he didn't tell her? Why was he asking himself so many questions? Thankfully Vas's voice broke through before he could ask anymore.

The question probably shouldn't have surprised Reg, and it didn't really, it just wasn't quite what he expected. Although when you don't know what to expect, anything is unexpected. "I should have known you were going to ask me about that," he smirked. "I didn't know Leon, not really...in fact I didn't even remember his first name until you just said it. I just remembered he graduated, and he had the same last name as you, so I took my chances," Regulus shrugged. Educated guesswork was all it was really, just part of being a cunning snake. "Did he play quidditch, your brother?" Reg added as an afterthought. It may have been the reason he remembered the name, but maybe not.

"Oh, and the whole knowing he had a new job thing was that I knew, or at least I was pretty sure he graduated last year so even if he got a job right after graduation it's only been a few months and that's still considered new as far as I'm concerned," He added figuring Vas would have asked about that. It was really just a big part of being lucky that he remembered those things, but Regulus Black hardly admitted to being lucky. It was one thing to acknowledge you were lucky it was quite another to admit it. If people think your just lucky you become for less impressive and/or interesting. That was something Reg didn't want anyone thinking of him.

[vas]

OOC: Mmm, yeah, the story everyone gets to live sometime in their life. ;]


Vas’s high spirits were slightly dampened as she kept babbling, Regulus seemingly all not there. Not that she should have expected anything different – hadn’t she just decided she held no interest whatsoever to him? Why would he bother to even listen to her? What she had to say wasn’t all that important, was it? But he seemed to come back, saying more then she would have thought capable from him; he’d always stuck her as quiet. Clearly he had a bigger vocabulary then what she had originally taken him for.

So Regulus didn’t know her brother…well, she was pretty certain she had known that. If Leon had known Regulus, she would have found the means to make Leon introduce the pair. Then they wouldn’t have had to have such an awkward first meeting. Bella had certainly crushed making a good, decent impression on Regulus of herself. Well, now was the time to make up for that. At the mention of Quidditch, her smile regained its full spread. “Yeah, he did. One of Ravenclaw’s chasers. He was a big sports person…” Yes, that was it – it would be the only place Regulus would know Leon from anyhow. Vas had always enjoyed watching the games, quite sport oriented herself though not so talented to be worthy of her House team. All the same, she had liked helping Leon train over the summer. Their large backyard had served as a nice pitch during the long summer days.

“Definitely a good guesser,” Vas repeated, nodding once. Well, Regulus had some brains about him – that was good. Not that she would ever truly be able to find a flaw with him – for her, he was perfection. It was rather disheartening to try and come to terms that he wasn’t hers though. Ugh, stop Vivienne, stop! It wasn’t often she addressed herself by her full name, but she really needed to stop being to enthralled with Regulus – full names made it sound more assertive. “He does have a job though,” she added more pleasantly, getting back to the matter at hand, “Gringotts. He gets to sort papers for a living.” Vas smirked, recalling her brother’s sarcasm perfectly.

[brett]

Regulus nodded, "I thought that was where I remembered the name from." Reg attempted remembering more about the former Chaser, but couldn't come up with much he got a bit of the face though, he might be confusing it with the others. Reg new the names of everyone else on the opposing rosters...or at least tried to, but he just knew names and positions...faces not so much. Unless it was his team of course. It would be rather bad for the captain to not know his own teammates. "Do you play?" Reg asked wondering if Vas had inherited her brothers knack for the sport.

Regulus smiled as Vas confirmed that he was a good guesser. The sounds like a fair name though Regulus preferred brilliant deducer. "Well you know a big part of being a snake is bending the truth to your will, and taking chances on what little information you have...at least for the best of us," Regulus added smugly. Of course Slytherin also had the enforcers, those who entered the house based on blood and a mean streak. All the best though, Salazar Slytherin, the Dark Lord, and now Regulus all cunning masters of the spoken word. Though his predecessors seemed crueler than Regulus, he was still just a teenager, he would soon grow to be just as malicious as his idols.

"Now that sounds exciting," Regulus smirked sarcastically. "Though he must get decent pay, working in the bank...can't be pleasant working with those horrid creatures all day though," he added referencing the goblins. They were good at guarding money, Reg would grant them that, but they were ugly little things. "Where does he hope to end up? Assuming he doesn't want to sort papers for goblins the rest of his life," Regulus added assuming and quite frankly hoping Vas's brother would aspire to more.

[vas]

“I think it’d be the only place you would,” Vas agreeing lightly, trying to act a bit more normal. She was determined to have a regular conversation with him. “He really likes the sport, so he joined the first year available.” She could picture it all very perfectly, watching her brother zoom in and out of other players to score for their team. He’d had a big head when it came to Quidditch – Leon was sort of Slytherin-ish when it came to sports. If he won, he was a sore winning and if he lost, he was a sore loser. “Do you play?” Vas blinked, coming back to the present. “Um, kind of,” she allowed, “I don’t play on my House team or anything, if that’s what you’re wondering. But I helped Leon over the summers and whatnot. I like flying, but not that much.” But she was speaking to Slytherin’s captain – obviously they would have different views on the matter.

Vas laughed quietly then, nodding slightly, “Spoken like a true Slytherin.” Even if she wanted to believe Regulus was the most wholesome man in the world, Vas knew he wasn’t. He’d been put into Slytherin for a reason after all. Ever one had their bad sides; it was just that theirs was slightly more…visible. “So what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done, Master Manipulator?” she asked casually, hoping she’d actually get a decent answer – he’d sidestepped a real answer last time. If he needed to know anything about her, it was that she could be stubborn.

“No, he’s not going to sort papers the rest of his life,” Vas grinned, her tone matter-of-fact. “Leon has always wanted to follow after Dad’s footsteps – he’s a very rich man,” she boasted, winking, “So it’s always interested Leon: Dad works for the Ministry, with all the creature-related problems floating about. Supposedly right now he’s off in the Americas dealing with a rouge dragon…although Mum won’t’ say much. That’s just our guess.” Vas had taken to winding a strand her hair around her index finger, a habit of hers that always popped up when she talked a lot. Conscious of it, she dropped her hand into her lap and laced her fingers together, “Leon has big life goals,” she added, chuckling under her breath.

[brett]

Reg nodded still trying to bring up a face to match the name...Leon Schwartz. He finally decided he had an idea which one was Leon, pretty good player if he was remembering right. "Well, maybe you'd consider it next year? I think there's quite a few players graduating," Regulus added not sure why he was trying to press this. Maybe because he wanted everyone to love quidditch like he did, but as he thought about it, it was probably best Vas didn't try out. After all he wasn't sure how he'd take seeing the cute little Ravenclaw getting pelted with a bludger from the bat of one of his beaters.

"What can I say, I was born with a forked tongue," Regulus smirked as though he couldn't help the fact. Really he wasn't sure he could, but nonetheless he took pride in the fact. Vas' next question however was a little unsettling. His mind flashed back to the fight with Bella watching her squirm in pain, laughing at the pain he was causing. He quickly shook the thought. "Well it depends on the definition of worst," Regulus shrugged seeming this looked like a good way to dodge the answer. "If by worst you mean most destructive, probably the classroom incident," he added figuring he wouldn't wait for Vas to specify her meaning by offering his own instead.

Regulus nodded, rich was good. And her father had a job at the ministry? Boy would his parents love to meet her, Money+Power=Respect in the house of Black, and respect was good. Of course his parents hated his current girlfriend and would be glad to meet just about anyone else. Thankfully they didn't know Reg and Indi were dating, but Reg was beginning to wonder how much longer before word leaked to Cissy or Trix who would be sure to tell his parents. And the question then would be could Reg disobey his parents? After spending so long obeying them to earn their love would he be able to ignore their wishes for a girl who gave him her love willingly?

Reg may have been going off in his head a bit during the conversation, but Vas' voice always brought him back. "What about you?" Regulus asked after Vas informed him that Leon had big dreams. It was good for Leon, but Reg had really heard more than he cared to about Leon. After all he wasn't sitting by the lake with Leon, but yet he knew more about him than he did about Vas.

[vas]

Vas had never really had much motivation for ever going out for her House team, but somehow hearing it form Regulus made the decision seemed more reasonable – maybe she would? Of course, she just might be trying to impress him again. “I donno, I suppose I could look into it.” But she was still undecided whether she would actually have the guts to try out or not. From what she had heard, they could be brutal. The weak links were always singled out quickly; granted, Vas wasn’t an awful flyer or anything, but just taking the chance that she might be the worst there, her pride couldn’t take it.

“Well it depends on the definition of worst. If by worst you mean most destructive, probably the classroom incident.” Hmpth – so he’d done some pretty bad things then. She hadn’t missed the small pause, thinking over an answer. One good thing she could say about being a believable liar herself was that you could tell when others were trying to lie to you. “Fair enough,” she sighed, figuring she wasn’t going to get any better of an answer from him. If he didn’t want to tell her, she wasn’t going to pry anymore – besides, his response sort of made her wonder if she really wanted to know after all.

“What about you?” The fact that anything about her could even hold an ounce of interest to him…that was…oddly comforting. So maybe she wasn’t boring him to death. “Um, well…” she murmured, racking her brain. “Well, I’d like to work with animals too. I’ve always been around animals ever since I was little…we have a lot of Muggle pets,” she laughed, always finding it peculiar when she said she had a horse and they didn’t know what that was. “Right now we have four horses, one for each family member, my cat Fez, and then Rusty – he’s our dog. They’re all great,” Vas adding fondly, talking about them making her miss them even more. “I don’t know about going into the Ministry though, that seems too restrictive to me. You have to be on their schedule, and if you’re not, you’re fired. Simple as that.” Hmm, what else could she offer? And then Vas smirked, “You know, I bet you could guess all you want and never figure out one thing about me. Personally I think it’s sort of funny no one ever notices.” Vas turned to look at him fully, wondering if he would catch it.


OOC: Heh heh. You win if you can guess. XD I mentioned it in Vas’s profile, if that helps you any. ^^

[brett]

"It's worth a shot," Regulus shrugged deciding not to try and push any further. If Vas wanted to do it great, if not then he was actually probably better off, seeing as he was captain of an opposing team. He had thought it would be nice to see a friendly face out on the pitch, but Regulus was really far from friendly when it came to quidditch. Slytherin was known for playing 'dirty' in quidditch, due to their overly aggressive tactics, but most of the they did operate within the rules. Honestly Reg couldn't help, but think that the other teams were a bit jealous that they couldn't compete with the snakes physically. Of course being a more female team this year there would be a little less of that intimidating physical presence, but those girls were vicious.

Vas knew he was lying, that much he could tell from her tone, but she had decided not to press further. Reg was liking this girl more and more every minute. Strangely the fact that she didn't ask made him want to tell her, but he knew what that would end up like. What would Vas think of him if he told her he had tortured her best friend...and laughed. Of course he still maintained it was necessary to use the curse, and Bella seemed to have no permanent damage...but he had enjoyed it.

"Horses," Regulus repeated clarifying that he had said the word correctly. "There like unicorns without the horn right?" he asked to confirm what he was pretty sure he knew. He had scene the creatures, but sometimes forgot what they were called. Yes, horses was right he thought, centaurs were half horse. Awkward looking things, Regulus had been a bit confused when he'd first seen a horse. He hadn't realized that was what a full horse looked like...it was rather awkward seeing that strange long head and neck attached to the rest of the animal. Of course Centaurs probably looked awkward to muggles, who would probably just want to kill them for being different. That was the problem with muggles, they thought anything that was different had to be destroyed, really it was the muggles who needed to be destroyed.

"That's government for ya," Regulus smiled. You did what they wanted when they wanted or they would find someone who would. It wasn't so bad, but far to restrictive. Of course Regulus would probably end up with a job at the ministry. Perhaps start as an intern then work his way up. After all the Dark Lord would need to infiltrate the ministry in order to gain even more support his cause. Turn the media on those who stood against him. And if Regulus played his cards right perhaps he would even get to be named Minister, after all the Dark Lord couldn't really proclaim himself minister, even if he would be the one truly giving the orders. Still the future seemed uncertain for Regulus, there were so many questions and he was so young, but if he didn't join the Dark Lord soon he would lose his shot at the inner circle.

Vas' voice once again pulled him back to earth. A guessing game now, was it? Something often over looked? Vas turned full on and Reg scanned over her face. Now that he was taking a look she was rather cute, nice complexion beautiful brown eyes like his girlfriends...except one seemed to be lacking it's color. "Your blind in one eye?" Regulus asked not so much that he was guessing, but as if she had just told him and he was responding with shock. How had he not noticed sooner? Perhaps because he never expect to go anywhere romantically with Vas, and Bella had been present for most of their last encounter, so any eye contact then would have been fleeting.

((I win? ;D ))

[vas]

OOC: *Dingdingdingdingding!*


Vas smiled lightly and nodded, thinking perhaps she might actually give it a try next year – until she reminded herself she was talking to Slytherin’s captain. Her pride was too big to let herself throw the game just to see Regulus smile but she didn’t want to put in a fair game either and loose only to watch him prance around and gloat. Both options seemed kind of bad, none of which she was willing to face. Perhaps she was just better on that ground. “I’ll look into it,” she repeated, hoping that would be good enough – but Vas knew she wouldn’t.

“Horses; they’re like unicorns without the horn, right?” Aw, he’s so cute when he’s confused! She giggled and nodded. “Yes, they’re like unicorns without the horn.” A perfect image to Rein came to her mind, how he felt and what he smelt like – it made her miss him more. “Mine’s not white either,” Vas added, stifling her laughs, “He’s kind of like a butterscotch color, with black legs and a black mane and tail…of course, I could have just told you he’s a Buckskin but that probably wouldn’t mean much to you, would it?” she chuckled, “He’s name is Rein by the way.” Yup – the hardest thing to do was leave her horse behind during the school year. But Regulus’s mention of a unicorn had reminded her she hadn’t visited the Forest yet… For years Vas had secretly been slipping out at night to go out into the Forest and track down her favorite unicorn that lived there, Silvara she’d named him. Out of due habit she glanced over to the trees, scanning the plane. He was in there somewhere.

She scarcely heard Regulus remark on the government, still looking for a flash of white or something to let her know Silvara had survived another summer. A worry she had never been able to get over was that one year she would come back and not find him again. But looking in broad daylight was silly, and besides, he wouldn’t be so close to the grounds where students could still reach him. Giving up, she turned back around and waited, curious if he would notice. A knowing smile spread across her lips, “You’re blind in one eyes?” The look on his face was priceless; granted, she’d gotten the look many times, but this time she had an excuse to stare and not be asked why. “Surprise!” she teased, throwing her hands up in mock amazement. “I was born with it,” she added a matter-of-factly. “Mum has offered to fix it millions of times, but I’ve always told her no. I’m not ashamed of it – besides, it gives me character.” Vas smiled proudly, still inwardly laughing as Regulus flat-out astonishment. Of course, she hadn’t drawn much attention to it the first time they’d ran into each other, so she could understand why he might have been slightly alarmed. Still…he was pretty funny looking.

[brett]

Regulus nodded at Vas' comment thinking he would leave it at that, but then he thought of one final thing. "Well, even if you don't play I hope you'll still go to all the games. And I know you won't root against your house, but maybe you could root for Slytherin against the other teams," Regulus asked almost shyly as he flashed Vas a smile. It was uncharacteristic and it was also mostly put on. He'd found out early that no one would consider rooting for you unless you asked nice. And Reg knew that the first match against Gryffindor would have the fans heavily favoring the courageous lions over the cunning snakes, so Reg and his team could use all the support they could get.

Regulus smiled shaking his head, Buckskin was definitely not a word he was familiar with. In fact if someone just used the word he wouldn't have ever guessed it had anything to do with horses. "That's a nice name," Regulus said. He liked the rain and he supposed it would be a good name for the horse. People rode them, he knew that, they seemed to mind much less than centaurs or unicorns. Of course Reg had seen wild ones too running in herds it looked like they wouldn't much like to be ridden either. Reg may just have to try ridding one at least once. He'd ridden a tame Hippogriff once at a festival his parents took him to. Even though the Hippogriff had been tamed Reg still had to bow and show respect to the animal first. The act was a bit embarrassing, bowing to creature liked that, but well worth it for the short flight...looking back Regulus felt bad for the creature, He had only gone on that flight once and it was exhilarating, but how many times had the Hippogriff taken the same circuit, and how long before that flight lost it's magic for the creature? Stuck to the same path when all you really want is to be free, but even if you could be you wouldn't know what to do...Regulus could relate.

Regulus smiled as Vas threw up her arms in mock surprise, it was strange now that he had figured it out he couldn't figure how he'd ever missed it. It was just one of those things, you'd never see it unless you were looking for it, but once you noticed it once, it was impossible to not see it. "yea it does," Regulus agreed with a small smile, but he couldn't help a slight look of confusion and just a touch of admiration. To take pride in something that was clearly a weakness, it just didn't make sense to Regulus. He wondered what it was like to be that comfortable with your own faults. It must be nice.