"I don't belong ... and my beloved neither do you."

"Merlin will you please slow down Elisabeth?!" Alicent exclaimed, out of breath and very much in need of a rest. Her sister had continued storming up the hill, and Alicent was not at all athletic. The girl even had asthma, so was indeed hopeless in this situation. Or really, in any situation. For example, if a wolf were to chase her, she'd most likely give up and let it eat her. Perhaps in her next life God would bless her with efficient organs, and hopefully some longer legs too. The girl had never really thought about it but if she were in a fight or flight situation, she'd have no choice but to fight. This had lead to the girl being very careful whenever she snuck out at night, if Filch or Mrs Norris were to spot her, she doubted she could even outrun Filch with his limp. (The girl really should have more self confidence, for it's an old fellow and a cat.)

Elisabeth must've heard the strain in Alicent's voice, for she slowed down a little - before turning around with her arms crossed and a frown plastered upon her face. Finally.
"What's the matter with you?" asked the brunette, catching up to her now stationary sister, who simply huffed. She was being a child.
"It's nothing. I'm sorry Al. I just... Y'know sometimes I forget you're a Slytherin, you're like them. Merlin, you even share rooms with them lot, I don't like the thought of you being friends with those types of wizards." Elisabeth replied, her face relaxed a little and her hair was blowing slightly in the still damp wind. She carried on, "Look I'm not saying you'll be a death eater or anything, it's just.. well, young people are malleable and I think it'd be best if you stayed as far away from those type of wizards as possible."
"Those type of wizards?" Alicent questioned, knowing what she was insinuating.
"Oh don't act stupid Al, you know exactly what they are."
"You're the one acting stupid, not every Slytherin is a Voldemort fanatic, and certainly not me. You ought to trust your sister more." Alicent frowned. "But yes, I'll definitely be able to avoid all of my housemates. In fact, we should ask Dumbledore to switch my house! Perhaps then, you'd stop bothering me!" Alicent huffed, she was tired of this recurring conversation, and felt even more fed up with having to constantly reassure her sister that she would not become a death eater. Elisabeth rolled her eyes, again, and shook her head before stating her sister immature and storming away, again. What a farce, and an unnecessary one at that.
The girl sighed and looked around her, checking if anyone else was nearby. Luckily, no one was. No one had witnessed their quarrel. Though, further down the hill she could spot a few groups of students. It had stopped raining now, so most had come out of the warm, sheltered buildings and had begun returning to the castle. The girl was annoyed, so decided it best to wait a little and cool off before returning to the castle. She also did not want to see her sister nor any of her friends so soon. So, she sat on a low perched wall on the hill, just to the side of the cobbled path leading back to the castle. She hadn't brought anything with her today, not expecting to be out so long. It was a little chilly but after a few minutes her body seemed to adjust, and the cool air didn't feel that bad on her skin, though she reckoned her cheeks had turned pink from the winds. The girl still had the bag of sweets in her hands, and decided to take out a handful, popping one onto her tongue. Sirius had gone slightly wild in Honeydukes, and had gotten her far more than she'd expected- recommending all the best lollipops and sour candies. She wondered if he'd have done the same for Regulus.
Her thoughts snapped back to Regulus at that moment, remembering what he'd said earlier. He hadn't wanted to approach her when she was sat with the others, had he really waited all that time just to speak to her? And he seemed to be alone. Had he waited all that time by himself? Perhaps he hadn't, perhaps he'd been with his friends? Or, perhaps he hadn't been waiting all that time, and had only come in moments before. Though, Alicent had not seen any of his companions. She decided to shrug it off, she didn't really need to know - though she did feel sort of curious. She remembered how he'd not left Hogsmeade after  their crossing paths, and realised that the boy would most likely be coming back soon. Should she wait for him? She sort of wanted to. Maybe she could speak to him. She wasn't good at speaking, but maybe she could? Though, if he was not alone then the girl would most definitely not approach him. A group of arrogant, loud teenage boys on a Sunday evening is an introverts persons worst nightmare.

The girl waited a little longer, and even longer, and after about twenty minutes she spotted him. He walked tall, with a proud stride, but held his head low. He came from a wealthy family, so it was unsurprising that he walked so proper. But he did not hold his head high, like Sirius or James - or any of his Slytherin friends. As he walked further up the path, Alice became anxious that he might not notice her. What if he walked right past her, leaving her looking a complete idiot?
He didn't. He looked up almost as if he'd heard the girls thoughts, pleading him to notice her. He looked at her, and then around her - probably wondering where her sister had gone to.
Alicent stood up sort of awkwardly, clasping her hands together in front of her. She was not sure why, but she wanted to appear as pleasant as possible to the boy.
"Hi," she finally breathed out.
"Hello. Again." the boy replied. "Forget where the castle is or something?" he taunted. Was he making fun of her, or was he teasing her? Did he know that she'd waited for him. Her eyes widened in embarrassment at the thought.
"Um, no. I'm okay."
The boy raised his eyebrows, amused.
"Hm. I'm not convinced. You seem quite lost to me." He held out his arm, gesturing for the girl to link arms with him. "Here, it's this way." he said, pointing up to the castle. Okay, he's definitely making fun of me, Alicent thought to herself. But as she studied his face and his body language, he really didn't look as if he was. He appeared amused yes, but not in a cruel way. She took his arm, and smiled sort of sarcastically at the boy.
The two walked in silence for a few minutes, before Alicent spoke up, "What did you buy?" she motioned towards the black paper bag he was carrying, with the Hogsmeade Potion Equipment Store's logo embedded onto it.
"A few extra supplies, that's all. Stuff they don't provide at Hogwarts." he answered.
"What sort of stuff?" she asked, curious. The boy turned his head towards her and raised his eyebrows once again. He was not expecting her to ask him questions, he had not actually heard the girl talk until this year. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. Ma would scold me for being so nosy." the girl said embarrassedly, shifting her gaze.
"Oh no, no. It's perfectly fine. I only didn't expect you to ask that's all."
The girl nodded in response, and turned her gaze back forward.
"I can show you, if you'd like."
Alicent wasn't expecting him to say that. The two had barely held a conversation four days ago, and now they were linking arms and Regulus was offering to spend even more time with her- other than their Astronomy project. Though, he was raised well, perhaps he was only being polite. Or had she been too pushy with him? Should she have stayed silent. She was definitely overthinking this.
"Yes," she responded fairly quickly, "I mean, yes that'd be nice. Thank you."
The boy only smiled to this, and averted his gaze back downwards to the floor- occasionally looking upwards. Alicent felt sort of giddy, but also nervous. For the girl was not at all used to being invited places, and definitely not by a boy. And then, she thought of her sister's conversation earlier, and what she'd said. Sod it, she thought. Sod whatever her sister thinks. Alicent would do what made her happy, the girl was perfectly capable of making her own life choices.