Regulus wasn't lying when he said his brother's pranks were the best part of Halloween, if he was honest they had been his favorite part of Halloween since well before they got to Hogwarts. Of course that was when he was his partner in crime instead of a target. Sirius had only become more creative with his pranks over the years, and even if he ended up paying for them, Regulus couldn't help appreciating his big brother's artistry. Hermione however disagreed.

"It's funny! You're taking it too seriously." He defended as he sat across from her in their spot of the library.

"It's disruptive, I don't need wrapping paper on toilet seats or overly expensive gimmicks!" She said.

"Not to mention Halloween is on a Monday, it's a school day, we should be learning, not waiting for Potter's friends to jump out from behind the corner."

"Boo." A voice said from behind him. Regulus turned around to see his brother in the aisle. "Sorry, Granger, did I scare you?"

He hadn't, in fact the look on Hermione's face was far more disgusted than anything else. "I don't know about you Shirley but I'm not so easily scared." Regulus had to admit he was a bit lost, he hadn't really known his brother would talk to Slytherins let alone playfully banter with his new friend.

Regulus didn't really know what to say, that last time he and Sirius had spoken wasn't under the best circumstances and he doubted either of them would really get over it anytime soon. "Hi"

Sirius nodded at him before looking back at Hermione, "You know you could enjoy something for once. It wouldn't kill you."

"And you could— take something" Regulus practically cringed before the word left her mouth. "Seriously for once, it might be fun for you."

Sirius let out a chuckle as Hermione sneered, Regulus however was starting to get a heavy feeling in his gut at their comfortability with each other even if they were fighting. Sirius didn't talking to him and Hermione usually kept him at arm's length. But the way they talked to each other conveyed the familiarity of old friends or even family.

"I do quite enjoy being Sirius." He said with a smirk leaning backwards onto the bookshelf. Hermione let out an exaggerated groan looking back at him for the first time since his brother appeared to confirm their shared annoyance at him.

"Dear god, do you have to make that pun every time someone says Sirius?" Hermione leaned her head back to illustrate her exasperation.

"Of course I do its in the contract on the back of my birth certificate. If I don't I'll end up in Azkaban."

Hermione's face went blank and her tone cold. "Leave." Her eyes flicker back down to the page to make it clear the conversation was over.

"Oh, come on have a sense of humor!" Sirius said but she didn't look up or respond.

"Would you think that were funny to someone who had been there?" Regulus asked Sirius looked down at him, the brothers matching eyes met. "Have you even seen a dementor?" Sirius shook his head slightly in response before waving his hand as if in surrender as his eyes went back to Hermione.

"Didn't mean to hit a nerve… bye, I guess." And just like that his brother was gone without speaking a word to him.

"You okay?" He said to Hermione.

"Fine."

No, Regulus wasn't lying.

_#_

The prank was, in fact, rather fun. It didn't even require time to cough up hairballs or leave anything particularly out of place. Hermione seemed surprised that they waited until after classes. She also told him, she was surprised at the Muggle influence. He bit his lip and picked up a stray pirate hat, apparently Muggle Halloween could be quite fun.

Hermione smiled holding fake tulle fairy wings. "I dressed up as a fairy when I was six." He almost forgot she was a halfblood. She wasn't the only halfblood or muggleborn in the room that seemed a bit stuck in the nostalgia of the night. Severus Snape stared down the room in disgust, with no costume on his plate. McGonagall seemed to smile at a rather over the top purple witch hat.

At the Gryffindor table, everyone grabbed at different props and costumes they had settled before them. Lilly Evans wore a crown, Potter wore antlers, Sirius and Lupin appeared to have matching dog onesies, and Pettigrew looked like a scarecrow.

"How do you think they did it?" Hermione asked. She was smiling still. He was glad she came down to dinner tonight, though it had taken quite a lot of begging and giving up more pride then he'd thought he'd had. It was worth it, seeing her smile with a golden halo atop her head.

"I'm pretty sure they have an in with the house elves." he said. They weren't the only Slytherins embracing this prank either. Crouch had cape on and was eating steak so messy and raw that it soaked into the white shirt of his uniform. Greengrass seemed quite happy with a black top hat surrounded by a stuffed boa constrictor.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "An 'in'? The house elves help everyone."

He shrugged. "I suppose… but considering five or six of them work at Potter Manor during the summer, I'd guess they've known Potter his whole life."

"I get why Hogwarts needs a lot of house elves- its huge. Does Potter Manor really need them?" she cringes. The rest of the Muggle costumes disappear as the main feast is laid out before them.

"I've never been there, but from what I know of pureblood manors in terms of size verse elves- it's probably 'huge,' too." He reached pasted her on his right to get some stew.

"Isn't it at Godric Hallow?"

He felt face pinch. "I don't think so…"

"Oh," she nodded carefully, clear deep in thought, her usual frown back in place.

"Black Manor is probably small in comparison." he said. "We have more property and elves but the manor is in the middle of muggle London. We have about 10 house elves for there."

She says nothing, cutting through the chicken in front of her like she was carving a human heart. "Cool." He could tell she was unhappy to find this. That this wasn't cool.

The dinner came to an end and they stood to leave, Hermione didn't say goodbye as she head up the nearest staircase instead of going down to the dungeon.

He considered following her.

But no.

It's for the best he lets her go, where ever it is she goes. Especially, with the small book in his hand. "My Hope in God" in Latin stamped on the Graves family crest.

He wasn't lying. But he couldn't help but feel that Hermione was. It would never be said he wasn't paranoid and sneaky, he was a Slytherin after all.