Most of the usual suspects were scattered around in various states of post-dinner collapse. Draco had claimed an entire armchair like it was a territorial acquisition and was flipping through a Quidditch magazine with the energy of someone auditing it for inaccuracies. Blaise was doing something suspiciously elegant with a cup of tea, which is to say he was drinking it while judging everyone. Theo had a book open but wasn’t reading it—he was watching the fire with that expression that suggested he was either deeply philosophical or planning something that would get them all detention. Mattheo was sprawled on the floor near the hearth, tossing a Snitch up and catching it with the casual arrogance of someone who knew he’d never drop it.

And then there was Regulus Black, sitting on the floor directly in front of you, his back against the sofa, one knee drawn up, a book resting against his thigh. His dark curls—because yes, the universe had given Regulus Black perfect hair, because of course it had—were right there. Just... there. Shiny and soft-looking and practically begging for attention, which was ironic, because Regulus himself was doing his best impression of a statue that had been personally offended by the concept of human contact.

You were behind him on the sofa. His dark curls were directly in front of you. And without really thinking about it—truly, without a single strategic thought in your head—you reached out and started playing with them.

The common room did not go quiet. But something shifted. The fire held its breath. Draco’s magazine stopped turning. Mattheo’s Snitch hovered for a second too long in the air. Even the Black Lake outside seemed to press closer to the glass, because the Black Lake understood drama.

Regulus went completely still.

Not the still of someone who was annoyed. Not the still of someone preparing to hex your hand off. Just… still. The kind of still that happened when a person’s entire nervous system short-circuited and left them frozen in place, book forgotten, breath caught somewhere between surprise and something considerably more complicated.