There was a smolder living inside of Regulus Black. A calm, crackly fire that could seem almost insignificant to most who happened to come upon it. Its embers were dull and worn out, popping occasionally in the hopes of somehow coming back to life, though its odds were certainly against it. It mattered little to Regulus, who seemed to for the most part, go about his day unhindered by the dying flames that existed inside of him. Dying, yet not dead yet. It was the story of his life really. Always just on the brink of something and never quite getting there. Almost the Black family heir. Almost a real Death Eater. Almost the hero of the story. And at times in the darkness of the night, he wondered if that was all he would ever come to be. Almost something.
The truth was that this fire never truly burned inside of him. At least, not until he came to know a certain Remus Lupin. He hated that this was the case. For someone who prided himself to be a traditionalist for the most part, he was truly defying every aspect of tradition imaginable as of late. The worst of it was that it seemed as if he couldn't even help it sometimes. His body would just take control of his mind and let it run wild with no way to reign it in. It was terribly annoying and rather frightening as well, like some mind control spell had been placed on him and for its duration he could do nothing but be a slave to his emotions. Whatever they happened to be at the time. And often, as with the case with Remus Lupin, the one emotion that won out all the rest was lust.
He had been standing outside the classroom for some time now, half of it leaning back against the adjacent wall, the other half peering through his window. What sort of retched sorcery did this halfbreed Gryffindor cast on him? And why, for the life of him, didn't he care that he was under some sort of spell? After what felt like half an eternity, he finally found the courage to walk into the room, greeted by eyes he had come to observe from a close distance as of late, and which never failed to quicken his pulse. That fire inside of him suddenly came back to life. "Mr. Lupin," he greeted coldly with eyes as dark as midnight. He let the door close behind him and leaned against it as he focused his attention on the man before him and tried with all his might to keep his breath steady. "I bring you some news."
Of course, this wasn't all that was on his mind at this hour, but the rest would come in due time. Pleasantries first, as always. "I wanted you to be the first to know that starting next semester I'll be the new full time Potions professor for the first years. I've just finished negotiations with the administration." He gave what anyone who knew him would regard as a rare grin, using muscles on his face that his usual scowl hardly ever allowed. "I'm rather pleased," he added, just casually loosening his tie a bit. That fire had turned into an inferno, and it was ready to consume him whole as it often did in the presence of Remus Lupin. It was impossible to tell this was the case from the outside though as he hid his emotions well, pushing away from the door to take a few steps toward him. "And I've been told my classroom is right across the hall from yours. Imagine that."