XXIV. Midnight on the Pitch

                                    

                                          
The following day was a Sunday. 
                          
The students of Hogwarts were all enjoying their first day of school being a weekend, and spent it wandering 'round the grounds. Regulus, however, spent the majority of his time locked in his dorm room. With the new knowledge that - not only was Snape a Legilimens, but he was also actively reading Regulus's mind to try to gain more information on him - he knew that he needed to learn Occlumency. 
                          
So, he spent the entire day alone, reading The Art of Occlumency - which he had packed and brought to Hogwarts just in case - cover to cover. By dinner, he thought that he had enough of an understanding of it to stop for the day. 
                          
So, he stowed the book away under his mattress, suppressed any thought of the book, and made his way to dinner. Barty was sitting on their usual bench towards the end of the table, talking intently with Phoebe Scott. When Regulus took his spot on the bench, Barty broke away from his talk with Phoebe and looked at Regulus with a furrowed brow. 
                          
"What have you been doing all day? We all went out on the grounds, it was a really nice day. You should've come, I had to hang out with Rosier and Travers." Barty remarked, watching as Regulus piled his plate with food. 
                          
Regulus shrugged. "I was reading." 
                          
Barty raised an eyebrow. "You were reading? All day?" 
                          
"Yeah. I just - er - had to catch up on some of the summer reading that I hadn't done," he fabricated. 
                          
"Oh, well that makes sense I guess." 
                          
Regulus nodded. 
                          
All of a sudden, Carson Nott came down the table and leaned down between the two boys. "Hey guys," he said, and he draped an arm over each of their narrow shoulders. 
                          
"Er - hi," Regulus said, turning his head to find that the tip of his nose nearly pressed directly into the side of Carson's face. 
                          
"Did you lot hear what's going on tonight?" 
                          
"No?" Barty replied, also only realizing the close proximity of him and Carson when he tried to turn his head. 
                          
Carson glanced up at the teachers table to be sure that none of them were listening, and then leaned closer. "We're having a little Quidditch match on the pitch tonight. The Gryffindor captain and I are gonna be choosing teams to play against each other. At least half of the school is coming. Black, I heard you have a broom?" 
                          
"Yeah, I got it last Christmas," excitement coursed through Regulus's veins. 
                          
"Are you good?" 
                          
Regulus shrugged. "I think so."
                          
Carson Nott grinned and slapped Regulus heartily on the back. "Excellent. Meet down in the common room at quarter to midnight, we're all walking out together," and he walked back to his place at the end of the table. 
                          
So, at a quarter to midnight, all four of the second year boys walked down to the common room, Regulus with his broom slung over his shoulder. When they reached the usually empty common room, it was absolutely packed, it seemed like the whole house was down there! 
                          
"Ok, we're going in groups so Filch doesn't catch us, got it? Um, Macnair, you take those ones, Crabbe with them, Goyle with those," and he paired off the upperclassman with groups of younger students. By the end of it, all who were left were the four second year boys, Severus Snape, and Augustus Rookwood. "Alright, you lot are coming with me. If any of you get us caught, you're going to regret it, got it?" 
                          
The boys all muttered their understanding, and Carson Nott held open the common room door. They moved in complete and utter silence, taking soft steps so as to be sure that their footsteps wouldn't echo through the cold stone corridor. It was quite dark, and Regulus was freezing from the temperature drop that came with being down in the dungeons. Nevertheless, the group reached the entrance hall at the same time as a group of Ravenclaw's, and they all walked out onto the grounds (separately, of course, for the Slytherin's didn't want to have to interact with 'potential mudbloods').